Game 613: Wildcats trounce Gamecocks in season finale for at least two of us, 41-18

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Lexington, KY – The Kentucky Wildcats raced out to a 27-3 halftime lead over the Gamecocks (2-8) with a balanced attack led by UK QB Terry Wilson. The Cocks attempted to climb back in the second half, but they allowed several opportunities to escape from an eventual trouncing, 41-18. Wilson completed 17 of 26 passes for 201 yards and a TD. Chris Rodriguez shored things up leading the rushing attack with 139 yards and three TDs. Asim Rose contributed 101 yards and a TD on the same amount of carries as Rodriguez, 14.

Kentucky’s Chris Rodriguez (10) ran for three TDs against Carolina.

Cats pounce

Carolina came up empty on the game’s opening drive with a field goal miss from 39. Kentucky responded on their first possession with a 22-yard FG by Matt Ruffolo. KJ Wright’s first of two fumble recoveries for the Cats on this cold night at SC’s 26 set up Rodriguez’s TD from one-yard out for a quick 10-0 UK lead two plays later. A 15-yard penalty against them on the kick-off and a 52-yard return by Dakareon Joyner put SC at the UK 40. All interim HC Mike Bobo’s squad could get out of this sudden momentum resulted in a 48-yard FG by Parker White to cut the score, 10-3. The second quarter, however, belonged to the Wildcats.

Quick as Cats

RB Kevin Harris carried twice for the Cocks before no gain by QB Luke Doty to punt on fourth and short. The scenario became par for the Carolina game plan in the second. The Wildcats put a together a five-play scoring drive of 81 yards with Rose’s run for eight yards after Wilson’s 21-yard completion to TE Justin Rigg (three catches for 71 yards) for 21 yards to go up, 17-3. With 1:14 left in the quarter, Rodriguez ran in from the two to cap a 7-play, 39-yard drive. On Carolina’s next series, Doty, a frosh, committed an unforced fumble to give the ball back to UK at SC’s 38. As time expired, Ruffolo split the uprights to take a one-sided 27-3 lead into intermission.

UK TE Justin Rigg made several nice catches including this one on a second quarter touchdown drive.

Covid crackdowns

In this “unprecedented time” we’re all tired of living in, I’m thankful I had this opportunity to attend only my third, and regretfully, probably my last game of the 2020 season. Happily, my daughter, Alex, a South Carolina grad and die-hard Gamecock football fan joined me. Arriving early Friday evening, as informed, we found all the local eateries and bars closing at 8 o’clock. That relegated us to going to a Steak and Shake drive-through and picking up a six-pack of beer at the liquor store to take back to our hotel room. No complaints, but you like to try some unique options when you visit a town for the first time.

We skipped our hotel’s continental breakfast and found breakfast at Wild Eggs which included alcohol wake-ups, Screw-drivers and Mimosa’s, at outdoor seating in a tent. Facemasks in, 25% capacity, social-distancing, and all the new requirements that loyal customers and the poor businesses have to live by, and understandably for obvious reasons. Afterward, we drove over to the UK campus to browse around to understand the landscape for the 7:30 kickoff. That’s where it became eerie for us. Closed lots, but security in place before noon, and no students, visitors en masse, or vibrant activities anywhere on this beautiful campus. Sports centers sat idle, few prospective student visitors for future classes, and no alumni gatherings to celebrate friendships or to attend an event to bring a campus community together. A few local kids rode bikes on paths where college students roam and congregate from hometowns near and far. It was surreal, like a scene from the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Life is not supposed to be this way. Bring on those vaccines and let’s get on with life!

Cold night in Lexington. We have to come back when it’s warmer.

After watching some games on TV back at the hotel, we drove down to Euclid Street to check out The Beer Trappe featuring 500 specialty bottles from around the world and 14 selected beers on tap that day. Kevin the bartender set us up outside at a table as required by current Kentucky law, and Alex and I enjoyed our pregame “tailgate”. Next to the Trappe stood the Bear and Butcher Restaurant who provided table service to us. We enjoyed their soft pretzel appetizer. Alex’s grilled chicken sandwich and my chicken pot pie tasted great. The hot food provided perfect tailgate cuisine as the temperature dropped into the 40s as game time approached.

Despite the restrictions and the weather, we enjoyed our outdoor pregame feast. Kevin thanked us for coming because we along with some customers in and out helped him stay open on a slow afternoon. We enjoyed talking with him going back and forth for refills. Remember to do what you can to support your local businesses! These are tough times for small establishments who depend on loyalty of customers and a few new visitors wandering in.

A Covid-19 crowd at Kentucky’s Kroeger Stadium.

Cats keep clawing

The Cats continued clawing at the Gamecocks after the opening kickoff to start the third. They ate away at the clock on its initial drive consuming 7:32 with Miller taking the ball over from the two. As dominant as the Wildcats played tonight, much of their success could be attributed to the Cock’s porous defense. Arm-tackling took place more so than any solid shots with a shoulder on the ball carrier. Their tackling methods resembled body throw-downs as opposed to solid tackles in most cases. The Cats broke many of these. They used that to their advantage to lead, 34-7.

UK QB Terry Miller on sweep right against the Gamecocks.

The Gamecocks focused after that on their running game, primarily with Kevin Harris. Handing the ball off to their leading rusher, Harris scored on a 15-yard run. He evaded would-be tacklers and ran them over. Leading the SEC in rushing with 928 yards coming in, he finished this evening by the end of the third quarter with 21 carries for 210 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, the Carolina highlight of the contest. He raced 60 yards to the 25 at the end of Q3 before Frosh Rashad Amos replaced him to carry 12 times for 60 yards at game’s end.

SEC’s leading rusher Kevin Harris (20) ran for 210 yards against the Wildcats.

Parting shots

Though the Wildcats (4-6) controlled the game heading into the fourth, both teams took their final shots at each other. Doty tossed a 30-yard TD pass to Dakereon Jones and connected with Nick Muse on the two-point conversion. However, Rodriguez sealed the deal on the subsequent UK possession when he raced downfield for a 79-yard TD jaunt to finalize the score, 41-18, for the Wildcats. The close battle we had hoped for never materialized, but we loved being out in the cold, late season weather for at least one more college football game. Who knows when and where our next one could be?

Alex and I agreed. Masks are definitely worth wearing on a cold night for football.

Next?

In this strange year of coronavirus, despite losing records, both of these schools are under consideration for bowl bids. As much as we’ve enjoyed traveling during bowl weeks in the past to attend multiple games, we just don’t envision the efforts being worthwhile here. Bowl games other than the CFP and a few other games will feature interesting match-ups, but most others are just filling airtime for ESPN. We have no interest seeing a 2-8 or 4-6 play in a “glorified” post-season scrimmage.

Parties, tailgates, restaurants, and bars will allow limited crowds at best. What originated as festivals around a football game to bring fans to enjoy host cities will not be the attraction of fans to this year’s games. We’ll regretfully wait. Who knows if teams will even be able to avoid Covid-19 cancellations? It’s not worth the hassle. Boston College (6-5) just announced they will not consider any bowl invitations this year. About a dozen bowls have already been cancelled. Many don’t seem to be of interest to us.

Harris impressed against UK, but who would want to see the 2-8 Gamecocks play in a bowl game? In person or on TV? Besides Alex?

Start up the coaching carousel

Gamecock fans celebrated soon after the 2-8 season ended as the school announced Oklahoma OC Shane Beamer, former SC assistant and son of VA Tech’s venerable Frank Beamer accepted the vacant head coaching position. My Gamecock alum daughter was thrilled when Beamer announced that he would retain USC QB Connor Shaw on his staff. Shaw played as a tough-as-nails QB for the Gamecocks when she was there. Good start on Beamer’s part.

Despite the offensive burst that the Wildcats displayed this evening, UK HC Mike Stoops made some moves to prepare for future improvements. Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw were fired. The 41 points against this defense could not muster enough enthusiasm for next season, so changes will be made.

Make up for lost time

Over many years now we have averaged close to 25 games per season. Those who follow us regularly know we scheduled our original opener this season in Ireland to see Navy vs. Notre Dame. Our regular season was planned in Philly with Army-Navy As teams this Saturday. Instead, we’ll be tailgating in Cousin Frank’s driveway with his new grill before going in to watch on TV.

President Trump will be attending the Army-Navy game to be held at West Point for the first time since 1944.

As more games got cancelled or openers got delayed, and then decisions were made to play without fans in attendance, we grasped at what we could get and were satisfied we got out to three games, all at venues we hadn’t been to before, something we strive to do. However, this season really knocked us off course well short of where we could have finished this year at about 635 games in all.

We do hope to get some of those losses back with FCS games planned for this spring . We’re planning to keep our eyes and ears pealed. Already looking at spring slates starting in late February through early April. Still, will fans be allowed? Will you need season tickets to be able to attend games? Will vaccines get Covid-19 behind us? Will social-distancing be required? A lot of questions to be answered, but we’re going to get back into action with winter/spring college football. Check us out here.

If Princeton can allow fans to attend games this spring, count us in for three or four home games on an Ivy League season ticket.

What we did learn this year is that we’re so used to the travel, the great outdoors, the fun tailgating, and enthusiastic crowds, we just did not enjoy sitting home flipping channels to watch multiple games at the same time. As much as we hate waiting out TV time-outs at the games, changing from commercial to other commercials is even worse! I also have to say that we schedule a lot of good, competitive games more often than not when we plan in the offseason, but this year, there seemed to be more blow-outs televised which mitigated our viewing pleasure. We plan to get back out to see more action and visit some more new venues in the future.

Also looking forward to some other favorite venues as well.

Collegefootballfan.com looks to wrap up 2021 regular season in SEC East

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Lexington, Kentucky – In this crazy, unprecedented, Covid-19 debacle of a season where fans generally can’t get tickets and can basically only view their favorite sport from the couch, it looks like we’ll most likely wrap up our very short, bitter-sweet season when the 3-6 Kentucky Wildcats host the 2-7 South Carolina Gamecocks. What the heck, only three games this year having attended an average of 25 in each of the last 15 seasons. We took what we could get while staying safe and quarantining as necessary. Some people we know haven’t even left their homes three times since March! We can’t live that way. We missed the weekly game atmosphere on the road.

This should be competitive

What we like about this particular match-up, it should be competitive based on records and fairly comparable stats versus common SEC opponents. The Cats and Cocks will come out clawing and kicking to put distance between themselves and the common foe they both beat – Vanderbilt (0-8). Both look to end disappointing seasons on a high note. Carolina shows more scoring potential averaging 24.1 ppg as opposed to Kentucky’s 19.6. However, the Gamecocks gave up a lot of points regularly. In three straight games, they fell to LSU, 52-24, A&M, 48-3, and Ole Miss, 59-42, before Head Coach Will Muschamp got canned. Inspired under interim HC Mike Bobo, they lost to Mizzou, 17-10, before taking it on the chin again last week from Georgia, 45-16.

Alabama clobbered the Wildcats, 66-3. The Cats only edged Vandy, 38-35. while the Cocks wailed on the ‘Dores, 41-7. SC’s other win come in a 30-22 surprise over Auburn. This will be a good close game to watch. Carolina won 24-7 in this SEC East game a year ago.

Wildcat leaders

Terry Wilson leads the Wildcats at QB with 89 passing yards and seven TDs through the air. Chris Rodriguez leads then ground game with 562 yards and six TDs. HC Mike Stoops’ receiving corps is led by Josh Ali’s 427 yards. The Kentucky defensive charge is led by LB Jamin Davis with 79 stops while Kelvin Joseph leads the secondary with four picks.

Gamecocks

QB Collin Hill started the first seven games, but Luke Doty has picked up most of the action in the last two games. Combined, they totaled only seven TD passes and eight INTs. Bobo will be looking for some improvement in this season finale. He may rely more on RB Kevin Harris this Saturday with 928 rushing yards and 14 Touchdown. WR Shi Smith and TE Nick Muse are leading receivers but only have one TD between them. LB Ernest Jones is the Gamecock stalwart on defense with 89 tackles.

Our Cat and Cock histories

The Wildcats come in with only three games among our 612. Back in 1987, Rutgers defeated them 19-18 in The Meadowlands late in the game. Twenty-two years later, we followed them to Beale Street and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis where they defeated East Carolina, 25-19. The last time the Wildcats played before us, we headed to Columbia, SC where our daughter Alex joined up with Gamecock nation as a student to see her No. 4 team defeat the Wildcats, 35-28. Memorably, SC “star” DE Jadaveon Clowney told HC Steve Spurrier shortly before the game that he hurt his rib and couldn’t play. He sat out. Alex will be joining me for this one for our first game ever at Kroger Field to cheer for her alma mater. I look forward to a good game.

Collegefootballfan.com’s history with the Gamecocks goes back to 1995 with Steve Taneyhill at QB when they blasted Vandy back then, 52-14. Two-year old Alex attended as we lived in SC for about a year. The Gamecocks didn’t appear again on our slate until 2009 and 2010 with road wins over NC State and Florida respectively. A year later, Alex brought us into the Gamecock family. I still rooted for Navy in their 24-21 loss against Alex’s school. Over the course of her matriculation for her first three years, SC beat Mizzou, Clemson twice, and aforementioned Kentucky. They ran their record in our presence to 8-0. Things went downhill after three straight 11-win seasons during Alex’s first three years. In 2014, A&M picked them apart offensively, Mizzou edged them 21-20, and we watched them fall at Auburn, 35-28.

Our Wild and Game prediction

Both teams want this game bad. Kentucky has the home field advantage. Small crowd though. Carolina allowed a lot of points to good offenses. Kentucky doesn’t score a lot. In four of its last five games, they only scored 26 points. In the other, they scored 38 versus Vanderbilt. Kentucky shouldn’t control the clock. SC found some defense against a comparable Missouri offense. Kevin Harris needs 72 yards for a one thousand yard season. I think Bobo is going to let his team ride this horse. I see Carolina coming up with a somewhat surprising 26-24 win. Not meaning much, this contest should be fun to be at.

Game 612: No. 7 Cincinnati decks UCF, 36-33, to continue to challenge for CFP spot

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Trailing 25-22 at the end of the third quarter, Cincinnati Bearcat QB Desmond Ridder dove over and extended the ball from the one for his second TD on the ground. Next, he followed with a seven-yard TD pass, also his second of the day, to lead No. 7 Cincinnati past Central Florida (5-3, 4-3) with its high powered passing attack, 36-33. Safety Darrick Forrest picked off a Dillon Gabriel pass tipped in the air as Dillon came into the game ranked third in the nation with 188 consecutive passes without a pick. Forrest returned it 20 yards to the UCF 16 to start the short touchdown drive to give Cincy back a 29-25 lead for the first TD in Q4.

Masks muffled the cheers (not really) of Golden Knight cheerleaders as their team unexpectedly lost three games this season including this one to the Bearcats.

Late comeback holds off Knights

The Bearcats defense in particular got off to a slow, inauspicious start against the Golden Knights averaging 44 ppg and 619 yards of total offense through seven games, but played tougher as the game progressed. On its next series after regaining the lead, with tight coverage they forced a UCF punt after a three and out. Ten plays and 71 yards later, Ridder ( 21 for 32 passing, 338 yards and two TDs; 14 carries for 57 yards a rushing and two TDs) connected with Leonard Taylor from the seven to extend their lead, 36-25.

Jousting to the end

The Knights responded with 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive of their own when Dillon Gabriel ( 26 for 49, 243 yards, three TDs, one INT) hooked up with Jaylen Robinson for a 10-yard TD pass. Gabriel fired on target again with Jacob Harris for a two-point conversion to close the score, 36-33, with 4:24 remaining.

UCF QB Dillon Gabriel looks down field for open receivers.

Cincy used up a lot of clock after the ensuing kickoff driving down to the UCF five for a first down with 1:34 left. Instead of taking the ball over for what looked like a clear TD run, work horse Gerrid Oaks (28 carries, 97 yards) dropped at the one-yard line to force the Golden Knights to spend its last time out. Oaks ran two more times for no gains and Ridder fumbled the ball on fourth down. Central Florida took over with one second left on their own eight as time expired with Cincinnati improving their record to 8-0.

Slow start for Bearcat defense

Great game! In the early going UCF looked to have an advantage following a spirited senior day celebration in front of a boisterous but Covid-19 restricted crowd of 10,668. The Knights also came in with chips on their shoulders a year after a 27-24 loss at Nippert Stadium. The senior class of Golden Knights had a lot to play for in front of their final home game crowd as they entered this contest with an impressive four-year record of 40-6. Their Bounce House press box even states the claim of “2017 National Champions” when they finished 13-0.

The Bounce House press box boasts to be the home of the 2017 NCAA National Champions.

Down early, but far from out

The Cats started out jittery to say the least. With the Knights fired up and their fans small in numbers but loud with their enthusiasm, on their first two drives, Gabriel’s signal-calling drew the Bearcats offsides twice on critical third and long situations. As a result, the Knights converted first downs to keep touchdown drives alive. The second TD was set up on a fumbled punt by Ryan Montgomery at his 22. Knight Amari Johnson slid past him as as he fielded the punt, enough to distract the punt returner to lose sight of the ball. Johnson recovered to send the home team on to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter.

Trailing, the Cats offense got in gear behind Ridder, and the defense started to tighten up against the pass. They slowed down the Knights passing attack after the first quarter holding Dillon way below his 417 yards per game passing average. Cincinnati reeled off 16 straight points as Ridder got great protection up front to perform with confidence throughout the second period.

Bearcat WR Tre Tucker looks upfield on a swing pass from Desmond Ridder.

Impressive drives

Cincinnati scored on a 73-yard drive on five plays when Riddick targeted TE Josh Whyle on a crossing pattern to turn up field and race 29 yards along the right sideline for its first touchdown to trail, 14-10. UCF drove back into Bearcat territory, but on a fourth down pass, WR Marlon Williams (eight receptions, 97 yards, two TDs) let a pass slip through his hands while wide open to put Cincinnati back on offense from their 23. The turnover on downs resulted in Cole Smith’s 26-yard FG to get the Cats to within one, 14-13.

TE Josh Whyle snags pass from Ridder (9) for a 29-yard TD pass in 2nd quarter.

The Bearcat defense forced UCF to punt from their 20 on the next possession, and took over on offense again from their 30 with 2:06 to go in the half. A 45-yard pass took Cincy to the UCF 35. On the very next play, a transformer blew and the stadium lights went out as Ridder connected with Whyle once again in what looked to be a 35-yard scoring play. However, the officials reconvened to rule that the play ended at the 15 due to an inadvertent whistle that could hardly be heard. The transformer explosion was evident though and caused wonder if this would delay the game under darkening skies. It didn’t.

UCF WR Marlon Williams covered by CB Arquon Bush let this fall through his finger tips on a fourth down.

The Cats got down to the three where Ridder faked a handoff inside and ran around the left side untouched for a 19-14 lead. UCF thwarted the two-point conversion. And with 1:23 left, they drove to the Bearcats 26 where PK Dan Obarski put up three points with one second left to end the half with UCF trailing now, only 19-17.

Marching Knights? Not really. Band performances are limited to music from the stands.

Having deferred the ball in the first half, Cincinnati opened the third period with two penalties to set them back starting from their four before running a play. For 16 plays, the Cats used up 8:31 on the clock with most of the yardage being churned out by hard-running Oaks. Smith put up a FG from the 22 to extend the Cincy lead, 22-17. After a touchback to start from the 25, UCF played with a sense of urgency doing what they do best, passing the ball. Within 2:30, they drove the length of the field with Marlon Williams taking in a 19-yard scoring pass to give the Knights a 23-22 lead. A two-point conversion attempt through the air to Williams put UCF up by three going into the final period before the Bearcats comeback in the final period.

Golden Knight Ben Thompson looks for running room against the tough Cincinnati D.

Glad we did this

Regretfully out timing did not work well for our return flight, and we missed some final action in the last period to catch our flight. The game turned out to be thrilling as expected, and we were glad to have gotten to see this up-and-coming Cincinnati program who has a legitimate shot to pull a surprise or two if they make it to the College Football Playoff. We think it will take a second Notre Dame win over Clemson to get this done. For Cincinnati, it may take two wins in a row over a tough, improved Tulsa team. They meet in three weeks at Tulsa, and then the following week for the AAC championship. This year, the top two teams in the 11-team conference meet in the championship. With a 5-1 record, the Golden Hurricanes are scheduled play at Houston and at Navy before hosting the Bearcats, if Covid doesn’t continue to cancel games, of course.

Next!

Cincinnati travels to play beleaguered Temple (1-6) in Philly this weekend. Don’t know if tickets are available, but to be honest, not too tempted to go after seeing this one. UCF plays at rival South Florida who has also foundered this season. If they pull the win in this finale, they should pose an interesting match up for any team in a bowl game. ESPN pundits predict they will play in the Boca Raton Bowl against Liberty. It would be great game between these two, but we’d prefer to see both of these non-power squads play against Power Five schools in better bowls. As for collegefootballfan.com, we have one more regular season game in December. Come back and check out our game preview next week.

Hint: This is one of the two teams we plan to see play in December.

Awards

Desmond Ridder earned American Athletic Offensive Player of the Week Award for the fourth time this season. In addition, he was named as one of the eight Manning Award Stars of the Week and also selected as one of the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great Eight following the Bearcats win. He impressed us with his composure, passing, and leadership during this must-win game against a good team.

Also, Cincinnati PK Cole Smith was named as one of the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award’s three Stars of the Week and earned recognition on the American Athletic Conference’s weekly honor roll. He tallied scored 12 points making field goals of 47, 26 and 22 yards and going 3-for-3 on PATs.

Bearcat PK Cole Smith puts up first three points for his team on Saturday.

Cincinnati’s defense should earn recognition for holding UCF to 359 yards of total offense. The Golden Knights average 619 yards in their previous seven games. Gabriel Dillon totaled only 243 passing yards after averaging 417.7 since the beginning of the 2020 season.

CFF’s Game Two of 2020 – A doozy: No. 7 Cincinnati at high-flying UCF

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Orlando, FL – We are itching to go see a game of national significance for which we could actually get tickets! With one game under our belts at least featuring the current No. 24 team in the nation, Louisiana, we should be seeing a rock ’em, sock ’em game this Saturday. The No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats (7-0, 6-0) with the third top scoring defense in the nation (12.4 ppg) travels to Bounce House Stadium in Orlando to try to stop the high-scoring Golden Knights of Central Florida (5-2, 4-2). UCF, led by QB Dillon Gabriel leads the nation in passing yards averaging 396.9 yards per game. The Knights average 44.0 ppg. The “unstoppable” offense versus the unyielding defense. It doesn’t get much better than this for an exciting match-up.

Bearcats heading to World of Disney!

No. 7 Cincinnati

Last year, Cincy tagged UCF at home in Nippert, 27-24. In 2020 so far, both squads mangled common American Athletic foes Houston and ECU. However, if Memphis is an indicator, the Bearcats walloped them at home, 49-10, while the Tigers edged the Knights 50-49 near the birthplace of Elvis. HC Luke Fickell, former Ohio State assistant and player, has his team rolling in his fourth season with a record of 33-13. Their two previous seasons totaled eleven wins in both for a program that has generally struggled for many years. Read “Our two cents” below. Fickell’s focus on defensive improvement gives his team an edge for CFP contention. A formidable showing against this offense could vault this team into this year’s final four.

High-flying UCF

UCF is led by HC Josh Heupel, also with an impressive collegiate resume as starting QB at Oklahoma where in 2000, he led the Sooners to a national championship and finished second in the Heisman voting. After two years mentoring UCF, his program comes into this contest with a record of 27-6 under him. His first team finished the regular season 12-0 before falling to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl. This year, he has his Golden Knights at the top of the nation’s scoring charts once again. Besides the one-point loss at Memphis, the Knights other loss came in a surprising upset by improved Tulsa at home, 34-26.

UCF offense vs Cincy defense

On offense, Knight QB Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 2,774 yards, 23 TDs, and only two INTs. Marlon Williams leads in receptions (63), yards (942), and TDs (8). Jaylon Robinson also impresses in these same categories with 41 snags, 822 yards, and four TDs. Defensively the Bearcats counter with LB Jerrell White leading his team with 63 stops. CBs Coby Bryant and Ahmad Gardner both tallied three picks to their credit. They have held opponents to 188.9 passing yards per game. This matchup between these two units will be one of the most competitive in college football during this regular season.

HC Luke Fickell has focused on upgrading his defense since he took over the Bearcats in 2017. It’s paying off in 2020.

And vice-versa

QB Desmond Ridder leads a more balanced attack for Cincinnati. His passing prowess stands at 1,483 yards with 14 TD tosses. He’s added 469 yards and scored nine TDs rushing. The teams leading ball carrier is Gerrid Oaks with 565 yards and seven scores. Ridder likes to spread his passes as four of his receivers total over 200 receiving yards and total 11 TD passes among them. Their scoring prowess compares to UCF’s at 41.6 per game. Knight DB Richie Grant ( 3 INTs) and his secondary mates will have their work cut out for them. Defensively, the UCF defense yields 28.7 ppg. This is where Cincinnati holds the edge to win this one. We expect to see a score similar to last year’s final as the Knights have the home edge despite the covid-restricted crowd. Fickell’s defense should give the Bearcats the edge to stay atop the American Athletic and shoot to become the first non-Power Five school to make the CFP. We hope that we can be able to say, we saw the first such team to do so!

The Bearcats bring a balanced pass-run attack this season.

Our two cents

For what it’s worth, here’s a little Collegefootballfan.com history regarding the opponents in our 612th game on our historic tour through time. This will only be our second time attending a UCF game. In 2004, times were very different for the Knights back then. They came to State College, PA to meet a downtrodden PSU team in the throes of a 4-7 season under HC Joe Paterno. The Lions entered this contest 1-1 while the Knights came in at 0-2. In a sloppy game on a hurricane trodden field surrounded by devastating floods throughout Pennsylvania, the Lions won, 37-13. The visitors never won that year finishing 0-11 under first-year HC George O’Leary. Needless to say, this is our first game at The Bounce House.

A blast from the past! Cincinnati cheerleaders on the field without masks! Look at the smile. We long for the good old days – soon!

The Bearcats stand 1-4 in the annals of our history with some interesting albeit not so favorable accounts to their credit. Our first experience with the program was a 41-0 loss to PSU at State College in 1987. In my book, Tales from the Tailgate, the chapter entitled “Low Budget Bearcats” details my most vivid memory of that game. The Bearcats spent the night before the game in the same hotel my friends and I did. Those familiar with my football budget understand what I mean here. Ten years later, I attended my first game at the Carrier Dome where Syracuse rocked them, 63-21.

Their next meeting depicts my most memorable about the Bearcats. As favorites in 2004, Cincy (2-3) ventured up to West Point where a dreadful Army team came in on a 19-game losing streak. Behind in the fourth 41-29, on fourth and goal at the Army eight, Cincy QB Gino Guidugli’s pass got batted down in the end zone. Army answered with 93-yard TD run to pull the upset to ignite a frenzied Army celebration with a 48-29 victory. The Cats reeled off five straight wins after that and beat Marshall in the Fort Worth Bowl to finish 7-5. Gino Guidugli is now Cincinnati’s very effective offensive coordinator!

The Bearcats plan to play UCF’s receivers tightly this Saturday.

In 2017, enter Fickell. Navy dropped them 42-32 on a blistering hot September afternoon in Annapolis. The Bearcats finished 4-8. In 2018, Cincy returned to Annapolis with a 10-2 record (one loss was to 12-1 UCF, 38-13). At the Military Bowl that day, Cincinnati triumphed for the first time in our presence, 35-31, in a very competitive game against Virginia Tech. We expect to see something very similar in Orlando on Saturday!

With Navy’s Bill the Goat’s “background” in our background, Collegefootballfan.com and friends along with Cincinnati fans get together to celebrate the Bearcats’ 2018 win at the Military Bowl over Virginia Tech after the game.

Late surge in second period boosts Cajuns past Bobcats, 44-34

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San Marcos, Texas – Collegefootballfan.com broke out of a relentless, seven-month quarantine and flew all the way to San Marcos to attend our first live game of the 2020 season for our 611th intercollegiate football game overall. The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns posted a late second quarter comeback to overcome the Texas State Bobcats, 44-34. Turnovers set up key scores in this Sun Belt battle, but in the end, the Ragin’ Cajuns relied on the arm of QB Levi Lewis (22 of 32, 332 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and on the legs of Trey Ragas (19 rushes for 131 yards, 3 TDs) to propel them to their fifth win of the season to keep them atop the Sun Belt West (5-1, 4-0).

Collegefootballfan.com made it for our first game ever at Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. Where’s everybody else?

Oh no – not a blow-out!

On a perfect evening for football under a full Halloween moon causing a lot of bumps in the night at Bobcat Stadium, the Cajuns mischievously swiped two Bobcat passes and turned them into 14 points for an early lead. Instead of allowing a romp to take place after giving up two consecutive picks to start the game with a 14-point deficit, TSU answered with 21 of their own. The first came on a well executed fake field goal with PK Seth Keller running around the left end for a 12-yard jaunt on a pitch from his holder to end the first period deadlocked, 14-14.

TSU PK Seth Keller hustles around left end for the Cats first score to cut Louisiana’s lead to 14-7 in the first.

We got us a game for a while

The Cats overtook the lead with a 33-yard TD pass from Brady McBride to Marcell Barbee early in the second. Louisiana evened it right back up at 21-21 when Lewis took it in on a 12-yard run midway in the same stanza. The Bobcat defense needed to start stopping the Cajun offense. They did it for one series, but that was all they could muster. With 2:26 to go in the half, Lewis’s passes and Ragas’s rushes put them in the end zone in six plays with Ragas running in from the two.

State took over with a minute left, but McBride (14 of 32, 166 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) threw his third interception of the half, second by Cajun DB Eric Garror. From their 38-yard line with 54 seconds left, a key pass completion to Pete LeBlanc put Louisiana at the TSU three. With seven ticks left, Lewis connected with Kyren Lacy for a one-yard TD pass for Cajun’s 34-21 halftime lead.

RB Trey Ragas retakes the lead for the Ragin Cajuns, 28-21.

Screw the “new normal”

With Covid-19 bringing us into the world of abnormality, the halftime show was presented pre-recorded on the two Bobcat Stadium big screens both stationed on angles at the ends of the horseshoe-shaped stadium – good viewing for a within the stadium. However, the recordings just don’t do justice for the experience of attending a college football halftime show. The Texas State Strutter’s Cowgirl women’s dance team, 111- strong, sat relegated in the enclosed end zone all dressed up with no place to go along with other 7,500 others estimated to be in attendance to watch their pre-recorded performance. What a letdown for these students and the Bobcat fans. Hopefully, we’ll be back when things return to normalcy and the Bobcats (1-7, 1-3) will be more competitive.

Bobcat cheerleaders warm up with mandatory masks on before ascending to balcony on far end of Bobcat Stadium to maintain social distances from one another.

Bobcats battle back?

To start the second half, the visitors extended their lead, 37-21, on their first possession with Nate Snyder’s 42-yard FG. The home team got back on the board with a 62-yard drive keyed by runs from Brock Sturges (17 carries for 129 yards, two TDs) who brought it over from 10 yards out to close the gap, 37-27, as a two-point conversion failed. The Cat D forced a Cajun punt to potentially make the game more interesting, but the offense sputtered.

Somewhere under this, RB Jahmyl Jeter powers through this mass of humanity for the Bobcats second score.

Runnin’ Ragin’ Cajuns

In the final quarter, Louisiana relied on their running game to eat some clock mixing runs between Elijah Mitchell (17 carries for 96 yards) and Ragas who finished off the 56-yard drive with a seven-yard TD run, his third of the game. Another Bobcat score by Sturges from 18 yards out sealed the final score with 1:50 left to play. The onsides attempt on the ensuing kickoff landed safely into the grasp of member of the Louisiana hands team. The visitors from Cajun country prevailed, 44-34.

They finally allowed the Strutters to perform on the field after the game. Before the game as Bobcat Club members, we had some good food and drinks before the game in The Pavilion. With no tailgating after the game, like the Strutters, we split!

Cats need a defensive makeover

Despite three fumble recoveries and an INT, the Bobcat defense could not come up with key plays to stop the Cajuns who gained 282 yards on the ground and 322 through the air. They allowed five of eleven third down conversions on key drives and never sacked Lewis. No emotional leadership seemed to exist on the field, and we never witnessed the players huddle up to review strategies while instead resting comfortably when on benches along the sideling. The only sideline action noted from here watched the constant offering of swigs from blue Powerade bottles by managers on a night not under a blistering hot, midday sun, but on a cool, pleasant Halloween night perfect for football. It seemed like the focus was for student managers working on commissions to promote Powerade. Defensive leadership needs to aspire to adjust attitudes on the field and strategies along the sideline.

Next up for the Ragin’ Cajuns, the Arkansas State Red Wolves (3-4, 1-3) come to Lafayette, LA in another Sun Belt West match-up. The Bobcats return home for an afternoon game on Jim Wacker Field next week to take on tough Appalachian State leading the Sun Belt’s East Division (4-1, 2-0). The Mountaineers from Boone, NC lead the Sun Belt by far on defensive scoring. They allow only 17.6 points per game in a conference featuring some high-flying .

Though muffled, these Bobcat cheerleaders hope they have something to cheer about at home against Appy State this Saturday.

As for collegefootballfan.com, we’re back in quarantine for our eighth month now planning another breakout before November’s over. We have our periscope up now considering a potential two-game trip before the month’s out. Both match-ups stir our interest, but timing is everything. Will teams avoid Covid-19? Can games go on as scheduled? Will kick-off times be convenient so we can attend both? We figure we wait for at least that information, and then we go from there. If a conflict occurs, we may have to choose which one we prefer, a tough choice for us. Stay tuned for Game 612 and possibly Game 613. Beat Covid-19!

CFF’s first game of 2020!!!

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Our 611th game in Collegefootballfan.com history opens our 41st season this weekend in San Marcos, Texas when we see the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (4-1,2-1) visit the Bobcats of Texas State (1-6,1-2) in a Sunbelt bout! Upset? We’re hoping the Bobcats put up some kind of fight while Penn State hosts Ohio State on another network at the same time. We’re just as happy as can be to be off the couch, out of the house, and seeing a live game played in front of us from the stands once again. On the other hand, maybe our timing is not too bad based on how the Lions and Buckeyes performed last week. We hope both games will be close, but…

  • Past Ohio State at Penn State action.

Our History

Both teams we see this weekend post 0-1 marks in the annals of Collegefootballfan.com history. Both play on our slate for the second time in years. On October 11, 2003, we added the Ragin’ Cajuns and the UL Monroe Indians in a glorious match-up between two 0-6 teams! Attending this game we proclaimed it the “battle at the bottom of the barrel” between the two lowest rated teams in the FBS that season. It turned out to be well worth the trip for excitement. UL-Monroe booted a 31-yard field goal with 1:46 left in the game in an intense, seesaw rivalry for a 45-42 victory. If you don’t believe it, you can read about all the action in my book, “Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ’em all!” We added those two squads as numbers 85 and 86 on our drive to see every FBS team to play at least once.

Looking forward to Texas sideline scenery even if they do wear masks.

2020 season

As for Texas State, we added them as our 124th team on November 17, 2012. They fell to Navy in Annapolis, 21-10. This season, their six losses included close losses to SMU, UTSA, and Boston College, but last week, BYU hammered them, 52-14. Of all teams, their one win thus far came over UL-Monroe, the program we watched edge the Cajuns 17 years ago. After the Louisiana upset win over Iowa State open the season, 31-14, their three wins were won by two, three, and four points. Their lone loss came to an undefeated Coastal Carolina team, 30-27.

Our Outlook

To make this a game, the Bobcat defense has to step up and play their best game of the season. We hope they keep it close to make this contest interesting, but we look for the Cajuns to win by a touchdown. The teams have not played any common opponents this season. Since this is our first game at TSU’s Bobcat Stadium and being hosted by PSU alum and TSU Bobcat employee Zach Rittle, we’ll be pulling for the Cat’s upset. Looking forward to attending a game live and in person once again! It’s been an unusual and desolate college football season for us. We hope FCS games in the spring will allow us more game time attendance opportunities. Only two other potential games loom for CFF.com during the current fall season.

Two things we will predict if the FCS allows fans this spring: we will see Delaware play and North Dakota State will win another title.

So much for planning 2020

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Originally planning for this season, by now we would have attended possibly three games by now. However as we all already know, this year is unlike any other. Someone needs to call a do-over! We know that’s not going to happen, so the only alternative is to press on and make this bad situation tolerable by adapting to overcome what we are all going through.

All our plans on the previous post, well throw them out the window! Fewer teams are playing, and all those kicking off the 2020 fall season will be void of fans or will limit their seating capacity to 25% of a full stadium. Basically those attending can only gain access with season tickets. Even those don’t guarantee attendance at every home game. In most cases, tailgating is prohibited. This is college football?

Imagine only 25% at Beaver Stadium? Unfathomable!

Like mostly everyone else, Collegefootballfan.com will be watching on TV from home after 40 years of attending games just about every fall weekend. That just adds to this depressing time, where we can say that we are at least in our case we’re still employed while working from home avoiding daily, long commutes which we’ve gotten used to and hope to continue. However, life outside of work, it drags on, avoiding interaction with others and trying to find worthwhile things to do, whether self-entertaining or even dedicating time to help others with their needs.

Bring on the season! Bring in the fans!

College football season always ends routines of working around the yard and other required responsibilities around the house. Hot weather subsided with the fresh scent of Autumn in the air signaling a time for pads to start popping. For us, this time of year morphs into opportunities to travel, to party with friends, share good times, and relish great American traditions of the best spectator sport in history – “college” football. It always brings great people together. For us, this is always a special time of year that speeds us into the Christmas season and then into Bowl Season!

Our last bowl season ended with LSU devastating Oklahoma. After attending three OU CFP blow-out losses, we vow no more Sooner bowl games for us!

So as the 2020 season kicks off, don’t expect a lot of game reporting from yours truly this season. We just pray that play will continue. As of now, our total of 610 games stalls at that number for at least a few weeks. Of all games planned for, the only one that we look sure to attend looms in October in Texas. Depending on pending announcements by some programs to open up more seating as the season progresses, our attendance depends on attaining tickets direct through schools if available, or through friends with season tickets. At this point, we cannot rely on online ticket distribution as one cannot be sure if such tickets will be honored based on schools’ distribution policies. So it’s good to have friends with tickets in high or low seats. We’ll take what we can get with enough notice to do so economically. Nothing is certain, even the possibility that an entire season can be played.

We’ll be back in Texas this October with Alex, but not at UT. We’ll be at Texas State. Go Bobcats!

There’s possibly some silver linings. The Big Ten may start playing Thanksgiving weekend. We have our Penn State connection, but will fans be allowed by then? Where will the games be played? Rumors persist they will be relegated to indoor stadiums within the “footprint” of the conference. We can only hope they play, but despite weather conditions, we can attend some games further east than where this footprint lies.

Big Ten football has been braving the elements forever! Why stop now?

Also this spring, supposedly 13 FCS Conferences will play a shortened season. We’re in for two or more season ticket packages somewhere from Delaware to Ohio to Rhode Island to cover the time frame to get seats if they’ll give enough notice that fans can attend. We’re keeping our eyes, ears, and options open. With some progress to put Covid-19 behind us, people everywhere and fans at games adhering to preventive measures, players avoiding any major outbreaks this fall, and an earlier than anticipated vaccine developed, at best we can hope for an extended college football “season” of games played from early fall through late spring. We can only hope, but for now, we seem relegated to sitting on our coach to see the action we usually enjoy in person. Let’s hope everyone’s efforts gets us back to some form of “Normalcy”. For now, we’ll adapt as best we can to eventually overcome these crazy, unusual, and uncertain times.

Two things we will predict if the FCS allows fans this spring: we will see Delaware play and North Dakota State will win another title.

If there is a college football season this Fall…

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It’s mid-August of 2020, the year of the Coronavirus pandemic, and college football continues to figure out if some games will be played, and still has yet to announce who, if anyone, will be allowed to actually attend any games. Beyond that, will tailgating be allowed? How far apart will everyone sit? Can fans buy walk-up tickets? All kinds of questions remain. Frivolous to some people at this time, but eventually we have to get back to enjoying life despite the setbacks.

Our Game 600 tailgate party’s “before” picture. When will be able to do this safely once again?

Conference decisions

The media focuses on the pursuit of the SEC, ACC, and Big XII to get teams ready to play this September while the B1G and PAC-12 plan to wait for spring. However, along with the three “Power” conferences heading into the fray in a few weeks, The American Athletic, ConferenceUSA, The Mountain West, and The Sun Belt prep their players for battle as well. Independents such as Army, BYU, and Liberty try to maintain a semblance of a “full” Fall Schedule. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame ditched independence this season to play as a full fledged member of the ACC – good move on the parts of both. The only qualm we have is that the ACC forced the Irish to discontinue the longest intersectional rivalry by disallowing the Irish to open in Annapolis to play Navy for their traditional, long-time annual rivalry even though primarily one-sided.

To get to the Navy game this season, Army (in white vs Navy in 2019) is filling their 2020 schedule with home games against the likes of UL Monroe, Abilene Christian, and Mercer. However, no fans will be able to attend per Gov. Cuomo.

Reservations about this and reservations about that

We still wonder if the games will be played at this point. Any major outbreaks of Covid-19 among teams or even within a major football school (University of North Carolina?) early could put the entire season on hold and the sport in jeopardy. If one player or coach or student manager possibly dies from this pandemic, the entire sport takes a beating that will last longer than one season. As much as we now think of procuring tickets in advance for games that still remain scheduled, we only take a less costly monetary risk. However, the feeling prevails that if football competition pervades on the college gridirons this fall, after 610 games over 40 years, who other then Collegefootballfan.com needs to be part of it with mask, social-distancing, and by whatever other means are necessary.

Something that we’re already losing in the “new normal” – actual game tickets. Germ carriers? Electronics? Boring!

The new what?

Since March, like many, I’ve been lucky enough to work from home. My employer manufactures ingredients going into disinfectants, soaps, detergents, and the like. As a Purchasing professional, my job is to keep raw materials coming in so our plants can keep up with the markets strong demands. However, boredom has already set in. Besides work, the only other consistent forms of “entertainment and exercise” (still no gyms open by me) are walking twice a day (total of five miles daily) , swimming laps in our pool, and going to eat with Saint Laurie at local restaurants that can now offer only outside seating (let’s see what happens when October rolls in). Yard work and home improvements on weekends fall in line with work – enough already. Only micro-brewery runs break the monotony.

People tend to call this the “new normal”. Pardon me, I call it the “abnormal.” I enjoy living life and experiencing different things. This is getting dull, and I’ll be first in line when a new vaccine is approved! I don’t know how many years lie ahead, but I’ve got to enjoy life and do it with family and friends. A big part of this for me involves college football!

Got the Fever

Salvitation has started like it does every summer though pessimism holds the reins back on me. It’s August. I’ve snapped! Fall with no college football? Usually my schedule is intact with various options by June for every weekend from late August through January. And of course there’s the sanity my St. Laurie needs to maintain. She always asks, “OK, what three games do you want me to go to with you this year? Three at the most.” My football weekends mean freedom for her as well. This season, her interest will coincide with visits to see our son and daughter. One of these visits may actually be a bye week.

We’ll miss seeing some of our favorite cheerleading squads as well. As for UCLA and the PAC 12, maybe we’ll catch them in the spring!

Tentative “Wishlist”

To squash this fever with a glimmer of hope that there will be college football being played this fall, I’ve perused the ever-changing slates of schools that plan to play. With limited choices due to minimal games and travel capabilities, this year’s collegefootballfan.com’s tentative slate turns out better than expected. “Tentative” this year is more key than ever, of course.

1.) Will they really play? 2.) Can fans attend? 3.) Will we be able to get tickets due to “pecking orders”? So at this point, we can’t refer to this as our schedule, but only as our “Wishlist”. The good thing for CFF.com? Two FBS teams we enjoy seeing play, Navy and Temple, plan to play and they’ll make up the brunt of our Wishlist with key American Athletic Conference games to be played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial and Lincoln Financial. Navy games are an overnight trip and Temples games are two-hour drives. Check out our Wishlist below, and wish us luck!

We plan to see Navy and Temple both play several times this season including their game against one another in Annapolis in September 26.

Sept. 7 BYU at Navy, 8 pm Monday

Sept. 12 Bye

Sept. 19 Syracuse at Pitt, or BC at Duke*, Durham, NC

Sept. 26 Temple at Navy

Oct. 3 Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee* and/or LSU at Vanderbilt (Nashville visit)

Oct. 10 UL-Monroe at Liberty*, Lynchburg, VA

Oct. 17 Virginia at Wake Forest, Winston-Salem, NC (with Jim “Bug” Harton)

Oct. 24 Houston at Navy

Oct. 31 Louisiana at Texas State*, San Marcos, TX (family visit)

Nov. 5 SMU at Temple 7 pm Thursday

Nov. 6 Miami at NC State, Raleigh,NC 7 pm Friday

Nov. 7 Tulsa at Navy

Nov. 14 Memphis at Navy

Nov. 21 ECU at Temple

Nov. 28 Cincinnati at Temple

Dec. 5 Bye

Dec. 12 Army-Navy, Philadelphia

Bowl season? Probably not this year.

* indicates a new venue for us

2020: “See you in September?”

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Or as the next line goes in this classic by The Happenings, “See you, when the summer’s through,” but as Lee Corso likes to say, “Not so fast my friends!” We at collegefootballfan.com try to stay optimistic that there will be a college football season in 2020. However, every time we think there will be one, Covid-19 numbers raises its ugly numbers insinuating that there will be a limited season, at best. Will schools allow students back on campuses before the fall semester? Some are already backing down on this. Classes on-line only they say. Will players be allowed on campus if the rest of the student body is not? If some students attend to studies on campus, will athletes also be allowed?

Will we tailgate under the fall foliage in September like we have for the past 150 years?

September? How about October? November?

Beyond students and athletes returning to school, other limitations create obstacles. If Covid-19 affects some players, but not all, how long will those affected sit out? Do they risk getting it again? When can they return? Who makes the final, risky decision? What if there are not enough starters to fill a roster to safely qualify for a game? What happens if the opponent refuses to play a team with a significant outbreak? What if multiple coaches or game officials test positive? What if no substitutes are available to officiate?

What happens if Nick Saban and most of his staff can’t stay healthy all season?

In the stands

Go beyond the playing field. Of course, we anticipate masks will be required for all fans (shields inside of helmets for all players)? Social distances will be maintained. How many fans will be allowed to attend? Lower ticket sales and higher prices? Will walk up sales be allowed? If not, will there be higher fees added to online ticket prices? Will there be age restrictions that disallow older fans into venues – 60 and over, 65 and over? How will smaller divisions with lower attendance restrict fans? Families and students only? Limited walk up sales and socially distanced seating on grandstand seats? Will fans even be allowed? What, no cheerleaders!? Is this really college football?

As he does at every Navy game, except sans his No. 72 jersey at this game, “First Down Freddie” leads a cheer to celebrate another for the Mids! Will die-hards like this be forced to sit out the season if it’s played.

Until a vaccine is developed that nobody can predict when, all precautions will be necessary. It’s understandable at his point, but the truth of the matter is this is all still under assessment. Is there a definitive answer that yet that all are safe from dying? Most often, we hear the final decisions have to be made in July to have the players ready in game condition, to develop some of the newest on the rosters to assimilate into the team, and to prepare game-untested members need to ready to step in as needed.

Without spring games like Penn State’s Blue-White game, coaches find their 2020 teams way behind in preparation for games supposedly two months away.

Getting priorities straight

We’re staying positive, but we won’t be shocked if our collegiate gridirons remain empty this year. A few lower division schools, D-2 Morehouse and D-3 TCNJ (The College of New Jersey) have already announced all fall athletics are cancelled in 2020. Even some winter programs, The bottom line has to be in regards to the health of their athletes. Larger schools are torn between physical health and the financial health of their programs that provide revenues to fund all other athletic programs on their campuses.

Syracuse fans and students rush to the on-field celebration after their upset over No. 2 Clemson in 2017! Social distancing? Yeah, right!

This summer: the waiting game

If smarter people than myself can get together to come up with a plan to keep athletes safe and healthy as well assure benefits under severe circumstances to save college sports for the long-term, we’re all for it. But if they can’t address the short-term health issues first, they can’t address the long term. We can only hope and pray for an effective vaccine to be developed to hopefully save us all so we can return to life as we knew it and to have college football and our other sports back on track in 2021.

With that said, I’m thinking positive that there will be some form of college football being played in 2020. From a personal perspective, I am working on an opportunity to move from my home state of New Jersey to the great state of Tennessee in the not to distant future. In addition, to reduce the budget in 2020 and stay flexible, I’m considering more emphasis on small school games. Already, the Naval Academy is returning a refund for my two tickets purchased for the Notre Dame game originally scheduled in Dublin, Ireland on August 29 and later moved to Annapolis on September 5. Paring down the seats from 35,000 originally sold to make social distancing possible and probably the addition of 4,000 midshipman, I fell in line far at the bottom behind all the admirals, captains, and Marine Corps generals, so I’m looking at other options.

The SUNY Privateers (in blue) and the Mass Maritime Mariners will possibly be on our potential D-3 schedule in 2020.

Triple option: not Navy’s, ours

Always enjoying my off-seasons perusing various games to attend, I have put together a “New Jersey plan”, a “Tennessee plan”, and a “Division-3 plan”. In some cases they overlap. However, not knowing how this tenuous season will play out in the end, I’m leaving options open. To explore my possibilities, I have determined what my best options are. Even these are subject to change. Those of you who have followed collegefootballfan.com over the years understand I’m not one who enjoys sitting at home on a couch in front of a television during the fall. If there are games, I’ll be somewhere. I don’t want to disappoint my fans and I’m not ready to sit out a college football season at this point no matter what Saint Laurie says!

By now, I’m usually salivating about my upcoming schedule. With options still open, I’m not sure where I’ll be. I’m holding back on editing my 2020 slate until there is more clarification of who will be available to see play, when, where, and against who. Give it another two weeks at least. Who could have ever imagined that we would ever see a year like 2020? Let’s hope we can come out with a much better future for everything.

Who we will miss most in 2020.

Collegefootballfan.com 2020 pro football draft finale

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We close our great 2019 college football with photos of some of the best talent play this past season who have recently garnered the opportunity to play at the highest level of all in their futures. Their desire to compete at a top level brings out our enjoyment about this terrific endeavor we’ve enjoyed for forty years now. We get to see kids coming out of high school and playing three or for years at the collegiate level who come out finishing careers as the best of the best. Getting to see them become part of a team and playing as competitively as possible to play their best to win in every game we attend makes doing this all worthwhile. Generally, we plan to attend games that we think allow us to see the most competitive possible.

What this game means to us

With all the other amenities surrounding college football that we enjoy such as the travel, the tailgating, the school spirit, the cheerleaders, the marching bands, the traditions, alum we meet, and the friends who join us, the efforts and play of the young men on the field no matter what level of NCAA football are what keep us coming back to attend games every fall. We look forward to doing this as long as we physically and financially can even if it means just going to see local Division III schools play!

Let our great traditions continue

Let’s all hope that whatever the outcome this tragic epidemic leaves behind, it will not change our ways of life here in this country where we can no longer enjoy getting together, interacting with our friends, and enjoying being a part of something that allows us to have fun and to share memories together. We hope and pray that we will find a way to get back to our lives as safely as possible as soon as we can to continue to enjoy life as we know it and how it was meant to be.

Great history with focus on our future

Below, enjoy some great action from some of the best college football players in the country we watched give their all on the gridirons around our great country these past few seasons. You’ll see most of these guys playing at the next level for years to come. Come back as we plan our options for next season as things develop to follow us here at collegefootballfan.com!

LSU LBs K’Lavon Chaisson (18) and Patrick Queen (8) close in to stop a Sooner in the 2019 CFP Peach Bowl win. Chaisson joined the Jaguars as the 22nd pick overall, and Queen followed at No. 28 overall with the Ravens. Tough Tigers!
Auburn CB Noah Igbingoghene demonstrates tight coverage against Purdue in 2018 Music City Bowl that got him drafted by the Dolphins at No. 30.
Auburn DE Marlon Davidson also shut down Purdue in Nashville for a 56-7 lead at the half. He got snagged by the Falcons as the 47th pick in 2020.
We watched Jalen Hurts (2) lead Bama to a CFP win over Washington in 2017. Then we saw him sit the bench when Taglavoilia led The Tide past the Sooners in the CFP in 2018. Then we saw him take an ass-whooping as QB for the Sooners in 2019. Good luck to him backing up Carson Wentz of the Eagles who selected him at No. 53.
Houston OT Josh Jones (74) seen here against Navy got drafted by the Cardinals who were glad to still find a quality OT at pick no. 72.
LB Zack Baun of Wisconsin (far right) in action here against Penn State will continue his playing career with the Saints who grabbed him at No. 74.
Temple C Matt Hennessey (58) will have to be more wary of his blocking assignments than shown here against Georgia Tech , but he is still highly regarded by the Falcons who took him at No. 78 overall to play with them in Georgia.
You never know where you will see hidden talent. CB Reggie Robinson II (9) of the struggling Tulsa program stood out evidently for the Cowboys to select him at No. 123 in the draft.
LSU C Saahdiq Charles (77) protected Heisman winner Joe Burrow in 2019. The Jaguars will be calling on him now to protect their QBs to new heights after selecting him 108th.
Miami Hurricane Shaquille Quarterman, shown here making a stop against Boston College and future Packer Running Back AJ Dillon, will remain in the state of Florida joining the Jaguars who selected him at No. 140.
A lineman from last season’s UMass football team was not selected, but we saw Jack Driscoll play for the Minutemen in their opener against Hawaii in 2017. In 2019, he started at OT as a grad transfer at Auburn. The Eagles thought enough of him to take him at No. 145 overall.
Another Hurricane from Tulsa, DE Trevis Gipsen (15), snuck in here on us to get recognized for his talent and deemed worthy enough to join the Bears as the 155th selection in this year’s draft.
Penn State DT Robert Windsor has been called up as No. 193 to help plug up the middle for the Colts in the future.
James Madison QB Ben Di Nucci, shown in action in an FCS playoff loss to Colgate in 2018, went further in 2019 to the finals where the Dukes fell to North Dakota State. He has a chance to go back to the playoffs next year with the Cowboys who drew him in the final round as No. 231.
More pics coming up to beat the coronavirus blues blahs!