2022. That's the world cup to be really excited about, especially if it's still Klinsmann's team/program, and especially if it ends up being on home soil. IMO, that's going to be our first genuine chance to really establish ourselves as legitimate contenders on the international scene. Look at all the prospects we have around that ripe 2022 age (~22ish) on top-tier clubs..
ST: Dembakwi Yomba, 17, La Liga (Spain)
AM: Junior Flores, 18, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
CM: Gedion Zelalem, 17, Premier League (England)
RW: Julian Green, 19, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
LW: Joe Gyau, 21, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
DM: Caleb Stanko, 20, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
RB: DeAndre Yedlin, 20, Serie A (Italy)
LB: Marc Pelosi, 20, Premier League (England)
RCB: Erik Palmer-Brown, 17, MLS--but still an elite prospect
LCB: John Brooks, 21, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
GK: Cody Cropper, 21, Premier League (England)
Eight years is a long, long ass time away. But that's a hell of a lot of top-league talent that projects to be 30 or younger in 2022. That's a hell of a base to build on. I don't see any true 'world-class' players in that group (i.e. super-duper-stars). But if there's a twelve-year old kid somewhere in this country (or within our stealing grasps) who has that kind of potential, and who's groomed properly.. 2022 could be a real-deal shot for the US.
idk man, it'll be interesting. they've got a terrific qb obviously. i'm guessing they spread out 4 and 5 wide most of the time. we had a bit of trouble at the beginning of the year with western's similar style offense. we're a completely different team now.......most importantly, with a much better secondary.
i mean, what, we've got floyd, countess, woolfolk (if needed), avery, taylor at corner. then kovacs and gordon/woolfolk at safety. those guys have all gotten a lot better. as have ryan and beyer coming off the edge.
plus, we can control the clock much better with our running game then, against houston's d especially i'd suspect.
could be a very dangerous game, but one i think we'd probably be able to win.
wish him the very best at oregon or wherever he ends up. seemed like a good kid.
as far as our team is concerned, i think we'll be fine. we have two other tight ends that i like very much. we've got a junior tight end that i really like that is very interested. and there are a lot of other studs at positions of needs we could use.
...i wonder if we'll get re-involved with ron thompson?
its so crazy that michigan sports in general are so anti-michigan artists.
give me the white stripes...eminem...kid rock...bob seger...motown artists...so many great choices for half time shows of big games and we always screw it up.
as a die hard wings fan/crosby hater, even i am happy to see him coming back. he's big for the league man. we need him back. we need to have a big year with the nba gone, and us in the spotlight.
wow, i wasn't buying any of this BCS at large bid stuff...but it's getting serious isn't it? we're projected to play in the sugar bowl right now i think, against houston. assuming that msu gets beat by wisconsin in the b10 championship game.
really. and how insane is that!? this team that we've got right now i think would blow wisconsin or penn state out of the water in the b10 championship game.
i mean, ohio state's going to get a great coach, that's a given. and meyer is one with a lot of flaws...
one, he runs the running zone read option, which has already failed immensely at a major program in the big10, and shown to take a lot of time to put together, and shown to have a very negative impact on team defense. sure, he'll recruit better than rich rod. he'll probably get at least half of ohio's greatest players. he'll get a lot out of PA. he'll probably still get some out of FL. and he'll have a lot more support than rich rod did here. and he'll have enough money to sign a great defensive coordinator. so it'll basically be rich rod, if everything on the administration side of things went well. but, as we all know, that offense has a lot of big weaknesses even if everything goes right. it most definitely hurts your defense, "playing basketball on grass," as hoke says. it's very very hard to run effectively without a once in a generation-type player like tim tebow or cam newton (see john brantley last season). and it's probably going to be very hard to succeed with without the greatest fastest strongest biggest players that the southeastern united states has to offer. and remember, the last time a medicore michigan team met a mediocre florida team, it was total and utter lloyd carr domination.
two, he burnt out at florida. he quit bc he couldnt compete with nick saban anymore. think he's going to be able to out work brady hoke!? think that's going to be any easier!? please.
three, he's a cheater. everyone knows it. much of his success throughout his career has been the result of cheating. and there's going to be a microscope on columbus unlike anything they've ever seen before.
so much to be thankful for right now.....man oh man....i'm just gonna sound off:
martin mayhew, a great NFL GM, finally. jim schwartz, a great NFL HC, finally. Calvin Johnson, the single greatest offensive threat in the NFL, the greatest offensive player I've had to root for since Barry Sanders. Ndamukong Suh, the greatest defensive player I've had to root for since, man, I guess Chris Speilman (who I hate now).
ken holland, a great NHL GM, who will make a big splash this coming off-season. Mike Babcock, a great NHL HC. Pavel Datsyuk, the most talented all-around player in the NHL. Nick Lidstrom, the greatest defenseman in NHL history. And so much more involving that franchise.
i'm thankful that the garbage NBA is locked out, putting more attention where it belongs - on pro and college football, pro hockey, and college basketball. and also kind of thankful for new ownership of the pistons finally, and possibly having something to look forward to.
david dombrowksi, a good MLB GM. jim leyland, a good MLB GM. Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in all of baseball. Miguel Cabrera, the best hitter in all of baseball. V-Mart and so much else to love about that squad.
in less sports-related news, I'm thankful for the internet. this is truly the greatest time in the history of man kind to be alive. no matter how stupid our parents that raise us are, we have the world of knowledge, literally, at our fingertips. i'm thankful that every movie and tv show i could ever want to watch is available for free online. i'm thankful for fantasy football, and other internet games like euchre poker risk, etc. lol. i'm thankful for online PS3 gaming!! i'm thankful for men's league hockey, soccer, basketball, softball and baseball (here here ann arbor recreation department). i'm thankful for tailgates and cheap booze. good people, good fans, and generally a TON TO DO FOR FUN THESE DAYS. I'm thankful that my buddy owns a gym that I can work out for free in at any time. i'm thankful for my beautiful and wonderful wife that's about to be accepted into harvard medical school, making me a full-time house husband and little league coach (if i choose to become that lazy lol). i'm thankful for all of my great freinds. i'm thankful for my great siblings. i'm thankful for my parents working so hard and being able to send me to such a great school. i'm thankful for all the god-given talents i've been given, and for all those i've been able to work hard to acquire.
i'm thankful for all the amazing hard working scientists, doctors, psychologists, philosophers, educators, nutritionalists/physical therapists, ph.d's etc. that we have on the planet working to make our lives better. i'm thankful for the politicians that are - few as they might be - working for our lives to be better. i'm thankful for the general good will of man kind. i'm thankful for 'workaholics' the new 'beavis and butthead,' arrested development, the simpsons, seinfeld, espn's 30 for 30 series, espn classic, espn.com, mlive.com, scout.com, sam webb and the michigan insider, mgoblog.com, and all the great movies that great minds have made to entertain us and improve our lives throughout the history of time. so so so so so so much for us all to be thankful these days man. it's really crazy. i could go on for another 50 pages.
MAN I AM THANKFUL FOR A LOT. But at the top of non-personal things, I am thankful for brady hoke, greg mattison, john beilein, this great football and basketball squad we've got, mitch mcgary, and this incredible football recruiting class we've got coming in.
2012. UofM. Big10 Champs in football AND basketball!!!
I really enjoyed all of my interactions with the nebraka fans as well. welcome to the big10. very happy to have you guys. looking forward to a lifetime of it.
i think this nebraska game symbolized the synergy of borges and denard. we've finally figured out how to best utilize him. pretty much all of the passes he attempted were short throws that he can make...aside from the one long TD throw (that was great), and the hail mary we chucked from our own red zone (which would've basically been a punt if intercepted). it was an excellent game plan and i look forward to seeing 15 more games just like it.
martinez was actually faster than i thought, but their offensive staff is far behind ours in terms of having the gameplan figured out.
you ALWAYS wait til the last attempt to do it...unless there is an obvious advantage, like the defense being really tired, or a big DT or something being injured.
i tailgated from about 8am til 8pm. lot of nebraska fans in the pioneer parking lot. hung out with a lot of them. very cool bunch. not a single bad experience (they all seemed to really like us as well...aside from a few grumps that didn't like our pre-game in stadium chants). great addition to the big 10 fanbase-wise for sure.
hopefully they show as much class after a win. i'm guessing they will.
the baylor/oklahoma game was the first of his that i've really watched.....and.....man. i think he's going to be a top 5 nfl qb soon. and i don't get why others don't think so as well?
he's big enough to be an an nfl qb (6-2, 220). he's got a much, much better arm than cam newton. he's much, much faster than cam newton.
i mean, really, he's got about as accurate an arm as anyone i've ever seen at the college level. maybe a little less accurate than than andrew luck, but pretty close. and his arm strength, i'm not sure i've seen anyone that compares.
as far as scrambling is concerned, best i've seen since michael vick, and maybe better. not as ellusive or flat out fast as vick, but probably better at knowing when to stay in the pocket and win to run.
maybe it's this brand new team we're seeing out there?
...this is the most excited i've been about this team - based on an actual performance - that i can remember in a long, long, long time.
i know minnesota sucks...they still almost beat usc, for whatever that's worth...but man. the offense is really clicking. the running game looks awesome, really coming together. the passing game looks awesome, they're really starting to play to denard's strengths. and this new formation with denard at tailback is so.....so.....so dangerous, exciting, and full of options. and the defense is really really starting to look strong all around as well.
this staff is doing one he!! of a job improving this team.
It's still going to happen eventually...and if I was the czar of the NCAA...here's how it'd go down:
#1) Naturally, the Big 10 gets first choice of free agent Big 12, Big East and other schools. First round draft choice, Texas. The most powerful college football program in the land (in terms of $value$). Fits in very well academically as well. Put them in OSU's division! Second round draft choice, Notre Dame. Probably still a top 5 or 10 program (in terms of $value$). Very nice academically. About freaking time. We'll take them in our division. Third and fourth round draft choices, UConn and Rutgers. Make ESPN country Big10 country. Nice academically as well. Makes us more of a...well...sophisticated conference, as opposed to continuing on into the great plains. We get exactly what we want.
#2) Fine, SEC can pick second. They'll probably just take the best of what's left in the Big 12 - Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri. Makes them even more powerful on the playing field. That's all they care about anyways. Moving on.
#3) Pac-10 gets third choice. Unfortunately, all they can do to get to 16 is take the left-over left-overs of the Big 12. Say hello to Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Baylor, probably.
#4) Time for the ACC to add one. And it's the best remaining Big East team on the board - South Florida and WVU or TCU (they'll probably go WVU).
*****!?!?!?!?!?*****
Now you get to the rest of the leagues. How about this for an idea. We've already got 4 major 16 team conferences. Why not make 4 mid-major 14 team conferences. 8 team playoff featuring all of the conference champions?? Seems kind of sweet in an NCAA Bball tourney kind of way.
#1) Combine the WAC and Mountain West Conferences. That leaves you with 1 16-team conference, so a couple of cuts will need to be made. I won't bother speculating who gets cut, because I know nothing about it.
#2) Conference USA is the next best mid-major. Give them all of the BCS rejects - Iowa State, West Virginia/TCU, Louisville, Cincinnatti, Navy and Army. That gives you an 18 team conference. 4 teams will need to be cut. Don't know/care who.
#3/#4) Take the 6 cuts from the WAC/MW and Conf USA. Spread them amongst the MAC and Sun Belt. Bam. You've got 4 16-team major leagues and 4 14-team mid major leagues.
first of all, finishing up 2012. it sounds like we're going to be taking 28+ players in this class. the largest class the big ten will allow is 28. but we're going to back-date all of our early-enrollees. for the current team this means...walk-ons with scholarships and r.s. juniors that aren't playing - - - goodbye.
.....right now we've got 22 commitments, giving us at least six spots left. how will those scholarships be used??
.....1 more OL. zach banner seems to be the flavor of the week right now. jordan diamond is still out there. quiet recruit adam bisnowaty is still out there. josh garrett and andrus peat are long shots. first to commit gets it!
.....2 more WR. jordan payton is the flavor of the week right now. i still feel pretty good about a. darboh as the second guy. leon powe is still out there and interested. m. madaris from ohio i'm still hearing about on the reg. big time 5-stars n. aghlor - and to a lesser extent - s. diggs are still in play. j. chesson, j. overstreet are still guys to think about. d. stafford seems to have moved on...but wait for osu sanctions there.
.....1 HB. i'm feeling as good as i ever have with b. dunn now that we've got his cousin. g. garmon is getting more serious. haven't heard much from w. brown lately. then j. lewis from muskegon is probably a last resort.
......1 DL. d. o'brien from flint seems to be our best shot right now. that 5-star out west a. shittu is still worth paying attention to. a. washington is in the same boat as d. stafford...out of the picture, but wait for osu sanctions.
.....28th(+) spot(s)!? cb yuri wright is a guy i'm feeling very good about. 5-star safety shaq thompson is a guy most definitely on the radar. and it looks like we want another tight end as well, preferably a walk-on, but if there's room...i'm still looking out for ron thompson. db's armani reeves and devin fuller are also guys worth keeping on the watch list.
now, getting to 2013. here's a list of all the prospects we've offered thus far, and a list of scout 100 prospects with interest that we haven't yet offered.
.....offered: QB: 5-star shane morris (committed), 4-star kevin olsen, NR riley ferguson.....WR: NR richard benjamin, NR jake oliver.....TE 4-star adam breneman.....OT: 4-star steven elmer.....OG: 4-star christopher fox.....DT: NR james ellison, NR henry poggi.....DE: 4-star wyatt shallman, NR taco charlton.....OLB: 5-star michael hutchings, 4-star ben gedeon, 4-star e.j. levenberry, NR reginald carter.....MLB: 4-star peter kalambayi.....S: 4-star dymonte thomas (committed), 4-star tray matthews.....CB: NR shaquille wiggins
.....haven't offered: QB: 4-star max browne.....RB: 4-star ty isaac.....WR: 4-star rickey jefferson.....OT: 4-star kent perkins, 4-star lovell peterson.....DE: 4-star elijah daniel.....OLB: 4-star jon reschke.....CB: 4-star cameron burrows.
.....sort of strange seeing all those top-100 level kids with interest and no early offers, but it's probably going to be a small class, and i certainly trust this staff's player evaluations more than scout.com's.
Recent Comments
"Until they turn pro, it's like popcorn in the pan. Some pop...some don't." - Jerry Maguire
All, obviously, very exciting. But me talking about 2022 and you talking about some 12 year old. I feel like watching the Tigers for a little bit.
2022. That's the world cup to be really excited about, especially if it's still Klinsmann's team/program, and especially if it ends up being on home soil. IMO, that's going to be our first genuine chance to really establish ourselves as legitimate contenders on the international scene. Look at all the prospects we have around that ripe 2022 age (~22ish) on top-tier clubs..
ST: Dembakwi Yomba, 17, La Liga (Spain)
AM: Junior Flores, 18, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
CM: Gedion Zelalem, 17, Premier League (England)
RW: Julian Green, 19, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
LW: Joe Gyau, 21, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
DM: Caleb Stanko, 20, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
RB: DeAndre Yedlin, 20, Serie A (Italy)
LB: Marc Pelosi, 20, Premier League (England)
RCB: Erik Palmer-Brown, 17, MLS--but still an elite prospect
LCB: John Brooks, 21, Bundesliga-1 (Germany)
GK: Cody Cropper, 21, Premier League (England)
Eight years is a long, long ass time away. But that's a hell of a lot of top-league talent that projects to be 30 or younger in 2022. That's a hell of a base to build on. I don't see any true 'world-class' players in that group (i.e. super-duper-stars). But if there's a twelve-year old kid somewhere in this country (or within our stealing grasps) who has that kind of potential, and who's groomed properly.. 2022 could be a real-deal shot for the US.
I'm somewhat new to being interested in the formations and tactics..
Could someone please kind of diagram the 4-3-3 Brian's suggesting we should go with?
It sounds sort of like..
LW-Green ST-Altidore RW-Gatt
AM-Nagbe AM-Trapp
DM-Bradley
LB LCB RCB RB
I don't get it at all?
idk man, it'll be interesting. they've got a terrific qb obviously. i'm guessing they spread out 4 and 5 wide most of the time. we had a bit of trouble at the beginning of the year with western's similar style offense. we're a completely different team now.......most importantly, with a much better secondary.
i mean, what, we've got floyd, countess, woolfolk (if needed), avery, taylor at corner. then kovacs and gordon/woolfolk at safety. those guys have all gotten a lot better. as have ryan and beyer coming off the edge.
plus, we can control the clock much better with our running game then, against houston's d especially i'd suspect.
could be a very dangerous game, but one i think we'd probably be able to win.
he's been incredible. him and dunn should be an excellent combination for the next two seasons.
huh, never would have guessed that the italian league was less regarded than the german league.
thanks a ton for the response though man, very helpful. maybe i won't sound like such an idiot when talking to foreign friends now.
wish him the very best at oregon or wherever he ends up. seemed like a good kid.
as far as our team is concerned, i think we'll be fine. we have two other tight ends that i like very much. we've got a junior tight end that i really like that is very interested. and there are a lot of other studs at positions of needs we could use.
...i wonder if we'll get re-involved with ron thompson?
if you're asking michigan fans...we saw both in bowl games...and vince young was 10 times better in that game.
both looked pretty damn good when i watched them passively in NC games that didn't involve us. but neither really seperated.
so i'd go with young.
but vick was still better than both.
RIP. I don't follow GA at all, and I am very well aware of who this guy is. You don't get to be that famous as an announcer without being special.
we'll definitely be in the top 14, qualifying us for the BCS. no doubt about it. none whatsoever. don't waste any time worrying about it.
lol, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz also, but...
i've always wondered
how do the professional leagues across the globe rank amongst eachother?
EPL obviously first...i don't know much else...i just play a lot of fifa and follow the US national squad.
roughly
2 to 4
roughly
and what, 6 days until we secure a commit from brionte' dunn?
it's stupid and needs to end. dave brandon needs to send out a memo.
the absolute worst, imo, was braylon edwards' "lloyd carr's michigan" during the rr era. ryan van bergen said it best wrt that bunch.
is there like a pre-assistant of the year award prediction website anywhere out there? mattison's gotta be the sure thing winner, correct?
gorgeous women and nerds. go blue.
court of public opnion, across the nation, eagles probably hands-down.
dog-killer plus lebron-like dream team arrogance.
yikes.
its so crazy that michigan sports in general are so anti-michigan artists.
give me the white stripes...eminem...kid rock...bob seger...motown artists...so many great choices for half time shows of big games and we always screw it up.
how many years has it been since we've been the favorites in vegas heading in?
i think it was the late hit on stafford.
heck of a game man. can't believe he was cut in the pre-season. was it just me or did he also look a lot slimmer and quicker??
as a die hard wings fan/crosby hater, even i am happy to see him coming back. he's big for the league man. we need him back. we need to have a big year with the nba gone, and us in the spotlight.
things are looking very, very, very bad, in all phases...ehh
market is what the market is, but all things being equal, or close to equal, you can spare a few bucks for your fans.
we'll probably get into the necessary range with an OSU win. lot of teams still have games to lose ahead of us as well.
wow, i wasn't buying any of this BCS at large bid stuff...but it's getting serious isn't it? we're projected to play in the sugar bowl right now i think, against houston. assuming that msu gets beat by wisconsin in the b10 championship game.
it caused more contraversey than the other route would have. probably a bad decision in retrospect.
im sure les miles had a lot of beef with huston nutt anyways.
a lot of the nebraska fans i talked to yesterday really thought the you suck chant was classless
brilliant.
wow thats unbelievable. didn't realize we were doing so much better than the carr era average.
really. and how insane is that!? this team that we've got right now i think would blow wisconsin or penn state out of the water in the b10 championship game.
how scared are we of urban meyer really!?
i mean, ohio state's going to get a great coach, that's a given. and meyer is one with a lot of flaws...
one, he runs the running zone read option, which has already failed immensely at a major program in the big10, and shown to take a lot of time to put together, and shown to have a very negative impact on team defense. sure, he'll recruit better than rich rod. he'll probably get at least half of ohio's greatest players. he'll get a lot out of PA. he'll probably still get some out of FL. and he'll have a lot more support than rich rod did here. and he'll have enough money to sign a great defensive coordinator. so it'll basically be rich rod, if everything on the administration side of things went well. but, as we all know, that offense has a lot of big weaknesses even if everything goes right. it most definitely hurts your defense, "playing basketball on grass," as hoke says. it's very very hard to run effectively without a once in a generation-type player like tim tebow or cam newton (see john brantley last season). and it's probably going to be very hard to succeed with without the greatest fastest strongest biggest players that the southeastern united states has to offer. and remember, the last time a medicore michigan team met a mediocre florida team, it was total and utter lloyd carr domination.
two, he burnt out at florida. he quit bc he couldnt compete with nick saban anymore. think he's going to be able to out work brady hoke!? think that's going to be any easier!? please.
three, he's a cheater. everyone knows it. much of his success throughout his career has been the result of cheating. and there's going to be a microscope on columbus unlike anything they've ever seen before.
speilman and meyer are worse than matt millen.
millen's stupid, and biased against michigan in general.
speilman and meyer are both incredibly biased towards the uofm for obvious reasons.
it's a complete joke that either of these crews are able to get michigan games.
so much to be thankful for right now.....man oh man....i'm just gonna sound off:
martin mayhew, a great NFL GM, finally. jim schwartz, a great NFL HC, finally. Calvin Johnson, the single greatest offensive threat in the NFL, the greatest offensive player I've had to root for since Barry Sanders. Ndamukong Suh, the greatest defensive player I've had to root for since, man, I guess Chris Speilman (who I hate now).
ken holland, a great NHL GM, who will make a big splash this coming off-season. Mike Babcock, a great NHL HC. Pavel Datsyuk, the most talented all-around player in the NHL. Nick Lidstrom, the greatest defenseman in NHL history. And so much more involving that franchise.
i'm thankful that the garbage NBA is locked out, putting more attention where it belongs - on pro and college football, pro hockey, and college basketball. and also kind of thankful for new ownership of the pistons finally, and possibly having something to look forward to.
david dombrowksi, a good MLB GM. jim leyland, a good MLB GM. Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in all of baseball. Miguel Cabrera, the best hitter in all of baseball. V-Mart and so much else to love about that squad.
in less sports-related news, I'm thankful for the internet. this is truly the greatest time in the history of man kind to be alive. no matter how stupid our parents that raise us are, we have the world of knowledge, literally, at our fingertips. i'm thankful that every movie and tv show i could ever want to watch is available for free online. i'm thankful for fantasy football, and other internet games like euchre poker risk, etc. lol. i'm thankful for online PS3 gaming!! i'm thankful for men's league hockey, soccer, basketball, softball and baseball (here here ann arbor recreation department). i'm thankful for tailgates and cheap booze. good people, good fans, and generally a TON TO DO FOR FUN THESE DAYS. I'm thankful that my buddy owns a gym that I can work out for free in at any time. i'm thankful for my beautiful and wonderful wife that's about to be accepted into harvard medical school, making me a full-time house husband and little league coach (if i choose to become that lazy lol). i'm thankful for all of my great freinds. i'm thankful for my great siblings. i'm thankful for my parents working so hard and being able to send me to such a great school. i'm thankful for all the god-given talents i've been given, and for all those i've been able to work hard to acquire.
i'm thankful for all the amazing hard working scientists, doctors, psychologists, philosophers, educators, nutritionalists/physical therapists, ph.d's etc. that we have on the planet working to make our lives better. i'm thankful for the politicians that are - few as they might be - working for our lives to be better. i'm thankful for the general good will of man kind. i'm thankful for 'workaholics' the new 'beavis and butthead,' arrested development, the simpsons, seinfeld, espn's 30 for 30 series, espn classic, espn.com, mlive.com, scout.com, sam webb and the michigan insider, mgoblog.com, and all the great movies that great minds have made to entertain us and improve our lives throughout the history of time. so so so so so so much for us all to be thankful these days man. it's really crazy. i could go on for another 50 pages.
MAN I AM THANKFUL FOR A LOT. But at the top of non-personal things, I am thankful for brady hoke, greg mattison, john beilein, this great football and basketball squad we've got, mitch mcgary, and this incredible football recruiting class we've got coming in.
2012. UofM. Big10 Champs in football AND basketball!!!
Go Blue!
what's lost in this insane weekend is how horribly #7 clemson got beat by an unranked team. in any other week, that's page one news. wowzers.
it seems every year we declare a given weekend the very best of the season on a sunday, only to be surprised the next weekend.
i really, really doubt it gets any better than this, but you never know. here's to hoping i'm wrong.
I really enjoyed all of my interactions with the nebraka fans as well. welcome to the big10. very happy to have you guys. looking forward to a lifetime of it.
sexual harrasment suit PLEASE!
i think this nebraska game symbolized the synergy of borges and denard. we've finally figured out how to best utilize him. pretty much all of the passes he attempted were short throws that he can make...aside from the one long TD throw (that was great), and the hail mary we chucked from our own red zone (which would've basically been a punt if intercepted). it was an excellent game plan and i look forward to seeing 15 more games just like it.
martinez was actually faster than i thought, but their offensive staff is far behind ours in terms of having the gameplan figured out.
you ALWAYS wait til the last attempt to do it...unless there is an obvious advantage, like the defense being really tired, or a big DT or something being injured.
i tailgated from about 8am til 8pm. lot of nebraska fans in the pioneer parking lot. hung out with a lot of them. very cool bunch. not a single bad experience (they all seemed to really like us as well...aside from a few grumps that didn't like our pre-game in stadium chants). great addition to the big 10 fanbase-wise for sure.
hopefully they show as much class after a win. i'm guessing they will.
the craziness of college football upsets is never over. there will be more.
Even if the consensus top 5 teams were from the SEC, i still don't think you can do an all SEC-championship game.
YES YES YES
the baylor/oklahoma game was the first of his that i've really watched.....and.....man. i think he's going to be a top 5 nfl qb soon. and i don't get why others don't think so as well?
he's big enough to be an an nfl qb (6-2, 220). he's got a much, much better arm than cam newton. he's much, much faster than cam newton.
i mean, really, he's got about as accurate an arm as anyone i've ever seen at the college level. maybe a little less accurate than than andrew luck, but pretty close. and his arm strength, i'm not sure i've seen anyone that compares.
as far as scrambling is concerned, best i've seen since michael vick, and maybe better. not as ellusive or flat out fast as vick, but probably better at knowing when to stay in the pocket and win to run.
the surprise is probably the helmet numbers
BUT
maybe it's this brand new team we're seeing out there?
...this is the most excited i've been about this team - based on an actual performance - that i can remember in a long, long, long time.
i know minnesota sucks...they still almost beat usc, for whatever that's worth...but man. the offense is really clicking. the running game looks awesome, really coming together. the passing game looks awesome, they're really starting to play to denard's strengths. and this new formation with denard at tailback is so.....so.....so dangerous, exciting, and full of options. and the defense is really really starting to look strong all around as well.
this staff is doing one he!! of a job improving this team.
what a misleading post (...that "#1 RB" thing).
1) he didn't even make scout.com's top 100 list for '13 (Wyatt Shallman and Ty Isaac did).
2) his best offer thus far comes from mississippi state.
It's still going to happen eventually...and if I was the czar of the NCAA...here's how it'd go down:
#1) Naturally, the Big 10 gets first choice of free agent Big 12, Big East and other schools. First round draft choice, Texas. The most powerful college football program in the land (in terms of $value$). Fits in very well academically as well. Put them in OSU's division! Second round draft choice, Notre Dame. Probably still a top 5 or 10 program (in terms of $value$). Very nice academically. About freaking time. We'll take them in our division. Third and fourth round draft choices, UConn and Rutgers. Make ESPN country Big10 country. Nice academically as well. Makes us more of a...well...sophisticated conference, as opposed to continuing on into the great plains. We get exactly what we want.
#2) Fine, SEC can pick second. They'll probably just take the best of what's left in the Big 12 - Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri. Makes them even more powerful on the playing field. That's all they care about anyways. Moving on.
#3) Pac-10 gets third choice. Unfortunately, all they can do to get to 16 is take the left-over left-overs of the Big 12. Say hello to Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Baylor, probably.
#4) Time for the ACC to add one. And it's the best remaining Big East team on the board - South Florida and WVU or TCU (they'll probably go WVU).
*****!?!?!?!?!?*****
Now you get to the rest of the leagues. How about this for an idea. We've already got 4 major 16 team conferences. Why not make 4 mid-major 14 team conferences. 8 team playoff featuring all of the conference champions?? Seems kind of sweet in an NCAA Bball tourney kind of way.
#1) Combine the WAC and Mountain West Conferences. That leaves you with 1 16-team conference, so a couple of cuts will need to be made. I won't bother speculating who gets cut, because I know nothing about it.
#2) Conference USA is the next best mid-major. Give them all of the BCS rejects - Iowa State, West Virginia/TCU, Louisville, Cincinnatti, Navy and Army. That gives you an 18 team conference. 4 teams will need to be cut. Don't know/care who.
#3/#4) Take the 6 cuts from the WAC/MW and Conf USA. Spread them amongst the MAC and Sun Belt. Bam. You've got 4 16-team major leagues and 4 14-team mid major leagues.
...How's this look for a playoff structure?
#1 SEC Champ v. #8 Sun Belt Champ
#4 ACC Champ vs. #5 WAC/MW Champ
#2 Big 10 Champ v. #7 MAC Champ
#3 Pac 10 Champ v. #6 Conf USA Champ
ahh...didn't realize that number included back-dates. thanks.
i think we will take 28 though.
warning - long post (i'm a recruiting fanatic).
first of all, finishing up 2012. it sounds like we're going to be taking 28+ players in this class. the largest class the big ten will allow is 28. but we're going to back-date all of our early-enrollees. for the current team this means...walk-ons with scholarships and r.s. juniors that aren't playing - - - goodbye.
.....right now we've got 22 commitments, giving us at least six spots left. how will those scholarships be used??
.....1 more OL. zach banner seems to be the flavor of the week right now. jordan diamond is still out there. quiet recruit adam bisnowaty is still out there. josh garrett and andrus peat are long shots. first to commit gets it!
.....2 more WR. jordan payton is the flavor of the week right now. i still feel pretty good about a. darboh as the second guy. leon powe is still out there and interested. m. madaris from ohio i'm still hearing about on the reg. big time 5-stars n. aghlor - and to a lesser extent - s. diggs are still in play. j. chesson, j. overstreet are still guys to think about. d. stafford seems to have moved on...but wait for osu sanctions there.
.....1 HB. i'm feeling as good as i ever have with b. dunn now that we've got his cousin. g. garmon is getting more serious. haven't heard much from w. brown lately. then j. lewis from muskegon is probably a last resort.
......1 DL. d. o'brien from flint seems to be our best shot right now. that 5-star out west a. shittu is still worth paying attention to. a. washington is in the same boat as d. stafford...out of the picture, but wait for osu sanctions.
.....28th(+) spot(s)!? cb yuri wright is a guy i'm feeling very good about. 5-star safety shaq thompson is a guy most definitely on the radar. and it looks like we want another tight end as well, preferably a walk-on, but if there's room...i'm still looking out for ron thompson. db's armani reeves and devin fuller are also guys worth keeping on the watch list.
now, getting to 2013. here's a list of all the prospects we've offered thus far, and a list of scout 100 prospects with interest that we haven't yet offered.
.....offered: QB: 5-star shane morris (committed), 4-star kevin olsen, NR riley ferguson.....WR: NR richard benjamin, NR jake oliver.....TE 4-star adam breneman.....OT: 4-star steven elmer.....OG: 4-star christopher fox.....DT: NR james ellison, NR henry poggi.....DE: 4-star wyatt shallman, NR taco charlton.....OLB: 5-star michael hutchings, 4-star ben gedeon, 4-star e.j. levenberry, NR reginald carter.....MLB: 4-star peter kalambayi.....S: 4-star dymonte thomas (committed), 4-star tray matthews.....CB: NR shaquille wiggins
.....haven't offered: QB: 4-star max browne.....RB: 4-star ty isaac.....WR: 4-star rickey jefferson.....OT: 4-star kent perkins, 4-star lovell peterson.....DE: 4-star elijah daniel.....OLB: 4-star jon reschke.....CB: 4-star cameron burrows.
.....sort of strange seeing all those top-100 level kids with interest and no early offers, but it's probably going to be a small class, and i certainly trust this staff's player evaluations more than scout.com's.