2019 Football Season is Here!

When I started “1 Foot In” it was just to serve as an outlet to my brain processing all the football that I enjoy so much. It still is, but like a lot of other things, making time to capture my thought is not always easy and frankly not always that high on the priority list.

With that caveat, I am excited that August is here and football will be played soon. In fact, I plan on going to watch Noah Josey and Brentwood Academy play on Friday night, at Lipscomb Academy, where Trent Dilfer is the new coach. Going to be fun watching Noah finish out his prep seasons (he is just a Jr) with every top school/team in the country already having offered him (EVERY, including Alabama and Clemson). My football fever starts with the Crestview Bulldogs. After a run to the 6A final four last year, they are in a newly aligned district which includes: Lincoln, Godby, Leon, Chiles, Niceville and Navarre! Also have Escambia on the schedule, so it will not be easy. I do think coach Hatton has the program in good shape, so while matching last season’s success will be a stretch, I do think they can win a bunch of games against a brutal schedule. The Gators may have been slightly ahead of schedule last year and now carry pretty high expectations – top 10 in most polls and the team in the East most likely to give Georgia a run. I think Georgia is so far ahead of everyone else in the East, it is a lot like the ACC. Clemson and a bunch of way behinds. Schedules matter. The SEC plays 8 conference games, 6 against their own “side – East or West”, one perm foe from the other side and a rotational foe from the other side. The West is stronger than the East right now and who you have to play matters. Ask Tennessee how much fun it is to have ALABAMA as your permanent West foe every year! Last season, they also had to play Auburn (big W for the Vols). One of the reasons Mizzu is getting so much love this preseason is their West slate of Ole Miss and Arkansas. Compare that to S Carolina’ getting Bama and A&M…or Florida having LSU and Auburn. Kentucky has Miss St and Arkansas. These types of schedule imbalances can mean the difference in bowl eligibility for teams or even a better or worse chance to get to the SEC champ game. When you play team also is a variable. When your bye week comes, or when your opponent’s bye week comes. So I’ll start off with my sense of expectation for the Gators this season. That opener with Miami is exciting and I’m really looking forward to it. A lot more pressure on Florida, given their nice season in 18, capped off by routing Michigan in the bowl. A UF win builds momentum, while a W by the Canes puts a bunch of pressure on Mullen and company. Gonna be optimistic and put a W on this one. UT Martin – W. At Kentucky in week 3. The Cats broke the 30 something year streak last season, but it is time to start another one – W. Then the Vols come to the Swamp. I do expect UT to be much better, but man the Gators have their number – even in years when Tennessee should win, they often do not. W. Towson W (boring). Auburn comes to the Swamp on Oct 5 and that one will be a dandy. Honestly not sure what to expect from Auburn, but they historically give Florida fits. Think I will go L here, but hopefully I’m wrong. At LSU is next and on paper LSU in Baton Rouge is a L, but Florida plays well most of the time against their perm West foe. L. At South Carolina is dangerous because they have a solid QB and Gators may be coming of 1 or even 2 losses…W. Then the cocktail party and unfortunately Georgia is loaded. L Vandy W. At Mizzu. W but with VERY low confidence. FSU – W. So, 8-4 regular season and a runner up in the East spot. A good bowl game. Long term UF is trending up, but only as high as the Georgia Bulldogs will allow. Dawgs rule the East and don’t appear to be willing to share anytime soon.  FLORIDA STATE crystal ball: Opener in Jax with Boise State. Wow. No warm up with a directional school, which frankly the Noles need coming off their worst season in 40 years or so. L but I HOPE I’m wrong. At North Carolina where Mack Brown is the new coach. W. At UVA – L. Then Louisville at home – W. NC State comes to Tally – L. At Clemson big L. At Wake – W. Syracuse – L. Miami is the game that will determine the season. It is at home so W. At BC – W. Alabama State W. at the Swamp – L.\ The math says 6-5. Wow how the mighty have fallen. The sad thing is that the ACC is pretty mediocre. Clemson is the best or one of the best teams in the country (old FSU) but after that, Syracuse or UVA? Those teams would be 6th or 7th in the SEC East or West… All these predictions can change on injuries, coaches getting fired, and a number of other season changing variables, but it’s fun to think the season through at the beginning, and then watch it unfold. Some expectations will be spot on, while plenty of surprises always happen. Now about Tennessee…I don’t want them to beat the Gators, but in every other game I will be pulling for the Vols. Great fan support and I really do thin Jeremy Pruitt will build them back up to give Georgia another strong East foe to deal with, over the next few years…As for this season, BYU is a terrific non -conference team to play out of the gate! As mentioned previously, getting Bama EVERY year out of the West is cruel and unjust, and this season the other West foe is Miss State. That is going to be a big / important game for UT. Georgia State a W. BYU..whew I’m going to go W, but it is more hope than evidence. Chattanooga is another W for a 3-0 start going into the game at the SWAMP. Probably pretty close talent wise, but the history suggests Florida has UT’s number – L. A bye week before Georgia L and then Mississippi State. This is why this game is so crucial for Vols. Have to stop the slide (2 L’s) because the following game is Alabama. W against the cow bells but L vs Bama. Getting the Gamecocks at Neyland is key, because South Carolina has an exceptional QB, with a lot of experience. Could go either way, but a W. UAB aint no slouch, but W and then a trip to Kentucky. W. At Mizzu feels like a Loss and then the TRI STAR showdown with Vandy, who has been bullying the Vols for the last few years. W! If that plays out, 8-4. That may be a tad optimistic, so 7-5 would be reasonable but we will see. Some fantastic out of state and in state Prep games this weekend! Ft Lauderdale St Thomas Aquinas heads out to California to take on De La Salle! In the Charlotte area Mallard Creek plays Dutch Fork SC for metro bragging rights. On Saturday, St Frances, a Baltimore powerhouse plays the Miami Central Rockets. DeMatha goes out to Cali to play John Bosco. Bring it! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Monday Morning over reactions! First, my brother Marty won the Masters World Championship in Jiu Jitsu at a huge event in Las Vegas. SO proud of him. He is a tough hombre… Crestview rolled 1A Vernon, but it was SLOPPY. August football games often are sloppy, but Dogs better have some “A game” this week as the travel to Escambia, the home of Emmit Smith! St Thomas Aquinas beat the California power De La Salle, and it was a pretty high quality game. I saw where BA spanked Huntsville, Al and where Shannon did not think highly of the Refs down there. BA, BTW, is in Atlanta this week playing a small and weak Florida opponent – it will not be close! In other OOS match ups, St Frances of Baltimore crushed the Rockets of Miami Central. St John Bosco of Bellflower CA, crushed DeMatha, a Maryland power. Mater Dei rolled over a strong Cali Centennial. The battle of Charlotte was tied when the called it off because of lightning. High School football is so deep in my person and fabric. My fav is the flavor of small town schools battling other small town schools. It is community building and the local pride is a wonderful thing. The BEST teams now a days, are the private (and some public) schools who snag the allstar players from a wide geographic area. There are even the unapologetic factories which take kids from all over the world with the promise of better coaching, visibility and scholarships. I don’t blame those kids, their parents or anyone, would likely consider that route if I had a son or daughter in those shoes. It is indeed all star football and I cannot resist the match ups. IMG, STA, JaxTrinity in Florida, DLS, the catholic schools in Cinci, the New Jersey teams, and now the rise of Baltimore and DC powers. It obviously is not the same caliber or “innocence” of small town football, but the caliber of athletes is tremendous. The # 5 team this week by Max Preps is St John’s DC. This season they will play one of the very best teams in Texas – Duncanville, one of the very best teams in Cali – Mater Dei, and Florida’s semi pro IMG Academy. That is not Milton vs Pace or Crestview vs Niceville! But, these teams are loaded with the SEC, ACC and Big10 players of next year… This week’s slate of games include: Don Bosco New Jersey vs St John Bosco Cali. St Joe Philly vs Marietta GA. BA goes to Atlanta and get Central Catholic of Clearwater. Horrible match up, as BA is 10X stronger that CCC. BA is ranked 48 in the nation while CC 1,179 and vastly over rated! Just wish BA could have found a more respectable team from Florida, but Bryan told me that next season (which he expects them to peak) they hope to play some stronger OOS foes. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Well there were a couple of week zero college games. The Gators bout gave me cardiac arrest, with their sloppy play, but managed to beat Miami in Orlando. The defensive line was stellar and the skill position players look explosive. Franks is worrisome. I heard a quote once: “A quarterback Is not about how great he is, but how great he can help his team be”. He has to love his team unselfishly, to be the best he can be for the TEAM. He’s got the body/physical tools, but football IQ is weak, as are his insecure taunting antics. He may be Mullen’s most challenging “project” for the QB whisperer…the defense did not tackle well, and looked unwilling to tackle at times. Had 4 or 5 awful DPI penalties, which kept giving the Canes chances to win the game. All that to say, it was a big W! The Gators, in their last 3 games have defeated Florida State, Michigan and Miami…guess we can live with sloppy… Hawaii beat Arizona, but catching Khalil Tate at the one yard line on the last play of the game! We move on to Week 1 as this Labor Day weekend is finally here.

Poor Duke gets Alabama in football…ouch. On Thursday night, Clemson and Ga Tech play on the new ACC network while UCLA and Cinci go and then there is the HOLY MORMAN WAR, BYU vs Utah. Colorado and Colorado State is the other EARLY cross state rivalry game. Ole Miss and Memphis are close to that kind of neighborhood brawl. Ohio State and FAU…Northwestern vs Stanford. South Carolina and North Carolina and an SEC opener with Georgia vs Vandy. Virginia and PITT, and USC vs Fresno State. Tennessee warms up for BYU with Georgia State, and on Sunday night, Houston and Oklahoma…Auburn and Oregon will be fun. Florida State plays Boise in Jax, and named Blackmon the starter over the Wisconsin transfer. Then Monday night Notre Dame gets to embarrass Louisville and be crowned national champ after just one game.