Boise State will miss Pettis’ presence
December 31, 2009
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Boise State doesn’t know whether star receiver Austin Pettis will play in Monday’s Fiesta Bowl, but the junior hasn’t stopped trying to get on the field to help his team.
“He’s recovered very well and our guys have a lot of respect for him,” Boise State offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said. “So, everybody’s hoping to get him back on the field. We hope so, too. We’ll find out. That remains to be seen yet.”
Pettis, the team’s second-leading receiver and best red zone threat, suffered a broken bone in his ankle against Nevada on Nov. 27. He had surgery days after the injury and has been practicing in pads with the team at least since its arrival in Arizona. He’s been hobbled, though, and even if he can play, he won’t be the same receiver that accounted for 62 catches for 850 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.
Harsin said the team has been preparing to play the Fiesta Bowl without Pettis and that the return of Tyler Shoemaker, who’s missed the last three games with a hernia, will help.
“Shoe physically has the same tools as Austin does,” Harsin said. “So, we’ll do what we’ve done in the past and between Kirby [Moore] and Shoemaker and those guys, they’ll step up and fill his shoes. They’ve done that already.”
Shoemaker, the team’s fourth-leading receiver with 21 catches for 345 yards and two touchdowns, will be counted on to keep the Broncos passing game effective along with freshmen Kirby Moore, Mitch Burroughs and Chris Potter. With so many injuries, the three freshmen have combined for 14 receptions in the last three games after combining for 18 catches during the previous 10.
While Harsin said the production probably won’t suffer, the leadership and playmaking abilities that Pettis brings to the field is what the Broncos will miss the most.
“Austin’s kind of got that, through this season especially, that ‘it’ factor going on because of the confidence and all that,” Harsin said. “I think we can’t change what we’re going to do schematically and all those things, but he’s obviously a presence out there. The biggest thing where we miss Austin is in practice because he’s such a playmaker and he’s a spark. I think the biggest thing you lose is just his presence out there and his leadership on the field. And you know that he’s going to make a play for you.”
Video: Catching up with Brandon Bair
December 31, 2009
Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg talks with Oregon DT Brandon Bair.
Three keys: Navy in the Texas Bowl
December 31, 2009
Navy Midshipmen(9-4)
1. Watch Alexander: Missouri makes no secret that its plan is to get the ball to star receiver Danario Alexander, who led all receivers in yards this season. However, stopping him is another story. Navy doesn’t have one player who can match him man-to-man, so they’ll have to get some safety help to keep Alexander quiet and force Missouri to find other options.
2. Test the run defense: Missouri’s run defense ranks 12th in the country, allowing 96.42 yards per game, but it hasn’t faced an option offense in quite some time. Navy is the nation’s fourth-best rushing team and it’s going to need quarterback Ricky Dobbs to lead them against a tough Missouri front.
3. Diversify: One of the qualities that has made Dobbs so successful this season has been his ability to diversify the offense and give the Midshipmen a quality passing attack. Missouri is going to stack the box to stop the run, which will leave Dobbs with a couple of opportunities to find open receivers over the top.
The Decade in Sports
December 31, 2009
It’s the last day of the decade!
In case you missed any of our Decade Debate series, here’s a link to each individual post (i.e. we put a lot of work into these, so you better take a look!)
10 Biggest Betrayals
Saddest Franchises
10 Biggest Upsets
8 Greatest Comebacks
6 Greatest Rivalries
5 Biggest Quarterback Busts
10 Worst NFL Head Coaching Hires
10 Worst NFL Free Agent Signings
Greatest Fantasy Football Players
15 Best College Football Players
10 Best Second Round NBA Picks
10 Best Late-First Round NBA Picks
10 Biggest NBA Draft Blunders
10 Pivotal MLB Trades
Cornhuskers’ Holiday in San Diego
December 31, 2009
Erin Andrews was among the 64,607 on hand to witness Nebraska's 33-0 pounding of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. It was the first shutout in the 32-year history of the game and gave the Cornhuskers their first 10-win season since 2003.
Our friends at Image of Sport were in San Diego for Wednesday night's game, and you can view other images from the Holiday Bowl by clicking here.
Rose Bowl Keys, Prediction, and Open Thread
December 31, 2009
You’ll have to excuse me for not finishing with the linebackers and defensive backs. I decided I wanted to actually spend time with friends and family over winter break instead of just writing about Oregon football. Crazy, right?
And I’m writing this from my girlfriend’s cousin’s living room. Lucky for me, no one is up yet.
If you’ve been reading my position analyses so far, then you have a pretty good idea of what I expect to happen. But there are a few keys things that need to happen for the Ducks to get their first Rose Bowl victory in 15 years.
Big Game Masoli
So far, Jeremiah Masoli has been at his best when the pressure is on—both Civil Wars, the Holiday Bowl, USC, Arizona, etc—but this is by far the biggest of them all (hence, the Rose Bowl nickname).
This is the toughest defense Masoli will have faced in his career, especially with Ohio State’s prowess stopping the run. The all-conference quarterback needs to get Ed Dickson involved early, speed up the tempo, and keep the Buckeyes defense guessing.
Just a heads up Ohio State fans, Masoli is a little better than Tate Forcier.
Get to Pryor’s Head, and Knee
Terrelle Pryor has had problems keeping his composure this season, even visibly yelling at teammates on the field during the Purdue game. With the news of Pryor’s partially torn PCL, I’m pretty sure I can guess how Nick Aliotti is going to start the game—pressure, pressure and more pressure.
The Ducks need to make Pryor feel uncomfortable, and if the former top recruit starts worrying about his knee more than finding the open receiver down field, that spells disaster for the Buckeyes.
The 400,000 Duck fans that came down to Pasadena should help too.
Speed Racer
Ohio State has never seen an offense that plays at this fast of a tempo before. They’ve had over a month to prepare, but how will they be able to react on the field to the Ducks no huddle spread?
I feel Ohio State will keep up at first, but Masoli, LaMichael James, and company will tire out the bigger, slower Buckeyes. If that happens, this game is over.
Recent Bowl History
How you do in a bowl game is based much more on motivation and desire than actual talent. Like we’ve seen so much this season, the better team often lets down because they think they should be in a better game and have nothing to gain by beating a weaker opponent.
Oregon State went from the Rose Bowl to the MAACO Bowl and got run over, Boise State beat Alabama last year because the Tide went from the championship game to playing a mid-major.
ESPN’s Ted Miller mentioned that Ohio State is used to playing Texas, USC, or an SEC power: will they get up for little ol’ Oregon the same way as the others? (Not that they did well against the others.)
Prediction
Let’s just say, if by some chance I woke up and found 0 in my pocket tomorrow, I would parley all of it on Oregon and the over. (Ducks by 3 1/2, over/under 50 1/2)
Oregon’s tempo wins out and runs away from Ohio State in the end.
Final: Oregon 38, Ohio State 23.
I want to make this a pregame open thread. What are your thoughts? (Crazy Buckeye fans too)
Be sure to join in the open thread over at UOSportsDude.com as well.
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
Bo Knows Bowls: Pelini, Nebraska Dominate Arizona at the Holiday Bowl
December 31, 2009
Bo Pelini ran his Nebraska bowl record to a perfect 3-0 Wednesday night in a rainy San Diego at the Holiday Bowl, demolishing childhood friend Mike Stoops’ Arizona Wildcats by a 33-0 score.
In those three games Pelini’s Blackshirts have surrendered a total of 24 points, which is an impressive number.
This was as dominant a bowl game victory as the Cornhuskers have had in a while. They rose to the occasion even more than they did in the Big 12 championship. The Blackshirts held the Wildcats to a total of 109 yards, a truly phenomenal number.
Arizona, which averaged 167.5 yards rushing for the season, finished with a paltry 63 yards on the ground. The Wildcats’ passing attack was even worse, going 10-of-31 for 46 yards, compared to 240 yards per game; they amassed a total of six—yes, six—first downs, with three of them coming on the Wildcats’ final drive of the game.
This was the Huskers’ first shutout in 46 bowl games as well as the Holiday Bowl’s first in 32 years it has been played. It was also the Huskers’ fourth-largest margin of victory in those 46 bowl games.
Nebraska’s seniors got the bitter, one-second game taste out of their mouth with perhaps their greatest game in their final curtain call. Ndamukong Suh, Phillip Dillard, Matt O’Hanlon, and Co. earned their Big Red respect on this night.
O’Hanlon’s interception on the game’s third play, which he returned 37 yards to the 5-yard line, set the tone for the entire game. Because of that pick and another pass defended and five tackles, O’Hanlon was named the defensive MVP.
This game, for once in a long time, was more than just the Blackshirts. The offense finally showed up and showed off. Zac Lee, he with the hidden injured arm, was 13-of-23 for 173 yards and a touchdown.
Lee also showed off his running by rushing for 65 more yards, as the Huskers ran for 223 and finished 50 percent (9-for-18) on third-down conversions. The Huskers even unveiled their version of the “Wildcat” formation with T-Rex Burkhead running the Huskers’ version very efficiently, including a nifty 34-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
Not to be outdone, the Huskers’ special teams shined tonight, led by kicker Alex Henery, one of the most recent recipients of a Blackshirt, set a Holiday Bowl record with four field goals, three more than 40 yards, including a 50-yarder. Henery also punted four times, three of which pinned the Wildcats inside their own 20.
Then, to top things off, junior receiver Niles Paul, who was named the Holiday Bowl offensive MVP scored on a season-long 74-yard pass from Lee late in the third quarter. Paul also had a 49-yard kickoff return and three punt returns for 45 yards, totaling 237 all-purpose yards.
As Pelini addressed the crowd after accepting the Holiday Bowl trophy, he showed his pride in his Huskers’ performance by stating “Thanks to all of our great fans for coming out and supporting us here…Nebraska’s back, and we’re here to stay.”
The only thing that I missed from the game was Roy Helu Jr. Through the entire contest I never heard one mention as to why Helu was not playing; it was unclear whether he re-injured his shoulder or not, but T-Rex and Co. more than made up for his absence.
For us long-time Husker fans (those of more than 30 years), it was a definite reminder of games we had seen many times before. When the Huskers rolled to a big lead and allowed the Blackshirts to suffocate the opponent, the announcers struggled to find things interesting to say to keep the viewers’ attention.
But also for us “old-timers,” it was different than when Dr. Tom ran things. Yeah, we had eight different ball carriers gain yards, just like them good ol’ days, but we also had six different receivers catch a pass in the rain, no less—remember the ugliness of the Missouri game.
If Watson and Pelini can get 200-plus rushing yards running the spread, who needs the two-back, two-tight end alignment? Not to mention the attractiveness that offense brings to the recruits. Yes, we are on the right track.
Pelini also promises that next year’s defense will be even better than this year’s. It will be another year into it; it will be deeper and more versatile with more options.
So our Huskers finished the 2009 season with a 10-4 record and came within four points of going 12-1. All in all it was a good way to go into the offseason and get ready for spring. I enjoyed this season more than any other in a long time, GBR!
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
Why can’t Tyreke Evans play small forward?
December 31, 2009
Much has been made of the emergence of Tyreke Evans (22-5-5 in December) and how things are going to work once Kevin Martin comes back from injury. The Kings have three options: 1) try to play Evans at point guard when that’s not his natural position, 2) play Evans at off guard, even though he’s not a pure shooter, or 3) play Evans at small forward, even though he’s undersized.
Evans is great at creating for himself, but he’s not a natural playmaker at the point guard position. Kevin Martin is an underrated scorer and should not be dismissed at off guard. He’s 40%+ from long range and can get to the line at will. He’d be great as a court-spacer/sidekick if the Kings can find a way to play him alongside Evans.
What about small forward? Is Evans really undersized? Looking at the draft measurables, Evans is a tad short for SF (6′5″ in shoes), but his wingspan (6′11″) and standing reach (8′8″) are longer/taller than DeMar DeRozan, Chase Budinger, Gerald Henderson and Terrence Williams, and no one has a problem with the idea of playing any of those guys at small forward. He’s not a prototypical small forward, but the league is getting smaller and he definitely has a swingman-type game.
The downside? Evans won’t have a strength advantage over most small forwards, which is one of the reasons he’s currently so effective getting to the rim. However, he will have a quickness advantage over most taller SFs, so that should help. Another issue is defensively with Evans and Martin, the Kings wouldn’t really have a stopper on the wing.
Oddly enough, the solution would be at point guard. To complement Evans and Martin on the wing, the Kings would need to find a defensive-minded, pass-first point guard who is tall and strong enough to cover the other team’s best perimeter player. And it would help if he was a 40%+ shooter from long range. Think 2006-07 era Kirk Hinrich. He doesn’t need to handle the ball a lot, just get it up the court, initiate the offense, and share the ball on the perimeter.
It could work, right?
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Mike Leach and Mark Mangino are Victims of Progress
December 31, 2009
When accusations like those emanating from Lawrence and Lubbock begin to hit newsstands, the “Grumpy Old Men ” invariably come out of the woodwork.
You know the type. They walked 10 miles uphill in the snow to school. They ate sawdust soup because it was all they had. Their parents beat them silly for putting their elbows on the table.
(And they liked it!)
But when it comes to sports, they love to remind everyone how godawful their coaches were to them. Imagine the Junction Boys in hell. Being forced to stand in an electrical closet for a couple hours and doing bear crawls on scorching AstroTurf are nothing compared to the abuse they recall suffering for screwing up.
(And they liked it!)
They never feel the need to explain why the good old days were so great, though.
The mere fact that coaches had more leeway back in the day to treat their charges like crap, doesn’t make it right today. That’s like justifying racism by arguing that it was socially acceptable 60 years ago.
Look, I hate to break the news to all the bitter old fogies out there, but change happens for a reason. More often than not, it represents progress.
This is not to say Mike Leach and Mark Mangino deserved to be fired. I have no idea what really transpired in either case but both deserved due process.
I’m also not trying to excuse helicopter parenting. If Craig James’ motives in raising a ruckus are motivated by his son not seeing enough playing time, ruining Leach’s career in the process is despicable.
However, the mere fact that coaches are starting to land in hot water over these allegations of player mistreatment, is a step forward.
Successful college football coaches make millions of dollars thanks to the free labor of their players. Granted, college athletes receive an opportunity to ply their trade and receive an education. Yet, that doesn’t mean they’ve chosen a life of indentured servitude.
The Grumpy Old Men won’t hesitate to let you know that Bear Bryant must be spinning in his grave right now.
Fine by me.
For more of Allen Kenney’s analysis of college football and the Oklahoma Sooners, check out Blatant Homerism .
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
Georgia Bulldogs’ Defense Hanging in the Balance Due To Draft Pull
December 31, 2009
While the Georgia Bulldogs allowed 471 yards to Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl, their defense gave an inspiring effort that actually left me somewhat comforted.
Without every defensive coach from the regular season except for ends coach Rodney Gardner, the Bulldogs were able to hold Texas A&M’s high powered offense to 13 points until late into the fourth quarter.
They did so by creating turnovers and making big plays on special teams, along with controlling the clock with a powerful running game in the second half.
This game, to me, was very indicative of how Georgia’s offense, defense, and special teams are sure to perform in the near future. Sure, the stats were nasty, but holding Texas A&M to 20 total points was promising in my book.
And, the units we have seen are staying in place and are only going to get better. With so much youth it was the youthful players who were standouts during the season.
Washaun Ealey, Orson Charles, Rantavious Wooten, Brandon Boykin, Branden Smith, etc.
The best parts of Georgia’s offense, their running game which sparked from nowhere half way through the season, returns.
The best part of special teams: all of it.
Blair Walsh and Drew Butler make for the best kicking and punting tandem in the nation, and return specialist Brandon Boykin recorded three touchdown returns in one season as a sophomore.
Granted, those kickoff returns were pretty well blocked, but Boykin’s best returns might have been the ones that didn’t go for six.
Basically, having the top heavy portion of the talent in freshman and sophomores is a perk in this day in age. Draft eligibility makes it so hard to retain players.
For Georgia, they are in no trouble of losing any offensive or special team weapons as of now.
However, on defense, the strength isn’t staying. As a matter of fact it might all be leaving.
We already know that the defensive interior is going to soften up a tad. Georgia loses three NFL-caliber defensive tackles in Jeff Owens, Geno Atkins, and Kade Weston to seniority.
However, the pending decisions to stay or leave from Rennie Curran and Reshad Jones could be just as impactful as the decisions Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno made last year.
Curran and Jones are both juniors and redshirt juniors, respectively. Curran has been quiet about his decision making, however as of late many have speculated that despite his small stature he could very well get drafted in a good spot if he leaves this year.
Jones nearly left last season as a sophomore, and in a last second decision decided to return to school. Now he’s filed paper work to see where he could fall in the lottery this time around.
Would Jones really pull out two years in a row?
In my mind Jones is a second- to fourth-round pick, and Curran is a fourth- to seventh-round pick.
Yeah, I might not be a draft analyst, but I have a decent feel for these things.
However, these decisions are similar to the one Asher Allen made last year. I felt Allen was someone who wasn’t quite ready for the NFL, but he was more than ready to become an impact player for our Dawgs.
I feel the same way about Curran and Jones.
Curran doesn’t have the highlight tape material some players do, but he is no doubt a special linebacker who doesn’t come around but once in a blue moon.
I’ve been more excited about Reshad Jones than any other defensive player on roster for the past few years. He is obviously NFL material, however I feel like he has not come close to peaking at the collegiate level.
His ball hawking abilities and his sure tackling (despite what some people might say based on ONE missed tackle against Georgia Tech) make him a complete safety.
If anyone stays I think it might be Curran, however I have a gut feeling Reshad Jones is on his way out.
Players leaving too soon has become something that I think has affected the lack of consistency within college programs.
The eligibility for redshirt sophomores to leave has literally prompted the forces of the NFL draft to hit players a year earlier than they used to.
More players are leaving, therefore the units aren’t gelling.
This defense has not had a chance to gel, and with the loss of their five best defensive players their chances of being vastly improved may have more to do with the personnel than it will with whoever takes over as the coordinator.
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
