College Football Week 1

It started out as a dud on Thursday. South Carolina's 7-3 win over N.C. State was highlighted by Erin Andrews' return to TV. The Oregon/Boise St. game was suppose to give us fireworks on the field and not after the game.

LeGarrette Blount's sucker punch heard round the world was probably the biggest story of Week 1. Not only did Oregon lose the game, their season is probably lost. The Ducks came in with high expectations and were considered to contend for the Pac 10. Blount played a key role as the starting RB in Oregon's offense. New coach Chip Kelly now faces an uphill battle as it looks to be a long season in Eugene.

Not only did Blount lose his senior season, but he also will lose a lot of money as his draft status is sure to fall.

But Week 1 gave us 1 one huge upset, some close calls and ended with a bang in Tallahassee as the Miami/Florida St. instant classic was reminiscent of the rivalry's past.

The biggest upset-BYU's stunning 14-13 victory over Oklahoma. Yeah, Sam Bradford left the game in the first half, but still the Sooners had much more talent on the field than BYU. Oklahoma committed 12 penalties and they failed to punch the ball in the end zone when they had 3 and goal at the one. On BYU's winning drive, Oklahoma's defense allowed the Cougars to move the chains on two third and longs and a fourth and 4.

Recently, "Big Game" Bob Stoops hasn't lived up to his name. The Sooners lost their opening game at home to TCU in 2005 so you really have to question Stoops' preparation. Now, the Sooners are no longer the best team in Oklahoma. Okie St. is now ranked 5. Wow!

Do you think Sam Bradford wishes he went pro early. There's another guy who'll lose money. I guess the moral of the story is: Leave school early while you're ahead.

Notre Dame and Michigan both won convincingly. So now everyone thinks both programs are back. These two powerhouses went a combined 10-15 last year, so it was huge for them to win their opening game against cupcakes. The Victors and the Irish face off this weekend, so one of them will be 2-0. Notre Dame's schedule is so easy that 9 wins is a gimme. And Michigan plays in a horrible conference, so anything's possible.

Which leads me to the Big 10.

We remember the Big 10 went 1-6 in bowl games last year. They opened Week 1 going 10-1. Wow! They must be back. Hold on Beano Cook! Ohio St. almost pulled a 2007 Michigan as the Buckeyes narrowly escaped Navy. The Buckeyes almost lost in the HorseShoe to a service academy!

Iowa looked good blocking back to back field goal attempts to seal the deal against...Northern Iowa!

Minnesota needed overtime to escape the treacherous wrath of the Syracuse Orange. Syracuse! A team that went 3-9 last year. A team that was starting a QB who hadn't taken a snap for five years, and that was in high school.

Northern Illinois gave Wisconsin all the Badgers could handle but Wisconsin held off the Huskies at home with a 28-20 win.

The Big 10's lone loss? How about the 37-9 shellacking against Mizzou. Yes, the Mizzou team that lost their two best players.

The Big 10 is the 5th best conference in college football, and they're barely ahead of the Big East. Barely.

Of course the SEC, Big 12, Pac 10 are clearly better than the Big 10. But now the ACC and Mountain West have gained supremacy rights over the horrid Big 10. The Mountain West! Yes. I'm afraid so. You could throw Ohio St. and Penn St in the Mountain West and they'd each lose 2 conference games. I can't wait for Big 10 conference play. Let's just say that the winner of the Penn St./Ohio St. game will go to a BCS game and get slaughtered again.

USC's 56-3 rout over San Jose St. was impressive considering the Trojans were starting a true freshmen in Matt Barkley. The Trojans also fumbled the ball twice in the first quarter. San Jose St. led 3-0 after one quarter.

A week ago, I would have said Ohio St. would finally win a big out of conference game with USC coming to Columbus. But after watching both teams' performance in Week 1, I'll take USC giving a touchdown.