Jon Joseph

One of the UGA 5* OL guys who entered the portal is back with the Dawgs.

Helton is back in the G5 where he belongs and may do OK?

Robbie balled out in the Auburn spring game and has a real shot to be the starting QB at Auburn this season. At Army (Navy + Air Force) every player is being paid.

As head coaches, I think both need an XXX long snorkel in order to take a breath?

So much of this depends on the last group of recruiting classes. Utah will never be 'up there' when it comes to recruiting. Will never have a BCR. (See below.) I expect the combined roster rankings that come out after 'fall practice' will not vary too much at the top but there will be a lot of sorting out from 11-25. In 2022, Oregon will again have a Blue Chip Ratio (BCR) roster; 50%+ of the roster made up of 4 and 5* recruits. No team that came into a season without BCR roster won a BCS title, or has won a Playoff title to date.

Yet, the ESPN FPI has Texas ranked No. 6 and Auburn No, 10. GIGO?

I think that regulation of 'tampering' and other CFB concerns of the moment will not come before the Transition Committee presents it recommendations for G5/P5 governance free of the NCAA. The Transition Committee is co-chaired by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the Ohio University AD. One wonders if there will be uniformity between the G5/P5 and even conference to conference? I believe the Pac-12 has 2 representatives on the 20 person committee? Unlike the 4 person committee that recommended the 12 team playoff format, this committee is inclusive. It will be fascinating to see how G5/P5 football will be regulated without the NCAA being involved.

I expect the QB competition to go well into 'fall' practice. Of course Ty could end up 3rd string but so could every guy in the QB room. The CFB off season is so long that us fans have a tendency to make far too big a deal out of spring practice and the spring game.

Against the SEC, the Pac-12 does not stack up; doesn't come close.

I respectfully disagree. A final 4 berth was there in 2019 but for an awful loss at ASU. And the QB coaching of Justin Herbert was pathetic. The Rose Bowl win was nice but it was a 1 point win against a 3L team with the NFL rookie of the year leading the O. Won the COVID-CONFERENCE title in 2020 with a 4-3 record. This team was exposed in the Fiesta Bowl by Iowa State. Great win at tOSU in 2021 and then the team continually played down to the level of the opponent; completely no-showed twice vs Utah. The team was competitive in the 2nd half of the Alamo Bowl after team was trucked and the game was lost in the 1st half. The 2021 team came in with the 12th best roster ranking in the nation. Played up to this ranking in Columbus and kind of, in LA vs UCLA. Cristobal is a recruiting champ and a coaching chump. Make every excuse in the book but the man's record as an HC is 62-60. It does not good to have all the best ingredients in the kitchen and a chef who can't cook. Was Mario better than Helton? Yes. Who isn't a better P5 coach than Helton? IMO, Mario way under-achieved in Eugene.

All this 'stuff' is under the radar. It's a 3rd party on behalf of school X who reaches out to someone 'close' to the player and discusses the transfer 'details.' Gary Paterson, before he was let go by TCU, complained about so many of his good players 'hearing' from SEC teams. Easy to allege but far from easy to prove and unlike the NFL, there is no ipso facto remedy for tampering. The Commish of CFB doesn't exist; so, he can't levy fines or take away draft choices that do not exist in CFB. Report a tampering violation to the to the NCAA? Perhaps the NCAA will get around to doing something about it 3 to 6 years down the road?

1 difference. CK's job came with a group of quality, assistant coaches who had been in Eugene for many a moon and had coached with Chip.. The team he took over was already running CK's O. And Nick A was the perfect DC for the offense Chip ran. Riley is bringing his own guys with him to SC. But he knows most of the guys; he worked with most of them at OK. I think bringing Caleb Williams along for the ride is simply huge; especially, in year 1. Williams knows the OK/Riley O. RBs usually do very well in Riley's O and bringing vets in like Dye and Jones from Stanford is also a big help. As is Caleb Williams being familiar with WR Williams who also transferred in from OK. This SC team in 2022 is going to be hard for many the Pac-12 team to out-score. And while it certainly will not be great, I do expect the D to improve under Grinch. If SC was to win the south in 2022 it would not shock me in the least. Missing Oregon is very good break. And having your 2 top competitors for the S title playing at Oregon, UCLA and Utah, is also a favorable scheduling break for the Trojans.

Ah, wouldn't it be nice to have that choice? And be young enough to do something with it?

I agree but it is going on all over the place. Especially when it comes to poaching talented guys from the G5.

In theory, yes.

These guys entering the portal should have an agreed upon landing spot. Lots of young men who are giving up their current scholarship are finding that the not only is the grass not greener, but there is no new grass.

Man, the Pac-12 likes its FCS 'cupcakes' hard and not soft. I agree that playing the Cougars in Pullman after playing the Cougars in Autzen could be very tough sledding. Especially, if Cameron Ward is the real deal at QB.

Great take. The SEC with 8 regular season games means a title matchup will most often not be a rematch. UGA plays Bama in the regular season once every 6 or 7 years. When OK and TX come on board I think the SEC will go to pods instead of divisions and will play 9 conference games. But even with 9 conference games in a 16 team conference there will be fewer champ game repeats than we will witness in the Pac-12. With the B1G's reluctance to drop to 8 conference games to facilitate OOC games vs the Pac-12 and the ACC, I imagine the Pac-12 will stay with 9 regular season games? I hope the Pac-12 will eliminate divisions but if the conference stays with divisions I'd like to see the cross-division games follow the OOC games. If there is a rematch, the first game will have happened earlier in the season. (I also hope the CA schools playing one another every season goes away?) In 2022, I would much rather have the Ducks playing Utah in October and not in late November. Coherent conference scheduling has rarely been seen in the Pac-12; especially, under the aegis of Scott and Merton Hanks. This is an issue that GK, IMO, needs to address prior to the schedules being formatted for the 2023 season.

I agree the OL is thin but it does have talent. Average rush last season was 4.4 yards. Gave up only 18 sacks in 12 games, with a less mobile guy than Caleb Williams playing QB. Brought in a very good OL guy from UVA. RB? Getting Dye from the Ducks and Jones from Stanford were 2 very solid pickups. The same at WR with Williams from OK (no relation to Caleb) leading a talented group of WR transfers. If the OL holds up and with the other talent on O including Caleb Williams who finished with the 4th best QBR last season, I think this team could shoot-out its way to 10 wins in 2022, and make a run at the S division championship. Teams will be coming at Caleb no doubt, but the cat is elusive. SC missing the Ducks in 2022, and Utah having to play in Autzen, could really help out the Trojans. SC can take a loss in Salt Lake City and still win the South title. Yes. Riley took over a great situation with Oklahoma, but how can he not be an improvement over the incompetent who preceded him? He has assembled a much better staff than Helton ever had at SC, and he understands what a championship program looks like and what has to be done to compete at a championship level. Riley is competing in a conference that is less difficult than the B12. The Pac-12 went 0-5 in its 2021 bowl games. At 5-2 in its bowl games, the B12 finished with the best P5 bowl record. The 2 teams that defeated OK in 2021? Baylor defeated Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl and OK ST defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. We all know what happened in the Alamo Bowl. Terrific take from Alex. Of course Oregon is not going to fear SC, but I think many the Pac-12 fan may be selling Riley short?

'WE?' As I recall, you were the guy with the sack to question Mario on a 'public' site and took a whole lot of unjustified grief for doing so?

Will Gilbert, who has an 'interesting' CFB journey to date, UF to LSU, back to UF and then back to LSU where he did not play. Will he show up on 9/3?

Coach, this should reclassify the 2022 #16 recruiting ranking north? Further ahead of all the other Pac-12 teams. The AZ teams cannot keep the top guys at home; too bad, so sad.

The Georgia spring game was played yesterday. All American TE, Brock Bowers from Napa, CA, was dinged and not able to play. But LSU TE transfer, Arik Gilbert, 6'5" 248 pounds stepped up and caught 2 TD passes from returning national champ winning QB, Stetson Bennett. Barret Sallee of CBS Sports post game take - "When you have TEs like Bowers, Gilbert and Washington in the mix with UGA's versatile backfield and WR corps, the O should be much better and more balanced than last season's. In other words, 'get your popcorn ready." Sallee could also have mentioned Bennett returning at QB and an experienced OL. Wow! Lots of turnover on the UGA DL but the O should be solid indeed. As tough a test as the Ducks D could face in the opening game. Beavers? The QB play for OR ST yesterday was inconsistent at best. Not as germane to the Ducks in 2022, but in its spring game, the Bama OL looked like it has the same problems it had in 2021. Heisman winner QB Young was rarely given time to set up and throw the ball. Also, the tOSU D looked improved but needs to make additional improvement. But the O sans Wilson and Olave at WR, still looked lethal.

LOL! I went nuts over this one! Don't know if it's a new kitty cat high or low? Keep 'em coming!

To my knowledge, Caleb Williams kept the job and finished with the 4th best QBR in the nation? After being benched vs TX, Rattler came in and threw a critical 2 point conversion pass. But he never started another game at OK after Williams engineered a great comeback. Also in 2021, especially for a Heisman front runner, he played awful football in OK's OOC games. IMO. Riley made a gutsy and proper call to bench Rattler in favor of a true frosh.