Dabo Swinney gets it right with Clemson's Senior Day salute
— -- Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney loves to talk, and what's good about that for the college football public is -- everything. He's not afraid to say what he thinks, and he's not always politic. As a result, all of us have a much better idea of what college football is really like.
Take Swinney's discussion this week of his players who are going to leave early for the NFL. It's obvious and easily understood why quarterback Deshaun Watson, wide receivers? Mike Williams and Artavis Scott, and running back Wayne Gallman are leaving. But most coaches would consider such midseason talk a distraction, or perhaps harbor hope of convincing their stars to stick around. Swinney sees what's best for the player, makes the decision and keeps moving. It's refreshing. And rare.
1. I looked at the final College Football Playoff ranking in 2014, and I was amazed by what I saw: a lot of unfamiliar names. Only three teams from the top 16 two years ago are in this week's CFP rankings: No. 1 Alabama, No. 5 Ohio State and No. 18 Florida State. Seven of those 16 teams currently have losing records, and another five are 5-4. Maybe there has been another two-year span with such rapid turnover at the top. Nothing comes to mind. College football has earned the reputation of being an oligarchy, with a few teams taking turns at the top. Ask Oregon, Arizona, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, UCLA and Missouri how easy it is to keep winning.
2. Illinois is taking its Northwestern home games from Chicago's Soldier Field back to Champaign, Syracuse has no more games scheduled at MetLife Stadium, and it says here those are good things. Rutgers tried playing in the Meadowlands for years and decided it would be better to expand its own stadium. NFL cities, with rare exceptions (Washington in Seattle; USC and UCLA in Los Angeles), are only somewhat interested in college football. To move a game three or four hours away and pretend it's still a home game is self-delusional, especially the part about building a fan base. It might be different if you win a lot. But if you win a lot, you don't move your home games three or four hours away.
3. Mississippi State had lost four games by seven points or fewer, one loss more painful than the next, before the upset of then-No. 4 Texas A&M, 35-28, last Saturday. Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen, on the Championship Drive podcast (recorded Wednesday and available Thursday), said he appreciated the determination he saw in his young team. "A lot of teams [in the Bulldogs' position] would sit and wait for something bad to happen," Mullen said. "It will certainly give them some confidence in close games that we can make the play to win the game."
4. Pittsburgh hired Pat Narduzzi two years ago because of his chops as a defensive coordinator at Michigan State under Mark Dantonio. But the last thing the Panthers are doing this season is playing defense. Pitt has allowed at least 30 points to seven opponents, one fewer than Narduzzi's past four Spartan teams combined. Pitt began this season with eight returning starters on defense, but injuries have taken a toll. Offenses are able to focus on playmaking senior end Ejuan Price, he of the short pants. It's amazing that the Panthers (5-4) have won three of those seven 30-plus games. No. 2 Clemson, with quarterback Deshaun Watson, is poised to make it eight on Saturday (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET).
5. Speaking of defensive coordinators turned head coaches, Kirby Smart can undo a season's worth of disappointments if Georgia figures out a way to upset No. 9 Auburn between the hedges Saturday. The Bulldogs, like the Panthers, are 5-4. But they have faltered as much because of an ineffective offense that includes freshman starter Jacob Eason. In fact, Smart's defense has allowed 30 points only twice, once because of that Hail Mary by Tennessee. Georgia has intercepted 10 passes thrown at least 15 yards downfield, which ESPN Stats & Info tells us, is tied for the most in the FBS.
6. Mitch Trubisky, the Ohio product who got away from Urban Meyer and Ohio State, the quarterback whom Larry Fedora has groomed at North Carolina, is getting a long look from NFL scouts. Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe, a quarterback guru from way back, explained on the ACC weekly teleconference why Trubisky is a hot commodity. "His accuracy is incredible," Cutcliffe said. "All quarterbacking starts before the ball is ever snapped. Command of their offense, the tempo they can play at, his readiness, his consistency. He's very strong. He can make every throw. He gets really good pre-snap reads. He gets the ball out quickly."
7. Nine of the top 15 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings have two losses. That's much different than in each of the past two seasons, when after Week 10 only one team in the top 15 had two losses. In both seasons, Week 11 proved to be a line of demarcation. Two years ago, six teams suffered their second loss in Week 11; last season, four teams did. What to make of all this? A) Conference schedules in November are designed to find champions. B) We've been lucky this season that the best have played the best. Seven of the nine two-loss teams this season have a loss against one current top-five team (No. 7 Wisconsin has two). Strength of schedule is being rewarded.