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  • Salamanca football’s state title dreams cut short with loss to Schuylerville in final | Sports

    Salamanca football’s state title dreams cut short with loss to Schuylerville in final | Sports

    SYRACUSE — In its search for the program’s first ever New York State title, the Salamanca football team ended up falling just eight yards short of a possible walk-off win.

    Between the third and fourth quarters of their New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Final, the Warriors had conceded 19 straight points to Section 2 Champions Schuylerville. With just over a minute left and staring down a six-point deficit, Salamanca marched from its own 44-yard line and backed the Horses up inside their own 10.

    But with just five seconds left to play, a miscue on the go-to route in their final play of the game led to the Warriors falling by a score of 26-20.

    “(I’m) trying to hold it together for a group of guys in there that are crushed,” Salamanca coach Chad Bartoszek said. “That was a heck of a football game, and it’s hard for them to wrap their brains around that right now, because it’s just the suddenness of an end of a season at the state finals at the eight-yard line. It’s crushing, that’s the only word.”

    However, there was a silver lining that he was able to find.

    “The message in there is that ‘you just learned a heck of a lot about life. Some things aren’t going to go the way you want them to go. But if you work hard, believe in yourselves, you can accomplish great things.”

    Some of those great things that showed up on the day were the performances of the Warriors’ duo of Maddox Isaac and Xavier Peters.

    Isaac, while not having his usual amount of success in the run game against Schuylerville, rushing 12 times for just 21 yards, he found his stride in the passing game. Isaac finished 12-for-19 through the air with one touchdown pass apiece to Cory Holleran Zach Trietley. Holleran’s score came from six yards out while Trietley found the endzone on the back of a screen pass catch-and-run from eight yards.

    Peters, on the flipside, was able to find some gaps in the Horses’ defense and racked up 117 yards with his legs. He scored the third and final Salamanca touchdown on the day with a 28-yard burst.

    HOWEVER, not all of its rushes, let alone overall plays, were as big as Peters’ rushing score. And According to Bartoszek, there are two ways one could look at this game. One option being that it came down to just one missed play. The second is that it was more of a result of the slow grind that came before.

    “Those battles in between the trenches were tough, they were physical,” Bartoszek said. “And we were up (to it). I mean, there was a lot of short gains, a lot of short yardage, a lot of spaces that we thought maybe we could create. I give them a ton of credit. How they hung in there and they kept battling.”

    The pace of play was certainly one that Salamanca did not have an abundance of experience with. But for a team that has thrived off the quick strike over the course of the season, Bartoszek credited his players for making the adjustment, even if it meant he will live to rethink some choices he made as a play-caller earlier in the game.

    “That’s part of the offensive play-caller’s nightmare, that there was probably some shots we should have taken earlier,” Bartoszek said. “We were able to get down the field late there and maybe we should have went to a few of those (plays) early on. It just always felt like (Xavier) and Maddox were like, one tackle away from busting a long run … and it just felt like that the whole game. The way that things were going, we saw some things and, kind of, stuck with it.”

    Despite the loss, the Warriors were able to reach the absolute last possible game of the season with its only negative mark over the course of its entirety being its loss to Schuylerville. And although the program’s dream of bringing home its first-ever state title will have to wait at least another year, Bartoszek is proud of what his team was able to accomplish.

    “I have appreciation for what took place there, and I do appreciate that I got to be with these guys one more time,” Bartoszek said. “Our staff put their lives to the side for starting in June. … The hard part is the ‘what if,’ and as the years go by, you don’t get a ton of these opportunities. Sometimes you just got to capture it, and we just fell short.”

    Salamanca finished the season with a final record of 13-1.

    Salamanca 6 6 8 0 — 20

    Schuylerville 7 0 7 12 — 26

    First Quarter

    Salamanca – Cory Holleran 6 pass from Maddox Isaac; Easton Chudy extra-point no good, 6-0

    Schuylerville – Joe Headen 13 pass from Ollie Bolduc; Silas Schulte extra-point good, 7-6

    Second Quarter

    Salamanca – Zach Trietley 8 pass from Isaac; two-point attempt no good, 12-7

    Third Quarter

    Salamanca – Xavier Peters 28 run; Holleran pass from Isaac two-point attempt good, 20-7

    Schuylerville – Landen Cumm 6 run; Schulte extra-point good, 20-14

    Fourth Quarter

    Schuylerville – Cumm 44 run; Schulte extra-point no good, 20-20

    Schuylerville – Cumm 7 pass from Bolduc; two-point attempt no good, 26-20

    Team Statistics

    Sala. Schuy.

    First Downs 15 19

    Rushes-Yards 32-169 42-276

    Passing Yards 135 43

    Comp-Att.-Int. 12-19-0 4-6-0

    Total Offense 304 319

    Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

    Penalties-Yards 7-35 6-27

    Punts-Avg. 1-43.0 1-20.0

    Total Plays 51 48

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  • Colorado’s Travis Hunter: college football’s mind-warping dual threat is one of one | College football

    The Heisman Trophy is college football’s supreme individual honor, an annual tribute to the best player in the game, and more often than not it’s the country’s top quarterback who takes the prize. But this could be the year Colorado’s Travis Hunter breaks with tradition.

    Hunter is college football’s mind-warping dual threat, a game-changing wide receiver and cornerback. It’s not uncommon for the nation’s best college football prospects to play offense and defense as high schoolers, especially if there aren’t enough bodies to fill out every position on the roster. At the highest levels of the college game, though, “ironman” players are confined to specialty roles on one side of the ball or the other. Why? Because why double the injury risk? Why mess with convention?

    But Deion Sanders, aka Colorado’s Coach Prime, has never been one to bow to convention. Famously, he set the standard for modern day ironmen in professional sports at the turn of the century – dominating the NFL as a shutdown cornerback, big-play receiver and kick returner while also dazzling Major League Baseball with his prowess as a hitter and baserunner. When Sanders pivoted to coaching college football in 2020, jumping straight into the head job at Jackson State University, his first call was all-out recruiting blitz for Hunter, the nation’s top high school recruit as a defensive back.

    Thing is, Hunter had already verbally agreed to play at Florida State, the school where Sanders broke onto the national scene, with the explicit intention of following the coach’s two-way trajectory. College football’s pundit class was convinced there was no way Sanders could talk Hunter out of that commitment to play for Jackson State – an historically Black college that competes one division down from Florida State. But it turns out all the coach had to say to him was: “If you come here, you’re playing both ways, right?” Which is to say: Unlike Florida State coach Mike Norvell, who envisioned deploying Hunter on offense situationally, Sanders expected him to never leave the field. That article of fact – along with the chance of catching passes from Shadeur Sanders, Coach Prime’s chosen quarterback – was enough to secure Hunter’s signature and seal a deal that turned college football upside down.

    In 2023, his lone year at Jackson State, the nation finally got to see this 6ft bundle of fast-twitch muscle in action. What stood out more than the stats was the ease with which Hunter sustained his high playing level whether on offense or defense. When Jackson State played North Carolina Central in the 2022 Celebration Bowl, Black college football’s de facto national championship, I watched from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium stands slack-jawed in the waning seconds of regulation as Hunter sprinted to the end zone pylon, boxed out his man and pulled down a 19-yard touchdown pass to force overtime. It was one of two TD grabs Hunter had in the game to go with five total tackles: Heisman-worthy stuff. Unfortunately for Hunter, the performance didn’t have a prayer of swaying Heisman voters, who tend to look past potential candidates from HBCU and other small-time football programs in the NCAA’s second-tier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

    When Coach Prime left Jackson State for Colorado after that game and took his top recruits with him, there was considerable discussion in the media and online about whether those players could hack at the next level and whether Hunter could continue to play both ways and endure for the forthcoming 2023 season. But Hunter quickly put those doubts to rest, remaining on the field for a staggering 1,036 plays. Altogether, he finished with five receiving touchdowns, three interceptions and 30 tackles; that’s with him sitting out injured for a quarter of the season after he was targeted and knocked out of a game. At the time, the ESPN TV reporter relaying the news likened his injury to “losing two players in one”. Without their best skilled player, Buffaloes lost eight of their last nine games after starting 3-0. Coach Prime can’t say he wasn’t warned.

    This year has been a different story, however. Colorado won nine games, with Hunter playing 80% of time (1,044 snaps). He leads the offense in (92), yards (1,152) and touchdowns (14) and the defense in interceptions (four) and pass breakups (11). Last Saturday against Oklahoma State, Hunter hauled in 10 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns – and snagged an interception on the game’s first drive. This was all after Hunter had been overlooked for the Thorpe award (ie the trophy given to the nation’s best defensive back) while being heavily touted for the defensive player of the year (ie the Bednarik award).

    Colorado’s Travis Hunter runs for a touchdown during the second half of last month’s game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas. Photograph: John E Moore III/Getty Images

    “I’m gonna give him mine,” said Sanders, who won the award in 1988, before going on to become the first athlete to play in a Super Bowl and a World Series. “I ain’t using it, just sitting up there collecting dust.” He went on to call the Thorpe snub “the most idiotic thing in college football”. It’s enough to make you wonder whether it could complicate Hunter’s chances of winning the Heisman, too.

    Since 2000, quarterbacks have won the Heisman 19 out of 23 years. Charles Woodson, the winner in 1997, is the only dedicated defensive player who has broken through. Like Hunter, Woodson is officially a cornerback, but what ultimately set him apart from his peers was his production as a receiver and a returner – even though he was nowhere near the menace Hunter is. Unlike Hunter, however, Woodson played his entire college career at Michigan. An FCS player has never won the Heisman trophy. What’s more discouraging: with Colorado ineligible for its conference game this week, Hunter is forced to rest his defense.

    In the meantime, Oregon’s Dillion Gabriel and Miami’s Cam Ward will play on in hopes of keeping the Heisman in the quarterbacks’ pocket, as Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty bids to retake the award for his running back brethren while attempting to smash college football’s all-time rushing record. Heisman voters are such prisoners of the moment, after all. Come Sunday, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if they wound up remembering Hunter when he takes the field again for a postseason bowl game, after the Heisman voting has closed.

    That would be a crying shame. No player this year has been as impactful, as exciting or as deserving as Hunter – who, by the way, is a straight-A student, too. He’s proven so undeniably good at playing both sides of the ball that NFL scouts, football’s most skeptical bunch, have let themselves entertain the idea of Hunter playing both ways in the pros, where he projects as a top-three pick. That he’s managed to change so many minds so quickly speaks to his everlasting impact on the game. All that’s missing now is the hardware.

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  • These are the Heisman Trophy candidates for 2024: Who will be named college football’s best player this year?

    These are the Heisman Trophy candidates for 2024: Who will be named college football’s best player this year?

    Surprisingly, the top two contenders for this year’s Heisman Trophy race are not quarterbacks. Only two non-quarterbacks have won the award in the last 14 years – wide receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020 and running back Derrick Henry in 2016.

    In the top three contenders for the Heisman Trophy, there is one quarterbacks, one running back, and one player who doubles as a wide receiver and cornerback. If you’ve not been paying attention, allow me to introduce you.

    2024 Heisman Trophy candidates

    WR/CB Travis Hunter, Colorado

    No other player in the NCAA has played two positions as consistently and successfully as Colorado’s Travis Hunter, who lines up on both sides of the ball. As such, he’s played 1,266 snaps (602 on offense, 640 on defense, and 24 on special teams), more than any other player since 2018, according to ESPN. And he’s been successful on those snaps as well.

    On offense, Hunter is a receiving weapon, with 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, the second-most in one season in school history.

    As a cornerback, Hunter has logged 31 tackles, 11 pass deflections, a forced fumble, and four interceptions. He is the first player since 1980 to record 1,000 receiving yards and three interceptions in one season.

    The only defensive player to ever win the Heisman Trophy was Charles Woodson in 1997, taking the majority of his snaps as a defensive back, but also serving as a kick returner and the occasional wide receiver, logging 238 yards and three touchdowns. When you think about that, it makes what Hunter’s done even more impressive.

    Colorado’s season is over after they beat Oklahoma State 52-0 on Friday. Hunter is a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player of the year, and in competition with Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty for the Maxwell Award, an award given to the College Football Player of the Year and which usually mirrors the Heisman (the last eight of ten winners of the Maxwell also won the Heisman).

    RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

    Boise State still has one game left to play this Saturday, the Mountain West Championship against the Rebels, but their standout running back Ashton Jeanty has already racked up record rushing yards. He’s got 312 carries for 2,288 yards and 28 touchdowns, plus 18 catches for 102 yards and a receiving touchdown.

    Jeanty is the first player to rush for 125+ yards in 11 straight games in the same season since Troy Davis did so in 1996 at Iowa State. He needs just two more rushing touchdowns to join Barry Sanders as the only players in FBS history with 30 rushing touchdowns and 2,000 yards in a single-season (Sanders holds the record with 2,850 rushing yards in a season).

    His 2,062 rushing yards leads the nation, with his closest competitor still 600 yards behind him.

    QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

    Dillon Gabriel played for UCF from 2019 until 2021 when he transferred to Oklahoma for the 2022 season. He spent two seasons there, racking up 6,828 yards, 55 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In his final year, he transferred to Oregon, ahead of the 2024 season.

    He’s now led them to a 12-0 season and a Big Ten title game. He leads the conference in passing yards (3,275) and touchdowns (24). He has a shot to pass Case Keenum (19,217)as the NCAA’s all-time passing leader, currently at 18,140. This is the fifth time in his career that he’s over 3,000 yards passing. He set an NCAA FBS record for total touchdowns last month.

    His success lifted Oregon to No. 1 in the rankings and made them the only undefeated team in the nation.

    Heisman Trophy odds

    These are the odds of each of the top candidates to win the Heisman Trophy in 2024, according to Fox Sports. Colorado’s Travis Hunter has the lead.

    Player Position School Odds
    Travis Hunter WR/CB Colorado -10000
    Ashton Jeanty RB Boise State +2500
    Dillon Gabriel QB Oregon +30000

    When is the Heisman Trophy ceremony?

    Voting opens on December 2 and closes on December 9. The Heisman winner will be announced and presented in New York on Saturday, December 14, one week after the conference championship games. The finalists invited to New York will be revealed on December 9.

    • Date: Saturday, Dec.14
    • Time: 8 p.m. ET 
    • TV channel: ESPN
    • Live stream: ESPN+, Fubo

    How to watch the 2024 Heisman Trophy awards ceremony

    Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all. Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more – plus, stay updated on the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.



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  • What are the matchups in college football’s conference championship games?

    What are the matchups in college football’s conference championship games?

    After a chaotic end to the regular season in college football, the matchups are set for championship week. Here’s a look at the showdowns coming up in the Power Four and Group of Five. All championship games are Dec. 7 except in the American Athletic, Conference USA and Mountain West, which will be played Dec. 6.

    ACC Championship

    No. 9 SMU (11-1, 8-0 ACC, No. 9 CFP) vs. No. 12 Clemson (9-3, 7-1, No. 12 CFP) at Charlotte, North Carolina

    What to know: The Mustangs completed a sweep of their first ACC schedule with a 38-6 win over California, making them the only team in their new league that didn’t lose a conference game; SMU has a 17-game conference winning streak dating to its days in the American Athletic. Clemson, which advanced to the title game after Miami lost at Syracuse, will be seeking its eighth ACC crown in the past 10 years.

    Big Ten Championship

    No. 1 Oregon (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten, No. 1 CFP) vs. No. 4 Penn State (11-1, 8-1, No. 4 CFP) at Indianapolis

    What to know: The Nittany Lions have been one of the quietest one-loss teams all season but get a chance for a big win and a higher CFP seed with a victory in this one. They will face the last unbeaten team in college football in the Ducks, who finished the regular season without loss for the first time since 2010.

    Big 12 Championship

    No. 14 Arizona State (10-2, 7-2 Big 12, No. 16 CFP) vs. TBD at Arlington, Texas

    What to know: The Sun Devils rode Cam Skattebo (177 yards and three touchdowns) in a big win over rival Arizona to land a title game berth after perhaps the wildest of all power conference races. Their opponent was not settled until late Saturday.

    SEC Championship

    No. 3 Texas (11-1, 7-1 SEC, No. 3 CFP) vs. No. 6 Georgia (10-2, 6-2, No. 7 CFP) at Atlanta

    What to know: The Longhorns have national title hopes but first get a chance to win a championship in their first year in the SEC. They will also get a chance to avenge their only loss of the season against the resilient and dangerous Bulldogs, who advanced after an epic overtime win against Georgia Tech.

    ___

    American Athletic Championship

    No. 25 Army (10-1, 8-0 AAC) vs. No. 18 Tulane (9-3, 7-1, No. 17 CFP) at West Point, New York.

    What to know: The Green Wave’s loss to Memphis over the weekend likely cost the league any hope of a playoff bid but both teams are going to the postseason regardless. Army still has its annual showdown with Navy before a bowl game, too.

    Conference USA Championship

    Jacksonville State (8-4, 7-1 CUSA) vs. Western Kentucky (8-4, 6-2) at Jacksonville, Florida

    What to know: The C-USA title game pits two teams in a rematch six days after facing each other. WKU handed the Gamecocks their first league loss, 19-17 on Saturday night, and will have to beat them again for the title.

    Mid-American Championship

    Ohio (9-3, 7-1 MAC) and Miami (Ohio) (8-4, 7-1) at Detroit

    What to know: The two Ohio schools met earlier this season, with the RedHawks beating the visiting Bobcats 30-20. Ohio has won seven of its last eight.

    Mountain West Championship

    No. 11 Boise State (11-1, 7-0 MWC, No. 11 CFP) vs. No. 21 UNLV (10-2, 6-1, No. 22 CFP) at Boise, Idaho

    What to know: The Broncos bring a 10-game winning streak into the championship game, have won 11 straight at home and are on the verge of making the College Football Playoff behind Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty. They have made the Mountain West title game three straight seasons. This one is a rematch of the title game a year ago won by Boise State and a regular-season matchup in October, a 29-24 Broncos win.

    Sun Belt Championship

    Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2, 7-1 Sun Belt) vs. Marshall (9-3, 7-1) at Troy, Alabama

    What to know: The Ragin’ Cajuns earned a spot in the championship for the fifth time in the seven-year history of the game. Marshall beat James Madison 35-33 in double overtime to clinch a spot for the first time in program history.

    ___

    Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football



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  • Valdosta State football’s journey to total domination

    Valdosta State football’s journey to total domination

    VALDOSTA, Ga. (WCTV) – Valdosta State football lost the 2021 national championship 58-17 and which left the program wondering; what was next and how they could get back on top. The Blazers last won a NCAA title in 2018, while averaging a whopping and unsustainable 52 points per game. Defense was another story.

    “We couldn’t stop anybody,” said current Blazers head coach Tremaine Jackson.

    Aside from 2019, Valdosta State had given up at least 20 points a game, on average, dating back six seasons. Enter Coach Jackson.

    “We hadn’t played great defense a lot, we’ve always been known for our offense,” said Jackson. “But when we got here we felt like we could be good at both.”

    That’s what Jackson had done during two seasons at Colorado Mesa and that’s what he was hired to do at Valdosta State.

    “We brought a mission and a vision on what we wanted this to look like. It’s starting to look like that more and more,” he said. “But there [were] a lot of nights when we sat in the office trying to get this thing figured out.”

    After a rocky first season and a solid sophomore campaign, everything has clicked in 2024. The Blazers have 19 defenders who are of senior senior status or older, powering the team to hold the opposition to just over nine points per game.

    “We just love playing defense,” said Larry Elder, a defensive back. “They’ve always said that Valdosta State is not known for their defense and I kind of feel like we all took that and put it on our shoulder and go to work everyday.”

    The Blazers’ offense has been happy to compliment. Quarterback Sammy Edwards, one of just six players left from 2021, set the Gulf South Conference (GSC) record for most pass attempts without an interception this season; he only threw two total. The senior helped the Blazers average 43 points a game on offense.

    But stats don’t tell the whole story.

    “I’ve never been a part of a team that loves each other so much,” said Edwards, who was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the GSC.

    “Anytime you have guys that are executing for one another and play for one another, then I think you have a pretty good recipe for a good football team,” said Jackson, the conference’s co-Coach of the Year.

    Good may be an understatement. Valdosta State enters the NCAA tournament with an unblemished 10-0 record. The team is confident 2024 is the year they will hoist their fifth national championship trophy.

    “I think going into the year, that was the plan,” said Edwards. “That’s why me and a lot of other guys came back.”

    “We haven’t played our full game yet,” said Elder, who was named the GSC co-Defensive Player of the Year. “When you see us play a full game, it’s going to be really, really dangerous.”

    Reflecting back on the long process to get to this point, Jackson said, “What started out as an idea, is now a collective and our collective’s time as come.”

    Valdosta State kicks off their NCAA tournament run at home on Saturday at 1pm against four-seeded Miles.

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  • Memphis football’s senior day for Seth Henigan, class of heavy hitters

    Ryan Silverfield had 35 seniors to greet, but he still had a few extra seconds to spend with one of them.

    Seth Henigan smiled as he shook his coach’s hand, the two sharing a brief moment during Memphis football’s senior day ceremony before Saturday’s game against UAB.

    “The fact that this young man said, ‘I’m going to be a part of this.’ He’s going to go down as one of the best to ever do it wearing a Tiger uniform,” Silverfield said. “Loyalty is rare, this day and age.”

    Henigan and the rest of Memphis’ seniors played their last game at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, defeating UAB 53-18 to retain the “Battle for the Bones” trophy in a matchup that was never competitive.

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  • How football’s amorality and transactionalism became the game within the game | Soccer

    In the grand churn of the money machine that is modern football, it ranks as a fairly small deal. But when Liverpool recently announced they will earn more than £60m ($76.3m) a year from a new kit deal with Adidas starting next season, the reaction from the club’s supporters across social media said a lot about the nature of modern fandom. Apart from the habitual grumbles about what this might mean for the design of the team’s kit, fans mostly seemed to respond to the announcement in one of two ways: why doesn’t the new deal bring the club into line with the £90m ($114.3m) that Manchester United receives from Adidas for a comparable arrangement? And more pressingly: what kind of squad investment can an extra few million pounds a year secure? “Enough to pay Virgil,” declared one user on Reddit. “Does that mean we will buy a RB and a 10?” asked another.

    These are, of course, completely normal reactions; any other club announcing any kind of commercial “win” would face similar responses from its supporters. But they highlight the extent to which we, as fans, have all become psychologically colonized by the grubby extractionism that defines the modern Premier League, applauding from the sidelines as a new content deal or shirt sponsorship or asset sale or fresh suite of unaffordable subscription packages lurches into view on the club balance sheet. That seat upgrade “layer” and points-based VIP fan tier might be part of the commercial drift that’s making football less affordable, carrying it ever further from the communities it claims to represent, but if they nab us a quality back-up keeper to put pressure on that number one chronically fumbling under the high ball? Well, maybe they’re not so bad after all.

    The quest for revenue is the defining struggle of modern football, and many fans correctly see higher revenue as the surest route to on-field glory; balance sheet improvement and squad improvement now go hand in hand. Fans, faced with these economic realities, have become unwitting cheerleaders for the untrammeled commercialization of the sport, for the exploitation of minor seams of commercial value and the manipulation of regulatory loopholes, for the dark administrative arts that backroom operators rely on to give their clubs an edge. The depth of anger that many supporters feel toward referees for perceived on-field injustices and biases – some of which, recent events suggest, may have a legitimate anchor in reality – has its converse in the cool indifference that greets any evidence of rule-skirting in the corporate suite.

    We all have that group of Chelsea supporters in our lives who are vocally thrilled at the club’s dexterity in flogging off their own hotels to themselves at generous prices in a bid to squeak under the league’s loss limits; we all know that one Man City fan comically untroubled by the 115 charges hanging over the club they love. Even – or perhaps especially – as the Premier League enters a new era of regulation and accountability, the temptation for fans to view their own clubs’ off-field chicanery as part of the “game” of modern football has only grown. Regulation, if anything, offers manipulative club owners another “enemy” against which to mobilize fan support: it’s perhaps no surprise that Manchester City fans cheered the recent arbitration ruling against the Premier League’s rules on associated party transactions, or that Chelsea fans were buoyed by the failure of a motion at the league’s annual general meeting in June to ban clubs from booking artificial windfall profits on property sales. Never mind that both the ATP rules and a limitation on Chelsea-style hotel sales would help create a fairer league; all that matters is the win, the extra bit of financial juice, that boost to the bottom line.

    Fans have agency in all of this, of course, and not all fans behave this way. But it’s club owners and the sport’s administrators, rather than fans themselves, who bear the responsibility for this reduction of football to an exercise in financial and regulatory squeezing, a soulless game of numbers and loopholes. Emotional though they may be by nature, fans cheering these advances off the field are responding in an entirely rational manner to the world as it’s presented to them. More money, more deals, more maneuvering around the rules: such are the routes to success in the modern Premier League, and with them invariably come more litigation in the courts and tribunals, more contestation of the Premier League’s authority, more moral equivalence, a deeper league-wide drift into cynical amorality and transactionalism. These values have now seeped into the very bloodstream of the sport.

    As the arrival of Big Money in European soccer has become routinized, debates around the ethics and morality of club ownership lose their initiating bite, and football as a whole shuffles toward a numb acceptance of its new status as a plaything of global capital, supporting the team on the field and cheering the off-field corporate trickery that keeps teams competitive have merged into a single culture of whatever-it-takes fandom. This isn’t simply a matter of following events off the field, which have always been the stuff of debate among supporters; it’s about the emergence of a collective mindset in which fans don’t simply accept the commercialization of all aspects of modern soccer but celebrate each successive marker of money’s tightening grip over the sport. Anything that allows clubs to keep growing, keep spending, keep chasing the top players while remaining within the letter of the law – no matter what it means for the sport’s overall accessibility, sustainability or connection to community – is a discussion-board toast waiting to happen. Club owners and administrators have, of course, done their bit to stoke and exploit this mindset; the science of “customer engagement”, along with a host of strategies designed to gamify and financialize the fan experience, have encouraged and rewarded blind, vocal club loyalty among fans while disincentivizing dissent.

    None of us who follow football are immune to the power of this devious rationalism. As fans, we’re all petty traders and unethical accountants now, managing our own shadow ledger of the mind to keep track of where our clubs can go long, take profit and squeeze out an extra few bucks at the margins to afford that attacking but defensively solid left back/20-goal-a-season No 9/squad utility who can play across the back four but also has a head for goal from set pieces/technically adept and positionally secure midfield anchor who will unlock a glorious future of sustained on-field success. Fandom has become yet another realm of human life that’s been captured by gambling and speculation; fans are emotionally and mentally engaged in the league-wide search for the highest yield with the smallest outlay, becoming footsoldiers of the extraction economy. Players, meanwhile, are now seen as chattels – units of value on a balance sheet pumping up the assets column or liabilities dragging the operation down. Squads are increasingly assembled in the manner of venture capital portfolios, as a volley of scattergun bets on untested products.

    In the long run, the only people who benefit from the Premier League’s new gamified climate of risk-taking and rule-bending are the billionaires and private equity parasites with control of the clubs. But as fans, we are the useful idiots turning their schemes for self-enrichment into a cultural prize. As we hail the latest streaming deal, merch tie-in, gaming partnership or tribunal win, football continues its transformation into an asset class, striding blithely into the jaws of the market.

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  • Colorado’s Heisman candidates have Texas Tech football’s attention, respect

    As the Texas Tech football team prepares to host Colorado on Saturday, receiver Josh Kelly has a little bit of an early scout on the Buffaloes and one of their Heisman Trophy candidates in Travis Hunter.

    Kelly faced off with Hunter, Deion Sanders and Colorado last season while a member of the Washington State Cougars. The 6-foot-1 sixth-year senior recalls that the Buffs didn’t have Hunter lined up against him too much in that late November game, though they probably should have.

    Wazzu walked away with a 56-14 rout of Colorado and Kelly had six catches for 130 yards in the victory. Another matchup with Colorado on the horizon, the competitive nature of Kelly wants to see Hunter lined up across from him more this time around.

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  • Biggest position of need for college football’s top 10 teams: Is QB Quinn Ewers holding Texas back?

    Biggest position of need for college football’s top 10 teams: Is QB Quinn Ewers holding Texas back?

    Today is the NFL trade deadline. No such thing exists in college sports — though we do have two transfer portal windows, including an upcoming winter period that you should be prepared for. The reasons college programs cannot execute trades is plainly obvious, so instead of the tired practice of making pretend trades without the non-employee’s consent, today we’re instead naming the biggest “need” for each top 10 team as the second half of the season forges on.

    Warning: There are some surprises.

    1. Oregon: Interior OL

    The Ducks are loaded with a solid overall team and talent on both sides of the ball. Guards Nishad Strother and Marcus Harper II are both solid players, but if I had to pick a weaker position group, it would be them. Strother is stiff in the hips, a lunger, and top-heavy in pass protection. He is often caught with his weight forward and struggles with athletic linebackers and defensive tackles, as well as in movement. However, he is a good run blocker, performed well last week against Michigan’s dynamic defensive tackle duo, and stays on his blocks to root people out. 

    Harper’s pass protection issues are more mental than physical; he seems confused at times about assignments and is often beaten when he pulls as a power pass blocker. In the run game, he struggles to sustain his blocks and faces similar issues with combo blocks. Oregon does a good job of mixing up drops and moving the pocket to help out, and Dillion Gabriel’s quick release and athleticism extend plays. 

    A coach told me this summer they were concerned about OL depth if any starters were injured, and I agree — it would make their national championship hopes more difficult.

    2. Georgia: Tight end

    Georgia has the most stacked roster in the country by a wide margin. Although I was tempted to put turnover-prone quarterback Carson Beck as its biggest weakness, I chose the tight end group of Oscar Delp, Lawson Luckie, and Benjamin Yurosek. All three are talented players, but replacing Brock Bowers — the best tight end I’ve seen in my lifetime — has not gone well. 

    Yurosek has been a disappointment with only three catches in eight games. Delp has been inconsistent as a blocker and has underdelivered in the passing game with nine catches for 120 yards and zero touchdowns, 22 yards after contact, and both a drop and a fumble. Luckie has been the best of the bunch with 13 catches for 183 yards, three touchdowns and a fumble. He’s also a better blocker than he’s given credit for. The Bulldogs need this position to be better. 

    3. Ohio State: Left tackle

    Ohio State’s tight end room might be worse than their left tackle position, but the receivers can help cover the gap. All-American guard Donovan Jackson stepped in last week and competed well in a tough spot, and he will likely start for the rest of the season after both the starting and backup tackles were injured and ruled out. Jackson is an excellent guard and multi-year starter for the Buckeyes, but it may take time for him to adjust to left tackle, which he hasn’t played since high school. He will do well as a run blocker, but leaving him on an island in pass protection, as they did on third down last week, could spell trouble against elite defenders like Abdul Carter. 

    OSU will need to help Jackson by chipping with tight ends and backs or sliding protection his way. Jackson’s versatility to move to tackle could help his draft stock in a pinch.

    4. Miami: Defensive back

    Miami’s secondary has been a work in progress with both positive and negative moments. Safety Jaden Harris and corners Jadais Richard and Daryl Porter Jr. have struggled the most this season. Harris has been targeted 18 times, allowing 10 catches for 95 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and two penalties. He has been solid in run support, showing physicality. Richard has played press coverage on about half his snaps and allowed 27 catches for 378 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception with three penalties; he’s now expected to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Porter has allowed 32 catches for 391 yards and one touchdown with three penalties, but his stats are misleading as he often shadows receivers and is rarely in press coverage. 

    The Canes are expected to get Damari Brown back soon, which could be a boost heading into the College Football Playoff. While there’s room for improvement, Miami’s secondary will need to elevate its play as competition gets tougher.

    5. Texas: Quarterback

    Few people expected Quinn Ewers to be the weak link for Texas, but he’s been average at best and missed two games with an oblique injury. I also think he’s in his head somewhat and just has not looked like the same guy since returning from that oblique injury three weeks ago. At the risk of absolutely inflaming my alma mater, I’m saying quarterback is Texas’ biggest need, even with talented Arch Manning behind Ewers.

    Ewers benefits from Steve Sarkisian’s play-calling, which creates space and mismatches, but his stats are a product of Sarkisian’s scheme and are mostly underwhelming for a team with such talent. He’s completing 69% of his passes, averaging 231.5 yards per game with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. Concerningly, his average yards per attempt is less than 7.5, with most of his yards coming after the catch. The staff doesn’t seem to trust him to go deep, and the preseason loss of running back CJ Baxter has impacted Texas’ play-action game, reducing their play-action rate by 10% from last year. Ewers also isn’t a running threat, with two fumbles on 12 attempts, and defenses can play 11-on-10 without having to account for him. Ewers will need to improve quickly as Texas faces quality opponents like Texas A&M and playoff-level defenses. The Longhorns have the skill talent and defense to win a national championship. I am worried quarterback will hold them back. 

    6. Penn State: Wide receiver

    Penn State’s passing game has slightly improved this season, but they still lack a difference-maker at wide receiver. Nobody has the ability to create space or separation.

    Transfer Julian Fleming has been a disappointment with 11 catches for 152 yards, three drops, and zero touchdowns. Liam Clifford, averaging fewer than two catches per game, has 14 receptions for 246 yards and one touchdown. Omari Evans has flashed big-play potential but is only seeing about one reception per game. PSU’s leading receiver, Harrison Wallace III, has 24 catches for 395 yards and two touchdowns, placing him 40th in the Big Ten. Recruiting top talent at wideout is challenging when receivers aren’t utilized heavily, but the team’s strong run game and defense have kept the Nittany Lions competitive. Where are the Jahan Dotsons and KJ Hamlers of the world?

    7. Tennessee: Offensive tackle

    Tennessee’s offensive line has struggled, especially the offensive tackles. Lance Heard, a transfer with limited film from LSU, was expected to be a standout at left tackle but has struggled mightily. He’s missed two games and has given up 14 pressures and two penalties, appearing heavy and unathletic. Right tackle John Campbell Jr. has nine penalties, 11 pressures allowed, and difficulty with inside moves and power rushers. Campbell is a better run blocker, effective at pulling, and plays through the whistle. This week, they face Georgia’s formidable defensive front. Uh-oh. 

    8. Indiana: Tight end

    Indiana has been a surprise team this season, with their roster exceeding expectations. If I had to pick a position of need, it would be tight end. Zach Horton has been solid, with 16 catches for 141 yards and three touchdowns. James Bomba, primarily a blocker, has missed three games and has only one catch. While not dynamic, these tight ends have been reliable and dependable for moving the chains. But on a team without any real flaws, I wonder if a game-changing tight end could be the difference in a Big Ten Championship race. 

    9. BYU: Pass-rusher

    The Cougars have been solid on both sides of the ball but could benefit from a dominant edge rusher to elevate their defense. They have only 13 sacks this season, ranking 101st nationally, with linebacker Jack Kelly leading the team at four sacks. While Kelly rushes off the edge at times, the defense would be significantly stronger with a true edge threat like an Ezekiel Ansah (throwback).

    Tyler Batty has been disruptive, playing both as a 4i and on the edge with 23 pressures generated, but he has struggled to finish, recording just one sack. Isaiah Bagnah has produced similar results, generating 14 pressures with only one sack. BYU primarily bases its defense out of a three-man front, which doesn’t aid in pass-rushing, and while John Nelson has been solid, he operates more effectively as an interior threat.

    BYU ranks sixth in the conference in total defense but sits at 11th in sacks—a concern as they face higher-caliber talent. This lack of a consistent edge presence could pose challenges down the road if they secure a playoff berth.

    10. Notre Dame: Left tackle

    Notre Dame’s offensive tackles are not excelling, which was expected after losing Joe Alt and Blake Fisher to the NFL. The Irish have been forced to start true freshman Anthonie Knapp after Charles Jagusah’s fall camp injury. Knapp has allowed 14 pressures, four sacks, and five penalties, though he shows promise for the future. With the College Football Playoff on the line, Knapp’s inexperience could become an issue against top-tier edge rushers, but these reps should pay off for him next season.

    MORE: Tom Fornelli writes that Ohio State needs offensive fixes in this week’s B1G Time. 



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  • College Football’s Response to Heated Sideline Altercation Involving Coach and Player Triggers Fan Outrage

    College Football’s Response to Heated Sideline Altercation Involving Coach and Player Triggers Fan Outrage

    In college football, fan fury is nothing new. Although it is not new, the coach broke his shit over a player. But, it’s rear. The CFB fans showed this rear scene during today’s Marshall vs. Louisiana-Monroe game. On top of this, ULM’s 5-3 season record following their 28–23 loss to Marshall. In addition to the defeat, the crowd became extremely irate due to the error that occurred.

    On November 3, the Barstool Sports podcast Pardon My Take posted footage of a fight between a ULM coach and player with the caption, “ULM offensive line coach lost his shit on a player.” As per the clip, the Warhawks’ offensive line coach, Cameron Blankenship, was seen getting completely crazy about sophomore offensive lineman Drew Hutchinson. Drew should not have been in the designated personnel group for the offensive, since the coach was shouting for him to leave the field. But you never do that to your guys, no matter what.

    But it wasn’t the end of the fight. Then, as OL raced to the sideline, the coach was seen pursuing him violently down towards the bench and nearly pushing him. Then, the coach and player were separated by two players who stood between them. However, the coach’s vehement response was not tolerated by ULM Athletics, which issued a statement over X declaring, “This behavior is unacceptable and not how ULM football conducts business. There will be disciplinary action taken against the assistant coach. Because this is a personnel matter, the discipline will be handled internally.”

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    Similar to the school, fans used social media to vent their frustration regarding the coach. “Fire his a**” was the phrase made by a frustrated fan to prevent such incidents in the future. Another supporter, who was upset with the school’s personnel selection process, asked, “Why would you keep this guy on the staff?” Without making a decision, it appears that the school ought to terminate this employee.

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    But this is just the beginning of the rage chain. Fans advise to act immediately to prevent a recurrence of similar scenes.

    Triggered fans on ULM’s offensive coach

    If you are not aware, this is Blankenship’s first season at ULM. And we see him rushing onto the field to shout at a player. Not only this. After furiously tearing off his headset and throwing it to the ground, Blankenship kept shouting at the OL. This is simply unacceptable. We all make errors because we are just human, but such behavior is unacceptable. “The way Blankenship handled himself today *is* unacceptable. I’m glad @ULM_FB is handling it, but he’s probably not the only coach that should be getting media scrutiny today… 🤔” one fan even said.

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    Fans shouldn’t take it lightly, either, as this isn’t his first season as a coach. Prior to this, Blankenship was New Mexico’s offensive line coach in 2023. He had previously worked at UAB from 2016 until 2022. And, now, such childish behavior, and schools say it will be handled internally. Really? A fan who was offended by the statement wrote, “This is being handled internally? I guess no need for transparency here, right @ULM_FB.“

    Hold on, a similar incident involving a coach and player occurred a few days ago. Have you seen it? During the game between Mississippi State and Georgia, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart inadvertently shoved MSU QB Michael Van Buren. However, that incident doesn’t make a lot of hype. Could it be because of Kirby Smart? Anything might be the cause. However, a fan took that reference to say, “Kirby Smart shoved an MSU player, ESPN never even mentioned it.” This argument is likely to continue. There are only a few weeks remaining, so focus on the games.

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