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| AP Photo Archive |
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| Eastern New Mexico running back Zach Gerleve (14) is thrown for a 3-yard loss by Central Arkansas linebacker Kelvin Horne with safety Cory Cangelosi, rear, assisting during the first half of the season’s first college football game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 25. |
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Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Fall and football.
The college football season has begun with some major blowouts and upsets.
Top-ranked University of Southern California began its quest for a third straight national championship by dominating Hawaii, 63-17.
Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart has led the Trojans to 23 straight victories which is the longest winning streak in the country.
The University of Utah has the second longest winning streak with 18. Last year’s Fiesta Bowl champion is not ranked in the top 25, but will be moving up in the polls with victory over Arizona, 27-24, and a 31-7 win over Utah State.
BYU lost their first game of the season at the hands of No. 19 Boston College, 20-3. Some experts predict the Eagles to win the ACC Atlantic this year. They crushed Army 44-7 and should continue to rise in the polls.
BC’s touchdown against BYU to start the fourth quarter quieted the 58,180 fans at Lavell Edwards Stadium.
“We’re very happy to escape here with a victory,” BC head coach Tom O’Brien said according to www.ESPN.com. “This is a very difficult place to come and play.”
BYU showed signs of improvement against Eastern Illinois, outscoring the Panthers 31-0 in the first half and winning 45-10.
Texas Christian University joined the Mountain West Conference this year, and started the season with a bang as it upset No. 7 Oklahoma, 17-10. Last Saturday however, TCU folded against its top rival Southern Mississippi University, losing 21-10. Oklahoma lost to USC in the national championship game last year, and was expected to contend for the title again this year with Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson back.
The Texas Longhorns, ranked No. 2 in the country, had no problem defeating the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, 60-3. However, the bigger story was the fact that the team played the game at all. Hurricane Katrina forced the cancellation or postponement of five games involving teams from Louisiana and Mississippi. About 20 Louisiana-Lafayette players are from the New Orleans area including cornerback Jemarcus Smith.
“It is a shame,” Smith said of the hurricane situation according to www.ESPN.com. “We had to worry about the roofs being torn off our house. My family is planning to move to San Antonio. I was thinking about my family. That’s all that was on my mind.”
Texas continued its winning ways against Ohio State Saturday in front of a record crowd of 105,565. They barely knocked off the No. 4 ranked Buckeyes, 25-22.
The Boise State Broncos started the year ranked No. 18, but lost for only the fifth time in 44 games as the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs bulldozed them, 48-13, and lost again to Oregon State 30-27. Georgia then beat South Carolina, 17-15.
Notre Dame is off to a hot start as they crushed Pitt 42-21, and then upset No. 3 ranked Michigan 17-10.
Can USC three-peat? The fight for the top spot will be especially good this year. Texas, Tennessee and Georgia are all poised to knock off the champs. But don’t count out Virginia Tech, Florida or Notre Dame. Any number of solid programs could go undefeated this year.
