Sunset Vette

If the first weekend of college football is any indication, we’re in for a wild ride this year. LSU played a late game last night (on the west coast) and managed to escape Washington 31-23. I didn’t get to watch the game but from reading about it this morning some questions were answered and others remain. LSU has some offense this year, as Jordan Jefferson had a really good line in the box score. Three TDs, no interceptions on 11 for 19 passing is good enough to win most of the time. But the LSU defense has some work to do. The Huskies outgained the Tigers in first downs (25 to 17), total yards (478 to 321), total plays (83 to 48), and just about every offensive category except yards per play. LSU had the advantage there 6.7 to 5.8. LSU has a couple of home games against Vandy and Lafayette to tune up their defense.

Georgia was breaking in a new quarterback this year. His first series was really good as he took the Bulldogs down the field for a score. Georgia’s defense was handling Dez Bryant (there were some awesome hits, both with and without the ball). Georgia got the ball deep in their own territory and fumbled it away, letting the Cowboys drive a short field for a go-ahead touchdown, and the ‘Dogs never regained the lead. I liked what I saw from their defense though; they’re going to be a tough opponent in the SEC East this year.

I did get to see Alabama in the evening game against Virginia Tech. The game felt a lot like a boxing match. There were two heavyweight fighters feeling each other out, trying to find a rhythm, and as a result the first half was filled with field goals. As the game progressed the heavy hits started getting through. Like Georgia, ‘Bama is also breaking in a new quarterback, and while he had a rough patch in the middle (with something like 9 or 10 straight incomplete passes) he hit a beautiful bomb in the second half that allowed them to score from about sixty yards away on two plays. After that the Hokies could not seem to mount any counter moves and ‘Bama took the win with a decisive fourth quarter performance.

Florida played a scrimmage against Charleston Southern (who got paid nearly a half-million dollars to play the game) and won 62-3. I don’t think anything needs to be said about the game except nobody from Florida got hurt. Oh, and Tebow tied Dalton Hilliard’s mark for 44 rushing TDs in his career. I got to see Dalton play at LSU and later for the Saints; he was a class act.

The big news of the night, however, has to be that Sam Bradford of Oklahoma was knocked out of the game, leaving the Sooners with a big challenge. Visiting BYU took the game by one point, 14-13. But they may have taken more than that as Bradford – from early reports – will be out for at least a few weeks if not more. Oklahoma was already breaking in a mostly new offensive line. With a new QB behind it, I would guess we’ll see a lot more rushing attempts and a lot fewer passes in the coming weeks. If he’s out for four weeks he’ll miss their game against Baylor but return in time for the Red River Shootout against Texas on October 17.

I’m sorry that Bradford got hurt. It was going to be interesting to see the season unfold with all three top vote getters for the Heisman last year returning. With Bradford injured, his odds of repeating as Heisman go way down, and the odds of Oklahoma returning to the BCS are down as well.