SATURDAY RECAP..........DOWN GOES BRADFORD
For those of you who haven't heard yet, Oklahoma's reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford, went down with an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder. He sustained the injury right before half & during the third quarter, he reappeared on the Sooner sideline with his right arm in a sling. His injury the result of an unblocked blitzer landing directly on him, very similar to Tom Brady getting mashed by Albert Haynesworth 10 days ago. The 20th ranked BYU Cougars played an inspired game from whistle to gun & they prevailed 14-13. BYU QB Max Hall was working without his #1 tailback but he was a rock, especially in their game-winning 78-yard drive late in the 4th quarter. OU backup, freshman Landry Jones moved them late, setting up a 54-yard field goal attempt, but it was short & wide left. The 4 new O-line starters couldn't protect Bradford or Jones. They have Idaho next week, then in-state rival Tulsa before an open date. The Sooners hope Bradford can return for their October 3rd game at Miami.
Michigan took out a lot of frustration on Western Michigan. The horrendous season last year, the allegations against coach Rich Rodriguez, all were forgotten for about 3 hours Saturday afternoon as the Wolverines buried the Broncos 31-7. Notre Dame took advantage of numerous Nevada turnovers to shutout the Wolfpack 35-0. Irish QB Jimmy Clausen had a career day, 15 of 18 for 315 yards & 4 touchdown passes.
USC took about 20 minutes to finally score on San Jose State, but that opened the floodgates, Trojans roll 56-3. True freshman Matt Barkley only threw 1 TD pass, depending on his running game instead. USC rushed for 6 touchdowns.
Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus, who used his last year of college eligibility to transfer to Syracuse(his hometown) & start at quarterback for the Orangemen. He looked pretty decent for a guy who hadn't played football in 4 years. Minnesota kicked a tying field goal with :33 left in regulation. In the first overtime Paulus threw a pick in the endzone & the Gophers kicked the winning field goal.
Navy pushed Ohio State to the brink with 2 minutes to play. They scored a touchdown to make the score 29-27, so they went for 2 points, the pass was picked off & run back 100 yards for 2 & it was over. Why the Buckeyes scheduled Navy, a triple option team, the week before they take on Southern cal is beyond me. Ohio State's defense looked slow at times & out of sync, they have one week to put the near nightmare that was Navy, behind them & prepare for another great running team. Only this one runs out of the I formation.
Alabama struggled for 3 quarters & in the 4th, they were able to put a stubborn Virginia Tech away. Cal had no such problem with Maryland, smashing the Terps 52-13. Jahvid Best, Cal running back & Heisman hopeful, started off the '09 season strong rushing for 137 yards on just 10 carries including a 73-yard run. Golden Bear QB Kevin Riley threw for 4 touchdowns. LSU was outstatted by the Washington Huskies but prevailed behind the 3 touchdown passing of Jordan Jefferson. The game marked the debut of new Huskie coach, Steve Sarkisian & the sold out stadium demonstrated the excitement his program has created in the Northwest. Iowa needed 2 blocked field goals in the final minutes to preserve a 17-16 win vs. Northern Iowa. Florida, Texas & Penn State all romped in their season openers.
But what the hell has become of the ACC? Wake Forest beaten at home by Baylor, Duke beaten at home by Richmond, N.C. State beaten at home Thursday night, Virginia Tech & Maryland losers tonight. But The worst was Al Groh's Virginia Cavaliers beaten at home 26-14 by William & freakin' Mary. Is it time to drop the ACC's automatic bid into the BCS?
Oklahoma State opened their renovated stadium with one of the toughest road opponents in college football, the Georgia Bulldogs. In a fierce-hitting contest, the Cowboys used 2 Zac Robinson touchdown passes to Dez Bryant & a TD run by Robinson to whip Georgia 24-10. The Bulldogs chipped in with 3 turnovers. This was a big win for OSU, beating a major SEC power by 2 touchdowns.
The Missouri Tigers began the Blaine Gabbert era & with 2 minor exceptions, he looked very good as they smoked the Fighting Illini of Illinois 37-9, in the Arch Rival game in St Louis. Gabbert threw 3 touchdowns & ran for another. Best of all, he didn't turn the ball over, after some early game jitters, he looked very comfortable running the Tiger offense. I don't believe Mizzou is quite this good, the Illini looked less than inspired & after WR Arrelious Benn was injured, it seemed to take away what little confidence they possessed. They didn't score a touchdown until the 4th quarter, If Gary Pinkel hadn't called in the dogs, Mizzou could have made this really ugly. The Illini had no answer for the Tiger offense. Mizzou now has Bowling Green & Furman before traveling to Reno to play Nevada. If the Tigers can win these 3 games & squeak by Nebraska in the Big-12 opener, they can make a serious run at repeating as North division champs.
Kansas coach Mark Mangini suspended 4 players for their game with Northern Colorado, one of them Dezmon Briscoe. I thought this young man had turned the corner, maybe not. The Jayhawks certainly aren't the same team without him, his 92 catches for 1,407 yards & 15 touchdowns simply can't be replaced.
Watched 14 games, it's wonderful to have college football back, think I'll Tivo the Ole Miss game tomorrow, give myself the last non-NFL Sunday off, but I wil have some new stuff here on Sunday.
Michigan took out a lot of frustration on Western Michigan. The horrendous season last year, the allegations against coach Rich Rodriguez, all were forgotten for about 3 hours Saturday afternoon as the Wolverines buried the Broncos 31-7. Notre Dame took advantage of numerous Nevada turnovers to shutout the Wolfpack 35-0. Irish QB Jimmy Clausen had a career day, 15 of 18 for 315 yards & 4 touchdown passes.
USC took about 20 minutes to finally score on San Jose State, but that opened the floodgates, Trojans roll 56-3. True freshman Matt Barkley only threw 1 TD pass, depending on his running game instead. USC rushed for 6 touchdowns.
Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus, who used his last year of college eligibility to transfer to Syracuse(his hometown) & start at quarterback for the Orangemen. He looked pretty decent for a guy who hadn't played football in 4 years. Minnesota kicked a tying field goal with :33 left in regulation. In the first overtime Paulus threw a pick in the endzone & the Gophers kicked the winning field goal.
Navy pushed Ohio State to the brink with 2 minutes to play. They scored a touchdown to make the score 29-27, so they went for 2 points, the pass was picked off & run back 100 yards for 2 & it was over. Why the Buckeyes scheduled Navy, a triple option team, the week before they take on Southern cal is beyond me. Ohio State's defense looked slow at times & out of sync, they have one week to put the near nightmare that was Navy, behind them & prepare for another great running team. Only this one runs out of the I formation.
Alabama struggled for 3 quarters & in the 4th, they were able to put a stubborn Virginia Tech away. Cal had no such problem with Maryland, smashing the Terps 52-13. Jahvid Best, Cal running back & Heisman hopeful, started off the '09 season strong rushing for 137 yards on just 10 carries including a 73-yard run. Golden Bear QB Kevin Riley threw for 4 touchdowns. LSU was outstatted by the Washington Huskies but prevailed behind the 3 touchdown passing of Jordan Jefferson. The game marked the debut of new Huskie coach, Steve Sarkisian & the sold out stadium demonstrated the excitement his program has created in the Northwest. Iowa needed 2 blocked field goals in the final minutes to preserve a 17-16 win vs. Northern Iowa. Florida, Texas & Penn State all romped in their season openers.
But what the hell has become of the ACC? Wake Forest beaten at home by Baylor, Duke beaten at home by Richmond, N.C. State beaten at home Thursday night, Virginia Tech & Maryland losers tonight. But The worst was Al Groh's Virginia Cavaliers beaten at home 26-14 by William & freakin' Mary. Is it time to drop the ACC's automatic bid into the BCS?
Oklahoma State opened their renovated stadium with one of the toughest road opponents in college football, the Georgia Bulldogs. In a fierce-hitting contest, the Cowboys used 2 Zac Robinson touchdown passes to Dez Bryant & a TD run by Robinson to whip Georgia 24-10. The Bulldogs chipped in with 3 turnovers. This was a big win for OSU, beating a major SEC power by 2 touchdowns.
The Missouri Tigers began the Blaine Gabbert era & with 2 minor exceptions, he looked very good as they smoked the Fighting Illini of Illinois 37-9, in the Arch Rival game in St Louis. Gabbert threw 3 touchdowns & ran for another. Best of all, he didn't turn the ball over, after some early game jitters, he looked very comfortable running the Tiger offense. I don't believe Mizzou is quite this good, the Illini looked less than inspired & after WR Arrelious Benn was injured, it seemed to take away what little confidence they possessed. They didn't score a touchdown until the 4th quarter, If Gary Pinkel hadn't called in the dogs, Mizzou could have made this really ugly. The Illini had no answer for the Tiger offense. Mizzou now has Bowling Green & Furman before traveling to Reno to play Nevada. If the Tigers can win these 3 games & squeak by Nebraska in the Big-12 opener, they can make a serious run at repeating as North division champs.
Kansas coach Mark Mangini suspended 4 players for their game with Northern Colorado, one of them Dezmon Briscoe. I thought this young man had turned the corner, maybe not. The Jayhawks certainly aren't the same team without him, his 92 catches for 1,407 yards & 15 touchdowns simply can't be replaced.
Watched 14 games, it's wonderful to have college football back, think I'll Tivo the Ole Miss game tomorrow, give myself the last non-NFL Sunday off, but I wil have some new stuff here on Sunday.
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