2015-09-08 07:23

Autsch, that did hurt for some teams this weekend.

Imagine you are leading the game and a last Hail Mary with 50+ yards does take the win away from you.
Happened to Nebraska, when they lost against BYU.

Imagine you did fight and got your team in FG range to win the game and the 47 yarder to win the game is blocked.
Did happen to Central Florida against Florida International.

Imagine you are a SEC team and you fall to a CUSA as 1st SEC team since 2010, because of a missed 2-point-conversion.
Happened to Vanderbilt, as they lost to Western Kentucky.

Image you are the most talked coach of the season, hired as savior for the team and you lose your first game.
Happened to Harbaugh as Michigan lost to Utah.

And many more.
A wild weekend.

I did mention some upsets by FCS teams against FBS teams in my preview and this weekend was also a very rich one for FCS-upsets and upsets in general. Here the FCS-upsets:

Fordham did win against Army. 37-35.
Not a big upset, since Army is probably a quite weak team, but Fordham is also not the favorite to win the FCS, so, big upset for them at least.
Army did try to launch a comeback, but their last drive was stopped around mid-field and Fordham was able to run the time out.

South Dakota State did win against Kansas. 41-38.
Granted, Kansas is also not a winner team at the moment, but they are still a BIG12 team.
The Jackrabbits did trail at the half, but came back, went ahead and were able to stop all comeback tries by Kansas.

Portland State did win against Washington State. 24-17.
That's awesome, since the Washington State could become a player in the PAC12 this season.
Wazzu did lead at the half, but Portland State did turn the game around and was able to intercept the Cougars mid-field on their last drive.

North Dakota did beat Wyoming. 24-13.
Also not a big signature win, but still a huge win for North Dakota.
The best thing for them was, they held the Cowboys scoreless for 3 quarters.

Let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 1

Fri. Sept. 4 - 10:15 pm ET
Washington @ #23 Boise State
Well, that went not the way Chris Petersen would have liked it to go.
The Broncos did score the 1st TD, but got their XP blocked.
It didn't get better, when the Broncos did score another TD and did lead 13-zip.
Washington did turn the ball over and but Boise did play the 4th down in the red zone and did fail to get the 1st down.
Great, let's start a comeback!
But the Huskies were still not able to gain yardage.
At the end of the half was Boise leading 16-0.
The comeback try was ignited by a punt return TD by Washington for a 16-10 score.
Then did Washington cut the Broncos lead to 16-13.
With 21 seconds on the clock did Washington try for a FG of 46 yards and the kicker did miss the goal on the right side by less than a yard.
That must have hurt.
The Broncos did keep their Smurf turf myth alive and did win against Washington 16-13.
At least I was right that the game would be much closer than the 10+ point spread.
Washington 13 - Boise State 16 -> Jacks Score: 0-1

Sat. Sept. 5 - 7:30 pm ET
Texas @ #11 Notre Dame
Ok, either Texas has many open issues, Notre Dame is really good or something did go very right this gameday for Notre Dame and very wrong for Texas.
I expected to see Notre Dame winning, but not with a 35 point margin.
Their QB Malik Zaire did look good and it's clear why Golson, last years QB, did leave.
Zaire, if he plays like this the whole season, will be great.
Charlie Strong will have to get his Longhorns on track fast, otherwise the Longhorns fans will want their head, fast.
It will be interesting to see, how both teams will get though the season.
A good thing is, the 1st game is not always a good measurement for the season.
It's the 1st game and teams have to get in synch.
Texas 3 - Notre Dame 38 -> Jacks Score: 1-1

Sat. Sept. 5 - 8:00 pm ET
#20 Wisconsin vs. #3 Alabama
This went almost as expected.
I have the best respect for the Badgers, but as 1st game under a new coach against Alabama?
Who did expect a win?
Anyone?
The Badgers did lose one of their best defender early, probably due a concussion, and did gave up a lot of yardage in the ground.
They were not really able to stop Derrick Henry, the Alabama RB, who had 3 TDs.
Overall did Alabama just enough to win the game, they did not really dominate BIG, but did also not let Wisconsin back into the game.
It will also be interesting to see both teams in their conferences.
I think Wisconsin will recover from that loss.
Wisconsin 17 - Alabama 35 -> Jacks Score: 2-1

Mon. Sept. 7 - 8:00 pm ET
#1 Ohio State @ Virginia Tech
A very interesting game.
Ohio State did start fast, did lead 14-zip fast, but Virginia Tech came back, fueled by Buckeyes turnovers, in the 2nd quarter and took even the lead at halftime for a 17-14 score.
But Ohio State did come out of the locker room and did score again.
The Hokies did then lose their starting QB Brewer.
He was hit by the stingy defense one time too often and left with a broken collarbone, missing probably 6 weeks if not more.
From that point on did Ohio State rule the game and did win big time.
It was not the game I expected to see, but the result was quite the expected one.
Ohio State 42 - Virginia Tech 24 -> Jacks Score: 3-1

Now I will give you some results worth to mention:
South Carolina did win the game against North Carolina with 17-13. I would have guessed a bigger margin here.
Florida International did win against Central Florida 15-14. UCF did win the AAC last season, while FIU did drown in the CUSA. This is a big win for FIU.
The Toledo - Stoney Brook game was canceled at the half, because of bad weather. Toledo did lead at the half and at the moment is the game as "no contest" in the books. Toledo can (and should, because of Bowl eligibility) try to let this game count as win.
Western Kentucky did beat Vanderbilt 14-12. As mentioned it's the 1st win by a CUSA team against a SEC team since 2010. The main question for me here is, if Vanderbilt is really that bad, or if WKU is good. Good enough to win the CUSA?
Utah did win against Michigan 24-17. The offense did not look in shape at that game, but I'm sure that's will get better. The Utes did look good on defense.
TCU was able to escape Minnesota 23-17. The Horned Frogs had the lead were quite good over the whole game, but did let the Gophers back into it in the 4th. Minnesota was not able to start a last final play in time, so time ran out and the game was won by TCU.
Utah State did almost lose to Southern Utah. They won only because of a punt return late in the 4t quarter and did win 12-9 against that FCS team.
Hawai'i did beat Colorado 28-20. This is also a huge upset, since Hawai'i is at the moment in a not so good shape and plays in the MWC, while Colorado is a PAC12 team, even if they are at the moment also not in a good shape.
Charlotte did beat Georgia State 23-20. It was their 1st FBS game. Granted, GSU is not expected to win many games this season, but losing at home against a FBS debut team?
Northwestern did beat a ranked Stanford team 16-6. Stanford didn't play good on offense and their comeback attempt was sealed by a pick in the endzone.
Auburn did win against Louisville 31-24. This was an interesting game with Auburn leading 17-0 at the half, but almost lost to Louisville and did survive with a scare.
BYU did beat Nebraska 33-28 on a last second hail mary from mid-field. Nice finish, if you are not a Huskers fan.
Temple did upset Penn State 27-10. Temple is not expected to get anything going in the AAC this season, but the won against the BIG10 team in a great way. Well done.
Indiana did survive a shootout against Southern Illinois (FCS) 48-47. That was a close one. Indiana did score in a few plays for the lead and with under a minute did Southern Illinois get the ball back. They went 75 yards over the field, did score and went for 2, but failed.
Texas A&M did beat ranked Arizona State 38-17. I would have picked the Sun Devils in this game, but the Aggies looked good and did outscore Arizona State in the 4th quarter to win this big.
The LSU - McNeese State game was canceled because if bad weather and it will not be re-scheduled. It was only played for about 5 min. and then was delayed because of thunders for 4 hours and later canceled. McNeese will still get its compensation.
And as final news, Marshall did really upset Purdue 41-31. I did hint that in my preview, but it's still great to see it happen.

‘Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite