I decided to skip a BBQ with my girlfriend to watch college football with some of my friends whom I haven't seen much of in awhile. Don't worry - she's cool with it, I just "owe" her.
Perhaps the biggest news of the college football openers took place on Friday night, when FCS #1 North Dakota State knocked off defending Big 12 champs Kansas State 24-21 in Manhattan, KS. It wasn't just some "lucky" play that got the win for the Bison, either, it was an 18 play drive that took up over half of the fourth quarter.
There were no real big surprises yesterday. Alabama took care of business despite a lousy offensive performance. Clemson nipped Georgia in the biggest game of the day. Nebraska is still a long way from their great teams of the past. And Oregon scheduled a cupcake.
Nicholls State, really?
The score was 66-3, which was rather predictable.
Just who is Nicholls State?
A quick Google search tells you that they are an FCS team located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, which is a town of about 15,000 just southwest of New Orleans and south of Baton Rouge in bayou country. The first thing I think of is The Waterboy.
Are the Nicholls State Colonels any good? No. Since the program's inception in 1972, they've only had one winning coach: Sonny Jackson (1981-86) who managed a 39-28-1 record.
In the past two years prior to this game, Nicholls State was 2-20. Their current coach, Charlie Stubbs, has the worst winning percentage in school history (.177) with a 6-28 overall record.
Hats off to Kansas State - at least they played a good FCS team. I know scheduling issues are generally the cause of match ups like this, but wow.
One Duck fan, to make himself feel better, decided to compare Nicholls State to Appalachian State, a team that Georgia has on its schedule. Appalachian State at least has been good. They aren't so good right now, but they've put together some solid years, and they beat Michigan in 2007. And they aren't Nicholls State bad. Nicholls State is a true bottom of the barrel team.
