The College Football Preseason Guide

School’s out, but class will be in session by the end of August, which means NCAA football will be back.

Alabama appears to be the favorite, like every year, but the Crimson Tide have a quarterback battle to sort out. In addition, they have a ton of questions on defense with Da'Ron Payne, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Rashaan Evans, and others in the NFL. These rare flaws give teams around the country a slimmer of hope that they can dethrone the champs.

Meanwhile, stars like Saquon Barkley and Baker Mayfield also transition to playing on Sundays. This leaves the NCAA a bit faceless right now. Nevertheless, the college show must go on with a new cast of stars ready to take center stage. Also, it is never too early to talk about the College Football Playoff.

Those are just a couple of headlines to be wary of in collegiate football. Let’s take a deep dive look across America as there is a lot to be excited about heading into the 2018 season.

Alabama will not make the CFP if…

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Nick Saban doesn’t address the quarterback situation. The first thing that was said after the Tide won last year’s championship was: Who will be the starting quarterback heading into next season? Here we are in the middle of the summer and that question still precedes Bama.

Jalen Hurts is 26-2 as the Tide’s man under center while Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench in the national championship and secured his first win. He did not just come in and manage the team in the win as he was the reason they won, throwing for 166 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The offense was stagnant, immobile, and stale under Hurts. However, he still won games. It is still too hard to hand Hurts the keys to the car when Tagovailoa looked comfortable behind the wheel and even used a bit of horsepower.

Saban can't go too far into the season with this quarterback turmoil unresolved. In 2015, Ohio State played musical chairs with the man under center with J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones. Ultimately, despite all of the returning talent they boasted in Ezekiel Elliott and Joey Bosa, the Buckeyes failed to go back-to-back as champions. When it comes to the most important position on the field, having two quarterbacks is never good as the team does not know who to rally around.

The “Other” Title Contenders

Clemson might be the true favorite to win it all given the fact that they returned every player in their front four in Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins, and Austin Bryant. They were tied for the most sacks (46.0) in the country a year ago. Kelly Bryant’s growth as a decision maker will be key as last year he was tentative with his throws.

Auburn might have the best receiving corps in the country in Ryan Davis, Will Hastings, and Darius Slayton. Davis set a school record in receptions (84) while Hastings and Slayton topped the 500-yard threshold. Jarrett Stidham is the man to rely upon under center as he is arguably the best quarterback prospect as we look ahead to the 2019 NFL Draft. With Kerryon Johnson in the NFL and a year of experience under his belt, look for Stidham to throw the ball early and often. On the contrary, the Tigers need someone to help keep defenses honest at tailback.

Georgia lost Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, but sophomore D’Andre Swift should capitalize on more touches as he rushed for 618 yards. Jake Fromm suffered a leg and hand injury this offseason, so it will be interesting to see if he is fully recovered. A jump in productivity should be expected from him with a year under his belt as his touchdown-interception ratio (24-7) was staggering for a freshman. If Fromm is good, Georgia will be good.

Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ohio State each return high-profile, 1,000-yard backs in Rodney Anderson, Jonathan Taylor, and JK Dobbins. Each of these programs boasted defenses that held quarterbacks to 240.6 passing yards or less. Lastly, their quarterbacks will dictate how far they go as well. Kyler Murray has big shoes to fill following the departure of Mayfield. Alex Hornibrook can’t throw 15 interceptions again for the Badgers. Finally, Dwayne Haskins better be ready by Week 3 otherwise TCU will ruin his psyche.

Each of these teams are the early title favorites, on paper, but they each have flaws like Alabama. However, it's the middle of the summer and nothing ever goes according to plan in the NCAA.

The Best of the Best

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Bryce Love isn't the most physically imposing player in America at 196 pounds, but he chews up a lot of yardage at tailback for Stanford. He was tasked with replacing legendary runner and Heisman hopeful Christian McCaffrey and all he did was break his Stanford rushing record as he ran for 2,118 yards against eight and nine-man fronts. Opposing teams are better off tackling him as soon as he gets off the bus because he will run for 100 yards on a bad night.

Khalil Tate is a wiry 6’2”, 215-pound quarterback, but he is extremely hard to get ahold of like that family member that changes their number frequently. He was better known for his running ability as he rushed for 1,411 yards a year ago. The Arizona quarterback is as slippery as a bar of soap and it showed in his yards per carry average (9.2), which was first in the country.

Nick Bosa and Ed Oliver have been widely regarded as the top two players heading into the 2019 draft. Bosa enjoyed a 2017 campaign where he accrued 16 tackles for a loss and dragged down 8.5 miserable quarterbacks. He displays the same motor and skill of Joey Bosa, his older brother. Oliver has been the chosen one since he arrived at Houston in 2016, drawing comparisons to Geno Atkins, Warren Sapp, and Gerald McCoy. Over the last two seasons, Oliver has accumulated 38.5 TFL, 10.5 sacks, forced four fumbles, and disrupts the passing game with nine pass deflections.

Speaking of disrupting aerial attacks, Andraez Williams, better known as Greedy, was the best kept secret in the SEC last season on a mercurial LSU squad. At 6’2”, he is a matchup nightmare for receivers and quarterbacks. He has good anticipatory skills, excels in man coverage, and he baits opposing throwers into thinking there is a window that doesn’t really exist. As a result, he was able to rack up six interceptions as he lived up to his nickname.

The CFP Crashers

UCF lost Coach of the Year Scott Frost to Nebraska but return Heisman candidate McKenzie Milton who threw for 4,037 yards, rushed for 613 yards, and found pay dirt 45 times. The Golden Knights finished the year ranked sixth in the AP’s Top 25 poll, so it will be interesting to see where they are ranked to start the season. They were the only school in the FBS that finished undefeated at 13-0 and dubbed themselves the national champions despite not playing in the CFP. It will be interesting to see if they can run the table again against a schedule that does not have a ranked opponent. Might this be the year of the Cinderella?

Win or else... 

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Jim Harbaugh and Michigan are 1-5 in games against rivals Ohio State and Michigan State. The Wolverines are also 5-7 in games against other ranked opponents and 1-2 in bowl games. It’s time to get it together in Ann Arbor. In fairness, he had a lot of underclassman hit the field last fall after 40+ upperclassmen left following the 2016 season. With a year of experience, those freshman and sophomores should be seasoned veterans this fall, and Shea Patterson is Harbaugh’s best quarterback yet while at Michigan. There are no excuses this fall for both he and the Wolverines.

Gus Malzahn was on the hot seat last year, unfairly, due to the success Saban and Alabama has been having. Auburn played inspired football as they won 10 games. They knocked off two top ranked teams in Georgia and Bama in two of the final three weeks of the regular season. However, the rematch in the SEC Championship versus Georgia was a nightmare as they lost by 21 points then they played flat against UCF in the Peach Bowl in a 34-27 loss. With Stidham returning and uncertainty in Tuscaloosa, it is fair to say that not winning the SEC and missing the CFP could result in drastic measures for Malzahn.

Lastly, Willie Taggert left a rebuilding Oregon for another refurbishing gig with Florida State. This is a move that did not sit well with many in the college football world and expectations should be high for a Seminoles team that returns Deondre Francois. Francois threw for 3,350 yards and 20 touchdowns two seasons ago, but suffered a season ending injury against Alabama in the season opener last year. FSU won seven games without him and you have to figure he is good for three or four more wins if he beats out James Blackman for the starting job. Blackman threw 19 touchdowns in absence of Francois. Nevertheless, Taggert will be facing ACC title aspirations on an unusually lukewarm hot seat for a first-year coach.

The Pac-12’s Rat Race

The Pac-12 will be a slugfest from start-to-finish as there is no clear-cut favorite to win the conference. Stanford returns Love but have questions under center with K.J. Costello who barely threw for 1,500 yards. Arizona has Tate, but what will the defense look like under Kevin Sumlin and can Tate be a viable thrower against loaded boxes.

Arizona State is hoping to make a jump under Herm Edwards while UCLA envisions the start of a new era under Chip Kelly. USC and Washington State have to replace Sam Darnold and Luke Falk while Washington needs Jake Browning to perform like the Heisman candidate he did in 2016 when he threw 46 touchdowns. Also, Oregon has another NFL-type quarterback in Justin Herbert who displays a lot of the skills that Marcus Mariota exhibited while in Eugene. Cal, Oregon State, Utah, and Colorado won’t be easy wins as well.

With so many moving parts and question marks, it would be astonishing to see a Pac-12 representative in the CFP.

 

The Aztecs’ Run

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Donnell Pumphrey led the nation, and broke a school record, with 2,133 rushing yards as an Aztec in 2016 while Rashaad Penny broke his record with 2,248 rushing yards to lead the nation as well last season. Could Juwan Washington be next in line to lead the nation in rushing? The San Diego State scat-back is 5’7”, 190 pounds and is coming off a 700-yard season behind Penny. He has the physique and explosiveness of Pumphrey and should see 300 touches as both a runner and receiver.

The college football season is right around the corner and the best way to prepare yourself for the chaos is to expect the unexpected.