Seen 'em all – 136 FBS teams in action! In 2025, we added both the CFP Championship game, Indiana 27 Miami 21 and the FCS Championship, Montana State 35 Illinois State 34. We've now attended 740 games since 1979. Please order and review our book on Amazon.com: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly to enjoy this great, unique lifetime adventure. We look forward to the 2026 season!
Nashville, TN – Anticipated to be a low scoring “offensive” struggle, collegefootballfan.com witnessed what we expected. “No-offense” Iowa (8-5) shut out the Kentucky Wildcats (7-6,) 21-0, without QB Will Levis and RB Chris Rodriguez. Both opted out to save their bodies. Despite predicting the low-scoring Music City affair, to everyone’s surprise, the Hawkeyes’ defense outscored its own offense.
Rare Music City highlights
Iowa put up 21 points, all in the second period. The quarter featured the four main highlights of the entire game. After a futile first period with the Wildcats punting four times and the Hawkeyes punting twice and turning the ball over on downs, Iowa put together a scoring drive. Frosh QB Joe Labas, making his first start, connected on two consecutive passes. The first went 27 yards with TE Sam LaPorta fighting his way through several tacklers. The next came on a 15-yard TD pass to TE Luke Lachey who dove in for the score.
At the end of Q1, Hawkeye players participate in a game day tradition waving back to patients at Iowa Children’s Hospital in Iowa City from Music City Bowl on TV.
Kentucky frosh QB Destin Wade tried to go long on the next series. However, DB Xavier Nwankpa picked it and returned the ball 52 yards for a TD to increase the Hawkeye lead, 14-0. Late in the second, Destin tossed another pass picked off by DB Cooper Dejean who promptly returned it 14 yards for another pick-six. The Hawkeyes led at the half, 21-0. The second half wallowed in futility. Neither team generated any scoring threats for the balance of this contest.
DB Xavier Nwankpa (1) starts celebration in end zone after returning INT 52 yards for 14-0 Hawkeye lead in 2nd quarter of Music City Bowl.
Futile 2022 finale followed our “Big Bang”
To put things into perspective, Iowa’s return yardage on the interceptions totaled 66 yards. Iowa’s offense rushed for 67 yards. Kentucky rushed for 68. QB Joe Labas debuted passing for 14 receptions for 139 yards and a TD. Destin and fellow U of K QB Deuce Hogan combined for 22 of 37 passing for 117 yards. The combined offensive production for the two teams combined for 396 yards. On Wednesday at the Liberty Bowl we attended, Arkansas and Kansas combined for 1,274 yards in the Razorback’s 55-53 OT win.
Iowa punted eight times, Kentucky ten. Both teams turned over the ball on downs twice. This game was not a defensive battle. On the contrary, the Music City opponents displayed offensive ineptitude. The two DBs who scored for the Hawkeyes made eight and seven tackles respectively. Dejean won Music City Bowl MVP honors. Attending our seventh Music City Bowl, attendance dwindled by far. We bought our tickets in advance. We had hoped to see a decent matchup preceding the two CFP semis to be televised after.
Music City Bowl MVP Cooper DeJean (3) makes one of his eight stops. He also returned a pick six for the Hawkeyes’ third and final score of the second period and of the game
Looking ahead in the Music City
The Music City Bowl got short-changed with thee two participants after last year’s 48-45 win by Purdue over Tennessee. With a potential, multi-billion dollar, enclosed stadium to be built in place of Nissan Stadium, Nashville expects to be hosting the eventual national championship game here in the future. Hope we’ll be around to see it, or at least rent out our home for a weekend. Super Bowls and Final Fours figure into Nashville’s plan as well, we hear.
Next Up!
On September 2, 2023, the Hawkeyes will host Utah State in their opener, and Kentucky will host Ball State. We’ll be a week ahead of them when Vanderbilt hosts Hawaii on Week 0 on Saturday, August 26. On September 2, we will attend Tennessee’s season opener at Nissan Stadium versus Virginia. However, between now and then, check us out here for our 2022 Season Summary, our NFL pre- draft analysis of players we’ve seen, 2023 schedule building updates, and for other offseason college football happenings.
The second half was a game played between the 25-yard lines as shown here. Iowa stops Kentucky WR Tayvion Robinson (9) for short gain.
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Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. We now offer at two for one deal.
For the purchase of one copy of my book online and a submittal of your review of it to Amazon.com, I will send you a personally autographed soft-covered copy for free, postage included (for US residents only).
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Happy New Year!
Iowa cheerleaders enjoyed their team’s eighth victory of the season in Nashville, The Music City!
Memphis, TN – Arkansas (7-6) led Kansas by 25 with four minutes left in Q3 of Liberty Bowl 2022, but the Jayhawks (6-7) tied the score at the end of regulation. The teams exchanged 15 points each in the first two OTs. However, the Razorbacks scored on their first two-point conversion in the third OT on a run by Rashad Dubinion (20 carries, 112 yards, two TDs). Kansas RB Jason Bean flipped an errant option pass despite appearing to have room ahead to take the ball in himself. The Razorbacks took the bowl victory, 55-53. At the end of regulation in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 52,847 attended pretty evenly between both schools, all I could say was, “Wow!” Guest Game Analyst Rick Selleck (Auburn grad/fan) conferred, “That about sums I up!”
Arkansas RB AJ Green dashes for 20-yard TD in 2nd quarter of AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Kansas QB Jalon Daniels set four Liberty Bowl records. He set marks for passing yards (544), completions (37), TD passes (5), and scores (6). However, the strong-armed junior QB struggled early with accuracy. Arkansas interceptions and a muffed kick-off return allowed the Razorbacks to build its lead early. These resulted in its commanding 38-13 lead late in the third. Rick and I thought KU HC Lance Leipold premature in his decision to go for a two-point conversion. Kansas failed on their second score late in the second period. In retrospect, it probably cost the Jayhawks later.
Jayhawk RB Ky Thomas receives pass from Jalen Daniels for early Kansas lead in Q1, 7-3, but it didn’t last long.
Leipold’s leadership
However, we’ve admired him since his days at D-3 UW-Whitewater and at Buffalo. His uncanny coaching capabilities to build teams kept these Jayhawks fighting back through the end of this great game. What a comeback! Despite early setbacks, his team played unfazed. From our view point in the end zone, the Jayhawk receivers found seams on most pass plays.
Razorback QB KJ Jefferson and RB Dubinion took advantage of early turnovers and field position to give Arkansas a commanding lead. It sparked their large fan based to start their “SEC” chant. I still don’t understand why fans of these schools don’t focus on their individual team’s success. Auburn Rick had an explanation from a historical perspective. At that point, the Jayhawks played even more inspired football.
Kansas HC Lance Leipold makes point to official along the sideline. We first saw Leipold coach Wisconsin-Whitewater in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl against Mt. Union in 2006 for the D3 championship. He won six national titles at UW-W.
Kansas’ comeback!
With 3:15 left in the third quarter, Kansas scored on Ky Thomas’s two-yard run. The five-play, 86-yard drive was highlighted by Daniel’s 45-yard pass to Luke Grimm ( 10 catches, 167 yards, one TD) to the Arkansas 26. On their subsequent possession entering the final period, Kansas added three on Owen Piepergerdes 36-yard FG.
KU QB Jalen Daniels picks up yardage on fourth quarter TD drive that got the Jayhawks within eight points late in the game.
Trailing 38-23, the Jayhawks turned the ball over on downs to the Hogs at their 21 with 3:52 left to play. On this Razorback drove, KU spent two time-outs. On a second and eleven, on a completed pass down to the Jayhawks 30, DB Marvin Grant knocked the ball loose from Matt Landers’ grasp. KU’s Cobee Bryant scooped the ball and returned it to the Arkansas 48. Driven down to the ten, Daniels connected with Doug Emilien for a score to close the gap, 38-30. The play of the comeback occurred on KU’s onsides kick. It skipped among several Razorbacks. KU S Kenny Logan recovered to give the Jayhawks the ball on the 50. Rarely with five players on each side of the ball on an onsides do we see an intended recovery. “Execution,” said Rick. May have been facetious, but what else can one say?
Kansas Safety Kenny Logan (1) recovers onsides kick leading to game-tying drive in regulation.
Liberty Bowl final countdown
Daniels connected again with Grimm for 34 yards to the 16. Following a delay of game, Daniels connected with Grimm at the goal line for a 21-yard score. WR Lawrence Arnold (eight catches for 119 yards) hauled in a two-point conversion at the back of the end zone with 41 seconds before heading into OT. With three time-out left starting from the 25, HC Sam Pittman’s team didn’t show any sense of urgency. They never got within range of a field goal. An illegal substitution penalty by KU even gave the Hogs a few more yards. They could only run the ball out of bounds at the Jayhawks 38 as time expired. Overtime!
WR Lawrence Arnold (2) shocks Arkansas secondary with catch for two-point conversion to tie the score in the Liberty Bowl, 38-38.
First OT and second OT
In the first OT, on fourth and goal at the two, Daniels hit TE Jared Casey in the flat for a two-yard score. The Jayhawks took a 45-38 lead, their first since a 7-3 lead in Q1. Arkansas tied it up on two plays as Dubinion ran it in from the six. To start the second round of OT, Jefferson burst for a 20-yard TD run. Addling pressure on the Jayhawks, he connected with Jaeden Wilson for the gutsy two-point conversion to retake the lead, 53-45. Daniels ran it in from the two on the ensuing Kansas possession. On the two-point conversion, he got stopped short as he dove to the goal line. We noted a wide-open receiver in the right corner before he dove.
Liberty Bowl over. No! Flag! It happened so quickly. DB Quincey McAdoo, who intercepted to set up a scoring drive early in the first, got called for targeting and ejected. Here’s where GGA Rick and I had a disagreement. He couldn’t believe the refs would make that call on a final, decisive game play. My thought is that officials have made those calls all year, and not that I agree with most as far as the intention. They always get reviewed for safety reasons and intent. Why stop during this critical situation?
They didn’t show the replay on the video board. A local fan wearing a Memphis ball cap said a friend texted him that it was evident. Later he showed us the replay on this phone. It looked clearly like leading into the helmet. The call stood. KU got the ball at the one, and Casey caught the pass for two to tie.
To the two-point conversions
Moving to the far end of the field from us for the two-point conversions, Dubinion took it over for Arkansas. We watched KU’s play unfold with Bean sprinting to the right appearing to be trending toward the pylon when he suddenly shot-putted the ball far over a receiver’s head. He was open, but the path ahead of him looked to be the right move from our long view. Now game over. You just hate to see a game like this end with a flub instead of a great defensive play in this case. Arkansas won, 55-53, in a great, memorable game in the 64th Liberty Bowl.
Razorback fans go hog-wild for their team’s 55-53 Liberty Bowl victory!
Next up!
We attend our 655th game and our final game of 2022 to end another fantastic Collegefootballfan.com season on Saturday. The Liberty Bowl was similar to last year’s Music City Bowl that went down to the wire with Purdue defeating Tennessee, 48-45. We anticipate this year’s Music City to be very anti-climactic. It could be close, but we expect a very low score.
Iowa who’s shown little offense but singy defense will play Kentucky (7-5) without the services of QB Will Levis who opted out. If any QB needed an opportunity to show the pros what he can do, he is it. Kentucky’s defense is stout. We saw U of K fall to Georgia, 16-6, this year. Three bad passes by Levis kept the Wildcats from scoring opportunities on three different drives early in that game. The defense held UGA to its lowest score of the season. After this one, we look forward to settling in somewhere to watch the two CFP semi-finals. Happy New Year everybody!
Please check out our book!
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. We now offer at two for one deal.
For the purchase of one copy of my book online and a submittal of your review of it to Amazon.com, I will send you a personally autographed soft-covered copy for free, postage included (for US residents only).
Please go to my book’s Amazon page linked here: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Tailgate-whos…/dp/1463416865 This will be limited to 40 new submittals that can be monitored on my Amazon page. Currently, there are 24 reviews in total. When you submit a review, please email your shipping address to sjk_cff@hotmail.com. Also let me know who you want any message addressed to and who your or their favorite college football team might be so a message can be presented it to your particular liking (ex: “Go Navy!”).
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Happy New Year!
Arkansas cheerleaders had lots to be happy about after the overtime Liberty Bowl win!
Last week we spoke about our disappointment in the Cure Bowl match-up between two Group of Five conference champs. UTSA (11-3) and Troy (12-2) met in that one. Definitely, this contest pitted two very good football teams in the first bowl week of 2022. Our disappointment lies in the fact that we would like to have seen both take on Power Five teams instead. We believe such games would show that the Group of Five is not that far removed from most of the teams among the SEC, Big Ten, Big XII, ACC, and Pac-12.
Regretfully among 43 postseason games, only five feature teams from these two categories play one another. Three have been played already. The Group of Five holds the upper hand already. They’ve triumphed two wins to one. Fresno beat Washington State and Air Force defeated Baylor for the “Group”, and Louisville won over Cincinnati for the “Power”. Duke will take on Central Florida in the Military and USC meets Tulane in the Cotton. We look forward to both.
Troy QB Jarret Doege (9) completes his first pass for first down to WR Tez Johnson (15). After this throw, he was rarely seen standing against WKU as depicted here! Doege transferred from WKU to Troy ten days before Week Zero.
How about these?
Instead of 9-3 Florida State against 6-6 Oklahoma, how about the Seminoles against 11-2 UTSA. Or, how about 9-3 Oregon State playing 11-2 Troy instead of 6-6 Florida? Let the Sooner and Gator fans go watch their teams in a game against each other for nothing but pride. How about 9-4 Central Florida taking on 7-5 Oklahoma State instead of the Cowboys taking on 6-6 Wisconsin?
If Coastal Carolina QB Grayson McCall didn’t go down with an injury late in the season before losing its final two, how about a better Coastal Carolina at 9-3 against Kentucky 7-6 instead of ECU. A shame is that 9-3 James Madison is sitting out. Some weird rule determined “no first year in FBS bowl rule”. Let’s see what they could do against 7-5 Iowa with a tough defense? Fans would like to see more of these rare match-ups. Two lower level Power Fives going against one another mimics an exhibition game.
Cold wave amongst cold shoulders
Glad we decided to sit at home and watch games on TV this week. Good timing rather than sit in the freezing cold weather starting to come in all over the country. We’ll be at games in Memphis and Nashville next week where weather will warm up. However, rain is forecasted for the Music City next Saturday for the already dreary Kentucky-Iowa game. However, we give the players a lot of credit for some their great performances despite few fans in the stands. Remember when bowls convened on holiday weekends and their fans looked forward to going away somewhere? They traveled to see their favorite team celebrate the end of a GREAT season playing a game that meant something!
Georgia Safety Kelee Ringo hauled in this underthrown pass by Kentucky QB Will Levis. Levis missed two other wide-open Wildcat receivers in early drives against the Bulldogs that could have made a difference in this 16-6 UK loss.
Let’s start the 12-team FBS playoffs next year and recapture that before 2024! We look forward to student bodies and avid fans back in the stands, bands playing rousing fight songs, and cheerleaders leading the student bodies getting fired up! On television, now all you hear are players yelling at one another on the field or a few fans in the stands close to the press-box. Depressing seeing so many empty, cold bleacher seats throughout various stadiums. The bowl in the Bahamas attracted a few close friends and family members on short notice from Alabama and Ohio. College football just isn’t what it was without college “spirit”. Now spirit relies on turned-up, excited broadcaster voices with echoes from within the stadia off empty aluminum seats.
Signing overhype
The media tries to make such a big deal about high school kids de-committing from one school for another during the recruiting process. They like to highlight press conferences. An 18-year old feigning one hat and replacing it suddenly for another isn’t original anymore. First of all, get used to de-commitments. Loyalty went out the window. All of this NIL stuff is getting out of hand. Millions of dollars for college students for their name, image, and likeness. So many kids in the past started off the same way without the benefit of the NIL. Eventually, they fell into oblivion on the bench due to overhype of regretfully, injury.
Secondly, a year from now, the kids that go on to whatever school they choose will probably be reported in the transfer portal and seeking another school. Either because someone offered them more money, a coach dissed him, or because they didn’t start any games. Coaches always seek somebody else to play every position better. If you pay attention to this stuff in the media, your head will spin off. If you think that particular player is going play for your school for the next three years, good luck! In three years, he’ll be off to the pros.
Others now will now make so much money off just their potential because of the NIL, never graduate, possibly transfer once or twice at least, and you will probably never hear of them again. If a player has any fiduciary capabilities, he’ll be retired before he ever graduates Great work if you can get an NIL deal when you go to college. What a system! Over-paid coaches still coach or possibly lose their job. Seems like over-paid student athletes don’t even have to play.
Former Clemson QB DJ Uigalalei (5) crosses the goal line for a 7-0 Tiger lead over Louisville. He will not play against Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. He opted through the transfer portal and looks to play for the Oregon State Beavers next season.
Bowl game observations
Regarding what Deion Sanders did for HBCU’s in his two-year career at Jackson State, please fill me in on what did for any other program besides his JSU Bulldogs. By the way, as a heavy favorite, he lost both Celebration Bowl games his team made it to. Will his son QB Shedeur Sanders and WR/DB Travis Hunter go to Colorado for a year and then consider the transfer portal? How long will Deion remain at Colorado?
Western Kentucky HC Ty Helton convinced QB Austin Reed to exit the portal consideration and stay. He did. Already a D2 transfer from a national champion, West Florida, in his first season at WKU, he followed in the footsteps of Bailey Zappe, former Hilltopper QB now with New England who set NCAA passing records for yardage and TDs in one year with the coaching staff there. This year, Reed threw for over 4,000 yards, second best in the nation finishing 9-5 and beating South Alabama easily in another Group of Five bowl game. Why should he even consider another program? One more year in the right system , he’ll have such a distinct resume that even Mel Kiper, Jr. can’t be wrong regarding his potential.
Watched QB Austin Reed (16) n this win over Middle Tennessee. In 2019, he led D-2 West Florida to the national championship. He returns to WKU next season to challenge Bailey Zappe’s passing records set in 2021 for the Hilltoppers.
Self-serving bowl?
Found it very difficult to listen to the Jimmy Kimmel bowl broadcast. We muted it as we couldn’t take the self-promotion of the game’s namesake we never pay any attention to. Already know he’s not guy we would want to hang out with over drinks and eats at a tailgate party. All about him -boring.
Dial up the transfer portal
During the Toledo-Liberty Boca-Raton game, the broadcaster did their jobs promoting the strengths of the two teams defenses. What we saw, despite what stats say, that the two QBs made for one of the most inept QB matchups we’d ever seen. Toledo’s Soph QB Dequan Finn sat out a series supposedly injured early . While he sat the sideline, his sub came in and finally put points on the board on a very efficient drive leading to a field goal. The Rockets seemed to have life. Finn came back in the next series much to our surprise. The edge seemed to come off despite winning the game, 21-19.
Liberty’s frosh QB Kaidon Salter showed little knack for following through on any plays to set up deceptions for future plays as the game progressed. He would hand-off and just stand still. Granted the HC Hugh Freese left for Auburn, but you’d think coaches remaining could still coach. Both could use new QBs.
Creighton soars with Eagles
Eastern Michigan HC Chris Creighton is a HC to keep an eye on for upcoming opportunities. His Eagles manhandled San Jose State overcoming a 13-0 deficit sparked by an extra point return for two to defeat the Spartans, 41-27. He’s taken a very drown trodden program the last nine years to a 46-71 record with its first bowl win in 35 years. Consider his first two season after taking over this lackluster program went 4-20 the first two seasons. Since, its record is 44-41. The Eagles have gone to five bowl games the last seven years under him. Creighton looks to be program builder. He should start gaining more recognition with his climbing Eagles.
Baylor froze, literally. Air Force is good, but the Bears seemed to cower in the cold air nearby in Fort Worth. The Falcons probably had the benefit of some survival course training all cadets at USAFA get exposure to. Pardon the pun.
Gotta have “Hartman”
Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman played and led his Demon Deacons (8-5) to a win over Missouri, 27-17 ( the SEC is 0-2 in bowl play thus far – SEC! SEC!). He overcame serious medical issues this season. He didn’t opt out “to wait for the draft.” If we drafted for a pro team, we’d take him any day over Kentucky’s QB Will Levis. If anybody needs to prove himself to the pros, it’s this QB. We saw him against Georgia in his team’s 16-6 loss. His accuracy prevented a Wildcat upset within reach that day. Don’t go by what Mel Kiper, Jr. says. This guy needed to show what he’s made of against a good Iowa defense. He opted out. He relies on hearsay, not actions. Hartman has guts.
Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman picks up yards on a run against Vanderbilt after sitting out previous week’s opener in 2022 due to major medical issues. He leads QBs entering the 2023 draft in “guts”.
2024 proposal: Playoff games, Bowl games, and consolation games
We categorize post-season matchups between mediocre teams (6-7 wins) as “consolation” games, not “bowl” games. We hope the NCAA would take some of the luster off these teams who consider themselves “bowl” teams despite being among 80 schools with very mediocre seasons playing for accolades associating themselves among the best teams competing over the course of the season. Starting in 2024, at least fans will be able to discern a teams’ status between a “bowl team” and “playoff team”. Now, when a team says we have three playoff teams on our schedule, it will far outweigh a team who declares “we play seven bowl teams next year.” The meaning “bowl team” won’t be the same as it is now. That take the luster off the bowl status that it currently implies.
To categorize Playoff, Bowl, and Consolation games, we propose that team records based on total wins separate the pools of teams to be assigned to a bowl or consolation game after the twelve CFP teams are selected. As we proposed in the past, eliminate contractual relationships between a specific bowl game and two conferences. Instead, based on payouts by each bowl, highest to lowest, establish a selection order of bowls to be assigned in order. Then similar the the NCAA selection for the basketball tournament, establish a committee to select two teams to compete in each bowl from the two remaining categories depicted here after the CFP participants have been selected.
Ponder this
Example of our proposed process: 80 teams qualify among the 134 future FBS teams to play in the post season. The playoff selections bring the Bowl/Consolation teams down to 68. The 68 teams are ranked in order by their total wins. Looking at records of teams remaining after the four going to the CFP this year (UGA, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State), five teams have 11 wins this season. From among Clemson, Troy, Tulane, USC, and UTSA, the committee would pick four of these to play in the two highest paying bowls.
The remaining team gets added to the next pool and has to be the first selected to play a team with 10 wins. This year includes Penn State, South Alabama, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington. This same process continues through nine-game winners and then through eight-game winners. Once the selections are down to seven-win teams, the games are considered consolation games.
Might as well let every team have chance to play a game. Teams can opt out due to excessive injuries, changes in coaches, no interest, etc. When there’s not enough bowl/consolation sites available, “flip a coin” to determine which of the lower seeds would host a game. This allows lower-win schools to get some extended practice time like the winningest teams get every year, if they want the opportunity. It also pits two lesser schools whose fans perceive playing against a team they could possibly beat after a low-win season. This year could be Every game is televise throughout the season to begin with. Let them all play! That’s what the current “bowl” season trends to. Four teams with 1-11 records among Colorado, UMASS, Northwestern, and South Florida this year could be paired off to get another game and more practice.
Penn State QB Sean Clifford (14) unleashes toward WR Parker Washington against Purdue. He also takes the high road to display his talent against Utah in the Rose Bowl instead of opting out in his final season for the Nittany Lions.
Our 2022 bowl teams roll
Nine teams we watched play this season have mustered a bowl record of 6-3 through Christmas Day! Two of those losses came against two other teams we saw play this season. Troy beat UTSA in the Cure Bowl and Houston defeated Louisiana in the Independence Bowl. Louisville, Western Kentucky, Wake Forest and Middle Tennessee all came up winners. Only Baylor fell on a freezing, cold night not far from their campus in Waco, TX to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth..
Ten more teams on our 2022 slate play in upcoming bowls. Among them, No. 1 Georgia plays No. 4 Ohio State at the Peach Bowl CFP Semi-final. Utah State, Texas, South Carolina, Clemson, Kentucky, Alabama, Purdue, and Penn State return to bowl action against teams we did not see play this year. Enjoy the rest of Bowl season!
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Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
Purdue cheerleaders supported their Boilermakers to an 8-5 season. Now they follow their team to the Citrus bowl to face 9-4 LSU.
During this first bowl week of 2022, we reviewed our bowl schedule. We made a decision to cut back from three bowl games to two. The announcement of East Carolina (7-5) against Coastal Carolina (9-3) would not be worth the time spent. Chanticleer QB Grayson McCall went down to an injury in Week Eleven. After that, James Madison clobbered them, 44-7, in their last game. In the Sun Belt Championship a week later, Troy took them down, 45-26. The Chants aren’t the same without McCall at QB. Since then, McCall announced he’s going into transfer portal.
Evidently, he thinks he can pick up more NIL money elsewhere while showing the pros what he can do against a higher level of competition. For us, we don’t see a competitive TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. We’ll pass. We’ll stick with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis where 6-6 Kansas will clash with 6-6 Arkansas.
QB Grayson McCall (with football) of Coastal Carolina seen here in loss at Appy State in 2021. He no longer looks for Chant receivers. Now he looks for another team to play for.
After that, we committed to the dud in Music City. There, Iowa with no offense meets Kentucky with opt-outs on offense including QB Will Levis. If anybody needs a good bowl game to help his draft value, it’s Kiper’s favorite, Levis. We saw the Wildcats lose to South Carolina in Week Seven, 24-14. Levis sat out with an injury and Frosh QB Kaiya Sheron started. The UK offensive performance struggled to say the least.
Satterfield Bowl in blustery Boston in First Bowl Week 2022
Former HC Scott Satterfield of Louisville sat on the hot seat going into 2022. Instead, he led his Cardinals to a 7-5 record. In First Bowl week 2022, Louisville heads to Boston to take on 9-3 Cincinnati in the Fenway Wasabi Bowl. The Bearcats former HC Luke Fickell resigned at the end of their season to take over downtrodden Wisconsin. As a matter of fact, he and most of his Cincy staff will be coaching the Badgers in the upcoming Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State. There needs to be some rules against this.
Stepping in for Cincinnati – Satterfield. We don’t think he’s coaching in this, but it doesn’t get much crazier than this. Coach’s former team and future team meet in a bowl this same season. All we can say is we will never be crazy enough to venture to Boston to attend a bowl game at Fenway Park. The opponents share the same sideline. What a reward! 33 degrees forecasted there. Maybe snow. We’ll never go!
Louisville TE Isaac Martin carries over a scored against James Madison in this year’s win. Next season, the LU offense will be throwing under new HC Jeff Brohm. The former Cardinal QB comes in from Purdue.
UIW’s GJ Kinne to take over at Texas State
It didn’t take Texas State long to get a commitment from HC GJ Kinne of incarnate Word. He’ll transfer from San António to San Marcos for the 2023 season. We give Kinne and TSU credit for allowing Kinne to continue to coach the Cardinals while still competing in the FCS playoffs. Kinne, a former Tulsa QB who eventually played as a back-up in the NFL has what the Bobcat program wanted. His resume includes head coaching experience, longtime Texas football connections, and winning ways.
With family connections at TSU, we look forward to seeing Kinne make the Bobcats more competitive in the Sun Belt. He’ll bring a pass-oriented strategy with him that has averaged 51.5 ppg this season at UIW. They just lost the FCS semi-final game to powerhouse North Dakota State, 35-32. Looks like fun times ahead for a TSU program. Hopefully, they get into the mix to compete for prime FBS talent in the Lone Star State.
Cure Bowl – good cause and a message for change
The Cure Bowl on Friday pitted two great 2022 champions from Group of Five conferences. No. 24 Troy defeated No. 25 UTSA, 18-12. The proceeds from Cure Bowl benefit cancer research – a tremendous benefactor. To us though, the match-up also indicates another “cure” to improve college football. Instead of seeing these two very good football teams coming in from the Group of Five rated at No. 24 and No. 25 play one another, let’s add some spice to bowl season. Let’s give the Group of Five teams like these opportunities to show they can be competitive with Power Five teams in general.
We prefer to see these two matched up against two Power Five opponents. Wouldn’t it be more exciting to see the top teams from the Group of Five play at least a third or fourth-ranked team among the Power Fives? The problem comes from bowl contracts pre-arranging match-ups limited between two Power Five conferences. Boring. No. four SEC vs No. three Big Ten or No. five ACC vs No. 5 Big Twelve. Bowl committees try to draw fan bases from big schools to come to their cities. UTSA has 35,000 students. Troy State, 16,000. Plus, alumni, of course. The Cure Bowl filled a Friday afternoon TV slot to start the bowl season. Why not invite these two later on for some prime-time action against Power Five teams?
We saw the Troy Trojans embroiled in a game of “smash-mouth” football in their 34-27 win over Western Kentucky this year. Turned out to be their second of 11 straight wins after defeating UTSA, 18-12, in Friday’s Cure Bowl. Troy wore our favorite uniforms this year, too.
Playoffs help, but…
Of course, we hope to see the new playoff format with twelve teams improve some of these match-ups. However, would No, 24 and No. 25 get a shot at playing in one of these games? If not, we propose that some other major bowls open up their invitation process to invite top teams remaining among all conferences rather than limited to members of two specific conferences. This “cure” would add more interest and incite more competitiveness among all 134 FBS (or more) teams.
Refs almost bumble Bahamas Bowl
Did you see what we saw in the first game of First Bowl week of 2022? Unless someone in the media made note of it since, it seemed to get swept under the rug In UAB’s 24-20 win over Miami (OH). The last play ended with the RedHawks nearly pulling off the win on the last play. What we saw on the previous play, the UAB Dragons got penalized for a facemask to gain 15 more yards. When we watched the replay, the only facemask we saw was by the Miami QB as the UAB defender took him out of bounds. The refs should have walked off 15 yards against Miami, not UAB. Did anyone else see it that way? Glad the RedHawks didn’t win with the advantage of an errant call by the refs.
Internal Navy battle
Hard for us to weigh in on this, until more facts come out regarding the firing of HC Ken Niumatalolo after the loss to Army. A faction of Navy fans calls for the dismissal of Navy AD Chet Gladchuk. They insist he handled the situation disrespectfully for one thing. Many also point out the disadvantages Niumatalolo had relative to the other academies after Covid-19. Others may know more than we do regarding this, so we’ll wait for things to shake out. As most know, the coach did a great job with winning records and a 6-5 bowl record to start. However, since the Covid-19 season where he admittedly did not have his team game ready at the start of the season, he’s recorded an 11-23 record since.
To us, he and the program seemed to lack the energy and enthusiasm before Covid. We admit, we disliked the AD’s move previously overstepping Niumatalolo to fire the OC Jasper Irvin. Coach Ken went to his defense to get Green reinstated as QB coach. To that, we see that as being a major weakness in Annapolis the last few years. There are two sides to every story. We think someone, particularly the Superintendent of USNA, needs to have a sit-down with the parties involved to get this cleared up. There’s no way Navy can be successful without the triple option to compete at the FBS level. Hopefully, recruiting continues with the existing staff to get the players they need. In the meantime, the administration needs to sort out the football leadership situation quickly.
In First Bowl Week 2022, is there a possibility of Navy HC Ken Niumatatolo returning? Many Navy fans hope so.
Coach search by Juniata Alma Mater dear
We had a great conversation with Juniata AD Nikki Ayers, class of ’06, regarding JC’s search for a new football coach after a disastrous 2022 season. Nikki took the position several months ago after being at Claremont Mudd Scripps as Associate Athletic Director for the D3 school on California. She heads a team of a dozen other people associated with the school from President James Troha, to National Champion Women’s Volleyball Coach Heather Pavlik, to academic department heads, former players, and student athletes among them. She’s had close to 100 applications to consider thus far. The search team is focused on head coaching experience, leadership capabilities for both football and life, and the development of a better strategic recruiting strategy. Not there the last time the previous coach was selected, there was no recollection of how that decision was finalized. However, she says there will be more transparency now.
We wish her the best in coming up with better leadership for a program whose players basically make up over 15% of the student male population at the school. With legacies at D3 Juniata such as late, great NFL HC Chuck Knox, former late, HC Walt Nadzak, the inaugural 1973 Stagg Bowl team (despite losing), and a 1956 Tangerine Bowl among many great teams, Juniata deserves to have a competitive team back on the playing field.
The Alma Mater, Juniata College, played in the first Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. Late HC Walt Nadzak sits at center in front row.
Landmark, Ho!
In 2023, we hope to see a fresh start in the newly formed Landmark Conference. It consists of seven schools comprised of both current Centennial members and some new foes. The new conference will get an automatic bid to the D3 playoffs. The Landmark also signed an agreement with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for two post season bowl to be known as the Chesapeake Classic. Two non-D3 playoff participants from each conference will square of in No. 1 vs No. 2 games. We look forward to seeing who the next coach will be at JC, and we look forward to rebuilding the Eagles into a competitive D3 program.
Championship Season in First Bowl week 2022
North Central of Illinois (14-0) held off Mount Union (13-1) to win the D3 Football Championship in the Stagg Bowl played in Annapolis, Maryland Friday night, 28-21. The Cardinals took a 21-0 lead with 14:46 left in the game. However, the Purple Raiders got back to within seven on their next two possessions. The Cards scored again with 1:24 left. The Raiders countered again with 00:30 left to settle this score in an exciting final period. For North Central, they claimed their second championship in three years. They played in front of only 3,231 fans. Too bad. These teams play their hearts out just as much at the FBS teams do.
D2 today, Colorado School of Mines vs Ferris State of Michigan in McKinney, Texas
FCS teams determined in First Bowl Week 2022
North Dakota State (12-2) claimed half the final bracket last night with a 35-32 win over Incarnate Word (12-2). Today, No. 1 seed South Dakota State (12-1) takes on No. 4 Montana State (12-1). The winner of this takes on NDSU on January 8 at Frisco, Texas. We may have to think about capping off our season there this season. Check back with us for our Second Bowl Week 2022!
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Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State (7-5) will be sending Season’s Greetings from the Hawaii when the play San Diego State (7-5) on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas!
Philadelphia – In what was expected to be a hard-hitting, low scoring slugfest, Army’s Cadets came away with a 20-17 victory over their archrival Midshipmen of Navy. With a blocked punt for a TD in regulation and the benefit of a fumble recovery at the one-yard line in the second OT, the Cadets came away with the points they needed to win in this hard-fought scrimmage.
Early in the second period, the Mids drew first blood with Bijan Nichol’s 44-yard FG. Later in the period, DB Isaiah Morris blocked Navy’s punt and CB Jabril Williams returned it 31 yards for a Cadet TD with 1:06 before halftime. Army led, 7-3.
Navy’s defense did its job shown here stropping Army QB Cade Ballard (18) who rushed for only 23 yards on eight carries and completed two of ten passes for 28 yards.
Cadets and Mids fighting to the finish
Navy (4-8) outgained the Cadets (6-6) on the ground 259 yards to 125. QB Xavier Arline topped all runners with 102 yards on 28 carries. Teammate Anton Hall, Jr. gained 99 yards on seven carries including a 77-yard TD burst to give the Mids a 10-7 lead in the third quarter. The score held until 1:53 remained in the final period when Army’s Quinn Maretzki booted a 39-yard FG. Two series earlier, the Cadets forced the Midshipmen to punt on a three and out from their own five. Army took over from their 46 to drive to the Navy 20 to tie it with Maretzki’s kick.
Army RB Tyrell Robinson stopped by Navy CB Adam Walker II (25) on late game drive to tie score at 10-10.
A first in Army Navy History
With the stage set 10-10 at the end of regulation, the Cadets and Midshipman played their first OT after 122 meetings. Army struck like their Lightning Division. RB Markel Johnson raced around the left side for a 25-yard score, the Army offenses’ first TD of the game. Navy retaliated with stealth. On their first and only pass of the entire game, Arline lofted a 25-yard TD pass to wide-open Maquel Haywood to tie 17-17 on their first play of the OT.
To start the second OT, Navy went to offense first. On six running plays, the Mids got to the three for a second and goal and called time-out. Next, Hall took the handoff, went left, lunged toward the goal line, but before he could reach the ball across, DL Austin Hill forced a fumble recovered by Darius Richards. Navy got shut down. Starting over at the 25, Army focused on keeping the ball between the hashmarks. From 39 yards out, Maretzki made good to finalize the 20-17 victory for the Cadets.
Navy FB Anton Hall Jr dives into end zone without ball as Army recovers football at the one to take over for final game-winning kick.
End of an era, regrettably
Navy still leads the series 62-54-7, but Army has won five of the last seven games. Ten of those 62 Navy wins against the Cadets came under HC Ken Niumatalolo. Disappointingly, he’s seen his last. The very dedicated Navy coach leaves with the most wins ever at USNA with a 109-83 record. However, his last winning season came in 2019 at 11-2.
The Midshipman have gone 11-23 since. He leaves USNA with a 10-5 record against Army and at 7-7 versus Air Force. In our opinion, once Covid-19 hit, he seemed to lose his focus and enthusiasm for running this program. Before that, he seemed to be the right fit for Midshipmen playing football. Sorry to see him go after watching him coach over most of these seasons. Regretfully, it seems like the program needs re-energizing. He leaves Navy football with lot of great memories and victories. We hope someone else can build on what he had continued after the departure of his predecessor, Paul Johnson.
Navy HC Ken Niumatalolo, far right, hovers close to his team during a time-out in what turned out to be his final game coaching the Midshipmen against the Cadets of West Point and any other Navy football foe.
Next up! Bowl Season
Neither Army nor Navy goes to bowl games. Both wait till next year. As for collegefootballfan.com, we’ve decided to pare our bowls games from three to two. With Coastal Carolina and East Carolina heading for the TicketSmarter Bowl in Birmingham, we now say, “no”. After CCU lost Senior star QB Grayson McCall, they can’t compete as well. They got smoked by James Madison, 44-7, and then by Troy in the Sunbelt Championship game, 45-26. The Chanticleers aren’t the same without him.
Our final two for 2022
We await some personal developments, but we do plan to head for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis where Kansas (6-6) will meet Arkansas (6-6). Big fans of KU HC lance Leipold, we look forward to seeing the Jay Hawks play. We have not seen that team play since 1993 when they fell to eventual national champion, Florida State, 42-0. They met to start the season at the Kick-off Classic in The Meadowlands. This matchup 39 years later looks to be a good game.
Already, we committed to the Music City Bowl. Have to say, we regret seeing Iowa (7-5) getting the Big Ten invite. That team has no offense. They will face Kentucky who has a very good defense though we saw them lose to South Carolina and Georgia already this year. We expect some scoring from the Wildcats to outgun anything the Hawkeyes have to offer. With that game penned on our slate, we will finish this season with our 655th game. More Salvos to come weekly though. Stay in touch.
Collegefootballfan.com enjoyed a tailgate prior the the game with friends from Second Company USNA Class of ’78 – Mike Malinack, John Semcken, Wil Kramer, Dennis Viera, Alden “Rock” Williams, Rick Yasky, Yours truly, Mark Miller, and Vinny Bellezza. Rock organized our tailgate very well. Vinny and Frank Scarpa (not pictured) did a great job cooking egg sandwiches, sausage and peppers, breakfast strombolis, and a shrimp boil!Great time with great friends!A few toasts were given.
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Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
This Texas State Strutters’ picture is here to make up for that last picture. Merry Christmas!
We leave for Philly for the 123rd happening between Army and Navy. These two football academies meet for the last official regular season of college football. Truly the greatest college football rivalry in our opinion. The game features two teams where no players, despite Donald Trump’s recent change in policy, have played for four years to go on to professional sports. These players move on to true American callings to be prepared to step up when our country needs military leadership.
Once again, the game will not be a pretty display of athletic prowess at its highest level. It will be a knock-down, drag-out, hard-hitting slugfest between two rosters from basically all 50 states playing just for pride to beat the other. Interest gets stirred among many who may not even follow football. Many Americans watch because someone among their family history served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps. What other rivalry draws in such a large following? It rates being the only college game to be played on Week Fifteen!
Army-Navy battle for the 13th time on our schedule in Week Fifteen.
Expect this “tradition” to continue
Reportedly, these two teams have landed under the betting line for 16 consecutive years. This year’s baseline is 32.5. Their scores against academy rival and Commander-in-chief winner Air Force (9-3), already attest to this. All three programs rely on a triple option attack as top college QBs seek glory and gold elsewhere. In evidence more now especially with the very lucid transfer portal. Air Force defeated Navy (4-7), 13-10, and Army (5-6), 13-7. Neither team has a shot at a bowl bid. Even if Army wins, two wins came against FCS competitors. Only one such game counts toward a bowl.
Be aware that this game probably sets the record for TV time-outs. With minimal passing, the clock never stops. To fill three and a half hours of scheduled air time, fans at Lincoln Financial and fans on the couch at home will sit and wait for two and a half hours of commercials. We look forward to tailgating with many friends from USNA on Week Fifteen. It will be a great day. All we can say now is, “Go Navy! Beat Army!”
“Boo-hoo“, Bama!
Why did college football have to listen to blathering Nick Saban beg the pollsters to vote his 10-2 Crimson Tide into the CFP ahead of TCU or Ohio State? He harped on two close, last-minute losses to Tennessee and to LSU. Some pundits gladly pointed out that the UT loss dulled some luster as the Carolina Gamecocks pounded the Vols, 65-38. Why couldn’t Bama? We’ll also provide another angle.
Look at his wins, not losses. Good SEC wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State, both 8-4. Arkansas ended up 6-6, ho-hum. Don’t tell us that Vanderbilt who finally won two SEC games, A&M, and struggling Auburn were good wins. Those teams didn’t finish among 80 other FBS schools going to bowl games. Bama won only three games against SEC bowl teams.
Glad to say that many people pointed out to their 20-19 win over Texas was heavily influenced by the loss of Longhorn QB Quinn Ewers early in that contest. Collegefootballfan.com attended their 55-0 Utah State thrashing. Like watching the Christians fed to the Lions. State lost the following week to FCS Weber State, 35-7. These Aggies didn’t right themselves until a few games later to finish 6-6. Alabama, like all of the SEC, plays one FCS team. They beat a mediocre program, Austin Peay, who visited for a hand-out late in the season. Who cares? The other win came over lowly 4-8 UL Monroe of the SunBelt.
Nick Saban right in his “comfort zone” surrounded by players and admirers at Bryant-Denny before leading the Utah State Aggies to their 55-0 slaughter. Emperors in the Roman Coliseum must have gotten the same satisfaction anticipating the final outcome.
Nick, Buckeye bashing?
Ohio State won every game in their conference until No. 2 Michigan. Five earned bowl games. Regretfully, to us, Penn State (10-2) fell in the game we attended, and everybody else did to OSU until Michigan beat up on them in their heated rivalry. Look at the Buckeyes’ non-conference schedule. A win over Notre Dame who struggled early under a first-time HC who came around with good wins to finish 8-4. At the mid major level, instead of Utah State, they beat up on Toledo who eventually won the Mid-American Conference title. Thirdly, they beat Arkansas State (3-9), like ULM, a member of the Sun Belt. Just so happens, Arkansas State defeated ULM, 45-28. Sorry Nick, cry to your fans, but don’t tell the rest of us your team’s performance on the field earned you a spot among the final four. You recruit the best. However, you don’t always play up to it. Not this year anyway.
Dream on Deion
So, Deion Sanders takes his prime-time show and his QB son, probably WR Travis Hunter, and a few other stalwarts he recruited for Jackson State to Colorado. There’s no place for the Buffalos to go but up after finishing 1-11 in 2022. First of all what gets us, in his TV interviews, Deion mentioned he nobly committed himself to improving the play and notoriety among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Evidently, that was short-lived. He led Jackson State to a 12-0 record this year. One game left in the Cricket Celebration Bowl against NC Central (9-2). Last season with an 11-1 record, JSU lost that game to 7-5 South Carolina State, 31-10. See how they fare this year. Will their key players step up or out through the transfer portal by kickoff?
Ralphie, prime beef, who we visited in a game vs USC a few years back, will now be led by her horns by Prime-Time himself.
HBCUs go “0-for”
As for the improvements he brought to HBCU football “overall”, the two conferences, the Mid-Eastern Athletic (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic (SWAC), whose champs meet in the Cricket Celebration, did not defeat any FBS schools they played. As a matter of fact, they were all totally one-sided losses.
Deion’s team didn’t even play any such teams. Neither did North Carolina Central. Examples of scores these two conferences played against FBS competition went like this: Georgia Southern 59 Morgan State 7; Marshall 55 Norfolk State 3; UCF 56 South Carolina State 10; UCLA 45 Alabama State 7: UAB 59 Alabama A&M 0; Miami (F) 70 Bethune Cookman 13; LSU 65 Southern 17; Tulane 52 Alcorn State 0; Arkansas State 58 Grambling 3, and so on.
In 2006, we saw Delaware State host South Carolina State in a MEAC game.
The 12-PAC ain’t no SWAC or MEAC
Well Deion and his shiny new Buffs will only have to face USC and UCLA among the PAC-12 for a few years. Also, does he think the other schools or others that may join the PAC-12 will take a backseat in recruiting like the HBCUs Jackson State left behind? Different world. Utah, Oregon, and Washington among others will probably become more competitive recruiting. Deion can’t recruit everybody. More level playing fields here. We’ll see if his recruiting gives him the talent to rise head and shoulders among these other programs. We can’t wait to see his coaching “prowess” in front of his new herd. Can’t wait to see how this develops over the next five years of his contract and if he lasts that long.News Flash! He just hired Alabama co-DC of many years, Charley Kelly. All that can be said is, “AFLAC!”
What’s in a name?
Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt just landed a big NIL deal for his pass catching exploits for the Vols with none other than the World of Hyatt, the major hotel chain. Good for him. We now envision families coming up with brand names for their newborns to get first consideration to attract colleges to sign them for lucrative NIL deals. We can hear it now. “This is my son, ‘Big Mac’, and over there is his little brother, ‘Big Whopper’. Their sister ‘Allnet’ is outside shooting hoops.” All Net offers several commercial options including hair spray, software systems, and even basketball training aids. We can hear it now, the most common first name for boys born in 2023 will be… “All-State”!
FCS, D2, and D3 games in Week Fifteen
Our game last week won in OT by Samford over SE Louisiana turned out to be one of the most competitive. In Week Fifteen, the Samford Bulldogs meet always top North Dakota State. In another great game last week, SE Louisiana conference foe of the Southland, Incarnate Word, defeated Furman 41-38. Seventh-seed UIW (11-1) travels to Two-seed Sacramento State (12-0), 38-31 winner over Richmond.
In other FCS brackets in Week Fifteen, No. 1 seed South Dakota State (11-1) hosts undefeated Holy Cross (12-0), winner of the Patriot League. No. 4 Montana State (11-1), winner over Weber State ,36-31, hosts Colonial Athletic Conference champ William and Mary (11-1). Can’t wait until we see brackets like this for the FBS.
South Dakota State’s WR Eric Weinke (19) seen here in FCS playoff vs. James Madison in 2017. The Jackrabbits plays as no. 1 seed in this year’s FCS playoffs. Undefeated Holy Cross visits them in Week Fifteen.
All Top seeds already eliminated in D2 quarterfinals
No. 2 Shepherd (WV) of the PSAC (12-1) will visit Colorado School of Mines (11-2). Last week, both squads extracted revenge from No. 1 seeds they lost to in the regular season. Shepherd slammed No. 1 IUP, 48-13. The CSM Orediggers avenged their loss to Angelo State, the No. 1 seed, with a 42-24 victory. The CSM’s other loss this season came at GVSU who Ferris eliminated.
No. 2 Ferris State (11-1) got revenge last week over No. 1 Grand Valley State for their only loss of the season, 24-21. They will host No. 3 West Florida who belted unseeded Wingate, 45-14. The championship game between the two winners head to McKinney, Texas the following Saturday.
In D3, “Knights of Nie” crash party among the old schools
In the D3 semis, three of the four teams have taken home the title over the last four years. Mount Union’s Purple Raiders won in 2017, the North Central Cardinals in 2019, and Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders in 2018 and 2021. The 2020 season was canceled. In 2022, enter the Wartburg Knights (12-0) from Waverly, Iowa, a school of 1,461 students. They won the American Rivers Conference. The Knights have the task in Week Fifteen to knock off 13-time champ Mount Union. By the way, “nie” in German means “never”. These Knights have never made it to D3’s final four.
Defense shines for these Knights with five shut-outs this season allowing only 8.08 ppg. No slouches on offense either averaging 41.3 ppg. To their credit, in the playoffs they defeated perennial WIAC co- champ, Wisconsin-Whitewater in the first round, 14-6. MH-B (11-1) travels to North Central. Last season, the Crusaders defeated the Cardinals in the Stagg Bowl to win it all, 57-24. The winners of Week Fifteen will meet in the Stagg Bowl the following Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
Please check out our book!
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
This wasn’t the NCAA Hockey Championship, but these Mary Hardin-Baylor cheerleaders could be the poster for “The Frozen Four” when we saw the Crusaders fall 12-0 to Mount Union in the 2017 Stagg Bowl in Salem, VA.
Homewood, Alabama – In one of the greatest individual performances collegefootballfan.com has ever witnessed, Quincy Crittendon a redshirt freshman subbing for injured starter Michael Hiers after the opening series, led his Stamford Bulldogs (11-1) in a thrilling FCS second round game to win in OT, 48-42. He threw for 314 yards and four TDs connecting on 26 of 40 passes against the Southeast Louisiana Lions. He also led the Bulldogs in rushing with 94 yards on 20 carries. His capper came as he burst up the middle unscathed into the end zone from 10-yards out to win in overtime. His Bulldogs and move into next week’s quarterfinals at No. 3 seeded North Dakota State.
It was the second straight walk-off, overtime touchdown for Samford’s back-up, walk-on quarterback. Crittendon repeated the last-minute heroics in the final regular season win over Mercer. Previously, he stepped in for Hiers who left injured in the first OT period in that one. The freshman scored on a 25-yard run for a touchdown in the second overtime period to win, 50-44, to finish their regular season at 10-1.
Hiers out, Samford calls in back-up
On the initial Samford drive, Crittendon stepped in for the ailing Hiers (2 of 3, 27 yards) on a third and eight. On the next play, a run by Jay Stanton kept the drive alive on a fourth down run. Next, Crittendon connected with Judd Crockett (4 catches for 90 yards, 2 TDs) on a nice over-the-shoulders grab for his first TD pass. The SE Louisiana Lions (9-4) retaliated with a scoring drive of their own. RB Carlos Washington (9 for 88 yards, 2 TDs) capped a 12-play, 69-yard drive to tie it up on an eight-yard run.
SE LU RB Carlos Washington, Jr. (24) about to bounce left off Samford defense to goal line to even score early, 7-7.
On the next Bulldog possession, maybe because the up-tempo caught the coaching staff off-guard, Samford went for a first down on a quick snap on fourth and short from their 34. SELU stopped Crittendon cold and took over on downs. QB Cephus Johnson III followed up Washington’s 21-yard run to the one into the end zone. On the next Bulldog series, Crittendon connected with WR Kendall Watson who made a diving catch for a 46-yard gain to the one. Jay Stanton took it over for the deadlock of 14-14 at the end of one!
The Lions stopped Samford QB Quincy Crittendon (with the ball) on fourth and one at his 32 to take over on downs and take a 14-7 lead in Q1.
Second frame belongs to defenses
Two sacks by the Lions forced the Bulldogs to punt from their 22. SELU started with good field position from their 43 and drove to the Samford 17. They faked the field goal attempt with holder Nick Kovacs’ run. The Dogs stopped him short of a first down. Their ensuing drive started from their 12. A key conversion came on fourth and three at SELU’s 41. Crittendon completed a nine-yard pass to Chandler Smith for a first down. The drive resulted with a 10-yard pass over the middle into the end zone to Kendall Watson (7 snags, 110 yards, 1 TD) to put Samford up, 21-14.
Samford WR Kendall Watson (84) grabs 10-yard scoring pass to take 21-14 lead in second period.
With 3:23 remaining in the first half, the Lions looked to even the score. Like Samford, Lion QB Johnson III fired a pass for a first down to WR Gage Lavardain for nine yards on a fourth and three at the Samford 37. A 14-yard run by Johnson (19/30 passing, 173 yards, 1 INT; 15 carries for 123 yards, 3 TDs) took SELU to the 13. For what turned out to be the defensive play of the game, DB Fred Flavors wrestled the ball away from the intended Lion receiver for an INT in the end zone. He negated the scoring opportunity with 44 second left. The Lions took the long walk back up the hill to their locker room trailing at halftime, 21-14.
Samford’s Seibert Stadium’s playing surface is named for the late Hall of Fame Head Coach Bobby Bowden. We always admired the man from a distance as a great coach and a good person. Before going on to coach Florida State for many years, he started at Samford and then WVU before heading Seminole Nation football.
Samford turns on the lights
To start the third, the Seibert Stadium lights came on as the sun was setting on Alabama. SELU punted after an unusual, quick three and out to start the third. However, Samford turned up the lights on the turf of Bobby Bowden Field starting the third. Crittendon lofted a pass bobbled by Crockett who pulled it in for a 48-yard scoring play down the right sideline. Trailing 28-14, SELU drove to the Samford 26. On third and two, Johnson III broke off left tackle for the first. However, instead he took it all the way for six points.
SELU QB Cephus Johnson III (foreground) looks for a first down, but starts out on a 26-yard TD instead.
The Bulldogs’ subsequent possession ended quickly with a solid shot to Crittendon who fumbled. DL Tainano Gaulua recovered at Samford’s 22. On fourth and goal after advancing to the one, Johnson took it over to tie the score at 28-all. The Bulldogs punted after an unusual three-and-out, but their defense held the Lions to the same. Heading into the fourth, the Bulldogs proceeded to the Lion 25.
QB Crittendon stripped of the football. Lion DL Tainano Gaulua (58) would recover to start SELU scoring drive to tie score at 28-28.
Untied and re-tied
On the first play of Q4, Jaylan Thomas caught a 25-yard pass from Crittendon to retake the lead, 35-28. The Bulldog defense stiffened once again. The offense took over on another punt from their 27. They fired on all cylinders mixing passes and runs. Stanton took in it from the two to give the Bulldogs another supposed, comfortable two-touchdown lead, 42-28.
No quit in these Lions from Southeast Louisiana. RB Jessie Britt (12 rushes, 83 yards, TD) provided the big spark with a 47-yard run to the Samford 20. Washington ran it in from the eight for his second score of the day. With 5:22 left to play, the Lions stalled to the Bulldog drive with two time-outs before forcing a punt. An SELU assistant called his offense over to the bench to review plays being drawn up on marker boards before they would take the field again.
Jay Stanton runs ball for Samford on a scoring drive early in the game.
Fresh off the board?
With 2:40 left, the Lions started from the eleven with one time-out left. On a first and ten at their 38, they must’ve called the play drawn up on the sideline. Johnson III hooked up with Lavardain ( 8 catches, 94 yards) for a 44-yard pass down to the Bulldog 18. The next play found Britt for a 17-yard gain to the one. Two plays later, Britt took in it from the two. With 37 seconds remaining, the score was tied at 42. Samford started deep in their own territory, and HC Chris Hatcher determined to run out the clock.
OVERTIME!
SELU got the football first. On a second and one at the 16, Johnson III had open space ahead of him. He headed for the right pylon. DB Hakeem Johnson jarred his arm. The ball came out and crossed through the end zone out of bounds for a touchback. No score. The Lion defense had to hold. Three snaps gave the Bulldogs a first and goal at the ten. One play later, Crittendon sailed through the defense for the final score to take the win in Round Two of the FCS playoff, 48-42.
It turned out to be a great, exciting down-to-the-wire game that we always hope for. Glad we took the three-hour drive down to see this game in Homewood. This turned out to be our 23rd playoff game and our 18th overtime game. Seibert Stadium became our 171st college football venue attended, and our 64th non-FBS game decided by seven points or less. Check these out these and all our records on our Milestones page.
Samford Bulldogs celebrate briefly after Crittendon’s TD in overtime. Shortly after, talk had to turn to next week’s foe, North Dakota State.
NEXT!
SELU returns home to Hammond to take some time off before getting back together with HC Frank Scelfo to get ready for next season. The Lion roster is full of many talented underclassmen including Soph QB Eli Sawyer. He didn’t play today, but played much this year to fill in with experience for Senior QB Cephus Johnson III. Also, we’ll keep an eye out in the future for Soph S Jake Henderson. He was all over the field, an aggressive hitter who impressed us.
The Bulldogs face perennial FCS Champs North Dakota State up in Fargo next week. The FCS Championship always runs through Fargo. They would have to probably get there at some point in order to win it all. Might as well go for it now.
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
Their Lions came ready to play in this year’s FCS tourney but came up short losing in OT. We have a feeling that with the experience and coaching that they have, they will be back in the mix again in 2023.
In round one of the FCS playoffs, SE Louisiana (9-3, 5-1) “slipped” by the Idaho Vandals last week, 45-42. UI PK Ricardo Chavez misfired wide left as he slipped attempting a 39-yard FG with six ticks left to tie the score at 45. In a fight to the finish won by the No. 23 FCS Lions over No. 24, we expect them to battle like this once again against Southern Conference champ Samford. The sixth-seeded Bulldogs (10-1) host SE LA at Seibert Stadium in Homewood, Alabama for our Week Fourteen. Despite Samford’s only loss coming to FBS No. 1 Georgia, 33-0, they have not overwhelmed many FCS opponents. Their last outing resulted in a 50-44 2-OT win over a potent Mercer team. Expect this game to finish in similar fashion.
How ‘bout these Dawgs?
These Bulldogs average 33.55 ppg while allowing 23.82. Samford relies primarily on a passing attack led by QB Michael Heirs who’s passed for 3,290 yards and 35 TDs. WRs Chandler Smith (892 yards, 10 TDs) and Kendall Watson (851 yards and 10 TDs) perform as equally favored targets. Jay Slaton leads the running game with 680 yards. Jaylon Thomas ran for more TDs with seven. LB Noah Martin leads the defense with 80 tackles including six TFLs.
However, stats indicate surprisingly low success on pressuring QBs. They totaled 14 sacks, 30 hurries, and 10 INTs. Samford HC Chris Hatcher, 1994 Harlon Hill recipient at Valdosta State, leads this program for his 11th season. He carries a record of 171-94 as a college HC of 22 years over 23 seasons.
Only team to defeat the FCS Samford Bulldogs this season were the No. 1 FBS Georgia Bulldogs. Seen here in 16-6 win over Kentucky.
A two QB system that works
Southland Conference co-champ SE Louisiana uses a diverse offensive scheme. Two starting QBs have seen similar playing time. QB Eli Sawyer and Cephus Johnson III both have played in 11 and 12 games respectively. Sawyer has thrown for 1,605 yard and 11 TDS. Johnson totals 1,354 yards through the air. He’s also the second leading rusher on the team with 488 yards and five TDs. Carlos Washington leads all rushers with 627 yards and 13 scores. The receiving corps includes six targets with 211 yards or more on the season. WR Gage Lavardain leads in yardage with 637 while TE Ivan Drobocky leads all Lion receivers with six TDs.
HC Frank Scelfo’s defense features three LBs, Donte’ Daniels, Hermann Christophe, and Anthony Britton, Jr. along with DB Jack Henderson. All total over 70 stops this season. Defensively, the unit recorded 21 sacks and 16 picks this season. They will look to bring pressure on Heirs during Week Fourteen. Again, this will turn out to be a very close game. We’re looking for the upset here. Scelfo has led the Lions to a 34-22 during his five years in Hammond.
Week Fourteen Conference Championship outlooks
Heading into Week Fourteen, collegefootballfan.com has seen our fair share of conference and division leaders. No. 1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0) heads into the SEC championship game to hold off LSU (9-3, 6-2). Georgia’s defense will dominate to win this, but LSU presents one of the better defenses in the SEC UGA has not faced this year. the score will be similar to what we saw when The Dawgs beat Kentucky, 16-6.
In the Big Ten, No. 2 Michigan plays unranked Purdue (8-4, 6-3) who we saw open the season versus Penn State in a 35-31 loss. The Boilermakers won the west among a bunch of teams who couldn’t figure out who could win. We think the Boilers will be coming in fired up for this one behind QB Aidan O’Connell. O’Connell will be returning from the funeral of his older brother this week. His teammates expect that he will play. The emotions could stir the Boilers for a while in this one. In the end, Michigan will wear Purdue down for the win to move on to the CFP. They have an axe to grind with Georgia based on last year’s CFP outcome.
Boilermaker teammates insist QB Aidan O’Connell (16) will return to lead them against Michigan in Week Fourteen for the Big Ten Championship after the tragic loss of his older brother.
ACC plays for Orange Bowl Bid
With losses to end their seasons, the game between No. 9 Clemson (10-2, 9-0) and No. 24 North Carolina (9-3, 7-2) lost a lot of luster. Before week Twelve, both lost only to Notre Dame. Clemson fell to a red-hot South Carolina offense last Saturday, 31-30. The Tar Heels lost to Georgia Tech (5-7, 4-4) and NC State (8-4, 4-4) to finish their season in two close losses. Clemson will be ready for a shoot-out with QB Drake May. This will be high-scoring and close with the Tigers’ pride taking over since not making the CFP this year.
UTSA and Troy featured in finales
UTSA (10-2, 8-0) faces North Texas (7-5, 6-2) for the Conference USA title as both bid farewell to this conference before moving on to the American Athletic next season. The Road Runners defeated the Mean Green at home earlier, 31-27. NTSU will have a revenge factor here playing at The Alamo Dome. A loss to UAB two weeks ago and a close win over Rice could indicate they were looking forward to this one.
TroyTrojans RB DK Billingsley (28) rushed 22 times for 122 yards and a TD on the day we saw them defeat Western Kentucky.
Troy (10-2, 7-1) should apply the hammer to Coastal Carolina (9-2, 6-2) who lost star QB Grayson McCall a few weeks ago. Coastal got blasted without him by James Madison last week, 44-7. The shame of it is, however, is that JMU (8-3, 6-2) tied CCU for first in the Sun Belt East. For Week Fourteen, this matchup would draw much more interest to the improving Sun Belt.
Why is this a rule?
However, because of a “stupid” rule precluding JMU from competing for the conference title because this is their first year in the FBS Sun Belt, the Dukes can’t play in the championship game. Under the circumstances, JMU playing Troy would be a much better game now. Troy played well when we saw them defeat Western Kentucky in a comeback this year. We saw the Dukes fall to Louisville. This demonstrated that they need to build more depth to play more competitively at the Power Five level. We believe that they will get there.
A waiver? Why?
With all the bowl games now (41), the geniuses that run the NCAA have to figure how to fill all the bowl commitments because not enough teams became bowl eligible with six wins. Five must be against FBS opponents. Sorry Army, if you beat Navy, your sixth win is only your fourth FBS because you defeated Villanova and Bucknell. Like the Midshipman like to sing, “…we just play Holy Cross, ‘cause that’s the fearless Army way!”
In the meantime, 5-6 New Mexico State added FCS Valparaiso in Week Fourteen to replace a regretful cancellation of a previous game vs San Jose State due to the death of a player. NMSU already has a win against FCS Lamar. A win over Valpo would still only give them four FBS wins. But they can petition the NCAA for a waiver?
At 8-3, despite their loss we witnessed at Louisville this year, James Madison belongs in a bowl game.JMU defense seen here sacking Cardinal QB Malik Cunningham
Waiver? Wait a minute
NMSU can apply for a waiver? How about someone taking a look at aforementioned 8-3 James Madison. This deserving team has to sit outside the bowl season looking in only because they exceeded everybody’s expectations in their first season. Others like Rice at 5-7 will be consider due to APR. That’s an honorable consideration, but why are teams with five or six wins being considered over a very viable eight-win JMU team with a good APR? Seems like an easy waiver decision here.
Let the best compete before making exceptions. 5-6 Rutgers replacing Texas A&M last year against 11-2 Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl was not only an embarrassment, but a slap in the face to a competitive team who deserved this bowl last season. Winning, fairly, should be every team’s goal to get into a bowl game. TV money should not be the priority for college athletics, but that seems to be what it’s only about now.
The waiting games
Aside from the championship games and Army-Navy the following weekend, no other games will be played that impact all the other bowls to be played. We await word to find out what teams will be fulfilling the bowl games we plan to see this year: The Ticket Smarter Birmingham Bowl, the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl, and the TransPerfect Music City Bowl (we’re begging that without much offense, that Iowa’s not in it). In the meantime, we list here all the bowl eligible teams we watched perform this season:
Georgia (12-0) , Ohio State (11-1), Alabama (10-2), Penn State (10-2), Clemson (10-2), UTSA (10-2), Troy (10-2), James Madison (8-3)*, Purdue (8-4), South Carolina (8-4), Texas (8-4), Western Kentucky (8-5), Houston (7-5), Kentucky (7-5), Louisville (7-5), Middle Tennessee (7-5)**, Wake Forest (7-5), Baylor (6-6), Louisiana (6-6), Utah State(6-6). *JMU (see “waiver” above); ** Middle Tennessee heads to EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl vs. San Diego State (7-5) on December 24. AlohaBlue Raiders!
In Week Fourteen, the Middle Tennessee Dance Team must already be looking forward to performing in Hawaii on Christmas Eve.
Bottom Ten
We are happy to report that Collegefootballfan.com did not see one of the bottom feeders listed play this season. There have been seasons that we had multiple teams in this category on our slate. No team we saw this year including two FCS schools had fewer than four wins. Austin Peay finished 7-4 and Eastern Kentucky went 7-5. Surely that is a record year for us.
Twelve in 2024
Seems like the CFP Committee leveraged its TV money position to get the Rose Bowl to rescind its demands to always have a Rose Bowl TV slot at 1 pm PST to show the “Grandaddy of them all”. We hate to see traditions die as they have been falling by the wayside these past five years or so. However, we like the CFP expansion and that it’s going to happen earlier. More teams the better! Hopefully recruits will consider opportunities beyond the traditional handful of participants to play for. Spread the wealth of talent from a fan’s perspective.
We hope to see some tightening up of conference schedules eliminating games against FCS schools, less use of transfer portals, and more equality in the NIL opportunities. Most likely this won’t happen, but hopefully there will be more “rich” teams in the future. When that happens, the FBS will finally separate into two official bowl subdivisions – one for the Power Five and one for the current Group of Five.
We foresee this as minimizing player opt-outs for bowl season by hopefully eliminating some excess non-value-added bowl games. Maybe, they’ll just let every team who wants an extra game play in a ”consolation” game. Finally, a step hopefully in the right direction regarding the CFP. Either way, more changes will be made. For the better? Not sure.
Already in Week Fourteen before announcing a New Years Six Bowl Bid, standout Penn State DB Joey Porter, Jr. has already opted out to play in a bowl game. A major cog in this the Nittany Lion defense, they finished 2022 together with a record of 10-2.
FCS: No. 1-8 seeds enter playoffs in Week Fourteen
Aside from No. 6 Samford vs SE Louisiana we will be attending, other key FCS games include No. 1 seed South Dakota State (10-1) hosting Delaware (8-4). Weber State (10-2) will visit No. 4 Montana State (10-1). Defending champ and No. 3 seed North Dakota State (9-2) hosts Montana (8-4). The winner of this game will play the winner of our game. Furman (10-2) travels to No. 7 Incarnate Word (10-1). No. 2 overall Sacramento State (11-0) hosts Richmond (9-3), a 41-0 winner over Pioneer champ Davidson.
D2: Week Fourteen could be “Big Revenge Week”
Three of this week’s four Super Region quarterfinal games make for a very exciting week. These matchups consist of teams that battled in very competitive regular season games. This week should be fun! No. 1 East seed Indiana U of Pennsylvania (9-1) hosts Shepherd (WV). In a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference game, the Crimson Hawks defeated the Rams (11-1), 24-21. Midwest Regional action sees No. 1 Grand Valley State (11-0) hosting Ferris State (10-1). In their Great Lakes Intercollegiate game, GVSU defeated Ferris for their only loss which was on the road , 22-21.
Out in the West, No. 1 Angelo State (11-0) hosts Colorado School of Mines (9-2). In previous, non-conference action, Angelo State hosts the Ore Diggers a second time after defeating them, 30-27. This is a great playoff weekend in D2. You have to love that CSM. They lost two tight, non-conference games to two teams also in the playoffs (GVSU the other). Then they beat all foes in their Rocky Mountain Conference to make the playoffs. In the Southern Super Region game, No. 1 seed Benedict (11-0) of the Southern Intercollegiate hosts Wingate (9-2) of the South Atlantic. For Benedict, they made the D2 playoffs for the first time ever.
The Shepherd Rams, seen here in playoff action in 2015 against Slippery Rock, take on IUP in the Eastern Super Region this weekend.
Eight teams square off in D3 Quarter finals in Week Fourteen
Perennial champ Mount Union (12-0) hosts Delaware Valley, also 12-0. The Purple Raiders and the Aggies have not met in the playoffs over many years of success. Defense during the regular season marked the forte of both programs. Del Val allowed 6.5 ppg while MU opponents averaged 7.1 during all 12 games. Last week, Randolph-Macon scored much higher against DV in their loss, 35-32. North Central (Ill) and Ithaca also meet with unblemished 12-0 records.
Defending champ Mary Hardin-Baylor (11-1) should best 10-2 Bethel (MN). Undefeated Wartburg hosts surprising lower seed Aurora (11-1) after two road wins in their two playoff games. The semis will be played the following weekend and the championship Stagg Bowl will be held in Annapolis, Maryland the following Friday night. Hopefully, FBS playoffs starting in 2-24 will be as competitive as these lower-level, postseason tourney formats.
Please check out our book!
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
The MTSU Blue Raider Dance Team seems to cheer, “Hawaii, here we come!”
San Marcos, TX – The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns started slowly. They built their lead gradually over Texas State (4-8, 2-6) holding the Bobcats’ one-dimensional offense in check. In the end, they win their sixth game to qualify for bowl eligibility, 41-13. The one-dimensional TSU possessed came in RB Lincoln Pare. The sophomore carried 28 times for 221 yards and one TD. On one carry, he ran right by us as we stood along the sideline for 56 yards. He also burst later on for a 64-yard jaunt. On Sunday, Texas State released their HC Jake Spavital after four years with no bowl bids and a 13-35 record.
As for our Texas Thanksgiving Two-step weekend, thanks very much to Zach Rittle, our future son-in-law. Zach (PSU grad) works as director of Business Development at Texas State. As a family, we enjoyed a tremendous, gameday experience. Before the game, we met up with many great TSU fans at the Pavilion at Bobcat Stadium for Texas BBQ and beverages. We got pre-game sideline passes, and we enjoyed seats and food during the game in the club level. During the game, we ventured along the sideline to capture the action right along the field. After the game, the was a season-ending celebration in the end zone with dance music by the “Spazmatics.” We find I definitely worthwhile to support TSU sports for our annual visit to see the Bobcats.
Celebratinga wonderfulThanksgiving weekend at Louisiana-Texas State game with family – Yours truly, St. Laurie, son Eric, CPO USN, daughter Alex, and her fiance’ Zach.
Begins with a Bobcat break
The Cajuns kickoff to open the game went out of bounds. TSU started from the 35 and paid off as Seth Keller’s 38-yard FG gave the Bobcats a quick 3-0 lead. Before the period ended, Chandler Fields connected with RB Chris Smith (10 rushes, 69 yards, one TD) for an 18-yard TD pass for a 7-3 lead Louisiana never relinquished.
The closest the Bobcats closed the score came early in the first. Keller launched a 40-yard FG thanks mostly to Pare’s 57-yard jaunt. Alter that, the Ragin Cajuns dominated the scoreboard the entire half. Two Kenneth Almandares FGs of 33 and 27 yards sandwiched a Der’lyn Washington 8-yard TD run (10 rushes, 73 yards, one TD). Louisiana led 20-6 at halftime.
From our sideline view compliments of Zach, TSU RB Lincoln Pare takes off on this 56-yard run to put the Cats in FG position.
All that glitters is gold
For halftime, the Texas State Strutters strutted their stuff in a season-ending Christmas celebration. The golden uniforms lit up the darkening sky. Great show!
The Strutters of Texas State performed their glittery Christmas presentation at intermission of the TSU-Louisiana game.
Ten plays into the period, the Cajuns put together an eight-play TD drive. A 24-yard run by Chris Smith (13 for 69 yards, one TD) set up his next carry from the one for a TD. The Bobcats retaliated with the only offense they could generate the entire game. Pare burst through a hole for a 64-yard touchdown run to cut the lead, 27-13. The Cats seemed to breathe new life when S Dejordan Mask picked off a pass at their 12. However, it fizzled with a punt. The defense came around again to challenge the Cajuns stopping them on a third and one from the UL 27. They forced a punt. The effort went for naught again with the visitors holding the lead going into the final period.
RB Chris Smith (13) of Louisiana sprints 24 yards down the left sideline to set up his one-yard TD run in Q3.
Louisiana Cajuns close
Louisiana (6-4, 4-4) continued their drive into the fourth. It finished with a three-yard scoring pass from Fields (16 for 26, 187 yards, one TD, one INT) to Peter LeBlanc to up their lead, 34-13. Next time the Cajuns got the ball, they drove 84 yards capped by a 37-yard TD pass from back-up QB Zeon Chriss. He connected with Lance Legendre (four or 81 yards, one TD) to close the scoring. They put the stamp on the Cajun win, 41-13.
Louisiana WR Chris LeBlanc takes in a short pass to score from the three in the final period.
Next up!
The Cajuns became bowl eligible. There seems to be openings for all 6-6 teams. Mathematically, it’s been determined to fill 82 bowl slots, at least one 5-7 team will be invited. When we hear that 82 of 131 programs are going to bowl games. Why not invite every team who wants to play another game? Call them consolation games. That’s what most of the bowl “festivals” have become.
Texas State goes out searching for a new coaching staff. Located in one of the most football fertile states in the country and being the only Sun Belt program in the Lone Star State, it needs to take advantage quickly. Supposedly they will look for a coach with head coaching experience. Whoever they get, we’d like to see him open up the offense. Hopefully, they draw more people to Bobcat Stadium to bring some excitement for the fans in the fast-improving Sun Belt Conference.
The clock not only counted the minutes left in a TV time-out. It also wound down HC Jake Spavital’s time left at TSU. With a lot of great experience under his belt, he’ll probably catch on as a DC elsewhere. With new insight, he’s young enough to move somewhere else to become HC once again.The key is to keep learning,
As for Collegefootballfan.com, we look forward to attending an FCS playoff game. We pinpointed next weekend’s game to be hosted by Southern Conference champion Samford (10-1), sixth-seeded, in Homewood, AL. The one loss suffered by these Bulldogs came at the paws and jaws of those other Bulldogs of the FBS, No. 1 Georgia, 33-0. The Dawgs of Samford host 9-4 SE Louisiana, 45-42 winner over Idaho in Round one.
Despite all four Bobcat wins at home for TSU, we hope their fans and supporters will enjoy much fuller seasons in the near future.
This poses a recent rarity for CFF.com. We attend a game at a place we’ve never been between two teams we’ve never seen play. A three-fer on our account. FCS, of course! Funny because at Texas State, Bobcat fans Kent and Karen Pope were trying to find an opportunity to have us come back to see their Cats against a team we haven’t seen yet. Frustrated them! Explained it would probably have to be against one of the three joining the FBS in the next two years – Jacksonville State, Sam Houston, or Kennesaw. This could work out sooner than expected.
Please check out our book!
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
The Strutters glittered in gold this weekend. Hopefully their football team will glitter as much in the future.
Austin, Texas – With the eyes of the Texas Longhorns upon making the Big XII championship game to get a crack at undefeated No. 4 TCU, they overcame a 27-24 deficit in the final period on the running of Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson to best Baylor, 38-27. Having fallen to TCU, 17-10, only two weeks prior, with a win they hoped for Kansas to upend K-State to get the opportunity. Baylor came in looking to salvage a disappointing 6-5 season after winning the Big XII in 2021.
The Bears got off to a quick start thanks to an intentional grounding by Texas QB Quinn Ewers from the end zone. Baylor followed up with a 48-yard scoring strike from Ben Shapen to Jaylen Ellis for a 9-0 BU lead. Texas refused to lose and responded on a 75-yard drive with Ewers taking it in from the three. On the subsequent Baylor possession, P Isaac Power shanked the punt out at the BU 29. Bijan Robinson, took it in from the two to give UT a 14-9 lead at the end of Q1.
Baylor WR Jaylen Ellis hauls in 47-yard scoring pass to take early 9-0 lead over the Longhorns.
Texas Bulls and Bears
Baylor fought back. They closed the gap with John Myers 30-yard FG only to be offset by Bert Auburn’s 38-yard FG for the Longhorns. Later with Texas starting a drive from its 20, two sacks set them back to punt from their nine. The Bears took over at the UT 45. The good field position netted BU a 14-yard TD pass over the middle to TE Ben Sims. Defensively, they stymied the Longhorns with another sack to prevent any further first-half score. Baylor led 19-17 at the half.
The second half started with an exchange of punts. Baylor recovered a fumble by WR Jordan Whittington to set up on their 44. A QB sneak by Shapen of fourth and one kept the drive moving, but the Longhorn D stiffened. Myers attempted a 40-yard FG, but it sailed wide left just outside the upright. UT took over on their 22. The traveled the length of the field with Roschon Johnson taking it in from the two to put Texas up, 24-19.
QB Quinn Ewers (3) puts first six up for the Longhorns to trail in Q1, 9-7.
Texas stampede
In the fourth, Power’s punt put the Horns back on their 15. From UT’s 33, pressure on Ewers forced a fumble. DL Gabe Hall picked it of the turf and returned it 16 yards for a Baylor TD. Shapen tossed a pass for two points to WR Hal Presley. With 13:30 remaining, the Baylor Bears led, 27-24. From here, Longhorn HC Steve Sarkisian decided to put the ball in the hands of Robinson (29 carries, 198 yards, two TDs).
DL Gabe Hall puts Bears up 27-24 with returned fumble recovery early in Q4.
Starting from the 25, the Longhorns went exclusively on the ground. Robinson picked up 65 yards on nine carries with Johnson ( 13 carries, 77 yards, two TDs) carrying for the balance. A one-yard TD run by Robinson with 8:25 left gave UT the 31-27 lead. The Longhorns turned back the ensuing Baylor possession with an INT by LB Jaylan Ford to start at Baylor’s 42. Robinson carried twice and Johnson followed up with the next four. On his final carry, Johnson scored from the 11 to extend the lead, 38-27. Baylor (6-6, 4-5) lost four yards on its final, futile possession before Texas went into victory formation to close the door on this one, and wait for Saturday’s outcome between Kansas State and Kansas.
Bijan Robinson scores from one to give Texas a 31-27 lead to pull ahead for good.
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all! If you like our stories, read all our tales when we saw all 120 FBS teams (at the time of publication) play for the first time. Or, start thinking Christmas gifts for your favorite college football fans! We also encourage you and whoever you buy for to submit a review for us. Please click on the title or copy of the cover on our right sidebar to go to our Amazon page to buy and review. Thanks!
Texas Cheerleaders looking forward to going bowling somewhere now.
