Week 12 Stock Report: Mike Bobo makes his case for Broyles Award, J.J. McCarthy no longer looks like a lock for QB3 in 2024 NFL Draft

After 12 weeks, we’ve reached the end of the 2023 regular season where awards, player draft prospects and program’s futures are all in the discourse among college football diehards.

Each Monday, I take note of whose stock — be it team, head coach, player, assistant, unit, Heisman candidacy, preseason narrative, etc. — is trending upward, whose is down and whose is holding.

Here is this week’s stock report:

📈 Stock Up: Mike Bobo as the deserved 2023 Broyles Award frontrunner

While many on the Internet lampooned Kirby Smart for replacing Todd Monken with Mike Bobo as Georgia’s OC, I was bullish on hire — writing back in late February, “The former Bulldogs quarterback didn’t get promoted by his best buddy to run to Mike Bobo’s playbook. He’s tasked with running the Georgia system. Is Mike Bobo a wizard play caller like Monken? No. Can he keep UGA’s train humming? Absolutely.”

Well, it turns out I might’ve short-changed Bobo as a play caller because the locomotive in Red & Black is absolutely humming down the track right now. Despite a first-year starter at quarterback (Carson Beck) and two new offensive tackles, Georgia’s offense is actually slightly better than it was in 2023 with Stetson Bennett & Co. 

Bobo is guiding a ruthlessly efficient attack that ranks in the Top 5 nationally in scoring and yards per play. The Bulldogs are the best 3rd down offense in the country, and compared to this time last season, they’re producing even more explosive plays. 

Passing TD.
Receiving TD.

Dillon Bell getting it done a few ways for @GeorgiaFootball. pic.twitter.com/hfFXM8tz8h

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 18, 2023

Carson Beck looks like a 1st Round pick under Bobo, and while Brock Bowers is the best tight end in the country, Georgia’s OC has done a phenomenal job involving another 10 other weapons (wideouts, tailbacks or tight ends) in the weekly gameplan. In Georgia’s recent stretch against the hardest opponents on their schedule (all ranked foes), Bobo has dialed up shot plays, trick plays and good-ole-fashioned UGA toss-sweep plays that have shredded opposing defenses. 

Sure, Mike Bobo might’ve been seen as a vanilla hire by many, but that flavor seems to work just right for these 2023 Bulldogs. And by year’s end, Bobo just might be rewarded as the nation’s top assistant.

📉 Stock Down: J.J. McCarthy as QB3 in the 2024 NFL Draft

Take a peak at many of the 2024 NFL Draft prospect position rankings in recent weeks and Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is oftentimes slotted right behind Caleb Williams and Drake Maye as QB3 of the class. 

Perhaps not anymore, though. 

McCarthy, who at one time was on my midseason Heisman Trophy Hot Board ballot, hasn’t thrown a touchdown in three weeks. The junior was asked to pass just eight times against Penn State, and while he made some plays with his legs, it was notable that Sherrone Moore opted the keep the ball out of McCarthy’s hands. 

That continued Saturday against Maryland, where McCarthy had a terrible interception in the red zone and nearly threw multiple other picks in the first half, too. He finished the day 12 of 23 for 141 yards and Moore again opted to keep the ball out of the quarterback’s hands late in the game, choosing to try to convert a key 3rd-and-5 via the run. Notably, McCarthy was playing behind a banged-up offensive line and his top receiver got knocked out of the game, but he still started down receivers and was inaccurate on intermediate throws. 

McCarthy still has 1st-round traits, and his early season success (No. 2 in passer rating, yards per attempt) displayed his upside as a prospect. Still, quarterbacks like Bo Nix, Carson Beck, and even Michael Pratt at Tulane, are all coming for McCarthy’s spot.

With his recent dip in play, McCarthy needs a big game against Ohio State to prove himself to NFL scouts once again.

Stock Holding: Arkansas’ longterm future under Sam Pittman

The Pit Boss received a vote of confidence Saturday, as Razorback AD Hunter Yurachek confirmed that he informed both the staff and players that Sam Pittman would remain as the Hogs’ head coach for the 2024 season. 

And good for Pittman. Arkansas is a really tough job, especially in an expanding SEC. Pittman is beloved in Fayetteville, and he deserves a chance to right some wrongs after the 2023 season went completely off the rails (1-6 in SEC play). But while patience is justified, Pittman does need to prove he can make the adequate changes necessary to keep the Hogs competitive. 

Two years ago, they lost four games by nine points. This season, they have five losses by a touchdown or less. Pittman has to figure out how to win some close games. He botched the OC hire with Dan Enos, so getting that right this offseason is paramount, too. 

Make-or-break seasons usually end poorly, but Mr. Yessssssiirrr has a chance to flip that narrative in 2024. 

📉 Stock Down: USC’s outlook in the Big Ten in 2024

The Trojans ended the 2023 regular season with an embarrassing 38-20 loss to a UCLA team that allegedly was going to fire Chip Kelly after the game. That hasn’t happened — not yet at least — but USC’s 7-5 season was so disappointing that Lincoln Riley got dunked on by Dan Mullen and esteemed LA columnist Bill Plaschke put the former Hollywood Hero on the hot seat. 

Are we sure that they have the right coach on the hot seat in LA.

— Dan Mullen (@CoachDanMullen) November 18, 2023

Riley is not on the hot seat, but he could be this time next season if he doesn’t make some significant foundational changes within his program. I’m not going to beat a dead horse here. I’ve written plenty about what needs to happen within USC’s program, but Riley better find some answers fast this offseason (his future quarterback, OL upgrades, a defensive coordinator, etc.) because have you seen what the Trojans’ schedule is next year?

In its goodbye season to the Pac-12, USC just lost five games (reminder here that the Trojans started the year 6-0, too) — with all five losses coming against the most physical teams on its schedule.

Well, in the Trojans’ introduction into the Big Ten, they play Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Washington and Nebraska. They still have their annual games against UCLA and Notre Dame, too, and oh yeah, they open the year with LSU!

We’re talking about a team that easily could be a fringe bowl team in 2024. No one had that on the Lincoln Riley bingo card entering Year 3. 

📈 Stock Up: Jedd Fisch

One way or another, Jedd Fisch is going to get his flowers this offseason. He’s either going to be rewarded with an extension at Arizona (gulp, if they have the funds) or taking over another program like UCLA (and likely bringing several of his star players with him).

Fisch is in the running for National Coach of the Year after what Arizona’s coach has done this season with the Wildcats. In 2021, he inherited a winless team from Kevin Sumlin with one of the worst recruiting classes in modern history. After an 1-11 season in Year 1, Fisch went 5-7 last fall (ending the team’s five-game losing streak to rival Arizona State) and now he has the Wildcats knocking on the door of a potential 9-win season this fall. 

If Arizona beats ASU and Oregon loses to Oregon State, the Wildcats will make the Pac-12 Championship! They’ve won five straight, including four in a row against ranked teams. Wildcats fans don’t want to hear this, but Fisch continues to climb up AD candidates lists for potential openings.