William Qualkinbush on College Football, Lee Corso, and Clemson’s Showdown with LSU
With college football season officially underway, 105.5 The Roar’s William Qualkinbush joined me to talk about everything from sloppy week-one games to Lee Corso’s farewell to ESPN’s College GameDay. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation.
On the need for preseason games in college football:
“Game-type situations have no substitute, and in college football we literally don’t do it in the spring or in August. Then we ask these athletes to bring their best in week one—often against peers or very good teams—and that’s just not realistic.”
Qualk pointed to last weekend’s Iowa State–Kansas State matchup as a prime example, noting that the first half “perfectly illustrated why we need this.”
On Lee Corso’s farewell this weekend:
“We’re going to miss him more than we know. The raw emotion from Kirk Herbstreit tore me up, man… The difference is Corso’s silliness was innocent. It wasn’t targeted for business reasons… In a day when college football is so corporatized, so business-driven, his refusal to take it too seriously mattered. It was endearing, not annoying.”
On the SEC’s nine-game schedule and the ACC’s response:
“This does put pressure on the ACC. They’re the only league without nine. If they want to be part of what’s next, they’re going to have to do it. I don’t know how with 17 teams, but one AD said, ‘We’ve got the highest IQ schools. We’ll figure it out.’”
On No. 4 Clemson’s opener vs. No. 9 LSU:
“I don’t see how Clemson doesn’t dominate the line of scrimmage against LSU, especially Clemson’s defensive line against LSU’s rebuilt O-line with two young tackles. I just can’t see LSU winning if that’s the case.”
Still, Qualk cautioned that this is “the only game on Clemson’s schedule where I think they’ll be at a speed disadvantage.”
On Adam Randall’s move to running back
“With Randall, what Dabo said is telling: the things they like most about him are after he gets the football. Once you say that, you can’t play him at receiver anymore, because most of that position happens without the ball.
So they asked, how can we best use him? They think running back is the answer. I still worry about durability—he’s been hurt a lot, missed games and practices. Taking hits as a running back, even at 235 pounds, is tough.
But we could look back and call this a stroke of genius. Or we could be frustrated again at the end of the year.”
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Qualk in the audio attached above for more on Clemson, LSU, and a loaded Week One slate across college football.
