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Good morning and happy Monday! The first College Football Playoff rankings come out tomorrow night. That will provide us a good look at how close teams like Texas A&M and Florida are to working their way into the Playoff mix. Or, will the committee have non-Power 5 teams Cincinnati and BYU ranked higher? There are some major questions these first rankings will answer.

For today’s newsletter, though, we’re going to discuss Tennessee’s ongoing implosion. Then, we’ll take a deep dive into college football referees after an awful weekend across the board. Finally, we’ll take a look at the best uniforms of the week. Let’s get started, shall we?

VOL IMPLOSION

Tennessee started the year 2-0. The Vols are now 2-5. What happened after a promising start on Rocky Top?

Last season, the Tennessee Volunteers started 0-2 with embarrassing losses to Georgia State and BYU. Then, they won their last 6 games of the season to build momentum for 2020. This year, they started 2-0, with wins over South Carolina and Mizzou. Now, though, the wheels have fallen off. After a loss at Auburn on Saturday night, the Vols are sitting at 2-5 with 3 regular-season games remaining.

What is going on with Jeremy Pruitt’s program? Is this season salvageable? Is Pruitt on the hot seat? Here are some of the headlines surrounding the Vols’ program as we enter rivalry week in the SEC:

  • The Vols are making history, and not the good kind of history. After the 30-17 loss at Auburn, the Vols have now lost 5 games in a row by 10 points or more. According to SEC Network host Peter Burns, that’s the first time in program history Tennessee has lost 5 games in a row by double figures. Important to note: Tennessee started playing football all the way back in 1891. Ouch.
  • What happened on Saturday night to cause the latest loss? It’s tough to point to just one moment, as there were myriad mistakes made by the Vols. Leading 10-0, the Vols let Auburn speedster Anthony Schwartz get behind the defense for an easy score. Then, trailing 13-10 late in the third quarter, QB Jarrett Guarantano threw a killer pick-six, which Auburn DB Smoke Monday took 100 yards to the Tigers’ end zone. Finally, this didn’t contribute to the final score at all, but a Tennessee defender was caught blatantly faking an injury to slow Auburn’s offense. Not a good look.
  • Tennessee fans aren’t happy, and Pruitt is taking a lot of heat. Vol Nation was already calling Pruitt out on social media at halftime of Saturday’s game. By the end of the game, many Vol fans were calling for Pruitt to be fired and for Tennessee to hire Liberty coach Hugh Freeze. Oh, and Pruitt also got heavily criticized for a pair of comments he made in his postgame press conference. Not a good week for him.

The Vols face 0-7 Vanderbilt this weekend. A loss there will enrage Tennessee supporters. Anything less than a convincing win will spell trouble for Pruitt. After the way the Vols finished last season, it’s wild that we’re at this point where Pruitt is on the hot seat. But, that’s what 5 blowout losses in a row will do to your job security, particularly on Rocky Top. We’ll see if the Vols can turn things around during their final 3 games.

STAT LEADERS

The 2020 college football season continues to cruise along. Many of the FBS conferences have played different numbers of games thus far, which leads to chaos atop the statistical leaderboards. As we inch toward December, though, there have been some eye-popping numbers put up.

The leaders in nine key statistical categories include four players from the SEC. Below, you can see the leaders in a number of stats (via CFBStats.com):

  • Passing yards: Dillon Gabriel, UCF — 3,017
  • Passing TDs: Kyle Trask, Florida — 31
  • Rushing yards: Breece Hall, Iowa State — 1,139
  • Rushing TDs: Najee Harris, Alabama — 16
  • Receiving yards: Elijah Moore, Ole Miss — 1,054
  • Receiving TDs: Jaelon Darden, North Texas — 11
  • Sacks: Patrick Johnson, Tulane — 10.0
  • Tackles: Grant Morgan, Arkansas — 104
  • Interceptions: Two players tied — 5

Players in the SEC continue to shine. Can players in other major conferences like the Big Ten and Pac-12, which have played fewer games than the SEC, catch up over the next few weeks? Check back next Monday to see how the leaderboards have changed!

GOOD READS

  • The SEC figures to have a team or two make the Playoff field. Alabama will likely be No. 1 in the first CFP rankings this week, but there are other elite teams, too. Then, at the other end of the spectrum is 0-7 Vanderbilt. How do the teams shake out between Alabama and Vandy? Saturday Down South’s Joe Cox released his weekly SEC power rankings after Week 9 action.
  • Indiana nearly completed a thrilling comeback at Ohio State. Though the Hoosiers ultimately came up short in a 42-35 loss, Bleacher Report’s Adam Kramer writes that they’re still the best surprise of the college football season. While you’re here, be sure to also check out Indiana coach Tom Allen’s incredible postgame speech.
  • Speaking of Big Ten surprises, how about 5-0 Northwestern? The Wildcats beat Wisconsin 17-7 on Saturday and look to basically have the Big Ten West title locked up. After going 3-9 last year, this is a stunning turnaround for Pat Fitzgerald’s squad. Saturday Tradition’s Phil Ervin writes that discipline and defense are the keys to Northwestern’s impressive 2020 campaign.
  • There were lots of tight games involving top teams this week. Even though many of the nation’s elite teams eventually escaped with wins, there’s still plenty to take away from the weekend’s action. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller breaks down the winners and losers from the week.

C’MON, REF!

It was an ugly weekend of officiating across the board in college football. How has it gotten so bad?

Complaining about officiating is a centuries-long tradition associated with all sports, not just college football. If you could travel back to the days of jousting and sword fighting, we’d bet you’d notice at least a few hecklers tossing their pints of … water … at the referee.

Oftentimes, these officials don’t deserve the grief sent their direction. This weekend, though, it was absolutely appropriate — at least for a handful of individuals wearing the striped shirts. A few moments in the B1G and SEC stick out especially. Let’s take a look at some of the worst from the weekend:

  • Purdue was on the wrong end of perhaps the worst call in college football history. It happened Friday night, when QB Jack Plummer connected with TE Payne Durham for a go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to play. But the score was negated as Durham was flagged for offensive pass interference, essentially for running. That’s not a joke. Plummer threw an interception on the next play, resulting in a Boilermakers loss. Head coach Jeff Brohm wasn’t happy about it, but kept his composure in the postgame presser. Fans and media alike blasted the call on social media.
  • There was trouble from the first play in Lincoln. On the very first play of the game, Nebraska QB Luke McCaffrey appeared to throw a forward pass, but the call on the field was ruled a fumble. Officials miss those calls sometimes, but the real crime was that the play wasn’t even reviewed. It ended up being a devastating turnover, as Illinois was able to punch the ball across the goal line on its first drive and take the early lead. The Illini never looked back, and Nebraska fell to 1-3 on the season. The loss to Illinois was the first for Nebraska in Lincoln in nearly a century. Don’t worry, the officiating crew provided a not-so-convincing explanation after the game came to an end about the fumble.
  • Problems continued in Columbus. Yes, more referee troubles in the B1G. This time, it wasn’t so much the whistles being an issue as much as just the general safety of the officials. One guy sustained a non-contact injury and had to be helped off the field. Another official was plowed over by multiple players on the field. Saturday was a dangerous day for an official to be inside The Horseshoe. There was one controversial call near the end of the game, when Justin Fields took a helmet-to-helmet shot from an Indiana defender. No flag was thrown and there was no review of the play.
  • Down at Arkansas, the Razorbacks’ best defensive player was ejected. And boy did that stir up controversy in the SEC. Defensive back Jalen Catalon was ejected in the fourth quarter of Arkansas’s game against LSU for a controversial targeting call, one that even AD Hunter Yurachek thought was ridiculous and hopes to overturn. The penalty also aided the Tigers on a game-winning drive, something that had Arkansas fans irate. It also has implications for next week, as the Razorbacks will be without their best defensive player for next weekend’s game against Missouri. That wasn’t all. Also in the game, officials missed what appeared to be a clear fumble by LSU in the first half that was recovered by Arkansas, but the Razorbacks were on the wrong end of that call, too.

We all know being an official at the FBS level of college football is no easy task. It’s hard to sign up to be a Little League umpire these days without facing extreme criticism and receiving a tongue-lashing from upset parents and fans here and there. But if you’re going to do the job, you’ve got to do it right. Many fell short of that this weekend.

JUST FOR FUN

The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2020 season will be released tomorrow night. Alabama seems to be in good shape to be No. 1, likely followed by Notre Dame, Ohio State and Clemson in some order. For today’s quiz, can you name the team that was No. 1 in the first-ever CFP rankings? For bonus points, can you also name the other three schools that rounded out the top four? (Hint: Those debut rankings were released on Oct. 28, 2014.)

Scroll down for the answers to today’s quiz.

UNIFORM TALK

It was another incredible weekend for uniform combinations. Which teams wore it best?

Yes, this weekend once again had some impressive uniform combinations! In fact, there were so many, we probably won’t be able to get to all of them here (though we’ll do our best to give appropriate shoutouts to everyone). From a pair of SEC schools to some throwbacks in the Big Ten and ACC to Oregon once again shining through, there were plenty of combos to choose from.

So, which teams had the best looks of the weekend? Let’s take a look at some of the uniform combinations we liked best from Saturday:

  • Let’s start in the SEC, where Georgia broke out new black jerseys. As you can see in the picture above, the Dawgs wore black tops with a red collar pattern around the neck against Mississippi State. See more of the look here. Georgia hadn’t worn black jerseys since the 2016 season, which was Kirby Smart’s first year at the helm of the program.
  • Mizzou continues to be the Oregon of the SEC with its uniforms. Indeed, the Tigers have a number of great looks, including Saturday’s yellow “Block M” helmets, white jerseys and yellow pants. The Tigers also have the most interesting uniform reveal videos. Last week’s boxing-themed video was something.
  • Speaking of Oregon, the Ducks had a new look on Saturday. Their “Ohana” gear was a nod to the team’s pan-Polynesian culture. The jerseys were black, for volcanic rock, and green, for the vegetation that grows on volcanic rock. The uniforms honored “elements of Polynesian culture including family, unity and a voyager spirit.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tweeted about how much he loved the uniforms.
  • Now, let’s look at some of the other great combos around the nation. Appalachian State had an all-white look featuring these awesome Yosef helmets. Northwestern wore purple helmets with white facemasks for the first time in a long time. And, finally, Louisville threw it back to the Johnny Unitas days with its uniforms this week. Very cool.

Yes, it was a busy week in the uniform world, and this coming weekend promises to be another great one. The SEC is entering Rivalry Week, so expect some great combos to make their debuts on Saturday. Meanwhile, there’s another full slate of games this week, so keep your eyes peeled for more impressive uniforms!

ANSWERS

The first-ever College Football Playoff rankings, released on Oct. 28, 2014, looked like this:

  1. Mississippi State
  2. Florida State
  3. Auburn
  4. Ole Miss

Yes, three of the top four teams in the first CFP rankings were from the SEC West, and none of them were named “Alabama.” Alabama, of course, ended up as the No. 1 seed in the first-ever Playoff, but lost to eventual champion Ohio State in the semifinals. Florida State was the only team in that original top four to make the Playoff field that year.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I didn’t really see this coming. … I was embarrassed by our level of execution in all three phases. It was almost like our team thought, ‘We won one game, we’re good.'”

– Nebraska coach Scott Frost threw his players under the bus after a lopsided loss to Illinois. Tensions are high in Lincoln as fans grow increasingly frustrated with their head coach.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Illinois tweeted, then deleted, this hilarious troll of Nebraska after beating the reeling Huskers 41-23. Why the Illini decided to delete the tweet is beyond us.

This edition of the Saturday Football newsletter was written by Adam Spencer and Dustin Schutte.