Scott Frost was leaving Central Florida after directing the Knights to an unbeaten 2017 campaign that soon would culminate with a Peach Bowl victory over Auburn. Josh Heupel was just arriving at UCF, having been chosen to replace Frost the moment he departed for good for Nebraska.
Both hires left a bad taste in my mouth. Frost’s favored up-tempo style was never going to work at his alma mater, and Heupel’s favored up-tempo style was merely a poor man’s version of Frost’s.
Troubled waters seemed to await both coaches, either immediately or soon after. Once they did materialize, the surprising thing is who navigated them better.
Much better.
While Frost sits at home these days counting the millions Nebraska had to fork over in a buyout following four years and change of just godawful football, Heupel is actually earning his pay for a job well done.
At Tennessee, mind you. But still …
Heupel eventually ran out of Frost recruits to keep the double-digit-win gravy train going in Orlando. So, when he had the chance to jump ship to Rocky Top and rejoin forces with former UCF AD Danny White, he did.
And Vol Nation is reaping the benefits now.
Not only is Tennessee 5-0 and ranked No. 6 in the nation, it is deemed legit competition for Alabama, the longtime standard of greatness for all of college football, for the first time in a generation and has a legit Heisman contender – QB Hendon Hooker – for the first time since Peyton Manning got a little teary-eyed when he lost the award to Michigan DB Charles Woodson in 1997.
It also has the best HC in college football this season. Thus far.
In less than two seasons, Heupel has taken a program left in shambles by Jeremy Pruitt and made it nationally relevant again.
A year after Pruitt’s final Tennessee team went 3-7, Heupel had the Vols bowling and finishing 7-6. Now the year after that, they’re being talked about as a possible college football playoff entrant.
There may have been some doubt before Week 5, but the Vols’ 40-13 destruction of LSU in Baton Rouse changed that.
Hooker, as he has been all season, was efficient and electric, directly arguably the best and quickest offense in the country. The effort came a week after he served notice to Heisman voters that it was time to take notice of him with a 349-yard passing, 112-yard rushing, four-touchdown day in a win against Florida.
Now comes No. 3 ’Bama, with a date at No. 1 Georgia looming the first Saturday in November.
Win those, and there is little double Heupel is named unanimous national coach of the year, and Hooker just might end up with the Heisman as well.
INDIVIDUAL EFFORT OF THE YEAR
Any time you race by college football all-timer Tony Dorsett in the record books, it’s safe to say you did something pretty special. In last Saturday’s 45-29 win against visiting Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh sophomore RB Israel “Izzy” Abanikanda went off for 320 yards rushing, topping TD’s total of 303 for the Panthers against Notre Dame in 1975, on 36 carries.
Abanikanda tallied six touchdowns in the process, including an electric 80-yarder to close the door on the Hokies for good midway through the fourth quarter.
With the effort, he finds himself No. 2 nationally in rushing yards with 830, trailing only season-long leader Chase Brown of Illinois, who has 879.
UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD
Since Clemson’s rise from good ACC program with some recognition outside its region to elite national power, the consensus narrative has consistently revolved around the illegitimacy of its standing. That it really didn’t deserve to be a CFP regular because it played in a supposedly weaker conference, had a weaker schedule than true dynamos such as Alabama or Georgia or – pause for a chuckle – Oklahoma.
Ironically, though, at a time that the Tigers are struggling to hang onto any elite cred, the pollsters treated them like they were an accepted blue blood, actually bumping them ahead of a forever blue blood, Michigan, when, really, they had no business doing so.
The Wolverines and Tigers entered Week 5 ranked Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, and exited it (following the latest poll) flipped at those spots. Why? Clemson’s 31-3 victory at 2-4 Boston College certainly wasn’t any more impressive than Michigan’s 31-10 win at 3-3 Indiana. The Tigers didn’t look any better, and, frankly, it could be argued they didn’t look as good.
In general, they haven’t looked all that good – compared to any team, not just Michigan – in any game this season, despite being 6-0, as HC Dabo Swinner and OC Brandon Streeter have gone overkill with trying to make D.J. Uiagalelei comfy and confident at QB … to the complete detriment to Clemson’s ground game and, frankly, its defense, since so many three-and-outs driven by ill-fated passes have created such short rest periods for it.
Not for nothing, but Michigan is a far better balanced squad at this point, and looks it.
Could this be an attempt – intentional or not – to even things out for Clemson, almost as a payback for bias against it for so long? Kinda looks like it, which doesn’t change the uneven playing field anyway. All it does is flip it to favor another side, which isn’t good, either.
COACHES CORNER
Philadelphia Eagles fans, San Francisco 49ers fans and, for a different reason, Oregon Ducks fans probably don’t want to hear it or read it, but HC Chip Kelly finally has it going now at UCLA. Already in Year 5 at Westwood, the former chief in charge of those other teams is looking at his second straight winning season … only this one is shaping up to be something special.
Now 6-0, the Bruins are coming off back-to-back wins against ranked Pac-12 foes Washington and Utah, and now ranked No. 11 themselves. Beyond that, UCLA matches the firepower of higher-profile crosstown rival USC behind QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, RB Zach Charbonnet and WR Jake Bobo.
With the Carolina Panthers firing Matt Rhule earlier this week, the prognostications are piling up as to where he will land … back in college. Funny thing is, he has never hinted that he ever would want to come back to college. Also, smaller-town colleges, such as Auburn, even with its SEC pedigree, may be out of the mix since Rhule has shown an affinity for being in a city. In fact, he was quite vocal about that being a major attraction to him when he left the New York Giants as an assistant to return to Temple as its HC a decade ago.
One darkhorse candidate for his services, should he want to return to the college game, is Louisville. Though an opening does not exist there at the moment, it could before season’s end. The Cardinals offer a Power-5 program that has reached Top-5 status in the past, and a legit city to coach in. That is, again, if that opening materializes.
Interims at Nebraska (Mickey Joseph) and Georgia Tech (Brent Key) are each 2-0 the last two weeks after the firings of Scott Frost and Geoff Collins, respectively. Both schools are considered likely candidates to pursue Rhule. Tech fits the profile of what he likes better, and provides a nifty ironic twist in that Collins followed him at Temple and the two were former assistants together once upon a time at Western Carolina.
HEY, DIDN’T YOU USED TO BE …
Coastal Carolina ... Became the darling of the COVID-ravaged 2020 season, winning its first 11 games, including one quick-fixer against Brigham Young, before losing to Liberty in OT at the Cure Bowl in Orlando. For their efforts, the Chanticleers finished the season ranked No. 14.
It then followed that up with an 11-2 campaign in 2021 … and is 6-0 so far this season.
Yet, when the pollsters decided to get a Sun Belt program into the top 25 in the latest poll, they went with conference and FBS newbie James Madison at No. 25.
Really?!!
Arkansas ... Started the season 3-0. The Razorbacks are 0-3 in games ever since and fading fast after blowouts losses to Alabama and Mississippi State. For a team that had aspirations to challenge for an SEC title, Arkansas has been hard to watch of late. It should fare much better the second half of the season, but already just 1-3 in the conference, it’ll be hard-pressed to achieve anything more than a middling bowl at season’s end.