0 comments by Mike Abelson on 10/4/2015
There is a lot to unbox after Alabama’s deconstruction of Georgia. The Crimson Tide embarrassed the Bulldogs on their own field. The destruction was thorough, and Bama showed why, even in a down year, it is one of the best teams in the nation. Non-offensive touchdowns are the ultimate type of game-changer in football, and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/3/2015
It was a very clear theme and a very central question as the month of September came to an end: In the 2015 college football season, would teams unaccustomed to being the leaders and standard-bearers for their (power) conferences be able to handle the heat? Will Utah be able to stand up to the fresh […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/1/2015
Hype is a curious creature. Sportswriters are often guilty of applying it to games which don’t merit it. Pundits and bloggers have been known to create a narrative which so fully defines the buildup to kickoff that the postgame conversation is inevitably reshaped as a result. When that reshaping seems to ignore the facts on […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/21/2015
The reality of September volatility cannot be underscored enough in college football. The Ohio State team you saw in September of 2014 was nothing close to the team you saw in December and January. The Texas A&M team you saw on opening night in 2014 was nothing close to the team witnessed in October, just […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
September is always the month in which college football seasons need to be given time to settle. New players, new quarterbacks, new coordinators, new head coaches, new competitive dynamics in various divisions and conferences — flux is the constant, unpredictability is what’s predictable. September is the month in which the most volatile results of a […]
0 comments by Terry P. Johnson on 9/18/2015
Week three of the college football season looks like it’ll be an exciting one, featuring four games between top 25 opponents. Here are some notes, stats, and observations to pay attention to. Just how good is the Georgia Tech option attack, which averages 457.5 yards per game and a whopping 8.47 yards per carry? We’ll […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/13/2015
Fans, when told that “YOUR TEAM IS SO LUCKY!”, often get upset. Indeed, it often feels like an insult to be told that your college football team won a game because it was fortunate more than anything else. I’ve been there. Before any of us who write about sports began to watch games as chroniclers, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/1/2015
The year 2016 is a leap year, with 29 days in February. The year 2015, as a college football television year, is a “Bo Jackson leap year” for the SEC and CBS. What could that term possibly mean, you ask? It’s actually very simple: Just as the calendar gains a day in a leap year, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/28/2015
As great as a dynastic college program or professional sports organization might be, the prevailing truth about big-time sports remains intact: It’s extremely hard to win repeat championships. Go through the histories of teams that repeated as either professional or collegiate champions. There will always be an exception here and there, but for the most […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/18/2015
This dynamic is not limited to the Southeastern Conference: Coaches who played at one school wind up coaching for a rival school. It’s true that in the 1960s, Oregon and USC weren’t quite the high-profile adversaries they are today, but the legendary John McKay played at Oregon and was an assistant coach for the Ducks […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/8/2015
There’s a lot of ugliness in college sports, and the really dirty reality — the one which cuts through every fan base and is the hardest one to face in a mirror — is that no program is immune to appalling behavior or poor decision-making… because all of us as human beings are flawed. (Basically […]
Woo pig, pay me!
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/27/2015
The early-1980s Miami Dolphins gave football the Killer Bees: Baumhower, Barnett, Blackwood, Bokamper, Bowser, Betters, and Brudzinski. The 2015 Arkansas Razorbacks carry just as many B-words, but the college football world is waiting to see if the Hogs kill or are killed. Either way, this team is going to represent one of the more notable […]
Nov 22, 2014; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks running back Jonathan Williams (32) rushes against the Ole Miss Rebels at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Arkansas defeated Mississippi 30-0. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Ryan Palencer
Arkansas Razorbacks 2014 Record: 7-6 (won bowl game) 1 Burning Question: Will Arkansas be able to build on late success from last season? Last season, Arkansas was able to muster only two conference wins. However, the Razorbacks were close in nearly every conference contest. In addition, they won three of their last four games and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/23/2015
Alabama is Alabama. Nick Saban’s the coach, fer cryin’ out loud. The Crimson Tide might not drown everyone else in the SEC West, but they’re not likely to be particularly mediocre anytime soon. Auburn has Gus Malzahn, one of the brightest head coaches in the country, and a track record of being a major national […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/22/2015
When Steve Spurrier speaks, people laugh with him. When other SEC football coaches speak, people more often laugh at them. Such has been the case over the past week. Missouri’s Gary Pinkel made some well-intentioned but ultimately absurd comments about Notre Dame the other day. Last week, Nick Saban of Alabama — in public remarks […]
