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AFTER THOUGHTS
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The Goalposts Almost Won
This was embarrassing.
North Carolina just stunned No. 5 Florida State 41-9 for the greatest win in its football program's history. Fans storm the field, climb the goalposts and ... nothing.
Countless Tar Heel students took turns on top of the neon yellow posts, jumping, dancing, hopping. Even more waited below, anxious to lug one maybe to Franklin Street or a frat party.
They stood there waiting. And waiting. And waiting. In a hilarious display of ineptitude, the goalposts fought the good fight. It got so bad, some fans lost interest and left. Security guards stood around in their yellow jackets smiling. Heck, what were they even there for? These guys were no threat.
At one point, maybe a good twenty minutes after the game, a few players walked by, looked over at the mob still trying to make anything happen, and simply shook their heads.
Finally, one came to the ground, but by then, it was too late. The magic moment was gone. TV had long since cut away to the talking heads. No one saw the goalpost leave the stadium. Next time, maybe they should call their friends from Duke for some physics pointers.
Quote of the Year (so far)
"The only thing I feel like doing right now is punching a wall.
I'm angry."
-- Penn State coach Joe Paterno after an 18-6 loss to
Wisconsin.
Well, at least someone from Penn State would be hitting something.
Shhhhh
Following a week of trash talking by the Houston defense, Texas' Chris Simms had the last laugh.
All week, the Cougar players said they were actually glad Simms was playing, not Major Applewhite. Something about Applewhite being the smarter player.
Three TDs, 311 yards and a 53-26 victory later, Houston believed.
"(Simms) did everything right," said Houston's Adrian Lee, one of Simms' pregame critics. Heck, Simms even winked at him after a sack.
"I wanted to go out there and tear them up," Simms said. "They talked a lot of trash. We talked a lot of trash during the game, but I talked to some of those guys after the game and they didn't seem to be that bad."
See, Simms is pretty smart after all, considering he's just a junior and is scheduled to play Houston next season.
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SATURDAY'S STARS |
David Carr passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns as No. 15 Fresno State beat Tulsa 37-18.
Jason Gesser threw for a career-high 432 yards and four
touchdowns as Washington State beat California 51-20.
Robert Kent passed for five touchdowns and ran for two more as
Jackson State defeated Mississippi Valley State 66-36.
Rocky Butler threw for 215 yards and four touchdowns and ran
for 127 yards and another score as Hofstra outlasted Maine 51-44.
Brian St. Pierre was 19-of-25 for 247 yards and four
touchdowns and William Green rushed for 178 yards and added two TDs
as Boston College defeated Navy 38-21.
Anthony Davis ran for 200 yards, and Wendell Bryant had 4 1/2
sacks as Wisconsin beat Penn State 18-6.
B.J. Askew scored three touchdowns, ran for a career-high 112
yards and caught five passes for 66 yards as No. 17 Michigan beat
Western Michigan 38-21.
Bruce Perry rushed for a career-high 276 yards, scoring on
runs of 50 and 80 yards, as Maryland beat Wake Forest 27-20.
Rex Grossman threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2
Florida beat Kentucky 44-10.
Brad Lewis completed 27 of 34 passes -- both career highs -- for
286 yards and two TDs in West Virginia's 34-14 victory over Kent
State.
Brant Hall threw for 213 yards and rushed for a career-best
120 yards and two touchdowns to lead Lehigh to a 34-10 victory over
Princeton.
DeVeren Johnson caught seven passes for 224 yards and three
touchdowns as Sacred Heart beat Robert Morris 44-31.
Ennis Haywood ran for 219 yards and two touchdowns as Iowa
State held off Ohio 31-28. |
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College football was back Saturday, but with a very different look and
feel.
Fans trickled through additional security checkpoints at
stadiums that stood empty a week ago, when all 58 major games were
called off following the terrorist attacks. The skies above,
usually abuzz with small aircraft, were empty, the result of a ban
on blimps, helicopters and small planes.
"Football wasn't the first thing on my mind," Michigan running
back Walter Cross said after his team beat Western Michigan 38-21.
"It took awhile to get back into things."
At many tributes, players and coaches from both teams either
lined up on their own side of the field or met at midfield to
observe moments of silence, and sing the national anthem.
"We normally don't do it in college football, and I think we
should," said Florida coach Steve Spurrier, whose second-ranked
Gators beat Kentucky 44-10. "It makes us realize how fortunate we
are to live in America. You look around the stadium and everyone is
coming together. We are all extremely fortunate."
At Annapolis, Md., Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium had armed
guards stationed at the scoreboard, and fans filed through 12 metal
detectors before Boston College beat Navy 38-21. At kickoff, the
30,000-seat stadium was only half full as fans were lined up for
about 200 yards waiting to go through security.
The loss didn't seem to bother the Midshipmen.
"The focus should shift off of us and onto the people who are
in the fleet and the people involved in the rescue mission," Navy
linebacker Ryan Hamilton said. "We are just a bunch of kids
playing football."
Tiny U.S. flags fluttered in the stands and were apparent on the
field, sewn onto players' jerseys and painted on helmets.
Patriotic tributes were everywhere.
At Piscataway, N.J., the 27,000 fans sang "God Bless
America," before No. 9 Virginia Tech beat Rutgers 50-0.
One of those fans, Jane Luther Umstadter, said she was on the
17th floor of the north tower when the first hijacked jetliner
struck the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
She said it took her 10 minutes to walk down the steps and when
she got out and looked up, she saw the second plane hit. "I am
just so grateful to be here," she said before the game, her
husband and friends by her side.
At Champaign, where Illinois beat No. 25 Louisville 34-10
before a small crowd of 43,232 (capacity is 70,094), there were
chants of "U.S.A! U.S.A! before kickoff. One Illini fan wore an
"I Love NY" T-shirt. Illini players, some of whom cried as they
sang, wore a small American flag on their jerseys -- just above
their hearts.
At the 95,000-seat Rose Bowl, the crowd of 73,723 began
chanting, "USA! USA!" before a moment of silence. Then, a fan in
south end yelled, "God Bless America, Yeah," and the cheering
began.
The Bruins, who wound up beating Ohio State 13-6 , passed out
60,000 placards with the American flag on one side and "United, We
Stand," written on the other.
Outside expanded Beaver Stadium, where 107,253 fans showed up,
there actually were empty tailgating areas -- unheard of for a
school that prides itself as one of the top pregame party schools.
There were empty seats, too.
"The people who usually park there, they didn't come," said Ed
Jones, a fan, pointing to an empty spot next to his. "And there's
a couple spots down there. It's sad. That's exactly what the
terrorists want. They want to disrupt your life."
New York Gov. George Pataki attended the Auburn-Syracuse game.
Flanked by a a police officers and firefighters, he received a
rousing ovation from the crowd of about 45,000.
"We New Yorkers are a strong people, and inhabitants of a
strong nation," Pataki said. "Evil criminals have been able to
break our hearts, but they haven't been able to break our spirit."
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NUMBERS GAME |
UAB scored its most
points since moving to Division I-A in a 55-3 victory over Army.
Arkansas, which allowed only two TDs in last four regular-season
games, gave up four to Alabama, which hadn't reached the end zone
in its past two SEC games, as the Crimson Tide defeated the
Razorbacks 31-10.
Indiana's
Antwaan Randle El became the seventh quarterback in Division I-A to
rush for 3,000 career yards.
Georgia Southern's Adrian Peterson extended his mark of 100-yard
rushing games to 46 -- 34 in the regular season -- with 122 in a 70-7
rout of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Chester Taylor tied a stadium record with five rushing
touchdowns as Toledo beat Central Michigan 52-28.
Buffalo's 37-20 victory over Connecticut snapped an 18-game road
losing streak and gave first-year coach Jim Hofher his first
Division I-A victory. The Bulls, in their third season of Division
I-A play, won their first Division I-A road game since beating
Boston College in 1969.
Zuriel Smith scored on three punt returns and Terrance Patrick
ran two kickoffs back for touchdowns, leading Hampton to a 55-14
win over Virginia State. Hampton's 31-point first half was a school
record.
Western Michigan quarterback Jeff Welsh was 36-of-58 for 374
yards with two touchdown passes and a touchdown run in a 38-21 loss
to No. 17 Michigan. Welsh's completions and attempts broke school records.
David Garrard broke East Carolina's career passing record,
throwing for 245 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-23 victory over
William & Mary that gave him 7,424 career yards.
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