Musberger's audio dumped for offensive word

ABC has a comedy on its schedule called Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. It showed the bare buttocks of portly actor Dennis Franz more than a decade ago. A scene from its universally beloved Modern Family once featured a brief snippet of a married couple in a bedroom position favored by canines.

So when legendary announcer Brent Musburger had his audio mysteriously dumped during Saturday night's Alabama-Michigan game, it was safe to assume that he said something bad, like a word that begins with "F," another that sounds like "quit" or maybe something like an vulgar tirade against Mickey Mouse.

Here's the clip as it was presented to viewers. See if you can tell what Musburger said. (Football games are run on a brief tape delay so technicians can dump audio or video that may be offensive or run ABC afoul of draconian FCC regulations.)

The statement so offensive it caused an audio dump and Herbstreit to react like a 8-year-old who heard his father curse for the first time?

"Did I miss something, or did you not piss an SEC team to play for a national championship?"

Musburger meant to say pick. He said the other thing. Other than a few snarky bloggers, I doubt most people would have picked up on it had ABC not drawn attention to it by dumping the audio. I was at a bar and the volume was loud and no one noticed.

To Herbie and Brent, it was hilarious. I guess these are the things that pass for amusing when the score is 34-7 in the third quarter.

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Gators' Jeff Driskel gets nod as starter

There were no surprises Monday when Florida coach Will Muschamp met the media.

He announced Jeff Driskel as the Gators' starting quarterback, a decision that was pretty obvious given the way the snaps broke down in Florida's opener last Saturday. Driskel played the entire second half and was on the field for 52 of the Gators' 63 offensive snaps.

Muschamp said he still had confidence in Jacoby Brissett, but that it was time to move forward with one quarterback. The Gators have to be more consistent in their passing game, and juggling two quarterbacks simply wasn't going to cut it.

"[I] just feel like Jeff with his legs gives us some different variables in our offense that can help us as we move forward," Muschamp said. "It'll be Jeff's game to play. I told Jeff, 'I don't want you looking over your shoulder, but you need to play well.' I have confidence in both guys. [We] can win with both guys. I just felt like, at this time, it's good to move forward with naming one guy and go with it."

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Oregon's new QB Mariota faces his first test

EUGENE, Ore. – In his short tenure at Oregon – two years as offensive coordinator, and now beginning his fourth season as head coach – Chip Kelly has developed a reputation for a fast-paced, explosive offense. And also, for plugging and playing quarterbacks (eight have led Oregon to a 53-13 record).

Kelly says it's because the Ducks don't make a big deal of it. The philosophy, he says, is the same as at any other position: next guy in. Whatever the reason, it's Marcus Mariota's turn. Oregon's hopes of winning a fourth straight conference championship and contending for the BCS title ride in part on the shoulders of the redshirt freshman.

Tonight, when the No. 5-ranked Ducks face Arkansas State at Autzen Stadium – after a nearly perfect late summer day, expect temperatures to begin dropping into the 50s during the game – we'll get our first look at Mariota, who beat out sophomore Bryan Bennett during a competition that began last spring and ended last week.

Darron Thomas, the Ducks' starter in 2010 and 2011, entered the NFL Draft following his junior season, but went undrafted and has still has not been signed by a team.

Insiders whisper that Mariota has potential to become the best quarterback of Kelly's tenure; he's lanky and fast, a good passer with what appears to be a low-key demeanor. But until kickoff – and maybe beyond tonight, considering the opponent – there's no way to tell for sure.

Mariota's task is made a bit easier because of a talented supporting cast that includes running backs Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas and a defense that might be as good as the Ducks have had in a long while.

Meanwhile, for Arkansas State, Gus Malzahn makes his head-coaching debut. The former Auburn offensive coordinator surprised many by taking the job last December. The Red Wolves, who won 10 games last season under Hugh Freeze (now head coach at Ole Miss), bring back an experienced quarterback in Ryan Aplin.

Also uncertain: Whether Oregon's 82-game sellout streak at Autzen Stadium continues. Late in the week, about 2,000 tickets remained; capacity is 54,000.

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Catch of the year? OSU player's one-handed TD

Is it possible that we saw the catch of the year in a noon game on the first football Saturday?

Why not?

Early in the second quarter against Miami (Ohio), Ohio State's Devin Smith caught a 23-yard pass from Braxton Miller, grabbing the ball and pulling it down with just his right hand. Incredible catch.

It's also the first Buckeye touchdown of the Urban Meyer era.

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Purdue cruises by Eastern Kentucky

Did Caleb TerBush just get Wally Pipp-ed?

The Purdue starting quarterback missed the team's opener while serving a suspension for violating team rules. But the Boilers didn't miss a beat with Robert Marve leading the way in an easy 48-6 blowout of Eastern Kentucky.

Marve went 31-of-38 for 307 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Head coach Danny Hope insisted TerBush, who started every game last year, was his starter all offseason, but after his off-the-field misstep, who knows?

The Boilers weren't realistically going to have trouble with the FCS Colonels no matter who was at quarterback. They raced out to a 20-0 lead and were up 34-6 at halftime while piling up 547 total yards against Hope's alma mater. Twelve different players caught a pass, and six different players had a touchdown.

The only blemish for Purdue was turnovers, as it committed five of them. Hope's team needs to play cleaner than that against better opponents. Rob Henry, playing for the first time since 2010, looked a little rusty as he contributed two of the turnovers.

Henry is another option at quarterback. The question going into this week's showdown at Notre Dame will likely be, is TerBush still the starter?

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Player of the Week: SEC

It was hard to find a better performer in the SEC than Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson this weekend.

He entered the year as arguably the SEC's top quarterback and showed us exactly why when he threw for conference-high 367 yards and three touchdowns in Arkansas' 49-24 win over Jacksonville State. Wilson not only outdid the SEC, but he outdid every other opening-day Arkansas quarterback to come through Fayetteville, as his 367 passing yards set a new school record for passing yards in an opener. The previous high was 318 by Casey Dick against Western Illinois in 2008.

Wilson also tied the Arkansas record for touchdown passes in a season opener, becoming the third Arkansas quarterback to throw for three touchdowns in the first game of the season. He's now fifth on Arkansas’ list for career touchdown passes with 34.

His quarterback rating for the weekend also topped the SEC at 221.2.

Wilson might have been down his three NFL receivers from a year ago, but he did an excellent job of spreading the ball around Saturday. Two of his receiving targets -- wide receiver Brandon Mitchell and tight end Chris Gragg -- both eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark. Gragg caught a game-high seven catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns and Mitchell, who moved from quarterback, caught four passes for a game-high 122 yards.

Wilson has what it takes to be a real Heisman candidate this season and he's off to a great start.

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Report: Two USC players took money, car

Big news came out of Los Angeles in the midst of the first football Saturday of the season -- and it wasn't good news.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, "a key figure in an ongoing corruption scandal at the Los Angeles County assessor's office said he gave cash and perks worth thousands of dollars to two University of Southern California athletes while they were still in school."

Scott Schenter, a former appraiser, provided former USC running back Joe McKnight with a car and an airline ticket and former basketball player Davon Jefferson with $3,700 in cash, according to emails obtained by The Times.

USC officials told the newspaper they immediately informed the NCAA about the claims.

"We are dedicated to playing and competing the right way," USC athletic director Pat Haden wrote to The Times.

USC also put out the following statement from Haden in response to the story Saturday afternoon:

"When allegations regarding Joe McKnight's use of a Land Rover arose in 2009, USC fully investigated the matter. All of the information related to the investigation was sent to the NCAA. The NCAA staff accepted the report, and no violation was processed.

We have just learned of new allegations presented by a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. We have discussed those allegations with the NCAA and PAC-12, and we will thoroughly investigate them and take any and all necessary actions. ...

I can personally assure you that USC takes its compliance obligations with NCAA and Pac-12 rules extremely seriously and we are dedicated to playing and competing the right way."

There are a lot more details in the full newspaper story, so I recommend you give that a read. It's definitely worth keeping an eye on.

This report comes at an interesting time, considering that USC is expected to compete for the national championship this season and is just coming off a two-year bowl ban because of NCAA violations similar to these allegations.

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