Each week during the off-season we will be doing this feature that is simply called "This Week In College Football". We will cover the biggest news and stories of the past week and give some opinions and analysis. In addition to covering the weekly happenings we also have started our Pre-Season Previews and we are already about 1/3 through all of the FBS teams. This week we previewed Arizona, Duke, Fresno State, NC State, Northwestern, Penn State, and Wake Forest . Next week it's Cincinnati, Purdue, South Florida and UCLA that are among the teams that we will preview. Enough chit-chat, let's talk about what happened in college football this week:
UNC PARKING FINES
Butch Davis has had a really tough last couple of years off the field. Last year 14 Tar Heel players were suspended (by either the NCAA or the University) for a total of 123 games. That is a lot of missing manpower when you are trying to win football games. It's also a lot of team and/or NCAA violations. A couple of weeks ago we talked about Quinton Coples being under investigation for attending a former teammates draft party. This past week it came up that 11 UNC players have racked up more than $13,000 in parking fines over a 3 and a half year period. That's a lot of parking tickets! Parking tickets and college kids go hand in hand but it's not something to brush off completely. Even though this amount owed is astronomical it shouldn't be that big of a deal unless something is traced back to the cars that were being used and how they were paid for (see also: Ohio State). The University says that the players will not receive special treatment and that they are expected to pay the fines. The big issue here is that things just keep popping up with UNC. Butch Davis needs to be careful and needs to tighten the reigns before he's looking for another job based on what is happening off of the field at Carolina.
CLIFF HARRIS CAN'T DRIVE 55
Cliff Harris did his best Sammy Hagar impersonation as he was ticketed for going 118 mph in a 65 mph zone last Sunday morning. But that might not be the worst of it as it seems he borrowed the car from a University employee. The individual who rented the car says she is a friend of Harris and that he paid her the money to rent the car for him (she has bank deposits as proof from that Friday). This is another kids will be kids but it might affect the availability of Harris for a game or two. Oregon's first game is in Arlington against LSU, and if Oregon loses just one game this year that could be enough to keep them out of the National Championship hunt. Let's be honest, as teenagers how many of us took the car out and tried to see how fast it would go? My guess is probably all of us. 118 is probably a lot faster than any of us went but I think you get my point. This isn't a big deal except how it might impact the Ducks on the football field and like UNC, how it combines with other things that came out earlier this year in and around the University (for Oregon it was it's recruiting practices).
.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Ranking the 2013 SEC RB Units")
