This was not a particularly enjoyable weekend of college football. Receiver Bru McCoy suffered a horrible injury in the Tennessee vs South Carolina game and Duke QB Riley Leonard appeared to suffer a potential season-ending injury right at the end of a battle with Notre Dame. Several other good players either didn’t play this weekend due to injuries or they suffered an injury during the game.
Aside from that there was very little drama other than the basketball game between LSU and Ole Miss and a number of high profile draft prospects underperformed.
I watched three full games yesterday. Here are some notes…
— I’m struggling with Quinn Ewers. He clearly has a lot of natural talent and I’ll keep praising his release. He’s a good athlete and showed that with a couple of impressive touchdown runs against Kansas. He’s just so erratic though. On Texas’ second drive he threw high twice and nearly had an interception. On the third drive a throw on the run was close to being picked. He finally was intercepted with an ugly throw over the middle, not spotting the lurking defender who read it all the way. There was very little fluidity to his performance despite having the benefit of a rolling running game. He only settled down when the score got out of hand. There’s something here but it’s hard to view him as anything more than a mid-round pick until he becomes more consistent and dominant. Texas’ defense had a quiet game against a triple-option attack. The key D-liners had minimal impact. Talented Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders left the game with an injury.
— There’s nothing more irritating than seeing good players let down by an offensive line. Spencer Rattler had no chance against Tennessee. He was sacked four times in the first half alone and the pressure was constant and relentless. South Carolina, in turn, played like a team terrified by its own O-line. They completely shortened their passing game and made things frantic. Everything was ‘get the ball out quickly’ on short routes, dump-offs, crossers, screens and passes to the flat. The Vols, on a revenge mission, flew around the field like their lives depended on it. Rattler’s skill as a dynamic, creative thrower was eliminated by the gameplan and lack of protection. It contributed to an ugly pick-six before half-time on a 3rd and 22 play. He felt pressure off the edge and threw way too high. What was the play-call all about though? Either run and just take it to the half or go for the first down. If you are going to throw on third-and-22, why are you throwing seven yards from the LOS? This felt like a ‘throw the tape in the bin’ kind of display. However, I think this was another good showing for Xavier Legette. The receiver/playmaker is firmly in top-45 contention with a great mix of size, speed and playmaking ability.
— Riley Leonard had an adventure for Duke against Notre Dame and there are so many takeaways. Firstly though, the injury. It looked bad and could be an ankle or knee issue. He might miss the rest of the year and if he does, you have to wonder if he’ll even declare. In the first half he missed throws and had a poor interception — not detecting a lurking defender reading his throw. Before half-time he settled down a bit and became decisive as a runner and made some good throws. In the second half, he led two big drives for touchdowns to take the lead. Duke shot themselves in the foot and he should be healthy and unbeaten this morning. They missed two easy field goals, blew a muffed punt opportunity to get a turnover when half the team tried to get on the ball, endured drops and asked the quarterback to pooch-punt instead of going for a 4th down at the end to kill the game. Then, with the contest on the line, they gave up a 4th and 16 conversion playing prevent defense. I really like Leonard. He’s a great athlete, an X-factor as a runner, he has a good arm and you can see mentally he’s on it. He’s not the finished article but he has everything needed to succeed. For me he’s a player with tremendous potential. I really liked the misdirection Duke used on key downs and Leonard would’ve been the talk of the town had Duke not let him down with their mistakes elsewhere. I think it’s clear he’s first round talent but now we need to see what the news is on the injury and what it means for his future. A quick other note — this was the second successive disappointing performance from Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt. Duke’s left tackle Graham Barton missed the game through injury. Although he won’t be a high draft pick, Duke running back Jordan Waters ran with real toughness in this game and gained many yards after contact.
— I’ve seen extensive highlights of Washington vs Arizona but not the full game. This was a quieter day for Michael Penix Jr. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass and the gameplan didn’t ask much of him but to get the ball out quickly via high-percentage throws. I find him one of the most fascinating and complex evaluations in a long time. His arm is absolutely remarkable. It’s one of the best you’ll see. He throws well from all sorts of angles, completes passes others wouldn’t even dare to attempt and he could be a big-time playmaker at the next level because of this. Yet the offensive system, lack of pressure and brilliant weapons just make him such a challenge to project to the next level. He’s played in this offense for years, at Indiana and Washington. The arm translates but everything else is so foreign to the NFL and you can’t match-up anything on tape to a NFL environment other than ‘wow what an arm’. It’s a real mystery but the arm is legitimately special.
— Some final quick notes. There are a lot of defensive players being talked up for the first round in 2024 but nobody is stepping up to the plate with production and dominance. It’s a worry how meek the defensive play is in college football at the moment. I don’t understand why Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is being projected in round one of some mocks, he’s a mile off that for me. Tulane’s Michael Pratt has a better arm than you’d think but he needs to settle down because he had some inaccurate throws vs UAB. I really like LSU center Charles Turner for his talent, passion for the game and his physical qualities. Ditto Texas A&M defensive tackle McKinley Jackson — my favourite interior defender I’ve seen so far (and he had another productive game this weekend).
I will watch other games in the coming days to gather more notes.
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