Official 2021 College Football thread

[miami_fan]

Dola, I don’t think that Cristobal would be a bad hire either. I just don’t like the way the process has been conducted.

EDIT: for clarity sake.

[Thomkal]

Coastal Carolina returns to the Cure Bowl in Orlando on Dec 17. This time their opponent will be MAC champion Northern Illinois

[Ksyrup]

I could listen to this guy talk all day long. The article The Athletic did a while back that was an oral history of the QB rooms at TX Tech and WSU was hilarious.

Mike Leach nearly tripped and busted 20 seconds before this (sorry, camera wasn't rolling), but naturally my first questions was if he was ok.

What came next was what we've come to expect with #LeachUnfiltered.

God bless that man.@HailStateFB @Coach_Leach @WLBT pic.twitter.com/JCqZLrr7rD

— Trey Mongrue (@TreyMongrue) December 1, 2021

[Lathum]

One only needs to look at the NFL version of Justin Herbert to realize Cristobal aint the guy

[JonInMiddleGA]

Former 5* prospect headed to Arkansas. He'll be reunited with his HS coach, who is now the RB coach for Arky.

Jadon Haselwood, former Oklahoma 5-star WR, announces transfer destination to the SEC

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Former 5* prospect headed to Arkansas. He'll be reunited with his HS coach, who is now the RB coach for Arky.

Jadon Haselwood, former Oklahoma 5-star WR, announces transfer destination to the SEC

Good news but too soon to tell if he still has that talent level. It’ll be a fresh start for him so we shall see.

Forum isn’t quite sure how many years of eligibility he has left.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Edward64

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Georgia
4. Cincinnati

No way does Georgia play Alabama again in the first round.

Yep.

Early line is Georgia by a touchdown and Alabama by two. The only problem I have with those is the margins should be bigger.

[Edward64]

And in other news, Hogs in Outback vs Penn State.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Yep.

Early line is Georgia by a touchdown and Alabama by two. The only problem I have with those is the margins should be bigger.

Cincy is toast.

Wolverines can win but do see the Dawgs extra motivated to get to the real prize of redemption.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Good news but too soon to tell if he still has that talent level. It’ll be a fresh start for him so we shall see.

Forum isn’t quite sure how many years of eligibility he has left.

Well,let's see here.

Played 13 games in 2019, so that's 1 year
Played 3 games in 2020, but that year doesn't count for two reasons
Played 12 games in 2021, so that's 2 years

I think the rule for 2020 effectively gives anyone active in 2020 5 seasons of eligibility that has to be completed in six years.

So as long as he doesn't sit out, miss a season entirely, etc. I think you'd have him for 3 seasons of action in the next 3 years.

[Edward64]

Thoughts if he was just underutilized or he didn’t develop as expected?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Thoughts if he was just underutilized or he didn’t develop as expected?

Ehhh, I don't know that you could call him underutilized since he was their 2nd leading receiver in total catches and led the team in TD catches. But only 7th in yards per catch.

His size is excellent, work ethic seems good (rehabbed ahead of scheduled after last year's torn ACL), he's physical and not at all reluctant to block but his speed is kind of average to below average for top receivers.

WalterFootball rates him as the 26th best WR prospect among 2022 eligibles, and his projected 40 time (4.56) is the slower than every one of the 25 guys ahead of him. He doesn't seem to be noticeably slower than he was before the injury (came in with a 4.57 40) which is at least a positive.

I think he pretty much is what he is: a mid to late round pick which isn't exactly the worst thing to have on any P5 roster.

edit to add: If you want to know what to expect from him, there's probably not a better example that his signature moment from HS. Game-winning catch in the state championship game with :04 to play. Watched a few clips of him at OU, the catches look a lot like this one

https://twitter.com/jeffsentell/stat...215425?lang=en

[Edward64]

Thanks. Hopefully he’ll be a solid replacement for Burks

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Yep.

Early line is Georgia by a touchdown and Alabama by two. The only problem I have with those is the margins should be bigger.

Agree on Alabama but not really sure on Georgia. Initial thought it so to side with the SEC squad in a blowout. But that Michigan defense is no joke and they have the ability to run the ball well. Georgia looked dominant most of the year, but they didn't really play anyone. Only good team they played kicked the shit out of them.

Guess I don't really know if Georgia is good and played a bad game, or is overrated.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

What, so more mediocre teams get an extra payday?

This year might well be the most fuzzy of any of the playoff era and I still don't have problem identifying a top three, and wouldn't need much to determine a top two.

Which seems quite reasonable to me since that's pretty much exactly what the selection committee is tasked with doing and all that differs is the number asked for. For me, more than two really seems like overkill most of the time.

If the goal is to have more competition at the top, a playoff does that. Easier to recruit to an above average P5 school if you have a shot at playing for a NC.

Not saying that's the best route, but it's an alternative to having the same 2-3 teams kicking the shit out of everyone each season and pretending there is any real point to 90% of the games they play.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

The down-side of an expanded playoff is the potential for a 17-game season.

Ditch the FCS game. Any team worth a lick has no business playing those schools.

Or have the committee put more emphasis on good wins and less on losses to good schools. Have some way to encourage schools to schedule tougher.

In regards to playing 17 games. Any team that is at that level will likely have smashed a bunch of cupcakes along the way and had ample time to rest starters. Georgia for instance had at least 7 games where starters likely didn't even need to see the field in the 2nd half.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

No announcement on Venables, but reports say he has already told the team. It also looks like Dabo is losing his OC to the Virginia HC job.

Venables to Oklahoma is now official.

Oklahoma hires Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as Sooners' new football coach

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Venables to Oklahoma is now official.

Oklahoma hires Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as Sooners' new football coach

I'm sure most OU fans will sell themselves on this hire, but considering the names they were initially tossing around they're probably really disappointed.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

One only needs to look at the NFL version of Justin Herbert to realize Cristobal aint the guy

I don't know if he is the guy but I don't know how the NFL version of Herbert is a negative on Cristobal. From what I can see, Cristobal had Herbert for 2 seasons with Herbert running his third offense of his four year career. This is after the Mark Helfrich and Willie Taggert eras. The first season was a struggle, the second was Herbert's best statistical season.

There seems to be a consensus that Cristobal is a great recruiter. From what I have read and heard, it seem like Cristobal is going for a program where he brings the very best coaching talents he can find and buy to the school, then has them work with the great talent he brings in on the field while he oversees the whole operation.

On a related note and something that speaks to the process that I believe is flawed, a UM booster by the name of John Ruiz is talking about a stadium for the football team in Coral Gables which is where the main campus is. Now I do believe that the program would benefit tenfold with a stadium that is closer to the campus. One sentence from the Miami Herald article I saw sums up all you need to know about why I am questioning this process.

Ruiz is related to Cristobal by marriage, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Well that's a coincidence.

Hmm where have I heard something like that before?

Oh yeah, the head coach of the Hurricane baseball team is the son of a major UM booster who is also a member of the Board of Trustees.

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I'm sure most OU fans will sell themselves on this hire, but considering the names they were initially tossing around they're probably really disappointed.

Oklahoma historically has had a different hiring model than most schools. Four of their most successful coaches, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley were hired with no previous head coaching experience.

If Venables can bring in Jeff Lebby from Ole Miss as his OC, it's probably a wash or perhaps an upgrade from Riley/Grinch.

The jury is still out on Lincoln Riley. He inherited a team on a 10-game winning streak that was defending Big XII Champions, that had demolished Auburn in the Sugar Bowl, and had an excellent recruiting class coming in.

He did go to three straight playoff games, but OU got progressively softer each year he was there. In his first season, they were competitive with Georgia, losing 54-48 in double overtime. The next year, they got blown out by Alabama (although they scored some garbage points in the second half to make the final score more respectable). In his final playoff appearance, Lincoln and Alex Grinch got run out of the building by LSU in a 63-28 trouncing, giving up almost 700 total yards to the Tigers. Then, there's this year. OU failed to qualify for the Big XII Championship and were a handful of plays away from finishing 7-5. In the process, they made Tulane look like an SEC team, and got dominated by the worst team in the FBS (Kansas) for three quarters. If I was a USC fan, my biggest concern would be Alex Grinch.

Riley may or may not succeed, but he's built nothing to this point. He took over as head coach at OU standing on 3rd base, and apparently a lot of people think he hit a triple. As to his two Heisman quarterbacks, he deserves credit, but they were transfers. His hand-picked, highly recruited, can't miss, Heisman anointed QB, Spencer Rattler, actually regressed this year before getting benched. Riley also fired an excellent strength and conditioning coach, Jerry Schmidt, because Lincoln thought he was being "too hard" on the players.

There's no guarantee that Venables will take OU back to being an elite program, but he's an excellent recruiter and tireless worker. His players love him and play hard for him. He'll surround himself with an excellent staff and we'll see what happens in the years to come. I never heard Lincoln Riley get a response like this on the rare occasions he talked about complementary football:

All that needs to be said. #Sooners pic.twitter.com/H19XOxe52P

— SportsTalk1400 (@Sportstalk1400) December 6, 2021

[tzach]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I think there's a difference between those kinds of trick plays and ones where you exploit a player safety rule.

i just have a very low opinion of the league office's true commitment to increase player safety -- to the point that i don't see a problem to fake a slide vs fake a spike.



i agree that the defender is at disadvantage the first time this happens -- good arbitrage by the qb. but i think the outcome of those plays will self regulate if the rules stay as they are.

[HomerSimpson98]

Agreed with Vic. Unfortunately, OU hit a home run with Venables. I was hoping they'd panic and do something stupid but this was a great fit.

[sovereignstar v2]

Pretty underwhelmed the Gophers are playing in the Copper/Insight, but it is what is is. Don't lose to Bowling Green and Illinois and things would probably be different. First time Minnesota and West Virginia have ever met, which is pretty amazing for two schools that have been around as long as they have.

[cuervo72]

Well, they could be playing an away game at Tennessee.

We were rooting for a trip to either Arizona or Vegas for Purdue, given that the band will accompany them on the trip. Nashville doesn't seem nearly as exciting (though my son has been to AZ/NV a couple of summers ago and has only driven through part of TN). Not that they'll have much time to do anything, really. But you know, the idea of the thing.

(He didn't make the band cut as a freshman, when Purdue also went to Nashville. So at least there's that. More sucky for the current seniors who had though.)

[sovereignstar v2]

I'm not in any position to travel to any of the games, but yeah I would have preferred the Music City versus Tennessee. That's not really any disrespect to West Virginia, I just have a preference to play SEC teams when possible.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I'm not in any position to travel to any of the games, but yeah I would have preferred the Music City versus Tennessee. That's not really any disrespect to West Virginia, I just have a preference to play SEC teams when possible.

Will definitely help when recruits see you are playing the best on the big stage

Saw that the Hogs are playing Cincy and BYU as non-conference in 2022. Cincy is up first at home. We also have Missouri State Bears and Liberty University.

No GA but that's okay.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

The down-side of an expanded playoff is the potential for a 17-game season.

I'd still like to see it - and with the NCAA finally admitting these kids are essentially professionals, why not?

If conference championships are still part of the scene, maybe an 11-team playoff, with the power-five conference champions receiving byes. It would be good for the top players, too - some more film on them against great competition, maybe additional NIL opportunities.

I think the committee will avoid the rematch in the semifinal. I can't say Michigan deserves to be ranked ahead of Alabama. It's hard to assess schedule strength with 100% accuracy - certainly Michigan has some nice recent wins (their schedule was so back-heavy that when they were 6-0, no one had much of an idea whether they were even good, since Wisconsin was weaker early on), but Alabama won the toughest conference and beat the consensus #1 convincingly.

So, it's probably Michigan/Georgia and Alabama/Cincinnati. Is there any advantage to the 2 versus 3 ranking? I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia were #2.

I wondered if Harbaugh was pressing for more points in the fourth quarter because of ranking. That would be a shame. I know the fans and the players enjoyed it, but what if someone got hurt in the last five minutes?

I am pretty against the notion of the expanded playoff. One of the unique things about college football is that almost every game matters. Sure, teams stumble and can recover, but the margin for error is pretty slim, which makes each game feel really important.

I think the UofM/OSU game will always feel important to those fanbases, but what made it extra special this year that you knew the loser would not only be out of the Big Ten Championship game, but, also, out of the CFP. The expended playoff would less the importance of it.

I, also, think it's rare to have more than 1 to 3 teams each year that can realistically win it.

[miami_fan]

Manny Diaz out officially now.

[Ksyrup]

I think it sucks that in 8 years of the CFP, there have only been 13 schools represented. And 7 of those were only single appearances. So 6 teams have accounted for 25 entries. I don't care what sport it is, but especially when you have 130 teams, to have that few schools represented in the playoffs sucks. Obviously not from a money standpoint, but as a fan of the sport.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I am pretty against the notion of the expanded playoff. One of the unique things about college football is that almost every game matters. Sure, teams stumble and can recover, but the margin for error is pretty slim, which makes each game feel really important.

I think the UofM/OSU game will always feel important to those fanbases, but what made it extra special this year that you knew the loser would not only be out of the Big Ten Championship game, but, also, out of the CFP. The expended playoff would less the importance of it.

I, also, think it's rare to have more than 1 to 3 teams each year that can realistically win it.

It's difficult to make the "every game matters" argument when college football now has more meaningless games, by percentage, than probably any other sport and the creation of the playoff is largely at fault. Now it's the playoffs or no one really cares, which means 99% of college football games don't mean a damn thing.

[JPhillips]

I still think there's just no good way to prove who is the best team given the small number of games teams play. I think conference champions as the goal is better for the sport overall.

Once OSU lost to Michigan, I have no interest in whatever bowl they play in. How many starters are even going to play in it?

[Solecismic]

Growing up, that's how football was. People would bring roses to the UM/OSU game. There weren't that many bowl games and the conference championship and a trip to Pasadena for a road game against that nebulous power called the Pac-8 was the ultimate reward.

The best team is impossible to find in a short season in a sport like football where scheme and scouting and couple of key plays where a guy is just one step from where he should be can separate winners and losers.

There's a natural appeal in finding champions. Certainly, I'm into it this month because this is Michigan's first success in the modern format.

The format I grew up with is long gone. It went with conference expansion, making the standings at the end of the season less relevant. Divisions and championship games and then plus-ones and now playoffs... it's all about money and doesn't quite work for the sport.

But it's what we have now. Conferences keep expanding like waistlines at the Texas Roadhouse. There's no turning back, might as well live with it - avoid those pesky non-conference danger games and a few of your better conference rivals in the other divisions and play to reach that championship game.

The NFL works because scheduling is fair (I don't like the 17th game - it provides enough of an imbalance to give more tanking incentive and affect what should be a fresh slate each season). It isn't possible to make college football scheduling fair, and it's a shorter season.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

One of the unique things about college football is that almost every game matters.

Does it? If we're talking in relation to a NC, that's not true. Cincy with some incredible luck has finally broken through, but for the most part, half the schools (G5 schools) are mostly ineligible and their games don't count.

If you're not a blue blood who started off the year ranked, your games stop counting after your first loss. Top schools play so many cupcakes that the games only matter in theory.

Not arguing for anything, just pointing out that out of the 120+ supposedly competing for a national championship, a minuscule amount of games matter in regards to it. And an even tinier amount of those are what we'd consider competitive.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I still think there's just no good way to prove who is the best team given the small number of games teams play. I think conference champions as the goal is better for the sport overall.

Once OSU lost to Michigan, I have no interest in whatever bowl they play in. How many starters are even going to play in it?

I think this is the issue. If you want the "best," you just decide it by poll or committee or whatever. One team, who is the best. It's a judgment, a beauty pageant, justified by whatever metrics suit the argument (and corresponding arguments against the rest that fits the narrative). That's all it is.

Once you decide to have a playoff, it becomes a tournament. The best team doesn't always win. Sometimes the best team doesn't even qualify for the tournament. If you've accepted a playoff, you are accepting that the team who wins simply won a tournament.

That's why I particularly hate the idea of a playoff whose participants are solely chosen by subjective standards. It's the worst of both worlds.

[tarcone]

That clip almost made we want to shift allegiance. Well, not really, but I was inspired.

[miami_fan]

Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Kenny Pickett, Aidan Hutchinson named Heisman Trophy finalists for 2021

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud were announced Monday as the finalists for the Heisman Trophy.

[tarcone]

This may be the last nail in the coffin

What am I talking about? The fact that Alabama is 1 and Michigan is 2.

The last 2 weeks of the season, Alabama squeaked by an average Auburn team and Georgia.

In those 2 weeks, Michign balsted #2 tOSU and #13 Iowa who was #2 at one point.

Alabama lost to an average aTm and Michigan to a top10 MSU squad.

What a joke. The B1G, PAC12, ACC will start flexing their muscle and leave or re-shape the NCAA away from the SEC

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by tarcone

The B1G, PAC12, ACC will start flexing their muscle and leave or re-shape the NCAA away from the SEC

3 leagues that really might have two good'ish teams between them at the moment.

You might be surprised how many people would consider that like being thrown in the briar patch

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by tarcone

This may be the last nail in the coffin

What am I talking about? The fact that Alabama is 1 and Michigan is 2.

The last 2 weeks of the season, Alabama squeaked by an average Auburn team and Georgia.

In those 2 weeks, Michign balsted #2 tOSU and #13 Iowa who was #2 at one point.

Alabama lost to an average aTm and Michigan to a top10 MSU squad.

What a joke. The B1G, PAC12, ACC will start flexing their muscle and leave or re-shape the NCAA away from the SEC

TBH I'm guessing MI is the pretender here but 4-5 weeks before we find out for sure.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by tarcone

This may be the last nail in the coffin

What am I talking about? The fact that Alabama is 1 and Michigan is 2.

The last 2 weeks of the season, Alabama squeaked by an average Auburn team and Georgia.

In those 2 weeks, Michign balsted #2 tOSU and #13 Iowa who was #2 at one point.

Alabama lost to an average aTm and Michigan to a top10 MSU squad.

What a joke. The B1G, PAC12, ACC will start flexing their muscle and leave or re-shape the NCAA away from the SEC

I like how you consider Auburn "average" however include Iowa as "#2 at one point" If anything Auburn is a notch better.

I think the committee did fine under the situation they were given. I probably would have had Georgia 2 but that really doesnt matter.

[albionmoonlight]

They weren't rematching GA and Ala in the semis.

It was either going to be
Ala, MI, GA, Cin; or
MI, Ala, Cin, GA

And since there is no home field advantage or byes or anything, it seems pretty academic. Either of those final rankings would have been reasonable. And we'd have the exact same games in either case.

[BYU 14]

Yeah, I don't know why some people are surprised/upset with that? It was never going to be any different. And 100% the right call from a logistics standpoint as it plays out very favorably for what will be an insanely hyped up Bama / Dawgs rematch

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

it plays out very favorably for what will be an insanely hyped up Bama / Dawgs rematch

Not if Cincinnati has something to say about it!




















They don't...

[Edward64]

I'll root for GA to win it all. But if not GA, I'll root for Cincy just for the novelty (and the Hogs play them in our first game of the 2022 season).

[cuervo72]

Will the hype work on those who think Georgia never has any chance against Alabama?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Pretty big "oof" for LSU.

QB Max Johnson enters the portal tonight. His kid brother (a top rated TE prospect) reopens his recruitment.

Their other experienced QB Myles Brennan is already in the portal.

That leaves only one scholarship QB on the roster, Garrett Nussmeier. He's played four games this year, so if he enters the Texas Bowl he loses a year of eligibility instead of redshirting as planned. Behind him are a couple of walk-ons.

Ironic that upsetting A&M (which got them their 6th win) may turn out to be a curse instead of a blessing.

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Yeah, I don't know why some people are surprised/upset with that? It was never going to be any different. And 100% the right call from a logistics standpoint as it plays out very favorably for what will be an insanely hyped up Bama / Dawgs rematch

They playoff committee is not supposed to manipulate the rankings to avoid rematches in the semi-finals, although that's precisely what they did. Every committee chair faced with that question always says (with a straight face) something to the effect that they rank them one through four without regard to semi-final rematches or other outside influences. We all know it's a load of crap, but they have to make the obligatory statement, and Gary Barta did so again when asked by the ESPN analysts last Sunday.

[jbergey22]

SEC has won 11 out of the past 15 National Championships.

ACC 3
B1G 1

And people are actually shocked that a SEC team was ranked #1 over a B1G team with a history of choking.

Yeah, I know "only this year matters". But by now it is hard to ignore the clear domination of the SEC.

[Brian Swartz]

It doesn't bother me that Alabama is ranked #1. I can see it either way. But yes, only this year matters. If you make a case that the SEC has dominated *this* year, then it's relevant. Otherwhise no. It's simply a fact that Alabama has shown a lot of weakness in the second half of this year. They could win both playoff games 80-0 and it wouldn't change that.

Sports, including football, are chock full of situations where the 'eye test' or 'obvious best team' etc. didn't actually win. Part of that is the best competitor doesn't win a single athletic event a highly non-trivial amount of the time. Best and unbeatable aren't the same thing. But another part is that such assumptions are just plain dead wrong sometimes.

[Swaggs]

I was checking out the numbers on viewership from this site:College football TV ratings, 2021 edition - Sports Media Watch

It really is remarkable how big the break is between the SEC to the Big Ten and then everyone else when it comes to TV interest.


Conference - Rating/Viewers
SEC - 8.2/15.277M
Big Ten - 6.2/11.658M
Big 12 -4.8/8.021M
Pac 12 - 2.5/4.247M
AAC - 2.0/3.415M
ACC - 1.5/2.661M

The SEC obviously had a heavyweight championship and crushed it.

I think that it can't be good for the Pac 12 and ACC to be in the same neighborhood as the AAC, even if the Cincy story was a big driver.

The ACC really needs a healthy combination of Miami, Florida State and VPI to drive the league (obviously, along with Clemson, who has been pulling their own weight). Their game did run opposite of the SEC Championship, so that may have been a factor.

Ditto the Pac 12 with USC and Oregon, I would think.

Somewhat surprised that the Big 12 did so well without having Oklahoma or Texas in their championship game.