Notre Dame cornerback KeiVarae Russell is officially cleared by the NCAA and fully reinstated, coach Brian Kelly announced. Russell, a former four-star recruit and 2012 Freshman All-American, missed 2014 while Notre Dame conducted an investigation of academic improprieties. Defensive end Ishaq Williams, who was also investigated in the same probe, has not yet been cleared.
Notre Dame was already loaded, and now the NCAA’s cleared its best cornerback
Good morning! Here’s what you missed from college football while sleeping or whatever.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Russell had already returned to his old form in Notre Dame’s preseason practices, and immediately bolsters an Irish secondary that Bill Connelly described as “inexcusably bad” in 2014, one of the very few weaknesses Connelly saw.
Roll Damn Tide. Alabama leads Connelly’s SEC power rankings again, with Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn and LSU chasing. Kentucky and Vanderbilt bring up the rear, proving that order has again been restored to the SEC.
Look at some new uniforms. Get caught up on the state of football fashion in two minutes.
A high de-Tree of difficulty. Stanford faces the most difficult non-conference schedule of any preseason Playoff contender by simply playing one opponent from a major conference (Northwestern) and two that could be (Notre Dame, UCF). On the other side, get ready for another year of complaints that Baylor hasn’t played anyone.
Woo Pig fumblerooski. Arkansas high school coach Kevin Kelley talks about his onside kick-heavy football strategy. Yes, it really is called a “hook and lateral”’ people.
And so the poor victor had none. Maize N Brew asks: Did Brady Hoke leave anything for Jim Harbaugh to work with?
Script ‘Fitbit’. A group of Ohio State fans spent a day wandering around Columbus to write the famous script Ohio. A group of Minnesota fans set out to do this in 1994 and have not been seen since.
“In defense of Clemson’s social media ban.” Shakin’ the Southland makes the case.
Jaleel Red. Four-star linebacker Jaleel Laguins commits to Georgia’s potential top-five class.
More Holy War. BYU and Utah reportedly add a couple years to their series, to great fanfare.
That’s not a good look. Clemson fans can now buy a Howard’s Rock hat for less than $30. It’s the perfect protection device when your football team blows a 28-point fourth quarter lead on six consecutive fumbles.
Don’t do it, Vandy. Georgia Southern fans are trying to lure the Commodores to Statesboro by way of organized social media taunting.
In other helmet news, Ohio State might have an alternate black helmet, maybe?
A Truman for our generation. The biography we have all waited for, Bo: A Quarterback's Journey through an SEC Season starring "Doctor" Bo Wallace, is now available. Not since The Education of Henry Adams has there been such a captivating real-life tale of one man navigating a changing world. And Adams never beat Bama.
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