JDubb's Sideline Report

Why is it every year, right before the season starts we have drama in College Football? It’s border line frightening because August is the month I start to get a little excited- the best sport on the planet is about to begin. Yet, some how, we tend to find some extracurricular activities going on behind the scenes. For example, last season it was the fiasco at Ole Miss with Hugh Freeze. You know, where he made calls to escorts/prostitutes while on recruiting trips? Yea, messed up and down right bush league. Now we have two issues: Urban Meyer lying to the media that he didn’t know about one of his assistant coaches abusing his wife and then D.J. Durkin and his staff’s intense workouts that lead to the death of a player.

The media is going crazy about both stories, for obvious reasons. However, it takes my delight and joy away from the build up to kickoff. I can’t get away from it either. From podcast to ESPN, it’s the talk of the town and it’s making me crazy. However, I have found a solution to my misery: YouTube!

Yes, YouTube has become a friend that sticks closer than a brother(no pun intended). You can watch hundreds of games from golden days up to last years national championship game. Best of all, there are so many different subscriptions that you can subscribe to a certain one and watch to your hearts content. For example, you like Oklahoma? No worries, there are many channels where you can watch Barry Switzer’s wishbone run up and down it’s nemesis Texas. Are you a USC trojan? Never fear, there are channels dedicated to the men of troy on youtube and you can watch Reggie Bush make his heisman run( didn’t he lose that trophy?). The possibilities are endless and the best part is that YouTube is free! All you need is an internet connection and a device to watch it.

The off-season drama will always happen, that’s just life. People make stupid choices and when you’re in the spotlight, it’s hard to hide your errors. And of course, cable and radio run with it to get their ratings and don’t care for john doe football fan. Thankfully, there is an escape for us lovers of the gridiron, and it’s only a click away.

 

Slowly but surely, we’re turning the page from Summer to Fall, which can only mean one thing: Football season is upon us.

But before we get too excited, we have to take the journey through fall camp. This is a tough and slow process. Truly, fall camp is probably the most crucial part of the season. Each team is trying to find an identity, who they are and what they want to become. It doesn’t matter what you did last season-last season is over.  It’s all about NOW! With that said, here are some of the most intriguing story lines to look forward to in the 2018 season.

1. Who starts under center at Tuscaloosa?

2. How successful will Scott Frost first season be in Lincoln?

3. Can Jim Harbaugh’s wolverine’s finally do something meaningful?

4. Will a true freshman beat out a senior at Clemson?

5. Is Georgia ready to contend for championships on a consistent basis?

6. The Jimbo Fisher era begins at College Station.

7. Are Chris Peterson’s Huskies ready for the spotlight?

8. Will Tennessee get to a bowl with their brutal schedule?

9. Is Bryce Love ready for the Heisman hype train?

10. Will another Cinderella type of season happen for someone like UCF in 2017 ?

The season begins on August 25, 2018!

The college game continues to evolve every year, and the rule book is no exception.

Here are the new rules set in for the 2018 season:

Fair catches on kickoffs resulting in touchbacks are coming to college football as one of the new rules adopted by the NCAA for the 2018 season.

The receiving team on a kickoff will be allowed to signal for a fair catch inside its own 25-yard line, resulting in a touchback. All other kickoff rules remain the same.

The rule change was the result of a proposal by the Football Rules Committee and approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel as part of an attempt to increase the number of touchbacks and reduce injuries. Prior to the 2012 season, kickoffs were moved from the 30-yard line to the 35 and touchbacks resulted in the receiving team starting at its 25-yard line instead of the 20.

Additional rule changes:

* A package of rules was adopted in the attempt to make it easier to understand blocking below the waist. Notably, the offense will not be allowed to block below the waist more than five yards from the line of scrimmage and, other than interior linemen, all blocks below the waist must be made from the front.

* Following a touchdown, the play clock will be set to 40 seconds to speed up the ensuing extra-point or 2-point conversion attempt. Following a kickoff, 40 seconds will be put on the play clock to resume play more quickly.

* A 10-second runoff will occur when an instant replay overturns the ruling on the field with less than a minute remaining in either half when the correct call would not have stopped the game clock.

* A continuation of an experimental collaboration on instant replay decision-making that isn’t limited to the stadium press box and could involve officials from a conference office.

* Leaping rules on field goals and extra-point attempts were changed to mirror those related to leaping the shield on a punt, which make it illegal to leap over the body of an opponent.

* Following a made field goal, the enforcement of a penalty will be the same as one on a made extra point. Specifically, personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct calls by the defending team will have the option to be enforced on the ensuing kickoff.

Walt Disney once said-

“I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get a long without it”. 

The man who created Mickey was onto something with that humble statement. Competition brings out the best of athletes, and in this context, skilled positions in college football like the quarterback position. And boy, do we have some good battles this season.

Alabama-  Jalen Hurts vs. Tua Tagovailoa – The starter vs. the people’s starter. The hero of the national championship game, Tua Tagovailoa, will be battling for the starting position this fall at Alabama.  And Jalen Hurts, the veteran, must win this position, it will not be given to him. Both young men know this. What has to happen is for one of them to win the team. Coach Nick Saban has gone on record to say just that and he is perfectly fine waiting late in camp or before the Louisville game to name the starter. There is no doubt in my mind that fall camp in Tuscaloosa in 2018 will be one to remember.

Clemson- Kelly Bryant vs. Trevor Lawerence. This is going to be interesting because the amount of hype that has been hovering around Lawerence. Not just the hype, but the team as well. They were one game away from making the National Championship for the third straight year. But let’s get to the matter at hand: Lawerence is the real deal. Everyone got an appetizer of what this kid can do in the Spring game, when he launched a 50-yard touchdown to Tee Higgins. It looked effortless and natural. Kelly Bryant is a great athlete and had a good season as the Tigers starter but Lawerence is the future and he will no doubt push for playing time this Fall.

Georgia – Jake Fromm vs. Justin Fields. Young Fromm led the bulldogs to the national championship as a Freshman in 2017. He looked like a veteran at times and showed a lot of poise while guiding the bulldogs to a SEC title and Rose Bowl victory. However, he’s got the #1 dual-threat Quarterback in the nation breathing down his neck- Justin Fields. The young passer from Kennesaw comes with a lot of hype and no doubt will be competing for the starting job this fall. Fields is an interesting story because he was a solid commit to Penn St and James Franklin had his QB of the future. Yet Fields was not afraid of competition and decided to stay close to home and play for Georgia. Look for Fields to get playing time in 2018.

Other mentionables:

Texas- Sam Ehlinger vs. Shane Buechele

Michigan- Shea Patterson vs. Brandon Peters

Florida- Feleipe Franks vs. Kyle Trask vs. Emory Jones

LSU- Myles Brennan vs. Lowell Narcisse vs. Justin McMillan

Ohio St.- Dwayne Haskins vs. Tate Martell

Oklahoma- Kyler Murray vs. Austin Kendall

Notre Dame- Brandon Wimbush vs. Ian Book

Tennessee- Jarrett Guarantano vs. Will McBride vs. Keller Chryst vs. JT Shrout

USC- Jack Sears vs. Matt Fink vs. J.T. Daniels

 

As you can see, it’s going to be a busy camp across the entire college football landscape. Some teams have a solid #1, others may not narrow it down until before kickoff. The opportunity for each quarterback to separate themselves is there, but to win the starting job, it’s about what you do in camp. That’s why competition is so important. It drives each player to be their best, and it only makes the players and team that much better.

1999 was the last time Nebraska won an out right conference title-almost twenty years ago. The last time that they defeated a top-five opponent was in 2001. If you listen closely in Lincoln Memorial Stadium today, you can hear the faded cheers of fans rooting on Tommy Frazier as he runs through the enemies of Tom Osbourne and the Husker faithful. That was a fun era of Nebraska football. But what happened? Since the turn of the century, Nebraska has only had one National Title appearance (which was against a great Miami team). It’s no secret that replacing a legend like Osbourne has not come easy: Frank Solich was doing well until all of Tom Osbourne’s players graduated or got drafted. Bill Callahan was a complete disaster and hated the college game. And Bo Pelini was not taking Nebraska to the next level. Now the school finally got smart and got a Nebraska man- Scott Frost.

Scott Frost Resume:

• Nebraska 2002-2005 Grad Assistant
• Kansas State 2006 Grad Assistant
• Northern Iowa 2007-2008 Linebackers/Co-Defensive Coordinator
• Oregon 2009 – 2015 Wide Receiver’s coach/Offensive Coordinator
• UCF 2016-2017 Head Coach

When Scott Frost heard about the opening at Nebraska, he knew he had to go back to Lincoln. And why not? To be a head coach at your alma mater and create your own legacy at a place filled with tradition and history is every coaches dream. Not to take away from Central Florida, but they’re still babies when it comes to big time college football, unlike Nebraska, who hasn’t been much of anything in two decades. Yes, it’s sad when a school that was once considered a “powerhouse”, no longer scares anyone on Saturday’s in the Fall. But Frost is determined to change that.

The transformation process began when over 87,000 fans showed up for the Spring game back on April 21. Though the team was playing each other, there was a sense of unity and bonding building in the team. “Unity of purpose” and “no fear of failure” are the themes Frost has been teaching his players and staff and it’s well under way of catching like a wildfire. What he has to do is find leadership in the locker room.

The B1G didn’t role out the red carpet for Frost inaugural season. The cornhuskers play Michigan, Ohio St, and Wisconsin all on the road. Add an old Big 12 matchup with Colorado early in the season and it could be a long first season for Frost and company.

It won’t be an easy job to make Nebraska a winner again and Frost knows that –“”Sometimes you get impatient as a coach and think that it’s going to happen overnight,” Frost said. “And it’s not.”

College Football has changed dramatically since the last time the cornhuskers were among the elite. Yet, I believe Frost is one of the most popular offensive minds in the nation and is exactly what the cornhuskers need. Frost is someone who knows the program inside and out and it’s the job he’s been wanting since day one. What Frost did at Central Florida was no fluke, he’s a winner. The B1G will soon find out.

 

 

Florida State had it made under Bobby Bowden. They were ACC champions year after year and played for the national title just about every year in the 90’s, winning two of them. Then Jimbo Fisher won a national title (2013) and continued the success coach Bowden did, at least for a short time. Now comes Willie Author Taggart, a former quarterback himself from Western Kentucky, is the new head man in Tallahassee.

You can trace coach Taggart’s coaching record from three places: Western Kentucky (Alma Mater), South Florida, and Oregon. At each stop during his young career, his team made significant improvement in the second and third season. For example, check out his records at Western Kentucky and South Florida:

1.  Western Kentucky- 2010 Season (2-10). 2011 Season (7-5). 2012 Season (7-5).
2.  South Florida – 2013 season (2-10). 2014 season (4-8). 2015 (8-5). 2016 season  (10-2).

He coached Oregon in the 2017 season and went 7-5, then he headed to Tallahassee. Some critics believed he jumped ship too soon, considering the task he had at Oregon was manageable. And that he had the tools to make Oregon something special. Yet, Taggart had his eyes on a bigger prize- FSU. How could he pass up this opportunity? Well, he didn’t. But can he continue the winning ways at FSU while playing in the ACC?

The conference is no longer considered a “basketball conference” anymore and continues to get better and better. Right out of the gate the Noles will be tested by playing Virginia Tech on Labor Day night, then add a Clemson team that seems to be playing at an elite level and their usual rivalry games against Miami and Florida-Taggart will have his hands full.

Another item worth mentioning is that coach Taggart want his teams to be passionate about suiting up in a Nole uniform. He wants his players to remember the guys that have come before them and soak up what it means to be a Florida State Seminole. Coach Taggart has reached out to former players like Deion Sanders and Charlie Ward, players who made a huge impact while playing for the Seminoles, to speak to his players and give them the motivation to be all that they can be. “I’m challenging each of our position guys to go back and learn from the guys that played here, read up on the guys that played here at your position and then work your tail off to be one of those guys,” .

Willie Taggart’s mission is clear: keep the winning tradition going. Taggart doesn’t have to fill in Bobby Bowden’s shoes or carry the torch from Jimbo Fisher, he just needs make FSU a contender. Keep it simple- recruit well and coach them up. And he has the support of the alumni, former coaches and players, and the fans. It’s a simple formula and one that should keep Florida St. in national contention for years to come.

There aren’t many programs that a coach can walk into and have instant success, but there are a few. The University of Florida happens to be one of the them. The state is in the top 5 nationally when it comes to fertile recruiting, especially south Florida. But you can have great players and still be a mediocre program if  you have the wrong coach. My point is that the gators have not been who they really are since The Ole Ball Coach aka Steve Spurrier left town. Ok, Urban Meyer had some great seasons there with Tebow and company, but he didn’t stay around long enough to be considered in the same conversation as Spurrier. And let’s not forgot the entire Muschamp/McElwain experience in Gainesville.  Whatever pride this proud program had at one time has left Gainesville.

The resurgence could make a comeback with the hiring of Dan Mullen, a former gator man himself under the wings of Urban Meyer, help lead an offense to a couple national championships and sec titles. Mullen’s offense is fun to watch, as you remember with Tim Tebow and Dak Prescott, Mullen coached both of these boys and lead them to stardom. What Mullen most now do is resurrect a once dominant program back to relevance and bring the Gators back to their former glory and into a new era. To do this though, he must win the SEC EAST, and it won’t be an easy feat with Georgia, South Carolina, and eventually Tennessee back. Mullen will also have to find a quarterback who fits his offense. He has a nice stock to consider:

Feleipe Franks (RS) – The redshirt freshman played in 11 games last season and started 8 of them.  At 6’5, Franks has the body type to be a force, but he struggled with consistency last season.  He threw for 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, so you see there are areas that needs improvement. But he’s got an arm that go the distance. Under Mullen’s guidance with the spread system, Franks has the tools to become a very good quarterback but he’s got to work on his accuracy.

Kyle Trask (RS) – Trask missed the 2017 season due to a foot injury, but had a great spring and looked sharp in the annual spring game. Mullen likes Trask decision making and ball-handling. Something Franks struggled with all last season. Trask doesn’t have the 4-5 star status like Emory Jones or Feleipe Franks, but he’s on the gator roster because he’s a great football player. He’s a student of the game and fierce competitor. The challenge for him is that can he adjust to the spread coming from a pro-style system?

Emory Jones (FR) –  The 4-star prospect chose Florida over Ohio State and Alabama and was the fourth ranked dual-threat QB coming out of high school. Jones has the ideal athleticism for Mullen’s spread offense and has showcased it through the Spring. Jones played sparingly during the gators Spring game but connected for a touchdown to RJ Raymond and also looked good in his short passing game. If Jones can pickup the playbook quick, look for him to compete for some playing time this Fall.

Whoever wins the starting job at Florida, it will depend on how quick they learn Mullen’s spread system. Also, how will they do up against the growing SEC East. The division is starting to come back strong- Kirby Smart is one play away from winning a national title. Will Muschamp will be in his third season at South Carolina and is really recruiting well. And you know Jeremy Pruitt will finally make UT a contender. Needless to say, the gators will literally have to come prepared for a fight if they want to contend in the east. With all that said, gator fans should be excited with Dan Mullen as the new head man. He is an offensive guru and with his recent success at Mississippi St and previous stint at UF, he has the game plan to make Florida great again.

Since 2008, the University of Tennessee’s football team has the following record: 62 wins, 63 losses. Would you like to guess what there record was from 1993-2007? 143 wins, 45 losses. So why in the wide world of sports have they dropped so far since 2008? Well, they got rid of their best coach since Johnny Majors- Philip Fulmer. There was a lot of people in Knoxville that loved Phillip Fulmer and I never understood why they canned the man who took them to SEC championships,  who helped them win a National Championship, and help bring in one of best quarterbacks ever- Peyton Manning. Maybe Rocky Top got bored with Fulmer, but his three successor’s were even more boring because they couldn’t match anything close to what Philip Fulmer did. Here is the who and what of the coaching tree that followed coach Fulmer:

1. Lane Kiffin (2009) – Ok, let’s hire someone from the pro’s that had no success but we think he is a good fit at Knoxville…Wrong! Kiffin won 7 games but high-tailed it for greener pasture(USC) after one season! He just didn’t burn his bridges at Tennessee, he destroyed them! Now he is the name that you do not name in Knoxville. BTW, his success at USC was so good, that his boss fired him right when he got off the bus. Nice job, Tennessee.
2. Derek Dooley (2010-2012) – Was it because of his last name that intrigued you? Was it because he was a Saban disciple and you think Saban was just going to rub all over Dooley? Or was it because he had semi-success at Louisiana Tech? I’m not sure but it was a complete flop.
3. Butch Jones (2013-2017) – This man had the potential to do great things at UT, but he had a hard time keeping players from getting into trouble and transferring. In a way, he was very similar to Mark Richt- losing some games that would make you shake your head, especially with the talent he had after a couple of seasons. Butch Jones had a winning record at UT(34-27), but with all the hype leading to last season, he could not win the games that mattered and it cost him.

However, I foresee brighter days in the smokey mountains. I can hear Rocky Top being played more often on Saturday’s in the Fall. I have established this new found faith due to the school hiring Jeremy Pruitt. A man who has a gritty, tough nose defensive scheme that will make the Volunteers a contender again. The Rainsville, Alabama native knows football. His father has been coaching for a long time and Jeremy played for him at Plainville. He has coached at Alabama, FSU, and Georgia. The man knows football and he is a proven winner. I like this hire for another reason: his attitude. The man doesn’t take any shortcuts and expects perfection. Check out these quotes about one of his first practices this Spring-“One thing I did notice out there today, we had a lot of guys who after two days off didn’t respond the right way, and we’ve got to fix that,” Pruitt said. “We need to be having spring practice every day, we need to have 30 of them, but we only get 15.” ” I’m coming of the field and I’m ticked off, and I don’t know if it’s because the way the whole team practiced or because the offense kicked their tail,” Pruitt said. Needless to say, Pruitt doesn’t need much help motivating his players. This may not be the home run hire some in Knoxville were praying for, but I assure you,  it’s the right higher. The Volunteer faithful need to be patient. The school, athletic board, boosters, all of them better give coach Pruitt time to build the Volunteers in to a respectable program, or they will be back to square one, again.

After all the dust settled on the 2017, Alabama was named the 2017 National Championship. They survived the four-team playoff gauntlet- beating both Clemson and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and National Championship game. That settles it, right? Well in the words of Lee Corso ” Not so fast my friend”. We had an undefeated team in 2017- Central Florida. The American Conference Champions dubbed themselves as National Champions as well. Should UCF been in the playoff? You can make an argument for both sides both you cannot deny that they came out unscathed this past season. They beat a very good Auburn team who also beat ALABAMA! There lies the issue at hand. We still aren’t getting #1 right.

As you remember, before the 4-team playoff, we had the BCS(Bowl Championship Series). It was not a perfect system but it was light years better than what we had before-which was nothing! It was very rare when #1 vs. #2 played each other for the National Title at a bowl. There were times when you had teams tie for first place : one example was the 1990 season where Colorado was named #1 in the coaches poll but Georgia Tech was named #1 in the UPI poll. In 1997, Michigan was #1 but so was Nebraska. The BCS was made to clear this up, yet it just brought more controversy. One example was the 2004 season. USC played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl for the National Championship. The Trojans came out victorious. However, another perfect run was made by the Auburn Tigers who looked dominant during their great run but did not play in the National Title game. Yes, the sooners and trojans were undefeated as well but Auburn clearly had the tougher schedule.

Currently, the Playoff Committee looks at the following key factors for determining who gets in:

-Strength of schedule

-Style points

-Head-to-Head competition

-Conference champions won

-Comparative of common opponents

-Other relevant factors such as key injuries that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.

I believe the playoff system is a step forward in the right direction. However, eventually it will need to expand to either 6-8 teams. Obviously there are going to be teams that are going to be left out but I think you can eliminate the end of the season drama (ala UCF) with this expansion because you’re not going to have 6- 8 teams with near perfect records. UCF clearly caught the perfect storm this season and they should be proud, but would they really stand a shot against Alabama or Georgia or Clemson or Oklahoma? It’s up for debate, but if were truly going to get this right, then we need to be clear on how we crown a champion without any loose ends.

If you keep up with recruiting like yours truly, then you know that there are several sources out there to get your information from. Websites like Rivals, 247 Sports, and ESPN each use a star or number system to rate each high school player in the nation. However, each source is not created equal and you really have to compare/contrast the outlets to find out about the next Deshaun Watson. But what if the next Deshaun Watson is really just another Ryan Perrilloux- a dual-threat QB who had an outstanding high school career, couldn’t find much playing time at LSU and later finished his college time at Jacksonville St.  The point is that both Watson and Perrilloux were highly rated players coming out of high school, but only one of them really panned out. Here I will show you were the recruiting guru’s got it right, wrong, and totally missed a gem.

The Good

Calvin Johnson– Class of 2004. 4 Stars. Way back in 2004, there was an up and coming freshman by the name of “Calvin Johnson”. Johnson was rated a 4-star prospect per Rivals at the time. Yet, if you checked out his profile on Scout( which is now apart of 247Sports), he was rated a 5-star prospect. Now, Johnson was probably a 4-star on Rivals due to the fact he committed to Georgia Tech. If he committed to a school like FSU, Miami, or USC, a big factory school, he would had no doubt been a 5-star all across the board. History proved that Calvin Johnson not only was a great player, but he went on to have a very successful collegiate and pro career and will no doubt be in the NFL Hall of Fame when his time comes.

The Bad

Mitch Mustain – Class of 2006 – 5 stars. This name might ring a bell or two for you. In 2006, there were two Quarterbacks at the top of the high school recruiting rankings: Matthew Stafford and Mitch Mustain. Mustain was a Arkansas native who lit the record books up in Sprindale. After he committed to Arkansas, the thought was that his resume alone would win him the starting job. Sadly, he couldn’t beat out Casey Dick, even though Mustain won 7 games for the Razorbacks. Mustain saw the writing on the wall and transferred to USC in 2007. However, history repeated itself for Mustain as he couldn’t beat out another quarterback, this time Mark Sanchez. Mustain finished with just 505 yards and three touchdowns at USC.

Diamond in the Rough

Tom Brady – Class of 1996 – No stars. This individual needs no introduction. When his career is over, Tom Brady will most likely be recognized as one of the greatest Quarterbacks of all time. But he would have to earn that title. When Brady walked onto Ann Arbor, he was seventh on the depth chart…seventh! At one point, Brady was so frustrated with not getting any playing time, he hired a sports psychologist to help him get through that season of his life. Yet, Brady didn’t give up. He was just biding his time. He knew he had what it took. In 1998, Brady’s time finally came. He set Michigan records for most pass attempts and completions in a season. Brady won 20/25 games as the Wolverine starter. And as of this year, 2018, he has five super bowl rings. Clearly, Brady was under the radar coming out of high school.

In short, recruiting rankings can tell us what they think about a players attributes, but they aren’t fortune tellers. They can’t read the stars or see into the future. They can only give us their opinion on what they think how Jon Doe will do in college. Don’t get me wrong, these scouts do their homework- they have a keen eye for the most part and can get it right about a kid a lot of the time. But don’t put all of your stock into what they say, wait until they see the 90,000 fans in the stands- wait until they get that first hit that takes them to the ground. Wait until they climb the depth chart and take a team to a championship.