BARNEStorming: Thoughts Around the College Football World

OXFORD, Miss. – Last season, Ole Miss had a luxury at the quarterback position. Jaxson Dart was the entrenched starter, but behind him, the Rebels had freshman Austin Simmons.

That came in handy when Dart went down early in the Georgia game with an ankle injury. But Simmons stepped in and led Ole Miss to a sustained touchdown drive. Dart soon returned, but what a gift for coach Lane Kiffin to have another quarterback weapon.

Last Saturday, Simmons – now the Ole Miss starter – coincidentally tweaked his ankle against Kentucky in the fourth quarter. Kiffin went to backup Trinidad Chambliss. He ran the four-minute drill like a pro to help secure the Rebels’ 30-23 win over Kentucky.

Chambliss is a great luxury to have this season as Simmons was last year.

And how could Kiffin not have confidence in the guy? All he did in his career was lead Ferris (Mich.) State to the Division II national championship last year, but also finished fourth in the Harlon Hill Award, the D2 Heisman.

Ferris State is currently the top-ranked team in Division II, so imagine how good the Bulldogs would have been had he stayed there.

Kiffin and Ole Miss fans are glad Chambliss came south. The Bulldogs are okay in Division II, and the Rebels are better off now with him in reserve.

GEE, THANKS, DAD

This time last season, Nico Iamaleava was the darling of Rocky Top.

Then, it appears his father was not thrilled with his Tennessee NIL deal, nor this supporting offensive cast while he was the Vols’ quarterback.

So, Nico played the transfer portal card and went to UCLA. But months before, Joey Aguilar had joined the Bruins as a transfer from Appalachian State. With the quarterback room busting at the seams, Aguilar was looking for a new destination.

He went to Tennessee to take Nico’s spot.

At UT, Aguilar has thrown five touchdowns, no interceptions and his orange jersey has remained clean as he has not been sacked. The Volunteers are 2-0 and ranked No. 15 in the nation.

Nico is 0-2 at UCLA, has thrown two touchdowns, two interceptions and has been sacked six times.

Gee, thanks dad. Thanksgiving might be a little frosty around the Iamaleava table this year.

A GROUP OF FIVE LOGJAM

There is a good sneaky game this week in the Group of Five. Memphis from the American Conference, goes to the Sun Belt’s Troy Saturday.

Last week, Troy had a 16-0 lead at Clemson before the Trojans let it get away. This week is more important for both teams. This is a playoff-elimination game.

Memphis is the favorite and should win. A week later, the Tigers host Arkansas. Should they get past the Hogs, Memphis could be in the driver’s seat for a playoff bid. But in November, the Tigers play South Florida.
That is the most important Group of Five game of the year in the regular season.

The winner should either play Tulane in the American title game or if the Green Wave falls during the year, the Tigers and USF could play again in the league’s championship game.

No matter what, one of these three teams should be the Group of Five representative in the college football playoffs.

IS NAPIER’S SEAT THAT HOT?

Of course it is. After Florida lost last week to USF, the Gator fans are calling for Billy Napier’s head.

With a 1-1 start, the Gators go to LSU this week and Miami after that. After a bye week, Florida hosts Texas then heads to College Station to play Texas A&M. And the schedule gets harder after that.

Should Florida lose the next two and are 1-3, the bye week might be when the Grim Reaper comes calling for Napier.

The buyout for the head coach is not out of the realm of possibility and defensive coordinator/executive head coach Ron Roberts could get the Gators through the season.

But who would coach the Gators’ next?

Of course, Lane Kiffin is mentioned as is Dan Lanning at Oregon. But both seem happy where they are and would not welcome the Gainesville pressure cooker.

Perhaps Jedd Fisch from Washington? Some in the south would not be open to that because Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer came from that school and he has not been embraced by the Bama fans.

But Fisch has something DeBoer doesn’t on his resume. He is a Florida graduate.

WHAT IS UP AT WAZZOU

The hottest quarterback in this young season is Oklahoma’s John Mateer. The Washington State transfer has the Sooners off to a hot start and has already garnered Heisman talk.

What if he keeps this up and is invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony?

He would join Cam Ward as back-to-back invitations for WSU quarterback transfers.