College Football
Out Of Gas
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Gus Bus finally ran out of gas at Auburn.
After eight years at Auburn, head coach Gus Malzahn will no longer serve as Auburn’s head coach as he was relieved of his duties, the program announced in a release.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will serve as the interim head coach.
“After evaluating the state of the Auburn football program, we’ve decided that it was time to make a change in leadership,” Athletic Director Allen Greene said.
“We appreciate everything that Gus did for the program over the last eight seasons. We will begin a search immediately for a coach that can help the Auburn program consistently compete at the highest level.”
During his time as head coach, Malzahn had a 68-35 record, going 39-27 in SEC play.
In his first season at Auburn, he led Auburn to a National Championship appearance.
Auburn must pay Gus a buyout of $21 million dollars with $10 million of that coming to Malzahn in the next 30 days. 2021 will start off very nice for Gus and family.
The road seemed rocky at times for Gus at Auburn. Rumors started floating around back in 2016 that he may be fired, but then 2017 happened where Auburn beat number #1 Georgia and then beat #1 Alabama in a three week window, and won the SEC West.
Auburn lost to UGA in a rematch for the SEC Championship, and Auburn rewarded Malzahn with a 7-year $49 million dollar contract extension.
In 2018 Auburn finished 5th in the SEC West with an 8-5 overall record, and followed that up in 2019 with a 9-4 record with a loss to Minnesota in the Outback Bowl.
The 6-4 record this season with a bad loss at South Carolina heated up the fire Gus talk.
Then you factor in blowout losses at UGA and Alabama then the dye was cast.
Since 2014, Auburn has lost 33 football games with highly rated talent on the roster.
Malzahn had a 3-5 record in the Iron Bowl against Alabama, which is very good considering how dominant Alabama has been in the SEC.
His 2-7 record against Georgia in The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry had become a point of contention with the Auburn alumni base.
The 5-12 record against the two biggest rivals was a big factor in his firing. If you are the head coach at Auburn University you can’t consistently lose to Alabama and Georgia. Auburn never beat these two rivals on the road during his tenure at Auburn.
While Gus had overall top ten recruiting classes at Auburn two areas of major concern recently have been the lack of top tier offensive linemen and the QB position.
Auburn has failed to recruit and develop talent in the OL for years now and it shows up in the biggest games when Auburn gets dominated by the better defensive fronts in the SEC.
At QB, other than the great season by Nick Marshall in 2013, Auburn has been average at QB. Bo Nix currently was highly rated coming out of high school, but has been average at best at Auburn.
Gus ran a clean program and will hopefully get another Head Coaching job after he gets tired of spending Auburn’s buyout money.
I believe Auburn had a big name agree to take the job when Gus was let go, but since has backed out, and now you hear rumors of Kevin Steele having the interim dropped from his title, and if that is the case you have a public relations nightmare on the plains of Auburn.
Early signing day has come and gone and Auburn’s early signing period class was ranked 40th.
Whoever Auburn hires has his work cut out for him to try and salvage this recruiting class.
The Flying Shoe
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last week the Florida Gators had a loss Florida fans never saw coming, a 37-34 shocker against LSU.
UF being a three touchdown favorite and losing won’t be forgotten in Gainesville.
The Gators weren’t a shoe in for the College Football Playoffs with a showdown with mighty Alabama this Saturday night.
This game was a microcosm of the Florida Gators season. Florida’s sloppy and unemotional play by the entire team all came together last Saturday night.
The Gators have been fun to watch this season but they have not yet been a dominant team.
Other than the Georgia game, I can say there hasn’t been one game where the entire team played with the passion and desire to destroy the opponent.
Mistakes through lack of effort by the offense, defense, special teams and coaches cannot go overlooked.
Kyle Trask has brought the Fun & Gun back to Gainesville, but the critics will knock him for the three turnovers.
Trask finished the night making University of Florida history by surpassing Danny Wuerffel’s 1996 single season touchdown record, setting a new high with 40 touchdown passes on the season.
After starting the second half with back-to-back touchdowns drives (nine plays, 156 yards, 3:42 time of possession), the offense followed up with three consecutive three and outs.
Rewatching the game, Florida’s running backs and wide receivers did not help Trask with six drops on the night. The offensive line allowed too much pressure and missed assignments that put the Gators behind the sticks.
The Gator’s defense had been struggling all season. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has been under fire by the media and fans all season.
In the past two games (Tennessee and LSU), Florida’s defense has blown coverages, lined up incorrectly, and made costly penalties.
Florida’s secondary has blown coverages the entire season. I cannot remember one game this season where an opponent’s receiver isn’t running wide open. Majority of the time it ends in a touchdown or a chunk play that sets up a touchdown.
For some reason, Grantham likes to corner blitz. The safeties are on another page and they allow the receivers to run their routes against air.
He called corner blitzes twice in the LSU game, first one led to a 51-yard touchdown and the second one set up LSU’s last touchdown.
The Gator’s defense has struggled to line up correctly due to the play calls getting to players in a timely manner. This has been an issue the entire season and it has reared its head a couple times Saturday night.
The Shoe! No one is ever going to forget about the shoe. Marco Wilson’s boneheaded unsportsmanlike act didn’t lose the game but it helped hammer the nail in the coffin. This blunder won’t be forgotten soon by Gator fans or their rivals.
With all of those miscues, Trask and company got the ball on their own 25-yard line. Three big plays later, Evan McPherson was lining up to try a 51-yard field goal to tie the game.
McPherson is more than capable of drilling a 51 yarder, but there is no denying that McPherson blew the most important field goal of his college career on Saturday night.
Dan Mullen and his staff are not blameless. Mullen’s arrogance was costly, telling the ESPN production crew that he felt the Gators would get into the College Football Playoff even if they lost to LSU as long as they beat Number 1 Alabama. My biggest issue with the statement is his mindset. WHY?
Many believe Kyle Trask’s chances of winning the Heisman Trophy disappeared just like Florida’s College Football Playoff hopes.
That may not be the case. Trask completed 29 of 47 for 474 and 2 touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns; good looking stats for an ugly loss.
Whether it’s right or not, Trask’s turnovers will enhance the chance of Alabama’s Mac Jones to win the award.
Everyone please take a moment to pray for Keyontae Johnson.
SEC In Aerosmith Albums
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the regular season essentially over, here is how I think each team fared, worst to best, and the corresponding Aerosmith album it equates to, also in ascending order. (No particular reason for choosing Aerosmith, just been listening to them lately and they do have 14 original studio albums. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy Aerosmith.)
- Rock and a Hard Place- Vanderbilt. When you lose every game by an average of 22.5 points and fire your head coach, your season is as forgettable as this album. Even the most ardent Aerosmith fans forget these were ever recorded.
- Night in the Ruts- Tennessee. The only positive thing I can say about Tennessee’s season was it was better than Vanderbilt’s.
- Music From Another Dimension- Mississippi State. Much like the last album Aerosmith has released, there are one or two highlights, but not much else to get excited about.
- Just Push Play- LSU. A season most Tigers’ fans would like to forget. Will certainly never be a success story, but ten years from now it won’t be viewed as quite the disaster it is today.
- Nine Lives- South Carolina. If you look at their on-field production and results they should be ranked lower. I boosted them up a few spots based solely on parting ways with Will Muschamp, which was their biggest win of the season.
- Done With Mirrors- Kentucky. Middle of the road album, middle of the road season. Nothing more, nothing less.
- Draw the Line- Auburn. A decent but underwhelming album that immediately preceded Aerosmith’s two worst records. Auburn lived up to the first part, with Malzahn now gone the second part is sure to follow.
- Permanent Vacation- Arkansas. The album was a comeback of sorts for the band and even though the Razorbacks only won three games it feels as though they’re on the right track.
- Aerosmith- Ole Miss. Their offense is as good as “Dream On”; if they can just get their defense to the level of “Mama Kin” they may wind up being the second best team in the West.
- Get A Grip- Missouri. Having trouble finding any correlation between the team and other than it’s my fifth favorite Aerosmith record and I thought Missouri had the fifth most successful season.
- Rocks- Georgia. Admittedly this album has held up better over time than this season will for Georgia. I know the end result is a disappointment for most fans, but it very easily could’ve been worse. Plus, you’ve found your quarterback for next year.
- Toys in the Attic- Florida. A really good season marred by a bad Austin Powers impersonation (“Really, who throws a shoe”) and a coach who can’t keep his foot out of his mouth. The Gators podiatry program has been working overtime this year.
- Get Your Wings- Texas A&M. No standout tracks, solid from beginning to end, just not as strong as the album above it. No standout wins, strong in all aspects of the game, just not as talented and deep as the team above them.
1.Pump- Alabama. You can argue my pick for best Aerosmith album, but not with which SEC had the best season; undefeated, averaged 49.5 ppg, average margin of victory 32.7, and actually played all ten games. You don’t have to like them, but you damn sure have to respect them.
Striking the Pose
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Heisman race is narrowing down to a two-man race, but it’s tightening up at the same time heading into the final week before conference championship games begin.
Mac Jones and Kyle Trask have separated themselves from the pack, but players like Desmond Ridder, (QB, Cincinnati) Najee Harris, (RB, Alabama) Zach Wilson, (QB, BYU) Trevor Lawrence, (QB, Clemson) Justin Fields, (QB, Ohio State) Jaret Patterson, (RB, Buffalo) and Breece Hall, (RB, Iowa State) have made major impacts in the 2020 season.
The Heisman trophy went to the best player in college football once upon a time. Today, the Heisman goes to the top quarterback on any winning team.
Last year at this time, Joe Burrow was being announced as the 2019 Heisman trophy winner after putting up early-gen PlayStation stats.
Burrow completed 402 passes for 5,617 yards and 60 touchdowns in 15 games. He also threw 44 touchdowns in the regular season.
The two front runners in this year’s Heisman race will have only played 10 regular season games, and only against SEC teams.
The voting deadline has been moved back to December 21st with finalists announced on Christmas Eve.
For the first time, voters will judge a Heisman winner on his conference championship game. That game being the SEC Championship in Atlanta on December 19th.
Mac Jones runs the Alabama offense at an exceptionally high level while putting up crazy numbers in the process. Against LSU, Jones completed 20-28 passes for 385 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Now that gives the first-year starter over 3,100 yards passing with 27 touchdowns and only three interceptions. It obviously helps having a stacked offense including DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris, but Jones puts throws on the money and is a tough quarterback to stop.
Kyle Trask has brought the Fun & Gun back to Gainesville. Trask has no problem chucking the ball around without much of a running game.
Trask’s ability to make smart decisions and avoid mistakes helps make that a winning formula for the Gators offense.
As absurd as it may sound, Trask is on a better scoring pace and on the same yardage pace as last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. Trask ignited the Heisman talk by leading the Gators victory of Georgia Bulldogs 44-28.
Trask was 30-43 for 474 yards passing 4 touchdowns and a pick. Trask’s ability to place the ball where only his teammate can make the catch is amazing.
That’s how good the Gators quarterback has been with over 3,200 yards and 38 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions with the season finale against LSU this Saturday.
The Heisman race might come down to the SEC Championship game in a couple weeks, but barring a complete drop off from Kyle Trask against LSU, it’s hard to imagine Jones catching Trask in this race.
One question to all my readers, if you took both quarterbacks off their respective teams, which team would be affected more?
Do You Really Care
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If you had asked me back in September if I thought there would still be a college football season in December, I would’ve told you you’d be more likely to see a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion with the original Aunt Viv.
The fact we are not only playing football in December, but it looks like most bowl games and the college playoffs are going to take place, is nothing short of remarkable.
Considering the difficulties, we all knew the NCAA would encounter to put any semblance of a season together, I think they’ve done an admirable job, overall.
They put together strict guidelines in regards to testing players and coaches multiple times a week, as well the protocols in place for those who tested positive.
They allowed programs to have the autonomy to cancel and reschedule games as they saw fit, which led to some interesting matchups, like Coastal Carolina and BYU, that we otherwise never would’ve gotten.
Still, for all those reasons I just gave the NCAA credit for, I have never been less interested, or watched fewer games than I have this year.
It’s been difficult getting excited for games where I had no idea what type of roster was actually going to be on the field or if the game was even going to be played at all.
It’s also been hard to care about the outcomes of games and how it affects bowl games and the college playoffs when there’s such a disparity in the number of games played.
The most difficult part has probably been the testing. While I applaud the NCAA’s testing requirements there’s something wrong when college kids can be tested three times a week, simply because they’re an athlete, while thousands of Americans wait in line 3-4 hours to get tested.
In many cases, they have to use sick or vacation time for work while they wait on the results because they are in quarantine.
I know it’s an apples to oranges comparison when it comes to the cost or type of tests being administered (public vs private) but I have to seriously doubt the motives of anyone who doesn’t admit the optics on that are bad.
When you take into account the billions of dollars to be made, or probably more important, to be lost, if there wasn’t a season, I completely understand why the NCAA proceeded with football and continues with basketball.
I just wonder for all those fans that were clamoring at the beginning of the season how much they needed sports so there could be some resemblance of normalcy in their daily lives, did it provide the escape they hoped for?
I, for one, felt that way two months ago, but my perspective has changed entirely since then.
Please understand this isn’t some sort of political statement on my behalf. I’m not arguing whether or not a season should have been played or advocating for any particular side.
The NCAA was in a no win situation and I give them credit for trying to make the best of it.
All I’m giving is my opinion on why my interest in caring about this season has basically been nonexistent.
Unless it was a topic I was going to write about, when given the choice to watch a football game or something else, I chose the latter.
After watching Aunt Viv be reunited with Will Smith, I have no regrets.
The Best
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When Kyle Pitts took a brutal hit from Georgia safety Lewis Cine, many speculated that his football career at Florida was over.
Talking heads in college and pro football stated it was in Pitts best interest to opt out the remainder of the season to prepare for the NFL draft.
The impact from the hit by Cine left Pitts with a fractured nose.
Pitts was cleared to play two weeks ago against Vanderbilt, but Coach Mullen decided not to allow him to travel with the team to Nashville.
Sidelined for two weeks, Pitts made an immediate impact in the contest Saturday against Kentucky.
On the first drive of the game, Pitts twisted Kentucky cornerback Kelvin Joseph into a pretzel for a 56-yard touchdown catch.
Pitts was back in full swing and added a two-yard slant route for his second touchdown. Then capped off the day with a fake slant and out for his third touchdown.
Prior to the game Kelvin Joseph was quoted “I feel like the biggest challenge to Pitts is going to be facing me and my teammates.”
J.J. Weaver stated, “Kyle Pitts is most definitely going to see me this Saturday. We’ve just got to be more physical than him.”
Pitts wasn’t opting out and he wasn’t going to let Joseph get the last laugh. Pitts rocked the baby and Kentucky’s defense.
Kyle Pitts has become the best tight end and maybe the best offensive weapon in today’s college football.
In six games, Pitts has 29 receptions for 513 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has more touchdown receptions than all of Tennessee and Florida State have touchdown passes.
Pitts is the perfect example of a player utilizing his length and size correctly. He maximizes his build with innate body control, ball tracking ability, high-point timing, and sheer strength at the catching point.
In the red zone against 6 foot 2 cornerback Tyson Campbell (future NFL 1st round pick), it wasn’t just size that made the difference, but the fact that Pitts leaped up for his balls and secured them with total authority.
Coming into the 2020 season, there was a clear-cut top 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft tight ends: Penn State’s Pat Frieermuth, Miami’s Brevin Jordan and Pitts. As of today, Pitts has gained access to this tight end group.
Truthfully, Pitts is an absurd athlete. He stands 6 foot 6, 246 pounds, but he moves with the explosiveness of an outside wide receiver. He has become a defensive coordinator’s nightmare.
Most mock drafts have Pitts going in the top 10 and the first tight end off the board.
Plenty of NFL teams have a need for a player like Pitts, but creative offensive minds would have a field day sifting through the mismatches that Pitts provides.
Before the NFL Draft 2021, Pitts still has a few games left as a Florida Gator. Gator and college football fans can enjoy the Kyle to Kyle combo for just a little longer.
No Sting For Tech?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Geoff Collins is only in his second season at Georgia Tech. It may be too early to say if he was the right hire, but we can check his progress.
As you know he replaced Paul Johnson, who was there for 11 years. He was famous for being the only Power 5 team to run the triple option.
Collins runs a spread offense, so he has a completely different style. Many of the kids on the roster do not have the skillset for that offense.
Johnson was also notorious for not recruiting well. Collins is trying to improve the overall talent on the roster.
Tech’s 2020 recruiting class was ranked 27th nationally and fifth in the ACC.
There were four 4-star recruits in that class. They include quarterback Jeff Sims, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, corner back Miles Brooks and defensive end Jared Ivey.
The 2022 class is currently ranked 32nd and they have two 4-star players in the class. Obviously, it’s not set in stone until signing day so this can change.
Anytime you see Collins he talks about changing the culture and the 404 (Atlanta’s first area code). I’ll be honest, I think it would be better if he spoke more about the game of football.
It seems like he has more style than substance because of that but what do I know.
Let’s take a look at his on-field results. His record at Tech is 6 – 14.
In his first season in 2019 he was 3 – 9 and 2 – 6 in conference play.
He was not expected to have instant success. One score I want to mention so we can compare it to this season is the Clemson game. Last season in Death Valley the Tigers won 52 – 14.
This season they played Clemson at home in the fifth game of the season.
They were steamrolled 73 – 7. I was alarmed by that score because it made me think, how was your team better last season?
In year 2 there should be better talent and more experience playing in your system. I probably oversimplified his progress by just looking at that game.
The Yellow Jackets are 3 – 5 so far in 2020. All three wins are in conference play, so they have more ACC wins than they did last season.
Also, we have to admit during this pandemic that this year is more difficult than normal circumstances.
Speaking of that, Georgia Tech just played their first game after an unexpected four-week layoff. I think this game may have been the turning point for Collins.
They beat Duke 56 – 33 at home. The true freshmen played well. Gibbs had touchdown runs of 61 and 26 yards in the first half before leaving with a hamstring injury.
Sims threw for 3 touchdown passes and ran for 108 yards, setting career highs. Jordan Mason ran for 105 yards.
Three players earned ACC honors after the game. Defensive end Jordan Domineck was named defensive lineman of the week. He had 2 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. He had a strip sack in the end zone and recovered the ball for a touchdown.
Sims was rookie of the week and offensive lineman Zach Quinney was co-offensive lineman of the week.
My opinion on Collins has changed and I think he has the team on the right track. He needs one or two more recruiting classes and a normal offseason to get things back on track.
Florida Recruiting Wars
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the Early Signing Period less than a month away, I want to look at the Big Three in Florida’s potential recruiting classes for 2021.
The Current ranking for the Miami Hurricanes is 13th in the nation and fourth in the ACC with 21 commits.
The Canes currently have 1 running back, 5 receivers, 3 offensive linemen, 4 defensive linemen, 3 linebackers, 2 defensive backs, 2 athletes and 1 kicker.
Coach Diaz has done an excellent job of keeping the top talent in South Florida to commit to Miami.
Leonard Taylor, the number two player in the state and ninth nationally, is the anchor to an outstanding class. The Canes have commitments for three of the five heralded players from Miami Palmetto (Taylor, Bashard Smith WR, and Savion Collins DE).
Miami has 19 current commits from the State of Florida and 16 of the 19 are from South Florida.
Key players in this class: James Williams 5-star safety, Romello Brinson high 4-star wide receiver and Laurence Seymore 4-star offensive guard.
Miami needs to find a quarterback, two or three more offensive linemen and 3 or 4 more defensive backs.
When the dust settles after the early signing period, I predict the Canes will be in position for a top 10 class.
The Florida State Seminoles are currently ranked 28th and in the ACC with 15 commits.
The Seminoles currently have 1 quarterback, 4 receivers, 3 offensive linemen, 3 defensive linemen, 1 linebacker and 3 defensive backs.
Coach Norvell must think he is still at Memphis with the star power of the current class. FSU (Five Star U) has ZERO five stars in this class, four 4-stars and eleven 3-stars.
The Seminoles only have six recruits from the State of Florida.
The disaster on the field has affected recruiting. If Norvell wants to be competitive on the field it starts with recruiting top players in the States of Florida and Georgia.
Norvell may want to utilize the transfer portal this season to acquire some talented players who are dissatisfied with their current situation. The current roster has six five-stars and a top 10 composite ranking but only two wins on the field.
The Seminoles need to add 4 to 5 offensive linemen, 2 receivers, 3 defensive linemen and 2 defensive backs. Norvell sure looks to have his work cut out for him.
FSU will finish the 2021 with a class ranked around 25th. Maybe FSU fans are wishing they didn’t fire Willie so quickly!
The University of Florida Gators are currently ranked seventh in the nation and fourth in the SEC with 26 commits.
The Gators have 2 quarterbacks, 6 receivers, 5 offensive lineman, 5 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers, 5 defensive backs, and 1 athlete.
When Dan Mullen arrived in Gainesville, he was not known as a top recruiter but he had made smart hires. The Gators will carry over the success on the field into recruiting.
The Gators snagged the two remaining players for Miami Palmetto in Jason Marshall and Corey Collier. The Gators currently have 18 commits from Florida and 3 from Georgia.
Florida may have lost a commitment from 4-star linebacker Chief Borders out of Franklin, GA to Sanford.
Players to watch for commitment are 4-star linebacker Xavian Sorey and 4-star safety Terrion Arnold out of Tallahassee, it’s a Florida – Alabama battle for both players.
The Gators are in good shape to finish with a top 10 class. My prediction is they will have the sixth ranked class in the nation.
Florida is one of the richest recruiting states in the country, and if the Big Three want to stay in the Big Three, they must recruit the State of Florida first.
Sunshine Saturday
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Here’s a Florida College football fan’s guide to this week’s games as the 2020 college football season is on its way into Week 12.
Last Saturday, Florida showed no signs of hangover from the World’s Largest Cocktail Party, by trouncing Arkansas 63-35.
Senior Quarterback Kyle Trask keeps breaking SEC records with his sixth game with four or more touchdowns.
The Gators travel to Nashville to take on the Commodores of Vanderbilt. Florida opens as a 31.5 point favorite.
Can Kyle Trask continue to play at an All-American level? Can the Gators put the game away early and rest some starters? My predictions: Trask throws for 5 touchdowns and they roll Vandy 45-13.
Last Saturday, FSU fans got a glimpse of their future. Chubba Purdy started the contest versus the North Carolina Wolfpack. Purdy played well, going 15 for 23 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns, but it still wasn’t enough as the Wolfpack dominated the Noles 38-22.
FSU hosts number four Clemson at noon in Doak Campbell Stadium and the Noles are a historic underdog in the contest.
The Tigers open as a 32.5-point favorite over the 2-6 Seminoles. FSU was a 26-point underdog to Clemson last season, which was believed to be the largest point spread in school history.
Clemson suffered their lone loss two weeks ago to Notre Dame without star quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Their signal caller is expected back and that means bad news for the Noles. Clemson is a national powerhouse and Florida State is a national landfill.
In my opinion, this is the worst Florida State team in program history! Clemson 52 FSU 20.
Last Saturday night in Orlando, UCF manhandled Temple 38-13.
The Knights opened the game with a strip sack and never looked back. The Knights offense did not look like it was clicking until the start of the 3rd quarter, when Dillon Gabriel found Marlon Williams for an air mail touchdown.
For UCF, standards this season have been disappointing. The Knights are 5-2 after being picked by many to win the AAC conference.
The Knights and Bearcats renew their revere on Saturday in the Bounce House. With very limited capacity, the Bounce House during the 2020 season has not provided their normal home field advantage.
The Bearcats come into this game looking to remain unbeaten and take another step towards a potential playoff spot. Cincy opens as a 4-point favorite.
This is a battle between UCF’s offense and Cincinnati’s nationally ranked defense. The Bearcats are outscoring their opponents 212-57, with an average margin of victory of 31 points per game.
Those numbers are against quality offenses like Memphis, Houston and SMU.
UCF will score points, but Cincinnati is too legit this year. Give me the Bearcats 48 Knight 38.
The Miami Hurricanes game against Georgia Tech has been postponed due to COVID.
The Canes are coming off an impressive come from behind victory over Virginia Tech last Saturday.
D’Eriq King led a second half comeback to keep the Canes in the mix for the ACC title game. King makes Miami the U again.
So, sit back, buckle up and enjoy some college football this weekend.
If you are a Knight expecting a battle in the Bounce House, a Seminole praying for a miracle, a Gator witnessing a massacre or a Hurricane just waiting to troll the other fan bases, live college football offers us an escape during these stressful times.
The Heisman Race
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Normally this time of year means the college football regular season is almost over.
Due to the pandemic, the season was delayed for several conferences like the Big Ten and Pac 12. I’m going to take a look at the top five Heisman Trophy candidates.
Kyle Trask/ Florida: I feel like he should be the hands down favorite at this point. It’s hard to believe this guy was sitting on the bench behind Feleipe Franks.
Earlier in the season I said he’s this year’s Joe Burrow. I don’t think anybody can match Burrow’s video game like stats from 2019 but I’m talking about the drastic improvement he made. Also, both of them were not expected to play at that level going into their final season.
They have had the LSU game postponed due to several players on the team having COVID. I hope that game can get played in December so Trask can play the maximum amount of games.
He led the Gators to a win over No. 5 Georgia that they desperately needed. The defense is not very good, so they basically have to outscore their opponents. Trask is basically good for at least four passing TD’s every game.
Trevor Lawrence/ Clemson: He’s the clear consensus as the best quarterback and number one pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, he had COVID and had to miss two games.
One of them was at No. 4 Notre Dame and that could have been his Heisman moment.
The Tigers like to run the ball with All-American running back Travis Etienne so that takes away from Lawrence’s stats.
If he plays well against Notre Dame in the ACC Championship that could catapult him to the top of the Heisman list.
Travis Etienne/ Clemson: I know this has become a quarterback award but he really deserves consideration.
He’s a true dual threat running back and his number are very good.
Mac Jones/ Alabama: He has the Crimson Tide undefeated (6-0) and he’s playing very well. Jones has thrown for 2,196 yards (8th), 16 TD’s (tied-13th), 2 interceptions with a 95.6 QBR (2nd).
He’s on the best team and I think Bama will finish undefeated. His stats are impressive because Alabama is another team that likes to run the ball. Najee Harris has over 700 yards rushing.
The LSU game has been postponed due to a Coronavirus outbreak in the program. We don’t know if that game will actually get played but that would be an easy win for Bama.
The only challenge should be against Florida in the SEC Championship.
Justin Fields/ Ohio State: The Buckeyes have only played three games because the Big Ten started the season late and the Maryland game was canceled.
Fields only has 7 games to make a case as the best player.
