Week 1 In Review

NoooOklahoma…


The worst fear in the Sooner State was realized Saturday in Cowboy Stadium (I can’t help but think that playing in Texas after last year’s controversy with the Longhorns may have been a mistake) when Sam Bradford, reigning Heisman Trophy winner, was injured in the second quarter and could be lost for a month (or my guess is more). Oklahoma was not having it easy with Bradford, and BYU scored with 3 minutes left to take the lead and possibly start a very special season in Provo. As I said prior to the game, if BYU runs the table, including this win, a win at FSU and conference games vs. Utah and TCU, they deserve a shot at the National Title over any one-loss BCS conference team. That is a long way off, but I have heard plenty of “experts” give them no shot at that possibility. That is wrong. Period. They scheduled tough and the MWC is probably better than the Big East, and last year they had a winning record vs. the Pac 10. So please don’t listen to Lou Holtz and the talking idiots on the East Coast, they root for their employer, not good football.

 
Blue Turf not for Blount…


The Thursday night game of the week turned ugly, even if you take out the Punch heard round the world. Boise dominated the Ducks early and often, holding them to ZERO first downs by halftime. But Boise themselves looked lost on offense, squandering opportunities in the Red Zone and almost letting Oregon back in the game in the 2nd half. The final 19-8 shows both these high powered offenses have a ways to go and Chip Kelly, new head coach at Oregon needs to figure things out in a hurry. And on a final note, Boise coach Chris Peterson, who with each big win gets the attention of Athletic Directors around the country, gets knocked down a peg in my book by not disciplining the instigator of the ugly scene, Byron Hout. There is no place in sports for the deliberate taunting that was evident in the run up to Blount’s straight right jab and he should be sitting out this Saturday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVDCoNnVbr4
 
 
AtlantaBama…


Alabama is getting awfully comfortable opening the season against ACC teams in Atlanta. With the win over VA Tech and last year’s destruction of a favored Clemson in the same building, Nick Saban and company showed they will be a force once again. New QB Greg McElroy looked good and the Tide outgained the Hokies 498-155, a dominant performance that was made closer on the scoreboard by a kickoff return for TD by Tech.

 
T. Boone Pickens meet Jerry Jones…


Is it any coincidence that on the same day of the biggest win for Oklahoma St in a long time, that Oklahoma would be upset and lose their star QB, while playing in Jerry Jones’ Palace in Dallas. I would have loved to hear a phone call between the two. Maybe T Boone would have been so happy he would have given away some wind turbines to power that behemoth of a stadium that Jerry built.

Oklahoma St though won this game behind a tough defense and some timely penalties, one negating a punt return TD by UGA and the other a horrible personal foul call on a clean hit by a UGA safety that led to the winning TD (see clip below). The referees are starting to turn CFB into 2 hand touch, with their "emphasis" on certain hard hits. But OK St did show off their weapons against a solid Defense and should have a lot of confidence moving forward. Dez Bryant may be the best WR in the country and he showed it with the catch seen in the highlight below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoX3uMsteR8&feature=related
 
 
Tears in Talahassee…


As predicted in Saturday Lox, Miami pulled the upset over the Seminoles in the Game of the Week. A game that brought back memories of classic games in this rivalry, Miami was led by sophomore Jacory Harris, who showed he is capable of being a top QB in the nation. After throwing a Pick Six to give FSU the 7 point lead in the 4th qtr, Harris led a brilliant drive with four 3rd down conversions that led to the tying TD. After a field goal by FSU, Harris scored the game winner on a fade pass to Graig Cooper, who had a tremendous game catching, running and returning kicks. FSU then led a furious drive to the Miami 5 with 19 seconds left. From there, they called 6 plays (Bobby Bowden owes the clock official a raise, he did everything in his power to give them a chance), a third down pass interference gave them the extra chances, but could not punch it in, the final pass falling through the hands of a FSU WR. Truly one of the most exciting finishes for this rivalry or any other, especially considering a field goal was not the decisive play. Although clock management and turnovers played a key role, meaning it was not necessarily well played throughout, both teams played inspired and both teams seem ready to take back the ACC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYX5fggOiSc
 
 
The Big 10…or not…


The first Saturday of football was not good for the Big 10, but it could have been a lot worse. Ohio St needed to stop a 2 pt conversion late 4th qtr to hold off the Midshipmen. Iowa needed two blocked field goals in the final seconds to beat Northern Iowa and Minnesota needed a Greg Paulus turnover, I mean interception (I got used to saying Greg Paulus and turnover in the same sentence after four years of being the Duke PG) in OT to pull out the win over Syracuse. And Wisconsin held off a late rally by Northern Illinois. Cue a Big 10 sigh of relief. Michigan looked good behind Rich Rodriguez and his new QB’s and Purdue looked sharp with a new coach, but the worst showing of the week was my surprise team, Illinois. Ron Zook and company never recovered from losing star WR Arrelious Benn on the first drive and Missouri put the knockout punch early to the Illini, winning 37-9. The Big 10 had a bad week, but with an Ohio St win this week could make everyone forget about the close calls.

Saturday Lox Week 1 in Review

Premium Lox

Week 1: 2-3

Overall: 2-3

Winners:

Texas A&M (-15): 41-6

Miami (+6): 38-34 winner.

Losers:

Illinois (-7): 37-9 loser, playing without injured star WR the Illini offense did nothing, while Mizzou looked as good as ever without their graduated QB, WR and TE. Gary Pinkel showed a lot for his program.

UTEP (-9): 23-17 loser

Georgia (+6): 24-10 loser



Regular Lox

Week 1: 2-2

Overall: 2-2

Winners:

Navy (+23): 27-31, almost pulled the upset with two 4th qtr TD drives.

Washington (+19): 23-31, outgained LSU by over 150 yards, but could not put enough points on the board. Great opening game for the Huskies, nobody wants to go to Seattle after this game, USC visits in two weeks.

Losers:

Troy St (-7): 14-31 loser. Why am I betting on the Sun Belt Conference. Enough Said.

Colorado (-10): 17-23 loser. Boulder may be a beautiful place as I saw first hand, but betting on the Buffaloes is apparently not as pretty.



Upset Specials

Week 1: 1-1 (outright upsets)

Overall: 1-1 (outright upsets)

Baylor went into Winston Salem and beat Wake Forest to open the season, while Ohio could not get enough offense to upset UConn, although they made it close. Also Miami was an outright upset winner, which I gave you, but which is counted in the Lox above.

A bad week 1 was forgiven by the Miami win on Monday night. Going with a big money line bet (+200, double your money) here could have put us up or at least even for the week.