starts ninth as he tries for his fifth victory of the season.

The Greatest Opening Weekend Ever provided a valuable lesson in how we stereotype programs instead of focusing on personnel. Houston beat Florida State in a New Years Six Bowl last postseason, while Oklahoma lost a semifinal to Clemson by three touchdowns. And Houston was a 10-point underdog versus OU on Saturday? LSU struggled on offense in the second half of last season. The Tigers returned eight offensive starters. And those same players struggled on offense against Wisconsin.A team defines its jersey. Its not the other way around.1. Alabama coach Nick Saban twice mentioned his relief that his defense held USC to 64 rushing yards without needing safeties for run support. His explanation taught a lesson in the value of defensive line depth. Once their gas tank is out, its out, Saban said. The little guys out there ... can run 100 yards and be tanked on the sidelines and two minutes later come back up and say, Coach, Im ready to go, and run just as fast as they were before. But when the big guys run out of gas, that tank is not getting refilled until tomorrow.2. If you saw the highlights Saturday, you saw South Alabama coach Joey Jones leading his team onto the field in celebration after a Mississippi State field goal failed and the Jaguars won 21-20, their first victory over an SEC team. Unfortunately, the game wasnt over. Jones didnt give himself any up-downs for the mental error, but he said Sunday: I was in a meeting with the team. I said, We got eight penalties for 57 yards. Yall got seven for 42. Ill take the other one. That was my fault. He laughed as he described it: Im yelling at them to get off the field. They followed me out there.3. They could teach philosophy classes about this one: If your punt returner fields the ball on your own 3-yard-line, spins out of two tackles and goes 97 yards for a touchdown (called back for an illegal block), how do you grade him? Stanford special-teams coach Pete Alamar split the difference on Christian McCaffrey: a minus on assignment and execution, a plus on effort. You think, This is not going to be good, Alamar said. And he is special. Still, I yelled: No! No! No! Yes! Yes! Yes! Alamar positioned McCaffrey on the 10 and gave him two steps leeway. McCaffrey took four steps back to field the punt. When he came off the field, we talked about it, Alamar said. He knew.4. It comes as no surprise that Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald handled a soul-crushing loss with class. The Wildcats fell to Western Michigan 22-21 after quarterback Clayton Thorson fumbled at the Broncos goal line in the final minutes. You band together. You stick together. Walk used to say it all the time: Some people point fingers, others point thumbs, Fitzgerald said, Walk being his mentor and predecessor, the late Randy Walker. We need to have a bunch of guys be thumb-pointers and look inward and look at how we can coach better and how we can play better. Northwestern went 5-0 in one-play games last year.5. From the This May Not Mean Anything But Department: USC sold out its allotment of 18,000 seats at Cowboys AT&T Stadium and bought more on the secondary market. UCLA returned a couple of hundred seats from its allotment of 4,000 at Texas A&M. The discrepancy could have been a result of the lure of the Crimson Tide and the Trojans resuming their rivalry after 31 years, while the Bruins and the Aggies have no relationship. Or it could be that football tradition at USC is deeper and richer than it is at UCLA.6. Three teams with double-digit losing streaks ended them Saturday against FCS opponents. Hey, its all in scheduling. Kansas coach David Beaty cried when his players presented him with a game ball after a 55-6 defeat of Rhode Island, which ended the Jayhawks 15-game slide. UCF, also winless last season, won its first game under coach Scott Frost by shutting out South Carolina State 38-0. And Eastern Michigan stopped a 10-game slide by beating Mississippi Valley State 61-14. The longest losing streak in the FBS now? Charlotte at 11 games. The 49ers play FCS foe Elon on Saturday.7. And lets not forget Louisiana-Monroe, which defeated FCS Southern 38-21. You may not care about that if youre not a Warhawk, but LSU, Tulane, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Lafayette all lost on Saturday. Louisiana, as every Southern football coach knows, has the most high school football talent per capita in the country. When ULM is all that stands between the states FBS schools and an offer, youve got a football problem. Perhaps all the heartache in Baton Rouge this year will provide some perspective. I doubt it. Cheap Nike React Element 87 . 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LOUDON, N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson gave Hendrick Motorsports a needed bright spot, turning a lap of 133.971 mph Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to win his first pole of the season.Johnson, a two-time race winner this season, could use a boost following a five-race slump where he failed to finish better than 13th. He has crashed out of his last two races, finishing 35th at Daytona International Speedway and 32nd last weekend at Kentucky Speedway.He was the lone Hendrick Motorsports driver in the top five.Hendrick suffered a blow this week when Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped out of Sundays race because he suffered from symptoms of a concussion. Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet next week at Indianapolis if Earnhardt is not cleared to return.Alex Bowman, making his first Sprint Cup start of the season, qualified 20th subbing for Earnhardt.Johnson, Earnhardt, Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott have all contributed to Hendrick Motorsports losing drought over the last 13 races. Johnsons March 20th win in Fontana, California, was the last for a Hendrick driver.Kyle Busch was second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.The car wasnt driving as well as I would have liked it to drive for qualifying, Busch said. But good speed, thats what matters right now and being able to put up a good lap like that.Heres what else was going on during Fridays qualifying:ITS ON THE POLEJohnson has 35 poles in 526 career NASCAR starts and first in 29 career Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire. Hes a three-time winner at New Hampshire and one of only two drivers to win two straight times on the track. Johnson has nine top-10 starts this season.TESTING, TEESTINGEarnhardt, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.dddddddddddd and Aric Almirola were the only drivers to participate in a two-day Goodyear tire test last month at New Hampshire.The fact that Dale tested here, it makes (his absence) a larger issue, Johnson said. Those face-to-face conversations are so much more important than reading notes. Were going to miss that part, for sure.DRIVE FOR FIVEBrad Keselowski starts ninth as he tries for his fifth victory of the season.It is nice to have four wins. I wish they meant more. When it comes Chase time, I have four stickers on my car and that is about it, he said.BOWMANS STARTThe 23-year-old Bowman has not raced in the Cup series this season and had no top-10 finishes in 71 starts over the 2014-2015 seasons with BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing. He drives part-time in the second-tier Xfinity Series for Earnhardts JR Motorsports team.I felt like we probably could have qualified a little better, he said. I probably didnt do the best job I possibly could have and we got a little too tight off. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has worked really hard on this thing. Obviously, I hope Dale is feeling betterIts been a crazy 24 hours. Im ready to go take a nap, eat some food and relax a little bit until tomorrow.FINDING GORDONIs everyone sure Gordon knows he might be driving next weekend? Gordon is in France this weekend, which ruled him out for a potential return at New Hampshire.Somebody better call him, I think hes in the south of France drinking rose, Johnson said. We need to sober him up and get him back. ' ' '