College Football Odyssey

The sharp descent in quality among Mountain West teams has been both shocking and alarming.

Consider the conference’s two flagship programs, Boise State and San Diego State:

Friday, Boise was embarrassed in El Paso, 27-10, to UTEP.  While Boise was down as many as 7 starters, UTEP is hardly a juggernaut (as evidenced by their 27-10 loss to New Mexico 6 days earlier).  A “one off” due to an unlucky injury glut?:  NOPE! The Broncos were coming off their worst record in decades with a 7-5 mark behind an untested first-year coach in Andy Avalos.  Multi-year starter, Hank Bachmeier, has regressed due, in part, to an inept offensive line. Avalos announced the firing of offensive coordinator, Tim Plough, after the Broncos’ pitiful output of 177 yards.   Will recycling ancient Boise head coach, Dirk Koetter, as the offensive coordinator be the salvation in Idaho?  Doubtful.

San Diego State did pull off a last-ditch drive to beat Toledo, 17-14.  However, Toledo’s QB, Dequan Finn, was hurt early in the game so the victory was slightly tainted.  San Diego had massive 3rd down conversion woes against a team that gave up 77 points to Ohio State.  Thankfully, Braxton Burmeister’s legs enabled the Aztecs to score the game-winning drive.  Regrettably, the speedy Burmeister lacks throwing ability – a desirable quality for a QB to have.

The Aztecs’ offense has looked inept all year as their decade-long search for a quality QB continues.  Brady Hoke seems content to coach 20th century football in the 21st century.  Don Coryell is certainly rolling around in his grave. Watching the Aztecs offense is usually a painful experience for San Diegans.

Upstart 2021 conference champion, Utah State, laid the biggest egg, getting embarrassed 35-7 by Weber State.  Another Big Sky program, Sacramento State took Colorado State to the woodshed, 41-10, in Fort Collins.

Air Force looked to be the class of the conference until a mass virus was a key element in their 17-14 upset loss at Wyoming.  The same Wyoming that get belted at perennial Big 10-also ran, Illinois.

Hawaii probably is the worst of the 131 FCS teams in the aftermath of the Todd Graham debacle.    In their game against Las Cruces against New Mexico State yesterday, the dormant Aggie offense rushed for 268 yards — in the FIRST half — en route to 35 points before halftime.

The Mountain West does appear cursed in 2022.  In the conference’s showcase game last week at the Coliseum, Fresno State’s star QB, Jake Haener, was injured and missed most of the 45-17 loss to USC.

With such mass ineptitude, is all lost?  If you ask UNLV, they might say no.  With their win at Utah State, the perennial cellar dwellers look good and might be able to take advantage of the terrible football.

La Creme de la Creme of basketball schools definitely include:

Duke

Kansas

Kentucky

North Carolina

Indiana

UCLA

Syracuse

Their cumulative record in 2022 football to date:  21-0!!

For Duke and Kansas to be on this list is extremely surprising.  The predicted win total for each school was 2.5 wins.  For those “over” bettors, to have a season win ticket be a lock before the end of Summer is great fun (a third “2.5 win” team, Vanderbilt has also already won the “over” with its 3-1 start).

For Duke and Kansas, stellar QB play has been critical.  Duke’s Riley Leonard, a Sophomore from Fairhope, Alabama, has completed 73% of his passes while new coach Mike Elko has the Duke D playing well beyond expectations.

Weirdly, Kansas is fortunate to have one of three excellent QBs with both the last name of Daniels and first name starting with J.  With all due respect to the excellent starts from West Virginia’s JT Daniels and LSU’s Jayden Daniels, KU’s Jalon Daniels has been the best of the Daniels to date.  A dangerous dual threat, Daniels has powered the usually comatose Jayhawks to impressive road wins at West Virginia and Houston.  Daniels’ scintillating start has helped propel Coach Lance Leipold to the forefront of attractive candidates for other coaching openings, particularly Nebraska.

While Leipold would be a home run hire for the Huskers, the Odyssey would love to see him stick around in Lawrence and try to do what was impossible for others post-Mark Mangino.

Congrats to fans of these schools who do not have to wait for Winter to get stoked about their school.

For those of you who get to bed at a reasonable hour, the Odyssey hopes that you taped last night’s North Dakota State-Arizona contest.  The Bison thundered into Tucson with their horde of fans and 7 FCS championships since 2011.  Their intent was to bludgeon Arizona to death with a power running game behind a big, talented offensive line.

The recipe almost worked to the tune of 283 yards rushing.  How often does an FCS team look to be superior in the trenches to a quality FBS team?  What ensued was a back-and-forth affair with Arizona winning 31-28 on a  77-yard TD drive with less than 5 minutes to go.

NDSU’s unquestioned excellence in the trenches could not fully compensate for the excellence of Wildcat QB Jayden De Laura.  The Washington State transfer was the difference, using both his arm and his elusive scrambling ability to keep UA afloat.  De Laura’s excellence made the Odyssey wonder about the number of quality QB’s who prep in Hawaii.  During the last decade, if you took a ratio of excellent college QBs to that state’s land mass, we have little doubt that the Aloha State would come out as #1.

Fourth down conversions figured prominently in the affair.  Midway in the fourth quarter, clinging to a 28-24 lead, the Bison elected to go for it on a 4th and 2 from the UA 22.  Stopped.   The Wildcats took over and mounted the game-winning TD drive, converting their own 4th and 1 in the process.  DeLaura hooked up with another insta-portal transfer, former UTEP wide receiver Jacob Cowing, for the 22-yard game winner.

NDSU might ruefully look back to a sequence of plays in the 2nd quarter.  Arizona surprisingly refused to punt on 4th and 2 from its own 33.  Stuffed!  The Bison quickly marched down to the Wildcat 5, 2nd and goal.  The Bison QB, Cam Miller, not nearly as mobile as De Laura, went back to pass and scrambled to his right and was strip sacked.  Arizona gratefully covered the loose ball.

Arizona is a prime candidate as the most improved team in 2021.  The Wildcats have morphed from a 1-win team to a dangerous out.  For those who want to call NDSU a very good FCS team, PLEASE!  Drop the FCS qualifier.  The Bison is a very good and very well coached squad.

For the Odyssey,  we could not help but be nostalgic.  Our last visit to Tucson to watch the Wildcats play was in the Chuck Cecil era in 1986.  An undefeated Arizona State team arrived in town with the coveted Rose Bowl invite already secured.  In the 4th quarter, with ASU threatening to score in a taut affair, Cecil picked off a throw from Jeff Van Raaphorst, 5 yards deep in his end zone.  105 yards later, Cecil’s heroics sent the hometown fans into the highest degree of ecstasy that the Odyssey had never seen before or since.  The Wildcat upset over their bitter rival was punctuated by some Sun Devil players getting pelted with roses and rose petals as they left the field.

The Odyssey is deeply thankful to the Arizona athletic department having the courage to schedule North Dakota State.  NDSU had been dodged like the plague since 2016 by FBS squads (although the Bison did have a 2020 game at Oregon that was a COVID scrape).  No wonder as North Dakota State had won its last 6 games against FBS squads, its last FBS loss coming in 2009 at Iowa State.

So, one more round of deeply profound thanks to UA for hosting a fantastic game on a perfect desert night.

The Odyssey gives the University of Arizona major props!!  Nobody in FBS has had the guts to play North Dakota State since the Bison were in Iowa City in 2016 (NDSU beat the 13th-ranked Hawkeyes, 23-21, on a last-minute field goal).  That changes Saturday night in Tucson.  Scheduling North Dakota State has become a no-no for athletic directors who host lower-tier FCS programs for one reason: buy a win.

North Dakota State is the FCS equivalent of Alabama, having won  9 national championships since 2011!  Equally impressive is its 22-game, playoff winning streak during such period.

13 years have passed since the Bison have lost to an FBS team.  Iowa State bested NDSU, 34-17, in 2009.  Since that loss in Ames, the Bison has won its last 6 games against the FBS:

NDSU 34, Iowa State 14          2014

NDSU 24, Kansas State 21      2013

NDSU 22, Colorado State 7     2012

NDSU 37, Minnesota 24           2011 (NDSU also beat the Gophers, 27-21, in 2007)

NDSU 6, Kansas 3                     2010

This streak is even more impressive in that all their triumphs have been roadies.  No playing in the familiar confines of the Fargo Dome.

The Bison absorbed extremely bad news after their blowout win over North Carolina A&T.   All-American Defensive Tackle Eli Mostaert’s leg injury makes him a no-go in Tucson.  The experts rate this Saturday’s game as a pick ’em.

Nobody has a clue as to how good the UA Wildcats are:  Very impressive against San Diego State and very outclassed in last Saturday’s home game versus Mississippi State. Washington State transfer QB, Jayden De Laura, was superb against San Diego State and inconsistent versus a talented Mississippi State defense.  San Diego State looks to be down while the Bulldogs may be one of the most underrated teams in the country.  Like SDSU, the Bison attack is run-based.  The UA defense shut down the Aztec running attack.

UA is certainly much better than its one-win disaster in 2021.  Enough so that the we slightly lean to the prediction of a Wildcat victory.  Regardless of the outcome, the Odyssey already views Arizona as victors for scheduling North Dakota State in what should be an intriguing matchup.

Former SEC Commissioner, Roy Kramer,  discovered a loophole that allowed the SEC to play a conference championship game after the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1990.  Creating divisions, as a prelude to conference championship games, became the rage.

Fast forward to 2022.  Conference championships have retained popularity and may  survive the expansion of the playoffs from 4 to 12 teams.  But division alignments have fallen out of favor.  In May, the Pac 12 scrapped this approach.  The two Pac 12 teams with the highest winning percentage will play.  If this approach had been employed from inception,  the teams playing in the championship tilt would have differed in 5 of the previous 11 years.

Conference USA has also scrapped divisions in 2022.  With possible pod systems in both the SEC and the Big 10 as the two powers grow to 16 teams, 2 more conferences might be prepared to torpedo divisions.

Sadly, there is one conference, saddled with divisions in 2022, where the imbalance between the divisions is stunning:  The Fun Belt.  (Congrats to the Sun Belt for being the first Group of 5 conference to beat 2 top 10 teams on the same day in almost two decades.  A 3rd Sun Belt stunner, Georgia State beating Nebraska, was the final nail in Scott Frost’s coffin.  Gravy was the $4.1 million that these 3 victors received).

The Odyssey wrote an August article commenting on how much stronger the East is.  Phil Steele’s publication picked Georgia Southern in the East cellar.  No knock on Southern as the East is that loaded.  Old Dominion upset Virginia Tech in its opener.  FBS newbie, James Madison, has absolutely demolished two opponents.  Coastal Carolina has beat a tough Army squad.

With all due respect to Louisiana and the rest of the Sun Belt West, the championship game for the East champion may not prove nearly as tough as the gauntlet to get there.

ESPN has tossed the Sun Belt a Boone bone this week.  On Saturday, Gameday will be in the USA town with the highest elevation East of the Mississippi.  The App State crazies will be out in force!!

The Odyssey was excited to make the trek to Colorado Springs on Saturday to see the revival of a rivalry that never should have gone dormant.  Colorado made the 97-mile trek to Air Force for the first time in 48 years (the 1974 game was a 28-27 thriller).  During the 1958-74 period, the instate rivals met all but one year.  Rumor has it that the divergent campus cultures, in addition to the polarizing angst of the Vietnam War, caused the end of the series.  I am certain that the CU coaching staff was also less than thrilled to prep for Air Force’s unique option offense and did not lose any sleep when the Falcons were no longer on the schedule.

The 2022 expectations for Colorado were far from Rocky Mountain High and were tamped down even further with a dreadful 2nd half performance against TCU in their opener.  Much of the offensive ineptitude was laid at the doorstep of QB Brendon Lewis.  Thus, Tennessee transfer, JT Shrout, got the starting nod on Saturday.  Bad luck for Shrout: a misting rain.  Worse luck: playing behind an offensive line that should be deemed quite offensive to CU fans. His stat line: 5/21/1 for 51 yards and a QB rating of 7.4.  Ouch!  Does Joel Klatt have any eligibility left??

The game’s first 30 seconds were catastrophic for the Buffs.  A fumble near the goal line led to a quick Air Force touchdown that helped catapult the Falcons to a 20-0 lead.  CU’s Deion Smith responded with a 25-yard TD run that was highlighted by a somersault into the end zone.  The Odyssey was relieved to see that there was no penalty for excessive celebration.  Our feeling is that touchdowns are going to be few and far between for the 2022 edition of the Golden Buffaloes.  Thus, we would not penalize the Buffs for ANY TD celebration, even if it involved the entire squad forming a conga line in the end zone.

Despite being roundly outplayed, CU actually had a chance to make a real game of it in the 3rd quarter.  Down 20-10, Colorado’s Alex Fontenot fumbled at the goal line.  Did he cross the plane before coughing up the wet football? Massive suspense!  Upon review, Fontenot looked to be a millimeter or two short of scoring what could have been a pivotal touchdown.

Air Force took total control, tacking on three scores for a final tally of 41-10.  The score was misleading in one sense.  The Falcons gave Colorado every chance to win as Air Force lost 3 fumbles and hiked a ball so far over the punter’s head that it was rumored to land near Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  However, the relentless Falcons rushed for 435 yards and posted their biggest win margin in the series.

For CU, the nightmare does not appear to be over.  Next Saturday, the Buffs travel to Minneapolis to play a quality team that has ravaged its first opponents to the tune of 100-10.  Saturday’s dreary weather seemed a fitting match for their outlook for the balance of 2022.  This Gopher outfit looks to be better than the 2021 edition which manhandled the Buffs, 30-0, in Boulder.

Contrast this to Air Force’s outlook where the skies have never been brighter!  The Odyssey thought the best preseason bet was betting on the Falcons to win more than 8.5 games (even when having to give 30% juice).  A schedule that looked favorable in August has become much more so.  Is the Odyssey jinxing the Academy by saying that going undefeated is a real possibility?   The biggest hurdles are a October 22 home date against Boise State and a November 26 tilt at San Diego State’s snazzy new stadium.  Both these opponents have got off to a rocky start.  Navy, Army and Utah State all appear much less formidable than initially anticipated.  At this point, Air Force would be the projected favorite in each of their 10 remaining games.

Colorado Springs rests at 6,000 feet.  Air Force’s 2022 possibilities are considerably higher.

The Odyssey is paying a long-awaited visit to Colorado Springs on Saturday.

What can top being at 6,000 feet on a pristine mountain afternoon watching the pre-game festivities with jets welcoming a rare contest against instate rival Colorado?

The Buffs have not visited Colorado Springs since 1974 (CU won a 28-27 barnburner).  From their perspective, Colorado may not have picked a worse year to return.  Let us start counting their red flags:

1. Colorado’s weak offense got weaker with the transfer of Jarek Broussard to Michigan State.  Broussard average 5.2 yards per carry during 1920-21, particularly impressive in that nobody confused the 2021 Colorado offensive line with the Seven Blocks of Granite.
2. The Buffs are coming off a 2nd half meltdown in Boulder.  Only down 7-6 at halftime, CU got blown out, 41-13, by TCU.
3. Colorado’s QB play is uninspiring.  Both 2021 starter, Brendon Lewis, and J.T. Shrout played in the opener.  Mum is the word as to who the starter will be at Air Force.  This appears to be a case of  “When you have 2 QBs, you have no QB’s.”
4. TCU romped for 275 rushing yards.  Uh, Oh!!  Air Force’s rushing game led the country in 2021.  No anticipated downturn in 2022 as the Falcons’ top 4 rushers return.

The 2022 Air Force squad is considered by some to be potentially the best Falcon squad ever.  When Colorado scheduled this game, nobody in Boulder envisioned that CU would visit as a 17-point underdog.  The Odyssey is quite bullish on this year’s AFA team.   We regarded Air Force exceeding 8.5 wins as one of the best pre-season bets on the board.

We remain higher than 6,000 feet on Air Force.  We anticipate a lot of happy future pilots come Saturday evening.

The beautiful:  San Diego State’s new Snapdragon stadium.  The 35,000 seat venue has an open feeling where one can view the surrounding hills from virtually all the seats.  Certainly a vast improvement over the dilapidated Qualcomm Stadium.  Truly a gem!  The Mountain West is not a Power 5 conference but I defy you to find a prestige conference boasting two stadiums as nice as Snapdragon and Colorado State’s Canvas Stadium.

The beastly:  SDSU’s performance Saturday afternoon against the supposed doormat of the Pac-12:  Arizona.  The Wildcats cruised to a 38-20 upset that rarely appeared in doubt.

Arizona’s defense was woeful in 2021 but toyed with San Diego State’s offense, allowing only 232 yards.  Transfer Quarterback, the local Braxton Burmeister, demonstrated why he did not stick with his two previous schools, Oregon and Virginia Tech.  His line:  7/16/62.  While not 100% Burmeister’s fault, one has to wonder when SDSU will get a QB who makes defensive coordinators nervous.  While Ryan Lindley was not all-world, his successors over the past decade have made him seem like Patrick Mahomes in comparison.

The Aztecs’ calling card during their successful run of the past 14 years has been their defense.  Not on Saturday, getting carved up for 466 yards.

While the Odyssey has decried some of the problems associated with insta-transfers, Arizona did demonstrate that a doormat can more quickly right the ship.  The Wildcats’ induced Jayden De Laura to leave Washington State.  Smart move!  In another brilliant maneuver, Arizona also induced about the only explosive element of the 2021 UTEP offense, Jacob Cowing, to move 320 miles West.  Cowing caught 8 passes from De Laura for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Regardless, the Odyssey does cringe at the poor getting poorer due to the exodus of Cowing from UTEP.

Kudos to Jedd Fisch for a brilliantly executed game plan.  Meanwhile, we wonder if Brady Hoke is the right head man for SDSU.  If you were typecasting for a likeable, rumpled defensive line coach, one need look no further than Hoke.  We wonder if Hoke has the recruiting chops to bring enough offensive weapons to Montezuma Mesa.

In his defense, Hoke did have 2 coaching triumphs that resulted in both Aztec touchdowns and prevented an even more embarrassing loss.  In the first half, Hoke went for a TD on 4th and goal from the 4.  While the call went against Hoke’s often conservative DNA, his bravado was rewarded with a touchdown.  Early in the 2nd half in a 31-10 game, Hoke faced a 4th and 5 decision from the UofA 44.  He elected to punt, much to the temporary chagrin of the Odyssey.  The punt was downed at the 1.  The ensuing punt from the end zone was blocked by an unsuspecting Wildcat blocker for an Aztec touchdown.  Well done, Coach!!  Now if you can just get a quarterback and some receivers for your new palace of a playing field.  Please!

One of the byproducts of the pandemic was to offer an additional year of eligibility to athletics.  For eligibility, 2020 did not count at all, which, come to think of it, is far from a terrible idea, in general.

Check out some of the 6th year QBs who have seemingly been around forever:

Stetson Bennett IV (Georgia)

N’Kosi Perry (FAU)

Chris Reynolds (Charlotte, starting for a 5th year)

Sean Clifford (Penn State)

However, none of that quartet hold a candle to the following duo:

1. Missouri’s 2nd string QB, Jack Abraham!  Abraham is a 7th-year senior!  He started off at Louisiana Tech and later started 27 games at Southern Miss.  Mizzou is Abraham’s 4th stop as the nomad got a lot of pine time at Mississippi State in 2021.
2. Incarnate Word’s QB wonder, Cameron Ward, has transferred to Washington State.  Ward’s transfer has created an opportunity for 7th year QB Lindsey Scott (Scott’s previous stops were at LSU, Mizzou and Nicholls State)

Welcome to the modern, wacky world of insta-transfers!

Let’s hope these QBs can come up with good thesis topics! (Just kidding – with their NIL money, they can purchase a poor grad student to run interference).

With all the messed up, screwed up elements in today’s college football framework, the Odyssey believes it fitting that two former starting QBs for USC will be slinging the ball tomorrow evening in Pittsburgh.

John Denver is a country boy and, no doubt, he is delighted that West Virginia will be making a short trip to play the city boys at Pitt on September 1.

John, you have company, as College Football Odyssey is equally delighted!!

Among all the stupidities in scheduling the past decade, easily the worst has been the omission of these archrivals on each other’s schedule (although Texas not playing A&M and Missouri not playing Kansas get honorable mention).

If EVER two archrivals needed each other to spruce up their schedule, it is Pitt and West Virginia.

West Virginia found a lifeline in the Big 12 in the 2010 version of conference musical chairs. But when your nearest conference rival (Iowa State) is 900 miles distant, there can be no denying that a shotgun marriage was arraigned. West Virginia would have been thrilled to have received an invitation to the geographically sensible Atlantic Coast Conference but the ACC evidently did not want to be associated with victorious couch burnings and a so-so academic reputation.

In a sport where the trappings of tradition had unparalled import, West Virginia’s recent schedule has totally flunked aside from the occasional game against Virginia Tech. The Odyssey hoped that Mountaineer players got full credit for frequent flyer miles on their far-flung trips to the Heartland. This geographic mismatch could have been ameliorated by retaining their regional rivalry with Pitt. But, no!!  Tragically,  2011 was their last rivalry game.

How regional is their rivalry? VERY! It is 75 short miles from Pittsburgh to Morgantown. Contrast this to the distance to an in-state program that West Virginia has shunned: Marshall. The distance between Huntington and Morgantown is 209 miles.

For as much as West Virginia needs this rivalry, Pitt’s need is equally acute. In the good ole days, Panther fans annually had two great rivalry games in West Virginia and Penn State. Panther fans were appalled that the Penn State grudge match took a 16-year hiatus, starting in 2001, and is currently dormant. Regional ACC games with Syracuse and Boston college have negligible oomph in comparison. From an attendance standpoint, Pitt’s need to have its regional rival back on their schedule is even more acute than for the Mountaineers. It is never easy for a college team to compete for fans where there is the looming presence of the NFL. Many empty seats are at Heinz Field when Pitt plays. Which makes the presence of the West Virginia game on their schedule that much more important.

Given how important tradition is in college football, some of the Pitt-West Virginia games still resonate generation(s) later. Consider:

1965

West Virginia’s 63-48 victory over Pitt was the highest scoring college game to date -ever.  Some of the wire services kept asking for confirmation of the score, fearing  a glitch

1970  
Bobby Bowden is an institution.  However, in his first year at West Virginia’s helm, his coaching career was careening toward the trash bin after an epic meltdown at Pitt.  West Virginia sprinted to a 35-8 halftime lead.  Bowden changed their ultra successful game plan in an ill-fated effort to milk the clock: “We’re going to run the ball in the 2nd half.”  Pitt also changed its game plan, using their bigger size to stay in Power I sets.  Pitt’s scintillating 36-35 comeback win was devastating for Mountaineer fans:  How much so?  Irate fans were literally pounding the visitor’s locker room door at game’s end, literally wanting a piece of Bowden’s hide!  

1989

Some ties were epic!  The Harvard-Yale 29-29 tie will live forever.  West Virginia was sporting a 31-9 lead in Morgantown in the 4th quarter.  What could go wrong?  Turns out, plenty if you were a WV supporter.  Ed Frazier’s 42-yard field goal at the gun tied the game at 31 and sent Pitt players into a frenzy.

1994

Is there any other rivalry where a team goes down by 3+ touchdowns so often and then storms back:  Take a bow, Pitt!!  The Panthers spotted West Virginia a 31-6 lead.  No problema. Pitt stormed back to take a 41-40 lead.  EXCEPT the Mountaineers’ Chad Johnston saved the day:   His 60-yard TD pass with 15 seconds left gave WV a 48-41 triumph was equal parts ecstasy and relief.

2007

Never has had a Pitt-WV game turned out to have more national import.  To play in the national championship game, all the 2nd-ranked Mountaineers needed to do was post a win against a lowly Pitt team that limped into Morgantown with a 4-7 record. Las Vegas installed WV as a 4-touchdown favorite.

West Virginia’s electric run offense was stifled, both before and after an injury to its star QB, Pat White.  The Mountaineers never made Pitt pay with the pass for the Panthers’ 8-man and 9-man fronts.  Pitt’s shocking 13-9 upset had reverberations far beyond Morgantown:

LSU backed into the title game with 2 losses!  The Bayou Bengals and Les Miles took full advantage.  Rich Rodriquez’s God-like status in West Virginia would go to hell.  He bolted for Michigan in an ill-fated marriage that was sabotaged by none other than Lloyd Carr.  With LSU in the title game, Miles’ purported plans to head to his alma mater in Ann Arbor were thwarted.

Take Me Home, Country Roads!  The Odyssey hears John Denver even if modern-day college football has tragically become tone deaf.