LSU Sixth in Preseason Coaches Poll; Fall Camp Day One Roundup

Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Day one of LSU’s fall practices are in the books, so lets check out what the #beatbros had to say…

  • Practice reports from The Advocate: the morning session featured just two freshmen, Michael Divinity and Devin White, which probably reflects the linebacker depth and how many younger players they have to fill out the afternoon. The afternoon featured the newbie defensive linemen and both safeties Eric Monroe and Cameron Lewis, who both had surgery this offseason.
  • Tiger Rag broke their practice reports into sections on Offense and Defense.
  • Couple features out of the post-morning-practice media availability on J.D. Moore, Kevin Toliver, who hasn’t been on the field since the Texas Bowl, and Josh Boutte, who is competing with K.J. Malone and Garrett Brumfield to make the starting lineup as a senior.
  • Les Miles from this evening’s press conference:
  • Couple more practice videos:

In other news, the first ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll came out today, with the Tigers coming in at sixth. Alabama, unsurprisingly, checked in at No. 1, and four other SEC teams made the cut — including Tennessee at 10, with a first-place vote even.

Written on August 4, 2016 at 8:32 pm


The Final Cockdown: #14, Jamari Smith

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

While the redshirt junior’s been bounced around a lot, he’s hopefully found a home at WR.

Jamari Smith

Redshirt Junior

Cornerback

5’10”, 210

Jacksonville, FL

Recruitment

Smith was the 14th-rated all-purpose back in the class of 2013. Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Penn State offered him along with the Gamecocks, but it was Carolina that eventually won out for his services after he was recruited by Steve Spurrier Jr. and Everette Sands (who ironically are both no longer here).

College Career

It’s been a career that’s seen Smith get bounced around a bit. Follow along if you can: After a true freshman campaign in 2013 that saw him moved to CB in camp, then back to RB later in the season, he appeared to have his star turn against Coastal Carolina (10 carries, 103 yards and a score) in the Gamecocks’ 70-10 whitewashing of the Chants in 2013. Then, he broke his foot during the 2014 preseason. After redshirting, he was slotted back at CB before the 2015 preseason with a few reps at WR before moving to WR full time in the spring.

2016 Outlook

With the wide receiver spot being a position of much need heading into 2016, the Gamecocks hope that they have finally found some stability for Smith as a first-string WR. A new offensive system installed by Kurt Roper will hopefully play to his strengths as a speedy athlete (4.4 40) that could be used in several ways: as a legitimate downfield threat and/or on slant patterns toward the middle of the field, or in end around/jet sweep packages (given his RB skillset) similar to how I envisioned Lorenzo Nuñez being used.

Written on August 4, 2016 at 7:54 pm


Auburn Football 2016: Practice #2 Updates & Post-Practice Press Conferences

The Tigers were on the field again this afternoon. Let’s check in on what the beat writers saw in their media viewing window and what Gus and the players had to say in the post-practice press conference.

Is there anything of note from Day 2 of Auburn’s 2016 Fall Camp? Let’s check in on the tweets from the beat writers about the viewing period and then we’ll get to Gus Malzahn’s press conference at the bottom.

For a few recaps, here’s 247Sports and the Ledger-Enquirer.

Can we talk about how Nate Craig-Myers looks like he could be in an NFL training camp? He’s huge. The Tigers will have some real weapons in these freshmen wide receivers.

GUS MALZAHN PC

So, Stephen Davis Jr is starting out at running back? Well, he’s got the size, talent, and pedigree for it. It’s interesting that Gus says he’ll probably end up at Safety. I knew he was going back to D, but with that size I almost figured him more for a linebacker if he bulks up. Either way, he’s not a bad option to carry the ball.

All of the late arrivals have been cleared? WOOOOO!!! Nick Coe thrills me, y’all. I didn’t want to lose him to a JUCO and then have to recruit him again. He’s an absolute beast as a 6’6 255 lbs state champion wrestler. Add some weight and he could destroy OLs on the interior or beat tackles around the edge.

The players all have good things to say, too. I hope Kerryon Johnson gets to the podium a whole lot more. He’s also a great Twitter follow, too. I don’t follow many players, but he’s definitely one of them.

Let’s just get to the Tweets, though, shall we?

PLAYERS:

Written on August 4, 2016 at 7:41 pm


Watch: 2016-2017 Oklahoma State football hype video

Alexander Beiersdorf (@zanderb81) has done it again. This hype video is fantastic.

Written on August 4, 2016 at 7:33 pm


State of Arizona football: A fresh approach to recruiting

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Wildcats should see positive results from the coaching changes in the coming years

I’d like to thank Coach Rodriguez for allowing us to pick him apart in our initial assessment of the state of Arizona football. He’s a quality fella. And while I believe it was the right call to begin the conversation with the man at the top, the head coach is but one of many aspects which determine the overall quality of a program. So where should we go from here?

In my mind it would be prudent to build upon the ongoing discussing of what many consider to be the backbone of any program – recruiting. While securing highly-ranked classes will not guarantee results, it is generally considered to be an accurate barometer of the direction of your program and an indication of your future success. Consistently elite programs attract top talent and effectively translate it into a winning product on the field.

Consider Alabama, that frustratingly dependable juggernaut who keeps SEC coaches up at night. Benjamin Franklin once said that three things in life were certain: death, taxes, and quality Alabama football. OK, the third item may or may not have been an addition of my own, but we’re unfortunately getting to the point of plausibility.

According to 247sports, the Crimson Tide have had the No. 1 recruiting class every year for the last six years. That is such an astonishing figure that it’s hard to imagine them not winning since pretty much every time the players take the field they are bigger, stronger, and faster than their opponent. And while I have no intention of taking credit from Nick Saban and co. for their coaching prowess (which is undoubtedly elite), for our purposes today it’s worth mentioning that his silver tongue is winning championships years ahead of time in the living rooms of high schoolers.

So yeah, recruiting is kind of a big deal. And if you have been following along, you know this is a particularly exciting time for Arizona fans. The 2017 class is currently ranked No. 17 in the nation (the highest of any Pac-12 school), which would easily end up being the best in the last decade:

  • 2008: 30
  • 2009: 54
  • 2010: 48
  • 2011: 48
  • 2012: 41
  • 2013: 44
  • 2014: 30
  • 2015: 43
  • 2016: 44
  • 2017: 17

So why the sudden leap? While recruiting is an inexact science, we can identify a few things that seem to be having a positive effect on the allure of spending your college years in the desert.

The first of which is the off-season shake-up of the coaching staff, in particular the additions of Marcel Yates and Donte’ Williams. Rich Rod publicly alluded to the fact that the coaching changes were largely attributable to Jeff Casteel’s inability to pull in the type of defensive recruits needed to be successful in a Power Five conference. Early indications suggest the changes were the right call (247sports ranks Williams as the 4th best recruiter in the Pac-12).

Speaking of Williams, he was the primary recruiter of Greg Johnson, the No. 1 ranked athlete in the country, who currently headlines the Wildcats’ 2017 class. Johnson grew up a few blocks away from USC and was long considered to be a slam-dunk Trojan (which he admittedly may still end up being), but Mr. Williams and the Wildcats swooped in and secured his commitment in early March. This raised some eyebrows and likely had an effect on the rest of the class; if you’re able land a few big commitments early, it has a tendency to snowball as more and more players see it as a chance to be part of something special.

While it’s understandable to get excited, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge a few caveats. These rankings are in constant flux and it’s probable that from this point forward Arizona will fall (they were ranked 14th just a few weeks ago). U of A already has 24 commitments, more than any other team ranked in the top 50. As other schools acquire more players, some will leapfrog Arizona in the rankings. Also, these “commitments” are essentially non-binding oral agreements from which players can walk away at any time until National Signing Day next February, so it would be prudent to maintain a healthy level of skepticism throughout this long, unpredictable process (just like you hopefully never fully allowed yourself believe that Terrance Ferguson would make it to campus).

But don’t hold yourself back either – the coaching staff currently has four of the top nine recruiters in the conference, and early indications are that the state of Arizona Wildcats recruiting is very much on the upswing. It will likely be a few years before it has any effect on the win-loss record, but a few more top-20 classes will give the Wildcats an excellent shot of becoming a force in the Pac-12 South.

The arrow is pointing up.

Written on August 4, 2016 at 7:05 pm


You can take the Tiger fan out of Auburn . . .

They do this stuff on purpose. That’s the scary part. – Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images

But you can never de-Auburn someone once they’ve been infected.

I’m not sure who the intrepid WarPlainsTigerBagMan driving this around Knoxville was, but I have a few guesses.

  • Bruce Pearl, coming back to campus to pick up that Journey cassette he forgot he hid in the air vent of his old office.
  • Recently dismissed Auburn tailback Jovon Robinson in town to meet with Butch Jones.
  • One of the founders of Mama Goldberg’s on a mission to bring fine dining to Creamsicle Country.
  • Pat Dye marketing his own off-brand version of truck nutz.

Thank you, Auburn man. You are the Jackass to our Scorsese. The corndog to our ribeye. The Gomer to our Andy. I freely admit that I occasionally happen upon a fellow Bulldog fan who has done or said something that I wish they had not. But I can always rest secure in the fact that they aren’t driving around Oxford or Nashville in a car that says “Georgia Tech suxxx!!!!” on the back next to an improvised set of canine testicles. So I got that going for me. Which is nice. Until later . . .

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Written on August 4, 2016 at 6:31 pm


Pitt left out of preseason USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Panthers were included in Stewart Mandel’s preseason Top 25 poll for Fox Sports recently. However, they didn’t crack one of the two ‘main’ polls in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Those rankings, released Thursday, had the Panthers buried well into the Others Receiving Votes column. To be exact, Pitt was a distant 41st there, grabbing a total of eight points.

I don’t come anywhere close to insisting the Panthers belong in the Top 25. As I’ve said before, the team lost its best offensive player in last season, has real questions at wide receiver, and has zero depth at quarterback. Heck, even if Nathan Peterman remains healthy, is there any guarantee he’ll be as capable as he was last year? I expect him to play well, but again, no guarantees there.

Pitt may eventually play its way into the rankings, but it’s far too early to be concerned about them being disrespected.

Alabama topped the poll with Clemson (No. 2), Florida State (No. 4), North Carolina (No. 20), and Louisville (No. 23) all getting in from the ACC.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill’s Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.

Written on August 4, 2016 at 6:30 pm


BOOM! 4-star TE Jimmy Jaggers Commits to UCLA Football

UCLA landed a top recruit from Northern California this afternoon.

Three days, three commitments.

After an almost unbearably slow summer which saw several recruits de-commit, UCLA’s 2017 recruiting class is picking up momentum very quickly this week as UCLA has now doubled the size of the next recruiting class in just a few days.

Today, UCLA landed a commitment from 4-star tight end Jimmy Jaggers from Roseville HS in Roseville, CA. Jaggers is considered to be one of the top tight ends in this year’s recruiting class.

Jaggers made his announcement via Twitter:

So, there you have it.

Not only will Jaggers be a Bruin next season, but he will also be an early enrollee! We love early enrollees because it means they can’t be flipped in that final month between the end of the football season and National Signing Day in February and early enrollees also tend to be pretty firm in the commitments overall.

Jaggers is 6’4” tall and weighs 244 lbs.

He’s got a ton of highlights posted to Hudl. Here are his junior year highlights:

Greg Biggins of Scout spoke with Jaggers about his commitment. Jaggers told Biggins:

My dad and I had dinner last night and we talked about everything and what UCLA offered was just too much to pass up. I debated back and forth between a few schools but I kept coming back to the people at UCLA and the opportunity to play there and that put them over the top….I’m going to be an early graduate and will be able to enroll at UCLA in time for Spring ball so I’m excited about that. I think UCLA is building something special right now and I’m very excited to be a part of that.

Sounds like a well-spoken young man to me and I can’t wait to see him wearing an new Under Armour UCLA uni next season.

Welcome to Westwood, Jimmy!

Go Bruins!!!

Written on August 4, 2016 at 6:07 pm


Texas Aggies absent from preseason Coaches Poll

College Football season is nearing as evidenced by the first real poll of the 2016 season. While that is exciting, we are a little let down by Texas A&M’s omission from the Amway Coaches Poll. The Aggies will face five teams that did make the cut (Alabama [1], LSU [6], Tennessee [10], Ole Miss [12], and UCLA [24]). Crap!

Hey, at least the Aggies received three more votes than the Longhorns. Please don’t brag about this publicly.

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS FIRST PLACE VOTES PREVIOUS RANK
1 Alabama Crimson Tide 0-0 1585 55 NR
2 Clemson Tigers 0-0 1524 7 NR
3 Oklahoma Sooners 0-0 1398 0 NR
4 Florida State Seminoles 0-0 1351 1 NR
5 Ohio State Buckeyes 0-0 1321 0 NR
6 LSU Tigers 0-0 1241 0 NR
7 Stanford Cardinal 0-0 1149 0 NR
8 Michigan Wolverines 0-0 1062 0 NR
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 0-0 1034 0 NR
10 Tennessee Volunteers 0-0 960 1 NR
11 Michigan State Spartans 0-0 901 0 NR
12 Ole Miss Rebels 0-0 792 0 NR
13 Houston Cougars 0-0 668 0 NR
14 TCU Horned Frogs 0-0 649 0 NR
15 Iowa Hawkeyes 0-0 579 0 NR
16 Georgia Bulldogs 0-0 525 0 NR
17 USC Trojans 0-0 468 0 NR
18 Washington Huskies 0-0 454 0 NR
19 Oklahoma State Cowboys 0-0 426 0 NR
20 North Carolina Tar Heels 0-0 422 0 NR
21 Baylor Bears 0-0 383 0 NR
22 Oregon Ducks 0-0 361 0 NR
23 Louisville Cardinals 0-0 331 0 NR
24 UCLA Bruins 0-0 296 0 NR
25 Florida Gators 0-0 245 0 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Miami (Fla.) 120; Wisconsin 82; Utah 73; Boise State 73; Washington State 47; Texas A&M 37; Texas 34; Arkansas 34; Northwestern 31; Navy 30; Mississippi State 19; San Diego State 18; Nebraska 17; Auburn 17; Western Kentucky 11; Pittsburgh 8; Brigham Young 6; Appalachian State 4; Duke 3; Arizona 2; Marshall 2; Toledo 2; South Florida 2; Memphis 1; Indiana 1; Northern Illinois 1.

Written on August 4, 2016 at 6:00 pm


Miami Hurricanes football commences for preseason camp: some notes

It’s on: 2016 University of Miami preseason football camp has begun. The guys were running hard and running all the time – during drills, after drills, before drills. Running. This team is high-tempo, all right.

Notes from the first hour we watched. We still haven’t talked to Mark Richt yet.

*** Quarterback Brad Kaaya was waaay down the field all day, some of it working with true freshman Jack Allison. Redshirt freshman Evan Shirreffs worked as the No. 2 guy in the hour we watched, with Vincent Testaverde and Malik Rosier behind him.

*** Saw the son of Pro Hall of Fame receiver and Miami great Michael Irvin’s son – tight end Michael Irvin II — looking mighty good with an extremely impressive, one-handed grab as he was falling to the ground. And guess what happened then? One of UM’s assistants yelled that the route he ran was [expletive]. He was being covered by strong-side linebacker Jermaine Grace. Irvin looks strong.

***Saw freshman receiver Sam Bruce playing in the slot. Saw fellow fellow freshman Ahmmon Richards lining up at the same time as transfer Dayall Harris. Saw senior Malcolm Lewis on the field making plays with junior Braxton Berrios.

*** It was good to see linebacker Darrion Owens back after tearing the ACL of his right knee at FAU in the second week of the 2015 season. He is a much-needed addition to that position group. In 2014, Owens played in 12 games, with no starts, and tallied 23 tackles and a pass breakup. He is from the same high school as first-team middle linebacker Shaquille Quarterman, who has done everything right since he arrived at UM in the spring.

*** Junior linebacker Juwon Young, listed as 6-2 and 248 pounds in the media guide, is no longer on the Roster. Young was behind freshman Michael Pinckney at weak-side. I hear he’s back in his home state of Georgia. He’s not expected back at Miami, as he was suspended indefinitely surrounding the rental-car situation in which other Canes, including defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad and strong-side starting linebacker Jermaine Grace, are allegedly involved. Young, like Muhammad and Grace, was a substantial talent. He finished 2015 with 47 tackles in 10 games, with four starts, adding three tackles for loss and an interception.

*** Kicker Diego Marquez is a new name on the roster, and he wears No. 98. He is a 6-1, 200-pound redshirt freshman from Loma Linda, Calif.

*** On the sidelines still recuperating from earlier injuries were defensive end Scott Patchan and fullback Gage Batten.

*** And the guy who made all of us do double-takes and elicited “oohs” and “ahhs” was new fullback Marquez Williams. He’s listed as 6-1, 280 and he can motor. He caught one from Shirreffs and zoomed down the field like a locomotive run wild.

 SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

 

 

Written on August 4, 2016 at 5:25 pm


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