Tag: Barrett Sallee

National analyst gives Clemson an ‘F’ in report card for Week 4

A national college football writer/analyst handed out grades to some College Football Playoff contenders following Week 4 of the season. Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports gave Clemson an “F” after its 27-21, double-overtime loss to then-unranked NC State …

A national college football writer/analyst handed out grades to some College Football Playoff contenders following Week 4 of the season.

Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports gave Clemson an “F” after its 27-21, double-overtime loss to then-unranked NC State on Saturday in Raleigh.

“Unless something crazy happens in the landscape of college football, the Tigers have been eliminated from playoff contention,” Sallee wrote in his article. “The offense was dreadful in the 27-21 loss to NC State. They can’t block, they can’t run, and quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei has been wildly inconsistent as a passer.”

Clemson (2-2, 1-1 ACC) totaled just 214 yards and 10 first downs against NC State (3-1, 1-0) while going 2-for-11 on third-down conversion attempts and finishing with seven three-and-outs.

Through four games, Uiagalelei is averaging 146.5 passing yards per game and has thrown for three touchdowns with three interceptions.

Clemson tumbled to No. 25 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll released Sunday and No. 19 in the latest coaches poll, while NC State is now ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll but still unranked in the coaches poll.

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National analyst pegs Clemson as his most overrated team

This week, CBS Sports released its 2021 College Football Playoff predictions and expert picks, as well as who their experts believe are the most overrated and underrated teams. CBS Sports college football writer and analyst Barrett Sallee labeled …

This week, CBS Sports released its 2021 College Football Playoff predictions and expert picks, as well as who their experts believe are the most overrated and underrated teams.

CBS Sports college football writer and analyst Barrett Sallee labeled Clemson as his most overrated team.

“I get that the college football world is in love with quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, but he has a ton of work to do in order to lead the Tigers back to the Promised Land,” Sallee wrote. “The departure of Travis Etienne is a huge deal, as is the concern surrounding the wide receiving corps sans Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell. Plus, the offensive line (while talented) isn’t exactly a threat to win the Joe Moore Award. The Tigers will win the ACC and make the playoff, but the ceiling for this team isn’t as high as it was last season, which makes a run in the CFP very unlikely.”

As for the CBS Sports staff’s CFP predictions, Dennis Dodd and Jerry Palm predict Clemson to be the No. 2 seed, while Tom Fornelli projects the Tigers as the No. 3 seed. Chip Patterson, Sallee and Ben Kercheval all see Clemson being the No. 4 seed.

David Cobb thinks the Tigers will be one of the first two teams left out of the CFP, and none of the CBS Sports staffers predicted Clemson to win the national championship.

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CBS Sports includes one Notre Dame player in their top list from the ‘19 class

When looking back at the best players from the 2019 recruiting cycle, Notre Dame has one of their stars named as a top player.

The Notre Dame 2019 class was ranked as the 15th best in the country by the 247Sports composite, headlined by Kyle Hamilton and Zeke Correll. For Correll, it took him a bit longer than Hamilton to make an impact, but when he was needed to play this year, he more than held his own.

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Hamilton, on the other hand, has been shinning for the Irish the moment he stepped on campus. It should come to no ones surprise that when CBS Sports Barrett Sallee ranked the top 20 players from the 2019 recruiting class that Hamilton was included.

The star rising junior is the 10th name on Sallee’s list, the second defensive back behind LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. He said that the safety “was a big part of Notre Dame’s run to the College Football Playoff last year with 63 tackles and one interception, including eight tackles in the regular season win over Clemson.”

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Hamilton has registered 97 tackles, 5 picks (one returned for a score) and 12 passes defended in his two seasons. His play has been recognized by numerous outlets for his play and this is just another one.

I will continue saying this, but we need to enjoy Hamilton this coming year to the fullest because I think he’s off to the NFL after the 2021 season. His final season should include many more accolades as he moves on to the highest level.

CBS Sports releases Week 6 betting odds for the SEC

The Gators are 6.5-point favorites over No. 21 Texas A&M when they head to College Station and Sallee likes their odds to both win and cover

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Another weekend of college football is right around the corner, and for those with vested interests on Saturdays, CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee has released his picks for the Week 6 matchups in the Southeastern Conference.

The Gators are 6.5-point favorites over No. 21 Texas A&M when they head to College Station, Tex., on Saturday, and Sallee likes their odds to both win and cover.

No. 4 Florida (-6.5) at No. 21 Texas A&M: The Aggies couldn’t go score-for-score against Alabama last weekend and will have the same problem this weekend against the Gators. Quarterback Kyle Trask just has too many weapons. There’s no way Texas A&M is going to let tight end Kyle Pitts beat them, which means that Trevon Grimes, Kadarius Toney and the rest of the Gator speedsters will be put in one-on-one situations. Good luck with that. Florida’s defense hasn’t been great, but it’s not like we can trust Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond at this point in his career. Pick: Florida (-6.5)

Meanwhile, No. 3 Georgia takes on No. 14 Tennessee in a homestand where the Bulldogs are 12.5-point favorites. Sallee doesn’t see the Volunteers beating Georgia for the first time since 2016, but he likes them to cover the spread.

No. 14 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia (-12.5): The Bulldogs dominated Auburn in the trenches last week, but the Volunteers will present more of a challenge in that department this weekend between the hedges. Trey Smith, Cade Mays and the rest of the big uglies for the Vols punished Missouri and South Carolina up front. Plus, they have a talented one-two punch at running back in Eric Gray and Ty Chandler. Georgia’s offense is built around its running game with Zamir White and James Cook, and there won’t be a reason to change that now. This will be an old-school fist fight that will remain close in the fourth quarter. Take the Bulldogs to win and Volunteers to cover. Oh, and pound that under. Pick: Tennessee (+12.5)

This weekend presents Florida’s toughest challenge so far this season. A win over the Aggies would give the Gators a lot of confidence heading into its home game against LSU. For the Bulldogs, a scrappy Tennessee team could sneak up on them after their convincing win over an Auburn team previously ranked in the top 10.

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Shocker: Notre Dame named best college football team in Indiana

CBS Sports has named the best football team in each state and in a shocker, Notre Dame reps the state of Indiana.

In a complete stunner on Friday morning, Notre Dame was named the best college football program in the state of Indiana entering the 2020 season.

Alright, I hope despite not using any italics or bold or anything else, that you were at least able to pick up on the sarcasm of this very predictable determination.

CBS Sports put together a list of the best football team in 48 of the 50 states as Alaska and Vermont didn’t have a program that qualified by their standards.

Notre Dame was named the best college team in the state of Indiana, hardly a surprise as it was pitted against the likes of Ball State, Indiana and Purdue.  Here is what Barrett Sallee had to say about college football in the Hoosier State:

Indiana — Notre Dame: Notre Dame has double-digit wins in four of its last five seasons, made an appearance in the College Football Playoff in 2018 and should be one of the favorites to unseat Clemson now that it’s a quasi-member of the ACC for 2020. Indiana, Purdue and Ball State can’t hang with the Fighting Irish. — Barrett Sallee

It’s not a surprise whatsoever as outside of a couple years in the late-nineties and early-2000’s that has been the case.

The interesting part of that list comes from other states however.

Virginia overtaking Virginia Tech, Appalachian State taking home the Tar Heel State’s honors and Baylor representing the state of Texas all stand out a bit in the piece.

This writer just wishes Division III programs would have been considered so reigning champion North Central College would have gotten the national love over Northwestern in Illinois.

Florida’s Kyle Trask makes CBS Sports’ list of the top-10 players in the SEC

Turning his focus to players returning to campus, CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee ranked the SEC’s top-10 players ahead of the 2020 season.

Producing 63 selections in the 2020 National Football League Draft, 15 more than the next closest conference and their 14th-straight year atop the list, the Southeastern Conference has long been regarded as the mountaintop of college football.

Turning his focus to players returning to campus this fall, CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee ranked the SEC’s top-10 players ahead of the 2020 season, releasing his list on July 15.

One Florida Gator made the cut, redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Trask slotting in at No. 10.

“Trask stepped in for an injured Feleipe Franks in Week 3 vs. Kentucky and threw for 2,941 yards last year – the best season for a Florida quarterback since 2009, which was Tim Tebow’s final season in Gainesville,” Sallee wrote.

“He completed 54.8-percent of his passes while under pressure last season, the second-best mark in the country. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t been the starting quarterback in an offseason at any point during his high school or college career.

“His future looks bright now that he’s finally the unquestioned starting quarterback for the Gators.”

While Trask and head coach Dan Mullen must adjust to life without four of their top-five wide receivers from 2019, Van Jefferson, Freddie Swain, Josh Hammond, and Tyrie Cleveland, the program does return senior Trevon Grimes and boasts arguably the nation’s best tight end in junior Kyle Pitts.

On top of this, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach John Hevesy’s unit returns four starters from a year ago and added versatile Mississippi State Bulldogs graduate transfer Stewart Reese, the brother of redshirt sophomore linebacker David Reese.

Lamical Perine, a four-year contributor, played, perhaps, the best football of his career toward the end of last season and was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth-round (No. 120 overall) in April.

To help fill this void, Florida received a major boost when redshirt sophomore Lorenzo Lingard, a Miami Hurricanes transfer, had his request for immediate eligibility approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in May.

Junior LSU Tigers wideout Ja’Marr Chase, the reigning Fred Biletnikoff Award winner, received the No. 1 ranking from Sallee, with Alabama Crimson Tide redshirt junior linebacker Dylan Moses and Mississippi State senior tailback Kylin Hill occupying the next two spots.

Completing the list, in order from four-through-nine, were LSU sophomore cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr., Tennessee Volunteers senior offensive tackle Trey Smith, Alabama senior running back Najee Harris, Missouri Tigers junior linebacker Nick Bolton, Georgia Bulldogs senior safety Richard LeCounte, and Crimson Tide senior offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood.

Pitts was one of a dozen players to receive an honorable mention, joining a group including Arkansas Razorbacks redshirt senior tailback Rakeem Boyd, Texas A&M Aggies senior quarterback Kellen Mond, and Alabama wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, a senior and junior, respectively.

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