By JIMMIE TRAMEL Sports Writer on Aug 30, 2013, at 9:42 AM Updated on 8/30 at 9:42 AM
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Former Oklahoma State receiver Artrell Woods is down and out. He suffered a spinal injury (and temporary paralysis) due to ...
Former receiver Artrell Woods was a focal point in the final chapter of Sports Illustrated's five-part investigative series ...
On Friday, Sports Illustrated’s five-part investigative look (“The Dirty Game”) at the Oklahoma State football program focused ...
As of Thursday, college football is here. Some early thoughts:
--Utah State launched a Heisman campaign to promote quarterback Chuckie Keeton. Because the BCS system widened the perception gap between have and have-not leagues, Keeton will have an uphill battle to gain validation.
But, whether he winds up on Heisman ballots or not, he might be the most exciting player in the country. I watched the second half of Utah State’s season-opening loss to Utah and he made me say “wow” three times in one series.
--Usually, season openers provide answers to questions you may have had about a team in preseason. Tulsa’s opener raised more questions, but it’s too soon to say the sky is falling.
--Pressed for a “lock of the week,” I took Rice, which is getting 27 or so points against Texas A&M, which will have quarterback Johnny Manziel for only one half. (Doesn’t that make him a halfback?)
Texas A&M enters this season riding the fourth-longest active winning streak (six games) in the nation. Here’s a shocker: Rice enters this season riding the fifth-longest active winning streak (five games). The Owls haven’t dropped a game since losing to Tulsa midway though last season.
--Remember how Jack Crowe (no offense, Jack) essentially fired himself at Arkansas by losing to the Citadel and how Lloyd Carr essentially fired himself at Michigan by losing to Appalachian State? Paul Pasqualoni essentially fired himself at Connectict by losing to Towson State in a Thursday night opener.
“This’ll be the toughest opener since I’ve been here,” Pasqualoni said at a press conference last week. (It hurts to be right.)
Some coaches love to play lower-division opponents because it’s almost a guaranteed victory. But lose to a lower-division team and the mobs start gathering torches and pitchforks.
--Anybody have any faith that USC will turn a corner under Lane Kiffin? No?
--You know the saying that the media loves to build people up and tear them down? I actually think that’s a society thing instead of a media thing. Weird, but it makes people feel better about themselves if somebody who is on top of the world comes crashing down to earth with the rest of the mortals. Four quarters into the season, and with the tearing down of Johnny Football in the rear view mirror, there already seems to be a lot of tearing down of Jadeveon Clowney.
--The Howard Schnellenberger Bowl arrives tonight when two of his former schools, Miami and Florida Atlantic, collide. Incidentally, Schnellenberger did an interview this week and said current Miami coach Al Golden is the best Hurricanes coach since himself. I asked Pat Jones what Jimmy Johnson would think about that. Laughter followed.
--Ohio State opens against Buffalo. Urban Meyer’s reputation has taken such a hit that people might be willing to believe this isn’t his first buffalo slaughter.
--After crunching some numbers, I’ve got Arkansas on danger alert vs. Louisiana-Lafayette. But those numbers are based on the Razorback regime of last season, so....
--Alabama vs. Virginia Tech? It wasn’t so long ago that Virginia Tech was the gold standard of college football defense and Arkansas was just another squad.
--The nonconference season is great because it allows for big brother vs. little brother games. One of the most intriguing is Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky. Mark Stoops makes his head coaching debut against Bobby Petrino, who is missing a chance to make a grand entrance if he doesn’t ride into the stadium on a motorcycle.
--Texas opens against New Mexico State. This has to be a landslide if anyone is going to start to believe the Longhorns are finally out of imposter mode.
