Friday’s 6-pack
According to Phil Steele Magazine, this year’s six best college QB’s
6) Kedon Slovis, USC
5) Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
4) Carson Strong, Nevada
3) JT Daniels, Georgia
2) Sam Howell, North Carolina
1) Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma
Late Night Update
Zach Davies and three relievers no-hit the Dodgers 4-0; LA got eight walks, but didn’t get a hit and lost their fourth game in a row.
Saturday’s quiz
Who managed the Mets, last time they played in a World Series?
Thursday’s quiz
Davey Johnson managed the Mets, last time they won the World Series, in 1986.
Wednesday’s quiz
James Woods played the team doctor in Any Given Sunday.
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Friday’s Den: College football coaching changes for this year
College football coaching changes for 2021:
Arizona
— First-time head coach Jedd Fisch is a longtime offensive coordinator.
— Arizona hired alums Ricky Hunley, Chuck Cecil as assistant coaches/defense.
— Wildcats went 0-5 LY, losing 70-7 to rival Arizona State; they gave up 39.8 ppg. .
Arkansas State
— Butch Jones went 50-27 at Central Michigan/Cincinnati, but went 14-24 in SEC games while at Tennessee. After three years working for Nick Saban, Jones is a head coach again.
— Previous coach bolted to Utah State, after Red Wolves had first losing season since 2010.
— ASU threw ball for 384.4 yards/game LY, #2 in country.
Auburn
— Previous coach Malzahn went 68-35 at Auburn, 39-27 in SEC, got told to take a hike.
— When you go 39-27 in SEC games and still get fired, expectations are high.
— Bryan Harsin comes from Boise State, where he was 69-19, 45-8 in Mountain West.
— Auburn opponents converted 50.3% of their 3rd down plays LY. Not good.
Boise State
— First-time head coach Andy Avalos was defensive coordinator at Oregon.
— Avalos is a Boise alum, like every Boise HC since 1998.
— Last four years, Boise is 27-2 in Mountain West
— Last three years, Broncos are only 7-6 outside Mountain West.
Buffalo
— Previous HC went 20-10 last three years, won two bowls, bolted to Kansas.
— First-time HC is 35 years old, was Dallas Cowboys’ cornerbacks’ coach LY
— Buffalo went 6-1 LY, scored 43.4 ppg, lost MAC title game, but won bowl.
Central Florida
— Previous coach bolted to Tennessee; UCF hired former Auburn coach Malzahn.
— Malzahn was 39-27 in SEC games at Auburn, but coaching Auburn during the Saban era at Alabama hasn’t been good for job security.
— Knights scored 42.2 ppg LY but went 6-4; the defense needs work.
— QB Gabriel has thrown for 7,223 yards in two seasons.
Illinois
— Illini hasn’t had a winning season since 2011.
— Bielema was 68-24 at Wisconsin, but was 11-29 in SEC games at Arkansas.
— QB Peters is 6th-year college player; he started here last two years. He figures to hand off a lot this season; Bielema prefers to run the ball a lot.
Kansas
— Leipold won six D-3 national titles, went 24-10 his last three years at Buffalo.
— Leipold was hired the day before Kansas’ spring game, which was awkward.
— Jayhawks haven’t been to a bowl game since 2008.
— Kansas will try to run ball well, to keep their defense off the field.
UL-Monroe
— 64-year old HC Terry Bowden spent last two years as a Clemson assistant.
— Former Arizona/Michigan HC Rich Rodriguez is the new OC- his son is the QB.
— Nine of their 10 losses LY were by double digits; this is a total rebuild.
Marshall
— Previous coach was 85-54 but got fired; the governor of West Virginia didn’t like him.
— When you go 55-30 in conference games and still get fired, expectations are high.
— New coach Huff has been NFL/college assistant for 16 years, last two at Alabama.
— Huff kept the same offensive coordinator, has 9 starters back on offense.
South Alabama
— New HC Wommack was an assistant at Indiana during their turnaround.
— QB Jake Bentley has 8,409 passing yards, playing for South Carolina/Utah.
— Major Applewhite is the new OC; they’ll throw more vertical passes.
— Jaguars haven’t been to a bowl since 2016.
South Carolina
— New HC Beamer is son of former Va Tech coach Frank Beamer.
— Gamecocks went 2-8 LY, giving up 41+ points in five of last six games.
— South Carolina has only 9 starters back; 5 on offense, 4 on defense.
— No returning WR had more than 11 catches last season.
Southern Mississippi
— Golden Eagles had three different head coaches, just last year.
— New HC Hall was OC at Tulane; he’ll be his own OC here.
— RB Frank Gore Jr ran for 708 yards LY; his dad is still active in the NFL.
— Southern Miss has 10 starters back on offense.
Tennessee
— New coach Heupel comes from UCF, with new AD White.
— NCAA is investigating, which usually screws up recruiting for a while.
— Tennessee hasn’t been to a bowl since 2016- last year was their worst record in 97 years.
— Heupel is an offensive guru, but this turnaround will take a while.
Texas
— Tom Herman went 32-18 in four years, 22-13 in Big X games, got the ax anyway.
— Rival Oklahoma has won six consecutive Big X titles; Texas boosters don’t like Oklahoma.
— Longhorns were 7-3 LY, will be breaking in a new QB this year.
— New coach Sarkisian was fired at USC for showing up drunk, but he knows Nick Saban, so he gets another head coaching job.
Utah State
— New HC Anderson led Arkansas State to 6 bowls in 7 years.
— Utah State has regressed since scoring 47.5 ppg in 2018.
— Aggies went 1-5 LY, scoring 10.4 ppg in the losses.
— Utah State has 9 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Vanderbilt
— New coach Clark Lee is a Vanderbilt alum.
— Commodores get three guys on OL back who opted out of last year.
— Vandy allowed 38+ points in seven of nine games LY.
— QB Seals completed 64.6% of his passes LY, so they’re good there.