The 2022 college football season is scheduled to begin August 27th. We look forward to an exciting year of football and following our favorite teams. Before we start this season, let’s look back at the 2021 season. This was a season that saw a return to normalcy post-covid, with fans returning to the stands after a year off. Yet some changes may be permanent, with internet player recruiting via Zoom becoming the standard. Even the cross-training of players at different positions to allow for last minute player scratches due to positive covid tests may not go away soon. Even while covid reverberated into the 2021 season, the games were played.
The teams that dominated the season were Alabama’s Crimson Tide and the Georgia’s Bulldogs. The Tide had been on a tear the past decade, winning five of ten national championships, while Georgia had not won a championship since 1980, when they defeated the storied Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. In 2021 regular season play, Alabama defeated Georgia 41 to 24, making Georgia’s 33-18 national championship win all the more astonishing. It is a truism that the underdog champion will defy the odds to win. It is difficult to predict the 2022 national championship team, but recent history has shown that Alabama does not take more than a year to reclaim the title.
Of course the game is not played without the many talented coaches and players. Luke Fickell swept the coaching awards for leading the University of Cincinnati team to its third perfect regular season record in 2021. Brian Kelly was named winningest coach in Notre Dame history (105) and immediately left behind his 12 seasons with the Fighting Irish to take over as head coach at LSU. While the Alabama quarterback, Bryce Young, did not take home the national championship, he did take home the famed Heisman Trophy among many other awards for his 4,322 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns versus fierce opposition. The 2022 season will be Young’s senior year. Will he be the first two-time Heisman trophy winner since Archie Griffin 50 years ago? Other great players and coaches for teams large and small made this post-covid season possible. I cannot wait until August 27th for it to begin a.