NWADG College Football

2019

Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1159352

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 35 of 47

become the third consecutive transfer quarterback at Oklahoma to win the Heisman, following Baker May- field and Murray. Georgia junior quarterback Jake Fromm also is high on the Heisman odds, which resulted in his backup last season, Justin Fields, transferring to Ohio State. Fields was granted a waiver by the NCAA for immediate eligibility. Fields is among the top 10 on most Heisman odds boards. Other quarterbacks who enter the season with Heisman buzz are Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez and Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson, who began his college career at Ole Miss. Running backs listed on most Heisman odds are Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor, Clemson's Travis Etienne, Alabama's Najee Harris and Georgia's D'Andre Swift. 4. WHICH EX-SEC COACHES ARE BACK IN THE GAME? You didn't think you'd seen the last of the Mad Hatter, did you? Les Miles, who had a 114-34 record at LSU and led the Tigers to the 2007 national championship, is the new coach at Kansas after sitting out the previous two seasons. Hugh Freeze, the former Arkansas State University coach who won big at Ole Miss but then was undone by off-the-field issues that included the Rebels being hit with NCAA sanctions, is getting another chance as Liberty's coach. Jim McElwain, who was fired as Florida's coach late in the 2017 season, is the new coach at Central Michigan. 5. IS THERE STILL AN ARKANSAS PRESENCE ON THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SELECTION COMMITTEE? Two of the 13 committee members have ties to the state of Arkansas. Ken Hatfield, the former University of Arkansas play- er and coach who now lives in Northwest Arkansas, is on the committee for the second consecutive year. Arkansas State Athletic Director Terry Mohajir is a new committee member. There has been someone with ties to an Arkansas school on the committee since its first season in 2014. Jeff Long was the Razorbacks' athletic director when he served on the committee from 2014-17. He was the chairman for the first two seasons. Long is now the athletic director at Kansas. Joining Hatfield and Mohajir on this year's com- mittee are Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens, who is the chairman; former college coaches Frank Beamer and R.C. Slocum; Florida Athletic Direc- tor Scott Stricklin; Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione; Georgia Tech Athletic Director Todd Stansbury; Ronnie Lott, a former star defensive back at USC and in the NFL; Robert Morris University President Chris Howard; Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta; Ray Odierno, a former Army chief of staff; and Paola Boivin, a professor at Arizona State who is a former reporter and columnist at the Arizona Republic newspaper. She is the only female member of the committee. 6. WHEN AND WHERE ARE THE PLAYOFF GAMES THIS SEASON? The semifinal games will be played Dec. 28 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The championship game will be played on Jan. 13 in the Superdome in New Orleans. 7. WHAT TEAMS FIGURE TO MAKE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF? Assuming Alabama and Clemson make it again, some logical choices are Michigan or Ohio State from the Big Ten; Oklahoma or Texas from the Big 12; Geor- gia, Florida or LSU if they win the SEC championship; Oregon if it beats Auburn and then wins the Pac 12 title; or Notre Dame. 8. WHICH COACHES ARE ON HOT SEAT? If you believe what you read, two of the top guys on a list no one wants to make are former Arkansas assistant coaches Gus Malzahn (Auburn) and Chris Ash (Rutgers). At the top of the list is Southern California Coach Clay Helton. 9. IS NICK SABAN FINALLY GOING TO LOSE TO ONE OF HIS FORMER ASSISTANT COACHES? It has to happen some time, right? Maybe not this season. There will be at least three opportunities for a coach to be the first former assistant to beat Saban when Alabama plays at South Carolina (Will Muschamp), at Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher) and against Tennessee (Jeremy Pruitt). Out of those three games, the Aggies would fig- ure to have by far the best shot to beat Saban and Alabama. If Alabama wins the SEC West, the Tide could face another former Saban assistant in Georgia's Kirby Smart in the conference championship game. Thus far, Saban is 16-0 against his former assistants. 10. HOW MANY ACTIVE HEAD COACHES HAVE WON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS? The list is back up to five with Mack Brown getting hired at North Carolina and Les Miles at Kansas. Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005, and Miles won one at LSU in 2007. Other current coaches with national titles are Ala- bama's Nick Saban (six), Clemson's Dabo Swinney (two) and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher (one). Saban has one national title at LSU and five at Ala- bama. Swinney has won both of his titles at Clemson, and Fisher won his at Florida State. Urban Meyer, who resigned as Ohio State's coach after last season, won three national titles — two at Florida and one with the Buckeyes. 11. WHICH FIRST-YEAR SEC COACH WILL HAVE THE MOST SUCCESS? It's a trick question. After having six new coaches in 2018, the SEC doesn't have any new guys this season. 12. HOW MANY BOWL GAMES ARE THERE NOW? There are 40 bowl games. The SEC has agreements for a minimum of nine bowl games, including at least one of the big six from among the Orange, Peach and Sugar bowls. It's possible SEC teams could play in three of the six games, which happened last season with Alabama (Orange), Georgia (Sugar) and LSU (Fiesta). Other bowls with SEC tie-ins are the Citrus, Out- back, Music City, Liberty, Texas, Belk, Birmingham and Independence. Last season, 11 SEC teams played in bowl games. 36 NWA College Football Preview 2019 Sunday, August 25, 2019 FAQ v Continued from Page 35 AP File Photo/Kansas City Star/RICH SUGG Kansas coach Les Miles directs the team's spring NCAA college football game April 13 in Lawrence, Kan.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of NWADG College Football - 2019