It’s been a long off-season as we prepare for the upcoming college football season in less than two weeks. It was long, but surely not boring with the major changes in college football from the NIL and the transfer portal exploding along with conference expansion. So hopefully for the next four months the game itself will be the center attraction. Most teams will kickoff the weekend before Labor Day. This Saturday we will have college football, as about a dozen games will kickoff. SEC member Vanderbilt travels to Hawaii top open their season on the Big Island. The Big 10 will have Northwestern and Nebraska opening in Ireland is another excursion. Also in action will be North Carolina, Florida State, Wyoming and Illinois.
The opening game in our state will be Millsaps hosting Belhaven in the “Riverside Rumble” on Thursday, September 1. The Blazers won last year’s meeting, 56-28, posting their sixth win in the series. This year’s contest between the neighboring schools will be the 12th game in series that began in 2003. Mississippi Valley will also kick off their season on September 1 at Tarleton State.
The Mississippi junior colleges will also open on Thursday, September 1, with seven games. The Mississippi league is a powerhouse nationally, and again the preseason poll by JCGridiron.com reflects that. East Mississippi is ranked No. 2 right behind Hutchinson, Kansas; Gulf Coast is ranked No. 11, with Jones at No. 13, Northwest at No. 15 and Hinds at No. 19. The big game on September 1 is Gulf Coast traveling to Northwest. In other news, ESPN+ will televise the East Mississippi at Gulf Coast contest on September 22.
Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi and Alcorn will open at home on Saturday, September 3. Ole Miss hosts Troy, MSU entertains Memphis, USM welcomes Liberty while Alcorn meets Stephen F. Austin on the Reservation in Lorman. Delta State and Mississippi College hit the road that day. DSU goes to Kentucky State while MC travels to Albany State. Jackson State wraps up the opening weekend with a trip to Miami on Sunday, September 4, to tangle with Florida A&M.
High school football begins in earnest this week. Hopefully we will get back to some normalcy because last year at this time two dozen games were cancelled over the opening week because of COVID concerns.
A couple of former Ole Miss quarterbacks made the news this past week. Last year’s quarterback Matt Corral tore a ligament in his left foot and will be out for a significant time. Corral is presently listed as the No. 3 quarterback with the Carolina Panthers behind Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. In other news, 2019 Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee was named the starting quarterback at Central Florida by head coach Gus Malzahn.
Former Brandon quarterback Gardner Minshew started for the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend. Minshew played the opening half and was 14-for-17 for 142 yards in the Eagles’ 21-20 win over Cleveland.
The Big 10 signed a $7 billion dollar contract with three of the major networks, in NBC, CBS and Fox. The contract begins next year and will run for seven years. Each of the 16 schools will share in $1 billion yearly. The Big 10 has wrapped up the major TV markets in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles with this agreement.
The New Orleans Saints dropped to 0-2 in the preseason with a 20-10 loss at Green Bay. The Saints used Ian Book at quarterback the entire game and the former Notre Dame signal caller passed for 113 yards and ran for another 49 yards. The Saints’ highlights were a 59-field goal by Will Lutz and an 81-yard punt by Blake Gillikin.
Gulfport’s Milton Barney Jr. was named the head baseball coach at Mississippi Valley this past week. He is the grandson of Pro Football Hall of Famer Lem Barney.
Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is high school expert Kevan Lindsey. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome; go towabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows. Dale has been writing sports since 1973.
Contact him at ddmckee18@yahoo.com
