Week 1: Really?

There are few things more anticipated than the opening of the college football season--a teenage boy's first time, a 21st birthday, retirement--but NCAA opening day is the only one that actually makes good on its promised excitement. Let's face it, a first time is awkward and short-lived, a 21st birthday is an hour of fun and four hours of vomiting, and retirement just means you're old. Week 1 of college football, however, brings such joys as Appalachian State upseting #5 Michigan, Virginia Tech continuing its healing process by winning their first home game, California avenging their embarrassing loss to Tennessee in 2006, and Colt Brennan of Hawaii throwing for 416 yards and 6 touchdowns...in one half.

I'll be updating this blog every Monday with my thoughts on the weekend's games, my personal top 25, and my perception of the Heisman race. I'll also update every Thursday with my match-up breakdowns and picks. Without further ado, I introduce you to my first ever weekly thoughts section, entitled:

"Really?"

1. Appalachian State beat Michigan. By now, this story has been shoved down our throats more times than Lindsay Lohan has done cocaine. So I won't spend too much time on it. I won't call it the greatest college football upset of all-time like everyone else is. Why not? Because we don't know how good Michigan is going to be. They could lose 8 or 9 games for all we know. If Michigan has a good season, then I will jump on the bandwagon and praise it as the most impressive upset in history. The bottom line is that Appalachian State is an extremely good football team and could easily compete in the ACC (which isn't saying much...sorry ACC fans), and I personally am a bigger fan of the 2006 Boise State upset of Oklahoma. But for one weekend, don't you wish you went to ASU? If you're attending UNCW I can all but guarantee you either 1) did get accepted to App. State or 2) could have gotten into App. State. I was one of the former, and even just for a few hours, I severely questioned my decision making capabilities.

2. Notre Dame impales itself on Clausen's spikey hair. There's nothing I enjoy more than watching Notre Dame struggle. They haven't been good in 15 years and yet every year ESPN and other national media outlets give them more airtime than USC, Texas, Florida, LSU, and Ohio State combined. It's ridiculous. Their last bowl win came in 1994. Since the turn of the millenium Notre Dame has been in five bowl games, including three BCS bowls, and lost by an average of 22.4 points. At some point you have to ask yourself, does Notre Dame deserve to be in these high-end bowl games? The answer is absolutely not, and this sums up everything wrong with college football today: ND gets ratings (money), so almost every single game is broadcast on NBC and they are routinely voted into bowl games they don't belong in. On a related note, does anyone like Jimmy Clausen? He looks like Sonic the Hedgehog and Lee Hotti mated, then dyed their son's hair blonde. I've only seen the kid in interviews and I want to punch him in the face; he comes off that much as a pretentious jackass.

3. SEC continues reign as the strongest conference. So what, Tennessee lost to Cal. Florida, Georgia, LSU, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama all looked phenomenal. These teams are not only competing for the SEC title, but every single one of them has a legitimate national title shot. You want a dark-horse, a sleeper? Look no further than Andre Woodson and his Kentucky Wildcats. And you can't count out Tennessee, either. They could easily run the table, win the SEC, and be on their way to a BCS championship appearance. Example: 2006 Florida. A fun fact: every single SEC team won this week except for Tennessee, and most of them in convincing fashion. And who ever said Tim Tebow can't throw? He only managed 300 yards and 3 TD's in a shortened game before he was relieved by ultra-talented true freshman Cameron Newton.

4. Big time QB's leading not-so big time programs (except for one). Let's take a test. I've always been a big fan of matching sections; they're the easiest to cram for.

1) 34/40, 416 yards, 6 TDs

2) 16/21, 375 yards, 4 TDs

3) 21/23, 363 yards, 3 TDs

A) Brian Brohm

B) Sam Bradford

C) Colt Brennan

The correct answers are 1) C, 2) B, 3) A. Are you kidding me? Colt Brennan threw for those stats in one half. HE COULD HAVE THROWN FOR 1000 YARDS AND 10 TDS IF HE HAD STAYED IN THE GAME. That's better than some QBs hope for in a season. Hand him the Heisman already.

5) Coaches on the hot seat...already. Bobby Bowden got rid of his entire coaching staff and Florida State is still losing. Hmmm, who is the only coach at FSU that didn't get fired? Maybe they should fix that. Lloyd Carr, despite having a 113-36 career record at Michigan including five Big Ten titles and an AP national championship in 1997, has his neck stretched out under an executioner's axe. About 53 percent of ESPN's SportsNation voters said Carr should be fired. Come on, really? Michigan missed the national championship by two points last year. Ah, and Charlie Weis. All I have to say about this is hahahahahaha.


Heisman Race

1. Colt Brennan, Hawaii (34/40, 416 yards, 6 TDs)

2. Brian Brohm, Louisville (16/21, 375 yards, 4 TDs)

3. Darren McFadden, Arkansas (24 carries, 151 yards, 1 TD)

4. Mike Hart, Michigan (23 carries, 188 yards, 3 TDs)

5. Tim Tebow, Florida (13/17, 338 total yards, 4 TDs (1 rushing))

On the bubble: Ray Rice, Tashard Choice, Steve Slaton, Patrick White, Ian Johnson


Golden Top 25
1. USC
2. LSU
3. West Virginia
4. Louisville
5. Florida
6. Oklahoma
7. Wisconsin
8. California
9. Georgia
10. Texas
11. Ohio State
12. Penn State
13. Virginia Tech
14. UCLA
15. Rutgers
16. Auburn
17. Nebraska
18. Boise State
19. Arkansas
20. TCU
21. Michigan
22. Hawaii
23. Clemson
24. Tennessee
25. Texas A&M

Two notes: yes, Michigan stays in. In Mike Hart I trust. And no Georgia Tech...as you should have figured out by now, I don't think stomping on Notre Dame is that big of an accomplishment.