From time to time, I snoop the dusty pages of college sports to find those things that are bizarre, extraordinary, or just plain strange. I’ve been at it again, and I thought I would share some of what I found.
A player with eight years in college football?
Yup.
Linebacker Jared Folks signed with Temple University in 2013, redshirted his 2014 freshman season, missed all of 2015 with an injury, played in 2016, transferred to East Tennessee State University and sat out 2017, played in 2018 and 2019, medically redshirted in 2020, and will now play in 2021.
“Eight – that’s kind of like two careers in one,” Folks said.
He also observed that he’s now older than many of ETSU’s graduate assistants.
Are you kiddin’ me?
Arizona State recently canceled its customary trip to Camp Tontozona, an annual summer workout venue established by former coach Frank Kush. According to director of athletics Ray Anderson, taking football players to those “tight” accommodations was just too great of a covid risk.
That seems odd for a program that allegedly put recruits in danger weeks earlier by bringing them to campus in violation of NCAA covid safety rules.
More humor and sarcasm from University of Washington fans
Just as the American culture was shutting down over health alarms in March of 2020, the University of Washington decided to hire former college head coach Thomas Ford to its football staff as an offensive assistant.
One fan commented, “It figures. We finally get serious about football right before the world ends.”
Another said, “So why does coach Lake save his best hire for the least important position?”
And the most cynical chided, “I suppose as an offensive assistant, Ford will get things moving, like the lines leaving the stadium when things get ugly.”
You can see more sarcastic humor from these great Washington fans by visiting us here.
Most assists in an NBA game
Did you know that Kevin Porter once had 29 assists in one NBA game? Yup, he did it on February 24, 1978. In another game that same year, Porter delivered 13 assists in just one quarter.
Most passing attempts by any college quarterback
In 2008, Jeremy Moses of Stephen F. Austin College attempted 598 passing attempts, which is the highest number of passing attempts in one season by any quarterback in college football history. On November 1st of that year, he completed 57 passes in one game. That was a regular four-quarter game. There were no overtimes. He also had 85 passing attempts.
By comparison, the most passes in an FBS game last year were 37 by Jarrett Doege of West Virginia.
Moses’ 539 passing yards is not a single-game record, however. That distinction belongs to Connor Holiday, who threw for 734 yards against California in 2014.
Recruiting from the bushes
Bo Pellini has been a controversial figure in college football, from his tirades against fans while at Nebraska to alleged recruiting violations at Youngstown State. But nothing can match his attempts to recruit players from other college teams by luring them to the bushes.
As told by the Daily Nebraskan:
“Junior tight end Aaron Wetzler [of Nebraska-Lincoln]and senior linebacker Cameron Potter III said they were walking across UNL’s city campus near Love Library when Pelini allegedly stuck his head out of the bushes and tried to summon the players closer.
‘I think he was trying to be sneaky, but for Bo, a whisper is still a pretty loud scream,’ Wetzler said. ‘We’re used to it, and we could tell he was trying to be quiet, but I think the people walking nearby just saw him pop out of that bush yelling and thought something bad was happening. That must have been when they called the cops.’
According to UNLPD spokeswoman Karen Gaines, Pelini had been similarly approaching other players throughout the day, supposedly to recruit them to Youngstown State’s football program, where Pelini now coaches.”
Ousted from the conference you started
St. Thomas (MN) started the MIAC in 1920 but was voted out in 2020 by other members. STU was just too dominant after winning 12 straight conference all-sports trophies, defeating one opponent 97-0, and winning 12 straight conference football championships. The MIAC had had enough and booted the Tommies out of the league.
With no other Division III conference interested, St. Thomas did something no other Division III program has ever done. It leapfrogged its way right into the FCS. STU will now butt heads with FCS opponents despite the Tommies not having a scholarship player.
Muskrat and Bucktrot
Tulsa’s offensive line this year will consist of Jaden Muskrat and Tiller Bucktrot.
The best and worst of college passers
Tommy Change of Hawai’i passed for more than 17,000 yards in his four-year career. While that sounds great, he also is the all-time FBS leader for throwing 80 interceptions.
John Reaves of Florida threw nine interceptions in a single game in 1969.
Southern Miss coach Will Hall once threw nine touchdown passes in one game but still falls short of Houston’s David Kingler, who there 11 against Louisiana Tech in 1991. Six of those came in just the second quarter.
The worst ratio of touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio belongs to Tun Boyle of Connecticut. In three seasons as a backup, Boyle threw one touchdown pass and 13 interceptions. Nonetheless, he was on the roster of the Green Bay Packers until 2020.
Portland State’s 105 points (in football)
The year was 1980, and coach Mouse Davis’s run-and-shoot offense broke the Division 1 modern scoring record by blasting Delaware State 105-0. With Neil Lomax at quarterback, PSU snapped the ball only 20 times in the first half but still had 49 points.
The Vikings only needed 451 yards of total offense because DSU fumbled the ball 16 times.
In other games that year, PSU defeated Weber State 75-0 and Cal Poly-Pomona 93-7.
