Football Season

College football games of the week: A look at the best, and worst, seasonopeners

At long last football is here. Not previously recorded football on ESPN Classic or the upper level Fox sports channels, or practice football where NFL veterans don’t want to play and rookies want to make a team, but real, live, honest-to-goodness competitive football.

The college season kicks off Thursday night and I cannot wait. It will consume my life and I embrace its return. No more Honey Boo Boo Child. No more watching people embarrass themselves in front of celebrity judges. Football is here.

I like watching it and talking about it, so let’s talk about it. Every week I’ll share “Trey’s Best Games of the Week.” The Texas Longhorns run my life, but there are 119 other Division I football teams. Since Texas is a big game every week to me, I’ll only include them if it’s a big game to anyone else. Feel free to disagree/agree/nominate your own games.

This is for entertainment purposes only. Do not use this as a betting line for a one simple reason: I am an idiot.

Thursday, Aug. 30

No. 9 South Carolina Gamecocks at Vanderbilt Commodores: 6 p.m. on ESPN

The only reason this makes the cut is it’s the first one of the year. I plan on tailgating for this starting… now. Drinks have been made. Charcoal has been assembled to create the perfect pyramid of fire. Beef fajitas are out and on the way to room temperature for maximum flavor. Accompanying sides are also ready… Why are you not here yet?

As for the game, it’s going to be low scoring. This SEC season-opener is always mistake-ridden and low scoring. I’m interested in seeing the Vandy assistant coaches’ wives after their head coaches remarks and watching Steve Spurrier throw his hat during one his many tantrums due to quarterback play (remember, starter Stephen Garcia was booted for Lindsay Lohanness). Ugly, but I’ll still watch it. Cocks win this, 20-12.

Washington State Cougars at BYU Cougars: 9:15 p.m. on ESPN

Mike Leach is back on the sidelines and I'm excited. I wonder if it will be pirates in Pullman like it was in Lubbock? Surely he’s doing the same odd things up there he did at Tech: making guys study on the field in bad weather, throwing them kindergarten-esque ice cream parties because they are babies, talking about their fat little girlfriends…

I don’t see Wazzu having the horses to make this a real game, but who knows? Where in the world is Leach going to get a post-game drink in Provo? Pack your own with you, coach. BYU 38, Washington State 28.

Saturday, Sept. 1

No. 14 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 25 Auburn Tigers: 6 p.m. on ESPN

Chick-Fil-A for everyone! The Georgia Dome hosts the annual opener, this year with Auburn and Clemson. This is going to be a very interesting game: Clemson superstar Sammy Watkins is out (suspended) and Auburn has new coordinators on offense and defense. And it’s Tigers vs. Tigers? That’s crazy!

I like the O-line for Auburn, and the next time an ACC team shows up in a big game will be the first. Clemson should win, but I think War Eagle runs the ball well and takes control of the game, despite a big day from Tajh Boyd. Auburn 30, Clemson 24. I just don’t trust you, ACC. Prove me wrong.

No. 8 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide: 7 p.m. on ABC

I am openly rooting for Michigan for several reasons. First, I am done with the SEC. A mixture of too much hype, too much publicity, jealousy and bitterness from the 2010 Rose Bowl combined to form an anti-SEC attitude in me. Second, Nick Saban. Do I really need to expound on that? Third: I love this Michigan team. They have Brady ~~Belushi~~ Hoke, Denard Robinson, those jerseys with the Big “M” on them. I like it all. It would be super if they could win this game…

But they won’t. Too much speed, too much talent and too much Saban for the Maize. It should be a fast field in Dallas (at Cowboys Stadium) and I think Denard Robinson will make some plays, but I think that ‘Bama defense, despite all the new faces, will also make plays. Roll Tide grinds it out, 28-17.

Worst Game of the Week

Savannah State Tigers at No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboys: 6 p.m.

I hate it when Division I teams play I-AA teams. It isn’t fair. They don’t have the same number of scholarships (63 to 85 in D-I) and they don’t have the same talent or resources. In short, it’s dumb and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen, and a win over an I-AA school sure as (words) shouldn’t count towards earning a bowl berth.

The simple fact that a top 25 team is playing an I-AA team makes it the worst game of the week. (I'm not just talking about Oklahoma State. All D-I teams playing below their division should be ashamed of themselves.) However, Oklahoma State is breaking in a new quarterback and Coach Mike Gundy will want the world to see the reigning Big 12 champs have not fallen off much. This is going to be ugly and it will happen quickly. Hope the check was worth it, Tigers.

That’s it for this week. Let me know what you think. I'll see you next week.

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Hotty Toddy!

Tailgating the southern way: A taste of game day at The Grove at Ole Miss

Standard Ole Miss Grove attire
A sample spread
Meredith Rainey
Hotty Toddy!
Meredith Rainey
It’s game time!
Meredith Rainey
Welcome to The Grove!
Meredith Rainey
Fans enter Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
Meredith Rainey
The square in Oxford
Meredith Rainey

Oxford Mississippi’s official population is just over 19,000. But come Saturdays in the fall, what some might affectionately call a sleepy college town wakes up with a buzz of excitement and activity as the population explodes to more than triple, with college football fans eager to cheer on their Ole Miss Rebels. They prepare to do that in one of the most inviting and unique tailgating spots in the country.

“The Grove is unlike any other place on earth, especially [during] big games such as Texas vs. Ole Miss. The feeling and experience are indescribable,” Ole Miss senior Margaret Anderson says. The Grove is a place Longhorns fans have been excited to go since the announcement UT would face Ole Miss in a series of games starting in 2012. The first of those games happens this Saturday in Oxford.

The closer you get to Ole Miss, the greener the grass and the taller the trees. The campus of The University of Mississippi, which welcomed its first class in 1848, has been ranked by many publications as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country.

Its roads and walkways are lined with vibrant oak, elm, magnolia and pine trees. Its old stone and brick buildings are accented with classic details quintessential of a traditional southern university. And on Saturdays every fall, the largest green space on campus, known as The Grove, is dotted with hundreds of red, white and blue tents and young adults dressed to the nines, ready for a good time.

“It's the biggest and most well dressed party in the USA that happens six times a year,” Ole Miss junior and Attorney General of the Student Body Matthew Kiefer says.

Inside the 10-acre Grove, you’ll be greeted by unparalleled southern hospitality and enjoy some of the best food and fixin's you'll find at any college tailgating. And don't worry if you don't know anyone. If you're friendly, you will have dozens of people calling you by your first name in no time and you will be satisfied with a tummy full of homemade pimento cheese, fried chicken, deviled eggs and decadent finger sandwiches.

“There's a sense of hospitality that you can only experience when walking through the brick arch of the Walk of Champions. We welcome and offer shelter and refreshments to both opponent and friend and win or lose, there's always a party,” explains Ole Miss Student Body Vice President Emmalee Rainey.

Besides the great food and the lush setting, something else that makes The Grove unique is the dress code. While you can wear whatever you want, you will find students dressed in their Sunday best or something you might see at a cocktail party. You'll see girls in dressy sun dresses or knee length evening gowns and heels, boys in khakis and long-sleeved button downs, ties and perhaps seersucker blazers. The formal game day dress adds to the excitement, giving it a sense of being even more of a special occasion than it already is.

Matthew Kiefer describes the uniqueness of The Grove, “It’s the feeling of 30,000 people walking around in their Easter best, where a ‘hello’ and a ‘y'all’ can make acquaintances into friends, and friends into family.”

The tents are also more formal than what you might see in the parking lots around Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium on game day. Many have chandeliers, living room lamps, flower arrangements and sterling silver platters and cutlery, making it feel more like a backyard party than tailgating. In fact, to call it tailgating is both inadequate and inaccurate, as vehicles aren’t allowed in The Grove.

Between the delicious food and friendly faces, you can spend hours just wandering between the tents catching up with old friends, making new ones and sharing your thoughts on what you think might be in store for the Ole Miss Rebels when that first whistle blows.

University of Texas Longhorns fans were able to scoop up about four thousand tickets to this Saturday’s game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, but thousands more UT fans are expected to stampede into the Grove to get a taste of a different type of tailgating. Regardless of who wins, Longhorns fans will undoubtedly be charmed by the small Mississippi city home to one of the most beautiful college campuses and best tailgating in the country. Hotty Toddy!

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In the interest of full disclosure, Emmalee Rainey who is quoted in this article is my stepdaughter.

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