Warszawski: Official word or not, Fresno State must start Chason Virgil

Enter the Warzone, a much-needed sprinkling of sports sense.

▪ The only safe conclusion from Fresno State’s first two games is the Bulldogs are a lot closer to Abilene Christian than they are to now-No. 15 Mississippi.

Temper your expectations against No. 21 Utah accordingly.

▪ Coach Tim DeRuyter declined to name a starting quarterback during his Monday news conference, but let’s not kid ourselves.

Chason Virgil absolutely has to be the guy Saturday night. If the freshman keeps throwing interceptions, that’s when you bring in Zack Greenlee.

▪ Hate to think what Saturday’s final score might’ve been had Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly not missed those two second-quarter series.

Jim Kelly’s nephew looked like an NFL quarterback throwing to NFL receivers.

▪ The folks in Mississippi couldn’t have been friendlier. Right up until the point when an outsider writes about the Confederate flag.

Then he done step in it.

▪ Judging by the email inbox, Pat Hill’s popularity has returned to pre-2006 levels.

Why 2006? Because that’s the year he went 4-8.

▪ Tee Shepard certainly succeeded in making a name for himself back in his hometown. As a guy who enjoys taking cheap shots.

▪ Air Force was the only Mountain West Conference team to win in Week 2. The Falcons played San Jose State, so somebody had to.

▪ MW Gut Punch of the Week: West Division favorite San Diego State scoring seven points against a Cal squad that takes defense as an elective.

▪ Jim McElwain’s over-the-top reaction to running back Kelvin Taylor’s throat-slash gesture was a much worse look for the Florida program than anything Taylor did.

▪ Jack Del Rio laments an “embarrassing performance” in his coaching debut, Derek Carr injures his hand doing a stupid stiff-arm and the defense makes a litter of kittens look threatening.

More the Raiders change, the more they stay the same.

▪ Glad we were still watching in the third quarter, because that’s when CBS’ Tom McCarthy informed viewers the Raiders could be moving to “Carson City.”

With Hoss Cartwright at fullback.

▪ The No. 1 draft pick hosts the No. 2 pick in their first NFL game. The No. 2 pick throws four touchdown passes while the No. 1 pick’s first pass gets intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

That’s cruel even by Buccaneers standards.

▪ It’s gotten to the point where we enjoy seeing Roger Federer lose in Grand Slam finals, if only to marvel at how darned classy he is about it.

▪ As the Grizzlies prepare for the league championship, Pacific Coast League MVP Matt Duffy gets called up by the Astros.

Ultimate reminder that it’s still minor-league baseball.

▪ Provided neither team sweeps the series, Game 4 on Saturday night at Chukchansi Park will be happening at the same time as the Fresno State-Utah game at Bulldog Stadium.

Now’s when we really need one of those transporter rooms like Gene Roddenberry promised.

▪ Moses Malone was the first basketball player to go straight from high school to the pros. He was also the first to make offensive rebounding cool.

“Anybody can shoot a jump shot,” he once said, erroneously.

▪ For no particular reason: Hardy Nickerson

▪ After seeing those photographs of a burned-down Middletown, a little smoke inhalation doesn’t seem so bad.

▪ Did a midnight drive-by of Graceland after flying into Memphis, just for the odd chance of an Elvis Presley sighting.

Alas, had to settle for the statue on Beale Street.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Warszawski: Official word or not, Fresno State must start Chason Virgil."