Spanning the globe: observations from the weekend in college football.

While you were watching the Georgia Bulldogs take care of business against the Austin Peay Governors a lot of other stuff was going on around college football. Including the following...

It’s a long way back up on Rocky Top. Jeremy Pruitt’s debut didn't go quite like Vol fans had hoped, with Tennessee falling 40-14 to West Virginia. The Creamsicle Crew kept things respectable at the half but the Mountaineers begins former Florida QB Wil Grier pulled away late.

I stand by my preseason assessment that Tennessee will be better this season than last. But I also believe that it may not show in the Vols’ final record. 8-4 will require a couple of upsets during a brutal mid season stretch that includes Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, and South Carolina, each of whom could be ranked in the top 25 when the Fightin’ Pruitts play them. If the Vols drop one to Vandy or Kentucky 5-7 is not out of the question.

Geaux Jeaux! Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow led LSU over Miami in a game which felt, especially early, like way more of a blowout than it ever really was. I’m still not 100% sold on the Tigers. I see in Burrow a little bit of Greyson Lambert, a guy who looks great against air, but struggles when confronting a big, nasty SEC defense. Somehow Burrow seemed effective in this game despite actually only being a lukewarm 11 of 24 passing for 140 yards.

The Willie Taggart era begins with a thud. FSU fans spent the offseason salivating over Willie Taggart’s “lethal simplicity” offense. They were rewarded with 3 points and the worst home loss for the Seminoles since 2008.

The best part is that the rest of us now get to watch # FSUTwitter explain to Taggart how to run his own offense, and that's going to be fun.

James Franklin doing James Franklin things. Penn State very nearly got App’ed by the Appalachian State Mountaineers before pulling it out. James Franklin would like you to know this was definitely because the visitors from Boone are the second coming of the ‘86 Bears, not because his team played down to their competition.

In truth Georgia throttled App St. 31-10 last season, and did so despite tossing a freshman QB in unexpectedly. Brittany Lion Trace McSorley, on the other hand is a dark horse Heisman candidate. Last year’s App St. team also featured all-time great QB Taylor Lamb, a senior at the height of his powers. But as we’ve seen, it’s never Franklin’s fault. In truth, there’s no excuse for Penn State to give up 20+ fourth quarter points to a team from the Sun Belt. I also get the feeling that Franklin’s going to really miss having Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead coordinating his offense.

The chips may be down, but not out. Chip Kelly made his debut with UCLA by somehow making Cincinnati look good. But if you looked closely you could see the building blocks of the power running game that Kelly used to make Oregon a force. The Bruins’ best days are indeed ahead of them.

Until later...

Go ‘Dawgs!!!