College Football: The Good, the Great, the Bad and the Ugly

As usual, Week 1 of college football featured a slew of upsets, and 2011 has the makings of one special season.

LSU vs. Oregon lived up to the high billings it received, and Boise State against Georgia was not too shabby either. 

While a few teams played well and lived up to their expectations, there were a couple teams that stumbled over their own feet. 

The Good

Brady Hoke, Luke Fickell and Will Muschamp all came away with big victories in their head coaching debuts. 

In only three quarters, the Wolverines came away with two huge defensive touchdowns that turned the game in their favor after trailing 7-0. Denard Robinson got some help from Fitzgerald Toussaint, who went bonkers rushing for 80 yards and two TDs on just 11 carries.  

Any questions for the Buckeyes defense were answered in Week 1. Ohio State completely shut down the Akron Zips offense limiting them to 90 total yards and five first downs. Offensively, Joe Bauserman led the way finding tight end Jake Stoneburner for three TDs.

Also, sophomore Carlos Hyde ran for 93 yards, whereas freshmen Verlon Reed and Rod Smith (redshirt) brought some spark to the Buckeyes.

Owls must sleep at night since the Gators just ate them alive 41-3! John Brantley did throw two picks but was 21-of-30 while throwing for 229 yards and a touchdown. Plus, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey combined for nearly 200 yards rushing. The Gators defense looks to bring a ton of talent to the table this season.

The Great

When are the Boise State Broncos going to get the nod of belonging with the upper echelon teams in college football? They just spanked the Georgia Bulldogs in their own backyard.

Taking nothing away from Andrew Luck because his Cardinal romped San Jose State 57-3, but Kellen Moore is America's finest player in the spotlight. It is amazing how he gets up for primetime games, dissecting defense after defense with such ease.

Their front four is arguably the best in the entire nation. They are flat-out beasts that get great push up front, and they wreaked havoc all night on SEC darling quarterback Aaron Murray. 

Also in action Saturday night were the LSU Tigers, who deserve quite the buzz themselves. Their defensive line is up with the best because of the depth they posses. 

Also, did anybody really think it was possible for their secondary to be better with the loss of Patrick Peterson? John Chavis has such great athletes waiting in the secondary, you better believe in the boys from the Bayou!

They did all of this without Russell Shephard and with Jarrett Lee as their signal-caller. It is amazing what a loaded backfield and a solid offensive line can do for you. 

Going up against LaMichael James, Darron Thomas and Kenjon Barner is tough, and holding down arguably the fastest offense in the nation is a lot easier said than done.

LSU remains a legit BCS contender until it drops a game, as its 40-27 victory could go a long way if the Tigers remain undefeated.

The Bad

The Florida State Seminoles had a ton of hype coming into the season, and after watching their offense, I question whether those BCS hopes will be dashed by the Oklahoma Sooners in two weeks. 

Though their defense was dominant, they could not muster any bit of a running game against the lowly Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.

They were without Jermaine Thomas, who was nicked up a bit going into the game, but that is no excuse since they are 5-6 deep at tailback. Regardless, running for only 92 yards is borderline embarrassing.

Thank God E.J. Manuel played solid under center, and they are fortunate to have one of the best defenses in the nation. They did win the ballgame, and maybe I am a bit harsh on my national champion pick since they did manage to pitch a shutout 34-0. (Maybe they did not show a lot of usual looks in the ground game with OU looming?) Still, I would like to see better timing and more push up front on the offensive line. 

The Auburn Tigers pulled the Houdini act, as they trailed 10 points with under four minutes remaining. Kudos to Barrett Trotter, who avoided the turnover bug and threw three key TDs.

The defense did not have as much luck. It was thrashed and gashed for 448 total yards! The run defense gave up 227 yards and looked slow as well as lost at times.

The USC Trojans came into their game against Minnesota without their starting tailback Marc Tyler, but the belief was that they would be able to line up and still run the ball with ease. Not so fast, my friends!

Less than 70 yards on 28 attempts is a joke since the Minnesota run defense was 98th in the nation last year, allowing 191 per game. They better get their act together before they get smoked by an eager Utah Utes squad next weekend.

The Ugly

The media (including myself) were lured by those Irish eyes. Notre Dame put together a sloppy and pitiful performance in the red zone, turning the ball over three times.

Sure, the Irish put up over 500 yards of offense and they may win a ton of games this season, but they have no chance in hell if they can't finish when it matters most.

Michael Floyd is a consensus All-American choice, but it would be nice if he knew who his quarterback was. Tommy Rees has to be the guy after Dayne Crist struggled mightily in the first half before the two-hour delay, but a team cannot survive a battle between two different quarterbacks. 

They also had to wait and wait and wait for the game to resume after hours of delay due to lightning (first time in history a stadium was evacuated). Look for the Irish to start out 0-2, though their schedule looks a lot easier after they play Michigan State. 

I would not panic over the Georgia Bulldogs and the Oregon Ducks, as I anticipated both teams losing this weekend. However, going up against an explosive South Carolina offense next week will be tough to overcome for the Bulldogs, even though the Gamecocks had some issues of their own.

The Ducks schedule is much brighter, though teams like Arizona, USC, Stanford and Washington could knock them off. 

It was one hell of a weekend. Let's hope Maryland vs. Miami and Week 2 of the season can follow it up.