Fall Football Update

Gabby LaVerghetta
Sports Editor

There is nothing like football to ease me back into the tedium of the school year.

That’s how I usually feel, but even football can be boring when the same teams dominate every year. Luckily, the young 2008 season has already been rife with upsets and we have two prime examples in our own backyard.

The Terps have been doing their share of dethroning the top dogs. First came the dismantling of then-No. 23 California at home. In a thriller two weeks later, Maryland came back in the fourth quarter to beat No. 20 Clemson on the road.

That’s big news. By beating Clemson the Terps proved that their win over California was no fluke. Maryland is a team to be taken seriously.

And call me vindictive, but I can’t help but hope that those Clemson fans felt as crushed as we did in March when the Clemson basketball team climbed back from a 20-point deficit to put the kibosh on our tournament dreams.

On the other side of the country, Oregon State shocked fans on Sept. 25 by defeating No. 1 USC by a score of 27-21.

The NFL has not been immune to surprise and intrigue either. Brett Favre is a Jet, for crying out loud.

When New England quarterback Tom Brady went down in Week 1, you had to figure The Pats were in for a struggle. But I don’t think anyone saw them losing to the Miami Dolphins, the same Dolphins who won only one game last year.

As much as I love to hate the Patriots, this particular game lost some of its sweetness since I had picked New England to win in my Elimination Challenge on espn.com. I can, however, take pleasure in the fact that Bill Belichick must have been exponentially more perturbed than I was.
I like this season so far.