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College football 2017: Week 0 heroes and villains

College football is growing in popularity in Australia, with the Sydney Cup as evidence. (Photo: Jack Prichard)
Roar Guru
27th August, 2017
10

Ahh, Week Zero, one week before Opening Weekend in America, and Australia (along with the FCS) gets to take centre stage on television networks.

It’s just a taste of what’s to come, and despite there not being a full slate of games, there were plenty of heroes and villains.

Heroes
Australian football fans

More than 33,000 football fans packed into Allianz Stadium for the second annual NCAA season opener in Sydney, and it was a decent crowd considering the fact that the Mayweather/McGregor fight was on at the same time and that Rice have basically no name recognition here. Yet, they turned up in their droves for a lopsided contest but, from all reports, a good day.

At least last year, both Cal and Hawaii were able to move the football and score points, making for a far more entertaining contest than this year. Here’s hoping that if the Sydney Cup game returns in 2018, we’ll see two more evenly matched teams. The fans deserve a close contest!

Colorado State
The Rams opened a sparkling new stadium on Saturday afternoon and proceeded to rout Oregon State, 58-27.

Everything went right for the Rams in front of 37,583 fans in their new $200 million dollar home. Their defence was particularly impressive, forcing five Beaver turnovers, including a 44-yard interception return touchdown by linebacker Tre Thomas.

Not to be outdone, Nick Stevens led the offense handily, throwing three touchdowns, and perhaps signalling that Mike Bobo’s Rams will be a force in the Mountain West this year.

Stanford’s run game
Any concerns that Christian McCaffrey’s departure would leave a gaping hole in the Cardinal run game were silenced early and often on Saturday afternoon in Sydney, with Bryce Love (13 carries, 180 yards and one touchdown) and Cameron Scarlett (eight carries, 59 yards and three touchdowns) combining for 287 yards of rushing offense.

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The Owls simply couldn’t stop them – not even on the first play of scrimmage, when Love burst through the heart of the Rice defence for 62 yards. It was a sign of things to come, and Cardinal fans will be hopeful that this production continues in two weeks’ time, when they visit USC and further on into the season.

Charlie Strong
The former Texas coach watched on from the sidelines as his South Florida Bulls fell behind sixteen points before stepping on the gas, recording a 42-22 win over San Jose State. Strong is one of the good guys of college football, put into a tough position in Austin and it’s not hard to hope he and the Bulls have a productive season.

Dru Brown
The Hawaii quarterback made a hero of himself in Amherst, throwing the game-winning touchdown with 0:48 seconds play against Massachusetts, ensuring that the Rainbow Warriors would have a happy, if long trip home to the islands. There was plenty to like about the final drive, during which Brown took the Bows 73 yards in eight plays, featuring a 52-yard connection with John Ursua that set them up deep in Minutemen territory.

That after throwing an 85-yard touchdown strike to Ursua in the first half: the fifth-longest passing play in Hawaii history. He looked like Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan at times.

Stanford and Rice
Players from both schools were wonderful ambassadors for their country and their sport all week in Sydney. It was a pleasure to see everyone getting right into the spirit of the week, and spreading the college football gospel here in Australia. Let’s hope the Sydney Cup concept returns, hopefully with a better match-up.

David Shaw
Admitted that he hasn’t tried Vegemite, and doesn’t seem keen to, either. Bravo, David. I can’t stand the stuff. Hopefully you got some meat pies and Tim-Tams into you this week, though.

Villains
Portland State

The Vikings were nothing short of disappointing, managing only three first downs in the first half and could only cross midfield on two occasions in their season-opener against Brigham Young in Provo on Saturday afternoon, losing 20-6 to the Cougars.

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ESPN Australia/New Zealand
Only two games scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN2 next weekend – Florida State versus Alabama on Sunday, then Tennessee versus Georgia Tech on Tuesday – due to US Open tennis and World Cup soccer qualifiers.

You know, this wouldn’t be so bad if they shifted around meaningless programs or endless replays to squeeze in full replays of games, no matter whether they’re primetime or in the early hours. Sure, cut out the pre-game and halftime stuff, but show every play. Two-hour condensed replays that’ll probably be further condensed if other live events run long isn’t good enough.

Oregon State’s offense
The Beavers turned the football over five times. Quarterback Jake Luton was chiefly responsible, tossing three interceptions, including one Pick 6 touchdown, and despite the contributions of running back Ryan Nall (115 yards and a touchdown) Oregon State were handily beaten on the road in Fort Collins. It could be a very long year for the program if their season-opener was anything to go by.

Rice’s defence
The Owls were horribly outclassed by Stanford in Sydney on Sunday afternoon, giving up 55 points before their offense could punch it into the end zone. No matter which way you look at it, giving up 656 total yards isn’t great.

Lots of work for the Owls coaching staff to do, especially at quarterback, where neither starter Sam Glaesmann or backup Jackson Tyner were particularly effective against the Cardinal.

ESPN’s researchers
Great to see Sydney Swans livewire Garry Rohan make an appearance on ESPN during the third quarter of the Rice/Stanford contest at Allianz Stadium to demonstrate the full kicking repertoire that Australian footballers can muster. Not so great to see Rohan labelled on the broadcast as a ‘forward on the Sydney Swans rugby team’!

Nevertheless, good exposure for the Swans, and I’m willing to bet that most Americans had never seen the snap kick around the corner that Rohan showed off during his few minutes of international fame.

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