Pt 2: Spring Game Truthers Unite

Good morning and welcome to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. We have to start by giving a big ole shoutout to the Heisman Trust, which announced on Wednesday it would be taking the long-overdue action of returning Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy. It’s absurd that Bush ever lost his Heisman in the first place, and it had become increasingly preposterous over the years that some sort of moral question about following NCAA rules was what was preventing him from having his trophy reinstated - an absurdity that was highlighted two weeks ago when the Heisman Trust decided to send their condolences to… OJ Simpson… Anyway, good on the Heisman Trust for finally coming to their senses and letting us all celebrate and remember Reggie Bush for what he really was - an all-time great in the best sport on the planet. We’ve got more spring game questions to cover so without further ado, let’s get to it!

Questions We Have Post-Spring Games

Unless you’d like to count Washington, Indiana State, Dartmouth, and whatever St. Thomas is as the official end to the CFB’s spring season when they host their spring games the first weekend of May, this coming weekend is the last weekend we’ll see live college football for 119 days. This past weekend saw a slew of teams conclude their spring season but to our knowledge, no one had a hotdog-eating and slam dunk contest like Ole Miss did. Nevertheless, we persist and analyze nine more teams who wrapped up their spring and answer outstanding questions as we inch towards the season. Onward!

Rand on Syracuse: It’s usually not a good sign when a coaching search ends in a fanbase having to Google their new hire. Fran Brown was largely unknown to most of the college football world outside of Athens, GA before he was hired last winter. Brown was the DBs coach for Georgia was highly regarded for his recruiting prowess and was named 24/7’s top recruiter in college football last season. Thus far, he’s lived up to the billing given the bevy of talent he’s brought in through the transfer portal. Kyle McCord beat the pitchforks out of Columbus, OH, and is in line to start for the Orange this fall. Projected starter and OL Savion Washington committed from Colorado as did Colorado State’s best WR Justus Ross-Simmons. Brown has also reeled in players whose previous schools include Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame. Most notable, however, is the addition of Jacob Zuhr who adds much-needed stability to the trenches. And by the trenches, I mean on special teams, specifically in the middle of the offensive line. Yes, Jacob Zuhr is a long snapper and previously played at Wake Forest. I don’t know what tampering rules their NIL collective broke but I will make it my mission to get to the bottom of this modern-day Watergate. Every coaching change these days results in massive roster turnover but, at least on paper, Brown has already proven he’s got the recruiting chops to bring in recruits who, let’s be honest, probably wouldn’t give Syracuse an ounce of their attention if he weren’t there. The question is can this influx of talent transfer over to the field or is Brown simply Mario Cristobal living in a much colder city?

Tate on Texas: Now this was a spring game. Steve Sarkisian made it clear in the week leading up to the game that this would not be two-hand touch, 7-on-7, or anything resembling what Ole Miss passed off as a Spring Game. He said that this would be a physical football game and he was right. The Longhorns played an intense, entertaining game on Saturday and the offense - despite losing surefire NFL talent in guys like WRs Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell - looks like it is going to be a major problem for SEC defenses to handle. QB Quinn Ewers looked as good as he’s ever looked, and Arch Manning (Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Deion Sanders #algorithm) also looked damn impressive as well. Alabama receiver Isaiah Bond is going to seamlessly step in in place of Worthy, while Houston transfer receiver Matthew Golden and Alabama transfer tight end Amari Niblack look like they’re going to be studs in the league this year. Arguably nobody in the country can dial it up quite like Sark - the offense is going to be more than fine.

The question about this team is going to be about its defense, which lost absolute monsters off of the defensive line in Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat. Sarkisian has been pretty public about his interest in adding to their defensive line in the transfer portal this spring, and the Horns’ secondary looked a bit… meh… in the spring game Saturday. We know Texas has a phenomenal quarterback (or two) and is going to be able to score points, but considering the really good quarterbacks and offenses that they’ll be facing in their first year in the SEC this season, it may not be able to simply outscore everyone to get to the conference championship game and/or the playoff. I need to see more from this defense.

Rand on Louisville: You might be wondering if I’m about to embark on the noble and courageous journey of writing about Louisville in a positive manner for the first time in my life. If so, I appreciate the thought that I’m capable of swallowing my pride and ability to partake in such logos but you’d be a naive fool. This is rhetorical but what the hell is going on at one of the most corrupt and soulless athletic departments in the ACC? Coming off a memorable first year under hometown hero Jeff Brohm which netted an ACC Championship Game loss to Florida State’s third-string QB, Brohm was and still is expected to build on last season’s momentum and create his program identity. After losing star RBs Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo to the NFL, Louisville went portal shopping and found 2023 MAC Offensive Player of the Year in Toledo RB Peny Boone. Last week, Boone entered the transfer portal again and will be suiting up for Georgia or archrival Kentucky this fall. To make matters worse, two other reports pointed to a mass exodus of Louisville players into the portal. One report said four of Louisville's offensive linemen were entering while another (that was later rescinded) said five offensive linemen were entering and one defensive lineman. While most of the players mentioned in the reports refuted the rumors there’s no denying Louisville has some misalignment going on in their locker room and with their NIL collective. Since the portal opened 10 days ago, 11 players have entered the portal, including Boone and a projected starting edge rusher, Tyler Baron. Louisville still has experience at QB in 18th year Tyler Shough and at skill positions namely Bama transfer WR Ja’Corey Brooks and WR Chris Bell, but this is not what I’d classify as Brohm building off the momentum from last season. 

Tate on Michigan: Uhhhh… The question here is quarterback because, uhhh… that wasn’t great. Now granted, it was windy in Ann Arbor on Saturday, but the Michigan quarterbacks did nothing to alleviate my concern that they do not have a Big Ten Championship-caliber quarterback on the roster. Last year’s backup and this year’s somewhat presumed starter Alex Orji didn’t look great to me, especially when throwing the ball downfield. I thought his presumed backup Davis Warren looked a little better than Orji did, while still not looking great himself. Highly touted true freshman Jadyn Davis looked to be the 4th string QB at this point, which indicated Michigan’s staff probably doesn’t think he’ll be ready at all this year.

On top of the issues at QB, Michigan looked to me like it has zero receivers that will scare any defense that they play. To be fair, Michigan was able to get by their schedule last year and win a national championship without much of a passing game, but this is a new Big Ten. The Wolverines will be playing both Oregon and USC in conference this year, with an additional visit from Texas in Week 2 of the season. The defense is going to be good once again and I’m sure Michigan will be physical and well-coached as they have been for the past few years. There are probably 6-8 games on this schedule that are close to automatic wins due to Michigan’s overall roster talent alone. But I’m starting to think Michigan’s insistence on never being able to throw the ball with any effectiveness is going to come home to roost this year.

Rand on Cal: It’s been a long, arduous mental and emotional journey these past few months but I think I’m finally ready to move onto the fifth and final stage of grief: acceptance. This is my first step in accepting the fact Cal & Stanford are in the Atlantic Coast Conference and thus I need to treat UC-Berkeley Football as an equal to my beloved Demon Deacons. I would’ve loved to delay this another year but the scheduling makers had other ideas with Cal coming to Winston-Salem on a Friday night in November, just as God intended. Alright, here we go…how did the California Golden Bears look in their 2024 spring game? Unfathomable I just typed those words but I must press on. They’ve got a QB battle on their hands between redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza and transfer Chandler Rogers who is at his fifth (!!) college football program. Southern Miss to Blinn CC (where Cam Newton went after he stole laptops at Florida) to Louisiana Monroe to North Texas to Cal is an all-time college journey. A QB battle is always fun and noteworthy but largely irrelevant because all they’re fighting over is who will be handing the ball off to star junior RB Jaydn Ott. In 2022 he was a Freshman All-American and followed it up with a First Team All-Pac-12 selection last year. ACC defensive coordinators tend to be a little more buttoned up than the Pac-12 DCs (looking directly at you Alex Grinch) and should be on high alert because he’s priority one, two, and three for Cal and opposing teams this season. Their 6-7 record from a year ago is misleading given the fact they lost by 5 combined points to Auburn and USC and both were games they should’ve won. In addition to a trip to mighty Allegacy Field, they have to repay Auburn for their visit to the Bay Area, in addition to matchups with FSU, Miami, and NC State. Welcome to the ACC Cal and may this serve as a closure in my journey with grief.

Tate on USC: We all know that Lincoln Riley’s team is going to be explosive offensively while simultaneously setting defensive football back by decades every season, so last Saturday’s defensive struggle of a spring game was very much a surprise. A lot of hype has surrounding presumed starting QB Miller Moss since his six touchdown performance against Louisville in USC’s bowl game in December, but I am personally still not sold - his release is pretty slow, and he’s not particularly athletic. He’s certainly not Caleb Williams, Jalen Hurts, or Kyler Murray. USC did pick up UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava who I think will push Moss for the job, but neither guy looked particularly good on Saturday. Defense will always be a huge question mark for any Lincoln Riley team, but I am intrigued to see if this might be the first time in a decade that Riley has to scheme around not having a future number 1 pick/future NFL MVP as his quarterback - especially as the Trojans move to the Big Ten to face better defenses. It was just a spring game, but I did not come out of Saturday impressed with USC at all.

Rand on Oregon State: Sigh, poor Oregon State (and Washington State). It’s been 264 days since Oregon & Washington formally submitted their Big 10 paperwork effectively ending the Pac-12 as the rest of the conference found solace in the Big 12. 264 days, 264 years, it probably means the same at this point to Oregon State fans because like running water, the offseason hasn’t been much kinder to the Beavers. Alumni and former head coach Jonathan Smith bolted to Michigan State along with projected stud QB Aiden Chiles, while 18 other players opted to leave Pompeii. One notable holdout from the evacuation was star RB Damien Martinez who signed a $400,000 NIL deal to stay in Corvallis for one more season. That was the glimmer of hope OSU fans could hold onto until Martinez entered the transfer portal a few days ago and will likely head to Miami. I’ve never been to Corvallis (would like to) but if you gave me the chance to choose between South Beach and inland Oregon, I mean, let’s just be real here. Following the Martinez-less spring game, they’ve still got a four-way QB battle, an unsettled WR room, and obvious questions at running back. Trent Bray was promoted from DC to head coach after Smith’s exodus and luckily he was able to hang onto some key defensive personnel as the unit looks to be stifling yet again. The Beavs (and Washington State) will continue their Civil War and Apple Cup rivalries respectively, but will face a majority of Mountain West teams in a scheduling agreement that will likely become permanent when they are eventually forced to join the conference. Coming off an 8-4 season, hopefully, Bray can give Corvallis some semblance of normalcy in the most tumultuous time in the athletic department's history. 

Tate on Texas A&M: The Aggies decided they’d have a player-led draft to assemble their spring game roster, which left starting QB Connor Weigman with exactly two scholarship receivers on his team. Then it started raining. Safe to say, it’s hard to have any true takeaway from A&M’s offense based on this spring game.

But Texas A&M’s defense looks legit, and now that the Aggies are coached by one of the country’s best coaches in Mike Elko rather than bumbling buffoon Jimbo Fisher, I’m starting to wonder if this Aggie team might finally be a true threat to compete with the SEC’s best. The defensive backfield, which has had depth issues for several years, finally looks like it might actually be a real strength, while the defensive line is likely to be the SEC’s most dominant. Former five-stars Shemar Stewart and Shemar Turner look like they’re going to be freaks, rising Sophomore David Hicks Jr. may be the league’s best defensive tackle, while Purdue transfer Nic Scourton looks to be as advertised coming off the edge, recording 2.5 sacks in the spring game. The offense definitely seems to be a work in progress, but as long as Weigman is healthy at QB, they’re certainly not going to be dreadful. I’m starting to think that defense is going to keep them in every game they play this season.

Rand on Wake Forest: Did I watch the Wake spring game? Yes. Live? No. Why? Because the Georgia friends I was with on Saturday did not agree that having the Wake spring game on was conducive to a fun pregame environment. Am I looking for new friends? Yes. Was Tate one of them? No, I don’t think he’d ever betray me like that. Wake might have the last laugh on Georgia because for some reason Kirby let freshman QB Jeremy Hecklinski out of his backyard. On Saturday he went 12-21 for 204 yards and 3 TDs and showed why he’s in line to be Wake’s starting QB for 2025 and beyond. As we’ve mentioned, it’d be a fool’s errand to overreact to spring game stats and make sweeping assumptions off a scrimmage, but in this case, it’s rational to assume Georgia’s dynasty might be dead because of this performance. When fall camp opens in August it’ll be a true QB battle between journeyman Hank Bachmeier and 5th-year senior Michael Kern who sat out most of the spring with an injury. Whoever is throwing the ball will have a litany of WRs to choose from. Former 5-star Donavon Greene will be back after missing the past year with a leg injury but Horatio Fields and 6’5 true freshman Jeremiah Melvin impressed throughout the spring. Walker Merrill is in his second year after transferring from Tennessee while Taylor Morin has been at Wake since the Tanner Price days. RB1 is set with Demond Claiborne but depth needs to be established behind him after a few injuries behind him turned a strength into an area of concern. The defensive line will be one of the best units in the ACC behind Clemson but there’s a lot of pressure on young CBs to step up which has been the same story for the past 500 years in Winston. The schedule isn’t easy but there are enough winnable games where getting back to a bowl game should be the baseline expectation for this team. If Georgia is unable to recover by letting a 3-star QB from Atlanta escape up I-85 to Winston and Wake can find consistent OL & CB play, it’s fate that the Deacs & the Dawgs meet in the TaxSlayer “Jamie Newman” Gator Bowl next December with Wake looking to build on their all-time 2-1 record against the Dawgs.

Have a great weekend and we’ll talk to you again next Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy some Reggie Bush USC highlights.

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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 two years of the last three 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.