#StayHealthy and practice social distancing
Reports that the Big Ten is considering moving up its football season to starting Thanksgiving weekend was good reason to also wonder if college football could get on the same page.
Is there a chance for one national championship instead of fall and spring champions?
Since mid-August, the Power 5 conferences have been split. The Big Ten and Pac-12 announced plans in mid-August to postpone their season to the spring. The ACC, SEC and Big 12 have continued practicing toward September openers.
Duke coach David Cutcliffe, long involved with the American Football Coaches Association, isn’t optimistic. In other words, college football remains the Wild, Wild West.
“No, because there’s really no central command,” Cutcliffe said Friday afternoon in a Zoom call. “To be honest with you, you get very little real information. Every league is trying to operate in their own manner. So without somebody truly at center core of this, there is no way to predict what is going happen. I’m not sure we’ll ever see college football the same again.
“We’re just trying to get a team ready to play an opener. Were excited about season we have in front us. I think there is a great plan in place as far as all the protocols with COVID and doing everything to make sure we are doing everything can need to for our players be successful and happy.”
Duke said once all of college football shut down in the spring, canceling spring football, he was hopeful the schools would work together through the American Football Coaches Association. That soon unraveled as schools in the South, such as Clemson, came back to campus sooner than others.
Duke, which holds its second scrimmage on Saturday, is scheduled to open the season Sept. 12 at Notre Dame. The Blue Devils’ home opener is Sept. 19 against Boston College. The school earlier announced fans won’t be permitted to attend games.
Cutcliffe also said he plans to form a depth chart about mid-week to prepare for Notre Dame, ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press preseason poll. Other than reading between the lines, he didn’t indicate who has emerged in the quarterback battle between Clemson grad transfer Chase Brice and two returning QBs, redshirt junior Chris Katrenick and redshirt sophomore Gunnar Holmberg.
“The quarterbacks have looked good,” Cutcliffe said. “There is a lot of competition. Chris is experienced and Gunnar is a great young athlete; he is a threat to pull it down and run. Chase has thrown the ball exceptionally well. He’s made a lot of plays throughout practice and certainly the scrimmage (last week).”
Cutcliffe also answered a question that revealed experimenting getting three tackles with starting experience in the starting five. Devery Hamilton, a Stanford grad transfer, joined two returning starting tackles, redshirt sophomore Casey Holman on the left and true sophomore Jacob Monk on the right.
“They both have worked inside,” Cutcliffe said. “We’re also working both snapping the ball for the ‘what ifs.’ They have done a lot of guard work. They give us punch and strength inside. Where everybody ends up is not completely decided. They’re excited they’re as versatile as they are. I’m anxious to see as we unfold what the starting five is going to look like.”
Hamilton, a 6-foot-7, 301-pounder, has started at guard and tackle, but he has indicated one of the reasons he chose Duke was a chance to play what he feels is his best position, tackle. He was slotted for another year at guard at Stanford.
Cutcliffe’s reference to “what ifs” has to do with an unusual season likely shuffling lineups more than usual. In addition to injuries the come with the game, once teams travel and interact on the field, COVID-19 infections can sideline players before games.
That adds a new dimension to the problem of some schools presenting more deceptive injury reports than others teams.
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Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
Raye of Light: Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, The Integration of College Football, and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
https://www.augustpublications.com/
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