CigarSmokinFootball

Cigar Butts

Northwestern 16 Stanford 6– Stanford’s performance Saturday was disappointing. It would be easy to say QB Hogan didn’t have a very good game and place the blame on him, but that would allow everyone else to escape responsibility. Stanford’s offense is predicated on the running game;- if the run doesn’t happen, the offense doesn’t move. The best way to sum up their performance is that Northwestern stopped the run. Stanford’s defense did okay most of the game, but they allowed the Wildcats to score a Touchdown which was more than the Cardinal offense could produce. The whole game was a shocker, and that’s an understatement. The biggest question now is can Coach Shaw get Stanford to recover? CSF says it doesn’t look good. Ever since Shaw took over the management of the Farm, the program has been on a decline. Not a sharp fall, or dramatic drop, but a slow, steady decline. 2015 has started off on the wrong foot.

BYU 33 Nebraska 28– In a miracle finish, on the last play of the game, with one second left, the back-up quarterback for BYU ran to the right to buy some time, then threw the ball as far as he could. Five Nebraska players were in the end zone, but Mitch Mathews, of the Cougars, was in front of them. He caught the ball and fell backwards to score. A Hail Mary, a true Hail Mary, an unadulterated, unedited, successful Hail Mary! Not only did he and Tanner Mangum (that back-up, and true freshman QB) become instant heroes, but they ruined the Cornhuskers 29 year streak of season opening victories and New Head Coach Mike Riley’s debut. What a way to finish a great game! On a sour note, Taysom Hill had his season, and probably his BYU career, end with a foot injury early in the fourth quarter. Both teams played well, Nebraska still has to adjust to Mike Riley’s offense, but for their first game, the Huskers did well. BYU will have to avoid a four game slump after losing their starting QB…..again.

Auburn 31 Louisville 24– A lot will be said about Auburn’s revamped defense and QB Jeremy Johnson. Will Muschamp has made a difference and to look out for the Tigers. Not going to say that Auburn hasn’t improved or that their defense isn’t better, just going to say that after this first game, it wasn’t so impressive. Louisville did everything they could to give the game away. The Cardinals were exceedingly sloppy with their care of the ball in the first half, and they made mental error after mental errors. Auburn was ahead 24-3 with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter, the ‘Ville started clicking and before you know it, they had come storming back. The biggest question is, with all the mistakes that the Cardinals made, did they give the game away or did Auburn win it? And, then, there was the decision of Petrino to call a time out when the clock was already stopped at the close of the game. The Luck of the Irish has blessed Auburn again.

Texas A&M 38 Arizona State 17– Texas A&M started off the season with an impressive victory, again. They entered this game as the underdog, again, and with a lot of questions about their defense, again. It was evident from the get-go that the Aggies were there to play. They handled the Sun Devils for all four quarters. QB Kyle Allen had a very good game going, he made some first-game-of-the-season mistakes, but CSF thought he played well. Which is why it’s frustrating to figure out why Coach Sumlin replaced him with true freshman Kyler Murray in the second quarter. All Murray did was take the snap, run around a lot and throw an interception. When Sumlin put Allen back in again the offense started moving and scored. Was this that famous Change-of-Pace trick? The Aggies had the most impressive win of the night, again. The daughter, a future Aggie, was, and is, enjoying this victory. It increased her desire to participate in the Mid-night yell sessions. With Sumlin’s decision to replace Allen, CSF wonders if they’re going to blow the rest of the season….again?

Alabama 35 Wisconsin 17– The Badgers met Derrick Henry (ROLL TIDE!) who rushed for 147 yards, and three touchdowns. When he got up a head of steam it proved impossible to tackle him, or catch up with him. When El Tractorcito got rolling, no one WANTED to tackle, or catch up with, him. There was no question as to who the star of the game was on offense. Henry. If he’s not part of the Heisman talk, he should be. The rest of the offense answered some lingering questions. It took a little bit for them to get settled down, to get rid of the deer-in-the-headlights impersonation, but when they did, they started opening huge holes for the running backs. QB Coker did exactly what he was supposed to do. Error-free football, and smart decisions. Look for him to improve with more playing time. While the running game looked impossible to stop, and Wisconsin is not a bad team, they’ll more than likely win the Great White North-West, it’s going to be very hard to staunch the Crimson Tide. The front seven of the Tide held the Badgers to 40 yards rushing! This is a team that usually rushes for over 200 yards per game. In the words of Darth Vader from the Empire Strikes Back, “Impressive, most impressive.” Wisconsin had some success throwing the ball, so the Crimson Tide needs to, once again, improve their secondary. It was a good win to start off the season, it made me feel much better, but there is work to be done. ROLL TIDE!

First weekend record – 4-1 CSF is off to a good start.

Upset Alert update: West Virginia evidently did not appreciate being picked to lose to Georgia Southern as they shut the Eagles out and ran away with the game. Ooops, my bad.

Other games,

Virginia wilted before UCLA and new Freshman QB Rosen the Chosen as the Bruins had a breakout game.

Bowling Green did somethings well against Tennessee, but fell short

Kentucky enjoyed a crawfish dinner made up of Ragin’ Cajuns.

Notre Dame accepted the gift from Texas

Florida State did, in fact, beat Texas State, at home

Eastern Washington scored a lot of points against Oregon, but the Ducks put up more

Mississippi State beat Southern Miss – eventually

Duke and Tulane played. Duke won. Does anyone out there care?

Division II- North Alabama Lions extended their winning streak against Miles College. Roar Lions!

Take Aways

The PAC-12, for all their boasting, is still looking up to the SEC, going 7-5

The Great White North needs Ohio State to win to salvage some respectability, their shine has been tarnished.

The Big 12, that only has ten teams, came out 8-2.

The ACC went 10-3 with VA Tech outcome pending.

SEC proved they are still the best;- only Vandy lost.

Is Pat Hadyn still a member of The Committee?