Daily briefing: On the conference alliance, Chip Kelly and Leddie Brown
Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:
What, exactly, is ACC/Big Ten/Pac-12 alliance going to do?
It makes sense that the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC will band together in an “alliance,” at least until you reach the part where you determine exactly what the alliance will do. Is it to deliver more marquee football games to the networks? Is it to create a post-NCAA governing group? Is it to keep from being bullied by the SEC in the marketplace? If it’s not a knee-jerk reaction to SEC expansion, and it’s actually meant to have a governing mechanism, why not include the SEC? It seems as if the administrators would do well to take their time and get it right instead of just reacting to Texas and Oklahoma.
Chip Kelly future depends on this season
UCLA opens the 2021 campaign at the Rose Bowl against Hawaii on Saturday, and I can’t help but think that this is the season that will determine whether Chip Kelly continues to be known as an innovator and one of the best coaches of recent memory, or if he becomes the guy who discovered Ryan Day. Yep, Day played and coached at New Hampshire when Kelly was offensive coordinator, then coached on Kelly’s staff with the Eagles and the 49ers. Kelly has 20 returning starters from a 3-4 team that lost its last two despite leading both in the final 30 seconds of regulation. Kelly is 10-21 in three seasons in Westwood, but I think the Bruins are about to become relevant again. It’s been a while.
Can we play Kansas twice (or even thrice)?
Leddie Brown is the only returning West Virginia rusher who had more than 18 carries last season. The good news is that Brown rushed for 1,010 yards in 2020. The bad news is that West Virginia doesn’t play Kansas until November 27, the last Saturday of the regular season. In three games against the Jayhawks, Brown has rushed for 372 yards. In the other 28 games of his career, he has rushed for 1,451 yards. That’s an average of 124 yards against Kansas, 51.8 yards against the rest.