JDubb's Sideline Report

Very seldom do we ever hear of the military academies doing something worthwhile on Saturdays in the fall. Gone are the days when Army and Navy were prominent powers in college football. Rodger Staubach won the Heisman trophy back in 1963 and Army legend Pete Dawkins won the trophy in 1958. Those were great times for the Middies of Navy and Knights of West Point. Both teams were on par with the likes of Notre Dame and USC. However, times have changed, the sport has evolved and most elite players choose to play at big schools that can give them a shot to steal the spotlight and make their dreams come true, such as making it in the NFL.

West Point is not for everyone. To understand the type of player that walks through those halls you need to understand the physical and academic requirements for each cadet. First, each potential candidate must be nominated by a U.S. representative, Senator, vice-president or the president. The candidate also must pass a physical aptitude exam that requires the following:

This exam has five separate elements: a 300-yard run, two minutes of push-ups, a standing long jump, a basketball throw from a kneeling position and pull-ups. Each applicant gets one chance to take the test per application, so it’s best to practice these exercises before the formal exam if possible. 

The academic qualifications are as follows:

Coach Monken took over the program in 2014 and since 2016, the black knights are 29-10. Quite remarkable if you ask me, but don’t take my word for it. Coach Monken’s record speaks for itself. A disciple and teacher of the spread option, Monken has made his teams a contender everywhere he’s gone. As head coach of Georgia Southern, he lead the Eagles to a victory of the Florida Gators, in the swamp. Last season, his black knights took Oklahoma to overtime in Norman. Now on the horizon looms a new test- The Michigan Wolverines, in the big house.

Beating Michigan will be no small feat. Army is undersized and definitely outmanned in this matchup. On top of that, the Knights have to replace the three-man rushing attack of Darnell Woolfolk, Andy Davidson and Calen Holt, who combined for 1,474 yards and 16 TDs last season. They also have to replace seven starters on defense. The most experienced and crucial player of this team is still intact- junior quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. The junior rushed for 847 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, along with 956 yards passing and 6 touchdowns. The Knights don’t throw the ball much but they’re very efficient when they do.

The twenty-first century has brought the ducks from out of the pond and onto high ground. Since 2000, the ducks have a record of 176-69. Also 6 conference championships, two National Title appearances, 4 division titles, and a 9-9 bowl record, the ducks are no stranger to the spotlight. They have been a model of consistency since the BCS era and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Add the #1 high school player for 2019, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and a top 10 class, the Ducks are looking towards big things this season.

Second-year head coach Mario Cristobal knows that expectations are high for his duck’s squad. His team brings a lot of momentum after winning the last three games of the season, including a bowl victory over B1G program Michigan State. And don’t forget wins over rivals Washington and Oregon State.

“We all came to Oregon knowing what it needs to be again.”

“There’s so much momentum and so much ground being gained toward being that, that I see it as nothing but hunger and drive right now. I don’t see it any other way, I don’t feel it any other way inside.

“To me … I see this team as a team that can win multiple championships and continues to not only sustain but continue to elevate.”

The former Miami standout and Alabama assistant knows what it takes to win. He was apart of the glory days during the late 80’s and early 90’s hurricane teams that won two National Championships. And was later apart of the 2015 Alabama championship team as an assistant.

For Oregon to get to the Pac 12 championship and beyond, there are some things they need to do to attain it:

1. Become road warriors– Oregon lost three games in 2018 on the road. Games that they should had won. Washington St, Arizona, and Utah beat the ducks with a combined score of 110-60. If you’re keeping the score at home, that’s not exactly a championship caliber team.
2. Clean up on defense – If Cristobal is going to make the ducks on par with the SEC, then this is one area that is non-negotiable. The ducks gave up 528 yards on the ground in their 4 losses last season. That’s awful for a team that takes pride in stopping the run. They must get better defensively in order to be a championship team.
3. Establish a solid ground game– We all know Oregon is a fast pace, pass-heavy spread team, but if they really want to wear down their opponents later in the game, they got to get something cooking with their run game. And Cristobal is going to make Oregon a more physical team by bringing in a power run game. Can he get that out of CJ Verdell and Travis Dye?

So there you have it. If Oregon can make these adjustments, there’s no reason they can’t win another conference title or more. They got a future NFL quarterback in Justin Herbert, and their offensive line is one of the best in the country. The schedule is going to be tough- opener vs Auburn, and then Stanford, Washington, and USC are all on the road. And you know Oregon State will be looking for revenge after the beating the ducks gave them last year. 2019 will be a challenge for Cristobal and Oregon, but if they can start the season by beating Auburn and win some games on the road, they could be sitting nice at the end of the year.

It’s not uncommon for a head coach to return to a school that they were once apart of. Many have done it – Bobby Petrino at Louisville, Bill Synder at Kansas St, Bill Walsh at Stanford, and many more. Now the University of North Carolina is rolling the dice(snake eyes) with veteran head coach Mack Brown. Coach Brown is no stranger to this institution. In his first stint at Chapel Hill, he coached from 1988-1997, with a record of 69-46 and also a 3-2 bowl record. This resume projected him to land the head coaching job at Texas, where he coached for 16 years, with a record of 158-48, along with a bowl record of 10-5 and a National Championship. That’s pretty impressive. However, there is a difference between winning at Texas and winning at UNC.

Let’s keep this 100. Texas is a football school. It’s the state school and the state itself has a colossal amount of money and resources that pour into Austin. Some of the best recruits in the nation live in Texas, which is not a shocker considering the size of the state. North Carolina is a totally different animal. It’s a basketball school. Don’t believe me? Ok, look at how many fans attend games at Kenan Stadium in the fall and compare them to how many attend the Smith Center in winter and spring. It’s night/day difference. Winning 8-9 games at North Carolina in football gets you a raise. Winning 8-9 games at Texas gets you fired. That’s the difference.

So why would Mack takes this job again? And why would UNC hire him when they could had found someone younger or a new up and comer in the college football coaching tree? I think it’s a few reasons. First, let me answer the first question. Coach Brown hasn’t coached a game since 2013. He’s 67. I’m sure he’s had plenty of time to reflect on his life and coaching career. Recentley, at an alumni donor event in Charlotte, NC he told the crowd ““I absolutely thought I wouldn’t coach again,” Brown says. “I didn’t blink.” And who’s to blame him? He’s had a heck of a career. Later on he told the crowd “We’ve got unfinished business,”. What does that mean? It means he’s still got the itch. He’s still got gas in the tank. He’s still got something else to prove. And most importantly, he loves the game. Everything that comes with college football- the players, the boosters, recruiting…it’s his passion.

Now to the answer the second question, why would the tar heels take another shot with him? Well, there are many reasons but I will give you three obvious ones:

1. North Carolina knows Mack is a good coach. Coach Brown is a winner. Everywhere is has gone he has won. Whether it’s Tulane, App St, UNC, or Texas, he has proved he can win.
2. North Carolina knows Mack is a good recruiter. Guys like Ricky Williams, Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Dre Bly, and Natrone Means were no scrubs. They left their marks in college and some of them had great careers in the NFL. So he knows talent and that is something that has been missing in Chapel Hill.
3. And quite frankly, no one has been able to replicate his success. The Tar Heels are 108-135 since Mack first left. It’s not awful but it’s not great. The ACC has gotten a lot stronger since Mack left for Texas. FSU is no longer king of the rock and Miami, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Notre Dame have all joined the party. It’s going to take a coach like Mack Brown to turn them around and make them competitive in the new ACC.

The odds are against coach Brown. He’s already drawing criticism from other coaches and former players and fans, saying things like ” He’s too old. He’s out of touch. He hasn’t coached in five years”, etc. You know, if you listen to that long enough, you would probaly believe it. But not Mack Brown. He told almuni recently “I’m a lot smarter than I was when I left,”. “My body’s not as good, but my mind is better.” That sounds like a man that is driven and that is exactly the type of coach North Carolina needs.

It’s true that the Auburn Tigers are the Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the SEC. Trying to figure out the Auburn Tigers the past six seasons is like trying to figure out the Rubix cube; you think you understand it, then it throws a new challenge at you and it’s difficult to comprehend. At times they seem to be the cream of the crop of college football, then some Saturday’s they play like they can’t beat anyone.

Example A– last season they opened up against Washington in prime time and beat the #6 team in the nation, 21-16. Then later they go on the road against Mississippi St. and get spanked 23-9. Then the next week they host Tennessee and lose to first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt, 30-24. Even worse, the Tigers record against rivals Alabama and Georgia the past 6 years is borderline awful. Since 2013, the Tigers have only defeated Georiga and Alabama twice. That has to change if coach Malzahn is going to stay around longer.

However, there are some reasons to be optimistic. Here are three keys that can change the Tigers fate:

1. Coach Malzahn is taking over play-calling duties again, but he will have some help- Yea, you heard me right. He’s unretiring from being OC. But this is a good thing. This offense is his baby. I know some of the fan base is questioning why he hired offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham from Memphis, but they shouldn’t. Memphis ranked fourth nationally in total offense in 2018( 534.3 ypg). Dillingham brings a lot to the table and if he can help fix the Tigers rushing attack, this will take a lot of heat off Gus.
2. Bo Nix – Want to see the next Baker Mayfield? Look no further than this future All-American. The five star from Pinson, Al is a true, dual-threat quarterback. Nix has a cannon of an arm and is extremely accurate. On top of that, he can beat you with his feet. Nix holds the Alabama high school record for total offensive yards (10,393 passing and 2,112 rushing).  He threw 60 percent of his passes for 3, 802 yards and threw 50 touchdowns as a senior. Of course, he will have to win the job over Malik Willis, Joey Gatewood, and Cord Sandberg.
3. Veteran defense– Nick Coe, Derrick Brown, and Marlon Davidson are the anchors of the Tiger D-line. All three players combined for 121 tackles, 28 1/2 tackles for loss, 20 Quarterback hurries, 15 sacks and three forced fumbles. They helped hold opponents to 3.7 yards per carry last season. Coach Rodney Gardner has recruited very well the past few seasons to help rebuild the defense and there is plenty of talent and depth to help make this a formidable defense. The Tigers defense will be relied on for 2019.

If Auburn is going to make it to the SEC championship and beyond, they’re going to have to earn it because that schedule is brutal!

1. 8/31 vs. Oregon
2. 9/7 vs. Tulane
3. 9/14 vs. Kent St.
4. 9/21 @Texas A&M
5. 9/28 vs. Miss St.
6. 10/5 @ Florida
7. 10/19 @ Arkansas
8. 10/26 @ LSU
9. 11/2 vs. Ole Miss
10. 11/16 vs. Georgia
11. 11/23 vs. Samford
12. 11/30 vs. Alabama

The middle of the Tigers schedule is when their metal is going to be tested. Florida started off slow last year but ended the season 10-3 and runner up to Georgia in the east. Arkansas only won two games last season but they got a veteran team returning. And LSU is one of the toughest teams to play on the road. All in all, it’s going to be a gauntlet for the Tigers. But if Auburn can somehow come away and win those games, it will give them a lot of momentum and confidence against a talented Georgia team and the grudge match with the crimson tide, which by the way, both games are at Jordan-Hare.

The feeling on the plains is that Gus needs to right the ship sooner than later. No one questions the quality of the person he is. Gus is as genuine as they come. He’s a players coach and a class act. The issue the fan base has is the inconsistency of the football team. They recruit very well, usually hanging around the top 15 in the past three seasons. But the results just aren’t there. If 2019 ends up being another roller coaster, don’t be shocked if Auburn looks for new leadership.

If I were to tell you a week before the 2018 National Title game that Alabama would lose to Clemson 44-16, you would probably think I was dropped on my head. Well, it turns out my inclinations were spot on- Bama lost exactly 44-16 to the Clemson Tigers. How they lost is another amazing feat. Bama was outplayed, outmanned, and outcoached in that game, which is something I have never seen by an Alabama team coached by Nick Saban. The Tide gave up a total of 482 yards that night- 347 passing and 135 rushing. That’s a bit staggering if I’m an Alabama fan. On that same note, I would ask myself ” is this a sign of things to come for this team?”.  It would be easy to be pessimistic and panic after watching that game, I totally understand that. But Nick Saban didn’t forget how to coach after one game. To understand his “process”, you have to be all in.

People have a short memory about Saban’s bama teams after losing games…they bounce back, with a chip on their shoulder. If you look at the past decade of Nick’s teams, you see how his teams respond after being embarrassed. Let’s take a look:

2008- Lost to Florida and Utah at the end of the season.

2009- Won the National Title.

2010- Lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

2011- Won the National Title.

2012- Won the National Title.

2013- Lost to Auburn and Oklahoma at the end of the season.

2014- Lost to Ole Miss and Ohio St.

2015- Won the National Title

2016- Lost to Clemson at the end of the season

2017- Won the National Title.

Hopefully now you get the point. It’s not how they get beat, it’s how they punch back. The teams response to failure is praiseworthy. They don’t let it define them. They see it as a learning experience and move on. And that all comes from their CEO, Nick Saban. Coach Saban uses failures/losses as a motivating tool for his teams and as you can see, it works.

Most teams have a hard time bouncing back from such a debacle, but most teams aren’t coached by Nick Saban. I think 2019 will be another year where Alabama once again does all of it’s talking on the field, and will prove to the college football world that the dynasty is not over. A rematch with Clemson is inevitable. And let’s be honest, we all want to see it.

2017 was a special year for the dogs; they won the SEC and the Rose Bowl. And they were one play away from winning a National Title. 2018 was sorta similar but they slipped up halfway through the season against LSU, which that loss, later on, held them out of the playoff picture. Now that guys like Isaac Nauta, Elijah Holyfield, and Ryan Ridley have decided to declare of the NFL draft, the window of opportunity to win something significant has become narrow. Thankfully for the Bulldogs, they still have junior Quarterback Jack Fromm.

Fromm has been a breath of fresh air for coach smart and the Bulldogs. In two seasons, the junior QB has thrown for 5376 passing yards,  54 touchdowns, and only 13 interceptions. Not to mention a completion percentage of 64.9 and completing 388 out of 598 passing attempts. That’s impressive. Fromm really hasn’t been asked to do much the past two seasons. The Bulldogs have run the ball very efficiently, and it’s really easy to when you have an arsenal of running backs and one of the best offensive lines in the nation. However, Georgia only has one returning starter at tailback for 2019, DeAndre Swift. Which leads me to this conclusion- Fromm will have to throw the ball more in 2019. And if you’re a Georgia fan, that should make you very happy.

Jake Fromm has been one of the most accurate Quarterbacks in college football the past two seasons. His efficiency is astonishing, and his awareness in the pocket is something you see usually only in the league.  To win the SEC and get in the playoffs, Fromm will need to be on top of his game in 2019.

But Fromm and Swift can’t do it all, these new guys need to step up too. I am looking at you, Nolan Smith (DE), Clay Webb (OC), George Pickens (WR), and Jermaine Johnson (DE). Hauling in the nation’s number one class last season should make things smoother for coach smart’s bulldogs. Yes, they lost a lot of talent but they got more coming in. What the issue will be is how fast can the new blood learn the playbook? How fast will they learn their assignments? Will they be ready when Notre Dame comes to town on September 21. If the dogs can continue playing great defense and get some of the new guys to help Fromm, it could be a banner season for the Bulldogs.

After 11 seasons on the Flats, Paul Johnson is no longer running the show at Georgia Tech. Johnson left a legacy at Tech, running his spread-option offense when no one said it would work and proving naysayers wrong, season after season. The only issue is that his offense had a ceiling. Yes, it was fun to watch but when it didn’t work it was like watching someone rub their fingernails against a chalkboard. Fortunately for Tech, and their fans ears, Athletic Director Todd Stansbury made a switch. But this wasn’t going to happen overnight. Tech needed someone who could not only coach and recruit, he needed someone who could market the Tech brand, which will be a job all on its own. He needed someone who could take Tech into a new level of branding and winning. The name that stood out more than any other was Temple’s, Geoff Collins.

Coach Collin’s is a name not many people outside the college football hemisphere know but should. A Conyers, Ga native, Collins has been in the football business since his days at Western Carolina, both as a player and a coach. But what has made Collins an undercover star comes in three areas: defensive coaching, recruiting, and branding. And this is exactly what has been missing from the yellow jackets football program as of late. Let’s look at coach Collins three strong points:

Recruiting – When Collins was a Grad Assistant at Georgia Tech, he wanted to recruit but then coach, George O’Leary wasn’t really eager to give him that role. So coach Collins just kept bugging and bugging O’Leary until he finally said ” Ok, wise guy. Here’s where we recruit, you can take this part of the map. Have at it”. Well, guess what? Collins did so well that he was given the Tight End’s coaching position the following season(2001). Then in his second stint at Georgia Tech, he helped paved the way to haul in Tech’s best class to date(2007) and was ranked in the top 25 nationally. One year later, he’s hired by a guy named Nick Saban. Guess who Collins recruited? Julio Jones. Later after that 2008 signing class at Bama, Saban had said the following about hiring Geoff Collins, ” if you can recruit at Georgia Tech then you can recruit anywhere”.

Defensive Coaching – During his Western Carolina days, Collins played both linebacker and defensive back where he recorded 194 tackles in his career. This laid a solid foundation for his path to coaching:

Western Carolina – Student Assistant

Fordham – Linebacker coach

Albright College – Defensive Coordinator

Georgia Tech (first stint) – Grad Assistant/ Tight End’s coach

Western Carolina (2nd stint) – Defensive Coordinator

Georgia Tech( 2nd stint) – Director of Player Personnel

Alabama – Director of Player Personnel

UCF – Linebackers coach/ recruiting coordinator

Flordia International – Defensive Coordinator

Mississippi St. – Co-Defensive Coordinator

Florida – Defensive Coordinator

Temple – Head Coach

Georgia Tech (Third stint) – Head Coach

Juice, Waffle House, and the 404 –  From Waffle House Wednesday’s to posting pics of “The 404” on Twitter, this is the swag(branding) Collins is bringing to Tech. Why is branding some important? Collins says. “In the NFL, players choose based on contract length and dollar amounts,” he says. “But when high school players choose a school, they’re choosing based on brand. So you create the strongest brand and strongest culture you can.” And Can I just say, no other school in the country needed a branding re haul like Georgia Tech. A school with a rich tradition of coaches and players,  Tech really hasn’t grabbed much attention in the past decade, even being in the heart of Atlanta. This is why Collins is the right guy for Tech. The man knows branding and he will take Tech to a new era.

In conclusion, Geoff Collins has a lot of energy and it has revitalized a Georgia Tech fan base that has been yearning for something fresh besides watching a 1960’s offense for the past decade. Since the hire of coach Collins, Tech’s recruiting has flipped on a dime. They’re getting kids who would had not even thought twice about the Institute until coach Collins took over. However, all the swag, all the 404, all the waffle house and twitter posts and social media buzz won’t mean a hill of beans if he can’t win and this other stuff will just be smoke and fluff.

Now that signing day is over and programs across the country are heading into Spring ball, let’s take a look at some of 2019’s class and who will be ready to contribute right away as a true freshman.

1. Derek Stingley  Jr, CB.  6’1, 185 lbs. (Singed with LSU). There really was no shock here. Stingley is a homegrown talent and grew up watching the Tigers as a kid. Now he gets to play for his favorite team. On the flipside, LSU gets the #1 player in the 2019 class and the best CB coming out of high school in the past decade. He will see the field in 2019.
2. Nolan Smith,  DE. 6’3, 227 lbs. ( Signed with Georgia). Coach Kirby Smart has another stud in his defensive arsenal with Nolan Smith. From the IMG Academy, Smith has the explosiveness and play making to be successful at DE or as a LB. Give him a year in college to add muscle and strength, he will be the next raquon smith or lorenzo carter for Georgia.
3. Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE. 6’5, 234 lbs. (Signed with Oregon). One of the top pass rushers in the 2019 class, the California native is the best prospect coming to Oregon in over a decade. Thibodeaux is dominant player and can wreak havoc in the backfield. This guy is a potential first-rounder in the NFL.
4. Jadon Haselwood, WR. 6’3, 189 lbs. (Signed with Oklahoma). Haselwood is the top wide receiver in this class. He was originally committed to Georgia but decided Norman was the place for his college career. He’s a player with outstanding speed and incredible physicality. He’s very competitive but will need to bulk up to be a dominant player in college. He will be a key piece in the sooners offense down the road.
5. Trey Sanders, RB. 6’1, 205 lbs. (Singed with Alabama). Another stud from the IMG Academy, Trey Sanders was the top back out of this class. He had offers from most of the blue-blood programs like Florida, Bama, UGA, FSU, and Texas. But his heart was with the Tide all along.  Sanders is a very physical, low center of gravity player. He has tremendous lower body strength and can pass block with the best of them, as well as catch in the open field. Sanders will be another great back that has come out of Tuscaloosa.
6.  Zacch Pickens, DE. 6’4, 267 lbs. (Singed with South Carolina). Stud lineman seem to be blooming all over the palmetto state as of late. Zach has a nice frame for a lineman and has the quickness to pursue the ball. He’s just a great athlete who can do many things. Muschamp might even use him as MLB. He just needs to work on consistency on each down. Pickens is going to do some great things in Columbia.
7. Darnell Wright, OT. 6’6, 300 lbs. (Signed with Tennessee). The O-line has been an area of rebuild for coach Pruitt and the Vols and they got started on the right track with Darnell Wright. The 5-star out of Huntington, WV is a big, physical specimen. He has the size and speed to be a force for the Vols and has  a lot of upside. He competes on every down and runs very hard. He’s a very smart football player.
8. Bo Nix, QB. 6’2, 204 lbs. (Signed with Auburn). Timing is everything and it seems to have favored the Auburn Tigers very well as of late. Signing Bo Nix over programs like rival Alabama, Georgia, and Florida was a huge coup for Gus Malzahn. Nix is a kid who has all the intangibles to be a great quarterback. He has great pocket awareness, deadly accurate, and a great arm- all great tools for a quarterback, esp one in a Malzahn offense. Nix is not the tallest QB out there, but he’s light on his feet and has deceptive speed. Auburn got a good one in Box Nix. Bo’s father, Pat was quarterback for the Tigers in the 90’s under Terry Bowden.
9. Bru McCoy, ATH. 6’2, 205 lbs. (Signed with Texas). McCoy originally committed to USC, but after Kliff Kingsbury left for the Arizona job, he changed his pledge to the Longhorns. Bru is a true athlete. He can play on both sides of the ball and can make things happen. As a wideout, he has good hands and makes tough catches. And as a pass rusher he can bull rush as a tackler. A gifted talent, Bru will be a fun player to watch on Saturday’s in the Fall. UPDATE: McCoy has now enrolled back at USC for family reasons.
10. John Emery, RB. 5’11, 202 lbs. (Siged with LSU). Once again coach Orgeron does a nice job of keeping local talent in state. Emery is a very versatile back, with explosive speed and has a strong lower body. He is very dangerous once he gets open and could be an every down back in college. The only concern is he tends to be injury prone and it could hamper his impact for a team. If he can stay healthy and just continue to get stronger, he could eventually be one of the best backs in the country.

College Football has gone under some major changes in the past 20 years: In 1998 the sport indoctrinated the BCS- Bowl Championship Series. It was an idea to settle who “really was #1 and #2” in college football. However, it brought more critics than fans and rarely got the top two right. In 2014, the college football playoff became the law of the land and so far it’s been a huge success with some minor flaws but what system is flawless? And of course, there have been some new rules as far the fair catch, shortening the game, etc… But there is a rumor that simply will not go away and its making me lose sleep( not really): banning kickoffs in college football- completely.

I understand the reason for this speculation. Player safety has become more and more a priority in college football, as it should. Players need to be protected and I think we should always put their safety at the top. NCAA studies have shown that concussions account for 7.4 percent of all injuries but 20 percent of kickoff injuries.  Contact sports like football come with  risks and those risks need to be addressed, but at what costs?  Take away the kickoffs and the game looks very different. And I don’t think the NCAA would stop at kickoffs; punts would be next as well. The more they take away, the more the sport looks like flag football and who would want to watch that? I can play that with my family and friends for free. The Kickoff is special- it’s intense, it’s the beginning of the game and of a series, and it’s tradition. It entertains fans and can alter momentum and the outcome of a game. But if the NCAA takes away the kickoff, I’m afraid it would alter more than just injuries. It would change the game forever and it wouldn’t be a good thing. So how do we find a happy medium? I say new technology will be our savior.

Technology is changing and growing at a fast rate, specifically in sports medicine. Today, less than a handful of programs are using a new wearable GPS device known as “Catapult”. Catapult measure’s how fast a player is running, how often and quickly he is changing direction, accelerating, decelerating, and a variety of other options. One of the schools using this new technology is Georgia Tech. Director of applied sports science, Ryan Horton had this to say about Catapult: “If you take one of those guys and you go and you look at the numbers, (and) he’s doing 20 high-speed change of directions to the left but he’s only doing two high-speed change of directions to the right, that leg isn’t strong enough yet to be able to plan and accelerate, or he doesn’t have confidence in it,” said Ryan Horton, Tech’s director of applied sports science, a new position created by Head Coach Geoff Collins. “Either way, that guy’s not ready to be back in live action yet.” This to me is progress without sacrificing the game’s best qualities/features.

The evolution of sports medicine is the cure for football injuries and we should hope and pray it continues to get better. If technology can save a players life, prevent a concussion, or any kind of injury without having to alter the rules, then everybody wins.

As I look onto the gridiron horizon and think about what 2019 could possibly have in store for us, I have to ponder what could be and what probably will happen for the season. Yes, it’s impossible to predict how the top 25 will fare: You can go on last season and recruiting and coaches coming back and transfers coming in, but that can be a misfire too. Here is what I think will go down:

1. Clemson will be back in the National Championship game. What Clemson did last season was nothing short of a miracle. They have an elite Quarterback and a stingy defense. It’s a winning formula and it will help them again in 2019.
2. So will Alabama. Yes, it’s a status quo but this is Alabama we’re talking about. They will not go away. They will be hungry for revenge.
3. A new team enters the playoff picture – Texas Longhorns. Coach Tom Herman’s second season was a success. His Longhorns went 10-4 and won the Sugar Bowl. And Sam Ehlinger looked like a Heisman QB. I see the horns winning the Big XII which will propel them to the playoffs.
4. Auburn will win the SEC West. Yea, I said it. With Gus calling the O again, this team will take a leap in the right direction. I think they will play good defense too.
5. Notre Dame takes a step back. If I have learned anything about a Brian Kelly Notre Dame team is that they usually have a hard time repeating greatness. 2018 was a stellar year for the Irish but they got exposed in the playoffs. I just don’t see them contending again. Maybe in 2020.
6. Miami wins the Coastal. A division with a lot of parity and new coaches, Miami seems to be trending upward. If Diaz can get consistent quarterback play, the canes should have no issue winning the coastal.
7. Michigan finally beats Ohio St. Michigan choked in the shoe last season, but you got to think that Harbaugh’s team has got to be ready for the bucks when they come to Ann Arbor. I mean it’s time for them to win this game, isn’t it? For Harbaugh, I believe it’s a must win and that’s why the wolverines will win.
8. UCF will make another new years six bowl, but still no playoff. The Knights looked like they were going to repeat perfection in 2018 but lost to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl. Coach Hypel is a good recruiter and will continue to keep the train moving, but it still won’t be good enough for the playoff committee.
9. Oklahoma will lose to Texas in the Big XII title game. Call it a hunch, but Texas played good defense down the stretch last season. Oklahoma has a ways to go on that front. If Hurts wins the job for the Sooners, he better watch his 6.
10. Georgia will win the SEC East, again. The dogs lost a lot of talent to the draft and graduation, but they still have Fromm and Swift. I don’t think UT and UF are there just yet, so the dogs should win the east in 2019 with no issues.
11. Army will beat Navy for 4 straight.  Coach Monken has Navy’s number. Navy had a hard time moving the ball last year as well. Look for the cadets to sing second again.
12. Jimbo’s Aggie’s are almost there, but not yet. Coach Fisher’s aggies have to play 4 top ten teams from in 2019. At Clemson and at Georgia will be tough. And he still has to play Bama and LSU. I just don’t see them surviving the gauntlet schedule in 2019. 2020 will be his year.
13. USC wins the Pac-12. Coach Helton had a rough 2018 season. It was their first losing season since 2000! However, the hire of Graham Harrell will help boost an inept offense with his Air Raid. I see the Trojans making a 180 and winning the Pac-12.