Robert Craft
The Real Heisman
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the biggest success stories of the last two years in college football is UGA’s Brock Bowers.
The Georgia star won the Mackey Award this year as the nation’s best tight end and is emerging as one of the top players in the sport.
His transition to the college level wasn’t the easiest though. After all, he didn’t have a senior season to end high school. That made things tough.
It seems like he’s handled the leap from high school to college just fine. In two years with Georgia, Bowers has 1,608 yards, 19 touchdowns and a national championship ring.
He’s a big reason why they’re heading back to the College Football Playoff with a shot at another national title.
At first, Bowers said he felt a little behind the curve when he arrived in Athens. But the staff got to work to get him up to speed, and it’s paying dividends.
Bowers’ production after two seasons has already matched that of former first-round tight ends like Florida’s Kyle Pitts, but per NFL rules, he’ll have to play a third year before moving on to the big leagues.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end shared his goals for the 2023 season and how he wants to grow before taking off the Bulldog red.
“I guess catching balls is probably one of my stronger suits and I just want to keep working on getting stronger and bigger, put on some weight,” Bowers stated.
Bowers may have already added weight since the preseason roster update this fall but his NFL target is likely around 245 to 250 pounds. Even without the extra bulk, the former No. 1 tight end recruit is still the No. 1 tight end prospect on most big boards for the 2024 NFL draft.
Brock Bowers has already become the greatest tight end in Georgia history. Now he’s closing in on becoming the school’s greatest receiver.
With a possible 2 games remaining this season and an entire Junior season left, it is not out of the realm of possibility that we could see Brock Bowers become the all-time leader in receiving touchdowns, as well as receiving yards for the University of Georgia. An accomplishment that would all but cement his legacy as not only Georgia’s greatest tight end, but the greatest receiver in school history as well.
Bowers is arguably the most dangerous pass catcher in football as the best tight end in the NCAA. He would’ve been the highest-drafted player at his position if he entered this year. Looking at everything it’s crazy to think all he’s accomplished in only 2 years of college ball.
On another note, Caleb Williams was just recognized as the best player in college football as the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner. In my opinion the best player in college football is Brock Bowers.
Blowing It Down
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Meet rock bottom. Square one. That’s good news or bad news depending on your viewpoint.
Maybe it had to sink like this to inspire the type of reform the Miami Hurricanes are set to see.
But after two decades of mediocrity, it is time.
Welcome to the nuclear reboot.
The season ending loss to Pittsburgh ended too many weeks of opponents throwing upside-down U’s. A tweet sent out by Pittsburgh’s athletic department Saturday night ridiculing UM for kicking a field goal to avert a shutout says it all.
The entire state of being is really bad right now. It stinks. It’s a character tester. Just don’t play the blame game: the list runs too deep and it is irrelevant in today’s discussion.
Does it matter if a roster devoid of impact talent is Manny Diaz’ fault? Or Blake James’ fault. Does Al Golden still get blamed for not firing Mark D’Onofrio?
Does Mario Cristobal get his hand slapped in year one for everything not going perfectly after arriving 12 months ago and staffing an entire football program in a few short weeks.
It is time to look forward, not backward. The rear-view mirror is absolutely horrifying. Rip that thing off the dashboard and smash it into sand, it’s time to embrace the change.
The disastrous 2022 football season is over, but you won’t recognize the Miami Hurricanes come September. Miami hired Cristobal to build a championship team, and his job really starts now. This minute. This second. Time’s ticking.
All was not a waste of time in 2022. Cristobal laid a foundation of expectation. He solidified the University investment in football and was the driving force behind the NIL operations that now exist behind the scenes.
Cristobal can’t be happy about what he found at Miami, or anything else that went wrong this year in this season of hell. It has been a whirlwind, but as far as I know, his agent is not trying to find him a new job.
He wasn’t a candidate at Auburn.
Cristobal must embrace the challenge of the fix here and the work involved. The bottom line is that the Hurricanes will have about 40 new players next season. That’s half a roster.
It is harsh. It is cold. The roster purge is about to take place, which could result in as many as 25-30 players with eligibility left sent to the transfer portal, it is also very necessary for the rebuild. Put simply there is no other way out. Miami fans have been riding and watching the merry-go-round and rollercoaster for two decades.
There will be exit meetings with Cristobal and his staff in the next few days that will result in many more departures by choice or (in some cases) not.
Every one of the 85 roster spots is a valuable commodity right now. Each player will have to prove his worth this year to own one of the spots going into the new year.
This is an unprecedented opportunity for Miami to fix its football program if it can land the right replacements. NCAA rules give new head coaches 18 months to make unlimited roster changes.
Current NCAA rules also allow unlimited signees and transfer additions as long as a program stays under the 85-man roster limit.
Miami didn’t hire Cristobal and pay him $8 million a year because it thought that the program was going to be playing for the national title this year. Cristobal was hired for his recruiting prowess and to push the team in that direction in years to come.
There are lots of good college football teams, but what made Miami “The U” was the SWAGGER!!
Cristobal may make the Canes an ACC contender again, but I’m not sure the SWAGGER will follow!!!
Florida Cup
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the first time in series history, the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles will play on Black Friday.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving has been the traditional date for the Sunshine Showdown but Mike Norvell had a different vision for this year. The Noles (8-3) opened as an 8.5-point favorite.
“It’s always important and we’re on Friday night. Friday night lights,” senior linebacker Amari Burney said. “It’s very important any time you play Florida State. It’s a rivalry and everybody knows that so we have to strap up and come ready to play.”
It will be the first time that Mike Norvell will be the favorite in the rivalry game. Norvel’s first season at the helm was in 2020, so his introduction to the rivalry was in 2021. The Gators, despite having fired Dan Mullen just six days before playing the Noles, edged out a 24-21 win at home.
After starting the season unranked, Florida State University broke into the Top 25 in September following a 4-0 start, however they quickly fell back out after their fair share of losses.
The Noles have been on a tear of late, winning their last four games. If FSU wins this Friday, it would be the program’s first nine-win season since Jimbo Fisher was Head Coach in 2016.
The Florida Gators are just 1-3 on the road at this point of the season, and Florida State is 4-2 at Doak Campbell.
The line sits at 8.5, home teams typically get three points on a betting line as home-field advantage, meaning Vegas views this as a one-score nail-biter.
This will be the 66th all-time matchup between the Gators and Seminoles. Florida owns a 37-26-2 lead and an active three-game winning streak.
Florida State’s Mike Norvell is well aware that anything can happen in the world of college football, and that his team is far from unbeatable. Any coach on the planet is well aware of what this game means to either of these programs.
FSU has already taken out Miami, and in a humiliating fashion. Now, the Gators are gearing up for a prime-time showdown against the hot-handed Seminoles.
From the looks of things, Norvell has Florida State on the right track. They’re playing week to week hammering potential bowl teams like they’re Cumberland College.
The Seminoles’ first-team defense has only given up one touchdown in a month, and their offense puts up yards and points like it’s 1993. But losing to this rivalry is different; and there is a sour taste in the losing team’s mouth
Forget that it’s Year 1 under Billy Napier, who was tasked not only to replenish UF’s thin roster, but also with rebuilding the entire culture Dan Mullen left behind, let’s not talk about the new “Gator standard” on and off the field.
Florida has one regular-season game to play under their new head coach, and best of all- it’s at their bitter rival Florida State on Black Friday.
Make no mistake, this game matters immensely to the Gators. It’s the rare game that impacts recruiting directly (especially in state); the last thing Florida wants to do is lose convincingly and allow FSU to sell their program as on the rise and the top option in the state.
After embarrassing Miami, could you convince a recruit toward Miami over Florida State?
Win, and Napier cools the heat of his defeats (almost instantly) and gives the Gators a bit of juice heading into the final stretch of recruiting.
Lose, and, well, the Gators are 6-6, off to a low-tier bowl game, and paying lip service to the importance of bowl practices while keeping one foot, if not both feet, on the recruiting trail for a top-level SEC program.
It won’t be played on Saturday, but it’ll be special like always, no matter the final score.
My prediction: Billy Napier will be the first Florida coach not to beat a single rival in a season since 1979. FSU 42 Florida 20
Return To Chief-Hood?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
What a difference a year makes, FSU football statistically has made huge changes.
The Seminoles are trending on both sides of the ball in elite company.
First, the ‘Noles average nearly 100 more total yards per game than last year, jumping up from 379 to 477 yards per game due to a deeper set of skill players, a better offensive line, and stronger quarterback play.
Let’s start with QBs, redshirt junior quarterback Jordan Travis and his co-starter McKenzie Milton have already eclipsed the production in 2021 with 2,300 yards and 18 passing touchdowns. FSU’s passing offense, while effective at times later in the season, ranked in the bottom half of the ACC last season.
This year, on the other hand- Travis is ranked third in the ACC in passing yards (2,414) and touchdowns (24). A noteworthy turnaround for a team pointed downhill for almost 5 years.
FSU scores about seven more points per game than last season, jumping from 27.6 to 34 in 2022, aided by 41-point, 45-point, and 38-point outbursts in the current three-game win streak.
It’s also worth noting the FSU offense took its foot off the gas while comfortably ahead during stretches of the third and fourth quarters in four ACC games this season — those three wins and against Boston College.
The Seminoles’ rushing offense lost 2021 starter Jashaun Corbin, and has gone stretches without this year’s starter Treshaun Ward. Yet, FSU only continues to skyrocket the stat book on the ground.
FSU improved from 177 rushing yards per game (No. 6 ACC) and 4.8 yards per carry last season, up to 5.5 per attempt and a dominant 213 yards per game. Aided by backs Trey Benson, Lawrance Toafilli, and along with Ward, those totals rank No. 1 in the ACC and No. 16 in the nation.
Of course, all those yards and offensive production wouldn’t be possible without a much-improved offensive line, even if the personnel stays the same.
Offensive fronts may not always have stats to back up their performance, but pass-protection wise, the returns are crystal clear: FSU gave up 36 sacks last year (2 per game) and only 16 this year (second-best in ACC).
Defensively, Florida State is in position of shaving off 8.4 points per game from its season average.
Last year, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller’s bunch gave up a respectable 26.5 points per outing, but this year they’re knocking that number down to 18.1 (tied for best in ACC).
The Seminoles also rose to best in the ACC in total defense (293 yards allowed), which is over an 80-yard improvement from last season’s 377.8 mark (No. 6 in ACC).
In many of these areas, FSU rose from the middle of the pack.
Special teams return yardage, the ‘Noles emerged from the doldrums of the conference.
Instead of ranking No. 12 in yards per kick return and No. 13 in yards per punt return, FSU now ranks third in the ACC in both categories.
Florida State is currently ranked No. 11 in the country in total defense and No. 16 in the country in total offense.
The only other teams to be in the Top 20 in both categories? Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.
I don’t know if Norvell will ever get this program back to an elite level, but man, after these last three weeks, and considering how far they’ve come in the last three years, it’s not exactly far-fetched, is it?
The Art Of The Deal
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The idea of pay-to-play in the college football ranks has gone from a lightning rod to the norm.
Conference commissioners pounded podiums these summer’s media days, calling for Capitol Hill to regulate Name, Image and Likeness.
They are not looking for help in educating athletes. No, the attention and focus has been on stopping recruiting inducements. While stakeholders argue amongst themselves and point fingers, the other side of NIL has quietly evolved.
College coaches are now dealing with a new reality. Recruits are lying to top 25 programs about the NIL package being offered by other schools vying for their commitment.
Anything to drive up the price of their recruitment and earn more cash.
In an industry with no regulation – the NCAA has been clear as mud – college football staffers are trying to figure out what the true market value is for a player. In some situations, programs are overpaying for a recruit in order to receive their commitment.
In multiple situations, highly-ranked recruits have openly told Power Five coaching staffs they’ve been offered seven-figure annual NIL packages by another school in their recruitment.
Only to find out through backchannels the prospect was openly lying, trying to drive up their market value.
College football is currently dealing with a recruiting market where the top 50 prospects have the privilege of commanding their market value.
I can’t say it’s specifically happened but I’ve certainly heard about it. It would be ignorant to think kids falsely report offers, so why wouldn’t the kid with offers, why wouldn’t they start to falsely report NIL deals. It’s no different than when you go to your employer and say, ‘Hey, I’ve had some other people call me. I’d like to stay here, but can you give me some more money.’
In the NFL, players are represented by agents who broker contracts on their behalf. In the college ranks, a small number of highly-touted athletes have a representative with experience.
The remainder athletes typically have a family member or mentor who has taken over their recruitment and is bartering on their behalf. And as we’ve seen, it can get ugly.
Coaches have to talk to other schools and figure out what the truth is. Some cut ties with the prospect, willing to lose out to bring an end to the NIL rumors.
Much attention, since the advent of NIL, has been on the institutions with major booster networks.
Miami, Tennessee and Texas A&M have all seen an influx of NIL dollars.
That doesn’t mean recruits are only lying to those schools. Even at the lower levels of Division I, NIL has recruits feeling entitled to demand compensation and creating false narratives.
For years, recruiting battles were waged over who had the nicest facilities. The best training tables and cushiest locker rooms. Now the top prospects want financial packages.
NIL has changed the conversations around how much and who is receiving it. Recruits are not afraid to lie, and they don’t care about burning bridges so long as there is a monetary guarantee sitting at the end of their recruitment.
For all the concern there is about recruits lying about NIL offers in college football currently, it may only be a glimpse of what the transfer portal will look like come December.
Impermissible NIL activities such as recruiting inducements, compensation without quid pro quo, or compensation that’s clearly out of line with fair-market value should be regulated.
To me, Power Five conferences have to create guidelines and penalties because the NCAA is afraid of a class action lawsuit. Until then, wealthy boosters will keep throwing money to influence these young athletes.
Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers Preview
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Tennessee and Georgia square off Saturday afternoon between the hedges in a showdown that dictates the SEC East and the landscape of the college football playoffs.
Tennessee has scored 40+ points in all five of their SEC games. The Vols are also coming off their best defensive performance of the season after holding Kentucky to six points and 205 yards (total offense).
On the other side, Georgia just took care of business with a 42-20 performance against Florida. The Bulldogs are hitting on all cylinders, and not just on one side of the football.
The Dawgs defense has earned a lot of hype over their past seasons, but this year the offense is the only unit in the SEC that’s currently averaging both 200+ yards rushing and 300+ yards passing per game.
Georgia and Tennessee enter the battle unbeaten and on top of the college football world. Who will stay there? And who will fall?
Tennessee has risen to the occasion once this season in a similar matchup, knocking off Alabama 52-49 earlier this season.
The reigning national champions pose a real threat for this hot handed team, but the preparation remains the same for Josh Heupel and the Vols.
Georgia is 8-0 on the season, and they did go through about 10 quarters of football this season where they clearly underperformed: between Kent State, Missouri, and the first half of Auburn- they showed real signs of dysfunction and had fans convinced that they could lose.
Despite the lackluster play at the time, in each game the Bulldogs prevailed and looked dominant once the final whistle blew.
Stetson Bennett leads an offense that averages 41 points on 530 yards per game. The quarterback has thrown for 2,349 yards with 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions while completing 67 percent of his passes. Bennett has also rushed for five scores, and that’s an underrated part of his game.
“I think he’s undervalued in some respects with his feet. He’s explosive, he’s twitchy,” Heupel said of Bennett. “When it’s not right in the pocket, he extends plays. That can be him throwing on scrambles, but also him tucking the ball and making plays. He made a couple against us last year that changed the game. You have to do a great job of bottling him up.”
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker remains squarely in the Heisman Trophy race, but the senior quarterback’s focus is on his first goal: Atlanta in December.
Jalin Hyatt’s stats in the last four weeks (three of those SEC games) have just been ridiculous. In the Vols’ last four games, Hyatt has 584 yards receiving and 11 touchdown catches.
Tennessee’s offense is fun to talk about, I get it, but the most eye-opening thing about Saturday’s thrashing of Kentucky was the defensive dominance.
Kentucky ended the night with just 205 yards of total offense. Chris Rodriguez was held to just 64 yards rushing. The defense forced three turnovers.
Let’s be clear, Georgia remains great on defense. They’re the only team holding SEC opponents to less than 100 yards rushing (86.4 ypg) and in five SEC games they’re allowing 189 yards per game in the air.
One thing I feel confident about is that Kirby Smart and Will Muschamp will have the Bulldogs Defense ready for the high-octane Vol’s offense.
Slowing down Tennessee, to me, means keeping them in the 30s. Something no SEC defense has done yet.
With that, I think Georgia will also score, and control the clock. Saturday, Tennessee will show up prepared to play in a monster game like this under the national spotlight, but the lights will be too bright for them.
Georgia’s Defense and Stetson Bennett’s big game experience will lead the Dawgs to victory.
Georgia 48 Tennessee 31
Memorable Moments
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The city of Jacksonville will get its annual rowdiness booster this weekend when Florida and Georgia come to town.
About time Jacksonville gets excited about some football. If top-ranked Georgia wins, it will be a game closer from claiming the SEC East and continuing its unbeaten season.
If the Gators are able to spoil all of that momentum, it will make up for what I’m forecasting to be a mediocre season.
Here’s a look at the five best all-time moments from the World’s Largest Cocktail Party.
- THE TIMEOUT: Let’s start it off with one of the most controversial endings in college football history.
In a game which featured consistent rain, the Bulldogs were down 33-26 in the fourth quarter. But with the help of quarterback Eric Zeier, the Bulldogs drove into Florida territory with 1:30 left.
With five seconds left, Zeier threw what was thought as the game-tying touchdown to Jerry Jerman, but Gators cornerback Anthone Lott called timeout right before the ball was snapped.
Zeier’s next and final pass fell incomplete, and Florida held on to the victory and went on to win the SEC and Sugar Bowl.
- THE GATOR STOMP: After years of Gator wins, Georgia’s head coach Mark Richt decided to change things up.
To start, Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno scored to give the Bulldogs the 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Then, the entire team came into the end zone to celebrate with Moreno, which is now referred to as the “Gator Stomp.”
That move gave the Bulldogs the motivation it needed to take down the defending national champions with a 42-30 win.
Moreno ended the day with 188 yards on the ground, and the Bulldogs defense sacked Florida’s Tim Tebow six times.
- HALF A 100: In 1994, the battle was moved to Gainesville because Jacksonville’s stadium was being used by the Jags and in return the battle took place in Athens in ‘95.
Georgia was 5-3 and limping through head coach Ray Goff’s final year.
Florida was undefeated and coach Steve Spurrier – at the height of his cockiness – decided he wanted the Gators to be the first team to “hang half a hundred between the hedges.” The Gators scored seven touchdowns and accomplished that goal with 1:21 left in the game.
- TIMEOUTS: Georgia had won the year before in a game where the entire team ran into the end zone to celebrate the first touchdown.
Although the Gators did not discuss their anger, they were seething and a picture of the celebration hung in every player’s locker.
Each team had one loss when they met in 2008 and the winner would be in the driver’s seat to win the SEC East and have a possible shot at the national title.
The Gators jumped out to a 14-3 halftime lead and then Georgia imploded in the second half, turning the ball over four times.
Florida capitalized and scored 35 unanswered points. The vindicated Gators then went on to win the SEC title and national championship.
1.RUN LINDSAY, RUN:
The most memorable moment had to be when the Bulldogs went on their championship run in 1980.
The Bulldogs were down 21-20 in the fourth quarter, facing third-and-long at their own 7-yard line.
Backed up in his own end zone, Georgia quarterback Buck Belue found Lindsay Scott at the 25-yard line. Scott was able to blow past the Florida secondary and score the game-winning touchdown with seconds left on the clock.
The 93-yard touchdown pass kept the Bulldogs’ title hopes alive. They moved to No. 1 in the polls the following week and went on to win their second consensus national title.
All in all, this is a historical matchup that college football fans look forward to every year. There have been plenty of memorable moments from this series, but these are five that really stand out from the rest. Let’s hope for a safe and sportsmanlike battle- although no one ever anticipates it.
Grounded War Eagles
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Auburn wrapped up their five-game home stand to start the season. Auburn prepares to travel to No. 2 Georgia and No. 9 Ole Miss in back-to-back travel weeks.
Offseason discussions centered around what the Tigers needed to produce during the first five games to position themselves for a successful season. The consensus was no worse than 4-1.
After Auburn blew another double-digit lead, they finished their five-game stretch at 3-2, with two of those wins being single-digit victories over San Jose State and Missouri.
Auburn is one of the worst turnover margin teams in college football, sitting at -9 for the season. The Tigers’ average of -1.80 per game has them 129th nationally, ahead of only Temple and Stanford.
Looking to the near future, it’s time for Athens: a place Auburn hasn’t won since 2005 off a last-minute kick off the foot of John Vaughn.
In total, the Tigers are 3-14 in this rivalry, including their recent five losses. Auburn has lost eight of nine games in the series, and has failed to top 14 points in each of their eight losses.
To make matters worse, Auburn hasn’t scored more than 10 points in Athens in any of their last five trips. The last time the Tigers scored more than 10 points in Athens was a 31-24 loss in 2009.
Nobody predicted Robby Ashford would throw for 337 yards and 2 touchdowns in his second career start, one week after throwing for barely over 100 yards. Eight completions accounted for 270 of Ashford’s 337 yards. Ashford’s other 11 completions accounted for 67 total yards. Also, to note, six of those eight big plays came in the first half.
Can Auburn’s offense create more big passing plays? Was the first half indicative of confusion in the secondary (does LSU ring any bells)? We will certainly know more after playing the 18th-ranked pass defense in Georgia. The Bulldogs allow 175 yards per game through the air and have six interceptions in five contests.
Auburn’s defense in their last two games (Missouri and LSU) produced an average of 3.5 sacks per game. If this were compared to the national average, it would rank top ten.
In the same two games, the Tigers have 15 tackles for loss, which would rank them top 15 nationally by the same comparison.
Auburn takes positive defensive momentum facing Georgia, who ranks 12th nationally in sacks allowed (4 total) and 11th nationally in tackles for loss allowed (16 total).
We’re entering week three of negative noise surrounding Bryan Harsin’s job security as Auburn’s head coach. When the clock hit all zeroes following the 41-12 loss to Penn State, Harsin’s fate appeared all but sealed.
The most common question is: when will a change be made? Auburn faces two tough road tests before a bye week.
Auburn returns home against Arkansas following a bye week. If a change is to be made during the season, and if minds are made up (which we believe they are), heading into the bye week looks like a logical inflection point.
The Dawgs come into this next game as 29.5 point favorites over Auburn.
Georgia doesn’t like looking bad, and this game against one of their biggest rivals should fire them up.
UGA is still probably the most well-rounded team in the nation, yes, Georgia will still be the team to beat in the SEC East. Let’s watch Kirby put the last nail in Harsin’s coffin.
Georgia 52 Auburn 13
The Miami Sprinkles
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
At his lowest point of his time at Miami, Mario Cristobal, down three touchdowns to Middle Tennessee State (the 2022 edition of 2019’s FIU debacle) he decided to welcome a quarterback controversy.
And there it was, at the 7:55 mark of the third quarter, “finally” in the minds of the freaked-out fans in attendance- screaming and chanting for Jake Garcia; Cristobal benched Tyler Van Dyke and brought Garcia into the action.
You can’t make this drama up. Garcia came in absolutely on fire. He threw a 39-yard pass in stride to Keyshawn Smith (Smith also had a kickoff return for a touchdown).
Garcia was one of the few Hurricanes to show individual skill progress this week. Thad Franklin scored on a one-yard run the very next play and Miami was down 31-17 with 6:08 left in the third quarter.
The Garcia show continued to some degree for the remainder of the game – he finished 10-19 for 169 yards – but by now we all saw; it was not enough.
Miami lost 45-31 to Middle Tennessee State in a complete, utter and embarrassing organizational failure. This loss negated much of the hard work Mario Cristobal and his staff have put in since arriving in December.
Teams lose a game like this, and frankly, it ends up not being the end of the world- as long as they bounce back. Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State at home and then beat Miami and Arkansas.
If the Hurricanes rally to still win the Coastal, this nightmare will be washed away. Right now, however, the nightmare is piercing the soul of fans wondering if that will happen because of the way the week has evolved.
Here’s some real talk: Van Dyke really is the same guy who had six 300-yard games to end the 2021 season. Nothing else from 2021 to now is the same. Absolutely nothing, and dealing with that has been the key component in this mass decline of QB performances.
New head coach. New offensive coordinator. New offensive system. Best receivers from last year, Charleston Rambo and Mike Harley, gone without suitable replacements.
Even with the encouraging improvement Saturday of Key’shawn Smith and Frank Ladson, it’s not working.
All the quarterback talk has masked the fact that Miami seemed to have nothing in the tank at the line of scrimmage. Some will call that an excuse, but these were the same guys who got pushed around last week against Texas A&M.
The issue in the game was that the passing game wasn’t there. Chemistry and depth are the main receiver issues. That’s compounded by a new offensive system by Gattis, not to mention, it is still quite early in the season.
The cloud looming above Coral Gables is the Gattis offense. Let’s see if it’s a good fit for Van Dyke or if the transfer portal is on the horizon.
So far, through four games, the answer seems to be leaning toward the second option.
That, however, can change quickly if Van Dyke can get things back on track with the rest of the offense.
It doesn’t get any easier for Miami, who begins conference play with North Carolina after a bye week.
Luckily, the Hurricanes will avoid heavy hitters like Clemson and Pittsburgh until the final weeks of the season, yet nothing is guaranteed for Miami after losing to Middle Tennessee State.
Is this the most embarrassing loss in modern Miami history?
New Chiefs
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Here are my latest observations about the Seminoles after their 3-0 start this season.
1 — This team’s toughness is legit. Every time things begin to look bleak; these guys find a way to fight back. Whether it’s the defense making a stop or creating a turnover or the offense stepping up to make a play.
Remembering Norvell’s Memphis teams, when we learned that FSU was targeting him for their vacant head coaching job in late 2019, what stood out most was how hard Memphis competed snap by snap.
They were physical on both sides of the ball, and seemed unfazed by the score or situation. Whether ahead or behind, Memphis seemed to play with the same high level of energy and intensity.
It’s such a positive thing to see a strong program battle back after challenging years. FSU fans should be falling in love with this team.
They know there will be times this season when the offense sputters or the defense has major lapses — heck, that’s already happened in the last two games (double heck, this ain’t even pro football! Kids mess up all the time). However, toughness is something that shouldn’t come or go. You have it or you don’t. Grit is absolute.
2 —Trey Benson’s break out. Even though he had 100-plus yards in the season opener against Duquesne, I didn’t think we saw the real Trey Benson in either of Florida State’s first two games.
I don’t know if maybe it was taking a little time to get acclimated to the speed of the game against teams like LSU and Louisville. If that was the case, it would be understandable. Remember, he missed nearly all of last season due to a catastrophic knee injury when he was at Oregon.
Maybe he’s just still getting comfortable with Norvell’s offense. Whatever the case, the guy is 6-foot-1, 215 pounds and built differently than everybody else FSU has in the backfield.
FSU got game(plans). As much credit as Florida State’s players deserve, the coaching staff prepare excellent strategies.
Despite the fact that QB Tate Rodemaker struggled several times in critical situations, Norvell was convinced that he would eventually turn the corner. Rodemaker may have actually done just that.
Injuries + Recruiting. Florida State has been dealing with several injury concerns. Then the list got much longer during the trip to Louisville, with QB Jordan Travis, DE Jared Verse, DL Malcolm Ray, OT Robert Scott, LB Tatum Bethune and others either leaving the game completely or missing time.
I also see the drop off in recruiting the past three years costing the Seminoles for the remainder of this season. With injuries mounting, the lack of depth will hurt the Seminoles as they navigate the remainder of their schedule.
FSU is off to a great start. The was the last time FSU had a 10-win season was 2015.
Will Norvell lead the Seminoles back to glory or will their lack of depth have them come up short?
