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Hitting the Links Likes J. Cole
Braxton Miller's Transition | Torrance Gibson Follows Suit
Torrance Gibson decided this week he will move out wide just like Braxton Miller. A position change was originally a deal-breaker in Gibson's recruiting, but the coaches promise this move is just temporary.
A slightly unrelated note: Gibson's 2014 highlights include a 65-yard touchdown pass. As in, the ball went 65 yards in the air, and was a touchdown pass. This from a wiry-thin, 4.4-speed high school player. 65 yards.
Adding To His Game | Slight Change In Ohio State Jersey
Ezekiel Elliott will look a little more physical in 2015, and the Buckeyes' jerseys will be a little different.
A couple interesting quotes here, about Ed Warinner's switch to offensive coordinator and the competition between J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones.
Northwestern Football Players Can't Form Unions
Even people who support a better return for players would have to admit that unions can be very tricky things to implement (effectively). Whatever the path ends up being, the goal is fairness and well-being for all parties. It is something that will need work - with or without a union involved.
How This Year's Playoff Is Slightly Different
This year, the rankings will start on Tuesday, November 3rd, rather than Tuesday, October 28th like last year.
Jerry Kill Gets Raise, Extension
It's very unsurprising that one of the key issues for Kill was that his assistants get good raises. His staff has defined coaching continuity through all their various stops, and assistant pay has been a sore spot for the Big Ten.
The Quiet Leadership of Justin Thomas
Tech is in an interesting position this year. A great offense loses a lot of its skill guys, but it's usually an easy offense to plug in new talent and go. Meanwhile, the defense has more continuity but it needs to prove it can guard the run better.
Five quarterbacks make the list; good luck guessing the fifth, N.C. State's Jacoby Brissett.
MSU Tailbacks Are Worth The Price of Admission
Good luck figuring out who will start in Week 1, or in Week 5. But they'll be good.
Baylor has impressed me a lot in recent years. In fact, here's a pretty good hot take: they're probably one of the safest bets in the country to win a title in the next five years. They've blended Oregon's capabilities on offense with pure Texas recruiting and some offensive and defensive lines that would fit right in with most Big Ten teams.
(The average size of Baylor offensive linemen who played last year and return for this season is 6'5", 314 pounds, and that's not including their converted tight end LaQuan McGowan. Their defensive line has 6'9", 280-pound defensive end Shawn Oakman, who transferred from Penn State in 2012, and a pair of 300-pound tackles.)
Drew Brees and Tom Brady are some of the more interesting long-term storylines in the NFL. The game is less physical than 20 years ago, and sports science has never been better. Can quarterbacks continue to be productive late into their careers?
Snoop Dogg's Son Leaves Football
With the news earlier this summer about Diddy having his own trouble in Los Angeles, this is now something of a California Roll. Snoop had always been interested in his son's playing career, even bribing him at the age of 6 to Hustle & Ball. Don't Tell, he said.
Cordell, though, was Tired of Running, and felt like this was a Cold Game filled with its own Ups & Downs, Peer Pressure, and other Issues. Ain't Nut'in Personal, he said to his dad this week, but I have to do this My Own Way. Leave Me Alone, I'm Doin' Too Much. While Snoop is probably disappointed that it ended this way, even he had to admit in their Conversations together that football is pretty cutthroat, and Doggz Gonna Get Ya if you don't work extremely hard. It's not for Just Dippin'.
One of Cordell's motivations was to prove himself as accomplished or separate from his father, and certainly football was one chance to do that. But Cordell also missed The Way Life Used To Be and the larger Game of Life. Since football turned out to be the Wrong Idea, he gave the UCLA coaches about a 2 Minute Warning and started to Slow Down and Imagine his chance to Lay Low and enjoy Deez Hollywood Nights (with lots to focus on outside of football - House Party, 1800, Different Languages, Those Gurlz). Football isn't for everyone, and it seems like he's happy having some Betta Days ahead of him. So, l'chaim.
Something tells me that K-State will be able to handle their next coaching transition pretty well.
Arkansas Loses Jonathan Williams To Injury
The Razorbacks lose some of their best players from last year, but the overall depth is still great, and the amount of returning talent still makes them formidable.
Here's a really cool fact I discovered ages ago and proceeded to completely forget (sorry). People have talked about Ezekiel Elliott getting 696 yards in his last three games, against Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon. But Elliott also played against three of the five top run defenses in the country (Alabama, Michigan State, and Penn State), and here were his numbers in those games: 7.14 yards per carry, 493 yards total, and almost two touchdowns a game. Against the very best the game had to offer last year.
Also, an important fun fact from this preview: the Crimson Tide play five games on the road against top-25 teams, including their opener against Wisconsin. They also have another four top-25 teams coming to Tuscaloosa.
Ricky Town Will Transfer From USC After Three Weeks
Town was taking fourth-team snaps, behind a senior, five-star sophomore, and a borderline blue-chip redshirt freshman.
Illinois DL Jihad Ward Suffers Injury
It's getting harder and harder to see a breakthrough season for Illinois this year. Even if Ward doesn't miss many games, he's at a point where fall camp would have been very helpful.
Mike Riley Suspends Five For BYU Opener | Camp Update
No one knows who is suspended, but they will be back against South Alabama and Miami.
On The Banks has a pretty cool look around the college world, talking about jerseys, facilities, and state legislatures.
Penn State Gets Karamo Dioubate
I haven't put a lot of recruiting news on here, but this is a good one. Penn State now ranks sixth on Rivals' rankings, and four Big Ten East schools are represented in the top 10: MSU, PSU, OSU, and Michigan.
Couldn't resist once we found out our waitress was a TCU grad. #BGOD pic.twitter.com/KkhA9xwAcf
— Eddie Lackey (@eddielackey5) August 15, 2015
40 Years Back: Ohio State's '75 Season
Archie Griffin ran for 1,450 yards this season, which was fewer than what he ran for in 1973 or '74.
Auburn pulled a prank on Alabama one year ago, and people just discovered it.
SEC Preseason Rankings: Quarterback
A very interesting position for the SEC this year. This piece is high on Tennessee's Joshua Dobbs, though from what I saw of him last year it felt like his coaches were being careful to put him in manageable situations. Meanwhile, ESPN is not as bullish on all the quarterback battles, with Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU and South Carolina populating the bottom half. Something tells me Steve Spurrier, Lane Kiffin, Brian Schottenheimer, and Cam Cameron will be able to do a little better than that.
Here's a gem from the NFL preseason. This was on 4th and 20, by the way, and set up the game-winning touchdown. A very early contender for play of the year.
Thank God #EwuAlum #GODUCKS #TimeToGetToWork https://t.co/ve5qgR7QXj
— Vernon Adams Jr. ️ (@vadams_qb) August 14, 2015