College Football Blitz: Bob Stoops speaks on Joe Mixon
By Jack Crosby
Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops broke his silence about Joe Mixon, and as you’d expect, it didn’t end well
Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops met with the media to talk about the Joe Mixon situation on Wednesday afternoon. When it was all said and done, somehow everything here just looks a lot worse.
This is where we’ll jumpstart the College Football Blitz for Thursday, Dec. 22.
Bob Stoops probably should not have been allowed to speak words about the Joe Mixon debacle
Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops took to the podium on Wednesday to finally address that horrific Joe Mixon video, a video that he had seen over two years ago before suspending him for one season rather than cutting ties altogether.
Well, needless to say, things didn’t exactly go swimmingly, as if anyone expected them to here.
If you missed Stoops addressing the matter, here you are:
The big takeaway here is the longtime Sooners head coach saying that two years ago things were different than they are now, and if he were forced to make the same decision today, that Mixon would be let go from the program. You know, the thing that should have happened two years ago … or if this happened five years ago … or ten years ago … OR ANY TIME IN ALL OF ETERNITY.
Bottom line is that there was zero chance of Stoops coming out looking good at all in this situation, and the choice to hold this press conference does not help matters whatsoever. What it boils down, ultimately, is that Mixon should have been sent on a one-way trip out of Norman by Big Game Bobby two years ago, but he wasn’t.
Instead, he’ll try to help Oklahoma win the Sugar Bowl against Auburn coming up this holiday season before he goes off to see how much NFL teams hate him right now; oh yeah, don’t let it slip your mind that despite Stoops saying that Mixon wouldn’t be around if he had to make the call today, he will be in New Orleans toting that rock. At that point, Stoops will close his eyes and pray this will all go away in the absence of Mixon.
Hint: It never will. This will stick with Stoops for the rest of his career now.
Final Thought:
Texas fans put down the booze in 2016
We’re gonna have to stay in the Big 12 Conference here, and we’re gonna stay within the Red River Rivalry, turning our heads to the Texas Longhorns at the moment. Just because this report amuses the hell out of me.
Back in 2015, the University of Texas began selling alcohol at football games. Now, while it’s only a one-year sample, the school released a report on Wednesday that alcohol sales spiked 70 percent in the span of a year. Seventy percent. Again, it’s only been two seasons of alcohol sales in Austin, but that’s still a lot.
Of course, we’re all going to speculate that most of this was depression drinking by fans as they stumbled (pun intended) their way through a 5-7 season that ended with the firing of Charlie Strong. The school, however, tried to reason that the increase in sales, which brought in $3.1 million in revenue for the school, was due to concession training and better weather for home games …
Although, when it comes down to it, this could be a fun little exercise every year: How much did Texas fans drink? If Tom Herman goes, say, 9-3 in his first season, we’ll have to see how the alcohol sales factor in. We still have a few years of research to do here as, again, we’re only two seasons in to booze being available in Austin.
Finally, for those curious, here’s the breakdown of what those Longhorns fans were pounding, which the school also was nice enough to provide.
1. Miller Lite: 98,535 beers sold
2. Coors Light: 95,096 beers sold
3. Bud Light: 34,257 beers sold
4. Shiner Bock: 1,411 beers sold
5. Lone Star: 952 beers sold
6. Michelob Ultra: 741 beers sold
7. Budweiser: 89 beers sold
Final Thought: I choose to believe that Texas fans drank like sailors because they were terrible and you cannot convince me otherwise. Also, in my 32 years of life on this earth, I have yet to meet anyone who legitimately likes to drink Budweiser, and apparently that includes Texas fans.
James Madison is down some players at the absolute worst time
Now we have to switch gears to the FCS level, because there’s some big news regarding the FCS Championship Game for the 2016 season. Fresh off an upset of North Dakota State in the FargoDome, James Madison will take on former Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini and Youngstown State in Frisco to crown a new FCS Champion for the first time since 2010. However, the Dukes will be doing so without seven players.
The Harrisonburg Daily Record reported on Wednesday that the program has suspended seven players indefinitely ahead of the title game which will take place on Jan. 7. As far as the players involved go, though, there is no information to provide on that, as no names were released. What we do know is that wide receiver Terrence Alls and linebacker Brandon Hereford will remain suspended, but they didn’t take part in the win inside the FargoDome. There was also no reason given as to why the punishments were handed down.
Final Thought: You never wanna suspend a handful of players, and you certainly don’t wanna lighten your roster when you’re getting set to try and capture your second national title in school history. We may find out more about this in the future, but for now, all we know is that James Madison is going into Frisco a little undermanned.
Next: Jamaal Williams Talks BYU Career With Saturday Blitz
Bowl game stat of the day
Poinsettia Bowl – 210 yards
You could not have scripted a better ending for BYU running back Jamaal Williams. On a rainy evening out in San Diego Wednesday night, Williams capped off his rollercoaster Cougars career by rushing for 210 yards on 26 carries with one score in BYU’s 24-21 win over an up-and-coming Wyoming program. Again, it was a fitting end to his career in Provo.
Williams finishes his career with 3,901 yards rushing and 35 touchdowns. And keep in mind, his career at BYU included a knee injury shortening his 2014 season, and then missing the entirety of 2015 after undisclosed rules violations before returning to rush for over 1,300 yards this past season.
There was a time where Williams’ future in football was more than uncertain, but now, he can look back and be satisfied with the way his BYU career ended. Of course, now he will embark on what we all hope will be a successful NFL career for this young man.