Happy Monday! High school and college football are back! Really, is there a better time of year? OK, I know many are excited about the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday night too (Wednesday night?), but still we’ve been given a lot to talk about.
♦ All 13 of the Oklahoma colleges were in action this weekend and none them played each other. Collectively, the state went 0-4 vs. schools from Arkansas, 0-3 vs. Missouri, but on a positive note were 2-1 vs. Texas.
♦ Northwestern and Southern Nazarene made their first appearances in the NCAA ranks – and were blown out.
Now really, with respect, if you didn’t see this coming, you probably should have. All of the ingredients for the double-beatdown in Arkadelphia were there.
- Tough opponent. Each team was playing one of the top tier teams in the conference.
- Pride. Both Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist have league title aspirations and neither could afford a loss in the opener. Additionally, being the program that gave the “new” team its first win was also unacceptable.
- Midweek travel. This is a factor. It throws off the weekly routine. Sure, it was the first game of the season, so a weekly routine is not established as much just yet. But a long trip in the middle of the week takes a toll on student-athletes.
- Hurricane Isaac. Midweek travel was made even worse when the long trip to southwest Arkansas got moved up by one day at the start of the week, due to what the effects of Hurricane Isaac might bring to the area.
It was just one game for NWOSU and SNU with a long, full season ahead. There is still a lot of football to be played and neither should be judged by the opener.
♦ Speaking of openers, East Central continued its tradition of scheduling a brutal opponent for its first contest. The Tigers perennially start their season tough and seem to want to spot everyone a game. Since 2000, ECU is 3-10 in season openers, including this year’s 33-3 loss to Northwest Missouri State in Maryville.
It should be noted that the Tigers beat Incarnate Word 31-21 last season in their opener and went on to finish 8-3 overall.
♦ Oklahoma State 84, Savannah State 0. I didn’t think Division I schools were allowed to schedule high school opponents.
Have a great Labor Day. And Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter, Jacelyn Rayne, who turned 17 on Saturday!