Madison Academy’s Luke Hits the Nail on the Head

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Trying to stand out in a world of high school football prospects can be tough.  We’ve all heard the stats.  There are 90k high schools in the country and over a million football players in any given year on the prep gridiron.  A large majority of these adolescent warriors are looking to someday play in college.  However,  when you are a quarterback and you stand 6’4″ tall like 2020 quarterback Luke Nail does then it’s only a matter of time.

For Nail,  that matter of time has not arrived yet but fortunately for him,  his good play has.  It’s understandable that Nail has not yet received his just due.  After all,  he is just getting started.  Without a legitimate season of performance under his belt,  Nail did not enter this 2019 season with any hoopla.  Hoopla or not,  Luke has been nailing opponents with shots as he has rained down 12 TD passes already against only 3 INTs.

A look at the film and what you’ll see is the highly sought after tall frame and a live arm.  In addition,  Nail has good movement skills and can throw on the run.  The Alabama prep signal caller can also take off with the football and shows himself to be a football player at heart.  The third clip on his mid season highlight reveals him sprinting downfield to mix it up with defenders trying to get after a ballcarrier.  Not to mention that the ballcarrier was the recipient of an ad libbed back hand throw from Nail who worked himself out of a jack pot.  It’s early yet in Nail’s career but not too early for college scouts to take notice.  Quarterback coaches drool over quarterback with this type of height and what’s more,  Nail “does not suck”.   In fact,  he has displayed during this season,  an ability to do virtually all the things a college quarterback is asked to do these days.

Check out Luke Nail on the GridironStuds Instagram page

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5 Big Things Week 5 College Football: No Not That Play, Knights in Shining & Irish Whiskey

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

The pride, the passion and pressure of college football was on full display in week 5 of the 2018 college football season as the stakes start to get raised in the race for the college football playoffs.  In a week that provided virtually no upsets,  we are starting to see teams calcify themselves in the top spots and others start to fall back in the pack.  Here’s what I saw in week 5 of the college football season.

1 Wait…  Comeback!

You often wonder why things happen the way they do in life (boy do I ever) but they do and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has to be in that boat on this day.  The rock at the top of the Clemson program made a big boy decision last week and named the freshman Trevor Lawrence his starter  at quarterback.  This move sent previous starter Kelly Bryant to the bench and essentially out of the program.  The Twitter and media debates raged on last week as Bryant announced his intentions to leave the program.  This essentially left the Tigers thin at the quarterback position but what does that matter,  Lawrence has shown himself to be a future star at the position and likely capable to take Clemson far this season.  What could possibly go wrong?  Upon thinking this you can just see the devil rubbing his hands together Birdman style.  Midway through the 2nd quarter in a game in which Lawrence wasn’t exactly lighting it up,  he got lit up along the Syracuse sidelines with Clemson down 13-7.  The hit sent Lawrence to the showers early and left redshirt freshman quarterback Chase Brice with the task of bringing the Tigers back from their deficit.  Somewhere,  Kelly Bryant had to be getting a chuckle.

Ultimately,  Clemson got the job done in their home stadium thanks to some pretty staunch second half defense and timely throws for the unsuspecting Brice.  My thoughts on the whole situation going into the game were that Swinney would have done well to keep Bryant as the starter,  find ways to insert Lawrence at times in games and have both available in case somebody gets almost decapitated on the sidelines during a game. There’s little substitute for experience but it seems more and more in society,  we are casting aside that element to chase shiny new objects.  I guess it’s part of our ever increasing short attention span.  I don’t know where Bryant is going to go and neither do I know where Clemson’s seasons is going to go either.  I think it just took a hit.

2 You searched the whole playsheet and came up with that?

Saturday night we were treated to one of those college football thrillers that we all know and love.  Ohio St. vs. Penn St. had all the build up of a Rose Bowl championship game when in truth it was just a midseason battle for Big Ten supremacy.  While the outcome was ultimately what I expected,  the lead up to the end was not.  Penn St.’s coaching staff deserves a ton of credit for the game plan they came up to neutralize the superiority that Ohio St. had on both sides of the line of scrimmage.  Defensively,  the Nitanny Lions dialed up some exotic blitzes to get in the face of young QB Dwayne Haskins and limit his effectiveness.  Offensively,  they used the most lethal weapon they had and that was the legs of Trace McSorely.  The talented signal caller threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns but more deadly were his 175 rushing yards.  McSorely’s runs kept the chains moving and changed everything the Buckeyes had to do defensively.  As a result,  Penn St. kept a lead for most of the game and kept us fans on the edge of our seats.  However,  we were all knocked off our seats in the closing minutes of the game.  Penn St. opted to take the ball out of the hands of the most productive player in the entire game and hand it to a back in Miles Sanders on 4th and 5.  This was a classic case of a coach out thinking himself (I’ve been there).  One thing my coaching has taught me is that in crucial moments it’s often players that make play not calls.  When you get in the red zone or in crucial third or fourth down situations,  it’s time to dial up your best players not necessarily your best plays. McSorely accounted for a school record 461 total yards at the point.  Sanders had accumulated all of 45 yards.  If it were a stock,  you would not have picked Sanders. It’s a decision that Penn St. offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne will no doubt grow from and one that Penn St. fans will lament for some time to come.

3 Think Like an Underdog But Act Like a Big Dog

If you are a Florida Gator fan and not delusional,  you were nervous entering into Saturday’s game on the road vs. Mississippi St.  Here was the factology leading into the game.  This was a tough road game vs. an opponent off of a loss with a team full of players feeling a certain type of way about their coach walking out on them to go coach another SEC team.  Not to mention that up until this point,  Mississippi St. appeared to be the more physical team more prepared for the rigors that this game would provide.  Did I get that right?  Well yes I did.

In much the same fashion that Penn St. did in their game vs. Ohio St.,  Florida walked into the game with confidence but coached it like an underdog.  Like Penn St.,  Florida was at a disadvantage along both lines of scrimmage.  Florida’s game vs. Kentucky earlier this season showed that their defensive line can get pushed around in a fist fight.  Offensively,  any honest Florida fan will tell you that upfront is not the strength of this squad.  Mississippi St. is a heavy run team that is built on trench play and thus appeared to have an advantage coming in.

You have to give credit to the game plans for Florida.  Instead of banging his head against the wall,  Florida head coach Dan Mullen used a beavy of wide receiver screens as his outside run game forcing Mississippi St. to widen some of the activity in the box.  When they did,  Mullen attacked the middle with the numbers in his favor.  Essentially Mullen fed the area where he had an advantage to weaken an area where the opponent had a strength.  While the scoreboard will not say that Florida’s offense went off,  the numbers speak volumes.  Florida out gained Mississippi St. 357 to 202 in total yards and held the edge in time of possession.  What was most surprising was the Gators outgaining the Bulldogs on the ground 118 to 104.  All of this happened despite Florida having 11 pentalites to Mississippi St.’s two.  Unlike the Penn St. game,  with the game on the line,  Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham went with what they do best and sent a safety blitz that hit home to salt the game.  Maybe the ole Engage 8 Madden defense will get you your ass kicked online but in Davis Wade Stadium on a Saturday Night it can get you a big road victory in the SEC.

4 ICU UCF

We can no longer ignore this.  UCF has built itself a hell of a program.  College football fans living outside of the Orlando / Kissimmee area clowned the Knights last year when they crowned themselves king and trumped up a mythical national championship.  They ushered in further shade when UCF defeated Auburn in the bowl game citing how the Tigers could careless about the game and the opponent.  Perhaps that was true but there’s no denying what UCF has been doing for the last two years.  The Knights’ 17 game win streak is the longest in college football currently and not a place for you to cast your petty scorn.  Yes,  Pittsburgh is not having one of their finer 1980 type seasons but they are an ACC opponent that got melted like a forgotten Now N Later in a car’s back seat.

UCF is not just beating teams,  they are destroying them.  The Knights’ closest game this season was their “showdown” with in-state upstart FAU.  That was a 20 point win for UCF.  The average margin of victory is 32 points on the season and they are yet to have a game in which they have not put up over 500 yards of offense. It would have been nice to have seen them play their game vs. North Carolina to have a measuring stick against fellow in-state competitor Miami but that has not happened.  In all likelihood,  UCF will go undefeated through their regular season.  The way this playoff thing is set up,  UCF will again be on the outside looking in and end up in a bowl game against a dejected big name who fell just outside of playoff consideration.  Y’all folks are going to have to endure another trip to the jewelers for these Knights.

5 Well How Good Are They?

One of the mysteries so far this season is the strength of Notre Dame.  I am not even sure why it’s a mystery.  Is it because we hate Notre Dame and don’t want to believe it or is because they don’t have the big marketable names that make us gravitate to them?  Or is it because we just hate them? Yea we hate them but you can’t hate the game.  Saturday Night,  the Irish took apart another top program from a top conference.  Stanford got their heads handed to them under the watchful eyes of Touchdown Jesus.  Lord Touchdown was likely producing a few fist pumps as Notre Dame wandered their way into the endzone five times during a 38-17 win over their nemesis.

I am sure college football fans can opine about the lack of quality in Notre Dame’s schedule but the truth is that their five wins do include two against Michigan and Stanford.  We can argue that those wins were at home and 2017 showed us that the Irish dominance doesn’t necessarily fit in the overhead compartment when they travel.  I am not sure that we will get a chance to find out in 2018.  There is no trip to Miami this year and the toughest remaining road game is against a disheveled USC program at the end of the year.  So what we’ll be faced with it come playoff time is a possible undefeated Irish team lurking around that top 4 ahead of teams with one loss against a killer.  Oh the controversy.

On Some Smaller Matters

Lethal Comebackery. Yes I made up a word but Wille Taggert made up a saying and like my word,  his offense did not exist until Saturday.  On their way to another embarrassing performance,  Florida St. grew a pair and snatched a win away from a struggling Louisville football team.  Don’t look now but the Seminoles have improved since their face hiding performance vs. Syracuse three weeks ago.  I have been saying all season long that Deondre Francois has been a bright spot for FSU and it was he who led the revolt vs. the Cardinals.  Left for dead with flies everywhere,  Florida St. shined like a 20 wall in the final 20 minutes of the contest.  Led by Francois’ 294 yards passing and four TDs,  Florida St. found something to feel good about heading into their annual showdown with the Miami Hurricanes.

So how did the Canes do in their lead up to the showdown?  It was pure dominance on a national television stage vs. North Carolina.  The Canes forced six turnovers with three of them being TDs enroute to a 47-10 win over conference foe North Carolina.  These type of things lead to set up point spreads and we see the Canes have marched out as 11 point favorites in their meeting with FSU.  It’s the largest line in favor of the Canes in quite some time.  However,  considering the results of games thus far,  is this line high enough?  Common fans may rush to the betting window in favor the Canes but Vegas always holds a little reverence for rivalries.

The struggles for first year coaches Chip Kelly at UCLA and Scott Frost at Nebraska continue and they aren’t getting better.  Kelly’s bunch took it on the chin yet again this week when Colorado cold cocked them 38-16 in Boulder. Things remained frosty for Scott when Purdue came to Lincoln and put up half a four score on the Huskers 42-28.  The fortunate thing for both of these coaches is that they are in places that will have patience.  People don’t care as much about UCLA football in Los Angeles like they do in Tuscaloosa, Gainesville or Columbus so Kelly can fumble his way through these performances for a little while longer.  They most certainly care about football in Nebraska but Husker fans have shown themselves to have that good Midwestern patience especially for a son come home.  However, patience has an expiration date everywhere even in Westwood and Lincoln.

GridironStuds 3-for-3 Pick’em for College Football Week 5

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

We enter week five of the 2018 college football season either believing that things are starting to come into shape or hoping that they will depending on who you are.  I tend to be part of the former group as the dominant figures of college football have already shown their face in my opinion.  Those dominant figures just so happen to be the four teams that are sitting atop the rankings.  Has anyone noticed how little debate their has been about this year’s rankings?  Nevertheless, a discussion on that topic is better suited for my 5 Big Things Column next week.

For this week,  lets talk about how red hot I have been.  If you are one who is the wagering type in college football,  the picks in my column are yielding like that Bitcoin run we saw in 2017.   In the two weeks of this column,  I have been 5-1 vs. those Vegas numbers.  If you just like knowing who’s going to win the game,  I haven’t failed you there either going 4-2.  Stick with me readers,  I am going to have you sleeping in silk pajamas.

Ohio St. @ Penn St.

I told you all after week one that this Ohio St. team was on a mission.  The media and rival fan bases came messing with their daddy Urban Meyer and they are not too happy about it.  That anger has resulted in no less than 40 points being hung on every opponent like a diamond necklace and strong defense being spread on them like mustard.  Ohio St. means business and this is just another week to prove it.  The Buckeyes’ play up front is getting it done for them.  Even without star defensive lineman Nick Bosa,  Ohio St.’s front four is just constant pressure and that will be the case again on Saturday in Happy Valley.  Whether it’s a run play or a pass play,  the penetration is there and the disruption of good offense is the result.  Offensively,  all the talk is on Buckeye QB Dwayne Haskins and rightfully so but it’s all happening because of the Ohio St. offensive line.  Where Ohio St. has a huge advantage is this game is in the trenches.

Speaking of trenches,  that’s where I have been most disappointed when I turn on the film of Penn St.  There is too much activity in the backfield by opposing defenses when the Nittany Lions have the football and that spells bad news. This fact has been masked by the lack of quality opposition for Penn St. but it has not missed my eye.  You hardly want your first real game of the season to be against Ohio St. but here we are.  On the defensive side of the ball,  the Penn St. defensive line and front seven has not been impactful either.  Against Illinois last week,  Penn St. managed just one sack and gave up a ridiculous 245 yards on the ground.  In that opening week thriller vs. Appalachain St. that went to overtime,  again Penn St. managed just one sack and allowed 451 yards of offense.  Insert Ohio St. vs. those type of defensive performances and the prognosis is not good.  I think we have a battle at first but eventually Ohio St. will relish the opportunity to show how mad they really are.  I like the Buckeyes 33-21.

West Virginia @ Texas Tech 

Hey it’s a Big 12 game everybody, duck.  Yes one should always expect a shootout when Big-12 foes collide and this year’s game between West Virginia and Texas Tech should be no different.  Except in this game,  one team has a significantly bigger gun than the other.  They probably take people to jail for saying the word defense in Lubbock, Texas.  Texas Tech wants nothing to do with stopping people.  The Red Raiders can’t stop the run,  they can’t cover,  they don’t tackle but outside of that,  they’re all good.  Cliff Kingsbury may be a man of good looks but that defense is plain ugly. When the Red Raiders shut out Lamar a couple of weeks ago,  Tech fans were probably in the stands like “nah come on!” They snapped back into form the next week giving up 49 to Houston in a win.  Last week the scoreboard says they pulled hard on Mike Gundy’s mullet when they whipped Oklahoma St. 41-17.  However on film,  I saw plenty to suggest that West Virginia will have a field day here . Tech did not look too good earlier this year vs. Ole Miss and West Virginia is a significantly better football team.

West Virginia relishes games like this.  They too are very offensive in nature and they happen to have a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback.  This will be quite the opportunity to pad his stats and we should expect to see that.  Will Grier has blossomed under Dana Hogerson’s system and this year’s crop of WRs has been quite special for the Mountaineers.  I see matchup problems all over the field for the Texas Tech secondary with this bunch and should the Mountaineer’s play up to potential,  they can name their score.  However,  it is college football and I must allow for some lapses when 19-22 year olds are playing out of their habitat.  Where I think the biggest difference in this game will show up will be on defense.  So far,  West Virginia has show the ability to play it.  The Mountaineers have held every opponent under 20 points and more importantly,  under 400 yards of total offense.  They have found ways to control opposing run games with a three man front and pressure the quarterback with exotic blitzes.  I see that trend continuing here.  With Texas Tech unable to have their way consistently offensively,  I don’t see a path to them having more on the scoreboard than West Virginia when this is all said and done.  I like the Mountaineers 45-27 in this one.

Stanford @ Notre Dame

I think this will be the most exciting game on Saturday.  Stanford comes into this game exhausted emotionally and physically after their thriller in Eugene hast week.  It will be a tall task for them to muster up the required energy to get the result they want in this game but we should not look past them.  Oregon revealed some gaping holes in Stanford’s stop unit a week ago and they are holes that Notre Dame has the manpower to exploit.  Also revealed vs. the Ducks is something you don’t see often from Stanford but that is a team that is not as good at run blocking as they are at pass blocking.  When was the last time you saw a Stanford team rush for just 71 yards in a ball game?  What may have been a surprise is how the Cardinal displayed a come from behind passing game. On film,  I saw this happen due in large part to their ability to provide K.J. Costello with a clean pocket.  What Stanford also has are some matchup advantages with their big WRs corps.  Expect them to make some big plays in this contest.  I think this will be another week where Stanford is forced to go to the air to find their way.

Notre Dame is flying under the radar.  This is a pretty good football team.  The major reason that the Irish are playing well is because their offensive line has been getting the job done.  I don’t know what Brian Kelly has been doing but give the offensive line coach and who ever recruited these hogs up front a raise. Notre Dame has one of the top offensive lines in college football in my opinion and they will look the part in this contest.  Stanford showed an inability to pressure Justin Herbert last week vs. Oregon and that will be bad news in this contest.  The Cardinal also looked suspect versus the run and that caused the Ducks to convert 9 out of 15 third down situations.  Notre Dame is in prime position to take advantage of that.  The Irish are a more explosive team with Ian Book at quarterback and without a ton of film on the new signal caller,  Stanford will be at a disadvantage.  My biggest concern for Notre Dame in this game is the play of their back half.  The linebackers and defensive backs have shown some trouble making tackles and covering.  This will keep this game in limbo for quite some time but ultimately,  the better team is also the one playing at home so I will go with the Irish 34-24.

5 Big Things Week Four College Football: Frost Times in Lincoln, Ducks Can’t Stand Cards and Roll Mutha —- Tide.

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

With break-neck speed we accelerate through the college football season.  Each week we learn a little more about things we were so sure about after week one of action.  I told you all not to panic about Michigan and warned you all of the the height of the Tide in Tuscaloosa.  We were ready to throw the Texas program in the trash in August but come late September,  we are trying to wipe it clean of the spaghetti sauce and banana peels that may have landed on it.  For every answer each college football Saturday gives us,  it seems it to befuddle us with an equal amount of questions.  Have we even had upset Saturday yet?  Here’s what I saw in Week Four.

Getting Frosty in Lincoln

There was no fan base more giddy about an offseason hire than Nebraska fans were about their son Scott Frost returning home to coach the Huskers.  If you asked any of those do or die Husker fans if they thought they would be winless at this point in the season,  they would have bet their Chevy truck and rifle against it.  Time to get this dose of reality Nebraska fans and Jim Harbaugh served a rather tall cup of it in Ann Arbor on Saturday.  This one was ugly from the word go and before the echo could wear off,  Nebraska found itself on the butt end of a 39-0 halftime score.  Nebraska was just a plain victim of the thuggery of Michigan’s defense. The Wolverines muffled whatever that was the Huskers called an offense holding them to just 132 yards on the day.  It was quite the humbling experience and gave Husker faithful a harsh look into just what a rebuilding project Frost has on his hands.  The only fortunate thing in this whole situation is the reputation for patience that Nebraska fans have but I’ll be damned if this conference beatdown didn’t do to patience what bluetooth and GPS does to a cell phone battery.

This Ain’t Your Pappy’s Wildcats

Remember when Kentucky was a feared football program?  Yea me neither and while fear may be a strong adjective for Kentucky right now,  I do declare that folks are starting to pay attention.  After obtaining their first win over Florida since everyone wore Reeboks,  many had more chalked it up to Florida being a rebuilding project.  Last week vs. Mississippi St.,  the Wildcats rebuked us all with yet another eye opening hammer throw.  Them there Wildcats invited the Bulldogs over and weren’t kind hosts.  Kentucky continued to get it done on the ground and muscled up their SEC foe with 229 yards on the ground.  Kentucky combined this mighty ground attack with forceful defense,  limiting Mississippi St. to just 201 total yards.  The battle on the line of scrimmage was won by Kentucky as was the War on the scoreboard.  Coming into the game,  the Bulldogs were averaging a 50 cent piece on everyone.  In Lexington Saturday night they could only muster a rather unlucky seven.  Don’t look now but the Wildcats are in first place in the SEC East. They’ll be hunting for another big win when the Gamecocks come to town this Saturday looking to avoid getting plucked up.

We Volunteered for This

Yes in Knoxville they ran ole Butch out of town before sundown.  When the athletic director tried to hire a new sheriff named Schiano,  the hopeful shot him dead before he could reach the town hall.  Well,  what they got for all their trouble was a brand new head coach who’s brand new to being a head coach.  I don’t have the stats on how often the no experience thing works at marquee programs like a Tennessee but I can tell you working is not a word to describe these Volunteers last Saturday Night.

Two of the last three meetings between Tennessee and Florida have provided endings that will be talked about by humans while they are living on Mars and other planets.  Mars is where Tennessee fans wanted to be by 9 PM est. on Saturday.  Florida came to play and had no interest in a last minute Hail Mary or any other ending off the pages of a Hollywood script.  Forcing turnovers and converting them into cold hard points put Florida up by 23 points at the half.  While Vol fans were drinking from their cups reminiscing on the 2016 2nd half comeback,  the team dashed that thought real quick when the came out of the locker room and promptly turned the ball back over to Florida.  There would be no come back as Florida’s front seven spotlighted the Tennessee offensive line woes.  In the end,  the sting and shame of a 47-21 loss could not be hidden from the whiskey induced turmoil written upon Volunteer fans’ faces.  A whipping like this is best soothed with a beatdown of a lesser FCS foe the next week.  Checking the schedule,  some team in Athens, Georgia called the Bulldogs are waiting for them.  What Conference do they play in again?

Ducks Can’t Stand Cardinals

You ever got all dressed up for a party,  looking your best,  picked up your girl, riding high in your sporty vehicle and blew out a tire?  That describes the mood in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.  A win is a win is a win until it isn’t and that’s what happened to Oregon.  If you were a Duck fan going to a party Saturday Night and had to leave before the game was over,  you were definitely floored by the final score.  Oregon was in full and total control.  They were in the 3rd quarter on their way into the endzone about to make it a 31-7 game when disaster struck.  Yes,  all you old fashioned arm chairs were mumbling something about “see that’s why you don’t go shotgun down by the goal line”  when the errant snap bounced off the outstretched finger tips of Justin Herbert and into the hands of Stanford linebacker Joey Alfieri.  But this is Oregon Ducks football folks.  A shotgun snap is as required as the lines on the field.  Nevertheless,  this is where the dung started rolling downhill.  Despite the voracious comeback by Stanford,  Oregon still had a chance to salt the game away in the closing minute of regulation when a math problem preceded tragedy number two.  Instead of taking a knee which would have all but wasted the clock for the Ducks leading 31-24, they inexplicably called I right 42 Baby Oil which resulted in a fumble that the nerds from Palo Alto gobbled up like points on a SAT exam.  I think you guys know the rest.  What will be interesting to see is what effect,  if any,  this has on the Ducks the rest of the season.  A test of Mario Cristobal’s motivation skills are currently being loaded into the computer.

Roll Mutha$#*& Tide

If you read my 3-for-3 column on Friday,  you saw what were my thoughts about this Texas A&M vs. Alabama matchup.  I pretty much nailed this one.  Please allow me to snap my arm reaching way over to pat my back.  I think had this game been in College Station,  we may have had a bit more of a thrill.  However,  watching this game,  you realized that a victory just was not going to happen for the Aggies at any location.  Not only is Alabama better than you at kickoff,  they are just better than you during every play of the game.  While they may have the occasional let down here and there as evidenced by the long runs by Aggie QB Kellen Mond,  it’s just extremely difficult to be consistently good against them.  Texas A&M had their triumphs and really didn’t play that bad  in the first half. For their troubles they were down by 18 by the time the refs let them get some water at halftime.

It’s true,  the total X-factor for Alabama this year is Tua Tagovailoa.  The lefty island gun slinger was doing X-factor type things going 22 of 30 for 387 yards and 4 TDs against a SEC West contender (if there is such a thing).  Pick out a suit Tua for that special ceremony they have in December.   The production on offense and the destruction on defense each week by Alabama is just eye popping.  I don’t see any Cam Newtons or Deshaun Watsons in college football this year so I just don’t see how the Tide doesn’t roll it’s way to another title this year.  Yup grab your bottle of Pepto.

It’s Just the Little Things

See what happens when you just leave a coach alone.  Look at Brian Kelly and Notre Dame now.  Some people still don’t want to believe.  I saw quite a few folks picking Vandy for the upset Saturday.  Come on people.  This thing wasn’t even close.  The Irish’s matchup with Stanford next week has now become must watch TV.

We’ve kicked them when they were down, now let me at least extend a hand to help them up.  Florida State has been a disaster to start the season.  Last week was their lowest moment in quite some time when they were dunked on their heads by Syracuse 30-7.  Kudos to them for rallying round each other and uniting through dance to surpass the Huskies of Northern Illinois.  Three years ago a 37-19 win over this MAC opponent would have been cast aside like a bowl of brussel sprouts.  Now such a win was devoured by Tribe Fans like a bowl to go from Chipotle.  Two years ago,  a trip to Louisville provided one of the more embarrassing moments for Florida St. in their history as Lamar Jackson and them hung out in the endzone like the haters hangout in the comments section of the Kardashian family’s social media accounts.  This year it becomes an all important set up for the rest of this Florida St. season.  Win and there is hope.  Lose and sweet Jesus,  the next win may be found  in the 2019.

What’s that burning smell?  If it’s not the pigs feet you left in the oven,  it’s definitely the Rutgers football program.  Perhaps Tennessee didn’t want him but the State University of New Jersey would most definitely hold Greg Schiano there against his will if he decided to pop his head in.  Rutgers’ 42-13 loss to Buffalo is not something that should ever happen.  It would be downright remarkable that this happened had Kansas not demolished Rutgers the week before 55-14.  You know Kansas right,  the team always chilling on the corner with a L.  The Scarlett Knights are basically wearing a Scarlett letter.  The handwriting is on the wall here for Chris Ash unless some janky miracle happens here in the coming weeks.  Don’t count on it.

In the same weekend,  Boston College,  a team many people were excited about in the conference, was pummeled by Purdue,  Virginia Tech who handled Florida St. on Labor Day was upended by Old Dominion.  Don’t look now folks but the ACC may be a pile of vomit.  If Clemson threatened to leave tomorrow they could probably be offered a mint to stay.  We still have time yet but it’s hard to see who’s worth a damn in the conference right now once you step by Clemson and Miami.  Let’s hope this is not part of a permanent trend.

GridironStuds 3-for-3 Week Four College Football

Chad Wilson

By- Chad Wilson – Editor GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Already a third of the way into the college football regular season and things are beginning to take shape.  Last week in this column I was good or bad depending on how you approach college football on Saturday.  If you just like to sit on your couch and know who will win the game,  then I wasn’t too good for you as I went 1-2 in that regard.  If you are one to have “a little action” on the games then I was your man.  While I may have not been right straight up about the Auburn vs. LSU game as I thought Auburn would pull it out,  I was right in a Las Vegas kind of way as LSU covered the number as an underdog.  I was also correct from that standpoint with Ohio St. over TCU.  Where I was wrong from every angle was with USC as they fumbled the rock on the road vs. Texas.  Let’s see what my fortunes bring this week.

Texas A&M @ Alabama

If you’ve been reading my 5 Big Things column each week then you know I have been singing the praises of Nick Saban and Alabama.  This could potentially be Nick Saban’s best squad in Tuscaloosa in his twelve years. They have literally crushed all that has stood before them in 2018 including reporters.  It’s hard to know where to set the expectations for them each week especially when they go out and handle a conference foe by 55 points last week.  Alabama’s biggest opponent is themselves now as they must fight complacency and boredom.  I am certain Saban has cracked the whip this week but Texas A&M provides an unexpected challenge.

After watching Texas A&M vs. Clemson a couple of weeks ago,  I came to the conclusion that the Aggies were the team with the best chance of upending the Tide in the West.  This thought is purely about matchups.  A&M has a nifty quarterback in Kellen Mond and nifty QBs have been one of the few achilles heels for Nick Saban in this Hall of Fame journey at Alabama.  On top of that,  A&M has a nice stable of wide receivers to attack the only area that has shown any sign of weakness for the Tide and that has been pass coverage.  The best thing for A&M is that they get this game now before the Tide secondary has had a chance to mature.  Throw into this also that Jimbo Fisher knows a little something about Nick Saban and we might have something.  What’s wrong here for A&M is the location of this football game.  Were it in College Station,  I would give A&M a puncher’s chance but it’s not.  So while I feel the game will be closer than the experts predict,  I still think Bama remains undefeated.  Tide win 42-24.

Wisconsin @ Iowa

Misery set upon the Badgers last week as they were stunned at home vs. BYU.  The Cougars ran the ball with unexpected effectiveness vs. Wisconsin and also found some effective passing to find the endzone three times in the contest.  At issue for the Badgers is an inability to stop the run nor get a pass rush when they deploy a five man front.  Versus BYU,  Wisconsin’s four man front was giving up big plays in the run game.  Wisconsin’s lack of pressure on QB’s made life tough for their inexperienced secondary and will continue to do so throughout the season.

Here’s the fortunate thing for Badger fans,  Iowa is not likely to be able to take advantage of any of it.  Once again Iowa’s offense anemic.  They have failed to impress thus far this season vs. the two quality opponents they have faced.  When you lack dynamic skill position players,  you need an exceptional offensive line to make things happen and that’s not what I’ve seen from Iowa.  Too much penetration on both run and pass plays.  While I am not in love with Wisconsin’s defense I think they are good enough to keep the Badgers a step ahead in the contest.  If Wisconsin’s front seven can’t put pressure on Hawkeye QB Nate Stanley then Wisconsin is looking at back to back losses but I think they may be able to on account of how poorly Iowa is playing up front.  This will be a boring game to watch for those of you in love with points. On account of their motivation off of the loss,  I like Wisconsin here 20-14.

Stanford @ Oregon

Remember when Oregon was riding high,  winning double digit games each year and playing for a national championship?  Their biggest fly in the ointment was Stanford and the reason was simple.  Stanford was just more physical than Oregon every year.  Nothing has changed.  It has been a good start to the Mario Cristobal era in Eugene as they are 3-0 but the real test starts now and I’m not sure they are quite ready.  What Oregon lacks at the moment are dynamic skill players.  Outside of QB Justin Herbert,  missing from Oregon are the DeAnthony Thomas, LaMichael James type players that changed the game for the Ducks in their heyday.  Without that type player in this contest,  Stanford will be able to methodically plot their way to success.

Stanford does what Stanford does and they are doing it again.  The Cardinal are going to play solid defense that makes you earn it down the field and they will pound away at your psyche with their offensive front all game long.  USC could not piss a drop vs. the Cardinal a couple of weeks ago and while USC is down right now,  holding them to just three points should not be overlooked.  Oregon has had some trouble fitting up on run plays defensively and against a Heisman Trophy candidate like Bryce Love,  that’s no bueno.  Without a game breaker on their side to destroy Stanford’s patient approach,  I think Stanford imposes their will on Oregon and gives them their first loss of the year.  Stanford wins 28-20.

5 Big Things Week Three College Football: Only One Tiger, Coach Watch in Cali, Turmoil in Tally and more

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

We are through the third week of the college football season already.  Week three usually provides us with the clearest picture early on as to who will be the teams to watch in terms of the college football playoff.  Sometimes we get some surprises down the road as teams start to gel later on,  particularly those teams with new coaches or new starters at quarterback.  In this week’s 5 Big Things,  I’ll take a look at some things that have become clear and some others that have become rather cloudy.

1 Only One Tiger Wears the Stripes

There was a lot of Auburn hype coming into their annual battle with the LSU Tigers and it’s understandable.  Auburn was coming off of a pretty good season and has returned with some stability at their quarterback position.  With that said,  I was concerned coming into this matchup that there was a little too much hype around Auburn signal caller Jarrett Stidham.  In this matchup with LSU,  Joe Burrow was the best quarterback on the field.  Burrow’s LSU offensive line was vastly underrated and not enough credit was given for their performance versus Miami in their opener.  For the most part in this game,  Burrow was Irish Spring clean in the pocket and delivered the ball where it needed to be.  LSU did not pile up the stats offensively in this game but what they showed me vs. Auburn,  as they did vs. Miami,  is that they can get the big plays when they need them.  Derrick Dillion’s 71 yard TD reception changed the script for this game the way a Scooby Doo mystery does when The Gang rips the bad guy’s mask off at the end.

Auburn’s weaknesses lie in the trenches.  While they are not getting poor play up front,  it is not spectacular and that is what good Gus Malzhan Auburn teams have thrived on.  Stidham often found himself in a pocket reminiscent of train car during rush our in Tokyo.  While he was only sacked once,  he often was hurried and  Stidham struggled with accuracy particularly on deep balls.  Auburn had zero explosive plays in their passing game and the rushing game is not good enough yet to overcome that in big games. On the other side of the line,  there was no pass rush for Auburn.  Auburn only recored one sack and this was similar to their other big game vs. Washington in which they only sacked Jake Browning twice.  It’s something to pay attention to for these Tigers going forward.

2 Gonna Need More Than A Wrench in Tally

I am not even clear what Florida State fans expected coming into this 2018 season but what is clear is that this isn’t it.  Right now the 2018 season is a male dancer knocking on the hotel door for bachelor party.  One struggle game could be an anomaly,  two struggle games is a slow start,  three games is a trend.  Look around college football and you will see slow starts for several new coaches.  However,  there is something more sinister about Florida State’s.  With each passing game,  it’s getting worse.  I am sure a win vs. Syracuse was expected.  This game wasn’t even close.  Willie Taggert’s “lethal simplicity” offense has been arsenic for the Seminole hopeful.  Syracuse held Florida St. to 240 total yards and nine first downs.  Nine!  If Florida St.’s third down conversions were currency rates on an overseas trip,  I’d be calling the American Embassy.  This week the Tribe went 1-12 on this most crucial down.  The story is the same each week for FSU,  short on fundamentals and long on lack of discipline.  This week Florida St. was penalized 11 times,  a number that has increased each week.

All eyes are on Florida St.’s matchup vs. Northern Illinois this week.  Should they fail to get a much needed W or struggle mightily to get it,  I am not sure that there is another scalp on the schedule for these indians. A this point, all four wheels will assuredly be off the bus at this program.

3 Coach Watch in So Cal

While I wasn’t sure what to expect from Florida State last week,  I was one who expected a win for USC in their matchup vs. Texas.  Color me disappointed.  I looked past USC’s two clunkers to open the season and figured they were well educated for a solid performance vs. Tom Herman’s Longhorns.  Late Friday Night,  both the Trojans and I were in the corner wearing a dunce cap.  I am not sure why I looked beyond the particular struggles USC had in their first two games because they came bursting to life vs. Texas.  I can’t not remember the last time a USC Trojans football team ever failed to rush for a single yard in a game.  This Trojan team had minus five.  I alluded to the lack of a star running back for USC in my column last week and that is more clear now than ever before.  To compound this,  USC seems more built for 7-on-7 than they are a real live college football season with helmets and shoulder pads.

Texas is not ready to set the Lone Star State ablaze but I will give them credit for seizing the moment.  This win may give them a little false sense of security but for now,  it’s a win for Tom Herman against a marquee name in college football.  Texas came out of the halftime locker room a different team and put the USC season in perspective with 21 unanswered points.  A youthful JT Daniels was forced to the air 48 times vs. Texas and unlike what’s inside of a bottle of Coke,  that’s not a winning formula.  Texas may be getting a dark return to reality this week versus TCU but for now,  they can party like it’s 2000 and five.

4 No Urban,  No Problem

When Urban Meyer’s three game suspension was announced before the college football season,  the only game Buckeye fans thought might be a problem was last week’s showdown in Ft. Worth vs. TCU.  After crucifying their first two opponents,  some of the anxiety about this Horned Frog meeting may have dissipated.  Nevertheless,  any Buckeye fan that tells you they weren’t a little queasy right before kick-off needs to find a pew in church this Sunday.  It’s ok though,  Ohio St. brought the Tums to Texas.  After a first half struggle,  Ohio St. did what all strong teams do and that is come out of the halftime locker room with action.  The Buckeyes used a 20-14 third quarter to set themselves up for the kill shot in the fourth and win this matchup by double digits.  I would be negligent if I did not point out the solid coaching job that Gary Patterson did in this contest.  Obviously mismatched in the trenches for this game,  Patterson and his staff schemed up ways to neutralize it on both ends.  On offense,  the fast pace neutralized the Buckeye pass rush and run stopping penetration.  Defensively,  their well timed blitzes screwed up blocking assignments and limited Ohio St.’s offensive effectiveness.  In the end,  Ohio St. had too much talent and as I noted before,  made some solid adjustments to secure the 40-28 win.  Now Meyer returns and the murderous onslaught of opponents continues with Tulsa this week.

5 All Hail the Evil Empire

Early Saturday evening,  eyebrows were raised all across the South when Mississippi opened the game up vs. Bama with a 75 yard touchdown pass.  Ten seconds into the game and the Rebels had sent their message.  For the next 59:50 of the game,  Alabama was telling them we heard you loud and clear.  Clearly passing the hearing test,  Alabama closed out the next two series with explosive plays of their own with a 43 yard TD run by Damien Harris and a 79 yard bomb from Tua to Jerry Jeudy.  Bama did in their game vs. Ole Miss what they’ve been doing in college football for the last decade.  Whatever its you’re doing,  we’re going to do it better.  At this point Alabama is Amazon and others are fighting to at least be Groupon.   In his 12th year on the job,  Nick Saban may be producing his best team yet.  Saturday Night just gave me visions of 2001 in Miami watching the Hurricanes.  It’s not just beating people,  it’s who they are beating and how they are beating them.  Other marquee programs are pedaling hard to put up the required amount of feel good points vs. FCS programs.  Alabama is making conference foes contemplate applying for a different league.  The Rebels were the third straight opponent to get stripped of their clothing on a busy street by the Crimson Tide.  They were also the second power 5 conference team to be left with two hands covering their exposed junk while everyone was watching.

When I’ve made mention of Saban’s dominance at Alabama on Twitter,  the common response is to infer that Saban is cheating and buys talent.  Come on,  don’t be so short sighted.  If Saban is indeed cheating,  I can guarantee you that he’s not alone and what should be clear to everyone else is that he does everything thing better than everyone else.  How does he do this?  He simply works harder at it.  We always hear Saban talking about focus and he lives it.  It seems his every waking moment is on improving his entire program and whether or not they are already the best has no consequence.  Yeah folks,  it is what it is.  I know,  it makes you want to vomit but keep in mind,  it took Saban some 30 years to get here.  Try to give your current coach more than three months to find some answers.

Some Other Things Not As Big

In their first real test of the season,  Wisconsin went down 24-21 at home to BYU.  We realize that Wisconsin has been a darling for media folks for a few seasons but there may have been a bit of a facade.  No one has risen in the coaching ranks faster than Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard.  Three years into his college coaching career and he’s highly sought after and appearing on top coach lists.  We should all rise that fast through the corporate structure.  It’s year three and the talented athletes of the last staff are filtering out.  What will both Leonhard and head coach Paul Chryst’s bunch bring to the table?  An abrupt summer exit of three defensive players right before the first game may reveal a roach in the kitchen.  We’ll see what kind of dishes the Badgers put on the table in coming weeks,  maybe that roach was really a piece of burnt toast lying in the corner or maybe it’s a roach with wings.  All eyes on deck.

All the talk about rough starts has centered around Willie Taggert at Florida St. but there’s something stuck on Chip Kelly’s shoe in Westwood, California and folks it’s not a piece of tape.  Like Florida St.,  UCLA’s performances have declined through the first three weeks.  Saturday produced a warm pile of the good stuff when Fresno St. of a conference not on the level of the Pac-12 dismantled the Bruins 38-14 in the Rose Bowl.  As if that wasn’t enough,  starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s father took to Twitter to mention somethings that are better left only in one’s head.

Is this a house on fire?  Who knows but at the very least it’s faulty wiring and if the right moves aren’t made soon,  the red trucks are going to have to pull up.  Give Florida St. credit.  Despite how bad things have looked early on,  there have not been any public blow ups along these lines.  UCLA and FSU may have only one win between them but they have definitely become must watch TV this season.

There are currently 13 black head coaches in FBS.  On Saturday I asked my Twitter followers who they thought has done the best out of the current group.  The majority of the answers were either David Shaw at Stanford or James Franklin at Penn St.  While I certainly can’t argue with those responses,  I don’t think we should forget about Kevin Sumlin.  Sumlin just earned his first win at Arizona on Saturday Night and since there is a recency bias,  he did not get any votes in my Twitter question.  However,  let’s not forget that Sumlin came in and took the Houston Cougars to places they’d never been before.  Sumlin’s 13-1 mark in 2011 was and still remains the best record in the school’s history.  In 2012,  Sumlin equaled the second best record in Texas A&M’s 116 year school history when he went 11-2.  We also should not forget that he defeated all-mighty Alabama.  In fact,  Sumlin changed the way Nick Saban thought about offense (this was after Nick tried to change the rules but forget about that).  Sumlin has done it at two different schools and has only suffered one losing season as a head coach.  He followed that one losing season up with the best season Houston has ever had.  Furthermore,  Sumlin was in the mix every year in the toughest division in college football (SEC West) while fighting for recruits in a state where everyone is born to be a Longhorn.  Shaw and Franklin deserve praise but let’s not forget ole Kev.