You go into the second weekend and it looks like a bunch of duds. By the end of Saturday night you're exhausted with all the drama that came on a supposedly "down" weekend.
College football just delivers. Gosh it's great.
What in the world happened at Auburn on Saturday? The Tigers were 41-POINT FAVORITES.
-- Kevin Scarbinksy says it's the most embarrassing win in school history.
Jax State may turn out to be the best FCS team in the country, but the Gamecocks had no business staying on the field with the No. 6 team in the nation in the FBS for more than 60 minutes.
Despite looking more like the No. 6 team in the SEC West, Gus Malzahn and company were fortunate because the visitors let them off the hook. Otherwise the Gene Chizik flashbacks would've begun in earnest.
-- A few days after dinging Ohio State's schedule, Bret Beliema can't get it done at home against freaking Toledo.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema came in for criticism in some sections of the college football world after Saturday's 16-12 upset loss against Toledo in Little Rock.
The criticism came mostly in response to his comparison on Wednesday of No. 1 Ohio State's schedule the rest of the season -- with only one ranked opponent remaining -- to his own team's schedule, with eight remaining ranked opponents at the time.
ESPN analyst Danny Kanell, a former Florida State quarterback, posted a Tweet after the conclusion of Arkansas' game, "And that's why you should worry about your own damn sched and stop crying about someone else's," in obvious reference to Bielema's remarks.
ESPN's Desmond Howard, a former Heisman Trophy winner from Michigan, wrote that it was difficult for the SEC to make the claim as "best from top to bottom" after the Razorbacks' loss and Auburn's struggle to beat FCS opponent Jacksonville State in overtime.
In Columbus, Ohio, Big Ten writer Austin Ward of ESPN.com said he showed the Arkansas score to an unnamed Buckeyes player, who then mockingly chanted "SEC! SEC!"
-- Everett Golson had a tough first half against South Florida but rebounded.
After a stellar performance in the season opener against TexasState in which he threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns, Everett Golson’s second appearance as FSU’s starting signal-caller Saturday couldn’t have started off much worse.
Golson struggled throughout the first half against the more athletic USF defense, missing his first six passes and completing just 1 of 9 for 6 yards in the first half.But the Notre Dame transfer heated up in the second half, completing 13 of 17 after halftime for 157 yards and a touchdown, finishing the day 14 of 26 for 163 yards and a score.
FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said he was happy to see Golson rebound from the poor start.“It’s Jameis could do, sometimes play bad and then all of the sudden have the ability to come back,” he said. “I was proud that (Golson) was able to do that in the second half and make good decisions.”
-- Fisher says he's happy this happened.
“We wondered what this team would do when we faced adversity,” Fisher said following FSU’s 34-14 victory over USF. “Well we faced it in the first half, came out there and had penalties, put ourselves behind the 8-ball. It was 7-7 [at halftime] in a very tough, hard-nosed game.”
FSU absorbed the hits and eventually delivered enough of its own to wear down the upstart Bulls. It was a necessary step in the evolution of a young, inexperienced FSU squad. No. 9 FSU (2-0) hopes to build on toughness with it to Boston College when it faces the traditionally gritty Eagles (2-0) 8 p.m. Friday. FSU’s ACC opener will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Seminoles’ defense, for a second week in a row, demonstrated resolve and tenacity throughout the game. A stagnant offense and some poor play by the punting unit routinely gave USF the edge in field advantage, but FSU’s defense did not concede much: junior cornerback Marquez White intercepted a pass in the end zone during the first quarter after the Bulls started on FSU’s 11 yard line, and USF was 1 of 13 on third-down conversions.
“It’s in our DNA,” White said. “The first year [2013,] we won a championship and were beating everybody, but last year we had a lot of tight times. That’s not something we want, but we know how to deal with adversity, unlike a lot of other teams.”
-- This Winston-Salem columnist was in Clemson on Saturday and came away impressed with the Tigers.
Clemson is the best chance for a conference coveting a spot in the four-team College Football Playoff. It’s a tough road for any of the Power Five leagues, let alone one that must fight its own shadow as a basketball conference. In Clemson, however, the ACC might have a legit candidate to assume the role Florida State filled last year. It needs a dominating team, one that grabs headlines and holds on with a white-knuckled intensity.
Coach Scott Satterfield of Appalachian State has already said the Tigers are the most talented team he’s seen in twenty-plus years with the Mountaineers. Clemson has Watson, a bevy of offensive weapons and a stifling defense that might become downright smothering. The pieces are there.
The schedule is also there.
Any soft spots — real or perceived — are gone, with Clemson dispatching Wofford 49-10 in its opener before throttling ASU.
The rest of the schedule has the kind of juice to get national attention, starting with a three-game stretch of Louisville, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.
A non-conference game at South Carolina caps off a docket featuring teams averaging 42.6 in the ESPN Power Rankings with none ranked lower than 85th (Wake Forest).
Winning against that kind of slate should give Clemson plenty of juice with the selection committee.
“Anyone can beat you and it’s really hard to win at this level,” offensive lineman Jay Guillermo said. “We know the expectation, but we try not to think about it too much.”
-- Louisville's focus must quickly shift to Clemson.
The threat of the Tigers getting to the QB could factor into whom U of L starts at that position. Do the Cards go again with Jackson, who is fast and elusive but played an active hand in four turnovers against Houston? Or do they turn to the sophomore Bolin, who replaced him in the fourth quarter and guided U of L to two touchdown drives? He was the far more accurate passer against the Cougars, but he won’t be as much of a threat to run if Clemson turns up the heat.
U of L previously started sophomore Reggie Bonnafon – another dual threat – against Auburn, and it also has junior Will Gardner, a pocket passer who started seven games last year.
No matter who’s the starter, Bolin said all the quarterbacks would encourage Jackson and help him bounce back.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Bolin said. “I think the coaches understand how young he is, and we understand how young he is. We’re going to keep building his confidence and make sure he understands it’s all right to make mistakes here and there, and because you do make mistakes, it’s not the end of the world.”
-- And we close with a Tiny Desk Concert from Iron and Wine:
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