Seen 'em all – 133 FBS teams in action. Three new members to be added the next two years. All divisions: 712 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.
With the NFL draft scheduled for April 28-30, here we offer you Collegefootballfan.com’s top offensive prospects. Seen in action the last few years, these college players became eligible for the 2022 draft. Some are well known as you will see. However, we will provide some potential mid to low-round talent for draft consideration. These lower picks and even eventual free-agent signees make up the core of solid rosters over time.
Since 2019, (despite the 2020 Covid-19-impacted season limiting Collegefootballfan.com to only three games) , we watched many top prospects play against one another. Overall, we attended 48 gridiron clashes played among 69 different teams – 23 among Power Five programs and 23 among the Group of Five programs. We also witnessed 14 FCS programs play. We even watched five D-2 and D-3 games among top-ranked programs compete. These lesser schools truly offer some hidden top prospects for the NFL draft.
Check out our input by position. We’ll see when and where all these top prospects end up. After the three days of intense, team-building, draft strategies for the top level of professional football, we always enjoy being able to say, “Look at them now, we saw them when…”
Quarterbacks
We watched QB Sam Howell (13) lead UNC over Temple in a big win in the Military Bowl in Annapolis during his Frosh year in 2019. As experience around him dwindled the past two seasons, he learned a lot. We see him as the top QB prospect in this year’s draft.A four-year starter at Cincinnati, QB Desmond Ridder (9) tosses a 29-yard TD pass against UCF to TE Josh Whylie in 2020. Tough, durable, and an experienced winner (44-5 record), Ridder may be a good mid-round, developmental choice. He led the Bearkats completing 62.1% of his UC career passes for 10,239 yards, 87 TDs, and 28 INTs. Whylie may be one of our top prospects of 2023.QB Bailey Zappe, a grad transfer from Houston Baptist at Western Kentucky (9-4) in 2022, broke single-season NCAA passing records. He set records with 5,967 passing yards and 62 TDs. We saw his team lose by two two Indiana and defeat rival Middle Tennessee State, seen in action here. In our view, he’ll get selected in a mid-round and become a long-time journeyman , at least, in the NFL.
Offensive Lineman
NC State OT Ikem Ekwonu (79), seen here vs Wake Forest last season , looks to go early after a successful 9-3 season for the Wolfpack. Known to be tough and tenacious. He stands in at 6’4″, 320 lbs. “The Athletic” titled him “most feared lineman in ACC.”Another ACC OL, Boston College’s Zion Johnson (77) opens hole here for breathing room against Wake Forest in 2021 loss. He weighs in at 6-3, 316 lbs. He’s projected to play guard and gone in the first round in several mock drafts.Kentucky OT Darian Kinnard (seen center front), 2021 Consensus All American, looks likely to move to OG in the NFL. At 6’5″ 322 lbs., he posted 46 starts, 39 in row for UK. Seen here vs. South Carolina in 2020, he’s projected to go in Round 2.Among top OL prospects in the Group of Five, OT Max Mitchell (74) of Louisiana stands out. A proven winner, the Ragin Cajuns finished 23-2 the last two years. We saw them in wins both years over Texas State and here at Liberty.Penn State OT Rasheed Walker (53) started 32 games at left tackle. At 6’6″, 330 lbs. he might need some work on technique according to some reports. Expect him to go in the first three rounds.
Wide receivers/ Tight ends
Penn State WR Jahan Dotson dives for first of four Lion TD passes to take an early 7-0 lead for PSU. In 41 games, Dotson snared 183 passes for 2,757 yards and 25 TDS. Quick, fast, but small, he’ll bolster some team’s receiving corps.Western Kentucky WR Jerreth Sterns pick up yards against MTSU to break the Hilltopper record for receiving yards in a season. He finished with 150 snags for 1,902 yards and 17 TDS. He starred previously at Houston Baptist.Tennessee WR Velus Jones scores on a 15-yard catch and run in the 2021 Music City Bowl against Purdue. A transfer from USC in 2020, he started 19 games for the Vols making 84 receptions for 1,087 yards and 10 TDs. He returned a kickoff for a score and averaged 27.3 yards on kick returns and 15.1 yards on punt returns. He’ll be a top prospect for special teams alone.Rutgers WR Bo Melton led the Scarlet Knights in receiving for three years. He was second team All Big Ten in 2020 though RU QBs struggled. Could be a late round pick or possible free agent. Seen here versus BC in 2019.
Running backs
BYU RB Tyler Algeier bulls over for his first of five TDs and 266 yards on 29 carries when we watched the Cougars defeat Virginia, 66-49. Against UAB in the Independence Bowl we attended, he gained 193 yards and scored thrice. In three seasons at Provo, totaled 2,850 yards, 36 TDs averaging 6.4 yards per carry. At 5’11” 224 lbs., a good blocker with soft hands, he will be a valuable asset to any offense.Baylor’s Abram Smith barrels in for his second TD of the day against Texas State in their 2021 opener. He converted from LB to RB his senior season toe lead the 12-2 Bears in rushing with 1,601 yards and 12 TDs. Will probably go as a late round pick to be used in tough yardage situations. South Carolina’s Kevin Harris impressed against UK in 2020 when he led the SEC in rushing. His state declined in 2021 and scouts are not impressed by any blocking prowess. He could be a late draft pick or become a free agent.
Top Prospects on Defense coming up in next report
We’ve got many more top prospects for the draft on the defensive side of the football. Come back and see who we’ve got on our next edition planned for April 6!
Spring Games
Our choices are few and local this spring as only one weekend will be available to us to do some preliminary “scouting”, and to hear once again the popping of pads. We plan to see two nearby programs on the same Saturday April 16 respectively, one at 10 am and the second at 1 pm.
The first scrimmage plays out in Murfreesboro. There, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will shake out the cobwebs to see what they have in store for 2022. HC Rick Stockstill’s team comes off a 7-6 season with a Bahamas Bowl win over Toledo, 31-24. The key to his spring will be deciding what QB will start for the Blue Raiders in 2022. Soph Mike DiLello and Frosh Nick Vittiato shared time filling in after starter Chase Cunningham went down for the season after the UConn victory. They combined for a 4-2 record. They open next season at James Madison, newest member of teh FBS in teh Sun Belt Conference. Collegefootball.com plans to see the Blue Raiders host Western Kentucky on October 15.
Then we head west…
Toward Nashville to see SEC cellar dweller Vanderbilt who us what they’ve got going after HC Clark Lea’s inaugural season that ended 2-10, 0-8. The two wins came over Colorado State, 24-21, and at home over hapless UConn, 30-28. We’ll just be watching to see how Commodore blocking and tackling skills are coming along basically. They open their season at Hawaii. We will see them host formidable pre-season Top 20 Wake Forest with QB Sam Hartman and the Deacs coming off their 11-2 season. They will be looking to challenge for the ACC title with a solid core of returning players.
Scheduling twists and turns
With the price of gas and other costs climbing as we personally head into a fixed base retirement income, budget planning becomes more of a variable in our planning process for 2022. We’re cutting back a little on the number of games, looking at closer game destinations, avoiding exorbitant ticket prices to some top games under consideration, and cutting back on excess hotels rooms where needed in some cases. However, we continue to come up with alternatives that give us a very interesting schedule comprised of mostly competitive games.
We still maintain traditions such as attending at least one game at Penn State and one at Navy. We’ve also maintained our membership in the Navy Blue and Gold Club to attend the ArmyNavy Game in December once again. Focus remains on seeing more games within driving distance while still getting to some stadiums we’ve never been to yet. Some weekday games offer these opportunities. We’re still waiting to shake out some opportunities to meet up with friends who have ties to some campuses we’d still like to get to. Things continue to get moved around and we’re hoping to see some games move to Friday nights or other alternatives once TV schedules get settled. Continue to check out our game updates by clicking here as our slate develops as the 2022 season continues to draw near.
by Steve Koreivo, ed. and author of “Tales from the Tailgate: From the fan who’s seen ’em all!” The adventure of a lifetime, how he attended a game played by the original 119 FBS teams at least once. Click here to read this story today!
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After months of speculation to expand the College Football Playoff (CFP), the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) powers that be (SEC and Big Ten in particular) got what they wanted. They maintain the limited participation among only four teams annually until the current contract expires in 2026. Basically, among the 133 (or is it now 134?) FBS teams, we’ll most likely see the same old teams reach football’s Final Four each of these years. Boring. What ever happened to “competition”? As pointed out in past Salvos, expansion inviting twelve teams – 10 conference champs and two at-large teams – would not only spread the financial wealth for all, but the talent would be dispersed around more evenly as well.
As long as Nick Saban remains at Alabama, figure The Tide is in. Look for the SEC to keep playing nobody out of conference and play non-conference games all at home. This helps guarantee to get their second-best team among them a second bid. The Big Ten will get a least one participant among 14 members. The FBS conference with the biggest market footprint draws the highest TV rankings. After these three slots, the fourth team is “pot-luck”. That generally means Oklahoma, Clemson (with Dabo), or Notre Dame gets invited before anybody else even gets noticed. Pollsters assure us of that before they hand the FBS rankings over to “The Committee”. No favoritism among these so-called “experts”. Agree?
Like this past season, we don’t even focus on who’s going to win it all. We’ll continue to take our interest on a game-by-game basis. We’ll enjoy our college football going into our 43rd year of attending games every weekend and beyond by traveling to the best match-ups we can afford to attend! That includes Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams as well as FBS. Also, we include the Group of Five as well as the Power Five. We’ll do all we can to keep the average attendance at college games from continuing to slip. Read below.
Nothing against Nick Saban personally, but his appearances in CFP games bore us!
FBS Football attendance declined for 7th straight season
Attendance has fallen continually from 44,603 per game among all FBS programs back in 2014 to 39,849 in 2022. Adding 15 FBS new programs since 2000 with stadium capacities of about 30,000 have contributed to the decline. Of course, we made our efforts to help offset this by attending games at the likes of UMASS, Coast Carolina, and Texas State! Ha! Not enough evidently. However, the greatest impact comes from comprehensive TV coverage.
TV: the double-edged sword whacking away the numbers
Every game is shown live in some form of media. And think about this: it has to be now because of the necessity of replays to assure correct calls. Despite the technological necessity, the primary factor impacting attendance is the capability for fans to stay home and watch as many good games as possible. Unlike us at collegefootballfan.com who love the enjoyment of attending games, more people can peruse multiple games. Fans can also easily update bets which is more prevalent than ever. To each their own.
The secondary impact of television affects those of us in attendance by making games longer and sitting through many, long TV time-outs. It ruins the rhythm of games. One hundred eighty minutes plus embodies sixty minutes of actual playing time. And instead of flipping a station to watch another game, how many award ceremonies, donation presentations, dance-cams, and uncoordinated students throwing or kicking footballs do we have to clap for? Too many interruptions caused by media time-outs. How many insurance commercials do you have to watch? We came to see a football game.
We love football outdoors in the fall. The scenic mountains surrounding Logan, Utah on a sunny fall day make Maverik Stadium at Utah State, like many other venues we visit, the perfect way for us to enjoy college football on a Saturday afternoon!
Conference USA vs. Sunbelt
Not on the playing field. To start with, in court most likely. With all the recent changes (once again) among FBS conference memberships, the biggest faux pas in the making comes from the miscommunications of these two conferences regarding when three teams can make their transition from C-USA over to the Sunbelt. ConferenceUSA announced their game schedule for 2022.
Update
Three current ConferenceUSA members – Marshall, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion – insist that they will compete in the Sunbelt starting July of 2022! Despite C-USA insisting that their 14 members remain intact to play through 2022 until further break-ups and assimilations in 2023, there are no financial buy-outs holding absconders from leaving. On March 1, the SunBelt released its 2022 schedule for all teams. These three are officially included. We now await the ConferenceUSA slates.
Golden Dome welcomes “Golden” Dome
New Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman brought former college HC Al Golden back from the Cincinnati Bengals to head up his defense. Golden, a former Penn State TE, went on to turn a beleaguered Temple program around before he left for Miami. We didn’t see Miami as good fit for him trying to correct off field issues with that program as well as bring it back up to standards of” The U” on the field. As Defensive Coordinator for the Bengals, he helped them get to The Super Bowl after 40 years.
With Freeman’s years of focus and development on defense at Ohio State and at Cincinnati before coming to Notre Dame, he must figure his defense will thrive in Al Golden’s good hands. Freeman can step away and spread himself around as needed. Knowing he has great experience in place with Golden to support his defensive schemes, he can provide more oversight on his offense and special teams.
Our 2022 schedule looking “up”
As we piece together our upcoming schedule, we seek opportunities to see more pre-season Top 25 teams before the season begins than ever before. Knowing that the pre-season does not guarantee all these programs will finish there, we know we have a solid second tier of schools also in Top 25 contention when others fall out. Currently, ten top teams fall on our schedule. A few more still loom as we pursue other interesting options we await to unfold.
We still look for new venues to attend for the first time, and a few allow us to seek some of the games we consider “must-sees”. The season starts six months from now, but here we list games that look like definites on our “tentative” schedule in 2022:
8/27 Austin Peay at Western Kentucky – Two locals we like; FCS vs FBS for our Week 0 opener.
9/1 Penn State at Purdue – Neither in pre-season rankings so far; first trip to Purdue. Thursday night.
9/10 Wake Forest at Vanderbilt – With QB Sam Hartman back, Deacs are ranked in Top Tens.
9/17 Penn State at Auburn- Great rematch from last year, but neither ranked. Need turnaround seasons.
9/30 Utah State at BYU – returning to Utah for two more games; Cougars ranked, solid USU.
10/1 Oregon State at Utah – Utes favored in PAC 12; we venture to our first game at Salt Lake.
10/8 Texas A&M at Alabama – Our first trip to Tuscaloosa gives us two Top Tens.
10/22 Houston at Navy – Our traditional trip to Annapolis meshes with the ranked Cougars’ visit.
10/29 Ohio State at Penn State – Can Nittany Lions bring down a top-ranked OSU to move up?
11/12 Washington at Oregon – Oregon in; can Washington make a move up here? Possibly combine with Cal at OSU to see games played in the state of Oregon for the first time. A CFF.com goal.
11/19 Georgia at Kentucky – UGA back with defense is ranked near top again; Wildcats have high hopes as well.
12/10 Army-Navy – Our 14th edition of college football’s greatest rivalry: Go Navy!
We ended 2021 seeing Purdue in an exciting win over Tennessee, 45-42, in the Music City Bowl. Our 2022 FBS slate begins with the Boilermakers hosting Penn State on the evening of Thursday, September 1.
Our alternative “game strategies”
Only March now, we analyze other fall weekends for other opportunities. We weigh some Collegefootballfan.com goals aside from new FBS venues, best matchups, new teams, tailgate opportunities, meeting with friends, tickets costs, travel expenses, side trips, places we like, etc. Some schedules have not been released yet.
In particular, FBS conferences like the Mid-American and the SunBelt now offer some mid-week contests within range for our consideration. We always look to kill “multiple birds with one stone” even though that is probably not politically correct today. Our pre-historic ancestors sometimes had do to that to survive. With the MAC schedules released, we see viable opportunities to visit Ball State and Miami (O.) during the week. Both are in driving distance and both will host Ohio U.
Below summarizes other weekends we continue to consider. To us, this is the fun part of our off-season. We try to put together the most exciting season we can based on the time and resources we have.
September 3
We return from Purdue on Friday Sept 2. We foresee the possibility of Vanderbilt hosting FCS Elon on that Friday night. Last season, the Commodores lost such a game at home to Eastern Tennessee, 23-3. It could be competitive in HC Lea’s second season in Nashville. Easy ticket, close by. On Saturday, two decent FCS contests loom nearby. The Wofford Terriers, a first-timer for us, visit the Moccs of UT Chattanooga in a SoCon opener for both. Between two microbreweries, UTC’s Finley Stadium will be primed for the 6 pm kickoff. However, we await the completion of aforementioned ETSU’s possible home opener in Johnson City. Finishing ranked No. 7 in FCS with an 11-2 record, we’d like to see ETSU if we can. This looks to be our best shot to see them this season.
September 24
Maybe we coordinate with our Demon Deacon friends to see Wake host Clemson – both ranked of course. Known by these dedicated Deac fans as “10 and almost 0” Koreivo for our personal 10-1 record when attending Deacs games over the years, they may want us there to overcome Clemson’s dominance in the ACC “rivalry”.
Otherwise, it looks like we’ll head to Tennessee-Martin for the first time. Winner of the Ohio Valley Conference last season, we will see them host struggling Tennessee Tech. Eastern Kentucky at Austin Peay looms as an option if both teams are off to good starts. Both locations are drivable.
October 15 and November 5
We may be considering another Purdue visit to catch up with friends who may be there when the Boilermakers host both Nebraska and Iowa (ranked) on those respective dates. Our alternatives for those games would be interesting. October 5 offers our first trip to nearby Middle Tennessee to see them host Western Kentucky in their rivalry known as “100 miles of hate”. The November clash comes up with James Madison at Louisville. As a member of the SunBelt now, JMU would be recorded as our 131st FBS team.
We’ll possibly attend a rematch of last year’s “100 miles of hate” when Western Kentucky visits Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro.
November 25-26
As family gets older and kids leave for other parts of the country, some family traditions change. Our annual trek to New England for Thanksgiving offered many opportunities to see a college game on the following Saturday at schools such as Boston College, UMass, or Rhode Island among others. With our daughter now in Texas, we have new options. We await the final SunBelt schedules to be announced. Her fiancé works for Texas State. We hope the Bobcats will be playing that Friday or Saturday. In addition, we note that LSU will be at Texas A&M at Kyle Field, where we’ve never been. Also, Baylor is at Texas. What we hope for is that one of these games will be rescheduled to Friday. For us, two games after Thanksgiving would me much to give thanks for!
Six months to go. Plans for 2020 are looking good. With concern for inflation as the year moves along, this “tentative” schedule is our best-case scenario. We are also building an “economy plan” to scale back costs if necessary. Either way, we plan a full slate of games weekly. We’ll stay positive for now. Check back in two weeks for more offseason input from us.
Before every Bowl Game with Roman Numerals (i.e. LVI) is played, we peruse the rosters of both participants to note who we may have seen during their collegiate careers. Some become household names. Some may have worked their way up as hard-working free agents. Others we may have lost track of making numerous moves among various pro teams. Here’s our collection of players we watched and luckily, in some cases. caught them in action. As usual, we surprise ourselves regarding how much great talent we get to see by attending about a could of dozen college games every season. Check these out!
Most memorable, we watched Joe Burrow of LSU take down Oklahoma in the 2019 CFP Chick Filet-A Peach Bowl on the way to the championship, 63-28. He tallied seven TD passes and 493 yards!He also ran for a score.Texas A&M RB, Trayveon Williams (5) now with the Bengals, battles against Wake Forest in 2017 Belk Bowl. The Aggies fell to the Demon Deacons in an exciting 55-52 battle.
RBs Joe Mixon (25) and Sam Perine (32) of Oklahoma played together in a loss to Clemson in the CFP 2018 Orange Bowl, but they now have the chance to team up with the Bengals for a win against the Rams.DB Jessie Bates (3) had two solid seasons for Wake Forest with 119 solo tackles, 58 assisted, and six INTs. He returned two of those for TDs. Now with Cincinnati, we saw him pick off a Titan pass in the Bengals victory in Nashville.Delaware LB Troy Reeder (9) now of the LA Rams in action against Elon in 2018 in UD’s 28-16 win.Penn State S Nick Scott (4) picks off a Wisconsin pass near the goal line in a 2018 win. He has 45 tackles and two INTs for LA this year.PSU CB Grant Haley (15) turns in the Michigan runner in for a short gain. He’s now doing the same for LA.
We already had to obliterate a game we looked forward to off our early 2022 schedule. We looked forward to this one, similar to seeing Power Five Indiana playing at Group of Five Western Kentucky last season. The Hoosiers got by the Hilltoppers at WKU’s Houchen’s-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 33-31. With a healthy Michael Penix at QB for IU before suffering a season-ending injury in his next start, the win turned out to be one of their only two the entire season. At least we attended a competitive, entertaining game.
During 2021, collegefootballfan.com watched Purdue defeat Tennessee, 45-42, in the Music City Bowl (above) and Penn State defeat Auburn, 28-20, at Beaver Stadium.
Mizzou cancels visit to MTSU
Middle Tennessee’s game scheduled against Missouri next September 3rd looked like another fun opportunity to have a Power Five team visit another Group of Five school at the Blue Raiders’ Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium. However, read the feedback from FBSchedules.com below:
“Middle Tennessee was previously scheduled to host Missouri on Sept. 3, 2022, but Missouri backed out of the game and scheduled a home contest against Louisiana Tech instead.
‘We lost the Missouri game last fall as they chose to contractually buyout the game,’ said Middle Tennessee Director of Athletics Chris Massaro. ‘Every avenue was taken in order to keep the game but to no avail. Missouri will have to pay us $800,000 to exercise the buyout part of the contract. There were not a lot of options so we are thankful JMU was willing to work with us.’
UGA and Bama plus “Lower 12”
Just like Tennessee pulling out against Army this upcoming season (a home game for UT) and replacing the same team that defeated Mizzou in the Armed Forces Bowl in December, another SEC school backed out of a potential competitive situation to find a lesser one. Last season, Georgia and Alabama dominated the SEC conference and college football in general. So let’s drop the holistic “SEC,SEC” commonality. One size doesn’t fit all. There are two great SEC programs who dominate the rest of these other schools. The conference members that can be called the “Lower 12” fall in line with every other college football program in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Like Middle Tennessee State, Collegefootballfan.com seeks a more competitive college football opportunity on September 3, 2022.
Though January, we’re already working on putting together our game schedule starting this August for 2022 . Moving on to Game 635 this season, some great games loom for us already. Check out our latest updates by clicking on our Tentative 2022 schedule here. As we wait for conference scheduling updates (ACC, American, MAC, SunBelt, and FCS among others), specific dates, changes from Saturdays to weekdays, and kickoff times to be determined, we’ll continue to weigh our options to get to as many games as possible. We’ve already started plugging in some pretty definite possibilities to start focusing on some local contests to be played Week Zero and consecutive days leading into Week One. These provide us some quick numbers to not only build up quantity, but to get to a few new venues we haven’t attended yet.
Playoff picture
Attended the Bengals-Titans game on the 22nd and watched other on TV. Unbelievable finishes, of course! We’re always amazed at the talent at this level we’ve seen play collegiately. We usually hold off on these for our “Super Memories” we do before the Super Bowl, but here’s a fun sampling of some of the key players we all watched play last weekend in the Divisional playoffs. As stated in the past, you just never know who you see rise at that level. It’s fun going back to see if we captured some of these guys inadvertently never suspecting they would make it to this level. Others seen were evidently destined to become household names.
Delaware LB Troy Reeder (9) now of the LA Rams in action against Elon in 2018 in UD’s 28-16 win.
CB Rashad Fenton (16) of South Carolina in 2018, now with KC, on defense in 37-14 win over Vanderbilt.
Gamecock WR Deebo Samuel (1), seen here against Vandy in 2018, is heralded now as the 49ers’ primary offensive weapon this season.
KC DB Charvarius Ward, (2) seen in action here for Middle Tennessee State against Minnesota in 2017, got run over by Josh Allen of the Bills, and he will hopefully be back in action against Cincinnati for the AFC title game on Sunday.
In the 2015 CFP Capital One Orange Bowl, OU Sooners’ Sam Perine (32) tried to block for Joe Mixon (25) in loss to Clemson. Both will see action for the Bengals against the Chiefs this weekend.
In 2015, we watched Georgia Tech’s Harrison Butker convert a 35-yard FG with 54 seconds left to tie No. 9 Florida State, 16-16. Tech upset in OT, 22-16. Sunday, he converted from 49 for KC as time expired to tie the Bills. The Chiefs won in OT as well, 42-36.
No matter how Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit tried to express the emotions and electricity in the air at Lucas Oil Stadium Monday night for Alabama and Georgia, college football needs changes. Through their broadcast until late in the game after the Dawgs finally took control, the intensity perceived could not be felt. Headlining these two teams that played just several weeks ago and being from the same conference, the contest did not stir greater interest nationally.
Declining interest in the post season
The CFP title game ranked as the second lowest TV ranking of the playoff era. Same stands for all FBS championships the last 16 years. The 22.6 million viewers tuned in totaled four million more than last season’s Alabama- Ohio State game. A plus, but recent ratings may be indicative of public boredom. The same teams compete for this title year after year. Changes need to be made to deter this decline in interest late in the season. Pro action begins to take over.
Watched by 34.6 million, the highest rated CFP TV rating was the first one in January 2015 when Ohio State defeated Oregon, 42-20. Here, that Buckeye defense led by Joey Bosa (97) stopped Navy at the goal line in the 2014 season opener we attended for both teams.
Saw this one coming
The stats ESPN showed comparing margins of victory over common opponents by these two. This and dominant defensive stats UGA recorded this season makes some wonder how Bama got by the Dawgs. It transpired in dominating fashion, 41-24. Especially after Auburn demonstrated how pressure could affect Bryce Young the week before, why couldn’t UGA’s dominant defense?
We attributed it to Nick Saban’s coaching. The fact that these two attained the match-up the SEC wanted (ask Paul Finebaum) and the accolades for the first QB from Alabama to win the Heisman made everything fall right in place for the” best conference in college football”. A two-loss Alabama wouldn’t have played here had the Dawgs won.
Best? Says who?
Funny that the SEC’s overall record during bowl season of 4-8 (5-9 includes this game) ranks them tied for tenth at .333 among all ten conferences in winning percentages. All SEC teams played bowls in the geographic footprint of the SEC, too. Basically, their home schedules were extended. Their regular season record against non-conference Power Five schools in 2021 stands at 9-5, not overwhelming by any stretch. Only Georgia played in two of these. South Carolina didn’t play in any. However, if you look at their 13-1 record over FCS schools they met this season, it indicates how head-and-shoulders they are above other conferences in this category. The 14 Big Ten teams were only 6-0 against FCS competition.
This year in the two SEC games we attended, Purdue defeated Tennessee in the Music City Bowl, 48-45, and Penn State defeated Auburn in State College, 28-20.
Scheduling changes needed
Scheduling games against FCS teams has to be terminated by the FBS. There are many great match-ups college football misses out on in the regular season. This would help to better rate teams playing for a common goal. What sense does it make to spend more money and time to give out more scholarships and attract better talent only to play against competition at a definitive disadvantage?
Years ago, teams used to play a practice game against comparable competition. Army was a powerhouse back in the 50’s under Earl “Red” Blaik. They scrimmaged Syracuse not far away before each season. Regretfully, everything gets reported and recorded, so somehow such a result would figure into rankings. No fans and no media allowed? Fat chance. Have to make money.
Primary changes can be based on existing NCAA football models
Collegefootballfan.com proposes the best and only way to offset the stranglehold of the few teams that appear most often in the CFP (namely Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and, Notre Dame) would be to set up a playoff format as proposed in our Week 12 Salvos. Similar to the FCS format, 12 teams get selected. Automatic bids go to the champions of the ten conferences that exist today and to two at-larges. At-larges come from among Independents and one other team to be selected by a committee of conference commissioners. Each voter abstains from voting for their respective conference.
Even though we saw Oklahoma play in the CFP semi-finals for the third time in 2019, LSU had their way with them in their 63-28 win in the Peach Bowl on their way to a national championship. OU lost all three semis handily. Let’s get some other teams a shot!
Changes enhance improvement in a few years
If ever done, which we doubt will happen because the Power Five risks losing money and talent, within a few short years, this probably won’t change the power balance. However, eventually top talent will think, “If I can’t play for THE dominant team in the SEC, Big 12, or Big Ten, why don’t I go play for a team in the Mountain West or the SunBelt or the American?” To some extent, the transfer portals would have to become less fluid to make this work.
Change spreads wealth among more FBS members
This should also spread the NIL money around more. The fact that more schools in the FBS have shots at making the CFP 12-team format should spread the best talent around. With that, this would heighten the interest of the CFP throughout the country. This would alleviate the declining interest not only in the CFP, but for declining interest and TV bowl ratings also. How many “consolation” games generate national interest?
We watched Appy State and Coastal Carolina battle for the SunBelt title this season. They finished with 10-4 and 11-2 records respectively. If the SunBelt had an automatic bid to the CFP playoffs, these teams would probably attract more top talent with a legitimate chance to make it.
Changes eliminate excuses, excuses
FBS schools bring up class conflicts and academic testing schedules late in the season. Look at the models the other NCAA divisions utilize. Their students have final exams in December, too! Some are much more challenging academically than many FBS schools. Regarding opt outs, a big part of this would be eliminated with a championship within reach for the players. If they don’t want to play, scholarships should stipulate they pay back all their scholarship money.
Reining in coaching changes
For optimal improvement, a change by pushing the signing season to a later date weeks after the national championship helps. Coaches would delay jumping ship to start recruiting for a new, potential employer. Let the coaches and programs focus on coaching the kids they have in hand rather than the kids they look to to enhance their personal futures. Teach some form of loyalty to these players.
The name of the game – competition
Time is of the essence to make changes. Our game will find itself of interest to win it all to only a few select schools. Create competition. Don’t deter it. Give more schools a chance to compete by giving players more choices of schools to play for. More will have a chance to play for the national championship. Spread that opportunity out to more of the 133 FBS teams playing in the FBS in the next few years.
Congratulations to the North Dakota State Bison who defeated Montana State to take their ninth FCS title of the last 11 years. Are changes needed at the FCS level as well? In the mean time, three FCS programs are opting out to the FCS to join the FBS – James Madison, Eastern Kentucky, and Jacksonville State.
Despite what the odds makers are saying about the CFP 2022 game Monday night, we feel one evident, primary advantage between these two programs makes the difference. We go with Alabama. As our Auburn buddy Charlie Murren has always said, you never go against HC Nick Saban. He loses players and coaches annually. He just replaces both with the same talent level. The key variable remains though – him. All under Nick Saban want to come play or coach for him to move on to a better, guaranteed opportunity. Ask Kirby Smart, HC of Georgia. Until this year, no former coach of Saban’s, except for Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M, has beaten this former mentor.
Professor Saban takes us to class
Saban has college football down to a science to get to the CFP 2022. The momentum at Alabama will never change as long as he’s coaching there. Forget the “SEC” chants! SEC? The SEC fans bases might just as well chant, “Roll Tide!” He gets the best talent before anyone else can. Every season, he softens up his well-scouted opposition – the coaches, QB experience, perceived strengths that are weaknesses, what needy FCS school will pay for play. And he doesn’t worry about it because nobody will judge him for it. He pays them a nice fee.
When Professor Saban speaks…
CFP 2022 boredom?
However, it’s just taken the fun for fans of 120+ other teams of anticipating who will be in the CFP every year. Alabama, of course. A handful of about five other “usual suspects”. A surprise team from among the Power Five conferences. Add a possible longshot from about another 115 FBS schools. Ho-hum. In the end, everyone knows who will win. Attendance and TV ratings will drop in Monday’s finale at Indianapolis. No matter how uneventful, not Saban’s problem.
Times have changed for good
As we stated early in the season, despite this advantage of Alabama’s and of a few others, and now add the transfer portal and the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) conundrum, we at collegefootballfan.com take each game we attend as an equitable matchup. For the sheer enjoyment, we look forward to attending a hopefully competitive college football game each week. Why care about the CFP 2022? After recruiting results come out, the Top Ten has already been determined. Now the transfer portal exists. Need an experienced QB? Just cut a deal.
We still love the games for what they are
We achieved good success this season with our goals. We attended 21 games. Eleven resulted in margins of ten points or less. Many scores not finalized until the waning moments. An exciting OT in a bowl game, a one-point victory, six others won by two or three points, and four more settled by less than 10 made for many exciting games.
Before bowl season, seven teams of 28 seen in 2021 landed on the Top 25. Twenty-two FBS teams went on to play in post season games. In the FCS, East Tennessee State finished No. 8 overall.
Other games ending in wider margins brought us satisfaction in other aspects – attending an annual rivalry, attending games at new venues, watching a convenient, weekday game nearby, or adding some FCS teams we had never seen compete before. We considered attending the CFP 2022 in Indianapolis this Monday night, but considering the prices and fees of tickets, though dropping, we can’t get excited about attending a rematch that we don’t see being much different from the previous result. Every year we say, we intend to get to the CFP game eventually, but this one just seems too anti-climactic. Other fans seem to feel the same. Check the availability of tickets still available for sale on-line for CFP 2022 at this late date.
As of today, all these sections in purple at Lucas Oil Stadium have tickets available for Monday night.
2021 – wrapping up another great season for collegefootballfan.com
In the end, we say we saw great teams among the 28 we watched in person this year. Several won conference championships. We hope that some year all of these title winners will participate in a larger CFP tournament. Of the 28 on our slate, 19 achieved winning records. Of these 19, 15 garnered nine wins or more! Three teams finished 6-6. The remaining six programs played under .500 with Indiana winning the least with only two wins. However, they played well when we watched them against Western Kentucky (9-5) early this season winning, 33-31.
Among the top winners with 13 were No. 4 Cincinnati and No. 23 Louisiana. Surprising No. 7 Baylor and No. 20 Houston won 12 games with bowl wins over Ole Miss and Auburn respectively. Coastal Carolina, Utah State, and No. 17 Wake Forest took 11 wins each, including bowl victories. Appalachian State and No. 13 BYU came up with ten wins each, but both fell in their respective bowl contests. Finishing successful seasons with nine victories each, we saw UAB, Army, NC State, Purdue, and Western Kentucky. Teams we attended games for more than once included Navy (3), BYU, Virginia, Wake, and WKU all with two. We attended our first Independence Bowl and our sixth Music City.
Did Western Kentucky QB Bailey Zappe’s draft stock go up when he set seasonal passing marks by playing in the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl? How will his value and his career compare to Pitt QB Kenny Pickett who opted out?
Beware Alabama, you play Austin Peay next year!
We attended four FCS games featuring Austin Peay three times and UT Chattanooga twice. These two opened our season with the APU Governors upsetting the preseason-ranked Moccasins, 30-20. Both participated in upsets later in the season. The Governors fell to Tennessee State (5-6) in an Ohio Valley Conference game, 24-22. Later, they blasted 6-5 Murray State on the road, 47-7.
In a Southern Conference contest, the UTC Moccs upset the No. 7 East Tennessee State Buccaneers at home, 21-16. For ETSU, the Moccs defeated them for their only loss in the regular season. Their next loss came in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoff to North Dakota State who will be playing for their ninth FCS championship in 11 years when it clashes with Montana State on January 8 in Frisco, Texas. Hopefully, in the future, the CFP for the FBS championship will be modeled like the current FCS championship format. More teams, more excitement. Next year, we propose Alabama play North Dakota State in a grand finale. What the heck? Maybe all the Bama players will opt-out and the Bison will win. Bottom line, college football is becoming more and more about the money than ever before.
Like Cincinnati fans who celebrated their win over to Houston to earn a bid to the CFP, this is the way we feel at the end of our great season even though we’re not going on to Indianapolis either!
Nashville, TN – Purdue thwarted Tennessee on fourth down in OT before Mitchell Finneran’s FG in OT finished the Purdue win as offensive, defensive, and attendance records fell in the 23rd edition of the Music City Bowl. A record Music City crowd of 69,489 witnessed an exciting finish. In the final period before going into OT, both squads scored two touchdowns each.
Close and controversial
On fourth and goal in the first and only OT, the Volunteers’ (7-6) RB Jaylen Wright got tackled short of the goal line. Lying on top of the defenders Jamar Brown and Kieren Douglas and before a whistle blew, Wright reached the ball out over the line for an apparent six. However, after review, the call upheld the ruling that forward progress had stopped before the ball broke the plane. Shocking to us! On their subsequent possession, the Boilermakers (9-4) spotted the ball for Finneran’s 39-yard kick to seal the victory for Purdue.
Vols take commanding lead
The Volunteers led at the end of Q1, 21-7, for the largest scoring margin of the game. Two of Tennessee’s scores came on TD passes from QB Hendon Hooker to Cedric Tillman for 41 yards and 61 yards respectively. Purdue’s came on a 75-yard scoring pass from QB Aidan O’Connell to Broc Thompson. This tied the bowl record for longest TD pass in its 23-year history. Thompson’s seven receptions for 217 yards set the record for most receiving yards, and he’d score another TD later. Jabari Small (26 carries for 180 yards, one TD) capped the first period scoring with his two-yard run for Tennessee.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker (5) rolls right to connect with Cedric Tillman for their 61-yard scoring pass in the first quarter.
Purdue comeback
In the second, Purdue relied on Finneran for three field goals from 24, 36, and 29 yards respectively. They trailed UT, 21-16. Then a sack of Hooker by DT Damarcus Mitchell causing a fumble put the Boilermakers at UT’s 28. A 26-yard pass to Deion Burks set up O’Connell’s two-yard TD pass to Payne Durham. This gave PU its first lead before going into halftime to lead, 23-21.
Purdue WR Deion Burks hauls in diving catch at the one to set up two-yard TD pass before halftime to take a 23-21 lead for the Boilermakers.
Sounds of the Music City
The best music performed by both marching bands lent to the atmosphere of a great college football game at halftime. It’s the first time in our long memory that a venue allowed the two outstanding bands to perform their musical skills throughout the game. Most often, venues persist on playing pre-recorded music wiping out the spirited sounds of great college traditions. The musical performances of the bands enhance the spirit of college football.
Also, not only was the PA announcer very objective and accurate throughout the game, his voice added excitement no matter which team came up with a big play. The sounds from the bands, the announcer, and the record Music City crowd added to the great spirit of a very entertaining college football game.
The Music City Bowl gets a deserved, big drum roll for allowing both school bands to take the lead in this game for spirited marching band music!
A lot of help from his friends
In the second half, the two teams traded scores keeping the margin within seven points at most in a truly seesaw battle. Tennessee started the scoring with a 71-yard drive capped by Hooker’s 16-yard TD pass to Velus Jones. They retook the lead by five. Purdue answered with a 75-yard drive resulting in O’Connell’s 10-yard pass to TJ Sheffield on a fade pass in the right corner. The Purdue receiving corps made many outstanding catches with great efforts all day. They padded O’Connell’s stats to look outstanding (26 of 47 for 534 yards, five TDs, and three INTs). Their combined efforts set the Music City record for passing yards as a team and for an individual quarterback. Forced and errant passes by O’Connell were overcome by several outstanding, circus catches by his teammates.
UT WR Velus Jones scores on a 16-yard catch and run to retake the Volunteer lead in the third period.
Before the third came to a close, one of those errant passes got picked off by Byron Young. UT was in business at Purdue’s 49. The turnover resulted in a 30-yard FG by Chase McGrath to give UT a 31-30 lead. Once again, O’Connell gave the ball back to the Vols on an overthrow scooped above the turf by DB Trevon Flowers. However early in the fourth, the Boilermaker defense avoided more damage by stopping the Vols’ subsequent, 15-play drive to their 24. On a fourth and one, they halted the drive and took over on downs.
Fight to the Finish in the Fourth
After exchanging punts, Purdue started from its 10. Two pass interference calls helped them get to the 38. O’Connell’s next pass connected with Payne Durham on a crossing pattern. Hit and being pushed off to the near sidelines, he suddenly broke free and raced down the right sideline for a 62-yard catch-and-run TD pass. O’Connell connected with him on a short pass just over the goal line for a two-point conversion, and the Boilermakers led, 38-31.
Jabari Small took the first handoff from the 35 to start UT’s next drive and raced 60 yards to the Purdue five. The Boilermakers held UT to short gains. A holding call forced the Vols to a third and goal at the 13. Following an incomplete pass, Hooker connected with Tillman on a slant across the middle for a tying touchdown with 3:37 left to play. On PU’s third play following a touchback, O’Connell connected with Thompson on the right sideline. He beat a defender who fell, and raced 70 yards for a 45-38 lead with 2:57 left. O’Connell’s fifth TD pass tied him with two others for the Music City Bowl TD pass record.
Boilermaker receivers like TE Payne Durham made outstanding catches today to give QB Aidan O’Connell a record setting day!
Tying the game and the record
Starting from the 28, Hooker completed a 58-yard pass to Princeton Fant to get to the Purdue 2. With 1:35 left, Hooker connected on a two-yard scoring pass on a fade to Jalin Hyatt who made a diving catch keeping his feet in as he landed out of the end zone. Tying the score at 45-45, with his fifth TD pass, Hooker tied the Music City record with three others for his five TD passes this day.
Tennessee WR Jaylin Hyatt keeps both feet in to tie the score late in regulation, 45-45.
Purdue gained only six yards before punting to Tennessee on its subsequent possession. UT took over from its 40 with 44 second left in regulation. Both teams burned time-outs as the Vols got as far at the Boilers’ 42. With two ticks left, McGrath’s FG attempt from 56 came up short. The overtime period added another Music City bowl record as the longest contest since the inception 23 games ago.
OT!
It took the Vols six plays from the 25 in OT to get a first and goal at the two. A sack by DE Jack Sullivan put UT back at their eight. Purdue’s defense stopped consecutive runs by Wright for five, two, and no yards to turn the ball over to start the Boilermaker possession. Purdue picked up seven on a pass to Durham to the 18 before their FB Zac Horvath (17 carries for 58 yards) centered the ball on two carries to give Finneran the chip shot for Purdue’s bowl win, 48-45!
For the Record(s)
Among the QBs O’Connell and Hooker tied for the TD passing record, one was Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham who we saw do this against Purdue in their 63-14 trouncing in the 2018 edition. The 93 total points set a new Music City record for most points by both teams. Tennessee set the record of highest by the losing team (45). UT also set the mark for total yards of offense at 666. Their 31 first downs also set the highwater mark. A defensive record was established by LB Jeremy Banks who totaled 20 tackles for the Vols.
Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham rears back to toss a 74-yard bomb to Darius Slayton for one of five TD passes in the 2018 Music City Bowl.
Our History
For Collegefootballfan.com, the Purdue Boilermakers won their first in this, the seventh game, we saw them play. That’s saying a lot. Two of them featured Drew Brees at QB against Penn State in 1998 and 2000. Their losses in our history include the aforementioned Music City against Auburn and the Champs Sports Bowl in 2006 to Maryland.
For Tennessee, this was their second loss among eight games we’ve attended, most in bowl games. Their first was a win over Wisconsin in the 1981 Garden State Bowl. Willie Gault returned a kickoff for a TD in the 28-21 win. In 1987, they defeated Iowa at the Meadowlands in the Kickoff Classic, 23-22. Their first loss came against Penn State in the 2007 Outback Bowl, 20-10. In 2009, we visited Neyland Stadium for the first time where they welcomed Western Kentucky to the FBS and won big, 63-7.
Four Vol Bowls
We attended the lopsided Taxslayer win over Iowa in 2014; the big Outback slaughter against Northwestern in 2015: and the Music City win over Nebraska in 2016. Just like this year’s Music City, in all cases, we bought the bowl tickets before we knew who was playing. The Vols show up for us wherever we go! They stand at 6-2 in the annals of our history.
With the CFP championship slated for January 10, this great Music City event regretfully ends our fantastic 2021 season. Look for some Salvos coming up to summarize our season along with other special features during the months leading up to the 2022 season. Already, we can’ wait!
Also remember, three more teams join the FBS within the next two years – James Madison, Eastern Kentucky, and Jacksonville State. We’ll be planning to add them to maintain our ongoing goal to see ‘em all!
We attended the Independence Bowl where UAB defeated BYU, 30-27. As we wait to attend the Music City Bowl in our new home area of Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday. We’ve made a lot of observations since on the televised games we’ve witnessed. Can’t wait for Friday’s results to determine if we’ll attend the CFP or not. Our most significant observation – we definitely prefer going to games as opposed to watching and listening to all the hype, misinformation, and bias on television. To begin with, we knew redundant commercials stink to begin with.
Are we missing something?
Speaking of commercials, we start with the AFLAC commercial featuring HC Deion Sanders of “burgeoning” Jackson State and Nick Saban of Alabama fame. Anyone has to realize that these two coaches performed remotely, and someone remotely edited the scene and the dialogue separately.
During the conversation, how does Sanders become “Coach Brown” as referred to by Saban? Saban states,” You know how coach Brown feels about money.” Who? Suddenly they’re talking about the late Paul Brown of Cleveland Browns fame? If these two were actually speaking directly, you know Deion would have been all over it after a laugh. Just an example of the inaccuracies fed to us on television.
Jiminy Cricket!
How did Deion’s 10-1 Jackson State team get crushes by 6-5 South Carolina State 30-6 in the Cricket Celebration Bowl? Evidently, he got caught up in his hype about absconding with recruit Travis Hunter from Florida State for his JSU Tigers program. With all the activity seen in the new transfer portal this bowl season, we wonder what the over/under in days will be when Hunter thinks that he has to prove his worth at the FBS level and transfers.
Poor little SEC
The dialogue between Dave Neal and Deuce McAllister of ESPN as SEC Mississippi State got hammered by 6-6 Texas State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, 34-7, in Memphis, Tennessee. According to Neal, MSU should have been to a better game after losing on a bad call against AAC’s Memphis Tigers. He said they should have 8-9 wins. We didn’t watch the Georgia State win over Ball State, but we wonder if any mention came up regarding GSU’s loss to Auburn, 34-24, that resulted from a major missed call and non-replay change.
Things looked better than “rosey” for Franklin James and Penn State when they were 3-0 after beating Auburn.
Not only would GSU have finished 9-4, but Auburn would have been bowl ineligible at 5-7. We saw four questionable calls by SEC officials against Penn State when they played Auburn. In one case, a Nittany Lion third down became fourth. The calls got swept away because the Lions won, 28-20. We will give Mississippi State credit though. They had the best SEC win over a non-conference team during the regular season. They beat No. 18 NC State, 24-10.
Rolling with the SEC
Neal and McAllister’s energy, optimism, and wishful thinking rose and fell with the Bulldogs throughout the game. They provided the evidence to show ESPN’s favoritism toward the SEC because of their TV contracts. No neutrality exists with ESPN when it comes what conference they will favor year after year. They insinuated how bad it is for the SEC to be 0-4 now, but they say that will change. We’ll see. The SEC has not beaten any good non-conference competition during the regular season. Why do they expect them to now? So far, losses to Army, UCF, No. 19 Houston, and Texas Tech in Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee. All reside in the SEC footprint. Tougher competitors loom ahead.
American Athletic, 3-0
This is Cincinnati’s conference. Not bad. Includes wins over Florida and Auburn. Both are considered “tough” SEC school that both lost to both Alabama and Georgia. Can’t wait for Friday.
Cincy LB Darrian Beavers (0) signals Houston’ s final turnover on downs to to punctuate the Bearcat victory and to start the night-long celebration!
Need Money back guarantees
Fans put up lot of money to support their teams at bowl games. Tickets, hotels, meals, and airfares costs dedicated fans “big bucks”. What’s unfair is when after buying a ticket is when key players and coaches decide the team is no longer their priority. The opt-out to get ready for the next level while watching their “teammates” from the sideline. Don’t they have to start working out? For fans, these last minute decisions seem to cause a rip-off referred to as the old “bait and switch”.
Avoid coaching changes, reschedule recruiting season
This is a double-edged sword. Neglect the kids you’ve coached and developed as a successful team, and then turn your back on them and go elsewhere to build your next program. And by the way, encourage your players to do the same. It’s something that is terribly horrible in college football. It counters all the basic values it’s supposed to teach – teamwork, loyalty, dedication, together to the bitter end. Less than two percent of all players in college go pro. These attributes are what they should all get out of this for a lesson of a lifetime.
Double trouble, runaway coaches and players
As an example, Nevada got to go to the Quick Lane Bowl in cold, gray Detroit. After a very competitive 8-4 season including three conference losses each by two-points, their Head coach Jay Norvell leaves to start recruiting for Colorado State. His Wolfpack defeated the 3-9 CSU Rams in their last regular season game, 52-10. On top of that, Junior QB Carson Strong with 4,186 passing yards and 36 TDs opts out for the pros. Leading receivers WR Romeo Doubs and TE Cole Turner did the same.
ESPN Quick Lane Bowl commentators Rod Gilmore and Dave Fleming, we believe, could not figure out how the Wolfpack defense allowed 31 points to Western Michigan by the half. That pointed out that they gave up that amount on average per game this season. Well, when your QB and leading receivers opt out and you replace them all with first time starters, your offense does not control the clock to keep the opponent’s offense off the field. Nat Cox started at QB for the first time all season. A “bowl” becomes a preseason scrimmage for next year is what this becomes. You’d think astute broadcasters could figure this out.
Our game 634, Music City #6 for us
Tennessee gets to play Purdue. Should be a good close game. We figure that with the Tennessee Volunteers playing in the heart of their home state, the home crowd in that Orange that hurts our eyes will get them some calls their way. The Vols will win this in a close one. Despite the Boilermakers’ incentive to avenge their 63-14 loss to Auburn at the Music City in 2018, it won’t be enough to overcome.
Shreveport, LA – On a gusty, rainy day, UAB stopped a late scoring drive to upset No. 13 BYU, 31-28. Momentum swings for both teams set the tone. The teams battled back and forth. Dewayne McBride rushed for 183 yards and one TD for the UAB Blazers while Cougar RB Tyler Allgeier had another banner day for BYU in our presence, running for 193 yards and three TDs.
Blazer QB Dylan Tompkins passed for 189 yards, one TD, and threw one INT. Subbing for injured starter Jaren Hall who suffered a foot injury in the final game against USC, BYU’s Baylor Romney matched Hopkins adequately. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 195 yards. In the end, the difference came down to a completed pass fumbled by Sam Nacua on a late drive. The Blazers controlled the clock on the ground as McBride and Jermaine Brown ran the ball for first downs to force BYU to use its three time-outs. They ran out the last 3:36 of the game.
Independence Bowl: Windy, rainy city – Shreveport
Blazing start
The game started by exchanging two of the only three punts on the day. Thereafter, the Blazers (9-4) started the scoring with a 60-yard drive resulting in a 10-yard TD pass from Hopkins to TE Gerrit Prince who took it in along the right sideline. BYU (10-3) turned the ball over on downs to give UAB its next possession starting from their 33. They got back on the board again quickly as McBride ran up the right sideline 64 yards on the second play for a 14-0 lead at the end of the first.
UAB TE Gerrit Prince tip-toes down right sideline for 10-yard TD pass to open Independence scoring.Oddly, no block in the back called here.
BYU needed a wake-up call…
The second score by UAB seemed to wake up BYU. If a cold rainy, miserable day in a sparsely crowded, under-maintained bowl facility wasn’t depressing enough, to be without their regular starting QB had to be even more disheartening for the Cougars. However, on top of that, they probably felt somewhat dissed by the bowl planners at ESPN.
Originally, this game contract matched the Cougars and the champions of ConferenceUSA, namely the 12-1 UTSA Roadrunners who ranked in the Top 20 most of the season. What a great game this looked like on the first Saturday of bowl season! Because of the enticing match-up, we decided this game looked best among the opening Saturday bowl options this weekend. Let’s go!
We at Collegefootballfan.com almost reconsidered not attending later since they announced now the No. 13 team was playing the unranked 8-4 Blazers. The original alternative got us excited about seeing 10-2 BYU playing 12-1 UTSA in a more meaningful test. Somehow, ESPN got UTSA to play San Diego State, loser of the MWC championship instead. Maybe they knew Hall wasn’t going to play? Even BYU fans near us wondered why Hall wasn’t starting.
UAB’s defense shut BYU down to go ahead, 14-0, in the first.
Why we persevered
No excuses made for the BYU side, but the change of such an opportunity could have “taken the wind out of their sails” as the saying goes. We only went at this point to add the Independence Bowl “experience” for the first time. We’re glad we attended the game after driving eight hours, the last three in the rain , but to say the least, we don’t plan to go back again. The aging facility leaked like a sieve under the stands during the downpour. No atmosphere.
Granted it was raining hard, but everything seemed to be planned last minute. Concessions (beer) opened later than the gates. No restroom facilities in any parking lots. Not sure what else the stadium is used for, but without an interesting matchup to start, nothing much was going on here. The Gumbo we got was good to start, but it was all rice in the bottom half of our cup. Check the box. We’ve been to the Independence Bowl.
BYU battles back
We analyzed what was happening on the field. Thankfully, we noted that the second score by UAB seemed to start an attitude adjustment along the BYU sideline. A kick return started BYU at their 28. Then the offense got going on the back of Allgeier who we saw score five TDs at Provo this season when the Cougars defeated UVA, 66-49. Handoffs to him resulted in gains of 37, 6, 18, 8, and four yards down to the one before he took it in for the Cougar score. It got the No. 13 team fired up finally. HC Kalani Sitake even started pumping his fists along the sideline. The defense came up with big hits on UAB’s next possession.
The Blazers lost four yards on three plays before the last punt of the game. Hobbs Nyberg returned the punt 13 yards to set BYU up on the 50. Two completions from Romney to his brother WR Gunner Romney and to Allgeier set up a two-yard scoring run by WR Samson Nacua. The Cougars seemed to be feeling like themselves again. The Blazers usurping the big underdog role to their advantage in this bowl, came right back with a nine-play, 78-yard drive. Hopkins unleashed a 23-yard scoring strike to Prince who made a diving catch in the end zone to recapture the lead for UAB, 21-14.
Samson Nacua crosses goal line for BYU score to lock up score, 14-14.
Duck! Their kind of weather
At intermission, we ducked back under the upper deck to dry out and warm up a little. At least the chicken sandwich in tin-foil was hot, but by the end of the half in this sparsely populated stadium, they already sold-out hot chocolate and coffee. The announced attendance in this old building holding 51,000 supposedly totaled 26,276. No way! If that was the official count, more than half of it included no-shows. Luckily, both bands could perform from their wet perches high above the end zone. At one point, the crews of cancelled the B-52 Stratofortress flyover from the nearby Shreveport AFB were introduced. Another downer here at this year’s Independence Bowl.
BYU marching band and UAB’s performed from above today.
Allgeier again: before defenses take over
BYU wasted no time to tie this up. On the third play of Q3, Allgeier raced 62 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to make it 21-21. UAB drove down in response to the BYU 13, but two consecutive sacks by Tyler Batty pushed the Blazers back to the 21. Matt Quinn put up a three for UAB from the 34 to take back the UAB lead. The Blazer D came up big halting a BYU run on a fourth and one at their 32 to take back over on downs. The Cougars turned it around though on the next series as a deflected pass from Hopkins got picked close off the ground by Cougar DB Hayden Livingston to take over from the BYU 48.
BYU’s Tyler Allgeier sprints past Blazer defense for 62-yard TD jaunt very early in Q3.
On the subsequent possession, BYU spotted the ball at the 33 to start the final period. On the very next play, Romney connected with Mason Wake (3 receptions, 55 yards) on a short flip pass past the line of scrimmage to ramble 26 yards to the one. Everyone left in Independence Stadium know who was getting the call, and Allgeier put the Cougars up, 28-24. The UAB Blazer offense clicked on its next possession. McBride picked up the bulk of the yardage, and Hopkins connected on several passes to keep the drive alive. On a key fourth and one at the BYU 20, McBride picked up three for the first. However, the killer for BYU came on a fourth and seven at BYU’s 14. Hopkins connected with WR Trea Shropshire in the end zone for only his second catch of the day and the lead, 31-28.
Trea Shropshire celebrates flipping ball after catching 16-yard game winner in the rain.
Down to the wire
With 5:51 left to play, BYU went with Allgeier on three straight plays. On fourth and four, Romney opted to throw a 17-yard strike to Wake to get a first down at the 50. His next pass was spot on as well when Samson Nacua extended his arms for the catch, but the Blazer defender grabbed his arms to cause the fumble and Mac Williams recovered for the Blazers at their 28. This derailed BYU’s comeback attempt, and the Alabama-Birmingham offense controlled the clock until time expired. Great game! Disappointing bowl setting.
The Blazers came up with the upset over No. 13 BYU in a well-played game by both teams on a day where weather was at its worst for any bowl contest. Too bad for us. Great for UAB! We still wish we could have seen the original match-up against the actual CUSA champion Roadrunners.
DeWayne McBride (22) rocked for 183 yards including a 64-yard TD in the Blazer victory.
Extra point:
At the end of the first bowl weekend of eight bowl games, ConferenceUSA came out with a 3-2 record. Middle Tennessee (7-6) surprisingly defeated Toledo (7-6) of the MAC, and Western Kentucky (9-5) whacked 10-4 Appy State of the Sun Belt, 59-38, in the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. UTEP (7-6) fell to Fresno State (10-3) and No. 23 Louisiana (13-1) felled Marshall (7-6). ODU (6-7) fell to Tulsa (7-6) today to even out the C-USA bowl mark at 3-3. UTSA (12-1) and North Texas (6-6) carry the flag for CUSA in bowl games on Tuesday and Thursday respectively to finish the conference slate for 2021.
On a rainy day with gusty winds throughout, Dylan Hopkins set the Independence Bowl record for completion percentages with 19 of 23 for 189 yards. Quite an accomplishment in today’s rainy, wind-swept setting.
Next!
After this weekend’s travels and our first ever Tennessee family holiday to celebrate around a shortened Christmas holiday for most, we’ve decided to skip the Birmingham Bowl next Tuesday to enjoy what we can this year. What’s nice is we don’t have to travel far for our next bowl. It’s a very short drive to Nissan Stadium to see Tennessee and Purdue play in this year’s Music City on December 30. Then we’ll settle in to watch the CFP games on New Year’s Eve in comfort at home and see if we want to make it up to Indy for the championship game on January 10. Merry Christmas to our faithful collegefootballfan.com followers and college football fans of all teams.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all have a great bowl season from Collegefootballfan.com!
