Tag: NCAA Football

University of Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson Runs for EIGHT Touchdowns

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Those are straight up Madden numbers that would cause your roommate to fire the clicker off the wall and quit in disgust. Jaret Patterson just put on a clinic and this wasn’t like Alabama beating up on some Division 2 school, these teams are pretty comparable. So for him to bust off 400+ yards and eight touchdowns is absolute banana land. I’m surprised the dude even had the stamina to finish the game after he had 36 carries including four touchdowns of 40+ yard runs. I forgot my putter head cover on the previous hole on Saturday and had to do a 100 yard wind sprint to pick it up and get back and I was smoked for the rest of the afternoon.

Although to be honest I do feel bad for Julian Edelman, who is still out with a knee injury so he probably was watching his alma mater get crushed. This is a man who’s school spirit runs so deep, to this day he still wears a Kent State shirt underneath his pads at every practice. So cheer up Jules, we’ll see you soon.

This Kid NAILS Impressions of Mel Kiper, Colin Cowherd, and Nick Saban

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Legitimately laughed out loud when I heard this spot on Mel Kiper Jr. impression. This guy just nails the idiosyncrasies of Kiper that we’ve all been hearing on ESPN for the past 20 years without even realizing it.

The Colin Cowherd impression is pretty good, but its the delivery and the content of the clip that really brings it home. Cowherd LOVES dragging guys that wear their hats backwards for some reason.

Spot on impression of Nick Saban, who is the only football coach more irritable and pissed off to have to talk about football than Bill Belichick

The XFL Announces the First Pool of Players in the Draft and It is…Underwhelming

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This is…disappointing. Did I expect Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick to carry the XFL flag out of the tunnel?  No, but maybe a couple of names I actually recognized. They couldn’t even get a guy like Trent Richardson after he failed in the AAF? And where’s Johnny Manziel for christs sake? This league was built for him…which I also said about him and the CFL and the AAF….but thats besides the point.

Oh and the great Landry Jones doesn’t count because he already signed with the league and per its rules the XFL will be assigning a QB to each team. Vince McMahon has seen how many NFL teams are complete disasters because they can’t find a QB so he’s trying to micro-manage that problem and nip it in the bud.

Okay, so not a vast and deep pool of talent, but lets see what we got here. If you are a college football nerd then you’re on your own because this list is ranked on dudes I actually recognized and remember watching at some point.

1.) Connor Cook – Easily the biggest name in this entire draft pool. Cook was a pretty damn good QB at Michigan State and was once even looked at as a potential starter in the NFL when the Raiders drafted him in the 4th round in 2016. Hell he even started a playoff game after Derek Carr got injured, but he never really caught on and bounced around the league for a couple years and got released a few times. You may also remember Cook for looking like a total dickhead snatching the Big Ten Championship game MVP trophy from Archie Griffin.

 

2.) Roberto Aguayo – One of the best kickers in NCAA history turned the biggest bust of a kicker in NFL history. Aguayo was a stud at Florida State (most accurate kicker in ACC history and 3rd in NCAA history) before the guy went OFF THE RAILS in dumpster fire fashion playing for the Bucs. So much so that I worry about the guy a little bit, so hopefully he gets back on track in the XFL. The Bucs literally traded up into the 2nd round for Aguayo before he missed a boatload of kicks and was unceremoniously cut.

3.) Devin Lucien – If this name sounds familiar its because he was a 7th round draft pick of the Patriots in 2016 who became a pre-season darling before failing to make the team.

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4.) Sealver Siliga – Another former Patriot! Siliga played 3 seasons for the Patriots making 13 starts with 5.5 sacks and 95 tackles.

5.) Darron Thomas – Thomas played QB at Oregon so thats the one and only reason he caught my eye. Thomas was actually a pretty good QB for the Ducks in the post-Dennis Dixon pre-Marcus Mariota era. Thomas led Oregon to the National Championship game in 2011, which they lost to Cam Newton and Auburn. I remember that game vividly because Mattes and I watched it in a Chilis like the scrubs that we are. You probably unfamiliar with his work because Thomas left Oregon early to enter the NFL Draft and got neither drafted nor signed as a free agent before kicking around the Canadian Football League, Champions Professional Indoor Football League, Arena Football League, Major League Football (which I’ve never even heard of because it never actually played a game), Indoor Football League, and even played for the Worcester Pirates in the National Arena League last year!

6.) HANDSOME Tanielu – What a name. Only reason he made the list.

 

Woo! The XFL Draft is sneaking up and then the inaugural  latest XFL season kicks off in February, 2020. Catch the fever!

Hunter Renfrow is Seeking to Fulfill His Own Prophecy of Playing for the Patriots

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The NFL Draft is this Thursday and I’ve heard through the grape vine that we may be seeing some quality Draft #content from our guy Mattes so stay on the lookout for that. Him and Joey B are the draft nerds though. I enjoy college football, but aside from the top skill position players I can’t really get into where the DT from FSU is ranked.

I do love to cherry pick draft stories though, like the one where Hunter Renfrow is basically calling his own shot. Hunter Renfrow AKA The Three Eyed Raven had a dream where he got drafted by the Patriots. Renfrow is an undersized, under recruited slot receiver who became a team captain so you just KNOW the Pats are going to take him at some point. Apparently Hunter knows that too as he’s seen here signing his potential future Patriots jersey. Maybe he’s taking a page out of the Lavar Ball playbook? Just speak it into existence. Keep an eye on this kid, he may be the next guy to take the Patriots slot receiver torch once Julian Edelman is ready to move on.

Oregon Sports Minute: QB Justin Herbert Likely to Stay for His Senior Season

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CBS – Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert is becoming a consensus top-overall pick candidate in the 2019 draft, but multiple league sources indicated it is far more likely that the junior actually remains in school for another year.

Teams have begun falling in love with the strapping prospect – a 6-foot-6, athletic, former multi-sport star who is evolving into a pure passer – and his prospects continue to rise by the game, but numerous sources said that there is a very strong sentiment from the Oregon program that Herbert will remain in school for 2019. Several scouts from NFL teams who have held informal discussions with friends and contacts on the Oregon staff said they would be very surprised if the quarterback opted to turn pro this spring.

Furthermore, there are strong signals throughout the agent community that Herbert is going to stay in school. Several of the top agencies generally in line to represent such talents are becoming pessimistic about him entering the draft.

I love this if for no other reason than it will punish the New York Giants for being morons and taking a RB at No. 2 overall this year when they desperately needed a QB. Well it looked like they were going to fall ass backwards into another stud QB prospect with the No. 1 overall pick this year, thus causing them to learn nothing. Now, according to reports Justin Herbert is likely to stay for his senior season and the Giants are back to being hosed under center.

Now if Herbert does stay at Oregon, it’s for a number of reasons. I won’t bore you with all the details so here are reasons No. 1 and No. 2.

Herbert is a native of Eugene, Oregon, who absolutely loves the school, badly wants to win there and is very eager to play with his younger brother. Patrick Herbert is a four-star tight end prospect who is committed to going to Oregon in 2019.

Herbert is legitimately born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. How a kid from Eugene turns into one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country and winds up playing at Oregon is incredible. Usually those guys go to Florida and Georgia and Oklahoma. The last great QB the Ducks had was a guy named Marcus Mariota and they had to pluck him from the ends of the Earth aka Hawaii.

Reason No. 2 – apparently his brother is a stud Tight End prospect who has committed to play at Oregon next season. Imagine going out on top leading the school you bled for since you were a kid to its first ever national championship while throwing to your kid brother? Yea this guy ain’t going anywhere.

Maybe the Giants can take another RB this year and build the greatest 4-12 team this league has ever seen.

I don’t know if I’ve blogged about how a guy from Boston became an Oregon Ducks fan, but allow me to elaborate. Aside from 2007 when Matt Ryan was tearing up the NCAA or in the 80s when Doug Flutie was at Chestnut Hill, Boston College has never been a legitimate college football team. And they never will be. The best seasons they’ve had were when they dipped into the post-grad pool to pluck former SEC guys like Tyler Murphy. Wouldn’t you know having actual talent at positions other than OL and MLB lead to an upset win over a national powerhouse like USC in 2014?

So I came to grips with despite the fact that I live a mile from the BC football stadium, they ain’t ever gonna compete for anything bigger than a Meineke Car Care Bowl trophy. Enter Chip Kelly in 2009 who was running his team like I ran my Madden franchise in college. 90+ plays a game, HB screens all day, 5 wide receiver bubble screens, mobile QB, speed, speed, speed. And. The. Jerseys.

For a free agent college football fan I was sold, which explains the bright yellow Mariota jersey hanging in my closet.

This has been the Oregon Sports Minute.

The Son of Dick Ebersol is Launching a Pro Football League to Rival the XFL

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ESPN – “While Vince McMahon promises to bring back a revamped XFL in 2020, a son of McMahon’s partner in the original short-lived XFL venture said his football league will come first. And some big NFL names will be involved. Charlie Ebersol, who directed a documentary on the XFL that aired last year as part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, announced Tuesday that his league, the Alliance of American Football, plans to debut Feb. 9, 2019, the week after Super Bowl LIII. The season will run 10 weeks and will have 50-man teams.”

Look at Charlie Ebersol go! Dude just got the jump on Vince McMahon and the WWE commish must be furious. Vince made the mistake of announcing a brand new football league and then buried the lede that it wouldn’t begin play until 2020. Ebersol on the other hand just came out and announced his new league, the Alliance of American Football, will begin play in February 2019.

AND he’s already got games lined up to be aired on CBS with legitimate NFL names like Bill Polian, Troy Polamalu, Jared Allen, and Hines Ward behind it. Ebersol also has Barstool Sports parent company, The Chernin Group, already on board. You know Portnoy is just salivating at the potential for content with a brand new football league that won’t shun him like the NFL has done for years. That my friends sounds like a goddamn plan.

If you didn’t watch the XFL announcement press conference, Vince basically did a one man conference call to announce the league and then refused to really answer any actual questions about how the league would operate, how it would be different from the NFL, where players would come from, or where we could watch games. Not exactly ideal for building excitement. I think its safe to say Charlie Ebersol one upped Mr. McMahon here.

To be totally honest, what I’m about to say, I say a lot so take this with a grain of salt. I am a junkie for football and will watch just about any football game you put on TV. I’ve watched DII college football, Arena Football, the United Football League, the CFL, NFL Europe, the FXFL. Hell I even texted my buddy last night saying that we have to go check out a Massachusetts Pirates game out of the world famous National Arena League.

BUT, I can’t recall really watching more than a handful of these games. It was awesome watching an out of the NFL Daunte Culpepper run around in the UFL in cities like HARTFORD.

After realizing he was playing against guys that couldn’t start on my high school team though the novelty wore off. So as usual this sounds like a great idea, but it will come down to the quality of play. The NFL has been a monopoly for a long time and its not because there haven’t been challengers. Remember the USFL? The goddamn President of the United States owned a team.

But without the talent people won’t care enough to watch. So I know there are tons of D1 players that don’t make the NFL; what happens to them? I guess if you cut all the fat from the NFL like Ebersol plans to do (no TV timeouts, shorter broadcasts, no kickoffs etc.) then you could create a supplementary product that I will likely watch with a 6 pack of beer on a cold March night. Because I’ll tell you, I am dying for some football right now and Madden can only satiate that appetite for so long. Give me all the football leagues.

Lee Corso Just Scared the Shit Out of the JMU Bulldog with his Completely Fresh Mascot Head Gimmick

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So in the still fresh, completely unrepetitive College Gameday skit of donning the mascot head, Lee Corso just scared the shit out of the real live JMU bulldog.

First off fuck this guy thats pushing the dog back towards that nutbag Corso.

Ya know how they always say dogs can tell you a lot about people by how they act around them? Yea, well this bulldog is saying get me the fuck away from this crazy old man. Wants no part of your zany ESPN bit. So maybe let the bulldog go back to his biscuits and sideline chilling.

Division III Football Player Cut by Team for Kneeling During National Anthem

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ESPN – A Division III football player has been dismissed from his team for kneeling during the national anthem before a game last weekend. Gyree Durante, a backup quarterback at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, was kicked off the team after he knelt by himself during the national anthem before last Saturday’s 41-6 loss to Delaware Valley University.An Albright College spokeswoman said in a statement that the team’s leadership council, which consists of 24 players, voted to kneel during the coin toss and stand during the national anthem. Durante then decided to kneel during the national anthem on his own.

Alright, why don’t we just pump the fucking breaks here, Albright College. You’re a D-III liberal arts school; not the goddamn Dallas Cowboys. Its one thing for a multi-billion dollar industry to start getting pissy when players kneeling is screwing with their advertisers. Its another thing entirely for this football factory in Reading, Pennsylvania to start cutting teenagers for protesting. Not to mention this is college. A Liberal Arts college. What the hell do kids do in college besides drink and shackle themselves with a lifetime worth of debt if they’re not able to protest? Kids protest legitimately everything in college. Its supposed to be a learning environment. Not a place you should cut a kid for standing up (no pun intended) for what he believes in.

Now I’m pretty sure D-III schools don’t give out scholarships so its not like they ruined the kid’s life or anything, but come on. If we’re being honest, intentionally getting cut was probably half the reason he did it. Why am I practicing and going to film sessions and waking up early to wreck my knees and get CTE when I’m in college and should be funneling vodka cokes and blacking out on a Tuesday afternoon.

And we can all cut the crap about how he made his team look bad by being the only guy kneeling. Except for Captain America here:

Josh Powell, a freshman defensive end from Tampa, told NBC 10 that Durante broke his teammates’ trust by taking a knee during the national anthem. “We trusted him throughout the week, after time and time again he told us he would stand,” Powell said, according to NBC 10. “When you can’t have a player on a team that you can trust, he’s got to go.”

This guy just sounds like a Grade-A dickhead, a real practice hero. The guy who’s laying the hit stick on teammates during walkthroughs.

Look, I wouldn’t kneel during the anthem myself as I’d feel uncomfortable doing so, but thats the point. Thats what a lot of people are missing. Its supposed to make people feel uncomfortable, otherwise it wouldn’t get attention. It wouldn’t be a worthwhile protest if it wasn’t pissing people off. Now the next step is to articulate why you’re protesting and work towards having intelligent discussions about what everyone can do to impact change. Is every single player kneeling able to intelligently articulate the exact reasons why they’re kneeling and what it means to them? Probably not, but there’s plenty who are able to do just that so trying to ban kneeling or forcing players to stand will only create more divisiveness and ultimately other forms of protest.

Its supposed to start a conversation and make everyone take a look at the world we live in, for better or for worse, and try to understand the way others see the world from their perspective. Its called empathy. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re not, but the truth is almost always somewhere in the middle. So by outright dismissing the protest because you don’t agree with the method, you’re missing the boat.

FIRE FLAMES JERSEY ALERT: Florida to Wear “Alligator” Unis This Weekend

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ESPN – Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is popularly known as The Swamp. And now the Florida Gators will look the part. For Saturday’s football game against Texas A&M, Florida will wear a new uniform designed to evoke the look and feel of an alligator. The uniform, which was under development for two years and was unveiled Monday night, features a “swamp green” jersey with an alligator-skin pattern. The helmet, pants and socks are rendered in the same color, but without the gator-skin treatment.

OH MY. What have we here? I feel like the wild jersey reveals have slowed down the last year or two. You used to see every school rocking wild combos of camo and chrome and neon and it was AWESOME. Feel like theres been less and less of that lately. Enter, the University of Florida.

You wanna be a Gator? Like the actual ferocious goddamn water dinosaur that is an alligator? Well, don’t talk about it. Be about it.

Fire flames, 10/10.

I’ve Somehow Developed a College Football Addiction in Boston

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Maybe its just Baker Mayfield being like Johnny Football-lite and filling the massive Manziel void in my life, but I’ve recently developed a college football addiction.

Not a ton of people around here are big college football guys, probably because we’ve had ONE good year of college football in Boston since the 80s. Back in 2007 Matt Ryan was at Boston College and they got as high as No. 2 in the AP Poll.

That was fun as hell because it was the first time BC had been ANY good since the days of Doug Flutie. After Matty Ice moved on to the NFL though BC went right back into the tank.

So its hard to have a lot of love for a sport thats basically nonexistent in your market. With legitimately every major team in this city being so good (all having won a title since 2008) theres no time for shitty teams, especially shitty teams that have no intention of bringing in the players necessary to be any good. Kind of like being a Mets fan.

If I wanted to get in my car and drive to a big time college football game, I think the closest team would be Penn State; a cool 7 hour drive from Boston. Fuck you, UConn and UMass do not count, neither does Syracuse. I’m talking BIG TIME college football where they sell out 70,000+ seat arenas. It just does not exist up here.

So not long after BC went back into hibernation I declared myself a free agent and started looking for a team to call my own. I was looking for a team that was fun to watch, played fast, scored a ton of points, spread out the field, threw it a lot, recruited mobile QBs, and of course had some fire flames unis. Basically I was looking for a team that played the same style as me in Madden. Now what team matches that description to a T? The Oregon Ducks of course.

It was right at the start of the Chip Kelly era too so it was perfect timing to get into and follow a team that was actually good at playing football unlike BC. Not to mention a couple of trips (read: losses) to the National Championship and then Marcus Mariota later wins the Heisman in 2014 and I’m pretty invested in the Ducks. I still wasn’t about to sit down and watch college football all afternoon though.

But I think I reached that turning point this past Saturday. It was the first big weekend of the year with some prime matchups. I know CFB kicked off the week before, but this past Saturday we had Oregon vs Nebraska, Louisville at UNC, Georgia at Notre Dame, Auburn at Clemson, Oklahoma at Ohio State, Stanford at USC, and if you’re a real night owl type degenerate, the triple OT #Pac12AfterDark thriller in Boise St at Washington St.

Long story short, I found myself watching college football on the couch for 8 hours straight. There’s so many great characters this year led first and foremost by Baker Mayfield, who took down Ohio State almost singlehandedly on Saturday.

Maybe its something that is just fresh in my mind after a particularly lousy Week 1 in the NFL, but the majority of these college games are always exciting with the added benefit of projecting who would be a good fit where in the NFL. Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen on the Jets is not something I look forward to.

But also, just getting to watch the Heisman Race from Day 1 and witnessing all the big signature moments these guys need in an effort to win the trophy is exciting as hell.

You got comeback bids with insane catches.

You got former NFL quarterback dopplegangers.

Baker Mayfield just putting Urban Meyer right to bed.

College football, I get it now. Which is a problem since I also just spent 10+ hours watching NFL Football on Sunday, getting my money’s worth from Sunday Ticket. So this could devolve into an incredibly sedentary lifestyle quick.