ShareThisOnce again, right out of the gate, college football has succeeded marvelously in reminding fans why they miss this game so much during the offseason, and why they get so pumped up for the start of a new season.
Nail-biting slugfests, underdog uprisings, improbable comebacks and fever-pitch excitement are weekly staples of the college gridiron.
Last Thursday night's lid-lifter between Baylor and No. 14 TCU had it all, and it wasn't the only game that kept fans on the edge of their seats in week one.
Baylor set the tone for another wild and crazy season by stunning TCU, 50-48, after squandering a 24-point, fourth-quarter lead.
Trailing by one point with 4:27 left, the Bears drove 60 yards in 11 plays, and Aaron Jones kicked a 37-yard field goal to avoid a monumental collapse and give the Bears their first victory over a ranked team since 2004, when they beat No. 16 Texas A&M.
Utah State could have, should have and would have pulled off an even bigger upset Saturday over No. 23 Auburn, if the Tigers hadn't recovered an onside kick with 2:07 remaining.
It was supposed to have been a mismatch: A 24-point underdog from the lowly WAC playing on the road against the defending national champions from the mighty SEC.
It would have been the greatest victory in Aggies' history, considering they were just 1-53 against ranked opponents, and their only win was against No. 25 Fresno State.
Instead, it was a devastating meltdown. After dominating almost the entire game and leading by 10 with just over two minutes remaining, Utah State gave up a pair of TDs, allowing Auburn to survive, 42-38.
Like Auburn's, South Carolina fans had to be feeling pretty nervous, too, trailing East Carolina, 17-0, in the second quarter. But the tension began to ease after coach Steve Spurrier let benched quarterback Stephen Garcia out of the doghouse. Behind Garcia, the 12th-ranked Gamecocks rallied to win, 56-37.
Notre Dame lost its home opener, 23-20, in excruciating fashion to South Florida, a 10-point underdog, in a game twice delayed by lightning for a total of nearly three hours.
As the new face of Irish football, second-year coach Brian Kelly's beet-red game face appropriately illustrates the state of affairs in South Bend: full of anxiety and frustration, and seething with anger.
Course, turning the ball over five times, three inside the red zone, was due cause for boiling over, especially for coach. It was a game the Irish could have and should have won. They doubled up the Bulls in total yards, 508 to 254.
If you're looking for the picture of perfection, focus on Boise.
For their second consecutive season opener, Boise State's Broncos traveled to the other side of the country, put their Top 5 ranking on the line against a ranked opponent, and came away with a victory, 35-21 over Georgia.
In addition to Georgia, Boise has beaten three other ranked, regular-season opponents from BCS-affiliated conferences since 2008: Oregon (twice), Oregon State and Virginia Tech. In their last five bowls, Boise has knocked off No. 3 TCU, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 20 Utah.
Respect is no longer an issue; the Broncos have earned it from everyone who pays attention. But the harsh reality is, Boise is likely to experience deja vu of 2009, when they went unbeaten but got denied a spot in the BCS national championship game.
All Boise can do, all anybody can do, is true to the cliche: take care of the business at hand.
There's plenty of serious business this weekend: No. 3 Alabama at No. 23 Penn State in the week's only game between ranked teams; No. 12 South Carolina at Georgia; No. 16 Mississippi State at Auburn; and Notre Dame at Michigan.
Quarterback play will be key in the Bama-Penn State game. Each has a superb defense and solid running game, but plenty of quarterback questions.
The Tide will likely go with A.J. McCarron; the Lions, who knows?... Coaches -- and fans - appear to be split over Rob Bolden and Matthew McGloin -- with good reason. Both have shown flashes of talent but struggled with consistency.
But both have more game experience than McCarron. Bolden started as a true freshman in Penn State's turnover-plagued 24-3 loss at Alabama last season.
The shoe is sort of on the other foot Saturday in State College, Pa.
As to the other business:
South Carolina -- with Garcia at the helm -- should mow down Georgia between the hedges.
Mississippi State -- a legitimate SEC title contender -- should handle Auburn. The Bulldogs return 16 starters; the Tigers, six.
And, everything we've missed about college football over the past eight months could be witnessed in the primetime showdown between rivals Michigan and Notre Dame in Ann Arbor. With each team featuring nine returning starters on offense, it should be a shootout.
The Irish can't possibly start the season, 0-2 ... could they?
(Contact John Tucker at jtucker(at)unionleader.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
columnUNBLANCED LINEMust credit New Hampshier Union Leader
