College Football Progress Reports

By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

We are only a few weeks into the college football season but we have learned about some of the prominent teams around the country.

It’s a little too early for report cards but we can make progress reports for some of the programs around the Southeast.

Georgia: The Dawgs are 3-0, which is good. They beat up on #14 Clemson 34-3 to start the season. The biggest take away from that game was the Tigers are not very good.

They followed that up by beating FCS Tennessee Tech 48-3. Last weekend they struggled at Kentucky and won 13-12. These are the same Wildcats that lost 31-6 to South Carolina the week before. I think UGA will be fine but the next test comes September 28 at Alabama.

Grade: A-

Alabama: Nick Saban is gone and Kalen DeBoer has stepped in. The Crimson Tide have beaten Western Kentucky, USF and Wisconsin. The South Florida game was close in the first half but they won 42-16.

These wins are not impressive but the schedule will get harder. We will learn a lot about this team when they play Georgia.

Grade: A

Tennessee: This has to be the most surprising team in my opinion. Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava stepped in as the starter and he looks like a Heisman candidate.

The Vols started the season with FCS Chattanooga and won 69-3. They played #23 NC State in Charlotte and won 51-10. Last weekend they demolished Kent State 71-0.

Grade: A+

Miami: Are the Hurricanes back? We seem to ask this question every few years. They opened the season at Florida and won 41-17. They followed that up with blow out victories against FCS Florida A&M and Ball State.

QB Cam Ward transferred in from Washington State and he’s playing great. Their next game is at USF. You can’t say I have something against the state of Florida with this grade.

Grade: A

Florida State: The wheels have completely fallen off in Tallahassee. They started last season 13-0 but have not recovered since losing the Orange Bowl.

The Seminoles came into the season ranked #10 and lost to Georgia Tech in Ireland. Then they dropped home games against Boston College and Memphis to fall to 0-3.

Mike Norvell’s seat is burning up right now.

Grade: F-

Florida: Speaking of hot seats, Billy Napier’s is in flames. Unlike Norvell, he has not had double-digit wins in Gainesville.

He actually has not had more than 6 wins in a season. We talked about the embarrassing loss to Miami earlier. They did beat FCS Samford for their lone win this season.

The Gators lost to Texas A&M at home 33-20 over the weekend. The score makes this game seem closer than it was. They travel to Mississippi State for their next game.

Grade: F

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are 3-1, which is better than most people expected them to start the season.

The wins are against FSU, Georgia State and VMI, an FCS team. The loss was at Syracuse, 31-28. I thought that was a game they were going to win. They play at #19 Louisville this week.

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