Too Early Football Grades
The college football season is 25% complete (3 out of 12 games). There were a few surprises. Of course, surprises can be good, bad or ugly. Of the six new SEC coaches at a different school, it’s fair to say that there are 3 with passing grades, 2 incompletes and one failure.
The passing scores? At the top is Pete Golding at Ole Miss, followed by Will Stein at Kentucky and Jon Sumrall at Florida. The incompletes would be Lane Kiffin at LSU and Alex Golesh at Auburn. The failing grade would be Arkansas’s Ryan Silverfield. Naturally, it’s not fair to grade someone after only 3 games but that’s the way everyone operates in our “microwave” society.
One program that is headed in the right direction is Mississippi State. A few who appeared in early polls but have been exposed are Oklahoma, Texas A&M and South Carolina. Bama can go from the outhouse to the penthouse in a matter of minutes. Its slow start will be costly against a top opponent like Georgia.
It’s time for college football fans to open their eyes and realize that today’s game is NOTHING like it was 6 or 8 years ago. NIL, the transfer portal and revenue sharing took care of those changes. Fans who proclaim that the “game has been ruined” need to quit taking the “ostrich” approach: burying their head in the sand with nothing showing except your rear end. It’s a different animal today.
Basically, there are ZERO rules anymore. Tampering is a thing of the past. So is “buying players” and spoiled players threatening to transfer IF their requests aren’t met. As a former “old school” coach, I cringe at the thought of having to deal with a self-proclaimed prima dona, coming into my office as the running back coach and demanding to get more touches to get his stats up. His “posse” has convinced him that he shouldn’t be 4th team and other teams are begging him to transfer.
Naturally, his “handlers” aren’t with him in the weight room, in the film room or at practice. There is much more to playing running back than simply getting the handoff and heading for the endzone. Derrick Henry said it best when he was coming out of high school and heading to Alabama. Nick Saban asked Henry about blocking or picking up the blitz. Derrick told Saban he NEVER had to pick up a blitz during his entire high school days.
Bama 50 FSU 36. The Tide has been a team of halves all season. Start slow, get behind. Wake up and dominate the second half. On Saturday, quarterback Keelon Russell grew up and showed why he was a 5-star recruit. It appears that the game is slowing down for him. The running back talent and depth is starting to make a difference in the run game.
The Florida State game was the first one where the defense didn’t come to play in the first half. The defense was making first game mistakes in the third game. The hidden MVP so far has been Conor Talty, kicker who has yet to miss a field goal or extra point. His consistency enables the offense to take chances, knowing he can take up the slack.
Florida 44 Auburn 39. In a battle of new coaches, the Gators beat the Tigers in Jordan Hare. This was one of the toss-up games that Auburn needed. Looking at the rest of the schedule, the Tigers will only be favored (right now) against Vandy, Arkansas and Samford. They will have to “steal” a win somewhere else to become bowl eligible.
Auburn has to solve its turnover issues. They have the athletes to win and I believe they have the right staff to turn things around. For whatever reason, transfer quarterback Byrum Brown has not lived up to his preseason hype as being one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal. His mechanics need to improve so he can get the ball in space to their speedy playmakers.
Ole Miss 32 LSU 24. The “Kiffin Hype” game lived up to its billing. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss showed why he should be the early Heisman front runner. He might just be the top QB in the nation. Coach Pete Golding is getting the most out of his talents.
It appeared that LSU was playing up-tight. Teams that play this way seem more interested in not getting beat than playing to win. It’s a big difference. The Tiger loss probably takes a lpt of pressure off the team. They only dropped to #10. The margin of error just got tighter though with that loss.
Kentucky 31 A&M 21. The Wildcats, after the second half meltdown against Bama last week, showed the Aggies on Saturday that they were by far, the most physical team. A&M got their first true test after 2 gimmes. Texas A&M lost some key staff members in the off season. Kentucky will deliver some more headaches this fall.
Vanderbilt 35 NC State 31. I have coached every level from Pee wees to division 1 college. Never, at ANY level have I seen a play as dumb/stupid/lamebrain than the one that NC State pulled at the end of the Game against Vandy. The Wolfpack had a 31-28 lead with 6 seconds to go, backed up near their own endzone. Run around, take a safety and win the game 31-30. Youth coaches work on this with their 6-year-olds.
Instead, the NC State quarterback, scrambled around in the endzone, fumbled and Vandy recovered for the win 35-31. The quarterback could have taken the ball and thrown it in the upper deck for a safety and no time on the clock. The Wolfpack coach was already on thin ice. I’m afraid he just fell through.
With the win over LSU, it currently looks like the top 3 teams in the SEC are Ole Miss, Georgia and Texas. The next few weeks will determine if Bama, Tennessee, Missouri, Florida, LSU, A&M and Mississippi State can crack into the top 3 and the playoffs.
That’s why the early grades don’t go on the permanent record.