College Football
Week 1 – We’re underway
The Big Ten is
Talking Turkey
Scott Frost may get his cranberry sauce after all.
But don’t hold your drumstick.
When the Big Ten Conference canceled the fall football season on August 11, the plan was for the Big Ten teams to play in the spring of 2021. However, as usual, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren spoke before he thought.
Fortunately, some of the Big Ten athletic directors and coaches gave this plan some thought. And after thinking about it, they said you can’t play football in the spring. One: the NFL draft is April 29-May 1, 2021. Two: the returning players need ample and appropriate rest and break time between the end of one season and the start of the next. Ending a season in May 2021 and starting the next season during the first week of September of 2021 doesn’t provide enough downtime for the players.
So the Big Ten athletic directors put their heads together and came up with a plan to start the season during the second weekend of January 2021. That would be January 8-9. The teams would play an 8, 9 or 10 game conference only schedule, with each team having one off-week. That plan would end the season on March 6,13 or 20, depending on the number of games played. That plan also allows for more than a month of preparation before the NFL draft. And it allows the players to experience a healthy downtime period before the start of the 2021 fall season.
Even better thought one or more of the Big Ten athletic directors, let’s start the season this fall on Thanksgiving Weekend. Scott Frost must have been chomping at the bit. In either plan, the games would be played during some pretty cold weather. Not a problem said the athletic directors. We’ll utilize the domed/indoor stadiums in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit and St. Louis. And can you play football in the Milwaukee Brewers’ Miller Park?
The Thanksgiving start, unfortunately, introduces a number of other obstacles and issues. Sorry, Scott. So the feeling is the athletic directors will probably go with the January start plan. But even then, there is no guarantee it will be approved. Whatever the athletic directors come up with, it still has to be voted on by the Big Ten Conference council of presidents and chancellors – the same idiots who voted to cancel the 2020 fall season in the first place.
Stay tuned!
Lately, there is never a dull moment out of the Big Ten. Last week, a group of eight Nebraska football players filed a lawsuit against the Big Ten Conference for canceling the fall football season. The suit alleges the Big Ten is in breach of contract. The lawsuit isn’t about money or damages. It’s about “real-life relief,” said the players.
The Big Ten responded by saying there is no merit to the lawsuit. The Big Ten emphasized that its council of presidents and chancellors “overwhelmingly voted” to postpone the season and the conference will continue to defend that decision.
Then, prominent college athletics attorney Tom Mars hit 13 Big Ten schools with a Freedom of Information Act request. The request is based on the conference’s reluctance to provide transparency as it relates to the Big Ten’s decision to postpone fall football. All the Big Ten schools were included except for Northwestern which is not a public university.
Meanwhile, six FBS conferences continue, with some occasional interruptions, to practice for the start of the 2020 fall season – a start this weekend for a handful of teams.
And if those conferences are successful in playing their seasons, the College Football Playoff selection process will proceed as usual, without the Big Ten, Pac-12, etc. The first CFP Rankings Show is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17 on ESPN. The show will continue every Tuesday through December 15. It culminates on Sunday, December 15 with the announcement of the four playoff teams.
The Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl will serve as the semifinal games this season. Those two games will be played on January 1, 2021. The national championship game will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on January 11, 2021.
Believe it or not, we had our first college football game of the season Saturday night. The game was televised on ESPN. Two FCS teams – Central Arkansas beat Austin Peay, 24-17. The game could not have gotten off to a more exciting start. On the first play from scrimmage, Austin Peay freshman C.J. Evans ran for a 75-yard touchdown.
Austin Peay led 10-6 at the halftime break. In the closing minute of the fourth quarter, the Governors led 17-16. But with 34 seconds on the clock, Central Arkansas’ Lujuan Winningham caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Breylin Smith. Central Arkansas capitalized on a two-point conversion and went up 24-17. The Bears went on to win.
Actually, all 13 of the FCS conferences canceled their seasons. But most of the FCS conferences said their members were free to play non-conference games. That’s why Central Arkansas and Austin Peay were playing. Central Arkansas is a member of the Southland Conference and Austin Peay is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
There are nine games on tap this week. Thursday night, UAB hosts Central Arkansas and Southern Miss entertains South Alabama. The USA-Southern Miss games is on CBSSN at 9 p.m. ET.
Six games are on board for Saturday. They are Eastern Kentucky at Marshall (1 p.m. ET on ESPN); Middle Tennessee at Army (1:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN); SMU at Texas State (4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN); Houston Baptist at North Texas (7:30 p.m. ET); Arkansas State at Memphis (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) and Stephen F. Austin at UTEP (9 p.m. ET).
Finally, on Labor Day night (Monday) it’s BYU at Navy (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).
There are some new rules that went into effect this season. So before you start watching the games here are the new rules to be aware of.
Targeting: Players called for targeting will be allowed to remain on the sideline and not be forced to leave the field and head to the locker room.
Penalties Requiring Ejection: Players charged with fighting, two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties or flagrant personal fouls are ejected from the game and must leave the sideline for the locker room.
Pregame Warmup Requirements: All players’ jersey numbers must be visible during pregame warmups. Also a coach must be on the field at all times during pregame warmups.
Defensive Substitution Rule: Defenses will be allowed to have 12 or more men on the field to anticipate the offensive formation, but must have only 11 players on the field when the ball is snapped.
Instant Replay: The review of an instant replay must not take longer than two minutes. There are two exceptions to this rule – (1) review of an extremely complicated play, and (2) an end of game review. These two situations may exceed the two-minute limit.
Clock Adjustment: If time expires, but an instant replay review shows that time should be added to the clock, there must be three or more seconds remaining to restore time to the clock. If the instant replay review shows that less than three seconds were on the game clock, the half is over.
Duplicate Numbers: Teammates, but no more than two, are allowed to share the same jersey number as long as they are never on the field at the same time. The jersey number “0” is now allowed to be worn.
Penalty Carry-Overs: All penalties at the end of a half will have the option to be carried over to the ensuring kickoff or to the succeeding spot in overtime.
Long Snapper Protection: There are extensions to the guidelines for the protection of long snappers, including where the defender can line up and when the defender can make contact.
Pregame Protocol: Referees now have jurisdiction over the game 90 minutes prior to kickoff. Previously, they had jurisdiction for 60 minutes before kickoff.
Now you are up-to-date on the new rules.
College basketball lost a legend last week. Robert Luther “Lute” Olson, former head coach at Long Beach State, Iowa and Arizona died on August 27. He was 85. Olson was the head coach of Long Beach State for one season (1973-74), Iowa for nine seasons (1974-83) and Arizona for 25 seasons (1983-2008). He won one Pacific Coast Athletic Association regular season championship at Long Beach State, one regular season Big Ten championship at Iowa and 11 regular season Pac-12 championships at Arizona. Olson won four Pac-12 Conference tournaments with the Wildcats. Also, at Arizona he won the NCAA Tournament championship in 1997.
Overall Olson’s teams went to six Final Fours. He was Coach of the Year seven times in the Pac-12 and one time in the Big Ten. He was twice the national Coach of the Year. Olson’s overall college record was 781-280. Lute Olson was born in Mayville, North Dakota, on September 22, 1934. While in high school, his family moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota. He played college basketball for Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Olson coached high school and junior college basketball from 1956 to 1973 when he became head coach at Long Beach State.
Last week when I was talking about the quarterbacks, I mistakenly reported the height and weight of Florida quarterback Kyle Trask. Trask is 6-5, 239 not 5-10, 207. My thanks go out to Fern Musselwhite of Gainesville, Florida, who’s sharp eye caught my blunder. I corrected it on the CFW Blogsite.
Well, you can tell that Rockledge Gator has been locked down and away from college football for too long. He woke up yesterday morning dreaming and singing, “Poll Parrot, Poll Parrot, the shoes you want to buy. I’m Buster Brown, I live in a shoe. That’s my dog, Tige, he lives in there too.”
Bootsie had to put the pillow over her ears. She should have put it over Rockledge Gator’s mouth. Or maybe she should have plunked his magic twanger.
Touchdown Tom
Quotes of the Week
“Candidly, at this point, the parent organizations have a total lack of confidence in your ability to lead and communicate effectively,” the Big Ten Parents United organization to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, on the conference’s decision to postpone the fall football season and Warren’s inability to explain the decision.
“Football players are safer on the field than they would be elsewhere. If they opt out because of the pandemic, then they opt into the pandemic. The last I saw, the pandemic was worldwide. So I don’t know what their advantage is to turn at this point away from what would be a good finish to a college career and the opportunity to advance their abilities and then have a choice whether to go off to the NFL or to stay and compete. So we’d love to have them stay and compete,” Kansas coach Les Miles, on players opting out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19.
“It may be a little earlier, but around January. We may try to start earlier. We’re talking to all of the TV people, trying to get all the information and see what fits. We still have to go through our chancellors and presidents to okay it,” Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, on the Big Ten starting its football season in January or sooner (Thanksgiving Weekend).
“I think it is also an indicator of just how dysfunctional this league has become. What a laughingstock this league has become. It’s really sad to say that because five weeks ago the Big Ten was considered the gold standard in big time college football, and now it’s the punchline to almost any joke you can think of,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, on the Big Ten postponing its football season.
“It’s not going to happen. The reason being I don’t believe the presidents are going to sign off on this. This is a bunch of coaches who are trying to save the season. Who are trying to save the battered face of the Big Ten and I don’t think they’ll be able to pull it off,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, on the chances of the Big Ten starting football on Thanksgiving Weekend.
“God damn mask,” the head referee at the Central Arkansas-Austin Peay game, unaware that his microphone was turned on.
“Nonsense. I can’t say this more clearly – this is nonsense. How the hell are you going to not play in the fall but start in November at Thanksgiving,?” ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.
The Teams – 2020 (Touchdown Tom’s Consensus Top 40)
As you know, or if you didn’t you do now, every year I gather all the preseason polls I can get my hands on – the AP, Coaches, CBS, Sporting News, Athlon, Lindy’s, Street and Smith’s, etc. etc. Then I combine the results of each poll to come up with my Consensus Top 40. This year I accumulated 11 polls.
Of note, all the polls, except one, came out before the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed their seasons. The one poll that came out after the postponements were announced was the AP poll. However, of interest, the AP included the Big Ten and Pac-12 in its rankings. Their thinking was: the season hasn’t started, no one has played any games, so this is where everyone is ranked at preseason. Once the season gets going, the Big Ten and Pac-12 teams will not appear in the rankings.
There was one more thing that caught my attention in this year’s Consensus Top 40. Alabama is not ranked No. 1. That’s right. For the first time in five years Alabama is not No. 1 in my Consensus Preseason Top 40 Poll. The last time that happened was 2015 when the Crimson Tide was ranked No. 3 at preseason.
In fact, if you go back to 2010, Alabama was ranked No. 1 in six of the 10 Consensus Preseason
Polls. The Crimson
Tide was No. 2 in 2011 and 2014 and No. 3 in 2012 and 2015. They were No. 1 in
2010 and 2013. Then Alabama was No. 1 for four-straight years – 2016-2019.
So where does Alabama rank in this year’s Consensus Top 40 at preseason? Well, let’s get started and find out.
Coming in on top is (1) Clemson. The Tigers are followed by (2) Ohio State, (3) Alabama, (4) Georgia and (5) LSU. Clemson was No. 1 in seven of the polls and No. 2 in the other four polls.
Ohio State was No.
1 in three of those other four polls. The Buckeyes were No. 2 in six of the
polls.
Alabama was a solid No. 3, coming in third in nine of the 11 polls. So who got the one remaining No. 1 spot? LSU. The Tigers were No. 1 in the CBS poll, but finished as low as six, eight and 10 in some of the polls.
Completing the Top 10 are (6) Oklahoma, (7) Penn State, (8) Oregon, (9) Florida and (10) Notre Dame. But that is the one and only time we will see Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon ranked.
The second 10 is led by (11)Auburn, (12) Wisconsin, (13) Texas A&M, (14) Michigan and (15) Texas. Farewell Wisconsin and Michigan. The Top 20 finishes out with (16) Oklahoma State, (17) Minnesota, (18) USC, (19) North Carolina and (20) Cincinnati. Bye, bye Minnesota and USC. That effectively puts Cincinnati at No. 13.
The second half of the Consensus Top 40 begins with (21) Iowa, (22) UCF, (23) Utah, (24) Memphis and (25) Virginia Tech. They are followed by (26) Boise State, (27) Iowa State, (28) Tennessee, (29) Baylor and (30) Arizona State. This will be Boise State’s one and only appearance as the Mountain West Conference postponed its season too. So long Iowa and Utah.
The final 10 teams in the Consensus Top 40 starts with (31) Louisville, (32) Washington, (33) Appalachian State, (34) Kentucky and (35) Miami-Florida. Closing out the Top 40 are (36) Virginia, (37) California, (38) Indiana, (39) Air Force and (40) TCU. But that’s all she wrote for Washington, California, Indiana and Air Force.
Just missing the Top 40 were (41) Kansas State, (42) Florida State, (43) SMU, (44) Pitt and (45) Navy.
Eight of the 10 FBS Conferences put at least one team in the Top 40. The two that didn’t were Conference USA and the Mid-American. The highest-ranked C-USA team was (62) Western Kentucky. The highest ranked MAC team was (67) Buffalo. But, of course, it’s a moot point for Buffalo.
For those of you whose teams aren’t playing, dream on. And for those of you whose teams are playing, dream on too.
The Running Backs
– 2020
Just as there were two top quarterbacks coming into the 2020 season, there are two top running backs. But unlike the two top quarterbacks where one (Justin Fields) won’t be playing, both of the two top running backs will be playing.
They are Oklahoma State junior Chuba Hubbard (6-0, 201) and Clemson senior Travis Etienne (5-10, 210). Last year, Hubbard rushed for 2,094 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. He scored 21 touchdowns and averaged 161.1 yards per game. Etienne rushed for 1,614 yards, averaging 7.8 yards a carry. He scored 19 touchdowns and averaged 107.6 yards a game.
Normally, I would go on and write about the other top running backs in each FBS Conference. But with four conferences and some Independents postponing and with a number of other players opting out, I won’t go there.
However, as I had already compiled my Top 10 running backs at preseason before the conferences postponed and players opted out, I will go ahead and provide it.
TT’s Top 10
Favorite Running Backs at Preseason
- Chuba Hubbard – Oklahoma
State
- Travis
Etienne
– Clemson
- Najee Harris – Alabama
- Jaret
Patterson
– Buffalo
- Kennedy
Brooks
– Oklahoma
- C.J. Verdell – Oregon
- Mohamed
Ibrahim
– Minnesota
- Kylin Hill –
Mississippi State
- Kenneth
Gainwell
– Memphis
- Javian
Hawkins
– Louisville
But keep an eye on:
Michael Carter – North Carolina; Journey Brown – Penn State; Jermar Jefferson – Oregon State, and Jamale Carothers – Navy.
The Other
Positions – 2020
Again, I always like to provide a preview of the top players in each of the other positions – wide receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs and kickers/punters. But with the postponements and opt outs, I will not write about them this year.
Touchdown Tom
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