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From a fat kicker to a fumble on a spike, the opening weekend of the college football season didn’t disappoint when it came to talking points, especially on social media.
Here are the highlights from around college football during Week 1:
Nerd Bowl: Revenge of the underdogs
Ten years ago, a matchup between Stanford and Northwestern would have been mostly meaningless for the millions of college football fans who didn’t meet those schools’ rigorous admission standards.
But it’s 2015, and times have changed. Stanford is a perennial power in the Pac 12, and Northwestern has flourished under coach Pat Fitzgerald.
The Wildcats and Cardinal met Saturday morning in Evanston, Ill., with Northwestern playing the underdog role at their home field against No. 21 Stanford. Fitzgerald and the Wildcats pulled off the upset in a conservatively-played game, winning 16-6. Needless to say, Northwestern players and coaches were excited about the result.
Upset dance! Upset dance! Get down with your bad self: http://t.co/SYaMleHA8K https://t.co/kIue0mZbMI
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) September 5, 2015
Kicker or lineman?
Not many fans outside of Happy Valley had heard of Penn State kicker Joey Julius before this season.
That all changed when the Nittany Lions suited up to play Temple in Philadelphia. Penn State was upset 27-10, but the bigger story was the debut of the team’s freshman kicker. For those watching on TV, Julius was hard to miss.
https://twitter.com/MichaelDavSmith/status/640249780925501440/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc
I don’t know why, but Hummelstown sounds like the perfect hometown for Julius.
Confused SMU bros
We have to go back to Friday for this one, when the SMU Mustangs fell to Baylor 56-21 in Dallas.
That Texas tango was a ballgame for a while, with SMU’s offense able to hang with the high-octane Bears for longer than expected. That changed in the second half, though, as the game quickly got away from the Mustangs.
During a drive to the red zone, SMU failed to come away with any points. Some of their fans were dumbfounded.
Think the SMU bros ever stopped being confused? http://t.co/bq1bQii2aC pic.twitter.com/soBLJlqZ9j
— SB Nation (@SBNation) September 5, 2015
A new case for the team podiatrist
Remember when you were five-years-old and had to transition from velcro to shoe laces? This Bowling Green lineman may have been wishing for those simpler times.
https://twitter.com/SBNationCFB/status/640268027527884800
We’ll give him a “10” for the shoe-waving, a “7” for the creative time-wasting, but just a “5” for the dive. Dude needs to sell that better.
Kansas gonna Kansas
For most of Saturday morning, many college football fans – okay, mostly Mizzou fans – were watching to see if Kansas would fall to FCS opponent South Dakota State.
The game was fairly lopsided for a while in favor of the Jackrabbits, but give the Jayhawks credit for getting back into the game. They drove down the field during the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, running a no-huddle offense while getting themselves in position the make a game-tying field goal.
Then, the QB fumbled the ball off an attempted spike as time expired.
Typical Kansas Jayhawks football fumbling a spike,https://t.co/xZQM8iyHUx
— BMG12 (@BigMikeGwood12) September 5, 2015
Mizzou fans loved seeing their former Big 12 rival lose a game like this.
Mike Shaw is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Missouri, Texas A&M and Arkansas. Follow Mike on Twitter @michaelvshaw
