The college football season technically got underway on Saturday, with a full slate of games as an appetizer for what was to come this week. Well, this week is here, and the season officially kicked off Thursday night with plenty of great Week 1 action to hold us over until Saturday.
There were three ranked teams in action — 12 Oklahoma State, 17 Pittsburgh and 22 Wake Forest. And though none were upset, two did make for some pretty interesting moments. There was also the Penn State game against Purdue which was filled with all kinds of ridiculousness.
These are the wildest moments from Thursday’s action.
Purdue pukes...
The Penn State at Purdue game was absolutely wild, with massive swings in momentum due to seven lead changes. None were bigger than the last two, both thought to be decisive scores.
The first was Chris Jefferson’s 72-yard interception return for a touchdown to give Purdue a 31-28 lead. It was a huge play, and Jefferson felt every bit of the moment, throwing up his entire pre-game meal on the sideline immediately after.
Chris Jefferson left it all on the field for that 72-yard pick six 🤮😅 pic.twitter.com/WsoGG4q8WR
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 2, 2022
...the game away
That was probably foreshadowing for what was about to happen, because the Boilermakers puked the game away too. Given a win probability as high as 87% by ESPN, Purdue allowed an eight-play, 80-yard drive in the final minutes, and Penn State scored the game winner on Sean Clifford’s 10-yard pass to Keyvone Lee.
PENN STATE TOUCHDOWN 😱
With 57 seconds to go @PennStateFball takes the lead back! pic.twitter.com/OkyM9mEhYR
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 2, 2022
Targeting is back
The return of college football also means the return of the hated targeting rule. And there were plenty of reviews for targeting Thursday night, though none were as questionable as the call on Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter.
Carter was simply diving to make a play on a loose ball, throwing his shoulder into Purdue’s Tyrone Tracy in the process. And that got him ejected.
"To me he's trying to get to that ball." @MikePereira weighs in on the targeting call against Penn State pic.twitter.com/RGo1Ox9RZG
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 2, 2022
Luckily for Penn State, it didn’t cost them the game.
Backyard Brawl winner
Penn State wasn’t the only team from the state of Pennsylvania to get a win in the final minutes of its opener. Pittsburgh renewed its rivalry with West Virginia for the first time since 2011, and the game did not disappoint.
Like Purdue, Pittsburgh scored the go-ahead touchdown on an interception return late in the fourth quarter. Unlike Purdue, the 17th-ranked Panthers held on for the win. M.J. Devonshire’s 56-yard return capped a 14-0 run in the final minutes.
THIS. IS. THE. BACKYARD. BRAWL.
PITT SIX 🙌 @Mjdevonshirejr
📺 @ESPN #H2P » #BeatWVU pic.twitter.com/zy0EA8H4EG
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 2, 2022
How rare was it to have two go-ahead interception returns in the fourth quarter on the same night? Very.
There have been two go-ahead Pick-6s in the 4th quarter tonight: M.J. Devonshire for Pitt and Chris Jefferson for Purdue.
There were two go-ahead Pick-6s in the 4th quarter by all FBS teams during the entire 2021 season. pic.twitter.com/LPjgqyEM45
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 2, 2022
Bad night for bettors
While the Backyard Brawl was fun for most, bettors probably didn’t enjoy it much. At Tipico Sportsbook, 87% of bets on the total score had the under at 50.5 points. That couldn’t have been further from what actually happened. The game ended with 69 combined points.
It was going well, though. There were only 20 combined points in the first half. But the teams exploded in the second and the over hit with more than 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Betting wasn’t as lopsided at other books.
Pittsburgh-West Virginia is the most bet game on Thursday's slate at @BetMGM@Pitt_FB open -7, now -7.5
▪️ 51% of bets, 56% of money on PittTotal open 54, now 50.5
▪️ 50% of bets, 56% of money on UNDER— John Ewing 🦁 (@johnewing) September 1, 2022
The worst beat
Oklahoma State’s game against Central Michigan made matters worse for bettors. Sure, the Cowboys won easily, as expected. But after building a lead as large as 36 points in the third quarter, they were outscored 29-7 down the stretch of the game.
That means bettors of the 21-point spread came up short by a whole touchdown after they appeared to have a win locked up. OK State’s lead was exactly 22 points prior to Central Michigan’s final score; a 54-yard touchdown pass followed by a two-point conversion. Just brutal.
Oklahoma State bettors are sick right now 🤮
OKST -21 ❌ pic.twitter.com/LHsjBJb11E
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) September 2, 2022
Walk-off two-pointer
Finally, how about a little C-USA and Big South action to wrap this up? Florida International matched its win total from all of last season with a wild overtime win over Bryant.
After scoring the potential game-tying touchdown, the Panthers opted to go for two instead of kicking the extra point. And they got it.
FIU GOES FOR BROKE AND WALKS OFF BRYANT!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/wt9fcZN9yh
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) September 2, 2022
Hopefully, this isn’t a bad omen for FIU, which lost every game last season after winning the opener.
If this is what the new college football season has in store for us, sign me up for more.
