College Football Odyssey

Saturday night set up as an exciting night in San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium:  A warm night, a beautiful stadium and a Pac-2 opponent in Oregon State.  Instead, the Buckinghams’ Top 10 hit, “Kind Of A Drag” described the night perfectly for the locals.

Oregon State’s  21-0 victory was drab.  Defensive contests can reflect two quality teams but this game offered no such flavor.  The Beavers scored a TD in the game’s first minutes.  Nothing happened until midway in the 3rd quarter.  Aztec QB, Danny O’Neil, stretched his body at the goal line in an attempt to score.  Fumble, recovered by the Beavers.

Oregon State tacked on 2 fourth quarter TD’s as they finsihed with 237 rushing yards.  Even if Oregon State had not tacked on insurance TDs, the Beavers were not in serious danger as the anemic SDSU offense gained a paltry 179 yards in the game.  Sean Lewis was hired as the Aztec coach in part because of his offensive background.  Regretably, “Aztec Fast” morphed into “San Diego Slow.”

In the third year of Snapdragon, San DIego State has muffed its chances to capture momentum and hometown imagination.  Its 3 home games against the Pac-12(2) have all resulted in resounding defeats.

The Odyssey hopes that Oregon State fares well in its coming tilt against Oregon but the Beavers gave little indication that this revenge-fueled rivalry will result in Beaver happiness.

Oregon State travels to San Diego State’s beautiful stadium for a Saturday night tilt.  Oregon State and Washington State will probably never fully recover from the demise of the Pac 12.  The pain for Oregon State may even be greater than for Wazzu when their head coach and favorite son, Jonathan Smith, took the Big 10 money and bailed out to East Lansing.

Trying best to pick up the pieces, both Oregon State and Washington State will play 6 Mountain West teams in to fill out their 2024 dance cards.  In an interesting recent development, this scheduling alliance will not be renewed for 2025.  How much worse can it get for the 2 orphans when the Mountain West says, “see ya?”  Last fall, the Odyssey came up with a creative proposal that would have benefited both the orphans and the Mountain West.  Six Mountain West squads would become members of a revamped Pac 8.  The leftovers would remain in the Mountain West that would need to add 2 new members (New Mexico State, UTEP, the Montana schools or a pair of Dakota schools would make geographic sense).  To make this arrangement palatable to the leftovers in the Mountain West, an annual promotion/relegation feature would be included.  Voila!  Such reconfiguration would be a Win Win.  Now if the powers that be would just be wise enough and creative enough to make this happen.

San DIego State’s pain is less but still apparent.  SDSU has been wanting to join a power conference for at least a decade.  In mid-2022, the Pac 12 was taking a long look at the Aztecs.  However, the Mountain West was firm on a 30+ million exit fee.  Shortly thereafter, USC and UCLA dropped their Big 10 bombshell.

In the long-term, we expect SDSU to prosper more than Oregon State.  In addition to a more fertile recruiting base, the allure of both San Diego and Snapdragon Stadium make SDSU one of the potential jewels of the Group of 5.  As a bonus, the Aztecs caught a break when they were able to hire Sean Lewis.  Lewis was an offensive savant at Kent State, who got sideways with Prime TIme in his very bried stint as Colorado’s offensive coordinator.

The outcome of tomorrow’s game is hard to predict.  As is typical in the NIL, insta-transfer era, new coaching staffs usually are catalysts for large roster turnover.  Oregon State is favored by 5 points.  Given the massive improvement of SDSU freshman QB, Danny O’Neil, from first half to second half of last season’s opener, the Odyssey believes the home underdog may well surprise.

The Odyssey was in the house in Morgantown on Saturday.  Very geeked up for a visit from Penn State.  The line had gradually decreased from 10.5 points to 7 points in favor of the Nittany Lions.  We were incredibly impressed by the West Virginia band.  How precise the band members have to be to replicate the state’s crazy-quilt state boundaries (which look like they were drawn up by somebody on a bad LSD trip).  How many states have state boundaries where the extreme northern part of the state looks like they are giving the finger to the rest of the world?

A rabid sellout was primed for an upset.  Passions cooled after the Nittany Lions scored 2 second quarter touchdowns to take a 13-0 lead.

Three elements doomed the Mountaineers.  Down 13-3 in the final minute of the first half, but driving in Penn State territory after converting a 4th and 1, West Virginia had to settle for a field goal.  Still, a 13-6 halftime deficit at home felt manageable – until it wasn’t.

Penn State stormed down the field to score a critical TD:  Halftime score: 20-6 for the visitors.

The third dagger:  Mother nature kicked in with occasional thunder.  Erring on the side of caution (too much, the Odyssey thinks), the game was halted for over 2 hours.  Many fans did not feel like being crammed like sardines into the concourses and left….never to return.  When the game resumed, the stands might have been 1/3 full.  Gone was the considerable home field advantage enjoyed by the Mountaineers.

After the resumption, Penn State QB, Drew Allar, kept quieting his critics.  He successfully scrambled for 2 first downs on 3rd and longs.  When the Nittany Lions scored to run the tally to 27-6, the game was functionally over.

WVU was not going to be able to surmount a 3-TD deficit against a quality defense and indifferent QB play from Garrett Greene.   Going into the game, Greene was coming off a better 2023 than the highly recruited Allar.  However, 2 successive drives by the Mountaineers were destroyed by mishandled shotgun snaps.  Greene’s throwing accuracy was also an issue.  Meanwhile, Allar played a terrific game, picking apart the WVU secondary in the first half.

Penn State looked terrific and should be formidable in 2024.  They get the Buckeyes’ $20 million dollar team at home in early November.  Better, neither Michigan or Oregon is on the schedule.

As for West Virginia, this experienced squad should be able to regroup.  In a balanced Big 12, who knows?

In Denver, they are buzzing about the growing legend of Travis Hunter after last night’s 31-26 triumph over the Bison.  However, John Denver’s attentions are elsewhere.

As in Morgantown, West Virginia.  Penn State pays a rare visit on Saturday.  Shades of long, gone times when the Eastern schools were largely independent and battled each other to win the Lambert Trophy, the reward for regional supremacy.

Joe Paterno wanted to establish a formal Eastern football conference but could not pull it off.  Hello, Big 10!!

Last year, the Mountaineers paid a visit to Penn State and were spanked 38-15.  Not only did West Virginia get spanked, but the Nittany Lions scored a “tack it on” touchdown in the game’s final seconds.  Certainly, salt in the wound.  Did James Franklin know that Penn State was a 20-point favorite and want to appease the local betting public?  Let’s get 60 Minutes to investigate!

This year’s game rates to be closer.  Penn State started as a 10.5 point favorite but the line has dropped to 8.  Penn State QB Drew Allar has an opportunity to quiet critics.  Although Allar did throw for 325 in last year’s WV triumph, the Penn State offense was both conservative and quiet in defining losses to Ohio State and Michigan.

The spirit of John Denver might be celebrating tomorrow.  Behind dual threat QB Garrett Greene and an experienced D, the Mountaineers have a real chance to put a damper on the playoff hopes of the Nittany Lions.

If the upset occurs, can you blame the locals if they burn a few couches?  After all, when your squad is 2-35-1 since 1956 against their historic tormentors from State College, a victory is something to be fired up for.

Let’s do some simple math:

There will be 64 SEC Conference games.  Even if Vandy goes 0-8 every year, 56 added losses will be incurred.

With Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC, some of the conference’s numerous traditional powers will be saddled with more losses than in the past.  Simply put, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Arkansas and South Carolina  are not going to absorb all those additional 56 losses.

This presents a real problem to Oklahoma.  The Sooners have had 3 periods of marked dominance in their storied history

Bud Wilkinson’s teams in the 1950’s were awesome.  Their 47-game winning streak is still an all-time record.

Barry Switzer’s wishbone laid opponents to waste.

Bob Stoops ruled the Big 12.

It is hard to see how the Sooners can ever reach such peaks again in the SEC.  The SEC schedule maker wanted to make this point in 2024!  Look at OK’s conference schedule.

9/21 Tennessee (the Josh Heupel reunion fest)

9/28 at Auburn

10/12 Texas

10/19 South Carolina

10/26 at Ole Miss

11/9 at Missouri

11/23 Alabama

11/30 at LSU

OMG!  OMG!   The Sooners could have a very reasonable squad and wind up somewhere between 1-7 and 3-5 against that Murderers’ Row.  Exactly who did OU piss off at the SEC office?

Oklahoma has always had the guts of its roster come from Texas.  In the NIL era, can OU keep up with the deep pockets of Texas and A&M?  We shall see.

In 2027, do not be surprised if Sooner faithful look wistfully at the “old days.”  Sometimes, it is preferable to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.  Will those in Norman react in terror when the SEC announces the addition of a 9th conference game when their benefactor, ESPN, sweetens the pot?  Stay tuned.

This year’s conference race in the Big 12 is unprecedented!  In the HISTORY of college football.  Hyperbolic?  Not at all.

The Big 12 has bloated to 16 members.  How many legitimate title threats are there in the first year sans Oklahoma and Texas?  No less than 12!!!

Three of last year’s newbies look to be also rans:  Cincinnati, Houston and BYU.  One of this year’s Four Corner schools, Arizona State, appears to be at least a year away.

That leaves 12 with a legitimate shot in the opinion of the Odyssey!  Utah, Oklahoma State and Kansas State are in the preseason Top 20 with Kansas also getting significant attention.

Don’t discount the “next 8!”  An experienced West Virginia squad has a chance to make a statement in a long-awaited opener against former rival, Penn State.  Iowa State can make noise in their CyHawk rivalry game against a highly touted Iowa squad.

How can you count out Deion’s crew when the Buffs rate to have two of the top 5 picks in next year’s draft?

Arizona has one of the most reliable QBs in college football in last year’s “find” of the year in Noah Fifita.

When the dust settles, we suspect Iowa State will surprise folks.

Each week of conference play will have exciting, closely contested games.  The Odyssey can’t wait!

No doubt Name, Image and Likeness (“NIL”) has transformed the college football landscape.

I remember my surprise in early 2015 when Dan Enos announced his resignation as the Central Michigan coach, after a 5-year tenure, to take the Offensive Coordinator gig at Arkansas.  Head coaches voluntarily accepting an assistant job elsewhere was a very rare occurance.  More like man-bites-dog news.

Shockingly, 5 such moves have been made since the end of the 2023 season!

Perhaps the least surprising move was Chip Kelly’s bolt from Westwood to Columbus.  Allegedly, Kelly had a sour taste when it came to recruiting.  Worse, reports indicated that UCLA’s NIL buckets were not exactly overflowing.  Given his New Hampshire link with Buckeye head man, Ryan Day, Kelly found an excellent fit.

Another laggard in NIL money has reportedly been Boston College.  Not an easy place to win at in the best of times, Eagles’ head coach, Jeff Hafley, bolted to Green Bay for a coordinator gig.

Georgia State’s woes go much deeper than lack of NIL money.  The Odyssey attended their 2021 home opener against Army and was appalled at the lack of fans.  Worse, Georgia State is located in an NFL town and is not even the top college dog locally with Georgia Tech several miles to the North.   Shawn Elliott bolted Georgia State after 7 years to be the Tight Ends coach at South Carolina.

Kane Wommack vacated head man status at South Alabama to being the co-defensive coordinator at Alabama.  Mildly surprising since South Alabama is far from being the perennial dumpster fire that exists for Sun Belt mate Louisiana Monroe.  Mobile is a great town and their stadium is one of the Sun Belt’s finest.

The decision of Wommack was partly based on money.  A coordinator in the SEC will often make much more than a head coach gig in the Sun Belt.  Consider LSU.  Their horrid 2023 defense demanded big changes.  The Bayou Bengals wooed Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker to the sweet tune of $2.5 million.

Buffalo head man Mo Linguist also bolted for Tuscaloosa as he will be the co-defensive coordinator.

NIL has clearly increased the gulf between the haves and the have nots and has been a key element in decimating the Mid American Conference.  Blow outs of non-conference cupcakes will increase.  Thus, a modest request to the SEC:  Please increase conference games from 8 to 9 (and damned what the athletic director at Kentucky moans about! “Oh, it is such a tough league, blah, blah, blah”)

Our last post indicated that the Michigan football schedule was “arguably the toughest” in 2024.  IF UM’s is not, we are sure whose is:

The Florida Gators!

Thank God Samford is on the schedule since the Gators’ other 3 non-conference games are:

Miami

UCF

@ Florida State.             OUCH!

Check out their SEC games:

Texas A&M

@ Mississippi State

@ Tennessee

Kentucky

Georgia (at Jacksonville)

@ Texas

LSU

Ole Miss             DOUBLE OUCH!!

OK, the Odyssey rarely errs but we think a potential retraction is in order.   This schedule is murder and probably harder than what the Ann Arbor boys will face.  What a perfect setup to get Billy Napier fired, rightly or wrongly.

As soon as the confetti settles at the national championship site, a slew of college football writers come out with their “Way Too Early Top 25.”  In the case of the Michigan Wolverines, most such articles have the Wolverines between #5 and #7 in the coming year.

Are you kidding me?  The folks in Ann Arbor don’t know who their coach is.  They don’t know if their starting QB, JJ McCarthy, is returning.  They don’t know if the 2024 UM team will be sanctioned.  That is a LOT to not know.

Here is what we DO know.  About 15 stellar players are going to get drafted and/or be on NFL rosters this fall.

Have you checked out their schedule in  2024?!?!  Arguably, the toughest in college football, which includes

USC

Oregon

Washington

Ohio State

Texas

Two additional games fall into the “tricky” category.  The Big House’s first visitor will be a pesky Fresno State squad.  In addition, MSU has a good new coach in Jonathan Smith.  The Odyssey can not begin to count the number of so-so MSU teams that played by far their best game of the year against Michigan.

The Odyssey puts very long odds that Michigan will finish 2024 in the Top 10.

Let the Odyssey scream from the highest rafter:  Paul Finebaum is good for college football, especially for those crazies south of the Mason-Dixon line.  We have taken guilty pleasure listening to the deceased Tammy, Legend, IMan, etc.  Finebaum has done an admirable role as the Jerry Springer of college football

But the Mouth of the South has one irritating blind spot.  He has forgotten that the Civil War ended in 1865, particularly when speaking (often disdainfully) of the Michigan Wolverines.  He has been outwardly dismissive of the Wolverines’ history, saying that 1/2 of a National Championship in 70+ hardly represents success.

This concept  of “national championship or bust”  is outrageous to the Odyssey.  We would argue that Alabama’s season was a wild success.  The Tide won the SEC by ending Georgia’s 29-game winning streak in the state of Georgia after a rough start to 2023.  Washington had a fantastic season, extending their winning streak to 21 games, despite the strength of the 2023 Pac 12.  Texas finally shed its perennial tag of underachiever by winning at Bama and stomping Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game.

Other successes abounded in 2023.  How could Northwestern possibly go 8-5 after two horrible seasons and the dismissal of Pat Fitzgerald?  If you would have predicted that Arizona would lose one game in regulation (31-24 to Washington), you would have been instantly committed.  Newbie James Madison excelled in the upcoming Sun Belt.

According to Finebaum’s ridiculous yardstick, Bo Schembechler was an utter flop.  No natty despite winning 11 conference titles in his illustrious 21-year stint.

Michigan’s national title is cathartic because of all the near misses over the past 60 years.  To wit:

1964:  A failed two-point conversion at Purdue that cost UM a national title in a season punctuated by a 34-7 mauling of Oregon State in the Rose Bowl.

1972:  Ohio State’s TWO goal line stands in Columbus thwarted an undefeated Blue squad, 14-11

1973: The bitter rivals both entered the game undefeated.  Ohio State salvaged a 10-10 tie when Mike Lantry missed two late field games.

1974:  Lantry missed another walkoff field goal in a crushing 12-10 defeat in Columbus.  But was it a miss?  Some observers said that Lantry did make it.

2006:  On the heels of Bo Schembechler’s death, another undefeated clash in Columbus.  The Buckeyes prevail in a 42-39 epic.

2016:  Did JT Barrett get the first down conversion in overtime??  Jim Harbaugh said NO.  The officials said YES.  30-27 double overtime heartbreaker.

Finebaum’s myopia totally ignores that Michigan fans would view their season as a success when upending an undefeated Ohio State team as The Team Up North has often done since 1969.

Finebaum, ever the SEC bullhorn, has been lamenting that Georgia did not make the playoffs…”If Georgia was in, blah, blah, blah. Georgia had an off day in the SEC Championship game, blah, blah, blah.” Memo to Mr. Finebaum:  The Odyssey was in attendance at the Flats in the week prior to the Bulldogs’ pratfall.  The Bulldogs hardly looked national championship vintage in their 31-23 win over Georgia Tech.  Georgia’s defensive line looked human, unlike the previous 2 years.

The greatest symbolic play in Michigan’s 2023 National Championship occurred on Alabama’s final play in the Rose Bowl.  The TIde’s right tackle, JC Latham, is a hulking monster of 350+ pounds of man.  Yet, Josaiah Stewart, UM’s edge-rushing specialist, giving up MORE than 100 pounds, manhandled Latham!!  He pushed Latham backward directly into Jalen Milroe’s path.  Milroe, in essence, was tackled by his own right tackle!   Take that, Paul Finebaum!!

And if you are wondering if we will be tuning into Finebaum’s show today, well, you should already know the answer to that.