Author: rickro51 Page 21 of 36

I see little reason for optimism in Ann Arbor this fall.  Tradition, the winged helmet and a fabulous fight song can only get you so far.  Perhaps JJ McCarthy will be the wonder frosh QB  the Wolverines badly need.    Will McCarthy be the savior that Harbaugh was touted to be upon his hire?  Maybe McCarthy won’t start and either Cade McNamara or Texas Tech transfer, Alan Bowman, will shine.  Certainly possible.

The biggest reason for pessimism is the head man.  Jim Harbaugh seems to have done a disappearing act that Houdini might have envied.  Where is the cocky guy who guaranteed a 1986 victory in Columbus immediately after a disheartening upset to Minnesota?

Where is the guy who pissed off Pete Carroll after going for 2 in the waning moments of a Stanford rout of the Trojans?

Where is the guy who pissed off the SEC by setting up summer satellite camps in their territory?  And then went shirtless?

Call the cops!  That Jim Harbaugh has gone AWOL!

5 straight losses (3 of which were blowouts) to the Buckeyes have cowed Harbaugh.  Repeatedly losing to the Buckeyes is very irritating but almost excusable given their ongoing surfeit of NFL talent.  Losing at home to a poor MSU team last year is not.

Not only has Harbaugh’s swagger disappeared, his game management is a recurring problem.  In MSU’s miracle 2015 win in Ann Arbor on a game-ending punt block, UM was blocking 8 on 11 as Michigan had two gunners who did not stay home to block.

Michigan was actually favored against OSU in their 2018 finale in Columbus.  The previous week, Indiana successfully ran a lot of crossing routes against Michigan.  OSU looked at the film and intelligently took a page out of the Hoosier playbook.  Michigan had a week to fix this problem.  Harbaugh and DC Don Brown seemed oblivious to the Hoosier success.   The issue remained dreadfully unfixed to the horror of 62 Buckeye points.

The cocky Harbaugh needs to return.  Otherwise, UM’s chance for near term success is diminished.  The cocky Harbaugh would have kept bringing in stellar classes.  With 2 exceptions, UM’s most recent recruiting class is considered ho-hum.

Michigan is not a terribly talented team in 2021.  In Phil Steele’s annual, on the Big 10’s first 3 teams of all-league selections, the Wolverines have 1 selection on offense, 3rd teamer Ronnie Bell.  On his first 3 teams of defense, UM only has 3 2nd-teamers. In addition, the schedule is tricky.  Las Vegas puts the over/under on Wolverine wins at 7.5.  I do not think UM will get there.

The first two games are against Western Michigan and Washington.  WMU is not a pushover and some pundits think the Huskies are one of the more underrated teams in the country.    Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana are all talented.  Maryland’s skill level talent with a Tagovailoa at QB is undeniable. Even Rutgers took the Blue to triple overtime last year as Greg Schiano appears to have revived a doormat.

The crossover schedule with the Big Ten West is not trivial.  Wisconsin mauled Michigan last year, 49-11, and this year’s game is in Madison. Uh oh!  At Nebraska and hosting Northwestern are far from automatic wins.

The Odyssey predicts Michigan will not have a winning season, given that we see only 1 “automatic win” on the schedule (Northern Illinois).

Which means that the administration will likely look for a graceful exit for Mr. Harbaugh.  Which is only fair.  As one of the best QBs to ever don the winged helmet,  such dignity is fully merited.  The Odyssey will profusely apologize for our pessimism if there is an 8-4 mark (or better) in Ann Arbor.

If Harbaugh’s luck is in, perhaps stellar QB play will be the Wolverines’  salvation.  But to assume that the Maize and Blue find a QB savior is to hope for a lot.  In Ann Arbor, coveting saviors has proven to be a risky proposition.

From a perspective of a lifetime college football junkie, I am flying my flag at half mast.  With little hope of raising it back to full height in the foreseeable future.

I have been aghast at the wave of transfers that has permeated college football the past year.  “If I ain’t startin’, I’m certainly departin’ ” seems to be the mantra of the day.   Oh, my feelings have been slightly mixed as players should certainly deserve a degree of autonomy, particularly when there is a coaching change.  But I do not appreciate the players from Group of 5 programs, spurning the programs that took a chance on them out of high school, for greener pastures.  The blue blood programs have so many advantages, the ability to cherry pick players from lower-tier programs perpetuates the growing inequities among the Group of 5 and the Power 5 (or is it Power 4 after the probable Big 12 exits of Bevo and Boomer?).

I love the story of David besting Goliath.  But  Goliath is getting too big in the 2021 football landscape.  I pine for the days of my youth.  Can you imagine Southern Miss beating its SEC neighbor in the eastern part of the state in consecutive years?  The Golden Eagles did so in 1967-68.  Central Michigan traveled an hour south to East Lansing in 1991-92 and emerged triumphant in both years.  Stanford pulled off a big upset of undefeated Michigan in the 1972 Rose Bowl.  That same Indian team was stunned, 13-12, by San Jose State.  I have a hard time envisioning similar, stirring upsets in the rich-get-richer scenario in which we find ourselves.

Certain players will benefit from the new Name, Image and Likeness rules (“NIL”).  Some handsomely.  From the standpoint of parity among teams,  such revolutionary rule change is the equivalent of Jeff Bezos getting a grant from the US government.  An untested Alabama QB, Bryce Young,  is reportedly getting endorsement deals  totaling near $1 million dollars.  Teams used to go on probation when the NCAA found out that a star was getting a fraction of this money under the table.  Will NIL money create resentments among teammates?  Stay tuned.

Group of 5 teams simply do not have the same level of deep-pocketed boosters to take comparable advantage of the new NIL rules.

The latest domino to drop is the specter of a super conference.  UGH!  With Texas and Oklahoma courting the SEC, the fragile equilibrium of the other conferences is threatened.  If the Sooners and the Longhorns leave the Big 12, that beleaguered conference has two distasteful options:

1. Disband altogether, as the Big East did in football after the previous bout of conference musical chairs in 2010.
2. Become watered down:  Hello Houston, SMU and certain other usual suspects.  Have fun negotiating your next TV contract!!

My son and I admire the manner in which England’s Premier League works.  Each year 3 teams are relegated to a lower-tier league as  three teams are promoted.  If the SEC does become the “Super 16” perhaps this might give the lower-tier a reasonable carrot.  Since college football is changing so dramatically, why not?

However, recent trends suggest that most Division 1 programs will increasingly be picking up the crumbs from a small number of super powers.  I really hate to quote Donald Trump BUT:  “Sad”.

After LSU’s dreadful start, the Odyssey posted the following query on October 14th: Was Ed Orgeron a 2nd Edition Gene Chizik?

Given the mass exodus of Tigers from their rocking national championship team, we were initially inclined to give Coach O a pass on 2020.  However, nobody envisioned their shockingly inept defense.  The return of Bo Pelini to the D coordinator position seemed as out of date as hiring a blacksmith in 1920.

Black is an excellent adjective to characterize LSU’s start of the season.  LSU single handedly and improbably made K.J Costello look like Dan Marino in their ill-fated opener.  Another defensive fiasco at Missouri ensued.   However, the Bayou Bengals became the beneficiary of several favorable breaks.  Their game at The Swamp was postponed at a point when LSU was still in disarray.  The rescheduling of the game to the week before Florida’s appearance in the SEC title game proved a God send.

The preoccupied Gators rested their nuclear tight end, Kyle Pitts.  Florida was clearly looking forward to Saban’s Tide.  Florida’s other Kyle, Trask, tossed some uncharacteristic picks.  Still, when LSU was stopped on a key 3rd down with 2 minutes to go in a tie game,  Florida seemingly had the upper hand to survive the scare.  Until, Marco Wilson decided to throw a shoe 20 yards down the field.  Personal foul!  The drive continues.  A miraculous 57-yard field goal in the mist gave LSU 37-34 salvation.

The following Saturday, LSU hosted another makeup game versus Ole Miss.   In most years, LSU out-talents the Rebels.  2020 was not most years.  However, Matt Corral, Ole Miss’ prolific but inconsistent QB, threw 5 picks to enable the Bayou Bengals to survive another thriller.

Coach O should thank his lucky stars that LSU wound up 5-5.   The aftermath resulted in some predictable staff changes.  Bo Pelini’s firing was a bit easier for the former Nebraska head coach to take as he will get several million dollars in severance.

2021 will be incredibly interesting on the Bayou.  Did 2019 catch lightning in a bottle?  The uber-strong SEC West is not getting any weaker as the mutts of the West (Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas) all made promising coaching hires before 2020.

LSU will be one of college football’s most interesting stories in 2021.

College Football Odyssey will take its usual hiatus until August.  Till then, please stay healthy.  Hopefully, the health issues of the USA will diminish to a point that we can see you in the stands come September.

Prior to 1998, the college football world repeatedly complained that there was no clarity in crowning a national champion.   That the 1997 national championship was just the latest split between two teams, Nebraska and Michigan, provided more fuel to the fire.  The BCS was hatched to solve this issue.

Controversy repeatedly dogged the BCS during its 16-year run.  So much so, that a 4-team playoff was created in 2014 so that that the inequities of only allowing 2 teams to play for a title would be resolved.

In theory, the playoff represented an improvement.  But sometimes the gulf between theory and practice appears as wide as the Grand Canyon.             .

No less a sage than Kirk Herbstreit opined earlier this month:  “Before the 2021 season, you can almost pencil in Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson into the playoffs.  And you can almost do so before the 2023 season”…and so on.

The playoff era seems to have created 3 monopolies that loom larger each year.  Even programs with very high levels of success, such as Oklahoma and Notre Dame, seem comparatively small.

In its rankings, the selection committee turned a blind eye to some of 2020’s game results.  For example,  the Sun Belt’s  3-0 mark against the Big 12 was long forgotten by the time the last rankings were made public.

The bowl season, so awesome in my youth, has devolved into a bloated farce.  The player opt outs that started with Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette have erupted into a deluge.  Wednesday’s Cotton Bowl between Florida and Oklahoma was ruined when 8 Florida starters, including its top 4 receivers, said “no, thanks”.

Today, an unbeaten San Jose State team was shorthanded and quickly found itself in a 27-0 hole.  When North  Carolina plays in the Orange Bowl, a potentially fantastic matchup against Texas A&M will be marred by the absence of the Tar Heels’ star running backs, its best receiver and its star linebacker.

The solution to the current mess will undoubtedly be an expansion to 8 teams.  Such expansion will clearly solve some inequities but will further trash the bowl system.  Maybe that cost is acceptable.

Count me among the old-timers who loved January 1 when the 4 big bowls all played.  When the incomparable Rose Bowl could count on the Pac 8 (or Pac 10) champ playing the Big 10 winner, the tradition was  a reassuring balm to start a new year.   I did not mind the controversies that would sometimes ensue and, in fact, got some pleasure out of the politicking.

Oh, did I mention that Alabama is a 20-point favorite tomorrow against Notre Dame.  Yawn….the old days were not bad.  Not bad at all.

Last night, at LA’s legendary Coliseum, the Pac 12 miraculously found a fitting way to end their truncated pandemic season.

In Oregon, the Pac 12 crowned a champion that has all the legitimacy of an election in a backwater, 3rd world, fascist outpost.

That understated statesman, Donald Trump, has been constantly bleating “Fake News” during the past 4 years.  Mr. Trump has induced the Odyssey to cry out, “Fake Champs”

Washington was supposed to play in last night’s “championship” game against USC by virtue of a gaudy 3-1 season record.  However, COVID made the Huskies a 12th hour, no-go.

“No Problema” cried out the vastly overpaid commissioner, Larry Scott.  He quickly deemed 3-2 Oregon as being worthy of playing in the title.  Should a team with a mediocre record play for a conference championship when said team proved it is not even the champion of Central Oregon?  The rebuttal is the claim that the Ducks’  chances at Pac 12 North supremacy were snuffed when their showdown tilt with Washington was a COVID casualty.

One could make an argument that USC’s inclusion in the championship game was also slightly suspect.  The surprise team of the conference, Colorado, had been chugging along at an undefeated clip until they lost their regular season finale to Utah.  Regrettably, the Buffs’  showdown with the Trojans was yet another COVID scrape.

In fact, this year’s “champion” Ducks team is a far cry from their squad that triumphed in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.  In addition to the loss of Justin Herbert to the San Diego Chargers, many key returning Ducks foresaw the Pac 12 season for the joke it would become and opted out.

Even Kedon Slovis, USC’s redoubtable quarterback, could not take last night’s game seriously as the Sophomore gunslinger threw 3 game-changing picks.

SO, Congrats, Oregon!  Your conference championship has the same legitimacy as calling the 2nd NFL team in Tinsel Town the “Los Angeles Chargers.”

When we posted “The Second Time Around” last week, little did we realize that we would again need the title this week.

One of the unique aspects of college football is that in the vast majority of circumstances, you only get one shot at a team this year.  To this, the Odyssey says “hooray!!”  Imagine the dilution of the intensity if Auburn-Alabama or Army-Navy played more than once a year.

Due to weird luck and questionable scheduling, the American Athletic Conference championship game is in store for its 3rd almost immediate do-over since 2012.

This Saturday’s Cincinnati game at Tulsa was rescheduled due to COVID.  Which is unfortunate since next week’s AAC championship game is Cincinnati vs Tulsa.

If you believe this is Deja Vu all over again for the AAC championship, you are so correct!  Last year, Memphis played Cincinnati in consecutive weeks.

In 2012, Central Florida had an interdivision game scheduled against Tulsa on November 17th.  Two weeks later, they were at it again.

A modest proposal for every conference with 2 divisions:  Have as many conference games as feasible,  later in the conference schedule, be intradivision games so that the immediate redo becomes a remote possibility.

In December, 41 years ago , Shalamar’s “Second Time Around” debuted on the Billboard charts and proved to be a big hit.

When it comes to college football head coaches, the Second Time Around has repeatedly proven to be a big dud, with the Mountain West providing the latest testimony.

Two years ago, the Odyssey was shocked when Gary Andersen was tabbed as the Utah State head coach when Matt Wells left for the barren tumbleweeds of West Texas.  While Anderson had done fantastic things in his first stint in the aptly named Cache Valley, his actions after leaving the Aggies for Wisconsin are straight out of bizarro world.  He leaves Wisconsin for Oregon State?!?!  Was the Wisconsin AD, Barry Alvarez, impossible to work for?  However, this move was at least honorable.  Quitting on Oregon State in the middle of the season was not.   To the Odyssey, Anderson waiving the white flag in Corvallis made him radioactive as a future head coach hire, despite the fact that Anderson left a lot of money on the table.  Utah State looks awful this year and Anderson exited (voluntary or not?) after 3 embarrassments to open 2020.

To San Diego State’s dismay, Rocky Long no longer wanted the responsibilities as a head coach after the 2019 season.  They recycled Brady Hoke.  It was an easy, and probably a relatively inexpensive hire, since Hoke was already on the staff.  Hoke’s two solid seasons in 2009-10 as SDSU head man (and an excellent 2008 at Ball State) got him the gig in Ann Arbor.  After an excellent 11-2 debut season in 2011, it was downhill in each of Hoke’s 3 subsequent years.

In 2020, SDSU already has 3 losses despite some terrific running backs and a ball-hawking defense.  Last Saturday, the Aztecs managed all of 155 yards of offense against a Colorado team that nobody would confuse with a defensive juggernaut. The problem is that the Aztecs have no quarterback.  With no proven starter heading into 2020, San Diego State had lined up a quality transfer in Jack Sears.  However, Hoke could not keep Sears committed in the wake of Long’s unexpected departure.  Even with quarterbacks jumping into the transfer portal like Mexican jumping beans, Hoke could not fix the position.  To say that the QB position has been a disaster for SDSU would be understatement.  The loss of Long cannot be understated.  Truth be told, Long won for 9 years without a top-tier QB.  To Hoke’s credit, one of the big reasons for his success in his first SDSU go-round was his vision in hiring a great defensive coordinator by the name of Rocky Long.  From Long to Hoke is a serious drop in the Odyssey’s opinion.

Are these Mountain West duds an outlier?  History says no, based on two Pac-10 sagas.  John Robinson’s initial 7 years at USC produced a booming 67-14-2 mark.  After a decade hiatus, his 2nd term dipped to 37-21-1.

Bill Walsh’s first 2 years at Stanford resulted in an impressive 17-7 record that resulted in his hire by the 49ers.  His post-49er return to The Farm was a mediocre 17-17-1.

Recycling your head coach has turned out to be as problematic as going back to an old girl friend.  In both cases, caution is advised.

COVID-19 has shown how nimble some Athletic Directors can be on extremely short notice.

While the Odyssey is extremely sad that the Apple Cup cannot be played, Washington found another opponent to visit Seattle in Utah.  If anybody in the USA deserves another game, it is the Utes!  When Utah took the field against USC in its delayed opener last Saturday night, the craziness of this season could be exemplified in the fact that Texas State had already played 11 times.

Tennessee was hoping to get rid of the stench of 5 consecutive double digit defeats by beating Vanderbilt tomorrow.  The Vols were also defeated by COVID this week. Instead, Vandy travels to play resurgent Missouri.  The tilt will be interesting as both squads have excellent freshmen QBs.

The Odyssey woke up Friday to find out that San Diego State would be traveling to Boulder.  No Pac-12 South showdown for the Buffs as USC was COVID-depleted at one of the “requisite” positions. SDSU’s battle with Fresno State had also been scraped.  This unexpected game is a win-win for both teams.

Colorado, picked by some as the worst team in the Pac-12, is riding high at 2-0 with two upset wins under its belt.  In this COVID-crazed year, it makes sense that the Buffs would be undefeated with a converted Safety as their quarterback.   A quality SDSU squad gets a chance to get rid of the bad taste of last Saturday’s 26-21 heartbreaker to Nevada after the Aztecs squandered a first-and-goal opportunity in the last minute.

The Odyssey is dreaming of a situation where a college football czar in future years has the ability to change schedules at the  12th hour in order to provide more compelling matchups.  Did we mention that the Odyssey has a very vivid imagination?

The recent COVID uptick has not left college football unscathed.   12 cancellations and counting as of mid-Friday.

One burning question in the SEC:  Will Alabama’s tussle at LSU be made up?  If so, what will happen to LSU’s previous cancellation at Florida?  Would the SEC juggle the schedule so that cancelled intradivision games  get priority over crossover games?  So many questions and so few answers.

Ed Orgeron may prove to be one of the biggest benefactors from COVID.  Let’s presume that full schedules do not get played in the SEC.  The previously postponed Florida game was a gift to LSU.  Coming off 2 horrible efforts in their defensive backfield, LSU was in no way ready to compete well against Kyle Trask and his superstar receivers in the Swamp.  Especially when starter Myles Brennan was hurt (Granted, his backup, TJ Finley did play quite well against South Carolina before getting overwhelmed last Saturday at Auburn).

Similarly, Mac Jones and his stellar, if Waddle-less, receiving corps was prepared to do an unholy number on LSU tomorrow.  If Ed Orgeron is really, truly, lucky, he will not have to play either Florida or Alabama this year.  At 3 losses and counting, O and LSU are staring at an amazing number of losses for a defending national champ. The Odyssey will pray for Mr. Ed.

Jim Harbaugh was not so lucky.  Even as an ardent Michigan alum, I was a bit relieved when the Big 10 said uncle in August.  A rebuilding Michigan team rated to get waxed in their trip to Columbus.  Unfortunately, for Harbaugh, the Big 10 reversed course.  The Maize and Blue is 1-2 with games looming with Wisconsin, Ohio State and a wounded Penn State.

COVID was unkind to the Wolverines in that two of their few remaining stalwarts, Nico Collins and Ambry Collins opted out.  Oregon was hurt even worse as a stud offensive lineman, Penei Sewell, opted out in addition to some excellent defensive backs.  Pre-COVID opt outs, Oregon was a darkhorse national champion candidate if an adequate replacement for Justin Herbert was found.

However, COVID prognostications can be as unpredictable as the disease itself.  I thought the season’s cancellation would have been an absolute blessing for Michigan State.  Mark Dantonio left a bitter pill for Sparty.  He did not announce his retirement until early 2020, so he could collect a $4 million bonus.  MSU had to overpay Mel Tucker after the vast majority of other possible candidates had solidified their 2020 plans.  Like all other first-year coaches, Tucker was further hamstrung by the lack of spring practice.  Sparty has had two disasters in their first 3 games.  HOWEVER, even if they finish 1-8, winter in Lansing will feel warmer as they savor their stunning upset over Michigan.

One of Chuck Berry’s underrated gems was “You Never Can Tell”.  As Mel Tucker can attest, so true in the COVID era!

To Boise State’s chagrin, their starting QB, Hank Bachmeier, did not dress for last Saturday’s game at Air Force.  Bachmeier was coming off a solid 20 for 28 performance in their opener against Utah State.  His stand-in:  graduate transfer Jack Sears.

Sears proved nothing short of fantastic.  His line was 17/20/280 with a rushing TD, to boot.  Given his prep bonafides as a 4-star recruit, his excellence was not surprising.  However, the uniform Sears was wearing provides quite a story.

Yet another San Clemente prep phenom (this charming Southern California beach town was also the stomping grounds for Sam Darnold) was highly recruited.  Sears initially committed to Duke before flipping to USC.  When uber-recruit JT Daniels was injured in 2018, Sears’ one start as a Trojan was quite promising as he completed 20 of 28 passes in a 38-35 loss to Arizona State.

Much intrigue in USC’s 2019 opener.  Daniels gets injured in the first half of the Fresno State game.   Being in attendance, we expected to see Sears.  Instead,  many were quite surprised when an unheralded 3-star recruit, Freshman Kedon Slovis, took the field in place of Daniels.  Where was Sears?  Was he also hurt?  In the game’s aftermath, Clay Helton’s comments indicated not.  Days later, Sears entered the transfer portal.

What to think?  The Odyssey started to hear that Sears had been relegated to 4th string in pre-season practices.  If so, why?   How could this be after his ASU performance??  In the wake of Sears entering the transfer portal, Helton indicated that Sears was welcome to remain a Trojan.   When Slovis later got hurt in 2019’s 4th game (thankfully, not anywhere as seriously as the season-ending Daniels injury), 3rd-string QB, Matt Fink, got the start.

Any thoughts that Sears might reconsider and stick it out with USC  in 2020 were further doused as Slovis turned in one of the best Freshman years for a QB — ever.  In mid-December,  Sears committed to San Diego State for the 2020 season by signing a grant-in-aid.  However, that commitment never reached fruition as the alleged reason for Sears’ reconsideration was a coaching change on Montezuma Mesa.   Such reconsideration would be more understandable if the departing coach, Rocky Long, ran a different offense than his successor, Brady Hoke.  Plus, whatever you think of Hoke as head coach, he is one of college football’s genuine nice guys.  The Aztecs’ 2019 starting QB had graduated, which seemingly left the door wide open for Sears to start at a quality program that was projected to have a dominant defense in 2020.  In late January, Sears decommitted from SDSU as the Odyssey deeply furrowed its brow in surprise.

Sears’ next move was complicated by the pandemic as his travels to other possible destinations became curtailed.  Undoubtedly, Sears was influenced by the presence of two of his high school teammates on the Boise roster. After all of Sears’ high-profile drama,  his ending looked to be a low-key dud:  A back up QB at Boise State as a grad transfer.  Unlike the Aztecs, Boise had a firmly entrenched starter in Hank Bachmeier.  Bachmeier’s late scratch against Air Force was likely Covid-related, not 100% clear since the school’s policy is not to comment on the reason for not dressing.

Given Sears’ excellent track record when given a shot, the Broncos will have a very interesting decision as to their QB for this Friday’s season-defining showdown with a powerful BYU team.  Ironically, one of this weekend’s other showdowns is the Florida-Georgia game.  Who has been languishing on the Bulldog bench despite many cries for his appearance?:  None other than JT Daniels.

Given the Hollywood-like saga of Sears’ career, wouldn’t it be fitting if  San Clemente’s rolling stone  played in the Mountain West title game against one of the schools he has spurned in San Diego State!  The Aztecs have rushed to a terrific start that reminds one of a famous Hemingway novel, “For Whom The Bell Tolls.” The Aztecs’ powerful rushing game is due in no small part to running backs Chance Bell and Greg Bell.

Since we are talking Hollywood, what if Sears plays well enough for Boise State to secure the Group of 5,  New Year’s Six berth? While we are fantasizing, let’s go all the way and hope that their opponent will be Georgia with JT Daniels at the helm!