Gameday

Season’s winners, losers are already lined up

Subjectively selecting winners and losers for the college football season is a ritual traditionally reserved for the conclusion of the postseason, but there are plenty of reasons to toss a few bouquets and let loose a few boos right now.

Lee Corso ends up as one of the biggest winners because ESPN had an entire offseason to conjure up the type of lengthy tribute to him that is typically reserved for someone who has the word "late" in front of their name.

Speaking of College GameDay, Nick Saban placed himself in the losers' category with a whiny condemnation of Penn State's decision to fire James Franklin.

Of all people, Saban knows that a 4-21 record against Top-10 opponents is a one-way ticket to the ranks of the unemployed.

While saying the firing was "unfair as hell," Saban conveniently neglected to mention that he and Franklin are represented by the same agent.

That little tidbit would have added much-needed perspective on Saban's criticism of Penn State, which accused the university of lacking appreciation of and gratitude for Franklin's achievements.

Notre Dame fans became winners when former head coach Brian Kelly was handed his walking papers by LSU.

Kelly, who has perfected the ability to alienate entire populations of college football fans, bolted South Bend for Baton Rouge in November 2021 with the Irish still in contention for the College Football Playoff.

Count Lane Kiffin as a winner, and not just because Ole Miss is a national championship contender. Despite a well-earned reputation as a job jumper, Kiffin is once again identified as a hot prospect for one of the Power 4 conference coaching vacancies.

Penn State's inexplicable collapse made losers of all the Nittany Lions fans who planned to travel to south Florida for the national championship game.

Despite their mediocre seasons, Washington State (4-5) and Oregon State (2-8) deserve to be regarded as winners for their allegiance to the Pac-12 Conference, which will be reconstituted next year with the addition of six football-playing members.

Figuratively and literally, the Massachusetts football program (0-9) has become the epitome of losing. Contracts with Power 4 conference teams generate vital revenue for the athletic department, but the price to be paid is a guaranteed trouncing.

In losses to Auburn, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi State, Missouri (twice) and Penn State over the last three seasons, Massachusetts has allowed an average of 51.4 points while scoring a total of 71 points.

Expansion has made a big winner of the SEC. Of the eight SEC teams that are currently ranked, three -- Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma -- have been admitted to the conference since 2012.

At first glance, parity in the Mid-American Conference appears to trumpet superior performance.

Ohio, Miami (OH), Buffalo and Western Michigan all sport 4-1 conference records.

Collectively, however, those four teams have accumulated 11 non-conference losses, and their overall combined record of 21-15 computes to just a pedestrian .583 winning percentage. Definitely no CFP contenders here.

Give Colorado head coach Deion Sanders a win and a loss for prohibiting his players from meeting with the media after a 52-17 home drubbing to Arizona Nov. 1.

Sanders said the decision was based on his belief that he alone needed to answer for the blowout. While commendable, that position deprived his players of a valuable character-building opportunity.

Finally, the biggest winner in college football now and ever more is corporate America.

Color them contenders

At 4-2 in Mountain West play, Hawaii is making a serious run at its second appearance in the conference title game and first since 2019.

A preseason media poll positioned Hawaii seventh among 12 teams in the predicted order of finish. Under head coach Timmy Chang, a former star quarterback at the school, Hawaii (7-3, 4-2) has won four of its last five games.

Hawaii's 38-6 victory over San Diego State last Saturday was only its fifth in the last 25 games in the series.

The Rainbow Warriors have scored 30 or more points in five straight games, which is the program's longest streak since six such efforts spanned the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

San Diego State and Boise State, tied atop the Mountain West at 4-1, meet Saturday night. Hawaii has a bye this week.

Notables

– In 11 seasons at Division II Kutztown (PA), head coach Jim Clements is 100-29 with over half of the losses absorbed in his first four seasons. The Bears have won 28 consecutive regular-season games over three seasons.

– Penn State and Michigan State each carry the baggage of a six-game losing streak into Saturday's matchup at East Lansing. While Michigan State has lost five games by double digits, Penn State has suffered five losses by six points or less.

– With two games remaining in the regular season, Ole Miss (9-1) is one win away from posting a third consecutive season with 10 or more wins under head coach Lane Kiffin. In the 50 seasons prior to Kiffin's arrival at Ole Miss in 2020, the program produced only three 10-win seasons.

– With 31 points in the second quarter against UTSA Nov. 6, South Florida became the only FBS team this season to score 30 or more points in a quarter in multiple games. The Bulls scored 35 points in the third quarter of a 63-14 win over South Carolina State on Sept. 20.

– In defeating Marshall for its seventh consecutive victory, James Madison (8-1, 6-0 Sun Belt) allowed second-half points for the first time since a win over Georgia Southern on Sept. 27, a five-game span of 294 minutes and 35 seconds.

– With his 22nd field goal of the season, in a win last weekend, Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa broke the program record that had been set in 1984.

Quotables

"The lesson I've learned in that for the rest of my career is when we arrive at a facility, we will go over that with a fine-tooth comb and look for any of those potential issues."

-- Northwestern head coach David Braun on USC's conversion of a fake punt for a first down on a pass completion

by a backup QB who was wearing a uniform number that had been changed for the official game-day roster

"Finish the game. Seal the game. This is it. This is the play to get the W, so I made it happen." -- Ohio junior safety

Jalen Thomeson on his first career interception with 1:58 remaining that locked up a 24-20 win over Miami (OH)

"On defense, we let them throw all over us. One receiver got open whenever he wanted to, and that was not a good plan to cover him."

-- Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm after Cal's Jacob De Jesus caught 16 passes for 158 yards and the game-winning touchdown in a 29-26 overtime victory over the Cardinals

"We have improved significantly over the course of the season, individually and collectively. Our team defense and our team offense, along with our kickoff coverage. I mean, it's not one guy or anything, it's a collective effort."

-- North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick after his resurgent Tar Heels defeated Stanford, 20-15, to improve to 4-5 overall with a second straight win

Jim Caltagirone, a former member of Penn State's sports information department, comments on the national scene for Gameday. He can be reached at jimclion4ever@gmail.com