Week of 7/20

/

7/25:

  • We have seen games from Week Zero get canceled, but a couple of Big 12 teams have added games to this early week. Oklahoma moved their game against Missouri State one week to play on August 29th, while Kansas added Southern Illinois to this week after having their week 1 game against New Hampshire canceled.

7/24:

  • Pitt got a gift on the recruiting trail. Elliot Donald, nephew of Aaron, committed to the Panthers after receiving about 100 offers (his uncle got three!). Donald is the 80th-ranked recruit, and is now the highest-ranked commitment in Pitt’s 2021 class.

7/23:

  • John Blake, former player and coach at Oklahoma, passed away at the age of 59. He died of a heart attack while out for a walk. The only thing I remember about him unfortunately was his record while coach of the Sooners (12-22), but what should be known about him was that he got OU’s top job at age 34 and he was the first Black head coach in any sport at Oklahoma!

7/22:

  • West Virginia and their defensive coordinator, Vic Koenning, have parted ways over his mistreatment of players. Koenning has been on administrative leave since the allegations came out on June 23rd.

  • The governor of New Mexico wrote a letter to administrators at both New Mexico and New Mexico State urging them to postpone fall sports. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham noted the rise in coronavirus cases among younger people and the unknown long-term effects.

7/21:

  • Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick would like to see a delay to the college football season. He doesn’t anticipate a 12-game schedule and he feels that a season between 8 and 10 games would be right for the players.

  • One day after New Jersey said no fans in the stands, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that games can go on in the Empire State, but without fans.

  • A big blow to the Air Force football team - starting quarterback Donald Hammond, “is no longer a cadet in good standing” - so he is unable to play this year. His 177.88 passing efficiency mark in 2019 ranks second in Air Force history for a single season.

7/20:

  • The SWAC is the latest FCS conference to cancel their fall 2020 season, but they are the first conference to provide an outline to play in the spring. The plan is to play six conference games with the option to play one non-conference game - with the season starting either late February or early March.

  • In the “Not Good News” , a internal report from a diversity task force in 2018 indicated racial discrimination against Black athletes at Iowa. Kirk Ferentz read the report when it came out and did make changes to team policy. Was it enough though?

  • “Not Good News Part 2” - Prior to stepping down at Austin Peay, Mark Hudspeth had been suspended for “unacceptable conduct”.

  • And the state of New Jersey has stated that fans will not be permitted at Giants, Jets, and Rutgers games this fall…