CFW Week 16 Forecast – 72-year-old replaces 73-year-old
Army-Navy, bowl game, Heisman,
all in the same weekend
The regular season ends with the annual Army-Navy game this weekend, while the bowl season begins with the Veterans Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama – Western Michigan vs. South Alabama. The Army-Navy game is at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.
Then throw in the Heisman Trophy presentation for extra measure. It all makes for a busy weekend.
The Army-Navy game no longer includes Heisman Trophy winners. It doesn’t include NIL and transfer portal players. The game doesn’t include players who will be playing in the NFL next season. The Army-Navy game includes players who are inspired by the desire to represent their school, their teammates and the men and women serving in uniform. The players are role models who aspire to heroism.
A few years ago, I heard a retired Marine officer say, “the Army-Navy game is the only time a Marine ever cheers for the Navy.”
The bowl season seems to start earlier and earlier every year. The bowl games seem to fade in interest more and more every year. It used to be that a team’s goal was to become bowl eligible. These days, becoming bowl eligible has lost its appeal, especially for Power Four conference teams. It isn’t that big of a deal anymore. Now, with a 12-team CFP, teams want to make the playoff. That’s their goal. If the CFP expands to 14 or 16 teams, there will be an opportunity for more teams to make the playoff. The bowl game appeal will be further diminished.
For the fans, the appeal of bowl games subsided as the players began to opt out of participating in the games. The goal of the players at this point is the NFL draft or entering the transfer portal. Duke’s starting quarterback Maalik Murphy has entered the transfer portal. The Blue Devils have an upcoming bowl game against Ole Miss and Murphy won’t be playing. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin says the transfer portal should not open until after the bowl season. Oh well, you won’t see Army and Navy players opting out of bowl games.
Bowl games are no longer that appealing for the fans and players of Power Four conference teams. For Power Four conference teams the expanded CFP has replaced the excitement of a bowl game.
Bowl games remain appealing for Group of Five conference teams and their fans. There aren’t as many opt outs. There aren’t as many Group of Five conference players going on to the NFL. And in some cases, it’s an opportunity for a Group of Five team to play a Power Four team….such as some of this year’s bowl matchups – Memphis-West Virginia, UNLV-California, Tulane-Florida, Toledo-Pitt, Navy-Oklahoma, Connecticut-North Carolina, Louisiana-TCU and East Carolina-NC State.
The four finalists for the Heisman Trophy were announced earlier this week. They are Colorado receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Miami (Florida) quarterback Cam Ward. I suspect the voting will come out in that order.
Two of the four finalists – Jeanty and Gabriel – will be playing in the CFP. The other two – Hunter and Ward – will be playing in bowl games. Jeanty (Boise State) will play the winner of the SMU-Penn State game, while Gabriel (Oregon) will play the winner of the Tennessee-Ohio State game in the second round (quarterfinals) of the CFP.
Hunter (Colorado) will play BYU in the Alamo Bowl, while Ward (Miami) will play Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. So far, Hunter and Ward are playing. They aren’t opting out. Colorado coach Deion Sanders said, “We don’t tap out. We don’t sit out. It’s a blessing to play this wonderful game and our kids are gonna play.”
The Army-Navy game will be fun. The Heisman Trophy presentation will be interesting. But the Veterans Bowl between Western Michigan and South Alabama doesn’t have much appeal. We can only hope that the game will be exciting.
I can still remember when Western Michigan played in a New Year’s Six bowl as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. That was the 2016 season. Western Michigan was 13-0. The Broncos lost to Wisconsin, 24-16 in the Cotton Bowl Classic. That was the season WMU coach P.J. Fleck made “Row the Boat” the three-word mantra that became the catch phrase for Western Michigan football. That was Fleck’s last season at WMU. The following season (2017), he was coaching Minnesota, where he is today.
Speaking of Army-Navy, Army offensive line coach Matt Drinkall has been named the new head coach at Central Michigan. Drinkall has been on the Army staff for the past six seasons.
And speaking of new head coaches, the coaching carousel got a little wilder yesterday. North Carolina announced that 72-year-old Bill Belichick has been hired to replace 73-year-old Mack Brown in Chapel Hill. Belichick, the former New England Patriots coach, signed a contract that will pay him $10 million a year for three years – $30 million. There’s no truth to the rumor that North Carolina interviewed Lou Holtz and Lee Corso for the job.
With North Carolina hiring Belichick, that leaves four schools, out of 23, still looking for their new football coach – West Virginia, UNLV, New Mexico and Sam Houston. Most West Virginia fans believe that former WVU coach Rich Rodriguez will be brought back for a second stint with the Mountaineers. The announcement should come today. Stay tuned!
The latest hot prospect at UNLV is former Mississippi State and Florida coach Dan Mullen. Stay tuned! At New Mexico and Sam Houston, it’s still anybody’s guess.
Former major league baseball player, coach and television sports commentator Rocky Colavito died on Monday. Colavito played MLB as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968 (14 seasons) most prominently as a member of the Cleveland Indians (8 seasons). He also played for five other MLB teams. Colavito played for the Indians from 1955 to 1959 and from 1965 to 1967. A nine-time All-Star, he averaged 33 home runs per year his first 11 seasons. Three seasons, he exceeded 40 home runs. He coached the Indians in 1973 and from 1976 to 1978. A native of The Bronx in New York, Rocco Domenico Colavito was 91.
Happy Holidays………Merry Christmas………Happy Hanukkah………Season’s Greetings
Touchdown Tom
December 12, 2024
https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com
Touchdown Tom’s Prediction for
This Week’s One Biggest and Most Intriguing Game….and the first bowl game
Army (11-1) vs. Navy (8-3) – AAC vs. AAC – 3:00 pm ET, Saturday, CBS – If Navy quarterback Blake Horvath plays, Navy has a chance – but only a chance. Horvath has been out with an injury. Both teams are similar on offense, averaging 32-33 points a game. Army is powered by quarterback Bryson Daily and running back Kanye Udoh. Daily’s teammates call him “Captain America.” Army has the better defense. Both teams have had surprisingly good seasons. Neither was expected to play as well as they have. The combination of Daily and Udoh will be too much for Navy. The Cadets dry dock the Middies – Army 26, Navy 19.
South Alabama (6-6) vs. Western Michigan (6-6) – (Sun Belt vs. MAC) – Veterans Bowl (Crampton Bowl – Montgomery, Alabama) – 9 pm ET, Saturday, ESPN – South Alabama is a high-scoring team, averaging 35 points a game. They are led by quarterback Gio Lopez. He passed for 2.557 yards this season. However, Lopez has an undisclosed injury and may or may not play. The Jaguars are coached by Major Applewhite in his first season. South Alabama was the only Sun Belt Conference team to beat Louisiana during the regular season. Western Michigan has a weak defense, giving up 31 points a game. The Broncos are not particularly strong on offense either. They were 5-3 at one point this season but have lost three of their last four games. WMU is under first-year coach Lance Taylor. These Broncos aren’t studs – South Alabama 31, Western Michigan 22.
FCS Quarterfinals (December 13 and 14)
Idaho (10-3) at Montana State (13-0)
Incarnate Word (11-2) at South Dakota State (11-2)
Mercer (11-2) at North Dakota State (11-2)
UC Davis (11-2) at South Dakota (10-2)
Quotes of the Week
“The job description of a head college football coach has changed dramatically in the last two years with everything – transfer portal to collectives to agents and everything that goes with that. I’m just too old school,” Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, on why he resigned his head coaching job at UCF to become OC at Florida State.
“Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner as he chases one last high?” USA Today, sportswriter Dan Wolken.
“Here’s my gripe with Irish fans. They’re just not loud in that stadium. And I don’t think Irish fans can be loud in that stadium. I wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana beat us because it’s so quiet there,” former Notre Dame football player Aaron Taylor, on Notre Dame fans not being loud.
Touchdown Tom
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