NWADG College Football

41 NWA COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW | 9.20.2020 GET IT ALL FOR JUST $ 17 00 A MONTH 12 MONTH SUBSCRIPTIONS INCLUDE ALL OF THIS: 1 Year of Hawgs Illustrated magazine ( 20 issues ) 1 Year of WholeHogSports. com Video on Demand Recruiting News Breaking Hog News Game Previews & Reviews wholehogsports.com JANUARY 2020 / VOL. 29, NO. 1 / $4.95 PIT BOSS SAM PITTMAN RETURNS AS COACH INSIDE ALL DECADE TEAM FOLLOW THEM HOGS! GET YOUR HOG NEWS 24/7 ON ANY DEVICE! wholehogsports.com/freegear Get free gear with a 12 month subscription! See website for details. Your premier source for Hog news! Razorback sports reporting by veteran & award-winning sports journalists! IS NOTRE DAME PLAYING AS AN INDEPENDENT THIS SEASON? The Fighting Irish have been competing in the ACC in other sports since 2013, but retained their independence in football. That will change for this season at least with Notre Dame playing football as a member of the ACC. The Irish already were playing several ACC teams in football on an annual basis, but what was supposed to be six games against ACC opponents this season became 10 because of the pandemic. Notre Dame's one nonconference game on the schedule is Central Florida. The Irish's other nonconference games — including a home date with Arkansas — were canceled. Highlighting Notre Dame's ACC schedule is a matchup with Clemson on Nov. 7 in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame also will be eligible to play in the ACC Championship Game. After this season, it's expected Notre Dame will go back to being an independent in football. WHO ARE THE TOP CANDIDATES TO WIN THE HEISMAN TROPHY? According to Las Vegas oddmakers, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the top contender to win the Heisman Trophy. Most betting lines have him as the 2-1 favorite. Naturally, several quarterbacks are high on the list along with Lawrence, including Oklahoma's Spencer Rattler, Miami's D'Eriq King, Texas' Sam Ehlinger, Alabama's Mac Jones, Florida's Kyle Trask and Notre Dame's Ian Book. No one had Joe Burrow among the Heisman favorites last season, and he was a runaway winner as the quarterback for national champion LSU, so who knows what could happen? Burrow's replacement as the Tigers' starting quarterback, Myles Brennan, is getting some attention. If a quarterback doesn't win the Heisman, other players considered as strong candidates include Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, Alabama running back Najee Harris, Clemson running back Travis Etienne, and Alabama receivers Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. WHAT HAPPENED TO CHARLIE STRONG? Strong, a Batesville native and former head coach at Louisville, Texas and South Florida, is the latest big name coach to land on Alabama Coach Nick Saban's staff. Strong, who was fired at USF after the season, joined the Alabama staff as a defensive analyst in February. IS NICK SABAN FINALLY GOING TO LOSE TO ONE OF HIS FORMER ASSISTANT COACHES? Don't bet on it. Saban, the Alabama coach, is 19-0 against head coaches who were his assistants at Michigan State, LSU and Alabama. His former assistants will get at least four chances to beat him this season when the Crimson Tide play Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher), Ole Miss (Lane Kiffin), Georgia (Kirby Smart) and Tennessee (Jeremy Pruitt). Saban will face those former assistants in games two through five this season after the Tide open at Missouri. South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp also is a former Saban assistant, but Alabama isn't scheduled to play the Gamecocks this season. The only way Muschamp could face Saban would be in the SEC Championship Game, and the odds of South Carolina getting to Atlanta are pretty slim. It wouldn't be a surprise if Saban and Smart meet again in Atlanta. WHICH FIRST-YEAR COACH FIGURES TO HAVE THE MOST SUCCESS? Willie Taggart, who succeeded Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic, and Shawn Clark, who succeeded Eliah Drinkwitz at Appalachian State, both are inheriting talented rosters with teams that won conference titles last season. Among new Power 5 coaches, Baylor's Dave Aranda and Florida State's Mike Norvell could have good seasons. Michigan State's Mel Tucker and Washington's Jimmy Lake won't get to play this fall. WHICH COACHES ARE ON THE HOT SEAT? USC's Clay Helton, Nebraska's Scott Frost, UCLA's Chip Kelly and Vanderbilt's Derek Mason top CBSSports.com's hot seat rankings going into this season. Coaches whose seats are pretty warm, according to CBSSports.com, include Texas' Tom Herman, Arizona's Kevin Sumlin and Miami's Manny Diaz. HOW MANY ACTIVE HEAD COACHES HAVE WON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS? The list has risen to six with LSU's Ed Orgeron winning a championship last season. Alabama's Nick Saban, with six titles, has as many as all the other active coaches combined. Saban won a title at LSU and has five with the Crimson Tide. Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney has won two titles, and Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher (at Florida State), Kansas Coach Les Miles (at LSU) and North Carolina Coach Mack Brown (at Texas) each have won a title.

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