My 5^th Tidbits article! Spray the champagne!

We are in the heat of college football season, so as an ode to that, I have decided to throw together some things I have been focusing on this season. Absent from this list (but not my mind) are: Dabo Swinney / Clemson, an ACC conversation, and an Alabama conversation. These will get separate articles talking about them. I hope you enjoy and end up wanting James Franklin fired.

• Georgia Tech
• Penn State and James Franklin
• The Tennessee Volunteers
• USC and Lincoln Riley

If there’s something you want me to include, talk about, or ask me, I have an email! Feel free to shoot other Tidbit topics to this email: esirfacelive@gmail.com

1. Georgia Tech

Have you heard of Haynes King?

Some things seem so obvious in hind sight. Georgia Tech being 5-0 feels like one of those things to me. Led by 6^th year Senior QB (via transfer from Texas A&M in 2023), Haynes King.¹ King has started since 2023 and taken them on quite a journey each year. They have been upset darlings, close game victims, and have been upset themselves. A team that has shown flashes of excellence but had not shown consistency over the whole season.

It feels like that has changed. They beat Clemson at home, and survived their own inconsistency at Wake Forrest. Their toughest remaining tests are Syracuse (Home), NC State (Away), and Georgia (Home). They don’t play Miami or Florida State. Let’s say they lose to Georgia in a close game² and that is their only loss. They will certainly make the ACC Championship and if they don’t win that, have an argument for an at large bid. I am not saying they are going to do all of that, but I find them exciting as a potential contender.

Georgia Tech finds themselves in a rather unique spot in today’s College landscape, they have a lot of returning core players. They retained 9 starters with 5 of them on offense. The three main figures being Haynes King (QB), Malik Rutherford (WR), and Jamal Haynes (RB). All of these three have been on the team since 2023. They have played in tough environments like Ole Miss and Georgia together. They have won games as underdogs and blown games as favorites too. They have done it all together. That experience showed up last week, when they clawed back into the game with Wake Forrest to win. It doesn’t have to be pretty; it just has to be a win to get to next week. In an ever-weakening ACC, they could coast on experience and grit. They could sneak into the playoffs and I like their odds if they do.

The idea of an underdog is reliant on belief. The moment that you believe you cannot win, you are right. These guys know they can though. They have done it this year, and both seasons before. Now they just have to “land the plane” and they will get the chance to etch their names in history.

2. Penn State and James Franklin

As an SEC fan, one of the easiest things to mock the Big 10 for is their defense of Penn State as a “respectable” power school in the modern era. Make no mistake, Penn State has all of the markings, capabilities, and structures of a power school. A legacy power even. However, I fear the school will never be able to see its full vision under James Franklin. At this point, the sample size is beyond large enough. We can confidently say, James Franklin has problems winning ranked games in the Big 10.

It is my Rick Barnes argument but for football. Imagine having Kevin Durant and not being in the Final Four. Imagine having Micah Parsons, and not being able to win the Big 10. Somewhat worse for Franklin because KD was a one-and-done player. Franklin had 3 years to build around Parsons.

At this point, it is endemic. The call is coming from inside the house. Franklin has repeatedly trusted subpar Quarterback talent year over year to win in the clutch with a rudimentary offense. Add in the fact that the subpar QB talent is usually turnover prone, and it handicaps that already limited playbook. It is a next to impossible situation. Yet every season, we all sit and ponder “can this be the season Penn State turns the corner?” We ask if there is a way for them to win the playoffs or even win the Big 10. I am not ruling out the playoffs for them, but they are certainly not National Championship contenders. Their presence will serve as a mere formality for a team who actually wants to win. A program that respects itself beyond 10 wins and a New Year’s Eve bowl game.

Sometimes, people think that critics are “too harsh” on coaches or programs. They make the argument (like Dabo) that some Athletic Directors would kill for 8 to 9 wins a season. While that may be true somewhere, that is not true at Penn State. At a school that has talents like Micah Parsons and Saquon Barkley call it home, you expect success. The absolute worst case should be thought of as 10 wins. The floor is not acceptable. James Franklin is the most successful mediocre coach in the history of College Football. His employment is a disgrace to college football.

Well, who would you hire as a replacement?

Irrelevant and outside of scope. You cannot judge what you do not know, we can only judge what we know. What we know is this:

1. Penn State wants to win championships (Big 10 or National)
2. They have only won one championship (Big 10 Conference Title in 2016) under James Franklin

When you think your program is trying to compete at the highest level, you would want to actually be competitive at the highest level. When there is so much talent in the portal every season, why is James Franklin so hell-bent on using the mid-QB pipeline that he’s created. The last 3 starting QBs for Penn State cover the majority of Franklin’s tenure. Here’s the timeline:

• 2014 – James Franklin’s First season (Christian Hackenburg starting QB left from Bill O’Brian)
• 2016 – Trace McSorely named starter in Sophomore season (only Big 10 Championship)
• 2019 – Sean Clifford takes over (with Will Levis backing him up until 2021)
• 2022 – Drew Allar takes over (made playoffs in 2024)

I want to add a note to this timeline. An extreme note of importance for my next point. For the entire time these players were the named starter, they played. They missed 0 games as named starters as a group. That is a level of consistency at QB that is unheard of at modern football programs. The only other QB rooms that look like this is the Saban era of Alabama. Even then, Saban had one off QB’s every few years. In theory, this should be printing your program championships. You have your chosen guy all season, every season. Yet, they have made a culture out of coming up short. Penn State wants to think of themselves as contenders but they can’t. They are legitimately stuck idealizing a single Big Ten Championship and a playoff appearance. You can say other programs don’t have that, but other programs also don’t keep their coaches for over a decade.

As Nick Saban said in his 2023 speech about nothing, “Nothing is acceptable but your best.” I hold such harsh critiques of Penn State and James Franklin, because I refuse to think this is the best these Penn State teams could have been. I don’t think you deserve to be thought of as an elite program for only occasionally losing to Illinois or Minnesota. As a Tennessee fan (and a critical one at that) you cannot fool me. We are the same, except Penn State does not want to be uncomfortable. They just want to complain about how the system is rigged against them, so James Franklin can renegotiate a mega-deal, and they can pretend that their stained history is a legacy worth championing.

This is awkward…

I wrote everything above on Thursday, October 3^rd. I thought I had some time to release this and certainly the situations for these schools would not change while I worked on everything else. God laughs at me.

Penn State managed to erase the 0 in UCLA’s win column on Saturday, October 5^th. Simultaneously, giving life to a flailing UCLA program and decimating any hopes Penn State has of seeing the playoffs this season. I feel very validated, but then again, this is nothing new. James Franklin has lost some incredible games at Penn State. In my opinion, this should be the last game James Franklin coaches at Penn State. However, that is not how Penn State operates and it will most likely let him see the season to its conclusion. I think this does them no favors, and re-emphasizes their systemic apathy towards winning. UCLA had a half empty stadium and James Franklin is talking about how difficult a road game like that is. A college football Head Coach who has been at the highest level for a decade, cannot prepare his team for a road game? That’s winning culture right there.

3. The Tennessee Volunteers

Since I mentioned it above, and in the interest of fairness; I also don’t think the Vols are going to do anything in the Playoffs. I sense a path for us to make the playoffs, but this team is scary. Wildly inconsistent and seemingly fickle in mentality. I harken back to the idea any football coach or corner man tells you.

You’re gonna get hit, just don’t blink!

An expression meaning that you don’t want to be afraid. You want to meet the challenge of the hit, but you must be confident in doing so. You can’t blink; you can’t back down. I knew when we missed the kick against Georgia that we lost that game. Heupel teams have always struggled when we have good momentum and get put on the back foot, because we tend to “blink” when challenged. For example, when we started slow last season on the road against Arkansas, we lost that game. I was certain that we would emulate that this season after losing to Georgia. I was ready for the funeral for our playoff hopes. Yet, this season, when we did the came out sluggish against Mississippi State, we fought back and won. We rose to the challenge and fought hard. A true weird moment to see as a Vols fan. For me, a moment that warmed my ice cold heart and made me think “maybe we can do it”.

Figuratively speaking, the vols are not a team that you can analyze with numbers, logic, or even an eye test. It is a cosmic feeling. An existential horror that you feel. The team haunts you like a demon. It is a level of anxiety that chemicals cannot recreate in a substance. A shroud of ominous clouds falls over your day when you think about some Vols games. A true terror will make me shudder as visions of Georgia State flash in my head. When people ask, “why don’t you think they will win?” all I can say is; “it just makes sense”. That was the feeling I had for Miss St. and consequently, it went to OT. There are several more games that I fear are haunted for my beloved Vols, yet the SEC itself seems to be possessed this season. With Georgia losing to Alabama, and us having Alabama left to play, there’s still hope for a playoff berth. However, it is just a hope.

To make the SEC championship, we would have to win out in SEC play. With only 3 ranked opponents left on the schedule, there are harder tasks for other SEC schools. Have you considered though, that we also have 3 rivalry games in that stretch? Only 3 SEC home games too. We can realistically only lose one more game and still have playoff hopes. Even then, it would be a pipe dream and we would be asking for nationwide losing scenarios. While losing to Georgia in OT is not a negative mark on any program, it still is going to make the job harder.

You may think that when I was talking about the haunting games on the schedule that I was talking about the ranked games. Nope. 2 out of the 3 ranked games will be in Neyland. Instead, the game that currently haunts my dreams is Florida. Florida may have the toughest schedule in the entirety of college football. I don’t think they are a good football team, nor do I respect them, but they have beaten us a lot. They are the Freddy Kruger of Vol football dreams. We have significantly struggled in the Swamp. It is not a “gimme game” in any capacity, no matter what Florida’s record is.

Tennessee could line up against 11 toddlers wearing Florida jerseys and I would give the line to the toddlers at (-1.5)

The other concern I have is what happens if we do lose one more game. The earlier we lose, the worse it will be. The more the wheels can fall off. The more of the season that there is left to play, the more drama can ensue. The more we can implode. The more people can panic.

I am not a doomsayer, but I am waiting on the other shoe to drop. We are clearly a Top 40 team in the country. The next 7 games will show where in that Top 40 we deserve to be. Right now, we are thought to be the 15^th best team in the country by the AP poll. Just missing the playoffs. However, we do control our destiny, and most of the undefeated teams will play each other in the coming weeks. We just have to not lose momentum. We just can’t blink.

4. USC and Lincoln Riley

Returning to flailing Head Coaches, lets take a trip to the Sunshine state. Let’s go see the bright lights, let’s go see a man trying to reach the summit of college football, and let’s see our superstar friend Lincoln Riley. Riley is entering his 4^th season as the Head Coach of USC. This is following his rampage through the Big 12 when he was with Oklahoma. Famously, Riley was flown out by private jet to Los Angeles to sign with USC, all while saying he thought it would be easier to win at USC than Oklahoma. Even if that were true, it would be stupid. As famous thought leader Dominick Toretto once said:

It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.

The undisputable fact of Lincoln Riley’s tenure at Oklahoma is that he won. He won a lot. Riley has the highest win percentage of Oklahoma Head Coaches with a record of 55-10. He had a legendary succession list of Quarterbacks, and seemed to be one step away from winning a National Championship. Lincoln Riley traded all of that winning in for 14 losses in 3 seasons at USC.

But Eric, this year will be different! He will turn it around! It will be better!

Shut up, listen to yourself?! What is wrong with you? Again, in his time at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley’s AP preseason ranking was never lower than #7. USC started this season unranked. There are conversations and rumors about his job security, but Riley has a phenomenal agent. Currently, Lincoln Riley’s buyout sits at $80 million. He is 4 years into a 10-year deal.

            I want to feel bad, I want to feel something even about this. Instead, all I can muster is one phrase: good riddance. Lincoln Riley was dealt the golden hand of college football and fell for the ultimate “I can fix them” school. The chosen successor to Bob Stoops, and all you have to do is beat Texas and keep the train on the tracks. Yet you flee to USC. I feel no empathy nor sympathy, for a man who chooses the fool’s errand. People think it is just, “replicate your success from there here” and that is not how it works at all. Alumni, players, region, staff, and program history (recent and legacy) play a massive role. Recent program history being the worst of those for USC. A great example, USC has absolutely abandoned its largest recent stars. It most recently has started to warm back up to Reggie Bush, one of the best players in college football history. The stains of that decision to demonize that team, has haunted them ever since.

Since Pete Carroll left USC in 2009, the Trojans have had five 10-win seasons: 2022, 2017, 2016, 2013, & 2011. Two of those coming under Clay Helton. They have employed four different Head Coaches: Lane Kiffin (28-15), Steve Sarkisian (12-6), Clay Helton (46-24), and Lincoln Riley (30-15 current). They also employed Ed Orgeron who went 6-2 as an interim in 2013. The Trojans are 5-5 in the bowl season across all head coaches since 2009. Earning a sole PAC-12 championship in 2017 and Zero Big-10 championships.³

I could say “they have not gotten the same level of talent” but that’s not true. They’ve had NFL talent across their roster, elite head coaching, and have even seen a player win a Heisman (Caleb Williams – 2022). They have the markings, the tradition, and the legacy of a blue-blood school. Yet none of the execution or discipline of one. Where does the blame for that fall? On the Head Coach. On Lincoln Riley.

            Truthfully, I did think Lincoln Riley would bring back winning to USC. I thought he would be able to install a passing offense in the PAC-12 that would make Mike Leach shed a tear. Instead, it appears USC has forgotten that you do need a defense to play football. A problem for Oklahoma Riley teams as well, but this has become even worse. The middle of their defense may as well be a free 5 yards. They are not tough up front, and they have not been for a long time. This is also not unique to previous coaches at USC. They have struggled to raise their defense to a level that can compete with a Big-10 or SEC defense. What is tough is, again, they do have talent on their defense. Linebacker Eric Gentry and Defensive End Braylan Shelby, both have 3+ sacks and 5+ TFL on the season. They both can be monstrous and disruptive forces on the field. However, much like offense, defensive scheming is very important. You want to create mismatches, and you want to exploit holes in your opponent’s gameplan to create big plays. USC’s defense feels like an afterthought. It feels like a copy-pasted strategy from ChatGPT that has been untouched for 3 years. This is how USC can hold Purdue to 1.9 yards per carry in week 3 and proceed to give up 3.5 and 4.9 yards per carry to their following opponents. There usually is no adjustment made to combat this by Lincoln Riley, again just play the default Defense. Which is how in 2024, USC’s best defense on the ground came in a loss at Maryland.⁴

Allowing 2.3 yards per carry and a total of just 56 rushing yards, USC managed to surrender 15 unanswered points in the 4^th Quarter to lose 29-28.

I fear this is my indictment against USC and Lincoln Riley; you have the arrogance, bravado, and flash of a winning program. Yet, they have none of the heart, tenacity, or toughness to be what they want to be. The same thing I said about Penn State applies here. If you want to be the best, it is not good enough to just win what you are supposed to. You need to make a statement every week. Not by scoring points, by dominating. The reason people feared Saban’s Alabama was simple. They were coming after you, all game. You had to be damn near perfect to beat them on their worst day. Programs that aspire to be that, need ruthless pursuit of perfection and an arrogant confidence to execute it on Saturdays.

Lincoln Riley does not have the drive, nor the need to instill that in his program. He is collecting a check. Much like the other mercenary Head Coaches before him, Riley will leave and find success elsewhere. He is an excellent Head Coach, that has not changed. However, his complacency at USC has not come from him. It is instilled into a program that wants success but has none of the drive to work for it. They want to be champion without effort. They, like others before them, have seen how far you have to go to win. Unlike others though, the NCAA’s slap on the wrist,⁵ seems to have completely drained the program of any desire to compete on the highest level.

I would say something about how “USC can’t win without cheating” but I don’t think that is true. First off, I don’t think paying players is “cheating” on the field. Game starts 0-0 and you have to win it either way. Second, I think you are very naïve and foolish if you think USC is alone in that behavior. I don’t think all programs in FBS were paying players, but there have been several accounts of “improper benefits” from other programs that were not caught. Third, finally, and most importantly, it is indicative of the culture and environment required for USC to compete at the highest level. USC paying for players nowadays is not unique. Everyone can do it, and most of the top programs can match USC’s funding. The other programs on the West Coast have also woken up, making regional talent more difficult to secure. Add in the national-scale comparison of USC’s waning winning pedigree, and you see how USC is floundering as a program. They cannot differentiate themselves with any more bells and whistles.

Sources:

1 – https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/haynes-king-1.html

2 – https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2024-11-29-georgia.html

3 – https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/southern-california/index.html

4 – https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2024-10-19-maryland.html

5 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_California_athletics_scandal