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The dog days of summer drudged with coaching change, conference expansion, and agent giveaways that led to program takeaways. The NCAA adopted a new “give a shit” attitude, and self serving BYU couldn’t give a shit about anyone. With the pigskin spinning end to end in the September sky, all the jabbering and bickering came to an end, and the long awaited season began.

The Nutt Cracker

Mississippi spent its Sunday looking for a refund on the sacrificial lamb it purchased. Not only was the shipping expensive, the item was also broken.

Jacksonville State’s upset over Ole Miss would be more telling, if I could provide the salary figures for both head coaches. Houston Nutt managed to add support for my argument that he’s one of the most overrated head coaches in the game, and it wasn’t for his inability to manage a game played against an FCS program, but mostly for his failure to manage a single half.

After jumping out to a 31-10 lead, the Rebels spent the final 30 minutes choking on their halftime meal. With the Gamecocks rolling, Mississippi’s 3 second half points secured a tie in regulation, but when it came to overtime, the prevailing team was the one willing to roll the dice.—Lesson learned: Losers have a single Nutt. Winners have the balls.

Shorthanded

I’m sure everyone will applaud the gutty performance by North Carolina against LSU. Playing a game with multiple players suspended and nearly pulling off the victory is impressive, right?

No, that’s wrong.

Hold the applause, because this game didn’t come down to who didn’t play. The outcome is a reflection of who did. As much as I hate to single out one player in a team sport, I can’t help mentioning the two opportunities missed in the closing seconds, when tight end Zach Pianalto allowed two game winning touchdown passes to slip threw his hands–comeback denied–game, set, match.

The Heels played well enough to win, overcoming the adversity. The opportunity was squandered when they called on the big tight end to make a play, which he could not. It’s a bit harsh to blame defeat on a single player–but, oh well.

An Important Announcement From the NCAA

Players were suspended by several programs over the weekend, as the investigation into agent-player contact continued. But Ole Miss was allowed the participation of lawbreaker Jeremiah Masoli. The NCAA has sent a clear message, and it reads as follows:

If an athlete improperly accepts benefits from an agent, he will be declared ineligible and suspended. But if he slugs the agent, snatches his wallet, and runs down the street with it, he can still suit up on Saturday.

All student athletes please take note of the proper and improper methods for monetary gain.

WAC Figures

Boise State represented the WAC in what may have been the conferences biggest game to date. And no, Hawaii meeting Georgia in the 2008 Sugar Bowl wasn’t big. That was General George Custer galloping into Little Big Horn.

The Broncos used the Hokies as a launching point, a mechanism with the potential to propel them into January’s BCS championship game. This is big, considering a mid-major has yet to break through that glass ceiling.

But Boise’s victory wasn’t the only WAC weekend tale. Hawaii stood toe-to-toe with USC, before time disallowed any further opportunity at a comeback. Fresno State dumped two-time defending Big East Champion Cincinnati, now playing without the leadership of Brian Kelly. And Utah State forced Oklahoma to earn every bit of the program’s 800th victory, while providing quite a scare for Sooners fans entering the Post-Bradford era.

You would think the work put in by their WAC brothers would assist Boise State down the stretch. But unfortunately, it won’t. By December, voters won’t remember or care for the early efforts.—such is the life of a mid major conference.

Digits

Oregon’s 72-0 drubbing of New Mexico surely didn’t go without notice. Not as noticeable was the Ducks being the only Pac 10 team to claim victory over their Mountain West opponent, as the conference finished 1-3 in games against the league lacking AQ status.

Syracuse’s defeat of Akron marks the only Big East victory over an FBS opponent.

Maryland Quarterback Jamaar Robinson completed just 2 of 5 pass attempts in the Terps victory over Navy.

Daniel Thomas ran for 234 yards in Kansas State’s victory over UCLA. It was just another day at the office for a back no one wants to talk about.

Galloping Finish

Navy- Short
Michigan- back?
Kansas- Doh!
Mark Mangino- smiling
Ohio State- defensive
Tulsa- defenseless
Notre Dame- slimmer
UConn- overhyped
Ole Miss- LOL
Florida- work-in-progress
Oregon- scoring
TCU- climbing
USC-
Week one- worthy

Anthony N is a Jabberhead, blogger, and SJ Admin/Contributing Author. Read more of his work at
THE EMPIRE | A RETURN OF THE KING

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