Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
LSU and Clemson meet Jan. 13 for the national championship. Where will this game rank among those since the BCS era?
LSU and Clemson get together on Jan. 13 for the College Football Championship. How will this game stack up eventually against the others since the BCS Championship began?
The game felt like a mismatch and it delivered a rout. Eddie Lacy, the game’s offensive MVP, ran for one touchdown and caught a pass for another in the final minute of the opening half, spinning away from the Notre Dame defense twice, to cap a 28-0 blitz.
David Johnson leaves Vols’ coaching staff.
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee running backs coach David Johnson has left UT to join Florida State’s coaching staff, Vols Wire has learned.
Johnson reunites with newly hired Florida State head coach Mike Norvell. The former UT assistant served as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for Norvell at Memphis from 2016-17.
Johnson came to Tennessee in 2018, joining Jeremy Pruitt’s initial UT coaching staff as wide receivers coach.
Tennessee concluded the 2019 season with a 23-22 win over Indiana in the 2020 Gator Bowl.
1997-00: John F. Kennedy HS, Offensive Coord./WRs/TEs
2000-05: O. Perry Walker HS, Offensive Coord./WRs/TEs
2005-09: Millsaps College, WRs/TEs/Special Teams/Recruiting Coord.
2009-11: St. Augustine HS, Head Coach/Offensive Coord.
2012-15: Tulane, Running Backs/Tight Ends
2016-17: Memphis, Passing Game Coord./WRs
2018: Tennessee, Wide Receivers
2019-present: Tennessee, Running Backs
*Per UTSports.com
The Jags found themselves with a potential successor for Jalen Ramsey in Draft Wire’s latest mock.
Despite some uncertainty surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars’ staff, fans have been anticipating what will be an interesting offseason for the team. Of course, the draft will be a big part of the 2020 offseason and the Jags are loaded with picks to make things right down the road thanks to the Jalen Ramsey trade.
All of that said, our comrade Luke Easterling released yet another mock for Draft Wire, which had several changes for the Jags in comparison to his last mock. In the first-round, the Jags seemingly got lucky with their first selection as Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah fell to them, which is a selection we’ve seen made for the Jags before. Like they did in last week’s mock, the also were slotted Clemson receiver Tee Higgins.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jeff Okudah | CB | Ohio State
After trading one of the NFL’s best corners, the Jags need to replace Jalen Ramsey with one of their multiple first-round picks in this draft. They luck out here, as this year’s top cover man falls to them at this pick. Okudah is a complete player who can make an immediate impact at a premium position of need.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)
Tee Higgins | WR | Clemson
After getting a defensive playmaker in the top 10, the Jags need to use their additional first-rounder in this draft to give their offensive a true No.1 receiver for whoever ends up throwing passes next season. Higgins has a rare combination of size, length, athleticism and body control.
39. Jacksonville Jaguars | Marvin Wilson | DL | Florida State
76. Jacksonville Jaguars | Ashtyn Davis | S | California
Fans of the Jags are likely familiar with Marvin Wilson due to Florida State being up the road from Jacksonville. The 6-foot-5, 311-pound standout is athletic as fans will find at his size, which is what the Jags need with Calais Campbell being the Jags’ oldest player.
As for Ashtyn Davis, our own Daniel Griffis has written about him before in the past. He praised Davis’ range and tackling ability, which is a nice mix of traits to have as a safety. While the Jags have more pressing needs, Davis has the type of abilities that are hard to find in the back field and could be well worth a third-round selection in the end.
The Holy Trinity of Oklahoma: Bud, Barry, and Bob. The trio top the list of Oklahoma head coaches in ESPN’s 150 greatest coaches…
The Holy Trinity of Oklahoma: Bud, Barry, and Bob.
The trio top the list of Oklahoma head coaches in ESPN’s 150 greatest coaches in college football’s 150-year history.
Bud Wilkinson just missed out on making the top five, coming in at No. 6. Not only did he lead the Sooners to a 47-game win streak from 1953-57 but also a 31-game win streak from 1948-50. Wilkinson’s use of the Split T formation drew from then Missouri head coach Don Farout, dominating the Tigers and nearly everyone else with the formation. Wilkinson is tenth all-time in career winning percentage, touting a 145-29-4 record (.826) and won three of Oklahoma’s seven national championships (1950, 1955, 1956).
The King comes in at No. 13. Barry Switzer’s brashness was always backed up with his teams’ play. With a .622 winning percentage against ranked opponents, Switzer’s Sooners of the ’70s and ’80s were going to do one thing and one thing only: beat their opponent’s ass. Thanks to Switzer, Oklahoma fans can claim the 1974, 1975 and 1985 national championships as well as their cult following of Brian Bosworth.
Bob Stoops rings the bell as the No. 29 best coach of all-time. Stoops, who is the coach of the XFL’s Dallas Renegades and not the Florida State Seminoles, won the seventh national championship for the Sooners following the 2000 season. Besides the lone BCS crystal ball, Stoops never had a losing season with 14 of his 18 teams winning at least 10 games.
Other coaches with Oklahoma ties to make the list include No. 68 Lynn (Pappy) Waldorf (Oklahoma City Univ./ Oklahoma A&M), No. 82 Jim Tatum (Oklahoma, 1946), No. 93 Howard Schnellenberger (Oklahoma, 1995) and No. 115 Bennie Owen (Oklahoma, 1905-26).
For the full list, click here.
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Florida Gators fans continued their tradition of honoring Tom Petty on Saturday in Gainesville
The Florida Gators knocked off Florida State on Saturday by a score of 40-17, to extend their rivalry win streak to 2 games.
Of course, we at UGA Wire are far from fans of the Gators, but we will admit some traditions in college football are worth mentioning at given moments.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium singing Tom Petty’s ‘Won’t Back Down’ on Saturday was one of those times.
Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this short video from Gainesville.
We won’t back down! 🔊🎶#GoGators #FSUvsUF #BeatFSU @TomPetty pic.twitter.com/S4NgY6JzVc
— Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) December 1, 2019
We know no one can ‘Light Up The Fourth Quarter’ like Georgia, but this tradition is pretty cool, you have to admit. Props to Florida for continuing to honor Petty.
And thanks for that resume boost on the schedule tonight as well. We run the East!
NICEVILLE – The Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team’s season-opening winning streak has finally come to an end, losing a tough game in the final minutes on the road to the Florida State Seminoles, 60-57, in the Emerald Coast Classic. The Vols …
NICEVILLE — The Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team’s season-opening winning streak has finally come to an end, losing a tough game in the final minutes on the road to the Florida State Seminoles, 60-57, in the Emerald Coast Classic.
The Vols were led by Lamonte Turner, who scored 20 points, but only shot 4-14 from the field and did most of his damage at the charity stripe, going 11-14; he also gave away 8 turnovers. Yves Pons brought the double-double trouble scoring 13 points, grabbing 10 boards and swatting three shots, representing the Vols’ best performance on the evening. Jordan Bowden was the only other UT player to reach double digit points, adding 11 of his own to go along with five rebounds.
Despite the close finish, Tennessee never led in this game. It was a furious comeback in the last two minutes that produced the final margin of defeat, with the Vols falling short in the end. Their largest deficit of 13 came at 10:42 in the second half, and the Volunteers just were not able to dig themselves out of that hole. FSU made three of four free throw attempts in the final seconds to seal the loss despite a last-second trey by Turner.
Overall, the Vols only shot 33 percent from the field and a putrid 23 percent from behind the arc. Their 89 percent mark from the free throw line on 29 attempts is very encouraging, as was their team total of seven blocks, but it is hard to win games against quality opponents when you cough up the ball 21 times.
The match was the first between the two teams in three decades, with the all-time record in the series now standing at 5-4 in favor of Tennessee. The loss ended a five-game winning streak to open the year for the Vols, though there remain plenty more games to be played.
The Volunteers next face either Purdue or VCU on Saturday at 4 or 7 p.m. ET, depending on game results, and will be broadcasted on the CBS Sports Network.
Final. #Vols 57, FSU 60
Back at it tomorrow.
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 30, 2019
An exciting weekend of Volunteers sports is now upon us, with the men’s basketball team traveling to Florida to take on the Florida State Seminoles, while the football team gets geared up for their final game of the regular season on Saturday. …
An exciting weekend of Volunteers sports is now upon us, with the men’s basketball team traveling to Florida to take on the Florida State Seminoles, while the football team gets geared up for their final game of the regular season on Saturday. Meanwhile, a handful of VFL players are on the Twitter NFL Pro Bowl ballot, just waiting for your vote.
The Tennessee men’s basketball team takes on the Florida State Seminoles tonight in the 2019 Emerald Coast Classic held in Niceville, Fla. The Vols will face FSU in their semifinal game inside The Arena at Northwest Florida State College.
Tennessee is coming off a strong defensive effort against in a win against the Chattanooga Mocs, and look to keep their season-opening win streak alive. The match will be the ninth time the two teams have faced each other on the parquet, with their most recent meeting coming way back in 1989. The Vols lead the all-time series, 5-3.
A victory on Friday night would improve the Volunteers to 6-0, their best start since 2010-2011, when they came out of the gates with seven-straight wins.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcasted on the CBS Sports Network and can be heard on local Vol Network affiliates.
Make some waves.
It's GAMEDAY » https://t.co/6Zq7TJlgFv pic.twitter.com/3bDw3YC3pG
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 29, 2019
NEXT: Tennessee wraps up regular season vs. Vandy
Previewing Saturday’s Florida State at Florida college football matchup, with NCAA football betting odds, picks and best bets
The Florida State Seminoles (6-5) will take on the Florida Gators (9-2) this weekend in an ACC-SEC clash at The Swamp in Gainesville. Kickoff from Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
We analyze the Florida State-Florida odds and betting lines, while providing college football betting tips and advice on this matchup.
1. Florida State’s leading rusher, Cam Akers, is expected to return on Saturday after missing last week’s game against Alabama State with an unspecified injury. He has 1,042 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
2. Florida has won back-to-back games in dominant fashion after losing two of its previous three games. The Gators beat Missouri 23-6 two weeks ago after blowing out Vanderbilt 56-0 the week before.
3. Florida has won six games at home this season while Florida State’s win at Boston College ended a six-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM!
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET.
Florida 30, Florida State 17
Florida is the heavy favorite in this matchup with the game on home turf. As a result, the -1000 moneyline on the Gators is steep and not worth betting — even though Florida should come away victorious.
The Gators are just 3-7 against the Seminoles in their last 10 meetings and 1-5 in the last six.
New to sports betting? A $10 wager on Florida to win would return a profit of $1.
The Gators enter as 17.5-point favorites, which isn’t surprising given how much better they’ve been this season. Florida State has limped through a disappointing campaign, but the Seminoles have scored 87 points in their last two games, so if they can score enough, it’ll be tough for Florida to cover the spread.
Not to mention, Florida State is 6-3 ATS in its last nine games against the Gators. Bet the SEMINOLES (+17.5, -106) to cover the spread.
The O/U is 53.5 in this matchup and both teams come in hot offensively. The Gators defense has been dominant this season, and in the last 19 games between these two teams, the total has gone under 14 times.
Bet the UNDER 53.5 (-106) on Saturday because it’ll be tough for Florida State to get much going offensively.
Get some action on this game or others, place a bet with BetMGM today. And for more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.
Follow @camdasilva and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
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Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.
Although no games were played Tuesday night Notre Dame saw their hopes of ending their season in the Cotton Bowl for a second year in a row come to an unofficial end.
As the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, Notre Dame remained at number 16 in the country, still the lowest of any two-loss power-five teams and also still behind three-loss Auburn.
So as it sits with No. 16 Notre Dame having just one game remaining against an under-500 Stanford team that won’t count for much, even if it does end with a 50 point win for the Irish.
The problem is that Notre Dame has already routed better teams than Stanford in recent weeks and gained no ground.
Unless you can figure out a way that Notre Dame jumps six teams and gets into the top-ten, then they’re headed to Orlando for the Camping World Bowl against a Big XII team.
With the games remaining it’s hard to find six losses that are going to benefit Notre Dame.
Here's a full look at the November 2️⃣6️⃣ #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Rankings.
Is your team in this week?
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 27, 2019
Auburn losing to Alabama would probably finally get the Irish ahead of the currently three-loss Tigers.
Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.
Kansas over Baylor or Rutgers over Penn State? No help coming in either of those.
Same pretty much going for Colorado’s chances against Utah, Florida State’s to upset Florida.
Not only would Notre Dame need one of those to happen, they’d need three of the last four listed in order to have a chance, couple with those Auburn, Michigan and Wisconsin losses listed above.
As you can tell the chances at the Cotton Bowl are about as good as gone. so if interested you might as well get those flights booked to Orlando.
That’s the unfortunate reality when what happens in Ann Arbor in late October happen to you in front of a national audience.
Fast-forward 17 days and we have found claims that Florida State is indeed interested in Notre Dame’s Kelly as their next head coach.
When Florida State fired head coach Willie Taggart back on November 3 we were quick to tell you to be on the lookout for rumors about whoever your favorite head coach is to be taking the job in Tallahassee, Brian Kelly included.
Fast-forward 17 days and we have found claims that Florida State is indeed interested in Notre Dame’s Kelly as their next head coach.
Bud Elliott and Ingram Smith of NoleCast cite independent sources that Florida State has interest in Brian Kelly and give reasons behind why it would at least a hair of sense.
“Two people have told us FSU has interest in Brian Kelly”
“There’s a little bit of question about the fit, but the proven track record of hiring assistant coaches and having them get promoted to other jobs and hiring new ones who are as good or better is really impressive.”
“He’s a really good recruiter with his staff. I think he knows what goes on in the south east, because we know he’s recruited some of these guys, and not always gotten them, but we know that’s due to some of the academic stuff”
-NoleCast Podcast on November 19, 2019
Elliott and Smith also discuss how Notre Dame’s academic standards and the difficulty winning big with them creates would make the Florida State job appealing to Kelly.
I get where they’re coming from and if you’re Florida State you should be looking anywhere and everywhere for a proven coach who is going to turn their recent sorry state of affairs around. As much as I’m not a Florida State fan, they’re a team that the game of college football, or at least the ACC, is just better when they’re good.
My only question though: Why would Kelly have any interest in going to a Florida State program where a massive rebuild is needed just to get in the same ballpark as Clemson, let alone pass them?
How likely is it to happen?
On a scale of “Beating Bowling Green to Lennay Kekua” I’d be somewhere near George O’Leary but short of Kekua.
