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OPENING WEEKEND — We’ve made it through another long, dark, cold summer in America.
No, we aren’t talking about the annual right-of-passage that sees children leave school and spend days at swimming pools and air-conditioned arcades for three months a year.
From this moment until February, we will not have another weekend devoid of football.
College football’s Week 1 kicked off this past week — and it provided enough theater to fill Thursday through Monday, when Georgia Tech plays Tennessee.
Here are some of our favorite moments from the weekend.
‘Chosen Rosen’ once again
Josh Rosen was down, out, and already mocked on Twitter when UCLA trailed 44-10 to Texas A&M with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
It turns out he was just getting started.
The Bruins scored 35 unanswered points to stun the Aggies 45-44 Sunday night in the Rose Bowl. Rosen completed 35 of 58 passes for 491 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner to Jordan Lasley with 43 seconds remaining following a fake spike.
The only thing that could make the epic comeback better would be putting Gus Johnson on the call.
Hold my Mountain Dew, Fox.
Weber State goes full pro wrestling for touchdown
If you haven't heard, Weber State set a school record with a 76-0 win over NAIA Montana-Western in Ogden on Saturday evening.
Former BYU defensive back Jordan Preator intercepted a pass on the first play of the game — his first of two — and former Bingham High quarterback Stefan Cantwell threw tossed a pair of touchdowns and ran for another.
How could it be even better for the Wildcats?
By pairing their highlights with a pro wrestling soundtrack.
UNLV makes (poor) history
In fabulous Las Vegas, where points spreads are poured out on every corner, one of the larger ones was made when hometown UNLV hosted FCS foe Howard University from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
The Rebels paid $600,000 to play the Bison on opening weekend, and finished as 45-point favorites by most oddsmakers.
By Monday morning, UNLV had $600,000 less in its pocketbook — and was 0-1.
Caylin Newton — the younger brother of Cam Newton — posted 330 offensive yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bison to a 43-40 upset in Las Vegas.
The win came on the same weekend as FCS Liberty’s 48-43 win at Baylor — a 33-point spread — and Maryland’s 51-41 win over Texas, an 18.5-point upset, according to OddsShark.
Blind long snapper earns his moment at USC
USC long snapper Jake Olson is blind. He’s also a diehard Trojan fan.
The former walk-on got into a game and snapped a successful point-after touchdown in the Trojans’ 49-31 win over Western Michigan on Saturday.
This is anything but a regular PAT.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 3, 2017
Jake Olson, blind since age 12, just snapped for the first time in a live game. https://t.co/amyHcFoVue
Olson was born with neural blastoma, and has been completely blind in both eyes since age 12. When it came time to enter the game, the USC sideline went crazy — and so did the Broncos, whose coach, Tim Lester, had previously agreed to let Trojan head coach Clay Helton make the moment happen.
College football is back, everybody.
