In a classic trap game, the Cal Bears fell to Tennessee 35-18, after having trailed 35-0. Only time will tell whether this was a case of Cal being overrated or the Vols being underrated (or both), but it's a long season and frankly I had a bad feeling about this game from the beginning. Obvious weak spots for the Bears after week 1 are the offensive line, and the defensive secondary. Oh, and we probably have a quarterback controversy. Just dandy.
At one point this evening there were four games worth watching on at the same time; thank God for cable TV. That's the good news; the bad news is that ESPN felt compelled to keep Mike Patrick and Paul Maguire on the payroll, and they are playing key roles in two of the top announcing teams. Meanwhile, Ron Franklin, only the best college football announcer around now that Keith Jackson has really retired, gets demoted to the ESPN2 game. Franklin remains great; Patrick remains mediocre; and Maguire remains execrable. Shame on ESPN for thinking that either of the latter two deserve such a high profile job.
Notre Dame pulled out a squeaker at Georgia Tech, and we'll now begin to see whether Charlie Weis really deserves the premature entry into the Coaches Hall of Fame that most pundits were ready to grant him last year. I like Weis and want Notre Dame to succeed because it's good for college football, but let's not forget that Weis is still a little bit behind the coaching record of Ty Willingham at the same point in their Irish coaching stints. And Ty was summarily dismissed after four winning seasons.
As for USC - yet another impressive victory, even with all the new horses. ABC (excuse me, ESPN on ABC, as they're calling it now) must be salivating at the thought of a potential national championship game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Long way to go, but it could happen.
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