Q&A makes its long-awaited* return with some great topics. Bob Stoops — who earned the “Big Game” moniker long before John Cena — main events a card also featuring a Pac-12 coaches battle royale. If you have a question for CFB Huddle Q&A, tweet @kensing45 or @cfbhuddle. * = debatable. @kensing45 @cfbhuddle Grade Bob Stoops […]
Tag: Utah Utes
Bowl Preview Bonanza, Part I
An unprecedented number of bowl games means a multifaceted bowl preview for you, dear CFB Huddle reader. Saturday opens the 2015-’16 bowl season with a hearty, five-game slate, featuring teams from the Mountain West, Sun Belt, MAC and Pac-12. Uh, and BYU. It doesn’t have a conference. So, yeah, the first bowl preview isn’t quite […]
Expansion to An 8-Team Playoff Won’t Satisfy
The second-ever College Football Playoff came together as perfectly as could be imagined, and yet, din for an 8-team Playoff is loud. Spinal Tap loud. When it comes to major media outlets and personalities pushing for Playoff expansion, it goes to 11. USA Today alone published two columns on an 8-team Playoff in the same […]
Pac-12 Schedule and A “Level Playing Field”
Stanford head coach David Shaw may have summarized Playoff hysteria best, saying “media…sit and stew and look for somebody to blame.” With the Pac-12 perhaps eliminated from a spot in the tournament, the conference’s 9-game league schedule became an immediate and easy target for blame despite evidence to the contrary. Internal groundswell against the Pac-12 […]
Argument Against Pac-12’s 9-Game Schedule Is Empty
Every outcome in college football is a referendum on a bigger picture topic, and the biggest picture of all is the College Football Playoff. Thus when Stanford and Utah lost to Pac-12 opponents Saturday, complicating the conference’s hope of sending a representative to the College Football Playoff, an overarching referendum had to be made. But […]
Four Downs on Week 11: Football’s Frivolity Amid Tragedy
It’s rather ridiculous, the importance our society places on sports. I felt helpless as reports of the horrific terrorist attacks carried out Friday in Paris began to surface. I still do. I also couldn’t shake the feeling that spending Saturday watching and writing about college football as if it anything more than a frivolous endeavor […]
October Superlatives: Trevone Boykin, Alabama Step Up
October attrition starts to whittle down college football’s contenders. The legitimate competitors for conference supremacy and individual honors are revealed as schedules start tightening up. Don’t be surprised when several of the CFB Huddle October Superlatives honorees are in contention for national awards by season’s end — and that includes the Heisman Trophy. Trevone Boykin […]
When A Plan Comes Together: Cam Smith’s Three Interceptions vs. Utah
USC quarterback Cody Kessler said without freshman linebacker Cam Smith’s three interceptions last Saturday against Utah, the Trojans don’t knock off the nation’s third-ranked team. Indeed, Smith’s first pick turned a Utah drive that could have put the Utes up two scores into a red-zone possession on which USC tied it. The second went to […]
Week 8 Saturday Six-Pack: Going Off The Grid
The Week 8 docket isn’t particularly impressive on paper, but you know what that means. Buckle in for upsets and wild finishes galore. Paring down to the six best games for the Week 8 Saturday Six-Pack was no easy task. Pinpointing any clear upset candidates is challenging — that’s why they’re upsets. To that end, […]
Week 7 Heisman Top 10: Chasing Boykin and Fournette
Heisman Trophy front-runners Trevone Boykin and Leonard Fournette continued along in Week 7 at the same remarkable pace each has been on through this season. But the gap between Fournette, Boykin and the field isn’t widening. On the contrary: Playmakers from various, emerging Playoff contenders used this week to strengthen their resumes. Baylor quarterback Seth […]
Week 6 Heisman Top 10: It’s Leonard Fournette’s to Lose
Each passing college football Saturday makes it increasingly clear Heisman Trophy voters and assorted other media have put as much space between Leonard Fournette and the rest of the field as Fournette puts between himself and a beaten safety on one of the running back’s breakaway runs. The rest of the Heisman Top 10 is […]
Week 6 Saturday Six-Pack: Approaching The Airport
Week 6 is college football’s last on the incline of the curve. After this Saturday, it’s all downhill on the race to the postseason. The legendary Beano Cook once quipped on the ESPN college football podcast that each season felt like Casablanca: You start it, and next thing you know, you’re at the airport. In […]
Four Downs on Week 5: Back to The SEC Drawing Board
Everything you presumed to know about the SEC, either in the preseason or over the course of the 2015 campaign’s first month, can probably go in the trash. Welcome to Four Downs, where I’ll happily accept your refuse! Just be sure to separate the recyclables — the end of the Nick Saban dynasty — from […]
September Superlatives: Leonard Fournette, Jeremy Cash Shine
A month of the 2015 campaign is complete, and it went by faster than a Leonard Fournette touchdown run. College football’s season is the shortest of any major sport’s, and September’s end is a harsh reminder. We’re now a third through the season, when it seems just yesterday Montana and North Dakota State were just […]
When A Plan Comes Together: Devontae Booker’s TD Pass
Utah complements a rugged defense with a run-heavy offensive philosophy, relying on talented running back Devontae Booker to shoulder much of the load. Heading into Saturday’s matchup at Oregon, with the Ducks having shown weakness in their typically stellar secondary, I pinpointed Utah’s ability — or inability — to attack with the pass. Establishing a […]