Week of 6/22

Back in the saddle again regarding daily news about college football…

6/22:

• News that hit hard, but was not surprising based on what I have been hearing the last couple of months, Bowdoin College has cancelled its entire fall sports season, which has to be very disappointing for the student athletes. There could possibly be a spring football season if other NESCAC schools follow suit - which wouldn’t surprise me. The seniors are in a tough situation because they would have to apply for an extra year of eligibility before it is known whether or not there will be a spring season

• The Patriot League announced their guidelines for the return of sports in the fall - including no air travel and overnight travel prohibited - except for a rare occasion. This will lead to a few games against FBS teams will need to be rescheduled or canceled. Changes to current schedules will be announced at a later date. I am thinking that the Ivy League will release a similar statement sometime soon

• Since Churchill Downs and Cardinal Stadium are located near each other, the NC State - Louisville game has been moved up a day to Wednesday, Sept. 2nd to accommodate the Kentucky Derby. The Thursday before the race, known as “Thurby”, draws a big crowd, so the change was needed to help ease the logistical concerns from this event

• The Buffalo-Northern Illinois game was moved up from election night to Halloween. Back on June 12th, the NCAA, in wanting athletes to participate in the Nov. 3 election, are encouraging that day as a day off for athletic activities

6/23:

• West Virginia has placed defensive coordinator Vic Koenning on leave while it looks into allegations of mistreatment by one of his players. Mountaineer head coach, Neal Brown, after speaking with the player, met with his defense, and later the whole team - as well as launching an independent investigation. Brown brought Koenning with him from Troy when he became the new head coach of WVU last year

• I am always a fan when teams schedule out of conference in-state schools. So it comes as no surprise that I was happy to see that UAB announced home-and-home series with both Troy (2032, 2033) and South Alabama (2030, 2031). The new UAB-Troy series will add to a previously scheduled series that is scheduled for 2028 and 2029

6/24:

• Liberty is taking a hit this week to their roster. Today a third player (all on the defensive side of the ball) has placed his name in the transfer portal. Earlier this week, two players announced their intention to leave the school citing “racial insensitivity”. This could be and probably is related to Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tweet referencing Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal

6/25:

• The eight public universities in the state of Mississippi all condemned the state flag via a joint statement. To be rivals on the field, Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach (along with 44 other coaches and administrators), addressed the state legislature in hopes of having the Confederate emblem removed from the Mississippi flag.

• Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson announced that he will be isolating himself from his wife Catherine until the season concludes. Catherine is a cancer survivor, and at this time in good health - though she is at a higher risk for complications if she were to contract COVID-19. Clawson is the second coach this week to isolate himself from family, as James Franklin announced that his family will remain in Florida while he coaches at Penn State

• Another hit to the MEAC, as Bethune-Cookman announced that they will join rival Florida A&M in the SWAC on July 1st, 2021. These departures, along with those of Hampton and North Carolina A&T, will leave the MEAC with just six football-playing members. Meanwhile, the SWAC will now have 12 members in 2021, so the will establish Western and Eastern divisions, with six teams in each.

6/26:

• The Oregon - Oregon State game will no longer be referred to as “The Civil War” because the two schools don’t want it to be tied to that divisive time in our history. The good thing is that it won’t weaken the fierce in-state rivalry between the two schools. The question now is, what rivalry name will come of this change? Maybe a return to the “Oregon Classic”? Or if allowed to use a war phrase, “Battle of Willamette Valley?”

• Morehouse, a Division II program in Atlanta, announced that they would be canceling their 2020 football season. The decision was made with the health and well-being of both the students and the community in mind. The first Division II team that had their season canceled was Florida Tech, who had their entire football program shut down back in May due to the Pandemic.

• Also, Bowdoin was joined by TCNJ (The College of New Jersey) in calling of their football season. TCNJ didn’t cancel all their fall sports though, just their “high contact” sports.

6/28:

• A bit of great news on Sunday as the Mississippi lawmakers voted on Sunday to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag. Major kudos to all involved in making this happen!

Week of 6/15

I was on a vacation this week - with no access to the internet. But here are stories I caught up on …

6/15:

• Iowa reached a separation agreement with longtime football strength coach Chris Doyle, and is effective immediately. Doyle had been placed on administrative leave earlier this month after a large group of former players spoke out about mistreatment that was focused on the strength coach

• Robert Morris, located in a suburb of Pittsburgh, announced that they will move to the Horizon League from the Northeast Conference effective July 1. Since the league doesn’t sponsor football, the Colonials will play as an FCS Independent this season before becoming an associate member of the Big South in 2021

6/16:

• Former coach Bob Stoops highlights the newest nominees for the College Football Hall of Fame. Stoops spent 18 seasons at Oklahoma, leaving as the school’s all-time winningest coach with 190 victories. He also led the Sooners to 10 Big 12 titles, 14 seasons of double-digit wins, and one national championship in 2000. Other new nominees that standout - Gary Pinkel (Head Coach at Missouri and Toledo), Champ Bailey (UGA cornerback), Ken Dorsey (Miami quarterback), Dwight Freeney (Syracuse defensive end), and Sebastian Janikowski (FSU kicker)

6/17:

• The Southern Heritage Classic, an event that draws an average of more than 75k people between the game. tailgating and parade, has been canceled this year because of COVID-19. An annual football game between Jackson State and Tennessee State, has now been postponed for the second time in three years (2018 was canceled because of weather). A disappointment for so many fans, but the health and safety of all involved is most important.

• Kevin Thomson, who entered the transfer portal just about a week ago, announced he will be joining the Washington Huskies. The Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 will add some needed experience to the quarterback position - as the three other scholarship qbs on the roster have combined for just three college passes. Thomson, who is from Auburn, Washington, will face his former team, Sacramento State, on September 12th at Husky Stadium

• Mississippi State and Washington State have scheduled a home-and-home series for 2030 and 2031. Will this be the Mike Leach Bowl? Leach, the new head coach of the Bulldogs, spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at Washington State

6/18:

• Alabama and Ohio State announced that they have scheduled a 2027-2028 home-and-home football series. These perennial playoff contenders last met on January 1, 2015, a 42-35 Buckeye victory that propelled them to the National Championship that year. Of their four meetings, with the Crimson Tide leading the series 3-1, the two schools have only met in the regular season once - back in 1986. With these games seven years away, one has to wonder if Dabo Swinney will be coaching Alabama?

• It didn’t take long for Dillon Doyle, son of former Hawkeyes strength coach Chris Doyle, to leave Iowa and find a new home. Doyle entered the transfer portal on June 9th, and today he announced his intention to play for Baylor

6/19:

• Clemson has 23 football players (28 athletes and other personnel) test positive for COVID-19. All were asymptomatic and have now begun self-isolation. The Tigers are now added to the growing list of schools that are seeing positive results in their athletes, and one can’t help but wonder if this trend will really cause problems for teams to compete this fall

• The SWAC, which has led the FCS conferences in attendance for 42 of the last 43 years, is prepared to start its season on Labor Day, but they have plans in place to start as late as 10/17 or even cancel the season altogether if the coronavirus pandemic remains a problem. Southern University though has acted on their own by canceling their September 12th game against Florida A&M on Wednesday, and today announced a new 2020 schedule that doesn’t start until 9/19 - thus they postponed their meeting in Detroit against Tennessee State that was scheduled for 9/6

6/20:

• After 14 Wildcat athletes tested positive for COVID-19, Kansas State has suspended football workouts for the next two weeks. They join Houston, who also suspended their workouts over a week ago

6/21:

• Former USC center Max Tuerk died on Saturday while hiking with his parents. Tuerk was a freshman All-American in 2012 and selected to the All-Pac 12 first team as a junior. Unfortunately, a knee injury cut short his senior year.

Week of 6/8

The stories that have caught my eye this week…

June 8th:

• Can’t help but follow and read about the alleged systematic racism and other mistreatment at Iowa. More comes out with each passing day, but as the players return to campus, they are voicing unity at this point in time

• JD Spielman, who led Nebraska with 49 catches and 898 yards receiving last year and is one of the top receivers in Cornhusker history, has entered the transfer portal. Will be tough replacement for the Huskers

June 9th:

• Sad to see that Georgia Tech will be installing artificial turf at historic Bobby Dodd Stadium this season. School officials are saying that the turf will be less expensive to maintain, and will make the facility available for practices every day - rather than for a limited number of workouts. GT previously had fake turf from 1971 through 1994

• Iowa linebacker Dillon Doyle, son of the Hawkeyes strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, is entering the transfer portal. This decision comes three days after his father was placed on administrative leave

• Reggie Bush has been welcomed back to the USC family. Now there will be questions as to whether his No. 5 jersey will be retired or if he gets back his Heisman Trophy. Receiving extra benefits to attend USC was absolutely wrong, but there is no denying that he was a special talent on the field

June 10th:

• Not an earth shattering home-and-home series, but Northern Colorado and Abilene Christian have agreed to a series for 2023 and 2024. They have met 17 times previously, and played almost every year from 1976 thru 1991

• Something that is becoming more common, another player (CJ Holmes) has entered the transfer portal for the second time. Says more about the player than the school, and I am thinking that individuals should get a one-time pass to transfer and that is it

June 11th:

• Regional rivals Mississippi State and Memphis have added another home-and-home series for 2028 and 2029, adding on to a previously announced set of games in 2021 and 2022. Separated by less than 200 miles, these teams met every year for thirty years from 1974 thru 2003

• Kevin Thomson, 2019 Big Sky offensive player of the year, has entered the transfer portal in hopes of returning to the FBS - as he played previously at UNLV. In 27 career games at Sacramento State, Thomson passed for 6,424 yards and 52 touchdowns against 12 interceptions

Week of 6/1

I have no doubt that most of these headlines are covered on many other websites, but I mention them because they are the stories that have caught my eye during the course of the day….

June 1st:

• Former Auburn football coach, Pat Dye, dies at 80. He endeared himself to Tiger fans for moving the annual Alabama-Auburn game from Birmingham to a yearly home-and-home series, and remaining competitive against Bear Bryant. Dye also coached at East Carolina and Wyoming, retiring with a 153-62-5 record in 19 seasons overall

• LSU announced first-time matchups with SWAC members Southern and Grambling State. Southern, like LSU, is located in Baton Rouge, and they will make a crosstown visit on Sept. 10, 2022. While Grambling, which is located in northern Louisiana, will head south to Tiger Stadium the following season on Sept. 9, 2023. I think that this is great for all institutions involved!

June 2nd:

• An announcement that shouldn’t have caught anyone by surprise - the 2020 Week Zero Notre Dame vs. Navy game will not be played in Dublin, Ireland. It will now be played for the first time ever at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD. These teams first met on the gridiron in 1927 and have played 93 games, with the Irish leading the series 77-13-1 (though two Notre Dame wins were later vacated).

• Clemson WR Justyn Ross will now miss the 2020 season after being diagnosed with a '“congenital fusion” in his spine, which he has had since birth. This issue could also put his career in jeopardy. Justyn, who finished last season with 66 catches for 865 yards and 8 touchdowns, was expected to be the focal point of the Tigers’ passing game this year.

June 3rd:

• This might not make the headlines of any site (except this one), but I got my first 2020 College Football Preview magazine…Athlon’s version. Didn’t take long for me to grab it and skim through its pages

• Two days after Pat Dye passed away, we have lost another legendary coach. This morning, Johnny Majors, who coached Pitt to a national championship in 1976 and would later coach his alma mater (Tennessee) back to national prominence, died at the age of 85. Majors compiled a 185-137-10 record as a head coach (Iowa State, Tennessee, and two stints at Pitt), and he earned three national coach of the year honors

• Michael Turk, after going undrafted and unsigned by the NFL, has had his NCAA eligibility restored. The Arizona State punter averaged 46.0 yards-per-punt last year - but he will have competition because the Sun Devils received a commitment from Florida State graduate transfer Logan Tyler - who led the ACC in yards per punt at 43.2. I hope that this opens the door for other college players who suffer the same fate as Turk

• Montana State’s All-America linebacker and two-way player, Troy Andersen is expected to sit out the 2020 season due to injuries suffered at the end of last season. He has played quarterback, running back, and linebacker for the Bobcats, and last year he finished with 54 tackles (11.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks), an interception and five pass breakups on defense. Offensively, he rushed for 336 yards and seven touchdowns - while passing for another score

June 5th

• Florida A&M announced that in 2021 they will leave the MEAC in order to join the SWAC. The school’s president believes the move will be favorable in terms of cost savings, re-establishment of long-term rivalries (older rivalries I believe - not major rivalriies) and the opportunity to generate more revenue. North Carolina A&T had previously announced their intention to leave the MEAC (in favor of the Big South), so this will weaken football in the MEAC significantly

• Kansas has closed the book on former coach David Beaty, as they have reached a $2.55 million settlement. Beaty was owed $3 million according to the Kansas AD when he was fired back in November 2018 by the Jayhawks because he was fired without cause - except for a poor W-L record. But until now, the university had tried to find something on the coach so that they could avoid paying what Beaty was owed

June 7th:

• Ken Riley, former quarterback, head coach (1986-1993) and athletic director (1994-2003) at Florida A&M passed away at 72. I remember him from his playing days with the Cincinnati Bengals as a great cornerback. Even though he picked off 65 passes in his playing career, good enough for fifth in NFL History, it astounds me that Riley is not yet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.