Welcome Back College Football

Leading up to the season, I didn't think I would be much into to it this year. But the day before the first games, the memories of how much i love college football came flooding back. Much to my chagrin, I spent most of the weekend working in the yard instead of watching football though. I did catch a few games though. And I have a few thoughts from the games I did manage to watch.

Things I learned from week 1 of college football:

Miami (13) - I thought Jacory Harris was great last year, and... I still think he's great. Yeah, they played Florida A&M, but they showed they have everything they need to get up there this year. Lots of offensive power, and a tough defense that allowed how many points to Fl. A&M? Zero. I'd call them a sleeper team, but they did start the season ranked 13th. Miami has one of the toughest schedules of anybody, as the ACC is pretty stacked this year. Half of their games are against ranked opponents! I didn't see Ohio State play this week, but Miami and Ohio St. match up this coming Saturday, and I'm picking Miami.

USC (14) - Not sure if they're worth talking about since they're not eligible to go bowling, no matter how well they do this season, but they half impressed me on Thursday night. Matt Barkley is a stud. I've never been a USC fan at all, but i do like Matt Barkley. He's one of a handfull of very good quartebacks in the Pac10 this year. USC receiver and return man Ronald Johnson impressed as well. That kid can flat out play! But here's the thing, maybe Hawaii is better than a lot of people expected... but Hawaii put up 36 points (and 588 total yards) against a team that's supposed to be ranked 14th? The defense sure looked vulnerable. And really, USC looked very beatable - a good sign for the rest of the pac10.

Hawaii - I only mention them because I was sure impressed with the quarterback play from Moniz. He looked great out there. Their relevance to me comes from the fact that they're going to play Boise State (who I'll get to in a bit) later in the season. A lot of people are saying that now that Boise State has beaten Va. Tech, that they're just going to walk over the rest of their schedule... I kinda think Hawaii may give them a tough time.

Arizona - As much as i hate to say it, Arizona looked great on Friday night. The Pac10 really does have some great quarterbacks this year, and Nick Foles is one of them. Arizona was one win away from going to the Rose Bowl last year, and I have to imagine they are remembering that coming into this season.

Florida (4) - Someone please bump these guys way down the list. What are they doing at #4? I pretty enjoyed watching this game. Guess I'm not as big of a Florida fan as i thought. Or maybe I never thought I was. Anyways, Florida looked lousy against Miami (OH) on Saturday morning. Maimi was a huge underdog who finished near the very bottom of the country last year in both defense and scoring. And the Gators only beat them by 22 points? At Florida?! It was a closer game than the score indicates too. Miami's 12 points came on 4 field goals. On each of those scores, Miami marched down the field impressively, and it seemed to take Miami getting into scoring position to wake up Florida's defense. Finally when Miami was pushing for the endzone, the Florida D would get a few stops and make them settle for field goals. But these were short field goals, from deep in the redzone. A few more yards on these posessions and they would have been touchdowns. Four touchdowns instead of 4 fieldgoald? That's 28 points! I wasn't impressed with the Gators play on either side of ball really - not against a team as weak as Miami (OH).

Man I wish I could have seen more of the games this week. Moving on though:

Alabama (1) - They did just what they were supposed to, and looked very much like a team that's ranked #1.

TCU (6) - TCU looked strong against Oregon St. Maybe it's just me, but I was rooting hard for the Beavers. I don't know what I have against TCU, but i like those Rogers brothers up in Oregon. TCU's quarterback played great though, and surprised me with his toughness and play making ability. TCU should sweep the rest of their season in a weak-ish Mountain West.

Arizona State - I was at this game. Maybe it was the intense heat that night coupled with the fact that I had gotten sunburned during the day, but I thought this game was boring. We left at half-time. Actually though, it probably was just the heat and my sunburn, becuase looking back, it was a great game for the Sun Devils. I realize that it was only Portland State, but the defense looked good, the running game was working (great to see for the Devils) and Threet looked very composed out there leading the team. I think Coach Erickson made the right call choosing him as the starter.

And Finally,

Boise State (3) - Boise State is ranked 3rd in the AP poll, and 5th in the Coaches Poll. I think the AP poll is closer. Kellen Moore showed that he really does have ice running through his veins in that final, game-winning, drive. The Broncos really came out attacking the Hokies on defense. They shook them good and it took Virginia Tech the whole first quarter to get settled down. And that's where the game was won, really. It was back and forth the rest of the gamem but Boise State owned that first quarter. Tyrod Taylor IS as great of quaterback as everyone says, and he gave the Broncos a lot of struggles in this game. But Boise State's depth - at both receiver and the running back position - gave them the firepower they needed to win the game. It's only one game, and I haven't yet seen enough of other teams to give my pick for a national champion yet, but I certainly want to leave Boise State up there in the rankings. They're the real deal.