2StripesCPD Digital, Vol. 8
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The 2024 college football season starts in less than 50 days, and there's plenty of things to catch up on from the past week - both real and digital. Enjoy volume eight!
2StripesCPD Digital, Vol. 8
My Favorite Plays Ever
In case you missed it, I dropped part four of my "Favorite Plays Ever" highlight series last week:
If you're not already subscribed to the YouTube channel, change that here. Part five dropping right before the season!
NCAA 25 dynasty deep dive
Let this sink in: We're only a week away from the release of the first college football video game in over a decade. EA Sports ramped up the hype by dropping an incredible 17,000-word blog post last week about dynasty mode, and I have to be honest - I'm blown away. The attention to detail on almost every single feature is off the charts. My favorite bit? The ability to fully customize conferences. You can pick how many teams there are, the number of conference games you play, whether you have divisions, and even if you play a conference championship game.
I'm planning to cook up a pre-2012 hybrid where Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas A&M are all back in the Big 12, while the Big Ten doesn't have Rutgers or Maryland, but has divisions and a title game. The post is well worth your time to read if you're planning on spending hundreds of hours in dynasty mode like I am:
The Blake Anderson situation at Utah State
On July 2, Utah State informed Head Coach Blake Anderson of their intention to fire him. The university cited a "thorough external review of alleged noncompliance with university policies that implement Title IX, which require full and timely reporting of disclosures of sexual misconduct — including domestic violence — and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves."
Anderson's employment agreement gives him 14 days to respond, while the university can't release any additional information about the situation "until all opportunities to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is a minimum of 14 days."
These situations have a history of getting messy, and with a reported $4.5 million buyout at stake (if it's determined he was fired without cause) this one's heading down a similar path:
Blake Anderson has retained noted college sports attorney Tom Mars in the wake of his impending dismissal. Mars tells ESPN that USU faces an “uphill battle” firing Anderson for cause. Mars: “Stiffing a head coach by blaming him for what his supervisor was supposed to do…
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 2, 2024
Lots of uniform news
It was a big week for programs unveiling new uniforms, as Oregon, BYU, Ole Miss and Texas Tech officially introduced new threads.
Oregon
The Ducks have spent all offseason teasing five new uniforms as part of what they're calling their "Generation O" series, and the first is this all-black look. The diamond-plated shoulder design (I like to call them the steel steps) from the mid-2000s returns, while the wing pattern on the top of the shoulders and the helmet have been staples of the last decade. I can understand if these are too much for you, but I mostly appreciate when Oregon really leans in to embracing uniform chaos - so I'm good with them.
Via Oregon Football