College Football in a Pandemic

     Hey Hey Football Friends! Did ya miss me? I do apologize for the mid-season dive into CFB, but as you all know, 2020 has been quite the year and it has been difficult to find time to write. Nonetheless, with Husker Football starting back up this week, there's no way I could stay away from the keyboard and the mic to give you all my thoughts on the CFB season thus far and an outlook on what the Huskers will do in 2020. I've laid out some quick hit thoughts of the season thus far below and have my preview of the abbreviated Husker season. I hope you all enjoy and are ready for Husker Football!

NOTE: Full disclosure, I do not think football should be taking place with the current state of our nation due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. I wish this would've been handled better so football would be able to be played under safer circumstances. However, I am very excited that football is still happening and am proud that there are safety protocols in place not only for the athletes but all of the staff and other team members that make a CFB season happen in the first place. I have loved watching games thus far and I have been anxiously awaiting kickoff for the Huskers. I'm very glad we can still play football in some ways and I hope the safety protocols in place are enough to keep everyone safe and the season moving along!

Quick Hit Thoughts on the CFB Season Thus Far:

• Clemson looks as dominant as ever. It should come as no surprise to anyone, and I'm sure many of you know my appreciation for Clemson over the past half-decade, but this Clemson team has something to prove and they have not missed a beat all year. As usual with the state of the ACC, other than a couple bumps for a few quarters with Notre Dame they should have an easy path to the playoffs yet again.

• Alabama is once again ruling the SEC West with little competition. Lane Kiffin gave them a scare a couple weeks ago, but Auburn doesn't look like they'll do much damage this year, they've already beaten the Aggies and LSU has fallen off the face of the Earth after winning it all back in January.

• Over in the SEC East, Georgia let a solid lead slip away quickly to the Tide this past weekend, but have a prep game against Kentucky before facing off with Florida in a game that will practically decide the East crown on November, 7. They will need to boost up their offensive attack if they're going to keep up with the high-powered Gator offense.

• Speaking of Florida, the Gators are trying to recover from a Covid outbreak after Dan Mullen suggested adding a 90,000+ crowd to the swamp would be a good idea. Kyle Trask has been the QB to watch this season (not name Trevor Lawrence) and is throwing the ball very well with nearly 1,000 yards on the season thus far, a 71.8% completion rating and a staggering 14 to 1 TD to INT ratio. I actually like Florida a bit in their upcoming matchup with the Bulldogs, but we'll see what happens with the Covid situation. Should be a good game no matter what!

• Swinging over to the Big XII, if you haven't heard, Oklahoma and Texas have been losing... a lot! This obviously brings me nothing but joy, and it has made for a very unique race in the conference. Currently Iowa State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State sit atop the conference standings and are the only Big XII teams to be ranked (#17, #20 and #6 respectively). Things should shake up quickly in the next few weeks as the Pokes play ISU, Texas, K-State and the Sooners in their next 4 games.

• North Carolina was ranked #5 last week but were upset by the Seminoles of Florida State. This gives me two things to highlight: It's always a good day when Mac Brown loses, but Sam Howell is a baller bringing them back from a 31-7 halftime deficit AND College Football really needs the BIG 10 and PAC-12 back so we don't have teams like UNC ranked 5th.

• UCF has lost their dominance in a far more competitive American Conference. The Kinghts are 2-2 so far this season and were just knocked off by Memphis for the first time in their last 14 meetings. However, the Tigers are not the tops of the American Conference either. The two teams to watch are #16 SMU and #9 Cincinnati. Best yet, they square off this weekend.

• Speaking of both Cincinnati and SMU, they're both included in my list of surprise teams of the 2020 season. SMU has been on the rise since Sonny Dykes arrived in Dallas, but I think Cincy is the real story. They're my dark horse for a potential playoff spot this season, especially with how bad the Big XII is looking. They'll need some help, but Desmond Ridder at QB can really make this team hum. A couple other surprise teams are BYU and Coastal Carolina out of the Sun Belt. Neither team will make much national impact, but they're playing some good football, so if you seem them on TV, don't change the channel too fast!

• Last but not least I have my Heisman frontrunners through the first seven weeks of the season and a few honorable mention athletes who are just really fun to watch. Obviously Trevor Lawrence is going to top this list, followed by Kyle Trask at Florida and D'Eriq King from Miami. Jaylen Waddle, the speedster from Alabama is one who should be considered and rounding out my top five is Sam Howell. Yes, UNC did lose, but as I said before, Howell is a baller! I'm sure Justin Fields will shake things up this time next week. As for my honorable mentions and players you should keep your eyes on, Javian Hawkins tops the list. The RB from Louisville doesn't have much help, but still ranks 4th in the nation in rushing and averages 5 yards per carry. Clemson RB Travis Etienne has always been one of my favorites, and star wideout for the Tigers Amari Rodgers will not disappoint. I'll give a quick shoutout to Zach Wilson of BYU as well. He's quietly completing 78.7% of his passes for more than 1,600 yards with 12 TDs and just 1 pick.

Huskers Season Prediction

     It's football time Husker fans, and we've been waiting long enough! The third year reign of Scott Frost and company has high hopes after a rough 2019 season that ended with a 5-7 record and no bowl game for the third straight year. The 2020 Huskers have a revitalized offense with youthful talent on the outside and rugged experience up front on the line. Adrian Martinez is back and healthier than ever for his Junior year campaign and hoping to quickly forget about the struggles he had last season. He'll need to impress quick though, as fan-favorite Luke McCaffrey is breathing down his neck for the QB1 spot. The offense should take a step forward in 2020 after ranking 55th in total offense and 72nd in scoring offense a year ago. The run game should be boosted by experience on the o-line and a locked and loaded RB with Senior Dedrick Mills. Mills finished with just 745 yards on the ground in 2019, but did average 5.2 yards per carry. He'll be complimented by a new crowd of wideouts, led by Sophomore stud Wandale Robinson and Junior Captain, Kade Warner. Robinson and Warner have the most game experience out of the receiver corps, but the youthful talent I mentioned earlier should be on display early and often as the freshman duo of Alante Brown and Zavier Betts look to turn heads with their speed on the edge. JUCO star Omar Manning joins the ranks as the big man with a 6'4, 225 frame the Huskers have desperately needed down the field. I think we'll see some of that tempo Frost ran down at UCF and this offense will move the ball. Scoring with the red zone opportunities will be crucial to success in 2020, as the defense is the weaker of the two units and won't be able to slow down every opponent. The Huskers are going to rely on a lot of speed and will hopefully find more success in a previously non-existent downfield passing game.

     On the defensive side of the ball, things could be a bit rocky for the Blackshirts. Senior Captain Dicaprio Bootle leads an experienced secondary which looks to be the strength of the defense. Cam Taylor-Britt and Braxton Clark bring more experience to the safety position for a group that ranked 30th last year. Unfortunately, the total defense for the Blackshirts ranked 64th in 2019 and that was primarily due to issues in the front seven. The Huskers bring back some experience on the defensive line and linebackers, but have really struggled to get pressure on opposing teams and slowing down the run game. Damion Daniels and Ben Stille lead the D-line push and will hopefully help plug up some of those holes vacated by Darrion Daniels and the Davis twins. Last year, the Husker ranked 94th in rush defense and only recorded 27 sacks over the course of 12 games last season. If Nebraska wants to make a push for the BIG 10 West Division crown, stopping the run will be crucial. Opposing teams scored an average of 27.8 points per game against the Huskers in 2019, and BIG 10 opponents scored an average of 30 per game. The last piece of the puzzle on defense is the linebackers. This is a thin group without much experience, so they'll have their hands full again this year. Collin Miller leads this group and will hopefully help the Blackshirts force some more turnovers in 2020.

     Last but not least with have Special Teams. This unit has been a dumpster fire at times during the first couple seasons with Frost, and I'm anxious to see what changes have been made during the offseason and fall camp. Based on last year, the kicking job is wide open, so there's honestly not much to tell here. I'm just as interested as all of you to what will happen. However, I do hope someone has learned how to field a punt and moreover block on punt and kick returns. This will be a very intriguing unit to watch throughout the season.

     Looking at the abbreviated schedule, this will be a tough run for everyone in the BIG 10. Eight straight weeks with no breaks and strict covid rules could shuffle a lot of things up. There's a lot of hype around the Huskers and I do believe this team will take a much needed step forward this season. However, they're still a very unpolished team that has only won nine games in two season under Frost with some fairly pathetic performances in a handful of games. My record prediction is 3-5 for the primary eight games. There's could be some argument for 4-4, but I've got to see a couple games first. We'll have to see who the opponent is on the last game before I call that one, but look for games to be kept a little closer this year. I think the offense will tick up and move the ball well. However, even with strength in the secondary there will be too many holes in the defense to keep up with some of the high-powered offenses Nebraska is set to face. Hopefully this team surprises me and the Huskers take a big leap this year. No matter what I'm yelling GO BIG RED every Saturday for the rest of the year and rooting for my favorite Huskers to win big. 'Skers by 90 as they say and onto Husker football in 2020!

#CFBKnowItAll

Alex Fernando