Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (punt coverage instructional video sold separately at UCLA):

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THE BICOASTAL CHIP KELLY DERBY

When UCLA fired Jim Mora (1) on Sunday, it unofficially announced the Bruins’ entry into the race to land the top available coach on the landscape, Chip Kelly (2).

Right now, that’s a two-horse race: UCLA and Florida.

Multiple media outlets reported, and Yahoo Sports confirmed, Sunday night that Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin and a contingent of school officials met with Kelly, but Stricklin returned to Gainesville without indication that a deal was consummated between the two. That doesn’t mean there won’t be — Kelly is a deliberate and thorough researcher, not prone to the kind of emotional decision making that torpedoed Gary Andersen’s career. So there could be more appraisal and discussion to come, with both sides open to letting this play out further.

Still, the fact that we are two weeks past Jim McElwain’s departure without a free-agent coach and a school with an attractive vacancy finalizing anything means that there could be room for another option for Kelly. Enter UCLA, which seemingly realized the opportunity and didn’t bother waiting another week to create its opening.

(As far as Florida goes, Scott Frost remains a viable and attractive candidate — perhaps even the top candidate. But he has 16 career victories, and Kelly has 46. If there is one thing Florida’s three big coaching misses have had in common — Ron Zook, Will Muschamp, McElwain — it’s a lack of proven production at the highest level of the sport before arriving in Gainesville. That’s a box Chip Kelly checks.)

View photos Chip Kelly has his pick of the litter it would seem, as UCLA and Florida would seem to be prime landing spots. (Getty) More

UCLA would seem like an attractive landing spot for Kelly: he would not suffocate in a small-town atmosphere; there is abundant local talent; he knows the conference well; the facilities have been freshly modernized; and this is an underachieving program that imposes no historical burden on the next coach. Then there’s this: Kelly returning to the Pac-12 and immediately be the most accomplished coach in the conference, as opposed to dealing with the SEC tyranny of Nick Saban. As the Pac-12 South is currently constructed, Kelly would dwarf all his coaching counterparts.

It’s hard to see any other potentially open college jobs interesting Kelly. Tennessee, Nebraska and Texas A&M don’t offer everything he would want in a position. So, if he is intent on returning to the sport in 2018, it stands to reason that Florida and UCLA are options. He might well have his choice.

HOW TO WIN THE HEISMAN AND LOSE FANS AT THE SAME TIME

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (3) issued what was at least his third apology of 2017 Saturday, this time for the double-crotch-grab, F-bomb sideline display during the Sooners’ beating of pitiful Kansas. While the 1-10 Jayhawks showed their loser stripes by refusing to shake hands before the game and taking at least one blatant cheap shot at Mayfield, a fifth-year senior quarterback who is toying with an outclassed opponent should be able to resist such a juvenile response.

Does that mean Mayfield shouldn’t win the Heisman Trophy? No, it doesn’t. The Heisman has been awarded to players embroiled in far bigger issues — Cam Newton during an NCAA investigation and Jameis Winston on the heels of a sexual-assault investigation readily come to mind. It’s not a choirboy award, or Johnny Manziel never would have won. If you have a vote and think Mayfield is the best player, he should still be at the top of your ballot.

But right or wrong, the Heisman has more mystique and high-minded lore attached to it than any other individual award in sports. Which means the recipients are generally expected to be both great players and laudable people. Mayfield’s antics — arrested for public intoxication, disorderly conduct and fleeing; the flag-planting at Ohio State; now this — present a pattern of impulsiveness that can certainly be off-putting. (The flag-planting is a non-issue here; the other two incidents are more significant.)

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