I have been a bundle of nerves as the college football season kicked off this past weekend. My first game, the Northwestern-Miami (OH) game on Thursday was more or less a warm-up to the Saturday rumble that took place across the country.

While the NU-Miami game should have been a homecoming for Randy Walker, it was forced to turn into a memorial for the man who was taken from his career, players, fans, and family by a heart attack this past June. Nothing is more eerie than standing in a packed stadium, minutes before kickoff, and pausing for a moment of silence. Seeing thousands of faces but only hearing the rustle of the wind blowing through the stadium for the longest 30 seconds of your life is more deafening than any European soccer stadium could aspire to.

To play tribute to the late coach, fans wore white shirts that said "WALK" on the front and that is exactly what both teams did...they walked through the first half of that game. With a score of 0-0 at half, I began to wonder if any game had ever gone in to overtime because it was scoreless by the end of regulation. Luckily, the red zone caught some action in the second half and the Northwestern Wildcats were victorious in their 21-3 win. With a young Pat Fitzgerald as coach and a freshman QB at the helm, it was a nice victory for the team who has had to overcome so much, but Saturday proved that the Big Ten is vicious this year and the Wildcats have much to work on before their Big Ten opener.

Friday night tailgates quickly turned in to Saturday morning kegs n' eggs. As I cracked open my 11AM Miller Lite at the College of Nursing alumni event (thanks Mom, for the tickets) I began to wonder if Cinderella teams of last season, like Rutgers and Vanderbilt, would continue their wave of wins by shocking their home opening opponents.

By 11:30AM I woke up and realized that the inaugural football Saturday would be the typical blowout of the DI-AA schools that agree to have their ass kicked so powerhouse schools can score an easy home opener. (At least everyone gets to walk home with a big check, made payable to each school's athletic department.)

While it was raining in Columbus, the sun was shining in Texas. The real McCoy, freshman Colt McCoy showed up for the UT victory against Northern Texas. Of course, even Bevo would have been able to out score this puny team that hasn't been able to score more than 10 points in their last six games. It's hard to judge how good the defending national champions really are when they play a team that is so outmatched, even a high school team could have scored on Northern Texas.

As the eyes of the nation turn on Austin next weekend for the rematch of Ohio State and Texas, it's very difficult to gage how each team will fare against each other. At least Ohio State took on a slightly more talented "lesser team" for their home opener. The opponent, Northern Illinois, was the MAC champion last season, and has their own Heisman candidate in running back Garrett Wolfe. Their QB, Phil Horvath also had the highest passing efficiency in the nation last season, at roughly 70%. I know the MAC is far from the ACC or the SEC, but at least Ohio State was playing a team with championships and talent on their sideline.

The Ohio State offense came on to the field like fireworks, scoring so quickly and viciously, you would have thought John Cooper was back on headset as head coach. As many Buckeye faithful know, Jim Tressel is not about running up the score, but when the teams took to the locker room at halftime, 28-3, you wondered how anyone on the Huskies bench could prevent a blowout.While the final score depicts a victory of 35-12, Ohio State has a long leap to take before heading to Austin next weekend.

At this particular moment, the only reason Austin has an advantage on this game is because of home field advantage. The fans will make all the difference. While Ohio State has the offensive power to make prime rib out of Bevo, the Texas defense has years of experience on Ohio State. I'm already sick to my stomach about the game and it's still a week away.

Now dear diary...I know it's not nice to wish ill will on any team, I have to admit that my inner voice was shouting 'Whoopie!' as I watched golden child Brady Quinn struggle against the Bees of Georgia Tech. Perhaps it's because I am so sick of hearing all the Irish faithful purchase their BCS championship tickets in the off season because they feel entitled to game thanks to their coach and QB. It was nice to prove once again that nothing in college football is certain. While Notre Dame may have scored a "W," it came with many stunned looks of horror and fright. Don't pack your bags yet, Charlie.

There is no perfect team in college football this season. Everyone is going through growing pains. While USC still won, many great teams struggled to earn their win. Oklahoma got by UAB on a pray called Adrian Peterson while Tennessee finally pulled their heads out of their butts by proving that Cal is overrated. Auburn wasn't looking too pretty in the first quarter, but Penn State might have a chance without Michael Robinson at the helm.

Next week...Penn State at Notre Dame AND Ohio State at Texas