The Road to Santa Clara

This upcoming college football season has sports fans going in a frenzy. I can feel the anticipation for my Saturday mornings eating L’eggo My Eggo Thick and Fluffy Waffles with Wright’s Hickory Smoked Bacon and watching ESPN’s College Football Countdown wearing my Oklahoma Sooners gear. Recently, ESPN has made some serious predictions for the new season, and it seems like they went even more descriptive on what they’re looking for.

“ESPN’s Top 50 players in College Football” consists of players from the top teams in last year’s season – including Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State, and the reigning national champion: Alabama. The first player that tops this list is junior defensive end Ed Oliver from Houston. This list also includes other well known players, like Stanford’s Bryce Love, Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, and West Virginia’s Will Grier. Although the Southeastern Conference (SEC) dominated this year’s list, other conferences (like the Big Ten and the Big 12) made a statement with top rated players as well.

Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray hopes to fill in big shoes of Baker Mayfield (last year’s Heisman Trophy winner and the first overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft). Murray (ranked 38th in the top 50) was rated a five-star recruit and backup to Mayfield. Along with signing a $4.7 million contract with the Oakland Athletics this summer, he will to have to prove himself on the turf and on the diamond.

Alabama’s championship hero, Tua Tagovailoa, put himself on the map in the game against Georgia. When head coach Nick Saban substituted him in for Jalen Hurts, who had a mediocre game by halftime, Tagovailoa knew that it was up to him to bring their 17th championship trophy back to Tuscaloosa. He did just that. Tagovailoa threw 166 yards within his 14 of 24 completions, including three touchdowns – one of which was the game winner in overtime. The Hawaiian hero is ranked 11th on the list, and Crimson Tide fans have nothing more than high expectations, especially from him.

The Crimson Tide are ranked as the top team for the new season, and that doesn’t come as a surprise. Clemson, Georgia, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Washington, Oklahoma, Miami (FL), Auburn, and Penn State round off the top 10. Clemson’s defense will be their main factor into having another successful season. With three of Clemson’s defensive players in the top 15 players in the country, they will be a menacing shadow to opposing teams. Oklahoma’s stacked offense, behind ranked players Kyler Murray and Rodney Anderson, will try to put themselves back into the championship conversation after that devastating loss to Georgia in the Rose Bowl game in January. Anderson and Murray will be a dangerous backfield and will be hard to stop.

The Longhorns have been unnoticed nationally since their 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, Colt McCoy, was on campus. However, second year head coach Tom Herman has some secret weapons that may shake the whole college football world. With sophomore Sam Ehlinger as starting quarterback and Texas’ speed as a team, they might be a problem for their rival (Oklahoma) to be the reigning king of the Big 12. Lastly, the Mountaineers of West Virginia will be in good hands with third ranked senior Will Grier as their quarterback. Last season, Grier was second in the nation in touchdowns and third in passing yards. Along with one of the top receiving squads in college football, West Virginia will surge as one of the top teams in the Big 12, and possibly in the country.

The 2018-19 college football season will be one to look forward to. The most exciting players from last season will try to make their statement on their campuses before heading to greener pastures. So everybody bring out the grills and the ESPN+ accounts, because college football is back!