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Suffice it to say that Kirby Smart wasn't very nice to his former DC, Dan Lanning, as the Georgia Bulldogs drowned the Oregon Ducks 49-3 in the 2022 version 1.0 of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta. Lanning, of course, is the new head coach at Oregon. But all the familiarity in the world didn't help him slow down the 'Dawgs who shot out to a 28-3 halftime lead and were never threatened.
Georgia treated Oregon worse than Oklahoma treated UTEP. In the Sooners' head coaching debut of former Clemson OC Brent Venables, Oklahoma put together a methodical 45-13 romp over the Miners.
Meanwhile, Oregon's former head coach, Mario Cristobal, easily won his debut as the head coach of his old team. The level of competition was nowhere near the same level, but Miami will take the 70-13 opening day win over FCS member Bethune-Cookman from Daytona Beach.
Later, Ohio State got all it wanted and more than the 'experts' expected from Notre Dame. Ultimately, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes upended the Irish 21-10 and spoiled the debut of Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman who played linebacker at Ohio State. A 14-0 second half rallied Ohio State from a 10-7 halftime deficit, but the clinching score didn't come until there was just 4:51 left in the game when Miyan Williams scored on a 2-yard run. The Buckeyes were a 17-point favorite, but only a 14.07-point computer pick.
In Gainesville, an interception in the end zone with 17 seconds left preserved a 29-26 Florida upset of Utah in Billy Napier's debut as head coach. The game was a see-saw battle with Florida taking a 14-13 halftime lead, then falling behind 19-14 in the 3rd. The Gators took a 22-19 lead on a TD and 2-point conversion with 12:48 left, but the Utes went back in front, 26-22 on their possession. Florida answered with QB Anthony Richardson's run 1:25 to play. Utah then drove to the 6-yard line where Cameron Rising's 2nd down pass attempt was picked in the end zone by Amari Burney. The Utes were 2.5-point favorites and a 15.51-point computer choice.
Lincoln Riley's debut in La-La-Land went well as USC stirred and boiled Rice for a 66-14 treat.
In Saturday games involving some of the computer's other highly-ranked teams, No. 2 Michigan was a 51-7 home victor over Colorado State, No. 3 Alabama rolled 55-0 at home over Utah State, and No. 9 Baylor bounced FCS Albany 69-10.
Arkansas took care of business and subdued Cincinnati, 31-24. The Bearcats scored with 5:49 to play to narrow the gap, but never got the ball back as K.J. Jefferson and Raheim Sanders literally ran out the clock.
Ole Miss was OK in the debut of USC transfer Jason Dart at QB. The Rebs won 28-10 as Dart went 18-of-27 for 154, a TD and an INT. HE also added 40 yards rushing on 4 carries, while RB Zach Evans carried 20 times for 130 and Quinshon Judkins had 14 totes for 87 and a touchdown.
Hey! ACC schools - have you learned your lesson? Stop scheduling road games to Group of Five programs.
In one of the craziest games in history, North Carolina stopped a two-point conversion attempt by Appalachian State with 9 seconds left to seal a 63-61 win for the Tar Heels in Boone. The Mountaineers jumped out a 21-7 lead before UNC reeled off 34 straight points for a 41-21 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter. Then, all hell broke loose as the teams combined to score 62 points in the final quarter with Appalachian State scoring 40 of those.
Across the state in Greenville, North Carolina State also barely avoided the upset in a road game to a G5 school. East Carolina missed a PAT with 2:58 left that would have tied the game at 21, and later missed a 41-yard field goal with 5 seconds left that would have given the Pirates the upset win.
Another ACC program, Virginia Tech, lost on Friday at G5 Old Dominion.
More bad news from the ACC came on Saturday at Chestnut Hill where Rutgers registered a 22-21 upset of Boston College. Al-Shadee Salaam's 22-yard TD run with 2:43 left lifted Greg Schiano's team to the victory. The wild story in this game occurred in the first quarter when Rutgers had 2nd-and-goal at the BC 8, but proceeded to commit three penalties, take a sack and had to punt from the BC 43.
Meanwhile, Syracuse flexed its muscle and drilled Louisville 34-7 at home in a game between ACC Atlantic teams. Could the Orange be poised for a good year? The 'Cuse looks to go bowling for the first time since 2018 and just the second since 2013.
The Tony Elliott era opened at Virginia with a 34-17 win over FCS Richmond.
Add these two things to the list of odd occurrences at a football game:
1) Iowa needed a pair of second half safeties to provide the difference in the score of its 7-3 home win over FCS South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits entered the game ranked No. 2 in the Congrove Computer Rankings of FCS schools.
2) Arizona, punting from its own end zone, gave San Diego State a touchdown when the Wildcats' punter kicked the ball into the hip of his own protector and the ball was recovered by the Aztecs. Arizona survived the incident with a 38-20 victory in the road contest to ruin the inaugural game for the home fans at SDSU's new Snapdragon Stadium. San Diego State was a 6-point favorite by the oddsmakers and an 8.15-point computer pick.
Here are some of the other results in Saturday games:
James Madison made its debut as a FBS member by bullying MTSU 44-7 in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Houston scored a triple-overtime 37-35 win at UTSA after trailing 21-7 at the start of the fourth. It looked like a 35-yard FG with just 23 seconds left had completed a 24-21 win for the Cougars in regulation, but UTSA marched 55 yards in 6 plays and knocked through a 37-yard field goal as time expired to force overtime. The teams swapped field goals in the first OT, then scored TD's and the mandatory 2-point conversions in the second. After that, it's up to converting a single 2-point conversion play. Houston won on a Clayton Tune's scramble to the end zone when UTSA's following attempt came up empty.
Wyoming rallied from a 34-24 deficit in the final 10:23, then defeated Tulsa on a 30-yard field goal in the second time to send the Laramie home folks home happy with the 40-37 win.
Liberty needed 4 overtimes to get out of Hattiesburg with a win as Southern Miss was hosting its first game as a new member of the Sun Belt. The teams only managed to score a combined total of 8 points in the 4 extra periods. The Flames remain an independent this season, but will move to Southern Miss' old stomping grounds, Conference USA, next season.
Navy became the second FBS team to fall to a FCS school over the Labor Day weekend when Delaware handed the Midshipmen a 14-7 loss in Annapolis. The first was Friday night's William & Mary win at Charlotte.
Delaware has a slew of wins over FCS (1-AA) programs in their history and 8 have now come over Navy (2007, 2003, 1992, 1991, 1989, 1986 and 1985). The 1-AA classification began in 1978 and was renamed FCS in 2006.
Nebraska got a hard-earned win for embattled head coach Scott Frost. After North Dakota tied the game at 17 in the 3rd quarter, the 'Huskers ended the game on a 21-0 run for the 38-17 victory.
Idaho drove to the Washington State 28 before throwing a pick that effectively ended the game and preserved a 24-17 win for the Cougars. The Vandals led much of the first half and it was 10-all at halftime.
Oregon State jumped out to a 24-0 halftime advantage and went on to double-up Boise State 34-17. The Beavers had lost 4 of the previous 6 meetings to the Broncos.
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