Random Thoughts: Business As Usual

No chaos in this week of Conference Championship games. Alabama was crowned SEC royalty for the 28th time. The Crimson Tide have more conference titles than Tennessee and UGA combined. The two schools sit in second place with 13 titles each.

Clemson took the ACC for the 20th time and Oklahoma won the Big 12 for the sixth straight year. A few other games were played as well.

A secondary storyline to this past week which nobody in the national media has the nerve to touch is the rampant abuse of the Captain Trips excuse to duck out of an ass-beating. It all began back when the LSU bravado turned into straight up chicken s**t as the Bayou Bengals cancelled Alabama’s visit on Nov 14. Excuses were made and then the next Saturday, FSU used the flimsiest of justifications to back out on Clemson. Since then, underdogs have been mysteriously having massive outbreaks at an ever increasing rate. If the NCAA had considered these games forfeits, I wonder how many would have been axed. The most disturbing aspect of this action, is how acceptable it has become. These are some great lessons we are teaching the young adults of America. If things aren’t going your way, quit. But have a good excuse to blame it on!

SECCG

Alabama 52 Florida 46 - The Crimson Tide survived the Gators and the three-headed monster of their own. Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney put a scare in Bama. Hopefully, the Tide will learn a thing or two from this game. Alabama now gets 13 days off until the playoff game against the Irish.

Texas A&M 34 Tennessee 13 - This game was all about ball control for the Aggies as they dominated the time of possession 44:09 to 15:51. TAMU ran 79 plays to the Vols’ 37. Star running back Eric Gray was out with no explanation. See DRAMA section below!

LSU 53 Ole Miss 48 - In the olden days, games played in a constant downpour ends up with a score around 9-7. In 2020. you get a game like this. The Tigers led at halftime 31-21. OM stormed back to take an eight point lead. LSU responded with a pair of scores for a six point advantage with 1:34 to go - plenty of time to drive the field. But Matt Corral thought he was Lamar Jackson and tried to run the ball. Did I mention it was raining? Of course he fumbled and let LSU go out on a high note. Boo! The Ole Miss quarterback also had five interceptions to doom the Rebels’ chances for a win in Deaf Valley.

Mississippi State 51 Missouri 32 - For once, Clanga-clang had some running help to go with QB Will Rogers passing (21-36, 295 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT). MSU had 151 rushing yards, by far the most they have had all season. But Mike Leach won’t learn from this lesson. Mizzou’s Connor Bazelak threw a trio of picks, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and MSU had a score on a muffed punt recovered in the end zone.

SEC CHICKEN S**T

Vanderbilt at Georgia - Vandy dropped out on UGA’s Senior Day on Dec 5 but made a miraculous recovery the next week to play a home game with Tennessee - a game they foolishly thought maybe they could win to get off a winless slide. At the risk of an 0-10 final record, VU suddenly had another outbreak for their rematch with the Dawgs this past Saturday.

ACCCG

Clemson 34 Notre Dame 10 - Who didn’t see this one coming? The Irish always fold in the biggest games of the year. Like Superman on laundry day, y’all!

ACC CHICKEN S**T

Georgia Tech at Miami - Last week a frustrated Geoff Collins threw a little hissy fit losing to Pitt at home. Then in the final week of the season facing an assured arse-whooping on the road, suddenly the Yeller Jackets are all sick and stuff.

B1GCG

Ohio State 22 Northwestern 10 - The first half ended with a Wildcat making a spectacular one-handed interception in the end zone to thwart the Buckeyes and keep the score at a manageable 10-6 deficit for Northwestern. If you thought that play would swing momentum the way of the purple, you would be wrong. In the second half, Trey Sermon went wild for anOSU, running free on every other play. He would rack up a 331 rushing yards for the game and a pair of scores. Conversely, the NW offense tried high-risk gadgets plays and misdirections that weren’t fooling anyone. Terrible play-calling.

For the record, Justin Fields was garbage: 12/27, 114 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT. He is going to drive some poor NFL coach to drink.

B1G CHICKEN S**T

Michigan at Iowa - A road game against a ranked Hawkeyes team? Ooh, did you hear that? I think I heard a sneeze coming from the quarterback room. Oh yeah. That was definitely a sneeze coming from the quarterback room.

Purdue at Indiana - A road game against a ranked Hoosiers team? PU sure as heck does not want to lose to their in-state rival. And a basketball school at that. A-choo!

B12CG

Oklahoma 27 Iowa State 20 - The Sooners built a 24-7 halftime lead and looked like they were going to blow the game out. However, Okie had issues moving the ball in the second half and allowed ISU back in the game. The Cyclones had a shot to win it at the end but they panicked and rushed to beat the play clock which caused Brock Purdy to throw an ill-advised arm punt on third down. It was his third pick thrown on the day.

B12 CHICKEN S**T

The B12 did not even bother to schedule any make-up games.

PACCG

Oregon 31 Southern Cal 24 - The Trojans had fourth-quarter comeback wins in three of their previous five outings but came up short on their fourth attempt as Sedon Klovis threw the first fourth quarter interception of his career with 2:47 remaining. The Troy QB was picked off three times and sacked three times in one of the worst performance of his college career. SoSo Cal outgained the Ducks 358 to 243 and had nine more first downs. Losing the turnover battle often makes those stats a moot point.

The Trojans were already a playoff longshot but their loss to the Dux was the headshot that put them down for good. This is yet another gut-punch to the ineptitude of PAC Commish Larry Scott who has bungled his way through 2020. See this is why you play ALL the games. Funny thing is, I think the Trojans would’ve fared better against their original opponent, Washington, who had to bow out. Oregon finished second in their division and wins the Conference title. LOL

PAC CHICKEN S**T

Arizona at Cal - “Winless, just fired our coach facing a road game? Hmm. What should we do here? What. should. we. do ?”

OTHER GAMES

AACCG: Cincinnati 27 Tulsa 24 - The Bearcats beat the unheralded Golden Hurricanes at home by a field goal as time expired. This. This is why Cincy is not in the playoff.

MACCG: Ball State 38 Buffalo 28 - Everyone was waiting for diminutive Bulls running back Jaret Patterson to break out the big runs but the Fightin’ David Lettermen stymied the little dude as he gained only 47 yards on 18 carries for a putrid 2.6 ypc average.

MWCCG: You don’t really care about the PAC-12 Lite, do you? Well if you do, San Jose Cuervo beat the Smurfs 34-20 in front of nobody in Las Vegas. Jose’s quarterback is Nick Starkel (32-52, 453 yds, 3 TD) formerly of TAMU and Arkansas.

HIT OF THE WEEK (AND LEGAL TOO)

BEST FAKE OF THE WEEK

FUNNIEST FAKE OF THE WEEK

KEY & PEELE ALL-STARS

Mississippi State WR Geor’quarius Spivey.

STATS OF THE DAY

• Minnesota and Wisconsin played a game if anyone noticed. Both teams had 18 first downs. Both were 4 for 12 on third down conversions. Both had one turnover, an interception. Minnesota had only four more yards than Wisky 326-322. The Badgers held a 56 second time possession advantage. The teams were tied after regulation at 17-all. The Gophers third-string kicker missed a 36-yard field goal attempt. The Badgers’ kicker was six yards closer and made his for the 20-17 OT win.
• Army was 1 for 2 passing for 0 yards.

THE WACKY WORLD OF DESI

Seriously, how does this doofus still have a job? BTW, he missed on UT and pushed on ISU.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

The Sun Belt Championship Game: It’s the latest CRAZE! Everyone is doing it! Coastal Carolina, fearing a rematch loss to resurgent La-Laffy to sully their perfect record, cancelled their meeting in the conference championship. If they thought pulling an “ACC” would secure a bigger bowl, they were fooling themselves. The two teams will now lamely share the title as co-champions. However, the Rajuns win our hearts. At least they were willing to show up.

COUSINS

• Troy (5-6) - Wow, even the little guys are doing it. Winless La-Monroe cancelled on the Trojans denying them a shot at 6 wins. Troy was not invited to a bowl.
• South Alabama (4-7) - At 33 years of age, new Jags head coach Kane Wommack assumes the title of youngest head coach in FBS football, edging out Kent State’s Sean Lewis (34). Wommack is the son of Dave Wommack who most recently served as defensive coordinator for Hugh Freeze at Arkansas State (2011) and Ole Miss (2012-2016). He has also coached at places such as South Carolina and Arkansas among other stops.

THAT ANNOYING STEP-BROTHER WHO SCRATCHES HIMSELF WITH YOUR REMOTE CONTROL

UAB (6-3) - The Dragons beat Marshall 22-13 to win the C-USA. The Herd was only 2-12 on third downs.

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

Army wins the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy over Air Force 10-7. Army scored a touchdown on 4th & goal from inches with 1:13 remaining to defeat the Falcons and take the coveted CICT.

• Army (9-2) - The Black Knights were all set to play in the Independence Bowl but organizers could not find them an opponent. The PAC-12 has a tie-in but they are all in hysterical shut-down mode. Thanks to despair in Knoxville, Army will instead play in the Liberty Bowl. #GodBlessAmerica!
• Air Force (3-3) - Not invited to a bowl.
• Navy (3-7) - Not invited to a bowl.

IMA LEAVE THIS UP HERE FROM THREE WEEKS AGO! ^^^

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

The fifth CFP rankings was revealed Sunday:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Notre Dame
5. Texas A&M
6. Oklahoma

LET’S GO BOWLING

• The Independence Bowl (fka The Weed Whacker Bowl) in lovely downtown Shreveport and the Birmingham Bowl have been canceled because so many wuss teams opted out. It’s a sad ending for the Old Gray Lady and college football.
• A total of 16 bowls will not be played: Bahamas, Birmingham, Celebration, Fenway, Frisco, Phoenix, Hawaii, Holiday, Independence, L.A., Las Vegas, Military, Pinstripe, Detroit, Santa Clara, Sun.

SEC BOWLING

Saturday, December 26

Gasparilla: South Carolina vs. UAB 11am/noon (Tampa, FL) ABC

Wednesday, December 30

Music City: Iowa vs. Missouri 3pm/4pm (Nashville, TN) ESPN
Cotton: #6 Oklahoma vs. #7 Florida 7pm/8pm (Arlington, TX) ESPN NY6

Thursday, December 31

Armed Forces: Mississippi State vs. Tulsa 11am/noon (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN
Liberty: West Virginia vs. Tennessee 3pm/4pm (Memphis, TN) ESPN - The Vols (3-7) have dropped out of this bowl game and will be replaced by Army.
Texas: TCU vs. Arkansas 7pm/8pm (Houston, TX) ESPN

Wednesday, January 1

Chick-Fil-A Peach: #8 Cincinnati vs. #9 Georgia 11am/noon (Atlanta, GA) ESPN NY6
Citrus: #14 Northwestern vs. Auburn noon/1pm (Orlando, FL) ABC
Rose/Jerry: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Notre Dame 4pm/5pmArlington, TX) ESPN NY6

Thursday, January 2

Gator: Kentucky vs. NC State 11am/noon (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN
Outback: #11 Indiana vs. Ole Miss 11:30/12:30 (Tampa, FL) ABC
Orange: #5 Texas A&M vs. #13 North Carolina 7pm/8pm (Miami, FL) ESPN NY6

Vandy (0-9) and LSU (self-imposed ban) will not be playing in a bowl.

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to the Vanderbilt - I am so done with Vandy. They do so little to improve their football and basketball programs. Yet they are the first to cash those big fat SEC checks that the rest of the league earns for them. The only sport they excel at is baseball and that is because they have an unfair scholarship advantage. The argument for keeping them around is their high academic standing, but is that antiquated reasoning really necessary anymore? It’s time to put Vanderbilt on SEC probation. Improve your facilities and staffs or risk expulsion from the league.

** KK wants you to rest assured knowing that although it was the Lord’s will that Gussie gets a $21M windfall for being a lousy head coach, that she will still be around for her krazy rants. God bless.

HEISMAN HYPE

With the exception of TWO YEARS, the Heisman Trophy voting is basically a hype award. Often times voters fall in love with someone and refuse to REALLY look at what a player has accomplished.

WHO WILL WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section is not who deserves to win. It is who the slobbering press and other voters will callously crush on.

Well, I think we know who Tebow is voting for. The Heisman House commercials write themselves.

There are 927 voters. 870 votes are for the media, 145 from each of six regions. Previous Heisman winners make up 56 electors, and one is given to the fans as a promotion for some cars that I have not been paid to endorse, so I’m not gonna mention them.

The voting deadline was Dec. 21. If some of these dumbasses voted before the SECCG, DeVonta could have received more votes than Mac, but not Trask (lost to LSU) or Sunshine (DNP). If they waited until after the final gun Saturday night, Mac might have gotten more and maybe Sunny will get some. Either way, we might just get a one-two finish from Crimson Tide players.

People say they may “split the votes” but as long as the majority have Bama players number one or two, it won’t matter. There is no one-player-from-each-team rule.

The Finalists will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 24 at 6:30pm/7:30pm on ESPN. The winner will be announced during a virtual event starting at 6pm/7pm on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021.

1. Mac Jones (QB, Bama, R-Jr.) - The Tide quarterback was a smidge shaky and missed a few shots that probably would’ve made this win a little easier but he still ended up with 418 passing yards and five touchdowns, completing 33 of 43 attempts. The past week, the media has really been focusing on Mac and his goofy/charming personality and it has been playing well. This may give him the edge.
2. DeVonta Smith (WR, Alabama, Sr.) - The Slim Reaper “quietly” had 15 receptions for 184 and two touchdowns in the SECCG. He was a shoe-string away from returning another punt for a touchdown. Had that gone down, it might be a different story Sunday morning.
3. Trevor Lawrence (QB, Dabo Cult, Jr.) - Sunnyboy needed a super-human effort to take this award away from one of the above players. He was really good against the Irish but not great (25-36, 322 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT, 14 rush, 90 yds, TD). He will still get some votes though because many of the voters are idiots or haters or rapt by his golden locks.
4. Kyle Trask (QB, Jorts U., Sr.) - He was good (26-40, 408 YDS, 3 TD) but probably sunk his ship last week against LSU. In Atlanta, he was the second best quarterback on the field.
5. A token running back - Najee Harris is still the top running back but not getting the Heisman buzz quite like his teammates. He basically bowed out on Saturday with his humble post-game remarks. He had 31 carries for 178 yards and add two more rushing scores to the heap. In the SECCG, Harris tallied multiple rushing scores in a game for the eighth time this season. He also had five catches for 67 yards and three more touchdowns.
6. Justin Fields (QB, anOSU, Jr.) Fields was terrible (12/27, 114 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT, fumble). He doesn’t deserve to be a finalist. That said, some of the voters are idiots, some of them are bias, and some of them are lazy. Do you think some of these old guys watch all the games like we do? No. They will watch a little ESPN SportsCenter and then pick the names they recognize.
7. Ian Book (QB, Notre Dame, Sr.) NOPE
8. Kyle Pitts (TE, Fla, Jr.)

WHO SHOULD WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section IS for who deserves to win it.

This is tough. Mac Jones has been the glue that holds this offense and team together but DeVonta Smith has been SO good. He is just so smooth and makes everything look so easy. His hands are like glue. If I had a vote, it would go to DeVonta.

THE SICK TO MY STOMACH REPORT

• Saban told the press on Sunday that Landon Dickerson will miss the College Football Playoff. “I don’t know that you replace a guy like that, but we have confidence in Chris Owens.” Well, that makes one of us. It’s too bad that Alabama had to play 11 games instead of six.

DRAMA

Rut-roh, Raggy!

• Tennessee running back Eric Gray unexpectedly did not play in the season finale against Texas A&M. Coincidence? (see above)
• Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips was named the next ACC Commissioner to replace retiring skeezebag John Swofford. Just a little reminder that Phillips was at the helm when the Northwestern football team tried to unionize.
• Tom Herman received the dreaded vote of confidence from the Texas AD which is rarely a good thing.
• Justin Fuente got one from his bosses at Va Tech.
• Scott Satterfeld flirted with South Carolina which ruffled some feather at Louisville.
• ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren @TomVH reported as of noonish Monday, there were 532 active names in the transfer portal since the beginning of November. “That means every FBS team would have to take 4 transfers each just for all the players in the portal since November to remain in the FBS.” There are going to be a lot of broken hearts.
• Dabo Swinney ranked Ohio State No. 11 on his ballot for the final coaches’ poll of the regular season. Yep, that is going up right on the bulletin board.

QUITTERS

• Arizona starting QB Grant Gunnell has entered the transfer portal.
• Former Georgia Bulldogs QB D’wan Mathis is transferring to... Temple. (???) The Owls were 1-6 this season.
• Center Florida’s former starting QB McKenzie Milton is transferring to Florida State. He led the Knights to their mythical 2017 T-shirt National Championship. He was seriously injured near the end of 2018 season and got Wally Pipped by Dillon Gabriel.
• Boise, Boston College, FSU, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, San Diego State, Stanford, UCLA, Southern Cal, Utah, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Washington State are skeered to play one more football game.

KOACHES KORNER

If you are not familiar with Bobby Lowder, he ran a bank into the ground and came out on the other side with a ton of money. He is also an arrogant annoying buttisnki who has been running Auburn football for nigh on four decades from behind the scenes, because nobody has the cajones to tell him to piss off. Stock up on popcorn. The next several years of Auburn football are going to be a mess.

After the failed d’état to supplant Gus Malzahn with defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, AU has already had several very public rejections.

Steve Sarkisian had some talks with Auburn but never formally interviewed. He reportedly was asking for a big fat salary with most of it guaranteed. Can you blame him? Make THEM say ‘no’. As of now, it looks like Sark will be back with Bama in 2021.

UAB’s Bill Clark has removed his name from consideration as well. Word is Auburn did not want to cede control of who his assistants would be. Really, Aubie? ULL hot commodity Billy Napier has also turned down the Tigers.

So, Auburn is looking for an experienced coach who will work for cheap non-guaranteed, be willing to retain several of the existing assistants, and be under the thumb of a bunch of meddlesome money-men boosters. Real intriguing job, huh? Remember the clown show that went on up in Knoxville a few years ago until UT settled on their 38th choice? Well, this coaching search is going to make that one look like a smooth transaction.

[SIDE NOTE: The owner of YellaWood is one of the biggest Tigers contributors and an influential booster. So, every time you give them your business, you are funding the Auburn football program. I’m just sayin...]

• Former Wisconsin and Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema has been named as the new Illinois head coach. Welcome back, Bert. We missed making fun of you.
• Butch Jones is expected to hire Alabama staffer Andy Kwon as the Red Wolves new tight ends coach. The 26-year old Kwon, a former first-team All-Sun Belt O-lineman while at Georgia Southern, has been with the Crimson Tide as a GA for three years. Okay. That’s close enough, Butch. Step off.
• Major Applewhite will forgo an opportunity in lovely Jonesboro, Arkansas to become the new offensive coordinator at South Alabama. Former Bama walk-on and Nick Saban-imitator Rob Ezell will join USA as tight ends coach. Tide analyst Gordon Steele will be the O-line coach. Kevin Steele is his father.
• Now that Gustavo Malzahn is unemployed and a VERY rich man, the real question centers around where he will go next. Head coach? Offensive Coordinator? Analyst? Before his hiring at Auburn, he was crowned an offensive genius - and maybe he still is. He just struggles being in charge of everything. As an analyst, he can probably go wherever he wants. Might Nick Saban be interested in picking his brain for $30K/year?
• LSU has parted ways with Bo Pelini after one season as Tigers DC. The poor guy left a head coaching job with Youngstown State for that train wreck. But don’t shed a tear for him. According to The Baton Rouge Advocate, he “is guaranteed all the remaining income in his three-year, $2.3 million contract, which pegs his buyout at about $5.2 million.” Seriously, y’all. Don’t let your babies grow up to doctors and lawyers and such. Teach your kids how to be football coaches.
• LSU defensive line coach Bill Johnson and safety coach Bill Busch will also not be returning.
• Shane Beamer will be paid an annual salary of $2.75 million at South Carolina. His predecessor Will Muschamp made $4.5M. Ya think money might be a little tight at Sacarlina right now?
• Mario Cristobal’s agent got his client a big raise by flirting with other jobs he was never going to take. His new Oregon contract includes a 2-year extension and raise of $1.5 million each of the next 3 years: $4.6M in 2024, $4.75M in 2025, retention bonuses and one-year option in 2026. Cristobal’s buyout for leaving is currently $8 million but now jumps to $9 million for each of the next two years.
• Jamey Chadwell agreed to a seven-year contract extension to stay with the Chanticleers. What a waste of ink.
• There is a rumor going around that Fat F*** Phil Fulmer may have anonymously snitched on his own program as a way to get rid of Jeremy Pruitt for cause and not have to pay his buyout. Have you ever heard the background story of how this scheming backstabber got the head coaching job AND the AD job at Tennessee? He is one callous selfish S.O.B.
• The only current FBS coaching openings are Arizona, Auburn, and ULM.

TEEVEE

Tom Rinaldi is leaving ESPN for Fox Sports. So, who is going to make us cry on fall Saturday mornings now? The four-letter is probably thrilled to get rid of another whitey.

THIS WEEK

Monday, December 21

Myrtle Beach Bowl: Appalachian State 56 North Texas 28

Tuesday, December 22

Potato Bowl: Tulane vs Nevada 2:30/3:30 ESPN (Boise, ID)
Boca Raton Bowl: UCF vs BYU 6pm/7pm ESPN (Boca Raton, FL)

Wednesday, December 23

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs Georgia Southern 2pm/3pm ESPN (New Orleans, LA)
Montgomery Bowl: Memphis vs FAU! 6pm/7pm ESPN (Montgomery, AL)

Thursday, December 24

New Mexico Bowl: Hawaii vs Houston 2:30/3:30 ESPN (Albuquerque, NM)

Friday, December 25

Camellia Bowl: Buffalo vs. Marshall 1:30/2:30 ESPN (Montgomery, AL) - not sure how Monty got TWO bowl games.

Saturday, December 26

Gasparilla Bowl: South Carolina vs. UAB 11am/noon (Tampa, FL) ABC
LendingTree Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State 2:30/3:30 (Mobile, AL) ESPN
First Responder Bowl: ULL vs. UTSA 2:30/3:30 (Dallas, TX) ABC - Mismatch of the year.
Cure Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. Liberty TBA (Orlando, FL) ESPN - Oh, snap. The Flames thought they could duck CCU.

SABAN vs. POP and BEAR

Nick Saban picks up another win, while Mack Brown picks his butt (hehe hehehehe he).

[For those of you new to RBR Random Thoughts, we count all on-field wins in Division I-A, aka FBS. So, before you go squawking about Frank Beamer, 42 of his wins came at Murray State. Brown had six victories in one season with Appalachian State when they were still in what was known at I-AA (FCS today). In addition, we don’t recognize NCAA sanctioned forfeits. If you won on the field, it counts in our books.]

#ALABAMA

• Alabama linebacker Christian Harris and Evan Neal were back in action last Saturday. LaBryan Ray remains out. Jaylen Waddle was still in street clothes and is definitely NOT going to be back for the playoff. Put those fantasies behind you. Butch Jones was still with the team. He wants that ring as much as anyone else.
• Landon Dickerson, Mac Jones, Alex Leatherwood, and DeVonta Smith were named permanent team captains for 2020. They will have their hands and cleats pressed into cement around Denny Chimes in the spring.
• Long snapper Thomas Fletcher has accepted an invitation to compete in the 2021 Senior Bowl. He joins teammates Deonte Brown and Landon Dickerson, though the latter’s participation is TBD.

• Sophomore WR Xavier Williams caught his first pass in crimson and white, a nifty little out from the slot position for 12 yards.
• As mentioned last week, Shaun Alexander played in an era in which they did not count bowl stats for some odd reason. I did the research and found that Alexander had four bowl touchdowns to go with his 50 “official” scores. Thus, Najee Harris has actually and factually tied the Bama great on career touchdowns at 54. Harris is four four scores away from surpassing Tim Tebow for the SEC scoring title.
• DeVonta Smith is up to 42 total touchdowns. The others are Mark Ingram 46, Derrick Henry 45, and Trent Richardson 43.
• Smith has passed Amari Cooper for the Alabama school record for receiving yards. He trails Vandy’s Jordan Matthews for the SEC record by 139 yards.
• Smith’s 40 receiving scores are leaving Cooper and Chris Doering (31 each) in a cloud of dust.
• Despite playing in 11 games as compared to Ja’Marr Chase’s 14 in 2019, Smith only trails the LSU receiver for the SEC record for receiving yards in a season by 269 and season receiving TDs by 3.
• Mac Jones is 227 yards behind Tua Tagovailoa’s Alabama single-season passing yards record.

CFP: Friday, January 1, 2021

Alabama Crimson Tide (11-0) vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1)

JerryWorld, TX ~ 3pm CT /4pm ET ESPN

• Announcers: Assuming Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit.
• Eli Gold on Alabama Radio.
• Alabama is 2-5 all-time against the Irish. The two teams last met in the 2013 BCS Championship game for the 2012 season. All the other games were played in the 1970s and 1980s.
• The line on this game is around Bama -20. Over/Under is 65½.