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Five Wide Fullbacks: Row the Boat Edition

Mora being Mora, oars on jerseys, walk-ons earning scholarships, and more.

By Eric Murtaugh
Sandra Dukes-USA TODAY Sports

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1. UCLA head coach Jim Mora made some headlines recently by putting his star freshman quarterback Josh Rosen on blast in the media. Not cool, bruh?

I have no doubt that if Brian Kelly did this it'd be one of those scandals that lives for a few days and was filed away as just another black mark for the program. That wouldn't happen? Yes it would.

In theory, I don't have a problem with what Mora did but from the sound of it the whole thing was pretty manufactured. Rosen was practicing well and by all accounts has a big lead in the quarterback competition. Why blow up on him late in the practice on something so trivial?

It's even funnier when you realize that Rosen basically was like, "whatever dude" as is the unflappable attitude of most elite young quarterbacks. But I guess Mora gets to come off as a tough, hard nose coach so good for him.

2. Western Michigan what are you doing!???

So many of you know by now that third-year WMU head coach has a motto "row the boat" and he takes it VERY seriously. If you haven't hear about this just google it and read up on everything.

But putting two oars on the back of the road uniform? I've got no reasons to dislike Fleck but this is one of the dumbest things to happen in college football this month.

First off, the oars look like field hockey sticks. See, now they look like field hockey sticks to you too. Sorry about that.

Secondly, there's nothing more lame than putting your team name on the back of the jersey. Going without a nameplate is bad enough* because IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TEAM is such a silly concept to me.

*Sorry I'm not sorry. We spend so much time celebrating the individuals on the roster, their personalities, their academic lives, then turn around and get tough with no names on the back of the jerseys. I realize it's tradition at this point, but still. I wonder if nameplates will be mandated for all teams in the future with all the players' rights and merchandise sales issues coming to the forefront.

3. Wait, did Western Michigan just totally redeem themselves?

Absolutely!

Surprising walk-ons with scholarships is trending really hard right now as we saw with our own Josh Anderson was given the money while modeling the Shamrock Series uniform.

To back to the players' rights issue for a second I think we can all agree that, regardless of where you fall on the money being enough in such a large business, watching kids who work hard and get rewarded with something pretty awesome goes to show how important a scholarship is for a college student.

4. This story flew under the radar a little bit with all the fall camp business going on but the Irish will be playing New Mexico in 2019. Is this a good thing?

Fine by me. While some of our writers were constructing our perfect schedules I was one of the more willing ones to dip down into the bottom of the college football teams.

I can't stress this enough--the top of your schedule is far, far, far more important and easy games are necessary. We can quibble about the easiness of some games but this New Mexico game is sandwiched in between an opener at Louisville and another road trip to Georgia.

There's zero reason to be upset that we're playing the Lobos in this scenario.

5. KeiVarae Russell was recently officially cleared to play by the NCAA. You've stated in the past that Russell wouldn't be a 1st round draft pick. Following what looks like an outrageously impressive fall camp so far are you willing to revisit that claim?

Well, if I put money down on this I'd be getting a little nervous, that's for sure. Still, the odds are in my favor just for the simple fact that anyone getting picked in the 1st round is really, really difficult.

Beyond that, Russell does need to prove it on the field. The talk about him in camp is heartening and an indicator that he has 1st round potential but prior to August he wasn't a good enough corner to be picked that high.

Believe me, I'd love for KeiVarae to play like a 1st round talent and truly earn the Shut Down Corner moniker. Who wouldn't, right?

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