SB Nation - Will Yeatman

Maryland Minute 9.17.09 - Saturday Predictions, Will Yeatman to the Football Team?

Ben Goldstein — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:10:25 -0000

ESPN's Heather Dinich Predicts the Terps Will...

Win this Saturday, 17-14. I get the feeling this could be another tight one, as well but I think the point total will be much higher.

Brace yourself for another near upset. The Terps just lost their best corner, Nolan Carroll, and will be facing dual-threat quarterback Dwight Dasher, who leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks 20th nationally in total offense with 292.5 yards per game. He has accounted for 80 percent of the team’s total yards during that span (585 of 735 yards).

Jeff Barker from The Baltimore Sun Agrees

He says MD by 10 and predicts that WR Adrian Cannon will score another TD. What do you guys think?

Will Yeatman Looking Like a Possibility for Football in 2010

This is actually very cool. Yeatman isn't amazing, but he's a very solid tight end. There might be some rust issues, but he's very naturally talented.

For those who don't know, Yeatman transferred from Notre Dame to play lacrosse, but he also started at TE for the Irish. He's now considering playing for the Terps in 2010. It actually kind of sounds like a done deal. - bbroman

N.C. D-Tackle Has Terps Top 3 - IMS

A subscription is needed to read the whole article but from the jump we know this: His name is Darius Kilgo. (Sick last name for a Defensive Tackle.) He's 6' 4, 295. He has schollie offers from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Auburn. I like.

Terps Defense Has Yet to Force a Turnover

Even more depressing? They're the only ACC D to accomplish this feat. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the Terps join the the rest of the conference and force a turnover against Middle Tennessee State, this Saturday.

Fridge Mum on Punt Returner for This Week

Is it Kenny Tate? Tony Logan? Anthony Wiseman? Logan is probably the top choice when healthy but he's not 100% yet. I'd go with Tate just because of his pure explosiveness.

UM still trying to lease Tyser suites

Nope - still not sold out. I wouldn't expect it to be this year, either. - bbroman

Will Yeatman Coming to CP

Dave Tucker — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:32:12 -0000

Notre Dame Football/Lacrosse player Will Yeatman is transferring from Notre Dame to the Terps, according to ESPN.com. Yeatman had originally looked at Maryland, but finally settled on Notre Dame.

It's unclear whether or not Yeatman will play football or lacrosse for the Terps. There is a chance he could play this season if he plays Lacrosse, which would add a lot of depth to Maryland's attack, especially since the Terps are already ranked #3 in preseason polls. If Yeatman does play football, he'd have to wait until 2010, per NCAA transfer rules. It is also unclear whether Yeatman would be allowed to play both football and lacrosse for the Terps.

What is clear, however, is that Yeatman has had some off the field issues, including drinking under age, resisting arrest and giving the police false information. Hopefully he'll shape up because Maryland won't tolerate that kind of behavior.

Raking The Muck: Don Nelson Will Drink One For Will Yeatman and All The Michigan Fans

CW — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:05:24 -0000

Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses: A combination of bad luck, poor judgment and a horrendous allocation of the South Bend and Indiana police force have ended Will Yeatman's season, a .02 BAC delivering the critical blow:

Tuesday afternoon, the university's Office of Residence Life suspended the 20-year-old San Diego product from all football activities, including practice, for the remainder of the season, including any potential bowl game.

Yeatman's father, Dennis, confirmed the punishment Tuesday night. Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was unavailable for comment and isn't scheduled to speak to the media again until next Tuesday, due to ND's open week.

The Irish are 4-2, with their next game a road date Oct. 25 against former ND coach Tyrone Willingham and winless Washington (0-5).

The bold headlines that have branded Yeatman in the national spotlight over the past three weeks connect to a Sept. 21 arrest at an off-campus party in which Yeatman and 36 other Notre Dame students were arrested during an early-morning raid by several police agencies. He was originally charged with minor consumption of alcohol, resisting arrest and false informing. The latter two charges were eventually dropped. Quietly.

When you drive anything drunk, even a golf cart [Ed. note - Or a car. I have no idea what it is for sure. Let's not drink and drive, though, okay?], you put yourself in dangerous territory so that even attending a random off-campus party is dangerous. Yeatman has the opportunity to come back, and it seems like he will, but this takes a tight end corps that was ridiculously deep last season and trims it down to pretty much Kyle Rudolph. Konrad Reuland transferred, John Carlson moved onto the Seahawks and Mike Ragone went down with a preseason injury, leaving Rudolph in a very precarious position as the only tight end with any sort of experience (as a true freshman!).

If you told a knowledgeable Notre Dame fan in the 2007 preseason that the Irish tight end depth chart would be this limited a 14 months later, they would have laughed at you. Then when you told them about the season they were about to have, they would have cried, but laughter first.

Mike Brey can be proud: Due to the restrictions of roster size and some talent limitations, it appears Rob Kurz will not be kept on the Golden State Warriors roster, but he has made a game try at getting himself on that damn team.

As a training camp invitee, rookie Rob Kurz is a long shot to make the Warriors' 15-man roster before the regular season begins early next month. But with the way the first week of training camp has gone, Coach Don Nelson hasn't completely ruled it out.

Nelson said Saturday that Kurz, an undrafted forward out of Notre Dame, has been the Warriors' best rookie since camp opened last Saturday.

Kurz and other young players figure to get a decent amount of playing time in preseason games, starting with Sunday's opener at New Orleans.

"His outside shot is good and he's been my leading rebounder," Nelson said. "He's not pretty, he doesn't jump high, but he's been my leading rebounder in this camp. And it's not even close, including (Andris) Biedrins.

"He rebounds, he shoots, he's always in the right spot, you tell him something once and it's done. He's been a delight. I don't know that he can make the team, but I don't know that he can't."

The Warriors brought in Kurz, 23, during the summer essentially as another body to fill out the roster. But in nine games with the Warriors' summer league team, he averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in just over 16 minutes per contest.

Kurz played all four years at Notre Dame. In his last two seasons, he averaged better than 12 points and seven rebounds per game.

"I wanted to work hard and be a guy that came in and rebounded and defended, and try to make plays when they're available," Kurz said. "I think that's an important guy for every team to have, somebody that comes off the bench, brings a lot of energy and is willing to do all of the little things to help the team win."

Kurz's Warriors were taking on the new-look Milwakee Bucks yesterday morning in China, and Kurz got to play the final eight minutes of the game and twenty overall. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight sometimes, as Kurz performances tend to be, but there was the Irish alum bodying up former number one pick Andrew Bogut and collecting rebounds from the missed shots of Richard Jefferson. Also going against the Dubs was lottery pick Joe Alexander, who Kurz helped stifle back in the winter before he became a Morgantown folk hero.

If you want some entertainment, go through the comment thread at Golden State of Mind for yesterday morning's game searching for "Kurz guard rotation on a NBA team, anything is possible. ." Highly entertaining stuff, and hopefully Rob will get a chance elsewhere in the league if things don't work out in Oakland. If Chris Quinn can earn his way into the point

A Woman of Questionable Reputation: After some completely unnecessary, over-the-top things were written about Charlie Weis and the 2007 Irish last year from a specific corner of the Michigan blogosphere, I found it odd that no one in Wolverine Land could see what was coming this season. They witnessed what happened to Notre Dame all last season - a massive loss of personnel unable to be overcome by idiot fans screaming in the preseason "We'll still win nine games, we're [INSERT NAME OF SCHOOL HERE]!" - then looked that fate in the eye and made another asinine comment.

The magical 2007 Notre Dame season was a lethal combination of awful coaching and awful talent. Michigan has excellent coaching and okay to good talent. I'm not saying you should make plans for New Year's Day, but this ain't gonna happen en route to 3 and 9:

Clearly, there will be growing pains. A season like Tressel's initial foray at Ohio State -- a bleh 7-5 that would have been 6-6 without JohnNavarre's exceptional generosity -- is well within the realm of possibility. And by that I mean "is the most likely outcome."

Mmm, the sweet delicious karma tastes so good. Matt even pointed out back in July how strikingly similar 2007 Notre Dame was to 2008 Michigan using stupid things like math, citing the fact both units had to replace over 86% of their offense the following year while trying to install new systems with new quarterbacks. Regardless of how this year ends up for the Wolverines - and using that same scary math, it could be even worse that 3-9 - no sane fan would call for the head of a first year coach trying to replace every key position player on offense, right?

Not exactly. Civil War has been declared in Ann Arbor, with people who are sane (those who think "Let's not fire the coach who has been successful everywhere else along the way because he is not excelling in the worst situation imaginable for him.") and those who deserve to be shot ("Our crappy quarterbacks seem inherently unable to complete a high percentage of passes to the no-name receivers and fumble-happy running backs. . .can the coach!"). If every Michigan Man isn't keeping a list of their idiot friends who want Rodriguez fired now so they can deny them the chance of celebrating any sort of future success he potentially will have, they should be.

Do I want Rodriguez to fail? Miserably, and if he jumps to Clemson I would have a go-to "This will make me laugh" thought for months, if not years. Do I think he's going to fail? No, not at all, and Michigan fans (and outside observers, like f'n Gregg Easterbrook) who want to fire him after six games, to ignore his entire career in lieu of focusing on a half dozen disastrous results, are idiots.

Notre Dame 2007 and Michigan 2008 can serve as an interesting learning experience to other programs in the future. If every outside observer is going "Hey, you lost a lot of talent and don't seem to have a lot to replace it," they're probably right. You are far more aware of the inner workings of your program than that outsider, but they also don't get the exaggerated practice reports that make every back-up seem ready to not only replace that guy who just went to the NFL, but outperform him. Sometimes things are just a lot simpler than you think they are: Lose your NFL quarterback, his receivers and your best running back, and the offense will struggle, especially if the offensive line is a still-smoking scrap heap of what it was the previous season as well. There is such a thing as too much information, and it clouds the judgment of every college fanbase in the land.

(Michigan can still eclipse the 2007 Irish team, and I expect them to, as nothing says "Spartan" like blowing that game, plus come on, Minnesota and Northwestern? I know the records are solid, but I'm skeptical. Is this whole aside being used as a potential counter-jinx? I don't know what you're talking about.)

And finally, like a vampire but with dogs: This is a Politics Free Zone, but I think this bipartisan look at November 4^th is certainly okay to link to, albeit a little late. . . the BYU at TCU game tonight should be a great litmus test for the Cougars, and even the baseball fans out there will be free to watch it after the Rays touch up Dice-K for 6 runs in the first three innings . . . Mike Anello knocked UNC wunderkind Brandon Tate out for the season, only adding to his incredible legend and dealing a tough blow to the Tar Heels.

Cranking Me Up In The Rain: Irish Exorcise A Few Michigan Demons, Improve To A Soggy 2-0

CW — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:00:07 -0000

Someone told me long ago,
There's a calm before the storm,
I know, and it's been comin' for some time.

When it's over so they say,
It'll rain a sunny day,
I know, shinin' down like water.

I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

I don't think it would be an understatement to say that the 2006 game against Michigan was a turning point for the Irish program. Coming for a 41-3 smoking of Penn State and a tough road victory at Georgia Tech, Notre Dame were favorites to knock off the Wolverines and roll into a climatic, end-of-season throwdown with the Trojans. Instead, September 16^th, 2006, is a day that will live in infamy for 21^st century Irish football. It originated the first Yakety Sax game recap and put the '06 Irish into a downward spiral that probably should have included losses to Michigan State and UCLA (and would have, if not for some last second miracles). It also opened up a whole "quitters vs. losers" debate about the game and perhaps turned some fans on a team that didn't seem to care at times or have its head screwed on correctly at others. Obviously the 2007 season and opener against San Diego State did little to correct this, meaning there was still something to prove in regards to this team making any sort of Leap.

Not to give too much importance to a win over a likely-to-be-.500 team that included a bunch of gift-wrapped touchdowns on offense and drive-enders on defense, but I think Irish fans may see September 13, 2008, as a turning point, much like the Michigan game two years ago put the Irish on an awful path. It was inspiring to see the way the crowd embraced the leaders of this team, (including Brian Smith, Sergio Brown, Golden Tate), ate up the "Crank Me Up" cheer and operated at full throat the entirety of the game despite a monsoon.

via multimedia.detnews.com

I'm not predicting the Irish win out the rest of the season - or even win out the rest of the month, with a very difficult game at Michigan State this weekend - but I think Saturday's game was a solid step in the right direction. Charlie Weis finally put his best offensive players on the field and utilized them (Grimes, Floyd, Tate and Hughes at the same time! Consistently!) and attacked deep when the conditions allowed it and the circumstances dictated it. The offensive line held up against a Michigan front four that will probably be the best they see before the late November trip to Troy, protecting Jimmy Clausen against a Wolverine defense that was among the best in the country at recording sacks. Granted, there were few cleat-cut passing downs where the Winged Helmets were coming for the quarterback, but they also managed to scrap out enough yardage on the ground to move the chains a few times when the passing game was dismissed due to the lead and weather conditions.

There were obviously some problems that need to be addressed before the trip to face the Spartans (and beyond), but this is a solid step forward, even if the victory was just as much a result of Wolverine failures as Irish successes.

Well, if it rains, I don't care

Don't make no difference to me. . .

While it's not polite to bury the lede, I think perhaps the biggest thing to come out of Saturday was the fact of just how damned much it rained, accumulating 11 inches over the weekend. It started raining Friday night on the way back from the bars, kept pouring as the gameday tailgates were being set up, cleared up around noon and stayed dry until halftime, at which point the skies opened up. One of the gentlemen working the Stadium souvenir shop at halftime opened a separate line just to buy ponchos for cash, and I think that was as smart of an entrepreneurial move as one could make. Things couldn't have worked out better for the Irish in regards to the weather, as it was just clear enough for them to throw long enough to get a lead, then the heavens opened up on the Wolverines as they tried to make a comeback. Although they needed Tate and Clausen to recover their own fumbles, the Irish did a solid job of controlling the ball considering the conditions. While the rain in Spain may fall mainly the plain, I'm pretty sure the rain in Indiana was focused on the South Bend area Saturday.

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain

I like watching the puddles gather rain. . .

Other than Charlie Weis' knee injury, perhaps the most commonly texted comment from Saturday's game was in reference to Sam McGuffie, who lived up to every YouTube mixtape you've seen in slicing and dicing the Irish defense. If I'm Rodriguez, there's no hesitation in who gets the lion's share of the carries for the rest of the season, because McGuffie (I can't say it without sounding like the theme song for SNL's "MacGruber") seems like a threat to take the ball the distance every time he touches it. This may have more to do with the Irish defense than anything, but once the spread reaches its full capacities in the coming seasons, McGuffie is going to be a star.

Of course, McGuffie might not have rolled up the offense he did if the biggest problem if the defensive line for this team was a little deeper and a little bigger. Ethan Johnson was into the mix and made some contributions, and Irish fans can only hope that the younger players can earn their way into the rotation sooner rather than later and help out up front. While the blitzing was ineffective in generating big plays for the second week in a row, it'll be interesting to see how effective the Tenuta is when going against a more traditional offense. San Diego State decided to throw balance to the wind and dink-and-dunk their way through the game, while Michigan's spread is rather unique among Irish opponents. There's a chance every team takes the Aztec approach, which would be fantastic considering how well the linebackers and defensive backs are cutting off yards after catch (McGuffie excluded, obviously), but I find it unlikely. Mark Dantonio's Javon Ringer-heavy offense is going to be a nice test on Saturday afternoon, as the Irish will be forced to stop a great running back over and over and over again in what is not forecasted to be monsoon-like conditions. If they can force the Spartans into some third-and-mediums to longs, perhaps the blitzes will be a little more finely tuned and find their mark in Brian Hoyer.

(Or maybe somebody can steal whatever pictures John Ryan has of Weis, Brown or Tenuta that allows him to play every down despite never really affecting the game in any way, but that's whole other post.)

"Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me"

One issue that needs to be worked out regarding the Irish offense is the use of the tight end. Kyle Rudolph and Will Yeatman have been rotating in and out, but it seems Weis is having some difficulty developing a rhyme or reason for their usage. Yeatman is a considerably better blocker, but Rudolph a much bigger passing threat. While it seems odd for a Weis offense not to utilize a tight end after guys like Anthony Fasano and John Carlson, if the position is just going to be used as an extra blocker in pass protecting (which is fine), then go with Yeatman in most downs until Rudolph gets a little more seasoned. Maybe Rudolph just needs to catch a few easy balls to get into a rhythm, but there needs to be some sort of system established between the two players who both are capable of bringing a lot to the offense.

via www.bluegraysky.com

Before we depart from this game, we'll turn to Michigan safety Steve Brown, who isn't very good at his job but still, to his delusional credit, feels good about his team:

"We don't have our heads down because we know who the better team was," defensive back Steve Brown said, referring to Michigan. "They beat us today. It happens, but in our hearts we know we're the better team."

For those of you keeping track, there is no recorded instance in the history of Michigan football where they were not the better team, even in a loss. It is a conspiracy composed of the Fates, the officials, Lady Luck, the Stonecutters, Jim Tressel and the Cigarette Smoking Man anytime the Wolverines fall.

For the rest of the week we'll turn from Michigan to their bitter Big Ten sibling, the Spartans, who appear to have a better team than their more heralded brethren this season. For those who you missed it, Ringer went for 282 yards against a respectable Florida Atlantic squad, and unless the Irish can clean up some of the gaps in their run defense, he's going to have a similar day on Saturday.