Thoughts of the Day: August 23, 2022

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

THE NEW DIGS … SPECTACULAR!

If the new William “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center could talk the first two words out of its mouth would be “spectacular” and “commitment.” It is spectacular. It is a sure sign of commitment by athletic director Scott Stricklin to give Florida football and UF athletics in general the best possible chance to win championships.

Yes, its primary function is a football training facility but all 524 Florida athletes in every sport – both scholarship and walkon – will be using the dining facility for three meals per day and its spacious lounge which comes complete with a barber shop, zero gravity chairs, pool tables, a virtual reality room that will include a golf simulator, a resort-style pool and basketball and volleyball courts.

Every player’s locker represents a $15,000 investment that includes a zero gravity chair and Hyperice Normatec 3-leg boots. The training room includes two cryotherapy chambers, a sauna and a steam room. There is a cold pool and two recovery pools. The weight room and training rooms open up to the practice fields and indoor practice facility.

Every coach’s office overlooks the practice fields.

This facility is a game-changer for Billy Napier and Florida football. This isn’t simply about football recruiting although it will certainly level the playing field for bringing in top talent. It is a commitment to the health and nutrition of every football player. The dining facility gives every UF athlete the chance to eat well three meals a day.

Commitment starts at the top and Florida football has proof of commitment that you won’t find with our country cousins in Tallahassee or Miami.

Work to do on both lines of scrimmage

Asked Sunday if he’s seeing the development of depth along both lines of scrimmage with less than two weeks before the Gators open the season with Utah, Billy Napier responded, “I think we know who the sixth, seventh, and eighth players are on the offensive line. Who’s the fourth tackle? Who’s the next best inside player? I think we’ve got some parts there.

“Defensively it’s very much the same. This is an area where I think we have made some progress. I think some of the guys that have had minimal experience have developed to some degree. I can’t emphasize enough, they’re going to get their first opportunities to play in the game and I really think that’s where the major improvements come. I think what’s been out there and knowing what it’s going to be like then next week there’s a different level of focus. There’s players like (Tyreak) Sapp, like (Justus) Boone, like Princely (Umanmielen), Antwuan Powell. We’ve got a number of players that maybe haven’t played college football that may have a significant role that I think have the ability to affect our team. They’re going to get their very first opportunity in a couple weeks. We’ve made some progress. I think we’ve got work to do there.”

O’Cyrus Torrence second team Associated Press preseason All-America

Asked Sunday what he expects from fellow Louisiana transfer O’Cyrus Torrence, running back Montrell Johnson said, “I expect him to move people, pancake blocks and all that stuff.” Apparently the voters for the Associated Press think the same way since they named Florida’s right guard to the second unit of their preseason All-America team. It should be noted that last in three seasons at Louisiana, Torrence didn’t allow a single sack, one quarterback hit and just 17 pressures in 1,146 pass blocking snaps.

Game one thoughts for every team in the SEC

FLORIDA: Utah has 17 starters returning including QB Cameron Rising and battering ram tailback Tavion Thomas. The Utes are the most physical team in the Pac-12. Emphasis on Pac-12. Why do you think Pac-12 teams rarely make it into the College Football Playoff? The league is weaker than the Almost Competitive Conference. That should tell you something. Oh, the Utes will put up a fight and if they win, you’ll think they’ve conquered Mt. Everest. Uh, didn’t the Gators go 6-7 last year? Well, there’s a new sheriff in town. Florida won’t be unprepared and Billy Napier is going to milk Utah being a 2.5-point favorite for all its worth.

Alabama: Some folks are calling 2022 The Alabama Revenge Tour because Bama lost twice last year to former assistants. If there is one thing we should have learned over the past 13 or so years is that Nick Saban has a very long memory. He hasn’t forgotten. Vegas thinks Nick is pissed. They have established the Tide as 39-point favorites. Bama should cover by halftime.

Arkansas: The Hogs can eliminate Cincinnati from a second straight College Football Playoff the first weekend. This game is a big deal for both teams. A win over a ranked team to start the season is huge for the Hogs. Winning on the road against an SEC team game one is huge for Cincy. Arkansas is favored by seven.

Auburn: Auburn opens with a paycheck game with Mercer that it should win by at least four touchdowns. That isn’t going to calm the hostility some fans are feeling toward HBC Bryan Harsin. He needs a real win over a real team and he won’t play a real team until week three when Penn State comes to town.

Georgia: The Bulldogs play Oregon in Atlanta in game one. Former UGa defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is the head coach at Oregon. Some people say he knows the Georgia personnel inside and out. Big deal. He doesn’t have the players to compete and Bo Nix is his quarterback. Georgia a 17.5-point favorite.

Kentucky: Chris Rodriguez is suspended for at least three or four games to start the season. That would be a warning sign if the Wildcats had more than one SEC game in the first month. They don’t play Florida until game two. It’s on the road. They can sweat game two. Game one? Miami (OH) of the Big Mac. Chalk that up as a win. Kentucky is a 19-point favorite.

LSU: The Brian Kelly era at LSU opens in New Orleans with Florida State. So, it’s a home game for the Tigers and a game they probably should win handily. If it’s white knuckles or a loss, then we’ll know plenty about both teams – that LSU may struggle and FSU might be better than people expect. Vegas must think more of FSU and not so much of LSU since LSU is a mere 3-point favorite.

Mississippi State: A year ago in Memphis the Bulldogs experienced maybe the worst officiated game in all of Division I and lost. This year the Bulldogs are playing Memphis in StarkVegas and paybacks should be hell. Third-year starting quarterbacks for Mike Leach tend to have Star Wars stat lines. Last year Will Rogers threw for 4,739 yards and 36 TDs. Imagine what he will do if the trend holds up. Mississippi State is a 16-point favorite.

Missouri: This has the making of a very forgettable season for Mizzou so the Tigers should savor every win they can possibly get. Louisiana Tech is a winnable game. Lose it and it will signal disaster or something close to it for the Tigers. Missouri is favored by 19.

Ole Miss: In four of their final five games last year (1-4 record), Troy gave up 200 or more yards on the ground. The Trojans won the only game they held the opponent to fewer than 200. Ole Miss is going to run the football. Zach Evans and Ulysses Bentley are going to run wild in this game. Ole Miss is a 22.5-point favorite.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have a new QB in Spencer Rattler, better receivers than they had last year, the entire offensive line back and most of the defense. So why aren’t they favored by more than 13 points to beat Georgia State in the opener?

Tennessee: Vol fans are cockier than they’ve been in years and they will only get cockier once Ball State is destroyed in the paycheck game opener (UT is a 32.5-point favorite). Let’s see how cocky they are in week two when they visit Pitt.

Texas A&M: The Aggies are opening up with a paycheck game. Sam Houston will take a beating for a million dollars. The next five games won’t be so easy – Appalachian State, Miami, Arkansas, (at) Mississippi State and (at) Alabama.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores make a week zero (this Saturday) roadie to Hawaii before taking on D1AA Elon in Nashville on September 3. There may be the only two winnable games on the Vandy schedule. Hawaii is returning to its run and shoot roots with Timmy Chang as the new head coach. This is the kind of roadie (6 hours flying, 5 hour time difference) that could be quite troublesome although the folks in Vegas have the Commodores as 6.5-point favorites.

Our SEC orphans in the Big 12

Oklahoma: UTEP comes to Norman to pick up a paycheck. Brent Venables will be out to show the world why (a) he was the right choice to be the football coach and (b) why Sooner fans shouldn’t lament the departure of Lincoln Riley. Oklahoma is a 31.5-point favorite.

Texas: Little Terry and Louisiana-Monroe come to Austin to pick up a paycheck. It’s a chance for Quinn Ewers to win the hearts of Longhorn fans everywhere. Texas will cover the 38.5-point spread but will Ewers be everything he’s cracked up to be?

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: ESPN is reporting that the SEC is “leaning” toward a 9-game conference schedule when Texas and Oklahoma join the league. It didn’t happen in May when the SEC held its spring meetings in Destin because there were a few stragglers holding on to the notion that by adding an SEC game in place of a paycheck game they may not make a bowl. Why are bowl games so important? Because college presidents and athletic directors can justify keeping a mediocre coach because he won enough games to earn a trip to Shreveport or Birmingham for a bowl game sponsored by someone like Chico’s Bail Bonds. Lose and you are required to stay an extra week in Birmingham or Shreveport.

Anyway, Chris Low of ESPN reports that there has been movement among the league’s downtrodden and now they are favoring nine games. They didn’t just wake up in the middle of the night, slap themselves on the forehead and scream at the top of their lungs, “My God! What have I done!” No, this is about the Big Ten and its mega media deal with Fox, CBS and NBC.

ESPN/ABC wants SEC teams playing a 9-game schedule and for Texas and Oklahoma to be part of the 2024 TV package. The current 14 SEC teams plus the Big 12 orphans want ESPN/ABC to be VERY generous when it re-negotiates its media deal with the SEC. They know ESPN put in a $380 million bid for part of the Big Ten package, so they know there is more money to be had for the SEC to get what it needs to remain equal to or superior to anything the Big Ten has.

Also, ESPN/ABC is not about to allow the Big Ten to dominate the Saturday college football airwaves. Whereas there will be three networks in the Big Ten offering a weekly barrage of wonderful matchups like Rutgers-Northwestern, ABC/Disney has 12 networks at its disposal and money to make deals with the Big 12, Pac-12 and even with the ACC to make sure they give fans the best TV options. But, it will start with a package that assures the SEC will be distributing close to $100 million a year to its 16 schools. If the SEC ain’t happy, nobody will be happy so to ensure the SEC is a bunch of happy campers, ABC/ESPN will pay accordingly then make its deals with the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC.