2009: Week 1

Hey All,

College football is back! From Bangor to Honolulu and all points in between, schools great and small met on the gridirons of America with pride, glory, and honor on the line. It was fun to watch and cool to write about. Here's the first blog of the season. (We miss you, Alan Malamud.)

Summaries

USC 56- San Jose State 3: It took about a quarter for USC to get it together on both sides of the ball. Then they smashed San Jose State in the 95 degree heat at the Coliseum. A 28-point second quarter was highlighted by a strong 43-yard TD jaunt by Alan Bradford and a pair of short TD bursts by Stafon Johnson. Oh, by the way, the true freshman QB looked pretty good too. Matt Barkley completed 19 of 23 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon. The Trojan defense with basically nine new starters also played well. They forced 12 Spartan punts in the contest.
Telling Stat: SJSU finished the game with one more rushing yard (9), than they had first downs (8).

Stanford 39- Washington St. 13: Stanford's one-two combination of TB Toby Gerhart and WR Chris Owusu were just too much for the Cougars to handle up in Pullman. Gerhart had a big day as he ran 23 times for 123 yards, a pair of TDs and a two-point conversion. Meanwhile, Owusu hauled in three passes for 86 yards and a TD. The TD came on a 63-yard strike from RS freshman QB Andrew Luck. Owusu also shined in special teams when he followed a long Cougar TD drive with an 85-yard kickoff return for a TD that took the air out of the Martin Stadium crowd. SU's defense bent, but didn't break. They gave up some yards, but held the Cougar offense in check all afternoon.
Telling Stat: They couldn't stop the run. Stanford rushed the ball 42 times for 288 yards on the Cougars. That's a cool 6.9 yards per carry.

Boise State 19- Oregon 8: Yes, LeGarrette Blount threw quite a punch, but the biggest blows in this game were delivered by the Boise State defense. The Bronco defense completely shut down Oregon's vaunted spread option attack. UO didn't even register a first down in this game until the 7:10 mark of the third quarter. The Bronco defensive line physically beat down the Duck o-line. UO finished the game with a paltry 152 total yards, only 31 of which came on the ground. As for the Bronco offense, if they hadn't made a couple of early mistakes, they could have won this game by at least 30 points. Then, throw in Blount's antics and this has to go down as one of the most embarrassing performances in Oregon history.
Telling Stat: Boise State held the ball for 42:32. Yes, 42:32! Enough said.

Arizona 19- Central Michigan 6: Many games promise fireworks, but how about lightning? Kickoff in this game was delayed 43 minutes due to lightning in Tucson. When it did start, the Wildcats ground out a victory with their defense leading the way. UofA held the Chippewa offense in check all night, allowing only 182 total yards. In fact, the Wildcats didn't give up a first down until late in the second quarter. As for the Arizona offense, they struggled as well. QB Matt Scott threw for only 202 yards, but his 83 yards rushing kept the offense on the field. When those drives did stall, PK Alex Zendejas connected on four field goals. Throw in 118 yards rushing and a TD from TB Nic Grigsby and UofA walked away with a win that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.
Telling Stat: Alex Zendejas' four field goals tied a UofA record held a by couple of other kickers, including his uncle, Max Zendejas.

Oregon State 34- Portland State 7: Simple story here, folks. The Rodgers brothers showed they are back for 2009. Jacquizz Rodgers ran 16 times for 103 yards and 3 TDs, while big brother James hauled in two passes for 95 yards and a TD in the Beavers beat down of the Vikings, in Corvalis. The Beavers ran out to a 31-0 lead early in the third quarter. Then, the Beavers cruised the rest of the way for the easy win.
Telling Stat: They moved the chains. OSU converted on 8 of 14 third downs in the game.

Arizona State 50- Idaho State 3: This one was not as close as the score indicates. The ASU defense held ISU to 37 total yards, four first downs, and forced five turnovers in this laugher at Sun Devil Stadium. LB Mike Nixon was the big hero for the Sun Devils with three interceptions on the night. He brought one of those back 34 yards for a TD. he also blocked a punt to aid the Sun Devils' cause. ASU PK Thomas Weber connected on five field goals, one shy of the Pac 10 record. He missed a 27-yarder in the first half.
Telling Stat: None of ASU's six field goal attempts were longer than 29 yards. That means they had six drives stall in the Red Zone versus one of the worst defenses in the Big Sky Conference.

California 52- Maryland 13: The Golden Bears avenged last season's loss to the Terrapins in style last Saturday night in Berkeley. QB Kevin Riley torched the Maryland secondary. Riley connected on 17 of 26 passes for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns, while RB Jahvid Best gained 137 yards on 10 carries for a pair of touchdowns in the blowout. CAL also got time zone revenge from last year's game too. Last year, when CAL visited Maryland, the Terps set the game time for 12:00 PM. That's a 9:00 AM start on California time. The Golden Bears came out sluggish and by the time they woke up, the game was lost. This year in Berkeley, CAL set the game time for 7:00 PM pacific, which is 10:00 PM eastern. Maryland looked a little tired in this one.
Telling Stat: They spread it around. 16 different players ran the ball or caught passes for CAL in this rout.

UCLA 33-San Diego State 14: The bRuins dug themselves out of a 14-3 hole to take down the Aztecs at the Rose Bowl. UCLA's defense gave up 161 yards in the first 12 minutes, then rallied to hold SDSU to 5 first downs and 116 yards for the final 48 minutes of the game. UCLA QB Kevin Prince had a decent first game for the bRuins. He threw for 176 yards and a touchdown in the winning effort.
Telling Stat: They shut 'em down. After giving up two quick touchdowns, UCLA's defense forced 8 punts, 3 turnovers, and blocked a field goal in SDSU's last 12 possessions of the game.

LSU 31- Washington 23: The Huskies came out and gave LSU all they could handle before going down to their 15th straight defeat. New Husky HC Steve Sarkisian had his kids ready to play and they trailed only 17-13 at the half. Then LSU's depth and talent took over. LSU QB Jordan Jefferson threw for 172 yards, 3 touchdowns and ran for 42 more in the winning effort. The Huskies fought to the end, scoring a final TD as time ran out, but it wasn't enough.
Telling Stat: Washington held the ball for nearly 37 minutes, and out gained LSU by nearly 150 yards, yet lost.

Observations

...Oregon HC Chip Kelly is now a holder of a dubious NCAA speed record. He went from being a great hire to the coaching hotseat at Oregon in just a little over three hours.

...After watching the way Baylor took it to Wake Forest last week, It looks like the Bears are going to ruin someone's season in the Big XII.

...Minnesota came away with a 23-20 OT victory over Syracuse Saturday. I don't know which of my feelings here is stronger. Am I'm more impressed with QB Greg Paulus almost coming away with a win for the Orangemen after not playing football for almost five years or am I more disappointed that Minnesota had to go to OT to beat a team that had a QB who hadn't thrown a pass in a real game in almost five years? Hmmmmm...

...Stanford TB Toby Gerhart is the most underrated running back in the Pac 10. The kid runs like a bull. He's tough and never goes down after the first hit. He's a lot of fun to watch.

...Oklahoma lost QB Sam Bradford with a shoulder injury in their 14-13 loss to BYU, but don't worry Sooner fans! The media will belittle BYU's win and shoot the Sooners back up the polls so that their game with Texas will be as hyped as ever.

...Why is Notre Dame being mentioned in the BCS title discussion after beating a WAC team? Boise State does it eight times a year and nobody says a word.

...I know Oregon embarrassed the Pac 10 last Thursday, but two of the three FBS schools that lost to FCS schools on Saturday play in the ACC. Virginia lost 26-14 to William and Mary and Duke lost 24-16 to Richmond. Now that's embarrassing.

...Washington came out and played with fire, passion, and heart in their game with LSU. Those three things were sorely lacking in Seattle the last few seasons.

...I don't think Oregon's LeGarrette Blount will ever realize just how much he lost when threw that punch last week. I also think the Boise State kid who taunted him should've have a gotten at least a one-game suspension for instigating the situation. He at least deserves a suspension for being stupid enough to taunt a guy without his helmet on.

...The Miami-Florida State game was by far the best game of the weekend. It delivered all the action and thrills that were missing from the Oregon-Boise State game.

...After getting crushed 56-3 by USC, life won't get any better for San Jose State. The Spartans will host Utah this week. That makes San Jose State the only school in the nation to play two teams that won a BCS bowl last season.

Until next week folks, keep your head on a swivel and your pad level low.
-The Commissioner