The sports world, including college football, has essentially screeched to a halt as countries around the world battle the coronavirus pandemic. As such, there’s a dearth of college football news as spring practices have all but been canceled at every level of the sport. And there’s even some concern that the health issue could have an impact on the 2020 college football campaign.
In that vein, we thought it might be fun to go back through the CollegeFootballTalk archives that stretch back to 2009 and take a peek at what transpired in the sport on this date.
So, without further ado -- ok, one further ado -- here’s what happened in college football on May 8, by way of our team of CFT writers both past and present.
(P.S.: If any of our readers have ideas on posts they’d like to read during this hiatus, leave your suggestions in the comments section. Mailbag, maybe?)
2019
THE HEADLINE: Air Force posts highest APR score in FBS for 2018; Florida State lowest
THE SYNOPSIS: The annual look at the academic side of the student-athlete equation.
2018
THE HEADLINE: QB Joe Burrow announces transfer from Ohio State
THE SYNOPSIS: Burrow ultimately landed at LSU. And the rest, as they say, is history. How historic? Let us go back and count the ways:
In late January, Joe Burrow was named as the winner of the 2019 Manning Award, the first LSU player to claim the trophy named in honor of the quarterbacking Mannings. That was the seventh major national award won by Burrow since the end of the 2019 regular season, to go along with the Heisman Trophy, the Associated Press National Player of the Year Award, the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Davey O’Brien Award and the Johnny Unitas Award.
Additionally, Burrow was a unanimous first-team All-American (American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Athletic, CBS, ESPN, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Walter Camp). Of course, he was first-team All-SEC and was named as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year as well.
Burrow was also named as the MVP for the SEC championship game. In the playoffs, he was named Offensive Player of the Game for both the semifinal win over Oklahoma and the national championship victory over Clemson.
The Ohio State transfer also set a handful of FBS passing, yardage and scoring records:
- Touchdown Passes (Season) — No. 1 with 60
- Touchdowns Responsible For (Season) — No. 1 with 65 (60 passing, 5 rushing)
- Points Responsible For (Season) — No. 1 with 392 (65 touchdowns, one two-point conversion)
- Total Offense – Yards (Season) — No. 1 with 6,039
- Touchdown Passes (Half) — tied for No. 1 with seven (vs. Oklahoma, 2019 CFP National Semifinal)
- Consecutive Games with 300+ Yards of Total Offense — tied for No. 1 with 14
Burrow will leave LSU having set or tied 30 school single-season and career records as well. He also set or tied 11 SEC single-season and career records.
2016
THE HEADLINE: Jim Harbaugh’s busy June includes 26 satellite camp stops
THE SYNOPSIS: Remember the satellite camp imbroglio? That was great. Also remember: In five seasons at Michigan, Harbaugh has finished third or fourth in The Big Ten East four times.
2015
THE HEADLINE: Texas A&M chancellor rips Texas and Longhorn Network
THE SYNOPSIS: This post garnered 197 comments. Things got chippy. And personal. Imagine that.
2012
THE HEADLINE: McQueary to file whistleblower suit against Penn State
THE SYNOPSIS: This storyline was an extension of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that rocked Happy Valley. In 2017, Mike McQueary ended that lawsuit against Penn State. The former Joe Paterno assistant has previously been awarded $12 million in a civil lawsuit filed against the university.
2010
THE HEADLINE: Be like all the cool kids, follow CFT on Twitter
THE SYNOPSIS: At the time, CFT had in the neighborhood of 2,000 followers. A decade later, we’re at nearly 106,000 followers. Speaking of which, follow us on the tweeting machine HERE.