Seen 'em all – 133 FBS teams in action. Three new members to be added the next two years. All divisions: 706 games attended since 1979! Get my new book now available on Amazon.com in Kindle and in Paperback: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly! Follow our 31-game schedule in 2024.
SEC analyst/promoter Paul Finebaum should stick to commenting only on the SEC regarding preseason forecasts. When prompted, he predicted Oklahoma brings the next best shot to the national championship after Alabama. Maybe wishful thinking on his part. Maybe he’s using his perceived influence to set something up for The Crimson Tide once again. Collegefootballfan.com suggests to keep the projected Big Twelve champ out of the mix this year no matter what they rank, Oklahoma in particular. We stated after 2019 that we’d buy no more Peach Bowl or Orange Bowl CFP tickets because of the risk that the Sooners might show up again. People put up the kibosh on Notre Dame making the playoffs because of their previous inept performances. Finebaum says the Sooners “have one of the two-three best quarterbacks in the country with Spencer Rattler. They really have a better defense than anyone is giving them credit…. We’ve laughed at their defenses in the past. Not anymore. They will surprise you with their defense.”
Laugh at Finebaum now. Substitute “Rattler” with Mayfield, Murray, or Hurts. Been there, done that. Big Twelve defenses don’t exist. In the CFP games we attended in 2015, 2018, and 2019, Oklahoma showed up with similar credentials and the three QBs under center now playing in the NFL. Two of the three won Heisman’s. In case anyone including the esteemed Mr. Finebaum forgot, here are the results of these three OU embarrassments: 2015 – Clemson 37 OU 17; 2018 – Alabama 45 OU 34; 2019 – LSU 63 OU 28. We sat through three very non-competitive, playoff games. We didn’t have a TV to change channels. So much for Oklahoma defense, 48.3 ppg against playoff competition. If this is what the Sooners bring to the playoffs, bring in a Group of Five team for once to prove their worthiness instead. If the OU’s and ND’s can’t provide some excitement as proven, bring in a team looking to make a drastic statement instead of the programs that have proven they can’t challenge for the top spot. Open up the possibilities. Don’t bring back the same old, worn-out routines.
All night,LSU put the hurts on Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts in the 2020 Peach Bowl . LSU’s defense showed up, not OU’s!
Flexible, mobile, and agile
Our plan to attend Northwestern at Wisconsin on November 13 may fall through. Disappointed if it does since a trip to Camp Randall sits high on our bucket list of stadia and the Badgers are one of only four FBS teams ranked in the preseason on our current 2021 schedule (we know this will change before the season is through). However, with our new location and more flexible time, we will make up for this potential loss with another new venue and another ranked team without having to cancel another game on our slate. As a matter of fact, we’re doing it any way! On Thursday October 7, we plan to travel a few hours to Jonesboro, Arkansas, home of the Arkansas State Red Wolves where we will see them host up-and-coming and reloaded Coastal Carolina, ranked in everyone’s preseason Top 25. Of interest, ASU plays under new HC Butch Jones fresh off three years as DC at Alabama after years as HC at Central Michigan and Tennessee (85-54 career record). QB Grayson McCall returns to CCU as 2020 Sunbelt Player of the Year for the 11-2 Chanticleers. Last season, the Chants whipped the Wolves, 52-23. We’ll see what Jones does to shut McCall down. Should be fun!…
As for the November 13 void we may have to fill, looking at one of two of lower-level games. One choice is an FCS Ohio Valley Conference game where UT Martin visits Tennessee Tech in nearby Cookeville, a first-time venue. We already have Tech scheduled at Tennessee State on October 16, but Cookeville and UT Martin will be two more firsts to record. The second choice should be a very competitive D-2 contest in the South Atlantic Conference between Tusculum of Greenville, TN and Carson-Newman, a perennial D-2 contender. Tusculum QB Rogan Wells played QB for former D-2 national champ, Valdosta State, and turned some heads during SAL spring competition this year. We’ll have plenty of time to decide what to do that weekend before November rolls around. We’ll be monitoring all the early action for any late season changes to find the best games possible.
Like Badger RB Jonathan Taylor against Penn State, our chances to see Wisconsin at home continue to elude us. Like the Lions here in 2018, we’ll catch up.
Quick start, coming up!
Next week, Thursday night, Austin Peay at UT Chattanooga! Both FCS programs have FCS aspirations in their respective Ohio Valley and Southern Conferences for championships and playoffs in this “kickoff classic”… Two days later, Baylor at Texas State in San Marcos. We look for the Group of Five Bobcats to knock off the Power Five Bears at home. The Bobcat offense comes back intact as does the Baylor defense, but with changes at OC and at QB for the Bears, expect a lot adjustments to be made under fire. For the first time in five years, Charlie Brewer will not be at QB. He opted to go play for Utah. That tells us something. The Bobcat defense was vulnerable last season, but the Coaching Spavital Brothers of TSU have had a season to focus on improving their defense together. An experienced core returns on defense that fell in some close losses last year including a 7-point loss at home in last season’s opener to an eventual 7-3 SMU. QB Brady McBride returns healthy after a shortened season in 2020 with Marcel Barbee and Travis Graham coming back as key receiving weapons. Four of five OL starters also come back experienced blocking for two RBs with over 500 yards apiece last season. Bobcats are primed for a turnaround this season in the improving SunBelt.
Texas State QB Brady McBride warms up prior to last year’s loss against eventual No. 19 Louisiana, 44-34. With improved defense, the Bobcats look to catch in the Sun Belt this year.
Return to our good, old stomping grounds
The two following weekends after our Texas trek, we head back to our two most attended and two favorite venues of all in the annals of our college football history – Annapolis, Maryland and State College, Pennsylvania! Both weekends, sandwiched around a beach stay with family in Delaware, should be memorable to say the least. Navy hosts Air Force on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It will be a solemn occasion at Navy- Marine Corps Memorial Stadium before the action takes place on the field. Navy needs to find improved QB play for their vaunted triple option this season (open at home the week before against Marshall) against a very tough schedule in 2021. Air Force shows up with experience at every position after the starters from the 2019 season all opted out in 2020 and are allowed to return to play this year. Of course, the triple option is the Falcon offensive, bread-and butter under HC Troy Calhoun (101-72). No defense is more prepared for Navy’s offense more than the Air Force for a very early first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy…
The following Saturday, Penn State hosts Auburn for the first time ever in a regular season contest between these two highly successful programs. The Nittany Lions and Auburn Tigers have tussled twice before but only on New Year’s Day. On January 1, 1996, Joe Paterno’s squad defeated Terry Bowden’s team, 43-14, in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Seven years later on the same date, Tommy Tuberville’s charges defeated JoePa’s Nittany Lions in the Capital One Bowl, 13-9. From 2011-13 as HC at Vanderbilt, James Franklin’s Commodores defeated Auburn, 17-13, in 2012 for the first time the ‘Dores defeated the Tigers since 1955. This year, Auburn visits State College with their first-year HC Bryan Harsin fresh from eight years leading Boise State to a very successful,76-24, mark. His new DC brought “on the plain” is Derek Mason, a season removed as HC at Vanderbilt where he took over after Franklin’s departure to PSU in 2014. Franklin counters with a new OC, Mike Yurcich, a year removed from the same status with the Texas Longhorns. These two teams will square off again next season at Auburn. We hope to be there as well. After our east coast tour of 2021, we’ll be touring many new campus sites and seeing some more new teams around Tennessee and Kentucky primarily. Looking forward to some great games! Check back with us regularly.
Navy and Air Force will meet early this year on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Emotions in Annapolis will truly be stirred for both academies by recent events in Afghanistan.
We always admired Bobby Bowden as a Head Coach, as a leader, and as a man over the years observing him from a distance. He lined up competitive, non-Conference games for his Seminoles over the years, and his teams always performed at top-notch levels focused on being the best. His openness with the press and the good humor he brought to a profession under much pressure made him a joy to listen to during interviews. He always expressed the accolades for his success through his players and coaching staff. We also reminisce about the scene in the movie “We are…Marshall” when new Marshall HC Jack Lengyel approaches Bowden for help when he coached at cross-state, “rival” West Virginia. Not only does he open up to his vault of information to Lengyel, but when doing so the newly appointed Marshall mentor notes the memorial stickers on the helmets honoring the Marshall team lost in the devastating plane crash 50 years ago.
I remember Coach Bowden depicting the next move heading into retirement after his final game as going on to the “next big event.” As I moved on into my retirement this past month, he moved on to that event. Reports confirmed he did it with class, with dignity, with his family at his side, and with faith in God. As in most of his life and bringing up a loving family, he generally did things the right way. What more can anybody do? Rest in Peace and be happy forever, Bobby Bowden!
Searching for stability, in Tennessee and beyond
You can see why college football players don’t want to commit to programs they sign up for when their coaches remain non-committed to maintaining stability to keep their systems intact at the expense of their players. As usual, this off-season many coaches transferred from one program to another whether they wanted to or not, and we will be seeing some of these key movements first-hand at several needy programs to determine if the grass is greener. Some Head Coaches (HCs) will be just pulling out the weeds first. Gus Malzahn got bought out by Auburn. He landed on his feet bringing his pass-happy strategy now to Central Florida. There, we watched Josh Heuple coach last season in a hard-fought loss to tough Cincinnati where he leaves behind his successful 28-8 mark and a credible passing attack. He left Orlando to take on the big job to revamp Tennessee after the firing of Jeremey Pruitt (3-7 last season and no bowl games since 2016).
We’ll be at the Auburn-Penn State game on September 18 to see what new AU HC Bryan Harsin brings to the Tigers against the Lions in this one. He leaves Boise after eight years with a 76-24 record. We moved to Tennessee so we’ll be keeping an eye on how quickly the Volunteers can recover. We moved into the Nashville area, and nearby, Vanderbilt HC Derek Mason got axed after a winless season to become Harsin’s DC coordinator at Auburn. Clark Lea, a former Vanderbilt FB and previously defensive coordinator at Notre Dame the past three years, returns to his alma mater not too far from us the make the Commodores more competitive in the SEC. We’ll have close-up views to this year’s results with all these comings and goings. A lot of reconstruction going on in the state of Tennessee where we at CFF.com also look for a more permanent residence.
Josh Heupel leaves behind UCF QB Dillon Gabriel for Gus Malzahn. The returning Junior starter averaged 357 yards per game and tossed 32 TD passes in 2020.
Projects continue at the “Recycling Center”
Other coaching changes in college football seem to revolve around Tuscaloosa where the “Master Recycler”, Nick Saban, has a penchant for taking the tired, the poor, and the hungry from among the coaching ranks and continues to dominate college football despite the revolving door of assistants around him. Coaches come and go seemingly to be enlightened before moving on with supposed wisdom accumulated to spread success to other schools in need of such wisdom…
The aforementioned Jeremy Pruitt left the recycling center to bring success to Tennessee, but that desired result did not come to fruition. Lane Kiffin did the same after leaving Tennessee and is now trying to bring some of that learned Alabama magic to Ole Miss. It seems that he never lost his touch to enlighten with his scoring capabilities, but you’d think he would have picked up a few pointers (or assistants) on the other side of the line even if only through “osmosis”. Last year at Ole Miss, one year removed from Tuscaloosa, his offense ranked number three in total offense nationally, but crashed abysmally to a catastrophic No. 126 nationally on defense. You’d think he would have taken some time to pay attention to what the Master Recycler was doing on the other side on defense. If he had any “smarts”, he could have learned something like the Master’s former DC, Kirby Smart, who took learned knowledge to Georgia and applied it to both sides of the line where he’s built a record of 52-14 over five years. He still can’t defeat the Master, however (0-3). The recycling continues…
Alabama’s latest OC, Steve Sarkasian, left to bring wisdom to the Texas Longhorns in 2021. Successful as an OC at USC before stumbling with the Washington Huskies as HC, will he bring some defensive acumen to UT with him learned from the Recycling Master? Butch Jones, leaves Alabama as the defensive coordinator after leaving Tennessee for further edification. Let’s see what he brings to Arkansas State in 2021… Talk about recycling. The Master brings in Bill O’Brien to the Recycling Center after a so-so stint with the Houston Texans as head man. Prior to that, O’Brien did a pretty good job revamping a Penn State program after the downfall there caused by the Jerry Sandusky monstrosity. In two years, O’Brien brought back respectability through some trying time. Prior to that, he was known as Tom Brady’s QB Coach at New England. It sounds like O’Brien has a foundation to build on and the capability to go elsewhere after a few short years with the Recycling Master…
And this season, we’ll see another prodigy from Alabama take over the reins of another program first-hand. On October 2, Marshall comes to Murfreesboro under their new HC Chris Huff, late as RB coach for the Tide the past two years after 16 seasons at the both the college and pro levels, to take on Middle Tennessee State. Huff’s Thundering Herd comes off a 7-3 season with a stable of RBs and an offensive line intact led under center by a returning frosh QB Grant Wells with a solid season under his belt. Previously, HC Doc Holliday started off last season with a 7-0 record, but the school (rumored to possibly be pressured by the West Virginia governor) ousted him after 11 successful seasons with a 6-2 bowl record. A record of 1-2 in conference championship play supposedly led to his downfall. Sounds like a potential recycling project, doesn’t he? Stay tuned.
“Master Recycler” under observation by young assistants prior to 2018 CFP Orange Bowl win over OU.
Moving a Mountain on to the Plains
Talk about digging out of a hole. Who would ever take on the Kansas Jayhawk job after the likes of Charley Weis, formerly of Notre Dame, and Les Miles, formerly of LSU couldn’t get his program on the rise? We thought that both of these guys would at least have some influence to bring some improved talent to Lawrence with their resumes, but that didn’t happen. The Jayhawk’s current move sits well with us, and hope it works out for them… Easily we saw that HC Lance Leipold of Buffalo would take on something else, but not this! After six NCAA D-3 championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater (109-6) and the turnaround of a bewildered Buffalo Bulls program, we know Leipold would move on to bigger and better opportunities. We thought for sure that he was the right guy for the Illinois program, but Kansas?
At 0-9 a year ago under Miles, the Kansas program is flatter than the plain the Lawrence campus sits on. Since their last winning record of 8-5 in 2008, they have won only 29 games during the last 18 seasons. But, it’s worse than that! Eight of those wins were against FCS schools. They lost to three FCS schools over that period of time as well. That is only 1.16 wins annually over FBS competition during that stretch. Only ten were against “Power Five “schools. We’re rooting for Lance who took over the beleaguered Bulls and made them a presence in the MAC. He left Buffalo after achieving a 37-33 record, but the last three seasons he achieved a mark of 24-10 including two bowl wins. He improved the Bulls with talent brought in from around the country. If he can do that in Lawrence, Kansas, the Jayhawk fans may eventually see a mound of progress on their flatlands.
More coaching moves to watch
Shane Beamer with no head coaching experience, but previously under the tutelage of his Hall of Fame father, Frank at Virginia Tech, should be interesting to watch at South Carolina. Some experienced defenders left that program, but that should probably help him. When we watched the Gamecocks against Kentucky last season in a 41-18 loss, their tackling was pathetic, atrocious, and horrible to say the least. Some of these players ended up at other programs – including Penn State. It will be very interesting to watch any such isolated performances by one DB transfer versus Auburn…
Steve Sarkisian moving to Texas as HC most likely means he’ll be calling the plays for UT, so James Franklin of Penn State absconded with UT’s former OC, Mike Yurcich, after firing his OC Kirk Ciarrocca after one year. Franklin seeks explosiveness in his offense he didn’t have last year. Yurcich has Pennsylvania ties from coaching previously at “The Ship” – a strong D-2 PSAC program at Shippensburg State…
In another aspect of our timely move to Tennessee, Eddie George takes over as HC of Tennessee State, a Historically Black College in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) , this year. We plan to attend the Tennessee State vs. Tennessee Tech game on October 16 this season. The only time we watched the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State play was against Penn State during his junior season. PSU’s Ki-jana Carter outplayed George in a 63-14 Nittany Lion win over the Buckeyes on the way to an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl victory. George played nine seasons for the Oilers/Titans winning Rookie of the year in 1996. He earned Pro Bowl Honors four times accumulating 10,441 yards and 68 TDs. He finished his career in 2006 with Dallas…
Morgan State, another Historically Black College in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, will play under Tyrone Wheatley, a former Michigan RB. He’s had a year to recruit for the past year while the Bears opted out due to Covid. Since his graduation from U of M in 1996, Wheatley played 10 years in the NFL and has coached since at both the pro and collegiate levels since. At Michigan, he ranked highly in the nation for his recruiting prowess. Unlike Eddie George, we saw him have a record-setting day rushing versus No. 13 Penn State in a 21-13 victory by No. 21 Michigan.
Before the Penn State game in 2019, we predicted we’d see Buffalo Bull Head Coach Lance Leipold coaching a “Power Five” team next season, but we never envisioned wayward Kansas would be his destination.
For our opener
On Thursday, September 2, we plan to open 2021 with two strong FCS programs entering this season. For us, now in Tennessee, we get to see two programs from the Volunteer State play for the first time in a new venue when the Moccasins of UT Chattanooga host the Governors of Austin Peay. Both teams come off fairly strong spring seasons and rank in preseason FCS polls. As with most programs, both come in with experience based on the NCAA extension of players’ eligibility because of the shortened 2020 Covid season. UTC started well before Covid ended their spring season prematurely and comes back with a strong defense and a prominent FCS RB in Ailym Ford. The Southern Conference will be competitive and the Moccs should be right in the thick of it for postseason play. Lindy’s ranks them at No. 21 in their preseason poll…
With Jacksonville State leaving the Ohio Valley Conference to join the new Western Athletic Conference after winning the OVC championship in the last six of seven years, Austin Peay and Murray State are considered favorites. Austin Peay WR De’Angelo Wilson had over 500 yards in a 4-2 spring under new HC Scott Walden, and DB Kordell Jackson earned preseason First Team All-American honors from Lindy’s. They start 2021 ranked at No. 11. We’ll be seeing some impressive talent and post-season FCS contenders in this opener at Davenport Field in Finley Stadium, home of UT Chattanooga football.
Oh brother!
Our first FBS game of the season is two days later in San Marcos, TX where the Texas State Bobcats of the Sunbelt host the Big Twelve’s Baylor Bears. The Bobcats averaged 27.7 ppg against some good teams despite a 2-10 record. With the return of QB Brady McBride, RB Brock Sturges, two of their three best receivers, and four starters returning to the OL, the offense under HC Jake Spavital should be ready to break out. The defense returns with starters from a defense that allowed 38.2 ppg, falling in at No. 125 in total defense. This is where the Bobcats have to show vast improvement under their DC Zac Spavital, brother of Jake. Talk about pressure! The hot seat is at family BBQs… Baylor comes off a 2-7 season without the services of QB Charlie Brewer for the first time in half a decade. There will be some adjustments with former BYU OC Jeff Grimes calling the plays, and a solid core of ten starters return on defense. This should be a surprisingly good matchup if the Bobcat defense steps up. Oh, Brother Zac?
The Texas State Bobcat defense will have to narrow down the running lanes against the likes of Baylor and Louisiana unlike what we saw them do against the Ragin Cajuns in 2020.
Looking too far ahead to post-season play
We look forward to playoff possibilities every year at the non-FBS levels to fill in weekends around Army-Navy and before the Bowl season. With our relocation, the opportunities seem enticing based on some preseason predictions regarding teams within reach for playoff games in the FCS. The aforementioned Austin Peay and UT Chattanooga make that list as does the WAC’s Jacksonville State in Alabama now coached by Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. East Tennessee along with Mercer (GA) and Samford (AL) all in the SoCon, Murray State of the OVC, and James Madison (VA) of the Colonial Athletic also offer possibilities…
At the D2 level, Tusculum located in Greenville, TN will challenge for the South Atlantic Conference with QB Rogan Wells who transferred from previous champ Valdosta State to make them a formidable contender… News from D-3, OL Brian Biskaduros of Muhlenberg made Lindy’s First team All-American team. We watched his line open the holes in a 2019 D-3 playoff victory over Salisbury State in the quarterfinals. The better news for us was that his OC Josh Carter from that program is now at the Alma Mater, Juniata College, as HC after sitting out one season of Covid. Good luck to HC Carter to get our Eagles flying to new heights…
We also like this – the D3 Championship will be within reach for us again this season and in years to come. This year’s finale will be played on Tom Benson Hall of Fame Field in Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Of course, in what we call the annual Mount Union Invitational, the Purple Raiders campus is a short drive from there. Four Raiders made the Lindy’s All-American team. The D-3 powerhouse residing in Alliance, Ohio will have even more incentive to win it all this year unless Wisconsin Whitewater or last year’s champ, North Central, can cut them off at the pass…In 2022, the D3 championship game, known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, will be played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. Sounds good to us! We penciled it in already.
View of Gold side of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium from the Anchor Club.It probably won’t be as crowded and it won’t be as warm for a D-3 Stagg Bowl setting, but we still plan to be there!
Collegefootballfan.com has made its move to Tennessee. Despite packing, hauling, driving, unpacking, flying back, and doing it all again to what so far seems to be a great move, we now begin to set our sights on the up-and-coming college football season. Check out this year’s schedule. Once again, like every year, we look forward to planning, to the travels, to the tailgating, to the traditions, to meeting with fellow fans, and finally after a season of limited games, to a full schedule! However, a few college football rule changes in 2021 have us concerned.
With our relocation to Tennessee, we’ve slated seven new venues to attend and five new teams, all FCS, on our slate. We still have our traditional sites like Annapolis, Maryland and State College, Pennsylvania, ticketed along with our regular season finale at the Army-Navy game. We even have bowl venues set prior to the season based on our proximity within the Volunteer State. As usual, we have our mix of preseason Top 25 teams (four) and Bottom 25 teams (two) with the majority ranked somewhere amid the remaining 80 teams. However, all our match-ups look pretty even to allow us to see potentially, good, competitive games. Intentionally, this last point is what helps CFF.com “cope’ with all the pending changes we question that can impact the competitive nature of college football in the long term. Basically traditionalists, but understanding reasons for some changes, but not all, we’re not sure where our beloved game of college football is headed, and it’s got us worried.
Because we’ve moved to the Nashville area, don’t think we’re going to many Vanderbilt games. We can see some of the SEC’s best, but we don’t want to sit through non-competitive games. We’ll give new HC Clark Lea a few years to steer the Commodores in a better direction.
There is no “I” in team, but there is in “NIL”.
This “Name, Image, and Likeness” rule raises our biggest concern. Like fantasy football focus, it takes away the aura of the ultimate “team” sport, and it changes it into games played by individuals primarily for their own benefit and profit, more now than ever. Now young athletes will be selling their likenesses and personalities for financial gain. Of course, winning was the ultimate goal, but already in an unbalanced recruiting process, the NIL provides more advantages to the “brand” names of college football.
We’ve already heard that the “branding” issue already emphasized by Alabama HC Nick Saban implied how the advantage of his Alabama “brand” inspires more talent like that of QB Bryce Young to “matriculate” at Alabama. He’s already getting a million bucks for the privilege of becoming the next starting QB for The Tide. It’s all about potential. Last season, he completed 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards and one TD. What high school QB is the next incumbent Alabama millionaire?
Who masters the media and adapts better to college football rule changes better than anybody else? This guy.
Who needs athletic scholarships anymore?
It’s not about “scholar-athletes” any more. Who needs a scholarship? Sponsors are going to pave the way for recruits to attend the college of their choice in the future. Not that it wasn’t under the table in the past, but now it’s all above board. It’s not somebody with a wad of cash, now it’s a corporation with a contract. Will these scholar-athletes even have to go to class? The NFL is the big winner once again – they spend no money on the development of pro football talent. A lot of other people are doing it for them.
One-time portals?
Also, this new portal rule is a farce. We agree transferring should still be an option to spread talent when certain programs horde the best talent that keeps players off other teams on their bench to prevent them from playing elsewhere. Look at former LSU QB Joe Burrow as your prime example after he sat stifled at Ohio State. The NCAA rules now that a player can transfer just once, play elsewhere immediately, and lose no playing time or eligibility. Sounds ok. However, a player can do it again if things don’t work out or do work out after the initial move.
Think about the latter. A waiver can be granted to a player to move on the first time. So, a player sits on the bench for School A, transfers to School B, leads team B to glory, gains significant NIL recognition for his exploits, and all of a sudden a “sponsor” makes an offer to attract him to school C. Is that an acceptable reason to grant him a waiver? Who will even know such an offer was made? By the way, is he still passing in his school work? If the current school flunks him, does he have to stay in school to make up grades so he cannot transfer? Does anybody really care what his grades are? Will the NFL draft him so he can make a lot of money despite not continuing to play in college? Everyone knows the answer to that one.
Joe Burrow proved his worthiness to transfer from Ohio State to lead LSU to the national championship as we saw him fire the Tigers past Oklahoma in the CFP Peach Bowl in 2019, 63-28.
SEC! SEC! SEC!
Texas and Oklahoma clamor to join the SEC who will receive an even more lucrative television contract when they both get approved. Why don’t all schools just leave the NCAA and join the SEC? This is getting boring. There are currently 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools playing football consisting of the “Power conferences” and “The Group of Five”. Take the Top 64 teams (include Notre Dame, of course) with the most football financial acumen and put together four divisions of sixteen teams each. Pull out some of the weaker teams in this first group (i.e., Vanderbilt, Kansas, and Rutgers) and replace them with others from the Five (i.e., Cincinnati, Central Florida, and BYU for example). Allow FCS schools who want to measure up to FBS status to join the second group of teams. Don’t play across these two new divisions to avoid diluting schedules outside the designated divisions, set up playoffs within the two groups (at least eight teams in each instead of the paltry number of four), and play for separate championships as the FBS and FCS do today. Call them FBS-I and FBS II. Other teams in both go on to play in Bowl Games (or consolation games as we think how most should now be referred to).
Though we mention eradicating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from future “Power” conferences, what program has a bigger market to exploit the new NIL rule with? On the other hand, where is there more NIL market competition than the NY-NJ metropolitan media market?
Football 101-104
Of course, with the NIL, portals, loose transfer rules, sponsor money, and other such changes without any controls, the “Power” teams will start recruiting from the “Group” schools. Whoever’s in charge (Congress? LOL!) can limit contacts to make changes before the official spring practices season begins, whenever that is. And if it interferes with class time, nobody cares, right? We’ve mentioned it before and we will do it here again. Professional Football and Professional Basketball are big businesses right now (Major League Baseball could eventually fit into this mix when they follow these player development strategies eventually). These Institutions of Higher Learning should add Football and Basketball studies, per se, as part of their course curriculum. There is a job market they supply the talent for already, correct? The small percentage of athletes who make it to the next level, make it to the top of their intended profession. All of those who don’t will have to rely on whatever minor studies they chose to fend for their employment elsewhere. Maybe the NFL could throw some funds into this – ha!
How Collegefootballfan.com will approach the 2021 season
Until anybody figures out how this should all work out, we all already know the five or six teams who are going to play for the four spots in the College Football Playoff in 2021. No surprises there, so for what it is worth, we’re going to attend at least another 20 college football games this season. What we are going to do is continue what we’ve always done for the past 42 years. We will attend various games at different venues with friend old and new to enjoy the aura, the spectacle, the atmosphere, the excitement, and the traditions of seeing two college football teams clash on the gridiron to play hard, and may the best team win on the final play of whatever game we are at. Afterward, we’ll tailgate some more, travel back to our new home or wherever, and write about the overall great experience. This is why we can’t wait!
In 2021, we will attend our 8th straight Army-Navy game which will be played in The Meadowlands of Jersey this year. Is there any chance a Cadet or Midshipman now has a chance to make more money than the Commander-in-Chief of the United States?The answer is “no” as per military agreements students of the academies adhere to.
Living in New Jersey for a lifetime, the end of my career as a Purchasing professional comes to a halt on June 30. St. Laurie and I both look forward to semi-retirement. Neither of us wants to work full-time any more, but we both know we’re going to continue to work at least on a part-time basis as we are both used to having schedules and goals to achieve. So we both intend to spend less time working and devote more time to other interests since we no longer want to obligate ourselves to long hours, long commutes, and worn-out routines we have lived with for over 40 years now. They were mostly good years, but now we’re ready for a new lifestyle.
One thing for me, this means more time to focus on college football. Going to games, planning trips, game schedules, meeting up with friends, updating and upgrading this website, and keeping up more with the ongoing stories behind the scenes rather than tracking prices and trends of raw material prices as I do now for my current professional strategies. That equates to 8-12 hours more per day of newly found freedom. Believe me. Time is on my side – finally!
Location. Location. Location.
In addition to more time, the move to Tennessee gives me different options and travel opportunities being closer to the heartland. I always tell friends who ask ,”Why Tennessee? Why Nashville?” One of the main reasons I tell them is its location. Most places we like to travel to are within a day’s drive, or less than a two-hour flight, and I’ll have the time to do that now. Games in Texas, Florida, and Boston, closer to our kids and extended family and friends, give us places to stay tied with other reasons to visit.
From another perspective, there are some schools, FBS and FCS, within a couple hours drive from where we will be living. These offer me new places to go without the high cost of travel now, especially now that we’re on a retirement budget. We’ll miss friends and great times we enjoyed living in NJ, but we look forward to the new opportunities Tennessee offers us in many aspects of our personal and family lifestyles. I look forward to new adventures to be enjoyed as far as my college football interests go. Also, Nashville will attract many friends to come visit us for music, festivals, sports, and other attractions they will come to see.
With our relocation, you’ll note many new venues and FCS teams we look forward to seeing this year for the first time. Additionally, you’ll see we’ll keep our ties to regular favorites like Penn State and Navy as well as the Army-Navy game. We’ll be closer to our buddy Jim “Bug” Harton to drive out to Winston-Salem to see his Demon Deacons play while we enjoy some Bourbon together! Planning to spend Christmas at our new home and having our kids join us, we even have two bowl game in Tennessee already slated on our pre-season, tentative schedule. Usually we wait to see what bowls we’ll go to, but these are two good ones.
Push past 2020!
We look forward to another great season for collegefootballfan.com, especially now as we reach beyond Covid-19. Check back here for further progress as I try to improve this website with more time I can dedicate to this passion I have for college football. Check out a very different schedule below compared to what we’ve done in the past. Many new places to go and teams to see. Can’t wait! Click here for our 2021 Collegefootballfan.com Schedule.
Despite attending only three NCAA FBS in 2020, we saw our share of top talent in previous years who will be some of the top picks in this week’s draft. Like a great upset, it’s great to say we saw some raw talent play who becomes a well know player at the next level. Some of these include WR Pierre Garcon’ of Mount Union, QB Joe Flacco of Delaware, and even QB Malcolm Perry of Navy who made it as a wide receiver last year for the Dolphins. Not sure who will surprise us this year, but our preview here features those predicted to be at the top of the charts for the first few rounds. Check back with us after the draft comes to an end. That is where we pull out the guys low on the radar who could become household names.
Alabama’s DeVonta Smith, Heisman Trophy winner will enhance any pro receiving corps. The Philadelphia Eagles traded up to beat out NFC East rival Giants to grab him at No. 10 in the draft.
NDSU QB Trey Lance led the Bison to their seventh FCS title in eight years. We question if one season with the best program at this level is enough to assure success at the next level when joining a team struggling to build on a few wins.Lance got drafted third overall by a very good San Francisco 49er organization. We’ll see how he develops.
North Carolina WR Dyami Brown Is projected to get picked in Round Three.Right on the money! The Washington Football team selected him as the 82nd player in the draft. We hope they come up with anew mascot soon.
SEC’s leading rusher Kevin Harris (20) of South Carolina should be one of the higher picks at running back in 2022.
WR Sage Surratt (14) of Wake Forest and his brother Chazz, a LB at UNC, should both find their way to NFL rosters this weekend. Sage is waiting for free agency. Chazz joins the Vikings as the 78th player selected overall in 2021.
Penn State LB Micah Parsons (11) puts hit on Terps Anthony McFarland in 2019. He sat out 2020. He should be well rested, but possibly rusty stepping up at the next level in 2021.The Cowboys who selected him at No. 12 will find out!
North Carolina RB Javonta Williams looks to go early among RBs.As the No. 35 draftee, he heads to Denver.
Clemson Tiger RB Travis Etienne (9) should be ready for the next level.As the No. 25 selection by the Jacksonville Jaguars, he joins his Clemson teammate QB Trevor Lawrence whom the Jags took at No. 1.
Covid-19 rose it’s ugly head Friday night to postpone our Spring fling in Youngstown. Collegefootballfan.com is down but not out. Didn’t realize how much we were looking forward to this until “Slippery Rock” Bob called me with the news right before heading out the door. Can’t wait, but at least there’s still football in the air for us this spring. Let me know if you can join us. Here’s some positive signs of spring without masks!
Also looking forward to some other new venues in the fall as well.
Wake up for Wake Forest!Rutgers cheer-leading squad – Jersey Girls!Sound person for CBS TV sports looks like a lonely job, but somebody’s got to do it!Houston Cougar cheer team strikes pose.
Collegefootballfan.com finally found a spring FCS game we could get tickets for! We’re shaking off the cabin fever and heading to Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio. There, the Youngstown State Penguins (1-4) host the No. 6 Fighting Hawks of North Dakota (4-1) in a Missouri Valley Football Conference clash.
Hooray! We’re back!
Last week, the Penguins won their first game of the spring with a 28-10 victory over South Dakota. YSU LB Grant Dixon garnered MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honors with an INT, a fumble recovery, and a forced fumble. All three turnovers resulted in 13 points for the win. Dixon, a native of Succasunna, NJ, played three seasons for Marist where we saw him play his freshman season. He captained the Red Foxes for two seasons and earned first team all-conference honors in the Pioneer League his junior year.
CB Jamal Agnew of San Diego U. broke up this pass in our game versus Marist. Drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 5th round, he’s now a WR for the Jacksonville Jaguars. You never know who makes it to the pros from the FCS level.
The Hawks dropped their first game of 2021 last week falling in Fargo to intrastate rival and No. 2 North Dakota State, 34-14. The perennial National champion Bison fell to Southern Illinois earlier ending their 29-game winning streak. James Madison (3-0) ranks No. 1 in the current FCS standings.
JMU QB Ben DeNucci, seen here in a playoff loss to Colgate in 2018, saw action with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.
We look forward to Saturday’s game. It will be our first time attending a game at Stambaugh Stadium and it will be the first time we see these two FCS programs play. Things are shaping up for plans this fall as a relocation for us down south will allow us to see a lot of interesting games at both the FBS and FCS levels. We’re waiting for the vaccine to open up our options. We definitely want to get back on the road in 2021. This gets us off to a fun start already.
We only attended three college games during the horrible, covid-19 year of 2020. However, with the announcement of WR Devonta Smith of Alabama as the 2020 Heisman Trophy Winner, Collegefootballfan.com now lays claim to recording Smith as the 22nd such award winner we’ve seen in our 41 years of attending college football games. As a matter of fact, Devonta’s performance in the CFP semi-final at 2018 Orange Bowl featured one of the best performances displayed among all 22 winners we’ve seen.
Devonta Smith (6) on the end of a 50-yard reception from Tua Tagovailoa on their first play against Oklahoma in The Orange Bowl in 2018.
Tidal Wave
No. 1 Alabama got out to a quick lead against the No. 4 Sooners as QB Tua Tagovailoa completed his first nine passes on the way to a 45-34 win, but the final score doesn’t indicate the early and complete dominance of The Tide who led 21-0 after one period of play, and led 31-10 at halftime. Smith enjoyed a prolific evening snagging six tosses for 104 yards and one TD. We came away from this contest knowing we had watched the 2018 Heisman winner, Kyler Murray, perform at QB for the Sooners. Little could we imagine, especially with several QBs at the top of the watch list this season, that we had seen two winners compete that evening.
Smith hauls in Tagovailoa’s fourth TD pass of the CFP game from ten yards out.
With Smith’s achievement of the most famous individual awards in all of sports, Collegefootballfan.com has seen the last five Heisman Award winners all play in person. Add to that that in 2019, we also saw the top player in the FCS and in Division II also perform. We watched QB Trey Lance of North Dakota State lead his national champion Bison past Delaware, and attended an exciting victory led by QB Roland Reese III of Slippery Rock past Kutztown for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship. We’ve seen the best of the best these past few years.
Post script
Tagovailoa, the Heisman runner-up to Murray in 2018, finished the victory completing 24 of 27 passes for 318 yards and four TDs. Despite their dominating performance over Oklahoma that evening, the top-ranked Tide got rolled back by Clemson in the championship game, 44-16. The Crimson Tide goes for the title again this Monday evening against 7-0 Ohio State. Devonta Smith will not be opting out.
At home in NJ – In what’s commonly referred to as a “unprecedented year”, it means changes took place that made things generally ‘bad”. To leave it all behind, Collegefootballfan.com (CFF.com) proposes some “good” changes to this year’s bowl season to make this unusual, disorganized, Covid-19 strapped season one that many fans remember on a much more positive note. With wishful thinking on our part, these changes if ever really implemented, would make bowl seasons memorable and anticipated for years to come.
Every college football game is about fun amid competition
In 2020, with limited games played, reduced attendance, bands and cheerleaders restricted to the stands, and tailgating traditions banned, college football took some serious hits. A lot of our fun was taken away. The same bodes for our upcoming bowl season. We at CFF.com normally attend three to five bowl games every year. Generally, our selections are “pot-luck” when it comes to games being competitive or not. In most cases regretfully, the latter comes into play (i.e., LSU vs Oklahoma last year). We always seek the most competitive games we can attend among the options we consider. That’s what we always clamor for, the winning score as the game clock expires.
We watched two bowl bound teams battle this year when Cincinnati visited Central Florida in Orlando where the Bearcats remained undefeated. Great game!
Check out our 2019 schedule in the History pages of this site. You’ll see close final scores in most games we attended no matter what level of NCAA football we watched. We look for the best matchups we can muster based on our limited budget, travel constraints, available time, and a full time job Monday-Friday during the week. Up until six or seven years ago, raising two kids limited options as well. However, having relocated to careers in Florida and Texas, they provide us new game options when we visit them!
What we foresee for bowl season 2020
This year, very few people will have the opportunity to attend bowl games. Most will be relegated to watching games on television or computers at home which is what bowl season has evolved into thanks to ESPN. Bowls used to attract festive gatherings for students, alum, friends, fans, and family to visit somewhere nice in the dead of winter to enjoy local attractions, bars, hotels, and restaurants drawn together to celebrate the success of their team in a showdown against another successful, worthy team. The numbers of bowl games has diminished the aura of a bowl game to instead sell air time on TV to let people watch all the action at home.
With even more limited opportunities to attend a game and celebrate in a locale welcoming visitors, we’ve developed a plan to improve the entire bowl season to benefit teams, fans, venues, and television viewing alike. First, all teams get pared against comparable competition to begin with. Instead of contracts between a host city and two pre-arranged college football conferences to determine the teams and fill hotel rooms if the finished product is attractive, we select two teams with comparable records and/or rankings at a site neutral to both and generally equidistant from both (sorry Fresno State, there aren’t many games west of the Mississippi this year).
Win-win-win-win
From an economic standpoint, most schools don’t have to send their teams, bands, cheerleaders, support staffs, and administrators too far out of the way for an enjoyable setting and meaningful game even if it’s not for a national championship. First and foremost, it’s about winning. Fans from both schools see their teams not only in a well-conceived even matchup to compete, but in all cases, programs with good records are chosen to play in venues and on days closest to New Year’s with a chance to show where they rank in the end among the “elite” during this particular season. Cities get to host out of towners if they’re not shuttered this year to bring in revenue (New York City and San Francisco cancelled bowl games, but who wants to visit those cities any more?). Television wins big. The schedule we put together on paper makes every game starting on December 19 as competitive as possible – literally must-see TV!
Hoop Dreams
College football should take lessons from college basketball. Isn’t learning what college is supposed to be all about? Of course, everyone roots for their team in the NCAA tournament. However, how often are you watching other games and rooting for “Cinderella” to knock off some perennial power house of college b-ball? You get that here with our proposal.
We’ve also always thought that like basketball, a selection committee should be organized to pair teams into bowl games using the standards that we employ here. If they don’t want to do it, we’ll be happy to take this on. Even with the unusual limitations this season, this was a lot of fun putting this together. More than anything, however, this schedule would make the entire bowl season more entertaining and interesting than ever before as more and more post season games have been created all over the country.
Got to have rules
Here’s the rules we laid out:
1.) Comparable records and rankings
2.) Equivalent neutrality to both teams paired
3.) No games against fellow conference members
4.) No rematches of regular season games
5.) The current Top Four – Bama, ND, Clemson, and OSU are not scheduled since they are ranked to meet in CFP. Subject to change later, of course.
For our purpose, we looked at the current Top 25 below as if this were the final rankings at the end of the regular 2020 season (pretend the championships have already been played and this is where everyone finished).
The ESPN Bowl Projections
With no disrespect to Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabac of ESPN who publish their bowl projections on ESPN.com throughout the season, we provide our selections below realizing that they plan under guidelines using current parameters, particularly bowl contracts affiliated with specific college football conferences. We take liberty throwing those right out to show what “shoulda, woulda, coulda” been created for a more fantastic ,enjoyable, entertaining bowl season for the benefit of many this season. Remember, it’s all about the fun of college football. Let us know what you think about this plan.
ed. and blogger – Steve Koreivo
The Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana go bowling as No. 17. We watched them defeat Texas State this year.
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 83, Marshall 47, Boise State 12, UCF 11, Army 9, Washington 9, Auburn 8, TCU 3, Appalachian State 1
Bowl schedule
Dec. 19
Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas) 7 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: SMU vs. UTSA Schlabach: SMU vs.UTSA CFF.com: North Texas 4-5 vs. Houston 3-4
Reason: All Texas affair between two sub-.500s
Actual matchup: SMU vs. UTSA
Dec. 21
Myrtle Beach Bowl Brooks Stadium (Conway, South Carolina) 2:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Georgia Southern vs. Western Kentucky Schlabach: Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky
CFF.com: Wake Forest 4-4 vs. Georgia State 5-4
Reasons: Myrtle Beach is a nice bus ride for both squads. They would be well prepared for a good fight for a winning season.
Actual matchup: Appalachian State vs. North Texas
Dec. 22
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho) 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Boise State vs. Ball State Schlabach: Nevada vs. Tulane
CFF.com: Oregon 3-2 vs. Minnesota 3-3
Reasons: Two Power 5 teams that fell since 2019 geographically acclimated to play in a cold climate. They can take their frustrations out on each other. We have better plans for the two teams selected, but this contest looks interesting on paper.
Actual matchup: Nevada vs. Tulane
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl FAU Stadium (Boca Raton, Florida) 7 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: vs. UCF vs. Kent State Schlabach: UCF vs. FAU CFF.com: Central Michigan 3-3 vs. Fresno State 3-3
Reasons: The two teams announced below deserve better bowl games than this one though this is a good one for a TV audience. CMU deserves a warm weather game.
Actual matchup: UCF vs. BYU
Dec. 23
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans) 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: UAB vs. Louisiana Schlabach: Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern
CFF.com: Louisiana Tech vs. Ole Miss
Reasons: We’d like to see Tech get a shot at a middle of the pack SEC team. Fun time in the Big Easy for both schools if not for the pandemic. Like to see the Eagles play against Power 5 as well. Take a shot when they can.
Actual matchup: Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern
Montgomery Bowl Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama) 7 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2 and the ESPN App Bonagura: Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia State Schlabach: Memphis vs. Liberty
CFF.com: Kansas State 4-6 vs. Kentucky 4-6 Reasons: Dead even. Wildcats vs. Wildcats. Left this one out accidentally the first time around really. Best of remaining teams.
Actual matchup: Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic
We watched Kentucky win over South Carolina in our third and final game of 2020.
Dec. 24
New Mexico Bowl TBD (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: San Jose State vs. BYU Schlabach: San Jose State vs. Houston CFF.com: Hawaii 4-4 vs. UCLA 3-3 Reasons: Give the Rainbow Warriors a bowl on the Mainland. Another other vs. “Power 5” match-up.
Actual matchup: Hawai’i vs. Houston
Dec. 25
Camellia Bowl Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama) 2:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Buffalo vs. Coastal Carolina Schlabach: Ball State vs. Georgia State CFF.com: Missouri 5-4 vs. Toledo 4-2 Reasons: Call this the Gary Pinkel Bowl. He coached both programs to success in the past. Toledo won 73 games under his tutelage from 1991-2000, and left for Mizzou where the Tigers won 118 games from 2001-2015. Buffalo, if MAC champs, and CC ranked No. 9 especially, both deserve shots against better comp other than each other to prove their prowess.
Dec. 26
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida) Noon on ABC and the ESPN App Bonagura: Georgia Tech vs. Liberty Schlabach: Georgia Tech vs. South Carolina CFF.com: Georgia Southern 7-5 vs. Virginia Tech 5-6 Reasons: Come on! Don’t belittle 9-1 Liberty in the same breath with 3-7 Tech or 2-8 SC! Give fans sitting at home a game to watch the day after Christmas!
Cure Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida) Noon on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Florida Atlantic vs. Troy Schlabach: UAB vs. Louisiana CFF.com: UAB 5-3 vs Western Michigan 4-2 Reasons: Teams were competitive in respective their C-USA and MAC. Both would compete well here against one another for an entertaining game near Disney World.
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas) 3:30 p.m. on ABC and the ESPN App Bonagura: Wake Forest vs. Tulsa Schlabach: Wake Forest vs. BYU CFF.com: San Diego State 4-4 vs. Western Kentucky 5-6 Reasons: Very neutral site for both squads making for a rarely seen, east-west matchup. Both fell to good teams. Both to BYU. WKU to Liberty and Marshall. SDSU to San Jose and Nevada. Would be a very close, entertaining game. We almost replaced WKU with Kent. Despite the Golden Flash record of 3-1, four games aren’t enough to qualify here.
LendingTree Bowl Ladd-Peebles Stadium (Mobile, Alabama) 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Marshall vs. Appalachian State Schlabach: Marshall vs. Coastal Carolina CFF.com: West Virginia 5-4 vs. Colorado 4-1 Reasons: The three targeted by the ESPN guys deserve better recognition than this. Their combined records are 26-4. The Big 12 and Pac-12 aren’t exactly CFP material this year. Let’s let them play each other here, good game, and find better opportunities for the others.
Actual matchup: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana) 7 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Army vs. Oregon Schlabach: Army vs. Oregon CFF.com: Florida Atlantic 5-3 vs. Air Force 3-2 Reasons: Taking a chance that Air Force may beat Army this week at West Point, and if they do they deserve to get a post-season game some place. This would be it. Shreveport has an Air Force base. FAU beat two other bowl qualifiers in UT San Antonio and Western Kentucky. Shreveport offers a good meeting point in between for both.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Chase Field (Phoenix) 10:15 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Penn State vs. West Virginia Schlabach: Rutgers vs. West Virginia CFF.com: Nevada 6-2 vs. Memphis 7-3 Reasons: Two competitive teams finishing near the tops of their conferences deserve a shot to show what they can do against comparable competition. Great pairing here! You who follow us know we are big PSU fans and not RU fans by any stretch. Sorry, but whether fan base, history, or “improvement”, neither deserves a bowl game this year. Under .500 in the Big Ten this year is nothing to gloat about. This conference played very poorly all season. Northwestern looked to be best in the west until they lost to struggling Michigan State. Indiana really looked good this year, even when QB Eric Penix suffered a season-ending injury. Ohio State is undefeated and has its rep. If IU gave them a run, they have to watch out in the CFP no matter who they play.
Dec. 28
Military Bowl Presented by Perspecta Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (Annapolis, Maryland) 2:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Louisville vs. Navy Schlabach: Louisville vs. Navy CFF.com: Ball State 5-1 vs. Tulane 6-5 Reasons: Both teams have winning records and deserve to celebrate their success. Again, we’re Navy fans, but that team struggled all year. So did Louisville. Let the winners play here this year.
Dec. 29
Cheez-It Bowl Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida) 5:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Miami vs. Oklahoma State Schlabach: Miami vs. Texas CFF.com: Auburn 6-4 vs. Appalachian State 8-3 Reasons: We always like to see the Mountaineers play the role of “giant killers”.
Valero Alamo Bowl Alamodome (San Antonio) 9 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Oklahoma vs. Washington Schlabach: Iowa State vs. Colorado CFF.com: SMU 7-3 vs. UTSA 7-4 Reasons: Reality pitted these two in the Tropical Fruit Smoothie Bowl in Frisco, TX. We could have saved then some gas money. We figure the best matchups should be played as close as possible as we get closer to January 1.
Dec. 30
Duke’s Mayo Bowl Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina) Noon on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Virginia Tech vs. Wisconsin Schlabach: Virginia Tech vs. Penn State CFF.com: Marshall 7-1 vs. Army 8-2 Reasons: Good records against comparable yet questionable competition. The game would be interesting having more local interest. Army bases in the area. Reminds us of the game we saw these two play at West Point in 1997 – the “Randy Moss highlight film” won by the visitors, 35-25.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee) 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Minnesota vs. Tennessee Schlabach: Minnesota vs. Kentucky CFF.com: TCU 6-4 Washington 3-1 Reasons: First of all, we’ve attended enough SEC blow-outs in bowl game over the Big Ten West too many times. Even with paltry records of our esteemed pundits’ selections under the guidelines they have to use, let’s take break from this “tradition”. On the other hand, Washington’s only played four games. With few bowls on the west coast this season, we need to give the PAC-12 a shot somewhere. The Music City in Nashville is our favorite!
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas) 7:15 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Iowa State vs. Florida Schlabach: Oklahoma vs. Florida CFF.com: Boise State 5-1 Central Florida 6-3 Reasons: Well UCF gets BYU already early in Boca Raton, and we’re trying to get Boise out of Boise, but reality is that we feel both deserve a bigger stage. The Cotton Bowl two days before New year’s gives both programs a shot to give a big TV audience a great game! There are 11 more games other than the three CFP games to be played. We don’t feel like we’re slighting teams nor fans. Every game but one remaining features two teams ranked closely in the current Top 25!
Dec. 31
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas) Noon on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Colorado vs. Missouri Schlabach: Washington vs. Mississippi State CFF.com: No. 25 San Jose State (6-0) vs. Oklahoma State 7-3 Reasons: A belated newcomer to the Top 25 for the first time in years and undefeated, the Spartans come up against the Cowboys who constantly challenge in the Big Twelve, but always come up short. Both come in with a lot to play for to prove their worthiness in 2020.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Memphis, Tennessee) 4 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: TCU vs. South Carolina Schlabach: TCU vs. Tennessee CFF.com: No. 23 Buffalo 6-0 vs. No. 24 NC State 8-3 Reasons: Buffalo improves every year under HC Lance Leopold who coached six national championships at D-III Wisconsin-Whitewater. He’s proving himself once again, and has the country’s most exciting RB in Jarret Patterson. NC State always prides itself on defense and includes Liberty’s only loss among its eight victories. If this was a real game, we’d love to go to this one!
Maybe we’ll see Bull Head Coach Lance Leipold wearing a different color next season.
Arizona Bowl Arizona Stadium (Tucson, Arizona) 4 p.m. on CBSSN Bonagura: Western Michigan vs. Nevada Schlabach: Buffalo vs. Boise State CFF.com: No. 12 Oklahoma 7-2 vs. No. 14 BYU 10-1 Reasons: The Sooners have lost in recent years on the CFP big stage. Taking a step down, they have chips on their shoulders. For BYU, they’re another team who seeks to prove to others that their reputation and record are legit by beating a perennial Power Five leader. Both teams should be fired up! Great matchup where fans from both allegiances can find a way to see their teams play only a few states away.
Texas Bowl NRG Stadium (Houston) 8 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Texas vs. Arkansas Schlabach: Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas CFF.com: No. 13 USC 5-0 vs. No. 15 Northwestern 6-1 Reasons: Closest offering for traditionalists who like the Rose Bowl played between the PAC-12 and Big Ten. Good USC offense averaging 35.4 ppg versus good Northwestern defense under HC Pat Fitzgerald allowing only 13.8 ppg. The teams have played only five games and seven games respectively, and both have tough tests this weekend in Championship games against Oregon and Ohio State respectively, usually two Rose Bowl contenders. However, win or lose, both programs get to play in this year’s version of the Rose Bowl. Only this year, Houston offers a more neutral venue. Should be fun.
Jan. 1
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Legion Field (Birmingham, Alabama) Noon on ESPN2 and the ESPN App Bonagura: Memphis vs. Mississippi State Schlabach: Tulsa vs. San Jose State CFF.com: No. 19 Miami 8-2 vs. No. 20 Tulsa 6-1 Reasons: Two improved teams as No. 19 vs No. 20. They get closer to New Year’s Day primarily because of their proximity to Birmingham compared to higher ranked teams. Great matchup this year though. The American Athletic gets another shot to coin the phrase, “Power Six.”
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) 12:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Georgia vs. Cincinnati Schlabach: Georgia vs. Cincinnati CFF.com: No.11 Florida 8-2 vs. No 16 North Carolina 8-3 Reasons: How can anyone not like the anticipation of this shootout between U of F’s QB Kyle Trask and UNC’s Sam Howell? SEC vs. ACC in Atlanta – a natural. The Gators average 41.2 ppg, average 386.4 passing yards, and scored on 42 TD passes. The Tar Heels average 42.8 ppg, average 307.5 passing yards, and scored on passes 28 times. What a warm up to watch before the CFP games later in the day. New Year’s fireworks!
We watched Sam Howell (13) lead UNC over Temple in a big win in the Military Bowl in Annapolis last season.
Vrbo Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida) 1 p.m. on ABC and the ESPN App Bonagura: Northwestern vs. Auburn Schlabach: Northwestern vs. Auburn CFF.com: No. 21 Texas 6-3 vs. No. 22 Liberty 9-1 Reasons: Another chance for one of the surprise teams to show what it can do against the vaunted Big Twelve. How much separation is there really between good non-Power Five teams and a conference who generally makes it to the CFP more often than not?
Jan. 2
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl TIAA Bank Field (Jacksonville, Florida) Noon on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: NC State vs. Ole Miss Schlabach: NC State vs. Ole Miss CFF.com: No. 17 Louisiana 9-1 vs. No. 18 Iowa 8-2 Reasons: No withdrawals the day after the CFP semis, we go right back to another competitive game. The Ragin Cajuns of the Sunbelt started the season with an upset win over current No. 8 Iowa State. Now they get a chance to win the championship of Iowa if they can defeat the No. 8 Hawkeyes. Fun stuff!
Outback Bowl Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida) 12:30 p.m. on ABC and the ESPN App Bonagura: Iowa vs. Kentucky Schlabach: Iowa vs. Missouri CFF.com: No. 7 Indiana 6-1 at No. 8 Iowa State 8-2 Reasons: Who wants to watch a mediocre game between Iowa and either Kentucky or Missouri the day after the CFP semis when we can have two hungry programs like these two playing at probably the highest level either has ever played at? No CFP hangover if this game is on!
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona) 4 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: USC vs. Indiana Schlabach: USC vs. Indiana CFF.com: No. 5 Texas A&M 7-1 vs. No. 6 Cincinnati 8-0 Reasons: Here’s the one that answers the question: which one of these belonged in the CFP after one of the invitees got hammered the night before? Will the Aggies with only one loss to No. 1 Alabama have deserved a chance instead, or should it have been the undefeated Bearcats, champs of the American Athletic under HC Luke Fickell with a good balance of offense and defense that should have been there? It would be nice to have an answer to this season-long question decided on the gridiron.
Capital One Orange Bowl Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida) 8 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App Bonagura: Texas A&M vs. North Carolina Schlabach: Texas A&M vs. North Carolina CFF.com: No. 9 Coastal Carolina 11-0 vs. No. 10 Georgia 7-2 Reasons: The surprise team of the season versus a traditional power house in a traditional CFP venue. What a great tribute to the end of a crazy season. The last game of the season before the grand finale to be held on Monday, January 11. We’d all have a lot to talk about before that one was played, and the talk wouldn’t stop after it either!
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.
