MOVING THE CHAINS: Takeaways from the 2022 college football season

As we anxiously await the College Football Playoff to kick off on December 31, let’s take a look at several odds and ends (primarily in the SEC, where football is religion) over the past four months:

♦ Georgia, for the second year in a row, was by far the best team in the land. The Bulldog offense improved statistically over last season (39.2 point per game this year; 38.6 in 2021). On the other side of the ball, the defense allowed more points per game this season (12.8; only 10.2 last season), but still looked every bit as dominant as they did a year ago. The Dawg defense deserved the Heisman rather than USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

♦ South Carolina looked horrific when they lost 48-7 to Georgia on its home field in September. Then, just over two months later, the Gamecocks were absolutely magnificent in dismantling Tennessee, ranked No. 5 at the time, 63-38. It was arguably the best performance of the season (in my opinion, it was), and even though their defense surrendered 38 points, it was to a Vol team that scored over 47 points per game — the highest average in the nation.

♦ Florida State won as many games against SEC teams — two — as Texas A&M. The Aggies are in the SEC, and faced eight conference teams during the season. However, the Seminoles are in the ACC and played only two SEC teams, LSU and Florida — in their first and last games of the season, respectively. It’s worth mentioning — and sort of ironic — that Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher was the Seminole head coach before leaving Tallahassee five seasons ago for College $tation.

♦ Texas A&M finished with a record of five wins and seven losses. It is the Aggies’ first losing season in 13 years. Incidentally — and also sort of ironic — Jimbo Fisher’s annual salary increases to $9.15 million on the first day of the new year.

♦ One more: Texas A&M was ranked No. 6 in the preseason polls. That’s not to say anything bad about the Aggies, but rather to point out how meaningless — and utterly useless — preseason polls have become.

♦ Even Vanderbilt — which broke a 26-game SEC losing streak this year when they beat Kentucky on the road — won as many SEC games (again, two) as Texas A&M this season.

♦ Incidentally, when the football is snapped directly to a player other than the quarterback, it is from a formation known as the ‘wildcat.’ How is it possible that after all these years, Arkansas hasn’t come up with their own version and called it the ‘razorback?’ OK, back to business…

♦ It’s hard to believe Florida was ranked 12th in the first week of the season. They finished the season at 6-6 (and lost to Vanderbilt), and were unranked when the season ended for the seventh time in the last 13 seasons. It’s also hard to believe that 14 seasons ago, the Gators won the National Championship — not to mention their second in three years. (Update: Florida lost its postseason bowl game to Oregon State, 30-3, ending its second consecutive losing season with identical records of 6-7).

♦ Georgia coach Kirby Smart was 8-5 in his first season with the Bulldogs. In the six seasons since, Smart is 71-10, a winning percentage of .876. By comparison, Nick Saban’s winning percentage in 16 seasons at Alabama is .874.

♦ If I was building a college football team from scratch, Bryce Young (Alabama quarterback and last year’s Heisman winner) would be my first choice.

♦ The transfer portal continues to be a nightmare for college football. As of December 5, Texas A&M and Florida both had 15 players in the transfer portal. By comparison, Georgia has none. Could it be that the portal has something to do with winning and losing? (Update: Florida now has a bazillion players in the transfer portal.)

♦ As of December 14, USC has the most commits coming from the transfer portal (20). The three military academies — Army, Navy, and Air Force — are tied for the least: zero.

♦ NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) is another nightmare for college football. Paired with the transfer portal, NCAA football is on the verge of becoming — if it hasn’t already — a scaled-down version of the NFL.

But wait, it gets worse:

As an alumnus of the University of Florida, I received an email announcing the Gator Collective that ‘provides fans with exclusive access to, and experiences with, their favorite athletes while allowing the athletes to earn compensation for their name, image, and likeness.’ To become an ‘elite member’ for a month (yes, just one month), all I have to do is pay $999.99 to receive (hold your breath) an official decal, polo, hat, tumbler and duffel bag, as well as 15-minute early access to events (I have to assume there is at least one event per month) and (you might want to sit down for this one) three 15-minute video calls with an athlete.

I have never been so repulsed in my life.

I want to end on a high note by paying tribute to Mike Leach, the longtime head coach who passed away on December 12 at the age of 61. I’ve always admired Coach Leach for his innovative aerial offenses and candid observations about the game of college football. Known for his high-flying aerial attacks, he was head coach for 21 seasons at Texas Tech (10 seasons), Washington State (8) and Mississippi State (3) for a lifetime record of 158 wins and 107 losses. If there was ever a coach who was, as they say, ‘his own man,’ it was Mike Leach.

When Mississippi State, Leach’s final team, faces Illinois in their bowl game in Tampa on January 2, I think it would make for a fitting tribute to Coach Leach if the Bulldogs were to pass on every down.

Even on fourth.

Tony Walsh