The first weekend of college football is nearly over; we've got the 2nd half of the Colorado vs. Colorado State game and tomorrow features Cincy vs. Rutgers and Miami vs. FSU. I do have some interesting thoughts on the opening weekend.
1. I've already blogged about how much this emphasis on hitting to the head or defenseless players will get over the course of the season. This is going to be bad, really, really bad.
2. Living in Illinois, all I hear about is Juice Williams and Illinois.. well, guess what, Juice Williams is basically the same QB this year as he was his freshman year. Erratic, terrible accuracy, and just not very good. He single-handily might be wasting Regis Benn.. well, that and injuries.
3. Regis Benn might be one of the more overhyped players in recent years. He can't stay healthy, they can't get him the ball, he came to Illinois probably staying 3 years and putting up amazing numbers. If he leaves this year and a team takes him high; I'd be worried. The kid cannot stay healthy.
4. Does anybody else just love watching Navy? The triple option, the uniforms in the stands, what they do for our country. I could watch Navy, Army, and Air Force play all day long.
5. I hate Ohio State; I mean.. I really hate Ohio State, but I have to respect what they did on Saturday. The pregame handshake was more or less employed throughout college football as "respect week" but running out of the tunnel at the same time as Ohio State was pretty neat to see.
6. I hope Ohio State beats USC this Saturday night.
7. QB Scott Tolzein at Wisconsin will be fine; his arm strength is better than I expected and he knows where to go with the football. They can play Curt Phillips from time to time, but Scott gives them a better chance to win.
8. I think Bret Bielema lost some weight. Here is a former pic. Here is yesterday's pic. Rumor has it that he doesn't eat as many double steaks with butter and potatoes at 2:30 AM on the west side of Madison anymore. Don't know if that's true or not.
9. Dez Bryant is a douchebag. I couldn't find the video anywhere, but he was barking all day yesterday. I really hate the recent trent of taunting, especially when you don't even make the play. I like players that make a play, toss the ball to the ref, and give some high 5's and run back to the huddle. I don't have time for dancing, pointing to the jersey, strutting, or doing the Michael Irvin.
10. Oklahoma wasn't exactly moving the ball before Sam Bradford's injury, so Boomer Sooner fans can lock it up about that being the reason they lost. They couldn't block, they couldn't get a push, and nobody could get open.
11. Washington might be fun to watch with Jake Locker having a real coach for once. LSU is such a better program, but Washington really hung in the game and has some exciting young talent.
12. The Big 10 haters are already out (scroll down a bit to "Plenty to Bash") because of several close calls in the first week and Illinois embarassing themselves against Illinois. Once again, they'll put 6 or so teams in bowl games and fight to the finish like they always do. If I were going to rip on a football conference, I'd head to the ACC. They are sitting at 4-6 right now and have 2 losses to former D-1AA football teams. Yuck.
13. Dion Lewis at Pitt is going to be something special, very, very special.
14. Can't wait to watch Georgia Tech rip apart Clemson with Dwyer, Nesbit, and now Allen and the triple option. I hate the spread, but boy, do I love watching the ball handling and reads of triple option teams.
15. I might die laughing if BYU were upset by Tulane this weekend.
16. The Big 10 has two big games to get some positive hype: Ohio State vs. USC and Purdue on the road vs. Oregon. Oregon will be hungry after embarassing themselves and then the entire school against Boise State.
17. Robert Griffin is going to be an absolute beast by the time he is a senior. Might be the most exciting player in college football, no lie.
Keywords: ACC, Air Force Falcons, Army Cadets, Big Ten, Bret Bielema, butter, BYU Cougars, Clemson Tigers, Curt Phillips, Dez Bryant, Dion Lewis, Georgia Tech, Illinois Fighting Illini, Jake Locker, Jon Dwyer, Josh Nesbit, Juice Williams, Michael Irvin, Navy Midshipmen, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, Purdue Boilermakers, Regis Benn, Robert Griffin, Sam Bradford, Scott Tolzein, triple option, Tulane Green Wave, USC Trojans, Washington Huskies, Wisconsin Badgers
