Thoughts of the Day: August 27, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start Friday morning:

PRESEASON PRACTICE IS OVER, TIME TO BE A LITTLE NERVOUS Thanks to new NCAA guidelines, every coach in college football is probably feeling a bit nervous now that the 2021 season is upon us. The number of days with contact was cut back from 21 to 18, the number of days in full pads reduced to nine and full contact practices were limited to two consecutive days.

We will have to wait and see if this intended safety measure will result in fewer injuries once the season begins. And since targeting rules are going to be strictly enforced will the lack of physical practices where proper technique can be emphasized result in more penalties? Blocking and tackling require repetition in practice, but because every football team in college football has had to cut back we may see a season with the poorest blocking and tackling that we’ve ever seen.

Blocking and tackling is what has me nervous as the Florida Gators break camp and begin preparation for their season opener against Florida Atlantic next Saturday. With the Gators transforming from a team that threw the football 56 percent of all snaps last year to one that will likely run the ball 60 percent of the time in 2021, I am concerned about the lack of run blocking that was permitted in August. I don’t know of any way to improve run blocking except full contact in pads. Pass protection is more about finesse, moving your feet and getting your hands in the chest of the guy across from you. Running the ball on third-and-two at the opponent’s seven is mostly about brute strength.

During the 2020 season, a friend of mine texted me in the fourth quarter of the Gators’ 41-38 loss to Texas A&M asking if the Gators had reached the 100 mark yet. I replied 100? He texted back, 100 missed tackles. The text became a running joke. What we saw on the field wasn’t a joke. Missed tackles had plenty to do with Florida’s descent from the 9th-ranked defense nationally in 2019 to the 83rd in 2020.

I know Dan Mullen and Todd Grantham made tackling a priority in August, but will the lack of contact allowed by the NCAA mean we endure another defensive disaster like last year? I’m the eternal optimist, but I have to admit, tackling and run blocking have me feeling nervous.

WHERE WERE THEY RANKED IN HIGH SCHOOL?: RB

Here are the 10 highest ranked running backs in every recruiting class since 2010 as ranked by 247Sports.com. Not all that many had remarkable collegiate careers.

2010

1. Michael Dyer (Little Rock, AR), Auburn; 2. Marcus Lattimore (Duncan, SC), South Carolina; 3. Dillon Baxter (San Diego, CA), USC; 4. Lache Seastrunk (Temple, TX), Oregon; 5. Storm Johnson (Loganville, GA), Miami; 6. Rod Smith (Fort Wayne, IN), Ohio State; 7. Jordan James (Corona, CA), UCLA; 8. Malcolm Jones (Thousand Oaks, CA), UCLA; 9. Brennan Clay (San Diego, CA), Oklahoma; 10. D.J. Morgan (Woodland Hills, CA), USC

2011 1. Isaiah Crowell (Columbus, GA), Georgia; 2. Brandon Williams (Brookshire, TX), Oklahoma; 3. De’Anthony Thomas (Los Angeles, CA), Oregon; 4. Malcolm Brown (Schertz, TX), Texas; 5. Savon Huggins (Jackson, NJ), Rutgers; 6. Aaron Green (San Antonio, TX), Nebraska; 7. Dee Hart (Orlando, FL), Alabama; 8. Mike Bellamy (Punta Gorda, FL), Clemson; 9. Mike Blakely (Bradenton, FL), Florida; 10. Herschel Sims (Abilene, TX), Oklahoma State

2012 1. Johnathan Gray (Aledo, TX), Texas; 2. Keith Marshall (Raleigh, NC), Georgia; 3. Trey Williams (Houston, TX), Texas A&M; 4. Duke Johnson (Miami, FL), Miami; 5. T.J. Yeldon (Daphne, AL), Alabama; 6. Rushel Shell (Aliquippa, PA), Pitt; 7. Mario Pender (Cape Coral, FL), Florida State; 8. Mike Davis (Stone Mountain, GA), South Carolina; 9. Todd Gurley (Tarboro, NC), Georgia; 10. Alex Ross (Jenks, OK), Oklahoma

2013

Thomas Tyner (Beaverton, OR), Oregon; 2. Kelvin Taylor (Belle Glade, FL), Florida; 3. Keith Ford (Cypress, TX), Oklahoma; 4. Derrick Green (Richmond, VA), Michigan; 5. Alex Collins (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Arkansas; 6. Alvin Kamara (Norcross, GA), Alabama; 7. Greg Bryant (Delray Beach, FL), Notre Dame; 8. Ty Isaac (Joliet, IL), USC; 9. Altee Tenpenny (North Little Rock, AR), Alabama; 10. Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, FL), Florida State 2014 1. Leonard Fournette (New Orleans, LA), LSU; 2. Dalvin Cook (Miami, FL), Florida State; 3. Joe Mixon (Oakley, CA), Oklahoma; 4. Sony Michel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Georgia; 5. Roc Thomas (Oxford, AL), Auburn; 6. Nick Chubb (Cedartown, GA), Georgia; 7. Royce Freeman (Imperial, CA), Oregon; 8. Elijah Hood (Charlotte, NC), North Carolina; 9. Joseph Yearby (Miami, FL), Miami; 10. Jeff Jones (Fullerton, CA), Minnesota

2015

1. Damien Harris (Berea, KY), Alabama; 2. Soso Jamabo (Plano, TX), UCLA; 3. Jacques Patrick (Orlando, FL), Florida State; 4. Ronald Jones II (McKinney, TX), USC; 5. Derrius Guice (Baton Rouge, LA), LSU; 6. Taj Griffin (Powder Springs, GA), Oregon; 7. L.J. Scott (Hubbard, OH), Michigan State; 8. Mike Weber (Detroit, MI), Ohio State; 9. Johnny Frasier (Princeton, NC), North Carolina State; 10. Chris Warren III (Rockwall, TX), Texas

2016

1. Miles Sanders (Pittsburgh, PA), Penn State; 2. Tavien Feaster (Spartanburg, SC), Clemson; 3. B.J. Emmons (Morganton, NC), Alabama; 4. Demario McCall (North Ridgeville, OH), Ohio State; 5. Devwah Whaley (Beaumont, TX), Arkansas; 6. Kareem Walker (Wayne, NJ), Michigan; 7. Devin White (Springhill, LA), LSU; 8. Damian Alloway (Fontana, CA), UCLA; 9. Elijah Holyfield (Atlanta, GA), Georgia; 10. Antonio Williams (New London, NC), Ohio State

2017 1. Najee Harris (Antioch, CA), Alabama; 2. Cam Akers (Clinton, MS), Florida State; 3. Stephen Carr (Fontana, CA), USC; 4. Khalan Laborn (Virginia Beach, VA), Florida State; 5. D’Andre Swift (Philadelphia, PA), Georgia; 6. J.K. Dobbins (LaGrange, TX), Ohio State; 7. Ty Chandler (Nashville, TN), Tennessee; 8. Anthony McFarland Jr. (Hyattsville, MD), Maryland; 9. Eno Benjamin (Wylie, TX), Arizona State; 10. ZaQuandre White (North Fort Myers, FL), Florida State

2018

1. Zamir White (Laurinburg, NC), Georgia; 2. Lorenzo Lingard (Orange City, FL), Miami; 3. Ricky Slade (Woodbridge, VA), Penn State; 4. Jaelen Gill (Westerville, OH), Ohio State; 5. James Cook (Miami, FL), Georgia; 6. Brian Snead (Seffner, FL), Ohio State; 7. T.J. Pledger (Bradenton, FL), Oklahoma; 8. Ricky Person (Wake Forest, NC), North Carolina State; 9. Harold Joiner (Birmingham, AL), Auburn; 10. Keontay Ingram (Carthage, TX), Texas

2019

1. Trey Sanders (Bradenton, FL), Alabama; 2. John Emery Jr. (Destrehan, LA), LSU; 3. Jerrion Ealy (Flowood, MS), Ole Miss; 4. Zach Charbonnet (Westlake Village, CA), Michigan; 6. Devyn Ford (Stafford, VA), Penn State; 7. Wan’Dale Robinson (Frankfort, KY), Nebraska; 8. Noah Cain (Bradenton, FL), Penn State; 9. Austin Jones (Oakland, CA), Stanford; 10. Tyrion Davis-Price (Baton Rouge, LA), LSU 2020 1. Bijan Robinson (Tucson, AZ), Texas; 2. Zach Evans (Houston, TX), TCU; 3. Demarkcus Bowman (Lakeland, FL), Clemson; 4. Tank Bigsby (Hogansville, GA), Auburn; 5. MarShawn Lloyd (Hyattsville, MD), South Carolina; 6. Jase McClellan (Aledo, TX), Alabama; 7. Kendall Milton (Clovis, CA), Georgia; 8. Chris Tyree (Chester, VA), Notre Dame; 9. Jahmyr Gibbs (Dalton, GA), Georgia Tech; 10. Roydell Williams (Hueytown, AL), Alabama

2021 1. TreVeon Henderson (Hopewell, VA), Ohio State; 2. Will Shipley (Matthews, NC), Clemson; 3. Camar Wheaton (Garland, TX), Alabama; 4. Donovan Edwards (West Bloomfield, MI), Michigan; 5. LJ Johnson (Cypress, TX), Texas A&M; 6. Evan Pryor (Cornelius, NC), Ohio State; 7. Armoni Goodwin (Trussville, AL), LSU; 8. Lovasea Carroll (Bradenton, FL), Georgia; 9. Seven McGee (Rochester, NY), Oregon; 10. Corey Kiner (Cincinnati, OH), LSU

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC Alabama: When Alabama opens with Miami in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta next Saturday afternoon, Nick Saban knows job No. 1 for his defense will be to neutralize UM quarterback D’Eriq King. “It’s going to be very challenging for us,” Saban said. “Not only because he’s a really good quarterback but he’s a great athlete.” Before he tore an ACL last year, King threw for 2,686 yards and 23 touchdowns plus ran for 538 yards and four more TDs.

Auburn: Owen Pappoe thinks Auburn’s linebackers are the best to be found in all of college football. “I’d take us over everybody,” Pappoe said. “I think we got the best linebacker group in the country.” Pappoe had 93 tackles, four sacks and an interception last season.

Georgia: Placekicker Jack Podlesny, who made 13-16 field goals last year and kicked the game-winning field goal against Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl, is now on scholarship. He was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last season.

Kentucky: Linebacker Jacquez Jones, who transferred to Kentucky from Ole Miss, is back at practice after missing a few days dealing with what has been described as a minor injury.

LSU: The Athletic is reporting that running back Tre Bradford, who transferred from LSU to Oklahoma, is no longer at Oklahoma and is looking to transfer back to LSU. Under NCAA rules, if Bradford didn’t participate in 14 practices, he’s allowed to transfer back to LSU and be immediately eligible.

Mississippi State: If the season were to start today, incumbent Will Rogers, who started six straight games as a true freshman last year, would be the starting QB for the Bulldogs.

Missouri: Former Missouri QB Taylor Powell has won the starting job at Troy. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Ole Miss: Former Baylor Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, now an analyst for ESPN, has picked Ole Miss QB Matt Corral to win the Heisman Trophy. Griffin said, “I’m going with the most fun to watch gunslinger in all of college football, Matt Corral. I think he’s going to fix his turnover issues and he’s going to go out and lead Ole Miss to being a serious contender in the College Football Playoff.” Corral threw for 3,337 yards and 29 touchdowns while rushing for 506 yards and four more TDs … John Rhys Plumlee is working out at both wide receiver and quarterback. He could start at WR while serving as the backup QB to Corral.

South Carolina: Sixth-year wide receiver Randrecous Davis is not practicing with the Gamecocks. A former 4-star recruit, Davis has caught passes for 123 yards and one TD in his career.

Texas A&M: The Aggies will face Utah State in a 2025 non-conference game.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Supposedly, now that they have joined this glorious (sarcasm and lots of it) alliance, the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC are walking in lockstep totally united against the big, bad SEC. West Virginia president Gordon Gee, who used to be the president of Vanderbilt and Ohio State among other schools, says the expansion of the College Football Playoff “is on life support now.” Gee says he won’t vote for expansion nor will the Big Ten or Pac-12.

Perhaps Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff didn’t get the memo. “The Pac-12 is 100 percent in favor of the expansion of the College Football Playoffs,” Kliavkoff said Tuesday. Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren also must have missed it. He said, “I’m a big believer in expanding the College Football Playoff, but I’m also a big believer in being methodical and doing our homework.” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has made comments favorable to expansion, also.

Bill Bender of The Sporting News points out that if the playoff had been 12 teams when it began back in 2014, the Big Ten would have had 20 playoff teams including 13 at large while the SEC would have come in at 19 and 12. The Pac-12, which has had only two teams in the playoff since its inception, would have had 11 playoff teams, five at-large. The Big 12 would have come in with 12 playoff teams, five at-large, while the ACC would have been at 11 and four. Independent Notre Dame would have made the playoff only three times while the American Athletic Conference from the Group of Five would have had five.

With some economists now projecting that the SEC will be paying each school in excess of $80 million a year, which will dwarf even the Big Ten, the other conferences that make up Division I need to get behind the 12-team proposal and do whatever they need to do to make it happen sooner and not later. They will be desperate for money and the playoff will grease the skids.

Rather than trying to give the impression that he actually knows something other than tying a bow tie, perhaps Gordon Gee might focus on helping the Big 12 remain an autonomous power conference. More than even the paupers in the ACC and Pac-12, the Big 12 will need the money that only an expanded playoff can bring.