Hello Group!
Let us kick this thing off. Maybe when the ball starts flying and the pads start popping and the hits keep coming and we cringe when our team throws an interception, and we cheer when an unlikely hero makes a great play that we still can’t wrap our brains around; the one we will talk about for the next three decades.
Whether it is George Teague catching Miami WR Lamar Thomas and stealing the ball to give the Tide another National Championship, or Kordell Stewart uncorking a pass that travels 75 yards in the air on the last play of the game that gives the Colorado Buffs a fantastic finish in The Big House that still stings the Maize and Blue. Or maybe Vince Young running for the corner in The Rose Bowl Stadium against USC. Uh-oh. I did it again. We didn’t even make it two paragraphs in, and I am talking about the man who made the calls of those moments. Yes, Keith Jackson. I can hear them all. “He’s got three people down there!” He’s going for the corner…he’s got it!”
This past week I spent time introducing myself to the 9th and 10th grade students at North Harrison High School. I wanted them to hear from their new school counselor. We discussed many things, including learning styles and making the most of study techniques that suit them best. I told them I am an auditory learner. The best way I learn is to listen. My sweetest memories are those of sounds that I remember. Whether it is the voice of someone I can’t listen to anymore, or the sound of the ocean, or music experiences I have had, or hearing our son Cody yell “Charge!” as he was riding a wave off the coast of Orange Beach. That is why I am always listening to music. I need it.
College Football brings great life experiences to listen to. Go to The Joan in Huntington, West Virginia and listen to the East side of the stadium answer the West side of the stadium. “WE ARE! …MARSHALL!”
You’ll be ready to run out on the kickoff team.
Walk into Neyland Stadium rooting for Ole Miss Rebels only to hear Rocky Top being played after eight Tennessee Vol Scores. You’ll be ready to jump in the Tennessee River. I have been there.
Or you can listen to the sounds of silence in Bloomington in late November when the last home game of the season for the Indiana Hoosiers holds little left with a merciful noon start time. And you know you are in the safest place in America.
The sounds of College Football… there is nothing like them!
It is that time, boys and girls. Time to talk about the 2024 College Football season.
This past week I read where, in the age of NIL and players wanting someone to show them the money, that Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy told his team he wasn’t going to acknowledge any of their agents until after the season. Believe it or not, these coaches do have to coach as well as negotiate contracts. With that said, let’s talk football.
LOCALLY
The INDIANA HOOSIERS! Yes, I have been a bit tough on new Coach Curt Cignetti. On these pages, we have discussed everything from his high school days in Morgantown to his dad getting fired at WVU when the man was ill, to the stops along his coaching career that included some assignments that were there for him not to screw up. He hasn’t. Fortunately, his Win-Loss record shines nicely. Just ask him. I am for the success of Indiana Football. I am DELIGHTED that this team has a schedule with only two preseason Top 25 teams compared to no less than four the last seven years. Face it, there is not much about Indiana Football to screw up. It can only get better and a season with a schedule like the one the Hoosiers have is made for improvement. If Kurtis Rourke, the QB from the Ohio Bobcats, can hit wide receiver Donaven McCulley, one of the best in the land, eight times a game beyond 12 yards downfield, the Hoosiers will have an offense that will be able to make defense coordinators do a little guessing for a change when they play the Hoosiers.
The Louisville Cardinals… Jeff Brohm really brought it last year. The Cards were 10-1 before they lost the last three games including a toe-stubber against the Kentucky Wildcats in The Govenor’s Cup. After the Indiana Hoosiers played Santa Claus for Louisville last year in game three at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Cards’ season took a turn for the better.
On this drive, the Hoosiers were looking to tie the game 21-21 late in the fourth quarter. On 4th and goal, the Hoosiers ran the ball up the gut which was a place they gave up yards all day. Louisville pulled out a 21-14 win. The tale of two seasons began. Louisville beat Boston College like a colonial drum the next week. In a game the Hoosiers should have lost, the next week, it took IU 4 excruciating overtimes to beat Akron 29-27.
Heading into the season, it seems the Cards defense is coming along nicely, according to Coach Brohm. But just yesterday I heard they lost a playmaker in wide out Caulin Lacy. He caught 91 passes at South Alabama for more than 1300 yards last year with some speed to boot. He will be missed. The QB this season is 7th year veteran Tyler Shough who brings his wares from Texas Tech.
The Kentucky Wildcats… The boys in Lexington were just handed a hard slap on the wrist by the NCAA with regard to some ghost employment issues some players dealt with during the 2021 10-3 campaign. The NCAA vacated those wins. I doubt the rest of the world noticed much, given what we are dealing with in 2024. Coach Mark Stoops has worked miracles in Lexington. If you know SEC Football history, you understand this assertion. This is the toughest place to guide a winner in the SEC. Vandy? Yeah, but they don’t have expectations like the rest of them do.
The Wildcats seem to have a defense that can play with most. Look at how many defensive guys are on NFL or CFL rosters. Providing junior Deone Walker hangs with the team, look for this mass of defensive tackle to give some QBs serious fits. Most of the D-Unit is returning for the Cats. If their offense can turn a few of the usual close losses to a W or two, they might shock too. The offense will go as long as Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff keeps going. He is a former five-star recruit, if you believe in that kind of stuff. I don’t.
THE BIG TEN
I am not going down the road I have for the last ten years giving a dish on each and every school in the conference. I still have a soft spot for Goldy at Minnesota.
I still like the Iowa Hawkeyes where they are made to fire winning assistant coaches related to the head coach and where under former head coach, Haden Fry, the team did the Hokey-Pokey in the locker room after a victory. Coach Fry himself told me this when I was writing a paper in college about post-game celebrations.
The UCLA Bruins are now my second favorite team in the conference. During our two visits to see the USC game at The Rose Bowl, they have been kind hosts.
My Dad will be the first one to tell you that!
Hanging out in an empty Rose Bowl with a newly installed turf still being painted was a highlight I will never forget. And I didn’t miss a kick!
Who wins THE BIG TEN? Ohio State will. If Quinshon Judkins, that rascal that left the Ole Miss Rebels, stays healthy and plays like he can, look out. The worst of it is, he might have another year left in Columbus.
I look forward to seeing the Washington Huskies in Bloomington this year. I have seen every Big Ten team play now except Oregon and Washington. I think Oregon comes calling to Indiana in 2028. I don’t plan on going to Eugene anytime soon.
The Hoosiers? I see 5 wins. I see a possibility of 7. The ultra-realist is still waiting on the FIU game and looking for a two-score win. This old boy has seen too many incarnations of this movie before. Indiana is sinking more interest into the gameday experience than Memorial Stadium has ever seen. A concert stage on the south side of the stadium along with food trucks and I don’t know what all. They moved Hep’s Rock outside to the east side of the stadium where everyone can tap it and wish the Hoosiers luck. I will tap it and think of Coach Hep and the job he was doing when was here. If only… a lament Hoosier Football fans live with in perpetuity.
Game I am looking forward to early? USC at Michigan on September 21st. This one kicks off at 3:30 on CBS. Gary Danielson, an old Purdue QB, will be back in the Big Ten calling games. He needs to be there. The SEC fans need someone who played in the SEC and talks a little bit slower. Welcome home, Gary. That is same day I will be looking at, gulp…Indiana hosting Charlotte.
THE SEC
This is where the who’s who of college football live. They have the crowds, the fan bases, the tailgates, and that is just during the spring season.
There is nothing like SEC Football. For better or worse, there is nothing like SEC Football. Most of the time I think it is for the better. As long as Tennessee or Florida are not in the mix, I am usually all about it.
Don’t get me wrong. Being in Knoxville for the third Saturday in October in 2016 was an event of a lifetime. Neyland Stadium, aka “One Cheek Hill” is a place you will get to know the one sitting next to you, in front of you, and behind you. I know what I speak of.
What on earth is a football preview without remembering this kind gentleman leaning over to melt my earwax while I was the only one there wearing a neutral Ole Miss shirt in Knoxville.
The Tide whipped the Vols that day.
I still root for the Rebels. My family roots are deep there. Many of my kin ‘finished’ ‘there. Do they still say that? And I will say it one last time. This will be tough without my best Ole Miss buddy to share it with. I will keep talking to Aunt Barbara on 4th and short, even though she is not with us anymore. Our weekly calls during the season will be missed. Our speaks about the colorful callers on The Paul Finebaum Show will be missed. Without her, the SEC will just mean less to me.
I still have a great deal of faith in Alabama to take care of the SEC. Why? Kalen DeBoer. The pressure is more on UGA and that ugly bulldog than it is at BAMA. That is saying something, I know. Believe me, I know. I will tell it every year. In 2019, referenced in the photo above, Ole Miss was bested by the Tide. That day Tua threw 6 touchdown passes against the Rebs. After the game, an old boy said, “…yeah, but Tua left a few balls out there.” I thought I was going to faint. I think the last time I wrote about this, not long ago, I mentioned it was too hot to faint.
I made sure to take a picture of the of scoreboard that day while the Rebs were ahead. Kind of like the time when Lee Corso was coaching the Indiana Hoosiers, and they scored first at Michigan. He called time out and got the whole team together for a picture of them with scoreboard in the background.
Who wins the SEC?
I have to pick Ole Miss for no other reason than the heart wants what the heart wants and cards fall on occasion the way one wants them to. There is great deal of momentum in Oxford. The current climate of college football seems kinder to the Rebs and their coach, Lane Kiffin, than most places. And maybe I just want things to seem that way. I know they lost some players. I know they could lose to LSU, Oklahoma, and Georgia. They could also beat those teams and everyone else on their schedule. So why not? Let Georgia and Bama and Texas and LSU knock each other out. We know at least four of these teams will be playing in the expanded college football playoffs. So being the SEC Champ holds more pride and less necessity than ever. Why else did the playoffs expand? For Penn State? I don’t think so. We know who owns college football’s main street. It doesn’t stretch from coast to coast.
The ACC
Florida State and Clemson are still the shellers of the corn in this league. Again, I am not running down each team like we have in years past. Stanford and Cal are in this league for goodness’ sake. Do those ACC fans even remember the Standford Band? That was played after basketball season started in 1982. That 1982-83 NCAA Basketball season was an ACC doozy.
I still enjoy watching Boston College play. What I wouldn’t give to have had a camera handy the time I was standing with Gerard Phelan when BC was playing at Louisville in 1990, and he was calling the game on NESN. I shook the hand of the guy who caught Flutie’s miracle pass in the Orange Bowl when I was a junior in high school six years earlier. Also, my heart still roots for UNC and Mack Brown.
I see at least 8 wins for the Louisville Cardinals. Can they go up to South Bend and beat Notre Dame again?
Leagues with 17 teams or 18 teams calling itself The Big 10 will forever be hokey and just for marketing’s sake. I get that. Won’t we eventually make it a four-division big boy setup that is more geographically friendly than having USC in The Big Ten? I hope so, for the sake of West Coasters who’d rather see the Beavers come calling that the Gophers, if you catch my drift.
No one has more affection for The Rose Bowl than I do. That dream is gone. I can call up YouTube and watch a real Rose Bowl and listen to Keith Jackson or Curt Gowdy or Dick Enberg and sit there with a smile on my face knowing what I am fortunate to know. I won’t so much as sigh when they eventually move this game to SoFi Stadium, in town, since the Pac-12 has been dismantled thus ending the game for many of us. But I will feel terrible for the folks of Pasadena and the traditions that they hold all year as they plan the Rose Parade that holds hands with The Rose Bowl Game itself. The Pasadena Jaycees is where you can order the game program. That is quaint these days. And the folks of Pasadena, residency proof required, still hang on to a number of tickets to the game. I know they are trying to hold on to that game only being played on January 1, as it should be. Who will listen?
I will say again. I am enjoying watching the Canadian Football League. It is like old-fashioned football for me. No drama involved. There is nothing on my phone’s newsfeed telling me who the worst five coordinators are. The pregame show reminds me of watching The NFL Today when we listened in on Brent, Phyllis, and Irv. I don’t see a list of Paul Finebaum’s best or worse this, that or the other. I doubt Paul endorses these, though I am sure it is good for business. I just watch the games. I haven’t missed one and we finish week 11 today with Winnepeg at British Columbia. Go Blue Bombers!
My penchant for college football has not gone yet. Who would sit here and knock out these many words if that was the case? I just hope the college game lives up to what mixture of nostalgia and sincere interest I may have, and I wonder if others feel the way I do. Or am I just a hopeless romantic who needs to find a different outlet for this game I still love so much.
I hope I can feel the words I once stole from Keith Jackson and used during the days of calling high school games on the radio with my partner, Gus Stephenson. We can only hope, “It should be a good one.”
Beginning with week one, August 31st, we’ll look at the weekly picks of fourteen games.
Speaking the rights…
Danny Johnson