After Week 1!

Week 1 is over and I enjoyed as much as I possibly could.  Five straight days with at least one college football game on television and there was even a game on at 8am on Saturday!  The thing to remember about the games in Week 1 is not to get too high or too low about what you saw from your favorite team.  It’s easy to think your team is terrible or terrific after the first week, but one game just really isn’t enough to make that kind of judgment.  I know I saw some great signs from some teams and some troubling signs from others, but if I were a voter in a poll, I wouldn’t have enough information to rank teams yet.  It’s too small of a sample size and it’s impossible to tell the true strength of opposition.  This weekend saw a couple of upsets, several blowouts, and some games that were far closer than anyone could or should have expected -- that’s the beauty of this game.  What a great weekend! (Oh, and I was 5 for 5 on my picks!)

1.  The new helmet rule needs to be changed or eliminated.   One of the four new rules implemented this season requires a few things to happen if a player’s helmet comes off during play.  First, it requires that the player does not continue to participate in the play; if the player does continue to participate is punishable by an “unsportsmanlike conduct” penalty.  Secondly, it requires that the player who lost his helmet leave the field for the next play (presumably to give the team time to check him out for symptoms of a concussion or to fix equipment issues).  I have no issue with the intent of this rule because I believe safety was the motive behind it especially given the intense focus on concussions of late.  However, I don’t think it can stay as is because of the potentially critical impact it could have on the game.  Over the weekend I saw several key players have to miss plays because of this rule and one, Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, for example had to leave the field 3 times in a 6-play span.  I’m not saying it happened any this weekend, but what is going to stop a defender from intentionally trying to pull the helmet of a key player late in an important game this season?  In Week 1 so few of the games mean something (outside of the fact that often times one loss can strongly hurt a team’s chances at a national title), so there was little chance of something like that happening or of referees looking for it.  Additionally, it was a new rule for everyone so loopholes probably hadn’t been considered yet.  I think the first part of the rule should stay as it is (although perhaps they should reconsider the penalty name).  I think they either need to get rid of the second part of the rule, or add a third part that would discourage defenders from trying to rip it off.  Note:  A player does not have to leave the field if the helmet came off as a result of a foul (e.g. face mask, holding, etc.).

2.  Record for passing yards in a single game broken!  Sam Durley of Division III Eureka College in Illinois threw for 736 yards in his team’s 62-55 win over Knox College.  The previous record was 731 yards and was set in 2000 also by a Division III quarterback, Zamir Amin (Menlo College in California).  If you’re thinking that this was a case in which Durley was just throwing it video game style to go for the record books, you’d be wrong.  His team was losing in the fourth quarter, scored 17 unanswered points, and he broke the record on a 13-yard touchdown pass with a mere twenty seconds to go in the game!  If you’re wondering who holds the FBS record for most passing yards in a game, it’s Houston’s David Klingler, who threw for 716 yards against Arizona State in 1990 (that same year, he also set the FBS record for most touchdown passes in a game with 11 against Eastern Washington).  I’m sure Mr. Durley will say that the win meant more than the record, and being someone who hates to lose, I believe some of that. However, being a quarterback at a Division III school doesn’t avail one the opportunity to get in the record books, or the spotlight, too often.  Congratulations to Sam Durley.

3.  A resignation after Week 1?  Houston’s offensive coordinator, Mike Nesbitt, resigned Sunday after the Cougars lost to Texas State 30-13.  I understand the high expectations of the program after coming so close to a conference championship last season and then winning a bowl game, but I think this was a bit of an overreaction.  Houston’s head coach from last year, Kevin Sumlin, left for Texas A&M and their gunslinging 6th-year senior quarterback, Case Keenum, is currently trying to catch on with an NFL team.  I don’t know if this is a case of Nesbitt being disappointed in himself for leading his offense to a putrid 13-point performance against the Bobcats of Texas State or of him being forced to resign because of it.  Either way, I think it was an overreaction unless he did something else that would justify them letting him go.  Granted, Houston never led in the game and it was at home.  However, it wasn’t a conference game so I just don’t see the need for him to resign or for him to be pushed out so soon.  This was head coach Tony Levine’s second game at Houston (he coached their bowl game victory over Penn State last season after Sumlin’s departure), but I think if he has staff members that are leaving after one poor game, it can’t be a good sign.  First-year head coach, Paul Chryst, of Pittsburgh just lost his first game, against an FCS team (Youngstown State), and I didn’t hear of any staff eliminations as a result.  Houston has a tough matchup against a prolific offense next week when they play Louisiana Tech .. let’s see if the rest of the staff survives.

4.  This story did not get nearly enough coverage.   I know too many people who watched football this weekend who heard nothing about Isaac Grubbs.  Grubbs was a 20-year-old Tennessee fan who died during the Tennessee/North Carolina State game on Friday night.  He fell from the upper deck in the Georgia Dome and landed in the Mezzanine onto another fan and died on the way to the hospital.  Witness accounts say they saw Grubbs celebrating a Tennessee touchdown and then suddenly was gone over the side.  I haven’t been able to find any details on the person on whom he landed, but it is said that the person was treated and released from the hospital.  It’s unknown whether or not Grubbs was intoxicated at the time of the incident and it doesn’t really matter to me either way.  I don’t know Mr. Grubbs, and I’m not mentioning this story as a plea for the Georgia Dome to raise the height of railings or to erect a statue of him as the Texas Rangers did in reaction to a fan’s death last year (my piece on that incident here).  I do know that this was just a kid and it was probably his first live game watching his beloved Volunteers in a legendary sports arena.  I can certainly envision someone in his circumstance getting overwhelmed by the moment.  I don’t understand why it went nearly unmentioned.  I watched the Auburn/Clemson game the next night (also played in the Georgia Dome) and, maybe I missed it, but I didn’t hear one mention of it.  A death from a fall in the same building the night before, and no one mentions it?  I’m a bit surprised by it.  Dear Grubbs family, I realize it’s little to no consolation but your Volunteers won 35-21.  Rest In Peace, Isaac Grubbs.

5.  A few quick thoughts from some of the games I watched.  For the sake of South Carolina fans, I hope quarterback Connor Shaw’s shoulder recovers because their offense was stagnant without him (and wasn’t all that explosive with him in there).  The pass interference “no-call” on the Vandy receiver late in the game that everyone is so upset about, I don’t think is that terrible.  If you look at it real speed (not a slow motion replay), it looks like an easy call to miss. Remember, pass interference is not a reviewable play.  I thought Tennesee losing receiver Da’rick Rogers would lead to double teams on Justin Hunter and therefore hurt the passing game, but transfer Cordarelle Patterson took his place very nicely (165 yards rushing and receiving and 2 TDs), at least in Week 1.  Watch out for Tyler Bray, folks.  Notre Dame, despite winning 50-10 against Navy, didn’t impress me.  The commentators (Gary Danielson was horrible) were praising the offensive line play, but the size differential versus the Navy defensive line was laughable.  The Fighting Irish aren’t relevant just yet even though the media desperately wants them to be.  My Buckeyes started off slow against Miami (OH) but finished strong, but I can’t get too excited about a victory over a team that won a mere 4 games last season especially after learning that TOSU hasn’t lost to a team from Ohio since 1921 (there are 6 other teams in the FBS in Ohio!).  Dear Will Muschamp, you’re going to have to throw the ball sooner or later, sir.  Your Gators really struggled against Bowling Green (coincidentally, one of the 6 other teams in Ohio).  Let Jeff Driskell throw the ball!  Michigan could not have had a more conservative offensive gameplan against a traditionally strong defense and it just didn’t add up to me.  Denard Robinson had 2 rushing attempts in the first half; the first of which wasn’t until their fourth possession and the end of the first quarter, and the second of which was a touchdown run.  Would it have changed the outcome to be more aggressive with your best offensive player?  I don’t know, but it’s like Hoke didn’t even try to challenge Saban’s defense.  I was very impressed with Alabama’s offensive line play and I can’t wait to see it line up LSU’s huge and agile defensive line -- battle in the trenches.  I’d like to ask Georgia Tech’s quarterback Tevin Washington what he was thinking when he threw the ball up for grabs while being tackled on 3rd and 9 on the opening possession of overtime Monday night.  Take the sack and take the points, Tevin!