A Look Forward at Week 5 in College Football

Kelly Bryant: A Bright Future

I totally get the desired move of Clemson Quarterback Kelly Bryant. It makes total sense. He’s talented, has proven he’s a winner and has carried a top ranked college offense, a year ago. He is an above average passer and can make most throws required by and NFL package. I’m not saying this kid is Cam Newton, but when I watched the film, his style and skill set reminds me of Cam.

I give him credit for making this move, I just hope he finds the right coach/system where he can utilize his skill set. I think he’s an NFL player in the right situation. If he can find a spot where a pro offense, a good running game exits he will progress as a pocket passer. I realize he has no ties to the west coast but I could see Kelly fitting in well in a place like Arizona St and Herm Edwards as a mentor. ASU also has a Sr QB who will be moving on after this year. This may be one door shutting and a more attractive one opening up.

It sure sounds like the kid has a good head on his shoulders so hopefully he has some good people around him and makes a solid decision. Who wouldn’t want a proven veteran leader in the clutch who can carry a program on his shoulders?

Jalen Hurts: Sold on Alabama?

On the other hand, Alabama QB Jalen Hurts staying at Alabama makes “no sense”. Nick Saban has done some of his best recruiting if this actually happens. This kid is clearly the backup here now after leading the TIDE to a National Championship last year. Sure, he didn’t finish the job in the Natty but he got them there.

Playing in mop up duty is great for Alabama but I’m not sure what it does for Jalen? He’s a good player, a good kid and has a ton to offer. I’m just surprised he doesn’t jump to another program where he can offer everything he has done at Bama the last couple of years.

The Ohio State Situation

Is it just me or has the sentiment regarding the Ohio State program, from a national level, just become one of apathy since the return of Urban Meyer? The whole situation just seems kind of dirty and dark. The arrogance, the untruths, the denials that didn’t make sense all have kind of lead us outside of Columbus to just turn our backs and want it to all go away. Its put a black eye on their program and really on the sport.

Nobody stood up and took blame, nobody said, “here is what we are going to do to fix it” or make sure it doesn’t happen again. Because there was no closure or accountability it just hangs out there over the program and a lot of us have just turned our backs to it.  I realize it hasn’t stopped COLLEGE GAME DAY on ESPN from coming to Happy Valley this week for the Buckeyes and Penn St so it’s probably just me. My feeling is “It’s sad”. It is hard to put into words. At the very least the credibility of the program and the people involved, including the sham of an investigation, just makes us all want to shower.

Weekend Radar

Very few college games interest me this weekend but here’s a couple…

Pell Studio, Shutterstock

Oregon at California

After giving a game away last week to Stanford, my guess is there has been some sleepless nights in Eugene this week. Plenty of blame to go around for that debacle. I’m interested in seeing how or if the Ducks bounce back. As talented physically as Justin Herbert, the Ducks NFL like QB is, he still must prove he can process from the pocket, come off on to secondary receiver and make some throws “on time”. Doing this vs a Justin Wilcox defense, on the road, will go a long way toward furthering his case of being the first pick in next year’s NFL draft, or not. There will be plenty of NFL scouts at this one. Cal has a solid offense, on their own, lead by offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin, who should be at the top of most lists as a HEAD COACH in a power 5 conference soon.

Notre Dame at home vs Stanford

Notre Dame’s quarterback switch makes this interesting.  I like Brian Kelly’s move. He had to shake things up and I give him credit. Now let’s see if Ian Book can produce vs a top-rated program in Stanford. Stanford’s defense is much better than a statistically poor Wake Forest group who they beat last week. Odds makers like the switch, the line went from 2.5 to 5.5 this week. Stanford is coming off a game in which they didn’t play well and still won. I like ND.

Photo Credits: Pell Studio, Shutterstock