Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (Bud Lights sold separately for thirsty offensive linemen in West Lafayette):
MORE DASH: SEC debates | Do I work at LSU or USC?
THIRD QUARTER: HUG CHANGE
The Dash has dedicated many words to the tumultuous events of this 2021 season as the sport’s recent status quo has been wrinkled and reshaped into something new and different. But the alterations keep coming, leaving us with some interesting potential stories to monitor in the second half of the season. Let’s go to the list:
• A new supreme chief of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The conference has been dominated by Clemson and Florida State for the past decade, with the Tigers winning seven championships and the Seminoles three. With Clemson failing to score 20 points in regulation against FBS competition thus far, and Florida State mired in a four-year malaise, the door to the throne room is wide open. The best candidates to travel it:
Wake Forest (21). Last ACC title: 2006. The Demon Deacons are the last undefeated team in the league, already 4-0 in the conference. They will come out of conference to play Army on Saturday, then have a soft re-entry at home against Duke on October 30. November will be a pivotal time, with three out of four on the road (North Carolina, Nov. 6, Clemson, Nov. 13). and Boston College on Nov. 27), plus a home game against North Carolina state. Dave Clawson has done a great job at Wake, but it’s hard to see a team that is giving up 5.61 yards per play and 411 yards per game winning their division.
North Carolina State (22). Last ACC title: 1979. The Wolfpack owns the Atlantic Division’s most valuable asset: a head-to-head victory over Clemson and the possible tiebreaker if they both finish 7-1. State was impressive on the road against Boston College on Saturday, and the remaining schedule is navigable. The Nov. 13 game at Wake Forest could decide the split, if the two go about business differently. NC State has a history of finding painful ways to sabotage itself, but for now this is the team to beat in the Atlantic.
Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh (23). Last ACC title: Never. Last conference title of any kind: 2010 Big East co-champions. The Panthers have the best offense in the conference, led by best quarterback Kenny Pickett, who is starting to gain some Heisman traction. If they hadn’t inexplicably ruined a game against Western Michigan, they would be ranked in the top 15 and maybe the top 10. Pitt has only played two ACC games so far, but both were road wins by wide margins. If the Panthers beat Clemson on Saturday, and it says here they will, they could slide to the Coastal Division crown.
Quick pick for ACC champion: Pittsburgh.
• A mold breaker Heisman Trophy Winner (24). In a year where the usual suspects playing glamorous positions on glamorous shows are scarcer, why not look for something entirely different? Like a defensive lineman? There are a couple of interesting options.
The best player on the best team is probably Georgia inside lineman Jordan Davis, a 6-foot-6, 340-pound mountain-man who leads the disruption from the start. “When you see someone like JD, how can you not be prepared for the Heisman? ”asked his teammate, Adam Anderson.
Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart described Davis Saturday as “like Godzilla. He’s the immovable object. “Smart also said that before this season he would have considered it” impossible “for a defensive player to win the Heisman, and was shocked when a wide receiver (Alabama’s DeVonta Smith) did it last year. it was a quarterback’s world. “
The problem, in the world of a quarterback, is to quantify the impact of a running-packed inside lineman. Davis’ tackle stats are relatively unspectacular (18 total tackles on the season), but the team’s stats are unbelievable. The Bulldogs lead the nation in the fewest points allowed (6.6, which if held, would be the lowest since Oklahoma in 1986); total defense (207.1 yards per game); yards per play (3.55); and the fewest hitting plays over 20 yards allowed (14, including zero for Kentucky on Saturday).
Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson is another defensive lineman to watch. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound specimen is not yet recording loss numbers at the 2019 Chase Young in sacks / tackles (5 1/2 sacks, six TFLs), but is averaging more tackles per game (four) than Young when He was a finalist for Heisman (3.8), expected to be one of the first defensive players selected in the 2022 NFL draft, and has some big exhibition games to come.
If you insist that a skill position player win the Heisman, how about one from a school that has never won it? Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III remains the nation’s leading running back, powering the 7-0 Spartans. Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral had his worst statistical passing game in Tennessee, but exploded for 195 rushing yards on 30 iron-will carries. He is third nationally in total offense, averaging eight yards per play. And The Dash will continue to be at the table for Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, who simply has the following on his resume: a 16-1 record as a starter; 79.8% accurate, on track to break FBS record; 13.6 yards per attempt, on track to break FBS record; and an efficiency rating of 234.28, on track to break the FBS record. (Pickett is also a worthy candidate, but Pitt has had a Heisman winner in Tony Dorsett.)
• A freshman who didn’t start until Game 6 of the season possibly ending up being the best quarterback in the country. Hello there, Caleb Williams (25), you may be exactly what Oklahoma needs to compete for a national title. In the seven quarters since Williams entered the game against Texas, he has led the Sooners to exactly 100 points. He has passed or rushed for eight touchdowns and produced 661 yards of total offense. He has led 24 units and Oklahoma has scored on 17 of them and punted only five times. Great things were expected, but he is sticking to the schedule.
• The unexpected appearance of two rivalry games in the state (26) as fundamental when deciding league championships. Not many people touted the Michigan-Michigan State game on October 30 as a major showdown, but the Mitten power duo are one Wolverines home win over Northwestern before handing over their first meeting of these two as top programs. 10 since 1961. That’s 60 years ago, if you don’t like arithmetic. The winner has an advantage in the four-team Big Ten East sumo game that runs from October 30 to November. 27. And then there’s Bedlam to end the regular season, the annual Oklahoma-Oklahoma State fight that continues to trend towards an undefeated team showdown. (Iowa State, which was expected to be the Sooners’ main competition, has a chance to blow that up by beating one or both Oklahoma schools. The Cowboys visit Ames on Saturday.)
Albert Cesare / The Enquirer / USA TODAY Network
• A group of 5 schoolchildren in the playoff (27). Things continue to break down Cincinnati’s path, with the Bearcats taking over business, an overbearing fad, and suitors lingering around them. Purdue helped things by exposing Iowa for what it is, which allowed Cincy to climb to No. 2 on the standings. Sagarin’s ratings say the Bearcats’ schedule to date is the weakest among serious playoff contenders, and that won’t change over the next month against Navy, Tulane, Tulsa and South Florida. But there is a potential high-profile game against SMU on November 20, and potentially a valuable American Athletic Conference championship game as well. Cincy needs Notre Dame to stay strong and Indiana to win some games, but most of all he needs to keep winning and challenge the College Football Playoff selection committee to reject him again. (On the understanding that you could choose to do exactly that).
• Abbreviated Texas schools making power moves in the US Conference Make way in the West Division to UTSA (28) and UTEP (29), two programs that have combined to earn very little in their history. The Roadrunners have only been playing soccer since 2011 and have learned quite quickly, including a 7-5 record last year, but at 7-0 they are one of the revelations of 2021. The Miners are a bigger surprise, starting with 5 -1 after going 5-39 in the previous four seasons. UTEP has won two conference championships in its deteriorating history, the WAC in 2000 and the Border Conference in 1956. Both have yet to deal with the UAB in division, but their meeting on November 6 in El Paso is of interest, quite unlikely.
• Unlikely property situations in the Ten greats of the west (30). Purdue has won 16 Big Ten games since Jeff Brohm took over, with 25% of them coming against Iowa. Jeff Brohm is 3-1 against Big Ten dean Kirk Ferentz and younger brother Brian He is 1-0 after coaching the Boilermakers in Game 1 last year while Jeff was out with COVID-19. Meanwhile, Minnesota coach PJ Fleck is now 3-1 against Nebraska, doing as much damage as any to Scott Frost’s job security.
MORE DASH: SEC debates | Do I work at LSU or USC?
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.