So, at midnight tonight we will have just as many recruits for the 2009 class as we had at midnight last night. It's just, the names are a bit different.
First the bad news: RB Alex Owah is academically ineligible for UVA and won't be coming. This puts a serious crimp in the RB lineup for the future. Perry Jones is really a safety, Dominique Wallace is probably more of a fullback than a guy to tote the load, and nobody's quite sure exactly where Quintin Hunter will end up. This throws the tailback future up in the air - there's Mikell Simpson of course, Raynard Horne, redshirt freshman Torrey Mack, but losing Owah takes a big chunk out of the future depth. It's late in the game to move in on another RB for '09 - if we were Michigan we could do this, but we're not, unless we want to go and offer some guy who was otherwise looking at Kent State. We might be looking at a position switch for someone in the spring; maybe the coaches decide Jones is a running back after all, or maybe a defensive back buried on the secondary depth chart gets buried on the RB depth chart instead.
But, even if there's nobody to block for, at least we will have someone to do the blocking. Say hi to Oday Aboushi, the latest and greatest verbal commit. Aboushi is a big fella at 300 pounds and instantly becomes one of the top five rated recruits in the class. The offensive line for '09 is now in solid shape, even without Morgan Moses, who may need prep school no matter where he goes. Going by star ratings and such, this looks like the best year for O-line recruiting since '05, when we picked up Eugene Monroe and Branden Albert. Hell, our starting center came in as a tight end; and we wonder why we have a tough time runblocking. So this is not unexpected, but it's terrific news.
P.S. - the recruiting board is looking oranger and oranger all the time, and is duly updated.
Showing posts with label owah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label owah. Show all posts
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
weekend review
I was slightly bummed going into this weekend; I was all ready to look for tickets to the UConn game, it being played near my neck of the woods (and no BC game this year to boot) until the Save The Date card came in the mail for the wedding of a friend. So no trip to Hartford, and on top of that the wedding was right on top of the Notre Dame game, so all I was gonna get to see of that was half of the first quarter or so.
If only the wedding was scheduled an hour earlier. Then I could have avoided seeing three Michigan fumbles in about 49 seconds flat.
The best I can say about this weekend as far as football is concerned is that it was a very nice wedding indeed. Good timing, too.
I haven't yet fired up the TiVo to take a look at that game. I hardly need to. The score and the rushing yards (on both sides) tell me just about all I need to know. Later on this week I'll take a look, mainly to do my review of the quarterbacks and their stats, but also to see if Bob Pruett bothered ever putting eight men in the box like I told him to. (Bet he didn't.)
The good news is that we have a bye week to prepare for Duke. The bad news is that that actually qualifies as good news. Duke has a bye week to prepare for us, anyway. By the way, that game? Gonna be at 12 noon on ESPNU, the channel that takes hideously bad football games that advertisers won't even pay to sponsor on ESPN2 and regular people won't want to shell out a hundo or two to get GamePlan for.
Guh. Enough of the depressing present. Let's take a look at the future, starting with the recruiting board. Updates:
- Removed Anthony LaLota, who committed to Michigan, and Taylor Sowell, who committed to Duke. That's gotta piss off the Heel faithful.
- Rejiggered the competition list for Tavon Austin, who should probably be considered the longest of longshots at this point.
- Did same for Will Hill, though our chances are considerably better here.
Come to think of it, that's kind of depressing too. The board, anyway, in all its LaLota-less glory:
QB Kevin Newsome
- VT, PSU, Mich., UNC, WVU
RB Tavon Austin
- Md., WVU, UGA, Mich., Neb., Tenn., Ill.
RB De'Antwan Williams
- Bama, VT, BC, Md., Rutgers, WVU
WR Justin Brown
- PSU, VT, NCSt., S.Car, UNC
WR Sean Farr
- Md., WVU, Akron, EMU
WR Timothy Smith
- L'ville, S.Car, WVU
WR Antone Exum
- SCar., VT, WVU, PSU, Md., Tenn., Purdue, L'ville, CU, Wake
TE Logan Thomas
- VT, Clemson, WVU, UNC, Wake, Tenn., FSU, PSU
OT Morgan Moses
- pretty much everyone east of the Mississippi
OT Oday Aboushi
- Iowa, Md., Rutgers, PSU, Mich., BC
DE Brennan Williams
- BC, Wake
DE Michael Buchanan
- Purdue, Ill., Cal, Vandy, KU
DE Lanford Collins
- VT, PSU, Tenn., WVU, Md., NCSt., UNC, BC, Ill.
DE Garry Gilliam
- UConn, PSU, Temple, Pitt, Akron
DE Will Hill
- UConn, Mich., S.Car., Tenn., Md.
DE Bernardo Nunez
- lots
DE DeAntre Rhodes
- VT, Md., Clemson, Tenn.
DE Pat Muldoon
- Cincy, BC, Wisc.
OLB Jelani Jenkins
- everyone and their aunt
CB Travis Hawkins
- who isn't interested?
S Javanti Sparrow
- Clemson, UNC, PSU, VT, WVU
DB Joshua Evans
- 28 other schools. for real.
On to the ones that have already given their word.....
DOMINIQUE WALLACE: Got the better of Quintin Hunter's Orange team with 19 carries for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 21-7 win. Hunter threw for 141 yards and scored the only TD for Orange on a 15 yard run.
ROSS METHENY: Led Sherando to a 49-0 win over Hedgesville. Threw for one touchdown and scored another on a 59-yard scramble.
ALEX OWAH: Is leading his district in rushing, but will miss a few weeks with a stress fracture.
PERRY JONES: Oscar Smith beat Indian River 46-14, and Jones rushed for 228 yards and 2 TDs, caught two for 58 yards, and threw a 27-yard TD pass.
KEVIN ROYAL: Scored an 85-yard touchdown in Brunswick's 34-0 win over Hackley.
Lastly in our weekend review, we take a look at the rest of the ACC. Which, no thanks to us, did pretty well this week.
- North Carolina clocked Rutgers, and Carolina March puts it in a little perspective.
- Florida State also waxed the second opponent on the Shameful Disgrace portion of their schedule. Whatever. The NCAA oughta double the upcoming scholarship losses just for playing those two games.
- California rolled into College Park with a shiny ranking number next to their name on the scoreboard, and Maryland PROTECTED THIS HOUSE. Turtle Waxing is looking a gift horse in the mouth a little bit.
- Duke gave the ACC a slight edge in the Congressional Bowl sweepstakes. Whoops - that's E*******k Bowl. (They don't pay me to plaster their name all over everything.)
- V squeaked by G in the Battle of the Techs, and it earned Brian Stinespring a reprieve for a week in the VT blagowebs. Sort of.
- Finally, Clemson knocked off NC State, which thank God for the Pack because we still don't look like the sorriest-assed team in the ACC, yet.
If only the wedding was scheduled an hour earlier. Then I could have avoided seeing three Michigan fumbles in about 49 seconds flat.
The best I can say about this weekend as far as football is concerned is that it was a very nice wedding indeed. Good timing, too.
I haven't yet fired up the TiVo to take a look at that game. I hardly need to. The score and the rushing yards (on both sides) tell me just about all I need to know. Later on this week I'll take a look, mainly to do my review of the quarterbacks and their stats, but also to see if Bob Pruett bothered ever putting eight men in the box like I told him to. (Bet he didn't.)
The good news is that we have a bye week to prepare for Duke. The bad news is that that actually qualifies as good news. Duke has a bye week to prepare for us, anyway. By the way, that game? Gonna be at 12 noon on ESPNU, the channel that takes hideously bad football games that advertisers won't even pay to sponsor on ESPN2 and regular people won't want to shell out a hundo or two to get GamePlan for.
Guh. Enough of the depressing present. Let's take a look at the future, starting with the recruiting board. Updates:
- Removed Anthony LaLota, who committed to Michigan, and Taylor Sowell, who committed to Duke. That's gotta piss off the Heel faithful.
- Rejiggered the competition list for Tavon Austin, who should probably be considered the longest of longshots at this point.
- Did same for Will Hill, though our chances are considerably better here.
Come to think of it, that's kind of depressing too. The board, anyway, in all its LaLota-less glory:
QB Kevin Newsome
- VT, PSU, Mich., UNC, WVU
RB Tavon Austin
- Md., WVU, UGA, Mich., Neb., Tenn., Ill.
RB De'Antwan Williams
- Bama, VT, BC, Md., Rutgers, WVU
WR Justin Brown
- PSU, VT, NCSt., S.Car, UNC
WR Sean Farr
- Md., WVU, Akron, EMU
WR Timothy Smith
- L'ville, S.Car, WVU
WR Antone Exum
- SCar., VT, WVU, PSU, Md., Tenn., Purdue, L'ville, CU, Wake
TE Logan Thomas
- VT, Clemson, WVU, UNC, Wake, Tenn., FSU, PSU
OT Morgan Moses
- pretty much everyone east of the Mississippi
OT Oday Aboushi
- Iowa, Md., Rutgers, PSU, Mich., BC
DE Brennan Williams
- BC, Wake
DE Michael Buchanan
- Purdue, Ill., Cal, Vandy, KU
DE Lanford Collins
- VT, PSU, Tenn., WVU, Md., NCSt., UNC, BC, Ill.
DE Garry Gilliam
- UConn, PSU, Temple, Pitt, Akron
DE Will Hill
- UConn, Mich., S.Car., Tenn., Md.
DE Bernardo Nunez
- lots
DE DeAntre Rhodes
- VT, Md., Clemson, Tenn.
DE Pat Muldoon
- Cincy, BC, Wisc.
OLB Jelani Jenkins
- everyone and their aunt
CB Travis Hawkins
- who isn't interested?
S Javanti Sparrow
- Clemson, UNC, PSU, VT, WVU
DB Joshua Evans
- 28 other schools. for real.
On to the ones that have already given their word.....
DOMINIQUE WALLACE: Got the better of Quintin Hunter's Orange team with 19 carries for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 21-7 win. Hunter threw for 141 yards and scored the only TD for Orange on a 15 yard run.
ROSS METHENY: Led Sherando to a 49-0 win over Hedgesville. Threw for one touchdown and scored another on a 59-yard scramble.
ALEX OWAH: Is leading his district in rushing, but will miss a few weeks with a stress fracture.
PERRY JONES: Oscar Smith beat Indian River 46-14, and Jones rushed for 228 yards and 2 TDs, caught two for 58 yards, and threw a 27-yard TD pass.
KEVIN ROYAL: Scored an 85-yard touchdown in Brunswick's 34-0 win over Hackley.
Lastly in our weekend review, we take a look at the rest of the ACC. Which, no thanks to us, did pretty well this week.
- North Carolina clocked Rutgers, and Carolina March puts it in a little perspective.
- Florida State also waxed the second opponent on the Shameful Disgrace portion of their schedule. Whatever. The NCAA oughta double the upcoming scholarship losses just for playing those two games.
- California rolled into College Park with a shiny ranking number next to their name on the scoreboard, and Maryland PROTECTED THIS HOUSE. Turtle Waxing is looking a gift horse in the mouth a little bit.
- Duke gave the ACC a slight edge in the Congressional Bowl sweepstakes. Whoops - that's E*******k Bowl. (They don't pay me to plaster their name all over everything.)
- V squeaked by G in the Battle of the Techs, and it earned Brian Stinespring a reprieve for a week in the VT blagowebs. Sort of.
- Finally, Clemson knocked off NC State, which thank God for the Pack because we still don't look like the sorriest-assed team in the ACC, yet.
Friday, June 20, 2008
the recruit: alex owah
First in a series in which my impressions of the recruiting class of 2009 are laid out for all the world to see.
Our first verbal commit for the 2009 class came over a month before the 2008 class was allowed to put pen to paper. Alex Owah committed just after Christmas. The vitals:
Name: Alex Owah
Position: RB
Hometown: Harrisonburg
Height: 5'11"
Weight: about 170
40: 4.5 - Rivals credits him with a 4.44 in one article.
ESPN grade: 77
Rivals grade: 5.7, three stars, #57 RB in the country
Scout grade: three stars, #77 RB in the country
Huh. We got some crazy numerology going on here.
Excerpt from the ESPN analysis:
Yeah, Owan. Oh well. Anyhoo.
Owah didn't have a whole bunch of offers in hand before he committed to the Cavs - Tech and JMU (whose offer list probably consists of the entire H'burg starting lineup anyway and also a few of the scrubs) were the only ones. (So says the article.) That tends to be the case when you commit early. Owah listed Tennessee, Wake, and WVU as his other favorites. So not a bad lineup. And any time Tech offers someone and we get him: nyaaaah.
Owah strikes me as a little bit of an Alvin Pearman type. Fastish, toughish. Same height, similar size as a recruit. The videos tend to show him running through the lines and out the other side rather than around them, which you can't do at the college level at 170 pounds, hence the repeated mentions by ESPN about bulking up.
Now, of course, the big HOWEVER, COMMA. There's that whole legal technicality that Owah ran afoul of that we call "armed robbery." Oh, and the painkillers, which he served a 30-day suspension for that happened during the exact opposite time of year from football season. So unless he's in jail for this, he'll be back on the football team come fall. Question is, will his scholarship still be there? Groh is probably waiting for the gavel to fall before he follows with the axe. Planning a felony tends to cost you things like free admittance to school. Then again, it didn't hurt Pat Lazear any. And in the Silver Lining Department, schools tend to cut off contact with suspected felons, therefore the risk of a decommit has got to be as low as it gets, right?
Our first verbal commit for the 2009 class came over a month before the 2008 class was allowed to put pen to paper. Alex Owah committed just after Christmas. The vitals:
Name: Alex Owah
Position: RB
Hometown: Harrisonburg
Height: 5'11"
Weight: about 170
40: 4.5 - Rivals credits him with a 4.44 in one article.
ESPN grade: 77
Rivals grade: 5.7, three stars, #57 RB in the country
Scout grade: three stars, #77 RB in the country
Huh. We got some crazy numerology going on here.
Excerpt from the ESPN analysis:
Owan is well-rounded back with the skills to hurt you in-line, on the perimeter and with his receiving skills. He is a leaner, wiry kid on film with a body that could easily pack on another 15 pounds without diminishing his speed or quickness. ... Bottom line, Owan is a productive runner who competes for extra yards on every carry. Will need to bulk up to develop into a high-carry back but is very versatile and should fit into almost every offense.
Yeah, Owan. Oh well. Anyhoo.
Owah didn't have a whole bunch of offers in hand before he committed to the Cavs - Tech and JMU (whose offer list probably consists of the entire H'burg starting lineup anyway and also a few of the scrubs) were the only ones. (So says the article.) That tends to be the case when you commit early. Owah listed Tennessee, Wake, and WVU as his other favorites. So not a bad lineup. And any time Tech offers someone and we get him: nyaaaah.
Owah strikes me as a little bit of an Alvin Pearman type. Fastish, toughish. Same height, similar size as a recruit. The videos tend to show him running through the lines and out the other side rather than around them, which you can't do at the college level at 170 pounds, hence the repeated mentions by ESPN about bulking up.
Now, of course, the big HOWEVER, COMMA. There's that whole legal technicality that Owah ran afoul of that we call "armed robbery." Oh, and the painkillers, which he served a 30-day suspension for that happened during the exact opposite time of year from football season. So unless he's in jail for this, he'll be back on the football team come fall. Question is, will his scholarship still be there? Groh is probably waiting for the gavel to fall before he follows with the axe. Planning a felony tends to cost you things like free admittance to school. Then again, it didn't hurt Pat Lazear any. And in the Silver Lining Department, schools tend to cut off contact with suspected felons, therefore the risk of a decommit has got to be as low as it gets, right?
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