Northwestern Outlasts Vanderbilt on the Shoulders of Controversy
by Clay Travis
NASHVILLE -- Vanderbilt changed coaches, but the Commodores continued to find unique ways to lose football games. After scoring a fourth quarter touchdown to slice Northwestern's lead to 23-21, Robbie Caldwell's Vanderbilt Commodores lined up for a two-point conversion that could have tied the game. Instead, quarterback Larry Smith fumbled the shotgun snap, leaving Northwestern with a two-point lead.
But the drama was far from over. On the ensuing series -- facing a third and six -- Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa (right), who was the best player on the field all night, rushed to his right. In hot pursuit came Vanderbilt linebacker Jay Fullam. Just shy of the first down marker, Fullam made contact with Persa, stoning him on the field with a strong tackle.
As the partisan Vanderbilt crowd roared with glee, believing that the Commodores would get one more possession to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, a referee's yellow flag floated down to the green grass. A high hit on the quarterback was the call, a 15-yard personal foul penalty to decide the game.
The Vanderbilt sideline was apoplectic. On the other sideline, Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald skipped at least 20 yards in the direction of the purple cheering section behind his bench. Eventually, he extended his arm to signal a first down and pumped his fist in glee.
After 59 minutes of virtually even football, the controversial personal foul call ended the game.
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by John Walters
Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor entered the month as either the Heisman favorite or No. 2 candidate on just about every list out there. Pryor, the Buckeyes' leading rusher (and, of course, passer) a year ago did just fine in the Buckeyes' 45-7 defeat of Marshall. He threw the longest touchdown pass (65 yards, to Dane Sanzenbacher) of the week in the Big Ten and completed 17 of 25 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns.
Still, at least on the season's opening weekend, a few Big Ten quarterbacks who were making their first starts were more impressive. Michigan's Denard Robinson was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a school-record (for a QB) 197 yards and completing 19 of 22 passes for 186 yards. Northwestern's Dan Persa had an even higher completion percentage, hitting on 19 of 21 (90.5%) and throwing three touchdown passes as the Wildcats outlasted Vanderbilt in the SAT Bowl in Nashville. Persa, like Robinson, led his team in rushing with 82 yards.
And then there was Purdue's Robert Marve. While his numbers at Notre Dame were not as impressive (32 of 41 for 220 yards, with two interceptions), Marve warmed up in the second half. The Miami transfer, who sat out last season, showed off his cannon arm, twice launching catchable 55-plus yard missiles (if Golden Tate were his receiver, at least one of them would've been caught). He also scored the Boilermakers' only touchdown, keeping the ball on a 4th-and-1 read option and going 23 yards untouched into the end zone.
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by Matt Snyder
FanHouse's college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop most days of the week now that the season is finally here.
1. It's been nearly eight months since we saw a college football game, but the wait is over. When Presbyterian and Wake Forest hook it up at 6:30 p.m. ET, another season will be underway. It's not just an ordinary night of Thursday football either, as there are 18 games involving FBS teams -- including No. 2 Ohio State, No. 13 Miami, No. 14 USC and No. 15 Pitt.
Let's also remember one of the greatest things about the season beginning is that it represents another entire season of tailgating. Between the great food, the camaraderie, the partying, the chants and everything in between, tailgating truly is a great American pastime and makes the spectating more fun. Pictures like the one here (at Mississippi State) can be taken all over the nation every Saturday. Great times.
Oh yeah, no link in here because it was all me. Since Five-Step is predicated on linking, I'll give one with a short take: if you're going to complain about the Big Ten division alignment, please do so without saying you don't like it because Ohio State and Michigan playing each other in the last regular season game "all but" eliminates a rematch the following week. It does nothing of the sort. The teams are in different divisions and when they play has no bearing on the standings -- I don't care what two teams you're talking about. 
In just a week or two, the Big Ten will publicly announce its divisional alignments for the newly minted 12-team conference set to debut in 2011. Most observers believe that the Big Ten has already decided which schools are headed where and that now it's just a matter of setting the schedules. We take you then, to an imagined meeting that could have taken place some time over the summer. Again, we remind you, this is a work of fiction. 
A dozen FanHouse editors and writers picked a preseason top 25 and the results were tabulated in typical poll fashion. We'll reveal one a day until No. 1 is unveiled on Sept. 1.
Judging from the hysterical accounts, all Terrelle Pryor's 2010 Rose Bowl performance versus Oregon lacked was Prof. Henry Higgins in the background singing, "I think he's got it, I think he's got it!" Pryor, who ran and passed for 338 total yards in Ohio State's 26-18 victory, at last had his transformative Eliza Doolittle-meets-Vince Young moment in Pasadena.
Has the 6-foot-6 junior finally turned the corner? The good news is that it doesn't really matter. Jim Tressel's Buckeyes are loaded at offensive line, running back and along the front seven defensively. Craig Krenzel could "game-manage" this crew to an 11-win -- if not an undefeated 12-0 -- season.
tweetcount_src = 'RT @FanHouse:'; tweetcount_via = false; tweetcount_size = 'small'; tweetcount_background = 'FFFFFF'; tweetcount_border = 'CCCCCC'; tweetcount_api_key = '1cf4e3b7f7f20406a9dd9d1b1edc0e41b4fc20d1b21cb19a6f169387c696d333'; But that's not enough along High Street. The Buckeyes are the only school north of Norman, Okla., to play for a national championship in the past eight years, but they've lost in their last two shots at the Sears Trophy by a combined 41 points. Having Pryor deliver up to expectations could be the difference between getting to Glendale and winning in Glendale.