May the youngsters tossing a football outside Indiana’s Memorial Stadium have much to cheer about this season.  Believe me kids, things at IU can only get better this season for the Hoosiers.   I plan on seeing most of this year’s games at Memorial Stadium.  Late in October there is a plan to go back to Huntington to check on the Herd when they play host to Coastal Carolina.  That is one of the FBS teams I have not seen play in live action.  I have seen most of them.

Where do we start?  Do we have the time?  What a crazy offseason.  Or is there such a thing anymore in college athletics including football.

The Athletic Department of a major college or university has to deal with two major facets these days:

1.  Show Business          2.  Athletics

With players getting remuneration in the world of NIL, the glitzameter is higher than ever trying to promote programs and attract not only athletes but perhaps the ones out there that can help to pay them.  ADs, you have my sympathy.

Did anyone catch the Notre Dame infomercial where new Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman has a couple of his players running around Las Vegas in some fancy car in hopes that they can find out what kind of uniform they will be wearing in Vegas when they face BYU?  What in the name of Brigham Young and Knute Rockne is going on here?  Lights Camera  Action!  In the irony department, Notre Dame has never scheduled an FCS opponent until making a date with Tennesse State in 2023.  Perhaps they will be playing on a makeshift field on Broadway in Nashville.

There’s still hope us old football purist.  There will still be a 4th down and 3 yards to go at the opponent’s 7 yard line when the team with the ball is down by 5 with less than a minute to play.  Your eleven against our eleven and none of the show business bluster can save a team when a situation like this is on the line.  Football is still football, however it has evolved.  You may be like me and miss seeing the Power-I.  Or the likes of Thomas Lott playing keep away for Oklahoma in the wishbone.  Talk about a worn out defense after a day of that.  Yes, it is still football.  Some poor kid is going to we wide left on a field goal with the game on the line and it will haunt him forever.  Just like there will be an unlikely hero that will intercept a pass subbing for an injured All-American linebacker and this kid will find himself in the end zone looking at the ball wondering what just happened.  Yes, it is still football.  We can’t turn away from it.  Even in all its dirty laundry.  That is nothing new.

The great Keith Jackson was rather prophetic in his last appearance on a nationally televised game.

Keith Jackson showed up at The Rose Bowl one last time in 2017.  The game was between Penn State and USC.  I saw both of those teams play that year.  USC against UCLA in November and in December I saw Penn State defeat Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game.  I watched with great anticipation.  This game too was a classic.  The final score was 52-49.  USC scored 17 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to put it away.

I still think about the exchange Keith Jackson had with ABC game announcers Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler.  Keith Jackson had been invited into the booth and the once strong tenor was a voice much softer and weaker.  Deliberate in speech, Keith Jackson gave a final commentary on the state of the game of college football on January 1, 2017 and a portent of what we see today.

The smiles all around the booth at this point went away rather quickly when Keith Jackson spoke his mind.

The exchange went like this:

Keith Jackson:  One thing that bothers me a little bit and an old timer down in Texas who coached a lot of football games…about the future…and what may be the next major problem and he said very quietly and firmly “Too much coverage”…meaning saturation.

At this point Chris Fowler is relegated to some defense mechanism laughter…and Kirk Herbstreit, who is obviously very respectful of Keith Jackson says, “Yeah…yeah.”

Keith Jackson: I think he (the old coach) may be right as I see it evolving.

Kirk Herbstriet: Yeah.  That’s a good point.

Chris Fowler:  Many would probably not argue.  On that note we’ll say thank you once again not only for joining us but for what you’ve done over the years, what you’ve meant, and your continued good health at age 88 and Happy New Year to you Keith Jackson, we appreciate it.

Keith Jackson: Thank you very much.  I appreciate that.

I will give Herbstreit credit.  He looked like he knew who he was talking to.

If you don’t miss Keith Jackson, I’m afraid you either got here a little late or you really missed out.

2022 is out there!  Let’s take a look.

New Coaches Galore.  Here’s a few.

Southern Cal stuck in a thumb and picked out a plumb in Lincoln Riley.

Miami, FL convinced Mario Crisobal to come back home.

The Florida faithful better give Billy Napier a chance.  Gator fans are incorrigible.

Washington picked an apple from the Indiana Coaching Tree in Kalen DeBoer.  They paid the last coach as much to pack his bags as DeBoer will earn working for three years.  Hope it works out for him.

LSU hired Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame.  Nothing lasts forever.  But, Brian Kelly at LSU?  Nothing lasts forever.  This is a place that can’t hang on to National Championship winning coaches.  The Red Stick seems to whiff from time to time.

A couple guys I hated to see go were Skip Holtz and David Cutcliffe.  Holtz had a great run at Louisiana Tech.  Nothing lasts forever.  The folks in Ruston will be missing him soon after all.  Coach Cut brought Duke out of the bowels of lethargy, my apologies to Reno Hightower, and they won some games.  Have you been to Durham lately?  That place is as football hungry as Iona.  Coach Cut worked a miracle.

I ran the photo above in last year’s college football preview because I was so looking forward to the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ole Miss Rebels continuing their progress.  Yes, these two met in a January 1 Outback Bowl after the 2020 Covid-stricken season.  I hated that game.  Had to root against the Rebs for the first time ever.  Ugly time.  Ugly time.  Well, 2021 was kind to the Rebs.  They won ten games.  2021 was unkind to the Hoosiers.  They lost ten games.

The Big Ten

I am a child of this conference.  Been watching Hoosiers games in Bloomington all my life.  I have told the story many times of how in 1975 I remember Hoosier kicker Frank Stavroff knocking one through from 52 yards away.  That, though I eventually kicked points that changed a scoreboard, was not what impressed me the most that day.  Seeing the Utah helmets on the players.  It gave me tangible proof that Utah existed beyond a map in an elementary school classroom.  Utah was suddenly real for me.

Dave Kornowa.  The only Hoosier to score in the Rose Bowl.  In November of 2020, Dave and I spoke on the phone for more than an hour as I was looking at the Atlantic Ocean on Topsail Island, North Carolia.  A boy from Toledo told his folks he wanted to play for Indiana because they could get to the Rose Bowl.  The family laughed.  Dave scored on a 27 yard FG in The Rose Bowl.  My heart was full looking at this photo.  When Dave and I spoke, he told me about Coach Pont and so many of his teammates.  I was able to relive a Hoosier season that got here four months before I did.  And I am so grateful.

 

 

Overused as it is, to know that Dave Kornowa and I were true fifty years apart still makes me smile. His kick meant more.

BIG TEN (14) PREDICTIONS

 

The Big Ten East

1.  Michigan…Why?  I despise Ohio State!  JIm Harbaugh may be more apt to negotiate success than most others in the The BIG TEN (14) (16).
2. Penn State…If grandpa Sean Clifford is coming back for a 34th season, he knows something we don’t.
3. Ohio State…(Can’t say anything good so…)
4. Indiana…Ya know, had McFadden not been tossed from the Cincy game on a phantom targeting call, the Hoosiers don’t go 2-10 last year. Don’t get me started.

An IU kickoff in Bowling Green against WKU last September.  This was win #2 in an 0-9 Big Ten season.  Connor Bazelak at QB will help.  Tiawan Mullen on defense will elevate some games.  Coach Tom Allen hasn’t misplaced the secret sauce like so many pundits think.  The Hoosiers have a brutal schedule.  But such is life in the Big Ten East.

5. Michigan State...I know. I know.  I agree, Mel Tucker has done a great job.  But history is not on Sparty’s side. Peyton Thorne is a good one.  The lost some key guys on the O-line.

6. Maryland…With Tualia Tagovailoa at QB there is offense potential.  Good WRs.  Defense is a question mark and health is a must.

7. Rutgers…Yes I know they pasted the Hoosiers in Bloomington last year in the safest place in America.  By the fourth quarter you could hear anyone in Memorial Stadium sneeze.

Don’t look for much more than New York market dollars for the Big Ten out of Piscataway.

The Big Ten West

1.  Iowa…Look, when UCLA gets here, the Hawkeyes will have to be my third favorite Big Ten team.  A QB under center.  A team that understands what I preached on high school radio broadcasts that field position and turnovers are the key.  Iowa is my conduit to the past.  I love these guys.  QB and receivers are true which means the running game will be there.  Ronnie Harmon will be proud.
2. Nebraska…Yes, I know what their record was.  They lost each game by single digits.  That is hard to do.  And this is still Nebraska.  No team will work harder with no one paying attention.  If they win the West, I will not be shocked.  The  O-Line will be improved, in the name of Steinkulher and Rimington, you read it here.
3. Purdue…Aidan Connell is back for a sixth or seventh year.  Jeff Brohm is for real.  He did not leave PU for Louisville and that was a smart move.
4. Minnesota…Row the Boat or however that goes.  Line play on both sides will be improved and Goldy will be bowling again.
5. Northwestern…Pat FItzgerald knows a good gig.  And he works like a dog to keep Evanston relative and that is not an easy thing.  History has not been on their side.  Most of that time was without Coach Fitz at the helm.  A QB will rise in purple.
6. Illinois…The Illini open the Big Ten against the Hoosiers in Bloomington on a Friday Night.  Friday Night Lights in a Big Ten opener in Bloomington.  TV is in more dire straits than I thought.  But, I will be there!
7. Swissconsin…This is the sorriest bunch in the conference.  Don’t let all that “Sure Sure and Don’t Ya Know” fool you.  Hope they finish 0-12.  Now and forever.  Nasty folks.

Speaking of nasty, I was dismayed beyond belief with some of the behavior in Indiana’s Memorial Stadium during games last year.  When the UC Bearcats came calling last year, my wife went to find a place to cool off.  A lady from Cincinnati had the same idea.  They met.  My dear wife, Carrie, was upset at what she heard from the Bearcat lady.  She thanked Carrie for being kind to her.  She said many a Hoosier football fan had been rather vile toward her.  Carrie was very hurt.  I told her Hoosier football fans are trying to learn how to act after two January bowls in a row.  So much for that.  2-10 gets you the toilet bowl.  I hope Hoosier fans come back to Memorial Stadium and fill the place up.

And I hope the fans at IU games act like they have been there before!  Some of us have.

Go Hoosiers!

The Southeastern Conference

The SEC West has been the strongest division in football for a long time, that includes the NFL.

I hope Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will do well again.  The Rebs were 10-2 last year before losing 21-7 to a strong Baylor team in The Sugar Bowl.

Everyone knows I love the Rebels.  My mother and father were both born in Mississippi.  Many of my kinfolk “finished” at Ole Miss.  My mother had sixteen siblings.  Hotty Toddy means something.

I have said it before and I will say it again, after watching Tua throw for six TDs for the Tide against the Rebels in 2019, which was a school record, I heard a Tide fan say, “Tua left a few balls out there today.  Could have been better.”  That is when I knew Tuscaloosa was the set of the football “Twilight Zone.”  That is not right.

THE SEC EAST

1. Georgia…Stetson Bennett is back and so is Kirby Smart.  They will find a way.
2. Kentucky...Delighted to say so.  I live in the Louisville television market.  The longer we can talk football, basketball is not so prevalent.  Wait your turn.  HEALTH IS A MUST.
3. Florida…Not because I am rooting for Billy Napier.  I just think they will get some breaks.
4. South Carolina…Look out for Shane Beamer.  Those folks in South Carolina love their football too.
5. Tennessee…Yes, most have UT higher.  I don’t see it.  The offense is there.  The defense is suspect.  Look for a frestrating loss or four ala Nebraska last year.
6. Mizzou…Bless their hearts.  The misplaced Big Ten School.  They may shock someone.  The nonconference is kind.  Defense returns some real players.
7.  Vandy…Vandy is going to have their troubles and the new college football horizon looks stormy from Music Row.

THE SEC WEST

1. Alabama…Remount and reload with more consultants than most places have coaches.  This is a football factory.  Saban rules.
2. Ole Miss…Yes.  I do have faith in Lane Kiffin.  He will keep you guessing and I think his analytics might give way to three more punts this year.  Jaxson Dart should be a good one at QB.  In less than a month, the Rebs have Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, and Alabama.  Ice pack, please!
3. Texas A&M…A good defense will be Jimbo Fisher’s calling card again.
4. Mississippi State…If you fall asleep on Mike Leach, he will take a sword to you.  Look for that to happen at least three times as he brings Starkville a nice season.
5. Arkansas…Sam Pitman has the Hogs in place to make me look foolish here.  They are a wildcard indeed.  Jefferson at QB.  If he stayes healthy, look out.
6.  LSU…How dare I!  I will believe Brian Kelly’s SEC metal when I see it.  Till then, no dice.  This ain’t Notre Dame.
7.  Auburn…My friend Brother Tim Petty, Tide Fan from way back, will like this pick.  All is not happy on the plains.

Othe Conference Predictions:

The AAC:  Cincinnati– I don’t like this bunch and I hope Indiana can go to Nippert and grab one.  Great place to watch a game for sure.

The ACC:  Yes, I know, I used to give this conference more space and detail here.  This would be a moratorium in honor of former Duke Coach David Cutcliffe.  I was allowed into a closed scrimmage at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium during spring practice while he was the Head Coach at Ole Miss in 2003.  Eli Manning was a senior.  The grass turf was still there in March.  The season was played on an artificial surface.  Great memory.  Shout out to Walker Jones for helping me out then too.

With that said….NC State– This is going to be your year.  Not a case of Clemson hate at all.  All Things Must Pass.

Louisville…providing Malik Cunningham stays healty, will be improved.  Look for 7 or 8 wins.  Seems Scott Satterfield has taken a heap in his tenure from U of L fans.  The school is finding itself with a new AD and leadership at the top.  Many wanted Tom Jurich back iin town.  Hang in there, Coach Satterfield.

The Big 12: …Look for Brent Venables to make I’m a Man, I’m 40 unhinged.  Translation: The Oklahoma Sooners make it happen in a Big 12 with 10 members.  You gotta love college football.

The MAC:  Chuck Martin left Notre Dame as their OC in 2014 to coach the Miami, OH Redhawks and he has stayed the course.  2022 will be kind to him.  I hope his team does well.

The Mountain West:  Do you want to pick against Jeff Tedford?  Heck no!  Did Kalen DeBoer leave Fresno for Washington with an empty cupboard?  Heck no!  Fresno State wins the Mountain West.

The PAC 12:  I feel under-dressed here.  When UCLA gets to The Big Ten, they will supplant Iowa as my 2nd favorite Big Ten team!  BUT…my faithometer in Lincoln Riley and the trove of transfers he is bringing to the men of Troy and USC will leave Westwood and Utah and Oregon and (fill in the blank) wondering what hit them.  Hope I eat these words and UCLA wins every game!

The Sun Belt:  Marshall.  Yes.  This is a sentimental pick.  But I think the Sun Belt will be a good fit for The Herd.  Outside of the Indiana Hoosiers, I have not seen a team play more times in person in the last fifteen years than the Marshall Thundering Herd.  Losing Grant Wells will hurt at QB.  That pesky tranfer portal.

The C-USA:  Western Kentucky.  Not the popular choice.  Coach Tyson Helton has done a great job.  Jarrett Doege, a transfer from WVU,  will lead at QB.

Here’s to a great 2022 College Football Season!

We could use it.

Have fun and take care of each other!

YES, I WILL SAY IT AGAIN!  GO HOOSIERS!

Can’t wait to hear the Marching Hundred play “INDIANA FIGHT!”

Speaking the Rights…

Danny Johnson