TCU

Carnahan Coverage: Linebacker Withney Simon still awaiting first scholarship offer

ORLANDO, Fla. – He’s done all that’s been asked of him yet Orlando Jones High School’s Withney Simon, the No. 2-rated linebacker in Central Florida, is unsure of his football future.

I caught up with Simon following the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl earlier this month at the Florida Citrus Bowl and asked him about his college options. He said that although he’s got the grades to qualify for football at the next level, he’s a bit surprised at how little interest he’s garnered from college programs.

( – Click here to read J.C.’s feature on Withney Simon for Orlando Sentinel – )

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 14)

Injuries to quarterbacks at Baylor and Ohio State have finally moved TCU into the No. 4 spot in this week’s Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings. But how the power conferences are eventually decided this weekend will play a role in whether TCU can maintain their position. There’s just one more round of games left before the final four spots are officially wrapped up.

#1 (1) Florida State (12-0) – Won 24-19 vs Florida
#2 (2) Alabama (11-1) – Won 55-44 vs No. 15 Auburn
#3 (3) Oregon (11-1) – Won 47-19 at Oregon State
#4 (6) TCU (10-1) – Won 48-10 at Texas
#5 (4) Baylor (10-1) – Won 48-46 at Texas Tech
#6 (5) Ohio State (11-1) – Won 42-28 vs Michigan
#7 (–) Arizona (10-2) – Won 42-35 vs No. 13 Arizona State
#8 (–) Georgia Tech (10-2) – Won 30-24 at No. 16 Georgia
#9 (10) Wisconsin (10-2) – Won 34-24 vs No. 18 Minnesota
#10 (7) Mississippi State (10-2) – Lost 31-17 at No. 19 Mississippi

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 13)

Not much has changed from a week ago in the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings. FSU is still the only unbeaten from a power conference at this point in the season. The other unbeaten team barely hung on to win Saturday as Conference USA’s Marshall improved to 11-0 with a 23-18 win over UAB. Maybe one day we’ll see a team such as this get a shot at making the playoffs. Colorado State (10-1) of the Mountain West is the last remaining team left with one loss not listed below after winning 58-20 over New Mexico behind running back Dee Hart, an Alabama transfer. Would be interested in seeing Hart get a chance to run against Bama at the end of the season.

Here’s the rankings for this week:

#1 (1) Florida State (11-0) – Won 20-17 vs Boston College
#2 (2) Alabama (10-1) – Won 48-14 vs Western Carolina
#3 (3) Oregon (10-1) – Won 44-10 vs Colorado
#4 (4) Baylor (9-1) – Won 49-28 vs Oklahoma State
#5 (5) Ohio State (10-1) – Won 42-27 vs Indiana
#6 (6) TCU (9-1) – Did not play
#7 (7) Mississippi State (10-1) – Won 51-0 vs Vanderbilt
#8 (10) UCLA (9-2) – Won 38-20 vs No. 19 USC
#9 (–) Georgia (9-2) – Won 55-9 vs Charleston Southern
#10 (9) Wisconsin (9-2) – Won 26-24 at Iowa

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 12)

Just one college football team remains unbeaten from a power conference at this point in the season as the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles strengthened their hold on a postseason bid Saturday night. The other three spots are up for grabs between six teams with only one loss. Aside from FSU, Marshall (10-0) of Conference USA is the lone remaining unbeaten while the only other team with one loss not listed below is Colorado State (9-1) of the Mountain West.

This week’s Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings:

#1 (1) Florida State (10-0) – Won 30-26 at Miami
#2 (4) Alabama (9-1) – Won 25-20 vs No. 1 Mississippi State
#3 (3) Oregon (9-1) – Did not play
#4 (5) Baylor (8-1) – Did not play
#5 (8) Ohio State (9-1) – Won 31-24 at No. 25 Minnesota
#6 (6) TCU (9-1) – Won 34-30 at Kansas
#7 (2) Mississippi State (9-1) – Lost 25-20 at No. 5 Alabama
#8 (–) Mississippi (8-2) – Did not play
#9 (–) Wisconsin (8-2) – Won 59-24 vs No. 16 Nebraska
#10 (10) UCLA (8-2) – Did not play

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Melvin Gordon sets new FBS record with 408 yards rushing in one game

The rush toward the Heisman Trophy took a new and intriguing turn in favor of Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon over the weekend.

On Saturday Gordon set a new Football Bowl Subdivision record by rushing for 408 yards on 25 carries – in just three quarters of work – in a 59-24 win over No. 16 Nebraska. The previous mark of 406 yards was set by TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson against UTEP on Nov. 20, 1999.

Gordon also scored four touchdowns, the last of which broke the rushing record and made the two fumbles he lost earlier in the game seem like a distant memory. Of his 25 carries, five went for at least 40 yards.

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 11)

Did you see the College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday? Looks like there’ll be plenty to complain about by the time this whole thing concludes at the end of the regular season. Quick question: Will Nebraska (8-1) or Duke (8-1) ever crack the Top 10? They’ll likely need to win their conferences for that to happen. Here’s the updated Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings…

#1 (1) Florida State (9-0) – Won 34-20 vs Virginia
#2 (2) Mississippi State (9-0) – Won 45-16 vs Tennessee-Martin
#3 (4) Oregon (9-1) – Won 51-27 at No. 17 Utah
#4 (5) Alabama (8-1) – Won 20-13 at No. 16 LSU
#5 (10) Baylor (8-1) – Won 48-14 at No. 15 Oklahoma
#6 (6) TCU (8-1) – Won 41-20 vs No. 7 Kansas State
#7 (–) Arizona State (8-1) – Won 55-31 vs No. 10 Notre Dame
#8 (–) Ohio State (8-1) – Won 49-37 at No. 8 Michigan State
#9 (3) Auburn (7-2) – Lost 41-38 vs Texas A&M
#10 (–) UCLA (8-2) – Won 44-30 at Washington

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 10)

The top four teams this week in the College Football Playoff, in order, are Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Oregon, just as the top four teams in this week’s version of the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings.

#1 (1) Florida State (8-0) – Won 42-31 at Louisville
#2 (2) Mississippi State (8-0) – Won 17-10 vs Arkansas
#3 (4) Auburn (7-1) – Won 35-31 at No. 4 Mississippi
#4 (3) Oregon (8-1) – Won 45-16 vs Stanford
#5 (6) Alabama (7-1) – Did not play
#6 (8) TCU (7-1) – Won 31-30 at No. 20 West Virginia
#7 (7) Notre Dame (7-1) – Won 49-39 at Navy
#8 (9) Michigan State (7-1) – Did not play
#9 (10) Kansas State (7-1) – Won 48-14 vs Oklahoma State
#10 (–) Baylor (7-1) – Won 60-14 vs Kansas

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 9)

The first version of the official College Football Playoff rankings rolled out Tuesday. There will be plenty of changes to that list throughout the remainder of the season and it’ll be fun to see how the committee weighs each team as it decides upon the four programs most deserving of playing for a national title. This week the top four teams according to the College Football Playoff consist of Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Mississippi – in that order. Here’s how the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings shape up this week:

#1 (1) Florida State (7-0) – Did not play
#2 (2) Mississippi State (7-0) – Won 45-31 at Kentucky
#3 (4) Oregon (7-1) – Won 59-41 at California
#4 (6) Auburn (6-1) – Won 42-35 vs South Carolina
#5 (3) Mississippi (7-1) – Lost 10-7 at No. 24 LSU
#6 (7) Alabama (7-1) – Won 34-20 at Tennessee
#7 (5) Notre Dame (6-1) – Did not play
#8 (9) TCU (6-1) – Won 82-27 vs Texas Tech
#9 (8) Michigan State (7-1) – Won 35-11 vs Michigan
#10 (10) Kansas State (6-1) – Won 23-0 vs Texas

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 8)

There’s still plenty to be decided as we get closer to figuring out which four teams will be the last program’s standing to take part in the new college football playoff. Although nine of the 10 teams listed below are the same names tabbed in the top spots of the Associated Press Top 25, these rankings vary quite a bit. Here’s this week’s Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings:

#1 (1) Florida State (7-0) – Won 31-27 vs No. 5 Notre Dame
#2 (2) Mississippi State (6-0) – Did not play
#3 (3) Mississippi (7-0) – Won 34-3 vs Tennessee
#4 (6) Oregon (6-1) – Won 45-20 vs Washington
#5 (5) Notre Dame (6-1) – Lost 31-27 at No. 2 Florida State
#6 (7) Auburn (5-1) – Did not play
#7 (10) Alabama (6-1) – Won 59-0 vs No. 21 Texas A&M
#8 (9) Michigan State (6-1) – Won 56-17 at Indiana
#9 (8) TCU (5-1) – Won 42-9 vs No. 15 Oklahoma State
#10 (–) Kansas State (5-1) – Won 31-30 at No. 11 Oklahoma

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 7)

Teams are starting to win the sort of games that will separate them from the rest of the pack when it comes time to deciding which programs will make up the college football playoff. Although the Associated Press has a new No. 1 this week, the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings have gone unchanged at the top spot.

#1 (1) Florida State (6-0) – Won 38-20 at Syracuse
#2 (3) Mississippi State (6-0) – Won 38-23 vs No. 2 Auburn
#3 (4) Mississippi (6-0) – Won 35-20 at No. 14 Texas A&M
#4 (–) Baylor (6-0) – Won 61-58 vs No. 9 TCU
#5 (6) Notre Dame (6-0) – Won 50-43 vs North Carolina
#6 (8) Oregon (5-1) – Won 42-30 at No. 18 UCLA
#7 (2) Auburn (5-1) – Lost 38-23 at No. 3 Mississippi State
#8 (5) TCU (4-1) – Lost 61-58 at No. 5 Baylor
#9 (10) Michigan State (5-1) – Won 45-31 at Purdue
#10 (9) Alabama (5-1) – Won 14-13 at Arkansas

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 6)

Go ahead, try to wrap your head around what took place last Saturday in the wild world of college football. A total of eight teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 suffered losses while three others suffered setbacks in Top 25 matchups. Needless to say, the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings tumbled in spectacular fashion. But we’re back to pick up the pieces and add some new names and faces, of which many will surely fall in the coming weeks. Consider this a Top 10 dedicated to momentum each week based off level of upsets and voting by the AP:

#1 (1) Florida State (5-0) – Won 43-3 vs Wake Forest
#2 (2) Auburn (5-0) – Won 41-7 vs No. 15 LSU
#3 (8) Mississippi State (5-0) – Won 48-31 vs No. 6 Texas A&M
#4 (–) Mississippi (5-0) – Won 23-17 vs No. 3 Alabama
#5 (–) TCU (4-0) – Won 37-33 vs No. 4 Oklahoma
#6 (–) Notre Dame (5-0) – Won 17-14 vs No. 14 Stanford
#7 (–) Arizona (5-0) – Won 31-24 at No. 2 Oregon
#8 (3) Oregon (4-1) – Lost 31-24 vs Arizona
#9 (6) Alabama (4-1) – Lost 23-17 at No. 11 Mississippi
#10 (9) Michigan State (4-1) – Won 27-22 vs No. 19 Nebraska

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 5)

Teams atop the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings caused fans to question their toughness this past week as they kept matchups interesting for far too long. There’s just one new addition this time around to the Top 10 and a little movement based on bye weeks. Consider this a Top 10 dedicated to momentum each week based off level of upsets and voting by the Associated Press:

#1 (1) Florida State (4-0) – Won 56-41 at NC State
#2 (2) Auburn (4-0) – Won 45-17 at Louisiana Tech
#3 (4) Oregon (4-0) – Did not play
#4 (3) Texas A&M (5-0) – Won 35-28 (OT) vs Arkansas
#5 (6) Oklahoma (4-0) – Did not play
#6 (7) Alabama (4-0) – Did not play
#7 (–) UCLA (4-0) – Won 62-27 at No. 15 Arizona State
#8 (7) Mississippi State (4-0) – Did not play
#9 (10) Michigan State (3-1) – Won 56-14 vs Wyoming
#10 (9) East Carolina (3-1) – Did not play

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State of Florida Produces 9 Former Prep Players In NFL Draft

That brief moment of excitement I feel each year when preparing to watch the NFL Draft doesn’t linger for too long. I’m usually ready to channel surf or dip in and out of the room by the eighth pick. But this year I realized it’s all in the way you approach it.

I spent much of the draft last night in a recliner with a laptop, smartphone and remote control nearby. First thing I realized was that ESPN has been ruining this event for me for years. It wasn’t until I committed to the NFL Network’s broadcast that I no longer had the urge to throw my television through a wall due to the rabid jaw-flapping.

Then I got caught up in the information overload world of Twitter and Facebook, reading and responding to online posts about fan’s draft triumphs and despair, with plenty of doses of humor thrown in at each other’s expense.

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