As expected, the biggest name of the day, Barry Sanders, chooses to go to Stanford.
Sanders, in the last commitment of the day, chose the Cardinal over Oklahoma State, Alabama and Florida State. The Heritage Hall (OK) running back has been one of the most touted recruits for the 2012 class.
by Ben
A social network has once again served as the microphone for an early-entry declaration as Ole Miss has, as expected, lost a member of its offensive line to the big-boy football league. On his Facebook wall Friday evening, Rebels right tackle Bobby Massie announced that “[i]t’s official I submitted my paperwork to the NFL… 2012 season I will be playing on sunday’s …it was fun Ole Miss.”
After taking the prep school route his first year out of high school, Massie started the final 36 games of his Rebels career.
All-SEC quarterback Tyler Wilson was well short of the record passing performance he had earlier this season at Cowboys Stadium, but did throw two touchdown passes after Adams’ fourth punt return for a TD and the Razorbacks beat No. 11 Kansas State 29-16 in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.
The Razorbacks (11-2) matched a school record with their 11th victory. Their only losses were to No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama, their SEC West rivals who will play for the BCS national championship Monday night“Joe Adams has made big plays for us all year long,” Wilson said. “We were struggling offensively until he sparked us. Great players make big plays, and he definitely got his.”
Adams’ 51-yard return early in the second quarter gave the Razorbacks a 10-0 lead before they even gained a first down. It was the first punt return for a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl in 51 years.
“It was another one of those where you just go, Wow!” coach Bobby Petrino said. “You could see when he made the catch he had in mind what he was going to do. We got some good blocks. … Joe showed great acceleration, made another spectacular play for us.”
Adams matched the SEC single-season record with his four punt return TDs. The senior receiver, who had five catches for only 22 yards Friday, was the only FBS player this season with multiple punt returns for TDs, along with rushing and receiving scores.
Rumors came to light earlier Friday that Florida and Alabama were competing for the services of Boise State offensive coordinator Brent Pease. According to the Idaho Statesman, Pease has decided to leave the Broncos and is considering job offers from Florida and Alabama. The Statesman writes that Florida is considered the favorite to land Pease.
Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun subsequently tweeted that it “looks like Brent Pease is the new Florida OC“, although UF head coach Will Muschamp texted Dooley “nothing done” on the coordinator front shortly thereafter.
None of the schools involved in the Pease speculation have announced or confirmed any move, hiring.
If the reports are accurate, this would actually mark the second time Pease has left Boise in a little over a year.According to AuburnUndercover.com and the Birmingham News, Dyer has been given a conditional release from his AU scholarship by the school. While the release is conditional, Arkansas State is reportedly one of the schools to which the Tigers will permit the running back to transfer.
Neither report explicitly stated Arkansas State is where Dyer is headed, although that certainly appears to be the direction this situation is headed. The other schools to which Dyer would be permitted to transfer were not named.
As ASU is a Div. 1-A (FBS) school, Dyer would be forced to sit a season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules unless he were granted a waiver. It’s believed Dyer will pursue that tack, although it’s unclear on what grounds the appeal to the NCAA would be based.
Dyer has rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of his two seasons with the Tigers, and was a first-team All-SEC performer this year, but has found himself ensconced in Gene Chizik‘s doghouse of late. The sophomore was suspended Dec. 11 for violating unspecified team rules and did not play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl win over Virginia.
A couple of days after gaining an unconditional release from his Tennessee scholarship, DeAnthony Arnett has landed in a familiar and expected new home. In a statement emailed to the media Wednesday night, Arnett announced that he will be transferring to Michigan State. The wide receiver is from nearby Saginaw, and had the Spartans in his final three choices earlier before opting for the Volunteers on Signing Day. Arnett’s father’s health has declined since he signed with the Vols, which prompted the player’s decision to seek an opportunity closer to home.
“After consideration by the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Notre Dame, I have decided that the best decision for my family and myself would be to attend Michigan State University,” the release stated. “I want to thank all the schools that showed support during this trying time. I look forward to continue my education and football career at Michigan State with Coach Mark Dantonio and the Spartans.”
In a move that’s only surprising in the fact that it came so close to the declaration deadline, Alshon Jeffery has officially taken his leave of the South Carolina football program. The All-SEC wide receiver told ESPN.com‘s Joe Schad Thursday morning that he’s leaving a year of eligibility on the table in order to make himself available for the April draft. Jeffery is considered to be a lock to be taken at some point during the first round. USC subsequently confirmed Jeffery’s decision via a press release. “I plan to forgo my senior season and enter the NFL Draft,” said Jeffery in a statement. “I would like to thank the fans, my teammates, Coach Spurrier and everyone involved for all the opportunities South Carolina has provided me. I am proud to say I will always be a Gamecock.”
Jeffery was a unanimous all-conference first-team selection following the 2010 season, but dropped to the second team as his production fell thanks to issues the Gamecocks had at the quarterback position. At 6-4, 229 pounds, however, Jeffery won’t have any problem attracting the attention of NFL scouts, regardless of what his 2011 production looks like on paper.
The Opelika-Auburn News is reporting that senior defensive back Drew Cole and 20-year-old sophomore Elizabeth Lauren “Libbie” Ainsworth were involved in a one-car accident Sunday night. Cole was treated and released from a hospital the night of the crash, but Ainsworth succumbed to her injuries late Tuesday night.
Cole and Ainsworth were dating, and were returning from a hunting trip. A state trooper said the two were looking for directions to a sporting goods store when the vehicle Cole was driving left the road and flipped, ejecting Ainsworth from the car.
“Even if the GPS is on your dash, you have to take your eyes off the roadway and focus on a three inch screen, and that’s exactly what happened here,” Sergeant Gary McWaters told WLTZ-TV. ”They left the roadway, jerked the steering wheel, and before you know it, he only had a few seconds.”
Franklin confirmed Tuesday that sophomore center Logan Stewart and freshman running back Mitchell Hester have been dismissed from the football program for violating unspecified team rules. The issues that led to the twin dismissals, which were not specified by the head coach, occurred withing the past month.
“It’s like I’ve told you, I’m going to have a player’s back but they have to have my back, our team’s back and the university’s back,” Franklin told The Tennessean. “If it’s going to come to a point where I don’t feel like it’s that way, we’ll make a change.”
Stewart suffered a season-ending injury after starting six games this year. Hester was a two-star member of Vandy’s 2011 recruiting class who took a redshirt for his true freshman season.
Georgia’s Blair Walsh became the Southeastern Conference’s career scoring leader with a field goal in the second extra period. But he missed a 42-yarder in the first overtime after conservative play-calling and had a 47-yard attempt blocked on the final play of the game.
Nose tackle Anthony Rashad White got a hand on the potential tying kick, setting off a celebration among Spartans fans in the crowd of 49,429 at Raymond James Stadium.
The Spartans handed the Big Ten its lone win in three bowl matchups Monday against SEC opponents—Florida beat Ohio State and South Carolina stopped Nebraska.
“Big win against a great football team, against an SEC team, against a team that won their division and that was 10-2 in the regular season. … There’s not a football team that we cannot play with and not win against,” Dantonio said.
“We’ve beaten every football team in the Big Ten in the last four years. The standard has been set by our seniors. … Two 11-win seasons. There’s not too many football teams in the country that are saying that right now. I would think that this, hopefully, helps solidify a top-10 ranking in this year’s final polls.”
Georgia (10-4) finished on a two-game losing streak, including a lopsided loss to top-ranked LSU in the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs beat Michigan State in the 2009 Capital One Bowl, one of four bowl losses the Spartans had under Dantonio during their stretch of postseason futility.
“It’s rough,” Georgia receiver Tavarres King said. “Every time you lose a game you think about it until you play another one, and we don’t play another one for over 200 days. So it’s going to be on our minds and in the back of our heads.”
Andre Debose and Chris Rainey made game-changing plays on special teams in the Gator Bowl. Debose returned a kickoff 99 yards—the longest scoring play in bowl history—and Rainey blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown. Those were the difference in Florida’s 24-17 victory over Ohio State in Jacksonville on Monday. The speedsters helped the Gators (7-6) avoid their first losing season since 1979 and pick up some much-needed momentum after losing six of their previous eight games. “We don’t want to be remembered as the team that lost, so it was a big game for us,” defensive tackle Jaye Howard said. “Not only for the seniors, but the program as a whole. It’s a building block for next year.”
Ohio State (6-7) dropped four straight to finish below .500 for the first time since 1988, and lost seven games for the first time since 1897.
The Buckeyes can take solace in knowing that Meyer, who officially takes over for interim coach Luke Fickell at Ohio State this week, will make it a priority to improve special teams. Meyer did that in his six seasons in Gainesville, and Rainey and Debose were two of his most prized recruits.
“When you have two good teams play each other, it’s usually special teams that will make the difference,” Ohio State defensive back Tyler Moeller said. “That’s what it was today.”
Ohio State fell to 0-10 in bowl games against teams from the Southeastern Conference. Yes, the Buckeyes beat Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl last year. But that victory was vacated as part of NCAA sanctions.
“This is for all fans of South Carolina—always,” coach Steve Spurrier belted out during the postgame celebration.
Alshon Jeffery caught four passes for 148 yards and a touchdown before getting ejected for fighting, and the Gamecocks set a school-record for victories in a 30-13 victory against Nebraska at the Capital One Bowl on Monday.
The Gamecocks (11-2) also snapped a string of three straight bowl losses. Spurrier said they will have rings “with a big `ole 11 on them” made for the team to commemorate the milestone.
Connor Shaw, who took over at quarterback when senior Stephen Garcia was kicked off the team, came up big, passing for two scores and rushing for another in one of his best games. He finished 11 for 17 for 230 yards and ran for 42 yards.
“We didn’t play all that great at times, and Nebraska didn’t play all that great either,” Spurrier said. “But we made some good stops here and there… We won the fourth quarter today against them and our defense was sensational.
“The record speaks for itself as the best team ever.”
Jeffery was having a surprisingly productive day playing just weeks after surgery on his hand for an injury he sustained in the regular-season finale. He was called for a personal foul penalty and ejected with just over two minutes left in the third quarter along with Cornhuskers cornerback Alfonso Dennard when both were caught throwing punches at each other after a play.
“Getting ejected, that is something that happened in the moment,” Jeffery said.
He said winning 11 games became the mission for the Gamecocks all season.
“Coach Spurrier, in the beginning of season six and in camp he wrote the goal’s try to win 11 games and try do things we did the first time. So that’s what we tried to do.”
The Gamecocks kept the pressure on even without Jeffery and went up 23-13 with 12:25 to play on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Shaw to Kenny Miles. Miles then added a 3-yard touchdown run with just over three minutes left—his first of the season—to put the game out of reach.
Following Mississippi State’s 23-17 Music City Bowl win over Wake Forest, one of the Bulldogs’ defensive playmakers announced he would move on to the NFL.
In an interview with the New York Times, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said he would depart from Starkville a year early and try his luck at the next level.
“God works in many ways,” Cox said. “He answered my prayer and I knew deep down in my heart it was time for me to go.”
NFL scouts project Cox as a late first round/early second round selection and ESPN’s Todd McShay has Cox as the second-best DT prospect behind Penn State’s Devon Still.
Cox was first team All-SEC this season with 14 ½ tackles for loss and 5 sacks.
“He’s a great kid and worked hard in his time here,” coach Dan Mullen to the NYT of Cox. “This will be a huge loss for us.”
Mississippi State wide receiver Chad Bumphis was arrested early Sunday morning in Tupelo and charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, a Lee County Sheriff's spokesman confirmed. BulldawgJunction.com first reported the incident.
Sgt. Rodricus Hurst said Bumphis, a former Tupelo High School standout, was involved in a "big group fight" at the Atlanta Bar & Grill in downtown Tupelo, and several other people were arrested. Hurst said Bumphis got hit in the neck by a glass bottle and suffered a cut, but that he did not injure anybody.
Bumphis' mother, Dorothy Bumphis, told the Journal that Chad was on stage at the bar taking pictures with people, and the bar's owner asked some other people to clear the stage for Bumphis.
"He was standing there, and next thing he knew he had been hit in the mouth with a champagne bottle," Dorothy said. "Chad didn't hit anybody or anything. They took him outside, and then they took him to jail to calm him down. They said he was drunk; he was not drunk. Chad's not a drinker. I'm not going to tell you he didn't drink anything."
Bumphis, 22, was arrested at 1:31 a.m. by Tupelo police and booked at 2:25 at the Lee County Jail. He was released on his own recognizance and has a Jan. 12 hearing in Tupelo Municipal Court.
ESPN’s Chris Low is reporting, citing sources close to the situation, that two Tennessee defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon will be leaving the V0ls for likely the same positions with the Washington Huskies.
Washington coach Steve Sarkisian did not retain defensive coordinator Nick Holt, linebackers coach Mike Cox and secondary/safeties coach Jeff Mills after the Huskies gave up a season-high 67 points in an Alamo Bowl loss to Baylor last week.
Wilcox, formerly the DC of Boise State, has spent the last two seasons under Derek Dooley; Sirmon just finished his first season as linebackers coach for the Vols after spending the last two seasons as a graduate assistant with Tennessee, and previously, Oregon.
The departures would be the third and fourth coaches to leave under Dooley this year. Wide receivers coach Charlie Baggett “retired” and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Eric Russell left to work under Mike Leach at Washington State.
The Vols finished with their second consecutive losing season, but finished in the Top 30 nationally in total defense.
Offensive tackle Matt Patchan, who’s battled various injuries throughout his Gators career, aggravated a back injury during practice Thursday afternoon and, as a result, has already been ruled out of the bowl game against Ohio State.
“He had a lat injury” head coach Will Muschamp said Saturday. ”It’s on his back, a re-aggravation of something during the season. We had a physical bowl practice and preparation for what we’re trying to do to improve our football team and get ready for the game. It’s an unfortunate injury.”
Muschamp said some combination of Chaz Green, Xavier Nixon and Kyle Koehne will rotate at the position in place of Patchan.
The redshirt junior started the final seven games of the 2011 season after missing the entire 2010 season due to injury.
Cincinnati running back Isaiah Pead took home top Big East honors this year when he was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year. He kept that momentum in his final game with the Bearcats with a 149-yard, 1 touchdown performance in a 31-24 win over Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl.
Pead has been one of the most productive, yet very underrated, backs this season.
In fact, the Bearcats (now 10-3) have quietly had a very good season. The only real bad loss was early in the season to Tennessee, which finished the season 5-7. Then again, the Vols were playing better football then and had quarterback Tyler Bray.
But beating a solid Vanderbilt team can make up for that. James Franklin‘s done a nice job in his first season with the Commodores and his team is no pushover.
Anytime you can beat an SEC school with at least a .500 record, it’s a good win.
Having quarterback Zach Collaros back and healthy without a doubt helped Cincy.
Despite missing their leading rusher and starting quarterback, Auburn easily handled Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl by a final score of 43-24. Tigers quarterback Clint Moseley left in the first quarter with an ankle injury and Barrett Trotter, who had started earlier in the season, took over and threw for a touchdown. In place of Dyer, running backs Onterio McCalebb and Tre Mason accounted for over 170 yards and two touchdowns; Kiehl Frazier added another 55 yards on the ground.
Auburn’s offense by committee was able to give offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn a win as he departs for Arkansas State.
Virginia, in their first year under Mike London, drops to 8-5.
