Week 1: Winners and Losers

College Football season is officially underway and so is my first installment of "Winners and Losers". Here are this week's winners and losers:

The Winners

College Football Fans

After having to wait eight months, college football season is finally here. Like usual, week 1 provided its fair share of mismatches and cupcakes for big name schools, but this year, the first week of the season offered a pretty good slate of big games. College football is finally here!

New Coaches at Big-Name Programs

Florida State's Jimbo Fisher, Notre Dame's Brian Kelly, Tennessee's Derek Dooley and USC's Lane Kiffin were all winners in their debuts at new schools. Notre Dame and USC struggled at times against Purdue and Hawai'i, but both were able to stave off late rallies and win by double digits while FSU and Tennessee rolled against FCS schools.

The Mountain West

TCU, Utah and BYU were all able to beat BCS schools in week 1. TCU's Horned Frogs are the overwhelming favorite to win the conference. After beating Oregon State Saturday night, TCU looks like its toughest game is behind them and another perfect season could be in the cards. Utah kicker, Joe Phillips made a 21-yard field-goal in overtime to knock off Pittsburgh Thursday night while BYU held off Washington late Saturday night to win their opener in Provo. BYU still has Florida State on its schedule before beginning conference play, but November's TCU-Utah matchup has the makings of a potential BCS play-in game.

Michigan QB Denard Robinson

After not finding out until the day before whether or not he would even start, Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson put on a show Saturday against a Connecticut team that many had picked to win the Big East. Robinson rushed for 197 yards, the most ever by a Michigan quarterback. Robinson also completed over 85 percent of his passes for another 186 yards. Robinson ran for a touchdown and threw for another as the Wolverines crushed UCONN 30-10 in front of 113,000 fans, the most ever to watch a college football game.

North Carolina's Effort

The Tar Heels played Saturday night without seven of its defensive starters and their leading receivers against a ranked LSU team. North Carolina gave up 23 unanswered second quarter points to fall behind 30-10 at the half. In the fourthquarter, much maligned quarterback, T.J. Yates led the Heels' on two scoring drives and drove UNC to the LSU six on another. With two plays from the six-yard-line, Yates threw two catchable passes to tight end Zack Pianalto, but neither were caught. Despite all the distraction and off-the-field issues surrounding the North Carolina program, the Heels' were just inches away from shocking LSU and quite possibly the college football world.

Jacksonville State

FCS school, Jacksonville State led Florida State 9-7 in Tallahassee last season with under a minute left. The Noles' scored twice in the final 35 seconds to be the Gamecocks 19-9 last September. Saturday, Jacksonville State did the unthinkable; Jacksonville State trailed 31-13 entering the fourthquarter in Oxford against the Ole Miss Rebels. Trailing 34-26 with18 seconds remaining, Jacksonville State quarterback Marques Ivory found Alan Bonner for a 19-yard touchdown that would cut the lead to 34-32. On the two-point conversion try, Ivory hit Larry Williams to tie the score and send it into overtime. With Ole Miss leading 48-41 in double-overtime and Jacksonville State facing 4th and 15 from the Rebels' 30, true-freshman Gamecock quarterback Coty Blanchard found Kevyn Cooper in the back of the end zone. Rather than settling for a third overtime, Jacksonville State decided to go for two and the win. On the two-point try, Blanchard found tailback Calvin Middleton who muscled his way into the endzone completing the comeback and giving Jacksonville State a 49-48 win in Oxford.

Auburn QB Cameron Newton

Cameron Newton, a Florida transfer made his Auburn debut at Jordan-Hare Stadium against Arkansas State Saturday night. Newton accounted for 186 yards through the air and another 171 on the ground and accounted for five total touchdowns. Newton's highlight of the night on a night filled with Cameron Newton highlights was his 71-yard touchdown run down the sideline that would put the Tigers up 35-16. Auburn finished with over 600 yards of total offense in a 52-26 win against the Red Wolves.

The State of Florida

While only Florida and Florida Atlantic played FBS programs in week 1, the state of Florida's FBS programs went 6-0 in the first week of the season. Florida International was idle, but Florida Atlantic came from behind to knock off UAB 32-31 at Legion Field on Thursday night. The Gators struggled, but downed Miami University 34-12 on Saturday. Florida State and Miami routed Samford and Florida A&M respectively while UCF and USF cruised in home games against South Dakota and Stony Brook. Repeating the feat will be impossible in week 2 as USF and Florida square off in Gainesville. FSU and Miami will also have tough tests as the Noles' travel to Oklahoma to take on a Sooners team that has won 31 in a row at home. Miami will go to Columbus to take on a top 5 Ohio State team.

Kansas State RB Daniel Thomas

If you're looking for an early-season, Heisman dark-horse, look no further than Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas. Thomas rushed for 234 yard on 28 carries in K-State's 31-22 home win against UCLA. Thomas, a senior tailback, also scored two touchdowns on Saturday including a 35-yarder with under a minute to go to seal the Bruins' fate.

BCS Programs for Hiring Black Coaches

Following the 2008 season, there was much controversy around the hiring or lack there of black coaches. Auburn fired Tommy Tubervilleand replaced him with 5-19 Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik and Syracuse hired Doug Marrone. What was so controversial was not the men that were hired, but the seemingly more qualified African-American coaches that were not. Buffalo's head coach Turner Gill, who had just led the Bulls to their first MAC championship and Florida defensive coordinator, Charlie Strong whose defense played a major role in helping the Gators win the 2008 BCS National Championship. After maintaining their roles in 2009, both Charlie Strong and Turner Gill have coaching jobs at BCS schools. Unfortunately for Gill, Kansas was unable to muster up any offense on Saturday losing to North Dakota State 6-3. Virginia also hired a black coach, Richmond's Mike London; London made his coaching debut Saturday against his former school. London and Virginia won 34-13. History took place in Louisville on Saturday as two black coaching made coaching debuts against one another for the first time in NCAA history. Louisville's Charlie Strong squared off against former offensive coordinator turned head coach, Joker Phillips and Kentucky. Phillips and the Wildcats held off a late Louisville rally winning 23-16, but the event made college football history.

East Carolina

Another African-American head coach, Ruffin McNeil won his East Carolina debut 51-49 over a very good Tulsa team on Sunday. McNeil, who served as Texas Tech's defensive coordinator last season ironically won his debut in a game that featured very little defense. The game was arguably the most exciting of the weekend. Trailing 49-45 with five seconds remaining, and the ball on Tulsa's 35 yard line, the Pirates were down to their final play. Boston College transfer, Dominique Davis heaved up a prayer into the end zone; his prayer was answered as 6'8" wide receiver Justin Jones hauled in the Hail Mary over three Tulsa defenders giving ECU and head coach Ruffin McNeil its first win of the season.

South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia

Heading into South Carolina's opener against Southern Mississippi, head coach Steve Spurrier was hesitant to name a starter. It looks as if freshman, Connor Shaw would get the nod over much maligned two-year starter, junior Stephen Garcia. Spurrier decided to give Garcia the start. Garcia was very efficient completing 16 of his 23 pass attempts for 193 yards and ran for a pair of scores. The Gamecocks won easily 41-13 and Garcia seems to have earned himself a bit more breathing room, at least for now. The Gamecocks will host Georgia on Saturday marking the team's first true test.

Boise State

With the season one week old, the Boise State Broncos have already passed what will likely be its toughest test. The Broncos blew a 17 point lead Monday night only to rally to beat Virginia Tech in the final 1:09 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore hit Austin Pettis for a 13 yard score giving the Broncos a 33-30 lead capping off a five-play, 56-yard drive. With just over two minutes to go and Boise State without a timeout, Virginia Tech elected to pass on third-and-eight rather than continue to allow the clock to run. The Hokies then went into a tight-punt formation and after a flag for an illegal block was picked up, Boise began its march at its own 44. Moore went on to lead his team to perhaps the toughest victory it will earn this season. A September 25 home game against Oregon State seems to be the Broncos' lone remaining test. Monday night's come-from-behind win does not necessarily book the Broncos' ticket to Glendale, but it keeps Boise State in the conversation.

Heisman-Hopeful Quarterbacks

The first week of the season was a very good one for potential Heisman Trophy quarterbacks to put up some impressive numbers to get their campaigns off to fast starts. Thursday night, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor passed for 247 yards and three touchdowns in the Buckeyes trouncing of Marshall while Miami's Jacory Harris tossed 3 TDs of his own. On Saturday, Florida State's Christian Ponder threw four touchdowns against FCS Samford in Jimbo Fisher's head coaching debut. Arkansas' Ryan Mallet threw for over 300 yards and three scores in the Razorbacks 44-3 rout of Tennessee Tech and Houston's Case Keenum threw five touchdowns in the first half of the Cougars 68-28 victory over Texas State. The only quarterback to truly have a Heisman caliber moment was Boise State's junior signal-caller, Kellen Moore. Moore led his Boise State team down the field in five plays to top Virginia Tech in the game's waining minutes. Moore hit receiver Austin Pettis for the last of his three touchdown passes and keeping his team's championship aspirations intact.

Georgia QB Aaron Murray

Georgia came into the 2010 season with nine returning starters on offense; quarterback was not one of them. Outside of A.J. Green's eligibility, quarterback was the Bulldogs' biggest question mark. Redshirt-freshman, Aaron Murray did all he could to sure up those questions on Saturday. While Murray did not put up gaudy numbers, he was very efficient and accounted for four total touchdowns. Perhaps the highlight on Saturday afternoon's opener was Murray's 16 yard scramble for a touchdown on the final play of the first half of Saturday's 55-7 rout of Louisiana-Lafayette. The Dawgs' travel to Columbia to take on South Carolina Saturday afternoon.

Colorado and Kentucky

Both Colorado and Kentucky were able to win rivalry games against in-state opponents on Saturday. Colorado finished 3-9 in 2009 and head coach Dan Hawkins had felt some heat from the Buffaloe' faithful after failing to lead Colorado to a winning season in any of his first four years. In a game played in Denver, the Buffaloes took a shutout into the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon before knocking off arch-rival Colorado State 24-3. The win gives the Buffs' statewide bragging rights and could give the team some nice momentum heading to Berkley to play California. Kentucky was able to defeat Louisville 23-16 in Joker Phillips' head coaching debut. Although the UK-Louisville isn't on the gridiron what it is on the basketball court, the win should put Phillips in the natives' good graces in Lexington at least for the time being.

The Losers

Kansas

The Jayhawks have a new head coach, but were able to extend their losing streak on Saturday against all odds. New head coach Turner Gill watched his team take a 3-0 lead in the first quarter against FCS North Dakota State; Kansas never scored again losing 6-3. Saturday, the Jayhawks will host defending ACC Champion, Georgia Tech. Unless the Jayhawks have an offensive "Come to Jesus" meeting, they have a very good chance of running their losing streak to nine.

The Big East

The Big East had a chance to prove how far it had come as a legitimate BCS conference in the first week of the 2009 season. If the proof is in the pudding, the Big East should look for a different flavor of pudding. Thursday night, Pittsburgh overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit only to lose in overtime at Utah. Pittsburgh quarterback, Tino Sunseri threw an interception on the first play of the overtime period and Utah's Joe Phillips knocked home a 21-yard field goal to take down the Panthers. On Saturday, Connecticut, a team many picked to be the dark-horse in the Big East, was embarrassed in Ann Arbor by Michigan. The game featured the largest crowd ever to see a college football game and they left pleased as Michigan beat the Huskies 30-10. Late Saturday night, defending Big East champion, Cincinnati blew a two touchdown lead in a 28-14 loss at Fresno State. The loss marked an end to the Bearcats' 19-game regular season winning streak. Big East bottom dweller, Syracuse was the only team from the conference to beat a FCS school in the first week of the season.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies had a chance to plunge into the top 5 after sub-par performances by powerhouses, Florida and Oklahoma on Saturday. The Hokies held a 30-26 lead over Boise State on Monday night with just over two minutes to go. Virginia Tech faced a third-and-long and Boise State had no timeouts. Rather than run an additional 45-50 seconds off the clock, the Hokies threw an incomplete pass and stopped the clock. The Virginia Tech defense offered little resistance as Boise State took all of five plays to march down the field on the ensuing drive.

Pitt's Red-Zone Offense

The Panthers had three opportunities inside the Utah 10-yard-line on Thursday night. The Panthers failed to reach the end zone on any of the three drives. Instead, Pittsburgh settled for three field goals in a 27-24 loss at Utah. The Panthers' final offensive play of the night came just outside of the redzone on the first play of overtime as Tino Sunseri threw an interception that all but sealed Pittsburgh's fate.

New Mexico

Rather than scheduling a FCS opponent as many BCS programs do, the Oregon Ducks scheduled New Mexico from the Mountain West. The Lobos allowed over 700 yards of total offense. Oregon gained about ten yards for every point it scored. The Ducks led 59-0 at the half and tacked on 13 points in the second half in a 72-0 victory in Eugene on Saturday.

Michigan QB Tate Forcier

Sophomore quarterback, Tate Forcier started all 12 games for Michigan in 2009. After spending all of fall practice without "wings" on his helmet that head coach Rich Rodriguez claimed he had yet to earn, Forcier did not take a snap in Michigan's 30-10 opening win on Saturday. There were many rumors surfacing the offseason that Forcier would transfer. Forcier refuted all the rumors claiming Michigan was the place he wanted to be. On Saturday, Forcier watched his teammate Denard Robinson account for nearly 400 yards of offense at his position. Robinson missed a few plays in the second half due to injury, but rather than Forcier step in and take the snaps, Rodriguez elected to play true-freshman Devin Gardner. Robinson's performance against UCONN probably solidified his starting role and added an element of reality to the Forcier transfer rumors.

Ole Miss

Houston Nutt's Ole Miss teams have been slow starters over his first two years in Oxford, but Saturday was a new low for Nutt's team. The Rebels blew a 31-13 fourth quarter lead against FCS opponent Jacksonville State on Saturday to lose in two overtimes. After taking a 48-41 lead in double-overtime, Jacksonville State scored a 30-yard touchdown on 4th-and-15 to cut the deficit to one. Following a Jacksonville State timeout, Gamecock quarterback Coty Blanchard found Carlton Middleton for the game-winning two-point conversion. The loss was Ole Miss' first to a FCS opponent since 1945.

Cincinnati WR Vidal Hazelton

After transferring from USC and sitting out all of last season, wide receiver, Vidal Hazelton made his Cincinnati debut. Hazelton caught six passes for 63 yards before tearing his ACL in the second half of Saturday night's game at Fresno State. Hazelton is out for the season with a torn ACL and his football career could be very much in doubt.

Florida's Shotgun Offense

While I'm not sure whether or not, Florida quarterback, John Brantley has a baseball background, he seemed to have plenty of trouble fielding groundballs on Saturday. Following his brother's jump to the NFL, Florida guard Mike Pouncey moved from guard to center. On several occasions in Florida's 34-12 win over Miami University, Pouncey's shotgun-snap rolled past Brantley. In fact, all the losses taken from bad snaps had the Gators with less than 30 net yards of offense entering the fourthquarter. With South Florida, Tennessee and Alabama upcoming on the schedule, continuous bad snaps could result in something far worse than ugly offensive numbers for Florida.

The Pac-10

The Pac-10 conference had an ugly first weekend. USC looked far less than stellar in Thursday night's opener in Honolulu winning 49-36. Outside of Oregon and Arizona, the conference looked sluggish against legitimate competition. Oregon State gave a valiant effort, but came up short against sixth-ranked TCU on Saturday night. UCLA made a late charge, but fell short against Kansas State in Manhattan on Saturday and in Provo, BYU stopped a late Huskie drive on fourth down to defeat Jake Locker and Washington 23-17. Washington State gave up over 250 yards rushing to Oklahoma State's Kendall Hunter in a 65-17 loss in Stillwater. The Pac-10 was 3-4 against FBS opposition in week 1.

USC's Defense

If USC is to regain their place atop the Pac-10 conference in 2010, it appears as though it will have to score a lot of points. In Thursday night's opener at Hawaii, the Trojans put up 49 points, but were suspect to say the least defensively. The Trojans' inexperience in the secondary was apparent as the Warriors compiled 459 of their 588 total yards through the air. Hawaii was also able to score 36 points against a Southern Cal defense that has been solid over the past several years. The USC defense failed to force a single turnover over a Hawaii team that puts the ball in the air on nearly every play.

Week 1's Biggest Winner

Boston College LB Mark Herzlich

The former ACC Defensive Player of the Year's bout with cancer has been well documented. On Saturday afternoon, Mark Herzlich did as he said he would and returned to the football field. Herzlich recorded just three tackles in the Eagles' 38-20 win over Weber State, but his story is an inspiration to all making him Week 1's Biggest Winner.

Week 1's Biggest Loser

Ole Miss QB Jeremiah Masoli

After being suspended for the entire season by Oregon and then dismissed from the team on drug charges, Jeremiah Masoli transferred to Ole Miss. Despite not playing poorly, Masoli and his Ole Miss Rebels blew an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter before falling in double-overtime to FCS opponent Jacksonville State. The loss was Ole Miss' first to a FCS opponent in 65 years and head coach, Houston Nutt, called it the worst loss of his career. While there are still 11 games remaining for the Rebels and Masoli, this is not the start they had hoped for. Meanwhile, Masoli's former school, Oregon amassed over 700 yards of offense in a 72-0 thumping of New Mexico.