Tidbits and Rumblings around the College Football Landscape

Jun 18, 2023

It's time for a new season and that also means that once again it’s time to go around the college football landscape and highlight some of the more interesting storylines taking form on the gridiron. Scarlet Nation returns our weekly feature that takes a look at everything college football from around the country.

BEST GAMES FOR WEEK 1 #5 LSU vs #6 Florida StateSaturday, Sept 2, 7:30 pm ABC TV. - Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FLThe only game for this and next weekend featuring two top 10 teams. Brian Kelly in his second year as head coach for the Tigers, seems poised to compete for a National Championship.

Florida at #14 UtahThursday, Aug 31, 8 pm, ESPN Florida will break into the top 25 with a win over a very good Utah. The Utes are looking for a big, out-of-conference, power-five win that should propel them into the top 10.

#17 TCU vs ColoradoSaturday, Sept 2, noon NBCHead coach Deion Sanders makes his FBS debut with his son at quarterback against a ranked Horned Frogs team.

7 Penn State vs West VirginiaSaturday, Sept 2, 7:30 pm NBCFormer Big East rivals meet up for the first time in many years.

#21 North Carolina at South CarolinaSaturday, Sept 2, 7:30 pm, ABCBig rivalry game to kick off the season in the Carolinas.

—One of the earliest starts to an FBS season was on Aug 25, 1996 when #11 Penn State faced off against #7 USC in the Kick-Off Classic at Giants Stadium (now Metlife) in East Rutherford, N.J. The Nittany Lions beat the Trojans 24-7 that day in front of a crowd of 77,716 fans.

—Colorado, under first-year head coach Deion Sanders, led all FBS teams in taking in a whopping 50 transfers in the offseason. Army, Navy, and Air Force had no players transfer in.

—Notre Dame opened its 2012 season in Dublin, Ireland, beating Navy 50-10. The Fighting Irish will now again open the 2023 season in Dublin against Navy this coming Saturday, Aug 26. Notre Dame won all its regular season games in 2012 but were later vacated for use of ineligible players.

—Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark just openly admitted he is rooting for Texas Tech against Texas:

“Coach, I’m not going to put any pressure on you, but I’m going to be in Austin on Thanksgiving. And you better take care of business…”

—FBS Head Coaches to win a National Championship in their first season as head coach at an FBS school:Larry Coker, Miami, 2001, 12-0Bennie Oosterban, Michigan, 1938, 9-0

Barry Switzer (Oklahoma) 1973, Terry Bowden (Auburn), 1993, and Urban Meyer (Ohio State), 2012, all went undefeated in their first seasons at the above listed schools, but they were ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.

—Tulane led all FBS teams in 2022 with a 12-2 (86%) record against the point spread. The worst was a three-way tie among Colorado, Miami and Stanford going 2-10 (17%) against the point spread.

—In 2007, UCF running back Kevin Smith had an incredible 450 rushing attempts in 14 games averaging 32 carries per game, falling just 62 yards shy of setting the NCAA season-rushing record of 2,628 yards set by former Detroit Lions great, Barry Sanders.

—Tony Sands (Kansas) holds the single-game rushing attempts record with 58 carries for 396 yards against Missouri set on Nov 23, 1991. He may still be sitting in an ice tub 32 years later.

Top 3 head coaches on the Hot Seat to open the 2023 season:

Neal Brown, West VirginiaThere is a new Athletic Director at West Virginia, and Brown’s buyout is a relatively reasonable $13 million. This bodes poorly for Brown should he not get to a bowl game.

Danny Gonzalez, New Mexico The Lobos have won only once in their last 15 conference games.

Butch Jones, Arkansas StateThe Red Wolves have won only five games in Jones’ first two seasons — the worst two-year record at the school in more than 20 years, and he is owed only $1 million.

Iowa starting defensive lineman Noah Shannon has been suspended by the NCAA for the entire season due to his involvement in the NCAA investigation into sports gambling in the state of Iowa. Iowa wrestling has lost four wrestlers as well in the investigation. Last fall, Shannon recorded 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks with his 24 solo tackles.

Walter Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American college football player and coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football.” Camp created the sports line of scrimmage and the system of downs. He attended Yale College, where he played and coached college football. Camp's Yale teams of 1888, 1891, and 1892 have been recognized as national champions. Camp annually published an "All-American" team beginning in the early 1890s.

According to ActionNetwork, here is a look at each Big Ten coach's favorite musical artist:

Illinois’ Bret Bielema: Justin Moore

Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz: Pat Green

Indiana’s Tom Allen: MercyMe

Maryland’s Mike Locksley: Citizen Cope

Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh: Alanis Morissette

Michigan State’s Mel Tucker: Prince

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck: Chris Stapleton

Nebraska’s Matt Rhule: Dave Matthews Band

Northwestern’s David Braun: Need To Breathe

Ohio State’s Ryan Day: Morgan Wallen

Rutgers’ Greg Schiano: Bruce Springsteen

Penn State’s James Franklin: Jay-Z

Purdue’s Ryan Walters: Prince

Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell: Zach Bryan

#13 Notre Dame -21½ over NavyLook for new Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman and talented running back Audric Estime to have big days against the Midshipmen. Navy will have a new head coach in Brian Newberry. Taking the Irish in a game in Ireland seems like a no brainer. Saturday, Aug 26, Dublin, Ireland

#21 North Carolina -1½ over South CarolinaTar Heel quarterback Drake Maye is a serious Heisman Trophy contender, This is a neutral site game in Charlotte, NC. Take UNC with only having to give up 1½. Saturday, Sept 2. ABC.

Nebraska +8 over MinnesotaThe Gophers lost their offensive coordinator and All-American running back, while the Huskers now have a new head coach in Matt Rhule and an experienced transfer quarterback in Jeff Sims, who threw for 4,464 yards, 30 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in his Georgia Tech career. Take Nebraska and the 8 points. Thursday, Aug 31 at Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minn.

Keep in mind there will probably be a few less plays in each college game this season due to the new rule change regarding starting and stopping the clock after first downs. The new rule is “for the first season since 1967, the clock will continue to run, as it does in the NFL, when a team makes a first down on a play that ends inbounds rather than stopping until the chains are set and the referee signals ready for play. The exception is during the last two minutes of the second and fourth quarters.”

Untold: Johnny Football Very well-done documentary about the crazy career of Johnny Football. It runs through his career with a lot of interviews featuring those close to Johnny Manziel, as well as the title character himself. Highlights are his High School days which were reminiscent of the players in Friday Night Lights. Also, he exploded on the scene at Texas A&M with a close look at the wild Alabama game. B+ (4 Footballs)

BS HighThe crazy story about a fictitious high school being invited by ESPN to play powerhouse IMG Academy. The head coach of the Bishop Sycamores (BS High) is featured and is depicted as a con man taking advantage of disadvantaged, mostly poor, minority post-high school players. A- (5 Footballs)

Untold: Swamp Kings Four episodes focus on Urban Meyer rebuilding the Florida Gators football program. A homeschooled Tim Tebow is a prominent figure, although we would have liked to see more on super talented Percy Harvin and controversial Aaron Hernandez. This production is a lot drier than the other ‘Untold’ Sports documentaries (Manti Teo, Johnny Football). This series is still very well produced with good football action clips and interviews. C (3 Footballs)

Happy 2-year anniversary to "The Alliance"! ?On this day in 2021, the ACC, Big Ten & Pac-12 joined together to “to stabilize a volatile environment” in college athletics by prioritizing "student-athlete well-being" over money. ?Mission accomplished, gentlemen!! ? pic.twitter.com/x6a4YQ4ekO

Sign up now for an annual VIP membership to Scarlet Nation and get over one-third off the price. Instead of $9.95 per month, you will be billed $6.27 a month for one year. CLICK HERE to get Premium access and get Rutgers basketball and football scoops, coverage and updates every day of the year. This is your opportunity to be in the huddle as we bring you an inside look at how Greg Schiano is rebuilding the program and restoring scarlet pride across the state. Scarlet Nation subscribers receive exclusive access to all of our content, as well as our members-only forum. The Round Table VIP forum is where you can interact with our staff, ask questions, and glean insight from other hard-core fans.

A Premium membership to Scarlet Nation also includes the following:

- Access to our VIP message board posts and premium articles. Get the latest breaking news and inside information on Rutgers team news and recruiting that you can't find anywhere else on the internet.

- The best Rutgers recruiting coverage you will find anywhere. Whether it's Scarlet Knight football, basketball, or recruiting, Scarlet Nation covers recruiting like nowhere else. We always have the latest on Rutgers’ future stars, potential verbal commitments, priority visitors, top targets, and more.

- Daily features: The Monday Morning Kickoff, Tuesday Scoop, No Work Wednesday, Ask the Staff, Fat Cat Friday

Sign up here for your annual premium membership at a discounted price