Best Photo of WEEK One

Week One – A “Pedestrian” start to the future of college football

After this WEEK One, I spoke with my long-term Penn State buddy, John Massimilla, to get his assessment of the Nittany Lions in their opener. Together, we’ll be seeing them host Oregon in a key Big Ten battle in Happy Valley on September 27. He described the PSU running game as “pedestrian.” Despite the Nittany Lions dominating the Nevada Wolf Pack, 48-11, their top-notch running game churned out only 135 yards. All- Big Ten/Preseason All-Americans Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined for 62 yards on16 carries. They scored three TDs: Allen on two one-yard runs and Singleton picked up 12 of his 19 on a touchdown jaunt. These two are playing behind a big, solid, experienced offensive line. John’s analysis concerns me.

It sounds like no fire, hustle, intensity. All those intangibles, fans would look for in the opening day of any season. It sounds like this team went through motions. I blame this on non-conference scheduling – not only by Penn State, but by many teams. In their next two games, the Lions host Florida International and then FCS Villanova. Then, they face a bye week before the big, meaningful game against Oregon. I don’t care what James Franklin thinks. A team should be challenged early after months of practice and planning. This kind of slate may cause any team to become lethargic over the next month. I would hope coaches recruit the best talent they can, to compete against the best. That’s how to win championships.

Teams need a spark to kick-off the anticipation of the season

When the Lions played as Independent, years ago and even in the Big Ten, they played the likes of Alabama, Texas, Miami and Nebraska early before the balance of their schedule. Most then competed as Eastern Independents during those years. Early games like this geared the players and fans up for their entire season. The Lions should be going out of their way to play a natural rival like Pitt or another Power Four program in their first month They easily won this game and will do the same most likely in the next two. At least the Ducks meet Other Power programs like Oklahoma State and Oregon State, not powers pr se, but team seeking talent for the same level of competition. Which team will be more tested before the September 27th meeting.

And in WEEK ONE this doesn’t just pertain to Penn State, of course

Look at all the non-competitive scores in wins by other Power Four schools in WEEK One over inferior competition. Examples: Missouri 61 Central Arkansas 6; Kansas 46 Wagner 7; Pitt 61 Duquesne 9; Boston College 66 Fordham 10; Arkansas 52 Alabama A&M 7; Florida 55 LIU 7; USC 73 Missouri State 13; Texas Tech 67 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 7; BYU 69 Portland State 0. These games aren’t about competition! They’ve become glorified practices with uniforms, cheerleaders and bands with television coverage. What’s the sense?

Make these Spring games and avoid them from being considered in the final rankings. At least players get to block and tackle players from other schools. That is all most WEEK One games have become. The argument is always more money for the lesser programs. In the past, I’ve said this, and I’ll say it again: Play another more competitive opponent and give the windfall profits to your “favorite FCS” program.

Frustrated fans

It doesn’t make sense that fans want to pay money to attend these games. Nick Saban used to complain that Alabama students left Crimson Tide games by halftime to party elsewhere. Why? The outcome was determined by then. Another friend texted me in Oregon to say he was watching the Navy game against FCS VMI. However, he said nobody could be seen in the stands besides the Brigade of Midshipmen. Navy is no perennial power, of course, but real fans who speculate an overwhelming outcome don’t want to waste money to watch a 52-7 debacle. The Academy sent numerous promotions weeks before this game. As a Blue and Gold Member, I receive all their promotions online. Navy fans would rather wait to see their team compete for a hard-fought victory, especially against the likes of Notre Dame. Maybe all fandoms don’t feel the same.

The Future of College Football?

Weekly, posts released display Power Four schools announcing their future non-conference schedules for the next few years. More often than not, against several FCS programs or some Group of Five programs. Already, they’re racking up automatic wins toward bowl eligibility. What has to really be questioned, if there is truly a move to consolidate the SEC, Big Ten, Notre Dame and a few other Power Four outliers into two major conferences, with all that TV money and a quest for separate entity amongst the self-proclaimed-powers-that-be, do they still need to play against inferior competition to bloat their records?

With all the money and NIL contracts, they entice the best talent among 136 FBS programs already – a huge disparity of talent among at least 13,600 college football players. And they seek teams with talent less than the 136 playing, supposedly, for the same national title? They should split into four regional divisions, play full schedules amongst themselves and have the top four-eight compete in their own play-off for a championship.

Changes underway?

If this does happen, hopefully this leads to a split where that Top 40-50 programs compete just among each other as Super Conferences. Then, the programs remaining from Group of Fives, left-out Power Four members and maybe a few stronger FCS programs now form the “new Football Bowl Subdivision.” With about 90 teams playing in the new FBS, keep the competition amongst each other and play for a separate national championship. Just like some forms of FCS, D-2 and D-3 would remain intact. It could stir more interest from fans of these programs and the media.

However, the other thing that needs to happen is the initiation of contractual agreements for players to commit to their programs under contract. The move is underway to narrow the portal to ten days in January every year. Believe it when you see it. However, player commitments to play for a school and work toward an education become the most critical for the survival of college football.

The Collegefootbalfan.com 42

Here’s a new feature of Steveo’s Salvos. Each week, we will update the records and rankings of teams we will see play this season no matter what level of play they compete in. The “42” represents the number of all NCAA teams we will see play on the college gridiron in 2025. For now, we’ll continue to refer to the Power Five as such until we see what actually happens with the new proposed Pacific-?? Athletic Conference. Here’s our update following WEEK One:

Power Five

Group of Five (or Six)

Football Championship Subdivision

Division III

Check out our tales as we move forward into 46th season!

Click on the title of my book about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today! If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Based on our game story above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a kick out of our great adventure having seen every (well 134) FBS team play over the years! Two newest to be added later this season.

Edited by and photos taken by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.

Best Sideline Photo of WEEK One