Nick Saban is never short on opinions. Even bad ones. Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images
The week in college football:
The Kyler Question
What does Kyler Murray do? The Oklahoma signal-caller was drafted ninth overall by the Oakland A’s on Monday. Murray has waited a long-time to be the full-time starter on the college level after being one of the most decorated high school QBs of all time. That wait includes a transfer from College Station to Norman after spot duty at Texas A&M. His newly-minted status as a millionaire complicates his situation. Does the pull of playing college ball mean more to Murray than starting his professional career in baseball? Currently the prohibitive favorite to succeed Baker Mayfield, the Allen High School product says he will remain at Oklahoma and play football this season despite being a top 10 selection. Oklahoma opens the season against Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic Owls on September 1st.
Pac-12 will require their teams to win 6 games to be bowl eligible
In 2015 the NCAA instituted a rule that allowed teams with a 5-7 record to make bowl games. I’m sure they have some long and drawn out reason for allowing under .500 teams to make bowl games but it really is pretty simple. Too many bowl games and the fear of not having enough teams to fill all the bowl slots led to the change in standards. The Pac-12 decided on Monday to require their teams to win six games to be bowl eligible. The conference is the first to create a rule that asks their member schools to exceed the NCAA requirement to play in a bowl game. As you might imagine, a coach or two isn’t thrilled. Mike Leach has been the most vocal on the matter, "If we had a 5-7 team lucky enough to make a bowl, they could probably use the practice and the players would probably appreciate the chance to play another game," Leach said. "Why should we limit opportunities when other conferences aren't?
Nick Saban on SEC transfer rules
The coach of the Crimson Tide was a bit on the defensive after being questioned about why he didn’t allow one of his former players to transfer to the school of his choice. The player in question is Brandon Kennedy. He’s a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining who would like to stay in the SEC. Saban wants no part of that and has blocked SEC schools as potential landing spots along with future opponents on the Tide’s schedule. Saban cites an SEC rule as the reason behind his restrictions.
"I don't think it should be on me," Saban said of the criticism. "If we agree in the SEC at these meetings that we're going to have free agency in our league and everybody can go wherever they want to go when they graduate, that's what we should do."
Saban wants no part of that type of player freedom and judging by his own words wouldn’t be a proponent of more flexible transfer rules.
"When we make a rule that guys can transfer whenever they want to transfer, how are we supposed to get people to do what they should do?" Saban asked. The coach known for telling players to move on to make room for new ones is worried that players may grab some control back. Delightful.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Houston Texans receiver Stefon Diggs will miss the rest of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee Sunday.
Coach DeMeco Ryans made the announcement Tuesday, calling Diggs being out a huge loss.
“It hurts our team to hear that news,” Ryans said. “He’s been such an important part to our team and just everything that he brought, not only on the field, but off the field. The energy, the leader, the way he worked every single day. He brought a lot to our team and we have to pick up the slack — a lot of guys have to pick up the slack.”
Diggs suffered the non-contact injury in the third quarter of Houston’s win over the Colts on Sunday. He was running a route and pulled up and grabbed at his right knee before falling to the ground.
The 30-year-old Diggs had 47 receptions for 496 yards and three touchdowns in eight games in his first season in Houston after a blockbuster trade from the Bills.
“It's not easy," quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “It's not something that I have a whole bunch of words for. I'm just ... trying to just wrap my mind around what happened but it's tough. You try to think positively about it but there's not a bunch of positive thoughts and I just really feel bad for him.”
Diggs is a four-time Pro Bowler who has had at least 1,000 yards receiving in each of the past six seasons, highlighted by his 2020 season where he led the NFL with a career-high 1,535 yards.
The injury is another blow to a team that is already without leading receiver Nico Collins, who is out at least one more game after being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
With Diggs out, the Texans will need Tank Dell to take on a bigger role in the offense Thursday night when they visit the New York Jets. Dell’s production has dropped off this season after a standout rookie year where he had 709 yards receiving with seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg.
He has 229 yards receiving this season and scored his second touchdown in Sunday’s win which improved the AFC South-leading Texans to 6-2.
“Once you lose one of the star players, everybody has got to step up,” Dell said. “Even if you are one of the star players, you still have to step up and do more and produce more. I know all of us are more than capable of doing that. So we are going to try to go out there and make plays.”
The Texans also have receivers Robert Woods, Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchie, but none of those players has contributed much this season. The three players have combined for just 146 yards receiving.
“Other leaders have got to step up,” Stroud said. “We need a leader in that room to step up now since (Diggs) and Nico are both out.”
Stroud added that he has full confidence in his remaining receivers and knows they'll take advantage of their opportunities.
“That means a lot,” Metchie said. “It shows that my teammates have a lot of faith and belief in me based off the work that they’ve seen me do. And for me, it just means that when I get out there, I’m just going to ride as hard for them as they do for me.”
_______________
Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Find out more about it here.