Patrick “Patty Ice” Cantlay put on a putting performance for the ages Sunday at the BMW Championship outlasting the great Bryson DeChambeau in an epic sudden death playoff that will be remembered for quite some time.

They say in football that defense wins championships, and while it hasn’t totally seemed to be the case in college football lately, with the defense the Crimson Tide is fielding this season, that tried and true axiom will once again prevail as the Crimson Tide is loaded on that side of the ball. The offense isn’t too shabby either. There are challengers, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, Texas A&M, Florida, you can even throw Oregon in there, and Iowa State has 19 of 22 players returning from a stellar team last season, but this Tide defense is going to be spectacular and could carry the Crimson Tide all the way to the top of the mountain once again at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Monday, January 10th, 2022.

Much like the tried and true mantra about defense, golf, while power and distance are superb weapons to have in your arsenal, you still win by chipping and putting. Patty Ice proved that Sunday in his 6 hole playoff victory over the stellar DeChambeau.

Ica sank 537 feet, 5 inches of putts and gained over 14 shots on the field in putting for all 4 rounds. His strokes gained putting number for the 4 rounds was +14.577. That’s the most strokes ever gained on the field in putting since the strokes gained stat has been in place in professional golf. He broke the record that Kevin Na set when he ironically defeated Cantlay in a playoff at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in 2019. What’s more remarkable is that Cantlay sank over 65 feet of “must make” putts on 18 in regulation and in the 6 playoff holes just to stay alive against Bryson, who was blasting the ball 355 yards down City Hall on 18 fairway time after time, some 45 to 50 yards further than Ice. But Ice kept converting on the greens. He canned his 21 footer on 18 for birdie in regulation to send it into a playoff, and DeChambeau missed from 12 feet to win it in regulation. He sank 7 to 10 footer time and time again in the playoff to stay alive. On 17 in regulation, with the tournament tied between the two players, DeChambeau hit his tee shot on the par 3 into the rough off the green in front. Cantlay hit his in the water and the tournament looked over. But Ice chipped it to 8 feet, DeChambeau only chipped to 10 feet missed his putt, and Ice sank his 8 footer for bogey to stay just one back. It just went back and forth and on the fourth playoff hole, No.18, Bryson drove his ball into the water, his first mishit in what seemed like forever off the tee. Ice hit it 300 down the middle. Amazingly, after a drop, Bryson hit his shot to 4 feet and Ice hit his 20 feet. Ice missed his birdie putt and Bryson sank his par putt to send it to a fifth playoff hole, which was incredible in itself. Looked like advantage DeChambeau after that. Then, Bryson hit a wedge on the 180 yard 17th to 5 feet (are you kiddin me, a wedge?). Ice came right back and knocked and 8 iron to 2 feet 4 inches away. Both players sank their birdie putts to setup a 6th sudden death playoff hole. Bryson, once again, 355 down the middle. Ice 305 down the middle. Ice hit his approach to 17 feet, an excellent shot, but then Bryson hit it 6 feet and looked to be in command. NBC longtime course commentator, the cagey veteran Roger Maltbie, said, amazingly, he thought Ice’s putt was more makeable than Bryson’s because Patrick’s was uphill and straight, while Bryson’s was downhill with some right to left break in it. Sure enough, Ice converted. Bryson missed and Ice captured the BMW Championship and the all important No.1 spot in the Fed Ex Playoffs heading into this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake with the top 30 players in the Fed Ex Cup rankings contending for the Cup and the $15 million winner’s check that comes with it. In this interesting format, Cantlay will start out with a two shot lead at -10, with Tony Finau next at -8. Bryson will be at -7 as he’s third in the standings. Jon Rahm will be at -6, 4 back. Cam Smith will be at -5, five shots back. The remaining 25 players will be staggered between 6 and 10 back. No.’s 26-30 will be at even par.

So, what a performance by the 29 year old from Long Beach, Cali, by way of UCLA. Quite a performance by the 27 year old from Modesto, Cali by way of SMU as well. A memorable putting performance by Patty Ice and a memorable playing performance by both competitors. It was historically great. As good as any major you’ve ever seen.

U.S. Open Predictions

In the Big Apple, Flatter, Flatter, Flatter, Flatter, Pile it up, on the Platter

TV

Monday, Aug 30-Sunday, Sept. 12th, ESPN and ESPN 2. Tennis Channel with replays in the morning.

Men’s Final, Sunday, Sept.12th 3-6 PM CT, ESPN

Women’s Final, Saturday, Sept. 11th, 3-6 PM CT ESPN

Men’s Predictions

Semis

I’ll take the upset , the 24 year old from Hamburg, Germany defeats the top seeded and overwhelming favorite, the 34 year old Serb who is seeking to sweep the Slams this year after winning the Australian, the French and Wimbledon. He’s going for his record setting 21st major supplanting Roger and Rafa as the all time major winning champion, but this German defeated Novak in the Olympics and he just won the Western and Southern Open in Cincy. He’s hot. Give me the upset.

Alexander Zverev over Novak Djokovic 5-7, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 (9-7)

In the other semi, I’ll take

Give me the Russian over the other Greek Freak.

Daniil Medvedev over Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4

Final

I like the German to earn his first major in an epic, just like the semis were.

Zverev over Medvedev, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

‘

Women’s Final

I’m going to take the 17 year old emerging American phenom to capture the first of potentially many Slams in a “major” upset of the Number one seed and Wimbledon champion who looks to be on a roll. But give me the phenomenal young player from Atlanta over the stellar 25 year old Australian.

Coco Gauff over Ashlieigh Barty, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)

Wednesday

College Football Week 1 2021 season, Previews/Predictions

Promises to be an Extraordinary with superb teams this year with a lot of older players who came back from the COVID year to reach the apex of College Football

Thursday

Tour Championship Preview and Predictions

The second leg of the Fed Ex Playoffs arrives tomorrow in Baltimore at Caves Valley Golf Club, about 12 miles north of the 30th largest city in the country at just over 585,000 people, for the BMW Championship.

The defending BMW champion, played at Olympia Fields last year in Illinois, is the usual suspect these days, Jon Rahm. He and Dustin Johnson got into a playoff in 2020 as DJ sank a 45 foot birdie putt to send it into sudden death. Rahm amazingly sank a 66 foot hard breaking left to right putt, could have had 10 feet of break in it, to birdie the first playoff hole, 18, and capture the championship. DJ went on the next week in the Tour Championship and won that and captured the Fed Ex Cup and the lucrative $15 Million Bonus check that went with it.

Now, there are 70 players in this field, cut down from 125 last week at the Northern Trust, which was a thriller in itself. Rahm led most of the final three days, only to be overtaken by Tony Finau and Cam Smith. Finau shot a 65 on Monday, Sunday was a washout, and Smith shot a 67. Rahm shot a 69, but had a couple of crucial bogeys down the stretch. Finau sank a terrifically clutch 7 foot par putt on 18 to stay at -20, which Smith matched him at. On the first playoff hole at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, Finau striped his drive into the Mayor’s Office, City Hall, while Smith airmailed his way right and had to reload. Finau made it academic from there capturing only his second victory on the PGA Tour after a lot of heartache runner-up and top 5 finishes. HIs last and only victory previous to that was the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. Now that the 31 year old from Salt Lake has that weight off his back, it could lead him to some big victories going forward. He certainly has the game. His stats were incredible. First in proximity to hole, one of the most important stats on Tour, first in par 4 scoring, all around. Second in distance of measured drives, they are loaded with stats on tour, second in greens in reg, and Strokes Gained; Tee-to-Green.

So exceptional stuff from Tony. Seems like a really good guy, too, so it’s good for him to get that albatross off his back.

The odds this week are;

Rahm, 6:1

Xander S. 16:1

Justin T; 18:1

Spieth, 18:1

Morikawa: 18:1

Dustin, 22:1

Louis LouI, 22:1

Brooks K, 25:1

Bryson D, 25:1

Patrick Cantley, 25:1

Finau, 25:1

Rory is 27:1, Viktor Hovland is 31:1, Scottie Scheffler is 31:1 and Daniel Berger is 33:1. Webb Simpson is 34:1, and WGC Fed Ex Champ Abraham Ancer is 34:1.

Top 10 in Fed Ex Rankings with points behind from leader.

1. Finau

2. Rahm 585

3. Cam Smith 609

4. Cantlay 1,046

5. JT 1,130

6. Morikawa 1,177

7. Spieth 1,198

8. Harris English 1,230

9. Bryson D 1,359

10. Ancer 1,407

    Koepka is 15th (1,707 behind) and DJ is 22nd (1,138). There are 2,000 points available this week and the top 30 after this week in the 70 man field, qualify for the Tour Championship. So a win this week puts a any of these guys in the cat bird seat heading into the TC next week at East Lake. The leader in the rankings will start the Tour Championship at -10 with the second place player in the rankings at -8 and so forth down the list. Players 26-30 start at even par.

Also, as interestingly, U.S, Captain Steve Stricker will make his 6 Captain’s Picks for the 43rd Ryder Cup after this weekend’s BMW. In the U.S. Team Rankings, Collin Morikawa leads and has qualified as have 2. Dustin, 3. Bryson, 4. Brooks, and 5. JT. Finau is 6th and if he doesn’t make the top 6, he will certainly be a captain’s pick. Xander Schauffele is 7th and looks to be a pretty sure thing on the team. Spieth is 8th, Harris English is 9th, Patrick Reed is 10th. Reed was out of the Northern Trust last week with an injury, but is back for the BMW. No.11 is Cantlay and No.12 is Berger. Webb Simpson is No.13, Scheffler is 14th and Billy Horschel is 15th. Guys like Phil, No. 19, and Kevin Kisner, No.18, and Sam Burns at No.17, would really help their chances with strong showings this week. It’s do or die for those guys out of the top 12. They have to deliver this week. Really all guys out of the top 6 though Finau and Xander will certainly be captain’s picks if they don’t qualify automatically.

The Euro Team, captained by Padraig Harrington, takes the top 9 in their rankings with 3 captain’s picks. Their top 9 are Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory, Matt Fitzpatrick, Paul Casey, Berndt Wiesberger, Victor Perez, and Robert McIntyre. No.’s 10-12 are Miglozzi, Detry and Viktor Hovland. Looks like a mismatch in the U’.S’ s favor on paper, but the Euros always seem to rise to the occasion in the Cup, though the American team blasted them in 2016 at Hazeltine, but the Euros returned the favor on their home soil in France in 2018.

The 43rd Cup will be held at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin Sept. 24th-26th, a Friday-Sunday. Will be a riveting contest as always. NBC will televise

Caves Valley is a 7,542 yard par 72 Tom Fazio design. The 2005 NCAA Division One Men’s Championship and the 2007 Palmer Cup were both held there. The Palmer Cup is the competition between the American and European top amateurs.

The rough is fescue-bluegrass and will be allowed to grow to 4 inches. The bentgrass greens will be stimping at 12 1/2. The course is soft according to what Ryan Palmer said on Golf Central, so ti favors the big hitters again.

Weather

Thursday, 93, 50% chance t storms wind SSE 5-10.

Friday, 95, 24% chance rain, wind SSE 5

Saturday, 92, 34% chance, E 6.

Sunday, 89, 34%, E 6.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 2-6 PM CT, Golf Channel.

Saturday, 11 AM-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT, NBC

Sunday, 11 AM-1 PM CT, Golf Channel, 1-5 PM CT on NBC.

Winner this week

Give me the guy who finished tied fourth last week and shot a 63 on day 1. Kept it going pretty well the rest of the weekend shooting 68, 67, 70. He led the field in putting last week from inside 10 feet as he was 66-for-68. Big ball strikers course, Caves Valley is, and he’s got that down, so I like him to putt well this week also, and when that putter is working, this 28 year old from Louisville by way of the Crimson Tide is tough to beat.

Justin Thomas

Coming off a 9-1 season, with their only loss coming to Alabama, 52-24, the second game of the season, a 41-27 Orange Bowl victory and a No.4 final ranking in the AP and Coaches’ polls, the Texas A&M Aggies enter the 2021 season with understandably high hopes for a spot in the 4 team playoff and a shot to win it all.

The Aggies did lose quarterback Kellen Mond, who put together a stellar senior season completing 188-of-297 passes, 63%, for 2,282 yards, 19 TDs and 3 ints. Mond was drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Vikings and has a shot to have a nice career in the National Football League.

Two players are competing for the starting job under center for the Aggies. Redshirt freshman Haynes King and redshirt sophomore Zach Calzada battled it out in the spring and are now battling in fall camp. Jimbo Fisher said Friday afternoon before practice a decision is coming soon. KIng is more of a dual threat quarterback, while Calzada is more of a traditional drop back QB. King is 6’3,” 200, while Calzada is 6’4,” 210. They both played well in the spring game and have had very good fall camps. Fisher said at SEC Media Days that both are NFL caliber quarterbacks. I’m going to go with King as Fisher likes mobility in his quarterbacks and King was a 4 star out of high school while Calzada was a 3 star, and King looks a little better in the spring game.

Fisher brings a 109-33 record overall into his 4th year at A&M and his 12th overall as a head coach. He was at FSU for 8 seasons and compiled an 83-23 mark there which included a 48-16 record in the ACC. He’s 26-10 at A&M and 17-8 in the SEC. He’s 8-2 in the bowls, and won the then BCS National Championship with the sometimes infamous Jameis Winston in 2013. In 2014, he took his team to the inaugural College Football Playoff, only to be hammered by Oregon in the Rose Bowl, 59-20. In 2015 and 2016, his teams finished 10-3. His 2015 team lost in the Peach Bowl to Central Florida when Golden Knights ascended as a national team, but then defeated Michigan the next season in the Orange Bowl. The 2017 season was mixed with controversy and the team finished 5-6 and didn’t make a bowl game. Fisher was hired by A&M after the 2017 season, and has gone 9-4 in 2018, 8-5 in 2019 and last season, he and his program hit their stride, finsihing 9-1. So, a lot of optimism in College Station.

Whoever is the quarterback, King or Calzada, has plenty of weapons to work with. In the backfield, Isaiah Spiller is a returner. He raced for 1,.036 yards and 9 TDs last season. Spiller is 6’1”, 215. Track star Devon Achane is a house call waiting to happen. Achane is 5’9,” 185. He ran for 364 yards and 4 TDs last season, but really came out in the Orange Bowl rushing for 140 yards with 2 TDs, including a 76 yard house call where the defense had no chance of catching him. Looks like a 4.3 guy, maybe even better.

On the perimeter, you have to go right off the O line to the tight end position where junior Jalen Wydermyer looks like an All American this season. The 6’5’, 255 pounder is an elite athlete. He caught 46 passes for 506 yards and 6 TDs last season. He’s backed up and sometimes joined by 6’7,” 245 pound Baylor Cupp. Cupp didn’t have any stats last season, but looked stellar in the spring game. Ainias Smith, a 5’10,” 185 wide receiver, is a game breaker. He caught 43 passes for 564 yards and 6 TDs in 2020. He also plays as a third running back and rushed for 300 yards and 4 TDs. Chase Lane is a 6’0,” 190 wide out who caught 29 passes for 409 yards and 2 TDs and is expected to have a much bigger role in the offense. Hazekiah Jones, 6’0”, 180, and Jalen Preston, 6’2”, 210, are others who will be targets for King or Calzada. Sophomore Devin Price is another. And there is good depth, so it’s a position of strength for the Aggies.

The offensive line lost 4 starters, but Fisher expects this group to be even stronger by midseason, maybe earlier. I know he hopes earlier. Junior left tackle Kenyon Green is the leader. He’s 6’4,” 325. Junior Luke Matthews, 6’4,” 310, is the center. The size is 310-315 across the board with depth.

On defense, bookend defensive ends DeMarvin Leal, 6’4,” 290, 7 1/ tackles for loss of -28 yards, and 2 1/2 sacks, and Michael Clemons, 6’5,” 270, 4 1/2 TFLs -26 yards, and 4 sacks, lead the way upfront. There is plenty of size and talent. At linebacker, outside backer Aaron Hansford was the second leading tackler on the team with 49 in an abbreviated, 10 game season. Hansford, 6’3,” 240, also had 7 TFLs for -27 yards and 3 sacks. Fisher and defensive coordinator, the veteran and stellar Mike Elko, are high on redshirt freshman inside backer Edgerrin Cooper, 6’3,” 220. In the secondary, safety Leon O’Neal Jr, 2 ints, 52 yards, 48 tackles, and Demani Richardson, 36 tackles lead the back end. Cornerbacks are 6’4”, 190 Myles Jones, 39 tackles and an int, and Jaylon Jones, 6’2,” 205, 27 tackles and an int. O’Neal Jr. is 6’1,” 210, and Richardson is also 6’1”, 210, so very good size in the secondary. Depth looks strong everywhere for this Aggies team.
The kicker is senior Seth Small, who is reliable. Punter is sophomore Nik Constantinou. Ainias Smith and Achane, as would be expected, are the punt returners, and Achane, Chase Lane and Jalen Preston are kick returners.

Schedule

The Aggies open the season at Kyle Field on Saturday, 9-4, vs Kent State. 7 PM CT, ESPNU

Then, in an interesting matchup, they play @ Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 11th. 2:30 PM CT FOX. Not the best day on the calendar, but it’s a Saturday, so there is football to be played.

in game 3,Saturday, 9-18, the Aggies host New Mexico at 11 AM CT on the SEC Network.

Then in game 4, they’ll have an early season SEC test with their traditional rivalry game versus Arkansas at Jerry’s “Alabama Getaway” Place in Arlington. Arkansas looks solid in year 2 under Sam Pittman. This game and the rest have times and TV to be determined.

Then on Saturday, Oct. 2nd, all games are on Saturdays, the Aggies host Mississippi State.

Then a blockbuster in game 6 on October 9th as the Crimson Tide invades College Station. Major implications in the SEC West on the line here as well as national implications. On Oct. 16th, the Aggies are @ Missouri in what will be a tough test after facing a highly physical Crimson Tide team. The Tigers will be strong under Eli Drinkwitz in his second year. On Oct. 23rd, the Aggies host South Carolina, which will be trying to figure themselves out this season under first year coach Shane Beamer. Open date on Oct. 30th, then the Auburn Tigers come to College Station on November 6th. After another highly physical contest against the Tigers, A&M has a highly challenging game @ Lane and Ole Miss on Saturday, Nov. 13th. On Nov. 20th, they host Prairie View A&M in a breather before going to Baton Rouge against what should be a much improved LSU team on Nov. 27th. If they can survive that gauntlet, and that’s a big ask, they’ll play in the SEC Championship on Saturday, Dec. 4th at 3 PM CT on CBS. The Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers will have a big say in that.

Final Analysis

This is a really good football team with a highly challenging schedule. Can they break through and defeat Alabama. That’s tough. They could be 5-0 going into the Crimson Tide game, which would set up for a massive blockbuster on CBS at 2:30 PM CT, Saturday, Oct. 9th. It’ll be monumentally hard against the Crimson Tide, but with that 12th man, you never know. Getting through Missouri the next week will be difficult. @ Ole Miss @ LSU are extreme hurdles as well. Auburn could be a challenge. The Tigers Coach has COVID right now, not sure if he got the vaccine, which is amazing in and of itself. Auburn, if they can stay healthy, will pose a challenge in College Station, but one the Aggies can win. 10-2, 9-3 would be a nice year for the Aggies, but they want more in Fisher’s 4th season. With a new quarterback, King or Calzada, I like KIng, and having their first 5 games as winnable, will really help. But from the Crimson Tide game on Oct. 9th on, it’s an SEC gauntlet, save for Prairie View A&M and South Carolina is rebuilding.

If they can emerge 11-1, even 10-2, with a strong finish, they could possibly have enough for the Playoff.At 10-2, most likely a New Year’s Six Bowl which is still a phenomenal season. Alabama has a tremendous shot to make another playoff, and Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio State do as well. There are other contenders. Oregon and Penn State look to be challengers and LSU is going to be a lot better. So it’ll be a riveting yet demanding schedule for the Aggies in the SEC. But this is a team that is capable of making the playoff, if they can step it up against the Crimson Tide and against the power teams of the SEC, LSU and a very good Ole Miss team. Auburn, too. And that Missouri game on the road the week after the Crimson Tide looks like a trap game. So, that’s what makes college football so spectacular, the matchups like the ones A&M will face. Certainly a team that can be elite.

WT sent this out in his comment. This is S’s response to Fisher’s comment that he was going “to kick Bama’s tail,” in another word that’s spelled with 3 letters.

Vanderbilt Football in 2021 has new direction under first year coach and former Commodore football player Clark Lea. Lea has an ambitious vision for his program and has me and many other people convinced he can turn this program’s fortunes around and get it back to the program that James Franklin put in place in 2011-13, and even better because Clark is committed to Vanderbilt, unlike Franklin.

He’s hired an excellent staff, the offense was electric in the spring game, the defense has been doing excellent work in fall camp and the strength and conditioning program has really paid dividends for our players. And with the Vandy United plan that has already been implemented into a new, phenomenal locker room with improvements to the stadium, the football operations center, a new indoor facility, 2 more practice fields for football and some major upgrades for Stack and the basketball program, all that’s left now is to have success on the field this fall and going forward. Lea finished off what was a strong 2021 signing class that Coach Mason had initiated. We have some excellent players in this freshmen class and Clark has the 35th ranked class in the 247 rankings for 2022, 11th in the SEC with some more marquee players who could be on their way to West End. I really like what our head man is doing. We have an outstanding young staff that averages 38 years of age with our oldest coach at 43 years old. Like the youth and enthusiasm, but with that comes a lot of coaching experience, some in the college game, some in the NFL. Our coaches are charged up to elevate this program to the highest level it can possibly achieve.

Here’s a look at our 2021 team.

Offense

Quarterback

Ken Seals returns for his sophomore campaign after putting together a pretty solid freshman season even though the team struggled mightily. Seals completed 186-of-288 passes, 65% for 1,928 yards, 12 TDs against 10 interceptions. I know Ken wants to cut down on the ints and increase the 7’s for sure, and with a year of experience under his belt having faced 9 SEC opponents last season (the Georgia game was canceled due to COVID issues on the team), Seals is poised for a big season. But the first thing he has to do is beat out another stellar quarterback, Mike Wright. Mike was only 6-of-10 last season with a TD and an int. But he threw for 2 TDs in the spring game, a 62 yarder to Will Sheppard who made a phenomenal reception. He also connected with the emerging talent Sheppard on a 24 yard TD that Sheppard jumped and reached over our defensive back to pull in. Sheppard also caught a 6 yard TD pass from Seals. Third string quarterback Jeremy Moussa also got into the act completing a 10 yard TD pass to Gavin Schoenwald and then threw a 68 yard TD pass to sophomore Logan Kyle. There were a lot of offensive fireworks in the spring game, but Clark said the defense wasn’t showing much. In the recently completed scrimmage this past Saturday, Seals was 15-of-23 for 147 yards, a TD, 1 fumble lost. Wright was 8-of-16 for 139 yards, 1 TD, and 8 rushes for 48 yards, but the quarterbacks were in no contact jerseys. Moussa is a solid quarterback as well, so the competition is fierce for the starting job. Clark said he might not announce until game week. He wants to keep the competition going. I’m predicting it’ll be Seals, due to his experience, but Wright is so talented and can really run, and has great touch on his throws, so there’s no guarantees Seals will be under center. Could be a 1 and 1A situation. Both players give us a chance to win several games this season, if our running backs, a fairly thin unit, can stay healthy and play well.

Running back

Re’Mahn Davis is a Temple transfer and shows a lot of toughness running the football. He had a 46 yard TD run in the spring game. I’ve very high on Re’Mahn. He only ran for 18 yards in the scrimmage Saturday, but it was reported by Robbie Weinstein of Vandy247, that he was not getting much blocking. The line will have to improve because the running backs we have, if given holes to run in, can excel. I really like Rocko Griffin, who can have a big year for us as well. Rocko played some as a freshman last year and I saw signs of real hard nosed running and breakaway speed. I like our first 2 guys. As you probably know, our top running back from last season, Keyon Henry-Brooks, transferred. He is now at Louisiana Tech. Bit of a blow, but I see Davis and Griffin filling that void quite nicely. We have a little concern over depth issues. We have a couple of guys, freshman Patrick Smith, who had 8 rushes for 25 yards on Saturday. Patrick rushed for 1,719 yards and 16 TDs on an 8-0 Holy Spirit team in New Jersey last season. So he’s a talent. James Ziglor, who was recruited as a defensive back, has moved to running back. In 2020, he had over 1,000 all purpose yards and 10 TDs for Harrison High School in Marietta, GA. As a junior, he accounted for 1,289 all purpose yards and scored 12 TDs, 6 rushing, 5 receiving and a house call on a kickoff return. Dylan Betts-Pauley is our third freshman, and at 5’11”, 225 brings a bruising, physical running style to the offense. Davis is 205, and Griffin is 203. Smith is 180 and Ziglor is 190. We may not have a ton of experience, but we certainly have talent.

Wide receiver

Now this is a loaded part of our football team. We return our 3 leading wide outs from last year in former 4 star Cam Johnson (6’0”, 190, 56 receptions, 545 yards and 3 TDs), Chris Pierce (6’4”, 235, 25 receptions, 371 yards and 5 TDs) and Amir Abdur-Rahman (6’4”, 215, 27, 406, 1 TD). This is a trifecta of terrific talent, that is going to stress out opposing defenses. With Chris and Amir out wide and Cam in the slot or split out wide, we can be electric in the passing game. Our running game will have to be a big factor in our offense as well, but the trifecta out wide is electrifying. Really excited to see our guys play at that position. And very good news to boot, is that our backups are stellar also Will Sheppard is a star in the making at 6’3”, 200. Logan Kyle, at 6’3”, 209, is too. High 3 star freshman Quincy Carter is turning heads in fall practice. Apparently, a tremendous talent who can help us this season. Quincy is 6’1”, 200. Devin Boddie Jr. has tremendous speed on the outside, 6th year player Tyrell Alexander is 6’1”, 195 and transferred to us from OK. State. He’s got talent. Freshman Gamarion Carter is 6”2’, 195, and also has shown talent in fall camp. I like the size, and speed of this group. We have the big 3 and several talented guys behind them.

Tight End

Another position of strength for this football team. Our great senior, Ben Bresnahan, leads the way. Ben is 6’4”, 243 and caught 28 passes for 300 yards and 4 TDs last season. He can catch 50 or 60 balls maybe more for us this year and get it in the end zone 8 or 9 times, even double digits. He’s a weapon and a leader on the team. Fellow senior Gavin Schoenwald is 6’4”, 243, and while he was hurt some last season, he showed immense talent in the spring game. Another big time weapon. Joel DeCoursey, 6’4”, 235, and Justin Ball, 6’6”, 245, are super backups and 6’8”, 280 pound Brayden Bapst is being worked at tight end as well and has shown a lot of talent this fall camp. So another strong position for our team.

O Line

We have tons of experience and excellent size returning up front. They had their struggles Saturday against our defense, but they’ve got almost 3 weeks to figure it out and the size and physicality is clearly there. Kevo Wesley is the starter at center right now. He’s 6’4”, 290. Not a lot of experience and Clark’s been concerned with some snap issues, but Kevo has good talent and can be ready for East Tennessee State on Sept. 4th. He is backed up by Dan Dawkins, 6’3”, 304 and Michael Warden, 6’2”, 286. That position is still up for grabs. Kevo could be the starter, but Dan was a 4 star recruit out of high school, so hoping he can get it going this fall and play a key role, either at center or at guard. Warden has shown some good flashes as well. Senior Bryce Bailey, 6’5”, 304, and senior Cole Clemens, 6’6”, 335, bring major experience and size to their right guard and left guard positions respectively. Sophomore Ben Cox (6’5”, 310), sophomore Jason Brooks, 6’4”, 295, and sophomore Jason Brooks (6”4”, 295) bring good depth to the position. Both Clemens and Bailey sat out last year due to COVID concerns, which was completely understandable, but it’s good to have them back. We still have COVID concerns in this country, but with much of the team being hopefully vaccinated, that’ll help this team play all 12, and optimistically 13 games. At right tackle, sophomore Bradley Ashmore has that position locked down. Ashmore is 6’6”, 290, but probably bigger now. Clark brought Ashmore to the media days because he’s shown so much leadership in the spring and summer. Feel good about Bradley at RT. At left tackle, junior Tyler Steen is the leader. Tyler is 6’5”, 315, so excellent size. Both Ashmore and Steen played a great deal last year in their freshmen seasons. Bapst, senior Jonathan Stewart 6’7”, 340, who was out last year due to COVID concerns but has a lot of experience, and junior Penn State transfer Junior Uzebu (6’6”, 326) will play key roles either in backing those guys up or winning the job at tackle. There are almost 3 weeks to determine the starters on the O Line, so there is constant evaluation.

Defense

D line

Some of the key guys up front are the great Elijah McCallister, 6’6”, 261 at defensive end/outside linebacker. Elijah is immensely talented and can dominate with sacks and tackles for loss. Another key leader is sophomore defensive tackle Daevion Davis, 6’2”, 285. Daevion is poised for a huge year. Daevion was out other representative at Media Days and is a total leader on this football team and can dominate in the middle. Senior Raashaan Wilkins Jr. is a 6’‘3”, 310 pounder who brings size and toughness up front. I’m excited to see 6’5”, 296 former 4 star Malik Langham play, and 6’5’, 318 pound fellow defensive tackle Derek Green. Langham transferred from Florida last season and Green came over from Oklahoma last season. Langham is a junior and Green is a sophomore. Sophomore Alex Williams, 6’6”, 265 is a defensive end who transferred from Ohio State last season and he and sophomore Nate Clifton, 6’5”, 280, bring some added talent to the bookends of the defensive line. Junior Christian James looks like he brings a good mean streak to the line from the looks of the spring game. He’s 6’4”, 275 at defensive end. And junior Lorenza Surgers is 6’5”, 265 at defensive end. Another big body on the outside. We have some talented freshmen in 4 star Marcus Bradley, 6’3”, 275, high 3 star Terion Sugick, 6’2’, 305, Devin Lee, a big pickup on signing day at 6’3’, 277, along with talented edge rusher Jacques Hunter, a 6’4”, 230, more of an outside linebacker type, and a talent from Valdosta, GA.

Linebacker

We run a 4-2-5 defense, with 4 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs. Anfernee Orji is our leading returning tackler and poised for a breakout season at inside backer. Anfernee is 6’2”, 230. He’s a total stud. Anfernee was a high 3 star by 247 sports and a 4 star by Rivals, and he has tremendous tackling skills and ball hawking skills. Like Anfernee in the middle. He will be backed up by senior Feleti Afemui, 6’3”, 245 and senior Brayden DeVault-Smith, 6’3”, 227. Solid position at an inside LB spot. The other inside spot is led by sophomore Ethan Barr, a 6’3”, 244 talent. Ethan got thrown into the fire as a freshman in 2020 and is a better player for it. Like what we’re getting from Ethan. Former high 4 star Alston Orji will back up Ethan. Alston, like his younger brother Anfernee, is such a talent at 6’2”, 236. He just needs to reach his potential in his senior season. Excited to see if Alston can finally perform up to his talent level. Tommy Eckels is a 6’2”, 225 outside linebacker who had 2 sacks on Saturday. So he could give us some help. We have some talented freshmen in 6’1’, 232 inside linebacker Michael Mincey, who was a big pickup for us on signing day. Also, freshmen Miles Capers, 6’5”, 230, and Errington Truesdell, 6’1”, 224, were talents coming out of high school. They could get some snaps, Mincey particularly. At our new anchor position, 6’4”, 230 pound super sophomore De’Rickey Wright brings his immense talent to that position. De’Rickey had a pick six on Saturday. He lost his mother to cancer last December, so really pulling for our young stud to have a huge year. I’m convinced he will. Such a great player. Senior Michael Owusu, 6’5”, 231, has great talent for the anchor position as well. Jaylen Mahoney, 5’11”, 191 will help us there as well. The Anchor position is a fifth defensive back/linebacker position for us.

Secondary

At cornerback, senior Allan George, 6’1”, 195 and Mahoney, are battling for the starting jobs. Allan had a really nice year in 2019, and after a tough season in 2020 for everybody, he’s poised to breakout. Mahoney brings great speed and athletic ability, and could be a guy we look at in punt and kickoff return. Gabe Jeudy-Lally could very well earn a starting assignment also. He’s been impressive in fall camp and started putting it together last season at the end of the year. Very exciting player. Gabe is 6’1”, 186. Always like that length at corner. B.J. Anderson was hurt all last season but played with George at Andalusia, AL. High School and is a very good talent as well. B.J., a junior, is 6’1”, 195. He could really help us if he’s healthy. Freshman Tyson Russell has been impressive in camp. He’s 5’11’, 180.

At safety, Maxwell Worship is ready to break out this season. When Max blocked a punt his freshman season, I thought he was going to be superb, and I still think he can be. This year is his year to stand out. Another talented safety is Dashaun Jerkins, 6’0”, 200. Both Worship and Jerkins are seniors, so that’s super leadership on the backend. Guys like Justin Harris, 6’1”, 195, and Brendan Harris, 6’1”, 214, a junior and a senior respectively, are excellent talents as well. Justin is playing some at corner too, with his length. Sophomore Chase Lloyd, 6’2”, 203, is another who can help us at safety. John Howse IV, a highly rated freshman at 6’2”, 190, can give us a lift at corner or safety. Really like his length for corner. Awesome athlete.

Our 2022 class is ranked 35th in the country. Caleb Coley is our highest rated player right now at an 88, 3 star corner, but we’ve got a lot of highly ranked 3 stars, and the film on our 19 man class is impressive. We have 2 running backs committed, 2 linebackers, an excellent quarterback in high three star Drew Dickey, 6’1”, 204, a large group of defensive backs, 2 or 3 athletes/receivers, 2 offensive tackles and 3 defensive linemen and a kicker. So it’s an excellent group. We plan on adding to this class. We’re in the lead for a high 3 star offensive tackle from MBA in Nashville and a 4 star linebacker out of Georgia. Some key players to get and, of course, lock in these guys who are committed.

On our quarterbacks’ sizes, Seals is 6’3”, 220, Wright is 6’4”, 190, and Moussa is 6’3”, 225.

Our kicker is Alabama transfer Joseph Bulovas. He was pretty strong for the Crimson Tide most of the time, and I see him being reliable in clutch moments. Pierson Cooke is backing Bulovas up. Cam Johnson can be electric as a punt returner and Allan George is another who can help us there along with Jaylen Mahoney and Devin Boddie. Jr. Will Sheppard and Cam could return kicks. Boddie and Mahoney are other candidates. Not totally clear on kickoff return, but I’ll keep you posted. Punter is Harrison Cooke and he seems reliable, 40+ yard punts with good hang time, can punt teams deep in their territory.

Schedule

All games on Saturdays

Sept. 4th. vs East Tennessee State 7 PM CT ESPN+/SEC Net+

Sept. 11th, @Colorado State, 9 PM CT CBS Sports Network.

Sept. 18th vs. Stanford, 7 PM CT ESPNU

Rest of these times/TV to be determined

Sept. 25th, vs Georgia

Oct. 2nd vs UConn

Oct. 9th @Florida

Oct. 16th @South Carolina

Oct. 23rd, vs. Miss State

Oct. 30th vs. Mizzou

Nov. 6th, Off

Nov. 13th, vs Kentucky

Nov. 20th @ Ole Miss

Nov. 27th, @ Tennessee

Dec. 4th SEC Championship

As far as predicting how we’ll do, I don’t ever want to put a limit on how many games our team can win because as major competitors, they want to win every game. I guess for projections sake, I would say, 6 wins +1 with a bowl victory for 7 wins, or 7 wins +1 bowl victory for 8 wins would be a very solid season. Beyond that would be a spectacular first season for Coach Lea. Getting to a bowl game is a major boost to recruiting and winning a bowl game is even bigger. So it’s very important that we make a bowl game and win it. We have the talent to do that. But we want to win all 12 and take it from there. I know our coaching staff just wants to defeat ETSU right now, so that’s the approach I’ll take as well. But those scenarios above would all be successful seasons. I would stress though that if we get to a bowl game, we need to win it.

I like the makeup of this team, and Coach Lea has assembled a superb staff. Our players are as motivated as I’ve ever seen Vanderbilt teams. They want to win. They’re tired of unsuccessful results. They’re ready to earn several victories this season and going forward. I see that happening under Clark Lea.

Dansby Swanson

Dans is hitting it through the roof right now. In his last 4 games he’s hitting .529 with 4 homers and 10 Ribeyes. His average through 13 games in August is .385. He has 4 homers and 13 Ribbies this month. He is now hitting .265 with 24 homers and 70 RBIs. He’s set the record for home runs by a Braves shortstop. All that while playing spectacular shortstop. Dans has always been a superb defensive player both in college and professionally and now his bat is reverting back to his VU days under Corbs when he was hitting .330-.340 with 20 homer, 60 RBI seasons. Love what I’m seeing out of Dans and his Atlanta Braves. The Braves just finished sweeping the Nationals in D.C. over the weekend and are now 62-56 and in first place in the NL East. They lead the Phillies by a game. The Phillies are 61-57. The Mets are 2 1/2 back at 59-58. The Bravos are 8-2 in their last 10. Losing Ronald Acuna seemed like a major blow to the teams’ chances when it happened. But with the great Freddie Freeman hitting third, the awesome Austin Riley hitting fourth and Dans hitting fifth, the Braves have the most potent 3-4-5 hitting trifecta in Major League Baseball. Ozzie Albies is a stellar leadoff hitter as well. There is a lot of optimism in the ATL right now and with good reason. Dans and his Braves, if the pitching can hold up, particularly in the bullpen, starters are pretty solid, could have a magical season in 2021.

I’ll have more on our MLBers coming up. David Price has been pitching well as a starter for the Dodgers. David pitches tonight. Sonny and Mike MInor have had their moments. Walker Buehler could win the Cy Young this year. He’s spectacular. Bryan Reynolds is hitting .309 with good power numbers for the Pirates. Tony Kemp is doing good work for the excellent Oakland A’s. Yaz and Curt Casali are stellar players on the team with the best record in baseball, the San Francisco Giants at 76-42. So, awesome stuff from our guys. Will keep you more informed on our MLBers. Sorry I hadn’t been in touch as much lately on our pros. Took me a while to get over the CWS championship loss, but back and like the VU team we have returning next season. Really upset about Kumar’s deal with the Mets. Outrageously bad form by the New York Mets. Kumar WILL get another shot in the Majors soon after he does well in the offseason in an Arizona League, somewhere like that. He’s got the tools to be a superstar. Pumped Jack was the second pick by the Rangers. Excited to see Jack compete very soon on the big league level. Both guys gave us so much. Kumar won the national championship for us in 2019. He deserved a much better fate than he got. The Mets will regret the day they did that to Kumar. Hoping Kumar can land with the Braves next season and make the Mets pay for their outlaw behavior. We got some other guys drafted, so, as usual, a lot of our guys to keep up with this season and in the future. It’s something else what Tim Corbin does with our program. Will NEVER take it for granted. Dom Keegen. Tate Kolwyck, and Isaiah Thomas are all coming back. We’ll have Enrique, Javy Vaz, a healthy Carter Young, he was really banged up the last month of the season with his separated shoulder injury, so he’ll be stellar in 2022, and we’ve got some really fine young talent. Our pitchers, starting with Nick Maldonado, who was so good in 2021, Christian Little, Patrick Reilly and others will need to step up. But, we should have a special group next season with a chance to win it all in Omaha.

I’m also ecstatic on what Stack is doing in basketball. His 2021 and 2022 recruiting are and were through the roof good. Maybe one of the biggest stories in Vanderbilt basketball history is the return of Scottie Pippen Jr. Just totally elated that Pipp decided to come back for his junior year as our spectacular point guard. With PIpp leading the way along with the talented and athletic small forward Jordan Wright and tough guard and super shooter Trey Thomas along with some other solid returning players and some new players who are super talented, we can make the tournament and do damage there next season. I expect that to happen. And Stack already has secured 6’9”, 245 5 star center Lee Dort and 6’2’, 4 star point guard Noah Shelby, both out of Greenhill School in Addison, TX, for 2022,. We also have point guard Presley Patterson from Knoxville Catholic High School coming in. I’m sure Presley is an excellent player as well as Stack has a keen eye for under the radar talent as Trey Thomas is a testament to. Trey was a 2 star out of high school and he’s going to play like a high 4 star for us in 2021-22. So I’m really amped up for this season and the future for our basketball program under Stack.

With Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and AD Candice Story Lee’s commitment to our football and basketball programs, those 2 programs can become elite to match our baseball program and our women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse and our terrific men’s golf team under Scott Limbaugh.

Scott has the 2 best freshmen in the country coming into the program in Gordon Sargent and Jackson Van Paris, and the talented William Moll, Harrison Ott, Cole Sherwood and Reid Davenport are all back. So, 2022 promises to be special under Coach Limbaugh.

Women’s Soccer Coach Darren Ambrose has a special group this fall too that can go a long way in the SEC and the National Tournaments.

I like Coach Aleke Tsoubanos to get our women’s tennis program back to national prominence as well. Women’s Lacrosse is a top 25 program.

Will keep you posted on everything VU sports related, fall practice happenings, any commits, and bball and baseball and men’s golf happenings.

John Augenstein shot -8 at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. on the PGA Tour yesterday to finish tied for 37th. Good paycheck for John and a good experience for him. Brandt and Luke are in the Fed Ex Playoffs and need to play well this week at the Northern Trust to advance to the top 70 at the BMW Championship the following week. The Northern Trust is being played at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, right outside NYC. The BMW Championship will be played at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mill, MD. The Tour Championship will be played at East Lake in Atlanta comprised of the top 30 golfers playing for the coveted Fed Ex Cup and the life changing check that comes with it. Will Gordon is still competing hard on the PGA Tour and his time will come in the near future. Matthias Schwab has played well on the European Tour and is making his mark in global golf. So, great stuff from our golf alums.

On a Saturday in October in my freshman year at Vanderbilt in 1980 around midday, I was out on my dorm quad and throwing the football with some guys and drinking a couple of beers. Vanderbilt was playing at Georgia and we weren’t that interested as those were lean times for the Commodores, as many seasons have been though very optimistic for new promising coach Clark Lea. We were playing in Athens, so we weren’t expecting much.

A couple of SAE’s came over to the dorm and the first thing they said was, “there’s this freshman for Georgia, some guy named Herschel Walker, who’s run for 225 yards in the first half.” The great Herschel went on to rush for a career high 283 yards with touchdown runs of 80, 48, and 53 against the Vanderbilt defense. He brought a lot of misery to Vanderbilt football. Remember it well. He went on to lead his team to the national championship that year under historically great head coach Vince Dooley and the also great Erk Russell and his “Junkyard Dawg” defense. Herschel won the Heisman in 1982 and had a pretty solid professional career. He was certainly one of the greatest college football players to ever play the game.

Them Dawgs had been up and down under Mark Richt in the 2000’s. They had some good years, but seemed to underachieve many years. Georgia hired Kirby Smart in 2016 and he’s brought them to a level of greatness at times, and has a talented 2021 team. Smart is 52-14 entering his sixth year in Athens. He is 32-9 in the SEC and he’s won 3 SEC Eastern Division titles, 1 SEC Championship and played in the 2017 national championship game against Alabama losing on a Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith surreal 41 yard TD pass in overtime. He’s had an excellent career in Athens so far and the future looks unlimited for the Dawgs with the way Smart recruits and develops.

Of course, he was defensive coordinator at Alabama for 9 years and helped Coach Saban lead the Tide to 3 BCS National Championships in 2010, 2012, and 2013 and 1 CFP (College Football Playoff) National Championship in 2016.

Georgia looks loaded this year. There are 8 returning starters back on offense led by quarterback J.T. Daniels and a super talented backfield. Daniels came in the 7th game of last year and played in the final 4 and completed 80-of-119 passes, 67%, for 1,231 yards, 10 TDs against only 2 interceptions. He averaged 307 yards passing for the 4 games he started, 3 regular season victories and a 24-21 Chick-fil-A Bowl victory over Cincinnati. In that game, he was 26-of-38 for 392 yards and a TD. In the G-Day Game, Georgia’s spring game, he was 28-of-41 for 324 yards and 3 TDs and 0 ints. He’s quite a passer, but is not very mobile and can get sacked. Georgia has a stellar defensive front and got to him several times in the spring game. The Georgia offensive line looks like they’re trying to figure it out. The size and talent are there, but they need to come together. Daniels HAS to have time to throw.

The backfield is loaded with talent. Zamir “Zeus” White is the leading returning rusher. He ran for 779 yards and 11 TDs last season averaging 5.4 per carry. He’s a big strong back at 6’0”, 215. James Cook is a high quality back as well. Cook ran for 303 yards last season and scored 3 TDs, but he’s capable of getting his team 800 to 900 yards a season with significant carries, Kenny McIntosh and a highly talented Kendall Milton are returning as well. Daijun Edwards may be the most talented 5th string running back in the country, but he may jump some of the others and get a lot of carries.

But you’ve gotta block for’em. Warren Ericson is a 6’4”, 305 redshirt junior center and will be calling the signals for the O line. Senior and team leader, 6’4”, 330 pound right guard Justin Shaffer, is a preseason All American. 6’4”, 325 pound Jamaree Salyer is the left guard. At right tackle is 6’4’, 300 pound redshirt sophomore Warren McClendon, and at the all important left tackle position is 6’7”, 330 pound redshirt sophomore Xavier Truss. If Truss performs well he can make quite a paycheck in the NFL in the future. They all can, but that left tackle spot is a tremendously high earning position in the pros. Georgia has good depth including the No.1 player in Alabama in 2019, redshirt sophomore left guard Clay Webb, who is 6’3”, 290. Webb needs to put on weight, but he was a 5 star and highly heralded talent who got out of the state.

The Bulldogs took a blow to their receiving corps in the spring when standout and former Hoover star George Pickens tore his ACL and is out until most likely November. He wants to play in November, so if Georgia is doing well, Pickens could be a season defining player for them come November if he can make it back by then. They will have stellar tight end play with 6’7”, 265 pound Darnell Washington and promising freshman Brock Bowers, 6”4”, 230. Both looked very good in the spring game as Bowers was an early enrollee. Washington looks unstoppable. Arik Gilbert is a phenomenal addition from LSU at wide receiver. He transferred to Georgia after the 2020 season. Gilbert is 6’5”, 253 and can play on the line or split out wide. He’s an excellent receiver and causes major matchup problems for defenses. Demetris Robertson, one of their leading returners at wide receiver, transferred to Auburn this summer. That’s good for Auburn’s receiving corps, but Georgia still has a lot of weapons nonetheless. Sophomore Jarmaine Burton is a 6’0’ 200 pound electric receiver. Kearis Jackson returns after catching 36 passes for 514 yards and 3 TDs last season. He’s going to have a big year. Some backups, Dominick Blaylock, Arian Smith, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and freshman Adonai Mitchell, whom the Georgia staff is very high on, and a couple of others will lead the receiving corps as well. So there are a lot of weapons on the perimeter even without PIckens though they will welcome PIckens back with wide open arms if he can return before the season concludes. He wants to make it back to the team, so it could very well happen. PIckens caught 36 passes for 513 yards and 6 TDs in 8 games last season.

The defense returns 5 starters and it all starts up front with preseason All American Jordan Davis, a 6’4” 340 pound senior. He’s a dominator at the line of scrimmage and a game changing player himself. He’ll be up for all the defensive line awards at the end of the year if he stays healthy. The defensive front is big and talented. Junior Nolan Smith, a former 5 star, 6’3”, 225, is a leader and playmaker at outside linebacker. Georgia employs a 3-4 defense. Quay Walker is a 6’4”, 240 senior inside linebacker, who’ll be a key leader on the defense. Nakobe Dean is a 6”0”, 225 pound inside linebacker. and the other outside linebacker is 6’5”, 230 pound senior Adam Anderson. Georgia got a tremendous transfer in Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick. Kendrick was a 5 star out of high school and a big time player at Clemson. Georgia also got former 4 star and Alabama transfer, safety Brandon Turnage. Ameer Speed is a redshirt senior corner and Tykee Smith is a 4 star STAR, hybrid linebacker/safety transfer from West Virginia. Lewis Cine is a junior free safety who will also be a key guy on the backend.

Senior Jake Camarda is back to punt, redshirt junior Jack Podlensy is the kicker and Kearis Jackson and Jermaine Burton are punt returners. That will be electric when one of those 2 is returning punts, particularly Burton. Jackson, Kenny McIntosh and Zamir White will be the primary kick returners with 2 of the 3 back deep as they will rotate.

Georgia got the 4th best class nationally in 2021 and is No.5 in 2022. Amarius MIms , a 6’7”, 315 pound offensive tackle, was the highest ranked player in their 2021 class. Five star quarterback Brock Vandagriff, 6’3”, 210, was an early enrollee and is getting his sea legs under him. The class of 2020 4 star Carson Beck, 6’ 4”, 225, looks to be Daniel’s backup at QB. Stetson Bennett is still there as well. If there’s one knock on Smart it’s that he’s never had stellar quarterback play. He had Jake Fromm, and Fromm was good at times, but mostly a mixed bag. Smart was loyal to him and chose him over the major talent Justin Fields even when Fromm was struggling. In the spring game in 2018, Fields looked spectacular, the same year that Trevor Lawrence looked spectacular in Clemson’s spring game. Lawrence got the starting job at Clemson and led them to a national championship, but Smart stuck with Fromm even when Fromm struggled. In a game at LSU in 2018, Georgia was losing by 10 and looked to have no shot at coming back. I was yelling at the TV for Smart to put in Fields. He didn’t and Georgia lost by 17. Fromm ended up leaving Georgia high and dry after his junior season when he really could have used a senior year to improve his draft stock. Fromm is now a backup for the Buffalo Bills behind Josh Allen, whom the BIlls made a major financial investment in, so you never know, but thought he should have come back in 2020. Fields went on to Ohio State and played well in Columbus for 2 years leading the Buckeyes into the national championship game against the Crimson Tide this past season, where the Tide played well. Fields was the 11th overall draft pick in 2021 by the Chicago Bears. He’s quite a player, though the jury is always out when talented college quarterbacks reach the NFL. Fields might have led Georgia to the national championship if Smart had ever elected to go with him.

Daniels can definitely sling it, but will need protection, because of his relative immobility.

Georgia finished 8-2 last season, and 9-2 including the bowl victory over Cincinnati on a last second field goal, a 24-21 victory.

2021 Schedule

The season opener is about as big a blockbuster as you can find in college football any year, as Georgia plays Clemson Saturday, Sept. 4th at 6:30 PM CT in Charlotte. The game will be televised by ABC. I’m sure Chris, Kirk and Maria will be there. Wow. Knock your socks off stellar game with 2 teams with national championship aspirations colliding. The winner gets an early boost to its resume and the loser is certainly not out of the playoff hunt. These teams do not like each other and there will be fire burning from both sides in efforts to win this football game. Should be exceptionally entertaining.

On Saturday, Sept. 11th, Georgia hosts UAB at 2:30 PM CT on ESPN2. Good luck Blazers. The Blazers will have a good team, but this is a tall order. Then on Saturday, Sept. 18th at 6 PM CT on ESPN, the Dawgs host South Carolina and new coach Shane Beamer. Beamer has a top 15 recruiting class for 2022, but this is another tall order in Athens. @Vanderbilt on Saturday, Sept. 25th. Clark Lea will do a very good job in Nashville, but is a heavy longshot in this game. Arkansas comes to Athens, Saturday, Oct. 2. Former offensive line coach and looking like stellar Arkansas coach Sam PIttman brings his team between the hedges. On Saturday, Oct. 9th, Georgia is @ Auburn in an earlier than usual game. This game is usually in November. Promises to be a hard fought war on the Plains. Then Kentucky comes to Athens on Saturday, Oct. 16th. After an off week on Sat. 10-23, the Cocktail soiree is Saturday, 10-30. Dawgs-Gators in Jacksonville is as good as it gets and there will most likely be major SEC East implications on the line. Missouri comes to Georgia on Sat. 11-6. Then the Dawgs are @ Tennessee Saturday, 11-13. Charleston Southern at Georgia, Sat. 11-20, then @Georgia Tech, Saturday, 11-27. If the Dawgs navigate their way through the east. they’ll play in the SEC Championship game on Saturday, Dec. 4th at 3 PM CT on CBS.

This Georgia team is an SEC Championship contender and a national championship contender. The road is tough and they’ll always most likely get Alabama in the SEC Championship game, so Kirby is still working on defeating S, a tall order for any coach in the country, and especially his former assistants who are a combined 0-19 against him . It could happen this year, but the Crimson Tide looks prolific once again, so it’ll be tough. But both teams have a lot of football to play before they can think about that. Georgia looks like a playoff caliber team for sure. The team has the material to secure a special season.

Will hunker down with you on Monday and talk about Dem Dawgs in 2021. Promises to be a highly successful season. But I wanted to do something different today.

In a complex world, it’s nice to listen to something that’s simple, pleasant and genuine. Many times the most simple things have the most depth. Here’s Alan Jackson and George Strait performing a classic. I’ll check back on Monday. Have an awesome weekend. For Walter, Teo, Brombey and Brownie, play well.

The women take center stage in the golf world this week in Saitama, Japan, an hour northwest of Tokyo, as each of them tries to capture the coveted Gold Medal in Olympic Golf. Highly decorated South Korean golfer Inbee Park is the defending gold medalist having won at Rio in 2016. New Zealander Lydia Ko won the Silver and Shanshan Feng of China was the bronze medalist.

Kasumigaseki Country Club East Course hosted the men last week with American Xander Schauffele taking home the gold to the U.S. Brownie picked Xander to win the silver, so he made a good pick almost getting it exactly right. What do they say about horse shoes and hand grenades, MB. Just kiddin. Good job. Forty five year old Rory Sabatini came out of nowhere and won the silver. Xander shot -18 and Sabbatini shot -17. C.T. Pan of Taiwan won the bronze in a 7 man playoff. All 7 finished at -15.

The course is playing 6,648 yards and a par 71.

Now it’s the women who get their turn. Wow, they’re going to be battling the elements. Wednesday, the high is 97, sunny, winds, S 10-15. Thursday, 98, sunny, winds, E 10-15. Friday, 95, PM T-storms, winds ENE 10-15. Saturday. 91, T-storms, ESE10-15. So the ladies need to hunker down in their respective attempts to win the gold, silver and bronze.

TV

Today-Friday, 5:30 PM-2 AM CT, Golf Channel. There is an extra 30 minutes of broadcast time in the final round for the medal ceremony.

Odds according to BETMGM

Nelly Korda, 7-1

Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko, 10-1

Danielle Kang, 12-1

Hyo Joo KIm and Sei Young KIm, 14-1

Ariya Jutanugarn and Nasa Hotaoka, 16-1

Lydia Ko, 18-1

Brooke Henderson, Minjee Lee and Patty Tavatanakit 20-1

Medalists

I’m going to take the just turned 23 year old from Bradenton, Florida, July 28th, to capture the gold. She just won her first major at the Women’s PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in late June of this year, and I like her with the pressure on.

Gold, Nelly Korda

Silver

I’ll take the 24 year old, born in Seoul, South Korea but representing New Zealand, to capture the Silver Medal for the second Olympiad in a row. She just won her first tournament in almost three years to the day in April when she captured the Lotte Championship in Hawaii. She’s a 2 time major winner at the 2015 Evian Championship and the 2016 ANA Inspiration. She’s got a real shot.

Lydia Ko

Bronze

I’ll go with the 28 year old from SF, CA. Her last victory came at the Marathon Classic in August of 2020 in Sylvaina, Ohio and she has won a major, the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship, played at Olympia Fields in Illinois, a storied venue where Jim Furyk won the 2003 U.S. Open. I’ll take the youngish, talented American.

Danielle Kang