I Tell Ya' Herbie

      Last season, we used the old seventies toy, Super Toe, as the face of "Herbie".

Well, since then I've found an actual Super Toe at an antique market in Dayton Ohio (Picture as I found him in Dayton), so starting next week, I'll have a picture of Super Toe today, although I still need some of those block bottomed footballs!

I tell ya' Herbie:

                           The first week of the season doesn't feature many great matchups but it will have two inter-conference games that are quite underrated as rivalries that could set the tone for the season for the winners.

I've always loved inter-conference rivalries and more of these types of games should be played.

I tell ya' Herbie:

                          Georgia vs Clemson may not have the cache' that it may have had a few seasons ago with Clemson's mild decline but it still matches the favorites of the SEC and a top contender in the ACC, especially with Florida State's surprising loss to Georgia Tech in Ireland.

The two schools are separated by only seventy miles and have played sixty-five times but this will be only the fourth time in the last twenty-one years and in the new era of playoff football where one loss won't kill your season, perhaps Georgia vs Clemson can once again become an annual rivalry.

I tell ya' Herbie:

                           The other renewed rivalry will see Penn State travel to Morgantown as an eight-point favorite over West Virginia and the Mountaineers.

Last season's 38-15 Penn State win in State College was the first game in a sixty-game series since 1992.

Penn State usually beats everyone not named Ohio State or Michigan on their schedule but they seldom under James Franklin defeat teams that they aren't far superior to.

West Virginia improved to 9-4 last season, Morgantown is a tough place to visit, and if Penn State isn't ready to play, I think West Virginia is capable of pulling an upset.

I tell ya' Herbie:

                           Boise State is the team that many are picking as the potential Group of Five representative in the playoff but the Broncos have a very tough game at Oregon early in the season that receives the attention as a Bronco-buster.

However, Boise starts the season with three games that aren't easy, the first of which is this Saturday against Sun Belt member Georgia Southern in Statesboro Ga.

The Eagles are also capable of an upset at home against a team traveling across the country, so Boise needs to take care of business before their Oregon and Washington State matchups.

I tell ya' Herbie:

                           One team that I am interested in watching is Nebraska with Matt Ruhle in his second year and starting true freshman Dylan Raiola at quarterback, the Cornhuskers should be a team worth watching- for good or bad.

Ruhle and Raiola could show signs of progress in Lincoln for even more improvement in 2015 or they could also struggle, bringing the fanbase to early concern, and Raiola, who committed to seemingly half the nation in his high school years, to start looking around for a landing spot elsewhere.

I could see it playing out either way, which is why it's so interesting to keep an eye on.

I tell ya' Herbie:

                           Of all the games in the first month of the season, the one I am looking forward to most (outside of the teams I support) is September 28th with Liberty traveling to Appalachian State.

The favorites to win the CUSA and Sun Belt conferences, the winner could have a huge leg up on the automatic playoff berth.

Liberty plays another weak schedule without an opponent that the Flames would not be favored, while Appalachian State travels to Clemson before this game, a win here, and a run of the table (with a Sun Belt title game win) could put a one-loss Mountaineer team into the tournament even with a loss to Clemson.

I Tell Ya' Herbie

 I Tell Ya' Herbie is back with our weekly thoughts on college football.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I have to say I LOVE the idea produced and is circulating around the Group of Five schools and was promoted in an article by ESPN's Bill Connelly on bringing relegation to college football.

I don't think it has a large chance of happening but I really like thoughts of a title game and two other games that have next year's conference alignment at stake.

One of the things that attracted me to the English Premier League (once I picked a team etc.) was that the relegation system makes late-season games for bad teams mean something and nothing is more important than more money for playing in the best league.

I don't think relegation will ever hit American pro sports (mainly because cities would quit building sports palaces for teams that might be playing the Rochester Red Wings or Hershey Bears should hard times hit but I could see a form of relegation in college football eventually.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            I'm hearing and reading that Ryan Day was an awful person for his post-time promo on Lou Holtz because Holtz is in his eighties and a one-time stroke victim.

I've already written about that in a previous post but Holtz's occasional media beefs and that of fellow octogenarian Lee Corso did make me think about what would be considered fair game for two former coaches and studio talking heads who are both older than our elderly current President and his almost as elderly likely challenger.

Holtz and Corso are paid to offer opinions on football.

Both should be held accountable for those opinions as any other commentator and their age and health history should be beside the point.

If either man or their supporters think that their age makes them immune to criticism due to their age, then perhaps it is time for both to step aside from the pundit circuit.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Maryland is undefeated and will face Ohio State next Saturday in what could be the biggest Maryland game in years, should they remain unbeaten.

While Indiana doesn't appear to be a threat, needing four overtimes last week to defeat Akron, the Hoosiers might be the perfect trap opponent as the Terrapins look forward to traveling to Columbus.

Maryland trailed Charlotte at the half, was tied with Virginia and neither team is going to be confused with a contender in their conference.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             One of the weekend's anticipated games is Kansas visiting Texas in a battle of Big 12 unbeaten and could be setting up for Texas to be surprised should they be looking forward to the following week's game against rival Oklahoma.

Lance Leipold's job in making the Jayhawks even competent from the lows of the previous decade in only three seasons ranks with the best coaching jobs and if the Jayhawks could somehow pull a massive upset, Leipold might be able to write his ticket for any open job of his choice.

I think Texas at home should win this game but at this stage, nothing that Lance Leipold could pull off would really surprise me.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I can foresee a scenario where the Pac-12 gets two teams in the CFP and the SEC gets none.

Unlikely but if LSU loses a game but wins the SEC West and would then upset Georgia in the SEC title game followed by the Oregon-Washington winner (October 14) running the table and the loser doing the same or USC winning every game with the Oregon-Washington winner only losing to USC, it's possible that could happen.

I doubt it because the Pac-12 is so deep and Georgia would have to look very vulnerable in finishing with one loss but still, it's not impossible.

I Tell Ya Herbie

    We are back for another edition of I Tell Ya Herbie, our weekly bootful of thoughts and notes from the world of college football.

Also, I have gotten one note about the gentleman to the right- Super Toe and I plan on a future post on the long (or short) range kicking toy of the 1970s!

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                           I wouldn't go as far as to say that I am all-in as a believer in the Deion Sanders experience in Boulder with the Colorado Buffaloes but I will say this, no matter if you are rooting for or against the Buffs, they are a fun team to watch.

Colorado's wild double-overtime comeback win over rival Colorado State may have been aided by a meltdown by the Rams but Colorado has been fun to watch win or lose and even though I believe that the wheels are about to come off as Colorado plays Oregon this week and without Travis Hunter, the Buffaloes are still worth watching.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            I'm not sure who Michigan State hires to replace Mel Tucker but that job isn't nearly as attractive as it could have been in the past.

The Spartans will be playing in an even tougher Big Ten next season with the new teams arriving and adding in what seems to be some sort of scandal every few years, Michigan State, while still a very desirable job, may not be what it once was.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            Mel Tucker may not be very smart or at least did a very dumb thing on his phone sex charges but one thing cannot be denied- Michigan State jumped on an opportunity to prove their commitment to the treatment of women in the workplace after their past issues with Larry Nassar in the athletic department but even more important (to them) was having the chance to shed themselves of the ridiculous contract that they signed Tucker to of their own making.

Michigan State signed Tucker to a ridiculous ten-year, ninety-five million dollar contract in 2021 when Tucker won his first eight games in East Lansing that most people thought was a premature extension for much more than a relatively unproven head coach should have been signed for.

Tucker's teams are 10-9 since the extension and it's no secret that Michigan State would have loved a reason to get out from under that contract.

Tucker's behavior may have answered Michigan State's prayers.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            Has the year finally arrived for the mighty SEC to not be the best conference in college football?

While Georgia is ranked first, Alabama appears to be in the midst of a down year, LSU has lost to Florida State in a game that wasn't close, Tennessee was pounded by Florida, the same Florida that was punished by Utah, and other than Missouri's surprising win over Kansas State with a sixty-one-yard field goal at the gun, the league lacks a big non-conference win.

It is possible at this point that both the Pac 12 and Big Ten could be better than the SEC by the end of the year.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                           The Mountain West looks to be the best league in the Group of Five and this past week proved it in losses along with wins as Colorado State almost stunned Colorado in a double overtime loss and Wyoming gave Texas all they wanted in Austin two weeks after the Cowboys upset Texas Tech.

Fresno State shut out Arizona State 29-0 in Tempe, two weeks after beating Purdue on the road, UNLV knocked off SEC member Vanderbilt on the last play of the game, and that is before counting the two usual powers of the league in Boise State and San Diego State.

The Mountain may not grab the G-5 bid to a New Years Bowl but they look to be the best of the group at this stage of the season. 

I Tell Ya Herbie

     Time for more college football thoughts with "I Tell Ya Herbie", our weekly ramble on various topics in college football.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                           I'm not sure I see the hand-wringing on the rule changes in an attempt to shorten college games which really do last much longer than their professional counterparts but while the changes haven't made a big difference in game times, there has been one change that wasn't anticipated.

Undermanned teams are attempting to milk the clock in an effort to shorten the game and improve their chances of winning.

There is nothing wrong with that at all and I even applaud those coaches for giving their teams their best chance to win.

I've said a million times- when you are undermanned, you either play super conservative, run the clock and hope for some breaks or throw everything at the wall- anything in between is doomed to fail but it's been boring football often and it isn't solving the problem that it was created to solve.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            Most of the chatter after Miami's win over Texas A&M was about the status of the contract that now looks to be the most questionable in the game (Pending Mel Tucker at Michigan State) of the Aggies with Jimbo Fisher but give the Hurricanes some credit as well for fortitude in victory.

In recent years, Miami had tended to fold their tent once things turned against them, and in the first half, Texas A&M blocked a punt and recovered a fumble on a punt with the Aggies scoring on both chances.

Jacolby George was the player who muffed the punt but would catch three touchdowns in the second half and the special teams that were so bad in the first half would return a kickoff for a score in the second in the 48-33 victory.

In a season that already is stuffed with schools that are supposedly returning to past prominence, I'm not ready to give Miami that credit yet- BUT playing in the ACC and should they survive October games on consecutive Saturdays at North Carolina and home against suddenly questionable Clemson, Miami could be 9-0 entering Tallahassee for what could be an undefeated old school showdown against the Seminoles.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                           I'm a Big Ten guy and I rarely root against Wisconsin but I had to feel good for Washington State's upset of the Badgers in Pullman.

The constant churning of conference realignment appears to have doomed Washington State and Oregon State to an eventual fall to the Group of Five status unless their lawsuit to hold the Pac 12 name and dollars wins and forces much of the Mountain West to join the "new" Pac 12 eventually.

Even that may not matter if the playoff committee decides under the circumstances to drop from six automatic bids to the new playoff next season to five but unless they are playing your team, it will be very hard for any college fan to root against either the Cougars or the Beavers this season.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            There won't be any Group of Five threatening to be a playoff buster this season as after two weeks of play there isn't one ranked G-5 team.

It's going to be very interesting to see who emerges with the New Year's Day appearance with  San Diego State and Tulane with a defeat, Boise State with two, and the loss of Cincinnati, BYU, and Central Florida to the Big 12.

I'm even going to make an early season prediction- I think the Sun Belt will earn their first automatic bid to a New Year's Day bowl and only such a deep league could cost that bid.

Marshall may be the league's best team but will play Virginia Tech and N.C. State in two of the next three weeks, Appalachian State lost in double overtime to a ranked North Carolina team on the road, Georgia Southern dumped UAB and if they could pull over a massive upset in Madison against Wisconsin this Saturday would be in the hunt.

Add James Madison, who beat Virginia last week, if they are deemed eligible by the NCAA and the Sun Belt has several contenders, if only they don't knock each other off!  

I tell Ya, Herbie

    It's time for I Tell Ya, Herbie, which is a weekly post- filled with notes from the previous weekend in college football.

I make no promises of being able to do this every week, although that is my intent.

I loved writing "Herbie" two or three years ago when I started it and I just didn't have the time last season but I really want to do it regularly this year.

I Tell Ya Herbie: 

                            I was surprised by Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes' upset in Fort Worth over the TCU Horned Frogs but I'm not ready to give the Buffaloes too much credit too soon.

I do think they will beat Nebraska handily this week after watching Matt Ruhle's Huskers struggle against Minnesota on offense and they may beat a team or two that will be considered upsets but the offensive line looks questionable and they have depth issues that will cause them to lose one or two surprises as the season moves along.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            I wasn't disappointed to see Clemson pounded in their opener by unheralded Duke mainly because I'm not a fan of the pious Dabo Swinney and I'm not going to throw too much dirt on the grave of the Tigers as a national power quite yet but it does seem that Clemson's time as a school that you could place as a top-four team before the season and be right more times than wrong may be winding down.

Swinney's reluctance to change with the times (recruiting, transfer portal, and offensive rigidity) could be beginning to catch up with the Tigers, and losing games like this shows cracks in the foundation.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                           The Big 12 took a beating in week one with Texas Tech (2 OT Wyoming), TCU (Colorado) Baylor (Texas State), and West Virginia (Penn State) all taking losses.

While West Virginia was a heavy underdog and expected to lose on the road, the other three were big favorites, and only one (Texas Tech) lost on the road, so it's understandable to have some questions about each.

Texas Tech looks the best of the three but they could be 0-2 after this weekend as the Red Raiders are hosting nationally-ranked Oregon, TCU may have defensive issues but no one looks worse suddenly than Baylor, who looked dreadful in their loss to Texas State.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            The Power Five team that looks to be in biggest trouble this season?

Arizona State, who not only will be taking a one-year absence from postseason play for recruiting violations under former coach Herman Edwards, might have won the one game for their season.

The Sun Devils barely defeated 1-AA Southern Utah by three points at home and might not be favored in a game for the rest of the season.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                            Colorado's Travis Hunter is already drawing comparisons to 1997 Heisman winner Charles Woodson of Michigan.

If Hunter remotely approaches the number of snaps that he played in the Colorado opener, he will far exceed the number of Woodson's stats in 1997.

Woodson, who really didn't deserve the award over Tennessee's Peyton Manning, did play both ways but his offensive impact was limited as Woodson caught eleven passes for 231 yards for an excellent twenty-one-yard average and three touchdowns.

Hunter caught eleven passes against TCU alone and defensively made three tackles with a pass defended and an interception.

It is asking a lot for Hunter to play that much all season but should he be able to come even close, Hunter is going to give anyone a run for their money for the Heisman.