College Football Weekend Preview: Jimbo Fisher, America's Highest-Paid Babysitter

In dealing with Jameis Winston, Jimbo Fischer's job description has become babysitter as much as coach at Florida State.

Any parents wanting to go out on a date night should forget about calling 13-year-old Jennie next door. Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is taking over the babysitting business.

Are your children a handful? In need of an experienced babysitter? Don't worry. Fisher has experience babysitting America's posterchild for immaturity.

As sad as it is, babysitting has basically become Fisher's job description as he deals with a new issue revolving around Jameis Winston seemingly every week, maybe two issues this week.

Winston has been informed that he is the subject of a disciplinary hearing to find out if he violated the Student Conduct Code for the alleged rape occuring in December of 2012, while also being investigated by the university for allegedly receiving money for his autograph.

Fisher has every right to be cranky about having to dealing with his petulant quarterback and then having to answer endless questions from the media about him, but Fisher also has to understand that as the mouthpiece of the university, he needs to look at the bigger picture.

Florida State's coach showed insenstivity this past week as he discussed the investiagation into Winston and whether his quarterback would be available for the upcoming match-up with Notre Dame.

"There is no victim because there was no crime," said Fisher on Monday.

Really, Jimbo? In this day and age, in light of what's happened in the NFL the past month or so, you're going to say there's no victim? There may not be enough evidence to convict Winston, and he may indeed be innocent, but to say there wasn't a victim was callous.

Commenting on Winston's autographs on Tuesday, Fisher said he didn't believe the quarterback accepted any money, but then had to go down a slippery slope.

"So what do you want them to do, stop signing stuff?" said Fisher. "We could make them not have any fans from that standpoint and not sign for anybody."

Yes, Jimbo, your undefeated and reigning national championship team is in danger of not having any fans.

This week wasn't Fisher's best by a long shot. But it will become a whole lot better if he's able to lead his team to a high-profile victory on Saturday.

 

Where College GameDay Is At

For the second time this season, ESPN's popular pre-game show will originate from the campus of No. 2 Florida State as the Seminoles prepare to host No. 5 Notre Dame in a match-up of unbeatens.

Despite any distractions that Jameis Winston has provided, both he and the Seminoles seem to be getting better game by game ever since his suspension against Clemson, which is a credit to Jimbo Fisher.

Florida State hasn't enjoyed the same domination that it enjoyed last season, but a win over undefeated Notre Dame, even an ugly win, would put the Seminoles in the category of "can't argue with that."

The inverse would be true as well. A road victory for the Fighting Irish would plant them firmly in the discussion for the college football playoff.

With the academic suspension issues further in the rearview mirrow by the week, Notre Dame can focus on what's allowed them to succeed, and a big part of that is a run defense that ranks 19th in the nation, allowing an average of 110.5 yards per game.

For a team that lost Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix to the NFL this past offseason, they've done a terrific job of re-stocking the defensive line with the likes of Sheldon Day, Romeo Okwara and Isaac Rochell.

After being suspended for the entire 2013 season, Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson got off to an impressive start to 2014, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes before September was over and throwing 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

In Golson's last three games, however, he has nine turnovers—four interceptions and five fumbles—which must change if the Golden Domers want to have a chance of beating Florida State.

Meanwhile, Winston just seems to be getting better. He's coming off arguably his best performance of the season last week against Syracuse, completing over 80 percent of his passes, throwing for over 300 yards, along with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Prediction: Seminoles defensive end Mario Edwards and the Seminoles defense will force Golson into a mistake or two, making the difference in the ballgame. 31-21, War Chant.

 

The Wisconsin Connection

It appears as if Wisconsin has finally made the switch away from Tanner McEvoy to Joel Stave at the quarterback position.

Despite listing both players as co-starters last week, McEvoy was under center for only one series.

By no means was Stave dead, solid, perfect, but he at least gives them the chance to connect on a downfield pass.

Getting a bye week and the bulk of the practice reps is only going to make Stave better and get him back to where he was last season, a capable if unspectacular quarterback.

McEvoy is too talented to waste on the sidelines, however. Whether it's wide receiver or safety, the Badgers should figure out a way to get him involved. If McEvoy has any chance of football in his future, it's not coming at quarterback.

The bye week comes at a good time for the Badgers, getting ready to face a key stretch of games of winnable games against Maryland, Rutgers and Purdue.

If the Badgers can win those three games, they'll be in good shape heading into the season's final three games against tough West division opponents: Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

Getting defensive lineman Warren Herring back will be no small deal either.

 

What Happened Before Saturday

When Utah won its fourth road game of the season on Thursday evening, beating an Oregon State team that came into the game with only one loss, the Utes (5-1) asserted themselves as a surprise contender for the Pac-12 South crown.

Utah won a hard-fought game 29-23 in double overtime, doing just enough on offense and defense to come away with the victory.

Defensive lineman Nate Orchard added to Utah's nation-leading 33 sacks with two more on Thursday night.

The Utes are also receiving surprisingly good play from their skill-position players, particularly running back Devontae Booker, who ran for 229 yards and three touchdown, including the decisive score in the second overtime.

Whereas many teams struggle with a two quarterback system, Utah makes it work better than most with Travis Wilson the better passer and Kendal Thompson the better runner.

The next five games on Utah's schedule represent a key stretch with all five teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.

If Utah continues their road-winning ways like they did on Thursday, however, they just might surprise a few more opponents along the way.

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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February 22, 2021 at 09:42 am

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