Mark Blaudschun
By Mark Blaudschun
It is the middle of October and the college football season has some definition--finally.
Midway through the regular season we still don't know a lot about who will eventually emerge in Miami as the 2025 national champion.
But this much we DO know.
It will NOT be Penn State.
It will NOT be North Carolina
And it is very UNLIKELY it will be the University of Texas, although there is a pulse from the team down in Austin that the national media--we plead guilty--showered with praise and expectations throughout the spring and summer.
Let's have some fun and be informative here at FWAA world headquarters in Dallas.
Let's start with Penn State and Coach James Franklin, who was radioactive following a recent three-week stretch of mind-numbing football: a home loss to Oregon--not a stunner; 2) a road loss to double digit and seemingly hapless and leader-less UCLA; 3) then the crowning jewel of ineptness, the one-point loss at home to Northwestern, another double digit underdog.
In addition, Penn State, in many instances, carries more than a hint of cocknesss.
A favorite chant is, "WE ARE Penn State."
The campus is located in State College, a Mayberry-like setting in central Pennslyvania which carries the moniker, "Happy Valley."
Since the Jerry Sandusky sexual misconduct scandal of more than a decade ago, not so much. Even Penn State coaching icon Joe Paterno's statue came tumbling down during the turbulent era of unrest.
It is "NOT so Happy Valley" and "We WERE Penn State'' which on this past Sunday brought down the ever self-promoting Franklin, who was building his own coaching legacy on a paper mache foundation.
This was supposed to be Franklin and Penn State's breakout season in the NIL/free agency era of college football, in which Penn State out bid everyone for all available talent and had the season set up for the one thing missing from Franklin's resume--victories vs. ranked competition in big-time, show-me-the money games.
Consider this: in the 11 years Franklin had been the Lion in charge at Penn State, the Nittany Lions had won 101 games going into this season.
In the past nine seasons, Penn State had won at a .744 percentage, eighth best in a group which included Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson and Notre Dame, who also had either won national championships or had been major factors in the ever expanding college football playoff system.
Penn State made its first CFP appearance last season and has not won a national championship since 1986.
Even worse was Franklin's 1-15 record vs.Top 5 teams and a 4-20 record against Top 10 teams.
If James Franklin can't win with this 2025 team, when can he win at Penn State?
Probably never, which no doubt prompted his dismissal.
Not only did Penn State lose games, it lost starting quarterback Drew Allard with a season-ending knee injury,
WE ARE PENN STATE?
No, you WERE Penn State and it is time for Franklin to reinvent himself in another venue.
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North Carolina will resume its season on Friday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at the University of California (yeah,we know ACC).
The Tar Heels are a 10.5-point underdog to a team which was regarded as one of the bottom feeders in the ACC.
That sounds about right, considering the mostly inept performance by North Carolinal coach Bill Belichick.
Five games into his career as a college football coach, Belichick looks over matched despite his NFL pedigree as one of the great coaches all-time in the pro ranks.
His teams look under talented and under prepared.
But they don't act that way, which is another problem.
Along with newly appointed UNC general manager, Mike Lombardi, Carolina's attitude about acquiring talent through either normal recruiting methods or newly developing NIL negotiations and transfer portal rules is that players should be honored to be courted by Carolina because of Bill Belichick and the presumed pipeline to the NFL.
They are NOT.
Right now, there is chaos in Carolina as well as growing confusion on how long a commitment Belichick has to his new job.
Right now, any dream of a return to the NFL where he can continue his chase of Don Shula as the NFL victory leader is dead.
Which brings us back to the present and what happens each week.
Right now, any result you suggest for the Tar Heels would not surprise me.
They could win all seven remaining games and finish a stunning 9-3, would putt Belichick back in the NFL mix.
They also could lose all seven and stagger home with a 3-9 record, which would also be part of his resume.
I haven't a clue.
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Texas beat Oklahoma with relative ease, 26-3, on Saturday which has silenced some of the Arch Manning/Texas critics about being a flop and overrated.
With two losses, Texas is in the elimination stage. No wiggle room for error, which will be a challenge since a road game at Georgia and a home game with Texas A&M remain on the Longhorns' dance card. Manning also has to improve his performance considerably each week.
The odds are against them, but this is a season of the unexpected. So stay tuned.
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