College Football Random Thoughts From Around the Country: Week 1

By CB969@CB969onRBR Sep 3, 2014, 7:55am CDT

Spurrier had such a fun summer he plum forgot to plan for A&M.

It didn't take long for the national picture of the college football race to go all askew. Fans were met with many surprises, overestimations, and underestimations but few upsets. If your team did not perform as well as expected in Week 1, don't feel so bad. You were not alone. The real question will be: was it rust, parity, or a sign of things to come?

Kenny Hill made many forget ol' Johnny Whatshisname. (Jeff Blake - USA Today Sports)

Texas A&M 52 South Carolina 28

No story was bigger than the beat-down the Aggies put on the Gamecocks in Columbia last Thursday night to kickoff the season. TAMU's quarterback Kenny Hill was stellar throwing 44 of 60 for 511 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 turnovers. The Aggies were fired up and focused - unlike their counterparts. One gets the feeling that the Gamecocks got caught looking around at the spectacle of the event.

Despite giving up 28 points, the Aggies defense appears improved on the sieve that was the 2013 version that was 111th in total defense. Is Texas A&M for real? It may take a few weeks due to the soft schedule of foes ahead: Lamar, Rice, @SMU, Arky.

The loss left many questions for South Carolina. The DL downgrade after losing Jadeveon Clowney and two other starting D-linemen across SC's front was evident. Some pundits proclaimed Carolina's Mike Davis to be one of the best running back in the nation but an injury limited him to just 15 yards on 6 rushes. As a team, the Gamecocks had 67 net rushing yards.

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Todd Gurley ran and ran and ran. (Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

Georgia 45 Clemson 21

Is Mark Richt trying to change the Bulldogs into the Crimson Tide? They have compiled a stable of good young running backs. They wore the Tigers down in the second half. They couldn't get Kirby Smart so they got the next best thing in Jeremy Pruitt. And now the coordinators were not made available to the media! The only thing left is to lose the black and change the red a couple of ticks darker.

It's debatable as to whether Clemson was worthy of their preseason #16 ranking. Georgia on the other hand is looking pretty good. Predictably, Dawgs fans are now talking "National Championship" before they even play an SEC game. I hate to burst their bubble but the passing game was a bit tepid (131 yards, 0 TDs).

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LSU 28, Wisconsin 24

A tale of two halves. The Badgers were up 24-7 early in the third quarter and looked like they were going to run away with it. That is when LSU coach Les Miles opened his bag of tricks and ran a fake punt. The Tigers reeled off 21 straight points and intercepted Wisky QB Tanner McEvoy twice on consecutive 4th quarter drives.

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THE STRUGGLE

As mentioned, many of the top teams struggled against lesser opponents. It's difficult to know if some teams were overrated or if their opponents were underrated. Or both.

Florida State 37, Oklahoma State 31 - The Cowboys lost a lot of talent but dang all if Coach Mike Gundy (who is now 47) did not have his boys putting out full effort. They were a few bad breaks away from a HUGE upset. FSU's Jameis Winston had some nice highlights for ESPN to drool over but he was less than Heisman-esque with two interceptions a few other missteps.

Alabama 33, West Virginia 23 - The Mountaineers kept it close throughout the game but could never quite catch up.

Ole Miss 35, Boise State 13 - After leading only 7-6 going into the final quarter, Rebels QB Bo Wallace shook off three first-half interceptions to throw three fourth quarter touchdowns.

Ohio State 34, Navy 17 - The Midshipmen led this game 14-13 in the third quarter and were within 3 in the 4th. This was a closer game than the score shows.

Auburn 45, Arkansas 21 - Back-up Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson had a good first half with the Tigers defense allowing the Hogs to keep it close with 21-21 tie at the half. In the second half, the Auburn defense stepped it up allowing just 61 yards.

UCLA 28, Virginia 20 - Maybe it was the jet lag and the 12noon ET game time. Or maybe UCLA and QB Brett Hundley are not as good as we thought. Statistically, the 21-point underdog Cavaliers were even with the Bruins if not slightly better. UVa's defensive front harassed Hundley all game long getting 5 sacks. The difference was three defensive touchdowns by UCLA in the second quarter (two pick-6s and a scoop-and-score).

Washington 17, Hawaii 16 - The Rainbow Warriors are no stranger to former Boise coach Chris Petersen which makes it so unexpected that his new team, Washington, would have such a hard time in Hawaii. The Huskies had only 10 completions for 162 yards with most of the gains coming on a 91-yard score.

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Eliminated:

With the 4-team playoff, there are no eliminations just yet. Teams like South Carolina or Wisconsin could still win out and make the Final Four.

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Heisman Hype

It is way way way too early to be predicting the winner of this season's Heisman but UGA running back Todd Gurley took a big lead with 293 all-purpose yards (198 rushing, 100-yard kickoff return, -5 on a catch).

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Extra Points

Former Bama running back Dee Hart graduated from the Capstone and transferred to Colorado State for his final season. As the feature back for the Rams, he rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns in upsetting the Pac-12's Colorado 31-17.
Former Bama QB Phillip Ely led the Toledo Rockets to a 54-20 win over mighty New Hampshire behind 24 for 34 passing, 337 yards, 4 TDs, and 0 INTs. Things get tougher on Saturday as they host, yes HOST, #24 Missouri. Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel coached the Rockets from 1991–2000 compiling a 73-37-3 record.
The stat of the day goes to Kentucky RB Braylon Heard who rushed only two times but gained 116 yards and two touchdowns against UT-Martin. The Nebraska transfer's first two runs as a Wildcat went for 73 and 43 yard scores. He was held out of the rest of the game due to a twisted ankle.
I may be off on this but it seemed to me that overall the referees threw less flags and "let them play". The lone exception might be in pass interference calls.

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Krazy Kristi's "SHUT UP!" of the Week goes to Steve Spurrier for shooting his mouth off all summer and not preparing his team for the fight ahead.

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Alabama safety Jarrick Williams will be out of action for the next four games due to a broken foot.
Wide receiver DeAndrew White suffered a separated shoulder after making a key reception in the Tide's win over WVU. He will likely miss the next two game.
Texas A&M linebacker A.J. Hilliard dislocated an ankle and is out indefinitely.
Texas quarterback David Ash took another blow to the head against North Texas putting his football future in doubt. He missed the final nine games of 2013 because of the lingering affect of a concussion suffered against BYU. Some are suggesting he give up football.
The Longhorns also loss center Dom Espinosa to a broken ankle.
Baylor QB Bryce Petty suffered two cracked bones in his spine during their win against SMU. He unnecessarily stayed in the game despite a 31-0 lead. He is "day-to-day".
Tennessee’s starting left tackle Jacob Gilliam tore his ACL against Utah State. This is a big blow for the Vols who were already replacing all five of last year's starters on the offensive line.

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Heard on sports radio after an electrical storm caused the cancellation of the Florida-Idaho game: "even God didn't want to see this game."

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As fun and exciting as many of the Week 1 games were, this weekend's fare is a big bouquet of stinkers. It might be a good weekend to spend with the family or do those chores around the house. Below are the highlights:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6:

SEC

Arkansas State at Tennessee 11:00 AM CT / 12:00 PM ET SEC Network*
UAB at Mississippi State 1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM ET ESPN3
Ohio at Kentucky 2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET ESPNU ESPNU - Don't get cocky, Wildcats.
Eastern Michigan at Florida 3:00 PM CT / 4:00 PM ET SEC Network*
Nicholls State at Arkansas 3:00 PM CT / 4:00 PM ET SEC Network*
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt 3:30 PM CT / 4:30 PM ET ESPN ESPN - the only SEC game for the week.
East Carolina at South Carolina 6:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM ET ESPNU ESPNU - Beware the "letdown".
San Jose State at Auburn 6:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM ET ESPN2 ESPN2
Sam Houston State at LSU 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET SEC Network*
Lamar at Texas A&M 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET SEC Network* - No word as to whether Khloe will be there too.
* Check local listings.

NATIONAL

Southern Cal at Stanford 2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET ABC ABC
Michigan State at Oregon 5:30 PM CT / 6:30 PM ET FOX GAME OF THE WEEK
BYU at Texas 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET FOX Sports 1- The Cougars upset Tejas 40-21 in 2013.
Michigan at Notre Dame 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET NBC - This is the last scheduled meeting for these two teams.
Virginia Tech at Ohio State 7:00 PM CT / 8:00 PM ET ESPN ESPN
Colorado State at Boise State 9:15 PM CT / 10:15 PM ET ESPN2 ESPN2 - Check out Dee Hart!