Tidbits and Rumblings around the College Football Landscape – 247Sports

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Scarlet Nation's weekly collection of news, tidbits and interesting college football storylines returns as we highlight the latest from the college football landscape across the nation.

A Pac-12 defectionUCLAs two-year starting tackle, redshirt seniorJake Burton, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. Its not too late for him to enroll andland on a team thats playing this fall. Late Tuesday, Burton confirmed he has transferred to Baylor.Will other Pac-12 and Big Ten stars follow this path?

More anger with the Big TenNebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos is stillseething over the Big Tens decision to postpone its fall football season to the winter or spring

I always thought the JV game was before the varsity game,Moos said, alluding to the fact the Big Ten will be playing after the other three power-five conferences finish their fall seasons.

FBS Opening KickoffThe first game involving an FBS team this season is nowscheduled for Sept 5 with SMU traveling to Texas State.The cheapest advertised ticket is $71.Two days later, Navy hosts BYU at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

Opting in for the 2020 seasonEastern Kentucky University Football is opting in for fall football,unlike the rest of its Ohio Valley Conference members, who elected toplay in the spring. The Colonels will play an independent schedule this fall. EKU is a perennial power in the OVC, playing in the championship game every year since 1948. But not this year. No other EKU sports will be in action this fall.

A one-game seasonNorth Dakota State will play one game, and one game only, this fall. And that gamewill be a home game against Central Arkansas, to take place at the Fargodome on Oct 3.North Dakota State is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, who a week ago announced it would not play this fall.Quarterback Trey Lance, a projected first-round NFL Draft pick, will get his chance to go out in style in front of his home fans.

Service Academy Fall FootballThe Mountain West postponed its season, but Air Force is still planning to play Army and Navy this fall.

Army has added an Oct 10 home game versus The Citadel and an Oct 17 and a road trip to UTSA, bringing its schedule to 11 games. Click here for a primer on how the Black Knights rebuilt their schedule rather quickly.

Rutgers Football HistoryRay Lucas scored the first touchdown at the new Rutgers Stadium on Sept 3, 1994 against Kent State on an 8-yard run. Rutgers won the game 28-6.Bob Sneathen recorded the first sack.Steven Harper caught the first TD pass (60 yards).

Pre-Season All-AmericansCBS Sports released its Preseason All American team from the conferences still planning on playing in the fall. Rutgers punter Adam Korsak was a second-team preseason All-American on the AP version, which was released yesterday.

CFP Rankings release dateThe College Football Playoff selection committee will begin its first of six weekly rankings for the 2020-21 season on Tuesday, Nov 17, the CFP announced Monday.Without the Big Ten and Pac-12 playing this fall, the Group-of-Five conferences could actually sneak a team into the four-team playoff for the very first time.

Recent Big Ten CommitsRutgers - 3 star DE Ryan KeelerMichigan State - 4 star OL Geno VanDeMark,Minnesota - 3 star CB Justin Walley,Nebraska - unrated S Koby Bretz

NJ Quarterbacks slated to start for Power 5 teams in SeptemberJarrett Guarantano, Tennessee (Bergen Catholic) - The redshirt senior coming off a 2019 season with 19 TDs passing and 8 INTs. Guarantano increased his weight to 230 pounds for the upcoming season from last seasons 213 according to 247s Pat Brown.

Tommy DeVito, Syracuse (Don Bosco Prep) - The redshirt junior is coming off a 2019 season with 19 TDs passing vs 5 INTs.

Kenny Pickett, Pitt (Ocean Township) - The senior is coming off a 2019 season with 13 TDs and 9 INTs.

Devin Leary, NC State (Timber Creek) - The redshirt sophomore is coming off a 2019 season with 9 TDs vs 5 INTs.He started the final five games for NC State in 2019. Leary became the first redshirt freshman to start at quarterback for NC State since Russell Wilson in 2010.

Recruiting RankingsAs of Aug 26th, the top 3 Group-of-Five schools in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings for the class of 2021 are No.42 Memphis, No.46 Cincinnati, and No.52 Florida Atlantic. The bottom three Power-Five schools are No.97 TCU, No.90 Stanford, and No.85 Utah.

Did you know---Instant replay made its American debut in the 1963 Army-Navy game. The game was a legacy to President John F. Kennedy, who'd been assassinated in Dallas 15 days earlier and whose family had insisted the teams play on. Navy was 8-1, Army was 7-2. A crowd of 102,000 fans filledPhiladelphia's Municipal Stadium for the game. Navy won a classic nail biter 21-15 led by Heisman winning QB Roger Staubach and the victory sent Navy to the Cotton Bowl, where it lost to No. 1 Texas, 28-6.

---According to this CBS Sports article, Baylor University spent $600 to $700 per college football helmet, while Mississippi State spent close to $600 per helmet. Business Insider says the University of Nebraska spends about $340 on its helmets, including the decals.

---These college football coaches have something a bit interesting in common: Mike Leach (Mississippi State), Hugh Freeze (Liberty), David Cutcliff (Duke), Sonny Dykes (SMU), Bobby Hauck (Montana), and Bill Clark (UAB). None of them ever played Football before getting into coaching.

Who let the dogs out? Today (Aug 26) is National Dog Day.The following FBS teams pay tribute to their canine mascots:

UGX, University of Georgia, BulldogDubs II, University of Washington, Alaskan MalamuteReveille IX, Texas A&M University, CollieSmokey X, University of Tennessee, Bluetick CoonhoundKohl, Boise State University, Labrador RetrieverJonathan XIV, University of Connecticut, Siberian Husky

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Tidbits and Rumblings around the College Football Landscape - 247Sports