SB Nation User Blog: miketag

BCS Game Thoughts

miketag — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:05:10 -0000

The game did not quite go as I expected. I predicted that Florida would win because OU would not be able to handle the UF pass rush. I thought that if OU gave Bradford time, OU would win. OU gave Bradford time, but lost anyways. I have to give credit to both teams because I thought it really was a great game. OU had a chance to win it, but untimely turnovers and poor play calling really cost them.

I have never thought much of Brent Venables and this game did not to change that. Percy Harvin IS UF's running game. You shut him down first, then you work on containing Tebow. OU was unable to do either in the second half.

Credit goes to Urban Meyer for going to the option game in the second half and gashing Venables defense. Going for it on 4th down in the red zone was not a terrible decision. I would have kicked a FG. However, trying to run the ball and not doing a play action or run/pass option bootleg with Bradford was a mistake. Bradford deserves the blame for the interception before the half. Even if the ball is caught, OU does not score a TD on the play and time runs out before the FG unit can get set up. He should have thrown the ball INTO the endzone.

I knew that UF would win a national title under Meyer but did not expect them to win two in his first four years there. He is recruiting well per the usual, and they will be a great program until he decides to leave Gainesville.

I think Stoops deserves some blame for losing to WVU last year. Boise State was simply a better team. IMO Stoops' best coaching job was simply winning the Big 12 title and making a BCS bowl that year. He had a WR at QB and a RB by committee.

Stoops had his team ready to play against UF. Meyer coached circles around Venables in the second half. That, and some untimely turnovers, were the difference in the game.

Christine Michael Receives Award

miketag — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:44:01 -0000

One of our gentle readers pointed out that while in San Antonio for the U.S. Army All American Game, Aggie commit Christine Michael received a national award.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl and EAS named running back Christine Michael (who is currently at West Brook High School, Beaumont, Texas and has committed to play with Texas A&M in the fall) the 2009 EAS Speed & Strength Award Winner at the U.S. Army All-American Awards Dinner on Friday, January 2^ndin San Antonio, Texas. Michael was honored as the nation’s fastest, strongest and most dedicated high school football player. He was presented with the Walter Payton Trophy, modeled after the NFL’s late great Chicago Bears running back. Finalists for the award included Defensive Lineman Donte Moss of Northside High School in Jacksonville, NC, Tight End Ronnie Wingo of University High School in St. Louis, MO and Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick of Gadsden City High School in Gadsden, AL.

Recruiting and Bowl Thoughts

miketag — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:34:24 -0000

Watched the U.S. Army All American Game and the Under Armor All American game this weekend. Most impressive players I saw were Russell Sheppard who is headed to LSU and Bryce Brown the RB from Kansas (committed to Miami). Sulphur Springs QB Tyrik Rollison looked very good but he is likely not going to qualify. I expect him to end up at Oklahoma State next year a la Perish Cox and Dez Bryant. Christine Michael had a nice game in San Antonio. I believe he will be a Darren Lewis type back for us. He is not going to break 80 yard runs like Goodson did. However, he can carry the ball 30 times in a game and pound out 8-15 yard gains. He should be a nice complement to Cyrus Gray's slashing running style. As a program, we cannot allow athletes like Sheppard and Craig Loston to go out of state. We need to start keeping those kids in state. As I have said before though, the most important part of our program is developing the talent we bring in. I think we are brining in a lot of speed in this class. That is exactly what we need. However, we need to develop that speed into football players or we will be stuck in the same rut we have been in for the past 7-8 years.Matt Barkeley looked much better than when I saw him earlier in the year. He showed off a big arm. He has the tools to be the next great USC QB.

After watching tu come back to beat The Ohio State University, I have decided that they are simply a great passing team. They do not have a great defense. They have a poor running game. However, they have a great passing offense that the coaches have been able to ride to a one loss season and they deserve a lot of credit for that. Even in a down year for college football, this tu team is not a great team. They did overachieve however and I can appreciate that. Their whole was greater than the sum of their parts. I think Jim Tressel was too conservative in his play calling and it may have cost his team the game. However, a 10 win season with a true freshman QB and an injured Beanie Wells is more than respectable. Will be interesting to see when Tressel unleashes Pryor the way he unleashed Troy Smith as a senior. When he develops Pryor into a more polished passer and lets him run the spread, you will have a national championship team on your hands. Right now, I am hard pressed to think who I would rank #1 over Ohio State entering next season. If Wells returns (which I doubt) I think they should be the preseason number one team.

I still think that UF will beat OU because Philip Loadbolt cannot block speed rushers and UF will terrorize Bradford. Also, OU's running game is suspect when Demarco Murray is not 100 percent and for the second year in a row he is missing the bowl game. On the other hand, UF's passing game is very suspect and the OU defense might shut down the UF running game after being disrespected in the media leading up to the game. The way I see it is that UF has a great defense and special teams. OU has a great offense when Murray is 100 percent. UF is just a bad matchup for OU.

As We Expected

miketag — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:17:26 -0000

We here at I Am The 12th Man.com have been saying all year long that no one in the Big 12 plays any defense while no one in the SEC plays offense. This led to skewed stats in both conferences. Big 12 offenses looked great, while SEC defenses looked dominant. Texas Tech played an SEC team with similar talent to Tech and lost to a more motivated team. Amazing what happens when Tech faced a power running team who was motivated, on a field where the officials actually called holding. Meanwhile, Alabama faced a supposedly undermanned Utah team in a game between a BCS buster and a traditional power. Utah dominated the LOS the entire game, and beat Alabama at their own game. While I reserve some of my praise for Nick Saban because I think he cheats as blatantly as any coach in the country, I do believe he is one of the top defensive and gameday coaches out there, and any victory over his team is a good one. Utah's team and coaching staff deserve a lot of praise for their second undefeated season of this decade. It was humorous to watch the Utah players running circles around these SEC players who supposedly have elite speed. When it came down to it, Bama did not have the passing offense needed to keep up with the Utes. It will be interesting to see if Florida runs into the same problem against OU. I actually expect UF to win that game because I think the UF DL will be too much for OU to handle. UF also has a huge advantage on special teams. In what has been a down year in the college football world with no truly complete teams, it was very enjoyable to watch two top 10 teams get dominated in their bowl games yesterday.

Big 12 Basketball Rankings

miketag — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:49:58 -0000

Most people make preseason rankings in order to predict how the teams will finish at the end of the season. Then, as the season wears on they become more of a statement of how a particular team is playing at that time. I believe the rankings should reflect how everyone is expected to finish which is why I still have Texas ranked number one despite their two losses. I still think OU is a two man team. I am not sold on Baylor. I think Mizzou is going to get better and better. A&M has a nice record but has not shown the ability to dominate anyone. Worse, they really do not have a go to scorer and struggle mightily on offense at times. On the other hand, they have shown a lot of heart in wins over Alabama and LSU. I would not be surprised at all to see OSU outscore A&M in the first conference game for both teams. Here are my rankings for this week:

1) tu 10-2

2) OU 12-1

3) KU 9-3

4) Mizzou 11-2

5) BU 12-1

6) A&M 12-1

7) OSU 9-3

8) NU 8-3

9) KSU 9-3

10) ISU 9-4

11) Tech 9-4

12 CU 7-5

Recruiting Rumor

miketag — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:15:11 -0000

During the practice leading up to the U.S. Army All-American Game in San Antonio, it has leaked that Christine Michael is going to commit to A&M. Michael is supposed to announce on live tv during the game. While this has been expected for a while, it is still a big feather in Mike Sherman's cap. Landing the top RB in the state, coming off a 4-8 season cannot be understated. In my opinion, Michael is the top pure running back in the state. Chris Whaley and Dexter Pratt will likely end up at other positions in college. Michael will team up with Cyrus Gray and Bradley Stephens to again give us one of the top backfields in the nation. Now Sherman's charge is to put an OL in front of all that talent that can open some holes.

Aggie Women Beat TCU 64-50

miketag — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:27:53 -0000

Another quality win over a ranked opponent for Gary Blair and crew. Ags move to 10-0 for the first time ever.

State Title/Recruiting Note

miketag — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:18:26 -0000

I was watching the Texas High School 5A Division II game between Katy and Wylie and was reminded of my deep appreciation for recruiting analysts and rankings. Randy Rodgers (who actually worked as a recruiting cooridinator at texas so should know better) spoke at halftime about the D1 recruits in the game. Katy has a junior free safety named Sam Holl who played a heck of a game and IMO is someone A&M should take a serious look at. They also have a senior DL named Elvin Tafong who was about 6'5 240 and could help a couple of D1 teams around the state. Rodgers spent the half talking about guys who had last names that made me think he was recruiting for Wisconsin and Notre Dame in the 1950s. Maybe Rodgers was the reason why John Mackovic's teams never had a defense. Kudos to Katy for creating and executing a gameplan to win. Anyone who did not get a chance to see Wylie NG Nikita Whitlock play in high school really nissed out on something special.

Recruiting Note

miketag — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:23:36 -0000

With Plano's Rex Burkhead committing to Nebraska, the Ags will now focus on one RB. Christine (pronounced Christian) Michael from Beaumont Westbrook is the number one ranked RB in the state and the focus of the Ags attention at the position. In my opinion Michael is the only true RB among the nationally ranked backs from Texas this year. Chris Whaley will likely end up at LB for tu. Dexter Pratt looks like a future FB to me. Michael has the ideal size and speed to step on the field and help the Ags out immediately. His presence would lessen the loss of Michael Goodson's early defection for the NFL. If Sherman and co. can land Michael and convince Michigan transfer Sam McGuffie that A&M is the place to be, we should be set at the position for the next four years.

The Red Watch

miketag — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:16:23 -0000

Red Bryant did not play in Seattle's 23-20 victory over St. Louis.

Martellus Bennett Had 1 catch for 8 yards in the Cowboys 20-8 win over New York. He also had a key block to spring Tashard Choice on the 38 yard touchdown run to put the game away.