Tag: surprising

FSU, Kansas, Duke lead surprising college football starts

Bella

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where stubborn old Iowa can rank last in the nation in yards per play (2.8) and still not feel the need to make a quarterback change:

MORE DASH: Frost Fired | Who’s Next? | Scenic Stadiums

THIRD QUARTER

SIGNS OF LIFE

There are some early stirrings of success in unusual locales, and some comebacks from forgotten people and places. A Dash breakdown of what’s going well that we might not have seen coming:

The Atlantic Coast Conference (21) has eight undefeated teams and a 19–4 nonconference record. Last year, just five ACC teams made it to 2–0. For a league known for many years as Clemson or Bust, it’s good to have some more schools making headlines. (Three other ACC teams are ranked, after the No. 5 Tigers: No. 13 Miami, No. 16 North Carolina State and No. 19 Wake Forest.)

On Saturday the ACC took the show on the road and held up well, going 5–1 in nonleague play. That included upset victories by Duke and Louisville, plus the return of Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman earlier than some had expected to lead the Demon Deacons past Vanderbilt. North Carolina won consecutive road games and is averaging 51.3 points despite leading receiver Josh Downs missing the past two contests (freshman quarterback Drake Maye is legit).

The most surprising ACC teams to date:

Florida State (22). The Seminoles very nearly blew a sure victory against LSU in the final minute Labor Day night, but nevertheless held on for a rare ACC victory over the SEC. (Last year the record was 8–1 in favor of the SEC.) FSU is off to its first 2–0 start since 2016, which tells you how bad it’s been in Tally in recent

… Read More

2022 NFL Draft insider notes: The surprising No. 1 pick some GMs expect, why two QBs will go top 10 and more

Bella

The NFL Draft is now less than two weeks away, and there is no clear consensus first overall pick. And certain scenarios that may have seemed unusual or extreme early in this process, to those actually involved in it, just may come to be rote by the time the Jacksonville Jaguars actually make their initial selection.

That’s a complicated way of saying that Michigan pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who many would have penciled in with this pick weeks or months ago, might not be the guy for the Jags. And Georgia pass rusher Travon Walker, who blew up the combine with ridiculous athletic feats but who doesn’t necessarily have the game film to back it up, just may end up being the first name called. At this point, to the evaluators I spoke with this week who are preparing to make picks, neither scenario would be shocking.

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has a history of gambling on talent, and in particular on being heavily influenced by athletic metrics. He was rarely afraid to trust his gut or take a shot on an injured player or be a contrarian of sorts, and while it ultimately had a lot to do with his demise in San Francisco, there is little indication to his peers that Baalke has changed to any great degree. Furthermore, the Jaguars have long been an organization that has focused on the numbers – and testing scores – as a major factor in player selection, and Walker is obviously the darling of that cohort.

Does Baalke look at Walker and see Aldon Smith, the 49ers former pass rushing savant, only without the off-field issues that derailed what may have been Smith’s Hall of Fame career? Is he captured by Walker’s boundless upside, and intent on taking him, with

… Read More