Offensive lineman Alec Eberle was named a member of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team award.

Following Florida State football practice on Tuesday, offensive lineman Alec Eberle was named to the Allstate Good Works Team in surprising fashion when he walked into the team’s dining room. Prior to the announcement, the sophomore from Mechanicsville, Virginia had no idea he was going to receive the award on that day, however knew he was a nominee and winning was a possibility.

The award, one of the most esteemed off-the-field awards handed out in college football, is based on community work. In his instance, Eberle, president of Florida State’s chapter for Uplifting Athletes, helped and organized an event with Kidz1stFund that raised over $16,000 for Fanconi anemia, a rare blood disorder that affects children, including coach Jimbo Fisher’s son, Ethan.

Eberle joins a team that also includes fellow ACC players; Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Duke’s DaVon Edwards and Georgia Tech’s KeShun Freeman. Eberle was voted on from a panel that includes former award winners, current media members, as well as current and former AFCA presidents.

Dak Prescott and Buffalo Wild Wings have teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas to give back to the community in Dallas. The partnership has brought a newly renovated football field for kids to enjoy as well as a cool video for those of us that miss Dak in Starkville to enjoy. It’s always heartwarming to see NFL players give back and support the communities around them, it’s even better when it’s a player that you love.

We’ve reached the unofficial midway point of the 2016 college football season, which means sports publications across the country are coming out with their list of midseason awards. As you might expect, Louisville’s starting quarterback is featured prominently in each of them.

From ESPN:

Offensive player of the year

Schlabach says … Lamar Jackson, Louisville

The sophomore has accounted for 30 touchdowns, which is more than 98 FBS teams have scored at this point. Enough said.

Jackson also picks up a nod as the “Heisman front-runner,” and also appears in the “Best Play” category for both his leap against Syracuse and his final touchdown run against Florida State.

From CBS:

In addition to being an All-America selection at quarterback, Louisville Cardinals ‘sLamar Jackson was also unanimously chosen for an even greater honor, as you can see below with our awards.

Midseason awards

Player of the Year: Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville*

Co-coach of the Year: Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Chris Petersen, Washington

And from NFL.com:

Offensive Player of the Year: Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
The true sophomore is simply the most electrifying player in the game. When you average 325 yards passing and 138 rushing per game, you’re as close to unstoppable as one player can be. And he hasn’t lit up the scoreboard against weak opponents only; FSU and Clemson were unable to contain him.

The site also tabs Jackson as its Heisman favorite.

A local standout reopens his recruitment

Earlier today, four-star Donovan Jeter announced he is no longer committed to Notre Dame. This is a pretty notable action for Pitt’s recruiting efforts. Donovan Jeter is a 6’5” 255 Defensive End/Tackle. He is rated as a four-star by all four major recruiting, and was considered to be one of Pitt’s highest priority recruits until he committed Notre Dame last month.

His commitment to Notre Dame was a bit shocking, truth be told. He was widely considered a Pitt lean by many for a variety of reasons. His brother is Sheldon Jeter, a senior on the basketball team. He is from nearby Beaver Falls High School in Beaver County, an area that has been considered a pipeline. Perhaps most importantly, he generally spoke highly of Pitt and Pat Narduzzi, especially in the months leading up to his Notre Dame decision.

Obviously Jeter reopening his recruitment should get Pitt fans on notice. I’m not sure it is a slam dunk to Pitt, though. His offer sheet is as impressive as it gets. He holds offers from schools like Alabama, Michigan, and Ohio State. In fact, he announced via Twitter today that Oklahoma had offered him. So obviously, the competition for Jeter will be pretty fierce. He also said on Twitter that Notre Dame is still in the mix as well.

It’s hard to say what will happen in the recruitment of Donovan Jeter from here on out, but it’s one worth monitoring. Jeter is one of the best players in the state and country for that matter, and Pitt had prioritized before, and knowing he’s back on the market he will be highly prioritized once again.

Here we go DawgNation. Full meltdown has began. This time last year we’re talking about “we need a fresh start” and this year we’re asking ourselves “what were they thinking getting rid of Richt?” Either way, what were we thinking for UGA this year? Did we think we would/should make a championship run? Were we thinking this is going to be a rebuild year? Were we thinking we would at least be as good as last year and have a good record but drop all the “Big Games” like we had gotten use to? Me personally, I still believe that we made the right move. I love Mark Richt as a person, coach, and how he stood up for what he believed in. I think both UGA and Richt needed a fresh start. I believe Kirby will be an excellent head coach. Kirby has an unbelievable work ethic. UGA fans should remember that from when he played here at UGA. He was, what seemed to be, the smallest player on the field but he held his own. I believe he will turn this football team into something special. I also understand the concept of rebuilding. Implementing your systems. It isn’t something that just happens over night. It takes time. The positive for DawgNation, Kirby is a Beast recruiter. So the “rebuild” shouldn’t take too long.

What’s too long? When you’re talking about a college football team, that’s a minimum of 2 years with a possibility of 3-4 years. With every scheme and formation, coaches want specific body sizes and specific skill sets. I think UGA falls into the 2-3 years category. I believe our O-Line needs great improvement. We’re not consistent and we’re not as big as Coach Pittman seems to prefer. O-Lineman take at least 1 year to get and in most cases at least a year to get the size and understanding of college football speed under their belt. There is a few cases when a freshman comes in and can play immediately but even those guys have rough moments until they can get adjusted to the speed.

Our WR’s haven’t been consistent this year. When a wide receiver makes it to this level, most the time what seems to keep the young receivers from playing much is learning the playbook, running the routes, and learning how to block. Catching is something that they’re already doing. With a true freshman QB in there you want, no you NEED, your WR’s to make more than just the catches that they’re suppose to make. That has not happened. We have too many drops this year. I believe the Ole’ Miss game would’ve been a lot different  this year if that series in the 1st quarter, I believe it was, that we dropped 3 passes (1 in the end zone). I think with the players we got coming will help address both of those areas. Think about something, I think our defense has done pretty good this year but we have struggled against big physical receivers. Who doesn’t. That’s the type of receiver that Kirby and Co. are bringing to Athens. Also, I don’t think it’s ideal to need a graduate transfer to come in and start and left tackle. Not taking nothing away from Catalina but that’s a lot to ask for from him. There’s a huge difference in speeds there. It takes some getting use to.

Special Teams have been a disaster this year. We have had moments were we show a glimpse of something great just to do something that makes you speechless and wonder to yourself,”how does this even happen here at UGA.” Blakenship had a great day yesterday. I was even hoping that he would be the hero of the day. As we all know, he didn’t get that shot. However, what drives me crazy is catching a kickoff that was going out of bounds and then stepping out inside the 10. That’s crazy. That’s a complete mental breakdown. Mental errors will kill you in any sport just like it will in football. We have to cut back on metal mistakes. We’re too young and inexperienced to be putting our backs against the wall with mental mistakes.

Final thoughts. The game yesterday is a different kind of loss than Ole’ Miss or Tennessee. With all the issues that UGA have this year with young players, inconsistent special teams, and inconsistent o-line play. Losing to Vandy is never okay. Sorry Vandy, it is what it is. A game like yesterday panics a fan base and rightfully so. We can’t have issues all over our team and yet still come out “flat”.  I think we’re passed “gut check time” and we have to step up. A “rebuild year” is fine but that doesn’t consist of losing to Vandy or even barely getting by Nichols State. Playing to our opponent is something we already did before the “Kirby Era”. We don’t need that anymore. We want a team that’s able to sit the starters by the half or even the 3rd quarter so we can build quality depth with game experience. Last year we escaped the embarrassing overtime win against Ga Southern. We didn’t show up for our biggest home game against Bama. We blew a big lead against the Vols and we forgot to show up against Florida in the Cocktail Party. The point I’m making, is we have had flat. We have had the teams that didn’t show up a couple times a year. I believe Kirby and Co. will be great in the next couple of years but in the meantime we can’t be dropping to Vandy because we’re coming out flat and playing to our opponents level. If we lose, it better be because it was a hard fought battle and not because we were not ready to play. We’ve had that and that’s why we got someone else to man the ship this year. Although our last offensive play yesterday is being talked about like crazy (WHAT WAS THAT), it shouldn’t have came down to that.

Kirby, I’m pulling for you. I believe you’re bringing something great to UGA, but these types of losses get people talking. It’s too early for us to start jumping ship but after yesterday it was a flashback to the last few years and what we were wanting to get away from. Get your type of players in here, build the depth on the line, and let’s play every game to our level and not to our opponents level. GO DAWGS!!

Written By: CBG-UGA

The Palmetto Prep prospect reopens his recruiting process.

Three-star cornerback Ke’Shan Pennamon has had a bit of a star-crossed experience as a commit to Wisconsin. After announcing on Feb. 1 that he was ready to sign with the Badgers, there was some kind of line that became uncrossed. On July 7, he signed with Palmetto Prep in South Carolina and reclassified for the class of 2017.

The upside? Pennamon had a redshirt year without having to give up that year of eligibility. Unfortunately on Friday, it seems like the Badgers hit the downside as Pennamon announced his decommitment on Twitter.

Unfortunately, this looks like one of those situations where while the interest remains mutual, there could be some admissions-related mishegoss as to why the Badgers just can’t take Pennamon straight away. With that said, the fact that Pennamon’s first offer on the open market comes from a highly competitive school when it comes to academics in the Tulane Green Wave is very interesting. Take whatever subtext you want from that.

Ultimately the question of if the Badgers are able to get Pennamon into the fold might go into 2017. The Badgers are likely to earn a commitment from Pembroke Pines, Fla., three-star CB Faion Hicks this weekend and Denver, Colo., three-star CB Christian Cumber is set to officially come to Madison for Nebraska.

Duke’s late Roughing the Kicker penalty saves the day

Because I love the Cardinals, as do the majority of my readers, these gamecaps rarely focus, except in rare exceptional instances, on what U of L’s opponent may or may not have done during a game.

Yes, I am pleased the Cards are now 5-1, having survived 24-14 over a well-coached and as eminently prepared team as you’re going to see.

Yes, I wonder what U of L’s flat, uninspiring performance on national TV Friday night will do to its Final Four chances? (At 9:17 my pal texted from where he was watching, down south in the heart of college football country. “This game has killed any chance of the Final Four.” I responded “Yes.” By dawn’s early light, I think he and I may have been somewhat premature. But the road certainly narrowed.)

Yes, I wonder where Lamar Jackson’s Heisman hopes stand? It’s a fickle crowd, those voters. It was about this time last year that frontrunning “lock” Leonard Fournette saw his fortunes fade. And Jabrill Peppers, wearing maize and blue, is the current Flav o’ Flav of the Month. It’s easier to prevail in NY as a Wolverine than a Cardinal. But LJ is far far from out of it, plenty of opportunities for moments for spectacularity remain.

So, I’ll get to the Cardinals performance, lackluster as it was, in a moment.

* * * * *

But first I feel compelled to extol the virtues of Duke’s fourth drive after halftime, the playbook beauty which started on the Blue Devils own 25 with :27 to play in the third.

At which juncture Louisville held an unsteady, unimpressive 17-7 lead.

After the completion of which, Duke had chopped the Cards’ advantage to a precarious 3 points, 17-14.

Duke’s 15 play, 75 yard TD scoring drive ate up 8:53 of the clock. It was well crafted, well executed, man up football at its finest. I tip my hat to David Cutcliffe for drafting it, and his Blue Devil players for playing it out. I lament that U of L’s damn good D simply couldn’t get off the field.

During the drive, the visitors consistently hit the Cards up the middle on the ground. Three yards here. Seven yards there. Five off tackle. The Blue Devils were never stopped without some gain on any rushing attempt.

Duke’s freshman QB Daniel Jones completed four of five attempted passes, three clever sideline tosses, then the 20 yarder to Johnathan Lloyd for the score.

Most important, the Blue Devils converted on three of their four 3d down situations. On the other, they converted on 4th & 1 at their own 34 to stay on the field.

No reason to carry on. But it was simply masterful, especially considering time, place and circumstance.

* * * * *

So, what are the prospects now for 1) the Cards to make the playoff, and for 2) Lamar Jackson to capture the Heisman?

Were I a betting man, I wouldn’t lay a penny on the prospects of either.

Though LJ remains in play if he returns to defender-leaping, oh my heavens did you see that form. Frankly, Jackson had a number of those runs last night. Unfortunately most of the boffo ones were scramble scampers, when the O line left their QB in peril on passing plays. The Cardinal star also had a couple of those snap of the wrist passing gems. But they were more than offset by even more inexplicable underthrows.

21 rushes for 144 yards is damn fine. 13/26 for 181 in the air with a TD and no picks is not bad.

But, in the context of his Sports Illustrated cover hype and resulting expectations, they are, to be honest, not enough for the statuette. All of which can be overcome, if he dons his Superman cape in future battles.

The Final Four, one guy’s opinion, is not gonna happen.

* * * * *

I need to check myself here.

At moments like this, I always here the words of Denny Crum, when his Cardinal ballers fell to a lesser foe. “You’ve got to have a healthy respect for your opponent.”

I could go on about the Cards’ horrid second quarter performance, which I dubbed Kragthorpean in my game scribbles, as well as other unforeseen adversities.

Or, how if it weren’t for that roughing the kicker penalty, it could have easily been an L.

Yet . . . yet . . . yet . . . Louisville doubled up the Devils in total yards, after all, and did win the game. It just sure didn’t feel like it walking out of the stadium. That the crowd was clad in black seemed appropriate.

Anyway, Louisville is 5-1. Louisville is Top Ten. Louisville kicks it off again on national TV next Saturday at noon against the Wolfpack.

— Seedy K

Mississippi State’s game against BYU started Friday night at 9:21 central. It went into double overtime and lasted until Saturday morning. The Bulldogs played with a lot of intensity. It seemed like Mississippi State’s players knew this was a must win game. The young and inexperienced team that has seemingly played with so little heart for what feels like an eternity put everything on the field last night, but it still wasn’t enough.

Early in the first quarter, Mississippi State jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Cougars. But BYU would strike back with a long sustained touchdown drive that took just under 8 and a half minutes. 15 plays and 75 yards later, the game was tied back up to end the first quarter at 7-7.

But the Bulldogs would strike again, this time with a 75 yard drive of their own. 14 plays and 5 minutes and 44 seconds off the clock and the Bulldogs had a 14-7 lead, and it appeared we had a game that would be relatively high scoring and fun. That was wrong.

BYU and Mississippi State’s offenses would both effectively shut down thanks to opportune plays be defenses and, well, dumb mistakes. Turnovers and failed drives stalled the scoring until early in the 4th quarter where the Cougars would tie the game back up at 14-14. Another 13 or so minutes dripped off the clock and the scoring was still halted. To overtime, instead of bed, we went.

Overtime, being the interesting thing that it always is, featured three incredible touchdowns. Unfortunately, two of them were for BYU, and only one was for Mississippi State. The slow, back and forth affair would come to an end when Nick Fitzgerald was forced to throw on the run on 4th and 9 in double overtime.

Errors and missed opportunities cost the Bulldogs in Provo. A young and inexperienced team showed incredible intensity on the road in a hostile environment, but again, it simply wasn’t enough.

What do USC fans think about this week’s match-up? We spoke to Conquest Chronicles’ Nick Dempsey to find out.

In preparation for this week’s match-up between the USC Trojans and the Arizona Wildcats, we spoke to Conquest Chronicles’ Nick Dempsey for the USC perspective on Sam Darnold, the Arizona rushing attack, and whether USC has turned a corner under Clay Helton.

1. Since replacing Max Browne, Sam Darnold has played very well, ranking eighth in the country in passer rating and leading USC to wins over Arizona State and Colorado. What are the expectations for Darnold going forward, both in this game and for the rest of the season?

Sam Darnold has played exceptionally well this season making some incredible plays. Darnold, however, is still a redshirt freshman and sometimes he plays that way. He turns the ball over far too often with fumbles and when he passes he can on occasion make dangerous passes. His skill set however does make for a much more dynamic USC offense so on the whole they are better but he is eventually going to have a game where the mistakes are too much to overcome. That almost happened against Colorado last Saturday. Darnold is still a work in progress to be sure but right now it really feels as though the sky is the limit for him.

2. Along the same lines, the Trojans struggled early this season in losses to Alabama, Stanford, and Utah. Has Clay Helton righted the ship? What has changed that allowed USC to turn the corner?

I’m not sure I’m completely ready to say Helton has righted the ship. The reason being is that we frequently see two different USC teams. The Trojans play exceptionally well at home and have not lost in Los Angeles during Helton’s time as head coach. Away from the Coliseum, however, is a much different story. USC is 2-7 under Helton away from the Coliseum and has not won a road game since November of 2015 where they struggled to pull out a win over a then very weak Colorado team. October was always supposed to be the month USC got hot as they play 4 of 5 games at home starting in October after playing 3 of 4 on the road to start the season in September. With 3 road games left this season all in conference all very important (Arizona, Washington, UCLA) it will be critical for Helton to get some wins away from the Coliseum this year. Until the Trojans perform better on the road it is hard to say they’ve truly turned a corner yet.

3. Arizona’s bread-and-butter is the running game, even with the injuries it has sustained in the backfield. Will Cameron Smith and the rest of the USC defense be able to bottle up that running attack?

USC has played and defeated passing quarterbacks who can also move the ball with their feet, but I’m not sure they’ve really played against a great running quarterback. I do know that Clay Helton every day this week has spoken frequently about the importance of stopping the run pass option and his defense has spent most of the week preparing for it. The USC defense have shown brilliant moments of great brilliance in getting pressure on the QB while also keeping contain. They have also shown moments of incredibly poor defense. For all the talk about the improvements on the offensive side of the ball the improvements for the USC defense has been overshadowed. I would expect for most of the game USC will be able to disrupt the Arizona rushing game, however I would also expect the Wildcats to be able to bust out a few huge plays on offense as well.

4. What is your prediction for this week’s game?

Plenty of folks are predicting a relatively easy win for USC, and if this game were being played in Los Angeles I would be inclined to agree with them. As I said before though USC has yet to play a really solid game for a full 60 minutes on the road under Clay Helton. I think USC can claw out a win but it will be close. I say USC wins by one score.

Thanks to Nick for taking the time to answer our questions, and for more coverage of this week’s game from the USC side of the aisle, check out Conquest Chronicles.

Utah was able to get former 2017 Washington State commit four-star El Paso (Texas) El Dorado wide receiver Tyquez Hampton. He is the fifth Utah commit in the 2017 class and the fourth from Texas. His primary recruiter is wide receiver coach Guy Holliday. Hampton also holds offers from Mississippi State and West Virginia among others.

Hampton fits the mold of a Utah wide receiver. He is big (6’ 2” 208) and physical. He does not shy away from contact and knows how to high-point the football. He is also a great blocker, which is an essential skill for a wide receiver to have at Utah.

Hampton visited Utah for the game against USC, and it sounds like his experience on his official visit played a big part in his decision to flip to Utah. He took his official for the same game as Utah 2017 quarterback commit Jason Shelley.

Academics were also a big factor. Utah’s medical school and high APR scores were both reasons he cited for his commitment.