In today’s Fact or Fiction national columnist Mike Farrell looks at three recent topics in college football and decides whether each statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.
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1. Josh Gattis is the problem with the Michigan offense.
Farrell’s take: FICTION
I posed the question over the weekend on The Fort message board at TheWolverine.com about what was wrong with the Michigan offense and the responses were interesting. Many of course blamed Gattis, the offensive coordinator, but others agreed with me that this is a Jim Harbaugh issue.
Even with Gattis in charge of the play calling, offenses can often take on the personality of the head coach and that’s what’s happening here. Michigan needs to open the offense up a bit more and be more consistent with who totes the rock in the running game. I believe these are both Harbaugh directives that need to change. The defense wasn’t good in 2020 but the offense hasn’t been elite since Harbaugh’s third season.
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2. A 29-9 record in three years is good for Florida’s Dan Mullen.
Farrell’s take: FACT
This was another question I was curious about so I took it to the Swamp Talk message board at GatorsTerritory.com. Is 29-9 overall and 19-7 in the SEC good enough in Mullen’s first three years? And most agreed with me that those records are good enough, based on what Mullen inherited and the changes that needed to be made from a horrendous 4-7 season.
The Gators might have regressed in wins this season with eight, but let’s remember it was a shortened season and an All-SEC schedule. The fact that the Gators gave Alabama its toughest game of the season in the SEC title game is enough to convince me that Mullen has done a solid job.
Now, next year will be a major challenge.
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3. Kyle Pitts should be taken ahead of Ja’Marr Chase and Devonta Smith in the NFL Draft.
Farrell’s take: FICTION
Talk to guys like Jimmy Williams at our LSU site TigerDetails.com or Tony Tsoukalas at BamaInsider.com and you get different answers, as it all depends on team need. But both agree that Chase and Smith are both coming off amazing seasons in their last year of college football (2019 for Chase), and to me it’s hard to say that Pitts should go ahead of either.
While I think Pitts is a top 10 talent and Smith could fall a bit due to size concerns, give me one of these two dominant wide receivers before a tight end. Even one as special as Pitts.
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