Blowouts mark opening weekend in college football

The first weekend of the college football season was a chance for big-name teams to make a statement and justify their preseason rankings. Combined with the adrenaline that comes with the first game of the season and a collection of patsy opponents, this equation led to a lot of lopsided scores.

The top four teams in the polls showed why they are ranked as highly as they are. Oklahoma, Ohio State, Miami, and Texas devastated the competition, beating their respective opponents by a combined score of 179-28. Of course, their victims included North Texas, Louisiana Tech, and New Mexico State-- not exactly the most challenging slate of opponents. Ohio State stood out, however, playing (and dismantling) a worthy opponent, No. 19 Washington, with a score of 28-9.

Other sickening scores against overmatched opponents included No. 21 Florida over San Jose State (65-3), No. 15 LSU over Louisiana-Monroe (49-7), No. 7 Michigan over Central Michigan (45-7), and No. 5 Kansas State over Troy State (41-5).

Some big-name teams were not looking to justify a high preseason ranking, but to prove that a mediocre season last year was just a fluke. Nebraska and Florida State were both coming off disappointing seasons (7-7 and 9-5, respectively), so the teams went looking for rejuvenation and found it.

For the last season and a half, Nebraska's defense had been picked on by both the media and opposing offenses. Last weekend, the Huskers put a stop to the criticism by slamming the door on No. 24 Oklahoma State. After the team's worst season in 41 years, Nebraska's Blackshirt D limited OSU's potent offense to 183 total yards in a 17-7 win.

Florida State showed its mid 90's swagger in rolling over North Carolina 37-0. Of course, things will get tougher for the Seminoles down the road, when instead of North Carolina the team will have to go up against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. QB Philip Rivers validated his preseason Heisman hype with a sterling performance (26-30, 320 yards, three TDs) as the Pack overwhelmed Western Maryland 59-20.

While most big name teams made statements, some of those statements were unwanted. Two Top 25 teams exposed as pretenders were the No. 6 Auburn Tigers and the No. 14 Maryland Terrapins.

Northern Illinois showed that blowouts are not automatic when it stunned Maryland 20-13 in overtime. Fans around the nation were not the only ones shocked; Northern Illinois head coach Jay Novak could barely believe the accomplishment.

"Could somebody tell me what happened?" Novak said. "All I know is everyone said we won, so I was going to go along with it."

Meanwhile, in the biggest matchup of highly ranked teams, Auburn squared off against the No. 8 USC Trojans.

The off-seasons for these two teams were like night and day. While USC spent the summer working out to prove it could win without departed Heisman winner Carson Palmer and All-American safety Troy Polamalu, Auburn was hyped up extensively, including a preseason No. 1 ranking from The Sporting News. But once the game started, it seemed like Auburn wished it were back in the summer days of talk and predictions. USC, on the other hand, actually walked the walk. The Trojans bushwhacked the Tigers 23-0, holding them to 43 rushing yards on 36 carries while forcing three turnovers.

Noteworthy: History was made at New Mexico, where senior walk-on place kicker Katie Hnida became the first woman to score in a Division I football game. Hnida had a shot to make the record books last December against UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl, but her extra point attempt was blocked. This time, both of her fourth quarter kick attempts were good, giving her two points scored in major college football. To boot, New Mexico won 72-8.