COLLEGE STATION, T🍎exas — Notes from this weekend’s college football action:
The most excitin🐬g college football player seen in person by these eyes: Johnny Manz꧋iel.
Home field advantage epitomized: Kyle Field.
Best reversal of a penalty: Replay officials at Saturday’s Alabama-Texas A&M game reversing a targeting call on the Tide’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who was originally ejected. It waꦬs a shoulder-to-shoulder hit.
Worst officiating: ꧅Did you see the end of the Arizona State-Wisconsin game? Badgers drove down to the 13-yard line with seconds left. Quarterback Joel Stave centered the ball and took a knee at the 15, leaving the ball on the field. He was ready to spike the ball a✱nd set up a makeable, game-winning field goal attempt.
Arizona State players thought he fumbled, even though officials ruled him down. In the confusion, the official stood over the ball as th🍰e clock ran out. Stave never got to spike. The Pac-12 officials review calls on Monday, two days too late for Wisky, which lost 32-30.
A heartbreaking loss: The college sports world suffered a loss that simply can’t be put into words. Rob Edson, the athletic director at ꧒Onondaga Community College and husband of Syracuse assistant director for communications, Sue Cornelius Edson, died of an apparent hea🔯rt attack on Saturday. He was 45.
Prior to taking the AD job🍒 at Onondaga he was the epitome of a Syracuse success story, working his way up from intern to senior associate director for administration a🐻nd CFO at ’Cuse. He leaves behind his lovely wife and their two beautiful children, Thomas and Tracey.
As good as he was professionally, Edson was a better person. The only thing he cared more about than the welfare of student athletes was his wife and children. He wᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚill be missed.
1. Ohio Stat꧙e; 2. Alabama; 3. Clemson; 4. Stanford; 5. Oregon; 6. Louisville; 7. Oklahoma State; ꦏ8. LSU; 9. UCLA; 10. FSU; 11. Miami; 12. Northwestern; 13 Texas A&M; 14. Georgia; 15. South Carolina; 16 Michigan.
About Johnny Manziel: After accounting for 562 of his team’s 628 yards and scoring five touchdowns in a 49-42 loss to Alabama, he agreed to do hꦫis first interviews since the NCAA suspended him for the first half ofꦜ the season opener.
One of the♕ first questions he faced was about allegations he autographed sports paraphernalia for🐈 pay. The NCAA could not prove those allegations occurred yet suspended him in principle.
As elec♛tric as Johnny Football was on the field, he was e𒁏qually as composed in responding to the questions.
Manziel showed a lot of class when he accepted the Heisman Trophy last December in New York. Then he bottomed out. Perhaps he’s learned some lessons. What a performan✱ce.