The beginning of the College Football season brought with it (so far) losses of three ranked teams, as Georgia (losing to Clemson) and TCU (losing to LSU) weren’t really subject to an upset due to the quality of their rivals, but Boise State being destroyed by Washington was more than a slightly surprising result, and so was Oregon State losing to Eastern Washington.
And there were other surprising results that didn’t have to do with ranked teams. Connecticut aren’t exactly a powerhouse, but losing at home to an FCS team (Towson) is never something anyone counts on happening. Kansas State, a BCS Bowl team last season, losing to North Dakota State, was another one of those shockers. Iowa losing at home to Northern Illinois shouldn’t be that much of a surprise considering how far the Huskies made it last season, and yet it’s one of those results that make you notice it.
Georgia were the favorites to win in Clemson, as a #5 team faced a #8 team, but ti really wasn’t a shocker to see Tajh Boyd and his group provide a huge win for the program, 38-35, against the Bulldogs who lost too much talent on defense to keep up with a talented offensive team like the Tigers.
TCU had “home advantage” in the Cowboys Classic against LSU, but it was quite clear who was the better team, despite the close score of 37-27. TCU don’t really have a quarterback they can trust, and without a playmaker to rally behind, their excellent defense simply stayed on the field too long to come out as the winning side from the game.
Boise State always rely heavily on their non-conference game. The #19 team lost in Washington 38-6 which might mean that the Huskies are going to be more of a factor in the Northern Pac-12 division than before, but it mostly means that no one will talk about an undefeated or a one-loss Broncos team and a BCS Buster situation.
Oregon State, with Sean Mannion at quarterback, aren’t going to be the pleasant surprise they were last season, losing to an FCS team 49-46 on the first week of the season, allowing a two-yard touchdown run by Vernon Adams with 18 seconds left in the game, as the quarterback threw for 407 yards and ran for 107, pulling off a total of six touchdowns (two by rushing in, 4 passing).