The Boise State Broncos: 21st in the BCS standings, first in blackout showmanship. (AP)

Miscellaneous awards dispensed in honor of college football’s weekend that was:

• ALTERNATE HELMET POWER RANKINGS. After careful deliberation with some of college football’s top minds, we have selected our top three alt football hats from Week 8.

1. Boise State, whose matte black be-Broncoed helmets topped what’s maybe the best blackout uniform we’ve seen this year. (That’s a short list, but still.) It’s the malevolent orange eye on the side that elevates these from mere headwear into the realm of art.
2. Michigan State, in green “Hydrochrome,” which is shiny and beautiful, has a hint of bass-boat finish about it and also has the benefit of sounding like it was made by a G.I. Joe villain. (Not, apparently, a villain equipped with the power to beat Michigan, but we can’t all be superbosses.)
3. Northwestern, whose black and silver contraptions popped beautifully in HD but really needed some neon purple whiskers or something to be truly on-trend.

HONORABLE MENTION: Duke, whose blue-on-black helmets didn’t carry well on television but were obviously effective.

Please, those of you whose teams’ helmets were not selected, take this as a deeply personal insult.

Read More…

Assorted bests from college football’s weekend that was.

• Play of the week, offense and defense at the same time. Johnny Manziel, handing off to Christine Michael AND making a tackle. Johnny Manziel is a 7-on-7 team of his own design. We saw this happen in person and still didn’t quite believe it:

• Play of the week, miscellaneous. There’s something almost whimsical about the way this Minnesota helmet logo flutters away from the scene of a collision.

• Trick play of the week. Steve Spurrier’s fake visor toss. Diabolical.

Read More…

Assorted bests and worsts from college football’s weekend that was:

• Best Gameday surprise. This is a category that rolls deep every year, but we have yet to see much on television or in real life that tops the South Carolina mascot (the live one) being offered a glass of Steve Spurrier-branded wine. I mean:

Did Sir Big Spur sample the Steve Spurrier wine? twitter.com/gogamecocks/st…

— GoGamecocks.com (@gogamecocks) October 6, 2012

We live in the greatest country on earth, and don’t you ever forget it.

Read More…

Matt McGloin threw for two touchdowns and rushed for the go-ahead score in PSU’s 39-28 win. (Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from the Week 6 early slate. For more, check out our midday Snaps, late Snaps coverage of LSU-Florida, Georgia-South Carolina, West Virginia-Texas and complete Top 25 review.

• Penn State 39, No. 24 Northwestern 28. Pat Fitzgerald’s herd of cats was 5-0 and well on its way to a 6-0 start, a feat unequaled by any Northwestern squad since 1962. The Wildcats had one conference win and three victories over AQ nonconference opponents to their credit. So, naturally, Week 6 was when they ran into a fourth-quarter buzzsaw in the form of … Penn State?

Pointed momentum swings characterized Saturday’s contest. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead, only to see the Wildcats retake the scoreboard and then some, carrying a 28-17 lead after three quarters. Then, for lack of a better description for what happened next, the fourth quarter commenced and Penn State proceeded to outgain Northwestern 186-23. Matt McGloin displayed some serious poise in this period, passing for a touchdown, running for a two-point conversion and scoring again on a five-yard run with less than three minutes to play. Penn State scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the last coming on a Michael Zordich three-yard run precisely one minute after McGloin’s dash for the end zone.

Wildcat fans might be wondering about now why Venric Mark took a knee on a kick return with 2:37 remaining after he’d already returned a punt 75 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter. They might also be flexing their claws (because they’re cats!) at the sight of Mark and Kain Colter, averaging a combined 180-plus rushing yards heading into today’s contest, finishing with a mere 96 combined. But Penn State has now won four straight, including two in league play. A fitting beginning, maybe, to a curious day of football. [BOX | RECAP]

Read More…

Like preseason awards, but for games, and weekly, and just as meaningful. For additional Week 6 content, peruse Andy Staples’ Walkthrough.

• Most internetty homecoming. After UAB callously ignored an online movement to model the Blazers’ 2012 Homecoming theme on Trogdor the Burninator, one enterprising agent took matters into her own hands. Did we attend UAB? We did not. Are we wearing a homemade “BURNINATE THE LIONS” shirt tomorrow? Do you know us at all?

• Best East Coast brunch game. A pre-noon kickoff in Eastern Time! Navy will start this year’s Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series at 11:30 a.m. ET at Air Force.

Read More…

Washington’s Kasen Williams provided one of Thursday’s only moments of offensive flash. (AP)

• Washington 17, No. 8 Stanford 13. Will this be one of those delightful years that sees every highly regarded team picked off, one by one? What, like you don’t want to see a Minnesota-Oregon State Rose Bowl? Cartoon beavers and gophers, clutching flower stems in their teeth! Don’t hate this beautiful inevitability.

We do not quite credit Stanford’s Trent Murphy with the elusive FAT GUY TOUCHDOWN, but he certainly is burly, and his interception return provided some of the only entertainment to be found in Thursday night’s matchup. Stewart Mandel, bless him, actually watched the whole thing and wrote some words about it. Honor him. [BOX | RECAP]

Read More…

ULM quarterback Kolton Browning edged the Warhawks past Arkansas and into history. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Our weekly highlight show of lesser FBS luminaries. Non-AQs and independents, be welcome.

• HAIL TO THE SUN BELT, SURE IS A FUN BELT, RA RA RA! What could top Utah State’s thrilling Friday night victory over Utah? Nothing short of Louisiana-Monroe taking a top 10 SEC team to overtime, on the road, and pulling out the win on a fourth-down quarterback dash. Said quarterback, Kolton Browning, has since been named Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Week and a Walter Camp National Player of the Week honoree. Browning accounted for 481 of ULM’s 550 yards of offense, and four of the Warhawks’ five touchdowns. The Warhawks have their first win over a ranked team since leveling up to FBS, and to round out the weekly awards, have been named Week 2′s Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week. Last week it was Ohio. (A moment of cynicism: We love the attention being bestowed on non-AQs more than just about anybody right now, but this Tostitos shout out is pretty adorable considering how nigh-impossible it would be for the Bobcats or the Warhawks to actually make it into the Fiesta Bowl.)

• It is barely Week 3 and we are already out of poll puns. Idle in Week 2, Boise State is unranked in both major polls for the first time in four years. BYU is the only ranked team in this week’s AP Poll at No. 25, with Boise State, ULM (whee!), Ohio and Utah State also receiving votes. The Aggies’ lone vote is the program’s first since 1966; the Warhawks’ 23 are their first in team history. We hesitate to even mention the Coaches’ Poll for fear of helping its continued legitimacy, but teams receiving votes from disinterested voting SIDs include Boise State, BYU, Louisiana Tech, Ohio, Nevada and ULM.

• EA Sports loves USA, after all. EA Sports personnel have been spotted in Mobile, making preparations to incorporate South Alabama into the next edition of NCAA Football.

• The best news. Tulane’s Devon Walker is reportedly “alert and responsive” following spinal surgery. Tulane has set up an assistance fund in his name; for more ways to support the Walker family, click here.

Read More…

Tracking the zeitgeist of college football’s second weekend through social media:

MAMA! COME ON INSIDE! ONE OF THESE UTAH TEAMS BOUT TO PUNT! CAN’T MISS THAT!

— Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) September 8, 2012

ACC MISSED THE BOAT ON UTAH.

— THE KEY PLAY (@thekeyplay) September 8, 2012

Special Teams Coach Beehive was a sentimental hire from the start for Utah. Won’t save his job after this game. (Plus: is beehive.)

— edsbs (@edsbs) September 8, 2012

@andy_staples @ben_jones88 We’re still getting our shirts and ties pressed at 9 am.We’re not Juggalos.

— Bobby Big Wheel (@BobbyBigWheel) September 8, 2012

Read More…

Markus Wheaton and Oregon State upset Devin Smith and defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin in Corvallis.
(Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from the midday Week 2 slate. For more coverage, check out our early Snaps, late Snaps, coverage of Florida-Texas A&M , LSU-Washington, Georgia-Missouri and the complete Top 25 review.

• Oregon State 10, No. 13 Wisconsin 7. “Oregon State football is broken,” a Pac-12-based colleague of mine declared not too long ago as we surveyed the disorder of our preseason predictions. Coach Mike Riley appears to have since reattached at least a couple of limbs to his program. After missing their season opener due to Hurricane Isaac, the Beavers looked less like QWOP and more like a reasonable approximation of a football team in upsetting BCS hopeful Wisconsin 10-7.

The Beavers were bolstered by a Badgers outfit that last week struggled to put away Northern Iowa, and this week put up just 206 yards of total offense to OSU’s 357. Wisconsin turned the ball over twice, converted two of its 13 third-down attempts, and allowed three sacks on quarterback Danny O’Brien. Prior to today, Wisconsin had not lost a nonconference game since 2003. The Badgers did not manage a single point until the final two minutes of play, when O’Brien hit Jacob Pedersen for an 11-yard touchdown. An onside kick attempt was foiled by video review ruling the ball had not traveled 10 yards before being touched by Badgers kicker Kyle French.

The attrition along Wisconsin’s offensive line was on stark display in Corvallis. Monteé Ball was a near non-factor this afternoon, carrying 15 times for 58 yards. The Badgers finished with 34 net rushing yards, 134 fewer than last week and more than 200 fewer than their 2011 per-game average.

We can perhaps best sum up a weird game on a day of weird games with one moment: Wisconsin drawing an offsides penalty while Oregon State was in victory formation. And the Badgers’ bizarro streak may not come to an end any time soon: Their next two opponents are Utah State and UTEP, always good bets to give trouble in games most think they have no business being in. [BOX | RECAP]

Read More…

NASA at the moment of “touchdown confirmed.” twitpic.com/ag2g8o

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) August 6, 2012

• ROLL DAMN MARS. NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars in the wee hours of Monday morning, and if NASA is calling it a “touchdown,” it means we need to start asking the obvious questions:

@siholly How fast you think Eddie Lacy can run on Mars, Paaawwwwllll? I’ll hang up and listen.

— Cory McCarty (@crmccarty87) August 6, 2012

You can read more about Curiosity (and see a gallery of photos already beamed back from Mars) at NASA.gov.

• Clemson now, if possible, even more infuriating to bet on. Dabo Swinney told assorted media types in Greensboro last month that star receiver Sammy Watkins was working through a laundry list of penances following his May arrest for drug possession, and that he hoped to have a decision on any in-season punishments by the start of fall camp. Friday night, the school announced Watkins will sit the first two games of the 2012 season. This will sideline the Tigers’ star receiver for the trip to the Georgia Dome against Auburn, and a decidedly less daunting contest with Ball State. Watkins will get some warm-up action against Furman in Week 3 before the team travels to Tallahassee on September 22. Read More…