College Town Touch down

In the current Wild West of college football, some teams considered a spring game dead weight for their journey on the trail to the playoffs. Poachers and enemies around every corner, teams decided keeping their roster intact was more important than a spring showcase. Teams like Texas, Nebraska, and USC have canned their spring games this year to avoid enticing other coaches to pursue their players. 

On the other side of the coin there are plenty of teams sticking to the spring schedule of yesteryear. This weekend begins the championship chase for many teams around the nation, including the defending national champion Ohio State and their title game opponent Notre Dame. Both teams will present intriguing position battles during their respective spring games, especially at the QB position. Unfortunately for some of you sickos, you cannot bet on spring games, but there are some interesting elements to pay attention to. 

Ohio State will have to replace Will Howard, who was responsible for 42 of the Buckeyes touchdowns last year, and accounted for over four thousand yards. The difference between Howard and Ohio State’s current QB room is experience. Even before his arrival in Columbus last year, Howard had accounted for over five thousand yards and more than sixty touchdowns in four years at Kansas State. 

Ohio State has three QBs battling for the starting job, and really it’s been narrowed to two. Tavien St. Clair is a five star true freshman and though I’m sure he’ll have an illustrious career, I’m just as sure he will see little to no playing time this season. Battling for the starting job and likely to each see first team reps in Saturday’s spring game are Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz. Julian Sayin is said to be the frontrunner in the battle, as he was the backup QB last year and is a former five star recruit out of Carlsbad, CA. Sayin and Kienholz have a combined 195 passing yards and 1 touchdown in their careers. In a QB battle that is said to be “neck and neck”, reps with the first team will be imperative to each player’s placement on the depth chart heading into fall camp. Often it is the fall camp starter who gets the nod against the week one opponent who oh by the way just happens to be Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns, a near certain top 5 matchup. Luckily for whomever Ohio State names as starter, they have arguably the best wide receiver core in the nation. New offensive coordinator Brian Hartline has tons of talent to work with, as former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly left for the Las Vegas Raiders. Ohio State’s spring game begins at noon eastern on BTN. 

Notre Dame’s QB battle is a three way tie that I predict could remain fluid all the way through fall camp and potentially into the first week of the season. Though they open on a Sunday night in Miami vs the Hurricanes, whomever is thrown into the fire first may not last as the starter. 

Last season their quarterback situation was set in stone as soon as Riley Leonard transferred in from Duke. This proved successful as the Irish went 14-2 and boasted a 13 game win streak during the season they ultimately fell to Ohio State in the title game. This year there is extreme uncertainty at the position. Like Ohio State, none of Notre Dame’s current quarterbacks lack significant meaningful attempts. Steve Angeli is the most tenured, and was even thrust into action against Penn State briefly while Riley Leonard was nursing an injury. He did what he had to do and managed the offense efficiently until Leonard returned. He also had a start in the 2023 season against a deconstructed Oregon State Team in the Tony the Tiger Sun bowl. Angeli Led the Irish to a victory going 15/19 for 232 yards and 3 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. All of his other action came in blowout wins as a backup.

The other two most eligible bachelors to win the heart of miss Notre Dame are CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey, who have a combined 3 passing attempts. Carr was a top 50 recruit and the number 3 quarterback in the 2024 class and many think he will emerge as the starter for the Irish. To me, this is one of the more intriguing QB battles nationally this off-season. 

The spring transfer portal window is open from April 16th to April 25th. Players who feel they did not see enough reps or lost their position battle could hit the portal and find love elsewhere. It is very possible one of the three Notre Dame potential starters will do so. Notre Dame’s spring game begins at 2pm eastern on Peacock. 

Other notable spring games this weekend are LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, and Washington State. All of these games will not be televised, some of which due to portal temptations. Some other games you can watch are Purdue on Big10+ (nobody has that), Virginia on ACCN, Georgia Tech on ESPN+, and Oklahoma on SECN+. 

Get your fix of football before the long drought this summer!