Who's at QB?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

On Thanksgiving Day, watching the Detroit Lions defense blow another lead and enabling the Chicago Bears to pull out a 24-20 win was tough to digest.

But what was tougher to watch was seeing a 4-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team destroy the Jacksonville Jaguars on 28-11, Sunday, December 1st at TIAA Bank Field.

When a team jumps out to a 25-0 lead at halftime with the help of three turnovers and a veteran QB that played like a third string rookie, that's bad.

There is no question that Nick Foles struggles were evident early. His lack of mobility left him looking like a sitting duck in the pocket.

Foles had one interception, a fumble loss, an intentional grounding call inside the Jaguars five-yard line plus three sacks losing 23 yards.

One of his sacks led to a Tampa Bay TD. Foles finished the game with 93 yards one interception and a passer rating of 41.7%.

Everyone in the press box and stadium wondered when he was going to be replaced by Gardner Minshew II.

That answer came at the start of the second half when Minshew II was inserted. The crowd cheered loudly. The rookie signal caller didn't disappoint by going 16-27, 147 yards, threw for one touchdown and had one interception.

That spark may not have won Jacksonville the game but it did earn Minshew the starting job for the remainder of the season.

How would Minshew II fare against the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday December 8th?

He would lead the Jaguars to a 14 play, 67 yard drive that took 7:37 as Josh Lambo kicked a 26-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

But today, Chargers QB Philip Rivers, 38, played like Joe Montana and out classed Minshew on his birthday. Rivers was 16-22 for 314 yards and three touchdowns and zero interceptions. His passer rating was near perfect at 154.4 and only played three quarters with his team leading 38-10.

Tyrod Taylor took over for Rivers in the fourth quarter. He would lead the Chargers to a touchdown giving them a 45-10 lead.

By the end of this night, in back to back games, it wouldn't have mattered who was at QB.

Against the Chargers, the team simply looked flat! There is no nice way to put this.

The Jaguars problems go deeper than there signal callers.

Losing two home games 28-11 and 45-10 to sub-.500 teams that won't make the playoffs means that whatever decisions are made down the road, some changes NEED to be made.

Furthermore, a team that was once 4-4 has now lost five straight and could be in the midst of a coaching change. For that matter, the changes could go much deeper than with the coaches.

In the post-game press conference, Coach Doug Marrone's face said it all.

"We made too many mistakes all over the place," he said. "This was a poor performance all around by all of us, the players and the coaches. It starts with me. I haven't done a good enough job. In this league, it's all about wins and losses. Tonight, we simply didn't execute.

"Everything on the film is on tape. What's out there is out there."

Minshew II finished the night going 24-37 for 162 yards and one touchdown. He rushed for 50 yards.

Minshew said, "the Chargers defense was super disciplined. We had opportunities to make plays and we didn't. We didn't convert on third downs. They're a good team and they just beat us."

The Jaguars had 252 yards in total offense.

The Chargers Defensive Coordinator is former Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley and he must have enjoyed every moment of this convincing win.

The Chargers win enabled them to improve their all-time lead in this series to 8-3. They improved to 5-8 this season which began with playoff aspirations.

Next week, the Jaguars will face another opponent in the AFC West and it will be another squad that had playoff aspirations. The Oakland Raiders (6-7) will play their final game in the Oakland Coliseum as they move to Las Vegas in 2020.

You can rest assure that the Raiders will be fired up in their final game in the Bay Area.

This isn't what the Jaguars want to hear since they are reeling.

To think they're 4-9 at this point was unthinkable.

Nobody cared that they were 0-4 in the pre-season because they wanted to do their best to keep there regular players healthy.

But now as this tumultuous season comes to a conclusion which also included the departure of Jalen Ramsey, one can only imagine what the final three weeks will be like.

Do they have their QB of the future in Gardner Minshew II or will Foles get another opportunity with a different coaching staff? How alive is Minshew Mania? Time will tell.

What we do know was when the team was winning games in the first half of the season, the Jaguars made money off of the marketing phenomena, but would ultimately never sniff the playoffs.

This is almost shaping up to sound like Abbott And Costello with a lot of Who's and What's. We'll know those answers in the coming weeks.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbm33@gmail.com and he's the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune. He's also the Owner of The South Florida Tribune Broadcasting Network.

Destined To Happen

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If there was a matchup that was destined to happen in The Ryan Conference-USA Championship Game, this afternoon’s FAU Stadium matchup between the UAB Blazers vs FAU Owls is it.

In 2018, UAB defeated Middle Tennessee 27-25 to capture the C-USA Championship.

In 2017, FAU mauled North Texas 41-17 in Coach Lane Kiffin’s first season and the Owls finished the regular season 10-3 then proceeded to defeat Akron 50-3 in the Boca Raton Bowl. This culminated in an 11-3 campaign.

Going into this contest, one storyline that was common has centered around Kiffin, who has been linked to Power Five job opportunities, with the most rampant one circulating being the Ole Miss Rebels of the SEC. At the end of the game, that speculation became a reality and resigned immediately.

Kiffin finished his tenure with FAU compiling a 26-13 mark.

Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer was named interim head coach and will lead the team in the Bowl Game which will be revealed Sunday Night.

Going into the game, Kiffin has abstained from discussing his future to concentrate on this Championship Game.

When the game was over, he only wanted to reflect on an outstanding season for his team as well as the successful three year run he had with the program.

On Thursday’s Sports Exchange, I predicted that FAU would win 21-17.

Whether this would be his final game, the Owls responded by jumping out to an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The team played hard-hitting inspired football from the get-go.

By the 14:09 mark in the second quarter, the Owls matched my predicted point mark, jumping out to a 21-3 lead. The Owls led 35-6 at the half as they also blocked a punt deep in Blazers territory which was recovered for a TD. FAU also added a late score with 26 seconds left in the half.

FAU has now scored over 30 points in 10 games. The Owls amassed 304 yards in the first half.

The Owls were in cruise control the rest of the contest. The Owls would come out on top 49-6 and out gained UAB 585-223.

QB Chris Robison was the Championship Game MVP as he threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed for an additional 30 yards.

Prior to today’s game, the largest margin of victory for the Owls was a 49-34 win at the now demolished Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on September 6, 2008, which I covered. The largest margin of victory in this series occurred November 7, 2009 on the road when the Blazers routed FAU 56-29.

The Owls now lead the lifetime series 5-2 and await their Bowl opponent.

Meanwhile, Blazers Coach Bill Clark has done a tremendous job with his program as he owns an all-time career mark of 34-18.

He’s been with the school since 2014 and despite a two-year hiatus, UAB in an elite program in Conference USA.

The future looks bright for UAB as they’ll play in a brand new 45,000 downtown stadium that will open in 2021.

As of this post, UAB also awaits its Bowl destination.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbm33@gmail.com and is the CEO and Founder of The South Florida Tribune.

He also owns the South Florida Tribune Broadcasting Network.

Been There And Done That

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTO BY CANDY EBLING

Prior to the game between the Florida Atlantic Owls and Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, one of my followers asked whether Owls Coach Lane Kiffin would leave to take a more high profile job.

I told him that it’s possible but Kiffin can afford to be selective of his next gig.

In 2017, the former USC-head coach led FAU to an 11-3 record and the Owls trounced Akron 50-3 in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Owls were Conference USA Champions, even appearing in the AP Top 25 rankings for one week.


The 2018 season saw FAU finish with a 5-7 mark and it missed a bowl game.

As the 2019 season concludes, chalk up another successful season for Kiffin and his Owls.

The Owls defeated Southern Mississippi 34-17. The game was televised nationally on the NFL Network. FAU won The Conference USA East Division title. The exposure was priceless.

They'll face the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday at 1:30 PM in The Conference USA Title Game at FAU Stadium.

On Saturday, Former Green Bay Packers Hall Of Fame QB Brett Favre wasn’t in the building to lead his Alma-Mater.

But how has Kiffin managed to compile a pair of winning seasons at a mid major university?

1. He gives fresh starts to players at major universities such as QB red-shirt sophomore Chris Robison, who played at Oklahoma before being dismissed for disciplinary reasons. Robison has been Kiffin’s biggest reclamation project thus far during his tenure at FAU.

2. He knows the value of Social Media and takes full advantage of as he has 434,400 followers on Twitter.

3. His offense is real good. The team has eclipsed 30 points in nine of it’s games. FAU gave the Ohio State Buckeyes a battle by losing the opener 45-21.

4. FAU has amassed 300 or more yards in 11 of its 12 contests.

5. Against Southern Mississippi, FAU forced five turnovers and just committed one.

The coaching carrousel has already begun.

Florida State, Arkansas and Missouri are Power Five Schools looking for new coaches. You can rest assure, this is just the beginning of many more job openings.

Will Kiffin, who has head coaching stops at USC, Tennessee and the Oakland Raiders be ready to leave a university which at the rate he’s going being a Big Fish in a Little Pond eventually erect a statue for him outside of FAU Stadium?

Time will tell.

Will Kiffin follow the likes of Butch Davis (FIU) and Frank Solich (Ohio University) and coached at Nebraska along with Miami, North Carolina be happy to stay put, thus putting them in the been there and done that category?

I’ll be curious to see how this plays out.

But with Bowl Season upon us, this is the time when coaches do jump ship and take the greener pasture jobs and as a result, interim coaches audition for opportunities to be permanent coaches. Will the coaches take the money and run or stay put and be happy?

One thing is for certain, Kiffin is earning close to $1 Million annually in an area where there is no state income tax and his father Monte Kiffin is on his staff.

Life isn’t all bad coaching football in paradise in the Sunshine State.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbm33@gmail.com and is the Owner of the South Florida Tribune & Broadcasting Network.

A Sea Of Red

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

It wasn’t long ago that when the Detroit Red Wings visited Sunrise, FL., that there were many close games that even went into overtime’s or shootouts.

Watching Panthers future Hall of Fame Goaltender Roberto Luongo face 40 shots a game was always a treat witnessing greatness as it’s inevitable that his No.1 Jersey will eventually be hanging in the rafters at the BB&T Center.

In Detroit, the No.1 Jersey resides in the rafters at Little Caesar’s Arena.

As the Red Wings rebuild continues, these franchises appear to be headed in different directions.

Going into tonight’s clash in South Florida, the Panthers had a 6-3-4 mark with 16 points. Meanwhile, the Red Wings were 4-9-1 with nine points.

The Panthers hired Stanley Cup Championship Coach Joel Quenneville while Jeff Blashill remains at the helm for Detroit.

Florida leads the all-time series 20-17-5-6 and are 4-0-1 collecting points in each of the last five contests.

In 2018-19, Florida won the season series 3-0-1.

Florida’s last win against Detroit occurred on March 10, 2019 by hammering the Red Wings 6-1 in Sunrise.

Unfortunately, Saturday Night wouldn’t be much better as Florida skated to a dominant performance by outshooting the Red Wings 41-22 en route to a 4-0 shutout win as the rubber rats were thrown on the ice which is a Panthers tradition after a win.

Luongo’s replacement Sergei Bobrovsky, who signed as a free agent in the off-season improved his record to 6-2-3 while Red Wings netminder Jonathan Bernier dropped to 2-4-1.

The shutout was the first for Bobrovsky as a Panther and his 34th of his career.

Left-winger Jonathon Huberdeau led the Panthers with two goals defenseman Anton Stralman recorded 200th career assist. Huberdeau has nine goals for the season.

The Panthers have won five of seven to move to 7-3-4, their best 14-game start since 1996-97, when they opened 9-1-4.

On Friday Night in Carolina in a 7-3 loss to the Hurricanes in Raleigh, Bernier replaced starter Jimmy Howard.

In the past two games in South Florida, the Red Wings have been outscored 10-1 by Florida and dejected Blashill was well aware that it hasn’t been very pleasant.

“ No it hasn’t,” Blashill said. “They kicked our ass. They’re a good team. There are a lot of good teams out there. If we compete like crazy and still lose, it’s one thing. We didn’t compete like crazy. We need to find a way to compete better.”

Meanwhile, the Red Wings fell to 1-9-1 in their past 11 games.

Thankfully for the Red Wings, they have 48 hours to think about this loss as the Nashville Predators come town.

Detroit returns to The Sunshine State on December 28-29 to face these Panthers and GM Steve Yzerman’s old club the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbm33@gmail.com.

Jets Crash Landing In Sacksonville

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

What did Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette have in common with whom I consider to be baseball's all-time home-run king, Hank Aaron for at least one week?

To break Babe Ruth's mark, Aaron hit his 715th round tripper off Atlanta Braves Pitcher Al Downing on April 8, 1974.

Fournette led the NFL in rushing yards with 715. By the end of the first quarter, Fournette passed all-time home-run fraud Barry Bonds (762) by compiling 69 yards in the period as he hit the 784 mark.

Fournette had a strong afternoon by finishing with 136 yards in total offense. Seventy six were on the ground.

Going into the game, Fournette and fellow LSU graduate DJ Chark Jr. the Jags were the only team in the NFL whose leading rusher and receiver went to the same college as they went to LSU. Chark Jr led the AFC in receiving yards with 581. He added 79 more to that total plus caught a touchdown pass. Chark Jr has six touchdowns this season.

Entering the game, the Jaguars and Jets had played 14 times and the series was tied 7-7.

The last time the Jets landed in Northern Florida was on September 30, 2018 and it wasn't a good result.

Jacksonville defeated New York 31-12 and roughed up rookie QB Sam Darnold, who threw for 144 yards. The Jaguars dominated the time of possession 37:35-22:25.

The QB who led the Jaguars to the triumph was Blake Bortles who threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns.

Jacksonville left TIAA Bank Field with a 1-3 record.

Today the Jets entered this same venue with one win, but had five losses as they begin their first of two games in Florida as they'll travel to South Florida next weekend to face the hapless Miami Dolphins, 0-7.

Unfortunately for the Jets, they would leave this very building with yet another loss as Jacksonville gave them a rude wakening to #sacksonville with a 29-15 defeat.

Darnold did throw for 218 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, but the Jaguars defense was relentless by sacking the sophomore QB eight times.

The Jaguars improved to 4-4 as they get set for next Sunday's contest against the Houston Texans at London's Wembley Stadium, which has a capacity of 86,000 for American Football.

Today, Darnold faced Jaguars rookie Gardner Minshew II. He was out dueled by the guy that the city has rallied around where the town embraces "Minshew Mania" by watching his counterpart by throwing for 279 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Minshew did a good job spreading the ball around as his favorite targets included Fournette (60 yards), Chark Jr. (79 yards), Chris Conley (103 yards and a TD).

The Jaguars led 13-7 by the end of the first quarter and kept the Jets off balance with their ferocious defense limiting New York to 213 net yards. Jets running back LeVeon Bell was a non factor as a rushed for 23 yards and had 12 receiving yards.

Time of possession once again favored Jacksonville 33:21-26:39.

When the contest was over, Coach Doug Marrone was pleased with the win but not with himself as the team sits at the .500 mark at the halfway point of the season.

"I could have done a much better job coaching for us because we are better than our 4-4 record."

But from an overall standpoint, Marrone was happy that the team came away with a "W."

"This was a good win and I like the way the team goes to work," he said. "This game was a battle and Gardner did a nice job. Defensively, we got after them pretty good. Gardner doesn't play like a sixth round pick. We did a good job stopping the run. Every game we've won, we won the turnover battle. We have lots of good energy in the locker room with the players and all of the coaches."

When the game was in hand at the very end, he said that his team didn't need to run plays to avoid injuries as it gets ready to travel across the Big Pond.

Meanwhile, Jacksonville leads the all-time series including the post-season 8-7.

The next time they play a home game is December 1, 2019 vs the Tampa Bay Bucs then follow it up on December 8, 2019 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The game on Sunday from London begins at 9:30 AM ET.  Jacksonville is looking to pick-up a very important win against a divisional opponent that defeated them 13-12 in Week 2 in Houston.

This is a game that Marrone was heavily criticized for by attempting to going for a two-point conversion rather than the tie which would have send the game in OT.

This is a good opportunity to get revenge and improve to 5-4.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.

The Infrequent I-10 Rivalry

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

There are some match-ups you would like to see more of, but due to the way inter-conference are set-up, these teams play each other at home once every eight years.

This was one of those.

Before a thumb injury sidelined New Orleans QB Drew Brees, I can only imagine how many local fans were looking forward to seeing the the all-time leading passer, who has 74,845 yards.

Sunday's match-up was suppose to feature Brees vs Nick Foles.

The Jaguars prize free agent hurt his shoulder in the first game of the year against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Instead, what we saw was a 4-1 Saints team facing a 2-3 Jaguars squad as Jacksonville started rookie Gardner Minshew II who faced Teddy Bridgewater.

If Jacksonville fans want to see Brees, they'll have to travel 547 miles and 7.50 hours on I-10 East to see these squads in New Orleans if the signal caller is still playing.

Going into this game there were some interesting connections between these two teams.

Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette is from New Orleans and played his college ball at LSU. This is his first meeting against his hometown team.

His first act against the Saints was a solid one as he led the team in rushing and receiving. Fournette rushed for 72 yards and added 46 in the air.

Even though they've only met six times with New Orleans leading the series 4-2 and having a three game winning streak, from 2006-2008, Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone was the Saints Offensive Coordinator.

Marrone coached in the 2007 game on November 4, and the New Orleans Saints defeated Jacksonville 24-21 in Louisiana in front of 70,009 at The Superdome.

During Marrone's tenure with New Orleans, the Saints offense was potent.

New Orleans ranked first in total yards per-game (387.8), first in passing yards per-game (294.1) and third in points per-game with (26.1).

What would give in this Infrequent I-10 Rivalry?

If you were looking for a high scoring affair, you weren't getting it in the first half as the teams went into the locker room tied 3-3.

New Orleans had 125 net yards while Jacksonville amassed 110.

Jacksonville managed to hold up on defense despite the fact that Jalen Ramsey was ruled inactive.

The Jaguars defense limited Saints running back Alvin Kamara to eight yards. Kamara would finish with 66 total yards.

Minshew II went 8-15 for 80 yards.

In the second half, Jacksonville still didn't find it's offense and New Orleans mustered up enough to win the contest 13-6.

It was another win for Bridgewater, who is keeping the Saints in the playoff hunt while still auditioning for a starting job in free agency in 2020.

New Orleans improved it's record to 5-1 and lead the NFC South Division.

The Saints out gained Jacksonville in total yards 326-226.

Jacksonville had 11 first downs the entire contest.

This was Jacksonville's worst offensive game of the season.

The Saints defense limited Jacksonville wide receiver D.J. Chark Jr. to three receptions for 43 yards as he was double-teamed throughout the game.

Minshew II finished the game throwing for 163 yards and one interception.

The Saints have now defeated Jacksonville four consecutive times.

They lead the all-time series 5-2.

After the game, Marrone gave credit to the Saints but admitted there is a lot of work to do as his team get's ready to hit the road and face the 0-6 Cincinnati Bengals.

"Today was a hard fought defensive battle," Marrone said. "We did well in the running game but overall, our offense wasn't in sync. We were not able to make plays. I have to do a good job and get them to play in all three phases, offense, defense and special teams. That starts with me.

"I liked the effort today, they played hard but have to play better. At the end of the day they (Saints) are a good football team. They're one of the best teams we'll play all year. They play well at all three levels. Their secondary did a real good job and covered us real well. At the end of the day, those guys are a pretty good team.

"Leonard did a good job with his play getting all purpose yards, but we have to get first downs so we can get everybody involved."

Minshew II said, "today was a tough day and they're a good team. I missed some balls that I can't afford to miss. They did a good job taking away our quick stuff. We have enough guys who can make plays and we will do better."

The announced crowd was 64,341. There appeared to be a lot of Saints fans to make the trip.

The Jaguars return home on October 27, 2019 at 1 pm to face the New York Jets at TIAA Bank Field and see another up and coming QB in Sam Darnold.

The Jets (1-4) play the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football.

These next two games are very winnable for the 2-4 Jaguars, who hope to reach the .500 mark by the end of the month. The combined record of the Bengals and the Jets is 1-10.

The Jaguars proceeded to trade Ramsey to the LA Rams on Wednesday for two first round picks and a number four in the next two drafts.

The Bengals lost to the Baltimore Ravens 23-17 while the Jets defeated the Dallas Cowboys 24-22.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune and The South Florida Tribune Broadcasting Network.

Breaking In My Prize Pupil

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

There was a different feel to this football game than I normally experience.

Tonight, I won't have to write a normal game story filled with statistics and quotes.

This time, I'm writing a sidebar.

As I continue to build the South Florida Tribune both on the business, editorial and broadcasting sides, I've turned over the reigns to my young Sports Writer Louis Addeo-Weiss.

When I hired Addeo-Weiss a few months ago, he's written primarily baseball and music stories.

As the company has grown, so has he.

My prize pupil knows that he must get familiar with all sports to be well rounded.

As the Sports Exchange transitions to a new home on the South Florida Tribune Broadcasting Network, through his consistent production, Addeo-Weiss has now joined Myself as a Co-Host.

He knows that to continue to be on the air, he must continue to write regularly and at a high level.

I told Addeo-Weiss that when I made the decision to mentor and develop  him, that I expected him to eventually hire and build his own staff.

This is the only way we can grow the company and secure his role and future.

If there is ever a time to break in a new writer at a live event, this was it.

The first FAU Game I ever covered was on September 1, 2007 when the Owls faced Middle Tennessee State at Lockhart Stadium.

FAU won the contest 27-14 as QB Rusty Smith guided a Howard Schnellenberger coached squad.

Schnellenberger was in attendance for this game.

Smith was 12-26-195 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the triumph.

Blue Raiders Head Coach Rick Stockstill also coached in 2007 and he remains at the helm for the university located in Murfreesboro, TN.

Going into this game, Stockstill has an 89-81 record.

FAU won lost last years game 25-24 in OT.

Middle Tennessee  led the all-time series 12-4.

At home, the Blue Raiders lead the series 7-2 and on the road, lead 5-2 in South Florida.

Twelve years later, Addeo-Weiss was making his debut and once again, the Owls are facing FAU but in an on campus stadium which is facing the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the only venue in the country that faces this body of water just 1.8 miles east.

There was no view at the now demolished Lockhart Stadium, but there is a gorgeous one on the sixth floor of the Press Box.

Lane Kiffin is running the show for FAU and sophomore QB Chris Robison is under center.

How would things turn out in Addeo-Weiss debut covering his alma-mater?

FAU defeated Middle Tennessee 28-13 to improve to 4-2 while Middle Tennessee fell to 2-4.

Like Myself, Addeo-Weiss' first game was a victory as mine against the Blue Raiders.

Ironically, the same amount of total points were scored in both contests with 41.

Both FAU wins were in double figures.

Robison was 15-30 for 145 yards, one touchdown pass and zero interceptions. His passing yards were close to Smiths' in 2007. Robison added 11 yards rushing.

Next up for Addeo-Weiss, he's going to cover two more football games for us in November. He'll get a taste of basketball during the winter and spring.

Then I'll turn him loose and he can cover his specialty baseball on a regular basis while we continue to develop the business and broadcasting parts of the South Florida Tribune.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is the CEO and Founder Of The South Florida Tribune and South Florida Tribune Broadcasting Network.