I wonder how Steve Sarkisian will do as Lane Kiffin's replacement as Offensive Coordinator? Will it be a seamless transition or is now not the time for a change since the players are somewhat unfamiliar with his style? I guess we will find out tomorrow night if it would have benefitted Alabama to keep Lane Kiffin for this championship game...
Check out the dozen bullets I have about the FBS Championship Game between Alabama and Clemson under the TV and FBS Games tab.
In my opinion, the five best coaches currently in the FBS:
Honorable Mention: David Shaw, Mike Gundy, Bob Stoops, Gary Patterson, and Jim Harbaugh
Didn't take long for Minnesota to name a new head coach for their football program. I think that P. J. Fleck is an excellent choice after the job he did in Western Michigan - winners of 13 games this year and a bid to the Cotton Bowl. He will need some patience though because he needs to win over the current Gopher players who are irate with the administration.
Fleck, now the youngest coach in the Power 5, isn't guarenteed success because coaches from the MAC that have been hired away by the Big 10 haven't done well recently. Examples that I offer up: Illinois - Tim Beckman (12-25), Purdue - Darrell Hazell (9-33), and Minnesota - Jerry Kill (25-26). Another factor working against Fleck: since 1971, the Gophers have had two coaches with winning records - Glen Mason and the man Fleck is replacing, Tracy Claeys.
Congratulations to James Madison for their convincing win over Youngstown State in Frisco, TX for the FCS Championship. I figured that special teams would play a big part in the game today, but I thought that it would be a punt return for a TD - not a blocked and/or a shanked punt. The Dukes defense was so dominating, the Penguins didn't even get a chance for a customary 2016 4th quarter comeback.
Looking at their resume throughout the year, I can't think of a team more deserving to be called FCS Champion than James Madison...this year's team that came out of Fargo, ND to win the title.
A quick list of teams that I see rising in 2017:
One of the most interesting stories that came out of the Bowl season was the incident that occurred before the Belk Bowl. Arkansas' Tight End was suspended before the bowl game because he was caught shoplifting at a Belk Department Store. And all this after he and every other player for Arkansas and Virginia Tech were given $450 to spend at the store.
I just don't get it...
There are a dozen bullets about the upcoming FCS Championship Game between James Madison and Youngstown State under the FCS Games tab if you are looking for a quick preview of the game being played on Saturday.
As I was watching bowl games on Saturday and Monday, I was trying to decide which uniform matchups I liked the best. If USC had been wearing their scarlet home unis and Penn State their all-white road uniforms, the Rose Bowl would have taken the prize in my opinion. But I have to look elsewhere since that wasn't the case.
I did like the Sugar Bowl matchup as the Sooners wore their red and Auburn had their sharp white outfit. And the Georgia/TCU game was good on the eyes. I have to admit that I am beginning to become a fan of the Horned Frogs' white helmet. I also enjoyed the look of Nebraska wearing their road whites (third time I have mentioned all white uniforms) against Tennessee's alternative gray uniforms.
But, I think that I have to vote for the Sun Bowl matchup between Stanford and North Carolina as my favorite uniform game of the weekend. Before I turned on the game I was thinking to myself how awesome it would be if Carolina had their traditional powder blue uniforms going up against the Cardinals' white. Sure enough, UNC had on their powder blue, so I found myself sitting down to watch the game simply for the reason that I liked the uniforms being worn. It didn't hurt that I also have been a fan of the Sun Bowl on CBS for years...
Voted the Best Place to Live by Money Magazine, Frisco, TX will be the site of Saturday's FCS Championship Game. Frisco is located approximately 25 miles north of Dallas and is home to many professionals who work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Toyota Stadium (first known as Pizza Hut Park) was built for soccer games and is the home for FC Dallas - a MLS team that relocated from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Stadium opened in 2005 and has been the site used for the FCS Championship Game since 2010. At this time, the game is expected to be held here until at least 2019.
Frisco should see a great game on Saturday afternoon..
Attendance figures for the 40 Bowl Games played so far are down about 5% from last year, which amounts to 86k fewer seats filled at the various games. Four of the five games with the lowest overall attendance involved MAC teams - though to be fair, Eastern Michigan played in the Bahamas at a stadium with the seating capacity of 15k. The other poorly attended game involved the exciting matchup between Maryland and Boston College. They played in Detroit at Ford Field (capacity 65k), and the attendance was slightly above 19k or 30% capacity.
The news isn't all bad though. The Rose Bowl game between USC and Penn State had over 95k spectators (helps to have a popular local team playing), while the two playoff venues (Peach and Fiesta) had attendance above 70k. Even the Music City Bowl drew 68,496 - but again, you had a local team (Tennessee) playing another historic program (Nebraska) whose fan base travels well.
In my opinion, the bowl system is just too saturated and could use some thinning out - by about 15 games...
In a move that wasn't surprising, the University of Minnesota fired their head coach, Tracy Claeys, claiming that they want to "address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales, and the culture of the program." I'm sure (anyone detect sarcasm?) that it didn't have to do with the team's standoff against the administration over the suspension of ten players over allegations of a sexual assault. During that time, Claeys publicly supported his players and his team while sending a tweet that drew criticism from the faculty and from victims' rights groups.
Players are very upset with this decision, and the question now will be how many eligible players return to play next season? Hopefully the school's administration will unite the players under the new coach, whoever it will be, so that the Gophers can continue to move forward after a successful season on the field.
Not surprisingly, some names mentioned for this new opening: P.J. Fleck from Western Michigan, Les Miles, Penn State's OC Joe Moorhead, and North Dakota State's Chris Klieman. Pretty impressive list of candidates...
Is there anyone out there who doesn't think that the 103rd version of "The Granddaddy of Them All" wasn't an instant classic? It is too bad that there was a loser, but I am happy that it was Penn State. In games like this, you quickly realize where your allegiance lies as you cheer for one team or the other. I have nothing against this current team of Nittany Lions, and James Franklin has done a great job in his coaching stops (I miss him at Vanderbilt), but there was no doubt in my mind as to who I wanted to win the game. And in typical Dave fashion, after enjoying the first half of the game, I was too nervous to watch the rest of the game since Penn State is a 2nd half team - so I turned the game off.
So - congratulations to the USC Trojans who turned their season around (thank you Sam Darnold!) and won their 25th Rose Bowl in 34 tries!
Now that we are down to two games left in the 2016 season (FBS and FCS Championships), what can be written everyday for the next nine months? It is my thinking that between all 4 Divisions there should be plenty of material to use as I plan on discussing the following topics:
As you can see, there are plenty of angles to use when planning to talk about the game I love and think about every day of the year. In addition to what I just mentioned as talking points, there is no doubt that I'll throw in some thoughts about uniforms and nicknames, as well as write some articles that might just be worth reading...
Today is the first day of a new year - and the first full year of this website. And in an attempt to live up to the name that I use for this site, here is my first entry in 2017.
Since before the bowls started I have been looking ahead to the new year, but there is a special game being played tomorrow afternoon - the Rose Bowl. Always my favorite, the Granddaddy of them all will pit USC versus Penn State. An unlikely matchup since both of these teams were written off back in late September.
This will be the Trojans 34th appearance in the Rose Bowl, and they have a record of 24-9 in this game. The Nittany Lions are playing in Pasadena for the 4th time, having won only once - back in 1995 against Oregon.
Should be a great game with two historic programs...
An inspirational and well-loved man with a great work ethic for the job he loved passed away. RIP Craig Sager!
Mary Hardin Baylor is favored to win the Division III Championship, but to get there they will have to contend with the defending champions, Mount Union. The Cru are just in their 19th season of football, but they have won 12 straight American Southwest Conference titles and have made the national title game once in 2004. Meanwhile, the Purple Raiders are the only team since the playoff went to 32-teams to win three straight road games to get to a semifinal game. They have also won their last 114 road games dating back to a 34-33 loss at Albion (Mich.) in the second round of the 1994 NCAA Playoffs. In addition, Mount Union has played in the national championship game 20 times since 1993, winning 12 NCAA Championships. Seems to me that Mount Union is the favorite until someone beats them.
Shepherd’s opponent on Saturday, North Alabama, has recently announced that they will be joining the Big South Conference in the FCS Division. To me it seems like a logical and probably successful transition for the Lions, who are making their tenth appearance in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs and their record-tying 21st playoff appearance. In addition, they won the Division II Championship three years in a row from 1993 to 1995. Old rivalries will be renewed, as they have a history with teams from a variety of FCS and FBS conferences – as well as Alabama A&M.
Shepherd Head Coach Monte Cater, now in his 30th season at the helm of the Rams, is the winningest Active NCAA Football Coach with 266 wins. The Rams have had a great deal of success since Cater arrived in 1987 as they have won 16 conference titles, and made 10 trips to the NCAA II Playoffs. He heads a pretty impressive list, which includes now-retired Andy Talley (Villanova), Al Bagnoli (Columbia), and Jimmye Laycock (William & Mary).
It’s funny how things can change in a matter of two days – particularly in the state of Texas. Tom Herman’s star had lost some luster after losses to Navy and SMU (gasp!), but when looking at the total picture of what he has done while at Houston, as well as his accomplishments in previous offensive coordinator jobs, how could he not be on the top of anyone’s wish list? Oh – and by the way, how about the skillful job his defense did to contain Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals?
Meanwhile in Austin, how low can things get for Charlie Strong? It has been a struggle for him since taking the lead at Texas as he has worked on cleaning up the program. The season started out great with a big win over Notre Dame, but the bottom fell out last week with an OT loss to Kansas – in which they turned the ball over 6 times. The Longhorns have had a hard time winning close games because of mental miscues which in my opinion can be traced back to the head coach. Rarely do great coaches let their teams beat themselves, especially more than once in a season.
The question now remains, can the Longhorns lure Tom Herman away from Houston? They are going to have some stiff competition from other programs – like LSU and perhaps Florida State (if Jimbo Fisher jumps to LSU). As for Tom Herman, would you want to work for a school that has handled their head coach situation poorly?
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