How a college football fan sees the world
First off, I want to wish everyone a happy Independence Day weekend. Glad there are those who serve and protect our country so we can enjoy the freedoms we do. My thanks and appreciation go out to our service men and women, because of them we can enjoy such things as college football. July is a crucial month for the college football fan. The 7v7 Nike tournament in Eugene, Oregon took place this week. It might not be actual games but it gives fans a chance to see their team’s future players complete against against other elite athletes that they’ll soon be facing on Saturdays. Now let’s get into some thoughts and news from this past week in The College Football Nation…
“I will win at any cost”
1. Urban Meyer has no love lost for his former team Florida. According to reports he was on board with reporting a Florida Assistant coach for a recruiting violation. Let me tell you one thing, Florida fans can be mad and hold a grudge, but when it comes to college recruiting… there are no rules. It is not “may the best man win” it’s “may the dirtiest tactics win”. Honestly, it’s likely only a secondary violation and probably nothing will come of it. Full disclosure – I’m a Florida fan.
Russell Wilson kept his options open with baseball but football seems to have worked out just fine.
2. Let’s keep the ball rolling with news coming from the University of Florida. Starting Quarterback Jeff Driskel signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Boston Red Sox. Should this alarm Florida fans? Nope! He is still fully committed to football and is just using this as “Plan B”. It would not be the first time in college football that a quarterback had baseball as a viable fall back option. Prior examples include Russell Wilson, Doug Johnson, John Elway, Brandon Weeden and even Dennis Dixon. It kind of makes me jealous that these guys can compete at the highest level in more than one sport. Best of luck to Driskel if he ever moves to baseball but for now, please, let’s focus on football.
3. And so it begins. The players are finally taking to social media about their major week-1 matchups. Clemson’s Sammy Watkins gave all the bulletin board material Georgia will need. Anytime a player talks trash about their upcoming game it gets fans of both teams excited to watch. Things like this only serve to get me all that much more pumped up for the season. Can not wait to see how it all plays out on the field. Just to help get everyone else excited, as if you weren’t already, here are a few other opening week match-ups:
–North Carolina vs. South Carolina… Will Clowney start his Heisman campaign off on a high note or will the Tar Heels pull off an upset?
–Washington State vs. Auburn… If Leach’s air raid offense takes it up a notch we will see a lot of scoring in this game. Note: Defense optional.
–Mississippi State vs Oklahoma State… This game is flying under everyone’s radar but could be another high scoring shoot out.
–Alabama vs. Virginia Tech… Do the Tide start their national title run on a high note or does Beamer Ball show up and knock out Saban’s squad?
–LSU vs TCU… Both teams are predicted to make a run for their conference’s title – who starts their season off on the right note and who falls flat?
Most of us are excited for the season to start, but these exceptional week-1 games only make us wish it were here now! To hold us over for the next week or two we can dig into details and video from Nike’s 7v7 and Elite 11 QB camps. The recruiting guru’s get it right about the ELITE 11 QB camp. Many of the camps prior attendees have proceeded to start at a major college and then gone on to play in the NFL. Stats don’t lie! Hope everyone is enjoying the offseason. Less than two months and we’ll be tee’d up. Hang in there fans, we will make it. Until next week I will leave The College Football Nation with a few highlights from one of last season’s highest scoring games.
NATIONAL NEWS:
1. College football mailbag
2. Bowden back at FSU
3. Current athletes cashing in
4. Tragedy at Ole Miss
5. Nebraska helping with head tests
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Jeff Hostetler may not have won a Super Bowl with the Giants ( though his uncle of the same name did). He has been an obsessed college football fan living in Florida ever since the Gators beat FSU in the Sugar Bowl to earn the UF’s first national championship.
Ever since Jeff has immersed himself in everything possible related to college football. He enjoys watching, writing, playing, and otherwise obsessing over all things football. A graduate of the University of Florida, he brings a perspective to FishDuck free of our extreme green & yellow homerism glasses to look at the current landscape of collegiate athletics.