Fact or Fiction: Mark Stoops vs. UGA, James Franklin vs. UM's Schedule, Miami vs. ACC Refs

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mike Farrell | Last updated 10/11/23

In today’s Fact or Fiction, I look at three big recent topics in college football and decide whether the statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.

1. Mark Stoops was out of line mentioning money and UGA players.

Farrell’s take: FICTION

The Kentucky head coach said the following after the Wildcats 51-13 drubbing at the hands of Kirby Smart and Georgia.

“Fans have that right, I give it to them,” he said of fan complaints at the lopsided nature of the loss. “I just encourage them to donate more, because that’s what those dudes are doing. I can promise you Georgia, they bought some pretty good players. You’re allowed to these days. We could use some help.”

— Mark Stoops after losing to UGA

Kirby Smart, smartly, refused to fall into the trap of snapping back. And while Stoops could have chosen his words much more carefully and not insinuated that years of recruiting efforts by UGA came down to players being “bought”, he did this with a purpose as many coaches will. If coaches are to be given less credit now for winning because players are “bought” then they should also be able to implore fans to donate to NIL if they lose.

2. James Franklin threw shade at Michigan about scheduling.

Farrell’s take: FACT

“There's a team in this conference that's buying out a ton of game contracts to go in another direction," when asked if Penn State’s approach to non-conference scheduling will change with the arrival of a 12-team College Football Playoff.

Yep, that’s a shot at Michigan, who have had an amazingly easy nonconference schedule the last few seasons and avoided UCLA for games against Hawaii and ECU. And while West Virginia is a tough out-of-conference foe, teams like Delaware and UMass aren’t murderers row for PSU. Franklin doesn’t pull punches at times and took a clear shot at Michigan, and it might not work out so well for him.

3. Miami got screwed by the refs and no one cares.

Farrell’s take: FACT

A bad call has never been cared about less. Miami RB Donald Chaney Jr. was clearly down before he fumbled in the infamous Miami-Georgia Tech game this past weekend, and no one gives a crap. Why? Because he shouldn’t have even been running the ball, as head coach Mario Cristobal refused to take a knee and ice the game. We know the result — an improbable Georgia Tech win and a coaching blunder that will go down in history. A bad call never mattered less. Miami should have won the game. Cristobal would have been criticized only slightly for not taking a knee, and life in Miami would be okay. But who cares? It all could have been avoided with a victory formation.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: