Friday Night College Football

Normally, I am not a big fan of the Friday night ESPN college football game.

I always figured Friday night was for high school football. Plus, the Friday night college matchup is usually two teams desperate for national TV exposure.

Well, this week is different and I hope to tune into the action.

The game features early season media darling, University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM), and Big 12 conference Baylor—a media darling last season because of Robert Griffin III (RG3).

ULM shocked the college football world in week No. 2 with an overtime win over then No. 8 ranked Arkansas. The Warhawks played overtime again last week but Auburn won on a field goal.

Baylor has entered the post-RG3-era with two straight victories. The Bears will be leery of an ULM team that battled two Southeastern Conference squads (SEC) toe-to-toe.

One interesting aspect of the game is the location. Baylor will come to Monroe to play the Warhawks. It’s rare for a Bowl Champion Series (BCS) team to go on the road to oppose a non-BCS school. It’s the biggest named opponent ULM has hosted since Minnesota several years ago.

Will the ULM fans fill the stadium (30,427) for the game? They should. This is a big game and their team is off to an interesting start. ULM fans have been criticized in the past for not showing up, but this week they have little excuse unless they are going to a high school game.

This game should be fun whether you’re in the stands or watching it on your television. Both teams can score points. The question is what defense will play winning football and limit the other team?

I'm Back

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I had been dealing with a nasty since infection and pounding headache, but thankfully I seem on the mend now.

There was quite a bite of college football news this last week. I will mention just three.

Congratulations to Baylor’s Robert Griffin III (RG3) for winning the Heisman Trophy. What an outstanding young man representing Baylor and the college football world. When we get down about all the negative aspects and problems in college football, we need to remember the good stuff such as positive roles models like RG3.

Why did Charlie Weiss become the coach at Kansas? I can see the Jayhawk’s point. Kansas went for name recognition and putting people in the seats. But Weiss left a high profile offensive coordinator job at Florida for Lawrence, Kansas. Is it a promotion? Does Charlie really want to become a head coach again (see Notre Dame) that badly? I think Weiss fits better in the NFL than the NCAA.

Todd Graham left Pittsburgh after only one season for Arizona State. He has also left Rice after one season besides coaching at Tulsa. This guy has a history of short stints and if I was Arizona State I would keep my list of potential replacements stuck on the telephone. But Graham has been stimulating the economy with moving vans and real estate transactions.

Readers: Anything strike your fancy in the last week or so of the college changes?