Sports fans are notoriously resistant to change. When Major League Baseball instituted the pitch clock a few years ago, many longtime baseball observers panned the idea. But thanks to the new rules, playoff games that used to go on forever now regularly clock in at under three hours.
Change has come for college football, too. And that progress is often painful. From new rules like the two-minute timeout (good), coach-to-QB helmet communication (really good), to drastic conference realignment (mostly bad), things seem unsettled, even at the sport’s highest level. Add in the chaos of NIL and the looming specter of revenue-sharing and employment contracts and you have a recipe for disasters.
Off the field, I’d argue that many of the recent changes have been, in fact, disastrous. The current transfer portal process benefits no one, and the lack of NCAA, state or federal regulations governing the multi-billion dollar industry that is college football has left lots of fans rightly wondering, ‘What’s next?”
But, on the field, things have never been better. Last week alone, seven of the nation’s Top 10 teams played one-score games, including four games that featured last-second lead changes.
There are nine undefeated teams in this week’s AP Top 25 rankings, and only one of those – Texas – hails from the SEC. (There’s a sentence no one’s ever typed before). LSU, Texas and Texas A&M are the only three SEC teams still undefeated in conference play. Two service academies – Army and Navy – are undefeated and ranked. The likeliest scenario is that no power-conference team finishes their regular-season schedule undefeated. After that, the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff promises another month of marquee matchups and nail-biting finishes.
Even if you’re not a fan of the off-field chaos enveloping the sport – the on-field chaos likely keeps you coming back every week.
Speaking of progress, hats off to Jeff Lebby and his Bulldogs. Things are looking up on the gridiron after two respectable performances against No. 1 Texas and then-No. 5 Georgia. MSU put together two solid quarters in Austin and followed that up with three solid quarters in Athens, with a bye week sandwiched in between.
Freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren has been a revelation, and he seems ideally suited for the current iteration of Lebby’s “Freebird” offense and start-slow-but-end-fast tempo. Saturday in Sanford Stadium, the fresh-faced signal caller guided the offense to 31 points – the most Georgia has given up at home since a 2016 loss to Tennessee – throwing for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns. But what most impressed me about Van Buren is something he didn’t do.
With just under three minutes remaining in the game, Van Buren ended up on the Georgia sideline after escaping the rush and picking up six yards before running out of bounds. As he made his way back on the field, the freshman walked right into the path of Georgia head coach and whirling-dervish-in-a-visor Kirby Smart, who promptly put a shoulder into the Bulldogs’ QB and then shoved him with both arms. Van Buren, to his credit, didn’t react or respond, other than to drop a dime of touchdown pass to wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi a minute later.
Sometimes, the best revenge is living well.
The Bulldog defense seems outmanned and often overmatched, and that’s going to limit the team’s ceiling. MSU is going to have to outscore teams to beat them, but that now suddenly seems possible.
I’m not expecting the Bulldogs to reel off a winning streak and challenge for bowl eligibility, but a 2024 season once headed for the shortlist of “worst seasons ever” now seems to be … maybe not that?
Progress, indeed.
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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