Thoughts from a football Saturday...

Due to travel and work, this will be the first fall Saturday I spend watching 11 hours of football. Nothing else is on the agenda aside from gluttony and the gridiron. It's a beautiful 70-degree day in Boston, the smoker will be fired up soon enough and the Cubs are in the playoffs. Can't get much better than that.

Well, maybe slightly better. To celebrate this day of personal worthlessness, I'll be dropping my thoughts from the day in college football here all day. Only problem is, without access to GamePlan or ESPN360, this morning could be pretty rough. Here's the morning slate for your average Comcast subscriber in the Boston metro area:

ND @ Purdue
LSU @ Tulane
Akron @ UConn
Yale @ Holy Cross
UNC @ VT
Southern Illinois @ Indiana St.
Oklahoma @ Colorado
Baylor @ Ag. & Mech.

Not a very promising group, but I will guarantee this: hiplainsdrifter.com will be your home for live updates of that Holy Cross game. You won't get that anywhere else. Let's go live...

--Tulane really got screwed in the commemorative jersey department. Whereas LSU got a total jersey redesign, complete with white pants and helmets, the Green Wave just got a pelican patch. Sad when you consider this helmet design is out there.

--Yale 3 Holy Cross 0. I'm going to say Yale has the best helmets on the East Coast.

--A&M-Baylor just described as a "heated rivalry." Perhaps this stems from something written in Coach Fran's super secret newsletter. Let's see, nobody thinks the coaches actually have time to even vote in their poll, now you're telling me Franchione "wrote" a newsletter each week? I'd love to mee the people who ponied up $1200 for that.

--Tulane has attempted approximately 14 reverse based plays in the first quarter. LSU simply sits back, grinning, and waits for someone to eventually end up with the ball and then slaps the Wave with a loss. It's fun for these guys.

--PSU 10 Ill. 14. This is bad news for the Nittanies. They can't score with Illinois. I'd go so far as to say that two more TDs for the Illini would probably do it.

--Akron 3 UConn 6. After seeing USF totally dominate WV last night, I think it's time to take a closer look at the Big East. Cincinnati is undefeated and ranked and UConn, also undefeated, is way better than they have any right to be considering how young their program is. The key question for the conference will be can they get these coaches to stick around? Even West Virginia isn't necessarily a destination job. Rodriguez nearly left for Alabama last year and that doesn't bode well for any of the second tier--but rising--schools.

--BAD back-to-back misfires out of Stephen McGee. First he overthrows a wide open receiver downfield for a surefire touchdown. Then, he overshoots his tight end for an INT that's returned to the 20. Of course, Baylor being Baylor, the Bears are called for two illegal blocks on one play. Well done!

--Yale 24 HC 3. Mike McLeod, that's Yale's RB, has 20 rushes for 168 yards. In the first half. Respect!

--Nothing brings me more joy than seeing the deuce on the scoreboard. I LOVE it when a team's first points are a safety. In fact, despite LSU's lethargic play, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tulane shutout the rest of the way, which would result in a 2-point final! There's nothing better.

--It's still early but, factoring in WVU's loss last night, I'm going to need some help with my picks today. Not looking good. Meanwhile, this Oklahoma game can't start soon enough. This early slate is pretty ho-hum. All the good action is simply Gamecast bar graphs for me.

--Speaking of the bar graphs, Ole Miss is up 7-0 at Georgia and driving. I felt coming in that last week's near miss against Florida might've represented the proverbial corner for Coach O. Now that I'm reading Meat Market I love the guy even more. Go Rebs!

--Thanks Tulane. There goes my dream score and it happened on a reverse (oops). 9-7 Wave. Should be a fun halftime talk for the Tigers. Also, Tulane head coach, Bob Toledo looks like he was lifted straight from the Ahtlon preview circa 1988 with his white sweater and huge-crowned hat. Well played.

--Turned the corner? After completing a long third down pass to the Georgia 1-yard line, a two TD lead seemingly inevitable, Ole Miss fumbles. This is how you lose football games.

--Seeing CU for the first time this season, I'm happy to see they've finally incorporated the silver from their official school colors into their new football uniforms. Now that's enough praise for Colorado this season.

--Going to break this thread off like a square out to "cover" the Nebraska game.