Welcome to the sixth season of Final Thoughts, my weekly attempt to capture all of the college football weekend’s most important stories. Hopefully one day I’ll succeed.
Here are 20 of them from the first three days of Week 1. (Sunday and Monday results still pending.)
1. You knew Lee Corso was going to don the Brutus Buckeye head for his emotional final “College GameDay” pick Saturday. For one thing, it was the perfect full-circle moment from his first such stunt in 1996. But also, ESPN broadcast the pick inside the Horseshoe. Imagine how quickly 100,000 Ohio State fans would have turned on the 90-year-old legend if he had pulled a Hook ’Em.
A hearty salute to Coach, who went out on a high note by correctly picking the third-ranked Buckeyes to beat No. 1 Texas. But I doubt he foresaw either the 14-7 final score or the day-long face-plant by a certain Longhorns QB.
2. The Manning camp earned a lot of praise for an old-school approach that saw Arch willingly spend two years waiting his turn behind Quinn Ewers. But three years of waiting allowed the Arch hype to reach impossible heights. Anything short of a Heisman and national title would be seen as a disappointment.
