Big Blue View
Good morning New York Giants fans and welcome to Rivalry Week!
No, you didn’t slip into a turkey-induced coma and sleep until Saturday. It’s Friday and today the college football world is getting a jump on the rivalry games by turning Black Friday into Black And Blue Friday. We have a full slate of rivalry games today before we even get into Saturday’s games.
I hope Joe Schoen and the Giants’ scouting department got a good meal in yesterday and packed those leftovers, because they’re going to be racking up the frequent flier miles. So without further ado, let’s dive in.
ABC – noon
The story of this year’s Egg Bowl is, undoubtedly, the future of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin has done a tremendous amount of work rehabbing his personal life as well as his reputation around the football world since being fired by USC back in 2013. Kiffin is being hotly pursued by both the Florida Gators and LSU Tigers for their vacant head coaching positions. It’s also been speculated that Kiffin could be a candidate to be the Giants’ next head coach due to his relationship with star rookie Jaxson Dart.
As for players to watch on the field, I actually want to take the opportunity to highlight a pair of Bulldogs. We haven’t really talked about Mississippi State yet this year, and this is an excellent opportunity to rectify that.
I want to point out Mississippi State cornerback Kelley Jones and safety Isaac Smith. Smith is a stout (6-foot, 220 pound) safety who looks more like a linebacker than a defensive back, but has real chops in coverage. He has 3 passes defensed and 1 interception on the season — but has only been targeted 12 times all year and is allowing a passer rating of 16.7 when targeted.
Kelley Jones is the physical opposite of Smith as a long, lanky cornerback at 6-foot-4, 195 pounds. He has twitch athleticism and really knows how to use his length to his advantage. He has 11 passes defensed and 2 interceptions on the season, and is garnering some buzz as a potential 1st round talent. A strong game here against the high-powered Ole Miss offense could set the stage for a meteoric rise should he declare for the draft.
Mississippi State
(7) Ole Miss
ABC – 3:30 p.m.
Can Georgia Tech produce another upset victory? College football has been chaotic this year, and Georgia Tech has been part of the reason why.
Realistically, they don’t stand much of a chance against the Bulldogs, but...
