From Phil Steele's website....
HEARD IT THRU THE GRAPEVINE.
Here are the latest happenings in college football from this past week.I list Connecticut with 6 starters back on defense in my magazine but you can now make that 7. S Dahna Deleston who had 10 starts and 64 tackles last year was dismissed from the team in the spring due to academics. He enrolled at UConn as a walk on, worked hard, made his grades and has been accepted back on the team by coach Edsall. U Conn was expected to get Jarrell Miller (PS #10) added to their LB corps giving it an upgrade in size and speed. He was declared ineligible this year however and must sit out....
Fresno St already had to replace 6 of their top 7 tacklers from last year. You can now make it their top 7 tacklers as their top returning tackler LB Ahijah Lane was injured in practice and is out for the year! Ben Jacobs who is a rFr and was their Scout Team player of the year last season will replace him. Bulldogs RB Clifton Smith (PS#42) who came back from injury last year but was nowhere near 100% continues to impress daily in camp and is living up to his near VHT billing. He will have an impact this year....
Kentucky lost a projected starting DE when Nii Adjei Oninku went down with an ACL injury last week. He had 5 starts last year.
The heat in Gainesville Florida is usually oppressive at the start of September at 12:30 in the afternoon. The Gators had their opener vs Western Kentucky originally scheduled for 6:00 but it has since been moved to 12:30 for TV. You can expect a lot of backups to see action in this one....
North Carolina St figures to be a Turnovers=Turnaround team this year and look no further than their switch at defensive coordinator. The Wolfpack were -11 in turnovers last year and their new DC is Mike Archer. Archer was the DC at Kentucky last year and his unit forced 32 takeaways helping the Cats to a +15 in turnovers.
USF got a solid addition in Carlton Hill to the roster. Hill (PS#15 QB) played some QB as a true frosh but transferred to a JC after being moved to WR last year. Both he and the coach held open the door for his comeback and he IS back on the team and working at WR after a brief experiment at DB....
Arkansas WR Marcus Monk, who is NFL caliber and by far the Hogs? BEST WR, had arthroscopic surgery and will miss at least a month meaning he is out for the opener.
Projected starting OT Levi Mack (PS#44JC) had shoulder surgery and will redshirt this year at BYU.
USC QB Mark Sanchez broke his thumb and will miss about 6 weeks. The injury is allowing true frosh Aaron Corp (PS#9) to get a lot of reps with the 2nd unit although walk-on Michael McDonald is listed as the backup....
Ole Miss got a late addition in DT Jerrell Powe (PS#2DL) who originally signed in 2005 but has not been eligible. While not on the spring roster, he is now on the fall roster and is 6-3 345 and could make quite an impact on the line. In other Ole Miss news WR AJ Jackson (PS#31 JC) failed to qualify. Lionel Breaux asked for a switch from DB to WR and had a KR TD in practice prompting coach Orgeron to say ?I think we found us a playmaker at that position?.
QB Todd Reesing (5?11? 200 PS#95) was announced to have won the Kansas QB battle over Kerry Meier (6?3? 226 PS#34) and is now taking the majority of snaps with the 1st string. Meier had 8 sts as a frosh and has a strong arm and mobility (faster than Reesing) but has not been 100% this August.
I was happy to see that Randy Edsall ended the suspense of who would be the starting QB at Connecticut when he picked JC transfer Tyler Lorenzen as the starter and Lorenzen was my preseason pick in the magazine. Here is an irony for you. Lorenzen was a walk on WR at Iowa St that MOVED TO QB after two years. One of UC?s top WR?s is DJ Hernandez who was a starting QB but has been MOVED TO WR.
UNLV rFr QB Travis Dixon is making it a legitimate QB battle this August. While Rocky Hinds, my projected starter, was in California getting a checkup on his knee, Dixon was guiding the #1 offense and had 4 TD passes on 4 consecutive drives vs the 1st team defense! Hinds will miss at least the opener with his injury so the job might just be Dixon?s for keeps this year.
Cincinnatti has their top 3 TB?s from last year returning and they are all seniors. With a new head coach, Jacob Ramsey (PS#106) who was moved to LB as a frosh and requested a move back to RB, could steal some time. Kelly says ?He can accelerate at a different level than the others. He?s got that breakaway speed.? New head coaches are always looking at new players. The general consensus is that the Cincy QB battle is between Dustin Grutza who has 22 starts under his belt and transfer Ben Mauk who was a starter at Wake Forest until injury. It was surprising however to see 6?6? soph Tony Pike taking snaps with the first string last week.
BYU?s defense has now lost two returning starters for the season so they have just 5 back (see injury notes tab).
Ole Miss RB/WR/KR Mico McSwain, who set the Rebels? school record for yards rushing by a freshman in 2005, is academically ineligible and will not play this year.
UAB got a big boost at RB when Miss St transfer Brandon Thornton was ruled that he did not have to sit out a year after transfer. He was the Bulldogs? #2 rusher last year and was PS#113 RB but will miss the first 3 weeks rehabbing his shoulder. My projected starter at RB for UAB was Alabama transfer Aaron Johns but he did not qualify.
Georgia DT Jeff Owens benches 535 pounds and runs a 4.85 40. He did not make the preseason All SEC list (I had him 3rd team) but he is well motivated to prove he is one of the top DT?s in the SEC.
Idaho has 9 players that are gone since the spring and not on the fall roster so make sure you check out our Injury Notes and circle those players in your magazine.
Southern Miss had JUCO OL Julius Gray (PS#57) in for the spring and I projected him as a starter. He left the team last week and coach Bower is holding the door open for him but it looks like he will not play this year.
SMU lost projected starting FS Rock Dennis for the year with a shoulder injury. Dennis figured to be a solid boost for the secondary with his 4.34 speed.
North Carolina?s Butch Davis has named his starting QB and it is rFr TJ Yates who I projected to win the position back in the spring. He will be the 4th QB in 4 years to start the opener for the Heels.
Every year Mitch Vingel of the Charleston Gazettte in West Virginia forecasts the record for Marshall for the upcoming year. He has been uncanny in his selections and last year pegged it dead on once again calling for them to finish 5-7 and that is exactly where they finished. This year he calls for them to win vs New Hampshire, Cincy, Rice and UAB and lose the rest of their games. Mitch?s forecast is 4-8 and we will see how close that is to their finish this year.
Texas Tech lost projected starting OL Ofa Mohetau (PS#1) who quit the team this past week. At 362 pounds, he is a LARGE loss.
Unheralded freshman Colorado WR Josh Smith ?J-fly? continued to make waves and it looks like he will become the team?s deep threat as a true frosh. Unfortunately he bruised his kidney in the Buffs? latest scrimmage and may miss the opener vs rival CSU. He still may be worthy of a last pick darkhorse in fantasy drafts.
BYU has lost their 3rd DB for the season this past week (see Injury List).
Cincinnati?s new starting C is Jason Kelce who was a walk-on LB last year who earned Scout team defensive player of the year honors and added 40 pounds in the offseason for the move.
Converted Northwestern QB Andrew Brewer who had claimed a starting WR spot and was being counted on for his versatility, broke his arm and will miss the season.
I had projected Kent St transfer Michael Machen to be the Baylor Bears? starting QB this year. I was off on that one. Morris narrowed the 4 man race to down to a 2 man battle and it is between Blake Szymanski and rFr Tyler Beatty (6-3 200, PS#168).
Last year the longest FG attempted by Nebraska was 42 yards. This year true frosh Adi Kunalic will give them a stronger leg at the position and he says he is comfortable from up to 65 yards. Also in a practice last week kicking off into the wind he had most of his kickoffs into the end zone which will really help them with the rule change.
Another guy to look at for you fantasy football players is Missouri WR Danario Alexander. He has been the team?s most explosive offensive player this August and set the school record for vertical leap at 46?. Last year the top player in the NFL combine had a 41? leap!
In August 18th?s scrimmage the starting backfield for Oklahoma was QB Sam Bradford and RB Demarco Murray. In that same scrimmage Garrett Hartley hit back to back 57 and 61 yard FG?s! By the way if you are discounting Oklahoma?s chances of the winning the Big XII with a redshirt frosh at QB, I will offer two pieces of evidence to say they can do it. Last year?s starting QB Paul Thompson was playing WR in the spring and summer and did not get move back to QB until August so they are in better shape this year. Also last year Colt McCoy was a first time starter as a rFr in the Big XII and he threw for 68% completions with a 29-7 ratio despite being injured the last 2 games.
Oregon St WR Sammie Stroughter who had 1293 yards receiving (833 more than the #2 man!) last year and led the team with a super 15.7 on PR?s and 3 TD?s is still not practicing with the team. There is less than two weeks to the opener so he does not figure to have much of an impact vs Utah which is unfortunate with their young QB?s. In a scrimmage on 8/18 Sean Canfield worked mostly with the first string but hit just 6 of 13 of 77 yards while Lyle Moevao worked with the #2?s and was more effective hitting 17 of 33 for 213 yards.
South Carolina is searching for a replacement for Sidney Rice at WR. They moved DB Mark Barnes to WR last week and in his first scrimmage he had 4 receptions for 80 yards including a 36 yard TD.
Last year Wisconsin?s non-conference slate was Bowling Green, Western Illinois, San Diego St and Buffalo and they did not have to face Ohio St. This year?s Big Ten team with that type of schedule is Iowa which avoids Michigan and Ohio St and their non- conference schedule is Iowa St, Syracuse, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
The AP rankings came out this past weekend and ranked in the preseason for the FIRST TIME EVER is Hawaii (#23), and Rutgers (#16). Who has been ranked #1 the most times? Tied at #1 is Notre Dame and Oklahoma at 95 with Ohio St #3 with 88. USC has a shot at the top spot as their preseason #1 ranking marks the 82nd time and an unbeaten season would get them there.
I rate UL Monroe as one of the most improved teams in the country and Tulsa has a new head coach and lost some top notch talent. ULM is very high for their opener vs Tulsa which is on their new field and on national TV.
Illinois has an intriguing prospect at TE in CJ Jackson who is 6?8? and 272 pounds. He was on the basketball team but opted to change to a football scholarship. I think Antonio Gates? NFL success makes his progress worth watching this year.
Nevada will be without their top two centers vs Nebraska for the opener. Their top guy is injured and the backup is off the team and the center?s snaps in the Pistol offense are vital especially when playing in front of 80,000 plus on the road.
Last year Oklahoma St led the Big XII in 4th down conversion percentage at 72.7%. They went for it 33 times which was the 6th most in the Big XII but Gundy says they will be playing exciting ball this year and will go for it on 4th down more often.
UTEP QB Brandis Dew (PS#21) was moved to the defensive line over the summer and has not only broken into the two deep but is contending for a starting job. He is 6?5? 275 and would have signed with a BCS school had he been willing to play defense out of high school.
QB Kyle Wright is in a tight battle with Kirby Freeman for the starting job at Miami Florida but has been injured and will miss a couple of days of practice which could be crucial in the decision.
TCU announced their starting QB and it is rFr Andy Dalton (PS#74) who surprisingly beat out soph Marcus Jackson (also a PS#74) who was the only QB on the roster with experience. QB coach Dick Winder says that Dalton has learned the offense faster than anyfreshman ever has under him. He did dress for each road trip as a true frosh last year.
Arizona St?s defensive line is banged up. Two players are expected to be out for at least the first four games in Tranell Morant (knee) and Saia Falahola (triceps). DE Luis Vasquez has an ankle injury and is not practicing so they moved TE Dane Guthrie (PS#15) over to the DL. Guthrie had a sack and a pbu in his first scrimmage on that side of the ball.
Glenn Cook was voted Miami Florida?s top LB in 2006 but he suffered an August foot injury and it looks like he is out for at least the first month and possibly the year pending a medical exam which should come this week.
Nebraska CB Zachary Bowman practiced in full pads this past week and could return sooner than expected. He is rated one of the top available CB?s for next year?s draft.
Iowa?s WR corps took a hit when Dominique Douglas (NCAA?s leading true frosh in ?06 with 49 rec) and 2nd stringer Anthony Bowman (PS#77) were suspended indefinitely following an arrest for unauthorized use of a credit card.
Marshall true frosh RB Darius Marshall is making waves in the Herd camp pushing projected starter Chub Small and will burn his RS early this year. Herd soph CB Zerrick Matthews is out until at least Sept 22nd after breaking his arm.
Florida St C John Frady will be out until Sept 8th and then move to TE.
:SIB
HEARD IT THRU THE GRAPEVINE.
Here are the latest happenings in college football from this past week.I list Connecticut with 6 starters back on defense in my magazine but you can now make that 7. S Dahna Deleston who had 10 starts and 64 tackles last year was dismissed from the team in the spring due to academics. He enrolled at UConn as a walk on, worked hard, made his grades and has been accepted back on the team by coach Edsall. U Conn was expected to get Jarrell Miller (PS #10) added to their LB corps giving it an upgrade in size and speed. He was declared ineligible this year however and must sit out....
Fresno St already had to replace 6 of their top 7 tacklers from last year. You can now make it their top 7 tacklers as their top returning tackler LB Ahijah Lane was injured in practice and is out for the year! Ben Jacobs who is a rFr and was their Scout Team player of the year last season will replace him. Bulldogs RB Clifton Smith (PS#42) who came back from injury last year but was nowhere near 100% continues to impress daily in camp and is living up to his near VHT billing. He will have an impact this year....
Kentucky lost a projected starting DE when Nii Adjei Oninku went down with an ACL injury last week. He had 5 starts last year.
The heat in Gainesville Florida is usually oppressive at the start of September at 12:30 in the afternoon. The Gators had their opener vs Western Kentucky originally scheduled for 6:00 but it has since been moved to 12:30 for TV. You can expect a lot of backups to see action in this one....
North Carolina St figures to be a Turnovers=Turnaround team this year and look no further than their switch at defensive coordinator. The Wolfpack were -11 in turnovers last year and their new DC is Mike Archer. Archer was the DC at Kentucky last year and his unit forced 32 takeaways helping the Cats to a +15 in turnovers.
USF got a solid addition in Carlton Hill to the roster. Hill (PS#15 QB) played some QB as a true frosh but transferred to a JC after being moved to WR last year. Both he and the coach held open the door for his comeback and he IS back on the team and working at WR after a brief experiment at DB....
Arkansas WR Marcus Monk, who is NFL caliber and by far the Hogs? BEST WR, had arthroscopic surgery and will miss at least a month meaning he is out for the opener.
Projected starting OT Levi Mack (PS#44JC) had shoulder surgery and will redshirt this year at BYU.
USC QB Mark Sanchez broke his thumb and will miss about 6 weeks. The injury is allowing true frosh Aaron Corp (PS#9) to get a lot of reps with the 2nd unit although walk-on Michael McDonald is listed as the backup....
Ole Miss got a late addition in DT Jerrell Powe (PS#2DL) who originally signed in 2005 but has not been eligible. While not on the spring roster, he is now on the fall roster and is 6-3 345 and could make quite an impact on the line. In other Ole Miss news WR AJ Jackson (PS#31 JC) failed to qualify. Lionel Breaux asked for a switch from DB to WR and had a KR TD in practice prompting coach Orgeron to say ?I think we found us a playmaker at that position?.
QB Todd Reesing (5?11? 200 PS#95) was announced to have won the Kansas QB battle over Kerry Meier (6?3? 226 PS#34) and is now taking the majority of snaps with the 1st string. Meier had 8 sts as a frosh and has a strong arm and mobility (faster than Reesing) but has not been 100% this August.
I was happy to see that Randy Edsall ended the suspense of who would be the starting QB at Connecticut when he picked JC transfer Tyler Lorenzen as the starter and Lorenzen was my preseason pick in the magazine. Here is an irony for you. Lorenzen was a walk on WR at Iowa St that MOVED TO QB after two years. One of UC?s top WR?s is DJ Hernandez who was a starting QB but has been MOVED TO WR.
UNLV rFr QB Travis Dixon is making it a legitimate QB battle this August. While Rocky Hinds, my projected starter, was in California getting a checkup on his knee, Dixon was guiding the #1 offense and had 4 TD passes on 4 consecutive drives vs the 1st team defense! Hinds will miss at least the opener with his injury so the job might just be Dixon?s for keeps this year.
Cincinnatti has their top 3 TB?s from last year returning and they are all seniors. With a new head coach, Jacob Ramsey (PS#106) who was moved to LB as a frosh and requested a move back to RB, could steal some time. Kelly says ?He can accelerate at a different level than the others. He?s got that breakaway speed.? New head coaches are always looking at new players. The general consensus is that the Cincy QB battle is between Dustin Grutza who has 22 starts under his belt and transfer Ben Mauk who was a starter at Wake Forest until injury. It was surprising however to see 6?6? soph Tony Pike taking snaps with the first string last week.
BYU?s defense has now lost two returning starters for the season so they have just 5 back (see injury notes tab).
Ole Miss RB/WR/KR Mico McSwain, who set the Rebels? school record for yards rushing by a freshman in 2005, is academically ineligible and will not play this year.
UAB got a big boost at RB when Miss St transfer Brandon Thornton was ruled that he did not have to sit out a year after transfer. He was the Bulldogs? #2 rusher last year and was PS#113 RB but will miss the first 3 weeks rehabbing his shoulder. My projected starter at RB for UAB was Alabama transfer Aaron Johns but he did not qualify.
Georgia DT Jeff Owens benches 535 pounds and runs a 4.85 40. He did not make the preseason All SEC list (I had him 3rd team) but he is well motivated to prove he is one of the top DT?s in the SEC.
Idaho has 9 players that are gone since the spring and not on the fall roster so make sure you check out our Injury Notes and circle those players in your magazine.
Southern Miss had JUCO OL Julius Gray (PS#57) in for the spring and I projected him as a starter. He left the team last week and coach Bower is holding the door open for him but it looks like he will not play this year.
SMU lost projected starting FS Rock Dennis for the year with a shoulder injury. Dennis figured to be a solid boost for the secondary with his 4.34 speed.
North Carolina?s Butch Davis has named his starting QB and it is rFr TJ Yates who I projected to win the position back in the spring. He will be the 4th QB in 4 years to start the opener for the Heels.
Every year Mitch Vingel of the Charleston Gazettte in West Virginia forecasts the record for Marshall for the upcoming year. He has been uncanny in his selections and last year pegged it dead on once again calling for them to finish 5-7 and that is exactly where they finished. This year he calls for them to win vs New Hampshire, Cincy, Rice and UAB and lose the rest of their games. Mitch?s forecast is 4-8 and we will see how close that is to their finish this year.
Texas Tech lost projected starting OL Ofa Mohetau (PS#1) who quit the team this past week. At 362 pounds, he is a LARGE loss.
Unheralded freshman Colorado WR Josh Smith ?J-fly? continued to make waves and it looks like he will become the team?s deep threat as a true frosh. Unfortunately he bruised his kidney in the Buffs? latest scrimmage and may miss the opener vs rival CSU. He still may be worthy of a last pick darkhorse in fantasy drafts.
BYU has lost their 3rd DB for the season this past week (see Injury List).
Cincinnati?s new starting C is Jason Kelce who was a walk-on LB last year who earned Scout team defensive player of the year honors and added 40 pounds in the offseason for the move.
Converted Northwestern QB Andrew Brewer who had claimed a starting WR spot and was being counted on for his versatility, broke his arm and will miss the season.
I had projected Kent St transfer Michael Machen to be the Baylor Bears? starting QB this year. I was off on that one. Morris narrowed the 4 man race to down to a 2 man battle and it is between Blake Szymanski and rFr Tyler Beatty (6-3 200, PS#168).
Last year the longest FG attempted by Nebraska was 42 yards. This year true frosh Adi Kunalic will give them a stronger leg at the position and he says he is comfortable from up to 65 yards. Also in a practice last week kicking off into the wind he had most of his kickoffs into the end zone which will really help them with the rule change.
Another guy to look at for you fantasy football players is Missouri WR Danario Alexander. He has been the team?s most explosive offensive player this August and set the school record for vertical leap at 46?. Last year the top player in the NFL combine had a 41? leap!
In August 18th?s scrimmage the starting backfield for Oklahoma was QB Sam Bradford and RB Demarco Murray. In that same scrimmage Garrett Hartley hit back to back 57 and 61 yard FG?s! By the way if you are discounting Oklahoma?s chances of the winning the Big XII with a redshirt frosh at QB, I will offer two pieces of evidence to say they can do it. Last year?s starting QB Paul Thompson was playing WR in the spring and summer and did not get move back to QB until August so they are in better shape this year. Also last year Colt McCoy was a first time starter as a rFr in the Big XII and he threw for 68% completions with a 29-7 ratio despite being injured the last 2 games.
Oregon St WR Sammie Stroughter who had 1293 yards receiving (833 more than the #2 man!) last year and led the team with a super 15.7 on PR?s and 3 TD?s is still not practicing with the team. There is less than two weeks to the opener so he does not figure to have much of an impact vs Utah which is unfortunate with their young QB?s. In a scrimmage on 8/18 Sean Canfield worked mostly with the first string but hit just 6 of 13 of 77 yards while Lyle Moevao worked with the #2?s and was more effective hitting 17 of 33 for 213 yards.
South Carolina is searching for a replacement for Sidney Rice at WR. They moved DB Mark Barnes to WR last week and in his first scrimmage he had 4 receptions for 80 yards including a 36 yard TD.
Last year Wisconsin?s non-conference slate was Bowling Green, Western Illinois, San Diego St and Buffalo and they did not have to face Ohio St. This year?s Big Ten team with that type of schedule is Iowa which avoids Michigan and Ohio St and their non- conference schedule is Iowa St, Syracuse, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
The AP rankings came out this past weekend and ranked in the preseason for the FIRST TIME EVER is Hawaii (#23), and Rutgers (#16). Who has been ranked #1 the most times? Tied at #1 is Notre Dame and Oklahoma at 95 with Ohio St #3 with 88. USC has a shot at the top spot as their preseason #1 ranking marks the 82nd time and an unbeaten season would get them there.
I rate UL Monroe as one of the most improved teams in the country and Tulsa has a new head coach and lost some top notch talent. ULM is very high for their opener vs Tulsa which is on their new field and on national TV.
Illinois has an intriguing prospect at TE in CJ Jackson who is 6?8? and 272 pounds. He was on the basketball team but opted to change to a football scholarship. I think Antonio Gates? NFL success makes his progress worth watching this year.
Nevada will be without their top two centers vs Nebraska for the opener. Their top guy is injured and the backup is off the team and the center?s snaps in the Pistol offense are vital especially when playing in front of 80,000 plus on the road.
Last year Oklahoma St led the Big XII in 4th down conversion percentage at 72.7%. They went for it 33 times which was the 6th most in the Big XII but Gundy says they will be playing exciting ball this year and will go for it on 4th down more often.
UTEP QB Brandis Dew (PS#21) was moved to the defensive line over the summer and has not only broken into the two deep but is contending for a starting job. He is 6?5? 275 and would have signed with a BCS school had he been willing to play defense out of high school.
QB Kyle Wright is in a tight battle with Kirby Freeman for the starting job at Miami Florida but has been injured and will miss a couple of days of practice which could be crucial in the decision.
TCU announced their starting QB and it is rFr Andy Dalton (PS#74) who surprisingly beat out soph Marcus Jackson (also a PS#74) who was the only QB on the roster with experience. QB coach Dick Winder says that Dalton has learned the offense faster than anyfreshman ever has under him. He did dress for each road trip as a true frosh last year.
Arizona St?s defensive line is banged up. Two players are expected to be out for at least the first four games in Tranell Morant (knee) and Saia Falahola (triceps). DE Luis Vasquez has an ankle injury and is not practicing so they moved TE Dane Guthrie (PS#15) over to the DL. Guthrie had a sack and a pbu in his first scrimmage on that side of the ball.
Glenn Cook was voted Miami Florida?s top LB in 2006 but he suffered an August foot injury and it looks like he is out for at least the first month and possibly the year pending a medical exam which should come this week.
Nebraska CB Zachary Bowman practiced in full pads this past week and could return sooner than expected. He is rated one of the top available CB?s for next year?s draft.
Iowa?s WR corps took a hit when Dominique Douglas (NCAA?s leading true frosh in ?06 with 49 rec) and 2nd stringer Anthony Bowman (PS#77) were suspended indefinitely following an arrest for unauthorized use of a credit card.
Marshall true frosh RB Darius Marshall is making waves in the Herd camp pushing projected starter Chub Small and will burn his RS early this year. Herd soph CB Zerrick Matthews is out until at least Sept 22nd after breaking his arm.
Florida St C John Frady will be out until Sept 8th and then move to TE.
:SIB
