Daily briefing: On Trey Sanders, the rulebook and TV ratings

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

Trey Sanders’ story

It may have been a late touchdown in a rout, but no one had a more popular score for Alabama than third-year running back Trey Sanders. He missed all of 2019 with a fractured foot. Last November, Sanders went home to Florida during the bye week, when he was a passenger in a car that got T-boned. He came back to Tuscaloosa needing a wheelchair. “There was a point in time when he questioned and a lot of us questioned whether or not he would be able to come back,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday. When Sanders came off the field after his 20-yard touchdown run, Jeremy Gsell, the Tide director of rehab who did so much to get him back on the field, wrapped Sanders in a bearhug.

An issue with the rules

Penn State coach James Franklin didn’t like the kick-catch interference call on corner A.J. Lytton in the first quarter of the Nittany Lions’ 16-10 victory at Wisconsin on Saturday. Franklin’s beef isn’t so much with the call but with the rule. Lytton hit Badgers returner Dean Engram as soon as he caught it — too soon, according to the rulebook. That’s where Franklin has his beef, even as he acknowledged that player safety prompted the rule. “I would make the argument that if you want the protection, then you should call for the fair catch,” Franklin said. “Obviously, there is a fine line to that because you don’t want to put the (returner) at risk, but they have a responsibility to protect themselves as well with the fair catch.” Lytton, Franklin said, covered the punt exactly as coached. He also said his staff won’t coach it that way anymore.

Fans in the stands and big TV numbers

Week One TV ratings rose significantly over Week One ratings from 2019 on both ABC and Fox. You can argue that this season had better matchups, but I am convinced the real impetus for the higher ratings was seeing the fans in the stands, showing their colors, screaming their heads off. The crowd shots this weekend mesmerized me. I will admit to searching for someone, anyone, wearing a mask (did see a few), and I am holding my breath until we find out whether the sites of Week One games get COVID-19 spikes this week. In other words, our grip on normal still feels precarious. But “normal” is exactly what captivated so many viewers, including this one.