Week of 7/27

8/2:

• One story that I missed while reading other news, the AAC announced that they will play an eight game league schedule with teams playing up to 4 non-conference games. It is expected that teams will play between one and three non-conference games.

• Also on Friday, another story that fell through the cracks with me was the cancellation of the Redbox Bowl - the first bowl casualty. The bowl, played in San Francisco, has been played since 1992 and has gone by the names San Francisco Bowl, Emerald Bowl, Fight Hunger Bowl, and Foster Farms Bowl.

8/1:

• Back in late March, Sam Ehlinger started a GoFundMe page as a COVID-19 relief fund. The Longhorn QB revealed that between the page and private donations, almost $200k has been raised, which has and will provide 150,000 meals, as well as help organizations. Great story!

• Since the Ivy League canceled their season earlier this month, eight players from the league have entered the transfer database. One of them, Harvard RB Devin Darrington, revealed that the postponement was the primary reason for his decision. ACC and SEC schools have reached out to the back.

• Lastly, I read some very sad news in the world of college football. Louisiana OL coach D.J. Looney died of a heart attack at the young age of 31. My condolences to his family and friends.

7/31:

• When you didn’t think that the season could get any more out-of-whack, it’s being reported that the Michigan-Ohio State game will be played in either September or October. I guess the reasoning is that it’s better to get the game played in case the season gets canceled.

• Last night it was reported by his son that Harvey Updyke had passed away Thursday afternoon. Updyke, who died of natural cases (poisoned?), was arrested and found guilty of poisoning Toomer’s Oaks after the Tigers beat his beloved Crimson Tide in the 2010 Iron Bowl.

• In an interesting move, the NAIA has announced that they will play their championship in the spring. NAIA President and CEO JIm Carr said, “The decision also provides additional flexibility for our conferences and institutions to account for regional differences and plan their regular season accordingly.” So conferences can compete in the fall or winter if they choose. Will the NCAA follow suit? Might make for a safer and better season…

7/30:

• The SEC joins the Big Ten and Pac-12 in planning a conference-only schedule this fall. Not good news for fans who were still hoping for Clemson/South Carolina, Florida/Florida State, Georgia/Georgia Tech - and not to be forgotten LSU/Texas.

• And the Big Ten is still considering not playing football this fall. Don’t want to think about how many great conference games would be lost if that’s the case!

• My favorite transfer story today - RB Devonta’e Henry-Cole, left Utah in January and joined BYU in early February. Before playing a down for the Cougars, Henry-Cole was on the move again, as Utah State added him to their roster yesterday. He has made his way through all the FBS Utah schools..

• I love that the Georgia Tech - Notre Dame game will be played on campus in Atlanta at Bobby Dodd Stadium! Much better than Mercedes-Benz Stadium..

7/29:

• In an interesting development, the ACC voted to proceed with an 11-game season - that includes Notre Dame playing a full league schedule. Also, there will be no divisions for this season, so the two top teams will play for the championship

• Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley, a potential first-round pick in next year’s NFL draft, has announced that he is opting out of the season. He will focus on preparing for the NFL because of the uncertainty of the college football season because of a renewed outbreak of the coronavirus across the country.

• The Northeast Conference became the sixth FCS conference to cancel their fall sport season because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The conference did leave open the chance of fall teams playing in the spring semester.

• Favorite transfer story/stories today: Texas CB, Anthony Cook, who tweeted a few weeks back that he would never play another down for the Longhorns, has pulled his name out of the transfer portal, and former Florida State RB Khalan Laborn has entered the transfer portal - one day after being dismissed from the Seminole Team.

7/28:

• Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma have agreed on a two-year contract extension - one that the Sooners hope will keep him there until 2025. In three seasons as head coach of the the Sooners, Riley has gone 36-6, with a 24-3 record in Big 12 play.

• In a humorous story (and sad for some), NCAA president Mark Emmert described the FCS Playoffs as a round-robin tournament with 20 teams. You would think that he would know the playoff format for all levels of play

• Transfer story of the day - Hunter Rison, son of former Spartan great Andre Rison, has moved on from Michigan State to Kansas State to a California junior college, and now Division II Grand Valley State. He says that he is “Ready to work. Committed”…Maybe

7/27:

• Michigan State revealed that 16 players and four staff members tested positive for COVID-19 last week. They are now in quarantine for 14 days.

• No surprise that the Hurricanes officially named Houston transfer D’Eriq King as their starting quarterback. In 2018 he was just the third quarterback in FBS history with at least 35 passing touchdowns and 13 rushing tds in a single season. I believe that folks should watch out for Miami this year…

• In sad news, Nevada LB James Fotofilli was a victim of a road-rage hit-and-run. He suffered a fractured skull, but he is expected to make a full recovery. And former Kent State LB DeVante’ Strickland was killed in an early morning shooting on Sunday. He leaves behind two small children.

• And good news for Georgia Tech on the Transfer Portal front…redshirt junior Kelton Dawson withdrew his name from the portal. He started seven games last year on the defensive line and was credited with 26 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

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…

Week of 7/13

7/17:

• Today the Colonial Athletic Association cancelled their Fall 2020 conference schedule football season, but have left the door open for its members to pursue an independent schedule. The CAA is one of the three strongest conferences in the FCS - along with the Big Sky and Missouri Valley. So far James Madison and Elon seem interested in playing this fall, while the others are looking towards spring.

• The hot hand in recruiting at this time is Nick (Lou?) Saban and the Crimson Tide. Today they snagged the Brockermeyer twins out under the Longhorn’s nose. Tommy, who is a 6’6'“ 280-pound offensive tackle, is the No. 2-ranked overall prospect, and his brother James, 6’3” 253-pound center, is the 99th ranked prospect. Here comes the SEC again…

• While talking about the SEC, the conference announced today that they would honor the scholarships of athletes who opt out of participating this fall. This follows in the footsteps of a similar announcement made earlier by the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences.

7/16:

• The MEAC has now suspended the fall sports indefinitely, and like other conferences that have cancelled their fall seasons, they are unsure about playing their fall schedules in the 2021 spring semester. This is the first scholarship league in Division I to sit out the season.

• Friday could be a big day for the FCS as one of the top conferences (CAA) could be making a call about their season. Rumor has it that their conference schedules will be cancelled, but individual schools would be allowed to create their own independent schedules. Not sure that will be feasible.

• Since it wasn’t a day loaded with news, I can’t help but mention Auburn WR Zach Farrar. As a graduate transfer, Farrar has entered the portal and is looking to play for his 5th college program (Oklahoma, Gulf Coast Community College, Youngstown State, Auburn, and ?). Wonder if he has trouble committing to a relationship…

7/15:

• For the first time since World War II, the Rose Parade has been canceled. The parade had its beginning in 1891 and is held on January 1st every year before the Rose Bowl parade. Very sad day.

• St. Thomas is the first university that has been approved to move directly from Division III to Division I in NCAA modern history. Their football team will play in the FCS non-scholarship Pioneer League - which stretches from New York to California and now Minnesota to Florida. The Tommies have a 126-21 record since 2008, and they have made two appearances during that time in the Division III national title game (2012 and 2015).

• TCU will get a boost to their 2021 roster as LSU LB Marcel Brooks is moving closer to home. Brooks, a five-star recruit in 2019, appeared in eleven games last year for the Tigers in their run to the national championship.

• Another conference has announced that they are postponing their fall sports schedule. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (Division II) will not be playing football this fall, but will attempt to play their games in the spring. Probably the best known team in the conference is Slippery Rock.

• USA South, Division III, is making a creative attempt to play games this fall. They will split their eight teams into two divisions and play a home-and-home in-division format, with a championship game between the two divisional champions. To eliminate overnight travel, they will look into neutral site venues if necessary. Lastly, the league announced that schools are free to schedule non-conference games if they wish.

7/14:

• The 2021 meeting between Florida State and Notre Dame has been moved up from Labor Day to Sunday. This will be Notre Dame’s first visit to Tallahassee since 2014 - when they fell to the Seminoles 31-27. These teams have met nine times, with four of those matchups being Top Ten games.

• It looks like the state of Alabama will be sending former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville to Washington D.C. to represent them as a senator. He must have had the backing of the Crimson Tide football fans because he said “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have Nick Saban.” As the head coach of the Tigers, Tuberville had a six-game winning streak against Alabama.

• Speaking of the Crimson Tide, they are on a roll on the recruiting trail. Today they landed their eighth ESPN300 2021 recruit since May - and their tenth overall. LB Kendrick Blackshire, out of Texas, offered up his signature to Nick Saban.

• The city of Philadelphia has announced a ban on large events for the next six months. For college football this will impact Temple, but more importantly it will have an effect on the Army-Navy game!

7/13:

• Following in the footsteps of the Ivy League, the Patriot League is the second FCS Conference to cancel all fall sports. The league said that having fall sports in the spring would be very challenging, but start looking into it to see if it’s feasible. Unlike the Ivies, the league sends a team to the FCS Playoffs, but they are usually one-and-done. My wheels are turning a bit regarding Spring 2021 because these two leagues (Ivy and Patriot) could have some good matchups between them to fill out the schedule…

• Hampton, out of the FCS Big South Conference, has announced that they will not fall sports this year. The Pirates are the first team outside of the Ivy and Patriot Leagues to cancel their fall sports season.

• The Navy Athletic Director, Chet Gladchuk, (love the name!) is very determined to play the Army-Navy game this year. Of course there is the city of Philadelphia to consider, and the AAC would be concerned if their championship game has to be pushed back, but if you have to preserve ONE games - this is it!

• In late May JT Daniels, former USC QB, announced he was moving on to Georgia. Today it was announced that the NCAA has granted him a waiver, so he is eligible for three years starting this fall. I don’t think that Jaime Newman was expecting this - so will he enter the transfer database again or will he enjoy and embrace the new competition?

Week of 7/6

Here are the headlines that I have seen and read about in my daily search for College Football new…

7/10:

• Just announced…The NESCAC has canceled all fall sports - which isn’t a big surprise since more than half the schools canceled their fall season. There is a possibility that there could be a spring season as the conference looks for creative ways to provide opportunities for their student athletes. Lets hope it happens because my favorite two Division III Conferences (Centennial) have now called off their 2020 fall sports.

• One day after the Big Ten announced that they will be playing a conference-only schedule, the Pac-12 followed suit and announced their same plans for this upcoming fall. The Fighting Irish have now lost three Fall 2020 opponents in the last two days - Wisconsin, Stanford, and their big rival USC. Things might be quiet for a couple of weeks in regards to the other Power 5 Conferences since they won’t announce their plans until the end of July.

• Tony Grimes, the top-rated cornerback for the class of 2021 who recently committed to North Carolina, got on social media today to report that he was going to reclassifying to 2020. He will now be joining the Tar Heels this fall, provided there are games to play.

• Changes are coming quickly…..the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC - Division III) will now play a conference only schedule, which will knock two games off their season. Teams that come to mind from the conference…Delaware Valley, Widener, Lebanon Valley, Lycoming, and a favorite name of mine…Misericordia!

7/9:

• After the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to cancel its football season (Centennial Conference - Division III was the first conference to cancel their fall sports), others are expected to quickly make the a decision - though maybe not an entire cancellation. It has started on the FBS level with the Big Ten announcing that they are moving to a conference-only football season this fall. Not only does it eliminate great games such as Ohio State at Oregon, Penn State at Virginia Tech and Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame at Lambeau Field, but it will have a devastating effect on Group of Five teams and FCS teams that depend on these paycheck games.

• 247 Sports unveiled today the Pac-12 predictions of beat writers across the west. Oregon and USC were unanimous picks to win the North and South divisions, and the Ducks being unanimous winners over the Trojans for the title. After that the predictions were interesting as Cal was favored (not a heavy favorite though) over Washington based upon their number of returning starters. And in the other division, since Kyle Whittingham has to build the Utes up again, the Sun Devils were picked second behind the Trojans.

• Florida and NC State announced today a home-and-home series for 2026 and 2032, as the Gators will venture to Raleigh first, and then will host the finale six years later. This will be their first regular season meeting since 1975. The Gators lead the series, that began in 1927, 9-4-1.

7/8:

• Just reported (saw it on FBS Schedules), the Ivy League has announced that it is postponing their Fall 2020 sports schedules. More details later… added at 4:20 pm

• Due to coronavirus concerns and potential scheduling conficts (unknown football and baseball schedules), Wrigley field won’t host this year’s Wisconsin-Northwestern game. It has not been postponed, so in all likelihood, it will now be played on campus at Northwestern.

• Korey Foreman, the top rated player in the country according to 247Sports, has cut his list of schools down to seven. Since he backed out of his commitment to Clemson more than two months ago, USC has been the favorite to land him. But can Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, LSU ever be counted out, and what about Oregon swooping in and stealing him from the Trojans clutches if USC doesn’t win 10 games this year? The surprise team on Korey’s list? Howard University.

7/7:

• The Ivy League will be making their announcement on Wednesday regarding their fall sports, but the Centennial Conference (Division III) canceled their fall sports season today. Time will tell if they are able to play football in the spring. If so, there might be a visit to Gettysburg in my future to visit the battlefield and catch a football game.

• It was no surprise that Fordham canceled their game with Hawaii on September 12th because of no air travel for teams in the Patriot League (hard to get to the islands without flying), but I was surprised to see them cancel their Week 0 matchup with Stony Brook, as well as their Sept. 5th game against Bryant.

• The 2020 State Fair of Texas has been canceled this year as coronavirus cases continue to spike across Texas, but currently the Oklahoma-Texas football game has not yet been impacted by the cancellation. The hope is that the game will be still be played at the Cotton Bowl, but there are no guarantees as the health and safety of all involved remains the top priority.

• In some sad news, Jahneil Douglas, defensive lineman for the Toledo Rockets, was shot and killed outside of a pizza restaurant late Tuesday night. Douglas, a junior, was a communication major, and he had appeared in twelve games for the Rockets.

• Ruffin McNeill, former head coach of East Carolina, has been hired by NC State in an advisory role. For the last three years he was an assistant head coach at Oklahoma until he resigned in January to help care for his father in North Carolina. I have also thought it was a mistake by ECU to let him go after he guided the Pirates to four bowl appearances in six years.

7/6:

• I have to start by saying that this was a big day for my family as it was my youngest daughter’s birthday (picture of her in the About Tab) - as she turned 26! Love you Megan! It was also my parents 63rd Anniversary! We are both lucky and blessed that they can continue to say “Good Morning” to each other after all these years! We love you Mom and Dad - and Congratulations on another year together!

• On a sad note, Bob Reade, who transitioned from a very successful high school program (Geneseo HS in Illinois) to Division III Augustana, passed away at the age of 87. After three straight state titles at Geneseo, he went 146-23-1 with four national titles as the Vikings head coach.

Week of 6/29

6/29:

• More Division III schools are calling off their seasons - as Williams, Grinnell, and RPI have postponed their fall sports season. We will now be without the Williams-Amherst, RPI-WPI, in addition to no Bowdoin-Colby matchup.

• Dayton canceled their game with Southeast Missouri, that was scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3rd. This was the first game of a home-and-home series, so the teams will hope to reschedule this game in a future season. Meanwhile, Southeast Missouri will be searching for an opponent to replace the Flyers.

• The Ivy League is considering a conference only season in the spring - the season would begin in April and conclude in Mid-May. If this does occur, I am thinking that a trip to Harvard Stadium would be in the making for me since this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see an Ivy League football game in either April or May.

6/30:

• Mack Brown continues to amaze me with his recruiting. He got UNC another 5-star recruit in Tony Grimes, a defensive back from the state of Virginia - so it shows that he not only can keep players in state, but he can also get big-time recruits from other states as well. Teams he disappointed most with this catch: Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas A&M.

• Mississippi Governor, Tate Reeves, signed the bill which was written to change the state flag, so it is now a law. Mississippi had the last state flag with the Confederate battle emblem.

7/1:

• UConn has officially embarked on its journey as an independent, joining Notre Dame, Army, BYU, UMass, New Mexico State and Liberty. This has happened because the Huskies placed all of their other sports in the Big East. Funny how five years ago on this day Navy joined the AAC after 135 years as a football independent.

7/3:

• Mark Hudspeth, who led Austin Peay to their first postseason appearance and a school record 11 wins, resigned today so that he could spend more time with his family. He said that he return to coaching “at the right time”. Hudspeth won OVC Coach of the Year honors last year, and spent the previous seven seasons at Louisiana.

• Sad to see that Lafayette canceled their game with Navy. The teams, who would have played on Sept. 12th, first met back in 1891, and this would have been their first meeting since 1994 - 26 years ago. Hopefully they will reschedule in the next few years - though the Midshipmen are fully scheduled through 2023..

7/4:

• I have been following the recruitment of Caleb Williams, the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback (15th prospect overall) from Washington D.C. The Terps were one of three teams in the running for his services, but not surprisingly he elected to become a Sooner. Still hurts.