Official 2021 College Football thread

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll put this in here since he'd been a major topic for the Florida Gators in the last week or so, but some shocking news from the Georgia HS scene yesterday.

QB Robbie Roper (Roswell HS) was a very productive though largely unrecruited prospect throughout a pretty decent career.

Yesterday, as part of routine scheduled shoulder surgery, he suffered complications from the anesthesia and at last report was fighting for his life in ICU.

There are something like 438 HS football programs in the state, I've seen at least half those express their prayers and concern since the news started getting around.

The situation is just so nightmarish to so many people -- so many that can relate in a "there but for the grace of God" way -- it's felt to me like the whole state or at least the HS football subculture has really been dealt a blow.

edit to update: Shortly after noon today his family issued a statement through his official Twitter account. He didn't make it
May he rest in peace.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/high-scho...N3QNG75YKYXQ4/

[Ksyrup]

If there's anything that's going to get Norvell canned, it's his inability/unwillingness to get a transfer QB. USC's QB just went to Pitt, for chrissakes. We've got a poor man's Lamar Jackson singlehandedly keeping us from a 1 or 2 win season and nothing else. Can't recruit WR (though we at least got the Pittman dude from Oregon to transfer) and don't have a real QB.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

USC's QB just went to Pitt, for chrissakes.

I can't be the only person who figured that Slovis just didn't realize that their QB whisperer had left for Nebraska

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I can't be the only person who figured that Slovis just didn't realize that their QB whisperer had left for Nebraska

I read that his girlfriend is a student-athlete at Pitt.

[Ksyrup]

A&M is reportedly pulling out of the Gator Bowl due to a Covid outbreak leaving them with too few players. I know Miami is on the verge of needing to pull out of their bowl too.

[miked]

Looks like RU may be the replacement for A&M according to sources. Nothing like going 5-7 and making a bowl.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miked

Nothing like going 5-7 and making a bowl.

Without practice or preparation for it either.

[sterlingice]

So you're saying there's a chance Kansas gets in a bowl game?

SI

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'll put this in here since he'd been a major topic for the Florida Gators in the last week or so, but some shocking news from the Georgia HS scene yesterday.

QB Robbie Roper (Roswell HS) was a very productive though largely unrecruited prospect throughout a pretty decent career.

Yesterday, as part of routine scheduled shoulder surgery, he suffered complications from the anesthesia and at last report was fighting for his life in ICU.

There are something like 438 HS football programs in the state, I've seen at least half those express their prayers and concern since the news started getting around.

The situation is just so nightmarish to so many people -- so many that can relate in a "there but for the grace of God" way -- it's felt to me like the whole state or at least the HS football subculture has really been dealt a blow.

edit to update: Shortly after noon today his family issued a statement through his official Twitter account. He didn't make it
May he rest in peace.

Robbie Roper, popular HS QB from Roswell, remembered as ‘model citizen’ on and off field

This is horrible.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

So you're saying there's a chance Kansas gets in a bowl game?

SI

No, just that WF is breathing a sigh of relief

[miami_fan]

Booooo that sideline warning penalty!

[miked]

Looks like 5-7 RU backs in to the Gator Bowl thanks to academics. Not sure what happens with the players who have already declared for the draft, nobody has practiced in a few weeks, everyone is home for break, and I believe we do not have a defensive coordinator. Oh, and one of the statistically worst QBs in the country. Should be fun.

On a another note, we had already planned a trip down to Jax Beach to see some friends and were checking out on 12/31. With an 11am game, I can still go and be on the road that afternoon. Good times.

[Ksyrup]

Most prestigious bowl Rutgers has ever been to! I guess in 50 years, no one will remember the details.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'll put this in here since he'd been a major topic for the Florida Gators in the last week or so, but some shocking news from the Georgia HS scene yesterday.

QB Robbie Roper (Roswell HS) was a very productive though largely unrecruited prospect throughout a pretty decent career.

Yesterday, as part of routine scheduled shoulder surgery, he suffered complications from the anesthesia and at last report was fighting for his life in ICU.

There are something like 438 HS football programs in the state, I've seen at least half those express their prayers and concern since the news started getting around.

The situation is just so nightmarish to so many people -- so many that can relate in a "there but for the grace of God" way -- it's felt to me like the whole state or at least the HS football subculture has really been dealt a blow.

edit to update: Shortly after noon today his family issued a statement through his official Twitter account. He didn't make it
May he rest in peace.

Robbie Roper, Roswell High School quarterback, dies after surgery complications

Terrible story. And my daughter just realized she kinda knew his sister Breanna who played SB at GT and just transferred to Ole Miss for her super-senior season. Pretty sure we played against one of her travel teams years ago, and one her old UTM teammates played with her at GT.

[Edward64]

With all the bowl cancellations due to Covid, is there a chance the CFP semi/finals could be cancelled?

I can't imagine. Maybe temporarily delayed for 10+ days. Or cynically, those programs won't test as thoroughly before the games.

[henry296]

There could be a forfeit in those games:

College Football Playoff committee announces new COVID-19 policy ahead of playoff games | NCAA.com

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Edward64

With all the bowl cancellations due to Covid, is there a chance the CFP semi/finals could be cancelled?

I can't imagine. Maybe temporarily delayed for 10+ days. Or cynically, those programs won't test as thoroughly before the games.

I'm pretty sure I know which answer is the accurate one.

SI

[henry296]

Anybody heard why they wouldn't take teams from different bowls that had a cancellation and make at least one game. For example, why wouldn't ECU and SMU play each other other than they are in the same conference?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by henry296

Anybody heard why they wouldn't take teams from different bowls that had a cancellation and make at least one game. For example, why wouldn't ECU and SMU play each other other than they are in the same conference?

My guess was/is that the bowls didn't want to end up squabbling over "well why should yours get played instead of mine?"

[Kodos]

Awful story, Jon.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by henry296

Anybody heard why they wouldn't take teams from different bowls that had a cancellation and make at least one game. For example, why wouldn't ECU and SMU play each other other than they are in the same conference?

Although it may be a lack of interest/willingness on the part of the teams too.

According to a Brett McMurphy tweet Memphis, SMU, and ECU all declared their seasons done after their own cancellations, none were willing to be the Sun Bowl replacement team

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Edward64

With all the bowl cancellations due to Covid, is there a chance the CFP semi/finals could be cancelled?

I can't imagine. Maybe temporarily delayed for 10+ days. Or cynically, those programs won't test as thoroughly before the games.

How about this?

It's the college football finals and it's the rematch everyone wanted with Alabama against Georgia. A couple of players are out for each team but no one on either 22-man. There have been sporadic questions all week but both Saban and Smart just refer to how disciplined their teams are, how much they want to win, and how they're abiding by the protocols.

In the second quarter, Bryce Young starts having visible trouble. A replay catches him coughing on the field and they announcers make a deal about it for a few minutes. But after the next commercial break, they don't talk about it again. At halftime, the ABC sideline reporter asks Nick Saban "Is Bryce ok?" and he says "Sure, sure - he's been dealing with a cold for a couple of days". If they have the temerity to ask if he was COVID tested, Saban just walks away, pretending to not hear. But, really, they won't ask the question - they know better and we all kindof suspect the announcers who mentioned it earlier in the game also got notes about it after a few minutes.

Sure, social media is all atwitter with "he has COVID - he should be out". But it's met with everything from the laughably naive "well, if it was really COVID, the NCAA would do something about it" to the football warrior "he's battling through it" mentality to your run of the mill COVID denial. People chalk it up as being Georgia fans or Alabama jealousy. There are even other eagle eyed fans who notice some other players who are symptomatic but it's lost in the social media noise because Bryce Young /is/ the story.

He still looks iffy through the rest of the game and he's getting what looks like extra fluids throughout the game. But he drives Alabama for the winning TD in the 4th quarter and the close game and Saban adding another title is the real story.

A couple of days after the game, the NCAA releases a statement about how they rely on the teams to follow the testing protocol and he Alabama assured them he wasn't symptomatic and there was no testing protocol for a player showing symptoms during the game. There's no talk about any specific players, though, again the focus is just on Young. There's some outrage, but, again, it's just chalked up as being Bama-haters or people who want to make football a sissy game. In some corners, people even start referring to it as "the COVID game" and try to lionize him like the Michael Jordan flu game.

I'm putting money on this being like 20x more realistic than a forfeit in the national title game or a major player being out.

SI

[Butter]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

How about this?

It's the college football finals and it's the rematch everyone wanted with Alabama against Georgia.

Really? This is what everyone wants?

[Edward64]

Glad we are into the somewhat interesting bowl games starting today.

[GrantDawg]

I am pretty sure everyone wants a Georgia-Cincinatti rematch from last years bowl.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[Vegas Vic]

Cool transformation of Petco Park into a football field. This is the first time that the Holiday Bowl will not be played in the old San Diego Stadium, which was demolished in 2019. The game wasn't played last year because of the COVID pandemic, and the city of San Diego worked hard to ensure the bowl game would continue into the future, with this being the 43rd edition.

[Butter]

Michigan/Cincinnati national title game in Indianapolis would be pretty damn interesting. It might also break secondary market ticket records.

It's also incredibly unlikely

[Butter]

The Petco Park transformation is cool and all, but it'll never top the greatest game in a baseball stadium of all time, Illinois/Northwestern at Wrigley Field when they had to agree to run all offensive plays in the same direction to prevent people from running headlong into a brick wall.

[tarcone]

Remember when everyone hated the multipurpose stadiums cities had for their baseball and football teams. The circle of life

[HomerSimpson98]

Damn UCLA - not cool

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Butter

Really? This is what everyone wants?

It's written from a somewhat satirical point of view so assume it's what TV execs want

SI

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by HomerSimpson98

Damn UCLA - not cool

What can UCLA do? A bunch of players tested positive this morning. Shifting blame away from COVID is...odd.

[Vegas Vic]

Chip Kelly at the press conference yesterday. "If we have 11 players, we'll play."

You made a brave noise, Chip, but when push came to shove, you decided not to play, although you had plenty of players to field a legal roster. You just didn't want to have to move a linebacker to one of your DT slots.

Unfortunate year for NC State athletics. First, they get fucked over when four vaccinated players test positive for COVID in the College World Series (after winning the first game against Vanderbilt), and now this.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

Chip Kelly at the press conference yesterday. "If we have 11 players, we'll play."

You made a brave noise, Chip, but when push came to shove, you decided not to play, although you had plenty of players to field a legal roster. You just didn't want to have to move a linebacker to one of your DT slots.

Unfortunate year for NC State athletics. First, they get fucked over when four vaccinated players test positive for COVID in the College World Series (after winning the first game against Vanderbilt), and now this.

Imagine thinking this call was in the hands of a football coach...lol

[sovereignstar v2]

380 pound touchdown just happened in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl

[HomerSimpson98]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Imagine thinking this call was in the hands of a football coach...lol

Nah it wasnt Kyle, but the administration sure made him look like a jackass. Weird that all of these positive cases happened the day of the game. Lots of people spent money to put this event on/attend/etc. Sucks they got a "sorry, not sorry".

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by HomerSimpson98

Nah it wasnt Kyle, but the administration sure made him look like a jackass. Weird that all of these positive cases happened the day of the game. Lots of people spent money to put this event on/attend/etc. Sucks they got a "sorry, not sorry".

UCLA has had positive cases for the past few days. It's not a surprise that it has spread.

Yes, a lot of people have spent money, but as far as I can tell, spending money on travel during a pandemic is certainly buyer beware. But they still get to spend time in San Diego. It's not like the fans are stuck in Texas or Wisconsin in a December vacation.

Nobody wins in the time of COVID, least of all the SEC

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

UCLA has had positive cases for the past few days. It's not a surprise that it has spread.

I think much of the outrage coming from NC State's side acknowledges that fact, and with that being known, UCLA waited until five hours before kickoff to withdraw from the game, giving NC State zero chance to come up with a "Plan B" like some other schools have done. When you juxtapose that with Kelly's press conference yesterday, it's not a good look.

It's also funny listening to the Twitter whining of some UCLA fans about how their day was wasted making the grueling two hour drive down to San Diego. Never mind the NC State fans who had to travel almost 3,000 miles at significant expense to attend. Never mind the NC State players and coaches who had to leave home and give up Christmas to travel cross-country and prepare for this game.

One of the Wolfpack players, Aaron McLaughlin, summed it up pretty well. “Our team has been away from family and friends for a month prepping for this. We have been here for 5 days practicing, we’re in a hotel for Christmas just for it to be canceled 5 hours before kickoff? We deserve better. At this point it’s not the game, it’s the messed up holidays for literally every single person involved in this, on both ends. UCLA and N.C. State.”

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

I think much of the outrage coming from NC State's side acknowledges that fact, and with that being known, UCLA waited until five hours before kickoff to withdraw from the game, giving NC State zero chance to come up with a "Plan B" like some other schools have done. When you juxtapose that with Kelly's press conference yesterday, it's not a good look.

It's also funny listening to the Twitter whining of some UCLA fans about how their day was wasted making the grueling two hour drive down to San Diego. Never mind the NC State fans who had to travel almost 3,000 miles at significant expense to attend. Never mind the NC State players and coaches who had to leave home and give up Christmas to travel cross-country and prepare for this game.

One of the Wolfpack players, Aaron McLaughlin, summed it up pretty well. “Our team has been away from family and friends for a month prepping for this. We have been here for 5 days practicing, we’re in a hotel for Christmas just for it to be canceled 5 hours before kickoff? We deserve better. At this point it’s not the game, it’s the messed up holidays for literally every single person involved in this, on both ends. UCLA and N.C. State.”

Spending two seconds looking online would have netted the NC State program the information that UCLA was experiencing COVID issues starting last Friday. UCLA met every protocol safely until this morning. There is only Plan B's when other teams experience cancellations. Like the other games that have been cancelled. If there is another game cancelled in the coming days, NC State will ave it's plan B. Nobody else has Plan B's, it's just worked out that way.

It's neither parties fault this game was cancelled. Everyone certainly deserves better, but COVID took away this game, not UCLA.

And the drive to SD is a bitch in the rain.

[MrBug708]

The big winner in all these cancellations is Central Michigan. Going from a $350K payout to $4.5 million Sun Bowl payout.

[Edward64]

FWIW the SEC is 0-4 in bowl games to date.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Spending two seconds looking online would have netted the NC State program the information that UCLA was experiencing COVID issues starting last Friday. UCLA met every protocol safely until this morning. There is only Plan B's when other teams experience cancellations. Like the other games that have been cancelled. If there is another game cancelled in the coming days, NC State will ave it's plan B. Nobody else has Plan B's, it's just worked out that way.

It's neither parties fault this game was cancelled. Everyone certainly deserves better, but COVID took away this game, not UCLA.

And the drive to SD is a bitch in the rain.

If you followed ACC football at all, you would know that NC State's head coach is the whiniest bitch in the conference, by far. No one likes him, including many State fans.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Edward64

FWIW the SEC is 0-4 in bowl games to date.

There's fun with the transitive property to be had here. Alabama barely beat Auburn and should have lost, Auburn lost to Houston, Cincinatti handled Houston, so Cincinatti should beat Alabama.

Ofc that's not how college football works, but for people who like to focus soley on single-game outcomes to judge a team, there it is.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Butter

If you followed ACC football at all, you would know that NC State's head coach is the whiniest bitch in the conference, by far. No one likes him, including many State fans.

I've learned that, but I suspect he's winning them over by his comments in the press about the whole situation

[Vegas Vic]

Statement from @BooCorrigan & presentation of @HolidayBowl trophy pic.twitter.com/vUUMUcbquP

— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 29, 2021

[Butter]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I've learned that, but I suspect he's winning them over by his comments in the press about the whole situation

I hope he stays there for 50 years, because this will be their highlight, the year they couldn't beat Wake Forest to make the ACC title game and won a bowl by forfeit.

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by Butter

If you followed ACC football at all, you would know that NC State's head coach is the whiniest bitch in the conference, by far. No one likes him, including many State fans.

Eh, that’s a debatable point. There’s another coach just down the road from Raleigh that blamed the media for his team’s 6-6 record this year, stating that they gave people unrealistic expectations.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm just glad to see that the Holiday did the right thing and awarded the trophy.

This "no contest" bullshit needs to stop, period, in cases where only one team is unavailable/unwilling to play. That's a forfeit and should have always been counted as such.

[Butter]

I thought your ilk was against meaningless trophies

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Butter

I thought your ilk was against meaningless trophies

Since the NCAA can't seem to get that simple thing right, the trophy was at least a gesture toward acknowledging the situation. The "L" belongs on those records

I lobbied loudly for that (forfeits not n/c) to be policy in high school football here for two seasons, no reason I'd be inclined differently at other levels (aside from simply being less interested)