Week one thoughts

And mercifully, it ends. This weekend, I've spent much of my time watching the first weekend of college football. I can honestly say that the worst game I saw all weekend was the one that was just on, Florida State/Miami. After what I just saw from Florida State's QB's, though mostly Drew Weatherford, I am even more firm in my belief that they will lose to BC on the 17th, mainly because BC will oline up and hit them in th emouth more than Miami did, and I have no bloody clue how FSU will move the ball against Toal and Kiwanuka.

Obviously two big stories emerged over the weekend. One was the loss of Oklahoma. Now I'm always skeptical about teams "reloading" especially when they lose a lot at one position at one time. Its not just Jason White, the biggest choking dog in NCAA history (he essentially stunk in the three biggest games of his career: two national championship games and one Big XII title game), I thought the loss of three of their top receivers at once would hurt more than anyone realized. Obviously it did, as they couldn't move the ball at all. Even Adrian Peterson can only do so much against a nine man front.

Notre Dame was incredibly impressive. They didn't just beat Pitt, they essentially dissected them. Weis will always put them in the right position to win offensively. I think the trick is going to be finding the right defensive personnel. He doesn't need all world recruits on offense, all he needs are people who fit into the system he runs and a smart quarterback.

Michigan did not look great, or the best I can tell, they didn't look great. It was one of the weirdest experiences ever not being able to listen to or watch the Michigan game for really the first time ever. I had "Watch the game" on one of the gamecasts which tells you what the last play was. Thankfully I'll get the next game for sure. The defense looked not terribly good, but I also believe that they can improve as the competition gets better and the intensity gets hyped up. The offense looked incredibly good, as they did in 2000. Hopefully the defense is better than that though. My heart couldn't take going through that again.

I'd like to put in a word about the greatness of Jerry Rice. No one, and I mean no one has ever been a better receiver, and no one ever kept themselves in such phenomenal condition (just ask any teammate who ever joined him on "the hill," a horrific torture device of a workout where Rice led the poor unsuspecting soul up and town a torturous climb. I don't have a problem with him wanting to hang on either. Even if his skills were diminished, only he has the right to make the decision to leave. He never was an embarrassment, he played in incredibly well in Oakland, as he neared an age where his peers might have been retired for years. Most of the time, whenever I saw him on TV, you could really only say "wow," becasue he did everything so absolutely perfectly, with such precise execution.