We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.
By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.
Filed under:
College football news: all the scores, injuries, gaffes, upsets, derps, and snark that you can handle.
The college football main course has not arrived yet. But in the meantime, fans were served some delectable hors d’oeuvres.
Nebraska attempts an onside kick with an 11-point lead. pic.twitter.com/DlOPkwuNpB
Northwestern 31 Nebraska 28 – This game was tightly contested through two quarters. In the third quarter, Nebraska seemed to take control of momentum and the game when they scored a touchdown on a long 88 yard drive, forced and recovered a fumble on the Wildcats next play from scrimmage, and scored again to make it 28-17. However, ‘Huskers head coach Scott Frost made the baffling decision to kick an onside kick. And it was a BAD onside kick that was easily recovered by Northwestern. With big Mo back in their corner, the ’Cats would drive 44 yards to shrink Nebraska’s lead to 4 points. Ya see, Scotty. This is one of those times when a head coach should think to himself “WWSD?” In other words, What Would Saban Do? He wouldn’t try an onside kick, that is for certain.
Early in the fourth quarter, former Texas starter, now Nebraska starter, Casey Thompson would throw an interception that was returned to the 42 and would be converted into the go-ahead and eventual winning score for Northwestern.
Huskers look very impressive on 1st drive. Who was the only idiot to put Nebraska No. 25 on his preseason @AP_Top25 ballot? This guy
Tim Brando has found a soulmate. ^^^
“Scott Frost is built for success and I’m going to tell you he will win multiple national titles at Nebraska, he will be competing for a Big Ten title within 3 years and he could be the next generations Nick Saban” – @TimBrando pic.twitter.com/VnBtcZcljr
Yes kids, you too can be a world-famous sports writer! All you need is a motormouth, a Twitter account, and godawful takes on college football.
Mike Wright’s 87 yard touchdown run against Hawaii is the second longest touchdown in Vanderbilt history!pic.twitter.com/U1YBgUg033
Vanderbilt 63 Hawaii 10 – One of two things (or possibly two things) were learned late Saturday night/Sunday morning: 1) Vandy is MUCH improved over last season; 2) Hawaii is in some deep doodoo bad; or 3) Most likely a combination of the two. The Rainbow Warriors had some off-season drama and fired Todd Graham – which IMHO was due to some whiny zoomer players who have been coddled all their lives and didn’t like being yelled at. UH made the classic mistake of hiring a legendary alum as head coach in former quarterback Timmy Chang who has absolutely zero experience being a coordinator much less a head coach. This would be equivalent to Alabama hiring someone like John Parker Wilson.
They say in the SEC “It Just Means More”. That mantra was certainly put on display in this game as even a basement-dwelling doormat such as Vandy can wipe up the floor with a team like the R-Warriors. The ‘Dores QB Mike Wright ran right by Hawaii defenders with ease en route to 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He also passed for a pair of scores.
[SIDE NOTE: To encourage non-conference teams to agree to travel to Hawaii for a game, the NCAA enacted the “Hawaii Exemption” which allows the away team to schedule a 13th game. Surprisingly or maybe ignorantly, Vanderbilt chose not to do this. It will be a darn shame if the ‘Dores get to the end of the season at 5-7 when they could have added Saint Mary’s College For Wayward Halfbacks and become bowl eligible.]
PICK 6 FOR FAU!! pic.twitter.com/EiGUqXt5bb
Florida Atlantic 43 Charlotte 13 – Former Miami QB N’Kosi Perry led the Owls to a dominating win as he amassed 256 through the air and 118 on the ground. Charlotte managed only 279 yards and 11 first downs.
pic.twitter.com/i1fWmcPG1o
Utah State 31 UConn 20 – I don’t think many folks expected the 2021 Mountain West Champion to struggle against sad sack UConn. The Huskies took an early 14-0 lead but then gave up 24 unanswered points in the second quarter. The second half was mostly punts and turnovers. An ugly game.
Western Kentucky 38 Austin Peay 27 – WKU held only a one point advantage in the third quarter. AP’s four turnovers doomed them from an upset bid.
Florida State 47 Duquesne 7 – I didn’t even know Doo-Kane had a football team.
North Carolina 56 Florida A&M 24 – Down 26 players including having only 7 offensive linemen due to academic issues (and entitled zoomers), FAMU almost cancelled this game. But the $450,000 payday overruled the whiners. And it’s a good thing they did. The FCS school actually kept it interesting for awhile as they trailed by only 11 entering the final quarter.
Illinois 38 Wyoming 6 – Bert’s Illini outgained the Cowboys 477 to 212.
pic.twitter.com/0jIy47MoU1
You can open your eyes now, Casey.
pic.twitter.com/AalZrF1Y2R
That dude got like 3 inches off the ground. lol
pic.twitter.com/S8OSRC7lta
North Texas’s Ikaika Ragsdale had 10 yards on 7 rush attempts. A little quick math will tell you that is 1.4 yards per carry.
Miami LB Waynmon Steed – I wonder if his parents are Jamaican and when the nurse was filling out the birth certificate she asked what his name is, and the reply was “It’s Wayne, mon.”
Against Utah State, UConn LB Jackson Mitchell had 7 solo tackles, 9 assists, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries. If the junior does not go pro after this season, look for someone to portal this dude!
If Scott Frost won his next 50 games in a row, he would still have a worse record at Nebraska than Bo Pelini.
(h/t u/zackb91)
That is no typo. Frost is by far the worst coach Nebraska has had since the legendary Tom Osborne retired. Below is a list of those coaches.
Desmond Howard has made some crazy picks in his time on GameDay, but his CFP picks tops them all. His Final 4 includes Texas A&M (his SEC winner), Pitt (his ACC winner), Baylor (his Big 12 winner) and Michigan (his Big 10 winner). INSANE. Howard has Texas A&M topping Michigan in the national championship game. Kirk Herbstreit’s reaction about says it all.
David Pollack has a better grasp on reality going with Alabama over Clemson and Ohio State over Utah, with the Tide taking home another Big Beer Tap Trophy.
Lee Corso went with Bama over Utah and anOSU over UGA with the Buckys winning it all.
Herbstreit took Bama over Baylor, and also sees anOSU beating Georiga and then Alabama. He also made his conference picks and there are not too many stretches except one:
GameDay will be in Columbus for the Notre Dame-Ohio State game.
Still thinking about the adoption teams, we may need a few weeks. Should we bring back UT-Martin? The Skyhawks play at Boise and at Tennessee in 2022 – two teams worth cheering against.
Definite elimination: Nebraska.
Endangered: UNC
No ranked teams played in Weak Zero, so here is the rankings of most forgotten cereals from the 1970s per MeTV.com.
1. Waffelos
2. Fortified Oat Flakes
3. Fruit Brute
4. Buc Wheats
5. Corny Snaps
6. Crazy Cow
7. Graham Crackos
8. Most
9. Magic Puffs
10. Super Orange Crisp
11. Sir Grapefellow
The SEC has ten tie-ins to bowls this season, not counting any participants in the CFP. The SEC Champion automatically goes to the Sugar Bowl in the rare chance they are not selected for the College Football Playoff. Otherwise, the highest-ranked available SEC team goes to Nawlins.
The SEC will assign teams to the respective bowls in this pool.
Second Tier
Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to all the preseason love sent Nebraska’s way. All we heard in the off-season was how the Cornhuskers had “eight of losses by one score!!1!” in 2021. So what? A loss is a loss. This isn’t the NHL.
Another big argument the talking heads had for UN being good this season was that they had 20 transfers. In his Ole Miss preview, my esteemed colleague, CB969, wrote the following about the Rebels:
“There will be a learning curve this season on how well teams cope with bringing in so many new faces that are expected to contribute on a high level and see how well they can come together as a team. All things being even, I’ll take the team that has played together for more than six months.”
It makes you wonder if Nebraska is Exhibit A against building a team on transfers.
New Bryce Young endorsement! pic.twitter.com/LgGkzz3Cw0
In 2021, Bryce Young was the overwhelming winner of the Heisman Trophy with 684 first place votes. C.J. Stroud was a distant fourth place finisher with a measly 12 first place votes. Since that time, neither player have played a down of football, yet somehow Stroud is ahead as the favorite. Go figure.
Below are the top early Heisman picks in order of the money lines and there have been some changes. Odds are provided by DraftKings and many more options can be seen at that link including Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa at +15000. [Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.]
Congratulations @AGreeneIV for getting the heck out of a crazy situation for greener pastures! I admire how you managed that chaos with class & integrity. Look forward to seeing your next chapter!
KOACHES KORNER
Atlanta’s TV broadcast for FOX switched from the third quarter of the Nebraska-Northwestern game to a meaningless preseason matchup between the lowly Falcons and lowlier Jaguars. Wow, FOX. Know your audience!
(Below is an abbreviated list of highlighted games of interest. If you REALLY need to know about the big Bryant-FIU showdown, you can find the details here.)
Thursday, September 1
West Virginia at Pitt (-7.5) 6pm/7pm ESPN – The Backyard Brawl returns after an 11 year hiatus.
Ball State at Tennessee (-35) 6pm/7pm SECN
Louisiana Tech at Missouri (-19.5) 7pm/8pm ESPNU
Penn State (-3.5) at Purdue 7pm/8pm FOX
Friday, September 2
* 8 games are being played but none of them are worth mentioning.
Saturday, September 3
Lotsa cupcakes…
Sam Houston at Texas A&M (no line) 11am/noon SECN
Oregon at Georgia (-17) 2:30/3:30 ABC (Atlanta) – Does Bo Nix have any more VooDoo Majick left in him to beat the Dwags?
Cincinnati at Arkansas (-6.5) 2:30/3:30 ESPN – Could be a scary one for Arky.
Troy at Ole Miss (-22) 3pm/4pm SECN
Utah (-3) at Florida 6pm/7pm ESPN – Utah needs this win.
Miami (OH) at Kentucky (-16) 6pm/7pm SEC+
Mercer at Auburn (no line) 6pm/7pm SEC+
Elon at Vanderbilt (no line) 6pm/7pm SEC+
Memphis at Mississippi State (-15) 6:30/7:30 ESPNU – Memphis upset Clanga last season.
Georgia State at South Carolina (-13) 6:30/7:30 SEC+ – GSU’s head coach Shawn Elliott was an SCar assistant from 2010-2016. He was also interim head coach (1-5) after Steve Spurrier peaced out midway through the 2015 season. He has been looking forward to this game for a long while.
The two big North Carolina schools have agreed to travel to smaller schools from their state. Don’t think for a second that these home teams won’t be up for these games.
NC State at East Carolina 11am/noon ESPN
North Carolina at Appalachian State 11am/noon ESPNU – Appy beat UNC in 2019.
* Notre Dame at Ohio State (-17.5) 6:30/7:30 ABC
Boise at Oregon State (-3) 9:30/10:30pm ESPN – This could be a good one.
Sunday, September 4
Florida State at LSU (-3) 6:30/7:30 ABC (New Orleans) – Two former National Champs trying to rebuild.
Monday, September 5
Clemson (-22) at Georgia Tech 7pm/8pm ESPN
Lines when available are provided by DraftKings.
Is that a goat? Yep. And it’s talking about expenses that health insurance doesn’t cover. When you get sick or injured, Aflac helps close that gap. Watch Coach Saban make his year 4 debut in the newest @Aflac spot. pic.twitter.com/ud596lXkLa
Saban does a lot of great things. Acting is not one of them.
Sad little Mack Brown picked up one game on Nick Saban by defeating a depleted HBCU team. Congrats…
Below is a count of career FBS/Division I-A win totals for coaches.
For those of you new to RBR Random Thoughts, we count all on-field wins at the FBS/Division I-A level. So, before you go squawking about Frank Beamer, 42 of his wins came at Murray State. Mack Brown had six victories in one season with Appalachian State when they were still in what was known at I-AA (FCS today). Brian Kelly won 118 games with something called Grand Valley State. So, let’s stop talking about his win record with such reverence. In addition, we don’t recognize NCAA sanctioned forfeits. If you won on the field, it counts in our books.
Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
* 21+ (18+ NH/WY). AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, LS (select parishes), MI, NH, NJ, NY, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY only.
Eligibility restrictions apply. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Odds & lines subject to change.
