College Football Summary is Overreaction Sunday

Welcome to Overreaction Sunday. This is all sports media takes all the things we spent the Summer guessing about, throwing them against the Week One results, and ridiculously swinging the pendulum all over the place.

Those Who Were And Those Who Are Not

The college football world spent the last two years salivating over the thought of quarterback Arch Manning at a blue-blood program like Texas. In his third year, the starting job is his. He gets to start at Ohio State in one of the marquee games of the weekend.

He was a mortal, 17 of 30 passing for 170 yards, one touchdown, and one interception as the Longhorns lost to the defending national champions in Columbus. Clearly, now we must resort to trashing him as overrated, and he only got the gig because of his last name. I mean, it really has already started on that bastion of calm and rational media analysis known as social media.

It Works For Schools Also

Texas is the first pre-season team ranked #1 to lose its opener since 1990. Clearly, the pendulum must now turn to a wrecking ball so we can point out how terrible Texas is (instead of how useless pre-season polls are). And can you imagine if Texas had a quarterback? Instead of this overrated Manning kid, whoever he is. Then we all would have been right, and isn’t that really what the season is all about?

And while we are overreacting to schools and the weekend outcomes, let us not forget Alabama and Florida State. Clearly, Mike Norvell is the new leader in the coach of the year numbers, and Kalen DeBoer must be tossed out of Tuscaloosa. It could not be that it will take more than one game for us to know whether FSU is back or Bama may not get to 10 wins again, ever. I will legitimately say this, though. After one week, I do have Gus Malzahn (remember how bad he was long ago? Like last year?) on my handwritten list to track for the Broyles Award for assistant coach of the year.

Honoring Those Who Left

It’s not as dramatic as it sounds. We are not talking about the final departure. Just the ones where someone played at one school last year and is now gone on to somewhere else.

It turns out Ashton Jeanty was more than a little special to Boise State. The running back who could have won the Heisman last year is now in the NFL. The Boise State car he got out of is now in a ditch. The Broncos had four running backs accumulate 122 net rushing yards as Boise State got pounded by USF, 34-7. That might have been a halftime total for Jeanty last season. And is it time to overreact and abandon the BSU vehicle in the ditch? Or is there a tow truck on its way and the season ready to be salvaged?

Trading Futures

The big headline in the off-season…well, the one that lasted more than a few days… was quarterback Nico Iamaleava leaving the Tennessee Volunteers and going back home to Southern California to play for UCLA.

In turn, UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar left UCLA to enroll at Tennessee.

The outcome on Saturday? Aguilar was 16 of 28 passing for 247 yards and three touchdowns as Tennessee beat up on Syracuse 45-26. Iamaleava was 11 of 22 for 136 yards, one touchdown, and one interception as UCLA got routed by Utah 43-10 at the Rose Bowl.

Now I know on Overreaction Sunday, we are now to proclaim Aguilar as a frontrunner for the Heisman. And we must expect to see Iamaleava on the “cover” of a magazine as an all-time bust. But here is an unreasonably sane thought. Aguilar has a lot of talent around. Iamaleava has very little, and his subpar offensive line had him running for his life much of the night.

And we must also overreact that I picked this game incorrectly on a handful of streaming and radio appearances last week. Certainly, I am to be drummed out of the profession.

Speaking of the Profession

Sportswriter David Teel is a legend in this region of the country, and deservedly so. He has spent decades in Virginia covering everything that was anything. If he is in your press box, the event is big. Teel spent 36 years at the Daily Press and Virginia Pilot, followed by four years at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. And he is now back at the Daily Press/Virginia Pilot. He is in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame for obvious reasons.

His Week One? He was in Durham Thursday night for the Duke season opener. From there, it was down to Winston-Salem for Friday night’s Wake Forest game. Saturday, he was in Clemson for the showdown with LSU. On Sunday, he will be in Atlanta for Virginia Tech and South Carolina. Monday, he will be back up in Chapel Hill for TCU at North Carolina and the beginning of the Chapel Bill era at UNC. Five games in three states in five days.

I told Teel Friday night, I didn’t know whether to shake my head in disbelief or in awe. He suggested we pray for the survival of his car.

Is There A Connection? Only If We Overreact

Clemson has started allowing alcohol sales inside its football stadium. It’s not like people were not already drinking outside before the game. May as well own the revenue that comes from the inebriation of others.

But then the Tigers of Death Valley went out and lost to the Tigers of Death Valley from LSU, a school used to “celebratory” behavior in the stadium. The message here is do not try to keep up with the pros right away. Work your way into it.

And how in goodness’ sake were the last 19 Clemson plays on offense passes? We get that they do not have a run game, but there goes Cade Klubnik’s Heisman content in the tsunami of overreaction. Well, that and the fact that I also picked this game incorrectly.

A Fitting End

Maryland, Florida State, Navy, Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois all won yesterday. The connection? Lee Corso played or coached at every one of those schools. That is the best way to end his storyline for the season. No overreaction needed.