BARNEStorming: Ben Brown out with Injury and other Thoughts Around the College Football World

OXFORD, Miss. – Ben Brown is a student. He is an athlete. Most of all, he is an Ole Miss Rebel.

The senior had his Rebel career end early after suffering a torn bicep tendon in the fourth quarter two weeks ago at Tennessee. It could have ended better, but the journey is right out of a storybook.

The Vicksburg native continued his family tradition as he played football for the University of Mississippi. Brown followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father who also played football at Ole Miss.

Earlier this week, Brown offered a heartfelt message to everyone on his Instagram account:

Brown will go on to achieve many things in his life. He will attain many titles in his life. But one thing will never change. Ben Brown is an Ole Miss Rebel.

FINALLY, A BIG TEN WEEKEND

Big Ten fans enjoy proclaiming its teams are better from top-to-bottom than any conference in the country. This weekend, the schedule looks appealing.

Not only does No. 6 Michigan play at No. 8 Michigan State, but No. 20 Penn State travels to No. 5 Ohio State. No. 9 Iowa also plays Wisconsin which was highly-ranked at the start of the season.

Now the Big Ten will see up close the fratricide that occurs in the SEC. These teams are going to start knocking each other out of its rankings.

MAKING A MCCALL

Recently there has been speculation about Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler. Heading into the 2021 season, he was tabbed as the Heisman favorite for one of the top teams in the country.

But the Sooners – who remain undefeated – have been unimpressive and Rattler was unimpressive and lost his job to freshman Caleb Williams.

Yet if a quarterback is going to transfer, how about Grayson McCall of Coastal Carolina. The sophomore has hit the ceiling at the Conway, S.C., school. Last season, the Chanticleers went undefeated during the regular season and still was relegated to a minor bowl.

This year, they have already lost a game so CCSU will probably not win its division in the Sun Belt Conference.
He has all the NFL tools, but scouts would like to see him play against teams other than Troy, Georgia State and Louisiana-Monroe.

With two years of eligibility remaining, Ole Miss would be a nice spot to show scouts how his skills translate to the SEC.

ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT PICKING AN UPSET

This one will help the playoff committee. Give me Houston over No. 24 SMU in the I-45 Showdown. If the Cougars can pull this off, Cincinnati will not have a ranked team on its schedule the rest of the year, giving the committee and excuse to drop the Bearcats out of the top four.

Houston is 5-1 and watch out for watch out for Marcus Jones. The defensive back has broken up two passes, but he has flipped to the other side of the ball and as a receiver, he has 109 yards on ten catches. The difference could be on special teams where Jones has 244 yards in punt returns and he has taken two back for touchdowns.

REMEMBER ME?

South Carolina has had to resort to playing a graduate assistant coach at quarterback this season. It is a safe bet the Gamecocks wish Jake Bentley was still in Columbia.

Bentley is currently at South Alabama. This season, he has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, thrown for almost 1,900 yards and he has 11 scoring passes.

The Jaguars started 3-0 and are currently 4-3 with 1-6 Arkansas State coming to Mobile Saturday.

Bentley, who is a graduate student at USA, had a season at Utah between South Alabama and South Carolina. He currently is ninth among current FBS quarterbacks in career passing yards (8,409) and 13th in touchdowns (61).

He has probably circled Nov. 20 on his calendar. That is the day the Jags travel to Knoxville to give Bentley a shot to knock off Tennessee.