After a busy first week of the college football season, there was a lot to take away from this weekend’s festivities. Every Monday, I’ll be dropping a column with some of my big takeaways from the world of college and pro football – so without further ado, welcome to CD’s Cover Two!
Tulane Takes Sooners to the Limit; Spencer’s Cage Rattled
Prior to the 11 am games kicking off, the last thing I thought I’d see was Tulane picking off Spencer Rattler on his second attempt. Then again, I didn’t expect to see Tulane be the home team in Norman, Oklahoma when this game was scheduled.
Tulane fans went through an absolute roller coaster of emotions on Saturday afternoon and ended up coming up short against the fourth-ranked Sooners by the score of 40-35.
Rattler, the presumptive #1 draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, looked good outside of that early miscue and many of the members of the Heisman committee will undoubtedly forget about an early-season struggle when it comes to the final votes but Rattler and this Oklahoma team showed a lot of issues which could mean the Big 12 is left out of the College Football Playoff.
Tradition is Back
This weekend felt a lot like during the Avengers Endgame when Hulk reversed Thanos’ snap to bring everyone back. Last year saw several traditions fall to the wayside largely due to COVID-19.
It all started on Friday night when Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blared over the loudspeakers at Lane Stadium and the fans came alive like they were in the middle of a moshpit. Then we saw Camp Randall jumping around to House of Pain like it was 1992 all over again.
For over a year we missed the camaraderie and being around a packed stadium. We missed the tradition of a Saturday afternoon and the roar of the crowd. Damn, that felt good to have back in our lives.
Texas’ High Card
Texas isn’t back, but this was a promising step in that direction. Steve Sarkisian had a tough decision to make when it came to who was starting at quarterback for the Longhorns and after one game, it looks like the former USC head coach made the right decision by starting redshirt freshman Hudson Card. There were points where his passes had the polish of an NFL All-Pro quarterback against the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns.
His first game inside DKR showed what the Sarkisian era could look like and with that youth in place, there’s a chance that Texas could be a sleeping giant. Yes it’s just one game, but the Lake Travis product did something pretty darn impressive.
Is Clemsoning Back?
After Trevor Lawrence and Dabo Swinney were the best player-coach/wrestler-manager duo since Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, the Clemson Tigers started off the season with a big game against the Georgia Bulldogs and believe it or not, Clemson crumbled under the pressure of an SEC team.
Kirby Smart’s defense took care of business on Saturday afternoon with a pick six of Heisman Trophy favorite DJ Uiagalelei helped Georgia beat the Tigers and it made me wonder if the Clemsoning of old returned on Saturday night.