The first full weekend of the 1999 college football season came like a safety blitz: a full-speed assault capable of taking your head off. And that was the good part. There were other aspects of the weekend that were not so positive, both on and off the field. As always, we opened the Fan Mailbag this week. Here's a sampling of fan opinion from Saturday, Sept. 4:

Big game aftermath
Michigan and Notre Dame played one of the most well-played and executed games that I have ever seen. It was a shame that one team had to lose, but I did feel that Michigan was the better team and thus deserved the win. Both teams should do fairly well the rest of the season and I predict both will finish the season in the top 10 and end up in the BCS.
Eric Kirchner
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

	Reaction around the country was mixed, to say the least, about Anthony Thomas' fourth-quarter TD.

I don't want to hear anyone complain about the Michigan-Notre Dame game. Notre Dame people can complain all they want but they had three costly turnovers and no one to blame for the loss but themselves and Michigan's superior play.
Mike Dauber
Ann Arbor, Mich.

As we have seen in the past, the emphasis on excessive celebration is a travesty -- most recently exemplified by the "moose" thingy performed by the Notre Dame player after an excellent touchdown. It was a shame for such an exciting game to be marred by an inane penalty costing a good team a touchdown, and potentially costing them the game.
Sam Snider
New York

It's a shame when officials take it upon themselves to decide the outcome of a game, especially a game so rich in tradition and important as the Notre Dame-Michigan game on Saturday. As a student at the University of Notre Dame,you might take my comments as biased -- more a reflection of anger and disappointment than objective analysis. However,the camera doesn't lie. ... The game could have had one of the all-time great endings. The officials ruined those prospects.
Philip Crocker
South Bend,. Ind.

Yes, Notre Dame lost to Michigan this past weekend. It was a great game to watch between two great programs BUT the call at the end of the game for "excessive celebrating" was in itself a bit excessive. I wonder if the Wolverines opened the card before accepting the officials' gift.
Tom O'Brien
Miami, Fla.

After watching the Notre Dame-Michigan game I have come to one conclusion about college football: They need to do the same thing the NFL has done and get instant replay.
Frank Eich
Youngstown, Ohio

Michigan rules!
Joe Jackson
Brooklyn, N.Y.

A taste of the Rockies
I'm tired of seeing the word "upset" used to describe the CSU/CU game. The media continues to rank Colorado based on merits of days long passed. CU had a losing season two years ago and a less-than-impressive season last year. Why is this year going to be any different? Gary Barnett has never proven to be a winning coach (look at his record). The truly amazing thing is Colorado continued to get votes. Wake up! This is the '99 Buffs, not the '90 5th down Buffs.
Thomas Carty
Memphis, Tenn.

Most news coverage of the CSU-CU game depicted a riot among CSU fans following our monumental win and the police response being justified. Having sat there in that crowd, this truly disgusts me. While it is evident that items were being thrown at the police, they were nothing more then plastic bottles and cups and never represented a threat to anyone's safety. And as to rushing the field, while there was talk of such, the whole subject ended as talk with the appearance of riot police. There was never a rush and never a true threat to the police or to the safety of those on the field -- until the police began mass sprayings of the crowd with mace and pepper spray. The threat to the crowd then occurred as people stampeded out of the stadium, tripping and falling over each other in their efforts to find some breathable air. And those were the lucky fans, as I saw many that never got a chance to leave their seats as they were hunched over shaking from the high concentrations of gas, but were still continuously sprayed with new doses. The only danger to the safety of anyone in that stadium came from the Denver police. I hope that the record will soon be set straight.
Matt Vavra
Fort Collins, Colo.

Colorado-Colorado State was one of those tragedies that seems to pop up every year in college football about fans rushing the field. Yes, it is expensive to replace goalposts and turf, but it is not worth the possible cost of human injury to bring out a SWAT team or erect a fence that can collapse or crush people. In five years of Notre Dame football, I never saw more than a twisted ankle from rushing the field four times (even in the mass of humanity after the Florida State-ND game in 1993) because the stadium is built in such a way that there are no major impediments to people rushing the field. Outside of constructing every stadium like East Lansing (with a 10-foot drop to cement-like astroturf) I don't see how anyone in college football thinks that they can stop it.
Matthew Loughran
Bethesda, Md.

I was very happy that Colorado showed the whole country that they still suck!
Chad Timken
Manhattan, Kan.

Poll problems
The polls are already a disgrace to college football. Let's start with Notre Dame and Alabama. Notre Dame loses a great game at Michigan and falls three spots in the poll, while 'Bama beats Vandy (which always play the big teams tough) on the road and falls two spots. These are two of the greatest programs ever in college football that have apparently lost respect with the "so called" experts. They fell behind teams like USC, Purdue, Kansas St., & Virginia. Look what these teams did: USC beat those powerful Rainbows of Hawaii, K-St. has not even played (once again they play a pitiful non-conference schedule), Purdue moved up seven spots after beating UCF, and Virginia is the only one that beat a good team UNC.
Lance Lee
Phenix City, Ala.

Tennessee is still No. 1.
Tim Wharton
Cookeville,Tenn.

Well, another year, another bunch of fools making up the rankings. How can Penn St. not be ranked number one? It does not make sense to me or any other college football fan outside of the state of Florida. The Lions destroyed, dismantled and embarrassed an Arizona team that is virtually the same as last year's, 41-7. The Seminoles, on the other hand, shlacked a Louisiana Tech team by the score of, what was it, 41-7? What was 'zona's record last year? 12-1? How about La. Tech? 6-6. Who am I kidding. The same thing happens every year.
Mike Radtke
Champaign, Ill.

I can't understand why the Miami Hurricanes dropped in the polls. They didn't play any lesser an opponent than Penn State, or Florida. Being a Cane fan for many years, it seems to me, that the pollsters and the NCAA have a personal vendetta against Miami. Let's see what sanctions are brought against Notre Dame. All things will change on Sept.18.
Tony Tartaglia
Coconut Creek, Fla.

Heisman hype
Does Quincy Carter have to start playing defense to get in your top ten Heisman list? Because he has done everything on offense from running, catching, and passing. He's the most talented quarterback in the nation with his overall ability and the most dangerous because he can do everything. So I don't understand why he's being overlooked in the race.
Brian Perren
Athens, Ga.

I would like to say that Peter Warrick's decision to stay in school and try to win a national championship for him and his team instead of going to the NFL and taking the millions, shows that he is very mature beyond his years, and it also shows that he has the foundation to be one of the greatest receivers of all time.
Shone Forsythe
Cordele, Ga.

Purdue's QB Drew Brees looked poised for another great season. He will tear Notre Dame's secondary apart. Look for a big game against Michigan from him too, because Notre Dame passed the ball well against them.
James Kirkpatrick
Veedersburg, Ind.

I really believe that this is a year someone from a less-heralded program will truly be recognized as the top player in the country. The bias against defensive players has finally been put to rest. Now how about the one attached to Top 25 programs? If Saturday is any clue, Chris Redman of Louisville is my choice to win the Heisman.
James Randolph
San Francisco

This and that ...
For those of you who weren't impressed with the Huskers victory, let me put it in perspective: The offense gained nearly 600 yards and the Iowa offense only crossed midfield once and was promptly intercepted. Their only touchdown was on a blocked punt late in the game.But for a few offensive mistakes in the first half -- which are to be expected in the first game -- the score would of been closer to 63-7.
Tyson Mundt
Tampa, Fla.

Once again I am proven wrong about Auburn football. Yes, it can get worse: Auburn 22, Appalachian St. 15. They had to pull it out in the last minute. They are a disgrace to their fans and to the SEC.
Jason Portney
Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Virginia Tech Hokies were unstoppable and looked very good even without phenom quarterback Michael Vick for the majority of the game. Though the Hokies may have a "light" schedule compared to other college powerhouses, it's my opinion that Va. Tech has arrived.
Matt Smith
Blacksburgh, Va.

Way to go Hoos!!! There is nothing better than beating the Tar Heels at home.
Todd Bachman
Virginia

Scoreboard watching
Last night when I was watching the Vols, I thought coach Fulmer showed a great deal of disrespect for Wyoming. There was no need to throw 55-yard pass plays with complete control of the game with around 2 minutes left. And after the Vols ran the ball inside the 10 and couldn't get in the end zone the fans booed. So coach Fulmer had to score one more time, showing complete lack of guts. Spurrier would not even do that.
Justin Armstrong
Athens, Ga.

Am I the only one that thinks the late touchdowns by Tennessee and Texas A&M (I believe with 22 seconds and 47 seconds left respectively) demonstrated a complete lack of class? I didn't see the A&M touchdown, so I say that with reservation, but Fulmer THROWING the football with less than 30 seconds left and up by 18 points?!?! I understand the "margin of victory" for the BCS, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah. But if you want to get into the BCS, just win all your games and everything else will take care of itself, especially if you're already ranked in the top 5!! Besides, I'd rather miss out on the BCS and keep my integrity than sell my soul for a computer formula. I, for one, lost a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Fulmer and I never had any for Mr. Slocum (and no, I'm not a U of Texas grad).
Ernie Rogers
Houston, Texas

Pac-10 pride
The media is making much too big a deal of "The Fall of the Pac-10". While the Pac has been consistantly great the past few seasons, one bad week and the Pac is given the label of "weak". As this season goes on, the country will see that teams like USC, Arizona State and UCLA all are top 20 teams that will make a run at the Sugar Bowl.
Brooks Bono
Tempe, Ariz.

The Pac-10 definitely has more too prove this year, as the rest of the NCAA looks very impressive, but it remains to be seen if we can step up and compete with the rest of the nation.
R.S. Lane
Seattle

Granted, it was Hawaii, but of all the top 25 vs. patsy-team games this weekend, did anyone dominate like USC? Not in the margin of victory category. Could this be the beginning of a return to Trojan glory? There's just something about this team ...
Tim White
New York

MAC power
Travis Prentice continues to prove that he is the best running back in the country. Prentice's 33 carries outlasted a fatigued Northwestern defense. With performances like his and Chad Pennington's of Marshall, it won't be long before the MAC starts getting the respect it deserves.
Barry Daggs
Columbus, Ohio

Marshall's victory at Clemson was miraculous considering their short time in I-A. That program is a Cinderella story of mythic proportions. Chad Pennington's engineering of the winning TD drive was a classic for football annals.
Dave Bell
Hamlin, West Va.

Raking leaves this fall
College football has become such a joke! This past weekend showed me just how boring and pointless it is to watch college football anymore. Padded records, and over-inflated stats aren't what I enjoy about football. It's the hard-fought battles that go down to the line. But money talks. This season is gonna see me with more free time.
Michael Nostrant
Mt. Laurel, N.J.