Thoughts of the Day: August 24, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

MULLEN SPEAKS …

Kaiir Elam, second team AP preseason All-America corner and emerging team leader: “The one thing that I think he’s grown into is more of a leadership role back there. He’s a guy that’s very conscientious, does things the right way, takes care of his business. Obviously, a playmaker on the field. A fabulous student, as well, in the classroom. Really lives up to what the Gator Standard is all about. But also, I think, now he has the opportunity to realize that I’m the veteran older guy, even though it doesn’t seem like he’s been here forever. I’m one of the – I’m the older veteran guy, and I’ve got to be a leader, and he’s bought into that role, as well.”

Concerns about the secondary: “I think that they’ve grown up a little bit, but there’s a lot of scenarios guys haven’t been in. There’s a bunch of guys in the secondary that haven’t been in scenarios. Like, Kaiir’s been in situations. Trey Dean’s been in situations. Rashad Torrence’s been in situations. Tre’Vez Johnson’s been in some situations. You know. None of the other guys have really been in those situations much before. It’s how they’re going to — not just their growth and development and how they’re doing at practice, how that transitions into a specific game plan from one week to the next.”

What the guys in the secondary should be concerned with: “I’ve always said this, people should be much more concerned of who finishes the game instead of who starts the game. They should say, ‘Hey, you have this many finishes in your career.’ Instead of this many starts in your career. Because we play a lot of guys and the game’s on the line in the fourth quarter, who’s going to be on the field that’s probably more important than who’s playing the actual first play of the game. For us, guys are doing that so there’s guys earning reps and there’ll be a bunch of guys that will play in the secondary and as they get to see, they get that opportunity to show they can translate not just from practice, but then translate on to game experience. The better they do on game day, the more reps they’ll get next week.”

Competition for the starting corner position opposite Kaiir Elam: “Yeah, you know, I don't know. I mean, let's see. You've got Avery Helm, Jason Marshall, Elijah Blades, Jedarrius Perkins, Pat Moorer, Ethan Pouncey are the ones getting the reps for the most part. I might have missed somebody in there that are getting that reps. So, they're doing pretty good, though. You know, they're getting all their reps and getting that opportunity to show what they can go do."

Anthony Richardson after scrimmage No. 2: “I think he’s prepared himself to be the starter, which is what you want, you know? He’s going to be ready to get on the field in just about any situation that it is. Now it’s our job to kind of put him in the different situations, so that he has that experience in every different possible scenario for when he is on the field.”

The O-line at the second scrimmage: “The O-line’s been doing pretty well, to be honest with you, the ones [are] really solid. The ones didn’t get many reps last night. A lot of just seeing who’s ready and who’s prepared to play.”

Des Watson in the month of August: "He's done solid. I think he's still heavy, he's still a little bit too heavy to be able to play and he knows that. So, he's gonna have to lose some weight still right there and just to get him where he needs to be functional. But he's got the potential for sure. He's got power and he's got quickness for a guy his size. And we'd like to just get him, I'd love to get him down into that under 380 [pound] range, right around 380 to be able to go play a little bit more consistently."

PAC-12 COMMISH: EXPANSION DECISION VERY SOON Speaking to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, rookie commissioner George Kliavkoff indicated a number of schools have reached out to the Pac-12 about joining the league recently. “Probably all the ones you would expect and several you’d be surprised by,” Kliakov said, adding that the Pac-12 will not take a leisurely approach but will reach a conclusion rather quickly.

“There’s no hard deadline related to any of this, but I would say I don’t think it’s good for college athletics given the vibration that’s going on as a result of the Texas and Oklahoma news. The quicker we can dampen that vibration, the better. We will have a decision on whether we intend to expand or not in the next couple of weeks.”

In the wake of Southeastern Conference expansion to 16 teams by adding Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, a move that some economists say will help boost SEC per-team revenue to more than $75 million a year, there are expectations that the Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC will cherry pick the remaining eight schools in the Big 12. More than a month ago there was talk that Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State had reached out to the Pac-12. At the same time there seemed to be rather informed speculation that Kansas and Iowa State were ready to join the Big Ten if invited. West Virginia made no effort to hide the fact it wanted to join the ACC.

Among these moves, the only one that probably would more sense is Kansas and Iowa State to the Big Ten, mostly because both fit the academic profile of the Big Ten and Kansas basketball television ratings are as good as your typical Saturday night college football game on ESPN. West Virginia joining the ACC would be a good geographic fit and would add a decent football team and a good basketball team but would do nothing for TV ratings.

That brings us to the four Texas schools joining the Pac-12. About the only thing it does for the Pac-12 is give the league games that can be televised in the Central Time Zone, but who’s going to watch? And who will be buying the Pac-12 media contract when it expires in three years? Pac-12 teams earn only slightly more money than the ACC and there is no rush from Fox or ESPN to offer up a contract that will increase revenue.

Will the Pac-12 expand for the sake of expansion? That’s what it would seem to be doing if it added those four Texas schools. BYU, UNLV, San Diego State and Boise State would literally crawl backward to join the Pac-12 but they’ve tried before and they’ve all been rejected. BYU is the only team that could slightly move the TV needle and that’s because members of the LDS church are fanatical about the Cougars. The Pac-12 rejected BYU when it added Utah to the league because BYU won’t play any sporting event on Sundays. BYU would love to be a member of the Pac-12 but only on its terms and not on the Pac-12s.

Judging by this comment, Kliavkov might already see the handwriting on the expansion wall.

“In the next three-to-four years three of the Power Five conferences are going to renegotiate those [media rights] deals, but I think the membership of those conferences are going to look a lot like they do today.”

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC Alabama: Outside linebacker Will Anderson and left tackle Evan Neal were named to the Associated Press first team preseason All-America team. Making the second team were guard Emik Ekiyor, wide receiver John Metchie III and linebacker Christian Harris ... Since spraining his ankle a week ago, left tackle Kendall Randolph hasn’t returned to practice. His replacement is freshman JC Latham.

Arkansas: Safety Jalen Catalon made second team preseason Associated Press All-America … As of Monday, the Hogs had completed 15 of their allotted 25 preseason practices.

Auburn: Placekicker Anders Carlson was picked for the second team of the Associated Press preseason All-America team.

Georgia: Jake Camarda is the first team Associated Press All-America punter while Jamaree Salyer is a second team guard and Jordan Davis is a second team defensive tackle … Georgia is a 3-point underdog for its season opener in Charlotte with Clemson.

Kentucky: Right tackle Darian Kinnard made second team Associated Press All-America … It will be interesting to see what becomes of sophomore safety Vito Tisdale, one of six UK football players involved in a burglary case. Tisdale was given two years probation for a marijuana arrest back in July, but with the arrest in the burglary case and the additional charge of wanton endangerment for allegedly having a gun at a fraternity party, he may not see the end of his legal problems anytime soon.

LSU: Corner Derek Stingley Jr. and placekicker Cade York made first team Associated Press preseason All-America Senior defensive end Ali Gaye says the Tigers are using the collapses of 2020 as motivation for a bounce back year in 2021. “We’ll always remember 2020 as one of those years that things didn’t go right, or the way we wanted to,” Gaye said. “We use it as motivation, but we don’t really put too much thought into it.”

Mississippi State: In the battle for the starting quarterback job, sophomore Will Rogers seems to have taken the lead over South Alabama transfer Chance Lovertich. “I think they’re battling to stay within themselves as far as consistency,” HBC Mike Leach said. “I think Will is more consistent than Chance.”

Missouri: Freshman defensive lineman Kyran Montgomery will miss the entire season with a torn ACL.

Ole Miss: Running back Jerrion Early was named second team preseason Associated Press All-American as an all-purpose player … Former South Carolina offensive lineman Jordan Rhodes (6-4, 335), who played in 20 games the last three seasons, has transferred to Ole Miss. He is immediately eligible and has two seasons of eligibility remaining … LeDarrius Cox (6-4, 310) has been moved from the defensive line to the offensive line.

South Carolina: Placekicker Parker White is 35-40 in his career inside 40 yards but just 21-42 outside 40.

Tennessee: HBC Josh Heupel says the Vols are “thinner than you’d want to be” on the offensive line … Tennessee has picked up another quarterback in the transfer portal, but don’t expect him to make a dent in the rotation. Will Kuehne, who comes to UT as a grad transfer from North Texas, played on special teams last year and has never thrown a pass in a college football game.

Texas A&M: Named to the Associated Press first team preseason All-America team were left tackle Kenyon Green and defensive tackle DeMarvin Leal. Making the second team were running back Isaiah Spiller and tight end Jalen Wydermyer.

Vanderbilt: At Vanderbilt’s second scrimmage, wide receivers Logan Kyle and Cam Johnson caught touchdown passes from Ken Seals.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: What would an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff have looked like the last two years using the proposed guidelines of the champions of the six highest rated conferences plus six at large teams? Despite all the fearmongering that it would result in an SEC Invitational, the rankings say something different.

2019

Conference champs: LSU (SEC), Ohio State (Big Ten), Clemson (ACC), Oklahoma (Big 12), Oregon (Pac-12) and Memphis (American)

At-large: Georgia (SEC), Baylor (Big 12), Wisconsin (Big Ten), Florida (SEC), Penn State (Big Ten), Utah (Pac-12)

Since the top four teams – 1. LSU, 2. Ohio State, 3. Clemson, 4. Oklahoma – get first round byes, here is how the first weekend games would look like:

5 Georgia vs. 12. Memphis 6 Oregon vs. 11 Utah

7. Baylor vs. 10. Penn State

8. Wisconsin vs. 9. Florida

2020

Conference champs: Alabama (SEC), Clemson (ACC), Ohio State (Big Ten), Oklahoma (Big 12), Cincinnati (American), Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt)

At-large: Notre Dame (Independent), Texas A&M (SEC), Florida (SEC), Georgia (SEC), Iowa State (Big 12), Indiana (Big Ten)

Top four seeds: 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Ohio State, 4. Oklahoma

First weekend games

5 Notre Dame vs. 12 Coastal Carolina

6 Texas A&M vs. 11 Indiana

7 Florida vs. 10 Iowa State

8 Cincinnati vs. Georgia