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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Spring Practice Stock Characters: UCLA’s new man of the hour
Renewing the annual templates of spring.
I can hear the protests of Florida and Texas fans already, and maybe a cough or two from LSU. But the fact is, when it comes to experienced, incumbent quarterbacks who appear completely untenable to continue in starting role, they've got nothing on UCLA. In fact, the Bruins have spent pretty much the entirety of Rick Neuheisel's tenure as head coach redefining untenable QB play at a major program. Neuheisel's first starter, Kevin Craft, set the school record for interceptions in 2008 and had already been relegated to lame duck status by the time coaches handed the reins to redshirt freshman Kevin Prince the following spring. But Prince, too, has spent the last two years in various states of injury and ineffectiveness, twice yielding last year to the equally injured and ineffective Richard Brehaut.
Between them, Prince and Brehaut have attempted 721 passes in 23 starts over two years. But scanning the seven candidates in the Orange County Register's spring quarterback preview, it seems the real question when the Bruins hit the field isn't going to be "Why should we bench our veteran QBs for incoming freshman Brett Hundley?" but why not?
The most obvious reason why not: Prince and Brehaut are severely damaged goods after presiding over arguably the most spectacular offensive collapse in UCLA history. The Bruins finished dead last in the Pac-10 in total offense and very nearly last in the entire country in pass efficiency, beating out only Vanderbilt and Buffalo; only the triple-option attacks from the service academies and Georgia Tech passed for fewer yards. The two primary passers combined to serve up 12 interceptions to just nine touchdowns, and failed to lead a single victory when not subsidized by at least 200 yards from a relatively mediocre running game. Beyond them, it was even worse: With Prince (knee), Brehaut (concussion) and third-stringer Nick Crissman (shoulder) all on the bench at Washington on Nov. 18, backups Clayton Tunney and Darius Bell completed twice as many passes to Husky defenders (two) as they did to their own receivers (one) in 11 attempts in the fourth quarter, one of which was returned for a touchdown that iced another nationally televised catastrophe for the Bruin offense.
All that in a year that was supposed to yield at least another modest step toward breaking out of a decade of mediocrity in the shadow of the fading crosstown giant, USC, with the Trojans' old quarterback guru, Norm Chow, pulling the strings. Honestly, with the veterans starting over under a new offensive coordinator —�and one of them (Prince) sitting out the spring to continue rehab — can the new kid really be worse?
Another reason: Hundley is worth the investment. He enrolled in January as the undisputed headliner of an otherwise unremarkable recruiting class, one of the top 100 overall prospects in the entire 2011 class according to Rivals, and the second-best "all-purpose" quarterback, and looking the part at 6-4, 210 pounds. And another: Neuheisel, staring down the chopping block himself after offering up both of his coordinators over the winter, can't afford to bring anyone along slowly. In 2008, it made sense to ride out the season with Craft rather than blow Prince's redshirt on a low-stakes transition season that wasn't going anywhere, anyway. Now that that investment has (apparently) gone bust, he has to hit paydirt — or at least come close enough to convince fans and administrators that paydirt is around the next corner —�right now. Hundley seems to be unanimously regarded as the best talent at the position, and if he's not curling himself into a fetal position in the pocket, he has to get his shot.
If he doesn't, though, it may be for the same reason. With two years spent on developing Brehaut and three on Prince, Neuheisel has to hope one of them is on the verge of a return on investment as a junior. The head coach is personally taking over the title of quarterbacks coach from Chow, and the new offensive coordinator (Eric Johnson, in from the San Francisco 49ers) can breathe a little fresh air into a meeting room that had to be stale with the stench of Vicodin and failure by last Halloween. If Hundley represents the highest ceiling in terms of potential, Prince and Brehaut may finally be at the points in their career where they offer a significantly higher floor.
The real question, then, is which of the two newcomers makes his presence more immediately felt. If it's Hundley, Neuheisel can conceivably write off another mediocre record as "growing pains" as long as his new star-in-waiting still looks the part in December. If it's Johnson, the onus will be squarely on making one of the older guys look like a viable Pac-10 quarterback at last in his pro-style system. If it happens to be both, they'll go into the fall ready to sink or swim together. But just treading water isn't an option.
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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
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.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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First Glance: Arkansas revs up for a new arm for an encore
An absurdly premature assessment of the 2011 Razorbacks.
? Previously On… Coach-quarterback relationships can be delicate, inscrutable and occasionally combustible affairs, but the marriage of Bobby Petrino's prolific, pro-style passing schemes and Ryan Mallett's atomic right arm was a thing of beauty. With their 31-23 win over LSU on Thanksgiving weekend, the 2010 Razorbacks joined the 2006 SEC West champs as the only Arkansas outfit since joining the SEC in 1992 to win ten games, or to take up residence in the top 10 as the calendar turned to December. The Hogs started and finished in the polls for the first time since 1999, and spend the entire season there for the first time since 1989, their last championship campaign as members of the old Southwest Conference. They closed the season in a BCS game for the first time.
And still, there was the lingering sense of what could have been. If the Razorbacks hadn't blown a 13-point second half lead to Alabama, or set the Tide up for the game-winning touchdown on a late interception? If Mallett hadn't been knocked out in the first half of the 65-43 loss at Auburn, where another fourth quarter lead bit the dust behind three straight turnovers ? two of them interceptions by backup QB Tyler Wilson ? in the highest-scoring game in SEC history? If freshman Julian Horton had scooped up the loose ball after a late blocked punt that could have provided the winning points in the Sugar Bowl instead of falling on it? If 2010 was the best Razorback outfit of the SEC era (and it was), it may have also been the last one in a long time that had even bigger goals within its grasp.
? The Big Change. Mallett wasn't only the SEC's most frequent and prolific passer, easily leading the league in yards, yards per game, touchdowns and big plays for the second year in a row; he was also one of the most efficient, joining Cam Newton and Greg McElroy as one of only seven passers in the country with a passer rating above 160 ? a good 10 points higher than he'd delivered as a redshirt sophomore. He pulverized the school records for yards and touchdowns in a career. And more importantly, he made the Razorbacks relevant again nationally, from within the most stacked division in the country.
| The Least You Should Know About... |
 Arkansas |
| ?? In 2010 |
| 10-3 (6-2 SEC); Lost Sugar Bowl. |
| ?? Past Five Years |
| 2006-10: 41-24 (22-19 SEC); 1-3 in bowl games. |
| ?? Five-Year Recruiting Rankings* |
| 2007-11: ? 31 ? 36 ? 16 ? 49 ? 24. |
| ?? Best Player |
 The running game was never going to be anything but a complement to Ryan Mallett's golden arm, but Knile Davis seized the role with aplomb: He turned a crowded backfield cast into a one-man show by midseason, and by the end had ripped off six 100-yard efforts on the ground in the last seven games. Altogether, Davis averaged 154 total yards per game with 13 touchdowns over the last eight, 6.5 yards per carry for the season and pulled away with 139 yards in the Sugar Bowl to capture the SEC rushing crown (non-Cam Newton Division). |
| ?? Best Year Ever |
|
The Razorbacks spent the better part of their last three decades in the Southwest Conference as a legitimate national power, but never more so than in the 1960s, a decade that produced eight top-10 finishes, seven Jan. 1 bowl games, five SWC championships and, from 1963-65, a school record 22-game winning streak. At the heart of that run was an 11-0, national championship campaign in 1964, fueled by a midseason upset at No. 1 Texas and five consecutive shutouts to close the regular season. |
| ?? Best Case |
| Tyler Wilson picks up more or less where Mallett left off with a bevy of quality targets, leads the SEC passing; Knile Davis complements the familiar aerial assault another 1,200-yard season on the ground; the defense takes another small step forward, into the top half of the conference. 9-3, Cotton Bowl, back-to-back top-20 finishes in the polls for the first time since joining the SEC. |
| ?? Worst Case |
| Porous offensive line keeps Wilson and Davis running for their lives; soaring turnover margin helps negate big plays; defense continues to struggle against the run and to get opposing offenses off the field. 6-6, Music City Bowl. |
| * Based on Rivals' national rankings (top 50 only) |
So: Hello, Tyler Wilson. Mallett's heir apparent has yet to start a college game, and in fact the single piece of relevant information through his first three seasons is that crazy line at Auburn last October: 25-of-34, 332 yards, 4 touchdowns (all in the third quarter), 2 interceptions (both in the fourth quarter). That's certainly a better omen than not playing at all ?�at least we know Wilson has the arm (he arrived as a four-star recruit) and enough grasp of the offense to light up a mediocre SEC secondary, which should be enough to keep him in good standing against at least two-thirds of the schedule even without adopting his predecessor's bombs-away philosophy on stretching a secondary. His consistency is another question. But between Mallett, Brian Brohm, Stefan LeFors, Jason Campbell and Chris Redman at his previous stops, there haven't been many college quarterbacks Petrino can't make look good.
? Big Men On Campus. Largely overlooked amid the fireworks was the leap from dead last in the SEC in total defense in 2009 to fifth in 2010, owing mostly to the return of eight battle-scarred starters. Most of that crew is back again ?�namely, the resident tackle machine(linebacker Jerry Franklin), pass rusher (defensive end Jake Bequette), run-stopper (DeQuinta Jones) and jack of all trades (linebacker/safety Jerico Nelson) ?�and offensive headlines notwithstanding, the defensive stability is the real reason there's no panic about the bottom falling out sans Mallett. You can go ahead and sign up Franklin and Bequette for a return to the All-SEC team, which Razorback fans have had very, very few opportunities to say in years.
? Open Casting. Mallett's early exit also overshadows the returning cast on offense, which is pretty much, like, everyone. Specifically: All-SEC tailback Knile Davis, the top four wide receivers and just shy of 90 percent of the team's total yards. That number may understate the point, actually, considering dynamic receiver Greg Childs had a burgeoning All-SEC campaign cut short by a season-ending injury in October, and returns as arguably the premiere receiver in the conference if he's at full strength. Either way, his main receiving mates ? Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Cobi Hamilton ? have combined for 263 catches, 4,552 yards and 35 touchdowns their own selves over the last three years, essentially as role players.
? Overly optimistic spring narrative. The SEC quarterback situation is grim all over, and no one else has the supporting cast Wilson has. The offense can take a step back and still come in as one of the top two or three attacks in the league ?�maybe as the best, now that the competition no longer includes Cam Newton. When you account for a more experienced defense and an expanded role for Knile Davis, there's no reason this team can't take a slightly less explosive route back to 10 wins.
? The Big Question. Can the offensive line keep Wilson comfortable? We know the offense has the firepower at the skill positions; the defense has the experience across the board. That leaves the new quarterback and his personal protectors up front, three of whom will be first-time starters and one whom may be a true freshman, early-enrolling tackle Brey Cook, who's already listed with the first team on the spring depth chart. The two "veterans" who do return, guard Alvin Bailey and center Travis Swanson, were both first-year starters last year as redshirt freshmen. These Hogs are still piglets.
If they're overwhelmed by those vaunted SEC defensive lines, it's going to be a long, long year for Wilson and Davis, who'll be counted on to ease the transition in the passing game as a regular workhorse on the ground. If he can't find any room, Wilson's learning curve becomes that much steeper under pressure, and any hope of sustaining last year's momentum ? opposite a defense that still considers mediocrity a solid step forward ?�goes out the window.
- - - Other premature assessments (in alphabetical order): Central Michigan. … Iowa State. … Marshall. … Nebraska. … Nevada. … South Florida. … Syracuse.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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