In today’s Fact or Fiction national columnist Mike Farrell looks at three big recent topics in college football and decides whether each statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.
*****
MORE FACT OR FICTION: Ole Miss is the team to beat for Quinshon Judkins
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
RIVALS TRANSFER TRACKER: Stories/coverage | Message board
RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info/coverage on 2021 camp series
*****
1. CJ Stroud will lose his starting job at Ohio State.
Farrell’s take: FACT. This may sound like a long shot to many, but Stroud sitting this weekend due to injury and allowing someone like Kyle McCord or Jack Miller to come in and shine against a bad team could very well lead to a quarterback controversy in Columbus. And so far Stroud has not shown me enough to think he’s the guy.
Ryan Day will lose a QB to the portal if he doesn’t play them, so he has a tough decision ahead of him and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Stroud out of a starting job in a few games to keep someone from bolting (most likely McCord).
*****
2. Deion Sanders would be a great fit at USC.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I saw this on ESPN, and it baffled me. Deion Sanders at FSU is a reach, but it makes more sense. Why does anyone think he would dominate at USC? Anyone can recruit at USC, as even Clay Helton had some top 10 classes.
But it's player development and leadership that is needed, and Sanders could be a great Power Five coach someday. But nothing so far shows me he’s ready for this kind of bump.
*****
3. Lane Kiffin is right about Alabama transfer cherry picking.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I know what Kiffin was doing when he said Nick Saban can cherry pick from the transfer portal to fill roster holes. But he wasn’t saying that Saban does so. What Kiffin was alluding to was that people were questioning how good this Alabama roster is after a narrow win at Florida, and Kiffin was simply pointing out that the leading receiver (Jameson Williams) and tackler (Henry To'to'o) at Alabama are transfers.
Trust me, Saban hates the transfer portal and will only use it when needed, and it will have nothing to do with a beatdown of Ole Miss, if that happens.