Here is what folks are writing about college football:
Connor O’Gara, Saturday Down South: “After an emotional loss on the road at Georgia to end Playoff hopes, Mizzou could’ve turned around and gotten smacked by a Tennessee team that dominated the matchup each of the past 2 years. Instead, Mizzou did the smacking. Never mind the fact that Luther Burden III was clearly still limited by an ankle injury. The Tigers dominated. They dominated because Drinkwitz’s third defensive coordinator hire, Blake Baker, was a step ahead of Josh Heupel’s staff all day. They dominated because Drinkwitz’s first offensive play-caller, Kirby Moore, kept a battle-tested Tennessee defense on its heels all day and racked up 530 yards of offense. And of course, they dominated because Drinkwitz’s former walk-on Division II transfer tailback Cody Schrader got 40 scrimmage touches for 326 yards. Drinkwitz went from a borderline hot-seat guy heading into Year 4 to leading one of the most complete teams in America. SEC Coach of the Year or not, he deserves immense credit for that. Unlike the 2013 and 2014 teams, Mizzou won’t represent the East in Atlanta because 2013-14 Georgia is not 2023 Georgia. At best, Mizzou’s regular season will close with the same 10-2 record but without the trip to the SEC Championship.”
Pete Fiutak, College Football News: “Missouri lost to Georgia because it’s Georgia - the Dawg offensive line took over as the game wore on. It also lost LSU because the defense couldn’t keep (Jayden) Daniels from being Daniels. The offense, though, still worked. The defense won’t get the takeaways needed to make this an easy blowout, and Florida is WAY overdue for a decent performance and more meaningful stops, but it’s not happening here. The Tigers keep on going with the defense making the difference. Florida has to run well to win, and it won’t. Four of Florida’s five wins came when holding teams to under 24 points. Mizzou should get there without breathing too hard.”
David Hale, ESPN.com: “The highest-ranked two-loss team this week is Missouri, and given the Tigers' wins vs. Kansas State, Kentucky and Tennessee -- plus competitive games against LSU and Georgia -- that's fair. Oregon State checks in next, and we have some questions here. The Beavers best wins are over Utah and UCLA, while they also sport an increasingly ugly loss to Washington State. Isn't it odd that Oregon (the top-ranked one-loss team) and Oregon State (the second-highest-ranked two-loss team) both get credit for beating Utah, but Washington didn't? Then comes Penn State. What exactly is it the committee sees in Penn State at this point? The Nittany Lions have one good win: Iowa. But this is like saying Creed beat Nickelback in a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition. They're essentially the same band, flawed in essentially the same way, and frankly no one who witnessed that competition wants to speak of it again. Meanwhile, Penn State's assumed success is propping up both Ohio State and Michigan at the top of the rankings (questionable) and is somehow considered better than Ole Miss or Oklahoma.”
Barrett Sallee, CBSSports.com: “Yes, Ole Miss got blown out by Georgia, which is obviously not ideal. But a win over No. 15 LSU should give the Rebels enough street credibility to at least be above Penn State. Why? The defense has been sketchy at times, but it still ranks No. 12 nationally in sacks per game at 3.1 and is tied for 21st in the nation in interceptions (11). Defense doesn't win championships anymore, just enough defense does. Ole Miss doesn't have enough to win the SEC West, but it at least excels in important areas that are required to win at least a few big games. As mentioned above, Penn State does have ‘good losses’ on its resume. That's a crazy manner in which to rank teams, but it's evidently a big deal to the committee. Or, at the very least, enough to overlook the ‘good losses’ on Ole Miss' resume: No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama.”
Erick Smith, USA Today: “The College Football Playoff race is in the final stretch with just three more weeks remaining in the season. It's been a calm before the storm in the bowl projections in the last couple weeks with the playoff favorites continuing to win and no change at the top and little change even for the New Year's Six games. Could the last year of the four-team field be the one that has no drama at the end and everything falls into place with four unbeatens from Power Five leagues taking the available spots? It's possible. The Big Ten seems assured of either Ohio State or Michigan finishing without a lost. It's hard to see Florida State having a blemish against whichever team it faces in the ACC title game. That leaves potential roadblocks in the SEC − where Georgia is slated to face Alabama on the final weekend − and the Pac-12, which has Washington facing Oregon State this week and a rematch with Oregon looming.”
Adam Gorney, Rivals.com: “There are only four active head coaches who have won a national championship now – Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown. Saban is the best college football coach ever. Smart is arguably the most active recruiter among head coaches ever. Swinney had elite quarterback plays for his title runs. Brown won his with top-end QB Vince Young on a thrilling late drive back against USC more than 15 years ago. Winning a national championship is extremely difficult. Nearly impossibly difficult. Throwing $100 million at (JImbo) Fisher was not only preposterous and incredibly wasteful – he had a lower winning percentage than former coach Kevin Sumlin – but it also now sets the market for what the Aggies might have to pay their next coach or he might feel like he’s taking a significant haircut.”
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports: “You have to be different to win in Starkville. The Bulldogs struck gold with Dan Mullen and Mike Leach, two innovative offensive minds. There's potential that Jamey Chadwell could get that fire re-ignited down there. He's won at every stop with rapid-fire offenses. I like the small-town feel, too, after being the man at Coastal and Liberty. He would embrace the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail, could sign guys that were a system fit, followed by development. Chadwell's a diamond in the rough. He's overdue for a Power Five opportunity and would be on the low end in terms of costs.”
MEGAPHONE
“You ask a Black man, `Have you been to Pullman?’ `Oh yeah. Yeah. Was just there last week . . . You know dern well ain’t no Black folks been to no Pullman.”
Colorado coach Deion Sanders, ahead of his game at Washington State.
Connor O’Gara, Saturday Down South: “After an emotional loss on the road at Georgia to end Playoff hopes, Mizzou could’ve turned around and gotten smacked by a Tennessee team that dominated the matchup each of the past 2 years. Instead, Mizzou did the smacking. Never mind the fact that Luther Burden III was clearly still limited by an ankle injury. The Tigers dominated. They dominated because Drinkwitz’s third defensive coordinator hire, Blake Baker, was a step ahead of Josh Heupel’s staff all day. They dominated because Drinkwitz’s first offensive play-caller, Kirby Moore, kept a battle-tested Tennessee defense on its heels all day and racked up 530 yards of offense. And of course, they dominated because Drinkwitz’s former walk-on Division II transfer tailback Cody Schrader got 40 scrimmage touches for 326 yards. Drinkwitz went from a borderline hot-seat guy heading into Year 4 to leading one of the most complete teams in America. SEC Coach of the Year or not, he deserves immense credit for that. Unlike the 2013 and 2014 teams, Mizzou won’t represent the East in Atlanta because 2013-14 Georgia is not 2023 Georgia. At best, Mizzou’s regular season will close with the same 10-2 record but without the trip to the SEC Championship.”
Pete Fiutak, College Football News: “Missouri lost to Georgia because it’s Georgia - the Dawg offensive line took over as the game wore on. It also lost LSU because the defense couldn’t keep (Jayden) Daniels from being Daniels. The offense, though, still worked. The defense won’t get the takeaways needed to make this an easy blowout, and Florida is WAY overdue for a decent performance and more meaningful stops, but it’s not happening here. The Tigers keep on going with the defense making the difference. Florida has to run well to win, and it won’t. Four of Florida’s five wins came when holding teams to under 24 points. Mizzou should get there without breathing too hard.”
David Hale, ESPN.com: “The highest-ranked two-loss team this week is Missouri, and given the Tigers' wins vs. Kansas State, Kentucky and Tennessee -- plus competitive games against LSU and Georgia -- that's fair. Oregon State checks in next, and we have some questions here. The Beavers best wins are over Utah and UCLA, while they also sport an increasingly ugly loss to Washington State. Isn't it odd that Oregon (the top-ranked one-loss team) and Oregon State (the second-highest-ranked two-loss team) both get credit for beating Utah, but Washington didn't? Then comes Penn State. What exactly is it the committee sees in Penn State at this point? The Nittany Lions have one good win: Iowa. But this is like saying Creed beat Nickelback in a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition. They're essentially the same band, flawed in essentially the same way, and frankly no one who witnessed that competition wants to speak of it again. Meanwhile, Penn State's assumed success is propping up both Ohio State and Michigan at the top of the rankings (questionable) and is somehow considered better than Ole Miss or Oklahoma.”
Barrett Sallee, CBSSports.com: “Yes, Ole Miss got blown out by Georgia, which is obviously not ideal. But a win over No. 15 LSU should give the Rebels enough street credibility to at least be above Penn State. Why? The defense has been sketchy at times, but it still ranks No. 12 nationally in sacks per game at 3.1 and is tied for 21st in the nation in interceptions (11). Defense doesn't win championships anymore, just enough defense does. Ole Miss doesn't have enough to win the SEC West, but it at least excels in important areas that are required to win at least a few big games. As mentioned above, Penn State does have ‘good losses’ on its resume. That's a crazy manner in which to rank teams, but it's evidently a big deal to the committee. Or, at the very least, enough to overlook the ‘good losses’ on Ole Miss' resume: No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama.”
Erick Smith, USA Today: “The College Football Playoff race is in the final stretch with just three more weeks remaining in the season. It's been a calm before the storm in the bowl projections in the last couple weeks with the playoff favorites continuing to win and no change at the top and little change even for the New Year's Six games. Could the last year of the four-team field be the one that has no drama at the end and everything falls into place with four unbeatens from Power Five leagues taking the available spots? It's possible. The Big Ten seems assured of either Ohio State or Michigan finishing without a lost. It's hard to see Florida State having a blemish against whichever team it faces in the ACC title game. That leaves potential roadblocks in the SEC − where Georgia is slated to face Alabama on the final weekend − and the Pac-12, which has Washington facing Oregon State this week and a rematch with Oregon looming.”
Adam Gorney, Rivals.com: “There are only four active head coaches who have won a national championship now – Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown. Saban is the best college football coach ever. Smart is arguably the most active recruiter among head coaches ever. Swinney had elite quarterback plays for his title runs. Brown won his with top-end QB Vince Young on a thrilling late drive back against USC more than 15 years ago. Winning a national championship is extremely difficult. Nearly impossibly difficult. Throwing $100 million at (JImbo) Fisher was not only preposterous and incredibly wasteful – he had a lower winning percentage than former coach Kevin Sumlin – but it also now sets the market for what the Aggies might have to pay their next coach or he might feel like he’s taking a significant haircut.”
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports: “You have to be different to win in Starkville. The Bulldogs struck gold with Dan Mullen and Mike Leach, two innovative offensive minds. There's potential that Jamey Chadwell could get that fire re-ignited down there. He's won at every stop with rapid-fire offenses. I like the small-town feel, too, after being the man at Coastal and Liberty. He would embrace the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail, could sign guys that were a system fit, followed by development. Chadwell's a diamond in the rough. He's overdue for a Power Five opportunity and would be on the low end in terms of costs.”
MEGAPHONE
“You ask a Black man, `Have you been to Pullman?’ `Oh yeah. Yeah. Was just there last week . . . You know dern well ain’t no Black folks been to no Pullman.”
Colorado coach Deion Sanders, ahead of his game at Washington State.
