Kelly’s Irish are ‘the new kids’ on the playoff block
ATLANTA — Sitting beside Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney and Lincoln Riley at a gathering of this year’s College Football Playoff team’s coaches, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly referred to his program as “the new kids on the block.”
The description fit. Saban has guided No. 1 Alabama, the 2017 season’s champion, to its fifth straight playoff. Swinney and Clemson are making their fourth appearance in a row. Riley’s Oklahoma team is in the playoff for the third time in four years, though Riley is in just his second season as the successor to Bob Stoops.
The Fighting Irish are newcomers to the bracket, but the playoff is an old dream for one of college football’s most familiar names and accomplished programs. The Irish claim 11 national titles, with the most recent from the 1988 season.
“It’s something we certainly look toward each and every year,” Kelly said Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Finally, Kelly has his chance when No. 3 Notre Dame (120) plays No. 2 Clemson (13-0) in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29. Alabama (13-0) will play No. 4 Oklahoma (12-1) in the Orange Bowl the same day.
Are these college football’s best four teams?
Georgia (11-2), which made it all the way to last year’s national championship game, took a 35-28 loss to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game last Saturday. Afterward, Saban said told reporters he believed Georgia was one of the nation’s best four teams.
Hours later in his final vote in the coaches poll, however, Saban voted for the four teams that actually made the playoff. Georgia was No. 5 in his poll. Saban stuck by his vote — and his Georgia claim — on Thursday night.
“I do think they were one of the top four teams in the country, but I didn’t think they were going to get in the playoff with two losses,” Saban said, adding that he voted for the best four teams he thought had a chance to be included in the playoff.
“What this really indicates is the SEC championship game was a playoff game,” he said.
Asked a follow-up question, Saban wouldn’t say Georgia should be one of the playoff teams.
“I’m not saying that,” he said. “I’m just saying, I’m saying what I said, and I’m not changing what I said. When we played Georgia, I thought they were one of the best four teams in the country. That doesn’t mean that they’re any better than the teams that are here, and I voted for the four teams that are here. Is that correct? OK.”
Yellow Jackets’ search
Temple coach Geoff Collins has met with Georgia Tech officials about the Yellow Jackets’ head-coaching vacancy, a person with knowledge of the meetings told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Tech was not releasing information about its search to replace Paul Johnson, who is stepping down after 11 seasons as coach. Johnson’s final game will be against Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl on Dec. 26 in Detroit.
The person said Collins met with Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury in New York earlier this week and with university president G.P. “Bud” Peterson in Atlanta on Thursday morning. The person said Collins left Atlanta having not been offered the job.
Yahoo! Sports first reported Collins, a Georgia native, had emerged as the leading candidate at Tech.
Collins is 15-10 in two seasons at Temple, including an 8-4 record with a 7-1 mark in the American Athletic Conference this season. He took over last year for his close friend Matt Rhule when he left for Baylor.
Before coming to Temple, Collins was a well-regarded defensive coordinator at Florida (2015-16) and Mississippi State (2011-14). Collins grew up in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers and was a graduate assistant at Tech early in his career under head coach George O’Leary. He also spent a season as director of player personal at Alabama in 2007, Nick Saban’s first year leading the Crimson Tide.
Targeting plateaus
The NCAA said the number of enforced targeting penalties in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season was the same as in 2017, ending four straight years of increased calls.
NCAA national coordinator of officials Rogers Redding reported 179 enforced calls in 817 games compared with 179 in 816 games last season.
The final 2017 report originally listed 188 enforced calls, but Redding said the numbers are sometimes adjusted after an offseason review. The NCAA compiles its numbers through reports submitted each week by conferences.
Redding noted the number of calls was alarming early in the season. In the first two weeks, there were 55 enforced penalties in 164 games compared with 36 through 162 games in 2017.
Targeting penalties increased in the Football Championship Subdivision. There were 115 enforced calls in 620 games (0.18 average) compared with 92 in 626 (0.14) in 2017.