Crazy Plays Highlight Opening Night

The Ol' Ballcoach wins his 150th game as South Carolina defeated Mississippi State 15-0. The game was not very exciting except for two plays. The first one where the South Carolina punter made something out of nothing and ran for a first down that kept a drive alive. The second was the play that put the nail in the coffin for the Bulldogs, a lateral to WR Newton who threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Cory Boyd. That made the game 12-0 and ended Mississippi State's chances in the 3rd quarter. The 24th ranked Arizona Sun Devils received a scare from intra-state squad Northern Arizona for a little over 3 quarters. The game was tied at 14 in the 4th quarter until Sun Devil Chris Baloney's 35-yard interception return put them in front for good. Keegan Herring added a 15-yard touchdown run where he began the play sweeping right, and then totally reversed the field and scored at the left pilon. The Rudy Carpenter era began smooth as he had 261 yards passing and 2 touchdowns in the 35-14 win over the Lumberjacks. In the Battle of the Worst team of Division 1-a the Temple Owls fell in overtime to the Buffalo Bisons 9-3. The game was knotted at 3 heading into overtime with Temple getting the ball first but was stopped without scoring. Buffalo RB James Starks scored on an 18-yard scamper on Buffalo's first overtime possession and gave new Bison head coach Turner Gill his first victory. At the same time new Owl head coach Al Golden lost his first game. Many people thought that Iowa State would contend for the Big 12 North Title, but after their showing last night I am not so sure that could be the case anymore. The Cyclones needed 3OT to beat Toledo 45-43. I'll spare you the HOLY TOLEDO reference but TE Chris Hopkins, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end wrecked havok on the Cyclones defense catching six passes for 56 yds and a score. Iowa State's QB Bret Meyer had a good game going 17 for 25 for 234 yards and 2 tds. The Rockets had a chance to tie the game and send it to a 4th OT but the two point conversion was denied. Offensive formations are suppose to confuse the defense, not hurt your own offense. Down 7 points late in the game the Central Michigan Chippewas had every offensive lineman (minus the center) line up far left. The QB got the ball from the center and scrambled around to throw, all the while the offensive linemen stayed in their stance. Well Boston College wasn't fooled and ended up intercepting the ball ending the Chippewas hopes for an upset. Junior Eagles quarterback Matt Ryan went 32 of 48, 323 yards, 3 touchdowns in the 31-24 victory for Boston College.