Thoughts on college footbal opening day

#1 thought:
Admittedly, i've had a hard time concentrating today. Anybody who knows me knows that although I'm a USU aggie through and through, when it comes to college football I bleed cougar blue. I can't stop thinking about how amazing BYU played last night in a big game. BYU normally doesn't show up in big games. They forget how to hold onto the ball, catch, tackle, the rules of the game etc, etc. I can't remember actually watching a game where BYU beat a ranked opponent(I remember seeing re-runs of upsetting #1 Miami)...but beat a ranked opponent they did. They knocked off #3 Oklahoma by a score of 14-13. I mentioned to my roommate after the first series that the defense will probably decide this game and it turned out to be true. The amazing thing also about this game is we had 4 turnovers and several penalties...and still won. Luckily, Oklahoma had just as many which leveled out the playing field. It's hard to say how this game would've turned out had Sam Bradford not been injured, but he really wasn't moving the ball all that well in the first half with his longest pass going 18 yards...so I think the result would've largely been the same. He may have been able to direct them into better field position at the end of the game...but we'll never know...and it doesn't matter. If anyone wants to tell me that BYU's win was a fluke because of Sam Bradford got injured, I will point to the fact that BYU was without two starting O-linemen who were lost to injuries at the start of fall camp and their starting tailback, Harvey Unga also was out, so the injury bug hit them hard also. Besides, aren't the two's and three's of BCS conferences supposed to be better than the Mountain West's one's? ;) I'm not going to mention anything about the offense other than Max Hall finally came up big when he needed to at the end of the game againt a fantastic Okla D and Bryan Kariya is a stud. But I'm most impressed with the defensive players. We looked so much faster in both the linebacker and cornerback positions. Jordan Pendleton and Coleby Clawson are stud linebackers along with Terrance hooks. They were blitzing the quarterback like madmen and making plays all over the field. I was also impressed with Brian Logan, a JC transfer cornerback who I think made the play of the game. Early in the 4th quarter with BYU down 13-7, Okla was putting together a pretty good drive. I don't remember the exact down, but an okla running back had broken free and looked like he was heading to the endzone with only a small cornerback to elude...when Logan made a sure tackle and saved the touchdown. BYU's D was able to hold after that and forced a punt. It was a play that would've been a touchdown last year and in a game where BYU only won by one point, that could've tipped the balance of the game had he missed the tackle. I also liked Scott Johnson and Andrew Rich at the safety positions, they never gave up a big play. It was a GREAT win for the Mountain west conference, and arguably just as big as the Alabama Utah game. I'm not a passionately clueless fan that thinks BYU will be in the National Championship game now, but I think the road to the NC game may actually be possible. But it's a long season, and they still have several hard games against Florida State, TCU and Utah...not to mention that most of the mountain west bottom feeders will want to knock them off now and may be more hungry to do it.

#2 thought:
Utah vs. Utah State actually was a better game then I was expecting it to be. Utah showed flashes of brilliance and could be really good, and Utah State never quit and will be much improved.

#3 thought:
The Ohio "Horse shoe" stadium is quite an experience. I attended my first Buckeye game yesterday against Navy and had a good time. I went by myself, which was ok because I usually end up focusing on the game anyway and don't talk much. I got there 25 min early and the stadium was packed to the brim. The official attendance was 105,092. On the front of the stadium there are two HUGE stain glass windows of football players, and the stadium is just massive. They have TWO huge replay screens, and the place is just dripping with tradition. They have the largest active brass band in the world and with the alumni band there also, it was quite an impressive show. The fans were very respectful of Navy, even cheering for them as they ran out of the tunnel(which normally doesn't happen here). I almost teared up when I saw the Navy boys run out with the American flag. I'm grateful for our freedom and our troops. Just before the game started the Navy jets did a cool fly-by over the stadium. It was neat to hear the band play the national anthem and hear 105,000 people sing along. I'm glad there still is love for this country. The game was fun but I really wasn't impressed with the "big ten talent." I told people all week that Navy will give the "bucks" a better game, and I proved to be right. The final score was 31-27. I wore the buckeye shirt I bought the previous night to fit in with the student section and protect my life, but I found I couldn't cheer for the bucks and secretly cheered for Navy the whole game. I really don't have to go another game this year. The stadium got loud, but I felt like my overall experience was not as good as being at a BYU, or Utah game even. That might be due to the fact that I despise Ohio State football. Speaking of volume, it didn't even compare to how loud the spectrum got during Aggie basketball games(i know they are indoors which makes a difference.) But I'm glad I got to attend a game and I encourage any who desire to see a big time college football game at a big time venue to come visit me during football season...and hopefully we'll be able to track down some tickets.