Earlier on Saturday Fox Sports’ writer Joel Klatt tweeted: “The college football season will 100% go ahead…. Fans will be in the stands at some capacity in most of the stadiums….The season will likely start on time”.

Of course, everybody jumped on this like Klatt’s words were gospel, and he had to basically write a tweet back to Reddit’s CFB board saying: ‘These are just ‘thoughts'”.

It didn’t take time for Clay Travis to snipe at all the other sportswriters, effectively saying that it was bad news for other college football writers that the season wouldn’t go ahead.

Someone forgot to say to him: Why would college football reporters not want a season to go ahead, bearing in mind college football is their livelihood?

Anyway, that [add swear word here] of a political/college football commentator aside, here’s why we think college football will definitely go ahead.

 

EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE SHOWN THE MONEY

The schools need the money. If they don’t play don’t think that ESPN and Fox are going to instantly pony up the year’s worth of money on their contracts. They’ve been losing money hand over fist from advertisers because of the lack of major sports on TV, and 400 Last Dances ain’t gonna save things. ESPN has put out a report that college sports might lose $4 billion if there’s no college football. This will lead to countless other programs getting smashed, and all hell breaking loose. Also, if they come back and even if they are allowed to have their stadiums half or a third full, that will guarantee some more dough.

There will also be pressure from the universities on the states to make sure this happens, because college football is so important to their branding, and therefore enrollment. After all, it’s no coincidence that attendance at the University of Alabama increased as Nick Saban’s teams kept on winning. Schools will also want kids to get onto campus, instead of commuting, because that gives them more boarding money, too.

The states need the money. Whether you’re Texas or Florida and  you need the money to help with the sales tax coffers, you make a lot of incidental money from college football, be it taxes on tickets to sales of football gear to beer sales etc etc. That’s a big reason why governors will push for there to be sport. You can expect every state to say that they will allow professional and college sports by the end of June. It would be financial idiocy if they don’t. Ohio State has already said that they envisage a time when they can put 20 – 50,000 in the seats, therefore ‘guaranteeing’ social distancing. We will see how that will work – as well as the added measures to stop the massive tailgate parties around the stadiums.

The TV networks need the money. The TV networks need the money back from the ad revenues as well as some increased subscription revenue.  The TV networks will no doubt be lobbying everyone from President Trump to the Easter Bunny asking them to push for a college football return.

THE SEASON WILL START ON TIME…BECAUSE WEATHER 

A full season when the weather is at its harshest is not going to work for college football teams. The B1G will absolutely not play in the winter, it seems. The warmer weather – which also reduces the chance of a COVID-19 re-run that will almost certainly coincide with flu season.

….AND THE RECRUITING WILL GET HAMMERED, TOO

Also, a movement to January takes out the December and February signing day windows, which will change the pattern of recruiting etc, and that will stretch resources and time. That’s going to affect high schools. Frankly, the start to the season will make life a lot easier for them. And for high school football players, too.

Don’t think that schools (and high schools) will be pushing the states as well as the conferences to make this happen.

BE PREPARED FOR….

A truncated season where teams will only be allowed to play in-conference schools and Power-5 schools. That means that teams will be allowed to play Notre Dame.

THE CAVEAT IS…

COVID-19, COVID-19, COVID-19.

We don’t know what’s going to happen with the universities and their opening policies (South Carolina’s cancelling fall break and stopping in-person instruction at Thanksgiving break in an effort to get away before flu season, but then again there are other schools who may not open up at all if their state doesn’t bode it as being free).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tualia Tagovailoa, the brother of Tua Tagovailoa, is to transfer from Alabama, has entered the transfer portal, according to many media reports.

Tagovailoa’s departure comes hot on the heels of not only the drafting of his brother to the Miami Dolphins but also the arrival of Bryce Young, a five-star freshman who is said to be fighting out Mac Jones for the No.1 spot.

Also Tualia came in as a four-star himself from Alabaster, Alabama (he was moved to Alabama to be closer to his brother in Tuscaloosa), and was named as a first-team, All-State 7-A player, and fifth-best pro-style quarterback in the country. The No.1 player was Spencer Rattler, who is considered to be the de-facto starting quarterback at Oklahoma, who is freakishly good.

Tualia’s departure is hardly surprising. It looks for certain that – if there’s a 2020-1 season for college football – he’ll be No.3 on the list, and he wants somewhere to play.

The vitriol from the Alabama fanbase was predictable, blaming his father for making his son transfer. Some have compared him to LaVar Ball, the father of NBAer Lonzo Ball, who’s motives are solely about money and not the family.

As soon as it was announced, the mouths started wagging that immediately, Tualia would be going to Miami. The jump isn’t hard to work out – Tua will be playing for the Dolphins, and the Hurricanes – to say the least – sucked at quarterback last year. If he comes aboard, he’ll be favored to start – especially since Manny Diaz’s offense that was putrid (90th out of 130 in points scored). He’ll also be under the tutelage of new OC Rhett Lashlee, who was in charge of a formidable, fast-paced offense at SMU….one of the funnest and high-scoring of its ilk in the nation.

Other options will be for him to go and play non-Power 5 football with FIU or FAU.He’d be an upgrade of any quarterback in that system (He wouldn’t go to UCF and unseat McKenzie Milton, who’s looking to be a future NFLer himself).

In the State of Florida, Florida State – who also had a putrid offense – might also be a place for Tualia to play. Not only does Florida State have the glowing history, but Mike Norvell’s offense at Memphis put the ‘high’ in high-powered last year.

Our biggest question is: Why not think about Georgia? Georgia not only has the name recognition, but they are looking for a talented QB who can also run (something that Jake Fromm could not do), and they’ve got the weapons at WR and on the offensive line to make it happen. Plus, Georgia’s got the name recognition.

While it would be nice to see Tags in either Lane Kiffin’s offense at Ole Miss or Mike Leach’s offense at Mississippi State, it’s unlikely they would go, because of the tightness of the family.

 

For good or for bad, SEC people can bend your ear until they’ve practically ripped it off about the Cam Newtons, Tim Tebows, Reggie Whites, Trent Richardsons and Tuas of memory. Of course Georgia fans will regale you with stories about Herschel, ‘Florida men’ will even talk about Spurrier’s frighteningly good offenses, and someone from Arkansas might chime about Darren McFadden.

But there are the forgotten men. It goes without saying that most offensive and defensive linesmen are these ‘forgotten men’, but every team who’s won a National Championship tend to have a good offensive line. It helps with putting up the points. So please don’t get annoyed if we ignore them.

We’re not going to just doing National Championships teams, because then we’d not bother with the Vanderbilts, Missouris or Mississippi States of this world. We’ll probably stick to times with Color TV, too.

Anyway, so here we go.

ALABAMA 

Damien Harris: Because of the amount of high-profile running backs Alabama had in the four years that Harris was on campus, his career has been somewhat ignored. But when in 2016 and 2017 he had two 1,000 yard seasons, and three straight seasons of 1,000 + yards. His two touchdowns in 2018 in the play-off win against Oklahoma have largely been ignored….But then again, so were his 25 total touchdowns in his four-year career.

ARKANSAS

Jamaal Anderson: In 2006, Arkansas won the SEC West but lost the SEC Championship to Florida. On that team, all everyone could talk about Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (with good reason). Despite leading the SEC in sacks (13 1/2, good for FIFTH in the NCAA that year) and fifth in passes defended in the SEC, in 2006, he was ignored as an All-American, too.

AUBURN

Ontario McElebb: Cam Newton was God in Auburn’s 2010 National Championship year, taking the Tigers on his back every single game. But you want another forgetten man in the running game, let’s not forget Ontario McElebb, who put up nearly 1,000 on the ground and 86 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns.

FLORIDA

Dallas Baker: It’s easy to remember to the likes of Tebow, Percy Harvin and even Carlos Dunlap in those dominant Urban Meyer teams, but Baker never seems to be remembered. In this 2006 season he grabbed 920 yards and 10 touchdowns (he was the top receiver by some margin), and was a stud. But no-one seemed to care less.

GEORGIA

Marcus Howard: On the 2007 team that finished 2nd in the AP Poll, we were arguing the toss between ourselves between Howard and Thomas Brown, but with Howard, this was the poster mark of his Georgia carer. In an unbelievable season where he led the SEC in sacks (10 1/2) and forced fumbles (3) and scored a fumble, he was……not even considered for an all-SEC spot.

KENTUCKY

Avery Williamson: On an awful Kentucky team that went 0-8 in the SEC and 2-10 in the SEC, Williamson shone like a light within the dark, leading the SEC in solo tackles (70) and second in the SEC in total tackles (135). Like that Kentucky team, no-one will remember that team….or Williamson.

LSU

Justin Vincent: Vincent starred on Nick Saban’s 2003 National Championship-winning team, putting up 1,001 rushing yards on 154 attempts, and yet wasn’t mentioned. He also put up 10 touchdowns. Yet no-one seems to remember him.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Josh Robinson: In Dan Mullen’s 2014 team that effectively launched Dak Prescott’s name in the College Football biosphere, you would be forgiven for thinking no-one really played on the team. Robinson was a hero on that team, putting up 1,200 yards and 370 receiving yards and 12 total TDs. Robinson’s biggest game was a 197-yard, 1 TD performance against LSU – the Tigers were major favorites, and the Bulldogs hadn’t beaten the Bayou Bengals in 14 years.

MISSOURI

Andrew Wilson: Wilson was a hero and yet not-particularly-recognised player of the 2013 team that ended up 5th in the AP Poll and won the SEC East title. On that team, Wilson clocked up 114 tackles (including 70 solo) – 25 better than the 2nd-best Tigers player. He also had 6 1/2 sacks, three passes defended and a fumble recovery. In 2012 he led the SEC and was fourth in the country in forced fumbles. Yet, he only made second-team SEC.

OLE MISS

Jaylen Walton: On the 2015 Ole Miss team (yes, the one that beat Alabama), Chad Kelly and Laquon Treadwell were no doubt the heroes on the team. But Walton himself was the ultimate under-the-radar player of an offense that was nuclear, never mind high-octane. Anyway, Walton put up 730 yards rushing (and 5 TDs), and had 23 receptions for a further 164. He led the team in non-passing plays by 6o. Talk about a workhorse.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Connor Shaw (2012): It’s weird to say this about the quarterback on a 2012 team that went 11-2, but when Marcus Lattimore put the team on his back, Shaw was almost an afterthought. In fact, his 22 total touchdowns – 14 from the air and 8 from the floor – were excellent.

TENNESSEE

Kelley Washington (2001): The 2001 team was led by RB Travis Stephens, QB Casey Clausen and WR Donte Stallworth, but people forget about one of the heroes of that team – Kelley Washington. Washington had 1,010 yards in receptions and 5 TDs. He seemed to do the ‘lump work’, while Stallworth seemed to do the ‘housework’ (10 TDs).

Texas A&M

Ben Malena (2012): This was Johnny Manziel’s Heisman season, so no-one’s going to remember a lot of other people from that team, apart from Mike Evans and Damontre Moore. But how about Malena? The 5-8 running back put up 808 valuable yards and 8 TDs on 138 carries.

VANDERBILT 

Ke’Shawn Vaughn: On a 2019 team that was utterly crap, no-one will remember a player who put up 1,028 yards and 9 TDs. That’s because Vaughn’s work was like putting lipstick on a very ugly pig.