An Ugly-Looking Win

My weekend started off on the wrong foot. I got stuck late at work, on a Friday, causing me to miss the first two innings of my softball game. And I was only the 9th guy to show up, meaning we were playing down two guys, and now still were down one and had to surrender an out every time the 10th spot came up. Needless to say, we lost. I was pissed from being caught at work, pissed for being late and pissed at losing.

Then I had to get up all sorts of early on Saturday to drive out to State College with my dad and watch that sorry excuse for a football game that was Temple vs. Penn State.





My dad and I stopped at Wawa on the way up, got some grub and headed out west. Things were going great until we got near that stupid merge to one lane getting toward Boalsburg. Sweet christ do I hate merge points. Still, we make it through with plenty of time to spare, make a pit stop to pee and grab some beer, then try to locate some prime parking spots. Sadly, Eisenhower is full. So is my secret lot off-campus that apparently is no longer a secret. So finally, my dad gives up and heads toward the "football parking." When we get there, way back behind the track, it costs 40 god damn dollars to park, at least a half mile away from the stadium. I don't want to say my alma mater is screwing people with this outrageous price, but that's exactly what those bastards are doing.



Forty dollars? Get the fuck out of here. I will never park in those lots without a pass. Ever. My dad's a sucker.

Anyway, we doled out the cash, ate our hoagies and then went to meet up with my aunt and uncle, who were tailgating with my cousin. We exchanged pleasantries, relaxed for a little, and then I ventured inside. This was the first game I've attended since giving up my season tickets, so it was the first time I've taken in a Penn State game in somewhere other than section WBU in more than two years. And I gotta tell you, it was great. I sat in section WJU, which is on the same sideline as my former season tickets, but at the opposite end zone. The vantage point was basically the same, just from the other end of the field. But what made this so much more enjoyable was the fact that there was no Brokeback assholes starving for attention and begging people to acknowledge them. Far from it.



The people in section WJU were great. I was surrounded by knowledgeable fans, none of whom were there to get on the big screen or to make people notice them. No, all of these people were there for one reason and one reason only: to watch the game. And I found myself agreeing with most of what the people around me were saying, especially the guy in front of me. Really, really great section. I forgot what it's like to go to a Penn State game and have good people around you. It was awesome. What wasn't awesome was this shitty game.

Now, there was a lot of talk about how this was finally the year Temple had a real shot to take down Penn State. Having watched both teams a good amount over the past two years, I had my doubts. Sure, Temple has two extremely talented running backs, and yes, the Owls' defense is very good. But their quarterback, Chester Stewart, is awful, and even Penn State in transition is still Penn State. I knew Temple would give the Nittany Lions a game, but I expected Penn State to be in control the entire way and win by something like 10 to 14 points.

Well, if you look at the numbers and the numbers alone, that's what you would think happened because Penn State dominated in a 22-13 nail-biter:

Penn State outgained Temple 439 yards to 202 yards.

Evan Royster rushed for 187 yards on 24 carries.

Robert Bolden completed 18-of-28 passes for 223 yards with no interceptions.

Temple quarterback Chester Stewart completed 8-of-19 passes for 46 yards and 3 INT.

Penn State had 20 first downs to Temple's 8.

Penn State forced four turnovers and only gave up the ball once.

Penn State ran 74 offensive plays to Temple's 51

On top of that, Penn State finally freed Justin Brown somewhat, as the immensely talented sophomore led all receivers with 84 yards, averaging 21 yards a catch. Of course, he should have gotten the ball more than four times, but at least they threw to him enough to post some good yardage.

With all that said, you wouldn't expect the game to be as close as this one was. But after taking the opening drive and putting up a field goal, Penn State started a long, painful march of shooting themselves in the foot. Evan Royster, who started the game with a 50-yard run to help set up the field goal, fumbled on the first play of the second possesion, giving Temple the ball at Penn State's 28. Two plays later, Bernard Pierce was waltzing into the end zone to give the Owls a 7-3 lead. After following that up with a field goal to answer, Temple marched 75 yards in six plays, again capped by another Pierce touchdown, to give Temple a surprising 13-7 lead (North Penn's own Brandon McManus missed the extra point).

The offense was stagnant and predictable. Penn State hardly threw on first down, Temple would sell out on the run and the Nittany Lions would be facing a second and long time and time again. Then, once they moved down toward the red zone, they'd go into a shell, taking no shots and doing no damage. The one time they actually let Robert Bolden take a shot downfield, he hit Justin Brown for a 33-yard gain on a beautiful pump fake-double move. It was literally the only time in the first half the team took a shot down field, despite the fact they have the 6'5 Derek Moye, a player who has proven to be a good deep threat, and Brown, a star in the making if they ever decide to unleash the kid.

Defensively, the defensive ends and outside linebackers were doing a terrible job of keeping contain, allowing Pierce and Matt Brown to get the corner time and time again. Jack Crawford, despite all the talent in the world, looks like he still has absolutely no idea how to play football. He was the biggest culprit of the day on not keeping contain, getting sucked in on damn near every snap. Bani Gbadyu is a fast guy who tries to play football. He's not a football player who just so happens to be fast. He's like the Samuel Dalembert of Penn State football — very talented and looks the part, but really has no understanding of the game. After that pathetic showing and four games of doing absolutely nothing, I think it's officially time to limit the playing time of Gbadyu and Chris Colasanti, another player who hasn't done dick since the first game of the season. Give that playing time to Khairi Fortt, and let him roam free with Nate Stupar and Mike Mauti.



Things just weren't going very well. It looked like the Lions were sleepwalking through the game. Then, Temple pinned Penn State all the back at their own 1, and things looked like they were going to go from bad to worse. That's when Penn State actually woke up a little. Joe Suhey and Evan Royster gave Bolden some breathing room, then he hit Justin Brown on consecutive plays for gains of 12 and 33 yards. Then he hit Brett Bracket to get down to Temple's 29, and it looked as though the Nittany Lions were finally in business. But then a sack, a predictable run that went nowhere and a short pass later, Penn State had to settle for yet another field goal, making it 13-9. Something was just off on offense.

Luckily, the defense picked it up. Nick Sukay, who I absolutely murdered after the Alabama game, made a great read to intercept Stewart. Sukay made another awesome interception later in the game, and in all honesty, the guy played one heck of a game. Gotta give him credit where credit's due. As a result of the pick, Penn State got the ball at Temple's 45 with 3:22 remaining in the half. Riding Evan Royster, who was having his best game of the season (fumble excluded) in the first half, Penn State got a first down and then faced a 3rd-and-2 at Temple's 26 with 1:14 to go. Bolden, trying to pick it up himself, got stuffed after picking up just 1.

Now it was decision time, though in my opinion it was no decision at all. Even as the stadium implored Joe to go for it, I knew better than that. Collin Wagner had already hit three field goals in the game, had looked good all season, and Penn State was struggling to get points. Kick the field goal, make it a one-point game and regroup at halftime. It was a no-brainer. I turned to my dad and said, "I'd kick it," adding, "What has Penn State done so far that made anyone believe they could score a touchdown and not screw this up?" Yet Paterno and Galen Hall decided to go for it, got stuffed on fourth down and went into the half trailing 13-9. It made no sense. None at all. And I was pretty pissed about it.

Just like I was pissed that Penn State stopped taking shots down the field, and growing even more pissed that they weren't going to Justin Brown, who had gained 45 yards the two times they actually did get him the ball.

I'd be lying if I said the second half was much better offensively. It wasn't. Not until a 4th-quarter touchdown drive that came basically with Penn State finally doing everything I said they should have been doing all along, though to be fair to the coaches and the skill players, this offensive line really does suck, especially at run blocking.

Thankfully, the defense shook off the cobwebs from the first quarter, played much better in the second quarter and then pretty much dominated in the second half, shutting out Temple from there on out and forcing two turnovers (three total). The defensive ends and linebackers played much more disciplined and stayed in their lanes, Bernard Pierce hurt his ankle for the thousandth time since stepping foot on campus at North Broad, and the Cherry and White had nowhere to go. Nate Stupar and Mike Mauti were flying all over the field making plays, including some impressive tackles by Mauti and a big interception by Stupar that set up another field goal by Wagner.



Sophomore end Pete Massaro decided to distinguish himself from the very subpar play thus far by the defensive ends, flying off the ball to make several great plays in the backfield, record a couple sacks and almost kill Chester Stewart on the final play of the game. He most definitely earned himself a starting spot this weekend out in Iowa, supplanting either the disappointing Crawford or even more disappointed Eric Latimore.

The Nittany Lions did take care of business, taking the lead right before Stupar's pick on another Wagner field goal, and adding to it with Wagner's fifth field goal of the game. Then the game was finally iced with a 12-play, 96-yard beauty of a drive in the fourth quarter in which the coaches finally let Bolden open things up a little bit. On consecutive plays, including a first down!, Bolden hit Graham Zug for 19 yards and Brown for 12 yards. Then he hit Justin Brown again for 27 yards to get down near the end zone. If I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times, Free Justin Brown!



From there, wanting to milk the clock and get in the end zone, Penn State put the ball in Evan Royster's hands, picking up 17 yards. With the defense softened up and Royster acting as a decoy, fullback Mike Zordich picked up 11 of the final 15 yards including the final one, scoring the only touchdown of the game for Penn State and putting the game away.

My dad likes to say there's no such thing as an ugly win, only an ugly loss, and in many respects that's true. But I said to him, that may not have been an ugly win, but it sure as hell was an ugly-looking win. At times, Robert Bolden looked very much like a freshman, badly overthrowing receivers and missing open guys. Other times, the playcalling was so vanilla, especially given the number of weapons this offense has. And the offensive line is still a work in progress, even more so with right tackle Lou Eliades tearing his ACL.

Still, Royster had by far his best game, looking like his old self in racking up 187 yards on the ground. Justin Brown displayed the talent I've been saying all along he has, pretty demanding that Penn State look his way more often. And they took care of the football, especially Bolden — who also showed tremendous poise in a 15-13 game to march Penn State 96 yards and put it away — which is always a good thing.

Defensively, there is work to do there too. The defensive line generated very little pressure on their own, and the ends are a mess with the exception of Massaro. Ollie Ogbu and Devon Still are very good inside, but neither one will ever be mistaken for Jared Odrick. At the linebacker spot, Chris Colasanti and Bani Gbadyu just aren't getting it done. If it were up to me, Mauti, Stupar and Fortt, who has really looked good in limited action, should be the unquestioned starters and get the bulk of playing time. In the secondary, I love everything about the corners, with Lynn, Morris and Thomas blanketing everyone (Lynn's one time getting burnt, though not costing the team due to Stewart's incredibly far overthrow, notwithstanding), but the safeties still worry me. Sukay had a really good game Saturday, but he has to prove he can do that regularly. Drew Astorino sometimes looks really good, other times looks completely awful. In fact, Andrew Dailey started for him, and Dailey isn't really the answer either.

But again, there are positives. The defense has talent, and they shut out Temple after the first quarter one week after pitching a shut out for an entire game, showing they've put the Alabama debacle behind them.

I'd be lying, however, if I said I feel good about going into Iowa for a prime time game on Saturday. I fully expect the Hawkeyes to handle Penn State. I hope I'm wrong. I really do. Lord knows we owe them.



Also, there were reports that Shawney Kersey, one of the 6 Penn State players I told you to watch in 2010, stopped showing up to practice and may transfer. I made it a point to look for him during warmups on Saturday, and he was nowhere to be found with the wide receivers during the pregame drills.



Well, he's back at practice and hopefully he's sticking around, because the potential of the redshirt freshman joining forces with Justin Brown down the road is something awesome to consider.

A Bolden Statement

Robert Bolden didn't just make history on Saturday. No, he did much, much more than that. Yes, it was against Youngstown State, and yes, it was just one game, but Robert Bolden looked a whole lot more like a fifth-year senior than an 18-year-old true freshman in his collegiate debut.



The numbers are impressive enough: 20-29 (69 percent completion percentage) for 239 yards and two touchdowns, along with a pick, in Penn State's 44-14 victory. But the way he amassed those numbers was even more impressive for a player who three months ago was still in high school. He went through his progressions. He threw the ball before his receivers made their breaks. He was accurate, smart, decisive. From the opening snap until his final play, Robert Bolden looked like he was in complete command of the offense, of the game.

A lot of that can be attributed to the offensive line doing a tremendous job protecting him. Bolden had all day to throw the ball, wasn't sacked a single time and rarely even felt any pressure. But, it's not as if Bolden had the luxury of a dominant run game to soften up the defense. Because as good as the offensive line was in pass blocking on Saturday, they were equally as bad run blocking … against an undersized and presumably overmatched Youngstown State. That does not bode well for next week against Alabama, even without Marcell Dareus. Evan Royster managed just 40 yards on 11 carries. Stephfon Green just 32 yards on six carries. Though Silas Redd displayed his incredible talent on his three carries, gaining 20 yards on an electrifying array of jukes and speed.



Beyond that, and some impressive late runs by Kevin Newsome, the game was largely in the hands of Bolden on the offensive end. And he didn't disappoint. Even his interception wasn't his fault, at least not completely. He did stare down his receiver, Derek Moye, but he was throwing a timing pattern to a spot when Moye fell down. Hard to put all the blame on the QB when the receiver falls down.

With the offense relying almost exclusively on the passing game, it wasn't Moye or Graham Zug or Chaz Powell or Justin Brown that Bolden entrusted his throws to. No, the true freshman spent most of the day relying on the fifth-year senior captain Brett Brackett, a player who was all but invisible last season. So what does he do to start of 2010? How about career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns, as in 8 catches for 98 yards and two scores? Not a bad way to validate your captaincy.



It became pretty evident early on that Bolden felt most comfortable looking to the senior. Brackett did nothing to hurt that trust, and we may have ourselves a surprising combination coming to fruition this season. So many teams have to game-plan for Moye and Zug and the young talent behind them that Brackett may often get lost in the shuffle. Add to that the fact he lined up in a spot largely reserved for the tight end traditionally, and Brackett could create some match-up problems. Again, it was just one game, and a game against Youngstown State at that, but it was pretty cool to see the rapport between Bolden and Brackett.

Not that it was all roses for Penn State. They actually came out flat and fell behind 7-3 to Youngstown State thanks to one 80-yard play.



Some people say it was Chris Colasanti's fault. In real time, I thought it was Nate Stupar "not fighting through his pick (on a well-executed block)," and upon further review still agree with my original assessment. It was Stupar getting sucked in and picked off, and then even worse, Derrick Thomas failing to keep contain on the outside, leaving nothing but open grass for Dominique Barnes. And it wasn't really until Chaz Powell's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half that Penn State put the game away.

Still, it was the type of game you would expect out of the defense. Besides that one busted play, the Lions were fantastic. Chris Colasanti was hitting just about everything that moved, notching a ton of tackles and several excellent hits. Ollie Ogbu was the one true disruptive force on the defensive line, showing he's determined to try and fill some of the void left by Jared Odrick's departure. The linebackers came in waves, and they all played well. Colasanti, as I said, was very good. Stupar was flying to the ball, registering a sack. And Mike Mauti and Gerald Hodges each looked pretty good, specifically with Hodges making some big hits. Not to mention Bani Gbadyu looking more disciplined on the field. And the secondary was outstanding.

Youngstown completely stayed away from D'Anton Lynn. Stephon Morris continued to prove that his diminutive size doesn't hinder his tackling at all, often punishing receivers and flying up to make plays. And the safeties did a good job playing centerfield. The only real letdown for me defensively was the pass rush … specifically Jack Crawford. Crawford was pretty mucn M.I.A. in the game, so unnoticeable that I don't even remember the (awful) Big Ten Network announcers even mentioning his name. Though they did manage to mention several names that didn't even exist, which was fun.

The biggest surprise of all for me however was the newfound confidence of kicker Collin Wagner. Last year, Wagner was just 15-22 on field goal attempts, making just one kick over 40 yards the entire season, going an awful 1-5 on kicks from 40 yards or more. Hell, he missed two of his five field goal attempts between 30 and 40 yards last season. Which is to say, he sucked. Badly. And the team, and myself, had absolutely no confidence whatsoever that he could make a field goal over 40 yards. That's not good. At all.



Well clearly Collin Wagner decided his 2009 was nowhere near good enough and went to work this offseason. Because not only was Wagner 3-for-3 on field goals Saturday, but all three were over 40 yards. On his first attempt, he nailed a 44-yarder. Then, he stunned Penn State fans everywhere by not only making a 49-yard field goal, but making it with ease. And he finished his three-point performance with another long one, this time from 48 yards. It was incredibly impressive.

Wagner wasn't just clearing the crossbar on those attempts either. On all three, he had plenty of leg, and plenty of accuracy. Every one of those kicks would have been good from another 5-8 yards back, including the 49-yarder. To say I was impressed, and incredibly surprised, by his performance would be the understatement of all understatements. It's always nice to see a player work his tail off to improve and come back as a new man, and if Saturday's game is any indication, Collin Wagner is a brand new kicker. And a good one at that.

That fits right in with the quarterback position. Because the brand new quarterback sure looked good on Saturday. We'll really see what he's made of this weekend, facing a see of crimson in Tuscaloosa under the bright lights of prime time. No doubt, Robert Bolden will be looking to make another statement come Saturday. No matter the outcome, he already has.

The Longest Long Weekend Ever

Coming back to work after a long weekend is a painful enough process, but coming back after an action-packed three-day weekend that felt more like seven days is even tougher.



It all began with the trip out to State College on Friday night. Arkansas Fred and I loaded up our gear and made the three-hour trek west on Route 80. Now I'm not sure if it's just the time of year, the need for more tickets to written to help supplement shrinking budgets or what, but we must have seen 6 or 7 people pulled over on our way to Penn State. Seriously, there were state police everywhere with their radar guns, not hesitating to pull over anyone exceeding the speed limit. Luckily, we were not one of them.



On the ride, I received a text message from Adam EatShit: "What's going on with Lee?" Seeing as I was in a car in the middle of Pennsylvania with no reception of the Phils game, I had no idea. But apparently, for the second straight start, Cliff Lee got rocked, and the Phils lost the series opener to the Astros. Not good, but my mind was elsewhere.

As we pulled in to town, I immediately longed for my days as a college student. There were loads of female college students dressed in some rather revealing clothing. The sights were plentiful. I called my cousin, who was kind enough to put Arkansas Fred and I up for the night, and he asked if I knew where the HUB was and if we could pick him up there. Funny story, I know exactly where the HUB is. I did go to school there for four years after all.

Anyway, Friday night we sort of took it easy, drank some drinks and prepared for the opener on Saturday. Noon games are so annoying. First of all, we barely got any sleep because there were deafening Penn State chants and raucous students doing what college students do all night. Either way, we made it to the game and were all set to go. Unfortunately, the cowboy hat-wearing douchebags made it as well. I fucking hate those guys.

As far as the game is concerned, it was roughly what could be expected. Penn State breezed through to a 31-7 victory, going up 31-0 at halftime. They looked really, really good in the first half, and the second half was a complete pile of dog shit. But Penn State looked pretty good overall.

I do, however, have a few things I took issue with. For starters, I was told Jerome Hayes would start.



He did not. In fact, he wasn't even in the first two defensive series. This made me very unhappy. Though when he did get in, he immediately recorded a tackle for a five-yard loss. Great to have you back, Jerome. Secondly, the starters were in entirely too long in that game. Daryll Clark stayed in until there were 4 minutes left in the game, with a 31-7 lead, for no good reason at all. Ditto Sean Lee. And plenty of other starters for that matter. Nothing good can come from them staying in. It was just asking for trouble. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, but it would be wise to sit guys like Lee and Clark down early when you can.

Finally, I was pissed that I had no idea Navorro Bowman got hurt at practice earlier in the week. After the first series, Bowman didn't take the field and I had no idea why. Arkansas Fred and I were searching the sidelines for him, seeing him sitting back on the bench all by himself. We were curious as to if he got suspended or hurt or what. Turns out he tweaked his groin during the week, so the coaches and Bowman were being cautious. Good idea. No reason to risk injury against Akron or Syracuse or Temple. Save him for that payback game against Iowa.

As for the game, the passing game did a fine job, as Derek Moye and Chaz Powell got open and made excellent catches, while the rest of the receiving corps did a fine job, save Brent Brackett. Brackett dropped a few balls and missed a ton of blocks. That was discouraging. But Clark, while not sharp (he underthrew his deep ball and routinely made inaccurate passes), got the job done, thanks to some fine catches by his receivers.



The passing game will be just fine. The running game, well, it was evident that the inexperienced offensive line has some work to do there. On pass protection, the new line was fantastic, rarely letting anyone near Clark. But on running downs, they got virtually no push, resulting in a struggle on the ground. Still, with Evan Royster, Stephfon Green and freshman lightning bolt Devon Smith, you'd think they'll get things going sooner or later.

Speaking of Smith, I was surprised to see him get so much playing time. Of course I heard about the speedy freshman tailback with the sub-4.3 speed, but I didn't figure he'd see much time on the field in 2009, especially with a tiny 5'7", 150-lb. frame. Yet there he was, out there to receive the opening kickoff. Out there on the first series. Regularly getting touches. The guy is tiny, but the coaches must be really high on him to see so much PT as a true freshman in his first game.

The true story of the game, however, was the Penn State defense. The defensive line was the best unit on the field, routinely getting in the backfield and wreaking havoc. Because of their dominance, Akron was limited to just 186 yards of offense, and just 28 of which came on the ground.



Jared Odrick was the best player on the field, bar none. He was overpowering the Akron line, and he freed up his teammates to make plays. That guy is surely primed to make himself an early first-round pick this season. Joining Odrick in the starring role was sophomore end Jack Crawford. The 6'5, 256-lber was a beast, making an immediate impact. The play of the line was the biggest plus for the Nittany Lions.

Of course, the linebackers had their say as well. Any doubts about whether or not Sean Lee has fully recovered should be gone. He wasn't asked to make many plays with the defensive line controlling things, but when he was, he made them all. And he made them all in impressive fashion. He looked like the same Sean Lee that was teaming up with Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny.

And with Navorro Bowman limited due to his injury, sophomore Nathan Stupar stepped in and impressed. Last year's best special teamer, Stupar came in and flew around the field, showing Linebacker U is in good hands. He made some very nice plays and looked like a guy who belonged. Given the ho-hum game by Josh Hull, don't be surprised if we see a linebacking corps of Sean Lee, Navorro Bowman and Nate Stupar down the road.

The downside of the game was Collin Wagner, the junior kicker. After booming the opening kickoff nearly out of the end zone, Wagner struggled. He missed a 28-yard field goal and later a 49-yarder, and his kickoffs got progressively shorter and lower. Perhaps freshman Anthony Fera could do a little better.



Still, not much to complain about with the opener. Penn State handled Akron easily, as they should. They certainly looked a lot better than Ohio State and Iowa.

After the game, Arkansas Fred and I headed back to the Philadelphia area, where we proceeded to see a ton more cops with radar guns pulling people over. It was pretty crazy. I finally got back to my house in Philadelphia in time to watch the Phillies along with the Oklahoma-BYU game and Alabama-Virginia Tech game. I wish I didn't bother with the Phils.

After battling back in the 8th inning to grab a 4-3 lead, Brad Lidge came in and blew his freakin 10th save of the season to drop the second straight game to the Astros.



I'm sorry, but this isn't 2008 anymore. It's 2009, and Brad Lidge is just plain awful. He needs to be demoted pronto. Brett Myers made his return and looked damn good this weekend. Closer good. Time to make the move. Because Lidge blows. Donkey balls. Sweaty donkey balls.

At least Sam Bradford got hurt. That was kind of cool, though it sucks for Bradford and Oklahoma. It was nice to see BYU pull off the upset and get everyone off the Big 12's nuts for a change, and Bama looked damn good against Va. Tech. Mark Ingram was a beast, and I know I would not look forward to tackling any Alabama running back.



Those games were pretty sweet, but they couldn't compare to last night's epic battle between Miami and Florida State. After the Phils shit the bed again Sunday and then yesterday to suffer a 4-game sweep to the hands of the God damn Astros, the Phils still have a 6-game lead, but if anyone should know how important it is to bury the opposition, it's this team. They were the beneficiaries of back-to-back late-season collapses. They know firsthand how important winning is this time of year.

Though it seems they should lock up this division, it's no gimme. Getting swept by Houston doesn't exactly instill confidence. If this team simply had a reliable closer and focused down the stretch, they could easily be 15 games up. As it stands, it's still a six-game lead, but they better not get too complacent. Just ask the Mets how that worked out for them.

But back to the Florida State-Miami game. Man, was that an awesome capper to a long first weekend of college football.



You couldn't have asked for a better game by two hated rivals. The Hurricanes and Seminoles have been a bit down the past few years, but if last night's game was any indication, these two programs are back on the rise. It was a coming out party for the two quarterbacks, as Christian Ponder looked incredible in the first half for Florida State and Jacory Harris played incredibly in the second half for Miami.

I mean, both guys were insanely impressive. Harris had the best game of his young career, throwing for 386 yards on 61.8 percent passing, while Ponder got 294 yards of his own, not to mention 28 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Graig Jones looked like a frighteningly talented athlete for the Canes, and it's evident both teams are loaded with studs. It was a great game with great implications for college football. This storied rivalry came down to the final play, and best of all, it saw Miami come out on top. Take that, Bowden.

This weekend really whiped me out. Between the trip to Happy Valley, the crappiness of the Phils and the full plate of college football, I barely even found time to drink, though I did on Sunday night. Couldn't have asked for more out of the first weekend of the football season. Except for maybe making that long three-day weekend even a little bit longer.