BARNEStorming: Thoughts Around the College Football World
OXFORD, Miss. – The Golden Egg may reside in Starkville for the next 12 months, but the Conerly Trophy is staying in Oxford.
The award that goes to the best college football player in Mississippi was won this season by Ole Miss true freshman Quinshon Judkins. The running back from Pike Road, Ala., ran for 1,476 yards in the regular season.
The past two winners of the award were also Rebels. Last season, Matt Corral took the trophy and in 2020, the winner was Elijah Moore. Since the award originated in 1996, Stewart Patridge, Deuce McAllister, Eli Manning, (twice), Patrick Willis, Bo Wallace, Evan Engram and A.J. Brown have each won the Connerly.
Nick Broeker also took home the Kent Hull Trophy which is awarded to the state’s top offensive lineman.
Former Rebels Laremy Tunsil, Fahn Cooper and Royce Newman have previously been awarded that honor.
WHO WOULD’VE GUESSED?
Back on Sept 3 when Ole Miss beat Troy, 28-10, who thought that might end up as the Rebels’ best win of the season? Saturday, Troy destroyed Coastal Carolina 45-26 to win the Sun Belt Conference championship and run its record to 11-2. A Hail Mary by Appalachian State on the final play of the game kept the Trojans from finishing 12-1.
Troy is ranked 23rd in the AP Poll this week and 24th in the Coaches’ Poll.
The Rebels other wins came against Central Arkansas who finished (5-6), Georgia Tech (5-7), Tulsa (5-7), Vanderbilt (5-7), Kentucky (7-5), Auburn (5-7) and Texas A&M (5-7).
Troy now heads to the Cure Bowl to take on Texas-San Antonio in a battle of teams with a combined record of 22-4.
Former Ole Miss assistant Jon Sumrall won the Sun Belt’s coach of the year award in his first year in charge in Troy. Former Rebel Tayler Polk, the linebacker coach for Troy, also coached Carlton Martial to the league’s defensive player of the year award and Martial became the all-time leading tackler in the FBS.
By the way, the best joke on the Internet last week: “An Auburn fan and an Alabama fan walk into a bar. The Troy fan couldn’t make it, he was going to a conference championship game.”
EXPANSION FINALLY
Yes, after years of wheeling and dealing, begging the Rose Bowl and other ‘inside baseball’ politics, the FBS is finally going to expand its playoffs to 12 teams as soon as 2024.
Could it be a coincidence the committee has decided to expand the playoffs the year that Alabama and Clemson don’t make the four-team field and Ohio State needed a Utah upset of Southern Cal to sneak in?
A FASHION STATEMENT?
When did Bermuda shorts become part of a football uniform? In the 70’s the Chicago White Sox toyed with the idea of wearing shorts, but it was short lived. This season it seems almost all skill position players are wearing their pants an inch or two above the knees.
The knee-pad manufacturers are taking a hit on this uniform trend.
The American Dental Association may not be happy with another fad of college football players in 2022.
Although mouthpieces have made great technological advances in recent years, just take a look at most wide receivers and defensive backs. Many times, you can see a receiver racing downfield being chased by a defender with one thing in common – their mouthpieces are flopping from their facemasks being unused.
HEISMAN UNCERTAINTY
For the first time in years, the Heisman voters must be thinking, “Do we really have to give the trophy to someone this season?
As of Monday morning, there are now only four players on the BetMGM big board of Heisman Candidates: Caleb Williams (-2500), CJ Stroud (+2000), Max Duggan (+2500), and Stetson Bennett (+10000).
USC’s Williams and TCU’s Duggan had their chances to shine in conference championship games, but each fell short. Stroud was a favorite for a while, but his Buckeyes lost to Michigan. Bennett’s Georgia Bulldogs won the SEC, but does he have enough flash to sway voters?
More than a few ballots should be returned empty, but somebody has to win. Might we suggest a true freshman running back at Ole Miss who set the Rebels’ school record for single-season rushing yards?
PRIME TIME IN BOULDER
Deion Sanders has officially accepted the head coaching position at Colorado.
The Buffalos have not been relevant on the national stage in years and there is a lot of uncertainty in the Pac-12. But one thing is clear, Coach Prime’s presence will give Colorado a lot of media exposure.
A better fit for Sanders may have been at South Florida. He could have recruited the solid recruiting areas in Tampa and Orlando, he is from Fort Myers which is just down the coast from USF and there is one other fun factor that was pointed out by David Hayes, Brian Haddad and Miles Lashley of ESPN Northwest Florida – USF plays Alabama next season.
Coach Prime met his new Colorado players for the first time Sunday and told them exactly what is going to happen under his regime — and it wasn’t pretty.
He told the team some of them will be replaced and went so far as to tell them they should get ready to find new teams and take the transfer portal out of town.
He also added he would try to make them quit. And he did it all on camera.
Deion Sanders first team meeting at Colorado is must watch.
Favorite quote: “We got a few positions already taken care of because I’m bringing my luggage with me… And it’s Louis”
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) December 4, 2022
“Those of you that we don’t run off, we’re going to try to make you quit,” Sanders told his new team.
“That’s what our season is going to look like. I want ones that don’t want to quit, that want to be here, who want to work, who want to win. … I don’t want to get in the game and then find out I’ve got Jane, when all offseason I had Tarzan.“
Coach Deion Sanders to his Colorado players
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
