College Football Week 1 – Five-straight days of football!

It’s the time…of the season

For football! 

Yes, it is the time of the season, college football fans. We don’t have to wait any longer. It’s finally here. 

“It’s the time of the season
When the love runs high” 

Before we get started with the 2019 season, we have to be aware of the new rules that go into effect this year. There are six rules changes in college football. Two of the new rules impact overtime and two impact targeting. 

1.       Overtime Change: Teams will rotate two-point conversion tries, beginning in the fifth overtime. This eliminates possessions starting at the opposing 25-yard lines. After the fourth overtime, each offense will have just one chance to convert the two-point try before the other team gains possession.

2.       Overtime Breaks: A two-minute break will be added after the second and fourth overtime periods.

3.       Targeting Reviews: Replay reviews on targeting calls must either be confirmed or overturned by reviewing all aspects of the play. If the review cannot confirm that all elements of targeting exist, the targeting call will be overturned.

4.       Targeting Suspension: Players who commit three targeting penalties in the same season will receive a one-game suspension in addition to any ejection penalties for the third targeting penalty.

5.       Two-Man Wedge: The two-man wedge on kickoffs is no longer allowed.

6.       Blindside Blocking: Blindside blocks delivered with forcible contact will be considered a personal foul and draw a fifteen yard penalty. If elements of targeting exist, the player delivering the block will be subject to ejection and suspension if it is his third targeting foul of the season. 

“What’s your team?
(What’s your team?)
Who’s your coach?
(Who’s your coach? He rich?)
Is he rich like Nick? 

There may be six rules changes, but surprise, surprise, there are no changes to the 10 FBS conferences. The Power Five conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC) and the Group of Five conferences (AAC, C-USA, MAC, MWC and Sun Belt), and I might add the Independents, all remain the same in membership this year – no additions to any of the conferences and no subtractions. That’s a first in many, many years. 

As a post-script, Connecticut will leave the AAC after this season. The Huskies will be an Independent in 2020. 

FBS football still consists of 130 teams – 65 Power Five teams and 65 Group of Five teams. 

“Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?” 

With the five-day opening weekend upon us, it’s never too early to start making your plans 

First, it’s important that you get prepared for some serious TV viewing – five days of it. You want to make sure you are well-stocked with your favorite snacks, munchies and beverages. You don’t want to run out, especially in the fourth quarter of a close game. 

And, might I suggest that if your spouse/partner or whomever isn’t a college football fan, why not have them go spend the weekend with one of the in-laws. You certainly don’t want them interrupting your viewing. You won’t have time to do any honey-dos. 

Of course it would be a good idea if your spouse/partner came by on a daily basis during the five-day weekend and dropped off some proper food for you to consume – wings, cheeseburgers, onion rings, tacos, pizza, chili dogs – you get the picture. Just make sure they come by between games or at halftime. And as much as they may insist, don’t let them stay. Just give them a good tip and send them back to the in-laws or wherever. 

So with the preparations out of the way, here’s your recommended viewing schedule for five days of football. 

The opening game (first kickoff) of the five-day weekend is at 7 p.m. ET, Thursday – UCLA at Cincinnati on ESPN. Last year, Cincinnati surprised UCLA in Pasadena, beating the Bruins, 26-17. This year everyone will be surprised if UCLA wins. Yes, Chip Kelly is off to a rough start with the Bruins, going 3-9 last year in his debut season. But he did beat USC. This season doesn’t hold much hope for UCLA, but never underestimate Kelly. Meanwhile, at Cincinnati, third-year coach Luke Fickell is an up-and-comer. The Bearcats were 11-2 last season. Another good year and Fickell will be coaching a Power Five school next year. He almost got the West Virginia job. 

Now, if the UCLA-Cincinnati game is a bummer, just 30 minutes later (7:30 p.m. ET), UCF opens its 2019 campaign against Florida A&M on CBSSN. Are the Knights going to be as good as they have been the past two seasons? Former Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush is calling the signals for UCF. 

If Florida A&M-UCF doesn’t turn you on then just 30 minutes later you can turn them off. At the 8 p.m. ET, the reigning national champions come on. It’s Georgia Tech at Clemson on ACCN. This is the debut season for the ACC Network and Georgia Tech-Clemson is the debut game on the network. This is your chance to check out Trevor and Travis as in Lawrence and Etienne. 

Now many of you may not get the ACC Network. If you don’t, I guess you’ll just have to stick with UCLA-Cincinnati or Florida A&M-UCF. There are three other games on, starting at 8:30, 9:00 and 10:00, but all three are some Power Five schools playing some rinky-dink kindergarten teams. Unless you are a graduate of Texas A&M, Minnesota or Arizona State, I think you can skip those games. You may want to skip them even if you are an Aggie, Gopher or Sun Devil. 

But the nightcap, and hopefully by now you haven’t had to many nightcaps, should be a good one – Utah at BYU on ESPN. The game starts at 10:15 p.m. ET. Not bad for those of you in time zones west of ET. Utah is in just about everyone’s preseason Top 20. The Utes are stacked with good players – offense and defense. However, BYU is a big rival. 

Friday night is a bit of a letdown, but there are some games that could be interesting. The evening begins early – 6 p.m. ET – with Rice at Army on CBSSN. Rice, unfortunately, will most likely be dreadful, but Army should be fun to watch. Many pollsters have the Cadets in their Top 25. Army has an exceptional quarterback in Melvin Hopkins. My prediction is Army will beat Rice into krispies. 

If Rice-Army isn’t your bag, may I suggest Wisconsin at South Florida an hour later – 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. You can check out Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor. South Florida is coached by former Louisville and Texas coach Charlie Strong. Strong’s Bulls had a disastrous season last year. 

There are a mish-mash of other games on but they are pretty much just that – Mish vs. Mash. Utah State at Wake Forest (8 p.m. ET on ACCN) could be fun. Utah State has one of the country’s most exciting quarterbacks – Jordan Love. I’m sure Steve Klingberg, Kim Mallory and Roger Schenk will want to check out Purdue at Nevada – 9:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN. 

There are two choices for nightcap games – again, if your liquid nightcaps haven’t been too strong. First at 10:10 p.m. ET on ESPN is Colorado vs. Colorado State in Denver. Neither of these teams are supposed to be any good this year. Colorado has a new coach – Mel Tucker – and Colorado State’s coach – Mike Bobo – will be fired by the end of the season. But this game is always fun to watch. It’s a good rivalry. Colorado does have a good quarterback – Steven Montez – and one of the best wide receivers in the country – Laviska Shenault. 

If Colorado-Colorado State doesn’t stir your grits then in the other nightcap you can watch Oklahoma State at Oregon State – 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Okie State should be pretty good. Oregon State should be pretty bad. But the Beavers do have one of the best running backs in the country – Jermar Jefferson. And when the games are in Corvallis, it’s always fun to watch Benny the Beaver. He puts on a pretty good show. Usually better than the football team’s. 

That game should be over by around 2 a.m. ET which will leave you with a few hours of sleep before the BIG day – Saturday. Saturday is the biggest football day of the Labor Day weekend. And it all begins at 12 noon ET. 

Of the 11 televised games that are starting at 12 noon ET, the biggest of the bunch is probably Ole Miss at Memphis on ABC. Memphis is a hot Group of Five team. The Tigers better be hot to counter Rich Rodriguez’s always fun offense. Rich Rod is the new offensive coordinator at Ole Miss this season. But his offense may be the only thing fun about Ole Miss. 

Elsewhere at 12 noon, you can watch East Carolina at NC State (ACCN), Florida Atlantic at Ohio State (FOX). Last year Lane Kiffin opened against Oklahoma. This year he opens against the Buckeyes. You can watch Indiana at Kansas (FSN). Les Miles’ debut with the Jayhawks. Northern Iowa at Iowa State (FS1). The Cyclones are supposed to be hot this year. South Alabama at Nebraska (ESPN). Huskers Quarterback Adrian Martinez in his second season with second-year coach Scott Frost. Or there is always Toledo at Kentucky (SECN). The Rockets could give the Wildcats some trouble. 

The next time slot Saturday is 3:30 p.m. ET with five games on tap. The best of the bunch here should be North Carolina vs. South Carolina from Charlotte on ESPN. This is Mack Brown’s debut with the Tar Heels. He’ll look like a heel after this game. 

If North Carolina-South Carolina is a bummer, then switch over to Alabama vs. Duke from Atlanta on ABC. Not that this will be a good game, but it’s always worth checking out Bama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Along with running back Najee Harris, the Tide should take the dirt out of the Dookies. 

Now if those two 3:30 games are duds, then 30 minutes later at 4 p.m. ET you can catch Northwestern at Stanford on FOX. That should be a good game. And if it isn’t a good one, at the same time you can watch Virginia Tech at Boston College on the ACCN. 

The evening viewing Saturday really gets good. For starters at 7 p.m. ET, I would recommend Boise State vs. Florida State from Jacksonville on ESPN. Boise State is always tough, but what will Florida State have this year? Second-year coach Willie Taggart better hope the Noles have something. 

Thirty minutes later at 7:30 p.m. ET, it’s the game of the day – Auburn vs. Oregon from Arlington, Texas. Will the Gus Bus have any wheels this season? The Ducks are quacking with quarterback Justin Herbert. 

Auburn-Oregon is one of six games on at 7:30. You might want to peek in on Georgia at Vanderbilt (SECN) or Virginia at Pitt (ACCN). The Dawgs should be fun to watch with quarterback Jake Fromm and running back D’Andre Swift. 

And the nightcap (there’s always room for a nightcap), try Fresno State at USC, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. This could be a heck of a game. Fresno State can be tough and the pressure is on Clay Helton at USC. 

After three full days of football and a trio or so of nightcaps, you can sleep all day Sunday. The first and only game Sunday commences at 7:30 p.m. ET. That would be Houston at Oklahoma on ABC. Wild and unpredictable Houston coach Dana Holgorsen goes up against Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley again, only this time coaching the Cougars instead of the Mountaineers. Look for Jalen to put the hurts on Holgorsen. 

If you didn’t catch up on your sleep on Sunday, then you can sleep most of Monday to make up for it. Labor Day’s one and only game starts at 8 p.m. ET – Notre Dame at Louisville on ESPN. With Ian Book quarterbacking the Irish, this game could be over early. Notre Dame is predicted to be a Top 10 team, while Louisville is predicted to be the worst team in the ACC.

How’s that for five days of football viewing? And don’t forget to tell your spouse/partner or whomever that they can return home on Tuesday morning. Just don’t complain about the food they dropped off while you were watching football. After all, you want to live to watch 15 more weekends of football.

With your opening weekend viewing schedule set, it would be good to know who are supposed to be the winners and who are supposed to be the losers in each of the 10 FBS conferences. This is the consensus of what the preseason predictors say. Read ’em and cheer or read ’em and weep. Here goes. 

Among the Power Five conferences, starting the ACC: 

In the ACC Atlantic Division, Clemson is the strong favorite. Syracuse and Florida State come in as the challengers, while NC State is the dark horse. Boston College, Wake Forest and Louisville are the losers. 

In the ACC Coastal Division, Miami and Virginia are the favorites. Virginia Tech comes in as the challenger and Pitt is the dark horse. Duke, North Carolina and Georgia Tech are just fiddling their thumbs until basketball season. 

Clemson is favored to beat either Miami or Virginia for the ACC championship. 

In the Big 12, Oklahoma is everyone’s favorite. Texas and Iowa State figure to be the challengers, while TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State are the dark horses. Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas State and Kansas can forget it. 

Oklahoma is favored to beat Texas in the Big 12 championship game. 

Meanwhile, the Big Ten: 

In the Big Ten East Division, Michigan and Ohio State are the co-favorites. Michigan State and Penn State come in as the challengers and Indiana is the dark horse. Maryland and Rutgers are big time losers. 

In the Big Ten West Division, Nebraska slips in as the favorite. Iowa and Wisconsin will challenge, while Northwestern is the dark horse. Minnesota, Purdue and Illinois are the cellar dwellers. 

Michigan or Ohio State will beat Nebraska for the Big Ten championship. 

Pac-12: In the Pac-12 North Division, Oregon and Washington are tied as the favorites. Stanford and Washington State are valid challengers. There are no dark horses, while California and Oregon State are the losers. 

In the Pac-12 South Division, Utah is the favorite. USC is the challenger and Arizona State and UCLA are dark horses. Arizona and Colorado can forget it. 

Oregon or Washington is favored to beat Utah for the Pac-12 championship. 

SEC: In the SEC East Division, Georgia is the favorite. Florida is the challenger, while Missouri and South Carolina are the dark horses. Tennessee, Kentucky and Vanderbilt are the bottom feeders. 

In the SEC West Division, Alabama is the favorite with LSU and Texas A&M coming in as the challengers. Auburn and Mississippi State are the dark horses. Ole Miss and Arkansas are the doormats. 

Alabama is picked to beat Georgia for the SEC championship. 

Among the Group of Five conferences, starting with the AAC: 

In the AAC East Division, UCF is the favorite. Cincinnati is the challenger with South Florida and Temple being the dark horses. East Carolina and Connecticut are sucking air. 

In the ACC West Division, Memphis is the favorite. Houston is the challenger and Tulane is the dark horse. SMU, Navy and Tulsa are the cellar dwellers. 

UCF is favored to beat Memphis in the AAC title game. 

C-USA: In the C-USA East Division, Marshall is the favorite. FIU and Florida Atlantic make up the challengers, with Middle Tennessee being the dark horse. Western Kentucky, Old Dominion and Charlotte are the losers. 

In the C-USA West Division, North Texas and Southern Miss are the co-favorites. Louisiana Tech and UAB are the challengers, while UTSA is the dark horse. UTEP and Rice can forget it. 

Marshall is favored to beat either North Texas or Southern Miss for the C-USA championship. 

MAC: In the MAC East Division, Ohio is the favorite. Buffalo is the challenger and Miami and Kent State are the dark horses. Akron and Bowling Green are the doormats. 

In the MAC West Division, Toledo is the favorite. Western Michigan is the challenger, while Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan are the dark horses. Ball State and Central Michigan are the bottom feeders. 

Ohio is favored to beat Toledo in the MAC championship game. 

MWC: In the MWC Mountain Division, Boise State is the favorite. Utah State is the challenger, with Air Force and Wyoming being the dark horses. Colorado State and New Mexico are sucking air. 

In the MWC West Division, Fresno State and San Diego State are the favorites. Hawaii and Nevada are the challengers, while UNLV is the dark horse. San Jose State is at the bottom – the very bottom. 

Boise State is favored to beat either Fresno State or San Diego State for the MWC championship. 

And finally, the Sun Belt: In the Sun Belt East Division, Appalachian State is the favorite. Troy is the challenger, while Georgia Southern is the dark horse. Georgia State and Coastal Carolina are the doormats. 

In the Sun Belt West Division, Arkansas State and Louisiana are the favorites. ULM is the challenger and Texas State is the dark horse. South Alabama comes in at the bottom. 

Appalachian State is favored to beat either Arkansas State or Louisiana for the Sun Belt title. 

“To take you in the sun
To promised lands
To show you everyone
It’s the time of the season for football” 

Now that you know who is going to win the conferences, who is going to make the playoffs? We’ll know on Sunday, December 8 when the final College Football Playoff Rankings are announced – 12 noon to 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. 

The first Playoff Poll of the season will be announced on Tuesday evening, November 5 on ESPN – 10 weeks into the season. Succeeding Playoff Rankings will be announced weekly on the next four Tuesday evenings to December 3, leading up to the final announcement on December 8. 

The semifinal games of the College Football Playoff will be played in the Peach and Fiesta Bowls on December 28. The national championship game will be played on Monday, January 13 in New Orleans. 

Just as there were no changes to the conferences this year, likewise, there are no changes to the season ending bowl games – both in name and number. Again this season there will be 39 bowl games (all with the same name), plus the national championship game. The Bahamas Bowl will kick off the bowl season on December 20. 

Speaking of bowls, Florida and Hawaii got off to a good start Saturday night for making a season-ending bowl game. The Gators looked awful, I mean really bad, in beating Miami (Florida), 24-20. Florida wasn’t prepared for the game, especially quarterback Feleipe Franks. Franks is a terrible quarterback. Hopefully, he’ll get his head straightened out and turn things around. 

Meanwhile, in Honolulu, the Rainbow Warriors outscored Arizona, 45-38, before 22,306 fans. The game was a thriller, tied 35-35 as the fourth quarter began. The game ended with Arizona on Hawaii’s one-yard line. Both quarterbacks passed for more than 350 yards each. Arizona’s Khalil Tate threw for 361 yards, while Hawaii’s Cole McDonald passed for 378 yards. McDonald also threw four interceptions. I don’t think Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin is long for Tucson. 

In some final news, and sadly, Wendy Anderson, the wife of Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson, died last week. The cause was breast cancer. Arkansas State defensive coordinator David Duggan will be the interim head coach until Blake returns from an indefinite leave of absence. 

Last week, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn announced that Bo Nix would be the Tigers starting quarterback. Nix is the first true freshman to start as quarterback for Auburn since 1946. 

Danny Sheridan and Paul Finebaum were busy last week dissing Clemson’s schedule. They made it sound like Syracuse was the only respectable team on the Tigers’ schedule. If I was Texas A&M, I would be offended. Heads up, Jimbo Fisher. This is locker room material for the Aggies. 

So now you know everything you need to know about the 2019 college football season. Everything, perhaps, except the answers to these questions: 

1.       How will the transfer quarterbacks – Jalen Hurts, Kelly Bryant, Justin Fields, Jacob Eason, Brandon Wimbush, Austin Kendall, Shane Buechele and Tommy Stevens – perform this season? 

2.       Will a quarterback from Oklahoma win the Heisman Trophy for the third-straight year? 

3.       Can either Mack Brown or Les Miles find a way to salvage a winning season in 2019? 

4.       Will Dana Holgorsen find comfort at Houston? 

5.       Can anybody beat Clemson in the ACC, Alabama in the SEC or Oklahoma in the Big 12? And for that matter, Boise State in the MWC, UCF in the AAC and Appalachian State in the Sun Belt? 

6.       Is this the year that Jim Harbaugh finally beats Ohio State? 

7.       Will Urban Meyer be the coach of USC come January 1? 

8.       Will Willie Taggart still be the coach of Florida State come January 1? 

9.       Will Lane Kiffin, Luke Fickell, Seth Littrell or Mike Norvell be coaching a Power Five team next year? 

10.   Can South Carolina beat Clemson, Georgia, Kentucky or Texas A&M in 2019? 

1          11.  With no clear-cut favorite, who will win the Big Ten West and the ACC Coastal Divisions? 

12.   Whose restaurant will be more successful – Urban Meyer’s or Steve Spurrier’s? 

Enjoy your cold pizza, chili dogs and beer. College football is here.

“Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It’s the time of the season for football”

Touchdown Tom
August 26, 2019
https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com



(Note: Next week’s CFW – Week Two will be posted on Tuesday morning – September 3 – the day after Labor Day.)



Weekend Recap

GAME OF THE WEEK: Sloppy Feleipe – Florida 24, Miami (Florida) 20 (Touchdown Tom said: Florida 27, Miami 17). Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks was terrible, both in his on-field performance and his sideline behavior. Somebody needs to knock some sense into the guy. Actually, the entire Gator offense was terrible – no quarterback, no running back, no receivers, no offensive line. At best, the Gator defense was inconsistent. At worse, the Gator defense was self-destructive in the closing minutes of the game when Miami was driving for a winning score. Twice, Florida’s secondary was called for pass interference when the Gators had the Canes stopped on their drive. Of course, this all came after Franks threw a stupid interception – his second of the game. Fortunately for Florida, Miami’s play was just as sloppy. The teams combined for five turnovers and 23 penalties. Even the referees performance was sloppy. The Gators won but it was an awful win. Fortunately for the Gators, they play nobody the next two weeks – literally next week and figuratively in two weeks. Attendance in Orlando: 66,543

Week Zero Result:  1 winner; 0 fumbles (100 percent)



Quotes of the Week

“The four playoff teams will be Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and either Ohio State or Michigan. Alabama will lose in the semifinals, regardless of who they play. Georgia has the players to win the championship. The Bulldogs will take it all,” College football oddsmaker Danny Sheridan.

“Clemson has a Charmin tissue schedule. Syracuse is the only decent team the Tigers play and Clemson will clobber Syracuse,” College football oddsmaker Danny Sheridan.

“After Florida, Miami has nobody on its schedule,” ESPN college football analyst Joey Galloway.

“Their schedule is so easy, Clemson can’t miss making the playoffs,” ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

“This has to be one of the worst wins ever. You just can’t get excited about that. No running game, a cocky QB that has no right to be and DBs that can’t cover without mugging a WR and a bazillion mistakes by the entire team. Hope they get it together soon,” Gator fan Kris Hansen, on the Florida’s win over Miami.

“ Well I wish I could be all happy and say a win is a win as I’ve been reading all morning from fellow fans. Certainly winning is better than losing but I can’t imagine our QB not immediately heading to the opposing QB and shaking his hand rather than gloating over a rough performance and look how great I am attitude. I have never seen a Gator QB do this and can’t remember any college QB doing this. Maybe Cam a little bit. The quarterback whisperer needs to whisper a lot louder about many things but the first of these in my opinion is to show a little class,” Rockledge Gator, on Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks, after the Miami game.



Touchdown Tom’s Predictions for
Opening Weekend’s 10 Biggest and Most Intriguing Games.…and then some

GAME OF THE WEEK:  1. Auburn vs. Oregon  – (SEC vs. Pac-12) – 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, ABC – This will be a rematch of the January 2011 game when Auburn beat Oregon for the BCS national championship, following the 2010 season. The Tigers beat the Ducks, 22-19, on a 19-yard field goal as time expired. That was the only time these two teams have met on the football field. So Oregon should have a little revenge in mind. The Ducks definitely have the better quarterback – Justin Herbert. Auburn is starting a true freshman – Bo Nix. In fact, overall, Oregon should have the better offense. But it is a different story on defense. The Tigers come out on top there. SEC teams definitely play better defense than Pac-12 teams. Aubie beats the quack out of Puddles – Auburn 27, Oregon 23. 

RUNNER UP:  2. Houston at Oklahoma – (AAC vs. Big 12) – 7:30 pm ET, Sunday, ABC – Three years ago these two teams opened the season against each other. Houston won that game, 33-23. Tom Herman was coaching Houston then. Dana Holgorsen is coaching Houston now. Holgorsen is 0-7 against the Longhorns. The only thing Houston has is a decent quarterback in D’Eriq King. Oklahoma has everything, including quarterback Jalen Hurts and coach Lincoln Riley. Holgorsen will be 0-8 against the Sooners – Oklahoma 35, Houston 20.

REST OF THE BEST:  3. Northwestern at Stanford – (Big Ten vs. Pac-12) – 4 pm ET, Saturday, FOX – Neither team is great, but both are good – perhaps better than good. This has the makings of a great game. Northwestern has a fair quarterback in Hunter Johnson – a Clemson transfer. Stanford has a great quarterback in K.J. Costello. Both teams are definitely rebuilding, but they have some good stock. Stanford has the better stock. The Trees shed on the Wildcats – Stanford 26, Northwestern 20.

4. Alabama vs. Duke – (SEC vs. ACC) – 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, ABC – Would you believe this is the toughest non-conference game Alabama has all season? Believe it! The past few years, Alabama’s non-conference schedule has been made up of the likes of Florida Atlantic, Southern Miss, Western Carolina, Middle Tennessee, ULM, Charleston Southern, Western Kentucky, Kent State, Chattanooga, Fresno State, Colorado State, Mercer, Arkansas State. Louisiana, New Mexico State and The Citadel. I’m surprised they scheduled Duke. That’s kind of brave of them. Daniel Jones graduated so the Dookies don’t have anything this year. But Bama does – Tua Tagovailoa, Najee Harris, Jerry Jeudy, Nick Saban, etc. etc. Need I say more? Bama nukes the Dooks – Alabama 45, Duke 15.

5. Utah at BYU – (Pac-12 vs. Ind.) – 10:15 pm ET, Thursday, ESPN – Utah is loaded – a Top 15 team in the country. BYU isn’t. But this is one of those games where you can throw out the records and the stats. It’s a rivalry game. And BYU will be tougher at home. Utah definitely has its work cut out for it. But Kyle Whittingham has developed a consistent winner in Salt Lake City. BYU coach Kalani Sitake is on the hot seat in Provo. He’s desperate and a desperate coach can be like a wounded animal – dangerous. The Utes book the Mormons – Utah 26, BYU 19.

6. Boise State vs. Florida State – (MWC vs. ACC) – 7 pm ET, Saturday, ESPN – This could be one of the better games of the weekend. Boise State is always tough – not as tough as they were under Chris Petersen – but still a very competitive team. Nobody is really sure what FSU will do this season. The Noles better do good or it is bye, bye Willie Taggart. FSU could come out swinging and do very good. On the other hand, it could be another disappointing season in Bingo Town. As a team, Boise State should be strong on defense. FSU should be strong at the running back with Cam Akers. Bingo for the Broncos – Boise State 29, Florida State 27. 

7. Georgia at Vanderbilt – (SEC vs. SEC) – 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, SECN – On paper, this should be a rout for Georgia. And it probably will be. But Vandy has some talent, especially at running back with Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Derek Mason is a desperate coach. And you know what I say about desperate coaches – they can be dangerous. Mason knows this could be his last year in Nashville. Sadly for Mason, Georgia is loaded, especially on offense. The Dawgs have Jake Fromm and D’Andre Swift. If there is a weakness, it is on defense, and that’s not much of a weakness. Uga eats Vandy like candy – Georgia 32, Vanderbilt 15. 

8. Fresno State at USC – (MWC vs. Pac-12) – 10:30 pm ET, Saturday, ESPN – These California Group of Five teams love to play the Pac-12 teams. They love it better when they beat the Pac-12 teams. It doesn’t always happen but it does happen. Fresno State looks good on defense, but awful on offense. USC is really somewhat of a question mark. But quarterback J.T. Daniels should be good. Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford used to coach in the Pac-12 at Cal. He knows the Pac-12. This could be an interesting game. Even more so because USC coach Clay Helton is on the hot seat. The Bulldogs can’t find a wooden horse – USC 30, Fresno State 27.

9. UCLA at Cincinnati – (Pac-12 vs. AAC) – 7 pm ET, Thursday, ESPN – Last season was a flop for Chip Kelly at UCLA. Then again, Jim Mora didn’t leave him with a lot of material. This is the year Chip is supposed to pop out. But before he does, he’ll probably get popped by the Bearcats. Cincy had a good team last year and most of it is back. Bearcats coach Luke Fickell has his eyes on a Power Five job. But he has to stay focused on having another good season in Cincinnati. The Bruins are Bears but so are the Cats – Cincinnati 30, UCLA 24.

10. Virginia Tech at Boston College – (ACC vs. ACC) – 4 pm ET, Saturday, ACCN – Boston College coach Steve Addazio is on the hot seat. Believe it or not, some people think Hokie coach Justin Fuentes is on the hot seat too. That makes for an interesting game. The Hokies are supposed to be a contender in the ACC Coastal. BC is supposed to be a cellar dweller in the ACC Atlantic. But BC has running back A.J. Dillon. The Hokies have to stop him. They should. Tech is solid and experienced on defense. And Bud Foster wants to go out a winner. Hokies spill the Beans – Virginia Tech 27, Boston College 22.



…AND ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON:

11. Virginia at Pitt – (ACC vs. ACC) – 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, ACCN – Virginia is a favorite to win the ACC Coastal. Pitt is a dark horse in the ACC Coastal. After three years on the job in Charlottesville, you feel like coach Bronco Mendenhall is ready to breakout – in a big way. This could be the year he does. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi seems to be treading water. The Cavaliers return more experience. You can only tread water for so long – Virginia 27, Pitt 25. 



YE OLDE STOMPING GROUNDS:

James Madison at West Virginia – (Colonial vs. Big 12) – 2 pm ET, Saturday, AT&TSN – West Virginia fans must really be excited about new coach Neal Brown. The game is a sellout. This is definitely a rebuilding year for the Mounties, along with a new system. That could be ingredients for a mistake-filled first game. WVU can’t afford to make too many mistakes. James Madison is the No. 2 FCS team in the country. We know JMU is a strong FCS team. We know WVU has good running backs. But that’s all we know about the Mounties. Everything else is a question mark. For WVU fans it will be like opening a package on Christmas day when you don’t have any idea what is inside. Hopefully, Mountie fans are pleasantly surprised. The Eers make James look like Jimmy – West Virginia 30, James Madison 14.

South Alabama at Nebraska – (SBC vs. Big Ten) – 12 noon ET, Saturday, ESPN – All right. This is the year. This is Scott Frost’s second year in Lincoln. In his second year at UCF, he was 13-0. He went from 6-7 to 13-0. Last year in Lincoln, his first, Frost was 4-8. What will the Huskers be this year? A lot of people think Frost’s team is good enough to win the Big Ten West. Fortunately, for Nebraska, South Alabama isn’t a Big Ten team. The Jaguars are a good team for the Huskers to cut their teeth on. South Alabama should be soft like soybeans. Easy to cut your teeth into. Adrian Martinez is too sharp for the Jaguars. Frost has a breather this week. Herbie takes the Jag out of the Uars – Nebraska 48, South Alabama 10.

Purdue at Nevada – (Big Ten vs. MWC) – 9:30 pm ET, Friday, CBSSN – Purdue came on pretty strong last year. The Boilers beat Ohio State, Iowa and Nebraska. Oops, everybody beat Nebraska. Then the Boilers ran into Auburn in the Music City Bowl and got beat 63-14. Ouch! The Boilers should have a potent defense. There are a lot of returning starters. But the offense could be a disaster. Fortunately, for Purdue, Nevada is a rebuilding team – offense and defense. But the Wolf Pack will be feisty in Reno. Boilers have the Wolves squealing – Purdue 30, Nevada 20.

Louisiana Tech at Texas – (C-USA vs. Big 12) – 8 pm ET, Saturday, LHN – In spite of what Terry Bradshaw says, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a good quarterback – a very good quarterback. Ehlinger will have the Bulldog defense sucking air – maybe as early as the second quarter. This is the year for the Longhorns to say, “We’re back.” It began at the end of last season when the Horns beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. I never have thought much of La Tech coach Skip Holtz. He’s lazy. This is an easy start for Bevo. Longhorns stampede the Bulldogs – Texas 40, Louisiana Tech 11.

Florida is off.



ELSEWHERE AROUND FLORIDA:

Jacksonville U. at Richmond – (Pioneer vs. Colonial) – 7 pm ET, Thursday….
Florida A&M at UCF – (MEAC vs. AAC) – 7:30 pm ET, Thursday, CBSSN….
Florida International at Tulane – (C-USA vs. AAC) – 8 pm ET, Thursday, ESPN3…. 

Wisconsin at South Florida – (Big Ten vs. AAC) – 7 pm ET, Friday, ESPN…. 

Florida Atlantic at Ohio State – (C-USA vs. Big Ten) – 12 noon ET, Saturday, FOX….
Presbyterian at Stetson – (Big South vs. Pioneer) – 7 pm ET, Saturday….

Bethune-Cookman vs. Jackson State – (MEAC vs. SWAC) – 3 pm ET, Sunday, ESPN2….

Miami, Florida Tech and West Florida are off.

Touchdown Tom

https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com

P.S.

Not exactly college football related, but as the Labor Day weekend approached and college football fans were hyped for the start of another great season, the number one song in the country…

…75 years ago this week in 1944 was “Swinging On A Star” by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra

…70 years ago this week in 1949 was “Some Enchanted Evening” by Perry Como

…65 years ago this week in 1954 was “Sh-Boom” by The Crew Cuts

…60 years ago this week in 1959 was “The Three Bells” by The Browns

…55 years ago this week in 1964 was “Where Did Our Love Go” by The Supremes

…50 years ago this week in 1969 was “Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones

…45 years ago this week in 1974 was “(You’re) Having My Baby” by Paul Anka and Odia Coates

…40 years ago this week in 1979 was “My Sharona” by The Knack

…35 years ago this week in 1984 was “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr., and “What’s Love Got To Do With It” by Tina Turner

…30 years ago this week in 1989 was “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx

…25 years ago this week in 1994 was “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, and “I’ll Make Love To You” by Boyz II Men



Not exactly college football related, but there were two passings of note last week – Jim Hardy and Jack Perkins.

Jim Hardy, the oldest living USC Trojans and Los Angeles Rams football player and MVP of the 1945 Rose Bowl, died last week in La Quinta, California. He was 96. Hardy also played for the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions and Chicago Cardinals in the NFL. He was a quarterback. At USC he also played defensive back. Hardy also played third base for the USC baseball teams for three seasons. He remained a USC football fan until two years ago, driving himself to practices and games. Hardy attended more than 80 Rose Bowl games.

Jack Perkins, a former NBC News reporter and anchor and host of the A&E program “Biography,” died last week at his home in Nokomis, Florida – near Sarasota. He was 85. Perkins started as a writer for NBC news in the early 1960s. As a reporter, he went on to cover the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in a 25-year career with the network. He made appearances on “The Nightly News,” the “Today” show and the series “NBC Magazine” and “Prime Time Sunday.” He was also the host of “Biography” from 1994 to 1999. After Perkins left television, he wrote several books in the early 2000s. Jack Morton Perkins was born on December 28, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in Wooster, Ohio. He attended Western Reserve University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1956.

College Football Week Zero – TT’s Consensus Top 40 is out

They call it a sesquicentennial

Yes, college football celebrates its sesquicentennial this season. For you fans out there, that’s a fancy way of saying college football celebrates its 150^th anniversary.

It’s hard to fathom the game has been played for 150 years. But it has. They say if you saw how that original game was played back in 1869, you wouldn’t recognize it as a football game. Rutgers beat Princeton, 6-4. Scoring was a lot different then.

From some accounts, the original game sounded like a bar room brawl – a mixture of rugby and soccer with a few fists thrown in. But like everything else in life, the game has evolved. Well, I guess a few fists are still thrown in.

The ball used in the very first game was round like a soccer ball. By 1874, a rugby-type ball that looked like a watermelon was used. The forward pass wasn’t legalized until 1906. For a while, the receiver could climb up on a teammate’s back, even his shoulders, to catch the ball. In 1912, the game ball was changed from a watermelon-shaped ball to an oversized version of today’s football. The ball took on its present size and shape in 1935.

Extra points and field goals were kicked using a drop-kick, not placekicking. The last successful extra point using a drop kick was by Jason Milligan of Hartwick College on December 11, 1998.

When a touchdown was scored, the team that scored the touchdown received the ball on the ensuing kickoff. In other words, if you didn’t score, you kept kicking off. I could go on-and-on with the oddities of the game in its earlier years.

If college football survives for another 150 years, I can only imagine what the game may look like in 2169. But rest assured, fists will still be involved.

In recognition of college football’s sesquicentennial, the sages at ESPN came up with the 50 best college football programs during college football’s first 150 years. Their criteria for coming up with the 50 best programs was dominance, national championships, rankings in polls and winning percentage.

The top six programs are all schools you would expect: 1. Alabama, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Ohio State, 4. Oklahoma, 5. USC and 6. Michigan.

The No. 7 program and, for that matter, the No. 11, No. 13, No. 26  and No. 37 schools are ones you, perhaps, wouldn’t expect: Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Penn and Dartmouth respectively.

Until the early 1950s, the Ivy League schools were very dominant in football. They not only were some of the earliest schools playing the game, but also they were some of the best. As late as 1951, a player from Princeton won the Heisman Trophy – Dick Kazmaier, a halfback.

Now just think how bad Brown, Columbia and Cornell must feel, being the only three Ivy League schools that didn’t make the Top 50.

Some other schools in ESPN’s 50 best programs over the 150 years are 8. Nebraska, 9. Texas, 12. Penn State, 14, Tennessee, 15. L SU, 19. Florida State, 20. Auburn, 21. Florida, 22. Georgia, 24. Clemson and 47. West Virginia. Interestingly, West Virginia is the winningest college football program that has never won a national championship.

For bragging rights, there are eight schools from the SEC in ESPN’s Top 50. The Big Ten has seven schools, the ACC and Pac-12 have six, while the Big 12 has three schools. The Ivy League has five schools in the Top 50.

Keeping with the sesquicentennial hoopla, the gurus at Sports Illustrated came up with college football’s best traditions – the Top 10.

1.      Oklahoma (The “Sooner Schooner” Wagon)

2.      Clemson (Rubbing Howard’s Rock)

3.      Ohio State (Script Ohio: Dotting the “i”)

4.      Colorado (The Running of Ralphie the Buffalo)

5.      Auburn (Rolling Toomer’s Corner)

6.      Texas A&M (The 12^th Man)

7.      West Virginia (Cue “Country Roads”: The fans singing the John Denver song)

8.      Mississippi State (The Cowbells)

9.      Army-Navy (The Pregame March On)

10.  Miami (The Turnover Chain) 

I’d say Sports Illustrated did a pretty good job on nine of the 10. I don’t agree with Miami’s Turnover Chain being in the Top 10 of college football’s best traditions. First of all, I’m not even sure it qualifies as a tradition. It only began two seasons ago in 2017. The player that recovers a fumble or intercepts a pass gets to put the bling around his neck.

I know I’m prejudice, but I would put the Florida fans singing (and swaying back and forth with their arms locked) at the end of the third quarter “We Are the Boys from Old Florida” in my Top 10 list.

Now this has nothing to do with the sesquicentennial of college football, but keeping with lists and traditions, every year on the eve of the start of football season, Princeton Review comes out with its Top 20 Party School list.

I’ve always noted each year that just about every school in the Top 20 has a football team. You can’t party if you don’t play football. This year, 18 of the 20 schools in the Top 20 play football. The two that don’t (UC Santa Barbara and Sonoma State) are both California schools. I guess you can party in California without a football team.

Anyway, the Top Five party schools on this year’s elite list are 1. Syracuse, 2. Alabama, 3. Delaware, 4. West Virginia and 5. Tulane. West Virginia is always in the Top Five, frequently at No. 1.

Some of the other schools of interest making the Top 20 are 7. Colgate, 8. Wake Forest, 9. Bucknell, 13. Wisconsin, 16. Florida and 18. Florida State. Party on!

In addition to 2019 being college football’s sesquicentennial, this particular week has become known in the past few years as “Week Zero”. Back to tradition – traditionally – college football has for many years always begun on Labor Day weekend – generally the Thursday night before Labor Day weekend.

Well, for a few years now, a handful of teams have been jumping the gun and starting their seasons the weekend before Labor Day weekend. With 95% or more of the teams starting on Labor Day weekend, it remains “Week One” in college football. So this week has been dubbed “Week Zero.”

This year there are two games being played during Week Zero – Florida-Miami (Florida) and Arizona-Hawaii. The Florida-Miami game, until about five or six months ago, was originally scheduled to be played on August 31 (Labor Day weekend). But ESPN got involved (don’t they always), waved some dollar signs at the schools and lo and behold the game was moved to August 24. The venue, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, was not changed.

Florida and Miami have met 55 times, with the Canes holding a 29-26 lead in the series. The two teams first met in 1938 and played every year to 1987, with one exception. Florid and Miami did not play in 1943. Since 1987, the teams have only met six times, all between 2001 and 2013. Miami has won seven of the last eight matches, including the last meeting, 21-16, in 2013. (My prediction is provided below.)

Just last week, Florida and Miami agreed to a two-game, home-and-home series. The Canes will play in Gainesville in 2024 and the Gators will play in Miami in 2025.

And speaking of Miami, there has been some quarterback news of interest in the past few days. After last season Ohio State quarterback Martell Tate, using the transfer portal and receiving a waiver, transferred to Miami. Tate did this after Georgia quarterback Justin Fields, using the transfer portal and receiving a waiver, transferred to Ohio State. Both Tate and Fields are sophomores this season.

All along, it had been assumed that Tate would be the starting quarterback at Miami this season. Well, just last week, Miami coach Manny Diaz named redshirt freshman Jarren Williams the starting quarterback for the Canes. Tate was so mad he skipped practice and starting talking about transferring again. But apparently the situation has since smoothed out. It appears that Tate may play wide receiver for Miami this season. Stay tuned!

As mentioned the other game in Week Zero is Arizona at Hawaii. This game was always scheduled for August 24. There will be pressure on second-year Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin in this game. Sumlin got off to a bad start last year when Arizona lost its first two games to Group of Five teams in his inaugural season. Hawaii won’t be easy in Honolulu.

I’m sure, by now, you must have read or heard last week where Ohio State is seeking to trademark the word “The” when used with items being marketed for sale. The filing seeks to protect the schools formal name – The Ohio State University. That prompted someone to report that Michigan will be seeking to trademark the word “Of.” Seeking to protect the school’s name – University OF Michigan.

The Urban Meyer to USC rumor got a little stronger last week. Both the Los Angeles Times and Yahoo Sports reported that USC would definitely come after Meyer if Clay Helton is fired. The Los Angeles Times reported that USC will be talking the kind of money that Meyer likes.

Meanwhile, the pressure on Helton just got stronger as USC athletic director Lynn Swann said last week, “The expectation is that we’re going to win the Pac-12 championship.”

I went to a memorial service last week. My barber died. You are probably wondering why am I mentioning this. Well, Richard Deratany had been my barber for 43 years. Dick first cut my hair in the autumn of 1976 and he last cut it on June 14, 2019. Over the years, I figure Dick cut my hair about 554 times.

He was 81 when he died on June 27. The memorial service was on August 13 – his birthday. Dick would have been 82. He was a reader and often lent me books to read. Dick introduced me to the author David McCullough, which I am forever thankful. He also lent me the book “The Emperor’s General” by James Webb, a terrific read. Rest in peace, Richard Deratany.

Rockledge Gator and Bootsie checked themselves into rehab for some much needed R&R. Bootsie also checked in for some much needed W&W – wine and wine. They had two non-stop, high-energy grandkids – ages eight and seven – visiting them last week. So Rockledge and Bootsie are on the disabled list for a while, as they recover. Hopefully they will be recuperated, refreshed and out of rehab in time for the Florida-Miami game.

Happy Sesquicentennial to all and enjoy your Week Zero!

Touchdown Tom
August 19, 2019
https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com

Quotes of the Week 

“No, I wouldn’t have thought I would still be here. But I do now. This is who I am. This is what I am. This is where I belong. This is me. There is no reason for me to go anywhere else,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, on staying at Oklahoma State as long as they will have him.

“The expectation is that we’re going to win the Pac-12 championship. We want to be in the picture and the conversation about the national championship, on the national scene. That’s where it starts. We’re not going to get there if we’re not winning our own conference. So we’re going to make that step and move it forward that way. Clay (Helton) knows that,” USC athletic director Lynn Swann.

The Teams – 2019 (Touchdown Tom’s Consensus Top 40) 

Wow! I’ve been doing my Consensus Top 40 for many years and I have never had a year when two teams come out tied for the No. 1 spot. Well, that’s what happened this year. After I merged the contents of 14 legitimate preseason polls two teams ended up tied for the No. 1 position. Those two teams are (1) Alabama and (1) Clemson.

Alabama was No. 1in seven of the polls and Clemson was No. 1 in the other seven polls. Both teams ended up with 21 points in my Consensus Poll – one point for No. 1 and two points for No. 2.

Following (1) Alabama and (1) Clemson in the Top Five are (3) Georgia, (4) Oklahoma and (5) Ohio State. Georgia was pretty much a unanimous No. 3. The Dawgs were No. 3 in 11 of the 14 polls. The other three polls all had Georgia at No. 4.

Likewise for Oklahoma. The Sooners were pretty solid at No. 4. Nine of the 14 polls had Oklahoma at No. 4. Eight of the 14 polls had Ohio State at No. 5. None of the 14 polls had Oklahoma or Ohio State ranked lower than No. 7.

Rounding out the Top 10 in my Top 40 Consensus Poll are (6) LSU, (7) Michigan, (8) Florida, (9) Notre Dame and (10) Texas. That leaves us with four teams from the SEC in the Top 10 – and two each from the Big 12 and Big Ten.

Looking at the next five teams in the Consensus Poll we have (11) Oregon, (12) Texas A&M, (13) Washington, (14) Utah and (15) Auburn. Oregon’s highest ranking in any of the 14 polls was No. 9, while Auburn’s worst ranking was No. 20. Interesting, there are three Pac-12 teams between No. 11 and No. 14.

Finishing the Top 20 are (16) Penn State, (17) Michigan State, (18) UCF, (19) Iowa and (20) Wisconsin.  Interesting, there are four Big Ten teams between No. 16 and No. 20. In the Top 20, we have six teams from the SEC and six teams from the Big Ten. Only one team from the ACC.

All right, continuing up the Top 40, we have (21) Iowa State, (22) Nebraska, (23) Washington State, (24) Miami (Florida) and (25) Stanford. Two more teams from the Pac-12 join the list.

Rounding out the Top 30 are (26) Mississippi State, (27) Syracuse, (28) TCU, (29) Virginia Tech and (30) Missouri. So, in the Top 30 there are eight teams from the SEC, seven from the Big Ten, five from the Pac-12 and four each from the ACC and Big 12.

Looking at our final group of 10 in the Top 40 are (31) Boise State, (32) Cincinnati, (33) USC, (34) Army and (35) Florida State. The Power Five took a hit here, while three Group of Five teams entered the list. Army being a Group of Five Independent.

Closing out the Top 40 Consensus Poll are (36) Northwestern, (37) South Carolina, (38) Virginia, (39) Memphis and (40) Oklahoma State. Just missing the Top 40 were (41) Minnesota and (42) Baylor.

For bragging rights, the SEC finished with the most teams in the Top 40 – nine. The Big Ten had eight teams in the Poll and the ACC and the Pac-12 had six each. The Big 12 had five. Among the Group of Five conferences, the ACC was the best with three teams in the Poll. The MWC had one team. Two Independents were in the Top 40.

C-USA, the MAC and the Sun Belt had no teams in the Top 40. The highest-ranked team from each of those conferences is Appalachian State (Sun Belt) at 49, Marshall (C-USA) at 64 and Ohio (MAC) at 66. There are 130 teams in FBS (Division IA) football.

At the end of the season last year, the Top Four in the playoffs were (1) Alabama, (2) Clemson, (3) Notre Dame and (4) Oklahoma. Clemson (2) beat Alabama (1) for the championship. In the final AP and Coaches Polls last season, Clemson was 1, Alabama 2, Ohio State 3 and Oklahoma was 4.

My Consensus Top 40 at preseason last year had (1) Alabama, (2) Clemson (3) Georgia and (4) Ohio State in the Top 4. Oklahoma was 7 and Notre Dame was 14.



The Running Backs – 2019

Six running backs are out in front of the pack at preseason. However, of the six, two are outpacing the other four. Those two are Wisconsin junior Jonathan Taylor (5-11, 219) and Clemson junior Travis Etienne (5-10, 215).

Last year Taylor rushed for  2,194 yards, scoring 16 touchdowns for the Badgers. He averaged 158 yards per game and 7.1 yards per carry. Etienne rushed for 1,658 yards, scoring 24 touchdowns for the Tigers. He averaged 8.1 yards per carry.

Taylor and Etienne are, without  doubt, the two most acknowledged running backs at preseason. But following on their heels are four more backs who are definitely in the upper echelon. They are Boston College junior A.J. Dillon (6-0, 250), Georgia junior D’Andre Swift (5-9, 215), Arizona State junior Eno Benjamin (5-10, 201) and Alabama junior Najee Harris (6-2, 227).

In 2018, Dillon rushed for 1,108 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry for the Eagles, and Swift rushed for 1,049 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry for the Bulldogs. Last year, Benjamin rushed for 1,642 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry for the Sun Devils. He scored 16 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Harris averaged 6.7 yards per carry for the Crimson Tide.

Around the Power Five conferences, the Big Ten is loaded with five solid running backs, in addition to Jonathan Taylor, all of whom rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season. The best of the five may well be Ohio State junior J.K. Dobbins (5-10, 217). Last year Dobbins rushed for 1,053 yards. Indiana has an outstanding back in sophomore Stevie Scott (6-2, 233). Scott rushed for 1,137 yards in 2018.

Maryland is sitting pretty with sophomore Anthony McFarland (5-8, 193). Last season, McFarland rushed for 1,034 yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Illinois is thankful it has senior Reggie Corbin (5-10, 200). In 2018, Corbin rushed for 1,085 yards. And finally, Minnesota has sophomore Mohamed Ibrahim (5-10, 204). Ibrahim rushed for 1,160 yards in 2018. He averaged 116 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry.

The Pac-12 has several good running backs who will compete with Eno Benjamin. Two of those Pac-12 backs are Arizona junior J.J. Taylor (5-8, 184) and Oregon State sophomore Jermar Jefferson (5-10, 216). Last year, Taylor rushed for 1,434 yards, while Jefferson rushed for 1,380 yards. 

UCLA is looking good in the backfield with senior Joshua Kelley (5-11, 204). Last season, Kelley rushed for 1,2453 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Utah has strength in senior Zack Moss (5-10, 215). Moss scampered for 1,096 yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry in 2018. Finally, Oregon is set with sophomore C.H. Verdell (5-9, 209). Verdell was good for 1,018 yards last season.

In the SEC, three more running backs join the ranks of D’Andre Swift and Najee Harris. The best of the three is Vanderbilt senior Ke’Shawn Vaughn (5-10, 215). Last year Vaughn rushed for 1,244 yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Behind Vaughn are Missouri junior Larry Rountree (5-10, 210) and Florida senior Lamical Perine (5-11, 227). In 2018, Rountree rushed for 1,216 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Perine averaged 6.2 yards per carry.

Along with Travis Etienne and A.J. Dillon, the ACC has three more good running backs. At the top of the three is Florida State junior Cam Akers (5-11, 212). Joining Akers in the trio is Wake Forest senior Cade Carney (5-11, 215) and Syracuse senior Moe Neal (5-11, 197). Last season Carney rushed for 1,005 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Neal averaged 5.6 yards per carry.

The best running back in the Big 12 at preseason is Oklahoma sophomore Kennedy Brooks (5-11, 205). Brooks accounted for 1,056 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns in 2018. Behind Brooks is Kansas sophomore Pooka Williams (5-10, 170). Williams ran for 1,125 yards last season.

West Virginia is loaded in the backfield with senior Kennedy McKoy (6-0, 208), senior Martell Pettaway (5-9, 208) and sophomore Leddie Brown (6-0, 214).

Among the Group of Five conferences, the AAC has the most talented group of running backs. Two of the best are at UCF – senior Adrian Killins (5-8, 184) and junior Greg McCrae. McCrae rushed for 1,182 yards last year.

Cincinnati is in good shape with junior Michael Warren (5-11, 218). In 2018, Warren rushed for 1,329 yards and scored 19 touchdowns. Tulane is sitting pretty with senior Darius Bradwell (6-1, 230). Last season, Bradwell rushed for 1,134 yards.

Likewise, Memphis has a solid running back in senior Patrick Taylor (6-3, 223). Taylor rushed for 1,122 yards and scored 16 touchdowns in 2018.

Lastly, two more quality running backs in the AAC are South Florida senior Jordan Cronkrite (5-11, 207) and Connecticut junior Kevin Mensah (5-9, 197). Last season, Cronkite rushed for 1,121 yards and Mensah accounted for 1,045 yards rushing.

The MWC has three good running backs, starting with Sand Diego State senior Juwan Washington (5-7, 190). Washington ran for 999 yards last year. The other two are Air Force senior Cole Fagan (6-1, 230) and Nevada sophomore Toa Taua (5-8, 220). Fagan rushed for 997 yards in 2018, while Taua ran for 872 yards.

The Sun Belt Conference has one of the best running backs in the country in Appalachian State junior Darrynton Evans (5-11, 191). Last year, Evans rushed for 1,787 yards. Two other good backs from the Sun Belt are Troy senior B.J. Smith (5-9, 203) and Louisiana junior Trey Ragas (5-11, 227). Smith rushed for 1,186 yards in 2018, while Ragas tallied 1,181 yards.

C-USA has two notable running backs. They are Charlotte senior Benny LeMay (5-9, 218) and UAB junior Spencer Brown (6-0, 220). LeMay chalked up 1,243 yards last season, while Brown had 1,227 yards rushing, scoring 16 touchdowns.

And finally in the MAC, two running backs stand out at preseason. They are Western Michigan senior LeVante Bellamy (5-9, 185) and Buffalo sophomore Jaret Patterson (5-9, 195). In 2018, Bellamy rushed for 1,228 yards and Patterson ran for 1,013 yards.

Among the Independents, no running backs standout at preseason.



TT’s Top 10 Favorite Running Backs at Preseason:

1.       Jonathan Taylor – Wisconsin

2.       Travis Etienne – Clemson

3.       A.J. Dillon – Boston College

4.       D’Andre Swift – Georgia

5.       Eno Benjamin – Arizona State

6.       Ke’Shawn Vaughn – Vanderbilt

7.       Darrynton Evans – Appalachian State

8.       J.J. Taylor – Arizona

9.       J.K. Dobbins – Ohio State

10.   Jermar Jefferson – Oregon State 

But keep an eye on:

Najee Harris – Alabama; Zack Moss – Utah; Spencer Brown – UAB; Larry Rountree – Missouri; Toa Taua – Nevada; Cam Akers – Florida State,  and Benny LeMay – Charlotte.

The Other Positions – 2019 

Wide Receivers

Among the 11 best wide receivers in the country, four are from the Big 12 Conference and four more are from the SEC and the ACC – Alabama (2) and Clemson (2). Heading the four from the Big 12 is Oklahoma State junior Tylan Wallace (6-0, 185). Wallace is followed by Oklahoma junior CeeDee Lamb (6-2, 189), TCU junior Jalen Reagor (5-11, 195) and Texas senior Collin Johnson (6-6, 220).

The two from Alabama are junior Jerry Jeudy (6-1, 192) and junior Henry Ruggs (6-0, 180). Jeudy could well be the best wide receiver in the country. The two from Clemson are sophomore Justyn Ross (6-4, 205) and junior Tee Higgins (6-4, 205).

The three remaining top wide receivers are from the Big Ten (2) and the Pac-12. Representing the Big Ten are Purdue sophomore Rondale Moore (5-9, 180) and Ohio State senior K.J. Hill (6-0, 195). The Pac-12 makes the list with Colorado junior Laviska Shenault (6-2, 225).



Tight Ends

Five tight ends are considered to be the best in the country and four of the five are from the SEC (2) and Pac-12 (2). From the SEC are Vanderbilt senior Jared Pinkney (6-4, 255) and Missouri junior Albert Okwuegbunam (6-5, 255).

The two from the Pac-12 are Washington junior Hunter Bryant (6-2, 241) and Stanford junior Colby Parkinson (6-7, 240). The remaining top tight end is from the Big 12 – Oklahoma junior Grant Calcaterra (6-4, 221).



Centers

Four of the best seven centers in the country are from the Big 12 (2) and Pac-12 (2). Representing the Big 12 are Texas senior Zach Shackelford (6-4, 305) and Oklahoma sophomore Creed Humphrey (6-5, 325).

From the Pac-12 are Arizona State senior Cohl Cabral (6-5, 291) and Washington senior Nick Harris (6-1, 302).

The remaining three centers come from the Big Ten, SEC and AAC. They are Wisconsin junior Tyler Biadasz (6-3, 318), Mississippi State senior Daryl Williams (6-2, 310) and

UCF senior Jordan Johnson (6-2, 320).



Offensive Linemen (Guards and Tackles)

Nine of the top 16 offensive linemen in the country are from the SEC (5) and the Pac-12 (4). And two of the five from the SEC are from Alabama – junior Alex Leatherwood (6-6, 310) and junior Jedrick Wills (6-5, 316). Also from the SEC are Georgia junior Andrew Thomas (6-5, 320), Missouri senior Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms (6-5, 330) and Auburn senior Prince Tega Wanogho (6-7, 307).

Two of the four offensive linemen from the Pac-12 are from Oregon – senior Calvin Throckmorton (6-56, 318) and senior Shane Lemieux (6-4, 317). The other two from the Pac-12 are Stanford Junior Walker Little (6-7, 313) and Washington senior Trey Adams (6-8, 306).

The Big Ten has three of the best offensive linemen and two are from Michigan – senior Ben Bredeson (6-5, 320) and senior Jon Runyan (6-5, 310). Also from the Big Ten is Iowa junior Alaric Jackson (6-6, 320).

The ACC makes the list with Louisville junior Mekhi Becton (6-7, 355) and Clemson senior John Simpson (6-4, 330). The MWC has one of the best offensive linemen with Boise State junior Ezra Cleveland (6-6, 311). The Independents are represented with Notre Dame senior Tommy Kraemer (6-6, 319).



Defensive Linemen (Ends and Tackles)

The Big Ten dominates the best defensive linemen with six among the best 16 in the country. Two of the six from the Big Ten are from Michigan State. They are senior Kenny Willekes (6-4, 262) and senior Raequan Williams (6-4, 298). The other four from the Big Ten are Iowa junior A.J. Epenesa (6-6, 280), Ohio State junior Chase Young (6-5, 265), Penn State junior Yetur Gross-Matos (6-5, 265) and Minnesota senior Carter Coughlin (6-4, 245).

The SEC has four on the best defensive linemen list. They are Alabama senior Raekwon Davis (6-7, 309), Auburn senior Derrick Brown (6-5, 325), South Carolina senior Javon Kinlaw (6-6, 302) and LSU senior Rashard Lawrence (6-3, 317).

Three of the top 16 defensive linemen are from the ACC. They are Florida State junior Marvin Wilson (6-5, 314), Clemson sophomore Xavier Thomas (6-2, 260) and Miami (Florida) junior Jonathan Garvin (6-4, 250).

Utah from the Pac-12 has two of the best – senior Leki Fotu (6-5, 327) and senior Bradlee Anae (6-3, 263). And finally, the Independents are represented with Notre Dame senior Julian Okwara (6-5, 240).



Linebackers (Inside and Outside)

The Big Ten (4) and the SEC (4) have eight of the 16 best linebackers. The four from the Big Ten are Michigan State senior Joe Bachie (6-2, 238), Northwestern junior Paddy Fisher (6-4, 241), Purdue senior Markus Bailey (6-1, 240) and Penn State sophomore Micah Parsons (6-3, 243).

Two of the four from the SEC are from Alabama – junior Dylan Moses (6-3, 235) and senior Anfernee Jennings (6-3, 259). Also from the SEC are LSU junior Jacob Phillips (6-4, 229) and Tennessee senior Darrell Taylor (6-4, 255).

The Pac-12 has three of the best linebackers. They are Oregon senior Troy Dye (6-4, 224), California senior Evan Weaver (6-3, 245) and Arizona junior Colin Schooler (6-0, 236). The ACC also has three of the top linebackers and two are from Miami. They are senior Shaquille Quarterman (6-1, 235) and senior Michael Pinckney (6-1, 220). The other linebacker from the ACC is Clemson junior Isaiah Simmons (6-4, 225).

The final two on the linebacker list are from the Big 12 and the MWC – Oklahoma junior Kenneth Murray (6-3, 238) and Utah State junior David Woodward (6-2, 230).



Defensive Backs (Cornerbacks and Safeties)

The SEC dominates the best defensive backs. Of the 18 best cornerbacks and safeties in the country, seven are from the SEC. And four of the seven are from LSU (2) and Alabama (2). From LSU are junior Grant Delpit (6-3, 203) and senior Kristian Fulton (6-0, 192). Representing Alabama are junior Xavier McKinney (6-1, 196) and senior Trevon Diggs (6-2, 200).

The other three defensive backs from the SEC are Georgia senior J.R. Reed (6-1, 194), Florida junior C.J. Henderson (6-1, 191) and Mississippi State junior Cameron Dantzler (6-2, 185).

The Big Ten has Michigan senior Lavert Hill (5-11, 181) and Ohio State senior Jordan Fuller (6-2, 205). From the ACC are Virginia senior Bryce Hall (6-1, 200) and Syracuse sophomore Andre Cisco (6-0, 198).

Two of the top defensive backs are from the Pac-12. They are Stanford junior Paulson Adebo (6-1, 189) and Utah junior Jaylon Johnson (6-0, 190). The Big 12 has two on the list. They are Texas sophomore Caden Sterns (6-1, 210) and TCU senior Jeff Gladney (6-0, 183).

The remaining three defensive backs on the list are from the AAC, C-USA and the Independents. They are UCF junior Richie Grant (6-0, 194), Middle Tennessee junior Reed Blankenship (6-1, 195) and Notre Dame senior Alohi Gilman (5-11, 201).



Kickers

Interestingly, of the six best kickers in the country two are from the Mountain West Conference. They are Wyoming senior Cooper Rothe (5-11, 178) and Utah State senior Dominik Eberle (6-2, 195).

The other four kickers of the top six are from the ACC, Syracuse sophomore Andre Szmyt (6-1, 186), from the SEC, Georgia senior Rodrigo Blankenship (6-1, 191), from the Pac-12, Stanford senior Jet Toner (6-4, 201) and from the Big 12, West Virginia junior Evan Staley (6-1, 184).



Punters

Three of the four best punters in the country are from schools in Ohio, representing the Big Ten, the AAC and the MAC. They are Ohio State junior Drue Chrisman (6-3, 220), Cincinnati junior James Smith (6-5, 225) and Ohio senior Michael Farkas (6-4, 195). The other top punter is from the SEC – Texas A&M senior Braden Mann (5-11, 195).



Touchdown Tom’s Prediction for
Week Zero’s One Big and Most Intriguing Game.…and then none

Florida vs. Miami (Florida) – (SEC vs. ACC) – 7 pm ET, Saturday, ESPN – Second-year Florida coach Dan Mullen goes up against first-year Miami coach Manny Diaz. Mullen is the master of offenses, while Diaz is the master of defenses. The two teams are even on defense – both strong. Florida has the better and stronger offense. Albert savors some jerked Ibis – Florida 27, Miami 17.

Touchdown Tom

https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com 

P.S.

Not exactly college football related, but there were three passings of note last week – Peter Fonda, Jack Whitaker and Cedric Benson. 

Peter Fonda, son of Henry and brother of Jane, who became a star in the film “Easy Rider,” died last week in Los Angeles. He was 79. During his acting and film making career, Fonda earned two Oscar nominations almost three decades apart – original screenplay (1969) for “Easy Rider,” and best actor (1997) for “Ulee’s Gold,” Peter Henry Fonda was born on February 23, 1940, in New York City. He attended the University of Nebraska. His first movie was “Tammy and the Doctor” (1963) cast opposite Sandra Dee. The next year, he starred with Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg in “Lilith.” 

Jack Whitaker, an Emmy-winning sports broadcaster for more than three decades, first with CBS and later for ABC, died yesterday at his home in Devon, Pennsylvania. He was 95. Whitaker was a white-haired figure who covered just about every niche in the sports world – from the first Super Bowl to Secretariat’s victory in the Belmont Stakes, as well as baseball, golf and the Olympics. But he was perhaps best known for his essays about sports. Jack Whitaker was born on May 18, 1924, in Philadelphia. He was enthralled by college football as a teenager, attending the Penn games at Franklin Field. He graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia. 

Cedric Benson, a running back who was a dominant force for the University of Texas before an eight-year career in the National Football League, died Saturday in a motorcycle accident in Austin, Texas. He was 36. Benson was a four-year starter for the Texas Longhorns football team. As a senior in 2004, he was recognized as the nation’s top running back when he received the Doak Walker Award. He finished his career at Texas with 5,540 rushing yards. In 2005, the Chicago Bears selected Benson with the fourth overall pick in the draft. After three seasons with the Bears, Benson found more success with the Cincinnati Bengals in his four seasons with the team. He played one final season for the Green Bay Packers. Benson was from Midland, Texas.

College Football Week – Preseason: The Transfer Portal

To boldly go where

no man has gone before

Beam me up, Jimbo!

The most frequently heard term during college football’s offseason had to be “transfer portal.” If I heard it once, I heard it 500 or more times.

Since the NCAA instituted the program in late 2018, the transfer portal quickly became the craze of college football – at least among the players. At one point last spring 26 quarterbacks alone were in the transfer portal, not to mention all the wide receivers, defensive backs, etc. But far more quarterbacks were in the portal than any other position.


Every time I heard or read “transfer portal,” it made me think of Star Trek. I could picture Kelly Bryant saying, “Beam me up, Barry.” Or Justin Fields saying, “Beam me up, Ryan.” Even Jalen Hurts saying, “Beam me up Lincoln.”

In an effort to make the transfer rules and procedures easier and more user friendly for the athletes, the NCAA began the transfer portal program in October 2018.

Entering the transfer portal is a necessary first step for any athlete thinking about transferring to another school. Athletes can enter the transfer portal without getting permission from their school. All they have to do is notify their current school that they are entering the portal. Once in the portal, their name enters a database and becomes available to the coaches at the other schools.

The new procedures give the athletes options they didn’t have before. Once the player enters the portal, any coach from any other school is free to contact the player, without any restrictions. They don’t have to request permission from the current school to talk to the athlete. Entering the portal does not necessarily mean the athlete is going to transfer. But it does indicate they are considering the possibility of a transfer. It allows the athlete to put his or her name out there and see what other schools, if any, are interested in them.

The transfer portal rules still require athletes, who have not graduated, to sit out a full year before they can play for their new school. But the undergraduate athletes can apply for a waiver. The waiver request can be based on family, economic, personal, social, etc. reasons. And this is where the NCAA has been inconsistent – granting waivers for some, but not others, on what appears to be similar transfer reasons. To many, the decision making policy of granting waivers has been “highly illogical.” The NCAA has promised to review their decision policies and establish more consistent measures – most likely making it harder to get a waiver.

Of course, athletes who have graduated and still have a year of eligibility left do not have to sit out a full year after transferring. They can play in the upcoming season. In the case of the quarterbacks mentioned above, Kelly Bryant and Jalen Hurts graduated from Clemson and Alabama respectively last December. They will play this season for Missouri and Oklahoma respectively. However, Justin Fields, in his transfer from Georgia to Ohio State, had to apply for a waiver. Fields was a freshman last season at Georgia. The NCAA granted his waiver and Fields will play for Ohio State this season.

Also, athletes transferring to any lower division school (e.g. FBS to FCS, FCS to Division II or Division II to Division III) do not have to sit out a full year before they can play.

If an athlete enters the transfer portal, the school cannot terminate his or her scholarship immediately. However, schools are allowed to cancel the scholarship of athletes who enter the portal at the end of the semester in which they entered the portal. If an athlete decides not to transfer after entering the portal and considering his or her offers, the athlete can stay at their current school and continue playing, assuming the school doesn’t terminate their scholarship at the end of the semester.

Oh well, to the athletes who have taken advantage of the transfer portal, “Live long and prosper.”

Next to “transfer portal,” the most common occurrence of a name or term during the offseason had to be “Urban Meyer.” Quite frankly, I’m not sure how the retired Ohio State football coach is going to have time to do everything he is supposed to do.

First, last season had barely ended and Meyer had barely retired when we learned that Ohio State rehired Meyer to be an assistant to the school’s athletic director. It wasn’t long following that news when Ohio State announced Meyer had been contracted to teach a “Leadership and Character” course in the university’s Fisher College of Business. (See Quotes of the Offseason.)

Meanwhile, Meyer’s new occupations continued to expand. As winter was coming to an end, FOX Sports announced that Meyer had been hired as a studio analyst on the FOX broadcast network’s new pregame show – “Big Noon Kickoff”. Meyer will join Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Rob Stone on the show. “Big Noon Kickoff” will compete with ESPN’s “College GameDay.”  The show will air every Saturday on FOX during the college football season from 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon.

Just when you thought it was all coming to an end, the Urban Meyer saga continued. In late spring, rumors began circulating that Meyer would become the head coach at USC at the end of the 2019 season. This rumor based on the speculation that current USC head coach Clay Helton would be fired during or after the 2019 season. Stay tuned.

Then the icing on the cake. In early June, Meyer announced he is opening a bar-grill restaurant in Dublin, Ohio, – a suburb of Columbus. The new restaurant will be called Urban Meyer’s Pint House.

According to some of the more creative and imaginative members of Twitter and the press, the drafts to be offered at Meyer’s Pint House will be Self-Righteous IPA, Health Problems Hefeweizen, Deleted Messages Doppelbock, Urban’s Looking Pale Ale, Spending Time With My Family No Lager, Sad Pizza Stout and Cold Pizza Porter.

Yes and speaking of the Lager, as the season came to an end last year, Meyer said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family. Assistant Athletic Director, College Professor, FOX Sports Studio Analyst and Restaurant Owner – that’s some family.

Well, wouldn’t you know it. And not to be outdone. Just a week or two after Meyer announced his restaurant plans, Steve Spurrier announced he was opening a bar-grill restaurant in Gainesville, Florida. It will be called “Spurrier’s.”

Spurrier said he wouldn’t be a day-to-day manager at the restaurant. But he said he would make frequent appearances.

Sportswriter Andy Staples said if it had been a hot dog joint it could have been called “The Fun And Bun.” On attire for the restaurant, Gainesville Sun sports columnist Pat Dooley said, “Visors are optional.” Someone else said that one of the menu items will be a pink taco called “The Mullen.”

Unfortunately, all the news during the offseason wasn’t so light. On March 28, former Navy running back and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino died. He was 81. Bellino won the Heisman Trophy in 1960. Navy played Missouri in the Orange Bowl that season on January 1, 1961.

As a ninth grader in November of 1960, I was on a school trip to Washington, DC and Annapolis, Maryland. We stayed at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington and at Carvel Hall in Annapolis. At the restaurant in Carvel Hall one day, I spotted Joe Bellino. I approached him and asked for his autograph. He graciously responded, signing the back of a card. I carried that card in my billfold for many years – well into the 1970s.

Speaking of deaths, David White who formed the doo-wop group Danny and the Juniors in the mid-1950s, co-wrote their No. 1 hit “At the Hop,” and composed their successful follow-up “Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay,” died on March 16 in Las Vegas. He was 79.

“At the Hop” was originally written and recorded as “At the Bop.” Upon hearing it, Dick Clark, a Philadelphia disc jockey and host of “American Bandstand” suggested they change it to “At the Hop.” Clark played the song on “American Bandstand” in 1957. The song took off, leapt to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and stayed there for seven weeks. “Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay” hit the Hot 100 chart in 1958 and peaked at No. 19.

White left Danny and the Juniors in 1961. He went on to write “The Fly” (1961) for Chubby Checker, “You Don’t Own Me” (1963) for Lesley Gore and “1-2-3” (1965) for Len Barry.

We witnessed a rare occurrence in late April. At the NFL draft in Nashville, Nebraska and Tennessee failed to have any of their football players drafted. It was the first time that happened to Nebraska since 1962.

On May 26, Bart Starr died. The former Alabama and Green Bay Packers quarterback was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. He was the coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1975 to 1983. It was sometime between 1978 and 1982 that I sat near Starr in the Eastern Airlines Ionosphere Club in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. I would have asked him for his autograph too, but he was engaged in conversation with another gentleman.

Late in June, Connecticut announced it was leaving the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and will rejoin the Big East Conference where it will compete in all sports. All sports that is except football. The Big East doesn’t compete in football as a conference.

That leaves the question: What is UConn football going to do? Speculation included remain in the AAC as a football only member or join the MAC or C-USA as a football only member.

Later, the AAC said that Connecticut cannot remain as a football only member. UConn will owe the AAC a departure fee of $17 million. The football team will become an Independent, joining the ranks of Army, BYU, Liberty, Massachusetts, New Mexico State and Notre Dame in that role.

Early in July, former Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen died. He was 38. Lorenzen was a quarterback at Kentucky from 2000 to 2003, playing for three head coaches – Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss and Rich Brooks.

Then, just a few days later, Florida’s “Mr. Two Bits” – George Edmondson – died. He was 97. Edmondson led the “Two-bits, Four-bits” cheer before every home Florida football game from 1949 to 2009.

Around the same time, CFW reader and friend Susan Eaton sent me a picture of the Okefenokee Oar. Susan was in Athens, Georgia, where she took the picture. Unfortunately, it is residing in Athens these days.

What is the Okefenokee Oar? I didn’t know either. Well, the Oar, which was carved from the remains of a 1,000-year-old cypress tree that grew in the Okefenokee Swamp, is presented to the winner of the Florida-Georgia football game. Actually, the 10-foot-long oar is presented to the student body president of the winning school. The tradition of exchanging the Oar didn’t begin until 2009. The Okefenokee Swamp straddles the Florida-Georgia boundary not far from Jacksonville, Florida. Susan, by the way, is a Georgia grad.

Former New York Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton died on July 10. He was 80. Bouton was the author of the book “Ball Four.” He played college baseball for Western Michigan University and then for the Yankees from 1962 to 1968. Bouton also played a year each for the Seattle Pilots, the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. “Ball Four” was published in 1970.

Just a few weeks ago, the Pac-12 announced it is moving its football championship game from Santa Clara, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada. The move will take effect next season – 2020. The Pac-12 has signed a two-year contract with Las Vegas to host the championship game, following the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Late in July, Swamp Mama and I returned to West Virginia.  Our first stop was Greenbrier County where we visited the towns of Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs. There are four Carnegie Halls in the world – one in Scotland, one in New York City, one in Pittsburgh and one in Lewisburg , West Virginia. In White Sulphur Springs, we stopped in at the Greenbrier Hotel for lunch.

From Greenbrier County, we headed north through Pocahontas County, Pendleton County and Randolph County to Tucker County where we spent a week of relaxation and fun at a charming cottage in Canaan Valley, near Davis, West Virginia. Canaan Valley is the highest valley east of the Rocky Mountains.

Heading to Canaan Valley from Greenbrier County, we followed the “Quilt Barn Trail.” As Swamp Mama spotted a Quilt Barn, I would hit the brakes and pull over. Swamp Mama jumped out of the car and went running onto somebody’s property to take a picture of the quilt block on the side of their barn. I got out of the car to stand guard duty, making sure no one came out with a shotgun pointed at Swamp Mama.

Every morning just after sunrise and every evening at dusk, several white-tailed deer made a point to come by our cottage in Canaan Valley for a visit. We sure enjoyed watching them. I think they enjoyed watching us too. I don’t know who was more curious.

Swamp Mama and I really enjoyed relaxing in our cottage, but we also got out and about and took in as much as we could. One day, we met our friends Fred and Sally Adkins for lunch in Elkins, West Virginia. We hiked trails, visited waterfalls, shops and almost got to the top of Dolly Sods. But that’s another story. Driving along Route 32, north of Harman, a black bear cub came running out of the woods and along side the road. Once the cub realized where it was it ran back into the woods.

As we left the cottage and started our trip home we headed down Route 219 – the Seneca Trail. Along the way, we stopped in for a sumptuous Sunday morning breakfast and final visit with Fred and Sally Adkins. It was fun talking about the upcoming Mountaineer football season, while enjoying Fred’s biscuits and gravy. They are the best.

Further south on Route 219, between Mingo and Lewisburg, Swamp Mama spotted some more quilt barns. Well, you know the routine. Fortunately, no one came out with any shotguns. After a night in Mooresville, North Carolina, we were home the following day.

Gator Gabe turned 14 on August 5. We drove up to the panhandle for a few days for the celebration. Now we are back home, just waiting for football season to start.

I know Don Haddix, Gary Schwartzkopf, Scott Greenwood and Ken Burger can’t wait for the season to start. I heard from them last week. Same for Dan Kleinbeck. I saw his posting on Facebook. Among those five, you have four Huskers, one Gator and one Crimson Tide man.

Rockledge Gator and Bootsie are entertaining grandchildren this week. Some things you have to get out of the way first before football season starts.

Speaking of first, can you believe the first game is just 12 days away? – Florida vs. Miami (Florida) at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. It’s going to be hot. I’m talking about the temperature. Well, the game will be hot too. Stay tuned!

Touchdown Tom
August 12, 2019
https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com

Quotes of the Offseason 

“Do I still root for the Gophers? I do. Do I enjoy him running up and down the sidelines? No. Do I think he is about the players? No. He’s about himself,” former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill on current Gophers coach P.J. Fleck.

“Urban Meyer’s loss of credibility will hurt him as an analyst on Fox,” USA Today sports columnist Dan Wolken.

“Why would we trust anything Urban Meyer says,” USA Today sports columnist Dan Woken, on Meyer’s joining the Fox Sports pregame show.

“UCLA basketball is like Nebraska football. It used to be important. It’s not anymore,” ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

“How can Urban Meyer be teaching a course on character? He has been a serial liar throughout his coaching career,” ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

“Dana Holgorsen always looked and acted like he just came from a fraternity party. Neal Brown is a buttoned-down type of guy. I think Brown will do very well at West Virginia,” ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

“I am kinda like Osama bin Dabo. I have to navigate my way through the caves and back channels to make my way through Alabama these days,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, when asked if the walls are up when he enters his former state.”

“You know, he ain’t that good,” former Louisiana Tech and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, on Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

“Urban Meyer has a winning record, really phenomenal record everywhere he’s been. Also, controversy follows everywhere he’s been,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

“The biggest thing is Dan Mullen is thrust into this conversation only because he is the coach at Florida. He would not be in this conversation based on his successes on the field, based on his resume, but he gets thrusts into this group because he got the job at Florida. And why did he get the job at Florida? Because Florida wasn’t an attractive job. It wasn’t. I mean the stadium is not selling out anymore. They really have fallen off. The recruiting has been down, to some extent, especially since the Urban Meyer era. So, it’s like, why did he get the job? He got the job because Scott Frost didn’t want the job. Think about that. This was a job that was top five in the country in 2005 when Urban turned down Notre Dame to go to Florida,” Former Ohio State assistant coach and Urban Meyer protégé Zach Smith, when asked if Dan Mullen is a great coach.

“Clemson will beat Syracuse by three touchdowns,” ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

The Quarterbacks – 2019 

Needless to say, the top two teams in the country at preseason, Alabama and Clemson or Clemson and Alabama, depending on whose poll you’re reading, have the top two quarterbacks in the country – Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence or Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa, depending on whose review you’re reading.

Clemson sophomore Trevor Lawrence (6-6, 215) led the Tigers to the national championship in 2018. After Clemson began the season at 4-0 under quarterback Kelly Bryant, Lawrence was named the starting quarterback by Tigers coach Dabo Swinney. Lawrence replaced Bryant prior to the fifth game of the season and never looked back. Clemson won 11 more games under Lawrence. Only the Syracuse game, his first as a starter, was close. And Lawrence was injured in that game.

In those 10-plus games, Lawrence threw for 3,280 yards and 30 touchdowns, averaging 219 yards per game passing. He completed 62% of his tosses and only threw four interceptions – all pretty amazing for a freshman. 

Meanwhile, Alabama junior Tua Tagovailoa (6-1, 218) guided the Crimson Tide to a 14-1 record, losing only the national championship game to Clemson. Tagovailoa passed for 3,966 yards and 45 touchdowns. He averaged 264 yards a game passing. Tagovailoa completed 69% of his passes and only threw six interceptions.

There’s no doubt that Lawrence and Tagovailoa are the two most acclaimed and accomplished quarterbacks at preseason. All other quarterbacks will be hard pressed to succeed them – but the potential is there.

Starting in the SEC, among the Power Five conferences, Georgia junior quarterback Jake Fromm (6-2, 220) has some pretty impressive statistics. As a freshman, like Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, Fromm assumed the stating role at Georgia in 2017 after the season had begun. With the Bulldogs 1-0 and starting quarterback Jacob Eason injured, Fromm took over the reins, facing Notre Dame on the road in his first encounter. Georgia beat the Irish and went on to finish 13-2 under Fromm, losing to Alabama in the national championship game.

Last year, Georgia finished 11-3 under Fromm. He had 2,761 yards passing, and 30 touchdowns, averaging 197 yards per game passing. Fromm completed 67% of his passes. The Bulldogs are 24-5 in two seasons under Fromm.

Trevor Lawrence’s predecessor at Clemson, Kelly Bryant, has transferred to Missouri. As a graduate transfer, Bryant doesn’t have to sit-out the season and will be the starting quarterback for the Missouri Tigers. In his one-plus years at Clemson, Bryant was 16-2, quarterbacking the Tigers.

After Fromm and Bryant, the SEC has four more good quarterbacks, beginning with Florida junior Feleipe Franks (6-6, 240). After a rough start to the 2018 season, Franks finished strong, leading the Gators to a 10-3 season, including a 41-15 Peach Bowl win over Michigan. He passed for 2,457 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Meanwhile in College Station, Texas A&M has a very talented quarterback in junior Kellen Mond (6-2, 217). Last year, Mond passed for 3,107 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also rushed for 474 yards.

LSU has strong leadership and experience at quarterback with senior Joe Burrow (6-4, 216). Last year, Burrow guided the Tigers to a 10-3 season. Along the way, he threw for 2,894 yards and 16 touchdowns.

And finally, South Carolina is expecting a good season from senior Jake Bentley (6-4, 220). Bentley has the talent but has often fallen short of his potential. Last year, he passed for 3,174 yards and 27 touchdowns, averaging 264 yards per game passing. But he also threw 14 interceptions. Bentley completed 62% of his throws in 2018.

The Big 12 has a strong crop of quarterbacks led by Oklahoma senior Jalen Hurts (6-2, 219) and Texas junior Sam Ehlinger (6-3, 235). After losing his starting position at Alabama, Hurts, like Kelly Bryant (Clemson to Missouri), transferred to Oklahoma. As a graduate transfer, again like Bryant, Hurts will start this season for the Sooners.

Except for his heroics in the SEC championship game against Georgia, Hurts played second fiddle to Tua Tagovailoa last year at Alabama. But in the two seasons prior to that, Hurts, as a starter, led the Crimson Tide to a 26-2 record and two national championship games.

Texas is loaded at the quarterback position with Sam Ehlinger. Last year, Ehlinger passed for 3,292 yards and 25 touchdowns, averaging 235 yards a game passing. He completed 65% of his passes. Ehlinger finished the 2018 season strong, leading Texas to a victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Many consider Ehlinger a serious Heisman Trophy candidate.

Iowa State is a highly-ranked team this season. A major reason for the Cyclones ranking is sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy (6-1, 210). As a freshman, Purdy surprised the Big 12 and the nation last season with his feisty play. He passed for 2,250 yards, completing 66% of his throws. Purdy led Iowa State to an 8-5 season and a third-place finish in the Big 12.

Baylor is expecting good things from junior Charlie Brewer (6-1, 202). Last year, Brewer threw for 3,019 yards and 19 touchdowns, completing 62% of his tosses. Texas Tech is in good shape with sophomore Alan Bowman (6-3, 210). Bowman passed for 2,638 yards in 2018, throwing 17 touchdown passes and averaging 330 yards per game. He completed 69% of his passes.

Will Grier has graduated from West Virginia and that means the Mountaineers will have a new quarterback in 2019. Two juniors who both transferred to WVU are vying for the job. The leading candidate is Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall (6-2, 218). But chasing Kendall’s tail is Miami (Florida) transfer Jack Allison (6-6, 208).

In the Big Ten, this is the season that Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines are finally supposed to overtake Ohio State. One of the reasons for Michigan’s preseason loftiness is the quarterback bank in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines are led by senior Shea Patterson (6-2, 205). Last year Patterson passed for 2,600 yards, throwing for 22 touchdowns. He completed 65% of his tosses. And backing up Patterson is a capable junior, Dylan McCaffrey (6-5, 217).

But the Buckeyes aren’t hurting at quarterback. Ohio State is sitting pretty with Georgia transfer Justin Fields (6-3, 233). Fields, a sophomore, received one of those lucky transfer portal waivers. He made the decision to transfer to Ohio State when he realized he wasn’t going to replace Jake Fromm anytime soon in Athens.

Nebraska is on the rebound in Lincoln and that rebound could come sooner rather than later with sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez (6-2, 220). Last year, Martinez threw for 2,617 yards and 17 touchdowns, completing 65% of his passes. Even better, Martinez rushed for 629 yards.

Iowa has a steady and stable quarterback in senior Nate Stanley (6-4, 242). In 2018, Stanley passed for 2,852 yards and 26 touchdowns. He led Iowa to a 9-4 season and an Outback Bowl win over Mississippi State.

Indiana also has a strong quarterback in junior Peyton Ramsey (6-2, 213). Last year Ramsey passed for 2,875 yards and 19 touchdowns, while averaging 240 yards a game passing. He completed 66% of his lobs. Michigan State has experience in senior quarterback Brian Lewerke (6-3, 214). The Spartan signal caller was a disappointment in 2018 but looking to have better results this season.

The Pac-12 has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Oregon senior Justin Herbert (6-6, 233). Herbert threw for 3,151 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2018. He averaged 242 yards a game passing. Just behind Herbert in the Pac-12 quarterback race is Stanford junior K.J. Costello (6-5, 205). Last year, Costello passed for an impressive 3,540 yards and 29 touchdowns, averaging 272 yards a game through the air. He completed 65% of his throws. Herbert and Costello led their teams to 9-4 seasons in 2018.

Arizona has a dangerous quarterback in senior Khalil Tate (6-2, 215). Last season, Tate threw for 2,530 yards and 26 touchdowns. Colorado is in capable hands with senior Steven Montez (6-5, 220). In 2018, Montez passed for 2,849 yards and 19 touchdowns. He completed 65% of his tosses.

Down in Los Angeles, USC is hanging its hopes on sophomore J.T. Daniels (6-3, 210). Last season, Daniels passed for 2,672 yards. He averaged 243 yards per game passing. And in Seattle, Huskies fans are anxiously awaiting the debut of junior Jacob Eason (6-6, 228). The transfer from Georgia, Eason lost his starting job to Jake Fromm in Athens. He sat out last season.

Aside from Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, the ACC doesn’t have many marquee quarterbacks to talk about at preseason. However, that could all change before the season is over. There are three other ACC quarterbacks worth mentioning. First and foremost among the three is Virginia senior Bryce Perkins (6-3, 210). Last year, Perkins threw for 2,680 yards and 25 touchdowns, completing 64% of his passes. More dauntingly, Perkins rushed for 923 yards. He led the Cavaliers to an 8-5 season, including a 28-0 Belk Bowl win over South Carolina.

Virginia Tech has returning experience with senior Ryan Willis (6-4, 223). Last season, Willis passed for 2,716 yards, throwing 24 touchdown passes. In Syracuse, all eyes are on a newcomer – sophomore Tommy DeVito (6-2, 207). Exciting times are expected from DeVito.

Among the Independents, Notre Dame leads the pack at the quarterback position. That would be senior Ian Book (6-0, 208). In 2018, Book passed for 2,628 yards, throwing 19 touchdown passes. He completed 68% of his lobs. Book led the Irish to a 12-1 season and a spot in the playoffs last year.

Army is a vastly improved team, listed in several preseason Top-25 polls. That preseason attention is due to senior quarterback Kelvin Hopkins (5-10, 205). Hopkins was impressive in 2018, throwing for 1,026 yards and rushing for 1,017 yards. Passing and rushing, he was responsible for 23 touchdowns. Hopkins led Army to an 11-2 season last year, including a win over Navy and a 70-14 Armed Forces Bowl win over Houston.

Liberty has a sharpshooter with a fancy name. That would be senior Buckshot Calvert (6-2, 180). Last year, Calvert passed for 3,068 yards and 21 touchdowns, averaging 256 yards a game. And finally, New Mexico State has a good quarterback in sophomore Josh Adkins (6-2, 218). Last season, Adkins threw for 2,563 yards. He averaged 256 yards per game through the air.

In the Group of Five conferences, the AAC has the most distinguished list of quarterbacks. Topping the list is Houston senior D’Eriq King (5-11, 195). Last year King passed for 2,982 yards and 36 touchdowns. He averaged 271 yards per game passing, while completing 64% of his tosses.

Memphis should be set with junior Brady White (6-3, 205). Last season, White threw for 3,296 yards and 26 touchdowns, while completing 63% of his throws. South Florida is in good shape too with senior Blake Barnett (6-5, 217). In 2018, Barnett passed for 2,710 yards, averaging 246 yards a game.

Navy has a top-notch quarterback. But he is a runner, not a passer. That would be senior Malcolm Perry (5-9, 185). Last season, Perry rushed for 1,087 yards. Meanwhile, UCF is hanging its hopes on Notre Dame graduate transfer Brandon Wimbush (6-1, 226).

The Mountain West Conference has two outstanding quarterbacks. They are both juniors – Utah State’s Jordan Love (6-4, 220) and Hawaii’s Cole McDonald (6-4, 205). Last season, Love passed for 3,567 yards and 32 touchdowns, averaging 274 yards per game. He completed 64% of his tosses. Love led the Aggies to an 11-2 season in 2018, including a 52-13 New Mexico Bowl win over North Texas. Meanwhile, McDonald threw for 3,875 yards and 36 touchdowns, while averaging 298 yards a game through the air.

In the MAC, four quarterbacks are worth a shout out at preseason. The leader of the four is Ohio senior Nathan Rourke (6-2, 208). Last year, Rourke passed for 2,434 yards and 23 touchdowns. Rourke led the Bobcats to a 27-0 victory over San Diego State in the Frisco Bowl. Under Rourke, Ohio finished its season at 9-4.

Following Rourke are Akron junior Kato Nelson (6-1, 215), Kent State junior Woody Barrett (6-2, 236) and Northern Illinois junior Marcus Childers (6-0, 222). In 2018, Nelson passed for 2,151 yards and 15 touchdowns. Barrett threw for 2,339 yards, while Childers passed for 2,175 yards. Akron, Kent State and Northern Illinois are banking on the experience of their junior quarterbacks to deliver good seasons in 2019.

Six quarterbacks make the preseason highlight film in C-USA. The six are led by North Texas senior Mason Fine (5-11, 185). Fine is the real McCoy. Last year, he passed for 3,793 yards and  27 touchdowns, averaging 292 yards per game. Fine completed 65% of his throws.

After Fine, the other five C-USA quarterbacks are kind of bunched together. Among the five are FIU senior James Morgan (6-4, 213) and Louisiana Tech senior J’Mar Smith (6-1, 226). In 2018, Morgan threw for 2,727 yards and 26 touchdowns. He completed 65% of his passes. Smith passed for 3,160 yards.

Continuing with the other three are Florida Atlantic sophomore Chris Robinson (6-1, 177), Marshall sophomore Isaiah Green (6-2, 212) and Southern Miss junior Jack Abraham (6-0, 204) 2,347 yards 260 73. Last season, Robinson threw for 2,540 yards, completing 63% of his throws. Green amassed 2,459 yards, averaging 246 yards per game passing and Abraham passed for 2,347 yards, averaging 260 yards a game. He completed an amazing 73% of his passes.

The two best quarterbacks in the Sun Belt Conference are Appalachian State junior Zac Thomas (6-1, 200) and ULM senior Caleb Evans (6-2, 210). Last year, Thomas tossed for 2,039 yards and 21 touchdowns. He completed 63% of his lobs. Thomas led the Little Mountaineers to an 11-2 season, including a 45-13 New Orleans Bowl win over Middle Tennessee.

Meanwhile, Evans passed for 2,869 yards and 16 touchdowns. He completed 62% of his throws.

TT’s Top 10 Favorite Quarterbacks at Preseason:

1.       Trevor Lawrence – Clemson

2.       Tua Tagovailoa – Alabama

3.       Jalen Hurts – Oklahoma

4.       Jake Fromm – Georgia

5.       Adrian Martinez – Nebraska

6.       K.J. Costello – Stanford

7.       Sam Ehlinger – Texas

8.       Jordan Love – Utah State

9.       Mason Fine – North Texas

10.   Ian Book – Notre Dame

But keep an eye on:

Justin Herbert – Oregon; Cole McDonald – Hawaii; Khalil Tate – Arizona; Shea Patterson – Michigan; Kelly Bryant – Missouri; Kelvin Hopkins – Army;  Feleipe Franks – Florida; Buckshot Calvert – Liberty; Kellen Mond – Texas A&M, and Nate Stanley – Iowa.

Also,  Joe Burrow – LSU; Brock Purdy – Iowa State; Caleb Evans – ULM; D’Eriq King – Houston; Nathan Rourke – Ohio; Alan Bowman – Texas Tech; Steven Montez – Colorado; Blake Barnett – South Florida; Justin Fields – Ohio State and Jacob Eason – Washington.

The New Coaches – 2019

They’re back! I’m talking about Les Miles and Mack Brown. They’re back in the saddle again. Miles and Brown, both former coaches who won national championships at their respective schools – LSU and Texas – before being forced out of their jobs, will be back on the sidelines this season.

Miles, who hasn’t coached since four games into the 2016 season, was hired last November to be the new head coach at Kansas. LSU was 2-2 in the 2016 season when Miles was forced to vacate his position in Baton Rouge. He had coached LSU for 11-plus seasons (2005-2016), winning the national championship in 2007. After sitting out 2-plus seasons, Kansas signed Miles to a 5-year, $13.8 million contract.

Brown, who hasn’t coached since the end of the 2013 season, was hired last November to be the new head coach at North Carolina. Texas finished its season at 8-5 in 2013 when Brown was forced out of his job in Austin. He had coached Texas for 16 seasons (1998-2013), winning the national championship in 2005. After sitting out of coaching for five seasons, North Carolina signed Brown to a 5-year $17.5 million contract. He previously coached the Tar Heels from 1988 to 1997.

Miles and Brown are just two of the eight new coaches in the Big 12 and ACC conferences. The Big 12 and the ACC are the two Power Five conferences with the most new coaches (4 each) in 2019.

Joining Miles in the Big 12 are Matt Wells (Texas Tech), Chris Klieman (Kansas State) and Neal Brown (West Virginia). Wells, the former head coach at Utah State is the new coach at Texas Tech. In six seasons at Utah State (2013-2018), Wells compiled a 44-34 record.

Klieman is the new coach at Kansas State. He joins the Wildcats from North Dakota State where, in five seasons (2014-2018), he compiled a 69-6 record, winning four FCS national championships. Brown, the former head coach at Troy, takes over the reins at West Virginia. In four seasons at Troy (2015-2018), he compiled a 35-16 record, 31-8 after his first year. Brown’s Trojans beat LSU (24-21) in 2017 and Nebraska (24-19) last year.

Joining Mack Brown in the ACC are Scott Satterfield (Louisville), Geoff Collins (Georgia Tech) and Manny Diaz (Miami). Satterfield, the new Louisville coach, has been the head coach at Appalachian State the past five years, where he coached the Little Mountaineers to a 51-24 record.

Collins, a familiar face to Gator fans, comes to Georgia Tech from Temple, where he was the head coach the past two seasons. Collins was the defensive coordinator at Florida in 2015 and 2016 under Jim McElwain. Prior to Florida, he was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and FIU. Miami’s new coach, Manny Diaz, built his reputation as a defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, Texas and Miami. Ironically, Diaz was first named and became the new coach at Temple last year. But that title only lasted about 24 hours. Miami lured him away from Temple when Mark Richt was forced out. A native of Miami, Diaz played football at Florida State.

The Big Ten has two new head coaches this season, the Pac-12 one and the SEC none. The new coaches in the Big Ten are Ryan Day at Ohio State and Mike Locksley at Maryland.

Day has been the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Ohio State the past two seasons, briefly the interim head last season. He is a native of Manchester, New Hampshire and played quarterback for New Hampshire. Locksley takes over the Terrapins after serving as an offensive coordinator at Alabama the past two seasons. He has ties to the Maryland area, having been born in Washington, DC, and playing football for Towson State.

The one new head coach in the Pac-12 is Mel Tucker at Colorado. Tucker has been the defensive coordinator for Georgia the past three seasons. He played football at Wisconsin – a defensive back. And as mentioned, the SEC returns all of its head coaches in 2019.

Among the Group of Five conferences, the MAC and the Sun Belt have the most new head coaches – four each. Leading the way in the MAC is Jim McElwain. The former Florida head coach, McElwain takes over the reins at Central Michigan. He coached the Gators for 2-plus seasons from 2015 to 2017. Last season McElwain was the wide receivers coach at Michigan. 

The other new coaches in the MAC are Scott Loeffler at Bowling Green, Tom Arth at Akron and Thomas Hammock at Northern Illinois. Loeffler comes to Bowling Green from Boston College where he was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for the Eagles the past three seasons. He is a native of Barberton, Ohio, and played quarterback at Michigan.

Arth, the new man at Akron, has been the head coach at Chattanooga the past two seasons. A native of Westlake, Ohio, Arth played college ball for John Carroll University. Northern Illinois reached into the NFL ranks to secure its new coach. Hammock has been the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens the past five seasons. He is returning home. In college, Hammock, was a running back for NIU.

In the Sun Belt Conference, former West Virginia offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, Jake Spavital, takes over the job at Texas State. He was at West Virginia for two seasons. Prior to WVU, the Tulsa native, held the same position at Texas A&M and California. The other three new coaches in the Sun Belt are Eli Drinkwitz (Appalachian State), Chip Lindsey (Troy) and Jamey Chadwell (Coastal Carolina).

Drinkwitz takes the reins at Appalachian State after having been the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Boise State (2015) and at NC State (2016-2018). He is a native of Norman, Oklahoma. Troy looked up the road to Auburn to nab Lindsey. He was the offensive coordinator at Auburn the past two seasons. Prior to that, he was OC at Southern Miss and Arizona State. Lindsey is a native of Madison, Alabama.

At Coastal Carolina, Chadwell was the interim head coach (2017) and the associate head coach (2018) the past two seasons. He was also the offensive coordinator both of those seasons at CC. Now he moves up to the top, becoming the full-time head coach.

The biggest name among the new head coaches in the AAC is former West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. He is the new coach at Houston. As the 2018 season ended in Morgantown, Holgorsen wanted a pay raise. West Virginia wasn’t interested in giving him a raise. Holgorsen said, “I’m leaving for Houston.” West Virginia said, “That’s fine with us.” Holgorsen had been the coach at West Virginia for the past eight seasons where he compiled a record of 61-41.

The other two new coaches in the AAC are Mike Houston (East Carolina) and Rod Carey (Temple). Houston comes to East Carolina after being a head coach the past eight seasons at Lenoir-Rhyne (2011-2013), The Citadel (2014-2015) and James Madison (2016-2018). He coached James Madison to a 37-6 record, winning the FCS national championship in 2016 and 2018. Carey was the second choice at Temple. The Owls initially hired Manny Diaz. But, after only 24 hours on the job, Diaz resigned to become the head coach at Miami (Florida). Prior to Temple, Carey was the head coach at Northern Illinois for seven seasons (2012-2018).

In C-USA, Tyson Helton is the new head coach at Western Kentucky and Will Healy is the new coach at Charlotte. Helton, a native of Gainesville, Florida, was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Tennessee last season. He was previously on the staff at Western Kentucky as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2014 and 2015. He is the younger brother  of USC head coach Clay Helton. Tyson may have to offer Clay a job next season.

Meanwhile, Healy joins Charlotte from Austin Peay where he was head coach the past three seasons (2016-2018). He is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The lone new coach in the MWC is Gary Anderson at Utah State. Ironically, Andersen was the head coach at Utah State for four seasons from 2009 to 2012. After 2012, he became the head coach at Wisconsin for two seasons and then at Oregon State for three seasons (2015-2017). Last year, Andersen was an assistant head coach at Utah.

Among the Independents, there are two new head coaches – at Massachusetts and Liberty. UMass hired Walt Bell to be its new coach. Last year, Bell was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Florida State. Prior to that, he held the same position at Maryland for two seasons. Bell is a native of Dickson, Tennessee.

Liberty made a name for itself, not a good one, when the school hired Hugh Freeze to be its new coach. Freeze, a former head coach at Mississippi was fired by Ole Miss after the 2016 season for inappropriate behavior. He was away from the sport the past two seasons as no school would hire him, not even as a position coach. Perhaps Freeze can redeem his character at Liberty.

Twenty-seven schools will have new head coaches pacing the sidelines in 2019. From Les Miles to Jim McElwain, from Mack Brown to Manny Diaz and from Dana Holgorsen to Hugh Freeze, it’s going to be fun.

 

Coaches on the Hot Seat – 2019

Unfortunately, a fair number of coaches always enter the season on the hot seat. That means they are darn near close to getting the pink slip – some closer than others. Some won’t make it through the season. Some will get their pink slip at the end of the season. Some will survive.

This year, 27 coaches begin the season on the hot seat. It’s probably fair to say that 18 of those coaches will be out of a job come December. Nine will return for another season.

Among the Power Five conferences, the Big 12 is the only conference that doesn’t have a single coach on the hot seat. The conference with the most hot-seat coaches is the SEC with five. Atop of the hot-seat list in the SEC is Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason. Mason is entering his sixth season in Nashville. After five seasons, he has a 24-38 record with the Commodores.

Next to Mason, the hottest seat in the SEC lies in Auburn, Alabama. Even though he has a 53-27 record in six seasons with the Tigers, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn is teetering on the edge. Auburn fans are hot and cold on Malzahn. The Gus Bus has been like one of those “Hop-on/Hop-off” busses. But if the 2019 season is less than spectacular, everyone will be hopping off the Gus Bus.

Three other coaches in the SEC aren’t necessarily on the hottest of seats, but, let’s say, they are on shaky ground. Those coaches are Will Muschamp (South Carolina), Barry Odom (Missouri) and Matt Luke (Ole Miss). Entering his fourth season, Muschamp is 22-17 in Columbia. Included in that 22-17 are no wins over Kentucky (0-3), no wins over Georgia (0-3), no wins over Texas A&M (0-3) and no wins over Clemson (0-3). If South Carolina finishes the season at 0-4 against those four schools, Muschamp will be putting his house up for sale in Columbia.

Meanwhile, in the other Columbia, Barry Odom is still treading water. After two seasons under the water at Missouri (11-14), Odom finally broke through the surface last year (8-5). But at 19-19, he’s just barely floating. With Kelly Bryant at quarterback, Tiger fans are expecting a good year. Odom better hope it’s a good one.

Ole Miss coach Matt Luke enters his third year in Oxford. He is 11-13 after two seasons. The 2019 outlook is not promising for the Rebels. Luke’s future at Ole Miss may not be promising either.

The ACC has four coaches in trouble, but only one is in serious trouble. That would be Florida State coach Willie Taggart – 5-7 after one year in Bingo Town. Seminole fans aren’t used to 5-7 seasons. If 2019 isn’t an improvement in Tallahassee, Taggart could be two and done.

The three ACC coaches in trouble, but not serious trouble, not yet at least, are Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dave Doeren (NC State) and Pat Narduzzi (Pitt). Addazio, 38-38 in six seasons at BC, is 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 the past three seasons. In fact, he’s been 7-6 in four of his six seasons with the Eagles. Another 7-6 and Addazio is seeing pink.

After six seasons, Dave Doeren is doing a little better at NC State. But 43-34 isn’t a lot better. Still the past two seasons each have been 9-4. That’s encouraging for Doeren. But he never seems to get over the hump. He better get over the hump this year.

At Pitt, Pat Narduzzi is another Addazio and Doeren. In four seasons with the Panthers, he is 28-24. Narduzzi needs to poop or get off the Pitt…..I mean…..the pot.

In the Big Ten, two coaches have one foot in the bucket and the other one on a banana peel. And a third coach better come through this season, or else. The two who are all but gone are Chris Ash (Rutgers) and Lovie Smith (Illinois).

After three seasons at Rutgers, Ash is a disastrous 7-29 – only three wins over Power Five teams. The Scarlet Knights are picked to finish last in their division this season and considered to be the worst team in the Big Ten, along with Illinois. At Illinois, Smith is only two games better than Ash – 9-27 after three years. And only four wins over Power Five teams – two of those wins over Rutgers. It’s already curtains for Ash and Smith.

The Big Ten coach who needs to come through this season is Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh. Yes, the Wolverines are a respectable 38-14 in four seasons under Harbaugh. But they are 0-4 against Ohio State. And they ended last season suffering a 41-15 loss to Florida in the Peach Bowl. Harbaugh needs a great season in 2019. Most of all he needs a win over Ohio State.

The Pac-12 has two coaches who may not return next season – Clay Helton (USC) and Kevin Sumlin (Arizona). Helton is a respectable 32-17 in 3-plus seasons with the Trojans. For a while, he was looking pretty good. After a 1-3 start in 2016, USC won nine-straight games, including a 52-49 win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. In 2017, the Trojans won the Pac-12 championship. Then the troubles began for Helton, as the Trojans went 5-8 in their next 13 games. It began with a 24-7 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2017 season and continued with a 5-7 record last year, including 1-5 in their last six games.

The only thing that may save Kevin Sumlin is the fact that he only has one season under his belt at Arizona. But what a disappointing season it was – 5-7. And the Wildcats were loaded in 2018. They were supposed to have a great season. But Arizona opened with back-to-back losses to BYU and Houston and ended the season with back-to-back losses to Washington State and Arizona State. The Washington State loss was 69-28. With a bad season in 2019, Sumlin could be two and out in Tucson.

The Group of Five conference with the most coaches in trouble is the MWC with four. All four coaches are in serious trouble. In fact, all four should start packing their bags now. Topping the list is New Mexico’s Bob Davie. Davie is 33-54 in seven seasons in Albuquerque. It’s hard to figure how New Mexico kept him this long.

Colorado State’s Mike Bobo isn’t long for Fort Collins. In four seasons with the Rams, Bobo is 24-27. Under Bobo, the Colorado State program appears to be getting worse instead of better. 

Tony Sanchez of UNLV has been a disaster in Las Vegas. After four years, Sanchez is a sad 16-32. He’ll be even sadder when he gets his pink slip later this year. Message to UNLV: Never hire a high school coach.

And lastly in the MWC, Brent Brennan is on the short end of the stick at San Jose State. In just two seasons, Brennan is 3-22 with the Spartans. I guess you could say, “Brennan didn’t know the way at San Jose.”

The rest of the Group of Five conferences have just one or two coaches each on the hot seat. In the AAC, two coaches are in dire straits – Connecticut’s Randy Edsall and Tulsa’s Philip Montgomery. This is Edsall’s second stint at UConn. In his first stint with the Huskies (1999-2010), he was 74-70. In Edsall’s current stint at Connecticut (2017-2018), he is 4-20. This will be his last stint.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Montgomery is 21-29 after four seasons at Tulsa – 5-19 the past two seasons. The future is not bright for Montgomery.

Likewise, C-USA has two coaches in trouble – UTSA’s Frank Wilson and Old Dominion’s Bobby Wilder. After three seasons in San Antonio, Wilson is 15-21. His worst of the three seasons was last year at 3-9.

Wilder has been a mainstay at Old Dominion. In 10 seasons, he has a 76-45 record. But Wilder has had losing records each of the past two seasons at 5-7 and 4-8. A third straight losing season will be his last.

Two coaches in the MAC are teetering as the 2019 season begins. They are Miami of Ohio’s Chuck Martin and Ball State’s Mike Neu. After four-straight losing seasons, Martin finally broke even last year at 6-6. But overall he is 22-39 at Miami. He needs to finish above 6-6 in 2019. In three seasons, Neu is just 10-26 at Ball State. And the outlook for 2019 is gloomy.

The lone hot-seat coach in the Sun Belt is ULM’s Matt Viator. After two 4-8 seasons, Viator was 6-6 last year. That brings his three-year total to 14-22. The Warhawks are supposed to have a good season in 2019. Viator needs it.

Among the Independents, two coaches are sweating bricks – Kalani Sitake at BYU and Doug Martin at New Mexico State. In three seasons, Sitake is 20-19 at BYU, but 11-15 the past two seasons. Cougar fans expect winning seasons. As a Group of Five Independent, winning seasons will be tougher and tougher for BYU. 2019 could be a tough season for Sitake.

It’s never easy for any coach at New Mexico State. In six years, Doug Martin is 20-53 with the Aggies. After a 7-6 season and an Arizona Bowl win over Utah State in 2017, New Mexico State fell to 3-9 last year. Martin needs a winning season in 2019 to survive.  

Touchdown Tom

https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com

P.S.

Not exactly college football related, but as the summer was winding down and college football fans were anticipating the start of another exciting season, the number one song in the country…

…75 years ago this week in 1944 was “Swinging On A Star” by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, and “G.I. Jive” by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

…70 years ago this week in 1949 was “Some Enchanted Evening” by Perry Como

…65 years ago this week in 1954 was “Sh-Boom” by The Crew Cuts, and “Little Things Mean A Lot” by Kitty Kallen.

…60 years ago this week in 1959 was “A Big Hunk O’ Love” by Elvis Presley

…55 years ago this week in 1964 was “A Hard Day’s Night” by The Beatles, and “Everybody Loves Somebody” by Dean Martin

…50 years ago this week in 1969 was “In The Year 2525” by Zager and Evans

…45 years ago this week in 1974 was “Feel Like Makin’ Love” by Roberta Flack, and “The Night Chicago Died” by Paper Lace

…40 years ago this week in 1979 was “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer, and “Good Times” by Chic

…35 years ago this week in 1984 was “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr.

…30 years ago this week in 1989 was “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx

…25 years ago this week in 1994 was “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories



Not exactly college football related, but there were two passings of note last week – Cliff Branch and Toni Morrison.

Cliff Branch, a former world-class sprinter who was one of the NFL’s top deep threats, winning three Super Bowls in 14 seasons with the Raiders, died last week in Bullhead City, Arizona. He was 71. Branch was one of professional football’s fastest players in his years with the Raiders, 1972 to 1985, first in Oakland and later in Los Angeles. He spent his entire NFL career with the Raiders. Clifford Branch was born on August 1, 1948, in Houston, Texas. He played college ball at Colorado where he was also a sprinter on the track team. 

Toni Morrison, the Nobel laureate in literature whose best-selling work explored black identity in America, died last week in New York City. She was 88. The first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1993, Morrison was the author of 11 novels. Among them were celebrated works like “Song of Solomon,” which received the National Book Critics Award in 1977, and “Beloved,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Chloe Ardelia Wofford was born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio. She graduated from Howard University in 1953, with a major in English. She earned a Masters in English from Cornell in 1955.