Mind Your Wandering Eye: Week 13 Preview

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Good morning and welcome to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. We are officially one week out from the greatest weekend on the college football calendar: Rivalry Week. The week before is colloquially known as SoCon Saturday if you’re in the SEC and that holds true for a few SEC teams thanks to new conference scheduling, there is still a relative dearth of top-tier matchups across the country. Therefore, teams, coaches, and pundits seem to be more concerned with politicking and carrying water for their conference than focusing on what’s right in front of them.

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko was asked in a press conference how he keeps his team focused on Auburn with Texas looming next weekend. Elko said, “I think our focus is single-handedly on Texas… I meant on Auburn.” Unfortunate Freudian slip there, Mike. Our prediction is that multiple teams are going to get got this weekend. Will it be Ole Miss looking ahead to the Egg Bowl and playoff against Florida? Texas hosts Kentucky who’s already knocked off those same Rebs on the road and nearly did the same to Georgia. Can Wake Forest exact revenge on the Canes for the first time in 80 years? (Spoiler: probably not!). SMU, Colorado, and BYU all control their own destinies but all have tricky conference road games first. Same with Bama who heads to Norman. Someone’s falling this weekend, just don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Quick Week 12 Recap

Unfortunately, we were unable to send out a dedicated Week 12 Recap edition due to personal commitments last weekend. Tate had a phenomenal Saturday as a Dawg fan while Rand was treated to the same old pain and suffering at the hands of the Demon Deacons athletics (not the last time you’ll read that in this edition). So let’s catch up on the important notes from last week’s action.

#1 Oregon survived a scare in Madison as they beat Wisconsin 16-13. The Ducks have officially locked up their Big 10 Championship appearance and will face either Ohio State, Indiana, or Penn State. Cause for concern for the Ducks? Not really, Wisconsin had a really good defensive gameplan and was aided by a red zone pick of Dillon Gabriel. Oregon has played with their food a few times this season and it hasn’t bitten them, but as they’ve proven already they’ll rise up when it matters most. Star WR Tez Johnson is also expected to be back this weekend after missing a few games with a shoulder injury.

#10 Alabama, #8 Notre Dame, #2 Ohio State, and #4 Penn State rolled which, whatever, but #3 Texas went on the road to beat old rival Arkansas 20-10 in what might be their biggest/best win of the season? Or is it Vandy on the road? Michigan in the Big House? Whichever one it is, the Horns ain’t played nobody Pawl and they really, really need to beat TAMU next weekend, or Selection Sunday might be an uncomfortable wait, if not an outright guillotine. 

Pittsburgh nearly upset #20 Clemson until they let Tigers QB Cade Klubnik run for a last-minute 50-yard touchdown which is such a Pitt way to lose that game. Florida beat #22 LSU 27-16 in the Swamp thanks to QB DJ Lagway being back from injury while #21 South Carolina squeaked by #23 Missouri 34-30 as they continue their scorching hot end to the season. Tulane destroyed Navy 35-0 to clinch their spot in the AAC Championship against Army. If #13 Boise State stumbles, it’s likely #25 Tulane will get that G5 playoff spot assuming they win out. They’re a buzzsaw running the ball right now and it’s unlikely #24 Army has the personnel to stop them. 

In the Big 12, Kansas knocked off #6 BYU to end their undefeated season but the Cougars can still make the Big 12 Championship if they win out. However, they’ll have to go through Arizona State who is 8-2 on the season and also controls their destiny in the B12 race. #17 Colorado demolished Utah as Travis Hunter, once again, made ridiculous plays on offense and defense. He hasn’t locked up the Heisman outright but he’s the betting favorite and we aren’t arguing with that. The Buffs head to Kansas City to face the Jayhawks who look to beat their third straight top 25 opponent. 

We’d be remiss not to dedicate an entire paragraph to how #19 Louisville lost to 2-7 Stanford on Saturday. In Palo Alto as a three-touchdown favorite, The Cards let Stanford tie the game 35-35 on a 25-yard touchdown pass on 4th & 1 with 45 seconds remaining. Then, Louisville turned the ball over on downs trying to complete a hail mary at the Stanford 45. With 10 seconds remaining, Stanford threw a one-yard completion but Louisville was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. Then, they were called for an offside with 1 second left. Stanford then nailed a 52-yard walk-off field goal. In abhorrent but not unexpected Louisville fashion, that same DB who was called for the penalty was arrested for domestic violence and strangulation 24 hours later. As if people needed any more reasons to despise Louisville. 

As for yours truly, Tate witnessed Carson Beck not throw an interception for the first time in seemingly this century as #12 Georgia suffocated #7 Tennessee, once again, possibly ending the Vols’ playoff hopes in a 31-17 beatdown. Conversely in an all-time awful Saturday, Rand watched Wake Forest basketball come up short in a road contest against Xavier. It looks like he’ll have to wait another week - or 15 years - for Wake basketball to be ranked in the AP Poll. No seriously, it’s been since 2010. Then he drove to Chapel Hill and watched Wake football lose 31-24 to the Tar Heels. Wake lost in the exact same manner they lost the Virginia, Louisiana, and Cal games: self-inflicted mistakes. There will be a more comprehensive post-mortem on Wake Forest football later, but don’t be surprised if this team sneaks into a bowl game at 5-7 off the APR technicalities. 

The Top Week 13 Games You Need To Watch

#5 Indiana (10-0) @ #2 Ohio State (9-1): OSU -13.5, O/U 51.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET FOX

The game of the week has been discussed all week, but for the worst reasons humanly imaginable - the god-forsaken playoff rankings. We all know that Indiana hasn’t really played anybody, goodness gracious we get it. We’ve got a f*cking top 5 matchup between one of the blue bloods of the sport and one of the best Cinderella teams we’ve ever seen, can we just enjoy it? Sheesh.

On the field, this has got to be one of the most interesting stylistic matchups of the season thus far. Yes, Ohio State is significantly more talented than the Hoosiers, particularly up front, but Ohio State has now lost their second starting offensive lineman for the season after starting center (and future NFL player) Seth McLaughlin tore his Achilles in practice this week. Yeesh. Indiana’s front four isn’t a group of world-beaters, but the Buckeyes have already struggled on the offensive line this season even before losing two starters, and losing your center most of the time means more than just “losing a starter” because of everything a center means to an offense. We’re now extremely interested to see if the Hoosiers can take advantage of this by stopping Ohio State’s run game and allowing themselves to be able to drop back in coverage and not have to cover guys like Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka one-on-one over and over again. It can’t be understated how much the McLaughlin injury gives Indiana a shot to do something defensively they probably didn’t have much of a chance of before.

But what this game will really come down to is what Indiana is capable of doing offense. QB Kurtis Rourke and his dudes have largely just bulldozed past teams all season long, but their first true test as an offense against Michigan a couple of weeks didn’t go super swimmingly despite the win. It’ll be a similar test against Ohio State’s supremely talented defense, and it’ll be about how often Rourke has the ability to stand and deliver in a clean pocket that will determine the outcome of this game. No more playoff ranking talk - let’s do this on the field.

#19 Army (9-0) @ #6 Notre Dame (9-1): ND -14.5, O/U 44.5 - Saturday 7:00 pm ET NBC in Yankee Stadium

Okay, maybe a little playoff ranking talk… we’re making fun of this week’s outrage over the rankings throughout this newsletter, but seriously, what is Notre Dame doing at #6? They’ve beaten absolutely nobody except maybe the 7th best team in the SEC and lost to f*cking Northern Illinois. Are they seriously going to get to host a first rou… alright that’s enough, I’m stopping myself. The Irish do have a chance to beat a good team with Army coming to town, but we’re not entirely convinced they’ll be able to do so with the ease they did against Navy last month. Army is the best version of academy football that we’ve seen in years, led by QB Bryson Daily who has over 1,700 yards and 28 TDs from scrimmage this year. The defense is really tough as well, and the Black Knights are the best in the country at limiting opponents’ possessions per game due to the absolute snail’s pace they play with on offense. But as is the case whenever one of the service academy teams plays a team like Notre Dame, the size and athleticism difference on the offensive and defensive lines is absolutely staggering. Notre Dame has been playing very well of late and should be able to put Army away comfortably. And the committee may rank them #1 for it!

#9 Ole Miss (8-2) @ Florida (5-5): MISS -10, O/U 55.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET ABC

A couple of weeks removed from the program’s biggest win in the past 50+ years, the Ole Miss Rebels now have to travel all the way down to Gainesville to play a team whose fan base has been begging to hire Lane Kiffin for two seasons. On paper, this seems like a game the Rebs should easily win, but knowing the Ole Miss fanbase as well as we do, we know they’ll be spending the next couple of nights preparing for an abject disaster to unfold on Sunday. It doesn’t help that Florida has started to look like an actual dangerous team since the return of QB DJ Lagway from injury after the Gators kinda smoked LSU last weekend. We still think Ole Miss is going to come out on top here, but playoff hopes are on the line on the road against a team and fanbase that want nothing more than a marquee win to build some momentum heading into 2025. Watch out Rebs.

#16 Colorado (8-2) @ Kansas (4-6): COLO -2.5, O/U 59.5 - Saturday 3:30 pm ET FOX

#14 BYU (9-1) @ #21 Arizona State (8-2): ASU -3, O/U 48.5 - Saturday 3:30 pm ET ESPN

These two games include three teams that still have a shot at the Big 12 championship and a potential bye in the first round of the playoff, but both games are toss ups and could create a potential disaster scenario for the Big 12 should things go poorly here. Colorado has been absolutely rolling of late and legitimately look like the best team in the conference at the moment, but as we’ve said a million times on this here newsletter, this league is so damn even that they’re only a 2.5 point favorite against a 4-6 team. It’ll take more Sheduer and Travis Hunter heroics to get these guys to the playoffs, and the Buffs may very well need those heroics just to get by the Jayhawks.

BYU remains in the “lead” in the Big 12 standings, but a loss here would bump them down to third below the Buffs and the Sun Devils and certainly out of the playoff picture. ASU being ranked at #21, behind #20 Tulane out of the AAC, is interesting because even if the Sun Devils were to win this game and jump ahead of Tulane, the entire league’s participation in the CFP could be called into question down the road. Here’s your weekly reminder that the P4 conference champions are not guaranteed a playoff spot in the CFP rules - it is the top five ranked conference champions, regardless of league. Remember #20 Tulane here. Let’s say Kansas beats Colorado and ASU beats BYU - yes, ASU will likely jump ahead of Tulane in the next CFP rankings, but who is to say they don’t drop a game in Week 14 or in the Big 12 Championship game? What if Tulane ends up ranked higher than the Big 12 Champion, bumping Boise State to one of the top four seeds while guaranteeing Tulane a spot in the playoff (assuming Tulane wins out)?

It’s a lot to follow, we know. Here’s the point: The Big 12 is quietly playing a massive role in the structure of the playoffs that everyone in the country is bitching about this week, and they’re a couple of 3-point spreads away from a complete and total disaster scenario unfolding for the league and the entire playoff picture. Sounds fun right? Tune in!

Coaching Carousel & The CFB Calendar

We haven’t dedicated much time to it because there simply haven’t been any big-time, midseason firings thus far. However, the coaching carousel is already spinning at the lower levels of the sport which has ramifications across the CFB spectrum. As of writing, there are 11 head coach openings all in the G5 levels. Timing is everything and as we’ve mentioned ad nauseam in this newsletter, we’re entering the craziest part of the college football season. December 4th is National Early Signing Day where roughly 80% of high schoolers sign their NLI. Five days later on December 9th, the transfer portal will open before closing on December 28th. Between December 4th and December 28th, we’ve also got every conference championship game, the first round of the playoffs, FCS playoffs, and 27 different bowl games. Being a college football coach has its perks - especially monetarily - but not being around your family during the holiday season is certainly one of them. 

Let’s level set on why we haven’t seen many high-level firings yet. The boring answer is programs are realizing that they probably can’t afford to. With the House settlement taking effect in the spring, programs will soon be forking over upwards of $20 million to student-athletes annually. Hugh Freeze and Billy Napier would cost more than $20 million each and that’s not factoring in the assistant’s buyout or hiring the new staff. How exactly will this House settlement work? That’s still TBD based on boring court proceedings but schools are prepping for it nonetheless.

The other answer is there aren’t too many programs that are that desperate to get rid of their coach regardless of financial implications. Baylor’s Dave Aranda coached himself off the hot seat just like Neal Brown at West Virginia did last year. But if you like heads rolling then prep for next year as it’s a HUGE year for a litany of coaches around the country who have not lived up to the billing yet. Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly have astronomical buyouts at USC and LSU but that hasn’t stopped either of those programs before. Luke Fickell has done squat at Wisconsin, Brent Venables is floundering at Oklahoma, and are Clemson fans going to be happy with another playoff-less season from Dabo? Are Ohio State fans going to accept a national championship-less season from Ryan Day? Sonny Dykes has worn off the patina of making the natty at TCU three years ago while Mike Norvell and Mike Gundy’s 2024 seasons speak for themselves. The point is, this offseason will be defined by staff changes as coaches will shuffle, fire, and promote assistants to try and save their own asses. Mike Norvell has already done that at FSU as have Luke Fickell at Wisconsin and Matt Rhule at Nebraska. 

But don’t expect nothing either. Is Deion really going to coach Colorado without his sons and Travis Hunter there? Our guess is no and there are always surprises especially as we’ve all bore witness to what Indiana is pulling off with first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. NC State will probably stick with Dave Doeren much to the chagrin of Wolfpack fans while Mack Brown announced he’s staying at UNC for another season which is fantastic news if you’re a fan of any school not named Carolina. Kyle Whittingham could call it quits at Utah as could Kirk Ferentz at Iowa while Oregon’s Dan Lanning is garnering NFL interest. The first P4 move might come from West Lafayette as soon as this weekend as the rumors coming out of Purdue are that this weekend’s game in East Lansing is ‘huge’ for head coach Ryan Walters and his future. The coaching carousel is less a carousel and more a long ass stack of dominoes. The smallest move can and will set this thing off and everything we just said can be rendered moot. Just remember that SMU basketball firing some dude Rob Lanier last year led to John Calipari going to Arkansas. Different sport, same principle, buckle up buttercup.

As for us, you will not hear from 4&F on Sunday as we will both be on flights back from tropical paradise and traveling throughout the day. However, we will send our Rivalry Weekend Preview edition on Wednesday morning instead of the normal Thursday release due to Thanksgiving. 

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Tate’s Great Picks (47-52)

#5 Indiana (10-0) @ #2 Ohio State (9-1): OSU -13.5, O/U 51.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET FOX

Pick Indiana +13.5: We told you months ago these Hoosiers were a wagon, and I’ll be damned if I don’t ride on the wagon during their biggest game. OSU experiences some offensive line woes and the Hoosiers (at least) keep it close.

#9 Ole Miss (8-2) @ Florida (5-5): MISS -10, O/U 55.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET ABC

Pick Ole Miss -10, Game Total Over 55.5: I think Florida hangs around for a half, but the Ole Miss offense explodes over time and turns this not only into an easy win in the second half, but an easy over as well.

We’ll go Rapid-Rand-Style for the remainder of my picks, and I’ll next take Nebraska -2.5 over Wisconsin. The Badgers are on their backup quarterback and just fired their offensive coordinator, and they’re going against a tough Nebraska front 7. The Huskers need this one and they’ll get it. Give me Georgia Southern +2.5 out in Dirty Myrtle against Coastal. The Eagles have looked really good in conference play and need this one to remain in the Sun Belt East race. I’ll also be all over Missouri -7.5 over Mississippi State, because why the hell is Missouri only a 7.5 favorite over Mississippi State? Give me Vandy +7.5 against LSU because I think the wheels are falling off down in Baton Rouge and that Vandy will come out with a lot more intensity than the Tigers to keep it close, and I’ll take Arkansas -21.5 against a pretty awful Louisiana Tech team. I’ll also be hammering Dawgs Basketball all weekend.

OnlyRans (48-63)

I kinda like this new rapid fire OnlyRans cadence I created and Tate has of course mimicked, but I’m flattered. I feel like I’m talking to you, standing over your shoulder and being that comforting guiding hand you need as you sweatily scroll through your bookie app of choice. Alright this is getting weird but that’s because you’re making it weird, not me.

Let’s start in the ACC where I like Duke +3 at home to Virginia Tech. The Hokies are 5-5 and need one more win for bowl eligibility but yet again, they’re injured as hell. On Wednesday, QB Kyron Drones split time between the training room and practice field while RB Bhayshul Tuttle will be a gametime decision. Even if they’re a go, they’ll be limited. Give me the Dookies. We’ll head out west to Laramie where I like Boise State -23 against Wyoming. Quick glance at the national leaders at rush defense shows Wyoming way down at 117th. A backdoor cover by the Cowboys might be in play here because Boise has pulled Jeanty early in games they’re comfortably winning but I’d rather be on Boise than Wyoming in that scenario. They’re going to kill them. 

I hate to do this because I’ll be rooting against this bet, but I don’t think Army is going to have much fun in Yankee Stadium on Saturday night against Notre Dame. Therefore, give me Notre Dame -14.5. Notre Dame has played in three games this year where the final margin has been less than this spread: 16-14 loss to NIU (lol), 31-24 win over Louisville, and the 23-13 win over TAMU. Everyone else has gotten blown out of the water. Additionally, the novelty of the triple option won’t be lost on the Irish given they already beat Navy 51-14 a few weeks back. Notre Dame is too talented but if Army pulls off the biggest upset in school history (fact check me) then I’m all for it. Any embarrassing Notre Dame loss is a win for America. 

In the Big 12, I like a duo of favorites to cover. Iowa State -7.5 in Rice Eccles versus Utah who cannot throw a forward pass. Iowa State is still technically in the conference title race and has something to play for here. In the desert, I like Arizona State -3 to cover against BYU who got exposed to Kansas last week. This is a title/playoff elimination game so give me the hotter team who also happens to be at home. Lastly, for this weird ass conference, give me Kansas +3 to Colorado. Kansas has taken Iowa State and BYU to the woodshed in the previous two weeks and now hosts Prime and Co at the Chiefs stadium which bleh. They’re better than their 4-6 record indicates and QB Jalon Daniels has seemingly - and finally - clicked with his new OC and has stopped throwing interceptions at Carson Beck rates. However, upon telling a 4&F reader and Kansas alum (yes, they exist) that I’d be taking Colorado, he said, “Don’t come crying to me when you lose that bet and stray all your followers the wrong way.” So there ya have it. Don’t let me down Rock Chalk. You’ve been fantastic to me on the hardwood in recent years when I needed you against UNC, so let’s transfer that juju to the gridiron, please.

In the SEC, it would be so perfectly TAMU to lose to Auburn the week before the biggest game against their biggest rival…ever? I don’t think they’ll do it, but if they do I’ll be laughing my ass off. Texas A&M -2.5 at Auburn. In the Swamp I like Florida to cover +10.5 versus Ole Miss. As Tate mentioned in the preview, Ole Miss fans are preparing for the worst here. Their defense can give DJ Lagway hell but Jaxson Dart has some Quin Ewers in him meaning he’s serviceable but hasn’t shown a consistent ability to take over a game. Lastly, give me Oklahoma +13.5 at home, at night, against Bama. Oklahoma’s defense is good enough to mess with Bama enough to keep this under two scores. Regardless of records, I think the Sooners will get up when Bama comes to town for the second time ever. 

Time for true, rapid fire: Stanford +14.5 at Cal in a classic ACC Rivalry. Minnesota +12.5 versus Penn State at home. The Gophers have a tendency to play up to their opponent and muck things up. Penn State also can’t do anything but throw the ball to their tight end which…cool. USC -4.5 at the Rose Bowl against USC because the Trojans switched QBs to Jayden Maiava which worked out well last week against Nebraska in their 28-20 victory. Speaking of Nebraska, give me Wisconsin +2.5 against Nebraska only for the troll. Nebraska started the season 5-1 and is now 0-4 in trying to get one more victory to secure their first bowl since 2016. Both teams have fired their OCs so god knows what horrendous game we’re getting here. 

Upset Calls of the Week

Rand: Minnesota +12.5 over Penn State and Florida +10.5 over Ole Miss

Tate: Minnesota +12.5 over Penn State and Indiana +13.5 over Ohio State

Wake Forest & Georgia

Wake Forest (4-5) @ #8 Miami (9-1): MIA -24, O/U 64.5 - Saturday 12:00 pm ET ESPN

Do you really want an in-depth breakdown of a game with a 24-point spread? Didn’t think so, which is why I’m going to give you a history lesson on the Wake-Miami football series instead. Remembering some dudes is the male equivalent to spilling the tea sis so let’s indulge, regardless of your gender. 

Wake is 3-8 all-time against Miami with the Deacs' last victory coming on October 27, 1944, or the week after the Battle of Leyte began. There have been 5 matchups since Miami joined the ACC in 2004 but this is the first one since 2013. 11 years, same conference, zero matchups. You can blame the Coastal/Atlantic divisions for that and Covid since they were slated to play in 2020. So let’s run through each of those meetings, remember some dudes, and try and understand why Wake has been oh-so-close to beating the Canes in their last three tries.

2004: Miami beat the hell out of the Deacs 52-7 in Coral Gables. The 12th-ranked Canes were three years removed from winning their last national championship but still had NFL talent on their roster. Devin Hester returned punts, Frank Gore was the starting running back, and had a freshman TE named Greg Olsen. Defensively, take your pick between LB Jon Beason, DB Antrel Rolle, or DB Brandon Merriweather as the dude you’d least like to meet in the hole. The Deacs were two years out from winning the ACC Championship and the core of that 2006 team were mainly freshmen and sophomores on this team - Josh Gattis, Kenny Moore, Jeremy Thompson to name a few. DB Eric King would get drafted a few months later, RB Chris Barclay was a year out from winning ACC POY, and QBs Cory Randolph and Ben Mauk were doing this split snaps thing. If you want to know why this specific dual QB setup was an inflection point of my childhood trauma at the hands of Wake Forest football then check out my synopsis of the Wake-Clemson football series history from last year.

2005: The Canes traveled to Winston the next year for the first time since 1971 and it was like they never even left, beating the Deacs 47-17. The rosters between the two teams were mainly the same but the only thing you need to know from this game is Wake turned the ball over 6 times which has to be some kind of record. Better days are on the horizon Deacs fans…just not in this specific series.

2008: The Deacs and Canes were much more evenly matched here as both came into the late October contest with 3 losses each. The Deacs took a 10-3 lead into half but ultimately fell 16-10. QB Riley Skinner finished the day 3/8 for 57 yards while Grobe opted to run the ball 52 times for 195 yards. The Canes did have one of the best passing Ds in the nation but it was the Deacs who were top 20 nationally in scoring defense that year. C’est la vie, we’ll exact our revenge in Winston next year…right?

2009: lmao are you kidding? Of course not. The Deacs lost a heartbreaker 28-27. The 4-5 Deacs raced out to a 17-0 lead on the 19th-ranked Canes and led 27-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. Then Wake missed a 45-yard field goal, muffed a punt on their own two-yard line, threw a pick, and QB Riley Skinner was knocked out of the game in the 4th quarter and couldn’t return because of a broken facemask? Canes QB Jacory Harris threw the game-winning touchdown with a minute left and Wake couldn’t nail a walk-off 60-yard field goal. I don’t explicitly remember this game but I can feel and understand this pain like I was at the game yesterday. 

2013: In what would end up being Grobe’s last year at the helm, the Deacs were again oh-so-close to knocking off the 7th-ranked and undefeated Hurricanes. Where have you heard this script before? Wake led 14-10 at halftime but two fourth-quarter touchdowns allowed the Canes to escape with a last-minute win. The Deacs couldn’t stop RB Duke Johnson who scored those final two touchdowns and was a menace in the kick return game. The most famous person to play in this game you ask? Wake WR Matt James.

UMass (2-8) @ #10 Georgia (8-2)... or, uh, let’s talk hoops!

Sorry folks, I know you were all waiting for eight paragraphs breaking down both the UMass offense and defense but it’s just not going to happen today. I am way too busy doing checks notes anything else at all. It was an awesome win and an even better atmosphere in Sanford last Saturday against Tennessee and the Dawgs may very well be back. But it appears that literally nothing we do over the next two weeks (outside of losing) is going to matter to the committee, so let’s just continue to get healthy, put up 35 in the first half, and get the starters the hell out of the game.

What you should be focused on this weekend as a Dawgs fan is the best Georgia Basketball team we’ve seen in many, many years! We’re off to a 5-0 start and while four of those wins came against low-major teams, we did go on the road to beat Georgia Tech (and therefore communism) last Friday despite starting 0-14 from three to start the game. 5-star freshman Asa Newell and future NBA center Somto Cyril lead the most athletic and talented UGA frontcourt we’ve seen in two decades while point guard Silas Demary Jr. continues to show massive improvements from last season, hitting 3’s and getting to the line with consistency. 

We head to the Bahamas to play two games over the weekend - against #15 Marquette on Saturday and #22 St. John’s on Sunday, both at 11:00 am ET. These will obviously be our biggest tests of the season thus far, particularly Marquette who is 5-0 and just blew out #6 Purdue on Tuesday night. They’re led by the best guard in the country Kam Jones, who had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists against the Boilermakers - the first Marquette triple-double since Dwyane Wade played there. This looks like clearly a top five team in the country so far and they’ll certainly move up from their current #16 ranking next week - even if we were to beat them. St. John’s is no slouch either, but will be playing their 3rd game in 4 days against us on Sunday so if nothing else, that could be an opportunity for the Dawgs to grab a huge win. There haven’t been many times in my life where the Dawgs are playing back-to-back ranked teams over a few days and I can look and genuinely say “Yeah, I think we could beat both of them” but dammit that’s how I feel right now. Even grabbing just one of these games would be massive for our season, so tune in and be loud even though you’ll be 700 miles away. Go Dawgs!

Where In The World Are We?

Rand: Yeah…I’m a sicko. I’ll be in Miami this weekend. I booked flights for this back in January and while I’m not expecting the Deacs to notch their first victory over a top 10 team since 1946, I’ll be damned if I miss it because I canceled the flights because of how I predict the game to go. I’ll leave you with what I wrote earlier in the year before the Wake-Ole Miss game: I don’t make predictions or bets on the Deacs but the laws of COMMON SENSE say a program-defining upset should happen EVENTUALLY. Or we’ll continue being the answer to Aflac trivia questions. Go Deacs. 

Tate: If you couldn’t tell by my above pivot to talking about Dawgs Basketball even though the football team is in the thick of the playoff race in November, I am quite excited about our hoops team. So much so that I will (very likely) be flying into Nassau on Friday to go cheer on the squad in person and grab a couple of pina coladas in the process. Good friend and 4th & Forever reader Matt S. is a huge St. John’s hoops fan, and he’s making the journey with his father as well so I’ll have some company to take the games in with - if these flights don’t fill up and I can make it down there. Have fun in the cold losers, I’ll be in the hot tub celebrating a couple huge Dawgs Basketball wins.

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Thanks for reading 4th & Forever. Feel free to forward this to friends & family and if you have comments or suggestions on the newsletter, please let us know. We really appreciate any and all feedback on this endeavor. Check out our website by going to 4thandforevercfb.com where you can drop us suggestions, read and comment on previous newsletters, and argue with us and other readers.

Rand Fisher & Tate Smillie met a few years ago through their good buddy Dave Peljovich who went to college with Rand and high school with Tate. Tate went to Georgia and has spent the last two years collecting championship rings while traveling to watch the Dawgs. Rand went to known CFB powerhouse Wake Forest and currently pays rent in Atlanta but is rarely found there with all the work & CFB travel he does.