The Lane Train!! From an article on 247 ... Choo-choo, y’all. All aboard the Lane Train. I’m not bold enough to pick Ole Miss to win the SEC West. But I do feel good about the Rebels being at 11-2 or 10-3 to end the year. The schedule isn’t as difficult as you might think. Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU are the only ranked teams on the schedule. I legitimately believe Ole Miss is good enough to win all of those games. But even if the Rebels go 1-2 (a safer projection), they’re good enough to run the table otherwise. The Ole Miss offense is going to be an issue for everyone. There’s no arguing with that sentiment. Ole Miss’ ceiling will be determined by its defense. And while I don’t expect the Rebels to be good on that side of the ball, I would project them to be close to average after several notable offseason additions via transfers (JUCO and FBS) and the 2021 class. Average would be a huge improvement, by the way. The 2020 Rebel defense finished 115th nationally in yards allowed per play. Ole Miss lacks depth defensively – it can’t come close to competing with what Alabama and Texas A&M can employ – but if it can stay healthy, the defense can be decent. If that’s the case, this Rebels team is going to pull an upset or two and be a joy to watch week to week. By the way, a 10-3 SEC West team is a virtual lock for the year-end top 10. That’s where I expect the Rebels to sit.
Something all ND fans hope we see a lot of this fall! Jack Coan to Kevin Austin. Austin especially has been reported to have had a great fall camp and showing the talent people thought he had when he was a freshman. But injuries and a year off for suspension (never was revealed for what). But this is his last rodeo at ND and if he has the kind of Sr. season people think he can have he'll play his way into a top NFL draft pick (rounds 1-3)
Pac 12 not expanding, not a big surprise. But now what do the B12 teams who thought maybe they had a shot do from here? Geographically, adding Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State to a Division along with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah made some sense. But as has been noted none of those team bring any $$$ to the table to make it a compelling move by the Pac12.
I was listening to ESPNU guys talk about the B12 if they want to survive have to poach some teams from the AAC. UCF, Cincinnati, etc. But really for those teams I don't see the motivation to leave for the B12. When they had Texas and OU, sure they were a Power 5 conference and that meant access to the playoffs. But now they really aren't any better than the AAC, the B12 without Texas and OU is really just another Group of 5 conference. It's not happening, but the ACC should really add West Virgina. They have a very loyal group of fans that would travel to road games at ACC venues. They play solid football and their basketball programs are very competitive. I guess academically they aren't in the same category as most of the ACC, but then neither is Louisville.
Well it's official, RS Freshman QB, Hudson Card will be the starting QB. He was a top rated high school Qb at Lake Travis HS. Worries amongst fans is will Casey Thompson now transfer. I'm going to guess that he will play out the season at this point, but transfer in January.
Well Card now has a NIL deal with the new on3 network. In the spirit of capitalizing on Hudson Card’s name, image, and likeness, the newly named Texas starting quarterback has elected to team up with On3 affiliate Inside Texas for a season-long Youtube series to be conducted by Texas Homer. Card, a redshirt freshman from Lake Travis, will sit down for weekly interviews to be posted to his personal Youtube channel weekly. Details to follow on the YouTube channel. For the first time fans will be able to travel through the season with players and share in their ups and downs. In addition, over the course of the next week, Inside Texas will release a camp chronicle series that takes you through Card’s August camp experience, from the first practice to the final scrimmage.