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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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).
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!
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.
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).
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
| RK | TEAM | REC | PTS | TREND |
| 1 | Alabama(62) | 10-0 | 1550 | – |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 10-0 | 1482 | – |
| 3 | Ohio State | 5-0 | 1405 | – |
| 4 | Clemson | 9-1 | 1388 | – |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 7-1 | 1286 | – |
| 6 | Cincinnati | 8-0 | 1248 | 1 |
| 7 | Indiana | 6-1 | 1140 | 1 |
| 8 | Iowa State | 8-2 | 1059 | 2 |
| 9 | Coastal Carolina | 11-0 | 994 | 2 |
| 10 | Georgia | 7-2 | 968 | 2 |
| 11 | Florida | 8-2 | 940 | 5 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 7-2 | 902 | 1 |
| 13 | USC | 5-0 | 774 | 3 |
| 14 | BYU | 10-1 | 724 | – |
| 15 | Northwestern | 6-1 | 691 | – |
| 16 | North Carolina | 8-3 | 631 | 4 |
| 17 | Louisiana | 9-1 | 566 | – |
| 18 | Iowa | 6-2 | 502 | 1 |
| 19 | Miami | 8-2 | 454 | 10 |
| 20 | Tulsa | 6-1 | 408 | 2 |
| 21 | Texas | 6-3 | 227 | 2 |
| 22 | Liberty | 9-1 | 184 | – |
| 23 | Buffalo | 5-0 | 183 | 1 |
| 24 | NC State | 8-3 | 137 | NR |
| 25 | San José State | 6-0 | 124 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 83, Marshall 47, Boise State 12, UCF 11, Army 9, Washington 9, Auburn 8, TCU 3, Appalachian State 1
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lexington, Kentucky – In this crazy, unprecedented, Covid-19 debacle of a season where fans generally can’t get tickets and can basically only view their favorite sport from the couch, it looks like we’ll most likely wrap up our very short, bitter-sweet season when the 3-6 Kentucky Wildcats host the 2-7 South Carolina Gamecocks. What the heck, only three games this year having attended an average of 25 in each of the last 15 seasons. We took what we could get while staying safe and quarantining as necessary. Some people we know haven’t even left their homes three times since March! We can’t live that way. We missed the weekly game atmosphere on the road.
What we like about this particular match-up, it should be competitive based on records and fairly comparable stats versus common SEC opponents. The Cats and Cocks will come out clawing and kicking to put distance between themselves and the common foe they both beat – Vanderbilt (0-8). Both look to end disappointing seasons on a high note. Carolina shows more scoring potential averaging 24.1 ppg as opposed to Kentucky’s 19.6. However, the Gamecocks gave up a lot of points regularly. In three straight games, they fell to LSU, 52-24, A&M, 48-3, and Ole Miss, 59-42, before Head Coach Will Muschamp got canned. Inspired under interim HC Mike Bobo, they lost to Mizzou, 17-10, before taking it on the chin again last week from Georgia, 45-16.
Alabama clobbered the Wildcats, 66-3. The Cats only edged Vandy, 38-35. while the Cocks wailed on the ‘Dores, 41-7. SC’s other win come in a 30-22 surprise over Auburn. This will be a good close game to watch. Carolina won 24-7 in this SEC East game a year ago.
Terry Wilson leads the Wildcats at QB with 89 passing yards and seven TDs through the air. Chris Rodriguez leads then ground game with 562 yards and six TDs. HC Mike Stoops’ receiving corps is led by Josh Ali’s 427 yards. The Kentucky defensive charge is led by LB Jamin Davis with 79 stops while Kelvin Joseph leads the secondary with four picks.
QB Collin Hill started the first seven games, but Luke Doty has picked up most of the action in the last two games. Combined, they totaled only seven TD passes and eight INTs. Bobo will be looking for some improvement in this season finale. He may rely more on RB Kevin Harris this Saturday with 928 rushing yards and 14 Touchdown. WR Shi Smith and TE Nick Muse are leading receivers but only have one TD between them. LB Ernest Jones is the Gamecock stalwart on defense with 89 tackles.
The Wildcats come in with only three games among our 612. Back in 1987, Rutgers defeated them 19-18 in The Meadowlands late in the game. Twenty-two years later, we followed them to Beale Street and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis where they defeated East Carolina, 25-19. The last time the Wildcats played before us, we headed to Columbia, SC where our daughter Alex joined up with Gamecock nation as a student to see her No. 4 team defeat the Wildcats, 35-28. Memorably, SC “star” DE Jadaveon Clowney told HC Steve Spurrier shortly before the game that he hurt his rib and couldn’t play. He sat out. Alex will be joining me for this one for our first game ever at Kroger Field to cheer for her alma mater. I look forward to a good game.
Collegefootballfan.com’s history with the Gamecocks goes back to 1995 with Steve Taneyhill at QB when they blasted Vandy back then, 52-14. Two-year old Alex attended as we lived in SC for about a year. The Gamecocks didn’t appear again on our slate until 2009 and 2010 with road wins over NC State and Florida respectively. A year later, Alex brought us into the Gamecock family. I still rooted for Navy in their 24-21 loss against Alex’s school. Over the course of her matriculation for her first three years, SC beat Mizzou, Clemson twice, and aforementioned Kentucky. They ran their record in our presence to 8-0. Things went downhill after three straight 11-win seasons during Alex’s first three years. In 2014, A&M picked them apart offensively, Mizzou edged them 21-20, and we watched them fall at Auburn, 35-28.
Both teams want this game bad. Kentucky has the home field advantage. Small crowd though. Carolina allowed a lot of points to good offenses. Kentucky doesn’t score a lot. In four of its last five games, they only scored 26 points. In the other, they scored 38 versus Vanderbilt. Kentucky shouldn’t control the clock. SC found some defense against a comparable Missouri offense. Kevin Harris needs 72 yards for a one thousand yard season. I think Bobo is going to let his team ride this horse. I see Carolina coming up with a somewhat surprising 26-24 win. Not meaning much, this contest should be fun to be at.
Trailing 25-22 at the end of the third quarter, Cincinnati Bearcat QB Desmond Ridder dove over and extended the ball from the one for his second TD on the ground. Next, he followed with a seven-yard TD pass, also his second of the day, to lead No. 7 Cincinnati past Central Florida (5-3, 4-3) with its high powered passing attack, 36-33. Safety Darrick Forrest picked off a Dillon Gabriel pass tipped in the air as Dillon came into the game ranked third in the nation with 188 consecutive passes without a pick. Forrest returned it 20 yards to the UCF 16 to start the short touchdown drive to give Cincy back a 29-25 lead for the first TD in Q4.
The Bearcats defense in particular got off to a slow, inauspicious start against the Golden Knights averaging 44 ppg and 619 yards of total offense through seven games, but played tougher as the game progressed. On its next series after regaining the lead, with tight coverage they forced a UCF punt after a three and out. Ten plays and 71 yards later, Ridder ( 21 for 32 passing, 338 yards and two TDs; 14 carries for 57 yards a rushing and two TDs) connected with Leonard Taylor from the seven to extend their lead, 36-25.
The Knights responded with 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive of their own when Dillon Gabriel ( 26 for 49, 243 yards, three TDs, one INT) hooked up with Jaylen Robinson for a 10-yard TD pass. Gabriel fired on target again with Jacob Harris for a two-point conversion to close the score, 36-33, with 4:24 remaining.
Cincy used up a lot of clock after the ensuing kickoff driving down to the UCF five for a first down with 1:34 left. Instead of taking the ball over for what looked like a clear TD run, work horse Gerrid Oaks (28 carries, 97 yards) dropped at the one-yard line to force the Golden Knights to spend its last time out. Oaks ran two more times for no gains and Ridder fumbled the ball on fourth down. Central Florida took over with one second left on their own eight as time expired with Cincinnati improving their record to 8-0.
Great game! In the early going UCF looked to have an advantage following a spirited senior day celebration in front of a boisterous but Covid-19 restricted crowd of 10,668. The Knights also came in with chips on their shoulders a year after a 27-24 loss at Nippert Stadium. The senior class of Golden Knights had a lot to play for in front of their final home game crowd as they entered this contest with an impressive four-year record of 40-6. Their Bounce House press box even states the claim of “2017 National Champions” when they finished 13-0.
The Cats started out jittery to say the least. With the Knights fired up and their fans small in numbers but loud with their enthusiasm, on their first two drives, Gabriel’s signal-calling drew the Bearcats offsides twice on critical third and long situations. As a result, the Knights converted first downs to keep touchdown drives alive. The second TD was set up on a fumbled punt by Ryan Montgomery at his 22. Knight Amari Johnson slid past him as as he fielded the punt, enough to distract the punt returner to lose sight of the ball. Johnson recovered to send the home team on to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter.
Trailing, the Cats offense got in gear behind Ridder, and the defense started to tighten up against the pass. They slowed down the Knights passing attack after the first quarter holding Dillon way below his 417 yards per game passing average. Cincinnati reeled off 16 straight points as Ridder got great protection up front to perform with confidence throughout the second period.
Cincinnati scored on a 73-yard drive on five plays when Riddick targeted TE Josh Whyle on a crossing pattern to turn up field and race 29 yards along the right sideline for its first touchdown to trail, 14-10. UCF drove back into Bearcat territory, but on a fourth down pass, WR Marlon Williams (eight receptions, 97 yards, two TDs) let a pass slip through his hands while wide open to put Cincinnati back on offense from their 23. The turnover on downs resulted in Cole Smith’s 26-yard FG to get the Cats to within one, 14-13.
The Bearcat defense forced UCF to punt from their 20 on the next possession, and took over on offense again from their 30 with 2:06 to go in the half. A 45-yard pass took Cincy to the UCF 35. On the very next play, a transformer blew and the stadium lights went out as Ridder connected with Whyle once again in what looked to be a 35-yard scoring play. However, the officials reconvened to rule that the play ended at the 15 due to an inadvertent whistle that could hardly be heard. The transformer explosion was evident though and caused wonder if this would delay the game under darkening skies. It didn’t.
The Cats got down to the three where Ridder faked a handoff inside and ran around the left side untouched for a 19-14 lead. UCF thwarted the two-point conversion. And with 1:23 left, they drove to the Bearcats 26 where PK Dan Obarski put up three points with one second left to end the half with UCF trailing now, only 19-17.
Having deferred the ball in the first half, Cincinnati opened the third period with two penalties to set them back starting from their four before running a play. For 16 plays, the Cats used up 8:31 on the clock with most of the yardage being churned out by hard-running Oaks. Smith put up a FG from the 22 to extend the Cincy lead, 22-17. After a touchback to start from the 25, UCF played with a sense of urgency doing what they do best, passing the ball. Within 2:30, they drove the length of the field with Marlon Williams taking in a 19-yard scoring pass to give the Knights a 23-22 lead. A two-point conversion attempt through the air to Williams put UCF up by three going into the final period before the Bearcats comeback in the final period.
Regretfully out timing did not work well for our return flight, and we missed some final action in the last period to catch our flight. The game turned out to be thrilling as expected, and we were glad to have gotten to see this up-and-coming Cincinnati program who has a legitimate shot to pull a surprise or two if they make it to the College Football Playoff. We think it will take a second Notre Dame win over Clemson to get this done. For Cincinnati, it may take two wins in a row over a tough, improved Tulsa team. They meet in three weeks at Tulsa, and then the following week for the AAC championship. This year, the top two teams in the 11-team conference meet in the championship. With a 5-1 record, the Golden Hurricanes are scheduled play at Houston and at Navy before hosting the Bearcats, if Covid doesn’t continue to cancel games, of course.
Cincinnati travels to play beleaguered Temple (1-6) in Philly this weekend. Don’t know if tickets are available, but to be honest, not too tempted to go after seeing this one. UCF plays at rival South Florida who has also foundered this season. If they pull the win in this finale, they should pose an interesting match up for any team in a bowl game. ESPN pundits predict they will play in the Boca Raton Bowl against Liberty. It would be great game between these two, but we’d prefer to see both of these non-power squads play against Power Five schools in better bowls. As for collegefootballfan.com, we have one more regular season game in December. Come back and check out our game preview next week.
Desmond Ridder earned American Athletic Offensive Player of the Week Award for the fourth time this season. In addition, he was named as one of the eight Manning Award Stars of the Week and also selected as one of the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great Eight following the Bearcats win. He impressed us with his composure, passing, and leadership during this must-win game against a good team.
Also, Cincinnati PK Cole Smith was named as one of the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award’s three Stars of the Week and earned recognition on the American Athletic Conference’s weekly honor roll. He tallied scored 12 points making field goals of 47, 26 and 22 yards and going 3-for-3 on PATs.
Cincinnati’s defense should earn recognition for holding UCF to 359 yards of total offense. The Golden Knights average 619 yards in their previous seven games. Gabriel Dillon totaled only 243 passing yards after averaging 417.7 since the beginning of the 2020 season.
Orlando, FL – We are itching to go see a game of national significance for which we could actually get tickets! With one game under our belts at least featuring the current No. 24 team in the nation, Louisiana, we should be seeing a rock ’em, sock ’em game this Saturday. The No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats (7-0, 6-0) with the third top scoring defense in the nation (12.4 ppg) travels to Bounce House Stadium in Orlando to try to stop the high-scoring Golden Knights of Central Florida (5-2, 4-2). UCF, led by QB Dillon Gabriel leads the nation in passing yards averaging 396.9 yards per game. The Knights average 44.0 ppg. The “unstoppable” offense versus the unyielding defense. It doesn’t get much better than this for an exciting match-up.
Last year, Cincy tagged UCF at home in Nippert, 27-24. In 2020 so far, both squads mangled common American Athletic foes Houston and ECU. However, if Memphis is an indicator, the Bearcats walloped them at home, 49-10, while the Tigers edged the Knights 50-49 near the birthplace of Elvis. HC Luke Fickell, former Ohio State assistant and player, has his team rolling in his fourth season with a record of 33-13. Their two previous seasons totaled eleven wins in both for a program that has generally struggled for many years. Read “Our two cents” below. Fickell’s focus on defensive improvement gives his team an edge for CFP contention. A formidable showing against this offense could vault this team into this year’s final four.
UCF is led by HC Josh Heupel, also with an impressive collegiate resume as starting QB at Oklahoma where in 2000, he led the Sooners to a national championship and finished second in the Heisman voting. After two years mentoring UCF, his program comes into this contest with a record of 27-6 under him. His first team finished the regular season 12-0 before falling to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl. This year, he has his Golden Knights at the top of the nation’s scoring charts once again. Besides the one-point loss at Memphis, the Knights other loss came in a surprising upset by improved Tulsa at home, 34-26.
On offense, Knight QB Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 2,774 yards, 23 TDs, and only two INTs. Marlon Williams leads in receptions (63), yards (942), and TDs (8). Jaylon Robinson also impresses in these same categories with 41 snags, 822 yards, and four TDs. Defensively the Bearcats counter with LB Jerrell White leading his team with 63 stops. CBs Coby Bryant and Ahmad Gardner both tallied three picks to their credit. They have held opponents to 188.9 passing yards per game. This matchup between these two units will be one of the most competitive in college football during this regular season.
QB Desmond Ridder leads a more balanced attack for Cincinnati. His passing prowess stands at 1,483 yards with 14 TD tosses. He’s added 469 yards and scored nine TDs rushing. The teams leading ball carrier is Gerrid Oaks with 565 yards and seven scores. Ridder likes to spread his passes as four of his receivers total over 200 receiving yards and total 11 TD passes among them. Their scoring prowess compares to UCF’s at 41.6 per game. Knight DB Richie Grant ( 3 INTs) and his secondary mates will have their work cut out for them. Defensively, the UCF defense yields 28.7 ppg. This is where Cincinnati holds the edge to win this one. We expect to see a score similar to last year’s final as the Knights have the home edge despite the covid-restricted crowd. Fickell’s defense should give the Bearcats the edge to stay atop the American Athletic and shoot to become the first non-Power Five school to make the CFP. We hope that we can be able to say, we saw the first such team to do so!
For what it’s worth, here’s a little Collegefootballfan.com history regarding the opponents in our 612th game on our historic tour through time. This will only be our second time attending a UCF game. In 2004, times were very different for the Knights back then. They came to State College, PA to meet a downtrodden PSU team in the throes of a 4-7 season under HC Joe Paterno. The Lions entered this contest 1-1 while the Knights came in at 0-2. In a sloppy game on a hurricane trodden field surrounded by devastating floods throughout Pennsylvania, the Lions won, 37-13. The visitors never won that year finishing 0-11 under first-year HC George O’Leary. Needless to say, this is our first game at The Bounce House.
The Bearcats stand 1-4 in the annals of our history with some interesting albeit not so favorable accounts to their credit. Our first experience with the program was a 41-0 loss to PSU at State College in 1987. In my book, Tales from the Tailgate, the chapter entitled “Low Budget Bearcats” details my most vivid memory of that game. The Bearcats spent the night before the game in the same hotel my friends and I did. Those familiar with my football budget understand what I mean here. Ten years later, I attended my first game at the Carrier Dome where Syracuse rocked them, 63-21.
Their next meeting depicts my most memorable about the Bearcats. As favorites in 2004, Cincy (2-3) ventured up to West Point where a dreadful Army team came in on a 19-game losing streak. Behind in the fourth 41-29, on fourth and goal at the Army eight, Cincy QB Gino Guidugli’s pass got batted down in the end zone. Army answered with 93-yard TD run to pull the upset to ignite a frenzied Army celebration with a 48-29 victory. The Cats reeled off five straight wins after that and beat Marshall in the Fort Worth Bowl to finish 7-5. Gino Guidugli is now Cincinnati’s very effective offensive coordinator!
In 2017, enter Fickell. Navy dropped them 42-32 on a blistering hot September afternoon in Annapolis. The Bearcats finished 4-8. In 2018, Cincy returned to Annapolis with a 10-2 record (one loss was to 12-1 UCF, 38-13). At the Military Bowl that day, Cincinnati triumphed for the first time in our presence, 35-31, in a very competitive game against Virginia Tech. We expect to see something very similar in Orlando on Saturday!
San Marcos, Texas – Collegefootballfan.com broke out of a relentless, seven-month quarantine and flew all the way to San Marcos to attend our first live game of the 2020 season for our 611th intercollegiate football game overall. The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns posted a late second quarter comeback to overcome the Texas State Bobcats, 44-34. Turnovers set up key scores in this Sun Belt battle, but in the end, the Ragin’ Cajuns relied on the arm of QB Levi Lewis (22 of 32, 332 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and on the legs of Trey Ragas (19 rushes for 131 yards, 3 TDs) to propel them to their fifth win of the season to keep them atop the Sun Belt West (5-1, 4-0).
On a perfect evening for football under a full Halloween moon causing a lot of bumps in the night at Bobcat Stadium, the Cajuns mischievously swiped two Bobcat passes and turned them into 14 points for an early lead. Instead of allowing a romp to take place after giving up two consecutive picks to start the game with a 14-point deficit, TSU answered with 21 of their own. The first came on a well executed fake field goal with PK Seth Keller running around the left end for a 12-yard jaunt on a pitch from his holder to end the first period deadlocked, 14-14.
The Cats overtook the lead with a 33-yard TD pass from Brady McBride to Marcell Barbee early in the second. Louisiana evened it right back up at 21-21 when Lewis took it in on a 12-yard run midway in the same stanza. The Bobcat defense needed to start stopping the Cajun offense. They did it for one series, but that was all they could muster. With 2:26 to go in the half, Lewis’s passes and Ragas’s rushes put them in the end zone in six plays with Ragas running in from the two.
State took over with a minute left, but McBride (14 of 32, 166 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) threw his third interception of the half, second by Cajun DB Eric Garror. From their 38-yard line with 54 seconds left, a key pass completion to Pete LeBlanc put Louisiana at the TSU three. With seven ticks left, Lewis connected with Kyren Lacy for a one-yard TD pass for Cajun’s 34-21 halftime lead.
With Covid-19 bringing us into the world of abnormality, the halftime show was presented pre-recorded on the two Bobcat Stadium big screens both stationed on angles at the ends of the horseshoe-shaped stadium – good viewing for a within the stadium. However, the recordings just don’t do justice for the experience of attending a college football halftime show. The Texas State Strutter’s Cowgirl women’s dance team, 111- strong, sat relegated in the enclosed end zone all dressed up with no place to go along with other 7,500 others estimated to be in attendance to watch their pre-recorded performance. What a letdown for these students and the Bobcat fans. Hopefully, we’ll be back when things return to normalcy and the Bobcats (1-7, 1-3) will be more competitive.
To start the second half, the visitors extended their lead, 37-21, on their first possession with Nate Snyder’s 42-yard FG. The home team got back on the board with a 62-yard drive keyed by runs from Brock Sturges (17 carries for 129 yards, two TDs) who brought it over from 10 yards out to close the gap, 37-27, as a two-point conversion failed. The Cat D forced a Cajun punt to potentially make the game more interesting, but the offense sputtered.
In the final quarter, Louisiana relied on their running game to eat some clock mixing runs between Elijah Mitchell (17 carries for 96 yards) and Ragas who finished off the 56-yard drive with a seven-yard TD run, his third of the game. Another Bobcat score by Sturges from 18 yards out sealed the final score with 1:50 left to play. The onsides attempt on the ensuing kickoff landed safely into the grasp of member of the Louisiana hands team. The visitors from Cajun country prevailed, 44-34.
Despite three fumble recoveries and an INT, the Bobcat defense could not come up with key plays to stop the Cajuns who gained 282 yards on the ground and 322 through the air. They allowed five of eleven third down conversions on key drives and never sacked Lewis. No emotional leadership seemed to exist on the field, and we never witnessed the players huddle up to review strategies while instead resting comfortably when on benches along the sideling. The only sideline action noted from here watched the constant offering of swigs from blue Powerade bottles by managers on a night not under a blistering hot, midday sun, but on a cool, pleasant Halloween night perfect for football. It seemed like the focus was for student managers working on commissions to promote Powerade. Defensive leadership needs to aspire to adjust attitudes on the field and strategies along the sideline.
Next up for the Ragin’ Cajuns, the Arkansas State Red Wolves (3-4, 1-3) come to Lafayette, LA in another Sun Belt West match-up. The Bobcats return home for an afternoon game on Jim Wacker Field next week to take on tough Appalachian State leading the Sun Belt’s East Division (4-1, 2-0). The Mountaineers from Boone, NC lead the Sun Belt by far on defensive scoring. They allow only 17.6 points per game in a conference featuring some high-flying .
As for collegefootballfan.com, we’re back in quarantine for our eighth month now planning another breakout before November’s over. We have our periscope up now considering a potential two-game trip before the month’s out. Both match-ups stir our interest, but timing is everything. Will teams avoid Covid-19? Can games go on as scheduled? Will kick-off times be convenient so we can attend both? We figure we wait for at least that information, and then we go from there. If a conflict occurs, we may have to choose which one we prefer, a tough choice for us. Stay tuned for Game 612 and possibly Game 613. Beat Covid-19!
Our 611th game in Collegefootballfan.com history opens our 41st season this weekend in San Marcos, Texas when we see the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (4-1,2-1) visit the Bobcats of Texas State (1-6,1-2) in a Sunbelt bout! Upset? We’re hoping the Bobcats put up some kind of fight while Penn State hosts Ohio State on another network at the same time. We’re just as happy as can be to be off the couch, out of the house, and seeing a live game played in front of us from the stands once again. On the other hand, maybe our timing is not too bad based on how the Lions and Buckeyes performed last week. We hope both games will be close, but…
Both teams we see this weekend post 0-1 marks in the annals of Collegefootballfan.com history. Both play on our slate for the second time in years. On October 11, 2003, we added the Ragin’ Cajuns and the UL Monroe Indians in a glorious match-up between two 0-6 teams! Attending this game we proclaimed it the “battle at the bottom of the barrel” between the two lowest rated teams in the FBS that season. It turned out to be well worth the trip for excitement. UL-Monroe booted a 31-yard field goal with 1:46 left in the game in an intense, seesaw rivalry for a 45-42 victory. If you don’t believe it, you can read about all the action in my book, “Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ’em all!” We added those two squads as numbers 85 and 86 on our drive to see every FBS team to play at least once.
As for Texas State, we added them as our 124th team on November 17, 2012. They fell to Navy in Annapolis, 21-10. This season, their six losses included close losses to SMU, UTSA, and Boston College, but last week, BYU hammered them, 52-14. Of all teams, their one win thus far came over UL-Monroe, the program we watched edge the Cajuns 17 years ago. After the Louisiana upset win over Iowa State open the season, 31-14, their three wins were won by two, three, and four points. Their lone loss came to an undefeated Coastal Carolina team, 30-27.
To make this a game, the Bobcat defense has to step up and play their best game of the season. We hope they keep it close to make this contest interesting, but we look for the Cajuns to win by a touchdown. The teams have not played any common opponents this season. Since this is our first game at TSU’s Bobcat Stadium and being hosted by PSU alum and TSU Bobcat employee Zach Rittle, we’ll be pulling for the Cat’s upset. Looking forward to attending a game live and in person once again! It’s been an unusual and desolate college football season for us. We hope FCS games in the spring will allow us more game time attendance opportunities. Only two other potential games loom for CFF.com during the current fall season.
