Tag: ESPN College GameDay

ESPN’s College Gameday crew makes their picks for 2021 CFP national championship

Who did the ESPN College Gameday crew pick to win this year’s national title?

Alabama enters the 2021 college football season as the defending national champion and the top ranked team in the nation. As they begin their season against the Miami Hurricanes, they look to repeat as the county’s best and bring home national title No. 19.

ESPN’s College Gameday crew made their picks for the 2021 College Football Playoff national championship, and while the Crimson Tide made appearances in three of the four predictions, not a single analyst chose Alabama to win it all.

The two teams they were split on were Oklahoma and Georgia.

There’s plenty of time left before the College Football Playoff landscape begins to take shape, but every game matters starting with the first one.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to share updates regarding the Crimson Tide’s 2021 football season.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.

Uiagalelei prides himself on being ‘unpredictable’

As a part of a feature story that was previously recorded on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, Clemson fans and College Football fans around the country alike got to know D.J. Uiagalelei a bit better. ESPN’s Jen Lada interviewed Uiagalelei, spoke …

As a part of a feature story that was previously recorded on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, Clemson fans and College Football fans around the country alike got to know D.J. Uiagalelei a bit better.

ESPN’s Jen Lada interviewed Uiagalelei, spoke with his mother at length and also sat down with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

“He’s got attributes of all the great ones I’ve been around,” Swinney said. “Love of the game. Love of preparation. Football I.Q. Character. Leadership. But, I’ve never had one 6-5, 250.”

That’s what makes him special, but also different.

As Lada states, Uiagalelei prides himself on being “unpredictable.”

Hailing from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower (Calif.), Uiagalelei opted to commit to a program in Clemson that’s over 2,000 miles away from home.

“I like to be different,” Uiagalelei said. “I like to be unique. When everyone’s going right, I’ll probably go left.”

Saturday’s marquee matchup against Georgia will not be Uiagalelei’s first career start. Though, Swinney claimed that he could’ve been the starting quarterback for at least 126 programs around the country.

Instead, he chose to sit behind Trevor Lawrence and learn. Uiagalelei got to see some unexpected playing time last season and made the most of his opportunity when Lawrence wound up being sidelined for two games after a bout with COVID-19.

“He really wanted to work with Trevor for a year and that just shows you why and how he thinks,” Swinney said.

In two starts against Notre Dame and Boston College, Uiagalelei completed 77 of 117 passes (66.7%) with 914 passing yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

What would it mean for Uiagalelei to have his name become a household one?

“That would be a cool accomplishment to have,” he said. “For people to know your last name like ‘Dang, that’s D.J. with the cool last name: Uiagalelei.’ It would be amazing.”

He’ll have that chance under the bright lights on Saturday night against Georgia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (NC.) at 7:30 p.m.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

What Smart said about Clemson-UGA game, Venables on College GameDay

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart joined ESPN’s College GameDay set for an interview Saturday morning ahead of the fifth-ranked Bulldogs’ game against No. 3 Clemson at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Charlotte. Smart was asked about the stakes of this top-five …

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart joined ESPN’s College GameDay set for an interview Saturday morning ahead of the fifth-ranked Bulldogs’ game against No. 3 Clemson at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Charlotte.

Smart was asked about the stakes of this top-five matchup in the season opener.

“It’s a top-five matchup, the stakes are high,” Smart said. “Stakes are always high in college football. We’ve talked about it before. So much goes into each game. It’s different than the NFL because games mean so much more because there’s fewer. But for us, it’s also not a conference game. It’s a great chance to represent our conference against a powerhouse program that’s been one of the top programs in the country. We’re excited for the opportunity.”

Smart also commented on what jumps out to him about Brent Venables’ defense that makes the unit so successful.

“Their aggression,” Smart said. “They’re very aggressive. They attack, attack, attack, and they come after you and they don’t give you much opportunity to breathe. They’ve got kids that fit their system, so their system’s built to be really quick, athletic, fast, come after you, and they play teams so well because of the way he’s so aggressive.”

Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.

Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help.  #SaveNicks

‘College GameDay’ releases hype video ahead of UGA vs. Clemson

‘College GameDay’ releases hype video ahead of Georgia Bulldogs vs Clemson Tigers game

ESPN’s “College GameDay” has release a hype video ahead of the highly anticipated matchup between the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs and No. 3 Clemson Tigers. Despite their historic rivalry, the Bulldogs and Tigers are playing at a neutral site for the first time in more than 100 years.

The game will be played in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to the game, GameDay will be held in downtown Charlotte at Romare Bearden Park.

GameDay released a hype video ahead of the game that will get Georgia, Clemson, and college football fans fired up:

The 65th edition of Georgia-Clemson is expected to be the top nonconference game of the 2021 college football season. The Bulldogs and Tigers are both ranked in the top five and are considered championship contenders.

Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley had a huge day the last time Georgia played Clemson in 2014. Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Clemson needs a marquee win with the way their schedule is laid out. Georgia can’t afford to lose either. The Bulldogs would have a razor-thin margin of error if they fall to the Tigers.

[vertical-gallery id=46399]

[listicle id=45493]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Members of ESPN College Gameday Crew pick Sooners to win National Championship

On the first Saturday of college football, the ESPN College Gameday Crew picked their national champions. Two of the four picked the Sooners

With six days to go until the Oklahoma Sooners kickoff against the Tulane Green Wave (hopefully), the expectations and anticipation have reached a boiling point. Soon, it will be time to play football. But until then, we’ll get more predictions from local and national observers.

ESPN’s College Gameday made their national title predictions on the first college football Saturday show yesterday. Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard chose the Sooners to hoist the national championship come January.

Every member of the crew had the Sooners in their prediction of the College Football Playoff, but just Herbstreit and Howard had the Sooners winning it all. Lee Corso had the Sooners making the championship game before losing to the Georgia Bulldogs, who were the only other team picked to win the title on the panel.

Oklahoma is as talented as they’ve been under Lincoln Riley, and because of that, the expectations are sky-high. Alex Grinch has helped that defense progress each of his two seasons in Norman, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t take another step forward in 2021.

As the six-time defending Big 12 champion and favorites again in 2021, the question that continues to linger for the Sooners is what they’ll do when they get to the College Football Playoff.

Against Clemson, they were able to keep the game close before Deshaun Watson, and the Tigers pulled away in the second half. They had the game well in hand against Georgia before a second-half comeback allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game and win it in overtime. Though the score wasn’t as bad as the game looked, Alabama jumped out to a big lead against the Kyler Murray-led Sooners, who attempted to mount a ferocious second-half comeback, but couldn’t quite close the gap. And against Joe Burrow’s LSU, the Sooners ran into arguably the greatest offensive team college football’s ever seen.

Can the Sooners exorcise the demons in 2021, push through the semi-finals, and contend for the national championship? Two of ESPN’s experts seem to think so.

As the Sooners enter Tulane week, as Lincoln Riley would say, “talking season is over.” It’s time to go put it on the field.

[listicle id=35905]

‘Oregon is going to win in Columbus:’ ESPN Gameday crew shows confidence in Ducks

ESPN College Gameday host Rece Davis went out on a limb and said Oregon was going defeat Ohio State in Columbus Sept. 11.

At long last, college football is finally back, and with it comes a load of pre-season predictions. When going over the over/unders for wins in a season, naturally Oregon came up.

The Ducks’ over/under for total wins this season was nine and all of the ESPN Gameday hosts said Oregon would have a 10-win season by picking the over. But host Rece Davis went further.

What’s that with getting in front of stuff? I’m not assuming Oregon is going to lose in Columbus. Oregon is going to win in Columbus.

After Davis made his bold prediction, Desmond Howard, albeit quietly and almost unnoticeable, agreed with his partner on his right. Howard is a Michigan alum and probably will pick Oregon because of that fact.

They all said Ohio State was the cream of the crop where the Big 10 is concerned and didn’t see a game where the Buckeyes were not at least 14-point favorites.

The Ohio State/Oregon is definitely the marquee game early in the college football season and it’s going to be a great matchup. But most so-called experts are going to pick Ohio State, at home, over the visiting Quack Attack.

In a later segment, the host all picked Oregon to win the Pac-12, except for Lee Corso. The elder statesman of the group said USC was going to win the conference. No comment from Corso’s favorite mascot, The Duck, however.

What is Penn State’s all-time record when featured on ESPN’s College GameDay?

What is Penn State’s all-time record when ESPN’s College GameDay is on the scene?

It is always a big deal whenever your team and city gets mentioned in the national spotlight for one of the biggest games in college football that everyone is talking about.

ESPN College Gameday got started in 1993 and has been at some of the best games in history. Along the way, the iconic Lee Corso has been the headliner of the show by putting on the headgear for his pick in the game of the day. The tradition started at Penn State’s expense when Corso donned the mascot head of Brutus, Ohio State’s mascot, when GameDay attended the 1996 matchup between Ohio State and Penn State in Columbus, Ohio. From there, a tradition was born.

Penn State games against Ohio State have been a bit of a staple for GameDay. The matchup between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes is tied for the most GameDay spotlights with 11 total. The only other matchup with that many GameDay appearances is Alabama vs LSU.

Here’s a look back at how Penn State has performed anytime GameDay has set up its on-location studio on the scene, whether in Happy Valley or elsewhere in the country.

Entire ESPN College Gameday crew picks Oklahoma to beat Oklahoma State

The entire ESPN College Gameday crew has selected the Sooners to win Bedlam tonight against rival Oklahoma State.

ESPN’s College Gameday was in Norman this morning to preview the all-important Bedlam clash between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State tonight.

The program featured a one-one-one interview with Sooner quarterback Spencer Rattler and had former Oklahoma basketball star Trae Young as the celebrity guest picker.

Of course, the most famous segment of the show comes at the end when the entire panel picks winners of the best games of the day – and longtime ESPN analyst Lee Corso makes his headgear pick.

The crew has spoken on tonight’s huge Big 12 battle with every single member taking Oklahoma to win tonight against the Cowboys – including Corso and his famous antics along with his selection.

Now we all just have to wait and see if the crew put the hex on the Sooners with the jinx here. It is worth mentioning, the entire crew did all take Oklahoma to beat Texas earlier this season and was correct.

The game will kickoff tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ABC.

[vertical-gallery id=20463]

WATCH: ESPN College Gameday goes one-on-one with Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler

Spencer Rattler did a one-on-one interview with ESPN’s Maria Taylor today on College Gameday.

ESPN’s famous pregame show College Gameday is in Norman today ahead of Oklahoma’s huge Bedlam clash with rival Oklahoma State.

On the program, Maria Taylor sat down for a one-on-one interview with the Sooners’ quarterback Spencer Rattler to discuss what it’s like being the front man at a program with so much recent quarterback success and what he had learned from the guys who came before him.

“I’d say the biggest thing I learned is just how to handle being in that light, at this university especially,” Rattler said. “It’s a huge position, so just being able to take bits and pieces of what they’ve (previous Oklahoma QB’s) done, that definitely helps you grow as a player.”

The Bedlam-centered program is taking place inside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, and will feature former Sooner basketball star Trae Young as the guest picker.

The game itself will take place tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ABC.

[vertical-gallery id=20463]

ESPN College GameDay coming to Oklahoma for Bedlam

For the first time since 2012, ESPN’s College Gameday will be heading to Norman next weekend.

After some speculation throughout the week, it has been announced and made official: ESPN’s College Gamedayis heading to Norman for Bedlam next weekend.

The game will feature a top-20 matchup of in-state rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State with a great deal on the line in terms of competing for a Big 12 championship.

This will be the first time the famous pregame show has come to Norman since Notre Dame played the Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 2012. The Fighting Irish won that game 30-13.

Although, they have been to several Oklahoma games since then when they were the visiting team – most recently being last year’s Red River Showdown where the Sooners defeated Texas 34-27.

This will be the seventh time College Gameday has come to the annual Bedlam game, with Oklahoma having won all of the previous six.

No fans will be allowed as the back drop like normal due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but hosting the nationally beloved program is still an honor that will be sure to excite many Sooners fans.

The game itself is set for 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday night and will be broadcast on ABC.

[vertical-gallery id=20233]