And in punting news

1. Ohio State scored 7 points today, and punted 10 times. I enjoyed that. And I am sure Michigan State fans did, too. I think anyone will take a 10-7 win in the Horseshoe, any time.

2. Virginia Tech's punting game was abysmal. Sub 20 yard punts should never, ever happen. This is not the Beamerball we have heard so much about, not even close. In any case, Clemson retained the Silver Ball comfortably, with a 23-3 win. Next up, Boston College, bringing in an 0-6-1 record in Silver Ball matchups.

Ask Y

BYU continued to rebound from their week 2 and 3 sadness, adding to last week's comeback over UCF with a stunner against Utah State. The winning touchdown came after a wildly fluky downfield pass into the red zone, a horribly flubbed attempt at clock management losing 15 vital seconds, and a deflected pass falling gracefully into the arms of a waiting receiver with just 11 seconds left. Right place, right time, 27-24 miracle win.

Friday night games this year have been crazier than a barrel full of crazy monkeys. Gotta love it.

Keeping possession

Clemson took a thriller against visiting Florida State, 35-30, retaining the Silver Ball. That was an outstanding game, marred only by Florida State's many penalties. They really should have won it, I dare say. Next week the Tigers visit Virginia Tech.

Of the teams I favor, I will mention only Michigan, 28-7 winners over underdog San Diego State, but lacking anything resembling a passing game in this one. Great to see the love between coach Brady Hoke and the staff and players on his old team, too.

On TV now, it's a tough choice. LSU-West Virginia, or Mizzou-Oklahoma? I think I'll try to keep track of both games.

Dramatic night

After a holding penalty and a couple of bruising stops for loss, Florida State faced 3rd and 28 on their own 44. So here's reserve QB Clint Trickett, untested and raw, victimized by a punishing sack on the previous play, dropping back... and oh so calmly hitting his man with the deep pass for a 56 yard score. Nice. 13-13 in the fourth quarter between #1 Oklahoma and #5 Florida State.

Meantime, Miami cleaned up Ohio State in the Ineligibowl. BYU is leading newly minted major conference rival, Utah. USC is holding off Syracuse. Oh, and Stanford is playing Arizona. It's a good night to be a neutral fan.

Stop press: Oklahoma strikes back with a fantastic catch in the end zone, leads 20-13.

Tiger, Tiger

The Clemson Tigers hosted and upset the Silver Ball champion Auburn Tigers, and the trophy has finally left the South East Conference after a run that began with Florida's win in the BCS Championship in January, 2009. The last Atlantic Coast Conference squad to hold the title was Florida State, in 1992. It's been a long wait.

Robbed

Utah State did everything but pull off the massive upset at Auburn, failing to defend an onside kick at the death, and paying the price with a 42-38 loss. This is a great shame for Silver Ball watchers (all two of us). It's getting a bit old, writing about the SEC time and again. The Silver Ball would look good in the WAC for a while. Oh well... one day the auld trophy will be wrested away. It always is, eventually.

And we're back

College football is finally back, and we can put aside the schadenfreude of Miami and Ohio State for a few minutes and watch some surprisingly good week one games, along with the usual gross mismatches. Baylor's win over TCU last night was epic. Oregon and LSU have scheduled an amazingly gutsy out of conference matchup for tonight. Boise State, persistent thorn in the side of the BCS, is visiting Georgia in Atlanta. And Auburn is defending the Silver Ball against Utah State.

OK, that last one promised to be a dud. But as I write, Utah State is leading 21-14. If they had any clue whatsoever about kickoff coverage, the lead would likely be bigger. My money is still on a big win for the Tigers, but this has been a lot of fun so far.