College Football
Not My Fault
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Arch Manning was supposed to be the next big thing. The next great quarterback in the Manning line, the guy who would bring Texas football back to the national stage, and the face of college football’s new generation.
I even wrote a glowing article about him for this publication just over a month ago. But here we are, five games into the 2025 season, and the story looks a lot different than anyone expected.
Texas is 3-2, the playoff dream is already slipping, and the most famous name in college football is taking more heat than ever.
The numbers tell part of the story. Manning has completed around 60 percent of his passes for 1,158 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s also leading the team in rushing, which says a lot about both his toughness and the chaos around him.
He’s made some highlight plays that remind everyone why he was so hyped, but he’s also made too many risky throws. That mix of brilliance and inconsistency has defined his first real run as QB1.
The spotlight has been brutal. Every pass, every expression, every misstep gets analyzed like it’s a presidential debate.
Steve Sarkisian even joked about reporters breaking down Manning’s body language. One SEC coach summed it up perfectly: “He throws a bad pass; he’s the worst quarterback in the world. He throws a good pass, he’s gonna win the Heisman.” It’s impossible to live up to that kind of pressure.
And when you look closer, it’s easy to see why things are rough. Manning is a first-year starter in the SEC behind an offensive line that has struggled badly.
Texas has allowed pressure on over 40 percent of dropbacks, which ranks near the bottom nationally.
In the loss to Florida, he was sacked six times and hit on more than half of his throws. No quarterback thrives in those conditions.
The help around him hasn’t been great either. Texas lost its top tackle and top wide receiver to the NFL, and injuries in the backfield have killed the run game.
The wideouts who were supposed to step up haven’t delivered. So, Manning has been trying to do too much, forcing throws because he doesn’t have many safe options.
Of course, not all of the issues are on the team.
Manning’s footwork has been inconsistent, and he’s been holding the ball too long. His average time to throw is over three seconds, one of the slowest in college football. That’s a dangerous habit behind a weak line.
He’s also missed some easy completions that should be automatic in Sarkisian’s offense. These are things that come with inexperience, but they add up fast.
The coaching hasn’t exactly made life easier.
Sarkisian keeps dialing up deep passing plays that take time to develop, even though his line can’t protect and his young quarterback needs simpler reads. Manning’s average target is 12 yards downfield, which is one of the highest in the country.
The problem is, Texas barely throws short passes. They have fewer quick throws than almost any major program. Instead of building confidence with short routes and screens, they keep asking Manning to go for big plays that often blow up before they start.
What’s getting lost in all the noise is that Arch Manning is still learning, and he’s doing it under more pressure than almost anyone in college football history.
Coaches and teammates say he’s handled it all with maturity and toughness. The problem isn’t that he’s failed to live up to the hype. It’s that no one could live up to the hype that followed his name.
Even the best Mannings had growing pains. Peyton threw 11 interceptions as a freshman. Eli didn’t become a star until his third year. Arch is just going through his version of that, only every moment is broadcast to the world.
The truth is, Arch Manning isn’t broken. He’s just in a tough spot. Texas needs a lot more help up front and a smarter game plan.
He’ll get better as the season goes on, but he was never going to be a miracle worker overnight.
Arch Manning will be fine. He’s talented, tough, and learning how to lead through fire.
Maybe the real story isn’t that he fell short, but that the expectations were never fair in the first place.
Category 5
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Mario Cristobal started his celebration by posing for a photo with his family in front of the scoreboard at Doak Campbell Stadium — reading Miami 28 FSU 22.
The Hurricanes head coach continued by hugging athletic director Dan Radakovich — “That was big,” Radakovich yelled — then waving his arms to pump up the roaring visitors’ section.
Before he could walk into the locker room, he needed one more piece to commemorate the triumph: one of the printed signs that read “Back-to-Back State Champs!”
After The U’s latest victory , it’s time to start taking his Canes seriously as national championship contenders.
The state championship claim is undeniable and notable enough on its own. In the past four games, No. 3 Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC) has beaten Florida, South Florida, Florida State and Bethune-Cookman (FCS).
It’s the first time the Hurricanes have beaten the Gators and Seminoles in back-to-back years since 2001-04. That means something in this state.
For the first time in two decades, the goal of a national championship finally feels attainable at The U.
For years fans were asking “is Miami back?” After many false-start moments and fool’s gold rosters. They flashed (rising to No. 2 in 2017 and were battling for a Playoff spot last season. Those dreams faded alongside the turnover chain.
This year, life feels different.
Miami defeated the nation’s No. 9 team (Notre Dame), No. 18 team (Florida) and No. 19 team (Florida State), based on recruiting ratings.
Plus, USF, a team that’s good enough to contend for a College Football Playoff appearance. Maybe it’s not the best resume in the country, maybe it doesn’t deserve a #1 overall ranking-but it’s impressive.
If there’s any questionable talent, it’s Cristobal. His failure to kneel out a win over Georgia Tech in 2023 and the blown 21-0 lead at Syracuse remain stains on his resume.
Focusing on those past blunders dims the progress he and his program have made.
Cristobal built a power program the way you’d expect a former offensive lineman: from the inside out.
His lines are excellent; the Hurricanes have allowed only six sacks through five games while, on the other side of the ball, Bain and Akheem Mesidor harass opposing QBs.
The run game and defense are strong. The passing attack, we learned Saturday, is more than capable.
The fact that Miami had to find a different way to win a rivalry game is encouraging for the Hurricanes’ season-long trajectory. They’ll need to beat different teams in different ways if they’re going to earn their first ACC championship, especially if they’re to compete for their first national title since 2001.
Those possibilities seemed feasible at Doak, especially this year. On a weekend that saw Penn State No. 7 and No. 9 Texas fall to unranked and untalented opponents.
Previous Miami teams would have turtled down the stretch as Florida State reeled off 19 consecutive points in the fourth quarter.
Miami’s past two decades have featured too many penalties and game-losing mistakes (do you remember the blocked extra point against the Seminoles in 2016?).
This time around, Miami didn’t panic. Cristobal didn’t pump his fist or clap triumphantly when his offense picked up a time-draining fourth down with three minutes left.
The Hurricanes calmly corralled the last onside kick to seal the win and, of course, kneeled out the clock.
They looked like a team that rightfully expects to win because Cristobal has built a high-end roster with an experienced quarterback and a program that no longer beats itself, even in the biggest moments against the biggest rivals.
And now with Cristobal’s second consecutive state championship secured, it’s time to start envisioning more for the program.
A Little Too Much Buzz?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Tech has started the college football season 5-0. That is impressive because most people did not predict this would happen. The Yellow Jackets beat Wake Forest (2-2) over the weekend, 30-29 in overtime. They dropped one spot in the AP Poll to #17.
“I’m extremely excited to win the football game,” head coach Brent Key said. “We’ve got two weeks now to deal with those things.”
It is tough to win games, especially against conference opponents. The two games Wake Forest has won were against Kennesaw State and Western Carolina. The Demon Deacons barely beat KSU in the season opener, 10-9.
We have to now ask, is Georgia Tech a legitimate contender to win the ACC and make the College Football Playoffs?
My answer is no and I have to use this Wake Forest game as an example. I know Tech was on the road but they trailed 20-3 early in the second half. The Yellow Jackets looked sluggish on both sides of the ball and let an inferior team dominate them for most of the game. I could argue that they showed toughness by coming back to win the game.
There was a blown offsides call against Georgia Tech with 1:50 left in the game and Wake Forest had the ball on third down. Quarterback Robby Ashford threw an incomplete pass, thinking he had a free play. That causes the Deacons to punt the ball with a three-point lead.
Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert told reporters Ashford “did what he’s trained to do, and that’s take a shot because he doesn’t know if it’s offside or not.”
An ACC spokesperson told the Associated Press that offside should have been called on the play. If officials had made the correct call, then Wake would have gained a first down with the penalty yards. Tech had no timeouts left, so the Demon Deacons could have secured the victory by running out the clock.
“I think there’s something special about this team, not even looking in the future, just the present with that just happened,” quarterback Haynes King said. “To overcome that, on the road, it’s just the maturity that we have. The trust that we have, players to players and coaches to players.”
Tech has a bye week coming up. Their next game is on October 11th at home against Virginia Tech (2-3). The Hokies lost to Old Dominion 45-26, so this should be an easy win for the Yellow Jackets.
The rest of the season they should be favored against everyone except for #12 Georgia. After Va Tech they play at Duke, Syracuse, at NC State, at Boston College, Pitt and UGA. I think they will lose at least one conference game. I also expect them to lose to Georgia.
If Tech advances to the ACC Championship Game, they will probably play #3 Miami or #18 Florida State. Both of those teams are more talented, so I would expect them to beat the Jackets.
If Georgia Tech can get to nine or ten wins, that will be considered a good season. They were 7-6 last year so that is a major improvement.
Farewell Old Friend
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
On Tuesday, the SEC will unveil every team’s conference opponents for the next four football seasons, including three designated annual foes. The three rivals each team will face went public recently, and most of the pairings made sense.
The SEC protected historic rivalries such as Georgia-Auburn, Alabama-Tennessee and games that mattered to nearby fan bases like Tennessee-Kentucky and South Carolina-Georgia.
A handful of the annual matchups, like Missouri-Texas A&M and Oklahoma-Ole Miss, are far from rivalries, and those are most likely to rotate after this four-year block when the league reassesses its schedules.
The SEC brass has not said what it used as a competitive balance barometer, but no team drew more than two permanent opponents in the upper half of the league’s wins leaderboard over the College Football Playoff and BCS eras. That tenet may allow for fair scheduling, but it cost the league one of its best annual rivalries.
Below, I list the SEC’s 7 best rivalries that, for now will no longer be played each year — starting with the most obvious omission.
- Alabama-LSU
This is painful. The LSU-Alabama series has become a staple of the November schedule, and the rivals have played every year since 1964. At least one team was ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in 12 of those matchups, and the programs have combined for nine national titles since 2003.
2.Tennessee-Florida
While this game had no real chance at annual preservation due to both sides’ rivalry priorities, it’s still a bummer to see it cycle off their schedules. Tennessee-Florida is a rivalry created by realignment, when the SEC placed both schools into the East Division in 1992. From 1916 until 1990, they played only 19 times. From 1990 through 2002, both teams were mainstays in the top 10, setting the stage for the SEC’s best rivalry over that time frame.
- Alabama-Georgia
Let’s start with the obvious: This had no shot at getting protected. Both programs must play Auburn, and the Alabama-Tennessee and Florida-Georgia rivalries are woven into the fabric of college football history. But even for these border heavyweights to face off twice every four years should be considered a win. This week’s matchup marks just the fourth time the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide have met in the regular season since 2008. Over that time frame, Alabama-Georgia played four times in the SEC title game and twice for the CFP title.
- Tennessee-Georgia
Both Tennessee and Georgia are in the running for the most rivals of any team in the country. This series has a limited number of games — they didn’t play at all for a 31-year stretch and met only eight times from 1937 until 1992. But Tennessee-Georgia (No. 53) has produced some massive games in recent years. The teams have battled 20 times as ranked opponents, and their 2022 game featured the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in Sanford Stadium history.
- Florida-LSU
During the divisional era, this was a permanent crossover. Then Florida-LSU (No. 64) played some outstanding games and have met every year since 1971, which justified keeping the rivalry intact. They have faced off in 25 ranked matchups, second-most among longtime SEC rivalries behind only Alabama-LSU. It’s also an unpredictable series, with the teams combining for nine top-10 upsets (Florida won five of those, LSU four).
- LSU-Mississippi State
This was the only SEC series with more than 100 meetings to get sacked. LSU-Mississippi State (No. 100 in the Top 100) has been played 117 times, but the expanded SEC’s schedule adjustments in the last two years resulted in this matchup becoming collateral damage. LSU could have a full SEC slate of opponents deemed a rival (including Auburn), but the Tigers’ surging series with Texas A&M and its propensity for great games with Arkansas take precedence. Mississippi State preserves the Egg Bowl with Ole Miss and gets an 80-mile drive to Alabama, plus four years of dates with Vanderbilt.
- Auburn-Florida
There was hope this one might return to yearly status, but it was competitively unbalanced. Auburn already has games with Alabama and Georgia, which rank No. 1 and No. 2 in total victories in the BCS/CFP era among SEC teams. To add Florida (which was sixth) would create major schedule disparity for the Tigers. Some Florida fans contend Auburn was the Gators’ No. 2 SEC rival after Georgia. It’s too bad because the teams played every year from 1945 through 2002, with 84 total meetings (Auburn leads 43-39-2).
Some fans do not like the new scheduling because they are so accustomed to the regional games, while others welcome the new balance in SEC scheduled. College football and especially the SEC is now on a national landscape and the schedule changes, promoting television eyes around the country.
Left Behind?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Dabo Swinney became the head coach at Clemson on October 13, 2008.
Tommy Bowden resigned six games into the season and he was named the interim head coach. The Tigers beat South Carolina 31-14 on November 29, 2008. He went 4-3 and was named the head coach on December 1, 2008.
One of the first things Swinney did when he was hired as the interim head coach was introduce a new tradition, the “Tiger Walk”. This is when all players and coaches walk through the parking lot outside of Memorial Stadium about two hours before a game as they head inside for final game preparations. I though this tradition was around a lot longer so I was surprised to find that out.
He made Clemson into a national powerhouse and won two national championships. Coming into the 2025 season, the Tigers were ranked #4 in the preseason poll. They returned several starters from the 2024 team that was 10-4. They won the ACC Championship and made it to the College Football Playoffs.
Senior quarterback Cade Klubnik was considered a candidate to win the Heisman Trophy coming into the season. As you know Clemson has started the season 1-3.
The season started with a home loss to #9 LSU, 17-10. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. They beat Troy the next week, 27-16. The Tigers trailed at halftime, 16-3 before scoring 17 unanswered points in the third quarter. We should have seen then that Clemson has a problem.
They lost at Georgia Tech Week 3, 24-21. The Yellow Jackets were unranked at the time but they are 4-0 now and ranked #16 in the AP Poll.
Swinney was asked about that loss and he went into a diatribe against his critics that he supposedly does not listen to.
“Why are we held to a different standard to all these other teams out there who ain’t never won nothing?” Swinney said.
“If Clemson wants me gone, they are tired of winning, they can send me on my way, but I’m going to go somewhere else to coach,” Swinney said. “I ain’t going to the beach. Hell, I’m 55, I’ve got a long way to go.”
Then they played Syracuse at home this past Saturday. The Orange won, 34-21. The game was never close. Syracuse went into halftime with a 24-14 lead.
Swinney has been outspoken against using the transfer portal and NIL. It seems like he is being left behind with the changing landscape of college football. He has a new critic, Nick Saban.
“Dabo needs to look at what he needs to do in his program to make his program continually be successful” Saban said. “Do you have to change (the use of) the portal? Do you have to change name, image and likeness? …The game has changed. You need to change with it. Otherwise, you’re not going to put yourself in the same position other people are and having the chance to be successful.”
Clemson has a bye week now and the next game is at North Carolina (2-2) on October 4th. This should be an easy win for Clemson.
The real question is, how will the rest of the 2025 season be remembered for the Tigers?
This could be the beginning of the end for Dabo or he could finally adapt with the times and make Clemson a dominant program again.
O-ffensive
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When Florida quarterback DJ Lagway threw his fifth interception Saturday night to seal the game at No. 3 LSU, athletic director Scott Stricklin pursed his lips and turned away.
Stricklin did not watch the replay. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the ground.
What else was there to see? What else is there to say?
The Gators 20-10 loss dropped them to 1-2 this season with plenty of the nation’s hardest schedule still ahead.
The numbers are grisly enough to spark questions about Napier’s buyout ($19.4 million at the end of this contract year) to intensify:
Three games into his fourth season, Napier is 20-21. That’s as many losses as Will Muschamp had, and Muschamp coached in eight more games. Napier’s winning percentage (.487) is the worst by any non-interim Florida coach since 1950.
He needs to win his next 28 games to match the winning percentage of Dan Mullen, who was fired.
Napier is 3-10 against Florida’s primary annual rivals. That’s 0-3 against Georgia, 1-2 against Tennessee and Florida State and 1-3 against the Tigers after last week.
Napier dropped to 4-15 against ranked opponents and 5-14 away from The Swamp.
Saturday was especially troubling if you watch the way the game played out. The athletes have not quit on Napier, and this loss wasn’t due to a lack of fight.
Florida was a willing participant in pregame shouting matches and a brief in-game scuffle.
The defense was good enough to win, starting the game with three consecutive three-and-outs and holding LSU to 316 total yards — the Tigers’ third-lowest output in three seasons under Brian Kelly.
The problem is the offense. Napier’s offense can’t score. Napier leads it after refusing to hire a play caller and doubling down on his role after last week’s 18-16 loss to South Florida.
This is an offense that Florida fans expect to light up scoreboards like they did under Steve Spurrier. This offense looks like it’s squandering a third consecutive NFL talent at quarterback, and this one might be the most promising of them all.
In Year 1, Napier’s quarterback was the No. 4 NFL Draft pick, Anthony Richardson. The Gators went 6-7.
For the next year and a half, Napier’s quarterback was Graham Mertz, who was drafted in the sixth round this spring. Gators went 8-10.
Since mid-October, Napier’s quarterback has been Lagway, the former five-star recruit and Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. After encouraging performances in 2024, Napier and Lagway have lost two in a row in 2025. Lagway’s five interceptions Saturday were the most by a Florida quarterback since 1992.
Despite those turnovers, the Gators were still competitive. An optimistic spin is: if you take away the pick six Lagway threw and add the 87-yard touchdown pass that was nullified by a holding call, Florida would’ve been right there.
“We’ve lost two in a row like that,” Napier said.
He’s right. The Gators had a pair of touchdowns negated by penalties in last week’s loss.
That doesn’t make Saturday night look or feel any better, especially because of how poorly the “Bull spit” game aged.
South Florida was blown out 49-12 on Saturday by No. 5 Miami — the same No. 5 Miami that hosts the Gators this week.
Napier is 0-1 against the Hurricanes, in case anyone was wondering.
If Napier is feeling the heat at this biggest pressure-cooker program, he isn’t necessarily showing it. When Urban Meyer lost in Baton Rouge in 2005, he cried in his postgame news conference. Napier started Saturday night’s address by complimenting his players and team leadership.
Stricklin, again, turned his head to the ground. He did not need to watch that replay, either. He’s seen this trainwreck too many times before, only difference is the conductor.
House of Cards?
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
LSU is 3-0, ranked 3rd in the country, and last Saturday beat Florida 20-10 in a rivalry game. On paper, things look great in Baton Rouge. But if you really watch the games, the Tigers’ start isn’t as flawless as it seems.
Brian Kelly made headlines after that Florida win for snapping at a reporter about LSU’s struggling running game. He later apologized, but honestly, you can’t blame him.
The offense has been frustrating to watch. Through three games, LSU is last in the SEC in scoring at just 20 points per game and has only five offensive touchdowns.
In a league like the SEC, if your offense isn’t clicking, even wins start to feel shaky.
The running game has been the biggest problem.
Against Florida, LSU barely managed 100 yards on the ground, and half of those yards came on one big burst from Caden Durham. Outside of that play, the Tigers were stuck in neutral.
Kelly insists LSU can run the ball and points to the last play of the game as proof. Sure, one play is nice, but relying on a single breakaway won’t get you through the tougher SEC matchups coming up.
Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has had a lot to deal with too. He’s now battling a torso injury and lingering knee issues and is limited on how much he can throw in practice.
Still, he’s completing 65 percent of his passes, but the offense hasn’t looked like the high-powered unit everyone expected with a potential first-round talent at quarterback. If Nussmeier isn’t 100 percent, the pressure on the running game only grows.
The defense, thankfully, has been carrying the team.
Even after All-American linebacker Whit Weeks was ejected for targeting in the first half, LSU forced five turnovers against Florida and played physical from start to finish. Transfer Jack Pyburn and the secondary stepped up big time.
But let’s be real: in the SEC, you can’t expect the defense to win every game. The offense has to start showing up, or the schedule is going to catch up to them fast.
Outside of on field action, there’s been some good news for the Tigers this week. LSU just landed 2027 quarterback Peyton Houston, the top-rated pocket passer in the nation for his class, and the godbrother of former LSU star Devin White.
He’s the first commit of that class and gives hope for the future at a spot where LSU has struggled to find consistency. With Nussmeier leaving after this season, Houston or another QB recruit is going to have to step up eventually.
So where does all this leave LSU? Unbeaten? Yes. Ranked in the top five? Check. But the offense looks sloppy, the quarterback isn’t fully healthy, and the run game has no rhythm.
Kelly might be right that fans can get spoiled, but when you’re running an SEC powerhouse, just winning isn’t enough. People expect domination.
The next few games will tell the story. The Tigers host Southeastern Louisiana this Saturday in what is supposed to be a tune-up, but the real test comes when LSU heads to Ole Miss on September 27.
If the Tigers struggle there, all the questions about the offense will come screaming back. If they pull off a convincing win, Kelly’s outburst and early offensive struggles might just fade into the background.
Right now, LSU is a bit of a paradox: unbeaten with a frustrated coach, a hobbled quarterback, and an offense that hasn’t hit full stride.
Wins are nice, but the cracks are already showing, and the rest of the SEC is ready to expose them if LSU doesn’t clean things up.
Time To Go?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
You may have heard that the #13 Florida Gators lost to USF over the weekend, 18-16. The game was at home at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka The Swamp.
South Florida deserves credit. They started the season by beating #25 Boise State 34-7. With that being said, Florida views their program as superior to South Florida. This is a loss that cannot happen for a coach on the hot seat like Billy Napier.
“It’s not good enough,” Coach Billy Napier said. “We’ve got work to do. You guys know it. I know it. Anybody that watched it knows it. We got to take ownership of it, and we got to go back to work. That’s it.”
Napier’s record at Florida is 20-20, with a 14-7 home record. He’s been 1-1 after the first 2 games each season he’s been in Gainesville.
The offense finished with 355 yards but they had to settle for three field goals. Florida’s lack of discipline was on display. The Gators held a one-point lead in the final three minutes of the game.
They had two costly penalties on South Florida’s final drive. Defensive back Dijon Johnson was called for pass interference. On the next play, defensive lineman Brendan Bett was flagged and ejected on the final drive for spitting at an opponent.
The surprising thing is this was two days after Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott.
“I haven’t had that conversation with him yet,” Napier said of Bett. “We’ll take a good look at it, but it’s unacceptable. I think we’ve got a lot of players in that room as well that have the same belief that it’s unacceptable.”
“When a guy does something like that, he’s compromising the team. He’s putting himself before the team. Everything the game is about, you’re compromising, so there will be lessons to be learned there. Yeah, it’s that simple.”
That helped set up the 20-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica as time expired. This was the first road win against a ranked opponent for USF since they beat #16 Notre Dame on September 3, 2011.
“We created it. We deserve it,” Napier said. “If you play football like that, you’re going to be criticized. It comes with the territory, right? Only thing you can do is go get it fixed, and that’s what we’ll start working on (Sunday).”
This was Florida’s first defeat at home against a school from Florida, other than Florida State or Miami, since a 16-14 loss to Stetson in 1938.
Clearly UF fans are angry and talks about firing Napier have resurfaced.
The next game is on the road at #3 LSU. The last time the Gators won in Baton Rouge was 2016. The following games are at #5 Miami, home against #7 Texas and at #16 Texas A&M. The odds seem to be stacked against Napier.
They needed to beat South Florida to have a chance to get to six wins. I think UF will finish with a losing record. The question is, how will the fan base react if they lose their next four games? I wonder when they will run out of patience. I don’t think he will make it to the end of the season.
His buyout is 85% of his current remaining contract, which would be $19.38 million after this season, with 50% of the buyout ($9.7 million) being due within 30 days of Napier being fired and the rest being paid out in equal installments every July through 2028.
There is no offset for the buyout if Napier gets another job.
Pretenders?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’d have a hard time saying anything positive about Alabama.
In fact, that debacle against Florida State reminded me a lot of that FSU-Georgia Tech game last year, when a team didn’t just lose but also got dominated along the lines.
This was not a result you could blame on a first-time starting quarterback. Ty Simpson was fine when he wasn’t running for his life. The Noles looked like a better team in every aspect of the game.
Could it be that FSU will go on to win the national title, and Alabama’s loss makes more sense in context? Perhaps. Could the Tide look much better three weeks from now against Georgia, especially if they get back top running back Jam Miller and proven defensive tackle Tim Keenan III? Of course.
But there’s not much recent precedent for a ranked team getting humiliated in its opener, then turning around and having an amazing season.
A few recent examples, in reverse chronological order.
2023: No. 8 Florida State 45, No. 5 LSU 24. Though Jayden Daniels went on to win the Heisman, LSU went 9-3 in the regular season and would have missed a 12-team College Football Playoff.
2023: Duke 28, No. 9 Clemson 7. Dabo’s team finished 4-4 in the ACC.
2021: No. 1 Alabama 44, No. 14 Miami 13. The Canes went 7-5, and Manny Diaz got fired.
2018: No. 25 LSU 33, No. 8 Miami 17. The Canes went 7-6, and Mark Richt retired.
Alabama fans looking for a ray of optimism might recall 2016, when the top-ranked Tide destroyed No. 20 USC 52-6. The Trojans went on to win the Rose Bowl.
But there was a clear spark to that run: At 1-2, Clay Helton benched QB Max Browne for redshirt freshman Sam Darnold, who went 9-1 from there. Again, QB was not the problem for the Tide in Tallahassee last weekend.
I do believe Nick Saban got out at just the right time. The ability to sustain that level of year-in, year-out dominance, particularly in the SEC, seems next to impossible in an age when everyone can leave at any time.
Ohio State could become an exception, simply because it’s long recruited at a higher level than anyone else in the Big Ten. (Michigan included, thought that’s starting to change.) The razor is much thinner between Alabama/Georgia/LSU/Texas.
After week one FSU is playoff contender, and Alabama is definitely a pretender.
That’d be poetic, but no, only the first part seems feasible at the moment.
Let’s Play Nine
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Four years after the nine-game debate heated up, and over two years after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey compared the decision to landing a plane, they finally did. They finally landed the plane.
The SEC recently announced that it is officially going to a nine-game schedule, ending a long saga with a vote of school presidents. Now comes the saga within the saga: Who are each team’s annual rivals? They get three now.
The nine-game format has two main components:
Three games against annual opponents.
Six games against non-annual opponents, rotated such that everybody plays each other twice in four years, home and away. (Other than neutral-site games: Georgia-Florida and Oklahoma-Texas.)
This format will begin in 2026 and will be on a four-year cycle.
Sources reiterated that the three annual rivals could be revisited and revised. That gives the conference flexibility to change those annual opponents — either because rivalries evolve, competition standards evolve, or financial needs evolve.
The SEC did not announce the three annual rivals for each team. Sankey pointed to an announcement in December, since those announcements have worked well the past few years.
He added that the schools themselves will be notified earlier, which indicates that the proposed list from years ago has already changed.
That list was done in 2023, and it prioritized historical rivalries and competition. The conference worked with an analytics company to develop a metric that took into account every team’s 10-year record in an effort to balance schedules.
The result was keeping each team’s top one or two rivalries, but sometimes not their third.
Georgia, for instance, would play Florida and Auburn, but then Kentucky, rather than Tennessee or South Carolina. There was also the odd matchup between Florida and Oklahoma.
These odd matchups may still end up being these team’s three annual rivalries.
But sources indicate that the SEC will not follow the earlier proposed 2023 matchup list.
Sankey, appearing on the SEC Network on Thursday, emphasized tradition: “We’ll look at historical rivalries. That’s a really important component,” Sankey said. “We have a lot of those. In fact, in many ways, we’re uniquely positioned to honor those historic rivalries. So those become annual opponents on a schedule. Not everyone has three, but that’s the basis, is three annual opponents.”
The last point is key: Not every school has three teams they would consider historic or geographic rivals. Some have over four. It’s going to be hard to create everyone’s ideal list.
On the other hand, it’s better than the alternative: The eight-game schedule had one annual rival, which meant games like Texas-Texas A&M, Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia might not have been played every year.
Yes, Sankey said this year they had a way of continuing to play those games in an eight-game schedule, but it would have created a headache for schedule makers.
That also may have been Sankey’s way of signaling that they were going to end up protecting those rivalries through a nine-game schedule.
So how will it look?
Here is a potential list, prioritizing tradition and geography, not competition. The seemingly most important rivals are listed first:
Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, LSU
Arkansas: Missouri, Texas, Kentucky
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Florida: Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina
Georgia: Auburn, Florida, South Carolina
Kentucky: Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas
LSU: Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Kentucky, South Carolina
Missouri: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Vanderbilt
Oklahoma: Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M
Ole Miss: Mississippi State, LSU, Vanderbilt
South Carolina: Georgia, Florida, Mississippi State
Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Alabama, Kentucky
Texas: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas
Texas A&M: Texas, Oklahoma, LSU
Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri
This isn’t perfect. It leaves out some natural geographic rivals like Alabama and Mississippi State, which are only about 90 miles apart.
It also leaves out historic rivals like Florida and LSU, who developed a good cross-division rivalry during the SEC East-West days. But it does restore Auburn and Florida, who were annual opponents until 2002.
There are also “fill-in” games, such as South Carolina-Mississippi State. It would be great to have Mississippi State play Alabama, but who would Alabama ditch among Auburn, Tennessee and LSU?
Television matters. ESPN is set to pay each school an estimated $5 million extra for adding the ninth game, per multiple sources.
A driving force of this decision was to enhance the viewership of the regular season, sources confirm.
This makes the most sense as the conference enters the College Football Playoff expansion, which would seem to erode the impact of the regular season.
