College football kicked off this past Saturday, but it felt a little half-hearted. Tonight it really seems to begin and with that a quick little browser tab clearance.

God bless the tradition of coaches trying to build-up a patsy opponent. From Clemson DC Brent Venables on facing one of the all-time great rent-a-MAC: Kent State this weekend.

“Yeah, they’re very multiple with what they do. They’ve got speedy receivers on the outside and they use them in a variety of way – the jet sweeps and attacking vertically,” Venables said. “They’ve got a couple of good running backs. Number eleven was a young player, just a freshman a year ago, excellent player – good speed, toughness and physical. The quarterback can really fly. He’s a tough guy and is very physical, excellent quickness and speed and they are very multiple in what they do. A little bit kind of like Pitt in a lot of their formations and motions and things of that nature. We are really going to need to come out and be incredibly disciplined and focused – lining up the right way, eye discipline, gap integrity, setting the edge to the defense. It’s a good challenge for us out of the gate, just in regards to as just mental as it is anything.”

Not that you would know it from the way he talked about them, but Kent St. was 3-9 last year and is expected to be 5th out of 6 in their division this year.

You may have noticed that disgraced and very disturbed ex-Baylor head coach briefly was hired in the CFL (by his old friend June Jones) and then quickly un-hired when sponsors started bailing. Meanwhile,  Baylor is doing the best it can to deal with the lawsuits and potential for more revelations of their complicity in allowing and then covering up sexual assaults and far worse. They are paying to make things go away.

The federal civil lawsuits against Baylor University have piled up for more than a year, accusing the nation’s largest Baptist school of repeatedly mishandling, ignoring or stifling claims of sexual and physical abuse of students.

After months of bad publicity, the firing of a popular football coach and the demotion and departure of its president, Baylor is starting to make those cases go away with settlements — just as evidence gathering is heating up and long before any of the cases approach trial.

Baylor previously settled with three women who hadn’t sued, and last week reached a deal with former student Jasmin Hernandez , the first of several women to file federal Title IX lawsuits against Baylor. The Hernandez settlement was the second in a month — and fifth overall — and it closed one of most troubling cases.

More settlements are likely coming, said Dan Werly, a Nashville sports lawyer and founder and editor of the sports law blog thewhitebronco.com.

He noted Baylor was recently ordered to hand over documents and findings from an internal investigation to attorneys for 10 women who are still suing the school, and the plaintiffs in the other three lawsuits that are still pending will likely want the same access to details Baylor has fought to keep secret.

“They are going to keep settling,” Werly said. “They have made a very conscientious effort to keep the actual details of what’s happened out of the public eye … That ruling put pressure on Baylor to aggressively settle cases.”

I just want one of these cases to go the distance so everything comes out.

Tailgating is supposed to be one of the great things in college football. Pitt has admittedly struggled to have any atmosphere for it. It has only gotten worse as the North Shore keeps grows and space is removed in favor of parking garages and other buildings. Hence the hiring of a tailgating hospitality company.

With its seven-year deal with Tailgate Guys, Pitt has aligned itself with a business recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country, one that has aggressively expanded beyond its Alabama roots. This year, Pitt was one of 10 schools to partner with the company. It’s a group that includes traditional powers like Penn State and Oklahoma, as well as schools such as South Florida and Connecticut that, like Pitt, have struggled to consistently draw large crowds to off-campus stadiums.

At Pitt’s home games this year, beginning with a Sept. 16 matchup against Oklahoma State, the school will have a designated area on the Great Lawn, across North Shore Drive from Heinz Field, for fans to utilize Tailgate Guys’ offerings, which can accommodate groups ranging from 10 to 60 people (packages start at $250 for up to 20 guests).

Virginia Tech — which has always been a great place for tailgating — has also engaged the same company.

With room for as many as 126 gatherings, Dietrick Lawn, outside the dining hall of the same name, across Washington Street from Cassell Coliseum, is Tailgate Guys’ base. They set up your tent and whatever amenities you’ve purchased. Their bellhops, usually students and local residents, unload your car, carry your accessories to the tent while you park and reverse the process following the game. They open five hours before kickoff and linger three hours after a game’s conclusion.

You can bring your own food and drinks, or Tailgate Guys will connect you with one of three caterers, the school’s on-campus food services among them. They’ll provide and hook up a television, complete with satellite. On-site generators provide the power.

Tailgate Guys offers four packages, for individual games or the entire six-game home schedule (30-percent discount for the latter). Depending on the extras purchased, prices vary dramatically.

You could spend as little as $250 for a 10×10 tent at the Delaware and Old Dominion contests — ACC games are more expensive. A 20×20 tent and a TV for all six dates would cost more than $8,000, and that doesn’t include food and drink — alcohol is permitted. The smaller tent is recommended for 10-20 guests, the larger for 25-50.

It seems surprising a traditional power like Oklahoma would need to use this service, but this map showing how restricted; and how far away you have to be to tailgate. It just might explain things.