College Football
Gateway Open
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Over the last year, ardent followers of college football were introduced to the transfer portal.
The creative name served to describe a new and more liberal process in which the NCAA facilitated student-athletes wishing to leave a school in which they are currently enrolled in hopes of landing at another school and playing the same sport.
Transfers are nothing new. While especially prominent in football and basketball, it’s never been world-shattering news for a player to begin his or her collegiate playing career at one school, only to move on to another. But the emergence of the transfer portal seems to have kicked the process into overdrive.
Whereas the process of transferring was previously a secretive method that involved third and fourth-party conversations that were rarely known by the public, the portal ostensibly makes the process of moving from one high-profile program to another akin to the offseason free agent frenzy of professional sports.
Initial reaction to the portal was pretty predictable. The multi-billion-dollar college sports industry is propped up by universities, boosters and media corporations that all have huge investments and stand to make even bigger profits off the success of 18-22 year old kids, who never see a cent of the money.
So, of course, those controlling entities have thrown plenty of negative opinions at a process that throws their assumed profits into flux.
All around the country, there have been cries of how there is no loyalty to schools on the part of athletes despite them accepting full scholarships.
There is also the widespread opinion that athletes aren’t showing any toughness or accountability, quickly leaving for another school if they don’t get their playing time right away.
Those complaints won’t stop anytime soon, but they are also the talking points of a side that is going to lose this battle.
Legislation has already passed paving the way for future collegiate athletes to financially benefit off of the use of their likeness, when their schools do the same.
The creation of the transfer portal is likely to be a similarly huge step forward for athletes, as it creates a sort of free agency for them despite several courts squashing attempts of college athletes to form any sort of alliance that could act in the same manner as players’ unions in professional leagues.
The transfer portal isn’t going to cool down anytime soon and for good reason.
Long gone are the days where someone has to be well into their professional career before society thinks he or she should be able to control the terms of their employment.
It’s plainly evident that millions of dollars of sales, marketing and promotion are firmly anchored to, and dependent upon, college kids.
And due to current regulations, those college kids are still smuggling extra food out of the campus cafeteria and depending on mom and dad for gas money to get home for the holidays, even if their face is flashing across your television screen on a College Football Playoff promo a dozen times each night.
The transfer portal isn’t an out for college athletes. It’s a long-overdue taste of just a little bit of sovereignty in a system that has never allowed it before.
The New Chief
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida State University finally got their man.
After striking out on no less than six other candidates, Mike Norvell was hired as the 11th full time head football coach at FSU.
Mike Norvell has spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Memphis, leading the Tigers to a record of 38-15. His .717 winning percentage is the highest in Memphis history.
Memphis is the 2019 American Athletic Conference champion. Norvell has guided Memphis to three straight conference championship games.
Norvell’s first move as head coach was to retain Odell Haggins as a key member of the football program. Haggins served as the interim coach after the firing of Willie Taggart.
Norvell is known as an offensive guru. Since 2016, Memphis has averaged 38 points per game and has ranked in the top third in the county every season offensive SP+ (SP+ is measured by equivalent points per play).
Just like the past two Seminoles coaches Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart, Mike Norvell calls the plays instead of his offensive coordinator. Norvell runs a spread offense, but he has shown the ability to adapt his offense to the team’s strengths.
Memphis is one of three FBS teams that have ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense each of the last four years, along with Ohio State and Oklahoma.
Mike Norvell is walking into a Florida State program that has hit rock bottom. Florida State fans, boosters, and administrators have to give Norvell time to rebuild this proud program that Bobby Bowden built.
I understand that the Florida State Logo recruits on its own, but to become a program that competes for conference championships, you have to recruit on an elite level. The Seminoles are currently ranked 26th nationally and 5th in the ACC.
After the hire announcement, the Seminoles had five players decommit including four-star quarterback Jeff Sims. Norvell will need to address the offensive and defensive lines with JUCO or portal transfers.
The key to the Seminoles success in recruiting in the future is Norvell’s coordinator and position coach hires. He must hire coaches who have recruiting ties to Florida and Georgia.
Mike Norvell is an offensive minded coach, so who he hires on the defensive side of the ball will be critical to the program. Norvell hired Adam Fuller the former defensive coordinator at Memphis as the new defensive coordinator at FSU.
Florida State allowed 28.5 points per game this season and gave up 436 yards per game. The Seminoles allowed 42 points to Clemson, en route to a 45-14 blowout loss and in state rival Florida scored 30 points in the first half before thrashing the Seminoles 40-17.
Mike Norvell certainly wasn’t FSU’s top target, but he checks a lot of boxes when it comes to young head coach potential. Can he get it done at FSU?
We’ll see how Norvell does, but I hope he does well. College football is simply better when Florida State University is better.
Coaching Carousel
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When I realized earlier this year the SEC had no turnover within their head coaching ranks after last season, I reacted like you do when you get a perfect pump at the gas stations- I was caught by surprise, immediately told anyone around me what had transpired, and knew that it would be a while before it happened again.
So, while it was a nice story that no head coach lost their job, you knew a few wouldn’t be so lucky this time around.
Of the three coaching changes that have taken place, one you could see coming before the season even started (Arkansas), one made sense even though it wasn’t a foregone conclusion (Missouri), and the other seemed to take place in part due to a poorly timed, even though well executed, end zone celebration (Ole Miss).
Regardless of why any of the changes were made, the only thing that matters is “will their respective replacements be an upgrade?” That’s where things get a little more interesting.
If the adage about not hiring the same type of coach you just fired was ever engraved on a plaque, I imagine you’d see it placed sporadically throughout the hallways of the Ole Miss athletic facility.
In the span of three years the Rebels football team will have been coached by Hugh Freeze, Matt Luke, and now Lane Kiffin, who is basically Hugh Freeze on a steady diet of Red Bull, Jägermeister, and Birthday Cake Oreos.
As far as what Ole Miss can expect to see on the field, it’s a good hire. I think Kiffin is an above average coach, who will recruit well for the program.
The problem is you have no idea what’s going to happen off the field. It’s like driving 120 in a 35mph zone- it’s a great thrill ride, if you make it to the end, but more than likely you’re going to run off the road, drive head first into a tree, and die in a spectacular explosion. Welcome to the Lane Kiffin era, Oxford, I hope you have good airbags.
I can’t blame Eliah Drinkwitz for leaving App. State to go to Missouri- you can’t pass up a 400% raise in salary- but I do question why the Tigers are paying him that much ($4 million) to come to Columbia.
Drinkwitz was in the precarious situation in Boone where he inherited a very talented team and was able to lead them to a very successful season.
Was he the reason for the success, or just in the right place at the right time? Like most things, the answer is a mixture of the two, but that’s still an awful lot of money to pay a coach with one year of head coaching experience, especially when it didn’t seem like there was much competition for his services, outside of Missouri.
As for Arkansas, I don’t know much about Sam Pittman, except he seems to be popular among his peers and was an impactful recruiter at Georgia.
Pittman was the backup plan to the backup plan on the Razorbacks list of coaches, but it doesn’t matter how or why he got the job, only what he does with it now that he has it.
There may still be another coaching casualty after the bowl games, but for right now this is the new crop of SEC head coaches.
It may be a while before the conference goes a year without having any turnover; my bet is at least two of these coaches will be contributors as to why.
In Kirby We Trust
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Once the Sugar Bowl contest with Baylor is complete on New Year’s night the Georgia Bulldogs will still be one of the elite programs currently in college football.
The reason why is Kirby Smart. I have heard a lot of criticism of Kirby Smart since the SEC title game loss last week to LSU and what we should be hearing is a huge thank you to a man who rescued a program that was going nowhere fast in 2015.
When Smart was hired in Athens the previous staff had not won an SEC title in 10 seasons. Georgia had lost two straight games to bad Florida teams, had gone 5-10 against UF under the previous coaching staff, was struggling against Georgia Tech with an OT loss in Athens in 2014, and scraped by with an OT win against Georgia Southern in 2015.
Georgia was known as a finesse team in the SEC that had talent in the skill areas but lacked the physicality to compete with the Alabama’s of the world as evidenced by an embarrassing 38-10 loss to Alabama at home in 2015 in a monsoon that could have been 56-10 on a dry field.
Georgia was a soft program that could not manage rosters, recruit elite level players and numbers along the offensive line. During Kirby’s first year in 2016 he had to bring in a graduate transfer from Rhode Island to start 12 games at offensive tackle due to poor roster management prior to his arrival.
When Kirby was hired, the fan base howled on social media about being a more physical football team, and UGA struggled in Smart’s first year and went 8-5 while he changed the culture in the Classic City.
The offensive line and defensive line became a focus on the recruiting trail, and UGA began the transition into becoming a physical football team and it starting paying off in 2017 with the first of three straight 11-1 regular seasons, with an SEC title and a blown coverage in OT costing UGA a National Championship.
Since 2017 when the transformation began UGA is 35-7 with three straight SEC East Titles, an SEC Title, and a Rose Bowl playoff win over Oklahoma.
The brand of football is tough, physical football, downhill run game and elite defense, and three straight top 3 recruiting classes. Isn’t that what the fan base asked for when he was hired?
So, now after back to back losses in the SEC Championship game to Alabama, which has been a dynasty since 2008, and LSU, who has a once in a generation type QB in Joe Burrow, people are raising concerns over a staff that is a perennial College Football Playoff contender? Have you people lost your minds?
I had a Florida Gator fan tell me UGA under Kirby is the second coming of Mark Richt. If that was the case then UGA fans would have watched Florida play LSU last Saturday.
Food for thought folks. Richt was 1-3 in his first four in Jacksonville. Kirby is 3-1 and UGA has physically whipped UF on the line of scrimmage over the last three seasons.
Now that we have that out of the way, we all know Jake Fromm had a tough year and the offense needs some tweaking, but Georgia is what you all wanted it to be under Kirby Smart. That is a team that imposes its will upon most others. You are not going to win every game, but he is winning 78% of the time.
The 43 wins in his first four seasons is most in school history over that span. Georgia will be a top 10 team in 2020 and a playoff contender.
The only folks wishing Kirby was on the hot seat reside in Florida, Lower Alabama, and North Avenue in Atlanta.
Enjoy these times Dawg fans, Kirby Smart has made UGA elite. Kirby will make the changes he needs to make this offseason. In Kirby we trust!
The Sugar Bowl Disappointment
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Georgia Bulldogs didn’t get the SEC Championship win it was aiming for this season, but Georgia is the highest ranked two loss team and will make another trip to the Sugar Bowl.
It wasn’t supposed to end this way for the Bulldogs, a defensive minded team that believed they could control a high-powered LSU offense.
Instead, LSU had their way in Atlanta, running away with a convincing 37-10 victory.
Joe Burrow did it all in this game; throwing, running and even catching a pass. The entrenched force that was Georgia’s defense, which had only allowed more than 300 yards three times this season, was jumped by experience in LSU’s romp of 481 yards in total offense.
One play stuck out, Burrow’s 71-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson. Burrow spoke about that play after the game. “It was all improvisation. Justin ran a six-yard hitch route and saw me scramble and Justin took off downfield.”
Joe Burrow picked apart the Georgia defense and the Bulldogs’ defensive backs looked lost. Georgia, who hasn’t played a quarterback close to Burrow’s stature this season, had their hopes on making the College Football Playoffs utterly crushed.
Go ahead and give Joe Burrow the Heisman. Burrow’s stats from the SEC Title Game were 347 yards passing, 4 touchdown passes, 46 yards rushing and 16 yards receiving (a pass from himself).
You do have to feel for Kirby Smart though, eight players left the game with injuries. Some returned and some were significantly hurt like Jake Fromm. Defensive back Tyrique Stevenson and wide receiver Dominick Blaylock were also carted off the field with leg injuries.
D’Andre Swift said, “We lost last year. We lost this year. They have to do a better job finishing in the future.”
Bulldog Nation, please step away from the ledge! Georgia’s future is still very bright with Kirby Smart at the helm. Smart is one of the top recruiters in the country and Georgia will have another top five recruiting class in 2020. The program is still looking upward, despite these downward turns on the roster.
Georgia fans, Kirby Smart is not Mark Richt or Nick Saban. Kirby won the SEC East, beat Florida (again) and is heading to the Sugar Bowl.
This is one of the marquee bowl games in college football and it gives Georgia a chance to right their wrongs against Baylor. Let’s hope the Bulldogs have a better showing than last year’s 28-21 loss to Texas.
For the second straight year, the Bulldogs are not playing in the College Football Playoffs. I ask my Bulldogs Fans, is this season a disappointment?
Play It Off
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are in the sixth year of the College Football Playoff.
The top four teams have been picked and I think this is the first year where the committee had an easy decision selecting all of the teams. We are going to preview the playoff games.
Both games will be played December 28. No. 1 LSU (13–0) versus No 4. Oklahoma (12–1) in the Peach Bowl.
The Tigers return to Atlanta after trouncing No. 4 Georgia in the SEC Championship. LSU is led by the clear Heisman Trophy front-runner Joe Burrow.
Burrow is the best quarterback I’ve seen at LSU in the past 25 years. This program is notorious for having poor QB play, so they are really enjoying this because I do not think they will be in this position again anytime soon.
Burrow has thrown for over 4,700 yards, 48 touchdowns, 6 interceptions with a 93.7 QBR (2nd).
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire has rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also has 50 receptions for 400 yards so he makes plays all over the field.
Receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase both have over 1,200 receiving yards with double digit TD’s.
The Tigers are ranked 32nd nationally in total defense.
This is Oklahoma’s third straight playoff appearance and they are looking for their first win.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts transferred from Alabama, so he’s played against LSU the last three seasons. He won’t be intimidated and their defense is not as good as they previously were.
Hurts is the epitome of a dual threat, passing for over 3,600 yards, 32 touchdowns, 7 picks and a QBR of 90.6 (4th). Hurts also ran for more than 1,200 yards, 18 TD’s and he averages 5.7 yards per carry.
CeeDee Lamb is his top target and big play threat. OU is 24th in total defense.
This game should be high scoring and both offenses should play well. Hurts has a bad habit of turning the ball over and I don’t see this game being any different. That will help LSU win by double digits.
No. 2 Ohio State (13–0) plays No. 3 Clemson (13–0) in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Az.
Both teams are led by highly recruited quarterbacks from Georgia. They were also finalists in the 2017 Elite 11 with Justin Fields finishing first and Trevor Lawrence finishing second.
Fields has thrown for almost 3,000 yards, 40 TD’s, 1 interception and his QBR is 92.4 (3rd). I must admit I’ve been labeled an ‘OSU hater’ by a friend of mine because I give an honest opinion of Fields and last year Dwayne Haskins.
I watch the Buckeyes regularly and notice that quarterbacks typically throw short passes like slants, screens and crossing routes. The receivers get massive yards after catch, which makes the QB’s stats look good.
Running back J.K. Dobbins has rushed for over 1,800 yards, 20 TD’s and he averages 6.5 ypc. The defense ranks second in total D.
Clemson is the defending national champion and they have been disrespected all year. Lawrence played poorly for the first month of the season with several multiple interception games. He finished the year with 8 picks but he improved.
Receiver Tee Higgins and running back Travis Etienne are going to be first round picks in this year’s draft. The Tigers defense is the best in the nation in total defense.
This should be a close game but Clemson will win. The Tigers of LSU and Clemson will meet in the national championship.
Hot Seat?
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The University of Georgia Bulldogs stumbled early on in 2019, losing a game in September to a South Carolina Gamecocks squad that would eventually end the season with a 4-8 record.
They battled back and scored big wins against the likes of Auburn and the University of Florida to propel them to a third consecutive SEC East Championship and a showdown against the Louisiana State University Tigers for the SEC Championship.
Given that they didn’t have to play Alabama, the specter that haunted them each of the previous two seasons, this seemed like a golden opportunity for Kirby Smart to right the ship after a disappointing follow-up season in 2018 to the 2017 College Football Championship run.
However, Joe Burrow and the Tigers showed up to Mercedes Benz Stadium and sealed their own CFB playoff spot instead.
Burrow blew the ink dry on his Heisman campaign with 349 passing yards and 4 touchdowns to boot. Jake, from State Fromm, managed 1 touchdown while throwing for 225 yards but tossed two interceptions as well.
It was, as I mentioned before, UGA’s second loss of the season, while LSU remained undefeated.
You have to wonder now if the Bulldog’s rabid (no pun intended) fan base is going to turn against Smart. Even though he was sending out a depleted roster to take on a Tigers team that averaged nearly 50 points per game during the season.
Kirby followed in the footsteps of Mark Richt, who – like Smart – took a season to get acclimated to Athens before winning the SEC Championship in his second year.
That victory was in 2002 and Richt earned another in 2005 before a decade of pretty good, but not quite great, football.
All the goodwill Richt earned by winning the first SEC Championship in 20 years had pretty much worn off by the time he was dismissed in 2015 and Richt remains a debated figure by the UGA faithful.
Smart may not get the 10 years that Richt had, but he led a team to the National Championship game and has taken steps back in the two years since.
Today’s coaches are on the hot seat the second they’re hired. Especially, in the SEC.
I’m not saying that Kirby Smart isn’t going to make it to the New Year with his job intact but he’s in definite danger after losing a second straight SEC Championship.
The Bulldogs seemed like they were trending up just a couple of short years ago, but that trend has seemingly done an about face.
A double-digit lead over Alabama in the 4th quarter in the National Championship Game in 2017 led to a loss.
A double-digit lead in the 3rd quarter in the SEC Championship the very next year led to a loss and to the exact same team, no less.
They followed that with an embarrassing Sugar Bowl loss to Texas. Now they’re entering Championship games as the underdog and the upsets aren’t happening.
That’s a dangerous path for an SEC coach to be on, especially with popular former Bulldog player & coach Mike Bobo suddenly in the unemployment line.
I know there have been calls for Kirby to bring Bobo onto his staff but now I wonder: after this loss and with this continuing trend of getting farther away from greatness, will those calls now change to calling for Bobo to replace Smart?
Lucky Dawg
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The first scenario that has Georgia making it to the college playoffs is pretty straightforward- beat LSU in the SEC Championship game and you’re in. Nothing very complicated about it, except for, you know, the fact they have to beat LSU.
What’s more intriguing to me is whether or not there’s a scenario where Georgia could still make the playoffs, even if they lose to the Tigers; something I assume most Georgia fans have already begun contemplating.
To start with, let’s go ahead and assume Ohio State, Clemson, and LSU all win their respective title games and are in. That leaves the winner of the Big-12 matchup (Oklahoma or Baylor) and possibly the winner of the Pac-12 (Utah or Oregon) that the Bulldogs would have to contend with for the final spot.
I’m going to just skim right over Oklahoma and Oregon because if they Sooners win, they’re in. And if Oregon happens to win, I think they would end up behind either Big-12 winner and Georgia since they’ll have two losses and the Pac-12 is basically regarded as an inferior spin-off of a better conference.
Where it gets interesting is if both Baylor and Utah win. The argument for putting Georgia in ahead of either of those two teams begins and ends with one thing; name recognition.
As much as the NCAA wants us to believe the committee is choosing the four most deserving teams, they’re not. What they’re looking for are the four biggest named teams ($$$) that they can realistically justify putting in the playoffs. I mean, how else do you explain their love affair with Alabama and their FCS looking schedule?
The committee will play their part and acknowledge that Georgia will ultimately have one more loss than either Baylor or Utah, but then I imagine they’ll argue Georgia comes from a tougher conference (they do), had a better overall season (debatable, especially considering the South Carolina loss), and that the Dawgs pass everyone’s favorite metric, the eye test (probably true), as reasons as to why the Bulldogs made the cut ahead of the other two.
When the teams were announced for the college playoffs inaugural season in 2014, there was a large contingent of fans arguing Ohio State only made the playoffs, not on their merits, but because of their national recognition. It would be no different this year; Ohio State vs. Georgia is much more appealing on paper than OSU vs. Baylor/Utah. (By the way, I went ahead and put Ohio State as the overall #1 seed because if this scenario actually plays out, just watch the committee place Ohio State ahead of LSU. But, remember, this whole thing is purely objective and nothing is based on matchu…….hahaha, I can’t even finish typing it out.)
Look, I’m not promising this is what will happen, or even that it’s what should happen, I’m just so skeptical when it comes almost everything the NCAA touches, that I almost expect that’s the way things will turn out. After all, it’s a business, and Georgia is better business.
Of course, this all changes if UGA gets steamrolled by LSU, or best-case scenario for Bulldog fans, they happen to win Saturday.
That said, if the latter takes place, and Oklahoma winds up winning the Big-12, it may bring up an even more interesting question- what does the committee do with LSU?
Either way, don’t be shocked if a one-loss Baylor or Utah team is on the outside looking in. I know the NCAA won’t be.
Broken System
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out and – just as all of these releases are, up until the final one – it’s just a song and dance meant to drive argument and interest in the race for the four spots in the championship postseason.
It really doesn’t matter that Ohio State is ahead of LSU. The Tigers could very well pull ahead with a win, in what will be perceived as a tougher matchup in its conference championship game.
It really doesn’t matter that Georgia is fourth while Alabama is fifth. A win for the Bulldogs in the SEC title game will guarantee them a spot – and a higher seed – in the playoff, while Alabama knows all about sitting out of a conference championship game and moving up by default.
It really doesn’t matter that Clemson has pinballed around the rankings so far. They’re the defending national champions and they’ll be in the playoff so long as they remain undefeated.
In the end, everything seems to be on a crash course for yet another round of bashing the selection committee for including one team while leaving out another. And when you look at the big picture, the NCAA has brought a lot of that scorn upon itself.
Of the 10 conferences in FBS football, there is a split between the ‘Power 5’ and the ‘Group of 5’. Those names weren’t originally created by the NCAA, but the association acknowledged the split several years ago when it set special stipulations to mandate that at least one G5 team is represented in the six major New Year’s bowls.
But, by doing that, the NCAA has stepped in an even bigger puddle. There is now a de facto admission that five conferences are seen as superior and will get preference in rankings and bowl allotments.
That much isn’t so bad as the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC consistently put forth the best teams in the country. But the problem arises when elementary math takes over and there are five power conference champions and only four playoff spots.
It’s as if a ship named five officers and only provided four lifejackets to go between them. Regardless of anyone else on board who is deserving of a vest, it’s impossible for anything other than a power struggle to result.
There have been plenty of years in which a P5 conference hasn’t produced a national championship-caliber team. And there have been years where one P5 conference has objectively had two of the best four teams in the nation that both deserve to play on.
Of course, there are also about a half-dozen instances dating back to the BCS days where a G5 team went undefeated and wasn’t even allowed the ability to keep playing toward a national championship before being dismissed and cast aside while P5 schools battled it out.
With P5 conference members given more of a benefit of the doubt for losses and those same teams mostly controlling who and when and where they play any non-conference game, it’s almost guaranteed that every season will end with a couple of shoe-in playoff teams, along with about a half-dozen other P5s with solid cases to make and a few G5s who can’t get the time of day due to their PERCEIVED lack of schedule strength.
It’s past time for the playoff to expand. If the P5 schools are so far above the rest, then each of the conference champions should have a chance to play for a title. And when great G5 teams get bashed for their schedule, it should be taken with a grain of salt since obviously no P5 squad wanted to bring them in for a perceived easy win.
There are too many teams and not enough weeks to work out a perfect regular season that produces a unanimously agreed upon playoff field. So, it’s up to the powers that be to come up with something that isn’t designed to ensure plenty of legitimate contenders left on the sidelines each fall.
Sunshine Rivalry
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This is the best week of the year for college football fans.
Rivalry week is finale week to yet another college football season.
The feast begins Friday night at the Bounce House with “The War on I-4”, and ends Saturday night with Florida vs. Florida State.
We have heard it so many times in our college football lives, “You can throw the record book out when these two teams get together.”
This year it may be different, both UCF and Florida are heavy favorites in their respective matchups.
“The War on I-4” is the end of the year battle between UCF and South Florida. The Knight’s open up as a 23-point favorite. These are two teams heading in polar opposite directions.
The Bulls lead all-time series 6-4, but the Knights have won the last two games of the “War on I-4.”
Take it from me, this game is going to be a blow out! The Bulls have lost three home games in a row against Temple, Cincinnati and Memphis. Coach Charlie Strong is on the “HOT SEAT.” We can call it a local rivalry game, but the Bulls are no match for the Knights in 2019.
UCF has been one of the best offensive teams in the country with the points to prove it. The Knights have 30 or more in 31 straight games, which is the longest streak in the AP poll era (1936).
On Friday night, the Knights will extend the 30 or more point streak as they boat race the Bulls.
My prediction is this game is going to be ugly if you are a South Florida Bull.
Like all UCF home games this season, the game will be over by half time.
UCF 56 South Florida 20
Florida versus Florida State: The sheer richness of noteworthy games, assures us some wild rides and crazy results.
The Gators haven’t beaten the Seminoles in Gainesville since 2009. Since 2000, Florida State holds a 10-9 advantage, despite how close the record is the games have not been close.
Just two short years ago, the Florida Gators were in the same boat as this Florida State team. Florida fired Jim McElwain mid-season and the Seminoles thumped the Gators 31-13.
Fast forward to 2019, Florida State has fired Coach Will Taggart. Florida State is 2 and 0 since Intern Coach Odell Haggins took over the reins. The Seminoles became bowl eligible with a convincing 49-12 victory over Alabama State.
Coach Haggins is 4 and 0 for his career as a head coach at Florida State. Saturday night in the Swamp Coach Haggins will take his first lost.
Florida State has been a dumpster fire since the day Willie Taggart was hired. Don’t get me wrong, the Seminoles have a lot of talented players on their roster. It’s just those players talent has not translated into wins for the Seminoles.
Quick fact: Florida State ranked 124 in the NCAA in pass defense (the lowest in School history). The Gators ranked 19 in the NCAA in pass offense.
Florida State will start the game with a lot of fire and desire but at the end of the day they are no match for this year’s Gator team.
The Gators are playing for a New Year’s 6 bowl, and they would like to send their senior class of 18 players off with a victory.
The Seminoles have given up 36 sacks and 102 hurries in 2019, whereas the Gators have sacked the quarterback 38 times and 134 hurries.
Side note: Florida State’s search for a new head coach has taken a few turns over the past few weeks.
First, FSU strikes out on Bob Stoops. Next, brother Mark Stoops tells FSU no thanks.
The hot names are Norvell, Campbell, Clawson and Haggins.
Also, a report surfaced that Willie Taggart did not sign his contract. This report is not correct Willie Taggart signed his contract, but FSU administration did not sign. Just like the regular season FSU cannot finish.
Final Score: Florida 45 Florida State 20
