50 questions for the 2020 high school football season
High school football is now scheduled to begin on time with the first Friday night of games on Aug. 21.
Here are 50 questions regarding the 2020 season.
1. With Shelby County Schools starting the year online-only, should we be having a football season at all?
2. There is a plan in place to start the season with the option 2 hybrid model of eight regular-season games and four playoff games. But will we get to finish it?
3. Will there be postgame handshake lines, or will teams have to find another way to show sportsmanship after the games?
4. Will some players kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor?
5. With only one Memphis-area senior prospect ranked in the state's top 20 according to the 247Sports Composite — Evangelical lineman Dietrick Pennington at No. 4 — did players not being able to travel to camps this summer affect recruiting rankings?
6. Will the addition of Walter Nolen, the No. 3 overall prospect and No. 1 defensive tackle in the country for the Class of 2022, help St. Benedict make the playoffs?
7. How will Houston replace the production of Class 6A Mr. Football Lincoln Pare, who rushed for 2,804 yards and scored 38 touchdowns last season?
8. How will Whitehaven's defense, which was No. 2 in the state in points allowed last year, look without the Tennessee linebacker trio of Bryson Eason, Martavius French and Tamarion Mcdonald?
9. Will ECS repeat as state champs without DII-AA Mr. Football Austin Hill?
10. Will Tevin Carter, who transferred to Kirby after stops at Freedom Prep and West Memphis, emerge as the best quarterback in the area?
11. Can coach Gene Robinson lead Germantown to a winning season in his first year after the Red Devils finished 2-9 last year?
12. How will Robinson's departure affect Fairley, which made the Class 2A quarterfinals last season?
13. How many touchdowns will Southaven receiver Isaiah Brevard, the No. 2 prospect in Mississippi, catch this season?
14. Which of the area's winless teams in 2019 — Hamilton, MLK Prep or Kingsbury — will end 2020 with the best record?
15. Will Middle College, which made the 1A quarterfinals, get to the semifinals this year?
16. Will we see a team shut out an entire region like Whitehaven did last year?
17. Will ECS and Lausanne play each other in the DII-AA state semifinals again this year?
18. Can Covington, which lost to Pearlcohn by a point in the Class 3A semifinals, make it back to Cookeville for the third time in four years?
19. Will Wooddale, which finished 10-3 and fell to Covington in the quarterfinals, get a playoff rematch with the Chargers?
20. Will Freedom Prep, which forfeited seven wins due to using an ineligible player and missed the playoffs, bounce back and win Region 8-1A?
21. Will new Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield continue former coach Mike Norvell's tradition of flying to high school games in a helicopter during the Tigers' bye week on Oct. 9?
22. With Houston being the only one last year after five teams did it in 2018, how many local teams will finish the regular season undefeated in 2020?
23. After coach Tyler Turner left for Goodpasture and Nolen transferred to St. Benedict, will Olive Branch make it back to the playoffs under new coach Darren Bowling?
24. Will either of the Memphis Tigers' two local defensive back commitments, White Station's Greg Rubin or Ridgeway's Brandon Warner, get a pick-6 this season?
25. How big of an impact will Class of 2022 stars Aliou Bah (Whitehaven), Cameron Miller (MAHS), Dallan Hayden (Christian Brothers), Kyle Lowe (Fayetteware) and Kody Jones (Fairley) have?
26. Will a Memphis running back win Mr. Football for the sixth year in a row, following Houston's Lincoln Pare, Lausanne's Eric Gray and St. George's Chase Hayden?
27. Can Collierville, which has two of the state's top-40 prospects in Ethan Hassler and Scottie Alexander, have its first winning season since 2017?
28. After state titles in 2012 and 2016, what will 2020 look like for Whitehaven?
29. Who poses the biggest threat to Houston for the Region 7-6A crown — Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville or Cordova?
30. Can Munford build on its 7-4 record under new coach Slade Calhoun?
31. Will Millington and Fayette-ware be neck-and-neck atop the Region 8-4A standings again?
32. Will Melrose host another playoff game in Orange Mound this year?
33. MUS' only two losses last year were to Montgomery Bell Academy. Will the Owls' win this year's matchup?
34. Is more consistency in store for Cordova, which won three of its first four games before dropping six of its final seven?
35. Will Middle College, Covington, Kirby or Whitehaven hold opponents to 150 points or less again?
36. Will Houston or Middle College score over 475 points again?
37. Can Missouri tight end commitment Gavin Mckay of MUS get 1,000 receiving yards?
38. Will Lake Cormorant make the MSHAA North Half title game after falling in the second round last season?
39. Who will step into Tennessee signee and DII-AAA Mr. Football Omari Thomas' shoes at left tackle for Briarcrest?
40. Will Christian Brothers, which finished 6-5, get eight wins or more like it has every other season since 2014?
41. Is there going to be a game more hyped than the Whitehaven-houston Class 6A semifinal, which featured the area's top offense and defense?
42. Will there be a more thrilling finish than Collierville's win over White Station that came down to the final yard and ended on a QB sneak?
43. Will we see Tennessee Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt at a game this year, since he was at Whitehaven vs. Cordova last year?
44. Which of the teams that finished 5-5 in the regular season — B.T. Washington, Ridgeway or Collierville —will show the most improvement?
45. How many Covid-related no contests will there be?
46. Is it going to be weird not seeing those big orange coolers of Gatorade on the sideline?
47. Will there be team-themed masks on the sidelines and in the stands?
48. Will more than one Memphis team make it to Cookeville this year after ECS was the lone school to reach the championships in 2019?
49. Which one will win more state titles this year, Memphis area local public schools or local private schools?
50. What will the championship game trophy presentation be like?