Well, week two of college football is in the books, and as far as most college football fans were concerned, this week was supposed to be a snoozer. For the first time since 2012, there were no top 25 match-ups on the schedule, meaning that no top 25 ranked team played another top 25 ranked team. If fans were asked to pick a week not to watch college football, this probably would have been it. However, if we were sleeping on this week of college football, we sure as heck woke up Friday night during the University of Louisville vs. Syracuse game.
The quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals, Lamar Jackson, who was already coming off an eight-touchdown game in week one, only added to his impressive resume for this season. He cashed in for five more total touchdowns against a lackluster Syracuse defense, and set a school record for total yards in a game with 605. He was one rushing yard off from being the first QB in NCAA football history to pass for 400 yards and rush for 200 yards (he finished the day with 411 passing yards, 199 rushing yards). He earned NCAA college football offensive player of the week honors for the second week in a row, becoming only the second college player to win this award in two consecutive weeks since the award was introduced in 2004. Can you say Heisman candidate? UofL won easily, 62 to 28. This will give them momentum heading into a big test against number 2 ranked Florida State. The number 10 ranked Cards look to cash in on this historic matchup, which has already been selected by the popular college football pregame show known as College GameDay as the game of the week.
Andrew Hebert, sports writer for the University of Louisville student paper, stated about the play of Jackson, “It’s only been two games, and the opponents were subpar, but Lamar Jackson’s play has been nothing short of spectacular. He’s already breaking records and he’s only a sophomore.” When I asked about the energy around UofL’s campus heading into this weekend and the Florida State game, he answered, “Campus definitely has an increased energy right now, especially with College GameDay coming to town for the first time. It’s been way too long since we’ve had a Top Ten matchup in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.” I will be putting this as my game to watch for the upcoming week, and I will be making the trip to Louisville to watch the Cards play in person. Tune in on ABC at noon on Saturday to watch these college football Goliaths battle it out. This is about as must watch of a game as you will ever get.
As if this was not already enough to turn your head about last week, there was another record broken for attendance at a college football game. Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee played host for the Virginia Tech Hokies against the Tennessee Volunteers in a game that ended in a blowout win for the Volunteers 45 to 24. The game drew over 156,000 fans, smashing the previous record of 117,000. Transy’s very own Celia Kline was able to make the trip down to Bristol to be a part of the record-breaking audience. When asked about her experience, she stated, “The atmosphere was amazing and something I’ve never experienced before. There were crazy football fans everywhere and a certain energy that all 156,000 people brought.”
In news closer to home, the UK Wildcats suffered a 45 to 7 blowout loss to the Florida Gators. They drop to 0-2, and head into a winnable game against New Mexico State this Saturday at 4 p.m.
