National Columnist Mike Farrell is here with the 3-Point Stance looking at the biggest program regressions in the last 20 years, running backs who will no longer be overshadowed, and one team to watch in each Group of Five conference.
Regressed Programs
— I got to thinking when I looked at the top five teams in the country back at the end of the 1999 season — who has regressed the most? Here they are, and it’s not pretty.
1. Miami
— Miami is first because it’s such a fall off from being so dominant and since they joined the ACC, a conference they were supposed to dominate, it’s been embarrassing. Miami has one 10 win season since 2003. They had 14 10 win seasons in those previous 20 years.
2. Virginia Tech
— The Hokies played for the national title in 1999 and remained steady under Frank Beamer but since 2011 they’ve been very mediocre with losing seasons in four of the last five years.
3. Nebraska
— Nebraska was as dominate as any program we’ve seen and they remained steady even after Tom Osborne left. But they haven’t sniffed at a winning season since 2016 and that’s awful.
4. Boston College
— BC was actually pretty good back at the start of the century. They were a consistent bowl team winning around 8 or 9 games a season and went to the ACC title game twice on 10 win years. But after Jeff Jagodziski was fired for interviewing with the Jets things have been bad. Since 2009 BC hasn’t won’t more than 7 games in a season. That’s bad.
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5. Texas
— This wasn’t as cut and dry as you’d think. They were amazing up until the 2010 season with 9 straight 10 or more win seasons. But since then they’ve won 10 games once and have had five losing seasons which is unthinkable.
Running Backs Stepping Into the Spotlight
— In our continued series on players who should no longer be overshadowed we look the running backs.
1. Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss
Overshadowed by: Tank Bigsby, Jahmyr Gibbs, Chris Rodriguez
Coming into 2022, almost no one knew about Judkins, as he was supposed to just be depth behind former-five star Zach Evans. Well, all Judkins did was lead the SEC in rushing as a freshman and now will have the stage to himself with most of the notable backs from the conference off to the NFL. A versatile playmaker who can do a little bit of everything.
2. Devin Neal, Kansas
Overshadowed by: Bijan Robinson, Eric Gray, Deuce Vaughn
The freshman topped the 1,000 yard mark, but it barely registered because of the big time playmakers ahead of him in the conference. But with all of the top backs off to the pros, Neal has a chance to shine and lead an upstart Kansas team.
3. Jaydn Ott, Cal
Overshadowed by: Zach Charbonnet
Ott had a breakout game early in his true freshman season where he went for 274 yards and 3 scores against Arizona but tailed off as the season went on. He should see his workload increase in his second year on campus, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him lead the conference in rushing as a sophomore.
4. Marquez Cooper, Kent State
Overshadowed by: Carson Steele, Lew Nichols
Steele was the talk of the MAC last year, as the big, powerful tailback is hard to miss on the field with his long, flowing blonde locks. But Cooper is entering his senior season coming off of back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons, and looks poised to be the next truly great back out of the MAC with Steele off to UCLA.
G5 Teams to Keep an Eye On
— And finally for you Group of Five lovers here is a team to watch in each conference.
AAC: UAB
Why to watch: Trent Dilfer at the college level
Since the revival of the program in 2017, the Blazers have gone to five consecutive bowl games, even with Bill Clark stepping down right before the start of last season. Dilfer is an outside-the-box hire for UAB, as he has zero collegiate coaching experience but is still very high profile due to his work with the Elite 11 series and his presence on ESPN and other media. He was very successful at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, but the jump from the high school to college level is always a big one.
Mountain West: San Jose State
Why to Watch: Chevan Cordeiro and a wide open offense
During the COVID season, Brett Brennan and the Spartans emerged onto the national scene, and they’ve been a solid contender in the MWC ever since. This might be their year, though, as they return the best quarterback in the conference and have a favorable schedule with only one tough road matchup at Boise State. Fresno State and San Diego State will always be tough, but I like the Spartans a lot this season.
Sun Belt: James Madison
Why to watch: Bowl Eligible in Year 2
The Dukes came out of the gates like gangbusters in their first year of FBS football, winning their first five games, including a big upset at Appalachian State. Even though they finished 8-4, they were not bowl-eligible because of an arcane rule not allowing them to be eligible for postseason play. They’ve got playmakers on offense at every position and have a great shot of knocking off Coastal Carolina, who may have made the worst hire of any school in the country with Tim Beck.
MAC: Kent State
Why to Watch: New Identity
The Golden Flashes had been one of the best and most consistent MAC programs under Sean Lewis, who left to become the OC at Colorado after they hired Deion Sanders. Quarterback Collin Schlee departed for UCLA and Dante Cephas off to the draft, it’ll be up to Marquez Cooper and Devontez Walker to carry the offense under new coach Kenni Burns, the former Minnesota and North Dakota State assistant.
CUSA: Jacksonville State
Why to Watch: New Kid on the Block
There’s all sorts of realignment going on across the Group of 5 this year, and CUSA is at the center of it. They lose the aforementioned Blazers as well as what feels like half of the rest of the conference. So while they’ve added a couple of other squads from the Sun Belt, they’ve also added Jacksonville State from the FCS ranks. The Gamecocks have been a mainstay of the FCS top-10 for the better part of a decade, and they’ll be looking to make a James Madison-esque jump.
