Thrilling first weekend of college football, upsets excite
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE STORY BY DERRICK FRIDLEY
Whether it is the thrill of a last-second touchdown or an upset for the ages, the college football season is one of the most exciting times of the year, and this season will be no different if it ends up being anything like week 1.
Such excitement could be seen in what could be one of the greatest games of the early season. An upset over Nebraska seemed doubtful when Brigham Young starting quarterback Taysom Hill was injured early in the fourth quarter with his team still behind.
With just one-second left in the game and down by one, backup BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum took the snap at the 42-yard line. Mangum threw up a Hail Mary pass to the endzone, a pass caught by Mitch Matthews as time expired, giving BYU a 33-28 lead as time expired for the upset win.
However, my favorite part of the game would be the celebration from wide receiver Terenn Houk, who hugged one of the officials after the play was over. It is moments like these that are why people are such big fans of college football.
The first week of football was riddled with upsets, but none were more surprising as Northwestern’s definitive 16-6 win against number 21 Stanford.
Temple was also able to pull an impressive upset on Penn State 27-10. Unranked Texas A&M also defeated ranked Arizona State.
A few other games were closer than expected as two unranked teams came within one score of beating top ten opponents. One of which was Minnesota, who was within a touchdown from beating number two TCU. Auburn also barely held on to beat Louisville 31-24. If these teams hoped to remain ranked and make it to the FCS playoffs they’ll need to step up their play as the season progresses.
As far as single player performances, Alabama running back Derrick Henry might have had as good of a day as any rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns as Alabama played up to expectations to defeat a good Wisconsin team 35-17.
One great thing about college football is that you always have to expect the unexpected, and that was defiantly the case in this week’s games. With a season that started out with more excitement than we have seen in a while there is little doubt that this year will be one of the most exciting season in recent memory, and it is only just the beginning.
Iowa Football: Looking to next week, we start with a local rivalry between Iowa and Iowa State. This game should be as much of a battle as it has been in the recent past. Iowa is coming off a 31-14 win against Illinois State and Iowa State defeated Northern Iowa 31-7, giving each team positive momentum as they head into the 63rd meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
Iowa State has won three of the last four match-ups, and will be at home for Saturday’s game.
Game of the Week: A playoff spot is possibly on the line in an inter-conference matchup between No. 7 Oregon and No. 5 Michigan State on Saturday. Both of these teams are ranked in the top 10 right now and won their first game of the season.
