An opener not to rave about

There are about 19 teams that would have been a better opening-day opponent for the Cleveland Browns than the Baltimore Modells, for a lot of reasons.
I can think of 31 reasons without breaking a sweat. All of them belong on the jersey of Jamal Lewis, the running back who ran for 500 yards in two games against the Browns last year, or roughly half the distance from Lake Erie to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
But the fact that the Browns couldn't figure out how to tackle, slow or otherwise inhibit Lewis in eight quarters a season ago is just one factor why today's game ...
Adding to the storyline is that it's the Ravens, a franchise every self-respecting Browns fan wants to beat every bit as much as the one which resides along the confluence in Western Pennsylvania, if not more.
The fact that the Browns are 3-for-10 against Baltimore since returning to the league shouldn't be ignored.
Billick lovesto beat Browns
Ravens coach Brian Billick, who would love to take credit for inventing the game -- if only we'd let him (except for when the Rams' Mike Martz keeps shoving his way in) -- takes particular joy in sticking it to the Browns and their fans, almost as much as former Bengals coach Sam Wyche.
Another reason this isn't a good opponent is the matchup between the Browns offense -- an unknown quantity with a new starting quarterback -- against the Ravens defense -- which just might be the best in the game.
Add in the Deion Sanders' factor -- whatever it may turn out to be -- and there's enough uncertainty already for the Browns and their offense, without having to go up against the Ray Lewis-led Ravens defense.
So, all the signs point to a really tough day for the Browns. However, we've been down this road before and I've watched enough NFL football to understand that nothing should be taken as a sure thing.
A Browns victory would be considered a major upset by just about everyone who predicts these sort of things. It would also be a major accomplishment for Coach Butch Davis, whose P.R. factor with Browns fans is teetering on the edge of a mob revolution.
Honeymoon overfor Callahan
Speaking of coaches on the hot seat, the honeymoon for Nebraska's Bill Callahan effectively ended Saturday with the Cornhuskers' come-from-ahead, 21-17 loss to unheralded Southern Mississippi.
Callahan, who was hired over the winter after taking the Oakland Raiders from the Super Bowl to "Thank goodness the Chargers are in our division" status in one season -- and in the process, even alienated Tim Brown -- revamped the storied Nebraska offense from I-formation to West Coast.
He was chosen over Youngstown native Bo Pelini, who breathed new life into a battered Cornhusker defense in less than a year and led Nebraska to victory in the Alamo Bowl over Michigan State.
Pelini, you may recall, landed on his feet quite nicely. He's the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, working for fellow Cardinal Mooney High alum Bob Stoops.
It should be an interesting reunion for Pelini Nov. 13, when the Sooners invade Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., for the renewal of that storied -- and lately, one-sided -- rivalry.
But notfor Zook
Another coach with ties to Ohio State, Florida's Ron Zook, has to be smiling today after the Gators' 49-10 shellacking of Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
Zook, whose been on the hot seat since the exact moment he replaced Steve Spurrier, has his best team in this, his third season.
Of course, all that will change a week from now if the Gators lose to Tennessee in The Swamp in Gainesville, Fla.
Such are the fickle nature of fans.
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.