After Labor Day I begin my 4-5 month affair with football. College football started this weekend and gave enough information to discuss until the NFL season starts on Thursday. There were upsets, near upsets, injuries, and the BCS debate has already started. Here are my thoughts on the first weekend.
On Thursday, the college football season started with a bang, or a punch rather. In a video you've prolly seen 100 times (if not see above), Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount punched Boise State DE Byron Hout after the game ended and after Hout slapped Blount on his shoulder pads. In what can be best described as pouring gasoline on his fire, Blount then proceeded to go after a couple of fans who were heckling him on the way to the locker room. He needed to be restrained by several teammates, a coach, and security officials from the stadium. Add to this, that Blount was already suspended earlier this season, and its really a no-brainer that he was suspended for the year.
Although its a very sad situation because Blount was a senior and now can't play his senior year, but you can't do what he did, and expect a small punishment. Now if he only punched Hout, he probably would've gotten a couple of games. But the actions after the punch make the suspension right. I saw the event happen live on ESPN, and that was my initial reaction, that he was suspended for the year.
Luckily that wasn't the defining moment of college football's opening weekend. The Saturday games more than made up for the notoriety of Thursday's games.
First, there was Syracuse vs. Minnesota. Normally, this wouldn't be a game to talk about, but it marked the first time that Syracuse QB Greg Paulus took snaps. Yes, that's the Greg Paulus who used to be the PG at Duke University. Paulus looked good in his first real football action in 4 years. Syracuse also looked better with him running the QB. He did make a crucial mistake, throwing a interception during Syracuse's overtime possession. That caused Syracuse to lose the game, but gave much optimism for the season.
Saturday also gave us three match-ups of Top 25 teams. These match-ups are usually rare because of the BCS implications that result from them. However, we were treated to match-ups of Oklahoma State vs. Georgia, Virginia Tech vs. Alabama, and BYU vs. Oklahoma. Georgia wasn't able to hang with Oklahoma State, and Alabama outlasted Virginia Tech to seemingly put the Big 12 at the top of the conference rankings, followed by the SEC then the ACC. However BYU threw a hitch into the whole season, not just the first weekend. BYU won the game 14-13, which only is part of the story. Oklahoma was considered a favorite to return to the BCS Championship, and several pundits had a rematch of last year's BCS Championship game (Oklahoma vs. Florida). But not only did Oklahoma lose a game (and valuable ground in the BCS), they may have lost their Heisman winning QB, Sam Bradford, for a lot longer. (At upload time, it was reported that Bradford was out indefinitely)
That injury will be discussed throughout the season. Bradford returned to school, despite talk that he would have been a top-10 pick in last year's NFL draft. He, and several of his teammates, returned to earn another trip to the BCS championship and this time win it. Well that process just got a whole lot harder, and now we'll have to see if his shoulders can handle it, figuratively and literally.
Last thing.... check out my friend Justice's blog. You'll definitely learn some things.
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