Morning Six Pack: August 31, 2012

Farewell, August. Bring on September and a season full of football! Check out these six college football stories from around the country.

Leach's Wash. State debut falls flat, while BYU flexes its muscles

Mike Leach's Washington State debut was a certifiable dud, at least to anyone whose first exposure to the 2012 Cougars was Thursday night's nationally televised 30-6 loss to BYU.

Denard Robinson won't go all Cam Newton on Nick Saban and Alabama

Michigan QB is good, but he's not all-time-great good.

Out of jail, ex-USC LB back on scholarship

With top-ranked USC’s season opener against Hawaii just two days away, the Trojans have actually added a scholarship player to its roster. Or, re-added in this case.

New Irish QB Golson hopes to finish what he's starting in Dublin

Everett Golson has gone from the scout team to the first team, but just because he's starting at QB for Notre Dame Saturday doesn't mean the job is his to keep.

College football season returns just in nick of time

Storylines, great matchups help usher in the start of the 2012 season.

Quotable:

Besides, if Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier wasn't already convinced Connor Shaw is his favorite quarterback since Rex Grossman, he was after Shaw gutted out the win despite a painful shoulder bruise that left his throwing arm hanging limp after several plays. Also, tailback Marcus Lattimore played his first game since tearing his ACL last October, shook off a fumble on his first carry and finished with 23 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks learned a valuable lesson about preseason hype. It doesn't mean anything when the lights come on.

"Maybe it's good for us ... You look at the preseason press, we thought we were hot stuff," Spurrier said. "Then we almost got that stuff beat out of us."

That's the good news. The bad news? South Carolina's line didn't protect Shaw. If Vandy's defense can terrorize Shaw, imagine what Georgia and LSU will do. The Gamecocks' defensive line, after a ferocious start, did not return the favor much in the middle quarters against Vandy quarterback Jordan Rodgers. Also, South Carolina needed a questionable no-call on a throw to Jordan Matthews to survive Vanderbilt's final offensive possession. On replays, South Carolina safety D.J. Swearinger appeared to whack Matthews' left hand away before the ball arrived. Afterward, Commodores coach James Franklin said exactly what he thought about the call by his refusal to talk about the call. "You did know the SEC just came out with very clear rules about talking about the officials and what happens after games," Franklin said. "Trying to get me fined?"

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.