By Melissa Triebwasser
Frogs Today staff writer
Can you smell the fresh cut grass in the air (or rubber pebbles)? Fall camps are open across the country and the conference, and we can finally drop the cactus talk and focus on football.
Let’s dive in.
OK, but first, one more realignment rumor
Could we see the Big 12 head north? That’s the rumor, as apparently Minnesota is being targeted by Brett Yormark and the One True Champion conference.
According to multiple sources, the Gophers have “quietly” been contacted by the Big 12, but it’s hard to imagine any program would leave money on the table that’s expected to approach $100 million annually in the next Big Ten rights deal.
While Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is standing firm — and hoping the universities under his purview do the same — Yormark is leaving no stone unturned. The Big 12 was left in the dust a year ago. Yormark seems on a mission to not let the same thing happen this time around.
Checking in out west
Texas Tech, which had all of the words regarding ticket sales for TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati a couple weeks ago, is now turning to a “fee free week” to try and sell out Jones AT&T Stadium for their seven games this fall.
“We want to fill up the stadium for seven games this year,” senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti said. “Anything we can do to help us get there, we wanted to do that.”
Guess TCU isn’t the only one finding creative ways to sell out/protect their stadium, eh?
Another big-time QB battle
Maybe you’ve heard of a university down in Austin, one that has a football program that a lot of people have an interest in.
Well, that team has quite the quarterback battle as camp opens, with blue-chippers Hudson Card and Quinn Ewers battling it out.
Ewers, a Southlake product who began his college career at Ohio State, is flashy and well-known but has yet to take a meaningful snap. Card, a sophomore from Austin, has completed 51 of 83 career passes for 590 yards, five touchdowns and an interception.
Most expect Ewers to win the job and hold the seat until Arch Manning is ready to take over, making Card a top candidate to transfer out. Can coach Steve Sarkisian keep both of his big-time prospects happy long enough to hold on to them for the upcoming season?
Having fun with revisionist history
Can you imagine the kind of cockiness it requires to write this headline?
“Oklahoma football: Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma appears to be fortuitous for Sooners”
You mean the same Lincoln Riley that led the Sooners to four straight Big 12 titles and three playoff appearances?
“Since December of 2021, the Oklahoma football fan base has endured quite a lot of difficult times,” an Oklahoma Fansided website wrote. “However, Brent Venables quickly turned Sooner Nation’s fortunes around, and it’s clear now that OU has more momentum as a program than it has in some time.”
When I think of hard times in college football, let me tell you, OU does not come to mind.
Many fan bases are excited about new faces in familiar places, and most have a reason to be. But Oklahoma going 11-2 and watching their coach leave for palm-treed pastures doesn’t exactly have “full rebuild” written all over it.
Baylor’s big win
Baylor picked up a big victory earlier this week when four-star Dripping Springs quarterback Austin Novosad spurned recent overtures from Ohio State and Notre Dame to remain committed to the team he pledged to back in December.
Novosad, who was also pursued by TCU, holds 17 offers as a top-100 national recruit and is considered a top-ten player at his position. Novosad has thrown for 76 touchdowns the past two seasons, accumulating over 6,200 passing yards.
Melissa Triebwasser, melissa@frogstoday.com
