College Football

The GOAT

By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

People throw around the title of ‘goat’ too often.

In the case of Nick Saban, he really is the greatest of all time for college football coaches. He has decided to retire after 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Saban, 72, has won a total of 7 national championships. One at LSU and 6 with the Crimson Tide.

His reign spans from the BCS into the College Football Playoff era. The Tigers won the national championship in 2003. His Bama teams won in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020.

He has also won 11 SEC Championships. His overall record is 292-71-1.

“The University of Alabama has been a very special place to Terry and me,” Saban said in an Alabama statement. “We have enjoyed every minute of our 17 years being the head coach at Alabama as well as becoming a part of the Tuscaloosa community. It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it’s about the legacy and how we went about it. We always tried to do it the right way. The goal was always to help players create more value for their future, be the best player they could be and be more successful in life because they were part of the program. Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our home.”

He’s been at Alabama so long that we don’t often talk about what he did prior to arriving there in 2007.

His first head coaching job was at Toledo in 1990. The Rockets were 6-5 in 1988 and 1989. Under Saban they went 9-2 and were co-champions of the Mid-American Conference. The two losses were by narrow margins: one point to Central Michigan and four points to Navy.

Saban resigned as Toledo’s coach after that season to become the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns under head coach Bill Belichick. He held that position for four seasons. In 1994 the defense was the best in the NFL in points allowed.

He took over as the head coach at Michigan State prior to the 1995 season. The Spartans had not had a winning season since 1990.

Saban led MSU to bowl games in his first three seasons. His best season was 1999 when they finished 9-2; with wins over Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. He resigned before the Citrus Bowl to accept the head coaching position at LSU.

This is what I think is not emphasized enough. Prior to his arrival in Baton Rouge, the last national championship that the Tigers won was in 1958. He built them into a national power, which is why they are still relevant now. He led them to a BCS Championship Game win over #1 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl in the 2003 season.

He coached the Miami Dolphins in 2005-06 and had a record of 15-17.

“Simply put, Nick Saban is one of the greatest coaches of all time, in any sport, and The University of Alabama is fortunate to have had him leading our football program for the past 17 seasons,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said. “Throughout his career as a head coach, his teams have won seven national championships, 11 conference championships and 312 games, and he’s developed an NCAA-record 49 NFL first-round draft picks and, most importantly, hundreds of college graduates. He is the consummate coach, mentor and leader, and his impact is felt far beyond the football field.”

 

Best Of The Best

By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Many analysts and fans consider the SEC to be the best football conference. Depending on the year there may be an element of truth to that.

I’m going to look at some of the best teams in conference history and try to determine who the best is.

1998 Tennessee: The Vols were the first national champs of the BCS era.

Ironically, everything came together the year after Peyton Manning graduated. They were led by quarterback Tee Martin and wide receiver Peerless Price. Sophomore running back Jamal Lewis tore his LCL in his right knee, so he only played in the first 5 games.

Price had 920 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Travis Henry led the team in rushing with 970 yards and 7 touchdowns.

They beat Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 13-0.

1992 Alabama: The Crimson Tide were led by a strong defense. They led the nation in fewest points allowed (9.2 per game during the regular season). They won the first SEC Championship Game against No. 12 Florida.

In the Sugar Bowl they played defending national champ, No. 1 Miami. They routed the Hurricanes 34-13 to finish 13-0.

They also did not allow an offensive touchdown to the Heisman Trophy winner, QB Gino Toretta.

1980 Georgia: This team was led by freshman running back Herschel Walker. He rushed for 1,616, 15 touchdowns and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.

He was talented enough to help the team overcome mediocre quarterback play. Buck Belue passed for 1,314 yards, 11 TD’s, 9 interceptions and completed 49% of his passes.

They beat No. 14 South Carolina and No. 20 Florida in consecutive weeks. In the Sugar Bowl they beat No. 7 Notre Dame to finish 12-0.

1996 Florida: The Gators are the first team on this list with a loss. They outscored their opponents 612-228. QB Danny Wuerffel threw for 3,625 yards, 39 touchdowns and 13 picks. He won the Heisman Trophy.

The offense had a lot of talent with running backs Fred Taylor and Elijah Williams. They also had Ike Hilliard, Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green at receiver.

The Gators only loss came in the regular season finale to No. 2 Florida State, 24-21. They got revenge in the Sugar Bowl and demolished FSU, 52-20.

2009 Alabama: They were led by Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram with 1,658 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. He also had 3 receiving touchdowns.

Linebacker Rolando McClain won the Butkus Award and Jack Lambert Award.

Greg McElroy threw for 2,508 yards, 17 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and he completed 61% of his passes.

Julio Jones led the team in receiving with 43 receptions for 596 yards and 4 touchdowns.

They beat No. 1 Florida in the SEC Championship and No. 2 Texas in the Rose Bowl to finish 14-0.

2011 Alabama: The defense led the nation in every major statistical category.

Running back Trent Richardson won the Doak Walker award, rushing for 1,679 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Seven players were named to various All-America Teams.

The only loss was to No. 1 LSU, 9-6. In the National Championship Game, they avenged the loss and beat the Tigers 21-0. They finished 12-1.

2008 Florida: This was coach Urban Meyer’s best team. They were led by Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin on offense.

The lone loss came to Ole Miss. They finished 13-1 with a win over No. 2 Oklahoma in the national championship.

2019 LSU: I saved the best for last.

Joe Burrow had the best season for a quarterback in college football history and led the Tigers to a 15-0 record.

The Tigers demolished everyone they played.

I Have The Power

By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Another college football season has come and gone.

The SEC perception wise seemed a little down in 2023.

No SEC team played for a national title for the 2023 season for the first time since 2014. The College Football playoff committee/ESPN dream scenario match-up of Alabama and Texas did not come to fruition.

It was still a solid year in the premier football conference in the land. My final SEC power rankings are listed below. The 12-team playoff begins in 2024. Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Ole Miss all would have made an expanded 12-team playoff if it had been in place 12-months sooner.

1.Georgia – It is hard to be disappointed after going 13-1. It was not the best UGA team in the last three seasons but it was damn good.

UGA was not consistent all season on getting pressure on the QB. They lost to Alabama in the SEC title game 27-24, but gave you 63 reasons in the Orange Bowl to show that they are the best team in the country.

A 12-team playoff would have resulted in a 3-peat. UGA lost late in the season one year too early.

2.Alabama – Considering the QB situation, it was great season. The demise of Saban and the dynasty was premature. The Wide Receiver play was not up to Alabama standards.

Jalen Milroe is a talented athlete who needs to improve in the short and intermediate passing game.

Alabama has had the most talented roster in the country for three straight seasons based on blue chip rankings, but no national titles to show for it.

3.Missouri – The Tigers were unexpectedly good and the future is bright.

Who did not enjoy the Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State? This team will be in the SEC title hunt in 2024.

4.Ole Miss – The Rebels won 11 wins for the first time ever. That alone gets you a lofty spot in SEC power rankings. The top four in this conference are better than any top tier teams in any other conference. Lane Kiffin has Ole Miss rolling.

5.LSU – I suspect a letdown given last season but still on the right track.

Did anyone seriously think the LSU defense would be as poor as it was? The Tigers  did produce a Heisman winner.

6.Tennessee -It was a good season for the Vols. There is lots of hope for the future after the bowl game against a tough defense.

It wasn’t as good of a season as I am sure most Vols fans hoped for but not horrible.

Tennessee must improve on the lines of scrimmage to be elite.

7.Kentucky: The Wildcats started 5-0 then finished 7-6. That is about what you expect from Kentucky football.

8.Texas A&M – Ugh. Mike Elko to the rescue. Does that inspire confidence Aggie fans?

9.Auburn – Only Auburn can lose to New Mexico State and then force Alabama to win the iron bowl in miracle fashion and upset the entire college football world’s power structure.

That is Auburn doing what they do best, causing havoc.

Prediction: Hugh Freeze in three years will have Auburn competing for national titles and will be the premier college football program in the state of Alabama.

10.Florida – The Flagship University in the state of Florida has had three straight losing seasons.

The Gators did not make a bowl game in 2023.

They have the schedule from hell in 2024.

DJ Lagway better be really good at QB is all I can say.

Billy Napier may not survive 2024 as UF head football coach.

11.Mississippi State – It may be a while for the Bulldogs from Starkville.

12.South Carolina – There is significant improvement needed in 2024.

13.Arkansas – Bobby Petrino to the rescue. Sam Pittman’s days are numbered in Fayetteville.

14.Vanderbilt – Vandy always has baseball season to fall back on.

On July 1, 2024, you have Oklahoma and Texas entering the mix. The SEC will expand the national perception of being the best conference in college football.

It Just Means More?

By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The shots came from the north, the west and all over social media: The vaunted SEC, dominator of college football, had been humbled.

Michigan player Braiden McGcegor spoke for many: “In the SEC they say it just means more. That should be ours now.” Somewhere commissioner Greg Sankey read that and grimaced.

For the first time in nine years the SEC will not be represented in the national championship game. There’s a cruel irony in that for Sankey, who helped usher in the 12-team College Football Playoff despite his conference dominating the four-team era.

Why change a beneficial status quo? Because Sankey knew college football would be better if more regions and more conferences were invested and engaged. Sankey also wanted expansion this year, which, should it have happened, would have created an opening for at least one more of his teams to make a run.

Ah, well, a good humbling every now and then is healthy in the long run. The SEC sees clearly that it is in an even competition with the newly constituted Big Ten. But it’s also not a dire picture: Alabama losing to Michigan in overtime on a neutral field is not itself a confirmation of inferiority for SEC detractors.

Vice versa, Tennessee stomping Iowa and Missouri beating Ohio State are also not satisfactory evidence of total conference superiority for SEC defenders because well, bowl games in this era.

It’s just a kick in the butt collectively to the SEC to know it is no longer just in competition with itself. That change can be good. It can be fun.

But this edition of the vibes doesn’t look back. It looks forward, which is why it includes the two coming entrants to the league.

And the vibes, for those whom may be new or forgetful, are not a pure ranking from best to worst; it’s who’s feeling the best to who’s feeling the worst which is why these rankings will look funky.

This takes into account expectations, performance, and just generally the optimism, or lack thereof, heading into the 2024 season.

Even when I adjust for the normal postseason optimism, a look at the top of the SEC shows this is still going to be the best  conference, but the Big Ten is not that far behind.

The SECs tagline of “it just means more” carries a little more weight now, as the additions of Texas and Oklahoma make the league a super conference in 2024.

I feel good about 4 to 5 SEC teams’ chances of making it into a 12-team playoff next season.

The SEC will not play for this year’s championship but they are still the top conference in college football.

Hungry Panthers?

By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

I am not sure if we can call Georgia State’s 2023 football season a success.

The Panthers did go 6 – 6, which is good enough for bowl eligibility. That is an improvement on the 2022 season where they finished 4 – 8. Georgia State U did go 8 – 5 in 2021 and I expected them to have similar success this season.

They got off to a 4 – 0 start and they looked like they were going to cruise through the season.

The highlight was against Coastal Carolina. They played a Thursday night game on ESPN. Coastal Carolina has been one of the most high profile members of the Sun Belt Conference over the last few years. The Panthers beat them on national television, 30 – 17.

Darren Grainger was 15 of 26 for 191 yards and kept the ball 13 times for 47 yards to help the Panthers (4-0) extend their best start in school history. Marcus Carroll carried 29 times for 150 yards and a score.

Georgia State leads the series 4-3 with the visiting team winning every time and Grainger, a Conway, South Carolina native, has two of the wins.

The next game they lost to Troy at home, 28 – 7. The Panthers rebounded and won their next two games against Marshall and Louisiana. At this point their record was 6 – 1.

I’m not sure if the team relaxed at this point but they lost the next five games. The first game of this losing streak was at Georgia Southern, 44 – 27.

They lost the next two home games to James Madison and Appalachian State by the same score, 42 – 14.

Then they had to travel to Death Valley to play No. 15 LSU. The Tigers needed an easy win, GSU needed the money, and everything worked out perfectly. LSU won, 56 – 14.

The final game of the season was at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia. The Panthers had a 21 – 0 halftime lead. They gave up 18 fourth quarter points and lost to the Monarch, 25 – 24.

One of the bright spots on offense was running back Marcus Carroll. He rushed for 1,350 yards. 13 touchdowns and he averaged 4.9 yards per carry.

QB Darren Grainger is GSU’s career leader in total offense, touchdown passes and touchdown responsibility while ranking second in passing yards and fourth in rushing yards. This season he had 2,364 yards passing, 17 TD’s, 7 interceptions and he completed 67% of his passes.

Playing in its third bowl game in the last four seasons and sixth in nine seasons, Georgia State faces Utah State (6 – 6) on Saturday, Dec. 23 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN.

“I wish it would snow a foot,” head coach Shawn Elliott said about his team’s bowl game.

Georgia State is 3-2 in bowl games, including wins in its last two bowls, the 2021 TaxAct Camellia Bowl and 2020 LendingTree Bowl.

“We’re in the day and age of the transfer portal, and everyone is aware of who we’ve lost in the portal, and what we have to do, so this preparation time has been very important to us,” Elliott said. “We have some new tackles, running backs, secondary guys. But that’s college football. You can’t complain about it, you have to engage and make the most of it, and that’s what we’ve done.”

We will have to wait and see if Georgia State can snap their losing streak in the bowl game.

Saves The Dates

By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

2024 is upon us. The college football playoff landscape expands to a 12-team beauty contest moving forward.

The SEC officially released next year’s schedules recently. Not enough space to go through them all, but I will go through the historical SEC programs and Oklahoma and Texas.

Alabama
Aug. 31: vs. Western Kentucky
Sept. 7: vs. USF
Sept. 14: at Wisconsin
Sept. 21: BYE
Sept. 28: vs. Georgia
Oct. 5: at Vanderbilt
Oct. 12: vs. South Carolina
Oct. 19: at Tennessee
Oct. 26: vs. Missouri
Nov. 2: BYE
Nov. 9: at LSU
Nov. 16: vs. Mercer
Nov. 23: at Oklahoma
Nov. 30: vs. Auburn

First Glance: Bye weeks before Georgia and LSU. @Tennessee, @LSU, and @ Oklahoma the week before the Iron Bowl. The Tide will be road warriors in 2024.

Auburn
Aug. 31: vs. Alabama A&M
Sept. 7: vs. California
Sept. 14: vs. New Mexico
Sept. 21: vs. Arkansas
Sept. 28: vs. Oklahoma
Oct. 5: at Georgia
Oct. 12: BYE
Oct. 19: at Missouri
Oct. 26: at Kentucky
Nov. 2: vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 9: BYE
Nov. 16: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Nov. 23: vs. Texas A&M

Nov. 30: at Alabama

First glance: No road game until October. @ UGA and @ Alabama. Nice slate for Hugh Freeze to get Auburn back on track.

Florida
Aug. 31: vs. Miami (FL)
Sept. 7: vs. Samford
Sept. 14: vs. Texas A&M
Sept. 21: at Mississippi St.
Sept. 28: BYE
Oct. 5: vs. UCF
Oct. 12: at Tennessee
Oct. 19: vs. Kentucky
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville, FL)
Nov. 9: at Texas
Nov. 16: vs. LSU
Nov. 23: vs. Ole Miss
Nov. 30: at Florida State

First glance: The last five games are brutal. Will Billy Napier still be employed by November? Only one cupcake on the slate.

Georgia
Aug. 31: vs. Clemson (in Atlanta, GA)
Sept. 7: vs. Tennessee Tech
Sept. 14: at Kentucky
Sept. 21: BYE
Sept. 28: at Alabama
Oct. 5: vs Auburn
Oct. 12: vs Mississippi State
Oct. 19: at Texas
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: vs Florida (Jacksonville, Fl.)
Nov. 9: at Ole Miss
Nov. 16: vs Tennessee
Nov. 23: vs UMass
Nov. 30: vs Georgia Tech

First glance: Clemson in Atlanta, @ Texas and @Alabama, and a trap game @Ole Miss sandwiched between Florida and Tennessee.

LSU
Sept. 1: vs. Southern Cal (Las Vegas, NV)
Sept. 7: vs. Nicholls
Sept. 14: at South Carolina
Sept. 21: vs. UCLA
Sept. 28: vs. South Alabama
Oct. 5: BYE
Oct. 12: vs. Ole Miss
Oct. 19: at Arkansas
Oct. 26: at Texas A&M
Nov. 2: BYE
Nov. 9: vs. Alabama
Nov. 16 — at Florida
Nov. 23: vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 30: vs. Oklahoma

First glance: USC and UCLA from the Big 10, and the best SEC slate of all the SEC contenders from a management standpoint.

Oklahoma
Aug. 31: vs. Temple
Sep. 7: vs. Houston
Sep. 14: vs. Tulane
Sep. 21: vs. Tennessee
Sep. 28: at Auburn
Oct. 5: BYE
Oct. 12: vs. Texas (at Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX)
Oct. 19: vs. South Carolina
Oct. 26: at Ole Miss
Nov. 2: vs. Maine
Nov. 9: at Missouri
Nov. 16: BYE
Nov. 23: vs. Alabama
Nov. 30: at LSU

First Glance: @ Auburn welcome to Jordan Hare Sooners where dreams go to die. Alabama and @ LSU to close the regular season. Are you sure you wanted this Oklahoma?

Tennessee
Aug. 31: vs. Chattanooga
Sept. 7: vs. NC State (in Charlotte, NC)
Sept. 14: vs. Kent State
Sept. 21: at Oklahoma
Sept. 28: BYE
Oct. 5: at Arkansas
Oct. 12: vs. Florida
Oct. 19: vs. Alabama
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: vs. Kentucky
Nov. 9: vs. Mississippi State
Nov. 16: at Georgia
Nov. 23: vs. UTEP
Nov. 30: at Vanderbilt

First glance: @ Oklahoma and @ Georgia who the Vols have lost seven straight to. Alabama lost the last time they came to Neyland.

Texas
Aug. 31: vs. Colorado State
Sept. 7: at Michigan
Sept. 14: vs. UTSA
Sept. 21: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 28: vs. Mississippi State
Oct. 5: BYE
Oct. 12: vs. Oklahoma (Cotton Bowl – Dallas, TX)
Oct. 19: vs. Georgia
Oct. 26: at Vanderbilt
Nov. 2: BYE
Nov. 9: vs. Florida
Nov. 16: at Arkansas
Nov. 23: vs. Kentucky
Nov. 30: at Texas A&M

First glance: @Michigan, Oklahoma, and Georgia back-to-back, and a Thanksgiving trip to Aggieland. SEC was kind to Texas with the road slate to State, Vandy, and Arkansas who all are terrible now.

Whoever wins the SEC in 2024 will be tested for a deep playoff run.

 

 

Not A Big Deal?

By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The University of Georgia is on the verge of losing a five-star quarterback, who is the biggest name in his recruiting class. And the reaction from the program  is … meh?

Maybe Dylan Raiola bailing on Georgia will prove laughable. Maybe Raiola will end up being a great quarterback who dearly costs the Bulldogs. Maybe this will become part of a problem with the would-be dynasty Georgia program.  As they begin to lose power on and then off the field after coming up short of the top 4.

Right now, it seems like a bigger recruiting story than it is a Georgia story.

Of course, Georgia wants to keep Raiola. That’s why Kirby Smart, Mike Bobo and this staff pursued him so heavily in the first place, even when they already had and liked another quarterback in the same class. That’s why as of this writing the staff is still working to keep him with the knowledge that Raiola will be visiting Nebraska, per sources close to the program.,

With signing day next week, this does not bode well. Losing any big-time prospect, especially a quarterback, would sting.

On the other hand, it’s hard to think of this as a major, program-changing event .Not when Georgia just won two national championships with a former walk-on at QB1. Not when the same program just had another unbeaten regular season with a former four-star, who ranked No. 250 overall in 2020.

Georgia is a program that keeps trying to score an elite quarterback recruit, and after they wind up with an underdog from the scrap pile, they win games anyway.

Enough about the high school to college jump- In the past two years, Georgia has had eight players go in the first round of the NFL Draft. Zero were quarterbacks.

With 25 players drafted overall, Bennett is the only quarterback: taken in the fourth round. For UGA, the quarterback position is critical, but it’s not the position the Bulldogs revolve around.

With that being said, Beck returning for 2024 would be paramount. Looking at the way Beck played this year and the way Bennett played before Beck, after they developed they utilized the talent beaming around them.

One might argue — because some are — that Raiola, or a great quarterback prospect like him, could take the offense to another level. Like, say, top five nationally in passing offense?

Well, don’t worry, that was Georgia this year. Or top 10 in scoring and total offense? Well, that was Georgia in each of their past three years without their fancy five-star quarterback.

If Georgia can do all that with Bennett and Beck, it can do it with Ryan Puglisi, another quarterback commit in the 2024 class.

Puglisi is a four-star from Connecticut, committed to Georgia in October 2022. When Georgia pursued and landed Raiola eight months later, many speculated Puglisi’s decommitment would follow.

The first priority for Georgia is holding on to Beck for 2024, then turning the reins over to Gunner Stockton, Puglisi or whoever is added eventually via the portal or recruiting in the always bright future of a championship contending program.

Stockton, the top-50 overall recruit in the 2022 class, the third-string quarterback the past two years, figures to be No. 2 in 2024 and could end up being the next Beck. He could be the quarterback who sticks around, learns, and develops, and leaves with a ring.

Georgia doing that with two consecutive starters at a time when every quarterback seems to be a transfer would be a sentimental nod to a seemingly bygone era of farming championship talent rather than shopping for it.

Raiola is very good. But this flip, if it happens, would hurt Georgia less than it would help Nebraska. In fact, one could argue it would be better for college football (looking at you TV execs).

That doesn’t mean Georgia should just stand aside and let it happen. Smart didn’t get to three national championship games with an “oh well” mentality. The inability to hold on to elite quarterbacks has been frustrating for Georgia fans.

Maybe QB1 still ends up being Raiola, maybe if Georgia can pull off a last-ditch effort to keep him. If not, it’s setting up Puglisi or Stockton to be the next underdog story at quarterback.

Can you understand Georgia’s reaction (or lack of one)? They still have a plan. Bennett, Beck, and Fromm can say with a straight face: Meh, it’s not a big deal.

Jekyll And Hyde

By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The 2023 football season in Statesboro has been a year out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Year two for the Georgia Southern Eagles in Statesboro for Clay Helton has seen highs of capping off a 6-2 start with a Thursday night 44-27 victory over rival Georgia State, and devastating lows of finishing the regular season by falling in the final four games including 55-27 in Boone, NC to App State.

Despite the downhill slide in the back half of the year, the Eagles finish the regular season with a 6-6 record and earned an invitation to the Myrtle Beach Bowl to face Ohio from the MAC. So how did we get to this point?

The Eagles began the season taking care of business to the tune of 2-0 with an opening game win over The Citadel and a revenge victory over the Blazers of UAB 49-35.

Helton’s crew then soared to Big Ten country to take on Wisconsin. Although a good showing early, 6 turnovers (including 5 interceptions) got the best of the Blue Birds and saw the Badgers pull away late 35-14.

Georgia Southern would respond the next week on the road at Ball State with 530 yards of total offense and pick up a road win in Muncie 40-3.

After falling to a rolling and undefeated James Madison 41-13 on the road, the blue and white would rattle off 2 straight wins at the prettiest little stadium in America. A come from behind victory against ULM 38-28 at Paulson set up a 5-2 Georgia Southern hosting a 6-1 Georgia State team on ESPN 2 the Thursday prior to Halloween.

Georgia Southern dominated the Panthers from the word go, racking up almost 300 yards rushing, and knocking off the in-state rival 44-27.

That’s when the Jekyll turned to Hyde for GSU with a tough final 4 games of the year and 3 of those on the road.

It began with a 45-24 Texas State victory deep in the heart of Texas to a much-improved Bobcat team under first year head coach GJ Kinne.

Next, Marshall would get the best of the Eagles 38-33 on an emotional weekend in Huntington, WV as the Thundering Herd remembered the 30-year anniversary of the Marshall plane crash.

The Blue and White would return home to try and get off the spiral against Old Dominion but wouldn’t go the way for the Eagles. ODU led in this game 17-10 in the 4th quarter, Georgia Southern tied the game at 17-17 on a Davis Brinn TD pass to Jjay Mcafee with 1:25 remaining.

It appeared that the game would be heading to overtime, but Monarch QB Grant Wilson ran for 28 yards up the middle to the 5-yard line to set up the Ethan Sanchez 22-yard field goal as time expired to snatch the win away from GS 20-17.

The season would wrap up at the Rock against Appalachian State in-front of a sold-out crowd at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Georgia Southern would take a 14-3 first quarter lead, but App State would score the next 6 touchdowns and take a 48-17 lead thanks to 4 Eagle turnovers. The Mountaineers would finish off the regular season finale 55-27 over the Eagles.

It’s not only been a Jekyll and Hyde Season for the team as a whole, but for some individuals as well. Quarterback Davis Brin has seen highs of throwing for over 300 yards 6 times this year including a high of 383 at Wisconsin, but also the lows of multiple interceptions in 4 games with the high of 5 also coming against the Badgers.

OJ Arnold, who has been hampered by injuries this year, has shown what the future at running back can look like with 405 yards and 4 scores in just 9 games played.  Jalen White racked up just shy of 900 yards on the ground and 10 total TDs.

Now the Eagles head to the postseason in a familiar spot. The Eagles were invited to the Myrtle Beach Bowl to face the MAC’s Ohio at Brooks Stadium (home of Coastal Carolina) on December 16th.

Will it be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde at the beach?

Something Smells Fishy

By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

“If somebody in that committee room doesn’t think Georgia’s one of the four best teams in the country, I don’t know if they’re in the right profession,” UGA head coach Kirby Smart after the team’s SEC championship game loss.

Forget about who got in and just look objectively at Georgia’s resume heading last Saturday’s game

– Won last 2 national championships.

– Won an SEC record 29 straight games, three straight 12-0 regular seasons.

– No. 1 in the country 24 straight weeks heading into Saturday in AP and Coaches poll.

– Hadn’t lost a game in 727 days.

– Has dominated college football and the SEC, the toughest conference in CFB, for two years.

– Lost first game Saturday in more than 2 years by just 3 points and its two best offensive players were playing injured.

If you look objectively at the facts, there is no way UGA is not one of the top 4 teams in the country.

I don’t care who you cheer for, there is no way a team that has basically dominated college football for the last two years can lose one game by 3 points and drop out of the playoffs.

How do you go from being the overwhelming No. 1 team in the country for the previous 24 weeks and lose a championship game by just three points – with two of your best offensive players injured – and completely fall out of the playoff picture. There is no doubt Georgia is easily one of the best four teams in the country and should have been included in the playoff.

Now on to Florida State. Florida State should bolt from the ACC now after the 13-0 ACC champion got left out of the playoffs.

The precedent has been set now and it’s clear they should bolt to a more respected conference like the SEC or even the Big 10.

The committee had FSU in the playoffs after Ohio State lost to Michigan only to drop them out a week later after they won the ACC.

If Georgia would have beat Alabama, the committee was still going to put Texas in over FSU. FSU winning without their top 2 QB’s stirred up the controversy but the plan was already in motion.

FSU was one of the best teams in the country prior to the Jordan Travis injury. The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl a few years ago with a back-up quarterback and beat Tom Brady and the Patriots in that game. Brady is the recognized GOAT at the QB position.

The ACC let you down FSU. You would have never been left out if you were in the SEC. It’s time to get your lawyers working to find a way to exit the ACC.

The problem with this playoff committee is the messaging they use, and then have the ESPN talking heads spin it to drive viewership.

Greg McElroy had the nerve to say that “no team could ever overcome sub-par QB play and win a National Championship”. Well Greg Alabama did it in 2009 with McElroy at QB. He  passed for 58 yards in the title game win against Texas.

As of today, the best four teams are: Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, and Texas. Cheaters like Michigan did not deserve to go at all.

The gutless NCAA gave them a slap on the wrist. Ohio State lost to Michigan, and FSU has a championship defense. The Chicago Bears won a Super Bowl with a Championship defense and average QB.

The four most deserving teams are: Alabama, Florida State, Texas, and Washington.

Too much subjectivity in the only major sport in the entire country that does not have a true playoff system.

Also, ESPN is ruining college football. Guess who has the SEC TV rights starting in 2024? That’s right ESPN. The same ESPN that revealed the rankings live last week with the same talking heads that said FSU did not deserve a spot. Coincidence?

You better believe they strong armed this committee into Alabama. Go back prior to the reveal and look how Herbstreit had his helmets aligned in the background.

Enough is enough.

Shafted Seminoles

By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

All this College Football Playoff arguing will be moot with the CFP expanding to 12 teams next year.

Arguing over 3- 5 is very different than 10-13. You lose your benefit of the doubt when you lose games. Even in the SEC.

But this year is still a four-team field, and with so many variables factoring into the decision, there is a lot to dissect. And to state it plainly: the College Football Playoff committee got it wrong.

College football has, or at least it used to have up until right now, the best regular season in sports because the games mattered most. We have a smaller sample size in this sport than any other.

To leave out an undefeated 13-0 Florida State in a Power 5 ACC was the wrong decision.

Michigan and Washington, both undefeated with top-10 wins, were the easy ones. The problem for the College Football Playoff committee was that there were three teams with legitimate arguments for the final two slots.

Sorry, Georgia. You didn’t win your conference title, and in this format, that has to count for something.

Alabama and the SEC are the proverbial elephant in this room. Nick Saban is the greatest coach of all time, and to me, this year was the greatest coaching job he’s ever done.

His team got whipped at home by Texas in Week 2 and didn’t look any better struggling with South Florida the following week.

But Jalen Milroe kept making big strides and when it mattered most, the Tide made enough plays to knock off a Bulldog team that wasn’t anywhere near as dominant in their previous two title seasons.

The problem for Alabama and the SEC is Texas. They beat Alabama convincingly in Tuscaloosa. That happened, and there was nothing fluky about it.

The Longhorns went 12-1, but there wasn’t a second-best team in the Big 12 this year. Here’s how it broke down: Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma, and Texas unsurprisingly hammered OSU Saturday.

Remember, this was an Oklahoma State team that went 9-3 and had lost by a combined score of 78-10 against South Alabama and UCF. That wasn’t going to help Texas’ cause.

With that, do we forget that a week ago Alabama barely escaped against Auburn? Auburn got blown out at home the week before by New Mexico State, 31-10.

The bigger issue this year was Florida State, at 13-0 from the ACC. As we all know, FSU’s star quarterback Jordan Travis received a season ending injury near the end of the season. The Seminoles’ backup Tate Rodemaker didn’t look great at arch-rival Florida. He also sustained a concussion.

FSU’s third-stringer, Brock Glenn, had a shaky outing in the ACC Championship Game, but their defense was dominant.

Braden Fiske and Jaden Verse led the Seminoles with 14 TFLs and 7 sacks. Not so coincidentally, that same FSU defense began the year by dominating LSU and the SEC’s biggest star, Jayden Daniels. Florida State held the nation’s No. 1 offense to its worst performance of the season.

FSU was the only team that held Daniels under 60 percent passing in a game. Daniels ran for almost 100 yards less (99) against the Noles than when he played the Crimson Tide.

I get it. The SEC has been the most dominant conference in college football for the past two decades. But this year is not like those other years. Have you been paying attention?

It’s a down year for the SEC. The ACC actually went 6-4 against the SEC in 2023. If this was a one-loss FSU, I’d say they didn’t earn their way in, but they won, so they did.

In the same argument, Texas should not have been left out for a team they beat.

What’s the point of winning if the CFP will  rationalize them away?