At last, gridiron action is back on University campuses all across the country. After a long hot summer of speculation and predictions, we finally get to see some real action down on the field. As all true sports fans know, there ain’t nothing like college football!
While there were some good matchups during the opening week, the games were mostly like Bambi vs. Godzilla. Wagering lines giving 20 points or more were not uncommon and the outcome of the games was a foregone conclusion… mostly.
The University of Kentucky, never an SEC football powerhouse, got themselves beaten by instate rival Western Kentucky.
The two cameo games, LSU vs. TCU and Georgia vs. Clemson turned out to be damned good football games… if you didn’t live in Georgia. Both games went way over.
The lines gurus were hitting on all eight cylinders with the Alabama-Virginia Tech game. The final total added up to 45 points scored by both teams. So, depending on when… and where… you placed your wager, you won or lost or pushed. Totals were posted at 45.5 the morning of the game but slipped down to 45 and then 44.5 at some books. The mighty Crimson Tide did indeed cover by a half a point!
But the show of the day, far and away, was the Johnny Football Show down at College Station, Texas where the Texas A&M Aggies took on the Owls of Rice University. The Aggies were 27 point favorites with the over and under hovering in the upper sixties.
But the lines and totals were not the main story taking place out in Texas last Saturday. Whether intentional or not, NCAA Commissioner Mark Emmert and the powers that be down at A&M provided us with a sports drama that is getting to be altogether too rare these days.
By imposing the harsh ½ game suspension on Johnny Manziel…without ever making any specific accusations or providing any actual proof….these guys only succeeded to draw attention to how helpless they were…..and make the appearance of Johnny Football for the second half of the game one of the most anticipated events if the year.
Goose bumps arose and tears flowed as last year’s Heisman Trophy winner ran out onto the field and took off just where he left off last season by scrambling to a first down on the very first play. It was a memorable moment and Manziel was just as much fun to watch as he was last year.
For pure theatre, it would be hard to top the way it actually came off.
