10 things I'm absolutely overreacting to after Week 10 in the SEC
In a season to forget, Saturday was a day to remember.
Sarah Fuller made history. Mac Jones, Kyle Pitts and Matt Corral made plays. Trying to keep Ohio State out of the Playoff made no damn sense, even before Northwestern pulled a Northwestern and lost to Michigan State.
Those are just some of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after another Saturday down South in and around the SEC.
10. So you’re saying there’s a chance …
No, not exactly.
Sorry, Texas A&M, but somebody has to keep it real for Aggies fans.
Debuting at No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings was fantastic. And I know Aggies fans immediately started playing the What-if game …
What if Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame go undefeated … or if Clemson crushes Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game, we’re in at No. 4, right?
I don’t think so.
Given the Playoff committee’s history, it’s hard to make a case for how the Aggies could steal the No. 4 spot when their résumé is based almost entirely on a 3-point home win over Florida. Seriously, what else can you point to? The mitigating factors are troubling enough — a 5-point victory over Vanderbilt, a less-than-inspiring 14-point win over Mississippi State. No other wins vs. ranked teams (assuming Auburn falls out of the polls again).
But there’s no avoiding the elephant in the selection room.
That’s how dream-crushing that 28-point loss to Alabama was. That’s not a forgivable or excusable outcome, not when you lined up with your starting QB, both of your stud running backs, etc.
The only way the SEC gets 2 teams is if Florida beats undefeated Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
It’s almost impossible to imagine a scenario in which Texas A&M is the SEC’s 2nd team and 4th seed. Even if Notre Dame were to lose to Clemson in the ACC title game, the Irish still have more quality wins than the Aggies.
Ohio State (more on the Buckeyes in a minute) or the B1G champion would have a better résumé.
We’ve been completely ignoring the Pac-12, but I suppose an undefeated champion could garner some attention, too.
Basically, any conference champion without a 28-point loss is going to look better than a team that didn’t even make its conference championship game and lost a game by 4 touchdowns.
9. Do you want the 4 best teams? OK, that includes Ohio State
The Buckeyes had a 2nd game canceled Saturday. So instead of waking up 6-0 this morning, they’re still 4-0 and dangerously close to not being eligible for the B1G Championship Game. The B1G said teams must play 6 games to qualify. Three strikes and you’re out. Wisconsin already has had 3 postponements, so the preseason West favorite already has been eliminated.
What happens if Ohio State can’t play next weekend, either? With cases rising and quarantine protocols, it’s quite possible.
B1G drama, that’s what. For some, anyway.
It doesn’t change my view of the Buckeyes.
The optics wouldn’t be ideal. I readily admit and understand that. But don’t try to convince me that an 8-1 Northwestern team with a B1G championship title is a better team than a 5-0 Ohio State. (And forget Indiana. Ohio State already beat the Hoosiers.)
Ohio State is the best team in the B1G. I don’t need an arbitrary number of regular-season blowouts and another B1G title game mauling of an overmatched West team to prove the point. I didn’t need Northwestern’s loss, either.
It’s not in the B1g’s best interest to send a team to the Playoff. It’s in the B1G’s best interest to send the best B1G team to the Playoff. That’s Ohio State. And that was Ohio State even before Northwestern’s loss.
8. Congratulations to Vandy kicker Sarah Fuller
A standout goalkeeper on Vandy’s women’s soccer team, Fuller became the first woman to play for a Power 5 conference football team Saturday.
Let’s make history. #PlayLikeAGirl #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/3SgBP1qZru
— Sarah Fuller (@SarahFuller_27) November 27, 2020
Unfortunately, Vanderbilt’s offense never gave her a chance to showcase her leg, so her on-field contribution was limited to a well-executed squib kick to open the 2nd half.
It’s a shame Vandy turned in arguably its worst offensive performance of the season. Everybody with a functioning brain wanted to see Fuller line up and split the uprights.
Big picture? No matter. I’m guessing more people watched Vanderbilt football Saturday than they have … maybe ever? Legends and pioneers like Billie Jean King took notice and tweeted their pride and praise.
Our family watched every second of the game, hoping for one big play.
Our daughter, a 13-year-old who plays against boys in soccer, basketball and baseball, smiled throughout, but especially afterward when Fuller specifically addressed the young girls in this country and told them: “You can do anything you set your mind to. You really can.”
It was awesome.
Fuller was built for this moment. She exemplifies student-athlete. She’s a role model in Nashville, where she works with the “Play Like a Girl foundation.” She’s been an All-SEC Academic Honor Roll member for 3 years. And she just posted one of the best seasons by a goalkeeper in Vandy history.
Sunday, she was the winning GK as Vandy knocked off No. 1 seed Arkansas 3-1 in the SEC Championship Game. That was Vandy’s first women’s soccer title since 1994. Fuller showed grit, too, allowing nothing after Arkansas took a 1-0 lead just 46 seconds into the title game. By Wednesday, she had convinced Derek Mason she was his best option at kicker.
After the football game Saturday, she joked that she felt a lot more pressure playing for the SEC title than kicking in an SEC football game.
7. Wake up, Jason Whitlock
So this might have been the dumbest response to Fuller’s historic undertaking that I saw on Twitter this week.
Things I'm not supposed to ask. Does Vanderbilt have a men's soccer team? Were any of the guys on the men's soccer team considered to kick for the football team? Did Vandy choose the best candidate or the most publicity?
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) November 28, 2020
Come on, man. I know your job is to stir the pot. But Vanderbilt hasn’t had a men’s soccer program since the mid-2000s.
6. Also, Vandy, if you’re not selling a “Fuller 32” jersey, I’m not sure what you’re doing …
This. pic.twitter.com/uNkQzGlekW
— Taylor Davis (@taylorbethdavis) November 28, 2020
The world is changing. And it’s a beautiful thing.
5. Top 5 of Power 5
Staying positive, just like John Schlarman would have wanted … here is the best of the week:
1. At home with “Nick Saban.”
Nick Saban watches Iron Bowl from home pic.twitter.com/JxTOv1qzQJ
— Joey (@JoeyMulinaro) November 28, 2020
2. Derek Mason: Credit Mason for having the guts to give Fuller a chance to make history. This guy gets it. Results matter, even at Vandy, so there’s a very good chance his time is winding down. It’s hard to argue otherwise. But just like against Kentucky, when Mason didn’t accept a penalty as a show of respect for John Schlarman, Mason is a guy you want leading people. If this is the end of the road at Vandy, here’s hoping another SEC program scoops him up quickly to run their defense. I can think of 3 prominent programs he’d help immediately. Ultimately, I think he ends up running an athletic department, if not a league.
3. Kyle Pitts: Goodness. Florida’s “Weapon” returned after a 2-game absence and added 3 more TD passes Saturday, giving him 11 in 6 games this season. He is the most unstoppable offensive force in the 2020 season.
4. Najee Harris: He’s gaining ground quickly on Derrick Henry’s program career rushing record. He’s now 322 shy of Henry’s mark of 3,591 yards.
5. Matt Corral: There’s a reason we wrote a story last week about potential Egg Bowl records Corral could break. Corral was fantastic in throwing for 385 yards and 2 TDs. Let’s give some credit to counterpart Will Rogers, too. He was even better, throwing for 440 yards and 3 TDs and coming oh, so close to a tying Hail Mary TD toss at the buzzer.
4. The 4 Playoff teams are …
1. Alabama, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Florida, 4. Ohio State
I’m perpetually skeptical about Notre Dame, but I was impressed with the Irish’s win Friday over UNC. I still have reservations about the defense’s ability to slow down Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields or Kyle Trask, but the Irish made life miserable for Sam Howell. He’s not in the Heisman conversation like those other 4, but he can sling it. And Ian Book (more on him in a minute) looked as unstoppable as he did against Clemson.
Clemson is No. 5, followed by Cincinnati and Texas A&M. Ultimately, I think Alabama and Clemson win conference championship games to lock up 2 spots and eliminate Florida and perhaps Notre Dame.
Ohio State will be the mix.
In this scenario, the battle for No. 4 will come down to 1-loss Notre Dame, undefeated American champion Cincinnati and Texas A&M.
With all of the craziness of this season, if an undefeated, dominant G5 team can’t crack the Final Four, they just need to stop ranking them until the Playoff expands to 8.
3. You know it’s 2020 when a Notre Dame QB can’t get Heisman love
Ian Book dropped a textbook lesson on Winning Football against UNC.
Every time Notre Dame needed a play to be made, Book made it.
The rub is always in his statistics. He only threw 1 TD pass, but his arms and legs and improv skills set up everything the Irish did. Notre Dame had TD drives of 89, 97, 82 and 75 yards. Book had one of those games you had to see to appreciate. The box score didn’t do it justice.
Arguably the biggest play he made was drawing the Tar Heels offsides on a crucial 4th-and-1 at the Irish’s own 24-yard line. That was part of the back-breaking 97-yard TD drive that gave Notre Dame the lead for good at 24-17.
Book is 4th in the ACC in passing yards. He’s 7th in TD passes. But he’s tied for first in the country in fewest losses. He’s nowhere to be found in the Heisman conversation.
Back in the day, that last number alone would have earned a Notre Dame QB a trip to New York.
UNC coach Mack Brown has coached a Heisman Trophy QB finalist and coached against others. Count him among the impressed.
“And let me say at the same time, Ian Book was as good tonight as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Brown told reporters after the game. “We couldn’t tackle him. I mean, we harassed him. We had people around him, there could have been 6 sacks. We could not get him on the ground. And then he made some unbelievable plays on 3rd down. I don’t know if he’s in the Heisman race or not, but he should be. His record is 29-3, he’s fast, he’s quick, he’s accurate, he’s smart. He’s not going to do things to get his team beat. But I was so impressed with him tonight. I was impressed with him as much as any quarterback I’ve seen.”
2. Mac Jones, game-manager? LOL
Auburn made the mistake of describing Alabama’s Heisman Trophy candidate as a mere game-manager.
Jones managed to shut them up pretty quickly Saturday. He threw 5 TD passes in 42-13 beatdown that never felt that close.
Every TD pass was a bit different, too, and showcased every aspect of what makes Jones a great quarterback.
The pump fake to set up DeVonta Smith’s 66-yard walk-in TD was fun to watch. But the best TD toss probably was the one where he slid right to avoid pressure, stepped up to avoid a sack, kept his eyes downfield and delivered this dime to Jahleel Billingsley.
Mac Jones' pocket presence here is awesome.
The Crimson Tide is rolling. pic.twitter.com/mOHXM5jshn
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 28, 2020
In 2 starts against Auburn, Jones completed 44-of-65 passes for 629 yards with 9 TD passes. He topped 300 yards and 4 TD passes both times.
1. Dan Mullen is holding everybody to The Gator Standard
Florida has an offense capable of winning a national championship.
The Gators need the defense to do its part. Dan Mullen, specifically, needs defensive coordinator Todd Grantham to do his part. Mullen delivered that message Saturday.
After allowing another 3rd-down conversion, Mullen went off on Grantham, the surest sign yet that everybody in the program is accountable and nobody is untouchable.
Dan Mullen absolutely going in on Todd Grantham pic.twitter.com/Xk9wqQz9t8
— Ben Murphy (@BenMurphyTV) November 28, 2020
The best part? Grantham’s defense responded with its best half of the season. It shut out Kentucky in the 2nd half. The Gators allowed 1 first down over the final 30 minutes. They intercepted 3 passes, forced 2 punts and a turnover on downs.
If Florida’s defense plays like this, Bama beware: This offense is good enough to hang banners.
Today , maybe?
Anyone surprised Chris Wright is an SJW falling all over himself about a woman kicking a squib kick and then immediately running off the field, leaving the coverage team down one person, or that she only practiced extra points before the game and during halftime?
Or that most sportswriters are? Or that they’re almost to a person the same coronabros who spread lies and fear and tried to get the season cancelled, and report with relish when someone is infected but never reports that when they recover or that almost all of them are asymptomatic?
Does it also surprised you that while he’s trying to “take down” Jason Whitlock, he’s not reporting that Vandy has a men’s club soccer team where Derek Mason could’ve found an actual strong-legged kicker that wouldn’t have left his team vulnerable, as this was obviously a pathetic attempt to save his job by impressing other SJWs at the most left-wing school in the SEC by bringing a token woman on the team?
Anyone surprised?
Mason did save his job. There’s no way they can fire him now.
Nope.. after going 3-9 and 0-10 in consecutive years. Hate that Sarah had to be used in the process, she is a great woman who is a winner playing for a poorly coached losing team.
She actively participated in this charade. Did it for attention look at the Tennessean article it gives her height but the location where her weight goes its left blank, she’s an sjw herself wearing CertainBLM Shirts. She is a collaborator end of story. Runs off the field as soon as she kicked it she has no business playing on a man’s sports team just as a man should not be on a woman’s team.
She’s lacks competitive character. There’s nothing “great” about her. All she did was take an opportunity from someone else on that squad. There’s no way, not even on a Vandy team that there isn’t a guy who can’t kick better than a goalie on a girl’s soccer team.
Her presence does nothing more than scream to the entire conference that Vandy doesn’t belong.
She won a danged SEC Championship. What have you done?
An SEC championship in soccer. When you can’t defend your own argument you resort to that type of response.
Track player’s mad again today.
Vandy is so desperate for positive publicity, they trot her out for the kick and then run her off the field for the play. It might look good to the media and others not interested in facts but anyone with common sense can see right through it.
Well, this article is referring to things he is supposedly overreacting to; 3 of his 10 things are about a girl kicking a ball. Yeah. White knighting and virtue signaling are certainly alive and well in the media – I’m sure he won’t be the only one to overreact to this non-event. The first gal that breaks a tackle, completes a 10 yard pass, or catches a TD will be the one I acknowledge as a true groundbreaker.
I agree.
Nope, not surprised. Chris Wright is just another typical sjw idiot.
Corch, please get your wife to check your temperature. Vandy does not have a men’s soccer team. Perhaps there’s a student or 2 on campus that played high school soccer or high school football that could kick but we don’t know that in fact. Maybe the women’s soccer team was fresh on Coach Mason’s mind since they’d just won an SEC championship, I don’t know. But, what I DO know is Vanderbilt hasn’t had a men’s soccer team since 2006. So, there’s probably no one from that team still on campus. Just saying.
Quick google search shows that Vanderbilt does have a men’s soccer team. It’s just a club team and not an NCAA team.
So….. names is right because clearly a club team at Vandy shouldn’t be recognized as their men’s team. I have friends who play club soccer at UF but that doesn’t mean they are good enough to play D1, obviously.
Their punter also place kicked in high school.
Thumbs up for this comment, because I was about to say the same. In what world was that a “well-executed” squib kick? I’ve heard it called an onside attempt as well. Wright sounds like one of those that thinks that Sarah Fuller should by default be the SEC special teams player of the week, simply because of her gender. Jason Whitlock is one of the very best in the business at speaking the truth about matters that most sports writers simply just march lock and liberal step with. I wasn’t aware that Vanderbilt didn’t have a male soccer team, but hardly surprised, since Title IX crap forces schools to disband male sports in order to have football and men’s basketball foot the bill for all the women’s sports that no one cares about.
If he was that great of a sports writer then he should have known Vandy didn’t have a men’s soccer team.
Excellent point! I read another article where Mason said there were two other kickers on the team who were available. If that is true and two guys who were REALLY part of the team and had practiced all year got hosed just for a publicity STUNT! I didn’t see the game so I don’t know if she ran off the field – if so then THAT proves beyond a doubt that it was a stunt. Let a woman EARN a spot and then THAT will be historic! This is on the same level as men identifying as women and playing women sports!
Jason Witlock’s question was rhetorical, Mr. Wright. He’s having a little fun with left-wing liberal identity politics, symbolism over substance, and virtue signaling. Rush Limbaugh has said for decades that folks like you don’t get it, and never will. You have made his point.
Quit quoting Rush. You’re showing your ignorance.
How so? Would you rather he quote Jordan Peterson? Gavin McInnes?
This is the SDS comment section. Ignorance is rampant. So are conservative neanderthals scared of the changing times. Poor snowflakes.
No, it’s evidence that he didn’t take time to do a Google search before spewing a dumb hot take.
Chris an sjw? NO!!! (it’s written all over his soy saturated face)
You want to be real, fine, lets be real. You will make that argument about A&M, but you wont make it about anyone else, like tOSU. Who have they played? What’s their resume? A single win over #9 Indiana, that’s it. Sounds a lot like what you said about A&M.
And who else, Penn St? Michigan? Good luck convincing anyone that those are quality wins, so unless you plan on excusing those two teams for tOSU, or saying they beat Rutgers by more than we beat Miss St, then you have no argument.
LSU played their best game of the year last night, and it wasn’t because we made them look good. Our O made our O look bad, not their D look good. They were coming hard at the line of attack, and the DBs were smothering, nearly every pass was contested.
I hear convincingly last bat 100 times, but no one said what convincingly meant. And no one said what team had to be beat convincingly. Any A&M fan will tell you, Arkansas plays us tough every year, it never fails, no matter how good they are. That was no different this year. The game Arkansas played against us was their best effort of the year. The game LSU played last night was their best of the year, they are getting better each week. So win convincingly, this result may not be convincing if it were LSU of 3 weeks ago, but its not, and anyone watching that game should be able to tell that.
Did you watch the game? What about tOSU? Because tOSU has been struggling on D. I hear people saying it, but not really holding them accountable for it. Its like we have to play like Alabama, but no one else does. Like Kirk Herbstreit talking i yesterday about how ND was the most complete team, like what are you guys watching? Wake up!
Anyhow, I know LSU rushed for 36 yards last night, and basically scored one TD in garbage time with 0:36 left on the clock in the game. Our D was the story of the night, smothering and debilitating. It was pretty clear we were rusty on offense after 3 weeks off. That was to be expected. Wish we could have shaken the rust. Clearly our O didn’t play like we had against Fla, Miss St. Arkansas, and SC. But offense are skill based, so getting that back will take some time, wish it would have come off sooner.
But the D won the day. They weren’t just convincing, they were overwhelming, ask Finley! Ask coach O, his postgame presser is out there to watch, have you made that effort? The truth is you didn’t see what you had convinced your self was supposed to happen, but the same team and conditions (wet and 3 weeks off) were not the same either. That just doesn’t seem reasonable!
This rant sounds almost as bad as when Gators try to justify the 3 point loss. You guys beat UF, congrats — No Gator should try to justify the loss. Still, you guys have had some unconvincing games. You can’t say your two worst performances were because LSU and Arkansas had their best game of the year, there has to be some accountability. The truth is that TAMU has to win out convincingly, and last night was not a good start to it. The CFP committee will look at the close games realistically and you should as well.
I wouldn’t get overly excited about the A&M defense last night. They looked good but the LSU o line has been really bad all year and they are playing true freshman quarterbacks.
Thats fine, but don’t tell me that our offense should have put up 40+ on that defense last night either. If we are going to contextualize LSU’s offense then lets do it for the defense too, and that defense was on point last night.
We dropped a lot of balls, mond was off, and the oline didn’t do their best work, but nearly every throw was highly contested, and LSU’s defense applied as much pressure as they have all year. So it goes both ways, right?
I wonder if he’s related to wolfman.
Let me ask you this, does tOSU have to win convincingly to get in? The point is to not place expectations on A&M that you wouldn’t on any other team. Sure, we are 5 trying to make it to 4, so we have to make a case. So what case did tOSU make to get inside 4 in the first place.
Also, don’t hold them to expectations of playing particular teams in particular circumstances, and then when those particular teams and circumstance are different, expect the same result. I think A&M won convincingly, but peoples expectation of what that was going to look like was different. Everyone wanted 42-17 or something. Well, that might be fine if it were the LSU of 3 weeks ago, or not wet conditions, or not 3 weeks off from COVID. 20-0 until the last 30 seconds of the game is convincing with those new conditions.
LSU obviously stepped up their D, even coach O said it in his presser – it doesn’t take a football savant to know they playing more motivated and purposeful. Did you watch the game?
On the record, I don’t think we did a lot to help ourselves, but it shouldn’t hurt us either.
Im not big on tOSU either. Id probably give them the benefit of the doubt because of Covid but that’s about it. I do believe TAMU or UF should have a top four spot right now over them.
Additionally, I do not care if LSU played better or not. Just like UF, if TAMU wants to play for a natty that gameplay wont cut it. If you look at the playoffs, the teams who win it all most of the time put up huge points. TAMU needs to be capable of doing so regularly as well if they want to be successful. LSU is not a measuring stick I’d use this year.
Please stop putting the t before OSU. It is both grammatically incorrect and arrogant on their part. I loved all your points though. Very accurate. I should point out the Wright is ASSUMING the 22nd ranked team is dropping after a beatdown. Assuming the obvious is silly. Y’all are still in it. Beating the #6 team by 3 is still more impressive than holding on to beat the #10 team by 7.
This is to ATMcoldchills. Don’t know why you reply but get posted 6 posts later.
1. How many crappy ads can one website have? SDS might have the record on that.
2. Nobody cares that a girl kicked a ball.
bf86, a lot of people care that a girl kicked the ball. Mason saved his job by getting Vanderbilt hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity. There’s no way they can fire him now.
Did he really rake in the money? How about the boosters who look at an 0-7 team (now 0-8 and embarrassed 41-0) who thought running a female onto the field was more important than playing a good game with the players they have. Will they lose any booster’s money that realized Vanderbilt has given up on Football. Penny Wise…Pound Foolish
It’s amusing to consider Vanderbilt football boosters. I guess they exist. They could light money on fire and have the same results, except they’d be warmer.
Mason has been fired. As he should be. Nice guy with a .3 winning percentage.
Mason was fired. I guess they found a way.
This weekend, I’m thankful for a 20-7 win against LSU – however it happened.
The 4 Playoff teams are …
1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Ohio State, 4.Notre Dame.
I love the SEC but unless ND beats Clemson in the acccg there’s no way Florida gets in.
Florida also has to play Bama in the SECCG, so they’ll be a 2 loss team. Same thing happened to UGA in 2018 even though they went to the wire with Bama and were clearly a top 4 team.
Texas A&M will be a one-loss team with a win over Florida.
Florida has to beat Bama to be in. Which if they do they’ll deserve it anyways.
We could let 5 year-olds kick off too, it doesn’t mean they can play college football.
And the ball might go as far too.
Meh, Aggies get to 9-1 and it will sort itself out. That game last night was not championship level, but outside of bama and a healthy Clemson, who has looked like champions? Cincinnati with that schedule? I’ve seen Notre Dame look pretty bad while squeaking by with a win.
Jimbo (and most everyone in that locker room) is 2-1 against LSU. That’s relevant for the program.
I still remember being 0-6 against LSU with the last coach. I’ll take 2-1 any day.
I mean, context matters. The offense’s rust from not playing for a few weeks and the fact that it was raining also had a factor in the offenses performance.
“Sarah Fuller made history. ”
Chris that was all you needed to say, you typewriter jockeys are wetting yourselves over this “history”. lol
“Come on, man. I know your job is to stir the pot. But Vanderbilt hasn’t had a men’s soccer program since the mid-2000s.” – Chris Wrong
But Vandy does have 4 kickers on the roster and 2 punters, one punter actually being a kicker in highschool. Its not like they didnt have kickers, this was a PC/SJW/Virtue Signalling moment that Vanderbilt and the SEC should be ashamed of. An 0-7 team thought it was more important to run a female on the field than let athletes who spent the entire season toiling through practices and weight room session etc, be allowed to play.
Least woke and most accurate take on the whole event right here.
This thread needs a like button.
Thank you
This thread needs a circle jerk button, cuz that’s all I’m seeing. A bunch uneducated thin skinned conservative pussies who feel the need to orally defecate every buzzword they heard from Sean Hannity.
My understanding is the punter tried place kicking and she was more accurate. All the rest were out. Why does it bother everyone so much?
Well you see, they’ve concocted this narrative that she was some scrub who was only brought in as a SJW plot to save Derek mason’s job through virtue signaling and (insert scary liberal buzzwords here) yada Yada….and Hillary is coming for their guns, #Bengazi.
I think that’s how their argument plays out, though it’s hard to tell since everything they say is the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard.
Very true and almost exactly what I’ve posted on several other of the HISTORIC articles! Did she REALLY run off the field as soon as she kicked off? If that’s true then she didn’t even participate in the ENTIRE play!
I’m thinking everybody here who is throwing shade on the Sarah Fuller story has something in common: no daughters.
I got daughters.. so does Derek Mason. He will go 0-10 and still keep his job because of it.
I have three daughters and have made no comment on this whatsoever. It was still a publicity stunt.
I have two daughters and I tell them they “can do anything they want to, they just have to want to, bad enough.” No where in that statement is you should be handed anything without working for it. I would never tell my daughter this blatant gender oriented affirmative action as anything a woman should be proud of. Feel free to tell your own daughters they should get eveything without putting in the work, but be prepared to console them when they find out the world doesnt work that way
Gross.
What part was offensive. Teaching kids the value of hard work or was it the part about being an active parent.
So you’re saying that a ncaa champion athlete has not “put in the work”? You’re acting like they ran into the closest Walmart and asked a random woman to come kick.
Have you tried not being stupid?
^^ Wish they had thumbs up here.
What if Sarah Fuller, who’s bigger than most of the kickers in the league anyway, decides she wants to play right guard for Vandy? Can’t she have that too, since she’d just be “putting her mind to it”?
She’s a big girl so let her try out for the team is that’s “what she wants to do”! I feel for the other kickers who were denied a chance to participate just so Vandy can have a publicity stunt! I used to feel kind of sorry for them and hoped they would get better players, but not now – like all libers, they deserve what they get!
So you want your daughters to have opportunities they didn’t earn? You want them to be somewhere they don’t belong? You want them to have a leg up because of their genitals?
Well if all that’s true, you’ll be perfectly ok with them losing opportunities because of their race or where they line up in the gay alphabet.
In life, we get what we want.
….the gay alphabet?
It’s a great joke, but it’ll lose humor when I describe how it came to be: depending on who you believe, Dave Chappelle or another comedian coined the term “alphabet people” referring to the letters LGBTQ. So gay alphabet is a play on the LGBTQ acronym and those who choose to apply it to themselves as a means of acquiring power and influence.
I think you meant “we get what we earn.” Unless, of course, you were born with a silver spoon up your trunk.
Good for Sarah, she executed a squib quick. I hate the fact Mason used her so he can go 0-10 and keep his job after 7 years. He will go into year 8 as the only coach in history to not win a game and keep his job. He knew that Vandy is a liberal left wing mindset and used it as his advantage. Absolutely hate it, he needs to be gone but this saved it. Great guy, but terrible head coach. Hate the fact Sarah had to used in the process because you’re telling me the punter couldn’t do a kickoff? Bull crap. Come at me if you think I’m wrong, can’t wait for the responses because I will happily put you in your place.
HAHA great comment
You will put me in no place whatsoever, but thanks for the thought anyway.
except he is fired.
Wright actually hates A&M and it’s hilarious
SO YOU WASTED 3 FREAKING NUMBERS ON SARAH FULLER’S LAME 20 YARD KICK? Ok, let’s put a guy on her soccer team and see what tf happens. Vandy has over 13k students, you mean to tell me Mason couldn’t find anyone who could kick better?
Mason said that students weren’t on campus because Vandys semester has ended, so they couldn’t hold open tryouts. She was still on campus training
I’m glad she was able to make best of her opportunity, but you also have a punter who kicked in high school. You’re telling me she beat out the punter in a tryout?
She didn’t beat him out and she’s a weakling for suiting up.
ND is overrated every year – we all know it.
Still, Ian Book played lights-out yesterday. He looked on the field like Johnny Friggin’ Football. I haven’t seen him play that well before, and one game doesn’t win a Heisman, but the guy can play.
A Manziel comparison? Maybe a little hyperbolic?
Did you watch the game? Some of those plays where the protection broke down and left Book running circles in the backfield throwing ill-advised shovel passes but having them go exactly where they needed to were a good comparison. Granted, he’s waited until he’s a senior, and Johnny did those things from his first start. ND’s always overrated, but I actually enjoyed watching him play.
It’s crazy how a woman kicking a football for a winless team rubs so many of yall the wrong way.
What’s really crazy is a woman is given an opportunity without putting in the work, and fails miserably and the failure is celebrated as a seminal moment for womens equality. Sarah fuller is being lauded as a hero, a pioneer and role model for women.
Please cite for me her accomplishments relative to this sham that women should be proud of.
But why does it bother you? Vandys football coach had to make the decision to play her, and it sure didn’t seem like Vandys players minded. So why are you bothered? Serious question, not trying to be contentious
And let me also mention that I will wait until a woman makes a tackle or scores a TD in big time college football. But at the end of the day, I have Sarah a good for you and went on about my business lol
First Because I have two daughters. I want them to grow up believing in equality and hard work. This was not equality nor was it equity. It was affirmative action.
Secondly, sports while entertaining, they are a supposed to be a meritocracy where hard work, team work and skill are rewarded. Vandy had 2 other kickers on the roster and two punters on the roster who have put in the work and deserved the opportunity to be on the field because they were better than her.
Lastly, this “Historical Moment” was a sham. Not my opinion, it is fact and as the internet looks into it, more details are coming out. This was not a great moment for equality for women, it was a condescending example of how a woman is not expected to compete unless she is elevated based on her gender and not her qualifications. The internet is a buzz about her poor performance and how she did not do what she “put her mind to”, she was trotted out because of her gender. She failed on a massive stage and being called a pioneer and role model for not earning the right to be on the field.
If you dont believe in meritocracy, that is okay for you but when you are passed over or someone takes something that you earned because of gender, race, sexual orientation, remember that you did not fight for equality, you fought for affirmative action.
I really think her kicking is much ado about nothing. I think it was for PR but that is really irrelevant. Your point about how the players reacted is both accurate and relevant. Great point.
That girl didn’t belong on the field and everyone knows it.
If Vandy were an actual football team, this would’ve never happened. The only thing this girl did was take away an opportunity from someone else on that squad. That’s it, that’s all and it shouldn’t be celebrated. If she had any shame at all, she would acknowledge this and walk away.
When you can’t play football though, make social statements. That’s all Vandy’s good for and the sports media is too weak to call it out.
Word.
This whole woman shanking a ball down the field and then running off as fast as she could so she wouldn’t get hurt is a complete joke. Just about anyone that’s not a complete spaz could have done that. I just don’t get it. Really it reflects badly on women’s sports in general. Why can’t we just let women’s sports stand on their own? Are they that bad and devoid of entertainment? Must be if they’re staging crap like this.
And I guarantee you Vandy academic leaders would like nothing better than to get out of the SEC but they stick around because of the big $$$ they get for just being part of it. I wish they would drop out. They really don’t belong.
Chris, I have a question; why does the B1G (in your mind) have an automatic bid to the top 4 for the CFP? Ohoho State is usually good, but like Oklahoma, they rarely (yeah 2014 was a Natty) get into the championship game, just serving as a semi-finalist.
I don’t agree with the assertion there’s no way Texas A&M gets in. Most likely, Alabama beats Florida and Bama gets in. Ohio State beats Northwestern in Big Championship and gets in. Notre Dame-Clemson will be the determining factor, as Notre Dame has to win out and beat Clemson twice for Texas A&M(if they win out) OR Florida(if they beat Bama) to get in. Granted, it’s unlikely Notre Dame wins again imo, as Trevor Lawrence will be back(he was out for the game in South Bend) and Clemson will be playing pissed off. That being said, I think the playoff is assured to be Clemson/Notre Dame/Ohio State/Alabama. Florida/Texas A&M only get in if they win out and Notre Dame beats Clemson in the ACC championship.
“You can do anything you set your mind to. You really can.”
I hope your daughter wants to be a lineman or running back.
Holy Crap, just as I finished reading this section and went back to the starting page on this site, I noticed that Derek Mason has been fired, so I guess his SJW stunt didn’t pay off. No word if replacement is from the “Sarah Fuller camp” and plans to design the offense around her unique skill set.
LOL!!!! You win the Internet Today!
I’m not sure Mullen won that exchange with Grantham; it looked to me like there was a lot of pushback on Grantham’s part. I found a longer clip on YouTube (the Twitter clip above cuts off in the middle of one of Mullen’s rants), and at the end of it Grantham looked like he was still arguing his case.
Wasn’t even a good squib kick. What would have been the headline if she had gotten hit and paralyzed? I have 2 daughters and not a snow ball’s chance in hell would I have allowed them on a football field. Are you fing crazy?
If you want to honor womanhood and give them the credit they deserve that is great. They deserve it. However don’t make a spectacle out of them by putting them in a situation like this. It just cheapens their real accomplishments.
How do we even know Mason told her to squib it? What if she tried to kick it deep and that’s what we ended up with? Initially, the media guys called it a failed onside kick, if you’ll remember. But they got their act together and are now calling it a perfectly executed squib kick. As you point out, as squib kicks go, it wasn’t even that good.
Did Mason have a history of squib kicking?
Chris Wright, UF grad and the editor of this site, has his #1 thing that he is absolutely over-reacting about: Dan Mullen holding everyone to the “The Gator Standard”. LMAO. What standard is that? You can’t make this $hit up. What a joke of a journalist.
Sorry Chris, top4: 1. BAMA 0 losses; 2. OHIO ST. 0 losses; 3. Clemson, 4. Notre Dame, both one loss. Champion: BAMA over O-state. Sorry Gators, couldn’t beat Aggies…
ND hasn’t lost