College Football News Roundup – December 15


A college football news roundup that includes Lane Kiffin signing a big-time recruit and Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich defending his program following the Wake Forest scandal.


Our yearly holiday party is tonight, so all of us are amped up for a jolly good ole time filled with laughter and, most importantly, three hours of an open bar. I’m quite certain that the bartenders will love us and say we are the greatest company party they have ever worked and that it has been a pleasure serving us all night. That is how it goes in all those Lifetime holiday movies I have seen anyway.

In college football news, we released our Campus Insiders All-Sophomore Team, LSU hired Matt Canada as its offensive coordinator, and USC head coach Clay Helton thinks Washington can take down the Alabama Crimson Tide. Here are some other newsworthy notes in the latest college football news roundup.

Finding a New Home – Lane Kiffin didn’t take time to lure in a big-time player at FAU, as ex-FSU quarterback De’Andre Johnson has decided to go play for the Owls. Johnson is a former Mr. Football in Florida, but was dismissed from the Seminoles program after being charged with misdemeanor battery for punching a woman.

Nothing To See Here, Promise – Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, who has a history of not exercising the most strict control of the Cardinals’ athletic programs, released a statement stating that, while Louisville did receive some plays from the Wake Forest radio announcer who was caught giving out game plans to Demon Deacons’ opponents, the Cardinals program doesn’t deserve the distractions the scandal is providing.

“Lonnie received a call from Elrod during the week of the Wake Forest game, and some information was shared with him that week,” Jurich said in a statement. “Among the communication were a few plays that were sent and then shared with our defensive staff. None of the special plays were run during the course of the game. Our defense regularly prepares for similar formations every week in their normal game plan. Any other information that may have been discussed was nothing that our staff had not already seen while studying Wake Forest in their preparations for the game and the material was not given any further attention. I’m disappointed that this issue has brought undue attention to our football staff as we prepare for our upcoming bowl game.”

Color me unimpressed by his disappointment.

Taggart Doing Work – Just arriving in Eugene less than a week ago, Willie Taggart has already had a big coup in getting Jim Leavitt to come be the Ducks’ defensive coordinator. Leavitt, himself an ex-USF coach, had served in the same position at Colorado the last two seasons, helping the Buffaloes’ defense become fearsome once again.

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