College Football Opening Weekend Recap

College football season got under way this past weekend, as the BCS will try (unsuccessfully of course) to not screw up another season for a deserving contender or five. Here's what went down:

Headline
The primetime matchup of the first day of the 2009 season saw 2 top 16 teams with big hopes of success this year battle it out on the blue turf in Boise. #14 Boise State beat #16 Oregon 19-8 in a sloppy game, but that wasn't the big story. After the game was over and the teams were walking off the field, Boise State defensive end Bryan Hout ran over to Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount and rapped him on the shoulder, said some taunting words, and turned to start laughing with his teammates. Blount, who was already upset over a poor performance and loss, reacted by whipping around and punching Hout in the face (By the way, it was a great punch. Sadly, most punches thrown in the heat of a sports fight miss and the whole fight becomes uneventful as a result. Now there was no all-out brawl in this case, but the situation was so much more entertaining because Blount landed a solid punch squarely on the guy's face. In all my days of watching sports, this was the second most satisfying punch I've seen, in a non-hockey game of course, behind only Jermaine O'Neal's fantastic sliding punch right to the face of a Pistons fan in the Malace at the Palace). Blount apologized profusely after the game for his actions, but the University of Oregon stepped in and suspended Blount the next day for the rest of his senior season. At first I was totally against this sentence. I mean, what he did wasn't so bad. Then later I saw the video of what happened afterward when he tried rushing the fans and had to be held back by teammates and coaches. It was an ugly, ugly scene and I could then understand that the team would want to make a statement about not tolerating such behavior, and while I'm okay with the year-long ban I still don't think it's the correct punishment. When you look at the whole situation, it's honestly not that terrible. Obviously, he should have kept his cool and not retaliated with violence, but he was provoked after all. Hout had no business seeking him out and intentionally taunting him like that. You've got to expect some retaliation, and in the heat of the moment, after a very discouraging loss, Blount cracked and just hauled off and punched him. Even Hout's head coach admitted the next day that Hout had it coming to him. Punches are no stranger to sports. Hout wasn't seriously injured, and while it does deserve a penalty, I don't think it should be for the whole season. Blount was rated by ESPN to be the 2nd best running back prospect entering next year's NFL draft. With him being out for the whole season, he won't be allowed to let potential employers see that he's not so hot-headed in addition to his football skills. This is his senior season that Oregon is making him forego and it will cost him millions of dollars and possibly a career. After all, he only punches someone who goaded him into doing so. Is that worth someone's livelihood? I don't think so. And what makes the situation even more unfair is that Hout faces no consequences at all. The entire incident was his fault. If he didn't run over to Blount specifically to taunt him, Blount never goes on his rampage. It's not right that Blount gets kicked off his team for retaliating and nothing happens to Hout, who instigated it all in the first place. If it were up to me, I'd suspend Hout for at least 2 games for starting this mess, and I'd suspend Blount indefinitely. I don't think you can put a finite number of games on what he did. I would suspend him indefinitely, but I'd have no problem re-instating him if he can prove to his coaching staff that he has learned from his mistake, if he works hard, practices hard, keeps up with his classes, and represents the university in the manner he's supposed to. It could take 4 games, it could take 10, maybe he doesn't get his act together and he does sit out the whole year, but I think he deserves a shot to show people he's learned from his unfortunate explosion and help his football career reach the next level, and leaving the door for a return open adds some incentive for him to work hard and change people's opinion about him. It's not like he seriously harmed anyone. He was just provoked into a retaliatory punch that Hout deserved. Of course he deserves to be punished, but not necessarily this much.

Biggest Winners
1. The BCS Busters
Score one for the little people! The debate for good teams from non-BCS conferences to get a shot at playing for a national championship was strengthened over the weekend after Boise (from the WAC) beat Oregon (from the PAC-10), and the big shocker came when #20 BYU (from the almighty Mountain West) knocked off defending Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and #3 Oklahoma (from the Big 12), leaping to #9 in this week's poll. Last season the only undefeated team in the nation was Utah (from the almighty Mountain West), but they didn't get to play for the national championship because they weren't supposed to be good enough to compete with teams from BCS conferences. Then the Utes went out and dusted Alabama (from the SEC, supposedly the most powerful conference in the nation) in the Sugar Bowl. Five years before Utah had another perfect season and BCS bowl win, and in 2005 Boise State accomplished that feat. With these teams now playing tougher schedules in the regular season they are proving they belong and have a terrific case to be allowed to compete for a national title. One of these two big winners, or even other Mountain West powerhouses Utah or TCU have a chance to crash the BCS party this year.

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The University of Football in America has fallen off the pedastal over the last two decades. The program has lost its luster on the national stage and everyone is sick and tired of the Notre Dame alums wistfully reminiscing about the good ol' days. Head coach Charlie Weis is on the hot seat this season after another subpar year in 2008. Last week a billboard near campus sarcastically wished Weis luck in the fifth year of his coaching internship. Internship. Gotta love the taste. The Fighting Irish quieted the detractors for one week at least as they shut out Nevada at home 35-0. It was their first shutout win since 2002. Even though it came at home against a mediocre school, it was nonetheless a good sign that they dominated the way they were supposed to. They could make more noise this weekend as they sport a #18 ranking heading in to the Big House to take on Michigan.

3. Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Cowboys played their most meaningful home opener in school history when they hosted SEC mainstay Georgia, the 13th ranked team in the country. The Cowboys rode roughshod over the Bulldogs 24-10. OK State was supposed to win shootouts with a high scoring offense, so it was great for them to win a game with their defense for a change. In addition to their big win, their in-state rival Oklahoma was upset, vaulting State up to #5 in the rankings. Also if Bradford misses any significant length of time, which looks highly likely, the Cowboys would have a great chance to battle Texas for the Big 12 crown and a berth in the national championship game.

Biggest Losers
1. Oklahoma Sooners
The Sooners came in to the 2009 season with sky-high expectations after an incredible run to the national title game last year. Heisman winner Sam Bradford returned for his senior season to lead the most prolific offense in the nation. But everything fell apart shortly after kicking off the year at Texas Stadium in Dallas. Bradford went down with a shoulder injury and the Sooners lost to BYU 14-13. Now Bradford is reported to forego surgery and rehab for 2-4 weeks to try and return to save the Sooners' season. Even worse for Oklahoma is the news that they lost the best tight end in the country Jermaine Gresham for the enitre year. And now they fall behind both Texas and Oklahoma State in the Big 12 South. It doesn't get much worse than this for the first weekend of the season.

2. Big Ten
The Big Ten conference has been trying to restore their reputation as one of the most powerful conferences in the nation. Michigan and Penn State have fallen from grace in recent years, leaving Ohio State alone to carry the conference mantle. And they haven't done a very good job recently. They played in back-to-back national championship games and got blown out by SEC opponents Florida and LSU respectively. Then last year they took a trip to Los Angeles to take on USC and got their brains beaten in 35-3. The Big Ten didn't do much to dispel their recent trend of not playing up to snuff. No. 6 Ohio State barely survived at home against Navy 31-27. Navy actually had a chance to tie the game late in the 4th quarter. Any time a top 6 team has trouble beating an armed forces school, chances are it'll be a long season. With #3 USC visiting Columbus this weekend, there's sure to be some trouble. No. 22 Iowa scheduled a cupcake opener against lowly Northern Iowa, but they sweat it out all the way to the end, and had to block 2 field goals in the final 5 seconds to win the game 17-16 at home. Minnesota traveled east to meet Syracuse, whose starting quarterback was busy playing basketball at Duke for the last 4 years and hadn't played a meaningful football game in 5 years, and lucked into a 23-20 win in overtime. Illiinois, who is just 2 years removed from a Rose Bowl berth (where they got stomped on by USC), got trounced by Missouri 37-9. All in all, it was not a good weekend for the Big Ten, with heavy favorites barely pulling out victories and a bad loss against the one decent opponent (who was still unranked). The conference can have even more credibility stripped this weekend if Ohio State and Michigan can't keep it close at home against USC and Notre Dame respectively.

3. ACC
It was just 10 years ago that two current ACC teams, Virginia Tech and Florida State (Va Tech was in the Big East at the time) were playing each other in the national championship game. Since then the conference has become an afterthought, as those two schools as well as former powerhouse Miami have fallen hard and fast. Despite sending a ton of talent on to the NFL, no ACC football program has garnered national attention in recent years. Upstart teams have come out of the woodwork to snag conference titles and preseason hopefuls have their dream seasons wrecked early and often. This past weekend was supposed to be the ACC's coming out party, with a slate of big non-conference games. However, after these performances, the conference remains mired in mediocrity. Only 2 FBS (formerly known as Division 1-A) teams lost to FCS (formerly known as Division 1-AA) teams in the opening weekend. Both of those teams call the ACC home. Virginia lost at home to William & Mary 26-14 and Duke fell prey to Richmond for the second straight time at home 24-16. Wake Forest, who was the surprise conference champion from 2 seasons ago hosted unranked Big 12 opponent Baylor, a team that has consistently finished last in the Big 12 South in recent years, and lost 24-21. NC State kicked off the weekend with a nationally televised home game against unranked South Carolina and only managed to put 3 points on the board in a loss. Maryland looked to make a statement travelling out to west to play #12 Cal at Berkeley and got unceremoniously hammered 52-13. And finally, in the marquee matchup of the weekend, #7 Virginia Tech took on #5 Alabama in primetime on Saturday night. They couldn't get it done though, losing 34-24 in Atlanta. The ACC was a major flop in week 1 of the season, only adding fuel to the fire of teams in the Mountain West and WAC who believe they're more deserving of BCS bowl bids than some major conference champions.

Game of the Week
One game in which the ACC didn't get embarrassed (Because both teams are ACC schools) was the usual opening weekend tilt between former heavyweights Florida State and Miami. The 18th ranked Seminoles were hosting the Hurricanes in an instant classic that went down to the wire. The bitter rivals traded the lead over and over with numerous 4th quarter scores. With Miami leading 38-34, Florida State drove the ball down the field and had it 1st and Goal from the Hurricane 2 yard line with under 15 seconds left to play. The Seminoles had three plays to punch it in, but couldn't do it and the final pass was dropped in the end zone as time expired and Miami prevailed with a big conference road win and a fresh #20 ranking in this week's polls.

Heisman Watch
Here are some guys who got their Heisman campaigns started with big time opening weekend performances:
Jahvid Best (RB, Cal)-- 10 carries, 137 yards, 2 TD
Dez Bryant (WR, OK State)-- 3 receptions, 77 yards, 2 TD
Joe McKnight (RB, USC)-- 14 carries, 145 yards, 2 TD
Darryll Clark (QB, Penn State)-- 29-40, 353 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
Jimmy Clausen (QB, Notre Dame)-- 15-18, 315 yards, 4 TD

Week 2 Preview
Thoughts on some of the key matchups this weekend:

No. 3 USC at No. 8 Ohio State- The Trojans are starting a true freshman at quarterback for the first time in their storied history. That might come into play against a repectable Buckeyes squad, but with all the depth and talent USC has, not to mention a huge discrepancy between the quality of these two teams, it really shouldn't matter. Don't expect a repeat of last year's 35-3 beatdown at the Colisseum, but I'd be surprised if USC didn't win this game easily.

No. 18 Notre Dame at Michigan- It's the classic tale of two once mighty teams trying to re-establish themselves. These two teams are 1st and 2nd in wins in college football history. Neither one has had much recent success and this big rivalry has faded a bit on the national scene. With both these coaches under fire this season, this will be the first of many games that could determine whether they are still employed at these schools next year.

UCLA at Tennessee- Another case of two teams trying to get their program back on the map nationally, but neither school was ever as prominent as the two mentioned above. UCLA is trying to prove that L.A. is big enough for two great college football teams, and Tennessee wants to reclaim their glory from just over a decade ago when they were national champions. Volunteers coach Lane Kiffin spent the entire offseason touting his program to whoever would listen, and this is his first chance to show that Tennessee is back for real.