Week Four of Steveo’s Salvos: FCS showdown, “Tales…” update, Week Three-Four notes, Cornhusker Cravings, Ivy League Power, Hail Michigan?

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    For Week Four, collegefootballfan.com heads to Clarksville, TN to attend an early FCS showdown for Atlantic Sun (ASUN) superiority.  At Fortera Stadium, home of the FCS No. 23 Austin Peay Governors (3-1), the FCS No. 20 Eastern Kentucky Colonels (2-1) come calling for the conference opener for both.  Expect a hard-hitting game as both teams already aspire to this newly organized conference’s championship bid for the Football Championship Subdivision playoff.

    In Week Zero, we watched Austin Peay lose at FBS Western Kentucky, 38-22.  Since then, HC Scotty Walden’s team has reeled of three straight wins with two shutouts by a total score of 128-3.  The competition beaten holds a combined record of 1-8.  Against Mississippi Valley State, the Governors raced off to a 41-0 lead at the half, and never scored again.  On the other hand, the Colonels score an average 44.3 ppg and opponents challenged their defense totaling 38.7 ppg.  Don’t let the stats fool you. EKU enters Week Four with two contests against FBS foes under its belt.  In week one, they fell by eight points at Eastern Michigan and won in Week Two at Bowling Green, 59-57, in seven OTs. Last Saturday they defeated 0-3 Charleston Southern, an FCS team their own size, 40-17.

Austin Peay opened against WKU
Austin Peay (in white) scored 24 points in their loss to WKU in our season opener. The points scored fall far short of the 44-point average they enjoyed over their next three games.

Confident Austin Peay vs. tested Eastern Kentucky

    The Governors offense thrives under guidance of QB Mike DiLilleo.  He’s thrown for 860 yards and 13 TDs while rushing for 228 yards and three TDs. His favorite target falls in the hands of WR Drae McCray with 25 snags for 362 yards and four TDs.  RB Jevon Jackson leads the Gov running game with 300 yards on 43 carries and one TD.  A fairly well-balanced offensive attack, but hardly tested these past three weeks. Defensively, the Governors LB Corps of Antoine Williams and Josh Rudolph combined for 65 tackles in four games thus far.  They’ve allowed only 88.5 yards rushing per game, only five TDs (all by WKU), and only 10.5 points per game. Again, all against very suspect competition.

     On the other hand, EKU shows better offensive balance against much better competition averaging 44.3 ppg.  Against better competition as well, they allowed 38.7 ppg on defense, but defeated fellow FCS foe CSU, 40-17.   QB Mark McKinney has passed for 1,027 yards and 10 TDs/three INTs, and has rushed for 129 yards.  TE Dakota Allen looms has his favorite target with 18 catches for 245 yards and three TDs. Jayden Higgins converted 15 grabs for 229 yards and three TDs.  RBs Braedan Sloan and Kyeandre Magloire combined for 288 yards and four TDs in their three games. 

Driving force vs. overconfidence

     EKU HC Walt Wells played his college ball at APU.  Recovering from a seizure in August, please read his story here.  He’s back on the sideline already and drives to bring the Colonels to heights of the past.  EKU played in four consecutive FCS (then 1-AA) championships from 1979-1982 winning the titles in ’79 and ’82.   Desiring to go to the FBS level, the Colonels are on hold until invited by a particular conference.  They are driven.  The results of their current start indicates that.  This desire will propel them past the Governors by at least two TDs.  We predict more.  The feeble challenges the last three weeks leave HC Scotty Walden’s team in a false sense of overconfidence.  For our Week Four FCS Game of the Year, even though its APU’s homecoming, the Colonels will prevail.

New News from our book, Tales from the Tailgate…

     Please note the upper right-hand corner of each of our pages at the top of our sidebar. On either the title or on the copy of our book cover, all can now easily have access by clicking on one or the other.   Several fans have inquired about buying our book to read (and hopefully submit a review), but found it difficult to identify our links to Amazon.com.  We hope you enjoy our unique, fun adventure. An idea for another college football book is in the works for after this season.  We plan to continue with fascinating tales over the years that make college football the greatest sport season of all!

Cornhusker cravings

    Bidding adios to Scott Frost as the underperforming HC at Nebraska. The rumor mill abounds.  Latest word conjures up three names we find very interesting.  Matt Campbell, HC at Iowa State, played collegiately at D-3 Mount Union playing DL for HC Matt Kehres from 1999-2002.  We attended Campbell’s Head coaching debut at Toledo in 2011 in the Military Bowl replacing departed HC Tim Beckman. In an exciting game, his Toledo Rockets defeated Air Force, 42-41.  He coached the Rockets to a 35-15 record before taking over at Iowa State, where he’s now 45-34.  Many pro teams offered him opportunities to join, but he’s stayed with the college game.

      Kansas’ second year HC Lance Leipold’s name is being bandied about for the opening in Lincoln.  At 3-0 already this season, he looks to become Coach of the Year in 2022 as we predicted.  Like Campbell, Leipold’s roots start at D-3.  He coached Wisconsin-Whitewater to six national championships defeating Mount Union if the final in six of eight D-3 title games from 2005-2014.  He turned the Buffalo Bulls program around leading them to a record of 37-33 including two MAC championships in six years. A proven winner, his Warhawks of UW-Whitewater achieved 109 wins in 115 contests. 

We saw him beat Wesley (DE) in a national D-3 semi-final and watched his Bulls beat Army and lose to Penn State.  Entering Week Four, his Jayhawks host Duke and have a good shot at defeating Duke before entering Big Twelve play.  We’d love to see him stay at KU to see what he can do with that beleaguered program.

From UW-Whitewater to Buffalo to Kansas and eventually beyond, Head Coach Lance Leipold will win wherever he coaches.

     The third prospect comes in Bill O’Brien, OC at Alabama.  Having brought Penn State back after the devastation of the Sandusky scandal for two years, he went back into the pros where he worked prior as Tom Brady’s QB coach to become HC of the Houston Texas.  At Alabama now for his second season, we believe he’s itching to go take over a program someplace else.  Having worked and learning more under Nick Saban, the time at Bama served him well.  We think he’s the most apt of these three to take over the struggling Husker program.

Other teams on our 2022 schedule from Week Three to Week Four

     No. 1 Georgia had no problem wasting South Carolina in their SEC opener for both, 48-7. On October 8, we’ll see the Gamecocks wander into Lexington, KY to see them face No. 8 Kentucky (3-0). We’re doubting that they will fare much better.  In review of future schedules, we feel we’re on track to see two 10-0 SEC East teams collide on November 19. Then, the Bulldogs visit the Wildcats for the right to go the SEC championship.  

In Week Four, the Bulldogs smash the Golden Flashes of Kent State while Kentucky mushes the NIU Huskies.  No. 2 Alabama wasted another weekend practicing against UL Monroe last week to the tune of 63-7. Still? Why bother? And the SEC throws a ferry boat of Commodores from Vanderbilt for The Tide to roll over at Bryant-Denny.  Why bother?  Bama 1-0 in the SEC, Vandy 0-1. Here’s why: Saban covers the points whatever they are (-41) so the denizens of B-D can collect. 

Vandy' Re'Mahn Davis scores agaisnt Wake Forest in Week Two.
Vandy’s Re’Mahn Davis scores against Wake Forest in their only loss this season. Their win over Northern Illinois last week (38-28) puts them at 3-1 in non-conference games going into Alabama for Week Four.

  

Among collegefootballfan.com ranked teams in Week Four

     No. 3 Ohio State who bashed Toledo 77-21 Week Three, hosts unranked Wisconsin (2-1).  Neither has beaten anyone of note. UW took their previous loss out on No. 131 New Mexico State, 66-7, to “flex their muscle”. The No. 5 Clemson Tigers finally have a challenge when they meet No. 21 Wake Forest in Week Four.  The Tigers have dominated the Deacons for many years.  Could this be the Deacs’ year?  They just edged Liberty last week at home, 38-37. Back in Winston-Salem again this week, maybe the Deacs’ focus anticipated the Tigers’ visit.  QB Sam Hartman is healthy.  Clemson has beaten nobody of note.  Wake’s offense is potent and may be able to outscore this year’s Tiger team with some improvement on the defensive side. So, if anybody near the top gets beat this week, it could be the Tigers.   

     No. 14 Penn State as we witnessed over Auburn last week, hosts Central Michigan before heading into Big Ten play.  No. 17 Baylor (2-1) off a 42-7 win over struggling Texas State (1-2), heads north to take on Iowa State (3-0). ISU’s defense looks good and the Bears fell at BYU, 26-20, so there could be an upset alert on this one here.  In late November, we see Baylor face No. 22 Texas.  The Longhorns (2-1) open their Big 12 season, after overcoming an early challenge from UTSA (41-20) last Saturday, at Texas Tech (2-1).  This looks to be a tight one. The Red Raiders fell on the road to No. 16 NC State, 27-16.  Hudson Card remains at QB for the Horns and Heisman candidate RB Bijan Robinson came around with 183 rushing yards and three TD vs the Road Runners.

PSU Tailgaters
Penn State Nittany Lion fans here had a blast attending this tailgate at Auburn last week. They hope to continue winning to challenge No. 3 Ohio State on October 29 at No. 5 Michigan looming On October 15.

Week Four Under the Top 25

    Aforementioned UTSA (1-2) appears on our slate after this week on Friday night at nearby Middle Tennessee. The Road Runners look to take their frustrations out at home against Texas Southern in Week Four.  Western Kentucky (2-1) fell in a close one to Indiana last week in similar fashion to a year ago, 33-31.  We will see them host Troy the day after UTSA at MTSU next week. Of course, mostly everyone has seen the Trojans’ last second “Hail Mary” loss to Appalachian State, 32-28.  Troy hosts Marshall (2-1) Saturday. 

Not to leave the SunBelt yet, Louisiana (2-1) suffered its first loss a week ago to Rice, 33-21.  Texas State hosts FCS Houston Baptist (1-1). Bobcats lose, and that’s probably all for HC Jake Spavital.  In a big Sun Belt matchup, 2-0 newcomer James Madison visits the “team of destiny”, Appy State (2-1).  High-scoring, close one again! Georgia Southern (2-1) hosts Ball State (1-2) whom we hope to see host Ohio later this season.

In more WEEK Four action   

    South Carolina (1-2) meets Charlotte (1-3) at home. So much for a Spencer Rattler’s Heisman attempt.  Another Conference USA team, FAU (2-2), visits Purdue who fell to a surprisingly improved Syracuse team at 3-0.  Boilermaker QB Aidan O’Connell still threw for 424 yards and three TDs in a loss with seven second left.  Auburn (2-1) hosts Missouri (2-1). If the Tigers fall here, a lot of Auburn fans we met after last week’s game said they’d be selling remaining tickets for the rest of the season.

 Navy (0-2) gets back in action against 2-1 East Carolina. The Pirates look to be starting to turn the corner under Mike Houston who came over from JMU four years ago.  Hopefully during their bye week, HC Ken Niumatalolo worked on getting that triple option improved, or it’s going to be a very long season in Annapolis.  We plan to see them play the “In-fighting” Cougars of Houston (1-2) on October 22.  Check out this video of Cougar on Cougar.  Of course, we will see the Mids play archrival Army (1-2) in December.  The Cadets righted their own ship on the banks of the Hudson besting FCS No. 5 Villanova, 49-10, before their bye in Week Four.

Aidan O'Connell got good protection most of the game against Penn State
Purdue’s QB Aidan O’Connell keeps firing away despite he Boilermakers’ 1-2 record. They face 2-1 Florida Atlantic this weekend.

Desert Heat, and another one gone.

    The heat in the Desert turned on full blast as HC Herman Edwards was fired by the Arizona State Sun Devils (1-2). The loss to Eastern Michigan in Tempe Saturday and brewing scandal accusations burned too much even for them.  We’ll see who’s interested in heading a team whose conference, the PAC-12, seems to be heading into turmoil…

    Another one bites the dust. Not a coach, but another rivalry. Bedlam Bowl between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – done!  The move to the SEC by the Sooners and the Longhorns supposedly puts an end to 118 years of tradition because of ensuing non-conference contracts.  Maybe many years from now they’ll find a way.

Not the rivalry we grew up loving

    In the case of Oklahoma and Nebraska, remember back over the Big Eight years when this was a not-miss rivalry back in the 70’s and 80’s?  They finally got back together last week where the Sooners stomped the Huskers, 49-14.  What TV exec in their right mind put this game on as a network noon time game? This isn’t the 70’s.  They make these TV decisions two weeks before the games are played. Scott Frost sat on the hottest seat in college football. OU looks to prime its program to join the SEC in two years.  We don’t know where you hide potential blow-outs on Saturdays any more, but noon time on a major network couldn’t find a matchup more interesting?  Not totally TV’s fault though as every school looks for “automatic wins” during non-conference play.  Beating a dead horse here.  

Who says the Ivy League isn’t competitive?

     Last week, six of eight teams among the Ancient Eight won their opening games against other FCS schools from across the nation.  If all the FBS teams do this, why not the Ivy League members?  Oh, well they play and rank among schools in the FCS. Funny thing though, the epitome of the Ivies, Harvard and Yale, both lost.  Smart thing in addition, to start their ten game seasons, the Ivy League rarely plays an FBS program. Maybe one of the military academies at best.   Princeton was tempted a few years ago to play Rutgers for the 150th anniversary of the first college game ever.  Smartly, they didn’t bite. Why ruin a good thing? Plus, like other tempted FCS schools, they don’t need the money from FBS “donors”.

    Among the openers: Brown beat Bryant of the NEC about 15 miles from their campus in Rhode Island, 44-38.  Revived Columbia traveled to upstate New York to clobber Marist of the Pioneer League, 38-3. Cornell socked VMI of the mighty SoCon, 28-22.  Perennial leader Dartmouth hosted Valparaiso of Indiana for a 35-13 win.  Princeton ventured to Florida to top the Stetson Hatters, 39-14.  Valpo and Stetson both belong to the Pioneer League.  The Penn Quakers defeated Colgate of the Patriot League, 25-14.  All the Ivies play at least one other Patriot team every season. Harvard, the highest among Ivies in preseason polls, suffered a 13-7 upset to Merrimack not far from Cambridge. Yale fell to No. 13 FCS Holy Cross (3-0), 38-14.

Princeton romped over Butler, 49-7, when we saw them open up in 2019 against another Pioneer league opponent.

Ivy barometers

     Colgate fell to Stanford this season and visits Army on October 15. Bucknell lost to Central Michigan, 41-0, last week. Saturday, the Chippewas travel 45 miles west of Bucknell to play Penn State! A few CCA teams dot Ivy schedules such as New Hampshire and Rhode Island, but that’s about as close as they get to comparing to the FBS.  Harvard, Princeton, and Dartmouth all have Top 25 votes among the FCS after just one week of play.  In a few more weeks, the Ivy cream will show up among the ranked teams.  Fun to watch for teams relegated to play only ten games every season before final exams start.

Hail Michigan? Dominator of Bottom Ten needs a message from pollsters

    Got to get this in.  Weekly, ESPN does an analysis of the Bottom Team FCS teams.  Why is Michigan, aside from their history and fight song, “Hail to the Victors”, ranked No. 4? Their 3-0 record, out of 131 FBS teams, includes No. 130 Hawaii, No. 129 UConn, and No. 123 Colorado State. By the way, 0-4 New Mexico State ranks last at No. 131.  It proves that Alabama’s benevolence beating them at Bryant-Denny the last two seasons for donations to lose games 59-3 and 62-10 didn’t help improve their football fortunes.  Nick Saban must be disappointed in his efforts. Lance Leipold’s former Buffalo Bulls (0-3) rank No. 122.  Underscores the success he achieved there.

Hawaii’s DJuan Matthews stops Utah State’s Elelyon Noa for a short gain at Maverik Stadium last season in a 51-31 loss. They finished 6-7 on the season. They’ve really fallen on hard times under first-year HC, alum, and record-setting QB Timmy Chang this season.

    Well, Jim Harbaugh’s team should be penalized in the rankings for this alone.  Pollsters prove it doesn’t matter who these team play among 131 who can’t all recruit the same way.  Like Saban, Harbaugh’s ballyhooed for his recruiting prowess, and then he schedules teams not even mentioned anywhere near the top in recruiting.  Like Saban, he couldn’t win at the pro level where teams compete on a more level playing field. So, he’s back coaching in college picking top players and lowly opponents. 

Solution that will probably never happen

     At this point, it makes sense to have super conferences. Just restrict them to playing amongst themselves. This is killing college football.  They’re seeing it in attendance and in TV ratings.  A once exciting, competitive sport gives in to too many TV commercials shown during boring football games – about 50 each week. Who wants to sit and watch too many fan performances on the video boards?  It’s getting old, or we are.

Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the fan who’s seen ‘em all!  See our sidebar to upper right where you can click on our title or book cover to order from Amazon.  Thanks!

Auburn farewell!
Farewell, Auburn! Had a great time last week. Hope to see you next season to cheer along with you against anybody but Penn State!

Game 639: Nittany Lions Roar past Auburn Tigers with run game and takeaways

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Auburn, AL – The Penn State Nittany Lions displayed an improved running game at Auburn averaging 6.3 yards per carry with all five TDs of the rushing variety.  Their bend-but-not-break-defense intercepted two passes and recovered two fumbles on the way to achieving a 41-12 victory over Auburn.  They held AU’s top runner Tank Bigsby to only 39 yards. He ran for 102 yards at two TDs versus the Lions last season. PSU RB Nick Singleton carried ten times for 124 yards and two TDs.  Fellow frosh Kaytron Allen picked up 52 yards and two TDs on nine carries.  In the red zone, Auburn could only convert two FGs in the first half.  Their final series of the game stalled on fourth down against the Nittany Lions second team at the nine. 

A pride of Nittany Lions prey on Tiger QB TJ Finley – S Jaylen Reed (7), S Ji’Ayir Brown (16), and CB Daequan Hardy.

First half action

    PSU’s first series of the game stalled at Auburn’s 48 on a QB sneak by Sean Clifford.  HC James Franklin has not yet realized that when it comes to running, Clifford is no Trace McSorely, his predecessor.  Auburn QB TJ Finley (11-19, 152 yards, one INT) completed short passes to open receivers in the first half, or and his receivers made several outstanding catches.   However, once near the red zone, the Nittany Lions defense held firm.   Auburn’s Anders Carlson converted his first of two FGs in the first half from 33 yards to take a 3-0 lead. 

   On the ensuing drive by the Nittany Lions, Clifford (14-19 for 178 yards) connected with WR Mitchell Tinsley for 34 yards to the seven.  Two plays later, with a wide-open hole on his right, Clifford ran through from there to put the Lions ahead for good, 7-3.  S Zakee Wheatly (R-Fr.) picked off a Finley pass to gain possession at Auburn’s 25, but to no avail.  PSU punted it away.  Once again, Auburn made it to the Lions’ five to come away with Carlson’s second FG to cut the lead, 7-6.  Penn State retaliated immediately with a 68-yard drive capped by Allen with a seven-yard run. A fumble by Tiger WR Shedrick Jackson resulted in a Lion recovery by LB Jonathan Sunderland at the 50.  Like the previous Tiger turnover, the Lions couldn’t capitalize.   At the half, PSU went into the locker-room with a 14-6 advantage.

PSU TE Benton Strange gains big yards on this first-half scoring drive.

Can’t thank our Auburn Tailgate hosts enough!

   Our tailgate atmosphere was tremendous!  Longtime Auburn friend, grad, and successful business entrepreneur Charlie Murren met us at a very convenient lot hosted by a former classmate Dave Dirk and his fellow organizers, Mike and Billy.  What a great setting! We had a beautiful day.  The sun broiled fans in Jordan-Hare Stadium.  The canopy-covered tables provided a great assortment of foods and beverage brought by many attendees, conveniently in the shade.  The die-hard Auburn fans entertained many Penn State fans as families, friends, and business associates had affiliations with either or both schools. 

    Joe Rogers, formerly of the Bleacher Report, joined me as my Guest Game Analyst (GGA).  Now living in Savannah, Georgia, he brought several friends with him from his native Danville, Pennsylvania area.  Everyone enjoyed a good time sharing “tales around the tailgates”.  Good-natured razzing went on, and primary hosts Billy and Mike gave pregame speeches welcoming and busting PSU fans.  However, they genuinely invited us all back after the game, whoever won, or any other time when we visit “the Loveliest Village on the Plains” again.

Auburn Host “King” Mike greets Tailgaters prior to end of pre-game festivities.

Mutual respect

    These guys love doing this, but they and we hope their Tigers will make it more worthwhile coming for the rest of this season.   Except for having to leave with an “L” (28-20), they all consented that they really enjoyed the time and hospitality at State College last year.  Great people! Great time! Tremendous seats for us, too.    Charlie said he’ll let me know what games he’ll be at next year.  Then, we can root for the Tigers against somebody else and hopefully celebrate a win with these great Auburn Tiger fans!

Auburn Penn State Tailgate party
Avid Auburn Tiger fan, Joe Rogers, our Auburn host Billy, Fred Reibsome (Shippensburg alum), yours truly, and Auburn alum and long-time friend Charlie Murren enjoyed a great tailgate gathering before the game.

 Third quarter – Nittany Lions roar!

     A sack of Auburn QB by S Keaton Ellis forced a punt to start the second half.  Taking over from the 42, Singleton broke off a 50-yard run to the AU two.  He took it I from the one for a quick, 21-6 lead for the Lions.  Finley fumbled the ball on the next possession, this time putting the visitors at the 30 of Auburn.  GGA Joe Rogers (LSU fan) commented Finley had transferred from LSU.  He could see it was not a significant loss for the Baton Rouge school.  With so many defectors from Auburn since last year, Harsin evidently signed who he could. A 48-yard FG by PSU’s Jake Pinegar, extended the lead further. 

Lambert-Smith Blocks for Mitchell Tinsley.
Teamwork: KeAndre Lambert-Smith (1) blocks for Mitchell Tinsley (5) on drive to set up Pinegar’s FG in the third period.

Auburn HC Brian Harsin decided to replace Finley with frosh QB Robby Ashford (we wonder if Zach Calzada, the A&M transfer, will ever get a shot here).  S Ji’Ayar Brown snagged a pass out of mid air to put Penn State at AU’s 48.  Six plays later, Allen took it over from three.  Taking advantage of turnovers now, the Nittany Lions held a dominant 31-6 lead.  The orange-shirted, hometown crowd started a steady flow down steps and out of Jordan-Hare as Q3 ended.   

Orange descent
Orange lines of Auburn fans descend the steps of Jordan-Hare throughout to leave at the end of the third period. Eventually the stands looked like a “mini white-out” for fans of the Nittany Lions.

Finishing touches

     On Auburn’s next series, Ashford (10/19, 144 yards, one TD, one INT) couldn’t put the Tigers in the red zone.  He did better. He tossed a 22-yard TD to RB Jarquez Hunter.  A two-point conversion failed, but cut the Nittany Lion lead, 31-12.  On the fourth play of Penn State’s next possession, Singleton broke off a 54-yard run for a touchdown. PSU showed its improving run game. Auburn went three and out.  HC James Franklin called on frosh QB Drew Allar, a PSU fan favorite, to lead the next drive.  The result came with a Pinegar 22-yard FG to make the final score, 41-12.  The second team defense came in for State, and as the game finally came to a close, it looked as if Jordan-Hare hosted a mini–Penn State “white-out”.  With this the final game of the two-game series, the Penn State Nittany Lions will not return to “the Plains”, but Collegefootballfan.com definitely will! In our history since 1979, Penn State owns a record of 88-25. The Auburn Tigers stand at 5-7-1.

PSU Tailgaters
Here poses a contingent of Nittany Lion fans attending the tailgate at Auburn. Note C.A. Murren with the Auburn hat over my shoulder on right.

Next and Game 639!

    Penn State returns home to host Central Michigan (1-2) of the MAC. The Chippewas have put points on the scoreboard, but its win on Saturday was a 41-0 drubbing of Patriot League team, Bucknell. The Bison play home about 75 minutes east of State College. The Tigers (2-1) host SEC East foe Missouri Tigers (2-1). Auburn fans say if they lose this one, they’re not sure when they’ll be back this year.  They also wonder how much longer Brian Harsin will be around. 

    Collegefootballfan.com will attend our “FCS Game of the Year” next Saturday since it’s the only one scheduled this season.  The Eastern Kentucky Colonels (2-1) will visit Austin Peay’ Governors (3-1) in an ASUN conference clash.  EKU defeated FBS Bowling Green in seven OTs this season, 59-57.  Also gave FBS Eastern Michigan a tussle.  We watched APU fall to Western Kentucky in our opener, 38-27.  We say their three wins are suspect.  They’ve outscored these opponents with a combined record of 1-8 by a total score of 132-3.   Interesting game?  APU plays at Alabama on November 19.  Is HC Scotty Walden learning something from the Master?

-Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate:  from the fan who’s seen ‘em all!  – All of the first 120 FBS teams that is.  We’ve seen all 130 since publication and will be adding James Madison, Jacksonville State, and Sam Houston State the next few years.  Now you can go to our Amazon page by clicking on the upper right-hand corner of our sidebar above on the title name or book cover. Thanks!

Spirit of Happy Valley
Nittany Lion cheerleaders brought the spirit of Happy Valley for PSU fans.

Week Three 2022 Steveo’s Salvos: Penn State at Auburn, Week Two notes, Comfort Zone, The other Independent, On Track

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     College footballfan.com travels to Auburn in Week Three for last year’s re-match with No. 22 Penn State (2-0) at Auburn (2-0).  After a shaky start beating Purdue on the road, Penn State vanquished Ohio U. at home, 46-10.  Despite improving against a mid-major, the good news came regarding a sudden improvement in the running game.  Freshman, five-star RB Nick Singleton carried ten times for 179 yards and two TDs on rushes of 70 and 44 yards.  Ohio U.’s defense does not match the speed and quickness of Auburn’s, but adjustments by Penn State to mix the run in with a good passing attack provides more confidence this weekend.

    Last week, the Tigers pulled out a 24-16 win at home against San Jose State.  QB TJ Finley threw for 167 yards and one INT while the running game picked up 210 yards.  In passing situations, Penn State will bring more pressure and will show greater pass coverage than what Auburn has experienced so far.  State’s Linebackers continue work-in progress at Linebacker U.  They’ll look to stop RBs Robby Ashford and Tank Rigsby, who had a big game versus the Lions last year.  With Auburn HC Brian Harsin in the pressure cooker entering Week Three already, it’s a must-win for him. 

With two games under both teams’ belts, the Lions should be more prepared than the Tigers in this one. Auburn may come out in orange jerseys to fire their faithful up for this one.  However, the first Auburn game we attended in Shug-Jordan Stadium in 1978, HC Doug Barfield used the same ploy.   Exciting game, but dull finish as the Tigers tied Vince Dooley’s Georgia Bulldogs, 22-22.

Last season, TE Brendon Strange takes it over against Auburn for go ahead TD for the Nittany Lions in the second period. Strange also scored against Purdue in this year’s opener for a 67-yard touchdown pass as the first half expired.

“He goes to his Comfort Zone” to the tune of…

    Kenny Loggins’s, “I went to the Danger Zone!”  The exhilarating theme song of the original Top Gun movie video plays at opening kick-offs at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.  For Nick Saban, college football discovered last week why he avoids leaving his comfort zone.  His song theme is the title above.  For the first time in 11 years, his Alabama Crimson Tide visited a non-conference Power Five School, Texas. He won 20-19, but even after Longhorn QB Quinn Ewers went down to injury, The Tide did not perform up to its standards usually displayed on their home turf. Saban kept hearing “Texas Fight!” instead of “Yeah Alabama!” in front of 105,213 Longhorn fans.

   No wonder why he prefers to play at home or only at “neutral” sites like Atlanta. Forget about home and home series as we published after attending The Tides 55-0 destruction of Utah State in his comfort zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium.  He returns to Tuscaloosa in Week Three to recover.  He scheduled UL Monroe in case things didn’t go as planned in Austin.  The SEC helped him the following week booking a prime-time game against SEC doormat Vanderbilt.  The Commodores displayed true colors after two wins last week falling to No. 19 Wake Forest, 45-25.  

Tuscaloosa
There’s no place like home for Nick Saban when his teams play comfortably in Tuscaloosa as often as possible.

Collegefootballfan.com’s version of Fantasy Football

  For Week Three, Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh of Michigan get calls from their TV “friends”.  The real people in charge say, “We’ve arranged for you two guys to play each other this weekend. We need the ratings. Your respective opponents this week, ULM and UConn, will flip a coin, and determine who will host the other Saturday. You guys do the same.  We’ll deduct a million dollars from what you make on your game and donate half a million each to these two programs who need the money.  We know you show concern for such programs.  That’s why you schedule them.”

 They continue, “Next year on September 16, whoever visits this weekend will host a rematch.  Your donations will go to the respective opponents you scheduled for that date, South Florida and Bowling Green. They’ll flip a coin where they will play.”  Of course, this won’t happen, but our “fantasy football” offers a great opportunity for fans that two coaches avoiding comparable competition refuse to consider.  Bring it on in Week Three in future seasons!

The Other Independent

    With Notre Dame (0-2) trending outside the CFP looking in with it’s 26-21 loss to Marshall, consider the other Independent that could get in the mix.  Winning their 26-20 victory over highly ranked Baylor last week, Brigham Young could challenge for the spot the Irish tend to pursue.  With Senior QB Jaren Hall back and healthy, the offense seems ready.  Transfer RB Christopher Brook from Cal gets the benefit of solid line play in front of him.  Top Receivers Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua returned.

 BYU’s defense needs to stay healthy as eight experienced starters return for HC Kalani Sitake’s squad.  Looking ahead, games at Oregon and with Notre Dame in Vegas look winnable. Wins against Arkansas, at Liberty, and at Boise could bode well for them among pollsters.  If they run the table with some impressive wins, they could gain consideration as an independent qualifier if any of the current top four teams falter.

HC Kalani Sitake of BYU
BYU HC Sitake Kalani’s Cougars return a great core of players from last season.

On track already in Week Three

    On our podcast with Steve Hiegel, (click here -note: please fast forward four minutes. This is an unedited copy with four minutes of wasted set-up time. Thanks), one question regarding considerations for the upcoming season: “Who will be Coach of the Year?”    Our response, “If he wins six games this season, Lance Leipold of Kansas.” He’s got two now with his Jayhawks’ 55-42 win over West Virginia.  

This weekend, they will take on the Houston Cougars (1-1) with Clayton Tune firing for 472 yards and four TDs against UTSA and Texas Tech (lost 33-30) combined thus far. KU’s QB Jalon Daniels has comparable numbers with 408 and four TDs with wins over FCS Tennessee Tech and WVU. Both QBs threw one INT.  Should be a close call in Houston.  KU entertains Duke the following week.  HC Leipold could be close to our prediction sooner than expected in Week Three.  He is a true developer of talent and teams.  “Rock chalk, Jayhawk!” 

Head Coach Lance Leipold turned the Buffalo Bulls into winners after winning six national championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater in D-3. now he’s taking the Kansas Jayhawks to new heights. Just watch!

Other teams on our 2022 schedule in week Two

     Bama fell to No. 2 behind Georgia this week as the Bulldogs, Buckeyes, and Clemson Tigers continued to roll over lesser competition in FCS Samford, Arkansas St, and FCS Furman respectively.  Why bother?… Utah State fell to FCS Weber State, 35-7, making Bama’s win the previous week even more unimpressive…Middle Tennessee beat Colorado State, 34-19, after their drubbing to James Madison in their opener.  The Dukes throttled HBCU Norfolk State, 63-7. Louisville rebounded from its loss to Syracuse. They beat Central Florida, 20-14…

     Kentucky with Will Levis defeated Florida in an SEC East clash, 26-16. South Carolina fell to Arkansas in an inter-division SEC game, 44-30.  We’ll see the Wildcats and Gamecocks meet on October 8… Army lost for the second time, both in close calls, this time to UTSA, 41-38. On the other hand, Navy’s (0-2) offense sputtered once again in its loss to Memphis (1-1), 37-13…HC Jake Spavital got a temporary reprieve as his Texas State Bobcats (1-1) whipped up hapless Florida International, 41-12.  They travel north to Waco Saturday to play the wounded No. 17 Baylor Bears.  Watch out!…

We’ll see SC Gamecocks clash with UK Wildcats at Kroger Field for the second time in three years.

Louisiana handled Eastern Michigan, 49-21, to move to 2-0…Our two upcoming FCS teams in the ASUN meeting on September 24 notched wins.  Austin Peay (2-1) raced out to a 41-0 halftime lead over the SWAC’s Mississippi Valley State, and allowed that score to stand.  Eastern Kentucky (1-1) defeated FBS Bowling Green, 59-57, in OT.  The Governors and Colonels meet Alabama A&M and Charleston Southern respectively in Week Three before their clash.  

 Notes of other games in Week Two

    Last week, we said we thought Appalachian State had a good shot to beat Texas A&M, and they did, 17-14!  Too bad Appy lost to UNC the week before, 63-61.  Had they won, they could have been a strong contender for this year’s Group of Five in the CFP. If they run the Sunbelt table the rest of the way, that means wins over Coastal, Marshall, and Georgia Southern. The second two defeated Power Fives Notre Dame and Nebraska last week.  The Mountaineers also have a date with JMU who we will see play Louisville on November 5. Appy collides with Troy (1-1) in Week Three. The SunBelt is rising!

   Washington State defeated Wisconsin, 17-14, in Madison.  That’s probably the PAC-12’s best win of the season…UConn (1-1) and UMass (0-2) run on a collision course to see again who will avoid finishing at No. 131 when it’s all over. They’ll meet in East Hartford on November 5.   Syracuse whipped the Huskies, 48-10, and Toledo zoomed past the Minutemen, 55-10, in Week Two.  Until their fatal date, UConn’s best chances for victory come against FIU and Ball State on the road on October 8 and 15. UMass may catch up with a win this weekend when the host FCS Stony Brook (0-1). After that, New Mexico State at home could be a possibility on October 29.  These two need to go back to the FCS Colonial Athletic where at least they’d have some natural rivalries again – Maine, UNH, URI.

Other 2022 teams on Collegefootballfan.com’s slate in Week Three

    Western Kentucky (2-0) returns from its win in Hawaii two weeks ago to play 11 straight weeks.  Saturday, they will visit Indiana (2-0) for a rematch we attended in Bowling Green last season when the Hoosiers won, 33-31.  As U of I did last year, Vanderbilt visits another Group of Five school, Northern Illinois (1-1) on the road. Expect this one to be a close game in the 30’s. We’ll find out if Clark Lea starts Mike Wright or AJ Swann at QB this week. If the starter doesn’t drive the ‘Dores early, Lea will be quick to make a change…Among other teams we’ve seen play heading into Week Three, Purdue travels to 2-0 Syracuse.

   South Carolina’s mettle gets tested this week at home against No.  1 Georgia.  FCS No. 5 Villanova (2-0) heads up the Hudson to face Army’s triple option.  Toledo leaps from lowly UMass to No. 3 Ohio State (2-0).  Eddie George’s Tennessee State team (0-2) buses over to Murfreesboro to tangle with MTSU. Louisiana Tech (1-1) charges into Death Valley against No. 5 Clemson.  The state of Kentucky feasts on Florida State at Louisville and FCS Youngtown at No. 9 UK in Lexington. No. 19 Wake Forest hosts Liberty.

 

Wake QB Sam Hartman on the run
Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman picks up yards on a run against Vanderbilt.

Games we’ll keep an eye on

    2-0 California visits 0-2 Notre Dame.  Losing Tyler Buchner at QB and replacing him with Tyler Pyne with limited experience adds to the Irish woes.  Shades of Gerry Faust becoming the savior for Notre Dame when he had little experience?  At least Faust won his first game for ND vs LSU.  It went downhill after that to finish 5-6 in his first season…Another FCS win over the FBS seems most likely when perennial national champ and No.1 North Dakota State (2-0) takes on Arizona (1-1) in the desert… How fast can A&M recover when they host 2-0 Miami under new head coach Mario Cristobal?  A telling indicator for both programs early in 2022.

Ed. by – Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the fan who’s seen ‘em all!  Read our unique adventure attending games played by all Football Bowl Subdivision Teams over 30 seasons.  It wasn’t easy, but definitely fun and rewarding. That’s why we keep doing this.

Another reason we keep going back. Going Coastal! Carolina in this case.

Game 638:  Demon Deacons take wind out of Commodores’ sails, 45-25

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Nashville, TN – Attempting to build on their unusual, quick, 2-0 start, the Vanderbilt Commodores took a turn for the normal when the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest (2-0) derailed their early season momentum with a 45-25 win in newly-named First Bank Stadium.   To the delight of Deacon fans, QB Sam Hartman returned to start his first game of 2022.   Out of action in Week One, due to a blood clot, the medical staff at WFU cleared the red-shirt Junior to resume play.  He followed up last year’s stats in style completing 18 of 27 passes for 300 yards and four TDs. 

Guest Game Analyst (GGA) Jim “Bug-a-lug” Harton (Wake Forest grad and fan) commented that the Deacons played much better with Hartman back this weekend.  Bug-a-lug attended the Deacon opener against VMI.  Though backup QB Mitch Griffis performed well, he reported the O-line performed inadequately, called for too many holding calls.  HC Dave Clawson most likely addressed this at practice since, and Hartman’s leadership on the field probably affected this as well.

QB Sam Hartman return for demon deacons
Demon Deacon QB Sam Hartman returned after sitting out Week One. Started a little rusty before firing away like he did last year for 4,228 yards and 39 TDs.

    Neither offense got off to a fast start exchanging punts, but the Commodores started the scoring with Joe Bulova’s 35-yard FG to take the lead.  Wake drove to the Vandy seven, but three consecutive rush attempts by RB Justice Ellison at the goal line forced the Deacons to turn the ball over on downs.  This prompted first-time GGA Dave Hickman (Illinois/NIU alum, 82nd Airbourne vet) to wonder aloud.  “Why go with the same play a third time if the first two didn’t work?”  The only benefit noted came as the result of Vanderbilt starting from their one. That paid off.

Vanderbilt makes a stand
Vanderbilt Commodores make an early goal line stand.

Deacon Defense

    Sprinting right under pressure, Commodore QB Mike Wright (8 for 15, 35 yards, one INT, 17 yards rushing) lofted a pass that got tipped and then picked by DB Colby Davis.  Davis sprinted back across the field and toward the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown.  The defensive score seemed to spark the offense on this rainy day from then on.  Coming into this game, Wright had passed for six TDs and ran for four compiling over 700 yards of offense against Hawaii and Elon.  The Deacon defense played much tougher than those two opponents.

New DC Brad Lambert from Purdue may already be making some improvements to make this unit stronger in 2022.  Last year, the Deacon defense allowed over 30 points seven times relying on the offense that scored 41 ppg. Lambert’s Boilermakers held competition to 30 points or less nine times in 12 games for a 22.4 ppg average.

    The Wake defense allowed no yards on the next Commodore possession.  The offense took over from their 32.  Hartman went to work right way throwing the ball down the middle to WR AT Perry (five catches, 142 yards, one TD). In stride, Perry made the over-the-shoulder catch and raced 68 yards for Wake’s 14-3 lead.  Forcing a Wright fumble, the Deacon offense started this time at Vanderbilt’s 32 going into the second quarter.

WR AT Perry pulls in one of five passes from Hartman on the day.

Playing in the rain

    A thirty-yard pass to Donovan Green set up Hartman’s next TD pass to RB Christian Turner from the two.  Later in the period, another punt by Vandy resulted in a turnover as Wakes’ returner mishandled the punt to set the Dore’s at WFU’s 24.  RB RE’Mahn Davis carried five times for his eventual score on a two-yard run to cut the lead down, 21-10.   We’d seen Davis perform in 2019 for Temple in a Military Bowl loss to North Carolina.  The half came to an end.  Our GGA’s and cohorts went below the stands for halftime to dry off some while the intermittent ran continued. 

Christian Turner TD catch
Demon Deacon RB Christian Turner snags two-yard TD pass from Hartman.

Deacons pour it on

    To start the third, Hartman ran his run-pass option skillfully delaying hand-offs to backs while looking for open receivers.  He connected with Perry once again for a 49-yard pickup to the 25.  A nine-yard pass to TE Taylor Morin who snagged a low pass by his ankles resulted in a 28-10 lead for the Deacons.  Davis fumbled the ball away for the Commodores, and Wake looked to capitalize again at the VU 18-yard line.  Hartman’s pass to Cameron Hite from 17 yards out increased the growing margin for the visitors, 35-10.  Vanderbilt HC Clark Lea had experienced enough frustration on offense.  AJ Swann (8 of 11, 146 yards, two TDs) replaced Mike Wright.

 The Wright move?

    Swann made a difference right away.  His 50-yard completion to Jayden McGowan put the Dore’s at the WFU 24.  On a fourth and 18, his pass to Will Sheppard put them at the six.  From there, they connected again for a score.  Swann ran for two points on the conversion to trail heading into the final period, 35-18.

VU WR Will Sheppard TD catch
Vanderbilt got on the board again late in Q4 on this TD catch from AJ Swann to Will Sheppard.

     With the ensuing kickoff, the Deacons didn’t let up.   The offense traveled 75 yards for a score. RB Quinton Cooley (9 carries, 57 yards, one TD) raced it into the end zone from the 24.   The Deacon defense forced another punt.  Using clock, Clawson’s offense ran 14 plays to get into FG position for Matthew Dennis’s 21-yard FG for a commanding lead of 45-18 with 4:48 left to play.  With a Wake Forest second team defense taking over to get some needed reps, Vandy started from their 25.  Swann led another drive culminating in a seven-yard TD pass to TE Gavin Schoenwald.  The Deacons can chalk that drive up to experience under their new defensive coordinator.  Final score:  Wake Forest Demon Deacons 45 – Vanderbilt Commodores 25.

Wake's Quinton Cooley burst for 24 yard TD run
Wake RB Quinton Cooley bursts through Vandy defense on a big offensive line push for a 24-yard TD jaunt.

“Oh, here’s to Wake Forest!”

    Bug-a-lug and his wife Courtenay topped off their enjoyable vacation week in Tennessee with the WFU victory.  He confirmed the update of my Wake Forest moniker with me having personally seen his Deacons win 11 of 12 games collegefootballfan.com has attended. With the one blemish on the 11-1 record coming in a 62-59 OT loss to Louisville in 2019, in Wake Forest circles they call me, “11 and almost 0 Koreivo!”  The previous week, having attended Alabama’s 55-0 win over Utah State, Deacon Blue (11-1) leads The Crimson Tide (10-1) with the best winning percentage of all FBS teams we’ve seen in action.  Deacon Blue is the name of a winner in our world.

Next up!

     No. 19 Wake (2-0) heads back to Winston-Salem to host Liberty (2-0), winner over Alabama-Birmingham Saturday, 21-14.  The Commodores (2-1) head to De Kalb, IL to take on Dave Hickman’s alma mater, Northern Illinois (1-1). Give Vanderbilt some credit here. It’s an unusual move for Power Five teams to visit a Group of Five campus.  We’d like to see more of that.  Surely the SEC advised Vanderbilt against this.

     Speaking of the SEC, Collegefootballfan.com travels “the Plains” of Auburn (2-0) in a rematch there for its home-and-home series with No. 22 Penn State (2-0).  Last season, the Nittany Lions defeated the Tigers in State College, 28-20. We’ll be meeting up with our long-time Auburn friend and alum, Charlie Murren, for that one.

– ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of “Tales from the Tailgate:  From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all!”  Click on the title to read about the first of 11 Demon Deacon wins when they visited the University of Richmond in 1981.  Our first encounter with Vanderbilt football didn’t occur until 1995 at South Carolina.  Warning: It isn’t pretty. However, we note that we later attended a bowl victory by the Commodores in 2008.  These are only two of the 120 teams in the FBS we saw play in person for our first time.  Lots of other college football adventures tell when “we saw ‘em all”.

Wake Forest Guest Game Analysts
WFU-VU Guest Game Analysts, Bottom L-R: Yours truly, Courtenay Harton, and husband, Bug-a-lug, as he’s known on Wake Forest football weekends. Back Row: Dave Hickman, Kalani Hickman, and “St. Laurie”. Kalani, a Chicago Bears fan, attended her first college game today. St. Laurie has now attended two games already this year, ahead of her normal pace!

Week Two 2022 Steveo’s Salvos:  Wake at Vandy, Week One notes, Microsoft Guidelines, Nos. 2-3-4, Who’s done?

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 Week Two: Wake Forest at Vanderbilt

    Good news in Week Two for No. 23 Wake Forest (1-0). Collegefootballfan.com will see them play when they visit 2-0 Vanderbilt Saturday.  Starting QB Sam Hartman, sidelined by a non-football medical issue, returns to action this weekend.   Hartman led the Demon Deacons last season with 4,228 passing yards and 39 TD passes.  Sitting out last week versus VMI, Brett Griffis stepped in to run the run/pass option (RPO) effectively for HC Dave Clawson’s team.  With Hartman back to throw to a flock of receivers and with RB Christian Turner who galloped for 100 yards last week, all cylinders should be firing Saturday.  The Wake question remains on defense under new DC Brad Lambert in from Purdue a year ago. 

    Vandy, off a 2-10 2021 season, won it first two games with a lot of points on the board led by QB Mike Wright.  With wins at Hawaii (0-2), 63-10, and over FCS Elon 42-31, he leads the team in passing with 391 yards and in rushing with 247. Six TDs came on his passes and four on runs.  How tested he will be by Wake will be seen on Saturday.  If Lambert brings improvement, this may be a good test for him.  If he hasn’t, this could be an unanticipated tight, high-scoring shoot-out between Vandy and Wake.

Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman prior to Boston College game last season. A Heisman candidate, he returns Saturday for his first start in 2022.

A few choice words for Microsoft Guidelines

   In the wake of last weekend’s results, stories ran on line about new ratings.  Of course, the comments came raging in.  We don’t add much commentary to these waste-of-time articles.  Primarily, we observe for entertainment purposes. If anything, we’ll attempt a short, hard-hitting zinger. We avoid offensive words/language knowing they prevent publication.  A reader named “Bo Sai” commented basically to the effect, “Your writer glossed over the fact that Miami defeated BCU of the ACC, 70-13. No mention of that…” Four others responded with likes. Had to laugh and provide this response: “Hahaha!  BCU is Bethune Cookman, a HBCU school, not Boston College” (I figured BC losing to Rutgers, 22-21, was embarrassing enough).   “Does not follow guidelines” message popped up right away.  Why?  Because I wrote, “Hahaha!”? 

    I deleted that phrase. Still no good. I simplified it further using no off-color language, etc. though I felt like it.   Still not following guidelines.  Steamed, because Microsoft blocked a simple response for a correction, eventually popped up a drop-down.   Only having generic choices that didn’t make sense to say, “this comment is not correct” regarding the original submittal. I eventually chose “Wrong topic”.  I only typed in “Bethune-Cookman”.  The point is, if Microsoft enforces guidelines for comment fields, they should be monitored by people who know about the topics being discussed.  This is what I want to say directly to Microsoft now. “Don’t let your computer geeks monitor comments made by idiots who don’t know what they’re talking about. If you can’t, stuff it!” Anybody offended?  Political comments are minimized overwhelmingly for sure, but comments about college football like this? They can just “stick it, too!” Offended?  “Tough.”

Preseason’s Nos. two, three, and four

    Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson – three teams on our slate – already changed to Georgia, Ohio State, and Michigan. The Buckeyes had a tougher than expected time with Notre Dame. The Irish led 10-7, but OSU overcame, 21-10. Georgia wailed on Oregon under their former DC Dan Lanning, 49-3, basically signaling to all the world the PAC-12 falls out of CFP contention already (Utah, USC?).  Michigan wrecked Colorado State, 51-7, to edge ahead of Clemson.  More importantly, this reinforces our point pertaining to our Alabama 55 – Utah State 0 game review.

     Jim Harbaugh’s U of M squad has the most pathetic slate of three opening non-conference games all at home. Colorado State, already decimated 0-2 Hawaii in Week Two, and then preseason No. 131 UConn!  Question to pollsters: Michigan deserves to jump past Clemson, who whipped horribly coached Georgia Tech, 41-10, based on this alone?  At least Tech is a weak Power Five, not a Bottom Five school! Even upcoming Clemson foes FCS Furman and LA Tech can probably beat all three. 

Get it together coaches

 If Nick Saban had the guts to call Harbaugh (or vice versa) and negotiate a home-and-home series to open on consecutive years to play one another, fans wouldn’t have to watch or pay to attend these horrific games.  Play now and see who makes the playoffs. That would be tremendous to open the season with these two egomaniacs competing. Why not? Both teams have full seasons ahead to recover from a loss by winning their conferences. No guts, no glory – Bama and U Of M only pick on teams that don’t recruit on the same level!  Please go back and read to our last game review.

Traeshon Holden TD Catch
Alabama’s WR Traeshon Holden grabs his first of two TDs against Utah State in 55-0 Crimson Tide victory.

Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins is done

    We saw his debut season as HC at Temple. We respected the positive developments of that program prior under Matt Rhule (no pun intended).  The Owls headed in the wrong direction under the former defensive coordinator of Urban Meyer’s Florida teams. Temple football played with no discipline.  Mistakes and penalties pervaded under him with thug tactics.  Collins stayed two years, and then he headed to replace Paul Johnson’s triple option offense at Georgia Tech.  After Monday night’s loss to Clemson, his record at Tech stands at 9-26.  He’s done nothing to improve this program. Johnson left behind an 82-61 record over 11 years despite supporters not taking a liking to his run-oriented offense. Collins’ forte sides on defense. Last season, opponents averaged 33.5 ppg against the Rambling Wrecks.   In Week Two, this program is already done under Collins. Stick a fork in them and look for him to become a DC again elsewhere, maybe.

Other teams on our 2022 schedule heading into Week Two

       Spence Rattler passed for 227 yard and one TD in his South Carolina debut against Georgia State last week in a 35-14 victory.  He faces No. 16 Arkansas and No. 2 Georgia the next two weeks. We see him Week 6 at No. 20 Kentucky (1-0) winner over Miami (O.)…James Madison smashed Middle Tennessee at home in their FBS debut, 44-7. The Dukes passed for 287 yards and rushed for 261.  The Blue Raiders returning QB Chase Cunningham threw for a meager 107 yards and the rushing game accumulated only 12 yards. JMU will visit Louisville (0-1, lost at Syracuse 31-7) on November 5 to become our 131st FBS team. LU’s Scott Satterfield sits on another hot seat… MTSU will be seen in action at home against UTSA (0-1) on September 30 and home against WKU (2-0, winners over Hawaii 49-17).

WKU QB Austin Reed
Western Kentucky QB Austin Reed, transfer from D-2 West Florida where they won the 2019 national championship, is now firing bullets for the Hilltoppers. WKU returned from win at Hawaii in Week Two and now preps to visit Indiana September 17.

Texas round-up

      The UT San Antonio Roadrunners fell at the Alamo Dome to the No. 25 Houston Cougars who we will see play at Navy. The Cougars overcame a 14-point deficit in the final period to snap UTSA’s 10-game home winning streak in three OTs, 37-35. Houston QB Clayton Tune completed 22 of 32 for 206 yards and three TDs while rushing 15 times for 51 yards and a score.  The Roadrunners’ QB Frank Smith completed 28 of 43 for 337 yards and three TDS while rushing 63 yards and one TD.  These two will provide severe firepower against defenses when we see them face Navy and MTSU respectively.

Roll call

Navy was one of two FBS squads that fell to the FCS in their opener. Delaware won 14-7 under new HC Ryan Carty who led the Blue Hens as QB to their 2003 FCS national championship.  Bad sign: first time in years Navy’s leading receiver outgained their leading rusher in yardage, 77 to 47. The Mids also fumbled three times in the first half. The first on their initial drive resulting in a Blue Hen score… Army (0-1) who we don’t see until Navy in Philly, lost to Coastal Carolina, 38-28. CCU QB Grayson McCall threw three TDs and ran for the clincher with 3:01 left.

     For Week Two, in the best matchup among teams we’ll see this season, the No. 9 Baylor Bears (1-0) visit No. 21 BYU Cougars (1-0).  We’ll see Bears at Texas in November.  We saw the Cougars at Lavelle Edwards Stadium last season when they defeated UVA, 66-49.  Without starting QB Jaren Hall in the Independence Bowl, we watched them lose to UAB, 31-28.   With Hall returning healthy, BYU going against the tough Bear defense will be interesting. Baylor counters with their Soph QB Blake Shapen who keyed the defeat of Oklahoma State in last year’s Big Twelve championship.  These two teams will be meeting for the first of many times as BYU joins the Big Twelve conference next year.  Both programs should be fired up to learn more about one another in this one. 

The Baylor defense looms tough in 2022 and will face BYU’s high-flying offense in Provo this weekend.

Other Week Two games of interest

We’ll see Texas State (0-1) host Louisiana Thanksgiving weekend. State fell to Nevada 38-14 to lower HC Jake Spavital’s record to 9-28. The future in San Marcos does not look good for him unless he starts to win early and often. Louisiana defeated SE LA 24-7 in HC Michael Desormeaux’s first game… Texas clobbered UL Monroe, 52-10, before facing Alabama this weekend.  The following week, ULM travels to Bryant Denny to be “entertained” by Alabama. Good plan Nick Saban…Austin Peay recovered from last week’s loss to WKU by slamming the Presbyterian Blue Hose, 63-0. The foe we will see them play next comes September 24 as Eastern Kentucky. EKU came up short versus FBS eastern Michigan, 42-34…Auburn showed no mercy to FCS Mercer 42-16. San Jose is next before we see them host PSU.

Appalachian State kept coming back at home against North Carolina until time expired, 63-61.  The Mountaineers travel to Kyle Field this week. Can HC Shawn Clark roust his defense and QB Chase Brice keep the wheels turning on offense to upend the Aggies in Week Two?  Based on ASU history, we think they have a good shot…Troy (0-1) with recent WKU transfer QB Jarret Doege lost at Ole Miss, 28-10. The Trojans visit Appy State and host Marshall before heading to face his short-term WKU teammates (2-0) on October 1.  We look forward to that one.  Good move, Jarrett?… The other FCS win over an FBS program last Saturday: William & Mary 41 – Charlotte 24.  Wonder if William made the difference in this game?  Leaving this in my wake, can I say that without offending anybody?

Look for our book

ed. by – Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate; from the Fan who’s seen ’em all! If you enjoy the articles on our blog, please click on the book title to above enjoy our unique story of attending games over 30 years to reach the goal of seeing every FBS team play at least once. Follow us through time on this fun journey!

In week two, the Tide rolls on to Austin, Texas.
In Week Two, The Tide rolls on into Austin, Texas. How much of their pageantry will follow them there?

Game 637: Bama blasts Utah State, why bother?

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Tuscaloosa – Nick Saban recruits the highest rated high school players in the nation for Bama.  They blasted Utah State last Saturday, 55-0, and it could have been a lot worse.  Why does Saban insist on finding the best players in the nation and then seek teams for his schedule not even close to his level of talent? In our case, the only thing we got out of this “game” was checking the box for finally seeing Bama play a home game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, our 76th venue among all in the Football Bowl (eventually “B” will be supplemented with a “P” for “Professional”) Subdivision.  We witnessed the pregame excitement and all pageantry before kickoff, but everyone in attendance and the many Crimson Tide no-shows knew already what was going to happen.  The bookies set the line at 41.5 points.  Oh, the excitement – Not!  Why bother?

HC Nick Saban leads the pageantry of the Alabama pregame.

Why we announce our “tentative” schedule every season

    When planning our schedule earlier this year, the price of a ticket for Texas A&M at Bama started at over $300/seat in the upper level.  Probably sky-rocketed after Saban made his remarks about Jimbo Fisher “buying” recruits Bama wanted.  Reviewing our selection of games for September 3, the best regarding an affordable, competitive game for us looked like Elon (FCS) at nearby Vanderbilt.  The Commodores appear on our slate again the following week as we have a close contingent of Wake Forest friends coming into town to see the Deacs play.  We needed to see someone different.

    Realizing we plan to see Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson ranked 2-3-4 on our schedule already this season, why not get No. 1 Bama?  Wow!  $33/seat for Utah State game this weekend.  Gas prices have fallen from Tennessee to Alabama into the low $3’s. For a tank and a half, that’s much better than close to $5+/ gallon when checking on the A&M opportunity months ago.  And even better, we had enough points to get a free night at a Microtel right in Tuscaloosa. Usually, rentals that close to game day are not available. Our first hint on what to expect, evidently. My wife, St. Laurie, had no interest in going.  We had just gotten back from Penn State at Purdue.  She figures she’s already hit one of three games she will possibly attend this season.  Cheap trip for one!

Bryant Denny Stadium
Our approach to Bryant-Denny Stadium. The exterior was impressive and efficiently organized. Inside, long lines of hundreds of fans lingered at concession stands more than an hour before kickoff. Didn’t have time to check out the tailgating atmosphere.

Plans with budgets in mind

    For collegefootballfan.com, this looked like a bargain basement sale.  Only the gas would cost more than a 20-minute drive to Vanderbilt!  On top of that, the hotel manager suggested the bus shuttle at the nearby mall within walking distance for $15 round trip.  Much cheaper than a stadium parking space. Bama even offers an honest-to-goodness printed football program (121 pages plus ads). Few schools do that anymore.  “Scan the barcode on the video board”  for your virtual program, most announce.  Yeah, right!  My wife rejoices my game program collection no longer grows so she won’t have to recycle more if I’m gone before she is.  And, “Alabama Game Day” only costs $5!  Well as they say, “You get what you pay for.”  The game started.

As they exclaimed in Ancient Rome, “Let the games begin!”

Bring on the Aggies! Let the “game” begin!

    Utah State received the opening kick-off. QB Logan Bonner completed a 23-yard pass on first down from scrimmage.  Everyone in attendance had just witnessed the Utah State offensive highlight of the game.  The Aggie defense held Bama to Will Reichard’s field goal of 45 yards on their first possession.  That turned out to be State’s defensive highlight for the game, at least for their first team.   Every subsequent Bama score preceded a touchback on every kickoff beyond through the second series of the third quarter.  All but one of those forthcoming Bama possessions resulted in a touchdown.  The other ended in a field goal.  At halftime, Bama led 41-0. 

Saban kept Heisman candidate Bryce Young in for the first series in Q3.  On that drive and before the subsequent 48-0 score, he summoned Young’s back-up Jalen Milroe along the sideline to get ready for the next series.  Even hard-hitting LB Will Anderson Jr. played into the third on defense.  I guess Saban needed to assure the Crimson Tide fans that he would cover the 41.5 line.  For all the bloody details of the 55-0 Bama decimation, we don’t need to record the bloodshed here, just click here to read about the decimation we witnessed for yourself.

Last year’s Heisman winner, Bama QB Bryce Young (9), sets up to throw one of his five TD passes on the day. He played through the first series of the second half throwing for 195 yards and running for 100.

    This “contest” was like watching the Atlanta Braves play a Little League team.  Probably like watching lions gore Christians in the Roman Coliseum.  Like me playing Tiger Woods, at any age, in golf.  You call this competition?   Nick Saban and a few other coaches monopolize the top talent for college football.  The kids that want to go pro go to those few, and the few happily take the best of what’s available (before they opt out now for the portal when they don’t start).  All the other schools get everybody else to mix and match to fill in their needs.  In the end, why can’t the few “pick on somebody their own size” as the saying goes?  You recruit the best, so play the best.  Why bother with playing significantly less talented opponents? The “best” all come out on top of the polls eventually any way.

Young (9) broke loose on this run for 63 yards in the second quarter.

Consideration for upcoming games at Bama

   Funny, the hotel desk clerk told me I was “lucky” coming his weekend.  Usually, people have to book a minimum of two or three nights for a Bama home game.  Since Utah State visited, just one night needed.  Initially, I thought this was because Utah State was not considered a good game.  Then I thought, well maybe the hotel management assumed not may fans from Utah would make it to the Alabama campus.  Even more Bama fans didn’t based on the supply and prices offered on line.

    Looking at future home games at Bryant-Denny this season: UL Monroe visits in two weeks, Vanderbilt comes the week after, Mississippi State buses in on October 22, and middle of the road, FCS Austin Peay arrives the week before the big Auburn rivalry on Thanksgiving weekend.  Does the hotel think that fans of ULM, Vandy, and APU will drive in droves to spend a few nights in Tuscaloosa to come see their teams play Bama for big paychecks and a result similarly suffered by USU this evening?  

Rather than see their teams get rocked like the Aggies, ULM fans will probably prefer to watch Mississippi State beat LSU on TV. Vandy fans can hold their money to buy season baseball tickets before spring.  Austin Peay fans will find other things to do as usual.  Not many showed up in nearby Bowling Green, KY last week.  It would have been nice Saturday night if someone at B-D could have changed the channel on the videoboard to the Ohio State -ND game, especially with the Irish leading 10-7.

Bama’s Heisman candidate on defense this year, Will Anderson Jr (31), registered five solo tackles, three assisted and one tackle for loss in basically the first half.

Hey Nick, pick on someone your own size

    The Texas A&M game with Fisher highlights the Bama home excitement in 2022.  The Auburn rivalry remains the no-brainer rivalry.   Mississippi State always wants a shot at The Tide no matter what.  However, at least Saban should disregard the temptations of showing off his superior talent over the likes of ULM and Austin Peay every season.  Everybody criticizes ND for playing a “weak” schedule (despite Ohio State, Clemson, BYU, and USC this year).  Fans rightfully bust Michigan this year for playing three non-Power Five teams.  Oklahoma’s non-conference slate has been pretty shoddy over the past few years.   Bama has played SEC east rival Georgia only twice in the regular season in the last 13 years.  The point here is these are among programs Bama competes with for the similar talent in the off-season.

   Saban can probably call any of these programs to schedule home and home series they could agree to.  Last time Bama did such was booked before he coached here.  Penn State got pushed back though a year when they had no returning QB experience.  However, past history indicates to be Saban wants to play only one and done with Power 5 teams.  Usually at a “neutral” site, like Atlanta. Right!  Surely Notre Dame, Jim Harbaugh, and OU are not dumb enough to bite on that.  When Saban insists because he needs an additional home game to subsidize other Bama athletic teams, look closer.

Would Nick Saban miss all the attention at Bryant-Denny if he took his team to another big venue on an opponent’s campus? After not having done so in all his years at Bama, probably!

All about whose money?

    Rough counts indicate The Tide competes in only seven men’s NCAA sports programs and eight in women’s sports. Do you know how many other schools compete in?  By rough count: Michigan – 13 for men, 14 for women; ND – 12 and 12; Ohio State – 18 and 19; Penn State- 15 and 14; Stanford – 16 and 20; USNA 20 and 14 (only 4,000 students, but federally funded to some extent along with donations to NAAA); Ivies Princeton and Harvard – 18-18 and 20-20 respectively (of course, alumni endowments could probably fund every student’s tuition every year). 

Two other points here.  Are other Alabama students relegated more to waving shakers at football games than being encouraged to participate in other sports while matriculating at Alabama?  Young men can’t participate in wrestling, gymnastics, lacrosse, volleyball, or shooting sports like at other schools.  And women at Alabama can’t pursue field hockey, water polo, lacrosse, or fencing.  The other point is that with fewer sports, Bama football gets to retain more funds than other Power Five participants do for football.

Alabama doesn’t even support sports like wrestling that can even challenge such great programs at other FBS schools. Why not?

Good Saint Nick

   As for another supposed reason the SEC schedules FCS teams – benevolence. Really?  They want to give less financially sound programs the benefit of funding in exchange for a win if necessary to get a bowl bid – not that Bama or UGA need this.  What’s Saban making?  $9.3 million annually?  If he’s so caring of other programs, why doesn’t he take the $300,000 of the $9.3M and donate it each year to an FCS program of his choice?  With the player’s NIL money, why don’t they take up a collection?  They may have to someday if nobody wants to play them under such overwhelming odds in the future.  If Kirby Smart and UGA did the same with their cash, why can’t The Tide and ‘Dawgs schedule a non-conference game between each other every year when they don’t play an SEC game? 

Proceeds can go to FCS programs of their choices.  The draw surely sells out, gets their fans truly fired up, creates a great natural rivalry played annually, and doesn’t impact their capability for either to knock themselves out of the SEC championship those seasons. This would probably give both even more recruiting advantages, not that either needs more right now.  But why not?  They basically dominate most of the other teams in the SEC when it comes to recruiting already. Win, win, win, win, win for Bama, UGA, SEC, FCS, and all the fans.

Check out Austin Peay’s Fortera Stadium. Alabama hosts the Governors this year in Tuscaloosa. Similar football budgets you think? Nice of Nick Saban to consider making a donation without embarrassing the FCS school in a game the Govs have no chance to win.

Nick The GOAT?

     Caught some of the retort between two “experts” on TV we catch on the fly at the gym.  Stephen A. Smith refers to Nick Saban as the greatest college coach of all time.  Chris “Mad Dog” Russo countered with Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian.  We say this, it’s difficult to compare the two based on what coaching is mostly about today.  Coaching can be broken down into three main parts: executing game plans, player development, and RECRUITING. The third is entirely the major emphasis in today’s game than it was twenty, thirty, or more years ago.  If it wasn’t, Saban’s bellyaching on national news about Fisher’s recruiting tactics wouldn’t cause the consternation residing today between the two.  Trouble is, this will get worse before it gets better.

     We can say that for college football, Nick Saban is probably he best recruiter out there because every talented player wants to play for him.  He starts head and shoulders among all coaches because he attracts and selects the best talent to play for him every year.  How do we judge him in the other two aspects? As far as player development, we counted about thirty guys along the sideline with red-striped Alabama golf shirts on against Utah State. Many with clipboards. So there’s evidently analysis and development going on.  He pays his coaches a lot to coordinate games for him. Many eventually leave to take on head coaching jobs elsewhere.

College football was much different when Ara Parseghian was head coach at Northwestern and Notre Dame from the 50s to the 70s. Media rarely hyped up recruiting and news photos were all basically black and white.

Football GOAT at being smart

     However, let’s consider leveling the talent field when it comes to coaching football.  After two seasons with the Miami Dolphins, as head coach in 2005-2006 with a 15-17 record, Nick Saban high-tailed it back to the college. He knew his forte was recruiting.  In the NFL, a team can’t hoard significantly more or better talent than all the other opponents. Teams also don’t get to load schedules with teams much weaker. The NFL shares revenues and levels the playing field every year based on records of teams the previous year.  Strength of records and schedules are calculated to level the competition. Some organizations still struggle despite this every year.   This comes down primarily to managing game execution. 

     Nick Saban was smart enough to know his weaknesses and strengths when it comes to coaching. He made the most of it in college football.  He knows better than anyone how to tilt the playing field and under today’s standards, he’s the best at what he does.  Look at his record.   

Enough vented here about the non-competitive nature of college football today.  Bring on the “FPS” and get it over with.  Saban’s players will always be in demand by the pros.

Next up!

    Bama heads for their one Power Five non-conference at Texas next Saturday.  Former Bama OC Steve Sarkasian faces his former boss. Until recently, only Jimbo Fisher and Kirby Smart have been able to finally knock off their former mentor.  Both happened last year.  Others including them failed previously. What chance does Sark have two years removed from Tuscaloosa?

    Utah State gets to play their FCS game hosting Weber State next week. The Wildcats finished at No. 20 in the FCS poll last year and expect to rank again this year in the pre-season polls. They defeated Western Oregon in their opener Saturday, 41-5.  How will the loss to Bama affect the Aggies against the Wildcats?

   As related earlier, collegefootballfan.com stays in Nashville to see 2-0 Vanderbilt host 1-0 Wake Forest.  Breakfast – Bloody Mary Tailgate party!  According to our WFU aficionado, Jim “Bug “ Harton who will be our prime Guest Game Analyst, the sub QB for Heisman candidate Sam Hartman, Mitch Griffis (288 passing yards, three TD passes) looked good against VMI. However, holding by the offensive line last Thursday proved setbacks despite the 44-10 win over VMI.  HC Dave Clawson will be doing some fine-tuning this week against a Commodore team feeling good about being 2-0, already equaling last season’s victory total.  Looks to be a more competitive game than initially anticipated.  Definitely better as we recover from watching an Alabama practice and a Utah State try-out staged simultaneously Saturday night. How boring.

Ed. by – Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan whose seen ‘em all!   Click on the title to buy and submit a review. In it, Bama fans can read stories about games attended when The Tide defeated the likes of Auburn in the Iron Bowl and against Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic.  There are references to Penn State games in other chapters.  Alabama is now 10-1 in the annals of our history, but we saw them compete in these and CFP games among some of the best (ND, OU, Washington, and Clemson).  They should play these teams more often?  Why not offer home and home series? Such games against comparable talent have to be better than what transpired in Bryant-Denny Saturday night.

Alabama twirlers wave good-bye to Aggies
Hey Aggies! Y’all come back to Bryant-Denny any time!

Game 636: Late scores in two halves propel Penn State past Purdue in Big Ten openers

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West Lafayette, IN – Last minute touchdowns in both halves by Penn State keyed their victory over Purdue in the Big Ten opener for both, 35-31.  With two seconds left in the first half, TE Brenton Strange shed two tacklers and rambled down the right sideline 67 yards to give Penn State a 21—10 advantage at halftime. Purdue fought back to take the lead into the final period.  However, with 57 seconds remaining in the game, Sean Clifford connected with RB Keyvone Lee on a nine-yard swing pass out of the back field to seal the Nittany Lion win.  The score capped an 80-yard drive. Purdue seemed to have the game well in hand holding Penn State to only 326 yards at that point with 2:29 left.

See-saw, See-saw

   The lead changed seven times during the game.  Purdue struck first with a 36-yard FG late in the first period when Mitchell Fineran split the uprights. The Lions roared back on their next possession early in the second after converting a fourth and two at the Boilermaker 29 for a first down.  At the 12, Clifford tossed his first of four TDs with a scoring strike to WR Mike Tinsley to lead by four.  Purdue, with the benefit of a targeting penalty by LB Carter Abdul who got ejected, drove 75 yards with RB King Doerue breaking through the left for a 3-yard TD.  Later in the half, Penn State advanced 57 yards with Clifford carrying the ball over with a two-yard plunge to lead once again, 14-10. 

Purdue RB King Doerue slips this tackle to score from the three.

   On the subsequent Purdue possession, Boilermaker RB TJ Sheffield coughed up the football and CB Joey Porter, Jr. recovered for the Lions at their 18.  A pass interference call put the Lions on their 33.  Many PSU fans in our section 101 called for James Franklin to sit on the lead and just go into halftime.  However, it seems like with all the attention Franklin calls to the talent he recruits, this is the time when he needs to show why he recruits such extraordinary talent.   Are they as good as he says they are?  Show us.  Clifford (20 for 37, 282 yards, four TDs, 1 INT) went to the air, hit Jordan along the right sideline, and instead of the four-point lead, Penn State led by seven going into the halftime. 

Sean Clifford (14) unleashes toward WR Parker Washington (3) during second period.

Great Tailgate at Purdue!

    With our good friend Mike Pirrello and his wife Amy from NJ whose daughter Julia just entered her senior year at Purdue, St. Laurie and I had a tremendous tailgating experience!  Along with Rick and Kristie Blount of the same NJ town whose son Matt also attends Purdue, they all came to West Lafayette to celebrate the opening game of their kids’ senior season at Purdue.  On a beautiful day, we were treated to a party in the back yard of Matt’s house shared with other friends located only a few blocks from Ross-Ade Stadium.  Mike and Rick worked over hot grills making some of our favorite NJ specialties like Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches along with sausage, pepper, and onions on rolls.

     We all brought various samples of favorite Brews to go along with burgers and hot dogs while sharing many “Tales from the Tailgate”.   My Penn State cohorts from over the many years, John Massimilla (PSU grad, die-hard fan) and Dr. Wayne Hoover (fellow Juniatian, class of ’83) came up to root for Penn State from Chambersburg.  We all had a great time meeting and tailgating with the Purdue students and parents who all welcomed us there.  John brought some bourbon and we all appreciated being in the shade on a hot, sunny day.  We took several group photos to remember a very fantastic pre-game party! 

     Mike and Amy’s youngest daughter, Taylor, joined as well and the family would leave early Friday morning to go back for her to cheerlead for her high school team that night.   A senior, Taylor is considering going to a Big Ten school, but not sure where yet.  After the game, I suggested to her father that Collegefootballfan.com still has to go to game at Wisconsin. We hope he can steer her to Madison for another great tailgate to go along with a Fifth Quarter Celebration with Badger fans!

Collegefootballfan.com enjoyed tailgating with friends and fans from both Penn State and Purdue in West Lafayette. Our first Purdue game at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Boilermakers steam out of locker room

    Purdue’s offense came out firing to start the second half.  They drove 75 yards in 3:49 with Doerue running it over from the two this time to cut the lead.  PSU came in without Clifford on offense.  No one in 101 realized he sustained an injury on Jordan’s touchdown to end the second first half.  Nearby Lion fans voiced approval when frosh QB Drew Allar came into play behind center.  Penn State punted from the 49.  Clifford ran back on the field during a break in the next drive.  He came out to play again to mixed emotions among the Blue and White faithful.  Like Allar, his next series resulted in a punt. 

Next, the Boilermaker offense put together an 81-yard TD drive.   O’Connell (29 for 58, 356 yards, one TD) hooked up with Iowa transfer and former high school teammate Charlie Jones for a 17-yard scoring pass.  Heading into the fourth, Jones’s (12 receptions, 153 yards, one TD) catch put Purdue in front, 24-21.

Aidan O'Connell got good protection most of the game against Penn State
Purdue gave O’Connell good protection throughout most of the game.

See-saw, See-saw

     After exchanging punts, Penn State went back to work from their 45.  On a slant pattern over the middle, WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith hauled in a 29-yard pass from Clifford and spun off a tackler to bounce down the middle of the field.  PSU advanced ahead, 28-24.  After forcing a Purdue punt, the Lions looked to take control starting on their 36.  Boilermaker S Chris Jefferson dimmed Penn State’s spirits, however, when he intercepted Clifford’s overthrown pass to Tinsley and wove his way 72 yards back for a Purdue touchdown with 8:29 left in the game.  “Boilers Up” as Purdue fans say, 31-28.

    In what seemed like an eternity, the two teams went back and forth not scoring for most of the 8:29 remaining.  PSU started from their nine due to a penalty on the kick return and went three and out.  Next, Purdue punted from their 35 after being thrown back to a 4th and 30 due to penalties.  The Lions punted again 22 seconds later following three incompletes.   The Boilermakers earned a first down at their 41 on a pass to Jones. 

Following consecutive time-outs by both teams, Purdue TE Payne Durham seemed to make a successful diving catch deep in Penn State territory between two diving defenders.  After further review, however, the replay showed that the ball hit the ground and Durham never had full control.  Had his hand been under the nose of the football, the Boilermakers could control the clock and at least get a field goal to thwart any Penn State comeback attempt. Instead, another incompletion for Purdue, and the ensuing punt sailed through the end zone for a touchback.    

Penn State DBs halt Purdue ball carrier
Penn State CBs Kalen King (4) and Marquis Wilson (8) halt Purdue ball carrier in third period.

“Lions up”

   By this time, some taunting and finger-pointing started by a big, young Boilermaker student sitting in section 102 who probably imbibed too many “Boilermakers” before the game, started to enrage the AARP delegation of PSU fans just this side of our aisle.  Some fans nearby signaled to security, and a representative of the stadium force about the same age as the “delegation” came down and stood between to keep the peace.  If not, this Purdue fan would have probably incurred the wrath of a couple dozen, steaming, unhappy senior citizens in white Penn State t-shirts.  Would’ve been a spectacle to see for sure on post-game highlights. 

An iconic, “old school” fan of Penn State showed up at Purdue, but the young Purdue fan didn’t attempt to taunt him and his other three buddies toward the end of the game.

 Old dog, old tricks

  His next throw went to Lee who swung out behind the Boilermakers’ left side uncovered to grab Clifford’s lofted pass for the winning score.  The taunting, twenty-something was now nowhere to be seen. However, section 101 remained intact, but on edge, as Purdue started its possession from the 19.  A sigh of relief came from the Faithful as CB Johnny Dixon sacked O’Donnell for ten-yard loss back at the 21.  The Boilers got as far as the 36, but their engine sputtered as the clock hit all zeros.

PSU sack of O'Connell on last series.
Penn State CB Johnny Dixon take down Aidan O’Connell on last Purdue possession to end Boilermakers’ hopes.

Game in review

     Our Guest Game Analysts John and Wayne agreed that like most of section 101, that Penn State should be thankful to be leaving Ross-Ade Stadium with a win.  Disappointment still existed with the blocking of the Lion O-line and the running game in general.  The ground game netted only 98 yards, and the longest gain of the day went for only 12.  Expectations for blocking and running were much higher.

     Wayne noted that Joey Porter provided very tight coverage in the secondary.  He led the Lions in tackles with eight and had three pass breakups.  John remained concerned about the play-calling by the Lion coaching staff.  Until the end of the game, there seemed to be many questionable play calls and ill-timed execution.  Wayne remained positive though as he said, “Most coaches will tell you the biggest adjustment period in college ball comes between the first and second game.”   We agree.  Let’s see what direction Penn State will go in after this win over the Boilermakers who will also surely continue to improve after this one.

Nittany Lion mascot ponders why Penn State’s running game wasn’t what he had hoped for against Purdue.

     At some point during this post-game analysis, St. Laurie blurted out “we”.  I said nothing, but Wayne chimed in, “We?”  She who only attends only “if she has to” suddenly seemed to take interest as a fan of some team – Penn State, of course, in this case.  She had to admit she got caught up a little in the excitement of what she said was an “interesting game.”  Later, she asked me what games I think she is supposedly going to.  I chisel away at this question figuring the amount is already beyond her normal quota of three.  I have a few bribes in the works.

Next Up

Purdue takes on FCS Indiana State here at home again before traveling to Syracuse and returning home versus Florida Atlantic before entering Big Ten play. Penn State returns to Happy Valley to host the Ohio Bobcats of the Mid American next Saturday. This Saturday, Collegefootballfan.com currently heads to Tuscaloosa for our first visit there to see No. 1 Alabama entertain Utah State (1-0). We hope to be entertained as well!

Ed. – by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all!” Read the stories of why my Wife of 33 years earned her title of “St. Laurie”.  This man’s proud story of a lifetime that continues now and…???

Purdue cheerleaders
Purdue cheerleaders remain optimistic against future Big Ten foes. They don’t have to play Ohio State, Michigan, nor Michigan State among the east division of the Big Ten.

Preseason preview with Justcollegfootball.net; Penn State – Purdue; Alabama-Utah State previews

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Listen to our recent podcast with Stephen Hiegel of Justcollegfootball.net as we preview the upcoming 2022 season and discuss some Collegefootballfan.com history. To listen, click on the icon below (please fast forward four minutes. This is an unedited copy with four minutes of wasted set-up time. Thanks) :

Game 636 preview: Penn State at Purdue, 8 pm EST on Thursday, September 1

     Don’t be fooled.  Despite a long-term contract, James Franklin sits on a hot-seat at Penn State.  The Nittany Lions’ recent record of 11-11 fires up the pressure on him, not the fans waiting for results.  His efforts have to show improvements on the field of play this season.

     Purdue comes off a successful 9-4 season led by returning QB Aidan O’Connell. The 2nd Team All-Big Ten QB from a year ago threw for 3,712 yards and 28 TDs last season culminating in a 45-42 win we attended in last season’s Music City Bowl.  Some key Boilermaker receivers will likely be replaced by comparable talent. Their running game needs to step up to offer a more potent offensive attack. 

We ended 2021 seeing Purdue in an exciting win over Tennessee, 45-42, in the Music City Bowl. Our 2022 FBS slate begins with the Boilermakers hosting Penn State on the evening of Thursday, September 1.

    Defensive Coordinator Brad Lambert, now with Wake Forest, left an improved defense behind.  Two understudies, Ron English and Mark Hagen, resume his defensive 4-2-5 scheme.  The loss of DE George Karlaftis to the NFL draft needs to be shored up.  S Jalen Graham will be called on to lead the defensive charge as the primary tackler in this defense.

Penn State preview: The good, the bad, and a new season

   The Nittany Lions return sixth-year QB Sean Clifford.  Many see this as a detriment after last season’s performance, but Clifford played effectively against Iowa last season before suffering an injury while leading.  PSU lost that game.  Hobbled, he returned and didn’t perform up to speed in losses to Illinois and Ohio State. They also fell by four and three points to Michigan and Michigan State respectively. 

    Reviewing last season, Franklin noted he needed to strengthen his running game.  Five-star frosh RB Nick Singleton took up residence in Happy Valley last January. He will be called up on early to improve the struggling ground game.  WR Parker Washington steps up to replace current pro Jahan Dotson, and WR Mike Tinsley transferred in from a record-setting Western Kentucky passing game.

Defense and counter-defense 

  Like Purdue, PSU has a new defensive coordinator in Manny Diaz, successful as the same previously at Miami.  In addition to several returnees up front, two starters from 2020 out with injuries last season return.  DT PJ Mustipher and DE Adisa Isaac will be back.  The LB corps has only one starter returning, but Diaz moves starting Safety Jon Sutherland up to that spot this season.  The secondary will be the strength of this defense with S Ji’Ayar Brown (six INTs) and Joey Porter Jr. at CB.

    Purdue HC Jeff Brohm’s offense with O’Connell counters with WR Broc Thompson off a great performance in the Music City Bowl.  TE Payne Durham leads a strong group in that position that will give defenses fits.  The O-Line returns experience to lead returning top RB King Doerue (533 yards, two TDs) from a year ago.  Sampson James, OSU recruit and Indiana transfer, expects to bring some explosiveness to the Boilermakers’ running attack.

Penn State’s line will be reinforced this year by key returnees who were sidelined by injuries last season.

Pressure points

   Penn State needs to see some improvement up front to give Clifford time and to spring Singleton into the secondary.  Key battles this evening will be between the Purdue passing attack against a very good pass defense with more pressure coming up front this season.

   Speaking of pressure, pressure falls on Franklin mostly to get his program headed in the right direction right now.  He supposedly recruits the talent, but he needs to show how well he can make it all work together on the field.  He needs to do this now with improved play-calling for his experienced QB.  We expect his offense to be more balanced, and we expect Manny Diaz’s defense to be aggressive.  We anticipate that Penn State wins this game over Purdue by a TD at some point in the fourth quarter.

Hail Utah State! Could be surprising in 2022. They visit Alabama on this Saturday.

Game 637:  Utah State at Alabama preview, 7:30 pm EST on Saturday, September 3

     Alabama with its annual bevy of five-star recruits and returning Heisman candidate in QB Bryce Young on offense and LB Will Anderson Jr. on defense should overcome a pretty experienced 11-3 Utah State Aggie team from a year ago.  Utah State (1-0) did not want to expose much last week vs. #131 Connecticut to win 31-20 at home.  HC Blake Anderson will be pulling out all stops he plugged in last week.  We expect to see State run a more balanced up-tempo offense against The Crimson Tide.  We watched last week’s USU game on TV.  QB Logan Bonner seemed to be throwing off his back foot.  If he does that against Bama, the Aggies won’t challenge much on offense, if at all.  He’s also going to have to rely more on runs by Calvin Tyler, Jr. behind an experienced o-line to mix in with his passing game.

Utah State QB Logan Bonner posted 361 passing yards when we saw the Aggies defeat Hawaii in 2021.

Short memory, long day?

    DE Byron Vaughns impressed on defense last week and as MVP in The LA Bowl last year. However, Alabama’s receivers, Jermaine Burton and Ja’Corey Brooks, though inexperienced, probably have too much speed for the Aggie secondary.  If Vaughns and the experienced Aggie front four don’t bring any pressure against that patented load of offensive Alabama linemen, they will have a long day in Tuscaloosa. What can be said in an Alabama preview that hasn’t been over-advertised already?

Factors and antidote

  The X-factors for State, if there are any, may include Bama’s date at Texas next week versus former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkasian.  Like Utah State against UConn a week ago, Alabama may not be as focused on the task at hand Saturday night.  The point spread for this game looms at 41.5 points.  First game question marks, learning curves, inexperience at some positions, overconfidence, opponent’s motivation factors, late game substitutions, and looking ahead could possibly keep the Aggies in this one longer than anticipated.  The antidote for all of these, of course, could just be HC Nick Saban’s experience. We’ll bank on that, but we just hope that we will see Utah State present some kind of a challenge during our first game ever at Bryant-Denny Stadium to make it somewhat memorable.

-ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all!  Click on the title to order your book to read our unique, fun story about seeing every FBS team (up to the first 120) play in person a least once.  And come back here weekly to read about games we continue to attend on a weekly basis stating with #636 and #637 previewed above. Thanks!

When it comes to all the variables to preview in an Alabama game, consider Nick Saban first and foremost.

Game 635: WKU Hilltoppers turn back APU Governors in college football’s season opener

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Bowling Green, KY – Western Kentucky’s Hilltoppers and the FCS Austin Peay Governors battled into the fourth quarter Saturday with the Toppers leading, 21-20.  Long TD passes and turnovers in the final period gave the home team the victory by a final score of 38-27.  With an 11 am CST kickoff to start Week 0 between these two nearby rivals, Collegefootallfan.com attended the inaugural college football game of the 2022 season.

Western Kentucky enters stadium on opening day 2022.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers open the 2022 season as the first FBS to enter its stadium on August 27.

Early season offensive struggles to be expected

     WKU QB Austin Reed connected with WR Malachi Corley (five receptions, 61 yards, three TDs) for early scores. The Topper defense gathered four take-aways resulting in three scores.  Both teams struggled offensively early. Throughout the game, both the Toppers and Govs adapted to playing for the first time with transfer QBs. Reed last played two seasons ago for D-2 West Florida who won the national championship with him under center.  Jarret Doege was to initially start for the Hilltoppers, but he transferred to Troy 12 days ago.  The Govs started Mike DiLilleo (15 for 21, 156 yards, two TDs, two INTs) who played a back-up roll last season for Middle Tennessee.  We saw him in action last season briefly here against the Hilltoppers.  We expected to see Sheldon Layman start, but HC Scotty Walden had him dressed on the sidelines with no pads.

 Work in progress for both

     Hilltopper DB AJ Braithwaite picked DiLilleo’s pass off on APU’s first possession to take over at the Toppers’ 49.  On a fourth and four, Reed (20 for 34, 279 yards, four TDs, 1 INT) connected with Corley wide open over the middle in the end zone for a 17-yard scoring pass to lead, 7-0.  The Govs cut the lead 7-3 on their next possession with Maddux Trujillo’s 41-yard kick.  At times, APU showed glimpses of the same run-pass, delayed mesh option operated successfully by Wake Forest.  They probably needed to run this more often to develop the deception aspect.  Before the first period ended, DiLilleo connected with WR Drae McCray (six catches, 90 yards, two TDs) with his longest pass of the day for a 44-yard TD.  The FCS visitors led at the end of the quarter, 10-7.  Most of the game, Gov passes went short to the flats.

APU Drae McCray TD catch and run for 44 yards.
Austin Peay WR Drae McCray enroute on 44-yard catch and run for a TD in first quarter.

    In the second, the Hilltoppers continued on a 75-yard scoring drive. An 11-yard TD pass to Corley took back a 14-10 lead.  The Govs seemed to gain some momentum on their next drive, but lost it quickly. The left end blocked down, and the RB swung around left end on a pattern down the left hashmark.  DiLilleo fired an errant pass behind him which his intended mark never looked for.  However, Hilltopper DB Upton Stout saw the opportunity right from the start.   He raced toward for the ball to intercept, and he returned it 34 yards unscathed for a pick-six to extend the lead for the home team, 21-10. Most errant pass play ever witnessed in our history. We saw the play unfold from our upper deck seats as clearly as Stout.

Malachi Corley TD reception
Malachi Corley (11) breaks through for his second of three TD catches in this contest. This one from 11 yards out.

Governors fight back

    Starting the next drive from their forty, following two Topper penalties on the ensuing kickoff, give the Govs credit.  APU drove the length of the field with DiLilleo running it in from the one. Eighteen seconds left in the half to whittle the lead, 21-17.  The teams went into the locker-rooms for half time. Fans looked for cover under Houchens Industries-Smith LTD Stadium grandstands when the halftime festivities led by the Governor marching band started as a cold, intermittent rain storm began. 

WKU Dance Team performs during halftime festivities.

Defenses control third period

     As the first half remained hot and sunny late into the second period, a large black cloud blocked out the sun to change the atmosphere of the second half.  The APU marching band remained with fans under the covered mezzanine in line at the concession stands.  We eventually moved up to some empty seats under the awning of the upper-level press box.  On the second series of the third period, only the Governors came up with points on Trujillo’s 49-yard FG.  The one-point Hilltopper lead remained 21-20 heading into the final period.

 Hilltoppers take over

   Western Kentucky started its next possession on their 29 leading into the final period. With 12:56 left, Corley made a diving catch in the end zone on a 25-yard scoring pass from Reed to extend the Hilltopper lead.  The following drive by APU halted on a high snap to DiLilleo. He mishandled the ball on the exchange to his back resulting in a fumble recovery by WKU on their 49.  Three plays later, Reed connected with WR Daewood Davis (6 snares, 124 yards, one TD) on a bomb just short of the end zone. There Davis backpedaled into the end zone against two defenders for a 48-yard touchdown reception.

WKU Daewood Davis TD catch
Hilltopper WR Daewood Davis positions himself under Reed’s pass to back into the end zone for a 35-20 lead.

     The Toppers forced a Governor punt on the next defensive series, but CB Shamari Simmons pick off a pass to put the Govs back on offense at their own 15.  A halfback option pass for 39 yards and a 15-yard penalty against WKU put the Govs at the 24.  They capitalized when DiLilleo connected with McCray again. The TD pass from there put them back within 35-27, with 8:09 left to play.  Aided by a pass interference call, with 3:18 left, Hilltopper Brayden Narveson booted a 23-yard FG to put the home team up, 38-27. 

APU’s Shamari Simmons comes down with an interception to kick start the Governor’s last scoring drive.

On the ensuing kickoff return, APU fumbled the ball away, not once but twice! Western Kentucky took over at the 27.  Topper HC Ty Helton showed some class. He decided to run the clock out rather than try to pad the score.  The Austin Peay Marching Band started singing its signature song by the Beatles, “Take the last train to Clarksville,” in honor of their campus location. They chanted one last time, “Let’s go Peay!” The first final score of the 2022 college football season was in the book, 38-27, in favor of the 1-0 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

 On tap for Week One

    Next week, the Hilltoppers travel over the Pacific to play Hawaii (0-1), 63-10 losers to Vanderbilt late Saturday night. When they return stateside, they’ll have their work cut out for them.  Only one of two teams playing 13 regular season games this year (Hawaii is the other), they play games 11 straight weekends with no breaks.  Collegefootballfan.com will see the Hilltoppers play again on Saturday October 1 when they host Troy of the Sun Belt Conference. 

     Austin Peay returns to Clarksville to host the Presbyterian Blue Hose of Clinton, SC next Saturday.  On September 24, we will see the Governors host Eastern Kentucky in an early key ASUN Conference game for a possible FCS playoff bid.  Only six teams compete in this newly formed conference this year.

    As for CFF.com, we have two big FBS games coming up this week.  On Thursday, we will venture to West Lafayette, Indiana for our first time. Purdue hosts Penn State at Ross-Ade Stadium.  On Saturday, we head to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The No. 1 Crimson Tide play at Bryant-Denny Stadium for our first time to see them against Utah State (1-0), winner over UConn on Saturday, 31-20.

APU cheerleaders "chase the Lion" along with their football teamn
Austin Peay HC Scotty Walden titled his team’s continuous Improvement program as “Chase the Lion.” Evidently the APU cheerleading squad has bought into it as well.

Extra Points:

    We enjoy watching the APU coaching staff led by HC Scotty Walden keeping their team charged up all during the game.  We saw a lesson being taught on their first kickoff. One assistant grabbed Frosh LB Vinay Singh by the arm and made sure he completed his race to the back of the end zone with his teammates as the Governor kick-off team does every time the ball sails through the end zone.

  Good atmosphere at WKU with the announced crowd of 13,868 for the opener.  Of course, not as festive as was last season’s sold-out opener against Power Five school Indiana. Both bands and cheering squads in full attendance.  Free programs (annual publication), free parking, a free Topper t-shirt (we will wear it against Troy), and a real ticket for all fans in attendance.  Great way to open our season!

   Sloppy play in some aspects to be expected in an opener for both teams.  Both are well-coached and adjustments will be made for their next games throughout the season.  We expect to see QB Sheldon Layman get some time along with DiLilleo for the Governors.  They will look for more downfield passing opportunities. Blocking schemes will have to be improved. The Govs were sacked five times.  Perhaps, Walden may be planning do develop the run-pass option game some more to the standards Wake Forest runs today. For the Hilltoppers, run-blocking will be worked on to improve over the 108 yards and 3.4 avg per run in this game.

Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all!   If you enjoy reading this article, please click on the title to read about games we attended over the years to see every FBS ream (until there were 120) at least once.  We’ve seen all 130 in existence play in person since.  How many people that you know have done that?  Please read it and submit a review on our Amazon.com page.  Thanks!

APU defense knocks down pass
In early action, the APU defense applied pressure and knocked down an Austin Reed pass attempt.

Steveo’s Salvos: Let’s get the 2022 season started

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     Enough about NIL sponsors, transfers, and escape portals, let’s get the 2022 season started!  We’re right on top of it.  11 am CST this Saturday, Austin Peay at Western Kentucky opens our season.  FCS and Group of Five get rolling with similar starts breaking in a new QB.  “Let’s go Peay!” – one of our favorite college cheers now!

Doege gone

     If you haven’t heard, the WKU Hilltoppers starting QB of a week ago, Jarret Doege, who transferred there from West Virginia, turned his back and transferred to Troy! Fourth team in five years?  Didn’t think that could happen without sitting out a season.  Two years at Bowling Green. Three years at WVU. Tranfers to WKU. Quits. Now practicing with Troy. Not right.  Bonus for us though. We already have Troy at WKU penned in on October 1.  Think the Hilltoppers defensive front will pin their ears back for this one?  We hope so. Let’s get the 2022 season started!

    As for the Governors of APU, we figure we saw their two top QBs in action last season.  Primary signal caller Draylen Ellis who led the Govs in our opener last season with an upset win over UT Chattanooga, transferred.  We saw him later in a loss to Tennessee State. That’s where he is now! What a tangled web this portal weaves.   In our third Gov game last year, we watched Soph Sheldon Layman lead the Govs to a convincing 47-7 win over Murray State.  We attended the rivalry between Middle Tennessee and WKU last season.  With MTSU starter Chase Cunningham out, two back-ups stepped in, Nick Vittiato and Bill DiLilleo. With Cunningham returning healthy this season, DiLilleo took the portal and found his way to Peay.  We figure Layman and DiLilleo contend to start this Saturday. Another question to be answered as we get the 2022 season started.

QB Sheldon Layman played well for the Governors in his first start last season for a big win over Murray State.

Our standard response, “So what?”

    Paul Finebaum, aka “Mr. Obvious” in this corner, reports the greatest threat to Alabama’s road to the national championship rests in Ohio State.  Doesn’t just about everybody think that?  Why do the internet headlines try to make such announcements so questionable when the majority of fans would reason the same?  Surprise us when something out of the ordinary comes around. Waste of infinite cyberspace.

Top RBs to return on our schedule in 2022

     This season, we will witness four top RBS returning from among last season’s yardage leaders. Happens that collegefootballfan.com has seen all play these last few years, but each will impact their teams even more this season. TB Chris Rodriguez of Kentucky led the Wildcat ground game last season with 1,379 yards and nine TDs. We plan to see him perform twice this year vs. South Carolina and vs. Georgia. Last year he romped for 144 yards against the Gamecocks, but for only a mere seven against the vaunted Dawg defense in a 30-13 loss.

     Texas’ Bijan Robinson returns on the Heisman watch list with 1,127 yards and 11 TDs. The Baylor Bears will be his comp when we see him perform on Black Friday.  Last season, the Bears knocked him off course from his 5.8 yards per carry to only 2.5 holding him to 43 yards. Despite a TD for Robinson, the Bears won, 31-24.  Tank Bigsby of Auburn ran for 1,099 yards and ten TDs a year ago. He played a solid game against Penn State in a game we attended.  He gained 102 yards and scored twice, but the Lions beat the Tigers, 28-20. 

QB Malik Cunningham of Louisville returns as the nation’s top rushing QB tallying 1,031 yards and 20 touchdowns. We saw him in an OT win in 2019 win over Wake Forest, 62-59, when he produced 99 yards and two scores.  This year, we will see him perform against first-year FBS program James Madison.  Can’t wait to see what these guys will do once we get the 2022 season started!

Baylor DT Siaki Ika (2nd white jersey from top) will lead Baylor’s defensive charge to stop RB Bijan Robinson of Texas when they meet in Austin on November 26.

Deacon D-Up?

     For Week Two, we anticipate Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman hopefully returning to play from a non-related football injury when the Deacs come to Nashville to play Vanderbilt.  Last season, the Deacs averaged 41.0 ppg.  However, though the WFU offense could pour it on, so could their opponents against a very suspect defense.  In three three-point wins, they allowed 34, 37, and 42 points. Against Army’s triple option, the Deacon offense outgunned the Cadets, 70-56, to overcome. In three losses, they allowed 58, 48, and 45 points to allow an average of 28.9 ppg for the season.  Die-hard Wake alum Jim “Bug” Harton and collegefootballfan.com talked offseason as to when his team would upgrade their defense. HC Dave Clawson searched to hire new blood to inspire his “D”.

     The offseason answer came from Purdue.  Former DC Brad Lambert was brought to Wake to improve things on the other side of the football.  His Boilermaker defense allowed 22.4 ppg in 2021. Only twice, did Lambert’s D allow over 30 points. To Ohio State, they surrendered 59.   In the Music City Bowl we attended, the Boilermakers edged the Tennessee Vols in the end, 45-42.  If Hartman and company, even in his absence, can continue to score like last year, and if Lambert’s revamped defense can keep most opponents to 30 or less, Wake could be ready to make a move.  Hartman needs to be ready for Clemson by September 24.  A “W” can only happen though if Lambert can hold that Tiger offense for Clawson’s program for the first time in nine years.

Under pressure last season, NC State QB Devin Leary fires this 28-yard TD pass to WR Devin Carter in their 45-42 loss at Wake Forest. Under new DC Brad Lambert, the Deacs look to improve defensively.

Pro portal?

     Reading a recent update about two pro QBs we saw play as collegians, it struck us as “funny”.  Looks like Baker Mayfield, seen play for Oklahoma and Heisman winner as well, beat out Sam Darnold formerly of USC as the starter for the Carolina Panthers.  What?  Darnold can’t go through the transfer portal?  With all these current college QBs searching for “greener pastures” when they don’t start, how will they take this kind of news if they make it to the pros? Just quit?

Now, some actually may have more money they made from their NILs in college as they will make from the pros.  Surely, it’s eventually going to happen. Another funny thing read later regarding this situation, a back-up QB who may take over for either of these guys could be PJ Walker, HC Matt Rhule’s starting, unheralded QB compared to these two when he was at Temple.  Didn’t even know he made it to the pros. Of course we like the QB from Elizabeth, NJ High School.

QB Sam Darnold of USC (14) defeated UCLA when we saw him play, but he hasn’t made much of a mark in the pros yet.

Best of upcoming Collegefootballfan.com 2022 season

Top Teams – Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Baylor, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Houston, PSU. First-time Stadiums – Bryant-Denny, Clemson Memorial, Ross-Ade, Red Floyd, Yager, and Scheumann Best games – Ohio State at PSU, Georgia at Kentucky, Baylor at Texas, PSU at Purdue, PSU at Auburn Hottest coaching seats – Scott Satterfield (Louisville), Jake Spavital (Texas State), James Franklin (PSU) Best players- QB Bryce Young (AL),TE Brock Bowers (UGA), RB Bijan Robinson (TX), LB Will Anderson (AL) Best Tailgates – PSU at Purdue, Houston at Navy, ArmyNavy, PSU at Auburn, Wake at Vandy, Louisville at Clemson                                                                     Best possible upsets – Navy over Houston, South Carolina over Kentucky, James Madison over Louisville,  Utah State over Alabama Best Rivalries – ArmyNavy, Penn State-Ohio State, Middle Tennessee-Western Kentucky

Watch for Upcoming CFF.com Podcast for Week “0”

     Check here again shortly for our preseason interview soon.   Done with us by Stephen Hievel of JustCollegeFootball.com,  it should release just in time to get the 2022 season started this weekend.  In addition to our 11 am CST kickoff when Austin Peay goes at it with Western Kentucky, we plan to keep an eye on the results of two other games on Week 0 that include future teams on our early season slate.  UConn visits Utah State, who we will see at Bama on September 3.  Vanderbilt visits Hawaii.  The Commodores return to Nashville to host Wake Forest on September 10.

-Ed. by Steve Koreivo, “Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the Fan who’s seen ‘em all!”  Please click on the title. It would be great if you would purchase “Tales” and submit a review on its page on Amazon.com.  Thanks!                 

Let’s get this 2022 season started!