2010 Football Season, Labor Day weekend

It's a First: The first Division III football game of the season began at 3 PM on Thursday, September 2, and I was an eyewitness. The 11th ranked (Division III) Ohio Northern Polar Bears defeated the Wisconsin River Falls Falcons 35-21 at Dial-Roberson Stadium in Ada. ONU trailed 15-14 at halftime, and the teams were tied at 21 before ONU took advantage of Falcon turnovers to score the last two touchdowns. In other Division III action this weekend, Randolph Macon slaughtered Methodist 54-14. Washington U St. Louis put out the Knox College Prairie Fire 34-3.

Premiere: Georgia State played its first football game Thursday night and defeated Shorter 41-7.

Streaking: The Ada Bulldogs continued their conference winning streak, now at 17 games, and the Spencerville Bearcats continued their conference losing streak, now at 12 games, as Ada annihilated Spencerville 70-20 at Spencerville. Ada led 28-0 when Spencerville earned their first first down. Ada led 56-0 at halftime, and it was all over but the shouting.

Hopes Dashed: #15 Pitt had cherished hopes of winning the Big East and contending for national glory. Those hopes took a beating Thursday night at the hands of Utah, 27-24 in overtime at Pitt.

Overreaching and Underachieving: The "Right Reverend" Houston Nutt at Ole Miss obtained the services of Jeremiah Masoli, the quarterback dismissed by Oregon for misbehavior. The NCAA first denied Masoli permission to go to Ole Miss, but Masoli eventually won on appeal. One would normally assume that Ole Miss could handle a Division I-AA opponent like Jacksonville State, but not so. Jacksonville State won 49-48 on a two-point conversion in the second overtime.

Rivalry Games: Many major college teams take this first weekend of the season to fatten their records on patsies. The only reason that some of these teams are not playing the Little Sisters of the Poor is that the Sisters don't field a team. There are, however, a few rivalry games on this opening weekend: Temple beat Villanova 31-24, a game that was closer than the final score, to take the Mayor's Cup. Kentucky defeated Louisville 23-16 to take the Governor's Cup. Mizzou came from behind to overcome Illinois 23-13 in the Arch Rivalry game. Colorado beat Colorado State 24-3 to take the Centennial Cup. In the Crab Bowl Classic on Monday, Navy dominated the statistics, but they lost several fumbles near the Maryland goal line and lost to Maryland 17-14. Maryland was able to stage a final goal line stand, and Navy failed to score from the one within the last minute to allow Maryland to clinch the win.

Our Teams Triumphant: In the debut of coach Brian Kelly, Notre Dame defeated Purdue 23-12. Northern Colorado edged Adams State 54-0.

Sighs and Other Depressed Sounds: #4 William and Mary (I-AA) took an early lead, but allowed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to lose to unranked Massachusetts 27-24. Vandy failed to convert a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter and lost to Northwestern 23-21 in the SAT game of the day.

Real Matchups: All of that extra practice must have paid off for Michigan, who beat Connecticut 30-10. UConn had been expected to contend for the Big East title, so either Michigan is back of UConn was overrated. #6 TCU skinned the #24 Oregon State Beavers 30-21. In one of the real battles of the weekend, East Carolina outscored Tulsa 51-49 on a last second Hail Mary to the tallest receiver on the field. In what was probably the highlight game of the weekend, #3 Boise State edged the #10 Va. Tech Hokies on Monday night 33-30. Boise State trailed for much of the second half, but they were able to score the touchdown to go ahead with about a minute to go and then hold off the Hokies. If they beat Oregon State in a couple of weeks, Boise State may be in position to contend for the national championship.

Patsy Pummeling: #2 Ohio State enforced their will against Marshall 45-7. Terrell Pryor's passing was quite impressive against undermanned Marshall. Wake Forest was destined to beat Presbyterian, and the only question was the final score, which was 53-13. #13 Miami of Florida crushed the Rattlers of Florida A & M 45-0. #4 Florida, despite having trouble with the snap from center to shotgun QB and a host of other mistakes, bested Miami of Ohio and Ada-native QB Zac Dysert 34-12. #25 West Virginia climbed all over Coastal Carolina 31-0. #9 Iowa pasted Eastern Illinois 37-7. Virginia stepped on the Richmond Spiders 34-13. #5 Texas boiled Rice 34-17. #11 Oregon may have inflicted the worst beating of the weekend over New Mexico 72-0. #1 Alabama rolled over San Jose State 48-3. Arizona State burned Portland State 54-9.

Revenge of the Patsy: North Dakota State 6, Kansas 3. Turner Gill, the new Kansas coach, needs to return to the drawing board. #7 Oklahoma barely withstood a Utah State comeback 31-24.

Pentagon: Air Force shocked and awed Northwestern State of Louisiana 65-21. Army marched past Eastern Michigan 31-27.

Sins of the Fathers and Sons: #14 Southern Cal, on probation for 2 years for misdeeds that took place under former coach Pete Carroll, surfed past Hawaii 45-36. #18 North Carolina missed d13 players (9 starters), including their best defensive players, for a variety of academic and agent-related misdeeds when they face #21 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. LSU led for most of the game, but North Carolina kept fighting and made it close, losing 30-24.

Still Undefeated: Georgia State (see above), Peabody Conservatory, Emory.