OU, stop kidding!
SEC analyst/promoter Paul Finebaum should stick to commenting only on the SEC regarding preseason forecasts. When prompted, he predicted Oklahoma brings the next best shot to the national championship after Alabama. Maybe wishful thinking on his part. Maybe he’s using his perceived influence to set something up for The Crimson Tide once again. Collegefootballfan.com suggests to keep the projected Big Twelve champ out of the mix this year no matter what they rank, Oklahoma in particular. We stated after 2019 that we’d buy no more Peach Bowl or Orange Bowl CFP tickets because of the risk that the Sooners might show up again. People put up the kibosh on Notre Dame making the playoffs because of their previous inept performances. Finebaum says the Sooners “have one of the two-three best quarterbacks in the country with Spencer Rattler. They really have a better defense than anyone is giving them credit…. We’ve laughed at their defenses in the past. Not anymore. They will surprise you with their defense.”
Laugh at Finebaum now. Substitute “Rattler” with Mayfield, Murray, or Hurts. Been there, done that. Big Twelve defenses don’t exist. In the CFP games we attended in 2015, 2018, and 2019, Oklahoma showed up with similar credentials and the three QBs under center now playing in the NFL. Two of the three won Heisman’s. In case anyone including the esteemed Mr. Finebaum forgot, here are the results of these three OU embarrassments: 2015 – Clemson 37 OU 17; 2018 – Alabama 45 OU 34; 2019 – LSU 63 OU 28. We sat through three very non-competitive, playoff games. We didn’t have a TV to change channels. So much for Oklahoma defense, 48.3 ppg against playoff competition. If this is what the Sooners bring to the playoffs, bring in a Group of Five team for once to prove their worthiness instead. If the OU’s and ND’s can’t provide some excitement as proven, bring in a team looking to make a drastic statement instead of the programs that have proven they can’t challenge for the top spot. Open up the possibilities. Don’t bring back the same old, worn-out routines.
All night, LSU put the hurts on Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts in the 2020 Peach Bowl . LSU’s defense showed up, not OU’s!
Flexible, mobile, and agile
Our plan to attend Northwestern at Wisconsin on November 13 may fall through. Disappointed if it does since a trip to Camp Randall sits high on our bucket list of stadia and the Badgers are one of only four FBS teams ranked in the preseason on our current 2021 schedule (we know this will change before the season is through). However, with our new location and more flexible time, we will make up for this potential loss with another new venue and another ranked team without having to cancel another game on our slate. As a matter of fact, we’re doing it any way! On Thursday October 7, we plan to travel a few hours to Jonesboro, Arkansas, home of the Arkansas State Red Wolves where we will see them host up-and-coming and reloaded Coastal Carolina, ranked in everyone’s preseason Top 25. Of interest, ASU plays under new HC Butch Jones fresh off three years as DC at Alabama after years as HC at Central Michigan and Tennessee (85-54 career record). QB Grayson McCall returns to CCU as 2020 Sunbelt Player of the Year for the 11-2 Chanticleers. Last season, the Chants whipped the Wolves, 52-23. We’ll see what Jones does to shut McCall down. Should be fun!…
As for the November 13 void we may have to fill, looking at one of two of lower-level games. One choice is an FCS Ohio Valley Conference game where UT Martin visits Tennessee Tech in nearby Cookeville, a first-time venue. We already have Tech scheduled at Tennessee State on October 16, but Cookeville and UT Martin will be two more firsts to record. The second choice should be a very competitive D-2 contest in the South Atlantic Conference between Tusculum of Greenville, TN and Carson-Newman, a perennial D-2 contender. Tusculum QB Rogan Wells played QB for former D-2 national champ, Valdosta State, and turned some heads during SAL spring competition this year. We’ll have plenty of time to decide what to do that weekend before November rolls around. We’ll be monitoring all the early action for any late season changes to find the best games possible.
Like Badger RB Jonathan Taylor against Penn State, our chances to see Wisconsin at home continue to elude us. Like the Lions here in 2018, we’ll catch up.
Quick start, coming up!
Next week, Thursday night, Austin Peay at UT Chattanooga! Both FCS programs have FCS aspirations in their respective Ohio Valley and Southern Conferences for championships and playoffs in this “kickoff classic”… Two days later, Baylor at Texas State in San Marcos. We look for the Group of Five Bobcats to knock off the Power Five Bears at home. The Bobcat offense comes back intact as does the Baylor defense, but with changes at OC and at QB for the Bears, expect a lot adjustments to be made under fire. For the first time in five years, Charlie Brewer will not be at QB. He opted to go play for Utah. That tells us something. The Bobcat defense was vulnerable last season, but the Coaching Spavital Brothers of TSU have had a season to focus on improving their defense together. An experienced core returns on defense that fell in some close losses last year including a 7-point loss at home in last season’s opener to an eventual 7-3 SMU. QB Brady McBride returns healthy after a shortened season in 2020 with Marcel Barbee and Travis Graham coming back as key receiving weapons. Four of five OL starters also come back experienced blocking for two RBs with over 500 yards apiece last season. Bobcats are primed for a turnaround this season in the improving SunBelt.
Texas State QB Brady McBride warms up prior to last year’s loss against eventual No. 19 Louisiana, 44-34. With improved defense, the Bobcats look to catch in the Sun Belt this year.
Return to our good, old stomping grounds
The two following weekends after our Texas trek, we head back to our two most attended and two favorite venues of all in the annals of our college football history – Annapolis, Maryland and State College, Pennsylvania! Both weekends, sandwiched around a beach stay with family in Delaware, should be memorable to say the least. Navy hosts Air Force on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It will be a solemn occasion at Navy- Marine Corps Memorial Stadium before the action takes place on the field. Navy needs to find improved QB play for their vaunted triple option this season (open at home the week before against Marshall) against a very tough schedule in 2021. Air Force shows up with experience at every position after the starters from the 2019 season all opted out in 2020 and are allowed to return to play this year. Of course, the triple option is the Falcon offensive, bread-and butter under HC Troy Calhoun (101-72). No defense is more prepared for Navy’s offense more than the Air Force for a very early first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy…
The following Saturday, Penn State hosts Auburn for the first time ever in a regular season contest between these two highly successful programs. The Nittany Lions and Auburn Tigers have tussled twice before but only on New Year’s Day. On January 1, 1996, Joe Paterno’s squad defeated Terry Bowden’s team, 43-14, in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Seven years later on the same date, Tommy Tuberville’s charges defeated JoePa’s Nittany Lions in the Capital One Bowl, 13-9. From 2011-13 as HC at Vanderbilt, James Franklin’s Commodores defeated Auburn, 17-13, in 2012 for the first time the ‘Dores defeated the Tigers since 1955. This year, Auburn visits State College with their first-year HC Bryan Harsin fresh from eight years leading Boise State to a very successful,76-24, mark. His new DC brought “on the plain” is Derek Mason, a season removed as HC at Vanderbilt where he took over after Franklin’s departure to PSU in 2014. Franklin counters with a new OC, Mike Yurcich, a year removed from the same status with the Texas Longhorns. These two teams will square off again next season at Auburn. We hope to be there as well. After our east coast tour of 2021, we’ll be touring many new campus sites and seeing some more new teams around Tennessee and Kentucky primarily. Looking forward to some great games! Check back with us regularly.
Navy and Air Force will meet early this year on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Emotions in Annapolis will truly be stirred for both academies by recent events in Afghanistan.
