2021 Season Wrap Part 1: Rankings and Stuff
We'll do this end of season stuff in 3 parts--this is part 1. How did everything work out? Who won it all? Which teams are conspicuously absent from the Top 25?
Next up will be offseason part 2 of 3--an awards and stats gala! And then we'll take a closer look at Wyoming a bit more specifically to close out offseason business.
Next up will be offseason part 2 of 3--an awards and stats gala! And then we'll take a closer look at Wyoming a bit more specifically to close out offseason business.
Paul Chryst's Wisconsin team was riding high as the #1-ranked team for most of the season as senior HB and Walter Camp/Doak Walker awardee Max Williams did his thug thizzle. But the Badgers' chances were spoiled by Urban Meyer's 5-loss Ohio State squad in the B1G championship game. Because Wisky's loss came so late in the season, the BCS system basically disqualified them, leaving a quartet of other title contenders in the top 4: 12-1 SEC champ South Carolina, 11-1 Oklahoma, 11-1 Texas, and 11-1 Notre Dame. Which two squads did the BCS computers like best? Let's look at résumés...shall we?
The Gamecocks, now coached by option guru and former Yellow Jacket head coach Paul Johnson, only lost at Auburn (28-24) back in late September. South Cakalacka vanquished the usual slate of SEC foes, including Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss, and a 55-24 blowout of Alabama in the SEC championship game. The Cocks also took out quality non-conference foes Kansas State (38-10) and their Palmetto State rival Clemson (42-13). Paul Johnson's offensive coordinator? The man, the mullet, the legend: Mike Gundy. Hard to argue with this résumé.
As for the Sooners. Well, Bob Stoops' club is the defending champeens of the NCAA. Should that count for anything? The Sooners' only loss came to...Texas. Back in late September. Oklahoma took out the usual Big 12 suspects, including West Virginia, TCU, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas Tech, and their Bedlam rivals. Non-conference foes included some FCS cupcake, Purdue--so another cupcake--, and THE Ohio State University of Ohio at Columbus in THE State of Ohio University. The Sooners dispatched the Buckeyes convincingly (31-10) in Columbus. Survey sez? Meh. Nice non-conference win. Seen better teams than this left out of the BCS title game though.
So what about Texas? They also had just one loss and they beat Oklahoma 31-24 at DKR Memorial Stadium. They also beat the same assortment of mediocre-to-decent Big 12 filler. Their non-conference schedule included a narrow 35-28 home win over FCS Powderpuff University, a narrow 35-28 home win over Rice, and a late November 42-39 home loss to Army. Despite the fact that Texas dispatched Oklahoma head-to-head, the overall Texas package includes zero quality non-conference wins and one inexcusable loss to a service academy. Well-played, Charlie Strong. Interesting.
As for the Fighting Irish...wanna know who they lost to? Would you believe it was the same Army West Point team that sunk Texas? The same. In fact, Army came to South Bend in late September and blew the Irish out 42-11. So despite wins over USC, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia, Pitt, Kentucky, and a 59-7 blowout of Navy, Notre Dame's résumé has that one inescapable black eye. Poor, poor Brian Kelly. I wonder which of his 50 shades of purple Brian Kelly is right now?
So, as you can see above the BCS picked South Carolina and Oklahoma for the title game and relegated Notre Dame vs Texas as the Sugar Bowl matchup. The Gamecocks edged by Oklahoma 34-31 for the BCS title. Paul Johnson's team rushed for 270 yards--no surprise there--and didn't turn the ball over. Notre Dame took out Texas 38-21 to slide into the #2 rank. The nice thing about both Oklahoma and Texas losing is that their head-to-head results don't really matter now.
As for the Black Knights of Army...sure they slayed a couple of giants in Texas and Notre Dame. But, they also lost to Navy and Air Force. Not sure if success or failure. One would imagine Army would trade wins over ND and Texas for a win over the Midshipmen.
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How about ye olde carousel?
Jim Harbaugh is out at Michigan. After a brutal 2-10 (2-7) season, enough is enough. The Wolverines have done nothing of note in this entire dynasty and managed to beat only Nebraska and Indiana in 2021. Neither Rich Rodriguez nor Brady Hoke ever had a season this bad in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh is headed to Arkansas as the new offensive coordinator. The man replacing Harbaugh? Former Wisconsin and Arkansas head coach, Bret Bielema. Small world. Bielema led Miami (OH) to a 12-2 mark and the RedHawks ended the 2021 season as the 2nd highest-ranked G5 team in the nation (#15) despite a Dollar General Bowl loss to South Alabama. So, who replaces Bielema at Miami (OH)? Why not Mike Gundy!!! Yassssssss! Shirtless pep rallies for everyone!
Jeff Tedford is kaput at Nebraska after only getting one year there. After going 3-9 (3-6) with only wins over Purdue, Minnesota, and Northwestern, Husker-nation is very unhappy. Husker-nation is getting upset! Maybe Bo Pelini is available? Well, maybe not. The Huskers have tapped former Louisiana Tech head coach Randall King, who may or may not be a real person. King led his Bulldogs to the #12 rank and a 12-2 season.
Other reasonably impactful coaching changes: Mark Helfrich out at Oregon (enter Justin Wilcox); Justin Fuente out at Va Tech (Matt Campbell in). Jim McElwain is the new head coach at Purdue (lol) after a stint as Brian Kelly's offensive coordinator, Rich Rodriguez takes over at Colorado State after being the OC at CMU (should make for some interesting BORDER WAR games with Wyoming), and Jeff Brohm takes over at Wake Forest (Brohm leaves Colorado State after a 1-11 season). The Colorado State job is like a crying game. It just keeps breaking grown *** men.
Of course, Wyoming's coaching staff was going to be poached after another successful season. Craig Bohl did not entertain any offers and will return for his 9th season at the helm in Laramie. He'll need to nab 2 new coordinators though; offensive coordinator Dan Enos has been hired as the new Colorado head coach. Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot will be Jim Harbaugh's counterpart as the new DC for Arkansas. Josh Conklin, former head coach at Tulsa and new head coach at Arkansas, will be bossing them both around.
The new coordinators? Chris Creighton, who has a history as the head coach at EMU as well as the OC at UTSA more recently, will run the offense. Expect more pistol and spread concepts--a perfect fit for dual threat incumbent QB Darrin Green. The new defensive coordinator is Caleb Jackson, a proponent of the 3-4 Multiple defense. Jackson is a computer-generated coach who is a large black man who enjoys wearing a very nice suit. Coach Bohl asked him to tone down the outfit a little as a condition in his hire. Jackson has agreed to wear a sweater-vest instead.
The Gamecocks, now coached by option guru and former Yellow Jacket head coach Paul Johnson, only lost at Auburn (28-24) back in late September. South Cakalacka vanquished the usual slate of SEC foes, including Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss, and a 55-24 blowout of Alabama in the SEC championship game. The Cocks also took out quality non-conference foes Kansas State (38-10) and their Palmetto State rival Clemson (42-13). Paul Johnson's offensive coordinator? The man, the mullet, the legend: Mike Gundy. Hard to argue with this résumé.
As for the Sooners. Well, Bob Stoops' club is the defending champeens of the NCAA. Should that count for anything? The Sooners' only loss came to...Texas. Back in late September. Oklahoma took out the usual Big 12 suspects, including West Virginia, TCU, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas Tech, and their Bedlam rivals. Non-conference foes included some FCS cupcake, Purdue--so another cupcake--, and THE Ohio State University of Ohio at Columbus in THE State of Ohio University. The Sooners dispatched the Buckeyes convincingly (31-10) in Columbus. Survey sez? Meh. Nice non-conference win. Seen better teams than this left out of the BCS title game though.
So what about Texas? They also had just one loss and they beat Oklahoma 31-24 at DKR Memorial Stadium. They also beat the same assortment of mediocre-to-decent Big 12 filler. Their non-conference schedule included a narrow 35-28 home win over FCS Powderpuff University, a narrow 35-28 home win over Rice, and a late November 42-39 home loss to Army. Despite the fact that Texas dispatched Oklahoma head-to-head, the overall Texas package includes zero quality non-conference wins and one inexcusable loss to a service academy. Well-played, Charlie Strong. Interesting.
As for the Fighting Irish...wanna know who they lost to? Would you believe it was the same Army West Point team that sunk Texas? The same. In fact, Army came to South Bend in late September and blew the Irish out 42-11. So despite wins over USC, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia, Pitt, Kentucky, and a 59-7 blowout of Navy, Notre Dame's résumé has that one inescapable black eye. Poor, poor Brian Kelly. I wonder which of his 50 shades of purple Brian Kelly is right now?
So, as you can see above the BCS picked South Carolina and Oklahoma for the title game and relegated Notre Dame vs Texas as the Sugar Bowl matchup. The Gamecocks edged by Oklahoma 34-31 for the BCS title. Paul Johnson's team rushed for 270 yards--no surprise there--and didn't turn the ball over. Notre Dame took out Texas 38-21 to slide into the #2 rank. The nice thing about both Oklahoma and Texas losing is that their head-to-head results don't really matter now.
As for the Black Knights of Army...sure they slayed a couple of giants in Texas and Notre Dame. But, they also lost to Navy and Air Force. Not sure if success or failure. One would imagine Army would trade wins over ND and Texas for a win over the Midshipmen.
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How about ye olde carousel?
Jim Harbaugh is out at Michigan. After a brutal 2-10 (2-7) season, enough is enough. The Wolverines have done nothing of note in this entire dynasty and managed to beat only Nebraska and Indiana in 2021. Neither Rich Rodriguez nor Brady Hoke ever had a season this bad in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh is headed to Arkansas as the new offensive coordinator. The man replacing Harbaugh? Former Wisconsin and Arkansas head coach, Bret Bielema. Small world. Bielema led Miami (OH) to a 12-2 mark and the RedHawks ended the 2021 season as the 2nd highest-ranked G5 team in the nation (#15) despite a Dollar General Bowl loss to South Alabama. So, who replaces Bielema at Miami (OH)? Why not Mike Gundy!!! Yassssssss! Shirtless pep rallies for everyone!
Jeff Tedford is kaput at Nebraska after only getting one year there. After going 3-9 (3-6) with only wins over Purdue, Minnesota, and Northwestern, Husker-nation is very unhappy. Husker-nation is getting upset! Maybe Bo Pelini is available? Well, maybe not. The Huskers have tapped former Louisiana Tech head coach Randall King, who may or may not be a real person. King led his Bulldogs to the #12 rank and a 12-2 season.
Other reasonably impactful coaching changes: Mark Helfrich out at Oregon (enter Justin Wilcox); Justin Fuente out at Va Tech (Matt Campbell in). Jim McElwain is the new head coach at Purdue (lol) after a stint as Brian Kelly's offensive coordinator, Rich Rodriguez takes over at Colorado State after being the OC at CMU (should make for some interesting BORDER WAR games with Wyoming), and Jeff Brohm takes over at Wake Forest (Brohm leaves Colorado State after a 1-11 season). The Colorado State job is like a crying game. It just keeps breaking grown *** men.
Of course, Wyoming's coaching staff was going to be poached after another successful season. Craig Bohl did not entertain any offers and will return for his 9th season at the helm in Laramie. He'll need to nab 2 new coordinators though; offensive coordinator Dan Enos has been hired as the new Colorado head coach. Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot will be Jim Harbaugh's counterpart as the new DC for Arkansas. Josh Conklin, former head coach at Tulsa and new head coach at Arkansas, will be bossing them both around.
The new coordinators? Chris Creighton, who has a history as the head coach at EMU as well as the OC at UTSA more recently, will run the offense. Expect more pistol and spread concepts--a perfect fit for dual threat incumbent QB Darrin Green. The new defensive coordinator is Caleb Jackson, a proponent of the 3-4 Multiple defense. Jackson is a computer-generated coach who is a large black man who enjoys wearing a very nice suit. Coach Bohl asked him to tone down the outfit a little as a condition in his hire. Jackson has agreed to wear a sweater-vest instead.
Crazy how Wisconsin can be that dominant all year and then one slip up in the conference championship can keep them out of the championship and the Rose Bowl.
93-OVR QB Terry Brooks (rSR) is the only 90-OVR player on the team, but he'll only get in if 86-OVR starting QB Darrin Green (rJR) gets clobberated. Additional 80-OVR players include WR Bryce Merchant (SR), who looks to rebound from a meh junior year, and LG Rocky Keefe (rJR). Keefe is a pancaking maniac and flips over from RG to LG this season. Despite being only a 77-OVR, Kelvin Mack Jr. (JR) figures to have a huge year after rushing for 1,052 yards as the backup last season. Now the starter, Junior will hope to have a nice junior year (year). Finally, still no starting offensive linemen under 300 pounds--backup center Kevin Wood (rFR) needs to get swoller and fast.
LARAMIE, Wyo. -- The Wyoming fanbase started off the 2022 season with a bit of an unexpected nailbiter at sun-drenched War Memorial Stadium. Their beloved Pokes have burst onto a regional, if not national, scene in recent years, yet this team struggled to coax the Northern Colorado Bears into hibernation.
The teams would continue to trade FG-for-TD. The Bears hit field goal #5 with 1:08 remaining in the 3rd quarter to pull within 17-15. Wyoming found the end zone for the 3rd time as Green completed a 10-yard wheel route to Kelvin Mack Jr. (JR) to give the Pokes a 24-15 lead. The final score of the contest came with 4:40 left as UNC hit a 26-yard field goal, yet another partially wasted redzone trip. The Bears/FCS Northwest Predators entered the redzone four times and scored zero touchdowns.
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