That highlight-reel run against UT was one of the best from the entire team last year. Zeus also runs with the same kind of violence. Edwards and McIntosh don’t shy away from contact either. If this group can stay healthy, their impact on defenses by the second half of each game should be noticeable - especially if they can get a head of steam going into the second level. And I expect to see a lot of that as Daniels & Co. force opponents to soften up the box. One of the best indicators to me that Monken’s passing game is working is if we see more longer runs out of the backfield.

Jaycee Horn is expected to go in the first round, and Israel Mukuamu will likely be selected in the first 100 picks. Not a great HC, but give Boom his due on defense.

Recruiting class of 2019 with no redshirt so, yes, a rising junior. The 3 years of eligibility mentioned is the two normally remaining plus the one blanket extra year everyone in FBS got last season due to COVID.

Presumably he’ll be surrounded by top talent in the NFL also, so what’s the point?

Some things you just can’t foresee. The plan was that in 2021 Kelee Ringo would have a year of experience under his belt and Tyrique Stevenson would be in year 3. Those two situations cost us dearly in terms of experience. We might as well get used to HCs having to manage the Portal constantly to maintain depth - once the NCAA allows the one-time transfer with immediate eligibility, FBS will look like basketball does currently.

FPI is complicated as hell, but the college version is supposed to take the previous 4 years’ of performance data into account, with an emphasis on the prior year. Last year MSU was 111th in FBS scoring and 58th in points allowed. No way to get to #8 that way. Recruiting classes and transfers are input as well, but MSU doesn’t have any particular advantage there. The simulations are run against the projected schedule, which for MSU has Vandy and Kentucky as the East crossover games. That helps but non-cons against Memphis and NC State are not cakewalks. The whole FPI thing is about gambling. Bottom line, the higher-rated team should win on a neutral field. It actually outperformed the Vegas sports books in 2016, which is why ESPN thinks so highly of it. There is no separate component for QB like the NFL version. MSU went 4-7 last year, but beat LSU and played some reasonably close games in several losses. They also were blasted by Bama and shut out offensively by Kentucky. Leach’s Air Raid was about as Jekyll/Hyde as an offense can be. I spent most of my career analyzing numerical data for patterns and trends. Much of FPI is proprietary and we can’t see the actual data and how it’s parsed, but after reviewing the inputs they do make public I still have no idea what is pushing MSU’s numbers.

Probably never since a 2.5-ton granite bulldog statue is already there. A seven ton statue representing a 6-ton elephant is one thing, but that would be a bit oversized for a 60–pound bulldog.

I saw an interesting stat today: “Saban is 11-8 all-time vs. Auburn (2-3 at LSU from 2000-04; 9-5 at Alabama since 2007) but all eleven wins have come against Auburn teams that did not finish the season with nine or more victories. And all eight losses came against teams that did reach nine wins.” I’ve watched every Iron Bowl for the last 20 years, but I never realized that, going back to Saban’s LSU days, such a linear trend existed. Put another way, Saban has lost 39 games as an SEC head coach, and Auburn has accounted for more than 20% of those - and over 26% of his losses while at Bama. When one school can stop the GOAT to that degree, it’s hard to argue the significance of the rivalry. Auburn is definitely Saban’s bane, and always has been. Still, though, my first UGA ball cap as a kid proclaimed me a “Gator Hater”, and that game will always be the pinnacle of the CFB season for me.

OK, I’ll bite. How does a a South Georgia boy who’s never lived anywhere else become a Vol?

My bet is the first group to come after it will concentrate on the celebration of a clear symbol of white colonial oppression and hegemony. Am I doing OK with the lingo?

Till it’s deemed racist, culturally insensitive, improperly appropriated, symbolically oppressive, or some other expression of woke wackiness. Someone will have an issue with it, and there will be no shortage of progressive platforms at their disposal to shout it from the rooftops. Count on it.

Gotta admit, that’s pretty damcool.

And “musical chairs” is what you want as a CFB fan?

I think a lot of traditional CFB fans are going to have to make a decision about our commitment to the game in the next few years. Many of the things that make CFB special have a bullseye on them now. If the sport devolves into just a less-talented form of the NFL, with players nothing more than mercenary free agents that change yearly, I’m pretty sure my checkbook closes and I’m out.

Nothing? I’m pretty confident that Boise receives a P5 expansion invite before UCF does, and that’s the ticket to program-changing money. That’s what respect can get you.

Say what? You have some sort of empirical evidence to back that statement up, or are you just projecting your own personal opinion? I swear, sometimes your take on things leaves me absolutely flabbergasted.

Actually, the real difference between Boise and UCF over the last decade is that Boise is respected across the board while UCF earns as much derision as respect.

The argument that maybe the SC administration didn’t know of the death is weak if Clemson knew and sent condolences right away. The only conclusion you can draw from that is that SC was unconcerned or just negligent. As to the comments that she was no one special and deserved no extra effort, what have you been smoking? Top financial booster to the U - that’s like saying you’d dismiss/ignore the death of of your closest friends’ mother, cuz she was definitely one of SC’s closest friends, despite any issues with the presidency. I don’t support her making it public, nor would I particularly want to share a table with her at dinner, but some of these arguments are the definition of cutting your nose off to spite your face.

“The defense will fix itself once TN shows they can put points on the board”. Just . . . wow. Would that be the Ole Miss model of offensive/defensive synergy?

For the record, the Top Ten 2000-2020: (1) Boise State 83.3% (2) Ohio State 83.0% (3) Oklahoma 81.7% (4) LSU 76.4% (5) Alabama 75.6% (6) Georgia 74.9% (7) Clemson 74.1% (8) Oregon 73.7% (9) USC 71.6% (10) TCU 71.5% (36) UCF 57.9%

Without using a browser, who can name the winningest FBS program in the 21st Century? It’s not Bama, nor Clemson, Not Ohio State, not Oklahoma. It’s Boise State. A G5 school. Boise State does not pretend it’s a P5 program. Boise does not demand home-and-home concessions from P5 bluebloods. Boise does not publicly wring their hands over how under-appreciated they are. What they do is just win more than anyone else in CFB and let that speak for itself. And that actually results in the occasional P5 program coming to play on the Smurf Turf. UCF, be more like Boise . . .

Seems I recall Saban had issues with Kamara’s attitude and suspended him during bowl season. When you’ve been Da Man at a program like Norcross it can’t be easy watching from the bench, but at least Alvin eventually got it turned around.

*love

Yeah, the NFL pro being sent down to a college farm team might have an issue with the little things like classes, homework, tests, studying, etc. Or are you suggesting an all-in approach where the players are no longer students, just athletic mercenaries on the administrative payroll? Cuz MLB farm teams and NBA developmental leagues are SO financially successful and attract milllions upon millions of viewers on ESPN. Watch the sport we live die a very painful death.

Edit: the five games with Clemson go through 2033, so a little more than a decade. Still, Uber-aggressive.

UGA getting a heavy dose of the ACC over the next decade. By may count, that’s 19 games over the next 10 years - 10 against Tech, 5 against Clemson, and two each with FSU and Louisville. And the other three P5 conferences are on the slate as well. Oregon and UCLA, Texas and Oklahoma, and Ohio State (assuming they don’t back out again). Kirby’s setting a new standard for non-con scheduling. Reminds me a bit of Bowden’s early FSU days: anyone, anywhere, any time.

Also a 4.0 student with outstanding leadership qualities. Sounds like a future team captain.

50 laughing tears emojis . . . no, a hundred!

Such a Kansas thing - finally get a blue-chipper and have to let him go before he ever steps foot on campus. Strange that it’s described as a case of terminating recruitment when it also states that he signed in Feb. A release of LOI seems more accurate - recruitment was done when he signed.

No surprise here - pretty much what I thought might happen after reading more detail about Arik’s problems. Homesickness never was the issue, we now know pretty certainly. It seemed more about facing academic and possibly substance issues. No one else was going to give him the pass he seemed to be looking for, so he’ll likely do his penance where he’s already comfortable. He also was not assured of immediately playing eligibility in-conference.