Bull Run

Here's all you need to know about what South Florida's defense did to West Virginia on Friday night: Dick Vitale.

By the second quarter of the game, ESPN2's cameras were turned to Dickie V in the Raymond James Stadium club seats. With very little prompting, Vitale donned a headset and spoke at length with play-by-play man Sean McDonough about USF, life in west Florida (Vitale lives in Sarasota), the Devil Rays, and whatever else Dickie V could think of. This was during play, mind you.

Still in the first half, McDonough offered a lengthy background on USF linebacker Ben Moffitt, who is married with two kids and commutes 45 minutes each way to school and practice. Again, this story came to us during the game.

(McDonough's best line of the night, uttered upon seeing Vitale's presumably long-suffering bride sitting next to Dickie V: "There's Mrs. Vitale to Dick's right, still waiting to speak her first words." Perfect.)

Let me offer you this nugget about how sports are produced on television: when the crew starts going to interviews in the stands and lengthy biographical sketches of players, they ain't doing that to "enhance the broadcast."

They do that when the game is a dud, or a blowout. USF fans should take this as a compliment.

The final stats on Friday night don't reflect it, but South Florida's defense was absolutely stifling. West Virginia, a team ranked 2nd in the nation in rushing coming in, managed 188 yards on the ground -- 169 yards below its average.

I said it on Rec Warehouse College Kickoff, and I'll say it again: USF's defense on Friday night was as good as I've seen anybody play all year. Period.

Big Four, Big Five, whatever. That's a win over Auburn and West Virginia in the same season for a program that's barely ten years old.

South Florida is hereby legit.

Friday Night Lights

I'm writing this entry in my office at 8:30pm on a Friday night. I'm here because South Florida is playing West Virginia on a Friday.

Because Rec Warehouse College Kickoff re-airs twice on Saturday mornings, the crew was compelled to stay at the studio until the conclusion of the USF-West Virginia game, so that we could re-tape the opening segment of the show to include USF highlights from Friday night.

To repeat: Sun Sports is paying me, a full crew, and two analysts to stick around until midnight in order to make sure that USF highlights make it into the Saturday morning re-airs.

Let this speak volumes as to how far the Bulls have come.

And please, let this get the USF fans off our backs.

I've Gathered My Thoughts

You a baseball fan? Good. Have I got a team for you.

I've got a rookie right fielder who drove in more than 90 runs this season. Only 22 rookies have done that in the last 50 years. The list is topped by Mark McGwire, who had 118 RBI as a rookie in 1986.

I've got a left fielder who is only the second player in the history of Major League Baseball to increase his home run total and batting average over five consecutive years. You may have heard of the first one: Rogers Hornsby. My guy is leading the league in stolen bases this year, is second in triples, and is nearing the top-ten in batting average. Plus, he's great with the kids, lending his name and time to his team's effort to rebuild run-down Little League ballparks in his community.

My center fielder is an absolute stud. He played in just 95 Major League games from 2004 through 2006, but once he came up full-time in '07, he blew up: .303 average, 24 homers, 82 RBI. His OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is an obscene .913. Did I mention that he's got a rocket for an arm?

In the infield, I've got a first baseman who is playing for his fifth team in his 7-year career, but he broke out this season -- 42 homers as of this writing, good for second in the American League behind Alex Rodriguez. He's also driven in over 100 runs for the first time in his career. He's peaking. Best part is, my guy is an absolute doll, personable, smart, impossible not to like, and willing to do just about anything in the community.

My third baseman was a five-time All-Star and a six-time Gold Glove winner in the Central League in Japan.

My shortstop hit .290 or better in April, May, June, and July. My second baseman can play three infield positions.

I've got two pitchers who logged over 200 innings this season. Workhorses. They're both among the top 15 in the league in strikeouts. One of them became his team's all-time winningest pitcher this year.

My manager led this team to the most home wins in franchise history last season. He spent 31 years in the Angels organization, which is only the envy of every club in the majors. And on that note, Baseball America ranks my team's farm system as the most loaded in the game.

So, whattaya think? You in? Ready to climb on board?

Good.

I have just described the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who have already lost 90 games for the 10th consecutive season -- every single year of their Major League life.

And frankly, I have no idea how that happened. Again.

While on the subject of things that stump me: why in the hell are we letting Isiah Thomas off the hook yet again?

What I mean is, how has this story not captured the headlines and cranked up the Rightous Indignation Machine on the level of Michael Vick, the "Jena Six," and Bill BeliCheat?

In case you missed it: Isiah was one of the best basketball players ever to don a uniform. As I wrote on this blog in May of last year: Hall of Famer, NBA's 50 Greatest, 12-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion. 19 points and nine assists per game in a 13-year, 979-game career. Zeke. The Babyfaced Assassin. On the court, his credentials are impeccable.

But once he stopped playing and ventured into NBA management, he was a human train wreck. I've been there already; no use re-writing that entry now.

Point being, no reasonable manager would hire this guy to run a Dairy Queen, much less one of the most visible franchises in the history of American professional sports. Yet, the Knicks have placed their trust in Thomas's hands since December of 2003, when he was named the team's President of Basketball Operations.

Why?

Why did he get that job in the first place?

Is there anything on Thomas's resume' that would merit such an investment? When you read the story about Thomas's alleged abusive treatment of former Knicks executive Anucha Brown Sanders, were your sensibilities more insulted by his supposed comments, or were you, like me, wondering why in the world he was ever in a position to make them at all?

Why does any NBA franchise still consider Isiah Thomas to be a viable candidate for anything?

Stumped. No clue. He's the Devil Rays, in my view, of the NBA.

Just wondering.

On an unrelated note: UCF killed Memphis, USF blistered North Carolina, and Florida Atlantic won a game in conference. The Orlando Sentinel chose the term "Next Three."

Me, I still like "Big Five."

Weekend Roundup

They had it.

We were thisclose to a true Big Five -- for one week, anyway. UCF had it.

They had Texas on the freaking ropes.

It was opening day at the new on-campus Bright House Networks Stadium, and the atmosphere was completely electric. Even Texas coach Mack Brown admitted that his kids "didn't understand what they were about to get into." Maybe, despite Brown's pregame warning, the Longhorn players overlooked this "directional school" in Orlando, came out flat, and got the living bejeezus scared out of them. For that matter, maybe Texas is simply overrated, a topic we plan to discuss on Monday night's 'Tailgate Overtime' on Sun Sports. Perhaps the Knights simply played out of their minds. I don't know, and it doesn't matter.

UCF had this game in hand, and they lost it.

You have to feel bad for senior quarterback Kyle Israel, an Orlando kid from nearby University High School, who picked the wrong time to have a miserable game. Nine-for-26, 134 yards, an interception returned for a TD in the second quarter, a fumble in the 4th that led to one final rally-killing Texas score. Still, you cannot hang this game on Israel -- UCF was powerless against the run, giving up 229 yards on the ground. Offensively, the Knights are still searching for playmaking receivers, having lost Mike Walker to Jacksonville in the 2007 NFL Draft. There are holes to fill, and not just at QB.

You can, however, feel pretty good about running back Kevin Smith, who followed his career-high 217-yard rushing performance against N.C. State with another 149 yards and two TD's against mighty Texas. Smith currently leads the nation in rushing (!) at 183 yards per game and gives the Knights much hope in Conference USA. We can debate Tim Tebow vs. Matt Grothe all day long for best quarterback in the state, but when it comes to the best running back, there's no argument: Kevin Smith.

Mike Bianchi called the UCF game a "victorious defeat." Tim Brando, who was anchoring in the CBS studio during the Florida-Tennessee game and provided periodic updates on the UCF-Texas game, opined that "nobody wants a piece of any 'directional school' in Florida right now."

For that, I will forgive him for saying that the UCF game was taking place "just down I-95 from Gainesville."

Umm, Tim? It's I-75. Get off at the Turnpike, take that to the East-West, go east for half an hour. UCF is on the left. Can't miss it. I'll get you a map.

What I will not forgive, however, is CBS's use of the phrase "Central Florida Golden Knights" on its scoreboards. Over the last few seasons, UCF has made a very big deal about being referred to as "UCF." They despise the term "Central Florida" because of that very "directional school" stigma. This fact is hammered home repeatedly in every scrap of literature that comes out of the school's sports information department, all of which insist, in no uncertain terms, that "Central Florida," "C. Fla.," "Central Fla.," or any such permutation of same won't cut it. It's "UCF," or don't bother knockin'. As a media outlet, you really have to work hard to miss this.

Yet, CBS's scoreboard updates not only read "Central Florida," but failed to drop "Golden" in front of "Knights," another point that has been impossible to miss. Perhaps the national networks will catch on once the UCF Knights jump to a BCS conference in the near future.

One more note on the UCF-Texas game: George O'Leary owes Jeannine Edwards an apology.

Edwards was the sideline reporter for the ESPN broadcast of the UCF-Texas game, and at halftime, she pulled O'Leary aside for a quick comment on the first half. When the coach casually mentioned that he might pull Israel in the second half, she did the only thing anyone in her position could possibly do, which was attempt a follow-up question. In other words, she did her job.

O'Leary responded with a blurted "thank you" and jogged away from her, on live television. Edwards was left to sigh "good luck" and awkwardly throw it back to the booth. It was painful.

Look, I've done a gazillion halftime interviews, and they pretty much all suck. However, they're part of the deal when playing a big game on television, and O'Leary, no matter how hard he was working, no matter how invested he was in the game, was wrong to hang her out to dry like that. If you think UCF is big-time, Coach, you gotta act big-time. And that means respect for the national TV network that is spending 50 grand in production trucks, crew, talent, travel, and pregame buffet to come to your new stadium to televise a game that they were pretty sure would be a blowout anyway. Hell, they even visually identified your school graphically as "UCF" all day long, as instructed, even though 80 percent of the audience would likely have no clue who "UCF" was.

Other than that, a nearly perfect showing by Central Florida -- sorry, UCF -- on Saturday.

Other notes from the weekend:

--Tim Tebow had more carries against Tennessee (18) than pass completions (14), and the Gators still hung 59 points on the Vols -- without Andre Caldwell. Chew on that one for a while. They've scored 38 points or more in 5 straight games, including last year's SEC Championship Game, the BCS Championship Game, and their first three this season. They're #2 in the country in scoring offense at just over 55 points per game, and their defense just held Tennessee to 37 net yards rushing and one offensive touchdown. Scary, but probably not enough to jump Southern Cal or LSU in this week's coaches' poll. Which says as much about those two programs as it does about the stupidity of any poll that comes out before October.

--Florida Atlantic released the clutch on Minnesota this weekend to the tune of 580 yards of offense (463 through the air) and five passing touchdowns. It was FAU's first-ever win against a Big Ten opponent -- impressive, especially when you consider that Minnesota beat the Owls 46-7 just two years ago. By the way, FAU plays South Florida at home on October 6th, and the Owls get the Gators in Gainesville on November 17th. Did those two games just get a little more interesting?

--With a 10pm eastern time kickoff on Saturday night (which was subsequently pushed back to 10:15 eastern by ESPN), Florida State's longest road trip of the year at Colorado didn't finish until roughly 1:45 in the morning in Florida. Perhaps that's for the best -- after one Antone Smith TD run and three Gary Cismesia field goals allowed FSU to upend the hapless Buffs 16-6, new Seminole offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher let the boys have it:

"The most ridiculous demonstration of football I've been around in my life...I'm going to tell you what, if I'm an offensive player, I'm embarrassed. Our defense won that football game. It's ridiculous the mistakes we keep making."

Then he let himself have it for a moment, before returning his players to their seats under the bus:

"It's my fault. It starts with me. If you ain't coaching it, you're letting it happen. We're going to find 11 guys who want to do it. We'll start on Tuesday when we get back, I promise you."

Due to the obscenely late kickoff, we did not produce a live postgame show for Florida State on Saturday night, something that had concerned me all week. The logic, as it was explained to me, was sound: little or no chance for an East Coast audience at 2 in the morning, costs outweighing benefits (both to us and to our sponsors), and an upcoming live pregame show on September 29th prior to the FSU-Alabama game in Jacksonville that would balance out the studio schedule. That's fine and dandy, but I've been doing this for a long time, and I was certain that somebody would make a stink. I voiced those concerns during the week to a few people at Sun Sports, and we agreed that we would share the backlash together.

By Sunday morning, however, there was nothing. Instead, I found this thread on Warchant.com, one of the most active FSU message boards, wherein some courageous Seminole fan who actually stayed up until 2am wondered why we were re-airing the Gator Postgame at that hour and not producing a live Seminole Postgame.

The replies from his fellow insomniacs:

"They probably fell asleep watching those offenses."

"Can you blame them??"

"I'm grateful that they are sparing us the [humiliation] of seeing that disgraceful offensive performance tonight."

Ouch. And, umm...you're welcome?

Welcome To The Party

On behalf of the Committee -- which is pretty much just me -- it is my pleasure to welcome the University of South Florida's football program into the Big Four.

Granted, we were banking on a Big Five. That day may still come. The University of Central Florida -- aptly located in Orlando, which is indeed central Florida, as opposed to USF, which is in Tampa, and could therefore never be confused with "south Florida" -- was and remains the final piece of this theoretical puzzle. UCF, despite its inexplicable step backwards last season after a bowl trip two years ago, remains alive in this race for a Big Five thanks to a season-opening win over North Carolina State on the road. But UCF didn't beat Auburn.

USF did.

Not only did USF beat Auburn, the Bulls did it on the road, at night, on national freaking television, in overtime. They preceded this win with a victory over West Virginia last year, and with a win over Louisville the year before. You're in. The Committee is mildly concerned about the fact that USF has never won its own conference title, but then The Committee realized that Miami has never won the ACC, either. For that matter, the Hurricanes have failed to reach the ACC Championship Game thus far, which places them one step behind UCF in that regard. The Knights at least played for the Conference USA title two years ago.

But never mind that. We're talking about the University of South Florida, the one in Tampa. The newest member of the Big Four.

Look, Miami just got smoked by Oklahoma. Florida State had to dig deep to beat the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Florida -- Florida, for gawdsake -- gave up 17 unanswered in the third quarter against Troy at the Swamp. The bottom line is the bottom line.

Is there any team in the state of Florida not currently considered a "Big" program that has a better claim to membership than USF?

Enough already. The past is history. Don't bore me with tales of how great you used to be -- tell me instead what you have done for me lately. South Florida just beat Auburn. Anybody else got anything better than that?

Didn't think so.

Welcome to the party, Coach Jim Leavitt. You deserve it. You've been wooed by Lord knows how many elite programs over the last few years -- Alabama and Kansas State among them, if we are to believe the message boards -- and yet, you stayed. You had a vision, or at least, a feeling. You figured that something special might be brewing at this commuter school in a top-10 media market, the one that some of its own alumni refer to as "Drive-Thru U." You stayed in Tampa, because you grew up in Tampa, and because you saw the value in being a big fish in an untapped pond, one with over 34,000 undergrads and over 200,000 alumni living in all 50 states.

You saw an opportunity to play in an NFL stadium, something that never hurt Southern Cal back when Los Angeles still had pro football, something that mighty Miami will try next year in lieu of the decrepit Orange Bowl. You knew you had a rich vein of Florida high school talent from which to draw, and you carpe'd that diem to the tune of a staggering 90 players, walk-on and scholarship, from right here in the Sunshine State. You recognized the commitment from your university, the often politically incorrect willingness to raise money and cheerlead and build facilities and retain staff, the drive among your employers to make USF -- USF, for gawdsake -- into a legitimate football contender. So you stayed.

For over ten years, you stayed. The first football coach in USF history, and the only football coach in USF history. You came to USF the same year that Alvin Wyatt returned to coach at his alma mater, Bethune-Cookman. Together, you two are the second-longest tenured head football coaches at Florida schools.

Number one? Bobby Bowden, of course. He's got a statue on the outside of Doak S. Campbell Stadium, and a field named for him on the inside. When you get to 32 years, Coach Leavitt, you should expect the same treatment.

We'll worry about that when we get there.

For now, welcome to the party. If any of those Gators, Seminoles, or Hurricanes give you any guff about including your program in the Big Four, point to the scoreboard. In the case of Miami, you've got them on your schedule for five years starting in '09, so there's your chance to take care of business directly. You're also playing Florida in 2010 and 2015. In the meantime, a Big East title, and the BCS bowl berth that follows, would make an even more compelling argument in your favor.

And for those UCF Knights that wish to make it a true "Big Five" -- well, The Committee will be happy to process your application this Saturday night, provided you open your new on-campus stadium appropriately. Yeah, I know, it's Texas. But it can be done.

You don't have to go very far to find the proof. About 90 miles west, in fact.

Et Tu, FSU?

The Florida State Seminoles are now 7-7 over their last 14 games.

Take a moment and digest that.

From last season through the Clemson game this Labor Day, Florida State -- a program that has been bowl-eligible for 25 years running, a team that was ranked no lower than 4th in the nation in the final AP poll in any season between 1990 and 1999 -- is a .500 team. Counting the Clemson game, the Seminoles have lost 5 of their last 8.

Their last 1,000-yard running back was Warrick Dunn in 1996 (and he did it three years in a row). Their last 1,000-yard receiver was Anquan Boldin in 2002. The last time a Florida State quarterback passed for 20 touchdowns or more was 2003, when the much-maligned Chris Rix hit for 23. Defensively, none of the Seminoles' all-time leaders in interceptions played more recently than 1997 (Samari Rolle, 12, tied for 6th). Among their all-time sack leaders, none played more recently than 2002.

Just what in the name of Ron Sellers, Deion Sanders, LeRoy Butler, Marvin "Shade Tree" Jones, Charlie Ward, Terrell Buckley, Derrick Brooks, Corey Sawyer, Peter Boulware, Peter Warrick, Marvin "Snoop" Minnis, Amp Lee, Casey Weldon, Chris Weinke, and Xavier freakin' Beitia is going on here?

If you live in Florida, you may think you know the Seminoles, but just for fun, go read up on them. Go peruse the list of players who have been honored in some fashion for their stellar play. Every name in the paragraph above was an All-American -- first team, second team, third team, or honorable mention -- on somebody's list.

Heck, you could start a pretty good all-star squad just with former Seminoles that have been featured in interviews on Sun Sports. Danny McManus would be the quarterback (from "Gridiron Greats"), William Floyd ("Tailgate Overtime") would throw blocks for Sammie Smith ("In My Own Words"), and LeRoy Butler (IMOW) would be the co-captain of the defense alongside Derrick Brooks (IMOW). And we haven't even touched the NFL yet, where 52 former Seminoles currently occupy roster spots, and we haven't mentioned Bobby Bowden, the winningest coach in major college football history.

So what's up with 7-7?

One season cannot measure a team, and neither can one game, no matter how bad FSU looked in the first half against Clemson. The Tigers brought two of the best running backs in the country into a Death Valley home game against a brand-new offense under a completely revamped coaching staff. Give the 'Noles a pass on Monday.

Instead, what matters is the whole picture. You have to step back and look at it from a distance, as Sgt. Jeff Rabin unwittingly suggests to US Customs agent Dave Kujan in "Usual Suspects." Only then, with the advantage of perspective, do the seemingly disparate pieces fall into place. Only then does the Kobayashi porcelain mug shatter on the floor, exposing the previous two hours -- or, in the case of Florida State, the previous five years -- for what it is.

Maybe Florida State just isn't that good anymore. Or maybe -- and this is my stance -- everybody else just got better, faster.

My main man Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel loves to point out that during Jeff Bowden's first five seasons as Florida State's offensive coordinator, the Seminoles dropped steadily in total offense each season. Here are the numbers he cites:

2000 (Mark Richt's final year as OC before leaving for Georgia): 549 yards per game, #1 in D-I football
2001 (Jeff Bowden's first season): 426 ypg, 26th
2002: 398 ypg, 32nd
2003: 402 ypg, 37th
2004: 372 ypg, 61st
2005: 376 ypg, 59th

In 2006, Bowden's final season as offensive coordinator, the Seminoles were 70th in the nation in total offense at 330 yards per game, and that was pretty much it for Jeff. Observers (like Mike) who have laid the Seminole decline at Jeff Bowden's feet point to those stats as the smoking gun. This year's dramatic turnover in coaching staff, which brought Jimbo Fisher over from LSU to run the offense and Rick Trickett down from West Virginia to coach the offensive line, can be traced to these numbers. For most of the fans I talk to, the question of "is it coaching, or is it the players?" will be answered in short order. Obviously, FSU is banking on "coaching."

But what about the players?

Go back to the 2000 season, when Florida State held that lofty #1 ranking in total offense. The quarterback was Chris Weinke, a senior. The wideouts included sophomore Anquan Boldin, sophomore Talman Gardner, senior Snoop Minnis, and junior Javon Walker, among others. The stable of running backs included Greg Jones and Travis Minor, along with lesser-knowns Jeff Chaney and Davy Ford, all four of whom were ranked among the top 21 rushers in the ACC by season's end.

Where are those guys now?

In the NFL, most of them. But what I mean is, where are their current equivalents? Where are the Peter Warricks, the Warrick Dunns, the Laverneus Coleses? There was a time when Florida State -- and Miami, for that matter -- simply had better players than anybody else. That time is gone.

I like to use the phrase "talent gap" when describing how former mid-major programs like Louisville, Boise State, and TCU have crept into weekly contention for a spot in college football's top 25. The theory is simple: mid-major programs that recruit aggressively, invest in their football program, and retain top-level coaches have closed the gap between themselves and the traditional powers in terms of talent. The distance between the haves and the have-nots in college football is shrinking, and all it takes is a home run here or there -- a Ray Rice to Rutgers, a Noel Devine to West Virginia, a new practice facility or a stadium upgrade -- to start shifting the tide. One boffo recruit leads to another, and then another. Once the ball starts rolling, it's tough to stop, and the gap shrinks.

Critics like to argue that Florida State is down, and if we judge the Seminoles on their own history, it's tough to dispute that position, although they've set the bar awfully high. But one could also find just as many stats, rankings, and bullet points to suggest that a lot of other programs are simply rising at a faster rate than ever before, and FSU has been treading water. The best talent in the country is no longer a lock for a power program like FSU -- and again, I could have written this entire entry about Miami and drawn the same conclusions.

Florida won a national championship last year with a two-year old coaching staff -- seemingly validating FireRonZook.com readers everywhere -- but they also did it with recruiting classes that were ranked 11th or better nationally by Scout.com in the three years leading up to Glendale. Over those same three years, Florida State's recruiting class was ranked 4th, 3rd, and 12th, respectively. The difference being, a good chunk of the players signed by the Seminoles during that span, including guys like Jamaal Edwards, Fred Rouse, and Brandon Warren, were lost to attrition via injury, transfer, what have you. First, you sign them -- then, you have to keep them, and develop them. Yes, it's the players, but it's also the coaching.

If Florida State bounces back this year -- and I think they will -- the new coaching staff must contribute in all facets: recruiting, retention, instruction, scheme, and development. The entire package. The competition, on and off the field, has never been more fierce.

Is it the coaching, or the players?

It's both. And that's the challenge for Florida State as they try to recapture the glory in 2007.

TGIF (Thank God It's Football)

Isn't college football silly, and wonderful?

Isn't it stupid, and brilliant?

This weekend, I watched UCF -- a team that went 4-8 last year -- beat North Carolina State on the road. Not only did the Knights claim their first win against a BCS conference team in seven years, they also validated my prediction on Friday night's debut episode of "Rec Warehouse College Kickoff." Key play: a school-record 80 yard touchdown run by Kevin Smith. On UCF's first play from scrimmage.

I watched App State become the first I-AA program in the history of I-AA programs to defeat a ranked I-A school. And they sealed it because some Michigan kid, a six-twelve 900-pounder who was probably the best player ever to come out of Whatever High School, flat-out blew his assignment on a field goal attempt.

I saw Mario Cristobal -- the first Cuban-American head coach in D-I football history -- show up in Happy Valley in a suit and tie. His Florida International team got hammered by Penn State, but it was worth it to see Joe Paterno admire Cristobal's attire when the two shook hands prior to the game. By the way, the tie that JoePa was wearing on Saturday is probably at least four years older than Cristobal.

I saw a college football game called due to lightning. Urban Meyer said during our live Gator Postgame show that he'd never even heard of that, much less been a part of it. Quite an experience for Brady Ackerman and me -- caught completely off guard, we sprinted from the screening room to the Sun Sports set faster than Mike Bianchi ripping through a free buffet. There's nothing quite like sitting down behind the desk and hearing the director say "30 seconds!" when you've spent the last hour watching the Lincoln Financial announcers discuss the weather radar.

Alvin Wyatt and Bethune-Cookman hung a win against Kerwin Bell in Bell's college coaching debut for Jacksonville University. Howard Schnellenberger led Florida Atlantic to a win over Middle Tennessee, giving the Owls an early leg up on the Sun Belt race. FAMU lost to Southern in a rivalry game that really should be played every year. Oh yeah, and Georgia Tech shellacked Notre Dame. All of this on college football's opening weekend.

What happens in Week Two? Can this weekend possibly be topped?

Random observations:

-As big a win as it was for UCF -- and it was huge -- the Knights still looked helpless in the second half against the Wolfpack, giving up twenty unanswered. With Texas coming into town in two weeks to open UCF's new on-campus stadium, George O'Leary and staff better get a handle on that right quick. I still think the Knights will get smoked, but if they can run the ball even remotely as well as they did against NC State, they might be able to milk the clock and make it interesting. They simply cannot allow the game to get away from them the way it did in the second half on Saturday. Not against a team like Texas.

-If South Florida is to validate all the preseason love being thrown its way, it won't be with a performance like Saturday's. If the Bulls let Elon University hang around all day, what do they expect to do with Louisville, West Virginia, and/or Rutgers? I'll chalk it up to opening-day rust, but that wasn't what Jim Leavitt had in mind to open what is supposed to be a breakout season for USF.

-Tim Tebow can indeed pass, but if you watched the game with any level of scrutiny on Saturday, it was evident that those passing lanes opened up primarily because he's such a threat to run (it also helped that he was passing against I-AA defenders, but still). That little duck-down move, where Tebow jab-steps forward as if he's about to hit the hole, then pulls back into a throwing setup, completely bamboozled Western Kentucky all day. The problem is, every defensive coordinator in the SEC now has that move on tape. Interesting to see if Florida tries that ploy in two weeks against Tennessee -- and if they do, even more interesting to see if the Vols bite on it.

By the way, as I write this, I am a perfect 3-0 on the season in the weekly picks contest with Brady Ackerman and Terry Norvelle on Rec Warehouse College Kickoff. Took Cal to beat Tennessee, Bethune-Cookman to beat Jacksonville, and yes, I took UCF to beat North Carolina State. Our final game is tonight, when Florida State meets Clemson in Bowden Bowl IX.

I took the Seminoles. Can't wait to see how this game stacks up in what has already been a gloriously bizarre opening weekend.