Blowouts and Upsets: Reflections On College Football's Opening Weekend

It was a fun opening weekend of college football filled with it's share of blowouts, exciting endings and there was even an upset thrown into the mix.

Here's my reflections on week one of college football as well as a look back on my predictions and how they panned out.

I'm always entertained by watching ESPN's College Game Day because I love hearing Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit give the lower conferences no chance at all to beat the bigger conferences.

BYU! Enough said.

Congratulations to Florida, Texas, USC, and Penn State for scheduling easy first games. No surprise that they were all blowouts. I wish these top teams would prove they were the best by scheduling better non-conference opponents.

Washington put up a good fight against LSU, but just couldn't keep hanging in there.

Note to the University of Iowa, you're going to receive my weekly "you should have lost," award. Two blocked game winning field goals at the end of regulation kept you from joining the upset alert list on this day.

Kudos to Navy for hanging with Ohio State and darn near knocking off the Buckeyes. Turned out to be a lot better game than anyone anticipated. If Ohio State almost lost to Navy, how are they going to fare next weekend when USC comes calling?

Speaking of the aforementioned Trojans of USC, freshman quarterback Matt Barkley had a pretty good game for them tonight as they beat up the San Jose State Spartans. Not sure I'm supposed to be impressed though. San Jose State hasn't been good in, oh, more than 10 years.

I appreciate Nevada showing up for their game against Notre Dame earlier today. I'm sure that felt good to get absolutely blasted by the Irish. Not exactly the outcome I expected, but I guess you can't have everything.

Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus made a huge mistake late in their game against Minnesota. After getting away from a few would be sacks, Paulus threw a pass into nothing but white Minnesota shirts. The Golden Gophers would end up hitting a game winning field goal in overtime.

I can't do a wrap-up without mentioning my boys from Fresno State who absolutely pounded the Aggies of UC Davis 51-0. Good win for the 'Dogs as they'll head to Madison, WI next Saturday to face the Badgers.

Now to take a look at my predictions from yesterday. It was a good day for me, though most of the games were easy to pick because a few of them had easy opening games.

No. 1 Florida 63 vs Charleston Southern 7 

Actual score: Florida wins 62-3

No. 7 Virginia Tech 23 vs No. 5 Alabama 24

Actual score: Alabama wins 34-24

No. 6 Ohio State 61 vs Navy 0

Actual score: Buckeyes win 31-27

No. 8 Penn State 37 vs Akron 13

Actual score: Penn State wins 31-7

No. 9 Oklahoma State 24 vs No. 13 Georgia 21

Actual score: Ok State wins 24-10

Washington 3 vs No. 11 LSU 27

Actual score: LSU wins 31-23

No. 12 Cal 27 vs Maryland 21

Actual score: Cal wins 52-13

No. 15 Georgia Tech 49 vs Jacksonville State 14

Actual score: Geo. Tech wins 37-17

No. 21 North Carolina 21 vs Citadel 0

Actual score: UNC wins 40-6

No. 22 Iowa 35 vs Northern Iowa 13

Actual score: Iowa wins 17-16

No. 23 Notre Dame 21 vs Nevada 22 - UPSET ALERT

Actual score: Irish win 35-0

No. 24 Nebraska 31 vs Florida Atlantic 13

Actual score: Nebraska wins 49-3

Fresno State 19 vs UC Davis 7

Actual score: Fresno State wins 51-0

So my week one record is a scintilating 12-1 including a 1-1 record in my upset alert picks.

Great first week and we still have Miami and Florida State on Monday night. I have a feeling this could be one of the better college football seasons in recent memory.