Sports
Yet another Youtube video to get you jacked for the season opener. It’s almost here…
By The Associated Press (AP) –
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The most important thing to understand about last year’s Har-Ber Wildcats is that they weren’t about glamour.
They won the championship in Arkansas’ top high school class with a stout defense and an offense led by players like Brey Cook, a 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive lineman who is probably the state’s top prospect in 2010.
“We kind of went as he went,” coach Chris Wood said. “He was a pretty important piece of the puzzle.”
Even as a 10th grader, Cook was big enough to draw attention — but it takes more than size to succeed at the college level. Cook’s agility is also impressive, and as he enters his senior season, his skills and mobility will be on display for all to see as he tries to lead his team to another state championship.
“He’s just athletic for his size,” Wood said. “He’s got great feet.”
Cook has verbally committed to Arkansas, which plays home games about 20 minutes from his high school. If Razorbacks fans want a glimpse of the future, they might want to set aside a Friday night or two to check out Cook.
The Razorbacks were known for their powerful offensive lines when Houston Nutt roamed the sidelines and Darren McFadden was in the backfield. Bobby Petrino is the Razorbacks’ coach now, and he’s revamped the passing game — but strong offensive line play is no less important.
Blocking Southeastern Conference defensive linemen isn’t easy, but if any high school player in the state is ready, it’s Cook.
And Wood says his attitude will be a boost to any college team.
“He’s a great guy — real humble kid,” Wood said. “He’s the type of guy you want in the program.”
Ole Miss would not have taken Jeremiah Masoli had it known the NCAA’s interpretation of the quarterback’s transfer waiver request, coach Houston Nutt told CBSSports.com
Nutt said the university was surprised that the NCAA ruled that Masoli’s request violated the “spirit” of the NCAA transfer rule. Masoli was attempting to transfer to Ole Miss after graduating from Oregon. He was kicked out of the program during the offseason after a series of legal problems. Masoli had applied to be a Parks and Recreation graduate student at Ole Miss.
A few years ago the NCAA got rid of the rule that allowed grad students to transfer for a final year of eligibility if their course of study wasn’t offered at their present school. However, it did allow players to request a waiver.
That’s how Masoli got to Ole Miss. On Tuesday, the NCAA ruled that since Masoli was kicked off the team at Oregon, that his transfer request was athletically related more than academic. Ole Miss plans to appeal.
“What they ought to do is change the rule,” Nutt said. “We’ll see if, in the appeal, they see it in a different light.”
Masoli, a walk-on, will redshirt a year and come back for 2011, Nutt said. He also said that he is working on getting Masoli on scholarship in January.
“I think what they’re [NCAA] saying is we can’t promote bad behavior because he got kicked out of school,” a veteran school compliance official told CBSSports.com.
Players are allowed to transfer from Division I-A to Division I-AA without sitting out. That same compliance official told CBSSports.com that some schools are setting unique graduate programs in order to make it easier for players such as Masoli to transfer. There is no evidence that Ole Miss is one of those schools.
As expected, there’s a ton of discussion about it on the board. Lots of “ha ha” posts, but also some discussion about the NCAA ruling and debate.
Three. And here’s one from the annals…Orlando Watters vs Tennessee.
And of course, check out the thread.
More excellent Youtubes. This one is all defensive highlights.
Four.
Check out today’s submissions.
Interesting…I see something in common with a lot of those games. We’re getting plenty of respect from most in the national media.
But there’s a lot of chatter around that is fodder for challenging the great season we might have. For example, is the SEC on the decline? I guess the SEC could easily be on some level of decline. If the SEC doesn’t win the national championship this year, it will be a decline of sorts because the conference has won the last four. Anyway, I digress. On to the list.
By Chris Low
Everybody in the SEC has at least one difficult two-game stretch, the kind of stretch that can make or break a season.
Here’s a ranking of the toughest two-game stretches this season. The games have to be in successive weeks and can’t include a bye week in between or an extra day or two to prepare:
1. Ole Miss: The Rebels have to go on the road in back-to-back weeks to face Alabama on Oct. 16 and Arkansas on Oct. 23.
2. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs travel to Alabama on Nov. 13 and return home the following week to face Arkansas on Nov. 20.
3. Arkansas: In the first month of the season, the Hogs travel to Georgia on Sept. 18 and come back home to face Alabama the next week on Sept. 25.
4. South Carolina: The Gamecocks have a home game with Arkansas on Nov. 6 and then go on the road the next week to face Florida on Nov. 13.
5. Vanderbilt: The Commodores go from playing Arkansas on the road on Oct. 30 to facing Florida at home a week later on Nov. 6.
6. Alabama: The Crimson Tide travel to Arkansas on Sept. 25 and come back home to face Florida the next week on Oct. 2.
7. Tennessee: The Vols take on Oregon the second week of the season on Sept. 11 and face Florida the next week on Sept. 18, both games at home.
8. Florida: The Gators’ road trip to Alabama on Oct. 2 is followed by a home date with LSU on Oct. 9.
9. Kentucky: The Wildcats in back-to-back weeks face road trips to Florida on Sept. 25 and Ole Miss on Oct. 2.
10. Georgia: The Bulldogs open their SEC schedule with a visit to South Carolina on Sept. 11 and come back home to face Arkansas the next week on Sept. 18.
11. LSU: The Tigers face Ole Miss on Nov. 20 at home and then end the regular season by facing Arkansas in Little Rock on Nov. 27.
12. Auburn: The Tigers face back-to-back home games against Arkansas on Oct. 16 and LSU on Oct. 23.
Five.
Check the Countdown Thread for today’s submissions.
One more week. Just one more…
Great video by HogDB.com to help tide you over. Or make it worse.
The Razorbacks released the first fall depth chart today and there are a few interesting items (to me anyway) and a whole lot of Ors. One can take this a couple of ways:
- The coaches are not committing yet and are using the depth chart as a motivator for next week’s game against powerhouse Tennessee Tech OR
- There’s such quality depth at those positions that naming a starter isn’t really important.
I’m good with either. Or both. Or express your opinion in the thread.
Offensive Ors:
- C – Seth Oxner (JR, 6-4,315) or Travis Swanson (FR, 6-5,305)
- LG – Wade Grayson (SR, 6-4, 302) or Grant Cook (JR, 6-4,322)
- LT (backup spot) – Grant Freeman (JR, 6-7,305) or Tyler Deacon (SO, 6-2,295)
- RB – Knile Davis (SO, 6-0,220) or Broderick Green (JR, 6-2,248) or Dennis Johnson (JR, 5-9,213) or Ronnie Wingo (SO, 6-3,227)
Defensive Ors:
- NG – Alfred Davis (SO, 6-1,326) or Byran Jones (FR, 6-2,310) or Zach Stadther (JR, 6-1,295)
- OLB – Anthony Leon (SR, 6-4,227) or Jerry Franklin (JR, 6-1,241)
- CB – Isaac Madison (JR, 5-11,185) or Darius Winston (SO, 6-0, 185)
Special Teams Ors:
- K – Alex Tejada (SR, 6-0,205) or Zach Hocker (FR, 6-0,170) or Eduardo Camara (FR, 5-8,160)
- P – Dylan Breeding (SO, 6-1,211) or Zach Hocker (FR, 6-0,170)
I don’t know what to make of the ORdering. The RBs look like they’re listed alphabetically. Same with the NGs. Not really anywhere else though. So it’s hard to say what’s what.
Interesting:
- We’ve got a ton of depth at the WR spot, but not so much behind Joe Adams. Curtis is a first year WR after moving from RB to CB. A true freshman, Julian Horton is backing them up.
- Chris Gragg at 3rd team. I haven’t seen Cleveland do much ever and the coaches have been talking Gragg up to the media.
- Tyler Deacon, a former (or current) walkon from Little Rock Christian is battling Grant Freeman for the backup LT spot.
- We have one guy listed at fullback. TE Austin Tate. At 6-6, 246 he has to be the tallest fullback in the country. Where in the hell has Van Stumon gone now?
- Demario Ambrose is listed above Tenarius Wright. Guess because Wright has missed some practice due to injuries. FR Chris Smith is 3rd.
- Jermaine Love is the #1 MLB.
- True freshman Eric Bennett has passed former safety ,redshirt freshman Jerry Mitchell at the CB spot behind Ramon Broadway. Somehow that lack of depth has me very uneasy. But, there are two CBs playing safety now and they could move back if needed.
- Joe Adams won the punt return job.
Download the depth chart PDF for your own dang self. Or don’t.
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