Welcome back to VIBE CHECK, where we monitor and assess the weekly pulse of college football. Each week, we grade a handful of teams based on their on-field performance, off-field shenanigans (good and bad!), message board chatter, and more. This is very (read: not at all) scientific and should be taken very (read: not at all) seriously.
We’re heading into Week 10 of the season, highlighted by a monster matchup between No. 1 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia. Can Hendon Hooker and the Vols keep the good vibes going? Will Georgia stay undefeated?
This week, we take a look at more SEC drama, a QB that should be getting more attention nationally, and more. Let’s get to it.
You Love to See It: Drake Maye
The Heisman race has essentially become a two-quarterback sprint between Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. But there’s a third we should probably be talking about.
No, not reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young. I’m talking about Drake Maye, the freshman phenomenon at North Carolina. Maye — yes, the younger brother of star Tar Heels basketball player Luke — has been a revelation for Mack Brown (especially with the departure of Sam Howell).
Three times this season, Maye has registered five touchdown passes. He’s leading the nation in total yards per game. The Tar Heels are 7-1 on the season with the lone loss coming to Notre Dame.
Drake Maye 📈📈📈 @UNCFootball pic.twitter.com/XKY7aAmhBj
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) October 30, 2022
For reference, since Hooker isn’t included in this graphic, he has averaged 334.5 total yards per game and has 21 touchdown passes to one interception.
So why aren’t people talking about Maye more? It likely comes down to the fact that Maye mostly plays against teams from the ACC’s Coastal Division. No one is clamoring to praise a quarterback when the defenses he’s tearing up are Duke and a down Pitt team, not to mention Miami and Virginia Tech squads that pale in comparison to their glory days.
Maye will likely show out against a struggling Virginia team this weekend (though the Wahoo defense’s improvement has been impressive to see this season), and if he keeps up this level of performance, he’s putting the league on notice.
Straight Up Not Having a Good Time: TCU fans after the CFP rankings
In case you missed it, the first College Football Playoff rankings dropped Tuesday night. As expected, Tennessee, Ohio State, and Georgia took the top three spots, with undefeated Clemson taking that pivotal fourth spot.
Michigan fans might be mad the undefeated Wolverines didn’t get into that top four, but Clemson’s collection of wins — including over ranked Wake Forest, NC State and Syracuse — are more impressive than Michigan’s at this point.
Now if you’re a TCU fan, you are right to be big mad. These are just the first rankings and blah, blah, they don’t matter, but 8-0 TCU — which has wins over four ranked teams under its belt — sits back in seventh place. There is plenty of time left to make a move, but I don’t blame Horned Frogs fans for thinking they deserve to be as high as fifth (or even fourth, over Clemson)!
You Love to See It: Coastal Carolina
Don’t look now, but the Sun Belt, Fun Belt has a new darling in the 2022 season. We have seen great moments from App State (beating Texas A&M) and James Madison (breaking into the Top 25), but now it’s Coastal Carolina’s time to shine. The Chants have quietly put together an 8-1 season, leading the Sun Belt East.
Coastal is coming off of a win over App State, beating the Mountaineers for just the second time ever. Things are hot, hot, hot in Conway, S.C., but the shade helps.
The curse is real 🫣😬 https://t.co/YzOfNHDTpr
— Coastal Football (@CoastalFootball) November 4, 2022
Straight Up Not Having a Good Time: Jimbo Fisher
Ah, yes, my good friends, Texas A&M and Coach Fisher. I promise I’m not out to get the Aggies, the vibes have just been so bad this season that they’ve become a mainstay in this here post. The Aggies are on a four-game losing streak, and now the negative attention has really turned to Jimbo Fisher to fix it.
The problem is — as always — money. Texas A&M agreed to arguably the world’s worst contract with Fisher before the 2018 season. This contract is a 10-year, FULLY GUARANTEED $95 million agreement, and you won’t believe this, but it was seemingly a really bad idea.
Despite top recruiting classes and fan support, the Aggies have underperformed under Fisher. They’ve finished second once in the SEC West, and tied for second one other time. Look, beating Alabama is hard! But runner-up isn’t good enough in College Station.
So if Texas A&M wants to fire Fisher, they’ll owe him just shy of $86 million dollars. Almost NINETY MILLION DOLLARS to just go away. That’s a lot of money.
Jimbo Fisher’s buyout would cover four years of tuition and fees for about 1,800 undergraduate Aggies
— Corey Dean Stone 📸 (@coreydeanstone) October 27, 2022
To make matters worse, the preseason kerfuffle that involved Fisher, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin has reared its ugly head again in the form of post-game comments. As a refresher, Fisher called his fellow coaches “clown acts” following comments from Saban and Kiffin regarding Texas A&M “buying players” with NIL deals.
Kiffin didn’t forget.
Lane Kiffin on Jimbo Fisher calling him and Nick Saban clowns during the offseason:
“You take that personal. Glad we won.
“I guess I can be a clown for Halloween now.”
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 30, 2022
You Love to See It: Lane Kiffin
Speaking of Lane Kiffin, the petty king of college football is still thriving. Ole Miss’s win over Texas A&M gave him the opportunity to take a couple shots at the aforementioned Fisher.
It took Lane Kiffin seconds to troll Jimbo Fisher after beating Texas A&M:
“Maybe Jimbo has a Joker outfit for me.” pic.twitter.com/iuTvh9hrTR
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 30, 2022
But no one seems to be having as much fun as Kiffin right now. His perfect pup Juice is securing NIL deals, his team is an impressive 8-1 heading into the bye week before Bama, and Taylor Swift’s Midnights is his new life soundtrack.
.@taylorswift13 lyrics helping the youth of America and reminding @JaxsonDart to not stare directly at the sun #antihero #lyrics 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/w4VharDpT5
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 2, 2022
