GASPARILLA BOWL; Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL 8PM/ET ESPN MARSHALL (8-4) vs. SOUTH FLORIDA (USF) (7-5) An extra home game for the BULLS, but unless Marshall brings a lot of fans with them, USF won’t fill that stadium, based on their regular season attendance. USF started the season 7-0, but lost their last 5 games. Marshall comes into… Read More »
With the college football season in the books, Bowling for Dollars getting underway, the NFL entering the home stretch, and much more, I felt I needed a break from the giant task of doing Bowl Game projections. So here are some thoughts weighing on the football side of my mind right now. Almost a shame as to how… Read More »
NEW MEXICO BOWL Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque; 2 PM/ET ESPN UTAH STATE (10-2) VS NORTH TEXAS (9-3) Most early Bowls don’t really have a valid reason for their very existence, from a football value standpoint. They feature teams that are basically getting a thank you participation gift from the NCAA. This game differs by having two teams who had… Read More »
MYLES GASKIN #9 RB 5’10/190 WASHINGTON One has to be impressed with the resume’ of GASKIN as he prepares to leave the Huskies and move on to a pro career. 2018 was his 4th year with over 1,000 yards rushing. That has never been done before in Washington football history. He’s a sneaky runner who clearly has the… Read More »
As we head all too quickly into the 2018 season Bowl Games, I want to say that I think the Selection Committee pretty much hit the nail on the head this time around. The only thing they might have done better was shock everyone and announce an 8 team field. But in their defense they do not have… Read More »
DRAVON ASKEW-HENRY #6 SS 6’0/202 WEST VIRGINIA ASKEW-HENRY plays the prestigious SPUR position in the WVU defense. It is basically a hybrid SS/LB role with a good amount of time lining up in-the-box. But it does require the player in that position to have coverage responsibility on a regular basis. DRAVON had big shoes to fill this season… Read More »
Now that you have gotten past your Turkey Day feast and are getting a taste of Black Friday shopping (or a clue to what bills will be coming in a month) it is time to sit down to enjoy the last full football Saturday with some key college match-ups. SAT NOV 24th NOON/ET ABC FLORIDA (8-3) by 4… Read More »
Sad to say that multiple big time prospects have had their 2018 seasons ended by major injuries. A few may return by Bowl time, but then again others will never be 100% to even fully test out prior to the Draft itself. I have a growing list of players who I intended to thumbnail and failed to get… Read More »
Time to be a bit more critical of team performances as we head down to the final week of the regular season in D1/FBS football. 1) ALABAMA (11-0) The Citadel surprised ‘Bama by showing up and matching their scores to be tied at 17-17. Then the Crimson Tide woke up and ran away with it. This won’t work… Read More »
Sat Nov. 17th NOON/ET FOX PITTSBURGH (6-4) by 5 @ WAKE FOREST (5-5) After a slow start to the season, PITT has rallied and is already Bowl eligible, and Wake is looking for that last W to join them. I don’t think it comes this weekend though. The Panthers have been rolling, and look to have found their… Read More »
AUSTIN BRYANT #7 DE 6’5/265 CLEMSON BRYANT is the final piece in the work of art that is the Clemson DL, for me to thumbnail. I still think this is the finest front 4 that I have ever seen in college football during my 60 years of watching games. BRYANT is the long, lean edge protector opposite FERRELL.… Read More »
Week 11 was pretty quiet at the top of the rankings, but to me once out of the Top 10 there was significant upheaval. With only two full weeks left for most teams in FBS action, everyone should be on the alert for a few upsets, and watching your favorite players in the Heisman race. 1) ALABAMA 10-0… Read More »
Always a bit scary to me when I see double digits show up behind the word Week… on any of these football reports. Plus it gets a bit frustrating trying to scout the prospects when so many are out, or not playing at peak efficiency, because of injuries. And this is certainly one of those years. So, I… Read More »
ANDRE DILLARD #60 OT 6’5/305 WASHINGTON STATE Once again Mad Scientist MIKE LEACH has his team achieving things that few of us projected from them last Summer. And without doubt, some of their success is indeed due to the creativity of LEACH and his staff, but let’s also acknowledge that they do find talented players and develop them… Read More »
JOHNATHAN ABRAM #38 SS 6’0/210 MISSISSIPPI STATE The Bulldogs roster, during the DAN MULLEN era in Starkville, became a home for a steady stream of JC players from around MS and AL. ABRAM came to State from the JUCO ranks after one failed season at Georgia. In 2017, he started 7 games and recorded 71 tackles for State.… Read More »
BEAU BENZSCHAWEL #66 OG 6’6/320 Wisconsin Yes, the Badgers laid an egg against Michigan, but much of the discredit for that goes on a way too conservative game plan from HC PAUL CHRYST, and a very bad performance from uneven QB ALEX HORNIBROOK, in this observer”s opinion. It’s hard for an O-Line to look its best when their… Read More »
KRIS BOYD #2 CB 6’0/196 TEXAS The CB positions have been a big strength for the Longhorns most of this decade. The leader of the pack for them this season is BOYD. BOYD is not the glamour guy that HOLTON HILL was last year, or that DEVANTE DAVIS is turning into this season for the Longhorns. But he… Read More »
The schedule keeps rolling along with some interesting matchups for the first weekend of October. For more than a few teams, another Loss and they are pretty much out of the running for a New Years Bowl slot, even if they manage to run the table in the second half of their schedule. So some of these 1-2… Read More »
JAKE BAILEY #14 P 6’2/202 STANFORD 2018 was a veritable bonanza year for Rookie kicking and punting prospects on NFL Training Camp rosters. And more than a few of them made the 53-man roster cut-downs. Any team with a big need going forward on their Special Teams better get lucky and/or risk a fairly early Pick for a… Read More »
And so the chaos begins in earnest for the 2018 College Football season. ARMY takes OKLAHOMA into OT, in Norman, before the thin gray line breaks. STANFORD comes from well behind to beat the Ducks on the road. KELLY BRYANT loses his starting job at Clemson, and is leaving school. The biggest bad news is that top NFL… Read More »
As time goes by, I often realize it is flying at warp speed. This weekend marks game 4 for most colleges, which means their regular season is 1/3 done. Say what?! The number of quality games picks up a bit this week, but many conference schedules don’t get into full swing ’til next week. By the way an… Read More »
I have been perusing NFL rosters since the day after Labor Day. In reality those 53-man rosters, in addition to Reserve lists, are the most significant numbers to evaluate how good recruiting was by the 3 main Star Games last January. I did an initial summary after the actual 2018 Draft to indicate how many players were Drafted… Read More »
The Week 3 game schedule was a bit weak, as many teams prepped for their pending Conference schedules with cup-cake tune ups. Then again there were more than enough solid matchups to view, with pro prospect status in mind. So once again let me share with you some thumb-nail sketches of players Who Caught My Eye! SQALLY CANADA… Read More »
I have to keep reminding myself to try to temper early season player thumbnails because overall play suffers a bit the first couple of weeks of the season, since college has no pre-season games… thank God. So in general I try to avoid QB evaluations this early. But as you will see below I have made an exception,… Read More »
Members of the 2018 Rookie Class continue to shine, if not dominate this pre-season. MARCUS DAVENPORT/DE/Saints made his Saints debut and though he did not dominate play he held his own, and certainly displayed once again his freakish athleticism. From the Saints perspective I have to believe they are hoping/expecting that DAVENPORT will be rolling at full tilt… Read More »
