So 2011 finished on a down note. But the nice thing about bowl games is that there really aren't any negatives to losing them.** Other than not getting all the awesome positives from winning.
Even the way we lost couldn't muster a lot of OUTRAGE and disappointment from me. It only lasted, like, half an hour. A far cry from the weekend-ruination that is a regular-season Saturday loss. It wasn't close enough for me to point to one or two lousy calls (though I could certainly beef with the refs if I felt like it, as they missed a lot of calls both ways) or spend all day Sunday going "if only we had...." And it wasn't, like, a total facewashing.
In fact, the offense played well. Very well. Well enough to win, if it hadn't been forced to play in comeback mode for over half the game. Mike Rocco was terrific. Rocco has surely cemented the right to go into spring and fall camp in 2012 as the unquestioned starter, and it ought to take a superhuman effort - I mean, like, Watford comes out looking like Vince Young - in order to unseat him by the first of September when the team takes the field against Richmond. The Auburn pass defense was exactly as advertised: shaky. But I'll tell you what: if Rocco starts the next two seasons and doesn't get hurt, he will break Matt Schaub's career yardage record. You can bank that. He only needs to average 2,415 yards a season to do it and he had 2,671 this year.
Our own defense could certainly have been better, and the stat sheet makes the following statement look silly, but - it didn't completely suck. Not like the stat sheet says it did. Unfortunately they ended up with a lot of short fields to defend. Which leads us to what you and I and everyone else can all easily pin this loss on.....
....yes, the special teams. Maybe I said the defense didn't completely suck because I was comparing it to the atomic fiasco that was the special teams. How many points do you suppose we gave up because of special teams? I count 22:
- 7 for the first blocked punt, which gave Auburn the ball in the red zone
- 7 for the onside kick, which gave Auburn the ball at our 41
- 3 because we couldn't execute a fake field goal
- 2 for the safety on the second blocked punt
- 3 for the field goal that came after Auburn's long return of the ensuing free kick
You could even get crazy and say 7 for the failed fake FG, and bring the total to 26. Auburn won by 19. I don't subscribe to the notion that "special teams are 1/3 of the game," because obviously you don't spend 1/3 of game time on special teams. But let it never be said they aren't important. They just cost us the Peach Bowl. Period.
I mean, the blocked punts drive you crazy because it's not like there's some mythical athleticism gap that caused them. Anyone who comes through as unblocked as all that will block the punt. And - really? A rugby punt in the end zone? When you have one-third fewer yards to work with? Coaching failures brought on those blocked punts, and a coaching failure led the team to be unprepared for an onside kick. And the kick coverage has been trouble all year, not to mention kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff.
So that'll be your number one adjustment for the offseason. It's a tough situation because your special teams coach is none other than UVA legend Anthony Poindexter, whose recruiting chops are crucial to our success. But nobody else on the staff has ever been a special teams coach, either. Idea lobbed in from the back of the peanut gallery: have London take over special teams himself until eventually someone leaves the staff and someone with special-teams experience can be hired. Cause that might've been the worst game anyone in the country has played on special teams, all year long.
I do have one last gripe. And if you have gotten, over the years, a good enough feel for my general, overall attitude toward college football, you might have guessed it already. If you don't know, and I tell you what that attitude is - it can be summed up in the four words "get off my lawn" - maybe you too can guess. Have you figured it out? If you guessed, "Brendan hates the orange helmets" give yourself a smiley sticker.
Look. First off, that makes us, by my count, the 52nd team in college football this year to play helmet reindeer games. 52 of 120 teams did not wear the same helmet in all of their games. So that doesn't exactly make us special, OK? We don't exactly stand out from the crowd. I hear this all the time, too: "Recruits like it." "The players like it." I'll tell you what else players really like: bowl games. But that doesn't stop the majority of college football fans (and annoying writers) from harboring the opinion that the bowls are a parasite that should be replaced with a playoff. The point there is that you can hide behind "players like it" all you want but when you see something that the players like but that's beyond your tolerance level, suddenly it no longer matters what they players think. So that's nothing but a copout.
For the record, I thought orange helmets over orange jerseys - not a great look. Worse yet: I didn't feel like I was watching Virginia. Suddenly it felt like another team was wearing our jerseys. Here's a fact: we are the only team in the ACC that uses navy blue as a primary color. That will change when the conference expands, but we will still be the only team that has true blue helmets. Why is that not good enough???
I get that we are in an age where people have microwaveable attention spans. Nobody's happy any more, everyone's bored, if you come out looking the same week to week. They want the newest, sickest, latest thing. They want wikked sikk warriorzz uniformzz from Nike, they want black, they want chrome, they want to be able to strut around glove-pimping for the cameras or watch their favorite player do it, they want new and different every year, if not every week, or else they get bored. All I ask is that one damn thing stay the same every now and again. As I said: we are the only team in the conference with blue helmets and with navy blue as a point of emphasis. Why that's not good enough, I have no idea.
(I know, I know: I probably just spent more words on the helmets than the special teams fiasco. Priorities, etc. Whatever, it's my blog. I have my rights.)
**Unless the other team's fans are assholes. I have no idea if that's the case here. I do know it was kind of a thing when I went to Purdue-Maryland a few years ago in support of my Boilermaker brother.
Showing posts with label me whining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label me whining. Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
wednesday linkpile
Time to deal with a bunch of that stuff that piles up while I'm off plowing through projects that I just have to put out there. First up is that tired-looking recruiting board, and the updates to it:
- Removed a bunch of names that we hadn't heard from or about since before the regime change. Said regime change means it's not likely we're bothering.
- Removed S Ed Reynolds, probably once and for all, who committed to Stanford, and DT Johnathon Hankins, who committed to Ohio State.
- Added LB Ralph Williams to blue. Might be able to snake-oil this guy away from Tennessee. He is Michael Strauss's high school teammate.
- Added OT Dan Foose and RB Dejor Simmons to yellow.
- Recategorized Strauss as an early enrollee. Technically he isn't enrolled right at this moment, but he'll be at spring practice, sure enough to the point where it'd be news now if he wasn't. This is awesome, by the way. Early enrollers always get a nice little boost from being at spring practice, but for quarterbacks the benefit is immeasurable compared to just about any other position.
Frankly, this 2010 board is getting very boring. I'm guessing three, maaaybe four more commits. Total of about 15-17. Not quite the furious finish we had to last year's class. In the near future, therefore, the 2011 board will have its debut. Won't that be fun. My too-early projection for that class size is about 18-22, so the commitments should be at a bit of a faster pace than they have been this year.
Before I forget, the "other" football team spit out some disappointing news today: Tony Tchani is leaving school for the pros. Eh, it's probably time: he's got a championship and he's plenty talented enough to make the jump. We weren't going to lose any major, major pieces of the championship team to graduation, so Tchani leaves the one real hole in the lineup. Which can be filled just fine, thank you: for one thing, we'll actually get to use Brian Ownby for the whole season, and Jimmy Simpson should be able to find his way to the field more often. Simpson, you might recall, had a pretty nice freshman season in 2008 with six goals, but didn't see hardly any time this year. We've got the depth to cover Tchani.
Even if you've been under a rock since New Year's, you probably still know that Jim Reid, formerly the Dolphins' linebackers coach, is going to be the new DC. Cross your fingers for Bill Musgrave to be rehired as OC - myself, I don't see it happening. We gotta get this stuff in place and Musgrave is playing the waiting game. I'll probably make some kind of stab at an overview of the new coordinators once they're both in place and announced.
Remember Aaron Corp? He was USC's dauphin quarterback this year, the heir in the dynasty behind center for the Trojans. That was until Matt Barkley horned in on his territory and kept the job all season. Barkley is firmly entrenched for the next two seasons at a bare minimum, which as bad luck would have it is all the time Corp has left in college. Yeah, I'd transfer too. The neat part is that some guy told some guy who told some guy that UVA had inquired into his availability. Have we? Who knows, but it makes sense. We're thin at quarterback, and all our options in 2011 are going to be pretty young still.
Let's pretend for a hot minute Corp does end up transferring here. As you probably know, he couldn't play in 2010 because of transfer rules, and he's already used up a redshirt year so the working assumption would be that he'd get one year: 2011. I'm also going to assume Marc Verica, the only upperclassman on scholarship, gets handed the keys next year, so that it's once again an open competition for the job in '11. Right now that's going to be between redshirt sophomores Smalls and Metheny and redshirt freshman Strauss, and probably an as-yet-unknown redshirt or true freshman. Would be nice to have a little senior leadership in there, no? Corp could take the job for a year, strut his stuff for NFL scouts, and leave the reins (spelling hint time: it's reins, not reigns, as in, what you use to control a horse) to that same bunch which is now a year older and hopefully wiser in 2012.
Of course, Corp might find it beneficial to have two years to get ready for what he clearly hopes will be a bid at being an NFL draft pick, and therefore transfer to a I-AA school where he can play right away. His decision comes down to, is it better to play two years in a place where getting noticed is that much harder, or one year in a spotlightier place? Me, I'd be thrilled to bring him in, and would promise to keep all Christian Olsen comparisons to a minimum.
OK, so one of the best parts about college football in the Internet age is that the moment something hilarious shows up on TV, it goes straight to YouTube, every blog everywhere, and the message boards, usually before the game is over. Whether it's Lee Corso trying to shake hands with a blind kid or Clemson fans taking a flying leap off the metaphorical ledge, it goes right to your computer screen before Sportscenter even comes on. Such was the case with Sad Cowbell Girl, as she was known in the 12 hours or so before it became common knowledge that she is blind. Unfortunately for the Internet, we'd all already had our jollies. So if you saw a major uptick in the past couple days on the InterWebz We Are All Total Assholes Meter, that's why. We may have a new record for edited blog and board posts in one day, which in itself restores the humor by changing the target to All Of Us Being Dickheads. Don't feel bad, Internet: blindness is not synonymous with emotionlessness. Obviously she had no way of knowing there was a camera and therefore wasn't going to make silly faces at it the way humans are genetically wired to do whenever inside a stadium. But still: when's the last time you ever saw a bored marching band member? Even the cowbell calls for slightly more enthusiasm than it takes to shuffle over to the fridge for another beer.
I'll wrap this up with a complaint, complete with bad language: I hate you, TV networks. I hate what you've done to my bowl system. I hate how you allow shitty bowl games to take place after New Year's Day. I hate how you make good and damn sure there cannot possibly any competition for the bowl game you're airing by making the ACC champion play on a Tuesday fucking night five days after New Year's. I hate how you make this possible by airing something called the "Papajohn's.com Bowl**" on New Year's weekend instead of the Monday before Christmas where it belongs. I hate how you give airtime to some stupid midlevel asshole representing the sponsor so he can pimp his company under the cover of pretending to "wish the best of luck to the finest student-athletes in the nation." This is only funny when watching a team which has suspended half its depth chart for thugging it up at a fraternity fundraiser. I hate how you're putting the BCS CG on a damned Thursday because heaven forbid it compete with your precious NFL. GET OFF MY LAWN.
**This is the only context in which a bowl named for its corporate sponsor will appear on this blog without asterisks like you'd use to represent a curse word in more family-oriented contexts: to emphasize the point that it sounds really stupid. You may see "E*******k Bowl" or "ex-Peach Bowl" but you won't see the actual name if a corporation has whored out the bowl for itself. And by the way, Papa John's pizza is terrible. Putting the cheese on top of the toppings means you have to guess which one is the delicious pepperoni and which one has the nasty disgusting green peppers on it, and even if they did put the toppings where they belong, Pizza Hut and Domino's and Little Caesar's and Sbarro and just about everyone else still kick the ass of Papa John's.
- Removed a bunch of names that we hadn't heard from or about since before the regime change. Said regime change means it's not likely we're bothering.
- Removed S Ed Reynolds, probably once and for all, who committed to Stanford, and DT Johnathon Hankins, who committed to Ohio State.
- Added LB Ralph Williams to blue. Might be able to snake-oil this guy away from Tennessee. He is Michael Strauss's high school teammate.
- Added OT Dan Foose and RB Dejor Simmons to yellow.
- Recategorized Strauss as an early enrollee. Technically he isn't enrolled right at this moment, but he'll be at spring practice, sure enough to the point where it'd be news now if he wasn't. This is awesome, by the way. Early enrollers always get a nice little boost from being at spring practice, but for quarterbacks the benefit is immeasurable compared to just about any other position.
Frankly, this 2010 board is getting very boring. I'm guessing three, maaaybe four more commits. Total of about 15-17. Not quite the furious finish we had to last year's class. In the near future, therefore, the 2011 board will have its debut. Won't that be fun. My too-early projection for that class size is about 18-22, so the commitments should be at a bit of a faster pace than they have been this year.
Before I forget, the "other" football team spit out some disappointing news today: Tony Tchani is leaving school for the pros. Eh, it's probably time: he's got a championship and he's plenty talented enough to make the jump. We weren't going to lose any major, major pieces of the championship team to graduation, so Tchani leaves the one real hole in the lineup. Which can be filled just fine, thank you: for one thing, we'll actually get to use Brian Ownby for the whole season, and Jimmy Simpson should be able to find his way to the field more often. Simpson, you might recall, had a pretty nice freshman season in 2008 with six goals, but didn't see hardly any time this year. We've got the depth to cover Tchani.
Even if you've been under a rock since New Year's, you probably still know that Jim Reid, formerly the Dolphins' linebackers coach, is going to be the new DC. Cross your fingers for Bill Musgrave to be rehired as OC - myself, I don't see it happening. We gotta get this stuff in place and Musgrave is playing the waiting game. I'll probably make some kind of stab at an overview of the new coordinators once they're both in place and announced.
Remember Aaron Corp? He was USC's dauphin quarterback this year, the heir in the dynasty behind center for the Trojans. That was until Matt Barkley horned in on his territory and kept the job all season. Barkley is firmly entrenched for the next two seasons at a bare minimum, which as bad luck would have it is all the time Corp has left in college. Yeah, I'd transfer too. The neat part is that some guy told some guy who told some guy that UVA had inquired into his availability. Have we? Who knows, but it makes sense. We're thin at quarterback, and all our options in 2011 are going to be pretty young still.
Let's pretend for a hot minute Corp does end up transferring here. As you probably know, he couldn't play in 2010 because of transfer rules, and he's already used up a redshirt year so the working assumption would be that he'd get one year: 2011. I'm also going to assume Marc Verica, the only upperclassman on scholarship, gets handed the keys next year, so that it's once again an open competition for the job in '11. Right now that's going to be between redshirt sophomores Smalls and Metheny and redshirt freshman Strauss, and probably an as-yet-unknown redshirt or true freshman. Would be nice to have a little senior leadership in there, no? Corp could take the job for a year, strut his stuff for NFL scouts, and leave the reins (spelling hint time: it's reins, not reigns, as in, what you use to control a horse) to that same bunch which is now a year older and hopefully wiser in 2012.
Of course, Corp might find it beneficial to have two years to get ready for what he clearly hopes will be a bid at being an NFL draft pick, and therefore transfer to a I-AA school where he can play right away. His decision comes down to, is it better to play two years in a place where getting noticed is that much harder, or one year in a spotlightier place? Me, I'd be thrilled to bring him in, and would promise to keep all Christian Olsen comparisons to a minimum.
OK, so one of the best parts about college football in the Internet age is that the moment something hilarious shows up on TV, it goes straight to YouTube, every blog everywhere, and the message boards, usually before the game is over. Whether it's Lee Corso trying to shake hands with a blind kid or Clemson fans taking a flying leap off the metaphorical ledge, it goes right to your computer screen before Sportscenter even comes on. Such was the case with Sad Cowbell Girl, as she was known in the 12 hours or so before it became common knowledge that she is blind. Unfortunately for the Internet, we'd all already had our jollies. So if you saw a major uptick in the past couple days on the InterWebz We Are All Total Assholes Meter, that's why. We may have a new record for edited blog and board posts in one day, which in itself restores the humor by changing the target to All Of Us Being Dickheads. Don't feel bad, Internet: blindness is not synonymous with emotionlessness. Obviously she had no way of knowing there was a camera and therefore wasn't going to make silly faces at it the way humans are genetically wired to do whenever inside a stadium. But still: when's the last time you ever saw a bored marching band member? Even the cowbell calls for slightly more enthusiasm than it takes to shuffle over to the fridge for another beer.
I'll wrap this up with a complaint, complete with bad language: I hate you, TV networks. I hate what you've done to my bowl system. I hate how you allow shitty bowl games to take place after New Year's Day. I hate how you make good and damn sure there cannot possibly any competition for the bowl game you're airing by making the ACC champion play on a Tuesday fucking night five days after New Year's. I hate how you make this possible by airing something called the "Papajohn's.com Bowl**" on New Year's weekend instead of the Monday before Christmas where it belongs. I hate how you give airtime to some stupid midlevel asshole representing the sponsor so he can pimp his company under the cover of pretending to "wish the best of luck to the finest student-athletes in the nation." This is only funny when watching a team which has suspended half its depth chart for thugging it up at a fraternity fundraiser. I hate how you're putting the BCS CG on a damned Thursday because heaven forbid it compete with your precious NFL. GET OFF MY LAWN.
**This is the only context in which a bowl named for its corporate sponsor will appear on this blog without asterisks like you'd use to represent a curse word in more family-oriented contexts: to emphasize the point that it sounds really stupid. You may see "E*******k Bowl" or "ex-Peach Bowl" but you won't see the actual name if a corporation has whored out the bowl for itself. And by the way, Papa John's pizza is terrible. Putting the cheese on top of the toppings means you have to guess which one is the delicious pepperoni and which one has the nasty disgusting green peppers on it, and even if they did put the toppings where they belong, Pizza Hut and Domino's and Little Caesar's and Sbarro and just about everyone else still kick the ass of Papa John's.
Friday, April 24, 2009
mock drafts, take 3
(A couple quick Tony Bennett links to get you started. Here's one, here's another. They're interviews, pretty good, I enjoyed 'em you will too, go read, etc. etc.)
It is NFL Draft Eve. Like Christmas, only for grown-ups who didn't really grow up all the way. (I was going to say "like an adult Christmas" only that sounds like the holiday in which you get "adult toys" and I try to be PG-13, so, no. Just a small, probably unwanted window into my head.)
Anyway, my Christmas is already spoiled. I feel just like a kid who really really wants a ten-speed, overhears his parents saying "he'll love it, it's just what he wants", sneaks downstairs, and finds a two-speed girls' bike. I'm finally getting what I've always wanted, only it's a terrible version of it because Mom doesn't know the difference between bikes and the salesman said this was a really good one. That's what drafting Matt Stafford is like when your team has not had a good quarterback since the Eisenhower era.
Whatever, you don't want to hear about the Lions, you want to hear about UVA. So in this post (1) and this one (2) I dug up a bunch of mock drafts to see what the experts thought about Eugene Monroe's draft possibilities. Now that we pretty much know everything we're going to know about tomorrow, it's time for Take #3. Here are the mocks from around the GoogleTubes:
Chris Steuber (scout.com): 2nd - St. Louis Rams
James Alder (about.com): 4th - Seattle Seahawks
Pete Fiutak (cfn.com): 4th - Seattle Seahawks
Yahoo! Sports: 6th - Cincinnati Bengals
Don Banks (Sports Illustrated): 6th - Cincinnati Bengals
Evan Silva (NBC Sports): 6th - Cincinnati Bengals
Mel Kiper (ESPN.com): 7th - Oakland Raiders
Nolan Nawrocki (profootballweekly.com): 8th - Jacksonville Jaguars
Rob Rang (CBS Sports): 9th - Green Bay Packers
A few differences, notably, NBC's mock this time is done by someone who isn't Steve Silverman, who was dumb - Silverman's first mock omitted Monroe entirely. Which is why I've been dropping the top and bottom picks to find the averages. Having a sane writer do NBC's mock didn't help Monroe's average positioning, though. He's dropped a few slots in most of these, and has gone from the 5th pick to the 4th, and now, taking the averages and again dropping the top and bottom, the 6th pick.
A lot of the mocks now mention the occasional knee issues Monroe's had over the years, which was probably a factor. Andre Smith has also been creeping back up the boards. After the combine, a few writers openly wondered if Smith had worked himself right out of the first round, opening up more spots higher up for Monroe. Then they came to their senses and realized NFL teams, especially bad ones, generally don't let character issues get in the way of talent, and Smith is now solidly back in the top ten. So Monroe takes a little bit of a hit.
Me? Barring any trades, I think Monroe goes 6th, to the Bengals.
It won't be the Lions - Stafford is the pick, unless they don't get a deal done and take Aaron Curry instead. The Rams could use an OT, but Jason Smith seems to be generally considered the better pick by NFL types (witness the Yahoo draft, which ranks Monroe the #1 prospect in the whole draft but has the Rams taking J. Smith anyway.) The Chiefs are the most likely to deal their pick - if they don't, they'll take Curry, and if they do, that team didn't trade up for Monroe - probably Mark Sanchez. The Seahawks could take Monroe if both quarterbacks are gone, but I think they'll see this draft as a chance to get someone for grooming to succeed Matt Hasselbeck. Cleveland has a Pro Bowl LT already.
That brings us to Cincinnati. There's not the smallest doubt they need a left tackle - they gave up 51 sacks last year. (Hey, guess who gave up more? Ford Field turf - Matt Stafford. Matt Stafford, Ford Field turf. You guys will be seeing a lot of each other, up close and personal.) If my stab at mocking the draft is correct, the Bengals will have a choice between Monroe and Andre Smith. I'm guessing the Bengals are tired of being known as a rest stop on the road between college and the back of a squad car. Not to suggest Andre Smith is a likely candidate for prison himself, but character questions are character questions, and that tag is his, like it or not. Between the guy that's raised issues about himself and the guy who hasn't, the choice will be easy for the Bengals.
Since I'm in the business of making predictions, here are a couple more for the rest of our draftable types:
Clint Sintim - 2nd round
Cedric Peerman - 4th round
Kevin Ogletree - 5th round
John Phillips - 5th round
Antonio Appleby - 7th round
So there you go. Happy draft-watching. Me, I'll be spending most of the weekend desperately hoping the Lions remember they have a defense too (or actually, don't have a defense and need to draft one.)
It is NFL Draft Eve. Like Christmas, only for grown-ups who didn't really grow up all the way. (I was going to say "like an adult Christmas" only that sounds like the holiday in which you get "adult toys" and I try to be PG-13, so, no. Just a small, probably unwanted window into my head.)
Anyway, my Christmas is already spoiled. I feel just like a kid who really really wants a ten-speed, overhears his parents saying "he'll love it, it's just what he wants", sneaks downstairs, and finds a two-speed girls' bike. I'm finally getting what I've always wanted, only it's a terrible version of it because Mom doesn't know the difference between bikes and the salesman said this was a really good one. That's what drafting Matt Stafford is like when your team has not had a good quarterback since the Eisenhower era.
Whatever, you don't want to hear about the Lions, you want to hear about UVA. So in this post (1) and this one (2) I dug up a bunch of mock drafts to see what the experts thought about Eugene Monroe's draft possibilities. Now that we pretty much know everything we're going to know about tomorrow, it's time for Take #3. Here are the mocks from around the GoogleTubes:
Chris Steuber (scout.com): 2nd - St. Louis Rams
James Alder (about.com): 4th - Seattle Seahawks
Pete Fiutak (cfn.com): 4th - Seattle Seahawks
Yahoo! Sports: 6th - Cincinnati Bengals
Don Banks (Sports Illustrated): 6th - Cincinnati Bengals
Evan Silva (NBC Sports): 6th - Cincinnati Bengals
Mel Kiper (ESPN.com): 7th - Oakland Raiders
Nolan Nawrocki (profootballweekly.com): 8th - Jacksonville Jaguars
Rob Rang (CBS Sports): 9th - Green Bay Packers
A few differences, notably, NBC's mock this time is done by someone who isn't Steve Silverman, who was dumb - Silverman's first mock omitted Monroe entirely. Which is why I've been dropping the top and bottom picks to find the averages. Having a sane writer do NBC's mock didn't help Monroe's average positioning, though. He's dropped a few slots in most of these, and has gone from the 5th pick to the 4th, and now, taking the averages and again dropping the top and bottom, the 6th pick.
A lot of the mocks now mention the occasional knee issues Monroe's had over the years, which was probably a factor. Andre Smith has also been creeping back up the boards. After the combine, a few writers openly wondered if Smith had worked himself right out of the first round, opening up more spots higher up for Monroe. Then they came to their senses and realized NFL teams, especially bad ones, generally don't let character issues get in the way of talent, and Smith is now solidly back in the top ten. So Monroe takes a little bit of a hit.
Me? Barring any trades, I think Monroe goes 6th, to the Bengals.
It won't be the Lions - Stafford is the pick, unless they don't get a deal done and take Aaron Curry instead. The Rams could use an OT, but Jason Smith seems to be generally considered the better pick by NFL types (witness the Yahoo draft, which ranks Monroe the #1 prospect in the whole draft but has the Rams taking J. Smith anyway.) The Chiefs are the most likely to deal their pick - if they don't, they'll take Curry, and if they do, that team didn't trade up for Monroe - probably Mark Sanchez. The Seahawks could take Monroe if both quarterbacks are gone, but I think they'll see this draft as a chance to get someone for grooming to succeed Matt Hasselbeck. Cleveland has a Pro Bowl LT already.
That brings us to Cincinnati. There's not the smallest doubt they need a left tackle - they gave up 51 sacks last year. (Hey, guess who gave up more? Ford Field turf - Matt Stafford. Matt Stafford, Ford Field turf. You guys will be seeing a lot of each other, up close and personal.) If my stab at mocking the draft is correct, the Bengals will have a choice between Monroe and Andre Smith. I'm guessing the Bengals are tired of being known as a rest stop on the road between college and the back of a squad car. Not to suggest Andre Smith is a likely candidate for prison himself, but character questions are character questions, and that tag is his, like it or not. Between the guy that's raised issues about himself and the guy who hasn't, the choice will be easy for the Bengals.
Since I'm in the business of making predictions, here are a couple more for the rest of our draftable types:
Clint Sintim - 2nd round
Cedric Peerman - 4th round
Kevin Ogletree - 5th round
John Phillips - 5th round
Antonio Appleby - 7th round
So there you go. Happy draft-watching. Me, I'll be spending most of the weekend desperately hoping the Lions remember they have a defense too (or actually, don't have a defense and need to draft one.)
Monday, December 1, 2008
the '09 season starts now
Actually, it started right about the time Marc Verica couldn't escape the grasp of Purnell Sturdivant and went flopping down to the Lane Stadium turf. That's right, all-you-stick-in-the-mud "bowl-eligible" teams. The '08 bowl season is so last year. We're getting a jump start on 2009. Bring on TCU. Or whoever we open the season with.
I spent most of the rest of Saturday, and about half of Sunday, all down in the dumps over Saturday's loss, and kind of pissed off at Verica for making my worst fears about him come true. Because let's face it: that was a better shot to beat Tech than we had last year, and probably a better shot than we'll have next year. But somewhere in between transferring my rage to the imbeciles populating I-80** and finally figuring out exactly how I felt about the future of our intrepid coach, I started to think for real about 2009 and what we'll see and won't see.
We won't see a new head coach, despite the calls for one from the fans. Myself, I've always been slow to call for a firing, and that goes back to the Wayne Fontes days with the Lions when I was about three years behind the rest of the fans in that regard. I don't wish Groh fired this year, either. However: 2009 must be Al Groh's last chance.
It seems likely Groh is running out of magic. Last year, he was able to put aside the doubters early and with much authority, reeling off a seven-game win streak after a horrendous loss to a bad Wyoming team. This year he tried, but could only hold off the wolves for a few games. You can also count Craig Littlepage among the doubters, after the announcement that Groh's tenure won't be extended the one year that his contract allows for. Groh now has three years remaining, but the wolves, as they should be, are circling.
The future does not look as bright for Mike Groh, however. Al Groh got extremely testy when asked about that, which to me says that Al already thinks the question is obnoxiously old after reading one of three things:
A) TheSabre
B) this blog
C) the writing on the wall, in Littlepage's handwriting
Yeah, my guess was C) as well. I hope Mike is demoted to QB coach where he belongs; Littlepage would lose much credibility as AD if he felt like Mike's performance as OC has been acceptable.
So. Demote Mike to a position he does well, and give Al one more year; that is the official position of this blog. Much has been made of the extreme youth on this team; the QB situation has not been ideal; and there is a respectable recruiting class coming in. I am willing to accept these as excuses for this season. But if a competent coordinator is brought in, and the team is still spinning its wheels, it'll be time for a change. Al Groh has never yet had two bowl-less seasons; the first time it happens should be the last. Anything less than 8-4 ought to be grounds for a firing.
Now, what we will see next year is this: another quarterback mess, though with somewhat more talent involved. We were already going to see Verica and Jameel Sewell duking it out; Vic Hall, much to the interest of the many fans who were calling for this, inserted himself into the discussion with authority on Saturday. With Chris Cook likely back, and Chase Minnifield maturing nicely, the need for Hall at cornerback is much lessened. Here's what we're looking at for next year:
- A traditional pocket quarterback with an extremely accurate arm, but prone to brain farts. (Verica.)
- A pure running quarterback who has been away from the position for a while and likely can't be trusted to throw very much, especially early in the season. (Hall.)
- A mix of the two: Hall's athleticism and Verica's inexplicable decision-making, but not the accuracy. (Sewell.)
The problem is that Hall worked out terrifically as a new wrinkle, but VT was able to adjust within a few series. It's fun to do for a game. It's not going to work as an offense unless Hall can throw, and clearly the coaches didn't trust him to do so. Sewell's been out of action for a year and needs an adjustment period. And Verica's going to be remembered primarily for that pick in the end zone for quite a while, not to mention the other 15. So next spring, we'll be right back where we were last spring.
In any case, buckle up: it's now the offseason, or, if you will, preseason 2009, which means questions without any answers and rampant speculation on everything and everyone. And hopefully we'll be in contention for something other than the Fulmer Cup.
**Kindly flush your car keys down the toilet and, for the rest of your life, travel in nothing but taxicabs, buses, and airplanes, if you are one of the fuckers who:
- Is scared to pass a truck in the rain because of all the backsplash, but is perfectly happy speed-matching it.
- Slams on the brakes upon sighting a sign warning of bad weather ahead. These signs do not delineate the border between good and bad weather. It is OK to continue driving.
- Decided it would be a good idea to send out the highway-clogging salt trucks in the middle of the day during one of the top five travel days of the year.
- Races up to the very end of the merging lane, possibly even on the shoulder, when traffic is stopped almost completely, and expects to be let into the lane in front of me. Fuck off.
- Cuts off the traffic in the left lane, then decides not to pass the car in front after all.
Next year, all you people just stay home for Thanksgiving, OK?
I spent most of the rest of Saturday, and about half of Sunday, all down in the dumps over Saturday's loss, and kind of pissed off at Verica for making my worst fears about him come true. Because let's face it: that was a better shot to beat Tech than we had last year, and probably a better shot than we'll have next year. But somewhere in between transferring my rage to the imbeciles populating I-80** and finally figuring out exactly how I felt about the future of our intrepid coach, I started to think for real about 2009 and what we'll see and won't see.
We won't see a new head coach, despite the calls for one from the fans. Myself, I've always been slow to call for a firing, and that goes back to the Wayne Fontes days with the Lions when I was about three years behind the rest of the fans in that regard. I don't wish Groh fired this year, either. However: 2009 must be Al Groh's last chance.
It seems likely Groh is running out of magic. Last year, he was able to put aside the doubters early and with much authority, reeling off a seven-game win streak after a horrendous loss to a bad Wyoming team. This year he tried, but could only hold off the wolves for a few games. You can also count Craig Littlepage among the doubters, after the announcement that Groh's tenure won't be extended the one year that his contract allows for. Groh now has three years remaining, but the wolves, as they should be, are circling.
The future does not look as bright for Mike Groh, however. Al Groh got extremely testy when asked about that, which to me says that Al already thinks the question is obnoxiously old after reading one of three things:
A) TheSabre
B) this blog
C) the writing on the wall, in Littlepage's handwriting
Yeah, my guess was C) as well. I hope Mike is demoted to QB coach where he belongs; Littlepage would lose much credibility as AD if he felt like Mike's performance as OC has been acceptable.
So. Demote Mike to a position he does well, and give Al one more year; that is the official position of this blog. Much has been made of the extreme youth on this team; the QB situation has not been ideal; and there is a respectable recruiting class coming in. I am willing to accept these as excuses for this season. But if a competent coordinator is brought in, and the team is still spinning its wheels, it'll be time for a change. Al Groh has never yet had two bowl-less seasons; the first time it happens should be the last. Anything less than 8-4 ought to be grounds for a firing.
Now, what we will see next year is this: another quarterback mess, though with somewhat more talent involved. We were already going to see Verica and Jameel Sewell duking it out; Vic Hall, much to the interest of the many fans who were calling for this, inserted himself into the discussion with authority on Saturday. With Chris Cook likely back, and Chase Minnifield maturing nicely, the need for Hall at cornerback is much lessened. Here's what we're looking at for next year:
- A traditional pocket quarterback with an extremely accurate arm, but prone to brain farts. (Verica.)
- A pure running quarterback who has been away from the position for a while and likely can't be trusted to throw very much, especially early in the season. (Hall.)
- A mix of the two: Hall's athleticism and Verica's inexplicable decision-making, but not the accuracy. (Sewell.)
The problem is that Hall worked out terrifically as a new wrinkle, but VT was able to adjust within a few series. It's fun to do for a game. It's not going to work as an offense unless Hall can throw, and clearly the coaches didn't trust him to do so. Sewell's been out of action for a year and needs an adjustment period. And Verica's going to be remembered primarily for that pick in the end zone for quite a while, not to mention the other 15. So next spring, we'll be right back where we were last spring.
In any case, buckle up: it's now the offseason, or, if you will, preseason 2009, which means questions without any answers and rampant speculation on everything and everyone. And hopefully we'll be in contention for something other than the Fulmer Cup.
**Kindly flush your car keys down the toilet and, for the rest of your life, travel in nothing but taxicabs, buses, and airplanes, if you are one of the fuckers who:
- Is scared to pass a truck in the rain because of all the backsplash, but is perfectly happy speed-matching it.
- Slams on the brakes upon sighting a sign warning of bad weather ahead. These signs do not delineate the border between good and bad weather. It is OK to continue driving.
- Decided it would be a good idea to send out the highway-clogging salt trucks in the middle of the day during one of the top five travel days of the year.
- Races up to the very end of the merging lane, possibly even on the shoulder, when traffic is stopped almost completely, and expects to be let into the lane in front of me. Fuck off.
- Cuts off the traffic in the left lane, then decides not to pass the car in front after all.
Next year, all you people just stay home for Thanksgiving, OK?
Friday, August 29, 2008
game preview: USC
TV: ABC or ESPN2
History against the Trojans: 0-0
Last matchup: Never
Team records: UVA 0-0 (0-0), USC 0-0 (0-0)
History against the Trojans: 0-0
Last matchup: Never
Team records: UVA 0-0 (0-0), USC 0-0 (0-0)
Last week: N/A
Line: USC by 19.5
USC season preview here.
Injury list (as printed at the Good Ol’ Blog)
OUT:
LB John Bivens
DE Sean Gottschalk
WR Staton Jobe
DOUBTFUL:
CB Ras-I Dowling
WR Matt Snyder
QUESTIONABLE:
WR Maurice Covington
OG Austin Pasztor
TE Joe Torchia
PROBABLE:
OT Landon Bradley
DE Kevin Crawford
WR Dontrelle Inman
QB Peter Lalich
CB Chase Minnifield
RB Hall Simmons
S Brandon Woods
Been waiting for this one for a while, oh yes. Ever since the USC home-and-home series was announced and the schedule set, August 30 was circled on the calendars of many a Wahoo fan. Al Groh, never one to hand out a lot of information when a just a little would do (and none at all would do even better) has managed to increase the anticipation in probably the only way possible: by not naming a starting quarterback. The competition has been three ways, between Peter Lalich, Scott Deke, and Marc Verica. Verica is the one who people don’t place good odds on, which is as good a reason as any to think he’ll get the start after all.
One thing that’s fun about being both a UVA fan and a Michigan fan is you get to see both sides of the equation. At Michigan, you pretty much expect to win every game, and you rarely, if ever, are pleased with putting up a good fight. At UVA, we sometimes see the flip side of that coin, and this is one of those games. The expectation is that we’ll lose and lose badly. We are the hanging slider, and they are the bat. But there’s almost always an upset to start the season. Why not us?
HOW WE CAN WIN
- USC has bigger fish to fry. After they fly out of Charlottesville, they are going to be getting ready for the biggest non-conference game in the country this year, when Ohio State comes to visit them. Nobody ever says they are overlooking their next opponent, but don’t kid yourself that a part of their minds aren’t already on how to beat one of the only teams in the land considered their equal.
- On the field, the answer is exactly the same as, “What can we do so as not to have a coach-firing record of 3-9?” Good offensive line play. Wide receiver other than Ogletree emerges as a threat. Defense keeps the scores low and the team in the game. It would also be really, really nice if whoever plays quarterback does well enough that Groh won't feel compelled to turn the position into a merry-go-round, because he's been shown to have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to his quarterbacks. Multiply those by a factor of 10 and you have your answer to beating USC. If their defense has a weakness it’s best stated as “hey, that guy lining up on the weak side isn’t quite as much of a holy terror as the rest of them so let’s take our chances over there.”
- The defense has to be perfect, and probably score at least once. USC’s offense is the beatable half of their game, though to be honest the questions are much more along the lines of wondering if it’s good enough for the BCS title game, not the Arizona game. But like us, they have a new quarterback, and as a small bonus, he missed a big chunk of fall practice. The receivers are moderately suspect, but again, can they perform against Washington State? is not what keeps their coaches up at night.
- Finally, USC has to either have a bad day or be not as good as advertised. Let’s face it – our A game is not good enough to beat theirs, nor probably even their B-minus game. USC has to play significantly worse than they should. See first bullet.
HOW WE CAN LOSE
- Things transpire as they should.
HOW THE GAME WILL GO
Think defense. It’s the strength of both teams. Many predictions have us failing to score even a single touchdown, with scores like 23-6 and 28-3 being the order of the day. May not be too far off. Our defense, especially at linebacker, is good enough to give Pete Carroll’s boys some fits. If Ras-I Dowling can play, so much the better, because the Trojans have some big receivers and Ras the Destroyer has five inches on Hall. What UVA fans should focus on is the defense, because USC’s defense is pretty good and it won’t tell us much other than “USC’s defense is pretty good” if we can’t score. But if USC’s offense can be held to a reasonably low score, it will bode very well for our ACC schedule.
QUOTABLE
“They’re not better than our defense. We’ve got the best defense I’m ever going to play against. … Their defense is nothing compared to ours.” – USC RB C.J. Gable, who I knew had hurt his hip and ankle but didn’t realize his brain-to-mouth filter was sprained.
USC BLOGS:
Line: USC by 19.5
USC season preview here.
Injury list (as printed at the Good Ol’ Blog)
OUT:
LB John Bivens
DE Sean Gottschalk
WR Staton Jobe
DOUBTFUL:
CB Ras-I Dowling
WR Matt Snyder
QUESTIONABLE:
WR Maurice Covington
OG Austin Pasztor
TE Joe Torchia
PROBABLE:
OT Landon Bradley
DE Kevin Crawford
WR Dontrelle Inman
QB Peter Lalich
CB Chase Minnifield
RB Hall Simmons
S Brandon Woods
Been waiting for this one for a while, oh yes. Ever since the USC home-and-home series was announced and the schedule set, August 30 was circled on the calendars of many a Wahoo fan. Al Groh, never one to hand out a lot of information when a just a little would do (and none at all would do even better) has managed to increase the anticipation in probably the only way possible: by not naming a starting quarterback. The competition has been three ways, between Peter Lalich, Scott Deke, and Marc Verica. Verica is the one who people don’t place good odds on, which is as good a reason as any to think he’ll get the start after all.
One thing that’s fun about being both a UVA fan and a Michigan fan is you get to see both sides of the equation. At Michigan, you pretty much expect to win every game, and you rarely, if ever, are pleased with putting up a good fight. At UVA, we sometimes see the flip side of that coin, and this is one of those games. The expectation is that we’ll lose and lose badly. We are the hanging slider, and they are the bat. But there’s almost always an upset to start the season. Why not us?
HOW WE CAN WIN
- USC has bigger fish to fry. After they fly out of Charlottesville, they are going to be getting ready for the biggest non-conference game in the country this year, when Ohio State comes to visit them. Nobody ever says they are overlooking their next opponent, but don’t kid yourself that a part of their minds aren’t already on how to beat one of the only teams in the land considered their equal.
- On the field, the answer is exactly the same as, “What can we do so as not to have a coach-firing record of 3-9?” Good offensive line play. Wide receiver other than Ogletree emerges as a threat. Defense keeps the scores low and the team in the game. It would also be really, really nice if whoever plays quarterback does well enough that Groh won't feel compelled to turn the position into a merry-go-round, because he's been shown to have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to his quarterbacks. Multiply those by a factor of 10 and you have your answer to beating USC. If their defense has a weakness it’s best stated as “hey, that guy lining up on the weak side isn’t quite as much of a holy terror as the rest of them so let’s take our chances over there.”
- The defense has to be perfect, and probably score at least once. USC’s offense is the beatable half of their game, though to be honest the questions are much more along the lines of wondering if it’s good enough for the BCS title game, not the Arizona game. But like us, they have a new quarterback, and as a small bonus, he missed a big chunk of fall practice. The receivers are moderately suspect, but again, can they perform against Washington State? is not what keeps their coaches up at night.
- Finally, USC has to either have a bad day or be not as good as advertised. Let’s face it – our A game is not good enough to beat theirs, nor probably even their B-minus game. USC has to play significantly worse than they should. See first bullet.
HOW WE CAN LOSE
- Things transpire as they should.
HOW THE GAME WILL GO
Think defense. It’s the strength of both teams. Many predictions have us failing to score even a single touchdown, with scores like 23-6 and 28-3 being the order of the day. May not be too far off. Our defense, especially at linebacker, is good enough to give Pete Carroll’s boys some fits. If Ras-I Dowling can play, so much the better, because the Trojans have some big receivers and Ras the Destroyer has five inches on Hall. What UVA fans should focus on is the defense, because USC’s defense is pretty good and it won’t tell us much other than “USC’s defense is pretty good” if we can’t score. But if USC’s offense can be held to a reasonably low score, it will bode very well for our ACC schedule.
QUOTABLE
“They’re not better than our defense. We’ve got the best defense I’m ever going to play against. … Their defense is nothing compared to ours.” – USC RB C.J. Gable, who I knew had hurt his hip and ankle but didn’t realize his brain-to-mouth filter was sprained.
USC BLOGS:
REST OF THE ACC
A lot of teams already played on Thursday. Most of them dutifully trounced their cotton candy openers, but NC State opened by crapping the bed against an SEC opponent.
Wake Forest 41, Baylor 13 (Th.)
Miami 52, Charleston Southern 7 (Th.)
Georgia Tech 41, Jacksonville State 14 (Th.)
South Carolina 34, North Carolina State 0 (Th.)
Virginia Tech @ East Carolina, 12:00 PM
Delaware @ Maryland, 3:45 PM
McNeese State @ North Carolina, 6:00 PM
James Madison @ Duke, 7:00 PM
Boston College @ Kent State, 7:30 PM
Alabama @ Clemson, 8:00 PM
Florida State off
**Apologies for the lateness. I'd intended to have this up much sooner, but this post was written under the influence of very strong drugs (apparently Tylenol has found a way to cram four different medicines into one not-that-big pill) which are working wonders to fight off this scourge of a cold I came down with just last night. This post has been brought to you by Johnson & Johnson. Recruiting board update will come on Monday.
Monday, August 25, 2008
this would have been a good thing to mention earlier
Better late than never though. This week is Business Trip week for me. Excuses excuses, I know. Gotta make the money somehow. Notice the lack of ads on this site. I am actually on travel to Virginia, though not to Charlottesville (oh how I wish it were so.) So actual news postings will be effectively turned off until like Wednesday night if we're lucky, or more likely, Thursday. I'm diligently working on a couple projects while I'm here: ECU season preview, and also our own offense and defense, which will be split up into two separate posts. Also, the USC game preview, and hopefully that will go up Thursday night or Friday morning.
I'd also like to try and keep track of our current '09 commitments and their senior seasons, as this football season progresses. To do that I'll have to track down as many local newspaper sites as I can. If I find all those all on my own it will be a spectacular feat, but if I were that interested in spectacular feats I'd climb K2. I'd rather blog real good. With that in mind, a call to arms: if you are located in or near a town that has one of our esteemed recruits playing locally on Friday nights, or if you just happen to know of the newspaper website I ought to be looking at, do say so. It'd be most helpful.
I'd also like to try and keep track of our current '09 commitments and their senior seasons, as this football season progresses. To do that I'll have to track down as many local newspaper sites as I can. If I find all those all on my own it will be a spectacular feat, but if I were that interested in spectacular feats I'd climb K2. I'd rather blog real good. With that in mind, a call to arms: if you are located in or near a town that has one of our esteemed recruits playing locally on Friday nights, or if you just happen to know of the newspaper website I ought to be looking at, do say so. It'd be most helpful.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
season preview: Miami
Schedule:8/28: Charleston Southern (Th.)
9/6: @Florida
9/20: @Texas A&M
9/27: North Carolina
10/4: Florida State
10/11: Central Florida
10/18: @Duke
10/25: Wake Forest
11/1: @Virginia
11/13: Virginia Tech (Th.)
11/20: @Georgia Tech (Th.)
11/29: @North Carolina State
Skip: Clemson, Boston College, Maryland
Projected starters:
QB: ???
RB: Javarris James (Jr.)
FB: Pat Hill (Jr.)
WR: Sam Shields (Jr.)
WR: Kayne Farquharson (Sr.)
TE: Chris Zellner (5Sr.)
LT: Jason Fox (Jr.)
LG: Orlando Franklin (So.)
C: Xavier Shannon (Sr.)
RG: Joel Figueroa (rSo.)
RT: Reggie Youngblood (Sr.)
DE: Eric Moncur (5Sr.)
DT: Antonio Dixon (Sr.)
DT: Joe Joseph (rJr.)
DE: Allen Bailey (So.)
SLB: Colin McCarthy (Jr.)
MLB: Glenn Cook (6Sr.)
WLB: Darryl Sharpton (rJr.)
CB: Bruce Johnson (Sr.)
S: Lovon Ponder (5Sr.)
S: Anthony Reddick (5Sr.)
CB: Demarcus VanDyke (So.)
K: Jake Wieclaw (Fr.)
P: Matt Bosher (rSo.)
Coach: Randy Shannon (2nd year)
(Italics indicate new starter.)
Media prediction: 3rd, Coastal Division
All-ACC selections:
2007 1st team: S Kenny Phillips (graduated)
2007 2nd team: OG Derrick Morse (graduated)
2007 HM: DE Calais Campbell (left for NFL)
2008 preseason: none
Miami is the seventh team on our tour of the ACC, and so far, by far the hardest to figure and the hardest preview to write. (Ma! The blogger's whining again!) It’s true. Some of these things practically write themselves. Georgia Tech was unbelievably easy. Why is Miami so hard? Reasons one through five involve the depth chart. It is as unsettled as it’s possible to be. Reason number six is that Miami doesn’t have a single standout player to build around. Way it used to be around these parts, Miami was First Round Draft Pick U. Just two years ago they had three of them; chances are pretty good that the lengthy streak of NFL teams calling out a name from the Miami Hurricanes ends this year.
OFFENSE
The two dreaded words: quarterback competition. Robert Marve and Jacory Harris are the two candidates. Both are freshmen, though Marve has a redshirt year under his belt. The competition may not end when fall practice does. Randy Shannon intends to use both but there will be a starter and backup – we just don’t know who.
Graig Cooper and Javarris James both return to carry the football in the running game. They’re the same age, but Cooper redshirted in 2006 while James made a name for himself as the freshman. James is thus the more experienced, and was the more highly touted recruit, but it was Cooper who stole the show in 2007. James had more carries, but not many more, and they look set to split the duties again this season. Both will be of paramount importance to Miami’s success, as it’s imperative Miami establishes a running game that takes pressure off of the freshman quarterback, whoever it is. The Canes are hoping to get help in this regard from Pat Hill, a juco transfer who they are looking at to steady the fullback job that saw too much rotation for their tastes last year.
Wide receiver is part of why this damn thing is so hard. Sam Shields is back, and that is a start, but after that is a jumble of names you‘ve never heard. Kayne Farquharson is the coolest name in said jumble, which is why he gets to be listed as the projected starter on this page. Means nothing. The Canes also like Leonard Hankerson and Khalil Jones, and the fact is, you’re going to see some true freshmen lining up as well, though a run through the fall practice sifter will be needed to find out who. Frankly, in this case “starter” is really just a label. There’s Shields and a whole mess of guys who’ll be rotated in and out, and there won’t likely be much continuity here until the third or fourth week of the season. Fortunately the wide receivers aren’t the only targets; Chris Zellner will provide badly needed consistency and steadiness from the tight end spot while the receivers sort themselves out.
The line is also going to see a lot of shuffling. Miami has three tackles they want to rotate in and out and only two spots. At guard there will be rotating too. Orlando Franklin is likely to stay put for the most part, but the other side is less settled. Center is even more shaky. Xavier Shannon has the experience as a senior and has that whole coaches’-son thing going for him besides, so he gets the edge. But look for his margin for error to be small.
DEFENSE
Similar to the offense, the starter label on defense doesn’t carry with it the guarantee that the guy with the label sees most of the snaps. Miami will be trying to replace recognizable, name-brand starters with a lot of guys nobody’s heard of, or “depth.”
However, that doesn’t mean you won’t have heard of them by season’s end. DE Eric Moncur has been considered a starter for some time now but was always overshadowed by Calais Campbell on the other side. He might be again: Allen Bailey was Miami’s highest-rated prospect in the 2007 class and is ready for his breakout party, having drawn comparisons to Ohio State’s back-in-the-day superstar Alonzo Spellman. The interior of the line should also be solid: Antonio Dixon and Joe Joseph have starting experience, particularly Dixon, who was hampered by injury last year.
The real rotation will be happening in the middle of the defense where the linebackers roam. All three starters are solid, but not quite good enough to hold off the dogs barking from the bench. Colin McCarthy is the team’s leading returning tackler, and Glenn Cook is coming off a medical redshirt season, having been a starter during all of 2006. One-time starter Romeo Davis is lurking in the background, however, and will be itching to see the field. But the real threat to everyone’s job is the freshman class. Miami went on a linebacker spree and signed, among others, 5 of the top 7 in ESPN’s list of outside linebackers, including the top three. Rivals wasn’t quiiiiite as high on the class. Only three of the top five. Whatever. If Arthur Brown and Sean Spence, both of whom enrolled early, don’t get significant playing time, it will be a mild surprise. Brown in particular could end up as a starter by the end of the season. Miami’s linebacking crew may be a bunch of no-namers going into 2008 but the ACC (particularly the ACC’s running backs and quarterbacks) will know their names by the end of 2009.
Miami is replacing a pretty solid group of safeties, especially ACC first teamer and NFL first round pick Kenny Phillips. However, both Lovon Ponder and Anthony Reddick are one-time starters (Reddick is more of a once-upon-a-time starter, but had the misfortune of exploding both his knees in the span of three years) and are no strangers to the field. The Canes will be fine at corner too, where there is a plethora of players who have at least one start (though Bruce Johnson is the only one to have started a majority of last year’s games), and most of them will probably get at least one more before the season is up. The Canes like to cross-train their corners to play both sides of the field, so they’re insured against both injury and sudden inexplicable suckitude from one of their players.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Matt Bosher is the punter, and it will stay that way – he is solid, and just a sophomore. Miami should be so lucky at kicker. There are only three listed on the roster – Bosher being one of them – and one is a walk-on, leaving Jake Wieclaw as the only actual scholarship kicker and the guy who should end up with the job.
OUTLOOK
The large number of Hurricanes haters may want to enjoy this season. Miami has had some down years, culminating in an actual losing season last year – their second since 1980. That’s going to change. This year, there’ll be growing pains as Canes fans watch a freshman quarterback get all excited and overthrow a few receivers, and Miami may even have to settle for their second trip to Boise in three years. Don’t get used to it. There’s too much talent waiting to be coached up for the Canes not to become ACC title contenders again in the near future, if not outright dominate a conference ripe for the domination. And it should be noted that the Canes skip Clemson and get VT and hated rival FSU at home; if the freshmen are quick learners, they’re going to put the conference on notice, fast.
Monday, July 14, 2008
the recruit: tucker windle
Lucky Michigan bloggers. From the Rich Rodriguez saga to new uniforms to the Chucknorrisesque Mike Barwis to the Big Ten Network, there is no shortage of news to keep them and their readers occupied. Hell, there's even news about the guys who didn't get hired as coach, let alone the supernova of drama that surrounds the guy that did. They even have a hockey team which is worth a post or two each week. We don't have a hockey team. I want a hockey team. A varsity one, playing in U-Hall.
Michigan fans (and I should know, I am one, having grown up in those parts) are mostly sick and tired of this and want the stupid football season to begin so there can stop being so much damn news. Virginia fans (and I should know, I am one, having gone to school in those parts) are also tired of this and want the stupid football season to begin so there can start being some damn news.
But me whining about having nothing to write doesn't make it happen. So, having made it my business to write, I can either blab on or I can give you another section of The Recruit.
So let's talk about Tucker Windle.
Name: Tucker Windle
Position: TE/OLB
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
School: Charlotte Catholic
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 221
40: 4.7
ESPN: 150 Watch List
Rivals: 5.6, three stars, #21 TE
Scout: three stars, #28 SLB
Windle was the first out of state commit brought in by Groh and Co., but this is a kid whose Virginia connections are just as deep as any Virginian - his dad is Al Windle, a former UVA linebacker. Ah, but there was competition: both parents have a degree from Wake Forest. And indeed, throughout his recruitment, UVA and Wake led every step of the way. Windle had a fairly impressive offer list: besides the two legacies, he had offers from Wisconsin, NC State, Duke, and VT, and UGA was showing some major interest.
So what are we getting here? A pretty darn good tight end prospect, actually. The recruiting services are generally in agreement: decent speed, very good hands, decent blocker, etc. Windle looks like a good bet to maintain the excellent Al Groh legacy of tight ends in the fine tradition of Heath Miller, Tom Santi, and......sccccreeeeeeeccccchhhhh fzzzzzzzzzzzzttt......
Back up the tape.
Check out the links again (if you subscribe to Rivals.) Here's one that you can read free.
That's right.....Windle was recruited to play linebacker, despite that he's listed as a tight end in most places. Rivals, ESPN, RecruitingPlanet, you name it. Scout, which is usually the laziest of the recruiting services, is the only one listing him as a linebacker.
Sadly, the linebacker highlights are not terribly revealing, except for one thing: maybe his coverage skills are a bit lacking? There's only one coverage highlight to go by, so that's not entirely fair. The highlight is supposed to show us what terrific speed Windle has, chasing down a receiver who's caught a pass and is thinking wheeeeeeeeeee touchdown. The catch: Windle was covering the man and let him slip behind coverage. Maybe it was zone coverage? Could be, but essentially, Tucker was cheating and looking in the backfield, which should have told him not to break off coverage because nobody was coming out of it. The blitz-and-sack highlights are fun, but don't tell us anything because they're the result of some poor sap of an offensive tackle getting confused, trying to block two people at once and blocking nobody at all.
The obvious caveat here is that I'm basically breaking down four plays out of a whole season.
So.....ignore the tight end highlights? Maybe. An Al Groh recruiting class is never without a TE or two, and there have been some pretty good ones lately: Joe Torchia in '06, Andrew Devlin in '07, Colter Phillips in '08. There is never any shortage of competition for TE spots, and in an Al Groh offense, no shortage of uses for a TE. If Logan Thomas joins up then the likelihood of seeing Tucker Windle exclusively at linebacker goes way up. However, the coaches did also speak of lining him up at H-back in certain situations, goal line drills, what have you. (This is where we saw Torchia last year.) Not that it would surprise anyone if Groh decided to bring out the never-yet-seen 8-TE formation for a goal line play.
Michigan fans (and I should know, I am one, having grown up in those parts) are mostly sick and tired of this and want the stupid football season to begin so there can stop being so much damn news. Virginia fans (and I should know, I am one, having gone to school in those parts) are also tired of this and want the stupid football season to begin so there can start being some damn news.
But me whining about having nothing to write doesn't make it happen. So, having made it my business to write, I can either blab on or I can give you another section of The Recruit.
So let's talk about Tucker Windle.
Name: Tucker Windle
Position: TE/OLB
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
School: Charlotte Catholic
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 221
40: 4.7
ESPN: 150 Watch List
Rivals: 5.6, three stars, #21 TE
Scout: three stars, #28 SLB
Windle was the first out of state commit brought in by Groh and Co., but this is a kid whose Virginia connections are just as deep as any Virginian - his dad is Al Windle, a former UVA linebacker. Ah, but there was competition: both parents have a degree from Wake Forest. And indeed, throughout his recruitment, UVA and Wake led every step of the way. Windle had a fairly impressive offer list: besides the two legacies, he had offers from Wisconsin, NC State, Duke, and VT, and UGA was showing some major interest.
So what are we getting here? A pretty darn good tight end prospect, actually. The recruiting services are generally in agreement: decent speed, very good hands, decent blocker, etc. Windle looks like a good bet to maintain the excellent Al Groh legacy of tight ends in the fine tradition of Heath Miller, Tom Santi, and......sccccreeeeeeeccccchhhhh fzzzzzzzzzzzzttt......
Back up the tape.
Check out the links again (if you subscribe to Rivals.) Here's one that you can read free.
Over the weekend, rising senior Tucker Windle, from Charlotte Catholic (N.C.), picked Virginia over three other ACC schools and Wisconsin, electing to follow in his father’s footsteps as a Cavalier linebacker.
“Virginia has tradition,” Windle said. “They have been doing it for so long and since my dad went there and played linebacker, I thought it would be special if I went there and played that same position.”
That's right.....Windle was recruited to play linebacker, despite that he's listed as a tight end in most places. Rivals, ESPN, RecruitingPlanet, you name it. Scout, which is usually the laziest of the recruiting services, is the only one listing him as a linebacker.
Sadly, the linebacker highlights are not terribly revealing, except for one thing: maybe his coverage skills are a bit lacking? There's only one coverage highlight to go by, so that's not entirely fair. The highlight is supposed to show us what terrific speed Windle has, chasing down a receiver who's caught a pass and is thinking wheeeeeeeeeee touchdown. The catch: Windle was covering the man and let him slip behind coverage. Maybe it was zone coverage? Could be, but essentially, Tucker was cheating and looking in the backfield, which should have told him not to break off coverage because nobody was coming out of it. The blitz-and-sack highlights are fun, but don't tell us anything because they're the result of some poor sap of an offensive tackle getting confused, trying to block two people at once and blocking nobody at all.
The obvious caveat here is that I'm basically breaking down four plays out of a whole season.
So.....ignore the tight end highlights? Maybe. An Al Groh recruiting class is never without a TE or two, and there have been some pretty good ones lately: Joe Torchia in '06, Andrew Devlin in '07, Colter Phillips in '08. There is never any shortage of competition for TE spots, and in an Al Groh offense, no shortage of uses for a TE. If Logan Thomas joins up then the likelihood of seeing Tucker Windle exclusively at linebacker goes way up. However, the coaches did also speak of lining him up at H-back in certain situations, goal line drills, what have you. (This is where we saw Torchia last year.) Not that it would surprise anyone if Groh decided to bring out the never-yet-seen 8-TE formation for a goal line play.
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