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Don’t stand so / Don’t stand so / Don’t stand so close to me

Another week, another painful game to rehash … and some other stuff to talk about too.

We aren’t short of any news to talk about on this week’s CougCenter Hour! We start with Leach’s comments to the media are the perception of unfair policing by Pullman PD and eventually dive into last week’s tilt with the Boise State Broncos.

We sit down with Jacob Thorpe to get his take on what Leach told the media and the mentality of this Washington State team as they head into their finally non-conference game of the year. Theo Lawson from the Lewiston Tribune will stop by to discuss the Idaho Vandals and what the Cougs can expect from a Paul Petrino squad that believes they can make it to a bowl game this year.

As always, we end with our Dunderhead of the Week and Ask Michael Anything.

Thanks for listening!

Arizona Wildcats running back Orlando Bradford has been arrested and subsequently dismissed from the program, UA head coach Rich Rodriguez announced on Wednesday.

“Earlier today we were made aware that Orlando Bradford had been arrested,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “As a result of his actions, he has been dismissed from the program.”

According to Scott Coleman of Tucson News Now, Bradford is facing seven felony counts — three counts of domestic violence kidnapping and four counts of domestic violence aggravated assault.

Coleman also reports that the incidents happened “over the last several days“, and Bradford was arrested Wednesday and is currently being processed at Pima County Jail.

The former three-star recruit from Louisiana had a productive spring and fall camp, leading the sophomore to be named as a co-starter at running back with Nick Wilson heading into the season.

However, the co-starter label proved to be relatively meaningless as Bradford had just five carries for 16 yards through two games.

In 2015, Bradford had 47 carries for 208 yards and three touchdowns.

Wilson’s backup now figures to be freshman J.J. Taylor, who, even before Bradford’s dismissal, the Wildcats wanted to get on the field more due to his speed and elusiveness in the open field.

Taylor has just one carry this season (for -4 yards), but his workload will undoubtedly increase now.

You can follow this author on Twitter at @RKelapireUA

Carolina bounced back Saturday night on the road at Illinois, earning a comfortable 48-23 victory. Here are a few plays that stood out.

Positives

(0:24) One of the things that we’ve heard about with Mitch Trubisky is his underrated speed and athleticism. The claims coming out of the Carolina camp have been that Trubisky is faster than former quarterback Marquise Williams when running in a straight line. That’s all well and good, but there are few times, especially for a quarterback, where straight line speed comes into play in football. Marquise had his ups and downs throughout his Tar Heel career, but one thing that could not be denied was his home run hitting ability once he got into the open field. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to see Trubisky get out and prove his speed and athleticism on this 1^st down and 10. The quarterback draw was such a key component to the Carolina offense while Williams was at the helm, so it was good to see the offensive play calling staff look to go back to it last weekend. I’d expect that we’ll see more of this from the offense moving forward given its success versus Illinois.

(0:50) It’s the second week in a row that T.J. Logan has shown his game-breaking speed and ability on special teams. Logan didn’t return this kick to pay dirt like against Georgia, but he quickly shifted momentum to Carolina’s side. Not enough can be said about Logan up to this point. I said last week that Carolina has as good of a running back duo as any in the nation when Logan is on top of his game, and that appears to be the case early on this season. I couldn’t be happier for Logan, given that he has seen his role as the feature back dissipate upon Elijah Hood’s maturation. Logan will continue to play an enormous role in UNC’s quest to defend its Coastal crown.

(1:13) Speaking of players that have shown out of recent, Nick Weiler has made a career for himself. We all remember the tumultuous 2014 campaign where Carolina’s kicking game was among the nation’s worst—among other things. Weiler shocked me and many others when he knocked home a 40+ yard field goal in the 2015 opener versus South Carolina. Weiler’s continued quality of play gives Carolina the consistent ability to produce points from outside the red zone when a drive stalls.

(2:05) Defensive lineman Jeremiah Clarke has had a fantastic start to the season, compiling 10 tackles with a sack and fumble recovery. The absence of Tyler Powell and Dajaun Drennon has given Clarke the opportunity to show his value along the defensive front and he has made the most of it. Clarke, playing at the tackle position, controls his offensive blocker until using a ‘swim move’ to pursue and sack the Illinois quarterback.

(2:55) Trubisky continued to show his athleticism all night long. This play, in particular, is one that I don’t believe his predecessor makes, at least with his arm. Trubisky steps up into the pocket and moves toward the right sideline, keeping his eyes downfield, until an open Khris Francis breaks toward the goal line. Credit to Trubisky, but equal credit is deserved on Francis’ part. It’s rare that you find a running back that has the presence of mind to get up field once they’ve completed a short route. Receivers know that if they go long they should come back to the ball, and vice-versa, if they go short they should head up the field. The same isn’t always seen in running backs, but in this case Francis makes the heads-up play.

(3:48) Lets talk about defensive leaders for a minute. Andre Smith, like his defensive teammate Clarke, is having an outstanding start to his season. Smith was all over the field Saturday night, helping him earn ACC linebacker of the week honors. On back-to-back plays early in the second half, Smith quickly snuffs out a screenplay and throw out to the flats by the Illini to get the Tar Heel defense off the field. Smith was said to have the potential to lead this defense this season. Thus far, he has done that and more.

Let it be known, that Naz Jones, Carolina’s other defensive standout, played a heck of a game collecting seven tackles, two being for a loss, and overall disrupting the Illinois offensive front throughout the night.

Negatives

None to show on the film provided, but I will express my disappointment in the 65-yard touchdown run reeled off by Illinois running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Carolina did a solid job, for the most part, after the run, only allowing 117 rushing yards from that point on, but it’s still frustrating to see those types of gains earned on the ground. The only reason I stress over that is the fact that a healthy and inspiring James Conner comes to Chapel Hill in two weeks, followed by a trip to Tallahassee met by Dalvin Cook. Those are only two of the great backs that Carolina will face this season. The sooner the defensive front is able to sure up the running game, the better off the Heels will be in ACC play.

The other play that bothered me Saturday night was the decision not to run the ball at the end of the first half inside the five. I can go on another rant about Carolina focusing on the run game, but I won’t. My colleague Jake Lawrence has been keeping a tally so far this season on Carolina’s success running and throwing the football inside the 10-yard line. To what should be no one’s surprise, the Tar Heels have found themselves far more successful when handing the ball to one of their two outstanding backs, or, heck, letting Trubisky run America’s favorite play, the naked bootleg. I doubt that there will be a day where I am completely satisfied with Fedora and co.’s play calls, but I like to envision it’s one where they run the ball far more than they pass.

Next up, the Tar Heels open their home slate against FCS James Madison. My hope is to only show you positives for next week.

The best thing about this Cal football season is one of our own has returned to Bear Territory. BEAST MODE IS BEST MODE.

Marshawn Lynch sold some Lynch-centered Cal merchandise during Cal’s trip to Australia, and now he’s launching his BeastMode collection in partnership with Cal to produce Golden Bear gear. His merchandise will be sold at the Cal-Texas game and should be available online at the Cal Bookstore soon. You can also go to the game and buy some of his products at Memorial Stadium. You can also go to Lynch’s store in Oakland or go to his website to see what you’re looking for.

Proceeds from BeastMode Apparel will go to benefit Marshawn’s foundation, Fam 1st, which is dedicated to improving children’s literacy, education, and self-esteem.

The full set of Marshawn Cal related apparel can be found online by clicking here.

Here is more on the official announcement.

The University of California Athletic Department and BeastMode Apparel, LLC., owned by former Cal football star Marshawn Lynch, today announced the launch of a new co-branded merchandise collection. All products have been officially licensed through the Collegiate Licensing Company, Cal’s exclusive licensing agency. The Cal/BeastMode Collection will include T-shirts, fleece, headwear, and various gift items featuring popular Cal logos paired with the fashion-forward BeastMode brand.

Cal is donating all royalties from the sale of Cal/BeastMode merchandise to support the Fam 1st Family Foundation, an organization founded by Lynch and NFL quarterback Joshua Johnson to improve the lives of children by mentoring them on the importance of education, literacy and self-esteem.

“Marshawn Lynch is an iconic member of the Cal family, and he has been a great supporter of Cal Athletics and the University,” said Dan Perkins, Cal’s trademark licensing director. “We are excited to partner with BeastMode to create this exclusive collection for our fans. We’re proud to help support Fam 1st Family Foundation with its educational mission, which is a mission so closely aligned with our own.”

The Collection will be available for sale at the Cal bookstore and in the stadium to coincide with Cal’s football home opener against Texas on September 17. It will also be available online at the Cal bookstore and the BeastMode online store, www.beastmodeonline.com. Cal/BeastMode will also be available at the BeastMode stores in Oakland.

“The Cal brand represents a uniqueness, creativity, and freedom to be who you are that aligns with BeastMode,”said Marshawn Lynch, BeastMode founder. “Cal is and always will be a special place to me – the best of the best – and I’m glad I could work with them to bring this collection to the fans and help support my foundation.”

To support the new Cal/BeastMode Collection, Cal and CLC will be launching several promotions via social media and at upcoming Cal football games with opportunities to connect Cal fans with BeastMode and Marshawn Lynch. Promotional and product details will be available soon at calbears.com.

Hope may spring eternal, but as Gamecocks fans we know it can also be fleeting.

Never was this more evident than with Saturday’s flat first half performance.

Coming off a rousing conference road victory against Vanderbilt, South Carolina looked to build off that momentum in Starkville, taking on a Mississippi State squad that just lost at home to South Alabama.

In hindsight, Gamecock fans may have read into the tea leaves a little too far in regards to both teams’ respective Week 1 games – us feeling a little, dare I say, cocky after the comeback in Nashville while looking down on MSU after being upset.

I detailed my positive takeaways earlier this week, but it seems that much of the Gamecock faithful is deciding to look at a lot of the negative from Week 2.

I’m deciding to take the good with the bad in looking at a couple key talking points from the season thus far:

Defensive Improvement

Last year’s first two contests (win vs. UNC, loss vs. UK) somewhat mirror this year’s – but here’s when I’m going to throw some stats your way.

Though the MSU loss was much more lopsided than 2015’s L vs. UK, the defense has given up 727 total yards of offense in 2016. That’s a 100+ yard improvement of a 2015 Week 2 total of 839.

My garnet glasses might lie, but the stats don’t lie: 364 ypg surrendered thus far in 2016 vs. 419 through the first two weeks in 2015. Missed tackles aside, I still feel really good about the D.

Offensive Line

The offensive line, long thought to be a strength of this team, has been the topic of much conversation this past week – with many fans pointing to the lack of protection as the reason for Saturday’s stagnant offense.

All of the circumstances (opening on the road, freshmen at many skills positions, against two nasty conference defenses) aren’t doing the OL any favors, but I’m going to recommend all fans hold out judgement on this group – especially if this man is under center on Saturday…

Brandon McIlwain

Aside from a questionable fumble (I’m still shocked it didn’t get a closer look in the review booth), the true freshman QB has given the offense a noticeable spark whenever he’s taken the field.

A monster pass rush, especially in the case of Mississippi State, is made a tad less threatening when a mobile quarterback like McIlwain is under center.

His two touchdown drives, combined with spreading the ball around to numerous receivers vs. MSU, make the former Elite 11 QB an intriguing candidate to start against ECU.

Should the Gamecocks have been considered world-beaters after getting out of Nashville with a comeback win? No. Is all hope lost following a 13-point road loss to a conference foe? Definitely not.

Realistically, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this team. How will they play at home? How will the offense look with McIlwain starting? We might get some answers Saturday, but it will be hard to get a real read on this team until Week 4 or 5.

Taking into account the good and bad we’ve seen thus far, give me the Gamecocks in another close (and potentially ugly) one, 17-13.

This week’s #Badgers depth chart: pic.twitter.com/RE8AVnqiZZ

— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) September 12, 2016

Whenever it rains, things just seem to instantly flood for Fighting Illini Athletics. A blowout loss and a few higher-profile injuries were bad enough for the football team this weekend, but some more news regarding one of the program’s few verbal commits broke on Monday night. Per Illini Inquirer, three-star cornerback/wide receiver Tony Adams (MO) suffered a torn ACL during a recent game.

NEWS: #illini football commit Tony Adams suffered a torn ACL, he told Illini Inquirerhttps://t.co/hbCXSXBT7N

— Jeremy Werner (@JWernerScout) September 13, 2016

The St. Louis native committed to the Fighting Illini over Missouri back on August 12. He’s currently rated as the No. 937 overall player in the country and No. 8 prospect from the state of Missouri.

Here’s to a speedy recover, Tony. We’re all looking forward to seeing you start your journey in the Orange and Blue next Summer.

Kirby Smart conducted his usual Monday press conference this afternoon, looking back on Nicholls State and ahead to Missouri.

Smart conceded that Nick Chubb’s averaging more yards per carry with Greyson Lambert handing the ball off than Jacob Eason. But he doesn’t think it has anything to do with familiarity with Lambert. Rather saying “it’s just the way the plays have been blocked.” I tend to agree, and would also note that two games is a really small sample size, especially when the offensive line just doesn’t show up for one of them.

Speaking of which, Smart noted that the offensive line was deficient in a variety of ways on Saturday, including not getting their steps down, not finishing off blocks, and not getting a good initial strike on defenders to disrupt them. My take: that’s a whole lot of fundamental-type stuff that you’d hope to have a handle on before the second game of the season.

Jacob Eason “made some mistakes, but also made some great plays” against Nicholls State, but Smart also made clear that he was impressed with how Greyson Lambert responded coming off the bench into a tight ball game. Smart did reveal that Eason’s not been working with a scaled back playbook; he has access to every aspect of the game plan that Greyson Lambert does. Kirby did concede however that Eason is (as expected) still not as advanced in handling a lot of things as Lambert.

Smart rejected the notion that Georgia had trouble running the ball because Nicholls State sold out to stop the run, noting that “North Carolina had just as many guys in the box as these guys did.” The bottom line, Smart admitted was “we had some outside runs that weren’t blocked very well, and he had some inside runs that weren’t blocked very well. We gotta block better.”

Smart has discussed the need for leaders on this team, and seemed enthused to get Sony Michel back in the lineup because he is a vocal leader.

The quarterback rotation will be based on “how practice goes and how the game plan goes.” Of course the game plan is not yet together. But I expect that we’ll once again see more of Jacob Eason than Greyson Lambert, but more of Lambert in the four minute offense and in high risk situations.

Defensively, Coach Smart noted that the Nicholls State offense did some things Georgia had not seen before, including some well-executed run/pass option plays. But all in all, Smart believes that the defense executed better against Nicholls State than it did against UNC.

Asked whether Georgia’s talent level is “average” compared to other SEC teams, Smart flatly refused to “get into talent comparisons.” “My number one focus is getting this team ready for this game”, he noted with some added enthusiasm.

That being said I’ve talked to recruiting analysts both nationally and in the SEC who’ve all said the same thing that Georgia fans probably know intuitively: at this stage Georgia’s first 11 are about as good as anyone’s. But the Red and Black don’t have the truly obscene depth of Alabama, with former 5 star recruits holding down the third string. Smart’s doing a valiant job already in the class of 2017 of changing that. But it’s a two, three, even four year process.

Turning to Missouri, Smart noted that Faurot Field can be a “raucous environment”, and that his team is going to need to be ready for it. The opener in the Georgia Dome was loud, but there’s no doubt it was a largely pro-Georgia crowd.

Smart praised Mizzou offensive coordinator Josh Heupel as one of the best at running fast-paced offenses. Smart knows of what he speaks. Heupel was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma for the 2014 Sugar Bowl game in which Alabama surrendered 45 points, 24 first downs, and 432 yards of offense.

Answering one more question about preparation for the Nicholls State game Smart seemed to tire of the subject, “We gotta do a great job with this week. We gotta move on to this week. More and more, you see people not playing to their capability in a game like that. And it shouldn’t be that way. But it is what it is and it’s in our past. We have got to move on to Missouri and get ready for this game.”

Every week, we’ll be sorting through Hugh Freeze’s presser to bring you only the notable information and explain why it matters. No more scrolling through long transcripts or sitting through a 20-minute video replay filled with 95 percent coach speak. We’ve already done that for you.

Rommel Mageo hasn’t locked up the starting middle linebacker job just yet.

A few days after starting over DeMarquis Gates at the Mike spot and leading the team with eight tackles against Wofford, the grad transfer from Oregon State was listed on top of the weekly depth chart update heading into the Bama game. That doesn’t necessarily mean that’ll be the case on Saturday.

“I keep saying that but last week is not a good judge of, how he’s going to fit the zone and the power, because we didn’t see it,” Freeze said on Monday. “I love the kid and I like the way he prepares, but it’s just too early to tell.”

Megeo, a multi-year starter in Corvallis who led the Beavers in tackles last season, was expected to immediately fill C.J. Johnson’s spot in the middle, but the learning curve for Dave Wommack’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme has delayed things. It does make since that this Saturday would be the game that we see the coaches really push Mageo into the role. Here’s what I wrote before the season:

At 211 pounds, Gates is also a bit undersized, which is one reason the coaches would prefer to have the 233-pound Mageo manning the middle. That shouldn’t necessarily be a problem against a Florida State zone blocking scheme that relies on speed and angles more so than brute-force frontal assault, but that changes in Week 3 when Bama comes to town. I’d guess that Freeze has Sept. 17 circled as his goal for having Mageo moved into a starting role.

Mageo, for his part, is ready to roll: when asked to explain how he intends to “scare” freshman QB Jalen Hurts, Mageo said, “just hit him hard.”

Victor Evans is going through concussion protocol.

The freshman defensive end got banged up against Wofford, but Freeze said he’s “already passed his test” and “should be fine,” though the medical staff hasn’t yet reached a final determination. That’s some refreshingly positive injury news for a team that’s already had a high casualty rate. Freshman wideout D.K. Metcalf—who’d scored two touchdowns in his first two games—broke his foot on Saturday and will likely sit for the rest of the season with a medical redshirt. If he’s indeed shelved, that’s three season-ending injuries in the span of two games.

The coaches didn’t have much time to work on the pass defense last week.

After the inexperienced secondary allowed Deondre Francois to shred them with 8.1 yards per attempt in the opener, there’s no doubt that the coaches want to devote major practice time to shoring up the pass D—indeed, Freeze talked in detail last week about the technique issues he saw in Orlando. The problem is, the short week and the need to prep for Wofford’s triple-option offense didn’t leave any time for it.

Here’s Freeze on Monday:

Week 1, we didn’t handle it really well. We have been paying attention to it, starting yesterday. We couldn’t last week because we had two days to get ready for the wishbone and there weren’t a lot of things we could do. I will be confident by the time our game comes with our plans and hope that we’ve done a good job of communicating the proper techniques to try to defend their passing game.

Bama obviously isn’t a pass-happy team, but Lane Kiffin loves taking vertical shots and Hurts hit bombs of 39 and 71 yards against USC.

“They’re going to be tested this week,” Freeze said of his young safeties. “With all the run defense and all the shot plays, they’ll be tested.”

Freeze said he doesn’t plan on running the ole Tip Six play again [WINK EMOJI]

One thing I’ll say is [Chad Kelly] knows he shouldn’t have done that, but in his thinking he knew that Laquon [Treadwell] was there and that he’d have a chance to fight for it — and he knew Laquon would. So that’s Chad’s reasoning. That has a little merit. I’m not crazy about wildly doing that again, but you need a few breaks when you’re playing great teams… You need one of those ball bounces to your way every now and then. But I’d just as soon us not do that again.

Smart move, coach. Bait Saban into thinking you’ve removed that totally-by-design call from your play book, then unleash it midway through the second quarter. Savvy stuff, there.

As first reported by TigerNet, Hunter Renfrow suffered a broken hand during Clemson’s week 2 contest against Troy. After making an acrobatic touchdown catch, his second of the season, he crumpled to the ground. He eventually got up and appeared okay, but it was likely this play (pictured above) during which he was injured.

Clemson will now rely more heavily on Deon Cain and to a lesser extent on Trevion Thompson and Cornell Powell. Clemson’s receiving corps came into the season hyped as the best in the nation. They will now have to prove their depth.

He will miss important games against Georgia Tech and Louisville, but may return in time for Florida State.