Every week, Young RJ scroll through a handful of nuggets, anecdotes and statistics from around College football. Let’s go deep.
When San Francisco 49ers challenge Philadelphia Eagles for NFC supremacy on Sunday, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and large 12 fans can confidently say that they have seen this movie before. Or, at least they can say that they have seen the two leading – the midfielders Jalen hurts and Brock Purdy.
For Hurts, playing in the NFC title game in an MVP-caliber season doesn’t feel too different from the kind of career he enjoyed in college, a first at Alabama and then graduate transfer at OU.
When he arrived at OU in January 2019, the task ahead of him was to continue to dominate the Big 12 and lead the show to its third trip to the College Football Qualifiers.
However, nine games into the 2019 season, the Sooners are almost precarious in missing both of those goals. About to lose 48-41 first Kansas State in Manhattan, the Sooners hosted a show of Cyclones talented enough to beat any team in the tournament, but young enough to find it difficult to finish matches.
On November 9, 2019, the Sooners, the standard-bearer for the league for nearly a quarter of a century, faced off against a Cyclones team led by a quarterback who didn’t care about that legacy nor buy the story his team wants to create. pass away.
Purdy, like Hurts, came to play.
Their statistical lines reflect their play on the field in a back-and-forth, high-scoring situation that personifies the identity of the Big 12 in the 2010s. Every play is scheduled for six. People. Every pass was meant to be an explosive, and every defender knew he was facing a team that would use real 11v11 football.
Midfielders are not only a threat when running but can be the best runner on the field in any given situation. And as soon as the defense moved to put the eighth in the box, the midfielders took the lead.
The starting quarterback for Philly and San Fran, who would combine to become the youngest couple to ever start an NFC title game (Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), did it in 2019 as if they knew they would be right where they were in 2023.
Purdy threw stones 282 yards and hit the ground five times while dashing 55 yards and scored on the ground. Hurts counter-attacked with 273 yards of passing for three touchdowns, plus another 68 yards and two foot touches.
When the game was in balance, down seven and down to just 2:30 according to the rules, Purdy spun the Cyclones and tore through the Memorial Stadium. He ended up tight – and the Norman, Oklahoma native – Charlie Kolar ate six from 13 yards with 35 seconds left to put the Sooners up 42-41.
And then ISU’s Matt Campbell put the game in his QB’s hands when he opted to go two. With the two receiving the ball in the lines and rolling to the left, Purdy managed to get the ball into the narrow window – while he let Kolar run wide across the line.
Oklahoma dodged a bullet at a time when a second loss would end any chances of winning the CFP. Following the 2019 season, Hurts was placed in the second round by the Eagles after a historic college football career ended with him finishing as a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.
Purdy, with the consent of All America run back Breece’s Hallled the Cyclones to their first big bowl victory — before Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl in 2020. However, he died for the last time in 2022 NFL Draft – He is not involved.
Three years later, Purdy – a rookie – undefeated in eight starts, enjoying another world-wide comeback in Christian McCaffreyand is the personification of what this game means to so many people: He was the right player, at the right time, on the right team — because he didn’t give up.
2. 42 starters expected in Power 5 are transferable
Purdy and Hurts also represent two different trends in the sport. Purdy, who has started nearly 50 games in college, is the type of player we are unlikely to see in the future as transfer portals and immediate eligibility for the sport become apparent. common.
In an analysis for “Number one college football program“I found 42 out of 68 Power 5 programs — plus Notre Dame – was expected to start transfers in midfield in 2023. Five years ago that number was ridiculous. Now, I hope it will continue to grow.
In the Big 12 alone, nine of the 14 members are expected to start 2023 with transfers in midfield and three are predicted to start as midfielders playing in the United States. his third show — By U.S Kedon Slovis (USC, Pitt), Oklahoma State Alan Bowman (Texas Technology, Michigan) and by Cincinnati Emory Jones (Florida, State of Arizona).
Is transfer QB the new normal?
RJ Young shares his thoughts on the changing QB strategy in college football.
3. Jaden Rashada and Cahl-a-rah-da?
With Rashada still weighing his college options for 2023, I wrote about engaging Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and his Colorado Buffalo.
“Given his popularity on social media — 3.1 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million followers on Twitter — a documentary series called “Coach Prime” on Prime Video and published featured on the cover of GQ Magazine, Sanders turned Colorado, a show that had gone awry, an identity crisis for more than 15 years, into the biggest story in the sport in just six weeks.
“Prime also helped protect her son, Shedeur, a historic NIL grant agreement with Gatorade while at JSU. This is the first of its kind for an HBCU athlete and names him alongside other Gatorade athletes including Serena Williams, JJ Watt, Zion Williamson and DK Metcalf.”
[Deion Sanders’ impact at Colorado is only beginning]
I’m still waiting to see who can better tout the best midfielder available in the 2023 recruitment. As my colleague. Bryan Fisher wrote about Pac-12Midfield play in that conference could be the best in the country and Prime could take the lead.
“Damn, it’s rare at this point in time to meet someone with a college football connection without a little curiosity to see how Prime Coach himself, Deion Sanders, will try to turn Buff from lousy to human. Things could change dramatically as the schedule moves completely from September to fall and losses start to add up, but the story of college football up to the first few games will don’t tell about Georgia aim for three peat, see if Texas are you back or not? Michigan may reign supreme in Big Ten again – but rather the latest in the Prime trial in Boulder.”
[Loaded with top QBs and big-name coaches, is Pac-12 on the rise?]
Is Jaden Rashada Colorado-bound?
RJ Young discusses Deion Sanders’ success in the hiring process.
4. Michigan fans, calm down
Within three weeks, Michigan…
- Publicize the annual soap opera now with Jim Harbaugh, who looks set to return to the NFL this January as he did last January. It was only after the university’s president himself claimed to have persuaded Harbaugh to stay that Harbaugh agreed to train the two-time Big Ten champions to defend. When you realize that there will be nine coaches in the sport making $9 million or more, you can understand why he feels belittled. At this point, there is little reason for Harbaugh to earn less than Jimbo Fisher, and for now, he does.
- Former UM assistant Matt Weiss was suddenly fired after a criminal investigation from December was made public.
- Its pledge to widen its tunnel at Michigan Stadium – removing 45 seats from the stadium to make room for such seats – following another conflict between the Wolverines and visiting players – is notable to be Michigan State Spartans – leads to a physical confrontation.
- Saw by Blake Corum Camouflaged for 2017, the Chevy Camaro wrapped BC2 was stolen earlier this week. However, what does this mean for Wolverine fans? No. As you used to. Continue.
Like the list, I won’t check the daily happenings at your favorite show until August. Why? It doesn’t matter last season. Despite overturning both coordinators and a quarterfinal game in the third game of the regular season, Michigan presented itself as the best team above the Mason-Dixon Line.
Michigan’s turbulent season
RJ Young shares his thoughts on the latest Michigan news, including the firing of Matt Weiss and Jim Harbaugh facing possible NCAA Violations.
Bonus: Back to School with Gus
It’s fitting that in February, Dark History Month, FOX Sports will be celebrating Gus Johnson, who spent 2022 attending Harvard completing the Ivy Advanced Leadership Initiative. The hour-long documentary, “Back to School with Gus Johnson,” airs February 18 on FOX.
As a lifelong fan of Gus, I look forward to it as much as I look forward to hearing him call for games”Big lunch start‘ on fall Saturdays. For many of us, his enthusiasm and passion for college football and basketball is the soundtrack to our most memorable moments as a player. how to be a fan.
Knowing how he became the man he is today and why he chose to pursue this opportunity at Harvard would certainly be gratifying.
RJ Young is the national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube.
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