Thoughts From Week 1 2009

No. 10 Oregon vs. Boise State: Oregon and Boise State are known for their big offenses and ESPN loved advertising it as an offensive matchup, but the defenses are not bad and will be the key to success for either team this season... the Broncos don't usually play a strong enough schedule to make it to the BCS without going undefeated, but there are some decent teams on the schedule this year... Broncos are proving in the first half how important special teams are, this should be 6-0 midway through the second quarter, that changes the game... the struggles of Boise State and Oregon on offense in the first half of this game shows why teams need a preseason game in college football, a big game like this should not be decided by such raw, untested schemes and just one game would help; it proves why playing FCS teams actually help despite the image hit.

No. 23 Brigham Young Cougars vs. No. 1 Oklahoma: Sam Bradford really makes this team, you can tell Oklahoma is a different team without its Heisman-winning quarterback, I know you can say that about most teams but the Sooners are clearly not as efficient... you have to feel bad for Oklahoma at some point, the team lost DeMarco Murray for the BCS National Championship Game last year, lost Jermaine Grisham before the BYU game and might be without Bradford for 2-4 weeks... having said all that, BYU is a really good team and should not be overlooked, the Cougars had a good season last year and are just as good with Max Hall coming back at quarterback... as much of a statement as the Broncos made against the Ducks, the Cougars have a better chance of not only making a BCS bowl but they might have a fair shake at making the BCS National Championship Game if the pieces fall right, this win will go a long way but they will hav eto go undefeated.

No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech: this game certainly lived up to its hype as the Hokies and Crimson Tide played in a classic battle... but Alabama's defense was as good as advertised, it gave up a couple big plays at the end and a kickoff return but really stymied the Virginia Tech offense all night, the Hokies are the best team in the ACC and even in a somewhat dominating defeat, still looked like they should handle the conference easily... but the Tide just dominated the Hokies physically, the o-line and d-line were getting all the push they wanted up front and that's a recipe for success as both of them are very strong... I was most impressed with running back Mark Ingram, the dude is built like a tank and his 150-plus yard performance may be a statistical high for the year, but he will be wearing out defenses for a long time to come this year, it won't be the last time the Tide steamroll an opponent in the fourth quarter

Cincinnati vs. Rutgers: the Bearcats just looked like they were in a different league than the Scarlet Knights, a completely unexpected mismatch... not to say Rutgers will not be fine, Cincinnati is a very good team... very impressed by Tony Pike, he picked Rutgers' defense apart all day

Miami (Fl.) vs. No. 14 Florida State: never thought I would see both of these teams get out to the offensive start they did Christian Ponder and Jacory Harris had free reign in the pocket despite some big hits early... this turned out to be one of those classic rivalry games but with a different M-O, I was surprised at how the secondaries got abused in this one, I thought Miami and FSU were great defenses... young quarterbacks Christian Ponder and Jacory Harris did more than enough to win this game for their team and they both have very bright futures this year... FSU and Miami will be determining a good portion of this season with BYU hosting FSU and Oklahoma heading to South Florida, they both will be up to the challenge