Week 1 NCAA College Football: IU Impresses, BYU Underwhelms

    But, my alma maters get opposite results. Indiana walks away with decent twenty-point loss, and BYU blanks their opponent winning by fourteen.

    I came in at the half to see the Hoosiers trailing the top ranked Buckeyes 10-3. Not bad for a Big Ten team picked by many as last in the East division. The second half did not go much better on offense, but the scrappy defense only allowed 13 more points, holding Ohio State to 23 overall. IU gets a first half field goal off the interception, and the two teams combine for under thirty points for the first time since 1966.

    I am cautiously optimistic that the IU team can be better than predicted. The defense might win them some more games, particularly Maryland and Rutgers. Louisville? Hmmm... The Cardinals rallied to beat Georgia Tech up early. That happened Friday. 

    BYU opened the game well against newcomer to the Football Bowl Series Sam Houston State Bearkats, scoring on their first drive. One and down senior Kedon Slovis did well. But then he and the offense did not, for quite a while. The punter, Rhekow, did really well kicking it, but was relied on way too much. The Cougar defense did fine, gratefully. Especially Jacob Robinson, who prevented a Bearkat score after poor BYU choices to run on a punt by picking off a pass in the endzone.

    Runners did less than stellar for the Y at this seemingly easy opener, until true freshman from El Paso LJ Martin asserted himself well, impressing quite a few of us as he had done for teammates in practice. Thank goodness, highly touted senior-transfer Aidan Robbins did not do much. Colorado transfer Deion Smith less.  I hope that both these older players get hungry and play much better down the road. Same for the quarterback and the receivers. 

    I do think Tight End Isaac Rex was interfered with a couple times, but we need a healthy Cody Epps and better passing and catches.

    

    This slow and less productive offense needs to get much better. Some newcomers were in the mix, and quite a few mistakes were committed, including penalties on offense, so let's hope BYU gets it together. Baylor was upset by Texas State, giving up an embarrassing 42 points to this lesser conference in-state foe, but the Cougars of Provo will not play Baylor this year. That might be too bad, but then again the Bears would be hungry for pay back from their loss to BYU last year, 2022.

    I think that BYU will improve offensively, as will IU. Both teams have reason for optimism; their quarterbacks should settle in and deliver.

    Ohio State should be as good as everyone says they are. Hopefully. Which portends well for the Hoosiers, only losing by 20, and beating the pre-game spread of 30 or so.

    BYU did not cover, and needs to learn from this. They call this college. 

    A time to learn. Next up are Football Championship Series (lower division) teams from within Indiana and Utah. Time to get the systems down and stay healthy for the rest of the year.

    Best players so far? Aaron Casey as linebacker for IU and Ryan Rhekow as punter for the Y. We need more field time of both, however. The offenses need to move the ball and score. Here's hoping.