First Glance: Iowa State dusts itself off, again

An absurdly premature assessment of the 2011 Cyclones.

? Previously On… Nobody starts out gunning for the title of "Best 5-7 Team in America," but if you happen to be 5-7 ?�and especially if you happen to be accustomed to being 5-7 ?�you can do a lot worse than Iowa State in 2010: The Cyclones took out a pair of bowl teams (Northern Illinois and Texas Tech) by double digits, stunned Texas in Austin, came up one crazy fake extra point short of shocking Nebraska in overtime and still had a chance to sneak into a bowl game in the season finale. On the other hand, they were also blown out by rival Iowa, 35-7, and whipped in November by both lame-duck Colorado (34-14) and Missouri (14-0) with the postseason within their grasp, leaving coach Paul Rhoades' second season looking like a sideways step at best on the heels of his solid, 7-6 debut in 2009.

? The Big Change. Quarterback Austen Arnaud and running back Alexander Robinson weren't just the biggest names on the offense for three years; statistically, they've been virtually the only names worth paying attention to. Between Arnaud's arm and Robinson's legs, the pair accounted for 84 percent of the Cyclones' total offense as sophomores in 2008, nearly 80 percent in 2009 and 77 percent last year. The simultaneous exit of the team's top two receivers leaves the offense totally bereft of proven playmakers, and down an All-Big 12 center, to boot.

That's not to suggest they left a very high bar to clear ?�the Cyclones were next-to-last in the league in total and scoring offense, after finishing dead last in scoring in 2009 ? only that no one's ever seen the new kids jump. If anyone's going to fill Robinson's role as primary playmaker on offense, it's shifty Shontrelle Johnson, a Florida transplant who did most of his damage as a true freshman on kick returns but made the most of his limited chances in the backfield: He went over 100 yards rushing with a 61-yard touchdown in the shootout win over Texas Tech, broke off a 38-yarder against Utah and left half of Kansas' defense icing down its ACLs on the sideline with this 33-yarder:

Still, after shaking up the Jayhawks, Johnson touched the ball a grand total of four times for eight yards over the last three games, hardly the work of an exciting up-and-comer. At best, he'll emerge as another competent role player with the occasional flash of an extra gear, a la Robinson, but the Cyclones lack anything resembling a consistent home-run hitter.

The Least You Should Know About...

Iowa State

In 2010

5-7 (3-5 Big 12); 4-3 at home, 1-4 on the road.

Past Five Years

2006-10: 21-40 (9-31 Big 12); Three head coaches.

Five-Year Recruiting Rankings*

2007-11: N/A (no classes ranked in Rivals top 50)

Best Player

Linebacker Jake Knott was a nothing recruit out of a central Iowa town with a population of barely 5,000 people (Waukee, also the hometown of Joey Jordison, drummer for Des Moines-based freak metal band Slipknot), but made a big name for himself as a sophomore with a team-high 130 tackles, four interceptions, four forced fumbles and a spot on the All-Big 12 team. At least one opposing coach cast his ballot for Knott as the league's Defensive Player of the Year.

Best Year Ever

Iowa State has never finished undefeated, even in the early days when it took on local high schools and so forth, and hasn't won a conference championship since sharing the Missouri Valley crown in 1912. But no ISU outfit in the intervening 100 years has come closer than the 1938 edition, which started the season 7-0 with back-to-back wins at Nebraska and Missouri before stumbling into a tie at Kansas State and a 10-0 loss at undefeated, Orange Bowl-bound Oklahoma to close the year. There were only a couple bowl bids to go around in those days, but the '38 team finished 7-1-1 and cracked the Associated Press poll for the first — and for 34 more years, only — time in school history. Here's a video of Iowa State campus scenes shot in the winter of 1938 — no sign of the football team, but there are men playing unidentifiable musical instruments and literally cranking a car by hand.

Best Case

Jantz and Johnson provide some spark for the offense, defense improves against the run, 'Clones pull a pair of road upsets at UConn and Baylor. 6-6, TicketCity Bowl.

Worst Case

Revolving door at quarterback, spotty production from the running game, minimal improvement on defense. Winless as underdogs in every Big 12 game. 1-11, new hot seat for Paul Rhoads.

* Based on Rivals' national rankings

? Big Men On Campus. The Cyclones were typically bad against the run (technically, they were bad at everything, with the possible exception of net punting), but at least found a pair of cornfed mainstays in linebackers Jake Trott and A.J. Klein, first-year starters who combined for more total tackles (241) as sophomores than any other combo in the Big 12. Those two aren't going to resurrect the moribund pass rush, but they should lead a charge up the ranking is all-purpose run defense: In general, the front seven rotation was extremely green last fall, and banged up. Pending a couple ongoing legal cases, it will also return almost entirely intact this fall, and frankly can't be much worse.

? Open Casting. The mass exodus on offense might be a bigger concern if the attack was any good in the first place,�and if the practice field this spring wasn't littered with candidates vying to pick up the slack under center. At least four would-be successors to Arnaud's mediocre throne are duking it out, and at least two more will show up with the incoming freshman class in the fall.

At the head of the pack for the moment is a) Last year's backup, Jerome Tiller, who's sole claim to fame in two years is a fluky 47-yard touchdown pass that sparked ISU's 9-7 upset at Nebraska in 2009, an otherwise dismal afternoon punctuated by seven Cornhusker turnovers; and b) Splendidly-named juco transfer Steele Jantz, who initially walked on at Hawaii before breaking out last year at the City College of San Francisco, his first full season as a quarterback at any level. They be wary of admitting it, but secretly, ISU fans are hoping they uncovered a late-blooming gem. Who just happens to wear a legitimate fauxhawk.

? Overly optimistic spring narrative. It may be a longshot, but Iowa State is so far behind the curve in Big 12 recruiting that a a guy like Jantz ? a sudden riser with good size, respectable wheels and fairly crazy numbers in a situation where even his juco coaches were apparently counting on another guy to beat Jantz out for the job ?�is about as good a chance as the Cyclones have of finding the offensive star they've so sorely lacked since Seneca Wallace graced the depth chart almost a decade ago. With an above average quarterback, there's always enough competent skill talent to get something done offensively, which the Cyclones clearly have not in coordinator Tom Herman's first two years.

? The Big Question. Does their fate really lie in the hands of an obscure transfer? Well, no; if Jantz was named the starter tomorrow, he'd probably rank ninth or tenth among projected Big 12 quarterbacks, if not at the bottom. But the fact that the great unknown represents the best-case scenario tells you all you need to know about the not-so-great known. Tiller's brief cameos in place of Arnaud have been underwhelming. No one else who's touched the ball in an actual game has shown much more. The defense needs a vast leap forward just to qualify as "middle of the pack," even by Big 12 standards. If there's any hope at all of getting back above .500, it might as well come from an unexpected lightning bolt.

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Other premature assessments (in alphabetical order): Nebraska. … Nevada.

Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Pete Rose is Now Being Dressed By a 1980s Mall

Pete Rose, Charlie Hustle, the man with 4,256 career hits, has tragically been reduced to whatever is left in the closet of Theo Huxtable, your grandmother, and a rebellious 8th grader. Are you happy yet, Jim Gray? We surely hope so. [via Mocksession]

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Spring practice stock characters: Auburn starts over again, from the top

The defending national champions have taken the field for spring practice, giving beat writers, wire services and the like their first opportunity to look over the initial depth chart and think, "Wow, who are these guys?" All but the most hardcore Auburn fans will probably be with them this fall for the first month of the regular season, at least.

At this point, the 2011 edition promises to be unrecognizable from its celebrated predecessor, in terms of quality and quantity: The Tigers are bidding adieu not only their shooting stars on both sides of the ball, surprise All-Americans Cam Newton and Nick Fairley, but also lost more starters from the entire lineup than any other team in America. When Auburn took the field Wednesday, it was without last year's leading passer, leading rusher, two of the top four receivers, four starting offensive linemen, the top two pass rushers and six of the top seven tacklers — in other words, one returning starter apiece for the entire offensive line (Brandon Mosley), defensive line (Nosa Eguae), linebackers (Daren Bates) and secondary (Neiko Thorpe).

That's an unprecedented exodus for a championship team in the BCS era. The best analogy is worth repeating: In broader sports terms, the Tigers the college football equivalent of the 1997 Florida Marlins. One and done.

Of course, there's another, more relevant comparison: The Auburn Tigers, circa 2009. If the current rebuilding job comes under wildly different circumstances than the rebuilding job Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn inherited from the smoldering ruins of Tommy Tuberville's final season as head coach two years ago — the '09 team returned more starters from 2008 (13, compared to the six in camp from last year's championship run), and had just finished the season among the bottom 20 nationally in total offense, scoring offense, pass efficiency and turnover margin, a far cry from last year's top-20 finish on all counts — the circumstances for moving forward were very much the same.

That was especially the case for the offense, which (while more experienced) was in a much greater state of disarray after the 2008 collapse, and arguably much worse off at the most important position. The "returning starter" at quarterback, Chris Todd, had actually been benched for the last five games of '08, a casualty of Tuberville's decision to pull the plug on his experiment with the spread offense and tell its architect, offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, to hit the bricks at midseason. As far as SEC quarterbacks go, Todd also had almost no discernible talent. Nor any reliable targets at wide receiver. Nor, with the abandonment of the spread and subsequent chaos, anywhere to hang his hat scheme-wise. At best, he was a blank slate.

But with Malzahn pushing the buttons, he rarely looked like a liability as a senior. Auburn finished in the top 20 nationally in rushing, total and scoring offense, improving on '08 by almost 130 yards and two touchdowns per game for the season. Those numbers declined in SEC games (as always, playing Louisiana Tech, Ball State and Furman can do wonders for a box score), but overall still represented an undeniably radical turnaround with largely the same players. Of the Tigers' five losses in 2009, the defense allowed at least 31 points in three of them, and the eventual BCS champion had to drive the length of the field for a game-winning touchdown in the dying seconds of another.

The job this time calls for largely different players, but all of the above still applies just as well to the two quarterbacks vying to replace (that should probably be "replace") Cam Newton this spring, Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley, neither of whom was particularly highly recruited, possesses particularly noteworthy size or speed, or has taken a particularly relevant snap in an actual college game. (Trotter attempted nine passes last year in mop-up duty, which I submit is a more promising resum� than having been nailed to the bench midway through the previous season.) Ultimately, their success is going to depend on their goals and expectations, and whether they fall within any reasonable bounds for a unit effectively starting over from scratch, opposite an equally unripe defense that wasn't all that great as it was. If the prevailing standard is the Heisman Trophy winner, the No. 1 offense in the SEC and a conference championship, well, good luck with that.

But if it's a competent, balanced effort that puts the team in a position to plausibly crack nine or ten wins, Malzahn's track record offers a glimmer of hope. With a first-rate backfield duo (Michael Dyer and Onterrio McCaleb) at its disposal, and barring an utter collapse by the rebuilt line — the line being the obvious X-factor, and not in the "high upside" sense that Newton brought to the table as the big question mark in 2010 — this can still be an offense that tops 30 points and 400 yards per game. It will be up to the emaciated defense to make up the difference, but that's good enough to remain relevant.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Matt Howard’s hometown helps send his family to Final Four

If Butler star Matt Howard's parents and nine siblings make it to Reliant Stadium to watch him make his second appearance in a Final Four on Saturday, it will be with an assist from the senior's hometown.

Residents of Connersville, Ind., have been raising money to help the family pay for tickets to the game, transportation to Houston and hotel accommodations. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted Wednesday that he has also contributed to the Connersville fund after the NCAA struck down his initial plan to fly the family to Houston on a private jet and pay for tickets to the game for the family.

"We so appreciate the offers and generosity of everyone," Linda Howard, Matt's mother, told the Connersville News-Examiner. "But for us, it is paramount that Matt gets to play and that Butler gets to keep anything that it wins. We're not stepping over any boundaries.

"Everything that we have been offered we have checked out with the NCAA compliance office. We really don't want to take any chances."

Every donation is a huge help to Stan and Linda Howard, who raised 10 kids on Stan's salary as a mail carrier. Stan told the New York Times last week that he has taken only one sick day in 33 years, and that day he was sent home against his will.

Every player on a Final Four team receives four tickets to the games, so Howard will give his to his parents and sisters, Laura and Amanda. The rest of the family will rely on help from Connersville, a 13,000-resident town about 70 miles east of Indianapolis.

"We can only use that money for Final Four tournament expenses," Linda told the News-Express. "Anything left over, we have to return, so I guess we'll give it to (Mayor Leonard Urban) and he'll figure out what to do with it."

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College Basketball Odds & Ends: Wyoming Has a Coach and Two More Pac-10 Players Leave for the NBA

College Basketball: Wyoming, which apparently had been searching for a new coach for weeks, has settled upon former Clemson coach Larry Shyatt. He arrives with ... weak credentials. After Rick Barnes took Clemson to the NCAA tourney three years in a row, Shyatt did absolutely nothing (twice his finished over .500, and once was in [...]

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Scandal-plagued Fiesta Bowl forced to justify its BCS existence

Based on its initial response, the Fiesta Bowl's Board of Directors was clearly hoping the only major casualty of the burgeoning scandal over the bowl's finances would be newly fired CEO John Junker, who got the boot Tuesday for allegedly using nonprofit Fiesta Bowl funds to underwrite thousands of dollars in campaign contributions by employees, an employee wedding, a visit to a Phoenix strip club and a 50th birthday party for himself, to cherry-pick from the bowl's official report. But the BCS isn't letting them off the hook quite that easily. From the Arizona Republic:

Bill Hancock, executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, said the Fiesta Bowl could be removed from the elite group that hosts a national championship game every four years.

"The BCS group takes this matter very seriously and will consider whether they keep a BCS bowl game, and we will consider other appropriate sanctions," Hancock told The Arizona Republic. "If the bowl does remain a BCS bowl its handling of thing will be closely monitored going forward."

Make that very closely monitored. After Hancock's statement to the Republic, the BCS issued a separate statement of its own asking the Fiesta Bowl to "demonstrate why it should remain a BCS bowl game" in light of the 276-page report. Its response will be judged by a "task force," composed of two conference commissioners, two university presidents and two athletic directors, which ? once the panel gets to read for itself the fairly unbelievable excesses in the report, implicating far more than just Junker ?�is certain to greet the appeal with six sets of folded arms. The bowl enlisted a high-powered defense attorney last month to deal with the ongoing interest of the Arizona Attorney General's office, not the BCS, but it looks like it may need him to show a little versatility with this one.

The BCS has never acted in an oversight or enforcement capacity in its 13-year existence, mainly because there was no one to oversee or enforce; Hancock has only been on board as the Series' first executive director for a little over a year, and it's still basically just him aside from annual meetings with conference commissioners. But the prospect of being ejected from the most exclusive club in college football is a sufficiently existential threat for the Fiesta Bowl to take it very, very seriously. Outside of the BCS, the TV money starts to dry up, ticket prices start to fall, and the once-every-four-year cash cow of the national championship game is out of reach. It becomes, officially, a second-tier bowl.

The Cotton Bowl knows the feeling, having been hopped in the pecking order by the upstart Fiesta when the heavy-hitting games formed their first alliance in the mid-'90s. The Cotton was already on a mission to make itself over as an "unofficial" BCS bowl game, moving from its traditional venue into a state-of-the-art pro stadium two years ago and last year pushing the game a full week beyond the traditional kickoff on New Year's Day. It has to feel like the sun is rising on a new day and it suddenly finds itself occupying the high ground while smoke and a few sustained moans begin to waft out of its nemesis' camp. There's not going to be a better time to make a move.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Spring practice stock characters: Auburn starts over again, from the top

The defending national champions have taken the field for spring practice, giving beat writers, wire services and the like their first opportunity to look over the initial depth chart and think, "Wow, who are these guys?" All but the most hardcore Auburn fans will probably be with them this fall for the first month of the regular season, at least.

At this point, the 2011 edition promises to be unrecognizable from its celebrated predecessor, in terms of quality and quantity: The Tigers are bidding adieu not only their shooting stars on both sides of the ball, surprise All-Americans Cam Newton and Nick Fairley, but also lost more starters from the entire lineup than any other team in America. When Auburn took the field Wednesday, it was without last year's leading passer, leading rusher, two of the top four receivers, four starting offensive linemen, the top two pass rushers and six of the top seven tacklers — in other words, one returning starter apiece for the entire offensive line (Brandon Mosley), defensive line (Nosa Eguae), linebackers (Daren Bates) and secondary (Neiko Thorpe).

That's an unprecedented exodus for a championship team in the BCS era. The best analogy is worth repeating: In broader sports terms, the Tigers the college football equivalent of the 1997 Florida Marlins. One and done.

Of course, there's another, more relevant comparison: The Auburn Tigers, circa 2009. If the current rebuilding job comes under wildly different circumstances than the rebuilding job Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn inherited from the smoldering ruins of Tommy Tuberville's final season as head coach two years ago — the '09 team returned more starters from 2008 (13, compared to the six in camp from last year's championship run), and had just finished the season among the bottom 20 nationally in total offense, scoring offense, pass efficiency and turnover margin, a far cry from last year's top-20 finish on all counts — the circumstances for moving forward were very much the same.

That was especially the case for the offense, which (while more experienced) was in a much greater state of disarray after the 2008 collapse, and arguably much worse off at the most important position. The "returning starter" at quarterback, Chris Todd, had actually been benched for the last five games of '08, a casualty of Tuberville's decision to pull the plug on his experiment with the spread offense and tell its architect, offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, to hit the bricks at midseason. As far as SEC quarterbacks go, Todd also had almost no discernible talent. Nor any reliable targets at wide receiver. Nor, with the abandonment of the spread and subsequent chaos, anywhere to hang his hat scheme-wise. At best, he was a blank slate.

But with Malzahn pushing the buttons, he rarely looked like a liability as a senior. Auburn finished in the top 20 nationally in rushing, total and scoring offense, improving on '08 by almost 130 yards and two touchdowns per game for the season. Those numbers declined in SEC games (as always, playing Louisiana Tech, Ball State and Furman can do wonders for a box score), but overall still represented an undeniably radical turnaround with largely the same players. Of the Tigers' five losses in 2009, the defense allowed at least 31 points in three of them, and the eventual BCS champion had to drive the length of the field for a game-winning touchdown in the dying seconds of another.

The job this time calls for largely different players, but all of the above still applies just as well to the two quarterbacks vying to replace (that should probably be "replace") Cam Newton this spring, Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley, neither of whom was particularly highly recruited, possesses particularly noteworthy size or speed, or has taken a particularly relevant snap in an actual college game. (Trotter attempted nine passes last year in mop-up duty, which I submit is a more promising resum� than having been nailed to the bench midway through the previous season.) Ultimately, their success is going to depend on their goals and expectations, and whether they fall within any reasonable bounds for a unit effectively starting over from scratch, opposite an equally unripe defense that wasn't all that great as it was. If the prevailing standard is the Heisman Trophy winner, the No. 1 offense in the SEC and a conference championship, well, good luck with that.

But if it's a competent, balanced effort that puts the team in a position to plausibly crack nine or ten wins, Malzahn's track record offers a glimmer of hope. With a first-rate backfield duo (Michael Dyer and Onterrio McCaleb) at its disposal, and barring an utter collapse by the rebuilt line — the line being the obvious X-factor, and not in the "high upside" sense that Newton brought to the table as the big question mark in 2010 — this can still be an offense that tops 30 points and 400 yards per game. It will be up to the emaciated defense to make up the difference, but that's good enough to remain relevant.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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tues, jan 11, 2011

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CBI title series has added intrigue with Altman’s return to Omaha

The CBI's Championship Series ? a best-of-three set which tips off tonight ?�is proof that March's best storylines aren't just reserved for the NCAA tournament.

The most intriguing aspect of tonight's game between Oregon and Creighton is the return to Omaha of first-year Ducks coach Dana Altman.

Fortunately, for Altman, even if the series goes the distance, he'll only have to take his team to his old stomping grounds once.

The QWest Center typically draws strong crowds for Creighton hoops, and Altman's welcome back tonight should be a mixed bag.

"I'll be disappointed if a majority of our fans don't recognize what Dana has meant to our program," Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said. "What I would hope is that when Dana and Oregon are introduced, our fans will thank him in the right way for 16 years he spent here. Then, while the game is going on, they'll root like hell for us.

"Think about where our program was when he came and where it was when he left. Certainly, our program would not be where it is today if it wasn't for what Dana did for us."

But we all know that fans aren't always that kind, no matter what you did for them.

In 16 years, Altman took what at the time of his hiring was a dead program to 327 wins, at least a piece of nine Missouri Valley titles and seven NCAA tournament appearances.

Still, in the same way that guys are always resentful towards the girls that leave them, a good portion of fans can never forgive beloved coaches who take off for greener pastures. Altman lost a handful of fans in Omaha in 2007 after accepting the Arkansas job, only to return a day later, promising to retire at Creighton.

The reasonable portion of that fan base likely realizes that, sometimes, it's just time for a change of scenery. He was offered a job at a Pac-10 school with nearly unlimited resources, a new arena and a $2 million-per-year contract over seven years.

On top of it, Creighton wound up with a sound replacement in Greg McDermott, who jumped back down to the Missouri Valley from Iowa State and took the Jays to 22 wins so far this season. With a successful run at Northern Iowa prior to his days in Ames, McDermott knows how to win in the league and also is less likely to jump, having already struggled mightily in a power conference role.

What Altman's done so far this season at Oregon is nothing short of amazing. With a limited roster, he somehow managed to go 7-11 in conference play, and the Ducks enter Monday's championship series opener having won five of their last six.

One area where Oregon has remained weak, though, is it's play away from Eugene, making Altman's return to the midwest even tougher.

And you thought this tournament couldn't possibly be interesting …

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.

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First Glance: Iowa State dusts itself off, again

An absurdly premature assessment of the 2011 Cyclones.

? Previously On… Nobody starts out gunning for the title of "Best 5-7 Team in America," but if you happen to be 5-7 ?�and especially if you happen to be accustomed to being 5-7 ?�you can do a lot worse than Iowa State in 2010: The Cyclones took out a pair of bowl teams (Northern Illinois and Texas Tech) by double digits, stunned Texas in Austin, came up one crazy fake extra point short of shocking Nebraska in overtime and still had a chance to sneak into a bowl game in the season finale. On the other hand, they were also blown out by rival Iowa, 35-7, and whipped in November by both lame-duck Colorado (34-14) and Missouri (14-0) with the postseason within their grasp, leaving coach Paul Rhoades' second season looking like a sideways step at best on the heels of his solid, 7-6 debut in 2009.

? The Big Change. Quarterback Austen Arnaud and running back Alexander Robinson weren't just the biggest names on the offense for three years; statistically, they've been virtually the only names worth paying attention to. Between Arnaud's arm and Robinson's legs, the pair accounted for 84 percent of the Cyclones' total offense as sophomores in 2008, nearly 80 percent in 2009 and 77 percent last year. The simultaneous exit of the team's top two receivers leaves the offense totally bereft of proven playmakers, and down an All-Big 12 center, to boot.

That's not to suggest they left a very high bar to clear ?�the Cyclones were next-to-last in the league in total and scoring offense, after finishing dead last in scoring in 2009 ? only that no one's ever seen the new kids jump. If anyone's going to fill Robinson's role as primary playmaker on offense, it's shifty Shontrelle Johnson, a Florida transplant who did most of his damage as a true freshman on kick returns but made the most of his limited chances in the backfield: He went over 100 yards rushing with a 61-yard touchdown in the shootout win over Texas Tech, broke off a 38-yarder against Utah and left half of Kansas' defense icing down its ACLs on the sideline with this 33-yarder:

Still, after shaking up the Jayhawks, Johnson touched the ball a grand total of four times for eight yards over the last three games, hardly the work of an exciting up-and-comer. At best, he'll emerge as another competent role player with the occasional flash of an extra gear, a la Robinson, but the Cyclones lack anything resembling a consistent home-run hitter.

The Least You Should Know About...

Iowa State

In 2010

5-7 (3-5 Big 12); 4-3 at home, 1-4 on the road.

Past Five Years

2006-10: 21-40 (9-31 Big 12); Three head coaches.

Five-Year Recruiting Rankings*

2007-11: N/A (no classes ranked in Rivals top 50)

Best Player

Linebacker Jake Knott was a nothing recruit out of a central Iowa town with a population of barely 5,000 people (Waukee, also the hometown of Joey Jordison, drummer for Des Moines-based freak metal band Slipknot), but made a big name for himself as a sophomore with a team-high 130 tackles, four interceptions, four forced fumbles and a spot on the All-Big 12 team. At least one opposing coach cast his ballot for Knott as the league's Defensive Player of the Year.

Best Year Ever

Iowa State has never finished undefeated, even in the early days when it took on local high schools and so forth, and hasn't won a conference championship since sharing the Missouri Valley crown in 1912. But no ISU outfit in the intervening 100 years has come closer than the 1938 edition, which started the season 7-0 with back-to-back wins at Nebraska and Missouri before stumbling into a tie at Kansas State and a 10-0 loss at undefeated, Orange Bowl-bound Oklahoma to close the year. There were only a couple bowl bids to go around in those days, but the '38 team finished 7-1-1 and cracked the Associated Press poll for the first — and for 34 more years, only — time in school history. Here's a video of Iowa State campus scenes shot in the winter of 1938 — no sign of the football team, but there are men playing unidentifiable musical instruments and literally cranking a car by hand.

Best Case

Jantz and Johnson provide some spark for the offense, defense improves against the run, 'Clones pull a pair of road upsets at UConn and Baylor. 6-6, TicketCity Bowl.

Worst Case

Revolving door at quarterback, spotty production from the running game, minimal improvement on defense. Winless as underdogs in every Big 12 game. 1-11, new hot seat for Paul Rhoads.

* Based on Rivals' national rankings

? Big Men On Campus. The Cyclones were typically bad against the run (technically, they were bad at everything, with the possible exception of net punting), but at least found a pair of cornfed mainstays in linebackers Jake Trott and A.J. Klein, first-year starters who combined for more total tackles (241) as sophomores than any other combo in the Big 12. Those two aren't going to resurrect the moribund pass rush, but they should lead a charge up the ranking is all-purpose run defense: In general, the front seven rotation was extremely green last fall, and banged up. Pending a couple ongoing legal cases, it will also return almost entirely intact this fall, and frankly can't be much worse.

? Open Casting. The mass exodus on offense might be a bigger concern if the attack was any good in the first place,�and if the practice field this spring wasn't littered with candidates vying to pick up the slack under center. At least four would-be successors to Arnaud's mediocre throne are duking it out, and at least two more will show up with the incoming freshman class in the fall.

At the head of the pack for the moment is a) Last year's backup, Jerome Tiller, who's sole claim to fame in two years is a fluky 47-yard touchdown pass that sparked ISU's 9-7 upset at Nebraska in 2009, an otherwise dismal afternoon punctuated by seven Cornhusker turnovers; and b) Splendidly-named juco transfer Steele Jantz, who initially walked on at Hawaii before breaking out last year at the City College of San Francisco, his first full season as a quarterback at any level. They be wary of admitting it, but secretly, ISU fans are hoping they uncovered a late-blooming gem. Who just happens to wear a legitimate fauxhawk.

? Overly optimistic spring narrative. It may be a longshot, but Iowa State is so far behind the curve in Big 12 recruiting that a a guy like Jantz ? a sudden riser with good size, respectable wheels and fairly crazy numbers in a situation where even his juco coaches were apparently counting on another guy to beat Jantz out for the job ?�is about as good a chance as the Cyclones have of finding the offensive star they've so sorely lacked since Seneca Wallace graced the depth chart almost a decade ago. With an above average quarterback, there's always enough competent skill talent to get something done offensively, which the Cyclones clearly have not in coordinator Tom Herman's first two years.

? The Big Question. Does their fate really lie in the hands of an obscure transfer? Well, no; if Jantz was named the starter tomorrow, he'd probably rank ninth or tenth among projected Big 12 quarterbacks, if not at the bottom. But the fact that the great unknown represents the best-case scenario tells you all you need to know about the not-so-great known. Tiller's brief cameos in place of Arnaud have been underwhelming. No one else who's touched the ball in an actual game has shown much more. The defense needs a vast leap forward just to qualify as "middle of the pack," even by Big 12 standards. If there's any hope at all of getting back above .500, it might as well come from an unexpected lightning bolt.

- - -
Other premature assessments (in alphabetical order): Nebraska. … Nevada.

Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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‘Energy vampires’ are very real, and Gene Chizik can prove it

When you first read Auburn coach Gene Chizik's pledge to remain on guard against "energy vampires" that threaten to waste his valuable time and verve, you probably thought he was making the term up. What is an "energy vampire," anyway? A talk radio host? A random blogger? An actor with lightning for fangs?

In fact, the concept of an "energy vampire" was pioneered by the famed dentist turned celebrity "hypnotherapist," Dr. Bruce Goldberg, to describe an "unhappy lot" of people who "seem to drain the energy of those unprotected people around them" by various means. These are "well-meaning, normal people" who are nevertheless inclined to launch "premeditated psychic attacks" to bolster their own life forces at the expense of others'.

"You will observe this process at work in any public gathering," Dr. Goldberg writes, and so Gene Chizik has, having carefully observed and documented examples of each of Goldberg's five types of energy vampires throughout his career:

The Ethereal Type: LES MILES, SEC West rival.
Dr. Goldberg says: "Existential terror is the predominant issue of an ethereal type. Most often these troubled souls have been tortured to death in previous lives for their metaphysical beliefs or practices. Their only escape was to leave the body, so out-of-body experiences are the norm with them today."

Common traits of the Ethereal Type
? Leaving their physical body often throughout the day.
? Weak boundaries and tendency to spend as much time as possible on the spiritual realms.
? Difficulty relating to linear time.

"The result of these inclinations is both withdrawal and aggression. They become aggressive and angry when forced to function on the earth plane. Their psychic attack on you is rarely premeditated, but nonetheless you must protect yourself from these individuals."

The Insecure Type: MARK MANGINO, former Big 12 North rival.
Dr. Goldberg says: "The main issue with insecure types is nurturance. These souls have been through many incarnations during which there simply was not enough food or love to go around. They usually were abandoned at some time in their present life, and fear it will happen again."

Common traits of the Insecure Type
? Feeling that everyone around them is draining their energy; their response is to suck the energy from others to compensate.
? Compulsive, classically overweight and susceptible to addictions of all kinds.
? Energy needs and nurturing requirements that will never be satisfied. To solve this deficiency, they must persist in draining the energy from others, creating a vicious cycle.

"Never stand directly in front of this person. Do not make eye contact with him or her, if possible. Encourage them with words, but do not offer to do things for them. Remember these individuals live in constant fear of rejection and abandonment. Do not let your pity for them be a basis for you being their next victim."

The Paranoid Type: NICK SABAN, nemesis.
Dr. Goldberg says: "Paranoid types are soldiers still trying to win a war that no longer exists against an enemy that has long since perished. They do not trust anyone.� Everyone is their enemy and life is their battleground. Fear is everywhere and an ingrained part of their personality makeup."

Common traits of the Paranoid Type
? Inability to admit defeat: To lose for a paranoid is to admit that they are bad.
?�Hard workers, obsessive-compulsive, usually quite healthy physically.
? Never enough time for them to accomplish their various goals.

"Paranoid types are seductive, but are incapable of long-term relationships. They insist you agree with their often-distorted view of the world. In reality, they want you to argue with them. This way they can win the argument and prove to themselves that they are good and you are bad. Never argue with this person. Refrain from making eye contact with them. Lower and soften your voice when you speak to them, and change the topic to something pleasant."

The Passive-Aggressive Type: LANE KIFFIN, fellow SEC coaching hire, class of 2008.
Dr. Goldberg says: "Invasion and being controlled is the chief concern of the passive-aggressive type. During several past incarnations, they experienced being controlled and trapped in situations, and prevented from being able to express themselves in ways they wanted to. They may have been slaves, prisoners, or been victimized by religion or governments."

Common traits of the Passive-Aggressive Type
? Lacks autonomy. Constantly strives to involve other people in their lives.
? Lives in the now, and never plans or thinks about the future.
? Self-expression is unknown to the passive-aggressive type.
"This type of individual creates an internal world of unclear, undifferentiated fantasies and ideas, with fear at the core of this world. They imprison themselves and project loneliness, desperation, and resentment toward everyone they contact. It is impossible for them to express anger."

The Robot Type: URBAN MEYER, once and future champion.
Dr. Goldberg says: "The main issue of robotic types is authenticity. They are denying their true self. During previous lifetimes, they had to keep up the appearance of being perfect in order to survive. They were most likely in charge of running things, as they probably are now."

Common traits of the Robot Type
? Constant fear that something is missing and life is progressing without them.
?�To deal with this reality, robot types try to become even more perfect.
? High-paying job, good reputation, perfect spouse and family, appearance of perfect health.
"The more inauthentic they act, the more meaningless the world appears. Others envy their lifestyle. People come to them with their problems. The robot types never attain satisfaction from life, and come across as a blank. They function as if on automatic pilot and are often removed from your conversation."

Clearly, Gene Chizik has succeeded in his field because of his recognition that these five types of psychic parasites must be identified and dealt with accordingly, or a psychic attack upon his and his team's wellbeing is inevitable. And also his recognition that he can achieve a brief hypnotic effect in opponents via Trooper Taylor's towel.

- - -
All quotes are verbatim from Goldberg's very real article on energy vampires on his personal site. Hat tip: David Morrison.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Coming Attractions: Jamarkus McFarland, Oklahoma’s missing link (yes, still)

Assessing 2011's most intriguing players, in no particular order. Today: Junior Oklahoma defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland.

? Typecasting. McFarland was the kind of recruit whose courtship gets covered by the New York Times and hobnobs with Heisman winners and sends spurned fans on the warpath when his commitment doesn't go their way —�a top-shelf prospect, in other words, who arrived in Norman at the perfect moment to inherit the mantle of a long line of top-shelf Sooner tackles: Like both of Bob Stoops' previous defensive tackle stars, Tommie Harris and Gerald McCoy, McFarland was touted as an explosive, disruptive type who can beat offensive linemen into the backfield while still possessing more than enough bulk (in McFarland's case, 280 pounds as an incoming freshman) to hold up against the run. He would get his feet under him during an apprentice season behind McCoy, then slide into the void as the resident irresistible force in the middle of the line when McCoy left for the draft after his second straight All-American campaign in 2009.

Technically, that's still possible, though his failure to break out —�or even crack the regular starting lineup —�last year as a sophomore effectively shoved the hype into the freezer. Instead, the demand has shifted from "irresistible force" to "immovable object": The run defense was one of the weakest links of last year's Big 12 title run, and with the up-tempo offense shouldering most of the responsibility for making the Sooners the overwhelming favorites to open at No. 1 in the preseason polls, doing a better job clogging up running lanes is a top priority.

? Best-Case. Oklahoma plummeted from eighth nationally against the run in 2009 to 58th last year, struggling in one point or another against pretty much every variety of ground attack it came across: Air Force's traditional triple option ground out 351 yards and three touchdowns on well over 5.5 per carry in a near-upset in September; Missouri's spread went for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' actual upset on Oct. 23; Baylor's spread broke off 237 and a pair of scores a month later. In the meantime, Texas A&M sent tailback Cyrus Gray straight ahead for 122 and a touchdown in the Aggies' upset on Nov. 6, which also included a 48-yard run by quarterback Ryan Tannehill on A&M's first snap to set up another score. Establishing the run is the surest way for opposing offenses to keep Oklahoma's own arsenal off the field and make inroads against a unit that yielded at least 24 points in half of OU's games.{YSPLMORE}

Obviously, someone in the middle of that line has to get better, and there are few better candidates in the entire Big 12 for a leap year than McFarland, who's hardly coming in cold with three starts and steady work off the bench in 20 games in two years. He's also listed above 290 pounds, putting him firmly in the "run-stopper" category. At minimum, McFarland's hitting the point of his career where he should emerge as a reliable (if unheralded) starter; at best, he'll be the breakout star of a line that reclaims its place as one of the most feared in the country.

? Worst-Case. Nothing McFarland has done the last two seasons suggests he's on the verge of spearheading a championship-caliber defense; as spring practice gets underway, he's not even on the verge of cracking the starting lineup, where fellow junior Stacy McGee remains entrenched even after being cited for marijuana possession in February. McGee started all but three games ahead of McFarland last year, with nearly identical production in terms of tackles, tackles for loss and rushing the passer. Defensive tackles don't play on paper�— especially in Oklahoma's scheme, where they're generally charged with occupying blockers to free up the linebackers and secondary to make most of the plays —�but the fact that McFarland was only a part-time bit player on a unit that finished 58th against the run doesn't say much for his prospects of ever being anything else.

More Coming Attractions
Listed alphabetically by school.? KEENAN ALLEN, Cal
? MARCUS COKER, Iowa
? TYRANN MATHIEU, LSU
? DEVIN TAYLOR, South Carolina
? DARRELL SCOTT, South Florida
? SHAYNE SKOV, Stanford

? Fun Fact. Over-the-top, high-dollar recruiting tales are heavy enough on rumor and conspiracy theory that they seem more like something out of a contrived movie — say, The Program or Caligula Goes to Studio 54 — as a matter of course. But between bestselling recruiting tales like The Blindside and Meat Market and Willie Williams' Miami Herald recruiting diary and the random Facebook postings of Mississippi State prospects and pretty much everything that happened at Colorado under Gary Barnett, we know that the reality can be every bit as interesting as the fiction, and McFarland's notorious account of a party with triumphant Texas fans for a high school English assignment, of all things, remains a titan of the genre:

But the best summation of his experience might have come from a paper he wrote for his English class comparing Oklahoma and Texas. The paper, "Red River Rivals Recruit," includes a description of a wild party hosted by Longhorns fans at an upscale hotel in Dallas after the Oklahoma-Texas game on Oct. 11.
"I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants," McFarland wrote. "Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude."
He continued: "The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached."
McFarland later contended parts of the paper were "spiced up" (though after that he also said "I stand by this story" as presented in the paper), but even if he fabricated it out of thin air, the evocative prose and uncompromising commitment to verit� storytelling ensures his place as a recruiting immortal.

? What to expect in the fall. It's a make-or-break season for McFarland, and for Oklahoma: The Sooners have the goods to deliver a national title after a decade of repeated disappointments with the championship on the line, and notable improvement against the run is a critical part of the equation. McFarland is a critical part of their chances of improving against the run. With his potential and two seasons in the rotation under his belt, he's in position to emerge as a reliable stalwart over the next two seasons.

In the big picture, though, the early trajectory of his career suggests his place is as a cog in the system, not a driving force: He's not going to keep OU from going anywhere, but it's fair to say by now that he's not going to be one of the guys who leads them there, either.

- - -

Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Nice to See the Atlanta Media Are Already Delusional About the Baseball Season

Atlanta Braves: Every media outlet brims with optimism about the local teams at the start of every season. Sure, the Philadelphia Phillies are SI cover boys, but what about the 91-win Atlanta Braves? From the AJC: "Yes, on paper, Philadelphia has one of the greatest starting pitching rotations ever assembled. But on the field, the [...]

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Alex Ovechkin Sought Revenge On Tuomo Ruutu

Carolina's Tuomo Ruutu hit Washington's Dennis Wideman last night, leaving him shook up on the ice. No penalty was called on the play.� Wideman's teammate, Alexander Ovechkin, witnessed the hit and took exception. He spent the rest of the game trying to exact revenge on Ruutu. You mess with Ovi's teammates and you find out [...]

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Headlinin’: All-Americans Floyd, Barron booked in weekend arrests

Making the morning rounds.

? The rap sheet, Part One. Notre Dame star Michael Floyd, future first-round draft pick and soon-to-be owner of every school receiving record, was arrested by campus police for drunk driving around 4 a.m. Sunday morning ? his second alcohol-related offense in 15 months, following a citation for underage drinking in January 2010. (In that case, a bloodied Floyd was caught allegedly trying to flee from a fight in downtown Minneapolis alongside exquisitely named Minnesota running back Shady Salamon, a former high school teammate.) Obligatory mugshot is here.

Floyd was released Sunday on $500 bond; a court date is set for April 2. No official word as of this morning from Notre Dame or coach Brian Kelly. [South Bend Tribune]

? The rap sheet, Part Two. Alabama safety Mark Barron, a two-time All-SEC pick and arguably the best player on what figures to be a very nasty Crimson Tide defense this fall, was arrested early Sunday morning on a misdemeanor charge for hindering prosecution in a single-car accident involving his Chrysler 300. According to police, Barron was a passenger when the car struck the center wall of I-10 in Mobile around 5 a.m., and continued to insist that the car had been stolen from a club by a man he knew only as "Bull," even after an officer determined that the driver was actually Barron's cousin, who fled the scene before police arrived. (Name of club: "Shotgun Willies." It is not clear how Barron accounted for being inside a car that he claimed had been taken without his permission, but he stuck to his story so vehemently that the officer "had no other choice but to arrest him.")

Barron was released on $500 bond within an hour of being booked; the maximum sentence for conviction of a Class A misdemeanor is a one-year jail term. Coach Nick Saban said he was aware of the incident and is "gathering information," etc., but Barron was already expected to be limited in spring practice ? beginning today ? while he continues to rehab the torn pectoral muscle that kept him out of the Capital One Bowl. [TideSports.com]

? The rap sheet, Part Three. The Fiesta Bowl is bracing itself for the results of a potentially "scathing" internal probe into the game's political and financial maneuvering, expected to be released as soon as this week at the possible peril of longtime CEO John Junker's job. Among the subjects expected to be addressed by the bowl's three-man investigative panel: a) Allegations that the bowl broke campaign finance laws by directing and reimbursing employee contributions to certain politicians, including John McCain; b) Junker's nearly $600,000 salary and the $120,000 worth of zero-interest loans he and a then-vice president for marketing took from the bowl in the early 2000s; and c) An unusually large contract with a local security firm, Blue Steel Consulting, run by a lieutenant in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department.

The bowl is "probably inclined to make the internal report public," according to the Associated Press, except for parts that could affect an ongoing criminal investigation by the state attorney general's office (and possibly the IRS). In the meantime, the game has already responded to the charges by putting Junker on paid leave, hiring a high-profile defense attorney and cutting ties with the security firm. [Associated Press]

? Beginning of a happy ending. Three-star defensive end prospect Lorenzo Mauldin, the hard-luck case from Atlanta who became the poster boy for critics of oversigning when South Carolina pulled his scholarship offer the night before signing day, has reportedly signed a letter of intent with Louisville. Mauldin, a ward of the state for most of his life, was dumped by South Carolina in part because of borderline grades, and in part because there was no more room in the Gamecocks' overstuffed signing class. (They still have about a half-dozen actual signees to shed by August.) [@RecruitingAJC]

? Ken "Snake" Stabler is marketing a private-label line of Chilean wines. The wine, "12," includes three reds and two whites grown by Santiago, Chile-based Anderson Estate Wines, and comes in a bottle with a "venomous-looking serpent that bares its fangs" on the label. "I don't know what that is," said Stabler, who was acquitted of his most recent DUI charge in October 2008. "It's a friendly snake, though. Not a poisonous one." That is all. [Birmingham News]

Quickly… Two high school coaches in Texas defend Willie Lyles as a legitimate scout. … Jadeveon Clowney remains "on track to qualify." … Little-used quarterback Skylar Jones is transferring from Wake Forest for (presumably) more playing time in his final year of eligibility. … Auburn sees a slight uptick in applications in the wake of its championship season. … Denard Robinson dips his toe into Michigan's new offense. … Ohio State fans still basically love Jim Tressel. … The Oklahoman pulls into the lead for Most Boring Headline of the Spring. … And how did Hasbro manage to get a Transformers logo on LSU's uniforms all the way back in 1936?

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Coming Attractions: Jamarkus McFarland, Oklahoma’s missing link (yes, still)

Assessing 2011's most intriguing players, in no particular order. Today: Junior Oklahoma defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland.

? Typecasting. McFarland was the kind of recruit whose courtship gets covered by the New York Times and hobnobs with Heisman winners and sends spurned fans on the warpath when his commitment doesn't go their way —�a top-shelf prospect, in other words, who arrived in Norman at the perfect moment to inherit the mantle of a long line of top-shelf Sooner tackles: Like both of Bob Stoops' previous defensive tackle stars, Tommie Harris and Gerald McCoy, McFarland was touted as an explosive, disruptive type who can beat offensive linemen into the backfield while still possessing more than enough bulk (in McFarland's case, 280 pounds as an incoming freshman) to hold up against the run. He would get his feet under him during an apprentice season behind McCoy, then slide into the void as the resident irresistible force in the middle of the line when McCoy left for the draft after his second straight All-American campaign in 2009.

Technically, that's still possible, though his failure to break out —�or even crack the regular starting lineup —�last year as a sophomore effectively shoved the hype into the freezer. Instead, the demand has shifted from "irresistible force" to "immovable object": The run defense was one of the weakest links of last year's Big 12 title run, and with the up-tempo offense shouldering most of the responsibility for making the Sooners the overwhelming favorites to open at No. 1 in the preseason polls, doing a better job clogging up running lanes is a top priority.

? Best-Case. Oklahoma plummeted from eighth nationally against the run in 2009 to 58th last year, struggling in one point or another against pretty much every variety of ground attack it came across: Air Force's traditional triple option ground out 351 yards and three touchdowns on well over 5.5 per carry in a near-upset in September; Missouri's spread went for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' actual upset on Oct. 23; Baylor's spread broke off 237 and a pair of scores a month later. In the meantime, Texas A&M sent tailback Cyrus Gray straight ahead for 122 and a touchdown in the Aggies' upset on Nov. 6, which also included a 48-yard run by quarterback Ryan Tannehill on A&M's first snap to set up another score. Establishing the run is the surest way for opposing offenses to keep Oklahoma's own arsenal off the field and make inroads against a unit that yielded at least 24 points in half of OU's games.{YSPLMORE}

Obviously, someone in the middle of that line has to get better, and there are few better candidates in the entire Big 12 for a leap year than McFarland, who's hardly coming in cold with three starts and steady work off the bench in 20 games in two years. He's also listed above 290 pounds, putting him firmly in the "run-stopper" category. At minimum, McFarland's hitting the point of his career where he should emerge as a reliable (if unheralded) starter; at best, he'll be the breakout star of a line that reclaims its place as one of the most feared in the country.

? Worst-Case. Nothing McFarland has done the last two seasons suggests he's on the verge of spearheading a championship-caliber defense; as spring practice gets underway, he's not even on the verge of cracking the starting lineup, where fellow junior Stacy McGee remains entrenched even after being cited for marijuana possession in February. McGee started all but three games ahead of McFarland last year, with nearly identical production in terms of tackles, tackles for loss and rushing the passer. Defensive tackles don't play on paper�— especially in Oklahoma's scheme, where they're generally charged with occupying blockers to free up the linebackers and secondary to make most of the plays —�but the fact that McFarland was only a part-time bit player on a unit that finished 58th against the run doesn't say much for his prospects of ever being anything else.

More Coming Attractions
Listed alphabetically by school.? KEENAN ALLEN, Cal
? MARCUS COKER, Iowa
? TYRANN MATHIEU, LSU
? DEVIN TAYLOR, South Carolina
? DARRELL SCOTT, South Florida
? SHAYNE SKOV, Stanford

? Fun Fact. Over-the-top, high-dollar recruiting tales are heavy enough on rumor and conspiracy theory that they seem more like something out of a contrived movie — say, The Program or Caligula Goes to Studio 54 — as a matter of course. But between bestselling recruiting tales like The Blindside and Meat Market and Willie Williams' Miami Herald recruiting diary and the random Facebook postings of Mississippi State prospects and pretty much everything that happened at Colorado under Gary Barnett, we know that the reality can be every bit as interesting as the fiction, and McFarland's notorious account of a party with triumphant Texas fans for a high school English assignment, of all things, remains a titan of the genre:

But the best summation of his experience might have come from a paper he wrote for his English class comparing Oklahoma and Texas. The paper, "Red River Rivals Recruit," includes a description of a wild party hosted by Longhorns fans at an upscale hotel in Dallas after the Oklahoma-Texas game on Oct. 11.
"I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants," McFarland wrote. "Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude."
He continued: "The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached."
McFarland later contended parts of the paper were "spiced up" (though after that he also said "I stand by this story" as presented in the paper), but even if he fabricated it out of thin air, the evocative prose and uncompromising commitment to verit� storytelling ensures his place as a recruiting immortal.

? What to expect in the fall. It's a make-or-break season for McFarland, and for Oklahoma: The Sooners have the goods to deliver a national title after a decade of repeated disappointments with the championship on the line, and notable improvement against the run is a critical part of the equation. McFarland is a critical part of their chances of improving against the run. With his potential and two seasons in the rotation under his belt, he's in position to emerge as a reliable stalwart over the next two seasons.

In the big picture, though, the early trajectory of his career suggests his place is as a cog in the system, not a driving force: He's not going to keep OU from going anywhere, but it's fair to say by now that he's not going to be one of the guys who leads them there, either.

- - -

Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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