Mr. CFB: There Is Still A Lot To Love About College Football

First, a little history. More like ancient history.

On Sept. 24, 1965 I attended my first college football game as Georgia hosted Vanderbilt in Athens. I was 12 years old.

Mrs. Lois Cheves, mother of Becky, offered to take a group of us to the game. I was somewhat interested in the game. I was very interested in in talking to Becky. So, I went.

The week before Georgia, in its second season under Vince Dooley, had upset Alabama, the defending national champions, 18-17 in Athens. Down 17-10, the Hall of Fame coach called a trick play—the Flea-Flicker it would later become known--that resulted in a 73-yard touchdown with 3:16 left. Georgia went for two and made it. I watched it all on television.

After the Alabama win the excitement level the following Saturday at Sanford Stadium was high.

I remember the colors in the trees as the leaves were beginning to change. I remember the band. I remember that Preston Ridlehuber returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown in a 24-10 win.

The following week 2-0 Georgia went to Michigan and won 15-7. When the team returned to Athens over 10,000 fans greeted them at the airport.

“It was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen,” said Kirby Moore, the quarterback on that team who today is an attorney in Macon. “We were shocked at the response.”

Those three weeks would change my life forever. After growing up a baseball (Yankees) fan, I fell in love with college football. And I have been in love ever since.

When college football returns each year, it’s like welcoming home a long, lost friend. And given what we went through last season—when COVID made us realize how different the game is when the stadiums are not full—we are especially thankful as the 2021 season gets into full swing this weekend. Of course, we’re not back to normal yet. We still have to dance with the virus. We still have to get a lot more people vaccinated. But at least we have a chance to move in the direction of normal.

Yes, college football is going through a turbulent time right now: Name, Image and Likeness and what could do to team morale; the transfer portal; the 12-team college football playoff whose future looks uncertain because some conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12) don’t like the fact that the SEC decided to invite Oklahoma and Texas after the two Big 12 schools reached out to see if there was interest in having them as members.

The SEC said yes to OU and Texas, which is the exact same response the other three conferences would have given if the two schools had knocked on their door first.

The Big 12, which is down to eight teams, is in a world of hurt right now. It looks like they’ll have to add more teams and take a major league haircut on their next television contract just to survive. And if you care about college football, the idea of losing the Big 12 should make you sad.

But even with the controversy that surrounds the game, there is so much we have to look forward to as the season gets into full swing:

**--Georgia and Clemson open the season with the biggest game between the old rivals since they met in the 1982 opener. Georgia had won the national championship in 1980 and Clemson had won it in 1981. A blocked punt that turned into a Georgia touchdown and two Kevin Butler field goals gave the Bulldogs a 13-7 win.

**--For the LSU fans going Pasadena to see the Tigers play UCLA in the Rose Bowl this Saturday: The sunset on the San Gabriel Mountains is one of the most breathtaking sights in college football. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. Pacific time. It will be interesting to see if LSU fans outnumber UCLA fans. I say yes.

**--Alabama will try to repeat as national champions with a team that lost 10 NFL draft choices (six in the first round) which included a Heisman Trophy winner. The narrative about this Alabama team is that if you’re going to ever get the Crimson Tide, this is the year. Circle Sept. 18 (at Florida) and Oct. 9 (at Texas A&M). Alabama opens with Miami in Atlanta.

**--Speaking of Nick Saban: He enters the 2021 season with a 24-0 record against his former assistants. He faces Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss on Oct. 2 in Tuscaloosa and Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M on Oct. 9 in College Station. Georgia and Kirby Smart are not on Alabama’s regular-season schedule but they could meet in the SEC championship game on Dec. 4.

**--Four new SEC Coaches will make their debuts this week: Bryan Harsin (Auburn), Shane Beamer (South Carolina), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), and Clark Lea (Vanderbilt). Four other coaches are in their second year: Sam Pittman (Arkansas), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Mike Leach (Mississippi State), Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri).

**--Mark Stoops begins his ninth season at Kentucky, which ties him with Fran Curci (1973-1981) for the longest tenure for a Wildcats coach. After five straight bowl games Stoops is rolling the dice with an updated offense run by 35-year-old Liam Coen, a Sean McVay disciple.

Needless to say, there is a lot more to love. Thank you, college football. It’s good to have you back.

Note: The photo above is of Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, whose team opens the 2021 season on Saturday against Georgia in Charlotte. The photo is credited to Ken Ruinard of the Greenville News.