T-Minus 30 Days from Week 1
With football right around the corner, it's time for your summer reading. Plus a couple new segments!
The first full Saturday of games is a short 30 days away. Week 1 technically kicks off the Thursday before that, we’ll get into that when the time comes. BUT we get a bonus game in Week 0 in a mere 22 days with Farmageddon, the rivalry matchup between Iowa State and Kansas State. The rivalry gets its name from the from both schools having agricultural roots and being land-grant universities. This is also the game that is played over in Dublin, Ireland. I’ll break this one down in a couple weeks.
Summer School
Things we missed in the off-season
The Netflix crew that made Drive to Survive and Full Swing got an inside look at the SEC last season. SEC Football: Any Given Saturday premiers next Tuesday on August 5th and will be the perfect way to hold you over until the 23rd and get you amped for the rest of the season.
Mike Leach has been a College Football legend for many years and sadly passed away from a heart condition in 2022. He helped bring the Air Raid Offense to today’s game, and is a huge reason we have so many high flying offenses to enjoy today. Notably, his overall record as a head coach kept him ineligible for the College Football Hall of Fame. A HC needs a 60% overall winning percentage, he ended with 59.6%. Thankfully, the National Football Foundation lowered the requirement to 59.5% so that The Pirate would be able to get in posthumously. Applause for the NFF.
Back in June, the US House of Representatives passed a settlement to allow athletes to share in the revenue produced by their collegiate sports. It’s a long and windy road to how we got here, but the end result is that each school has ~$20M to distribute among ALL sports. This is an attempt to even the playing field and limit the unchecked power of collectives at different schools just writing massive checks to get the best players. Even more recently than that, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to have another look at this settlement. The end result of this whole NIL era will be interesting, but will certainly take some time to get it right. After Trump’s decision, we are kind of back where we started as far as things being the wild west. Hopefully some checks and balances come into play, but for now, business as “usual”.
There’s was some drama around the cult favorite BYU Quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, who become known last season as BYJew. BYU, a Mormon university, has honor codes around students’ abstinence which Jake violated. He was looking at a 7 game violation and suspension had he stayed. Instead, he withdrew from the university and enrolled at Tulane where he’ll try to earn a starting spot for the Green Wave.
Roll Call
Get to know your classmates for this fall.
Some incredible names to show you this week. Starting with running back Sirpaul Cheeks, who has the self-given moniker “Jesus in Cleats”. Mr. Cheeks recently committed to West Virginia, but with a name like Sirpaul Cheeks, I’m not sure you really need a nickname…
You all probably remember JaDeveon Clowney who was drafted #1 overall by the Texans back in 2014. Best known for his de-helmeting hit in South Carolina’s Outback Bowl victory over Michigan in 2013. Well, he has a cousin named Demon. Demon is on his 6th season of College Football after starting his career at Ole Miss before transferring to Charlotte. He is somehow registered as a Junior…Can I also to identify as a college Junior?
We have a memorable one next from across the pond! Before attending Duke, Memorable Factor won national medals in rugby and was tabbed a two-time gold and silver nationalist in rowing during his 1st year at Eton College in the UK. Mr. Factor recently graduated with a computer science degree and will pursue an MBA this fall from Duke’s Fuqua Business School. Sounds like one smart lad.
Next one needs no context.
We’ll wrap up our roll call with the name you accidentally accepted when you created a player in the NCAA video game.
Summer Reading
Story lines to watch this season
There’s a lot of story lines to pay attention to this season but here’s a few I’ll be focusing on.
There seems to be an exorbitant amount of 1st year starters at QB or QBs at new schools this season all over the country. And of course, every fan base thinks that their QB is the next big star. It feels like they never pan out how we expect, and they certainly can’t ALL work out...right?
Ohio State will go from a 5th year QB to a sophomore in Julian Sayin.
Arch Manning at Texas needs no introduction, but he did get in-game reps last year so he might have a smaller learning curve.
Florida’s D.J. Lagway got forced into starting spot last season following an injury to the starter, he’s expected to make a big jump this season.
Carson Beck went from Georgia to Miami, but is replacing the #1 NFL draft pick.
John Mateer transferred from Washington State to OU and expects to make a big splash as he came alongside his offensive coordinator.
Bryce Underwood, who is rumored to have an NIL deal worth $10.5M, is the favorite to win the Michigan job as a true freshman.
CJ Carr will step in for Notre Dame.
Ty Simpson takes over at Alabama.
Gunner Stockton returns to Georgia.
Austin Simmons is Lane Kiffin’s next protege at Ole Miss.
It’ll take a few weeks to figure out who is legit and who might not last the season. But in the world of transfers and NIL, there’s going to constantly be new faces which I kind of hate, but it creates intrigue, which we love!
Another story line to keep your eyes on is the Penn State Nittany Lions. They are kind of repeating the Ohio State strategy from last year. Veteran QB, 2 strong RBs, lots of veteran returners on both sides of the ball, a long time Head Coach who can’t seem to win the big one, and they literally took Ohio State’s Defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles. They really only have 2 potential speed bumps on their schedule so they should expect a return to the Big10 Championship game and playoff. The Nittany Lions are expecting to win the whole thing this year. Expect that to be a point of conversation anytime Penn State is on your TV.
The higher ups over at Coastal Carolina made the genius decision to make concessions free at home games, a move I think we can all get behind. However, the big money machine that College Football has become, I’m thinking the Chanticleers might be the only team that does this.
Dolly Doubles Down
We have a new segment this season! Watch as Dolly makes picks for the biggest games of the season! Her first Furball Favorite, who is going to be this year’s National Champion?
Gambling Picks
My picks for the season
I’m on Clemson (+900) to win the Natty. Player and coaching continuity, veteran QB who only got better as the year went on, and a lot of reloading done by the other blue bloods from last year. Look out for a resurgent year from Dabo’s Tigers.
My longshot Heisman pick is Demond Williams Jr. (+10000) - Washington’s young, electrifying QB looks like Kyler Murray (Heisman 2018) and I can’t not take that upside.
A less exciting Heisman pick is Notre Dame’s RB Jeremiyah Love (+4000). A new, young QB for Notre Dame so expect the Irish to lean on the run game behind the experienced offensive line.
Summer’s over, time to go back to school!
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