Published May 19, 2020
Three-Point Stance: Top trios, teams under pressure, transfer QBs
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Mike Farrell  •  Rivals.com
Rivals National Columnist

National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with a look at more impressive offensive trios in college football, five Power Five teams under pressure this year and all-time great transfer quarterbacks.

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1. MORE GREAT OFFENSIVE TRIOS

Last week I named my top five offensive trios in college football with Clemson, North Carolina, USC, Ohio State and Alabama coming in at 1-5 respectively. But what about 6-10? Here you go...

6. Oklahoma State — Don’t sleep on the Cowboys. Running back Chuba Hubbard leads the way and wide receiver Tylan Wallace is elite and should be back to dominate after injury last year. Spencer Sanders is probably the weak link here, but he can be lights out at times.

7. Florida — The Gators are the one team where I’m putting a tight end in the trio instead of a wide receiver. Kyle Trask is returning from a very good year and Kyle Pitts is the best tight end in the country. Dameon Pierce replaces LaMical Perine at running back and is the biggest question mark.

8. Minnesota — I love Tanner Morgan and he has Rashod Bateman coming back while running back Mohammed Ibrahim is ready for a breakout year.

9. Georgia Jamie Newman has a ton of talent at quarterback and George Pickens is an elite receiver. Running back Zamir White has the talent to be a star.

10. Louisville TuTu Atwell is an elite receiver, Javian Hawkins is as fun to watch as any running back in the country and Michale Cunningham puts up solid numbers. This could be too low for this trio.

2. TEAMS UNDER THE MOST PRESSURE

Which Power Five teams are under the most pressure this season?

Big Ten — This comes down to Michigan and Nebraska, and the Wolverines get the edge here because Jim Harbaugh was supposed to have won something with the Wolverines by now and none of that has happened. The expectations for Scott Frost at Nebraska have been ridiculously premature.

SEC — Florida need to take the next step forward under Dan Mullen this year, beat Georgia and win the SEC East. Like Harbaugh, this isn’t a situation where a job is on the line, but the time to win is this year.

ACC — This is a tough one because no one expects any team to challenge Clemson. But Miami needs a rebound year in a big way or Manny Diaz could be in quick trouble. Some of the losses last year were just embarrassing.

Pac-12 — I don’t need to explain this one too much do I? USC and Clay Helton. Enough said.

Big 12 — This one is easy as well. Tom Herman and Texas need to break through and win the conference or he could be on his way out.

3. THE TOP FIVE TRANSFER QUARTERBACKS OF LAST 20 YEARS

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Ah, the transfer portal. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. The latest big name to enter is Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of first-rounder Tua Tagovailoa. Taulia left Alabama and is headed to Maryland to try to make an impact. And while he’s not expected to be a transcendent star, he is a good addition for the Terps.

Here are the top five transfer quarterbacks that I have covered:

1. Cam Newton, Auburn — Hands down the best transfer quarterback ever in my book. He went from trouble at Florida to dominance at Blinn C.C. and then he Superman’d his way to a Heisman and national title at Auburn.

2. Joe Burrow, LSU — Burrow lost the job to Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State and then won a national title and a Heisman Trophy at LSU. Like Newton, he became a No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. But he had more talent around him.

3. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma — From a walk-on at Texas Tech to a superstar at Oklahoma, Mayfield is yet another overall No. 1 NFL Draft pick and Heisman winner on this list.

4. Kyler Murray, Oklahoma — And here we go with another No. 1 NFL Draft pick and Heisman winner. Murray was in the mix at Texas A&M but waited his turn to be a star at Oklahoma.

5. Justin Fields, Ohio State — This list bodes well for Fields huh? Everyone ahead of him won a Heisman and became a No. 1 overall pick. And no, I didn’t forget about Russell Wilson. He just missed the list.