Each week, Rivals.com's Woody Wommack and Rob Cassidy take a look around the world of high school and college sports to spotlight unique, bizarre and utterly ridiculous moments.
MORE RIDICULOUS MOMENT: Jan. 1 | Dec. 25 | Full college coverage
1. TREVOR LAWRENCE
After Monday night’s thumping of Alabama in the National Championship Game, plenty has already been written about super freshman Trevor Lawrence. The 19-year-old did what teams have attempted and failed at over the past decade -- blow out Nick Saban and company.
Lawrence became the first true freshman to start and win the national championship,,but it wasn’t that long ago that not everyone believed Lawrence would be the ideal fit in Clemson’s offense.
As it turns out, Lawrence was not only worthy of being the No. 1 player in his class – as he was ranked on Rivals.com – but may go down as the best No. 1 overall recruit in the Rivals.com era.
MORE CLEMSON COVERAGE: TigerIllustrated.com
2. NFL TEAMS FAWN OVER A COLLEGE COACH WITH A 35-40 CAREER RECORD
In a twist no one saw coming, both the Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets are interested in talking to recently-hired USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury about their vacant head coaching positions. Athletic Director Lynn Swann recently denied both organizations permission to speak the newest Trojan assistant this week, which would cause a vindictive person to intentionally tank the entire season had I been in Kingsbury’s shoes. But that’s neither here nor there.
A denied request won’t (and shouldn’t) stop Kingsbury from speaking with anyone. In fact, he could well end up being the Cardinals’ head coach within the week. But that’s not the point, either. What’s more notable is that the last time we saw Kingsbury, he and his Texas Tech team were limping to a fifth-straight loss to conclude a 5-7 season last fall. He was fired from his post shortly thereafter and now … well … now, NFL teams desperately want to interview him and his sub-.500 lifetime record?
Ok then.
Look, Kingsbury, who is a good dude that deserves good things, could be a wild success as a head coach in NFL. The two positions are vastly different and it’s easy to see how he might find the success that eluded him at Texas Tech. But his name suddenly becoming hot in NFL circles has to be a massive shock even to him, right?
MORE COVERAGE: USC | Texas Tech
3. BEVO SETS THE TONE
By now you’ve probably seen the video of Texas’ live steer mascot, Bevo, attempting to impale Georgia’s live bulldog mascot, Uga. You’re also probably wondering why the Sugar Bowl committee acted surprised that a massive wild animal would protect its personal space when they attempted to have it pose for a picture with a house pet.
Texas went on to defeat Georgia 28-21. Uga, who was outsized and overmatched, was also forced to retreat and take the L. The poor pup didn’t even have the built-in excuse of “not wanting to be there.”
MORE TEXAS COVERAGE: Orangebloods.com
4. UCF’s streak comes to an end
UCF’s run of being a thorn in the side of college football fans came to an end on New Year’s Day, when the Knights fell to LSU 40-32. For many, the loss signaled proof that UCF never belonged in the national discussion.
But what’s ridiculous is that the Knights actually played LSU closer than Georgia, which lost by 20 to the Tigers during the regular season. And it was just a few weeks ago that many thought it should have been the Dawgs earning a spot in the College Football Playoff over Oklahoma. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 and LSU was missing some key defensive players, but UCF managed to put up 32 points with its backup quarterback throwing for fewer than 100 yards.
Would the Knights have beaten Clemson or Alabama in the College Football Playoff? No chance. But could they have gone down 28-0 to the Tide or scored more than three points against Clemson? I like their chances.
MORE UCF COVERAGE: UCFSports.com
