Broken Coverage for Week 1: A Dismal Start for Pac-12, A Great Start for FCS and College Football's Heart & Soul
At the conclusion of each college football week here on The Press Break, we’ll whip around the sport for some notes and commentary on the goings-on of game day.
Of course, Week 1 has one contest left as I write this, but the most significant development from the Louisville-Ole Miss matchup already occurred — and that’s our jumping-off point for Broken Coverage.
The Pandemic Didn’t Go Away
Ole Miss faces Louisville tonight without coach Lane Kiffin, who suffered a breakthrough case of COVID-19.
Kiffin has been one of the more vocal and responsible voices about COVID mitigation efforts, during both last season and the current. He’s a refreshing contrast to in-state rival Mike Leach, whose attitude has been the predictable combination of Leach’s usual antagonistic dismissiveness with a hint of conspiratorial politics.
And that Kiffin contracted a case while vaccinated offers evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness, limiting the oftentimes debilitating symptoms to something more akin to a common cold.
Still, because of the high number of unvaccinated and exponential growth of the virus continuing, even those who have taken precautions must still wrestle with COVID this season. I’m thankful for the vaccine and for a return to some level of normalcy; the past two weeks, covering games at UCLA and USC with fans in attendance and live, in-person media availability have been uplifting.
What’s more — and something I don’t know if college football media has done an adequate job in conveying — is that college football programs and universities have been some of the most aggressive entities in enforcing vaccination over the past summer.
Coaches I spoke to from the Colonial Athletic Association, Pac-12 and Mountain West all touted vaccination rates of around 90 percent in July. FCS heavyweight James Madison was at 100 percent once it kicked off the season.
The politicization of the vaccine has run parallel but in a much more dangerous way to last year, when certain college football media scoffed at mitigations efforts. In football programs, however, is the answer to tackling this disingenuous rhetoric.
“It’s not political,” Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said at Mountain West media day in July. “It’s the best way to ensure we play.”
Play extends to the stands, too. Virginia Tech, which had a raucous and capacity crowd for its upset of North Carolina, enforces vaccination for its student body and visitors. You make it mandatory for scenes like below, and that’s how you start to get back to normal.
FCS Looks Awesome
Starting with UC Davis knocking off last year’s American Athletic Conference runner-up Tulsa, the FCS enjoyed one helluva of a return to spring football.
Six FCS teams won matchups with FBS opponents:
UC Davis 19, Tulsa 17
Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33 (OT)
South Dakota State 42, Colorado 23
Holy Cross 38, UConn 28
ETSU 23, Vanderbilt 3
Montana 13, Washington 7
If you checked out The Press Break’s “Talking FCS” with Craig Haley, you might remember Craig saying the influx of “super seniors” would poise the subdivision for a particularly well-played season.
Delaware coach Danny Rocco echoed the sentiment on Monday morning, saying that summer practices were especially productive this year, “where we don’t usually move that swiftly.”
Week 1 validated the theory.
Three of those wins coming by double-digits, and a fourth over a Top 20-ranked Power Five program drives the point home. This is going to be a damn special year in the FCS, and I recommend you check it out if you never have.
It’s great to have FCS back in the fall, where it belongs. The unprecedented decision to move to the spring last year prompted some in ACC/SEC media who don’t cover the subdivision to swoop in and call for a permanent move under specious logic.
To borrow a phrase UC Davis coach Dan Hawkins famously shouted while at Colorado in 2007: “IT’S DIVISION I FOOTBALL!”
All the objective arguments I read in favor of a permanent FCS move to the spring having been largely disproven this year — TV ratings for the Playoffs were woefully down compared to the 2019 season (and others preceding it) and a record-low number of FCS alumni were drafted into the NFL — but from a subjective standpoint, removing the potential of games like the above takes away some of what makes college football special.
Nearly 15 years have passed since Appalachian State beat Michigan, for example, but that game remains on the tips of almost every college football fan’s tongue when thinking of great moments.
It came up again on Saturday.
Pac-12 Looks Awful
Montana has been a perennial contender in the FCS for decades, so the following is no slight of the Griz, but to beat Washington for the first time in more than a century put an exclamation mark on an atrocious opening Saturday for the Pac-12.
A lot of the dismissal of the Pac-12 in recent years has been somewhat overblown. The awful 2017 bowl season and lack of a College Football Playoff participant fueled a narrative that records against Power 5 opponents and solid bowl showings in 2019 should have quieted.
But if it’s forced enough, a talking point will turn into public perception. Nick Nolte’s Coach Pete Bell from the 1994 film Blue Chips summarized this phenomenon eloquent: “If I assert you sleep with sheep, it’s alleged you sleep with sheep.”
I participated in David Shaw’s weekly press conference ahead of Stanford’s game in Texas vs. Kansas State, and ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg broached the subject again.
“I guess important, because everyone keeps telling us they’re important,” Shaw said in response to the question of the importance of winning games in the east.
Stanford — a team I was high on coming into the season (and not ready to give up on, the Cardinal have typically improved over the course of a fall under Shaw) — set the tone for Saturday with an uninspired offensive performance against K-State.
Pac-12 North teams specifically finished 1-5 with losses to the Big 12 and Big Ten and a pair against the Mountain West. The MW has made winning games against the Power Five a habit, but it doesn’t diminish the damage done to the Pac-12’s reputation.
Even Oregon, the one North team to win, was outplayed by the Mountain West’s Fresno State. The Bulldogs missed opportunities and suffered self-inflicted errors.
Oregon losing Kayvon Thibodeaux shortly after a typically outstanding play…
…casts a pall over the highly anticipated matchup with Ohio State.
Coming On Strong
In one of those late Pac-12 losses, some personal vengeance was exacted. Nevada quarterback Carson Strong, a native of Vacaville, California, told me this summer he was especially looking forward to the visit to Berkeley.
Strong grew up cheering for Cal and attending Golden Bears games, but as a high school prospect, received no recruiting interest from the program. It wasn’t just Cal, in Justin Wilcox’s defense: Strong said he had no interest from area FCS programs like UC Davis, either.
Fast forward to 2021, and Strong has led the Wolf Pack to wins over Pac-12 and Big Ten teams in the last two, full seasons. He’s also a fast-rising prospect for the 2022 NFL draft.
Strong’s definitely a player to keep an eye on all season. He could be a first-round pick come spring.
The No-Punt Report
Considering this weekly installment of the newsletter takes some inspiration from Gregg Easterbrook’s old Tuesday Morning Quarterback on ESPN Page 2 (RIP), and in light of my skepticism about the move, offering a regular check-in on The Coach Who Never Punts Kevin Kelley seems appropriate.
His debut with Presbyterian College garnered national headlines — including ESPN.com calling the Blue HOSE the Blue HORSE.
The typical ESPN disrespect of a non-Power Five program aside, PC quarterback Ren Hefley set a record with 10 touchdown passes in an 84-43 win and had people who think punting should be abolished, like the dweebs at Reddit, swooning.
It’s all impressive on the surface, but some context to consider: St. Andrews is an NAIA program, which puts something of an asterisk on the touchdown record.
St. Andrews only launched its program in 2017 and has never finished better than .500 in its short history. The Knights last played Presbyterian in 2019 and the Blue Hose won, 52-14 — almost an identical margin of victory as Saturday’s game.
Heart & Soul
A common sentiment I read on social media during Week 1: No sport suffered from the lack of crowds more than college football. A text message from a friend describing his ambivalence relative to past season coming in, but entering the stadium to hear the band and see cheerleaders leading the student section in chants rekindled the excitement.
I could not agree more.
More so than any other sport — even college basketball, which successfully manufactured an authentic atmosphere for March Madness — college football needs its atmosphere, its energy. The energy is back with plenty to spare.
So much of that energy comes down to the people. It’s difficult to describe, but college football has a human element that’s unparalleled in a lot of ways.
McKenzie Milton’s comeback performance for Florida State after sustaining what could have been — should have been — a career-ending injury exemplified the courage that defines football.
Another remarkable comeback in 2021, New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell returning to the sideline after a bout with bladder cancer, culminated on Thursday with a thrilling win over Stony Brook.
Chip Kelly was among those checking out Coach Mac’s comeback. I asked Chip about the return following UCLA’s Week 1 rout of Hawai’i:
Further south in Los Angeles, USC won its opener over San Jose State thanks largely to an outstanding defensive effort. The Trojans came away with two interceptions that set up touchdowns, the first by edge rusher Drake Jackson.
A potential All-American, Jackson had special motivation to make a big-time play right out of the gate.
“I was just more thinking about my grandma. I was happy I did that for her. It was my first game [since she died],” Jackson said. “It felt great, man, to make plays for her.”
USC’s other interception was a pick-six by Greg Johnson that effectively sealed the win. Johnson celebrated postgame by signing autographs for everyone who dropped programs and hats down for him.
A plotline in the outstanding 2020 Pixar film Soul follows souls beyond our earthly realm that have become lost. The lost souls — coated in dirt and grime that obfuscates their natural shine — wander aimlessly.
The 2020 season wasn’t soulless; the players wanted the opportunity to play and that in and of itself took guts to pursue. But last fall felt lost. The 2021 season is recapturing the game’s soul.