Making the rounds, checking in on how our 2011 opponents fared in week 1.
The UCF Knights rolled up 62 points on hapless Charleston Southern, including a program record eight rushing touchdowns. Yet O'Leary expects more!
"The Knights' offense, meanwhile, racked up 211 yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries by halftime. UCF finished with eight rushing touchdowns, the most in school history. O'Leary said he still expected more from his running backs, urging them to be tougher and run with better technique. He was surprised but pleased when he learned the players managed to set a school rushing record."
Duke, a Division I-A program, lost to Division I-AA Richmond for the third time in six seasons, while UMass, a Division I-AA program moving up to Division I-A, beat the Cross 24-16.
Wake Forest dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on Thursday night. But that wasn't the biggest loss in the game for the Deacs, as starting QB Tanner Price went down with an injury:
"Bottom line. Wake dominated 3 quarters of this game and still couldn't find a way to win. And I'm talking DOMINATED. But they were up 3-0, then 6-0, missed an XP and an easy FG, had a bunch of 3rd down penalties to make it 3rd and long instead, and then the defense inevitably collapsed after the predictable injury to Tanner Price, who was having a great game."
The Clemson Tigers started slow and sloppy before using a big second half to down Troy.
The Hokies got into the win column for the first time since 2006, dismantling Appalachian State 66-13:
"Virginia Tech was able to coast through its season opener for the first time since the last time it opened with an FCS opponent, 2006 against Northeastern. Everything worked for the Hokies Saturday against Appalachian State. The offense moved the ball at will, the defense disrupted the Mountaineer offense and they even blocked a punt for a touchdown."
Maryland donned the ugliest college football uniforms known to man on Monday night while managing to knock off Miami 32-24, behind 348 passing yards from sophomore QB Danny O'Brien. The Terps probably should have won by a wider margin, as UMD dominated a depleted Canes roster early on.
"In all honesty, Maryland should've wrapped up the game quickly. Incredibly, seven of their eight drives ended up in the red zone. Even more incredibly, they only got a single touchdown out of the seven trips, putting up only 19 points. The game could've been 21-7 or 28-7 early, but instead the Terrapins consistently let the Hurricanes back into the game."
The Canes, meanwhile, played really poor defense using a "motley collection of defenders," but it was the mistakes and miscues that did in the U on Monday night:
"No, it was the mistakes. Boneheaded, avoidable, maddening mistakes. Maryland tried its hardest to hand Miami the game on a black and yellow checkered platter, and yet the Canes continuously gave it right back. The Terps repeatedly drove down the field with ease, only to ram into a self-erected brick wall once inside the ten yard line. They somehow missed a 23 yard field goal. As the great Lt. Winslow tweeted, "at least we're not the same old 'slow as f***, sloppy, undisciplined, ridiculously penalized, can't defend a f'ing screen pass' miami." Indeed, even though Randy Shannon is gone from the program, his spirit somehow lived on. Rather than studying game tape this week, Al Golden may just want to perform an exorcism."
The Florida State defense dominated Louisiana Monroe in a 34-0 victory on Saturday, though the offense felt disjointed, possibly due to the limited amount of time the offensive line had to work together during fall camp.
N.C. State wasn't all that impressive in the season opener against Liberty:
"But the offense didn't turn a corner there like I hoped they had, and if not for an awesome fat guy touchdown and a short field situation set up by another long T.J. Graham kick return, the third quarter could have been much scarier than it was. By the end of that period, Liberty had almost twice as many total yards as State did, which is something that may portend bad things down the road but wasn't so bothersome at the time given State's two-score lead."
Finally, the one silver lining to the weekend was that we were all witness to the "same old Notre Dame."
"It still frustrating to lose games when you think you're better, and the majority of the game seemed to prove that except for the scoreboard. Again, we've been down this road so many times with Weis that many are willing to cry, "same old Notre Dame."
Classic.