Kickoff Collegefootballfan.com’s 40th season!

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Two wake-ups to go to kickoff Collegefootballfan.com’s 40th season!…

To continue with notes on games for the rest of Collegefootballfan.com’s 40th season for which we have plans now for at least 29 games, we start with a step backwards from our “fifth” game of 2018 we already previewed.  Before Lehigh at USNA, we’ll venture over to Throggs Neck, NY to see two D-3 locals collide under the bridge spanning from The Bronx to Long Island for the second time with the Merchant Marine Academy visiting SUNY- Maritime.  We enjoy the setting there to watch a game on the Long Island Sound in the midst of shipping traffic and a view of the Freedom Tower out in the New York City skyline. Last season, the SUNY Privateers sailed a few miles along the LI coast and defeated the Mariners, 38-31, on their way to a 9-2 season.   The Kings Pointers went on to a 6-4 season. This should be another exciting game in this rivalry between two Maritime institutions…

The Privateers and the Mariners will be honoring America’s Heroes before their rivalry once again.

On Thursday, September 20th …

We head down to the Linc in Philly to watch the improving Temple Owls with Frank Nutile at QB host a Tulsa team that finished 2-10 a year ago in an American Athletic clash.  Funny thing is we live closer to Philly than Tulsa.  We will see one Temple game this season, but we will attend three Tulsa Golden Hurricane games during Collegefootballfan.com’s 40th season against some of the best competition in the American Athletic… Next morning, we fly to Nashville, Tennessee, one of our favorite cities, with a couple of options depending on kick-off times yet to be determined.  Once announced, we will decide what to do.  South Carolina visits Vanderbilt at the Commodores’ stadium where we’ve never attended a game yet.  Possibly, we may be extended an invitation to attend Florida at Tennessee three hours east in Knoxville.  If either is a played at mid-day, we may turn the day into a double-header by heading down to Chattanooga to see the UTC Moccasins host the Samford Bulldogs that evening, two FCS teams we’ve never seen before.  Last season, Stamford finished 8-4 to the Mocs’ 3-8, but at home the Dawgs could only edge UTC, 23-21…

WR Ventell Bryant returns to Temple for his senior season to improve his standing to impress to get to the next level.

The next weekend

starts with an Ivy League rivalry in New York City on Friday night when the vastly improved Columbia Lions, 8-2, 5-2 in the Ancient Eight under fourth-year HC Al Bagnoli,  hosts the Princeton Tigers, 5-5, 2-5 in 2017.  The Lions came out on top 28-24 last season, but both teams are expected to challenge defending champ Yale for the League title.  We love it that a suggestion we made on this site in the past becomes reality in the Ivy this year.  All teams will finish their seasons with a more natural rivalry game based on proximity adding to the allure of Harvard vs Yale in The Game that same weekend.  Princeton will play Penn at home – two schools 40 miles apart.  It will be New York City vs. Upstate New York when Columbia hosts Cornell. The two remaining New England schools, Brown and Dartmouth, will square off to finish their 10-game Ivy League schedules in climactic fashion to stir more interest in Ivy League football…

Our last Ivy League clash featured Brown at Princeton in 2014. This year we will attend Friday Ivy League contests at Columbia and Penn to watch key Ivy contests.

Saturday

we attend one of the two biggest games of our season when pre-season No. 9 (AP) Penn State hosts No. 4 Ohio State.  As of tonight, Urban Meyer will be there.  However, our inside information says that The Nittany Lions HC James Franklin, known for his superior recruiting skills, has some talented freshman ready on the defensive side that may be ready to step up and be well known entities when the Buckeyes show up to what seems to be a traditional White-out every two years in State College.  PSU QB Trace McSorely comes in surrounded by an experienced line, a plethora of talented receivers, and RB Miles Sanders ready to step in for Saquon Barkley.  OSU is counting on Dwayne Haskins to emulate J.T. Barrett at QB and relying on RB J.K. Dobbins to pick up big yards on the ground.  The DL features Nick Bosa to stop everybody up front, but this will be their first Big Ten East challenge in a very Happy Valley early in the season.  We’re fired up for this one already…

The No. 5 pre-season Buckeyes will be coming to State College with Urban Meyer along the sideline on week 5.

On a Thursday night October 4 in Houston

Tulsa appears on our slate for the second time this year taking on the Cougars for our first visit to TDECU Stadium.  HC Major Applewhite’s team will look to throw the football and extract revenge from their 45-17 loss to TU last season.  DT Ed Oliver, an outside Heisman Trophy contender, returns with his numerous awards to shut opponents down…Since we miss a Saturday game during CollegeFootballfan.com’s 40th season to attend our Niece Maggie’s wedding to Kevin (Can’t miss it. She did give plenty of notice. Kevin is a PSU fan, so we are going. ), we re-emerge the following Friday at a local, D-3 game to watch Wilkes try to knock off FDU-Florham.  It will be a struggle between two struggling Middle Atlantic Conference programs.  FDU finished with their typical 3-7 record last year while the Colonels suffered at 0-10. However, they scored the most points of their winless season against the Red Devils in a 49-31 loss.  We hope to attend a see-saw battle to keep us interested…

IN 2016, WE WATCHED NAVY DEFEAT HOUSTON IN A CLASSIC BATTLE, 42-40. THIS YEAR’S AAC CLASH IN ANNAPOLIS WILL BE JUST AS INTENSE!

On Saturday October 13

We head down to Newark, Delaware to tailgate with family and friends to see the Fighting Blue Hens host the Elon Phoenix in a key CAA match-up featuring two FCS playoff contenders. They did not meet in 2017 and finished 7-4 and 8-4 respectively with the Phoenix getting a nod into the playoffs.  Both teams are on the way up under second-year head coaches.  Danny Rocco took the reins over at UD and Curt Cignetti is bulking up Elon.  In addition to a great match-up on the gridiron, we hope to see UD Senior RB Thomas Jefferson in action and meet up with him after the game this season as well, but this time on a winning note for the Blue Hens.  They dropped a close one to James Madison when we saw them last season…More Salvos on the way.  Stay tuned before our three-game recap for our Week One slate of Collegefootballfan.com’s 40th season a week from tonight.

Hoping to see Delaware RB Thomas Jefferson get some key yards in this year’s game against Elon.

Collegefootballfan.com previews games 560-564

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Collegefootballfan.com previews games 560-564

Let’s get this tailgate party season started!

Game 560 on August 30, New Hampshire at Maine, Orono, Maine:

This will be our first college football undertaking ever in Maine where we will start our 40th season of this wonderful, crazy, fun, unique adventure.  The UNH Wildcats will be shooting for their 15th straight FCS playoff bid this season coming off a 9-3,5-3 (CAA)  record a year ago.  QB Trevor Knight returns with 26 TD passes and 3,433 yards a season ago.  Neil O’Connor returns as his favorite WR amassing 97 receptions for 1,396 yards.  Lindy’s Sports selected him on their first team preseason FCS team.  Lindy’s rates the Wildcats at No. 6 overall in 2018 and Street and Smith’s has them pegged at No. 12.  The Black Bears, 4-6,3-5 last season will counter mostly with experienced defense.  The Bears have a formidable linebacking corps and DL Kayon Whitaker wrangled 8.5 sacks in 2018.  O’Connor will be challenged by CB Manny Patterson who led the CAA with 17 pass break-ups. On Manny! Offensively, the Bears lost their leading rusher Josh Mack who transferred up to the newest addition to the FBS, Liberty.  Soph QB Chris Ferguson will have to step it up for Maine.  Last season the Cats pulled this one out, 24-23.  Looking for another good one in this far north New England rivalry. CFF.com history:  Maine 1-0, UNH 2-2

Last time we watched UNH play, they thumped Fordham in a 2015 playoff game at home, 44-14.

Game 561 on August 31, Western New England at Springfield, Springfield, MA:

We see two D-3 playoff teams from a year ago clash in what is becoming a bitter cross-town rivalry.  The Springfield Pride finished 10-1,7-0 in the NEWMAC last year winning the championship before dropping a close one to Husson of Maine, 23-21, in the first round.  The Pride is rated at No. 7 in D-3 by Lindy’s and at No. 21 by Street and Smith’s in their respective preseason polls.  Defense is the name of the game for Springfield.  DE Nick Giorgio is a D-3 first-teamer for Lindy’s after ranking second overall in tackles for loss nationally last year. The Golden Bears finished 8-3, 5-0 (Commonwealth Coastal Conf) as conference champs before a drubbing by Delaware Valley in the first round. Junior RB Peter Hoff returns as last season’s leading rusher in their run-oriented attack as they break in a new QB to take over for graduated Anthony Service.   In last season’s opener, these Bears totaled the most points in the regular season against the Pride in a 35-21 loss. Springfield returns more experience, but expect the Golden Bears to know what they are up against.  They took the three previous meetings between the two before last season.  We see a true D-3 rivalry in this one to start  our season.  CFF.com history:  Springfield 1-0, WNE – first time.

Despite the efforts of Springfield and WNE this season, it’s pretty much a lock that the Purple Raiders of Mt. Union will be playing in this year’s D-3 national championship for their 14th title.

Game 562 on September 1, UMass at Boston College at Chestnut Hill, MA:

UMass started off last season for us with a 38-35 loss at home against Hawaii.

UMass Minutemen optimism persists as they finished off last season winning four of their last six games for a 4-8 record as an Independent. Four of their losses were within a TD.  HC Mark Whipple received a contract extension.  Senior QB Andrew Ford returns six of its top seven receivers after completing 63% of his passes in 2017, the O-line basically stays intact, and top RB Marquis Young returns to the fold.  Defensively, their secondary can impress with Isaiah Rodgers and Lee Moses at the corners, but up front they will be plugging in some gaps which may make them better.  For Boston College coming off a 7-6, 4-4 ACC season, optimism also prevails with the return of Soph RB A.J. Dillon who returns after gaining 1,589 yards. He will carry the workload once again for the Purple Eagles. Last season he carried the ball 211 times during their last 300 rushes.  QB Anthony Brown steps back in  at QB after recovering from a knee injury.  Look for TE Tommy Sweeney to be an effective target after hauling in 36 passes last season.  Defensively they will be tough and physical as that is the rep HC Steve Addazzio wants to build upon.  LB Connor Strachan returns after sitting out last season with an injury and having some experienced returnees along side him.  Stalwart Zach Allen leads at DE and Safety Lukas Denis led the nation in INTs last season.  The Eagles have defeated the Minutemen twice since they joined the FBS. We expect the same result, but UMass probably has a little more fire power entering the season to hang in for a while here.  CFF.com history: BC 7-7, UMass 0-3 (FBS only).

Last season, BC started off our bowl season with a loss to Iowa in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.           DE Zach Allen (#2) returns for the Eagles.

 

Game 563 on September 8, Memphis at Navy, Annapolis, MD:

This early season AAC West clash has significant bearing on the division championship.  The Memphis Tigers come back after a 10-3,7-1 division-winning title with all key components but former QB Riley Ferguson back.  As they develop his replacement, they will find themselves relying on RB Darrell Henderson for more than his 1,154 yards and nine TDs a year ago. Defensively  year ago, they gave up a lot of yards on the ground.  Navy will take advantage and control the football if the Tigers don’t find a passing game quickly.  Memphis got by the Mids last year, 30-27, with Riley picking apart the slow Navy secondary. Navy QB Malcolm Perry took over for Zach Abey late last season and rushed for 646 yards and seven TDs including two for over 90 yards.  HC Ken Niumatalolo has two QBs to run the triple option for the long haul and for the short yardage situation with Abey taking over near the goal line.  FB Anhony Gargiulo will be the battering ram up the middle to give the Mid a tough physical presence in the running game.  Defensively, the Mids have to learn to stop the pass more effectively and will rely on S Sean Williams to be a ball hawk and OLBs Hudson Sullivan and Nizaire Cromartie to step up pressure in their 3-4 defense to limit the passing yards.  The Brigade of Midshipman will be fired up for this home opener.  This will be a good one with the winner looking good to advance to the title game early on as long as they don’t let down.  Cff.com history: Navy 36-37, Memphis 1-0.

Junior QB Malcolm Perry will be expected to make a lot of long TD runs piloting the triple option for Navy this season.

Game 564 on September 15, Lehigh at Navy, Annapolis, MD:

Navy hosts Lehigh as its traditional Patriot League football foe as it’s done in the past against Colgate, Fordham, and Holy Cross, schools it competes with in its other major varsity sports programs.  Lehigh won the Patriot last season with a 5-7, 5-1 record to gain an automatic FCS bid before taking it on the chin from Stony Brook in the opening round.  The Mountain Hawks return RB Dominick Bragalone who led the FCS in rushing last season with 1,388 yards and 22 TDs. He is a preseason Lindy’s All American selection.  The year before last, we saw a similar scenario when Fordham came to Annapolis with record-setting FCS RB Chase Edmonds.  The Rams were no match for the Mids as Navy won, 52-14.  We plan to see Navy’s triple-option bewilder the Lehigh defense and for the Lehigh offense to be no match against the Mids. The result should be similar.   It will be a pleasant weekend in Annapolis for tailgating and heading downtown before and after the game. Cff.com history: Navy 36-37, Lehigh 16-7.

We plan to unfurl our Collegefootballfan.com flag over Annapolis during four games in Annapolis this season.

 

 

Parity – thy name is not college football

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Parity – thy name is not college football

Steveo’s Salvos July 2018

Ok fellow college football fans, with less than two months until kickoff, we have to start getting focused here at Collegefootballfan.com.  We’re “bearing” down already on our opener on August 30 when we plan to see the Maine Black Bears host New Hampshire’s Wildcats in a Colonial Athletic Association FCS tussle! First trip to Orono, Maine, home of the Black Bears and the first of three consecutive days of college football in New England to start the 2018 season.   We’re starting to salivate, but I have to calm down a little.  As I’m anxious to start reviewing and reporting on more,  I have to leave on a work trip overseas that gets me back in mid-July.  Work allows me to buy my game tickets.  My long flights will get me caught up on some of the other preseason pubs I still have to review, but I have gotten started peruing some key periodicals already…

The UNH Wildcats will be looking for their 15th straight FCS playoff berth when we see them open our 2018 season at Maine, our first college game in the Pine Tree State.

New England? We aren’t seeing the Patriots play!

Some fans might react, “Three college games in New England- big deal!”  Reading the preseason reports on-line and in the magazines, of course we’re all reading about the continuing dominance of a few major programs winning year in and year out with no end in sight.  We basically know that the CFP brackets will most likely include combinations with Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma among the final four if not all of them, for instance. As we’ve pointed out in the past here, this is happening not only in the FBS, but look at all the other divisions, too.   North Dakota State has won five of the last six FCS Championships.  Mount Union dominates D-3 with 13 national titles since 1993. From 1996-2017, they’ve played in the championship game 19 times. From 2006-2014. the Purple Raiders battled the Wisconsin -Whitewater Warhawks in the title game nine times with UW-W winning six.  D-2 titles seem to be won in streaks. NW Missouri State is the most recent having garnered three championship in the last five years.  The argument can be made that there is no parity in college football at any level.  We believe it comes down to three things: head coaching, developing a talented coaching staff,  and recruiting.  The first provides the momentum to the second to the third.  Look at Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, and Urban Meyer as your prime examples of perennial winning head coaches.  However, when a HC leaves and can provide some continuity with the former program by leaving behind key elements of the coaching staff, that dominance can continue.   Mike Riley took over for Bobbie Stoops at Oklahoma. It may be one year so far, but pay close attention despite a 54-48 CFP loss to Georgia last season.  The Sooners continue where Stoops left off. Saban defeated former assistant Kirby Scott of Georgia last season in that dramatic comeback.  If and when Saban retires, Kirby Scott could be back at Alabama.  Don’t bet against it.   At North Dakota State, Craig Bohl left for Wyoming after winning three consecutive titles, but his assistant Chris Klieman continued his ways since with a 54-6 record garnering three more titles while losing in 2016 in the semi-final to eventual champ, James Madison.  After 11 national D-3 titles won by Larry Kehres at Mount Union, he handed  the reigns over to his son and assistant Vince in 2013.  In the four years since taking over, the younger Kehres led the Raiders to three title games, winning two of the last three.  Since Lance Leipold left Wisconsin-Whitewater to try to breathe some life into the Buffalo Bulls program ( watch what he does there this year), the Warhawks only made the FCS playoffs a year after and none since.  There is a methodology for dominance in college football. It starts with finding the right head coach at the right time, hiring and developing assistants, and building a reputation that makes the best of the best players want to play for your program…

HC Dabo Swinney reloads his offense with more quarterback talent to get ready for the 2018 season.

Why they play all these games

We at CFF.com don’t let this enlightenment discourage us from the game of college football.  Despite having different rooting interests than the fans of the top programs, we take every game we see during the course of the season as the reason to see two teams play. Neither may be headed for a national championship, but we enjoy the action and the competition that takes place during the course of any game whether we see Ohio State at Penn State (September 29), or New Hampshire at Maine when our season opens up.  For that matter, we’ll even enjoy Western New England at Springfield in a D-3 clash the night after our opener, and if you can believe this, we look forward to that one also. Two local schools located in the same little city coming off winning seasons a year ago. Who will win that game?  The 10-1 host Price or the 8-3 Golden Bears?  The Pride won last season’s opener between the two, 35-21.  Both won bids to the D-3 playoffs at the end of last season. Competition – playing to win. That’s what we enjoy about the games we go to, and why we continue to go on our quest “to see ’em all.”   This will be the second of the three games we’ll attend in New England before we finish up with UMass at Boston College.  For us at CFF.com, the competitiveness displayed on the field during any game we see is what college football is all about. Let’s get started!

Soph RB AJ Dillon looking for room here in the 2017 New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Iowa, returns to Boston College after ACC Freshman of the Year honors with 1,589 rushing yards. BC will open our FBS season against instate rival UMASS.

Steveo’s Salvos June 2018

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Steveo’s Salvos June 2018

It’s been a while since we done a Steveo’s Salvo, but with three months from today to start our season when we venture up to Orono, Maine to see the Maine Black Bears host the New Hampshire Wildcats, we feel it’s appropriate to get rolling into another exciting college football season today.  We’re already salivating. As we die-hards college fans say among each other, there’s college football season and waiting for college football season…Regretfully, two sad notes begin this edition of our Salvoes.  Two noteworthy head coaches passed away who have historic context in our association with college football.  Fellow Juniata alum and great NFL head Coach Chuck Knox passed away on May 12 at the age of 86.  He recorded a career NFL head coaching mark of 186-147-1 leading the Rams (twice), Bills, and Seahawks during his illustrious NFL career.  He is one of few coaches who led three different franchises to division championships.   He earned NFL Coach of the year honors four times and is seated on the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor.  From a college perspective, he played both offensive and defensive tackle at Juniata College from 1950-1953.  As co-captain of the team his senior season, the Indians celebrated their first undefeated season ever.  Beyond his playing days, he coached as an assistant before becoming head coach at several Pennsylvania high schools and eventually moved up through college and pro ball as an assistant before his first stint as HC with the Los Angeles Rams.  He served on Juniata’s Board of Trustees from 1978-1999.  His wife Shirley of 65 years and he granted a $1MM endowment known as the Charles R. and Shirley Knox Chair in History to our alma mater.  As trustee, Knox provided support for lighting in the football stadium, the upgrading of the Kennedy Athletic Center, and chaired the campaign to complete the upgrade of the 3,000- seat football stadium named Knox Stadium in his honor in 1988.  He was a fiery, smart, well organized coach in pro football who started in the steel mills of Pittsburgh through Juniata to make himself the success that the leaves behind in the annals of pro football…

CFF.com Homecoming: we returned to Knox Stadium at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania for the first time in 35 years.

The other sad note comes from Wesley University, a D-3 school in Dover, Delaware.  Their 57-year old HC Mike Drass suddenly passed away May 14 after completing 13 seasons mentoring the Wolverines to a 228-61-1 record.  Three times he won D-3 Coach of the year honors.  His teams advanced to the D-3 semi-finals six times.  We saw his team in action in 2010 in one against Wisconsin -Whitewater, when they fell at home, 27-7.  UWW went on to the National Championship.  Last season, we saw his team open at Delaware Valley in an opener between No. 12 at No. 7 respectively.  His team fell again, 24-19.  His OT Matt Gono picked up All-American honors and signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons.  Drass kept Wesley in or near The Top Ten of D-3 for many years and produced many outstanding teams and players.  He will be missed gravely by the school who just announced his associate head coach and offensive coordinator for the past 13 years, Chip Knapp, as his replacement.  Condolences to the Drass family and the Wesley community for this sudden loss. Good luck to HC Chris Knapp and his team in the upcoming season.

Drass’s Wesley Wolverines (in white) in action against Delaware Valley in our 2017 season opener.

Collegefootballfan.com post-draft notes

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Collegefootballfan.com post-draft notes

Further analysis of the 2018 draft lead us to wrap up the pro shopping-spree with our Collegefootballfan.com post-draft notes before we head into our preseason college analysis.  Our kickoff for the 2018 season starts exactly four months from tonight when we open up our 40th season loading up with weekly college football endeavors starting  at Orono, Maine for our first stop there ever.  We’ll watch the  Maine Black Bears tussle at home against the  New Hampshire Wildcats in a traditional FCS clash between the two Colonial Athletic Association foes. Stay tuned.

Oklahoma’s QB Baker Mayfield (5) led the Sooners in the 2015 CFP semi-final his sophomore season when we saw them fall to Clemson. We say that they could have gotten Mayfield or comparable  QB talent had they selected another position to start, but this was Cleveland picking first as usual.

No. 2 pick Saquon Barkley of Penn State was wide open again as he was here and the NY Giants made a beautiful pick up.

QB Sam Darnold of USC (14)  fell surprisingly to the NY Jets at No. 3. If anything, we thought Cleveland would have gone with Darnold to start and that the Jets would have grabbed Mayfield here.

 

No. 94 DT Jullian Taylor of Temple will team up with the San Francisco 49ers.

TE Dalton Schultz of Stanford (9) went No. 137 to the Cowboys.

Louisville OT Geron Christian (74) opened up holes for Lamar Jackson against Wake forest and others to move on up to the Redskins.

Wake’s Duke Ejiofor (53) counter-attacked the Louisville line that day as Jackson ran amuck and still got picked No. 177 by the Texans.

S Justin Reid (8) of Stanford went as No. 68 to the Texans to join brother Erica of the 49ers at the next level.

More Collegefootballfan.com post-draft notes to come.

We watched five of the top six picks perform the past three years, and we have seen 19 of the 32 first rounders play during their collegiate careers.

Collegefootballfan.com 2018 draft analysis

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Results of Collegefootballfan.com 2018 Draft Analysis

See when and where players we’ve seen went in the draft!

Check out the caption beneath each photo below.

     We’re always amazed at the end of each season after seeing 15-20 FBS teams play regarding how much top football talent we’d see perform.   Our small sampling of major programs though always provides our followers with a very comprehensive Collegefootballfan.com draft analysis.  Quality , not quantity is what we happen to see.  We at CFF.com see so many top pro prospects every year, and yet we always attend about half a dozen games played by the service academies as well as  FCS schools and other lower division teams.  We’d never change that though.  

     You would think we get to see a very small sample  of players who have a shot at playing pro ball.     However, as you’ll see, we capture some of these top prospects in action at the lower levels as well. In 2016, we caught a pass break up by DB Jamal Agnew of FCS University of San Diego ( not San Diego State) against Marist in Poughkeepsie, NY in a Pioneer League clash.  Agnew got drafted by the Detroit Lions.  In 2017, he returned punts for TDs for Detroit against the Giants and Saints. In 2006, we attended the D-3 national championship between Mt. Union and Wisconsin – Whitewater.  We saw the Purpler Raiders WR Pierre Garcon before he played for the Washington Redskins.   You never know! 

     According to the pre-2018 draft analysis of  so-called”experts”, we’ve seen the majority of  talent on display over the last three years entering this years’ draft targeted in the first round.  Because of limited picture taking,  pictures that come out in poor quality, or pictures never taken because we may forget to re-charge the battery, this limits the depth of  players we can show here, but the number we  saw still photographed truly amazes us. We don’t attend college games for this purpose.

      Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield was seen his soph season against Clemson. His pics didn’t come out very well. Notre Dame  OL Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey had no clear shots when we saw the Irish  tussle at home against Stanford in 2016.  Our high angle seats and poor lighting in the Georgia Dome didn’t bode well for photos in the Alabama- Washington CFP semi-final in 2016 as well. You can imagine the wealth of NFL talent we watched play that day.  We take live action photos to capture stills to complement our Game Reviews and find that we have captured some of the greatest college football talent ready to step up to the next level. 

     This year, we’ve broken down the talent we’ve seen compete into various categories of evaluation.  The best college talent doesn’t always live up to the expectation in the pros.  On the other hand, certain players don’t receive the media attention and get taken in the later rounds to become “household” names – Tom Brady, for instance.  So we’ll categorize our draft analysis into three levels based on our first hand experience of seeing these players caught in action.  Along with our stills, we’ll throw out a brief analysis. We’ve broken out the talents into these three categories:

    1. Everybody’s Top Choices
    2. Middle Round Mainstays
    3. Hidden Gems & Long Shots

 

Everybody’s Top Choices

No. 2 to New York Giants:  Penn State’s Saquon Barkley (26) scores from the four versus Rutgers. Top RB in 2018 draft. Most likely the highest pick in our draft analysis.

No. 3 to NY Jets: USC’s QB Sam Darnold (14) did not have the senior year anticipated. His arm and leadership skills we saw will take him far in the pros.

No. 45 to Green Bay: Iowa Hawkeye DB Josh Jenkins (15) led the nation in picks when we saw him make his eighth in the 2017 New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College. At safety, he should be a ball-hawk.

No. 32 to Baltimore: 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson used his feet and arm to lead the Louisville Cardinals his senior season. His team lost to Wake 42-32.  Will any team risk his health as a run-pass QB at the next level? If not, he may make a great RB or WR.

No. 42 to Miami: Penn State TE Mike Gesicki put up great numbers in the four games we saw him play in this season. He needs to do that more often in the pros. Per our draft analysis, he probably has to bulk up a little to be a better blocker at the next level.

No. 44 to Washington: Speed kills. Washington Husky WR Dante Pettis hauled in this TD pass vs. Alabama in 2016 and returned a punt for a TD vs. Rutgers in 2017 when we watched him.

No. 10 to Arizona: UCLA QB Josh Rosen follows through on a pass against USC in 2017. We think that he will be a disappointing first round pick for somebody.  Heart? Focus? Teamwork? 

No. 148 to Pittsburgh: PSU S Marcus Allen makes a tackle for a safety against Pitt.  Look for this solid, quick defender  to get drafted by the second round.

No. 47 to Arizona: WR Christian Kirk (3) put up his best numbers of 2017 when we saw his Texas A&M team fall to Wake Forest in the Belk Bowl, 55-52. Kirk caught 13 passes for three TDs and 189 yards.

No. 12 to Tampa Bay: Washington’s DL Vita Vea (50) here in action against Alabama in the 2016 CFP was also seen in action against Rutgers in 2017. He garnered PAC-12 All Conference honors.

Undrafted Free Agent to Tennessee: USC’s WR Deontay Burnettt (80) got this ball into scoring position against UCLA on one of four catches for 55 yards that day in Troy’s 28-23  victory.  On the season, he hauled in 86 tosses from Sam Darnold for 1,114 yards and nine TDs.

No. 147 to LA Rams: Virginia LB Micah Kiser averaged 131 tackles over his last three seasons. He tallied 18 tackles against Georgia Tech in the win here, but only 11 against Navy in a big loss. We look for him to be a possible surprise pick late in the first round.

No. 38 to Tampa Bay: USC TB Ronald Jones scores his second of three TDs here vs UCLA when we saw him in action. . He will go in the second round after coming out as a Junior.  In 2017, he rushed for 1,550 yards and 19 TDs while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. 

No. 9 to San Francisco: ND OT Mike McGlinchey (68) brings versatility having played OT from both sides for the Irish.

Middle Round Mainstays

No.  162 to Ravens: WR Jordan Lasley (2) somehow pulled this one in for the UCLA Bruins against the Trojans.  Josh Rosen connected with him 10 times for 204 yards and three TDs when we saw them play last season. Lasley  finished 2017 with 69 receptions for 1,264 yards and nine TDs.

No. 251 to LA Chargers: Northwestern’s Justin Jackson (cener) fights for extra yards to keep a scoring drive alive in the 2016 Pinstripe Bowl versus Pitt. His 5,440 yards rushing and 41 career TDs have helped revive the Wildcats football program.

Undrafted Free Agent to Indianapolis:  Ohio State QB JT Barrett feels pressure here in 2016 from the Nittany Lions.  Barrett led the Buckeyes to no fewer than 11 wins in each of his seasons. He’s a winner. Someone will take him at the right time. We saw him defeat Navy and Michigan and lose to PSU.

No. 49 Goedert to Philadelphia; Greene undrafted Free Agent to Green Bay:  James Madison Safety Raven Greene breaks up pass intended for South Dakota Jack Rabbit TE Dallas Goedert (86) in FCS playoff.  Many predict  Goedert to be taken in the first or second round. We think Greene, who we also saw play against Delaware, may be picked up by a team to play on Sundays as well. Late round or free agent.

Undrafted Free Agent to Oakland: Based on toughness and mobility, we expect to see Penn State LB Joe Cabinda (40) picked up in the mid rounds and play in the NFL for a long time.

Undrafted Free agent to Minnesota: Another South Dakota State receiver, Jake Wieneke (19) , displayed his talents to interest the NFL. Here he catches a TD pass against JMU in the FCS semi-final. He started 59 games for the Jack Rabbits finishing with 5,157 receiving yards and 59 scores. Big target at 6’4″. 

Undrafted Free Agent to Washington: Virginia Safety Quin Banding (3) started all four years for the improving Cavaliers. In 2017, his senior season, he tallied 136 tackles and four INTs.

 

No. 106 to Denver: Iowa LB Josey Jewell (43) tallied 133 tackles his senior season including 13.5 for losses. His quickness gives him some versatility to play inside or outside. He had two INTs in 2017.

No. 202 to Green Bay: Notre Dame WR Equanimeous St. Brown shows his 6-4 height advantage against Syracuse. In the last two years, he totaled 91 receptions 1,476 yards, and 13 TDs for the Irish.

Uknown: USC Trojan S Marvin Tell (8) looks good in our draft analysis after his Junior season coming off 79 tackles and three INTs.

 

No. 54 to Cincinnati: WFU’s DB Jessie Bates (3) had two solid season for the Deacs with 119 solo tackles, 58 assisted, six INTs, and he returned two of those for TDs.

No. 155 LA Chargers: UCLA C Scott Quessenberry played in a pro style offense and stands at 6-3, 310 lbs.

Hidden Gems and Long Shots

(More to come. We’re not finished yet)

Undrafted, probably done: TE Adam Breneman of UMass fights for a nine-yard gain after this catch against Hawaii. He is tough and had a solid season, but he may be susceptible to injuries from what we saw in two games attended. 

No.  134 to Arizona: RB Chase Edmonds of Fordham had three great seasons on Rose Hill rushing for over 1,600 yards in each, but behind an inexperienced line his senior season he struggled with injuries.  Someone will give him a chance – 5,862 yards, 6.2 yards per carry and 67 TDs career records for the FCS Rams.

 Free Agent: Hawaii RB Diocemy Saint Juste was a workhorse for the Bows with 78 yards on 23 carries versus UMass. He could pop up as a late choice of as a free agent on a pro roster. He rushed for 1,510 yards and seven TDs. Caught 28 passes. 

Undrafted Free Agent to Cincinnati: South Florida QB Quinton Flowers races around the Temple flank. His stature and arm strength don’t meet pro standards, but he may be a very elusive RB at the next level.

 

 

Undrafted Free Agent with NY Jets and LA Chargers: Here is the best “hidden gem” of our draft analysis. Wake Forest QB John Wolford (10) is short, but strong-armed, tough, and smart. He led the Deacons to big wins we attended over Louisville (vs. Lamar Jackson) , 42-32, and over Texas A&M, 55-52, in the Belk Bowl. This guy will be a future head coach somewhere and do well. Whoever gets him is going to be happy they did.

No.  187 to Buffalo: Clemson WR Ray-Ray McCloud after a catch in the upset loss to Syracuse. He’s coming out after his Junior season with 49 catches, 505 yards, and one TD. We’d recommend that he stay another year at Clemson. The Tigers could have another great season and more playing time would improve his value.

Undrafted Free Agent to New Orleans: Wake Forest TE Cam Serigne nears end zone for the Deacs vs. Texas A&M. He caught 35 passes for 444 yards and eight TDs in 2017.

Look for our final draft analysis shortly.

Collegefootballfan.com 2017 All-American Team

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Collegefootballfan.com 2017 All-American Team

As we start to put together our draft analysis among the players entering the NFL draft next month who we’ve seen play these last few years, we finally started evaluating the talent we witnessed this past season to come up with our Collegefootballfan.com 2017 All-American Team.  During 2017, we attended 27 games consisting of 29 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams and seven Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams.  We couldn’t see every D1 team play in person, of course, and some teams played multiple times on our schedule and several conferences were represented significantly more than others. Having seen 22% of all FCS teams compete this past year, we feel that we’ve seen a good cross-section of top programs to come up with a very competitive team. This roster compares favorably to many All-American teams selected based on all 129 team that played this past season.

Our schedule consisted of nine ACC teams, six Big Ten programs, three Pac-12 schools, and three from the American Athletic conference.  Two play in the Mountain West, and one each competes in the SEC, the Big 12, the Sun Belt, and ConferenceUSA.  Two compete as Independents.

We limited our Collegefootballfan.com 2017 All-American Team to only players from football programs we watched play this season. Our team does not always consist of players who may have had the best season statistically, but we primarily took into account the performances we watched in the particular games we attended, and in the cases of breaking a tie, we would lean a little toward other post-season awards that they were recognized for.

Some of our selections may surprise you, but again, a performance or multiple performances that impressed us by some players may have taken precedent over some players who are more noteworthy than the players we chose.  For instance, we saw Sam Darnold and USC defeat Josh Rosen and UCLA, 28-23.   Rosen outdueled Darnold with 421 passing yards and three TDS to 264 yards and no TDs.  Each threw an interception.  You’ll see that we selected a QB that you may not hear about again until later in the draft, maybe as a free agent, or possibly some day of becoming a head coach somewhere based on what impressed us when we saw him play.  His team even defeated a Heisman trophy winner that you all know the first of two times we watched him play.

With that, I give you our Collegefootballfan.com 2017 All-American Team:

OFFENSE:

QB John Wohlford, Wake Forest:  Smart, gutsy QB with a good arm who led the Deacons to victories over Louisville, 42-32, and Texas A&M, 55-52, in the Belk Bowl. 158 QBR, 3,192 yds, 29 TDS.

RB Saquon Barkley, Penn State: 1271 rushing yards and 18 TDs; 54 catches for 632 yards, 3 TDs; 15 kick returns for 426 yards and 2 TDs for 11-2 No. 8 Nittany Lions. Saw him in wins versus Pitt, Michigan, Rutgers, and Maryland.

RB Ronald Jones II, USC:  rushed 28 times for 122 yards and two TDs against UCLA in 28-23 win.  1,550 rushing yards, 19 TDs; 14 catches for 187 yards, 1 TD.

QB John Wolford (10) led WFU to a 42-32 win over Louisville and Lamar Jackson with five TD passes.

WR Christian Kirk, Texas A&M: caught 13 passes for 189 yards and three TDs in 55-52 loss to Wake Forest in the Belk Bowl. Totaled 919 receiving yards and ten TDs on 71 catches for the Aggies.

WR Greg Dortsch, Wake Forest (FR): Impressed us with 10 catches for 167 yards and four TDs receiving plus 50 yards on two kickoff returns in Wake’s 42-32 victory over Louisville.  He left the game with a stomach injury falling on a pylon for a touchdown.  Had another diving catch in the end zone called back for a penalty.  Elusive, fast and shifty. Heisman potential.  Never returned from the injury for balance of the season.  In eight games, tallied 53 catches for 722 yards and nine TDs.

TE Mike Gesicki, Penn State: Senior TE made key grabs in four contests we saw him play in.  15 catches for 171 yards and five TDs.  Overall, 57 for 563 yards and nine Touchdowns.

PSU TE Mike Gesicki hauls in one of  Trace McSorely’s completions during the Nittany Lion 42-13 win over Michigan in October.

OT Mitch Hyatt, Clemson – 1st team All-ACC

OT Wyatt Teller, Virginia Tech – 1st team All-ACC

OG Sean Welsh, Iowa – 1st team All-Big 10

OG Kaleb McGary, Washington – 1st team All-Pac-12

C    Ryan Anderson, Wake Forest – 1st team All-ACC

PK   Frank Raggo, Delaware (FCS) – 55-yd FG, UD record vs. JMU

KR Joe Reed, Virginia – Two TD returns vs. Georgia Tech/Navy

Joe Reed en-route to a 92-yard kick-off return for a touchdown against Georgia Tech

 

DEFENSE:

DE Maurice Hurst, Michigan – 1st team All-Big 10

DL Christian Wilkins, Clemson – 1st team All-ACC

DL Vita Vea, Washington – 1st team All-Pac-12

DE Alton Robinson, Syracuse – key tackles in upset win over Clemson

LB Thomas Barber, Minnesota – 115 tackles and one INT (vs. MTSU)

LB Josey Jewell, Iowa – 136 tackles, 13.5 TFLs

LB Micah Kiser, Virginia – 145 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 5.8 sacks

CB Josh Jackson, Iowa –  48 tackles, 8 INTs

Hawkeye DB Josh Jackson (15)  turns a play in here, but thwarted a BC comeback late in the Pinstripe Bowl with his eighth pick of 2017.

CB Marcus Allen, Penn State – 72 tackles, 4 TFLs, 1 INT

S    Quinn Blanding, Virginia –  137 tackles, 4 INTs

S    Marvel Tell III, USC – 79 tackles, 3 INTs

P   Lester Nelson, Virginia – 43.7 ypp, dead accurate, 29 inside 20-yd

PR Dante Pettis, Washington – 19.5 ypr, 4 TDs (vs. RU)

Collegefootballfan.com’s 2017 All-American Cheerleader Squad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collegefootballfan.com announces its tentative 2018 schedule

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With most FBS schedules pretty much finalized, Collegefootballfan.com announces its tentative 2018 schedule. With a combination of games hosted by perennial favorites Navy and Penn State, we’ve come up with other games featuring the newest team to the FBS and a few new FCS venues to attend for the first time.  Pending date switches for TV programming and times yet to be announced, our schedule is far from finalized as we look to possibly add a few Thursday or Friday night games no mater what the level of NCAA competition.

We open with our first trip ever to the University of Maine where they will host archival New Hampshire in the season opener for both Colonial Athletic Conference squads on August 31.  We plan to see two games at Boston College where the Eagles will host intrastate foe UMass and ACC foe Miami Hurricanes for only their second conference showdown ever.

RB AJ DILLON RETURNS TO BC FOR HIS SOPH SEASON AFTER 1,589 RUSHING YARDS AND 14 TDS IN 2017. WE SAW HIM IN ACTION AGAINST IOWA IN THE NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL LAST SEASON.

We will be back in Annapolis four times this season to see the Mids host American Athletic West contender Memphis early in September.  They will then play Lehigh in their series of games against FCS foes from the Patriot League against whom Navy competes in most other NCAA sports.  The Houston Cougars come to town with DT Ed Oliver who is being touted during the preseason as a Heisman Trophy contender.  Tulsa follows in November before we head up to Philly in December for the greatest rivalry in college football when the Mids play Army.  The Cadets won last season, 14-13, as a Navy FG attempt went wide left in the swirling winds at The Linc as time expired.

Happy Valley will be fired up again and ready for a White-out when the Nittany Lions play host to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium on September 29. The Big Ten East will be up for grabs. Wisconsin, winners of the Big Ten West last season and sure contenders again in 2018 after finishing 13-1 last season, visit in November.  We’ll fill in Thanksgiving weekend again with Maryland in Central PA after seeing the Lions thrash the Terps down in College Park last year, 66-3.  We’ll look for improvements from the visitors.

QB TRACE McSORLEY RETURNS TO LEAD THE PSU OFFENSE AGAIN IN 2018.

In addition to Maine, we will go to our first game ever at Holy Cross to see the Crusaders take on Lehigh in a late season Patriot League battle on a Saturday afternoon in Worcester, MA.  Our Big Tailgate is slated for September 22 when we will take a busload of fellow fans and Knights of Columbus to see the Buffalo Bulls of the Mid-American Conference play against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers at the Birthplace of College Football.  We have a great tailgating spot there.  In early November, we will be back in New England to see the Liberty Flames visit the UMass Minutemen in their inaugural FBS season under their HC Turner Gill.

The weekend of October 13 is open right now for a possible double header weekend to go to two new venues for us,  or there is the possibility of a big-time SEC clash. Our scheduling is not over. Of course, there’s bowl season that we will be planning with the possibility of finally getting to the CFP finale out in California.  For our complete schedule click here to see our latest 2018 schedule update.

LOOK FOR OUR FLAG TO BE UNFURLED WHEREVER WE ATTEND GAMES IN 2018.

In Memory of our great friend Tom Ables, Mr. San Diego State!

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My brother Chris and I first met Tom Ables, Mr. San Diego State, at the UTEP game in 2006.

     On October 16 of this past year, a great friend we made over the course of  this great, fun adventure of ours now going into our 40th year, passed away – Tom Ables,  Mr. San Diego State!  Tom leaves us a target to catch up with having seen his beloved San Diego State Aztecs play in 788 games.  We figured rather just write a memorial to him in the middle of our fast-moving, hectic football season when he passed on, we wanted to pay tribute to him after the course of our 2017 season to leave it on our site when there is a lull in the college football action. 

     Below we’ve included the excerpt from our book, “Tales from the Tailgate”,  when we first met Tom at our first Aztec game.  After that, we kept in touch each season exchanging information and stories about games we’ve attended since.  My son Eric and I visited him at his place of business he still operated all these years when we attended the Holiday Bowl near his home in San Diego in 2010.  And in 2015, Tom ventured out with his son Ken to see his Aztecs play Penn State at Beaver Stadium.  With a cane and slightly hunched over then, he proudly stood along the sideline with his team where we got to greet him.  We were thrilled to see him at a game once again. 

Tom and I meet before the Penn State vs. San Diego State game in 2015 as his son Ken and Mike Ford, next to me, look on.

     The following year, I could hear the excitement in his voice on a phone call telling me that he was going to see his Aztecs visit South Alabama in Mobile.  He could not wait as he would have the chance to go visit his old WWII ship, the USS Alabama close by in Mobile Bay.  Soon after his discharge from the Navy after the war, Tom Ables went back home to San Diego, matriculated at San Diego State , became sports editor for his school paper, married Nancy, started a family, and the rest is history following Aztec football as you will read below. 

     Tom was always a positive, forward thinking guy since I first met him despite his age in 2006.  He was also proud of his past as a Navy vet, a dedicated family man, a successful business man, and of course as San Diego State’s most dedicated fan.  It was an honor to become his friend.  I think more than anything else,  to me meeting great people like Tom Ables along the way is the greatest reason for going to all these college games all over the country. We’ve met a lot of great new friends along the way, and he is one of them.   We will never forget him.  As is the  title of his book,  we say,  “Go Aztecs!”  

Tom sent me this pose from Boise a few years ago.   San Diego State’s No. 1 fan, Tom Ables,  missed only two SDSU Aztec games since 1946!

 

(106) Texas- El Paso at (107) San Diego State

 August 31, 2006

San Diego – Several years before the 2006 season, I read a Sports Illustrated article about a San Diego State fan by the name of Tom Ables who had attended almost every Aztec game since 1945! I decided that if I ever went out there to watch the Aztecs play, I would have to meet him. SDSU seldom ventured out to play games on the east coast. They play from Hawaii to the Rocky Mountains and sometimes foray into the Midwest. When the 2006 SDSU slate became final, the Aztecs announced their season home-opener against Texas-El Paso. Perfect! I needed both teams.

I contacted San Diego State by e-mail to see if I could get in touch with their greatest fan when I came out to see them play. They forwarded my message to Tom and he contacted me the very next day. He enjoyed hearing about my quest to see every team play. He also said that he had 20 season tickets for his family, and if any weren’t being used, my brother Chris and I were invited as his guests. Of course, going to a Thursday night opener in California also opened up the opportunity for me to attend a game on Saturday. As I would be staying with Chris in Long Beach, I could join him and Jill, a UCLA grad, along with their kids Emily and Nick, who’d never been to a Bruins game at the Rose Bowl before.  On Saturday, UCLA would host Utah for my left-coast weekend double-header.

 In San Diego, Chris and I kicked off the season having the honor and privilege of sitting with Tom, who cheered his Aztecs on in person for the 646th time. We shared a great time exchanging stories with Tom and rooting for his Aztecs. For instance, I’d seen coaching legends Paul “Bear” Bryant, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, and Harold “Tubby” Raymond. Tom’s history went back even further. In one of his early SDSU games covering for the school paper as a student, his team played the University of the Pacific, coached by none other then Amos Alonzo Stagg.  Talk about a great connection to college football history! Tom still writes articles for the program Aztec Game Day. Under “Looking Back” in this game’s edition, he gave a history of all the head coaching debuts at San Diego State. Chuck Long, former Oklahoma offensive coordinator and former Iowa Hawkeye QB I’d seen against Penn State, made his head coaching debut for the Aztecs in this game.  In an editor’s note, it stated Tom had seen 645 games in 61 seasons. He missed a trip to Cal Poly in 1964, but has been to 475 Aztec games in a row since! He also missed the 1951 trek to the Pineapple Bowl in Hawaii because he couldn’t afford it.

Denny Fallon, president of the SDSU Alumni Association and rabid Aztec fan, of course, stopped by to welcome my brother and me and presented me with “vintage” Aztec sportswear featuring “Monty,” as in Montezuma, the Aztec chieftain.  During halftime, we conversed with Tom about some of the stadiums where I’d like to attend games in the future. He provided us with his insights to the ones he’d been to: Wisconsin’s Camp Randall—“Great atmosphere!” Ohio State’s Ohio Stadium—“Loved the stadium and the fans there.” After a 16-13 loss, the Buckeye fans gave his Aztecs a standing ovation. The Big House at Michigan—unimpressed. His wife, Nancy, veteran of 411 games as of this date, says that the one place she will not go to again is Laramie, Wyoming. “Too cold!” Tom told how the Aztecs almost didn’t make it to the game there on October 6, 1984, because the team traveled through a blizzard to get there. Wyoming pushed for a no-show forfeit while the Aztecs were enroute. SDSU showed up an hour late, and they went on to defeat the Cowboys in the snow, 21-0.

As for action on the field this evening, UTEP was led by Jordan Palmer, brother of USC star Carson. He led them to a 14-3 lead at the half.  Tyler Campbell, son of Pro Hall of Famer Earl, returned the ball for SDSU to start the second half. Things didn’t look good for the Aztecs trailing 27-3 in the third quarter. A quarterback switch and a couple of big plays by the Aztecs defense helped SDSU get back into it. With 4:38 remaining, the Miners were up, 34-24, and there was no sign quitting from Tom’s Aztecs. Starting the next drive, the replacement, Dan Mougey, completed four straight passes to bring State to the UTEP 10. The Aztecs settled for Garrett Palmer’s 34-yard FG. With 1:59 left in the game trailing 34-27, their onsides kick went out of bounds.  The Miners took over, but the suspense didn’t end there.  UTEP Coach Mike Price decided to hand off to a runner three times rather than take a knee to avoid risking a fumble back to the Aztecs. “Didn’t he ever hear of The Miracle at the Meadowlands?” I asked Tom. He smiled and said, “Herman Edwards played for San Diego State!”

There was no miracle at Qualcomm today as time expired for a final of 34-27 in favor of the Miners. SDSU fans told me they often have to look for a silver lining. Tom Ables said that he was proud that his team never quit. We think he had every right to feel that way.  Take it from the guy who just attended his 646th Aztec game.

Extra point: In 2010, Tom and his wife Nancy, despite her previous experience, went back to Laramie, Wyoming.  She had no choice.  Tom attended his 700th Aztec game.  A week later at halftime against Colorado State at Qualcomm, San Diego State presented Tom with the ball from that game commemorating his record.  By the end of the season, Tom was up to game 705 and planning for the 2011 San Diego State season.  I hope to catch up with him again some time.

Below is an article by Kirk Kenny in a tribute to Tom Ables in his hometown paper, The San Diego Union

Aztecs super fan Tom Ables dies

San Diego State has lost its No. 1 fan.

Tom Ables attended nearly 800 SDSU football games and more than 1,000 SDSU basketball games over seven decades. He literally wrote the book on SDSU football, “Go Aztecs!” chronicling the team’s most memorable games through the years and highlighting the Aztecs’ best players and coaches.

When the Aztecs played Boise State on Saturday night at SDCCU Stadium, Ables was there — announcing in a pregame video posted on his Twitter account that he was attending his 788th SDSU football game.

Ables died Monday morning at Scripps Mercy Hospital, the same place he was born 91 years ago.

“Obviously, he was as good a fan as there ever was,” SDSU head coach Rocky Long said. “He was close to our program and with us most the time, a lot of time spent on the sidelines. He was in our locker room a lot and meant a lot to everybody.”

Asked what it meant to the players to have such a dedicated fan, Long said: “Every year you explain to the players who he is when you introduce him, because most of the new guys don’t know who he is, the older guys do, and they know his record for how many games he’s seen and that kind of stuff. I don’t know if they relate, but, obviously they honor him and they respect what he did supporting this football team.”

When Ables enrolled at then San Diego State College in 1946 after serving in the Navy during World War II, little did he know that it would start him down a path as the Aztecs’ biggest fan. He began going to football games while sports editor of the school newspaper, continued as the school’s first sports information director and never stopped going over seven decades.

In 1993, Ables was an honorary inductee to the Aztec Hall of Fame.Ables celebrated his 69th wedding anniversary over the summer with his wife Nancy, an SDSU alum who was by his side most of the time at games. Their son Ken, a 1980 SDSU graduate, has joined his father at home and on the road for years as well.

Ables, owner of his own PR and marketing firm the past 34 years, celebrated game No. 700 in Laramie, Wyo., in 2010, when SDSU defeated Wyoming 48-38 to become bowl eligible for the first time in more than a decade.

The Aztecs’ bowl streak stretched to six straight years with a 42-7 win over Cincinnati in the 2015 Hawaii Bowl victory over Cincinnati. That was the first SDSU game Ables ever watched on television. He had seen every game in person since TV was invented. An ear infection grounded Ables, preventing him from flying to Honolulu for the game.

Ables had attended his 600th straight SDSU game just a few weeks earlier when the Aztecs defeated Air Force 27-24 in the Mountain West Championship Game at Qualcomm Stadium.

Last year, Ables joined the Aztecs for their 34-10 victory over Houston in the 2016 Las Vegas Bowl. The victory sparked him to update his book for a fourth time to highlight SDSU’s second straight 11-win season as well as recognize running back D.J. Pumphrey’s NCAA-record rushing performance.

Weeks earlier, Ables was touched when Pumphrey presented him with the game ball following SDSU’s 42-28 victory at Northern Illinois. A more poignant moment came two weeks later when he joined the team at South Alabama.

Ables completed a circle of sorts while on the road trip, visiting the ship he served on during World War II. The USS Alabama is a ship museum now in Mobile Bay, located just five miles from South Alabama’s Ladd–Peebles Stadium.

“I can’t tell you how emotional I get when you stop to think what the odds are of something like that happening in anybody’s life,” Ables said a couple days before making the trip. “Almost 70 years to the day I’ll be back on the ship. … And to have it happen the same day I’m with my Aztecs is unbelievable.

“I’m looking forward to it and very excited about it. I’d like to go on, go down to my old engine room and quietly be emotional.”

Tom Ables got just as emotional when it came to SDSU, although he was never quiet about it. He was an “Aztec for Life” long before the expression was put to words.

 

Super Memories 2018

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Super Memories 2018

When the Super Bowl arrives each year, we like to peruse the rosters and see who in the game we may have seen before they turned pro that will conjure up Super Memories 2018 of college seasons and games past we saw them play in on their journeys to the top.  We check our computer files, old programs, wrinkled newspaper clippings, and we then scan our fading or distorted memory banks for points of interest we’d like to share. Kind of like a “we knew them when”.   Hopefully we caught a few in action on purpose or even by accident in a picture.  

      This year, a quick perusal of the two Super rosters recognized about thirteen players on both the Patriots and on the Eagles who we had seen dating back from 2002 up until our 2016 season.  Some of the memories are vivid and personal.  Others are stirred by the aforementioned research over available materials looked over about an hour.    We don’t have the time nor interest to report on every player, but we pulled some prominent and some not-so-prominent names of players from our past playing both squads. Here’s names that shook loose some Super Memories 2018 before Super Bowl LII. The list depicts the player with his current position he’s playing in the pros, his position in college, his alma mater, and the years we watched his particular team in action when he was on the roster.

Eagle players:

TE Brent Celek, TE Cincinnati, 2004 – Celek played as sophomore for the Bearcats under HC Mark Dantonio when they visited 0-4 Army at West Point . Back then, both teams competed in Conference USA.  Cincy came in with their typical mediocre record of 2-3.  Army on the other hand, started off the season poorly with a record of 0-4.  However, the Cadets struggled more mightily than that, they rode a 19-game losing streak.  Celek caught two TD passes this day of the four thrown by QB Gino Guidugli.  Army answered the first one with four straight TDs in the first half to take a 26-7 lead.  Celek’s second TD also came in the second period to close the score to 32-29 at intermission in favor of Army.  A FG and a recovered fumble in the end zone by Army in the second half ended their losing streak by beating Cincy, 42-29. The Cadets in Michie Stadium stormed the field, tore down a goal post, and heaved it in pieces to into Lusk Reservoir outside the stadium.  It was a thrilling upset for the beleaguered cadets.   As for Cincinnati in the Associated Press report after the game, QB Gino Guidugli was quoted saying, “This is the most disappointing loss of my life.  We’re probably the laughingstock of the nation.” Celek caught ten passes for 130 yards and one TD for the Eagles this season.

WR Alshon Jeffery, WR South Carolina, 2011- While our daughter Alex attended the University of South Carolina becoming a die-hard Gamecock fan, we got to see her team play each of the four years.  Twice, we attended the season-ending traditional rivalry against Clemson.  In 2011, Steve Spurrier’s No. 14 Gamecocks hosted Dabo Swinney’s No. 18 Tigers. This was for the “state championship” Spurrier would say.  The two teams clawed at each other in the first half with the Cocks leading 17-10 at halftime.  QB Conor Shaw threw his second TD pass of the game in Q3.  The two teams exchanged FGs in the final period, but WR Alshon Jeffery capped the scoring with a tremendous 18-yard TD reception in back of the end zone to put the game on ice for a 34-13 Gamecock win.  He caught two passes for 29 yards.  With a win in the Capital One Bowl over Nebraska, they finished 11-2 overall and ranked No. 9.  Jeffrey would leave the program after this, his junior season. He ended his Gamecock career with 183 receptions for 3,042 yards and 23 TDs.  In 2017 for Philadelphia, Jeffery knabbed 57 receptions for 789 yards and nine TDS.

OT Lane Johnson, DE Oklahoma, 2012 – Well we can’t resist saying that we never saw the player who promised everybody in Philadelphia a beer after the Eagles win the Super Bowl.  Even Bud Light stepped up to sponsor him.  We can’t say he starred or even played when we saw his Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl in New Year’s Day of 2011.   I bought the tickets well in advance of the two teams being invited figuring it was going to be a big match in this traditional major bowl game.  For my son Eric, who was 15 at the time, and for me, the aura of this game was kind of disappointing.  UConn, winners of the Big East that year with an overall record of 8-4, showed up as the competition in Glendale. Hell,  I’d seen them win twice in good games over other mediocre Big East competition in East Hartford a three-hour drive from home earlier this season.  They beat WVU, 16-13, in overtime, and they edged Pitt,30-28, in a well-played game.  I didn’t plan to come all the way out to Arizona to see them play again, especially against the likes of a football dynasty like Oklahoma.  The winner of the Big East had to get into one of the majors, and I regretfully picked this one.  UConn played OU tight through the first half, but the No. 6 ranked Sooners (12-2) with QB Landry Jones and RB DeMarco Murray eventually rolled them, 48-20.  As for Johnson, our new beer buddy, he wasn’t listed in the top two tiers of the depth chart, and he didn’t play on the offensive line either.  He roamed the sidelines that day as a sophomore DE.  This shows that everyone gets to the top somehow or other. If the Eagles win on Sunday, he will lead the team in beers purchased.    Hey Lane, even if the Eagles don’t win, pass one over here to Jersey!

UW Husky DT No. 11 Elijah Qualls squares off against Alabama in the CFP semi-finals in 2016 in Atlanta.

T Elijah Qualls, DE Washington, 2016 – Alabama went on to defeat Washington, 24-7, to go on to the championship two play Clemson after we saw these two tangle in Atlanta for the CFP semi-final.  When did you ever see a #11 jersey at DT?  That was Qualls’s number at UDub.  He now wears #98 at the same position for the Eagles.  He didn’t see much action this year as he posted a mere four tackles.  We don’t see him being a force to be reckoned with in this Super Bowl.  Maybe in the future.

UT DE Derek Barnett (9) tracks down Northwestern QB in 205 Outback Bowl.

DE Derek Barnett, DE Tennessee, 2014-16 –  For thee three consecutive bowl seasons, I picked my schedules in advance based on proximities, budgets, and travel schedules to attend as many games as possible, not knowing who would play (as usual).  For three consecutive years, my eyes hurt from all that Tennessee Orange filling the stadiums.  Barnett was active in the last two games I watched them in.  The Vols went 3-0 in all three games basically dominating all three Big Ten teams they faced and outscoring them in all three by a combined score of 128-58.  The reality though was that in the first one, they whipped up on Iowa so bad, they had guys who hadn’t played all season playing defense the second half after scoring most of their points before halftime.  In the TaxSlayer in Jacksonville, they beat up on Iowa 35-7 by halftime on the way to a 45-28 win as the Hawkeyes scored three TDs in the last period.  In the Outback down in Tampa a year later, the Vols slammed Northwestern, 45-6.  And in 2016, Nebraska fared a little better than the previous two reps from the Big Ten West but still lost in the Music City, 38-24. The rookie made 21 stops, tallied five sacks, and forced a fumble for the Eagles this season.

 

Barnett pursues Husker RB in his final collegiate game at the 2016 Music City Bowl.

Next up:

Patriot Players:

 

 

WR Danny Amendola, WR Texas Tech, 2007 – On September 22, 2007, we watched Oklahoma State defeat Texas Tech in a wild, shoot-out, 48-45. Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell threw for 646 yards, fourth highest ever in a single game in college football history.  Tech played under pass happy HC Mike Leach.  On the receiving end of Harrel’s passes, Danny Amendola latched on to 13 passes for 192 yards and a TD.  Tech had a chance to win the game late on its final possession as a Harrell pass glanced off the shoulder pad of another future draft pick, Michael Crabtree.  Of course, the final story line was all about Mike Gundy’s postgame tirade: “I’m a man!”  With New England, Amendola has 79 receptions this year for 855 yards and four touchdowns.

WR Kenny Britt, WR Rutgers, 2008 – Among the trio of Rutgers players for the Patriots, Britt was “saved” from the Cleveland Browns late in the 2017 season, he landed with the Patriots. Two other former RU players have been mainstays of the New England secondary since being drafted right from the “Banks on the old Raritan”.  DB Devin McCourty was selected by the Patriots in the first round of the 2010 draft, and DB Duron Harmon was brought on in the third round of the 2013 draft.  McCourty stands out in our RU memories as he and his twin brother, Jason, played in the RU secondary together.  Jason still plays DB for the Cleveland Browns after eight seasons with Tennessee.   Over the span of these three RU players years now with the Patriots, the Scarlet Knight had a record of 4-3.  Bill Belichick attributes the former Scarlet Knight players’ skills and capabilities to their experience playing under their HC at the time, Greg Schiano.   Schiano is now the defensive coordinator at Ohio State.  The two DBs will be looking to both win their third Super Bowl rings with the Pats.  Britt is seeking his first ring.

R-U Rutgers! Rutgers rah!

LS Joe Cardona, Navy, 2011-14 – Cordona started as the Long Snapper for the Midshipmen for four years in Annapolis.  We saw him and the Mids attain a 7-5 record over those years.  In the 2013 game versus Hawaii, he caused a fumble on a punt return that led to a Navy TD in a 42-28 win over the Rainbows.  Since he’s been with New England, he’s started in every game.  He is stationed at the Naval War College in Newport Rhode Island still serving in the US Navy.  Of all the teams in the NFL, it makes sense that the Patriots drafted him in the fifth round in 2015.  New England HC Bill Belichick’s late father, Steve, served as a football coach and a phys ed instructor at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland for 34 years from 1956-1980. Bill Belichick is a graduate of Annapolis HS.

Go Navy! Go Joe Cardona!

DB Stephon Gilmore, DB South Carolina, 2011 – Gilmore was not only a classmate and a teammate of the Eagle’s WR Alshon Jeffery’s at South Carolina, he also roomed with him there.  We saw them both play against Navy in a 24-21 win and in the win over Clemson in 2011.  Both moved on to the NFL after their Junior seasons. In his final season in Columbia, Gilmore made 46 tackles and four INTs.  Gilmore was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round at No. 10 overall.   On Sunday, he will cover Jeffery on several occasions for the first time in his NFL career.

LB David Harris, LB Michigan, 2006 – Harris and the entire front seven of Michigan held Penn State to  -14 rushing yards and tallied seven QB sacks in a 17-10 win over the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley.  The Wolverines finished No. 8 at the end of the season with an 11-2 record. One was a 42-39 loss in the regular season finale to Ohio State before losing to USC in the Rose Bowl.  Harris garnered first team Big Ten defense honors.  He made 103 tackles that year. The Jets drafted him in 2007 in the second round 47th overall. This is his first season with the Patriots. He totaled 1.5 sacks, 16 tackles,  and 3.3 assists. He will be fired up to win his first Super Bowl ring ever as well.

Happy Super Bowl!