Updated: Collin Klein hurdles Geno Smith in Heisman conversation

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By Ben KerchevalOct 20, 2012, 10:18 PM EDT

Updated 10:07 p.m. ET: There wasn’t much Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein needed to do after halftime to further ensure that he would be the new Heisman frontrunner once Sunday morning rolls around. 

Optimus Klein was lethal in a 55-14 thrashing of West Virginia Saturday night, going 19-of-21 for 323 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored another four touchdowns on the ground. The Mountaineer defense is beyond horrid, but if Geno Smith is going to get hype for putting up gaudy stats against terrible defenses, Klein should too.

Make no mistake, though. Klein’s earned his place in the Heisman conversation. He’s a touchdown machine and he’s going to have the opportunity to continue to put up huge numbers in the back half of the season against defenses from Baylor and Texas. And the more K-State keeps winning, the more exposure he’s going to get.

Meanwhile, Smith has been shuffled into the Heisman pack — if he’s still there. Smith’s a great talent, but the WVU offense has been shut down in the past two weeks, scoring just 14 points in each of the two losses.

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Okay, maybe we overestimated West Virginia a little bit. The first step is admitting.

That said, things don’t seem like they can get much worse for the No. 17 Mountaineers, who trail No. 4 Kansas State 31-7 at the half. At home. And WVU’s lone score was a kickoff return for a touchdown by Tavon Austin.

Kansas State, the hipster Big 12 team, is playing vintage Snyderball. Time of possession: 20 minutes for K-State. Total yards: 346-74. No turnovers. And tackling. Beautiful, open field tackling. WVU? Not so much. The Mountaineer defense is so bad it’s not even worth picking on.  The Heisman? Not Geno Smith‘s for the taking anymore. Collin Klein is making his case to take home the hardware.

But it’s a long season, which is what we should have been saying all along about WVU. The first month of Mountaineer football now seems like a mirage, and it’s only going to get tougher.

Scholarship offer for a 9-year-old? Nevada says sure, why not

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 11:11 AM EDT

OK, this might be getting a little bit ridiculous. Check that — this is getting ridiculous.

Earlier this year, Lane Kiffin, long the king of way-too-early offers, further buttressed that reputation earlier this month when, just weeks after offering the seventh-grade son of Tee Martin, the Florida Atlantic head coach offered a scholarship to a quarterback who had just completed the sixth grade.  Earlier this month, Hawaii one-upped Kiffin by offering an 11-year-old who just completed the fifth grade.

At the time, we wrote, “Surely there’s not an offer to a kid still in elementary school in the offing.”

Nevada football: Hold my beer…

Welp.

Assuming young Mr. Finney just completed the fourth grade — fourth grade!!! — that would make him a member of the Class of 2026.  And you all thought that scheduling way-into-the-future home-and-home series was getting out of hand.

If nothing else, it has people talking about Nevada’s program at a time when not many are talking about college football in general and Wolf Pack football specifically.  Besides, what possible harm could come from entitling pre-teens with scholarship offers, right?

(Tip O’ the Cap: SBNation.com)

Edgar Poe’s starting WR brother leaving Army football team

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 10:10 AM EDT

Guess you can say he’ll play for the service academy, nevermore.

According to Sal Interdonato of HudsonValley.com, Christian Poe is no longer on the Army football team.  No reason was given for the unexpected and abrupt departure.

Exiting the spring, Poe was one of the Black Knights’ two starting wide receivers.

Last season as a sophomore, Poe started two of the games in which he played.  His 10 receptions for 133 yards were both second on the Black Knights.

Army’s leading receiver in 2016?  Edgar Poe, Christian’s brother, who as a senior had 16 receptions for 336 yards as well as three of the Black Knights’ seven touchdown receptions on the season.  The Poe brothers also accounted for nearly half of the decidedly run-heavy football team’s 54 receptions.

After finishing church mission, Oregon State signee transfers to BYU

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 7:55 AM EDT

In large part because of Kalani Sitake‘s presence on Gary Andersen‘s coaching staff, Christian Folau signed with Oregon State as a member of the Class of 2017.  Two years later, Sitake’s situation has change — and now so has Folau’s.

On his personal Twitter account this week, Folau indicated that, instead of OSU, he will start his collegiate playing career at BYU.  The move, which had been somewhat expected, comes not long after Folau wrapped up an LDS church mission in San Jose, California.

A three-star recruit according to 247Sports.com, Folau was rated as the No. 12 inside linebacker in the country and the No. 4 player at any position in the state of Utah.  He held offers from, among others, Cal, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington and Wisconsin.  Before signing with the Beavers. Folau had been committed to the Cardinal.

Despite the transfer, Folau will be eligible to play immediately for the Cougars in 2017.

At the time Folau signed with OSU in February of 2015, Sitake was the Beavers’ defensive coordinator.  In December of that same year, however, Sitake left Corvallis to take over as the head coach of the Cougars, paving the way for Folau to join him at BYU.

Missouri set to rent empty dorm rooms to fans for football weekends

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By Bryan FischerJun 22, 2017, 7:39 PM EDT

Homecoming could be taken to another level at Missouri this fall with a chance for Tigers fans to actually spend a weekend in their old dorm rooms.

As part of an effort to make up several budget shortfalls and adjust to dwindling freshman enrollment, Mizzou revealed plans this week to rent out unused dorm rooms in residence halls for football games and other campus events. The St. Louis Post Dispatch adds that the concept has been in the works for some time and a mind-boggling seven residence halls have been taken offline in the wake of a huge drop in the number of students following a number of serious issues at the Columbia campus.

Guests who want to bypass a local hotel for games and sign up for the opportunity will be able to grab a furnished, two-bedroom suite with four single beds for $120/night. Internet access, bed sheets and towels are included and you can even head on down to the campus cafeteria to boot in order to buy food. For those planning on tailgating before a big game, the Post Dispatch notes that the school is still discussing whether alcohol will be allowed in the rooms.

While the ability to stay in an actual dorm room is pretty unique when it comes to the SEC football experience at the school, the reason for even taking this step should raise eyebrows even further given the situation at Mizzou. Student protests rocked the campus two years ago and Columbia really hasn’t been the same since with declining enrollment dropping off sharply ever since to further add to the crisis at the university.

Though financial necessities may be forcing the Tigers to go this route with unused dorms, it will be interesting to see if other schools in less dire situations at least take a look at emulating the concept on a smaller scale for game days in the future. Several universities around the country already have on-campus hotels so taking the next step to Airbnb some dorms seems like it will be in the cards for a football Saturday soon enough.