Category: College Football

SOUTH BEND – Who knew?

Nobody saw that kind of season coming in 1988 from the Notre Dame football team. In two previous years under head coach Lou Holtz, the Irish finished a combined 13-10. It spent one week ranked in the Top 25 in 1986. It spent one week ranked in the Top Five in 1987. That’s it. The 1987 season ended with three straight losses. Not exactly the look or feel or potential of a team that could/would/should go undefeated the following fall and win it all.

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Little did we know. Little did anyone know that 1988 was one of those years. One of those that we haven’t seen since. Thirty-seven Irish seasons and counting since perfection. Since the last national championship.

Here is a game-by-game review of the 1988 Notre Dame football season that culminated in the school’s 11th and most recent national championship under the late Lou Holtz, who died on March 4 at age 89.

Michigan running back Tony Boles (42) is tackled by Notre Dame linebackers Mike Stonebreaker (top) and Wes Pritchett. ND Football 1988 South Bend Tribune archive photo South Bend Tribune archive, South Bend Tribune

1. No. 13 Notre Dame 19, No. 9 Michigan 17

Notre Dame Stadium (59,075)

September 10

A home night game to start the season? Check. One of your biggest rivals on the other sideline? Check. Go four quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown, but still win? Uh, check.

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That wasn’t how Notre Dame drew it up, but it worked. Four field goals from Reggie Ho, a 5-foot-5, 135-pound walk-on who came from nowhere to steal the national spotlight. Ho’s 26-yard field goal with 1:13 left gave the Irish the 19-17 lead in a game…

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The system created to regulate name, image and likeness deals across college sports is facing a reality its architects did not fully anticipate.

A surge of NIL agreements tied to school-affiliated entities — including booster collectives, multimedia partners and apparel companies — is overwhelming the College Sports Commission, college sports’ new clearinghouse, and driving longer review timelines, according to data released Tuesday by the commission. The spike coincided with the January transfer portal window, when thousands of players moved between programs across college football.

“I don’t think the system was designed with this amount of associated deals in mind,” said Bryan Seeley, CEO of the College Sports Commission.

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Brandon Marcello

NIL agreements involving associated entities accounted for 63% of all NIL deals and 78% of their value in January and February. Among power-conference programs, associated deal volume rose 65% compared to November and December, while the average value of those deals increased sharply.

Associated deals require greater scrutiny from investigators under the House settlement reached last year, contributing to longer review times and rising frustration among schools and attorneys overseeing the…

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A new era of Oklahoma State football is officially underway.

New head coach Eric Morris and the Cowboys held their first spring practice Monday afternoon at the Sherman E. Smith Training Center with a total of 81 new players. It was typical Day 1 stuff, but it didn’t play out like many might have predicted a practice with offensive guru Morris to go.

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Morris said the defense “got after” the offense for much of the day, on an afternoon with sunny skies but winds approaching 20 mph.

“I didn’t think we adjusted very well to that,” Morris said. “Threw a bunch of balls over the receivers’ heads today. Had some guys open, but the wideouts did a nice job. But at quarterback, I thought we were pretty sporadic. Some of these guys that haven’t been here yet, kinda the first day trying to do too much, not settling into the system. So, to be honest with you, pretty poor on offense today, and I thought the defense had a nice day to start.”

That’s not easy for an offensive guy like Morris to admit, but he said he’s learned how to deal with it and understand that’s a good sign for the new defense under defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity.

On offense, Morris said there weren’t presnap issues, just more of a lack of execution on their first day not inside with controlled environments. It was the first day of practice in a new system with a new group, though, so he’s confident they can build off of Monday.

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“And that’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re doing spring ball. All-time record 81 new guys for college football. So, that’s why these are so important right here, and you don’t want to waste a day,” Morris said.

“I thought it was good for us to get outside today and see how they handle it. It didn’t go as planned, but that’s the good thing about sports,…

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Texas will keep it simple with quarterback Arch Manning this spring as sixth-year coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns gear up for a pivotal 2026 season as one of college football’s national championship frontrunners. 

Manning, a redshirt junior sitting near the top of the preseason Heisman list, will be limited to start after offseason foot surgery as Texas opens spring drills Monday.

In a new interview with Chip Brown of Horns247, Cooper Manning said his son suffered the foot injury in 2024 — when Arch was a backup to Quinn Ewers and saw action as a run threat and spot starter. Cooper said Arch’s ailment worsened during the Longhorns’ 17-7 win at Texas A&M in November during a first-quarter touchdown run.

Facing a 4th-and-2 situation, the quarterback planted near the sideline to maintain his balance and stay in play en route to the end zone for the game’s first points. That foot pain persisted throughout the 2025 season as QB1, but Manning didn’t miss time.

“The injury was something that had been bothering him all year,” Cooper Manning told Chip Brown of Horns247 this week. “He’d been doing therapy for it, and I think he kind of aggravated it in the Texas A&M game the year before on that (15-yard) touchdown run he had (in 2024). So, he’d been doing therapy on it all year, and finally just said, ‘Look, I want to go ahead and just get this thing fixed and not have to worry about it anymore.’

“So he feels good. He’s out of the boot, walking, doing some throwing, and excited to get back to full speed. When that is, I’m not sure. He’s just following the doctor’s orders. But he’s getting in the groove, and his exposure to spring ball will only increase as we get more toward the spring game (on April 18).”

Here’s the play where Manning…

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Rutgers athletic director Keli Zinn is already closing in on a new head coach for Rutgers women’s basketball. According to Brian Fonseca and Steve Politi of NJ.com, Rutgers is targeting LSU assistant coach Gary Redus II to be the program’s new head coach. A deal has not been finalized yet, but it could be done early this week, barring any drastic disruptions. If a deal is finalized, Redus would become just the fourth head coach in the entire program’s history.

Redus has spent the last four years with LSU and was on staff when the Tigers won the national championship in 2023.

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Redus has no head-coaching experience, but he is regarded as one of the nation’s top recruiters for women’s basketball. On top of that, he has familiarity with Zinn and the current Rutgers University president, William Tate IV, from their shared time at LSU.

Redus’s coaching experience includes his stint as an assistant at LSU and stints as an assistant at SMU, Vanderbilt, and Division II Delta State. He was also a graduate assistant at West Georgia.

In addition to his role as an assistant coach, Redus was also the recruitment coordinator for the Commodores during his time there. He played a major role in recruiting one of Vanderbilt’s top recruiting classes of the decade in 2021. On top of that, his LSU bio credits him with helping to recruit the unanimous No. 1 freshman class that included all five-stars in 2025.

Redus spent his playing career at South Alabama, where he appeared in 32 games. Redus also spent time overseas, playing in professional leagues in China, Iraq, Mexico, and Venezuela.

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His current contract at LSU is valued at $305,000, and it states that he would not owe the Tigers a buyout if he is moving on to a collegiate head coaching job.

If everything goes through, Redus will be tasked with…

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College football’s offseason is built on optimism. Every program talks about progress, development and the pieces finally falling into place. But not every team is actually positioned to take a real step forward. That’s the idea behind this group of Power Four teams entering 2026. 

Each program improved its win total from 2024 to 2025 — a sign that some level of progress is already underway — even if a few on this list are navigating new head coaches despite last season’s improvement. At the same time, none reached double-digit wins in 2025, leaving plenty of room for another jump this fall.

Those distinctions narrow the field to 17 Power Four programs, omitting a handful of teams that might rebound in a big way. Programs like Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech, for example, will look far different in 2026 after disappointing campaigns. But both took steps backward last year rather than forward, making them harder to consider true “on the rise” candidates right now.

Instead, the programs below are already trending upward and positioned to turn last year’s progress into something much bigger in 2026.

Arizona

Arizona made waves in 2025, more than doubling its win total and emerging as one of the Big 12’s biggest surprises. Under coach Brent Brennan, the Wildcats notched nine wins — an improvement from only four in 2024. 

Star quarterback Noah Fifita returns as one of the more experienced passers in the conference, giving Arizona the chance to maintain its balance on both…

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The Georgia Bulldogs have had a lot of great running back talent come through the program during the first 10 seasons of the Kirby Smart era. Georgia’s physical running attack is a big reason why the Bulldogs have won four SEC championships and two national championships since Smart took the head coaching job ahead of the 2016 college football season.

Running the ball remains a key philosophy for Kirby Smart’s brand of football, but over the years he’s changed to a more balanced approach. Smart and Georgia have had seven running backs selected in the NFL draft over the past decade (through the 2025 NFL draft).

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Over the years, Smart has preferred to have running back by committee approach. The Bulldogs have not had a running back take over 200 carries since Nick Chubb in 2017. Additionally, Georgia hasn’t had a 1,000 yard rusher since D’Andre Swift in 2018.

Georgia star running back Nate Frazier came close to both numbers in 2025, but early season fumble issues hurt Frazier in his quest for 1,000 rushing yards. He excelled down the stretch and put together an elite season.

2025: Nate Frazier

Georgia Bulldogs running back Nate Frazier (3) runs against the Alabama Crimson Tide

Frazier formed a dynamic duo with Chauncey Bowens in the UGA backfield. The Bulldogs won the SEC championship and notably improved their rushing attack after a down year in 2024.

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Georgia leaned more on Bowens early in the year while Frazier dealt with some fumble problems, but Bowens got banged up and Frazier took the majority of the carries. Quarterback Gunner Stockton also provided a strong compliment (462 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns) to the running game.

Stats: 173 carries for 947 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns

2024: Nate Frazier

ATHENS, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 23: Nate Frazier #3 of the Georgia Bulldogs reacts…

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