Week of 9/14

/

9/20:

  • In the feel good department, Syracuse QB Rex Culpepper threw his first touchdown pass since being declared cancer-free two years ago! Culpepper, who replaced the injured Tommy DeVito, tossed a 69-yard touchdown pass to Taj Harris on his second play of the game.

  • Two weeks ago, I was quite impressed with Marshall’s freshman quarterback, Grant Wells, and after the Thundering Herd’s win over Appalachian State on Saturday, I am very impressed with this Marshall team.

  • I also like the depth of solid teams in the American Athletic Conference. UCF, Cincinnati, and Memphis are known quantities - but the second tier of teams are good. An example has to be the battle that Tulsa gave Oklahoma State. Throw in Houston, Navy, SMU and Temple - and you have a solid, competitive conference that will be fun to watch.

9/19:

  • The new Big Ten schedule has been posted on fbsschedules.com. The regular season runs through December 12th, so the Army-Navy game is going to have more company than just Virginia-Virginia Tech.

  • Here are the games I will be streaming on my laptop: Tulsa at Oklahoma State (12:00 ESPN), Appalachian State at Marshall (3:30 CBS), and Miami at Louisville (7:30 ABC). I will also keep an eye on Navy at Tulane (12:00 ABC), UCF at Georgia Tech (3:30 ABC) and Louisiana Tech at Southern Miss (7:30 ESPN2).

  • Key Big Ten players opting back in to play this fall: Michigan OL Jalen Mayfield, Ohio State OG Wyatt Davis, Ohio State CB Shaun Wade and hopefully (must obtain a waiver) Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman.

9/18:

  • Unfortunately two more games (Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern and Houston at Baylor) have been postponed - and these were games that I was looking forward to watching. It looks like both games will be canceled unless they want to play in December during championship week.

  • It seems all but official that Primetime is coming to Jackson State. This will be a hire that I look forward to seeing, and I’ll be curious to see if this adds to an already strong attendance base.

9/17:

  • The Charlotte-North Carolina game has been canceled because the 49ers had one positive test out of 200 taken. Unfortunately, that one was an offensive lineman, and because of contact tracing - almost all of the line is in quarantine.

  • On a better note, the Virginia-Virginia Tech has been rescheduled for a second time. The bad news - it is scheduled for December 12th.- the same day as the Army-Navy game.

  • It looks like the Montain West and the MAC are doing everything they can to play this fall. It’s possible we will see all FBS Conference playing at some point in the next couple of months.

  • Zach Barnett, a columnist for footballscoop.com, wrote a nice piece on North Texas wearing throwback uniforms (complete with the flying worm logo) this Saturday to honor former head coach Hayden Fry. He also coached the Mean Green’s opponent - SMU. What I liked best was Zach’s suggestion that these rivals should ditch the “Safeway Bowl”, and turn this series into the “Hayden Fry Bowl”.

9/16:

  • The biggest story that will come out of today is the expected announcement that the Big Ten will play this fall - with the expected return date of October 24th. Now the speculation will be if the Pac-12 joins in at that time - or later in November? Will we see the return of the Mountain West? My guess - we won’t see the MAC.

  • If losing to Georgia Tech is not bad enough, Florida State is getting criticism for their fans not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Not the best of starts in Tallahassee

  • I should have added this piece of news a day or two ago - but my attention was caught by the story of Brett Favre endorsing Deion Sanders to be the next Southern Miss head coach. A few weeks ago Sanders was mentioned as a candidate for the opening at Jackson State.

9/15:

  • Doesn’t sound like Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo is too happy that Air Force will be able to compete for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. He says that it’s unfair that the Falcons only have to play two games while both Army and Navy play a full schedule.

  • Arkansas State had to push back their game with Central Arkansas by three weeks due to their depth at a position group - brought about by coronavirus and other issues.

  • Jamain Stephens, who died earlier this month, passed away because of a blood clot in his heart while suffering from coronavirus. This cause of death was provided by his parents, when they shared their grief with CBS News.

9/14:

  • Congratulations to Louisiana for their upset over the Cyclones and their subsequent ranking in the AP Poll. It is the first time that they have been nationally ranked since 1943!

  • I also must give kudos to Tulane coach Willie Fritz. He has just received a new seven-year contract from the school that will run through the 2026 season. Fritz has had success at each of his stops which include Georgia Southern, Sam Houston State and Central Missouri. He should retire with more than 200 wins.

  • Not all FCS vs. FBS match-ups were ugly. We could have had two upsets (Campbell/Georgia Southern and Houston Baptist/Texas Tech) if not for two failed two-point attempts. The Huskies more than held their own against their first-ever Power Five opponent.

  • Confirming what I was feeling strongly about all along - the Air Force Falcons will play two games this fall. The Commander-in -Chief Trophy will be presented!