Bevo's Daily Roundup - July 21, 2010

45 days (give or take a few hours).

The Longhorns have lots of reasons to feel good about next season.

Quarterback Garrett Gilbert is not someone to worry about. This may be his first year starting on the big stage, but when he took over at the national championship game last January, he wowed the nation and things can only go up from there. "We didn’t know what would happen to (Gilbert) after the national championship game," Brown said. "He walked right out of there and went back to work. Not much bothers Garrett. He is very confident and level headed. He’s got a great presence around him. When he walks in the room, all the kids look and they know he’s there."

And one more thing: He has a better arm than Colt McCoy.

 

This isn't anything new.

Offensive line. With the departure of its weak side in tackle Adam Ulatoski and guard Charlie Tanner, this year’s offensive line has a lot on its plate. Senior left tackle Kyle Hix and senior left guard Michael Huey played on the right side together last season and will protect quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s blind side in 2010. Junior David Snow will fill Chris Hall’s shoes at center, and seniors Tray Allen and Britt Mitchell will play on the right side. 

If this group can’t hold off the likes of Oklahoma’s Jeremy Beal, who had 12 tackles against Texas last year, and Nebraska’s Jared Crick, who is "the new Suh" according to Ndamukong Suh himself, Texas' offense will struggle.

 

  In case you were wondering what Jordan Shipley was saying to Hunter Lawrence those last few seconds.

Brown said Jordan was on a knee, reciting a bible verse to kicker Hunter Lawrence just before Lawrence’s game-winning kick as time expired in the Big 12 title game against Nebraska. So instead of dealing with his kicker, he decided to focus on something else.

"I said, ‘God’s handling that. I’ll go over here and handle the offensive line,’" Brown said.

 

  We won't miss them at all.

Nebraska and Colorado won a combined four national titles in the 1990s. The Huskers played for another in 2001. Despite the Buffaloes' recent struggles, the loss of both teams presumably weakens the Big 12. But according to BCS director Bill Hancock, not too much.

"I don't think it'll make a big difference as far as how the BCS works. I think that all kind of remains to be seen, but certainly the Big 12 champion still has a slot and whoever wins that league is going to be a darn good team," Hancock said. "From our standpoint, I just don't see any significant difference."

 

  New rivalries in the Big 12-minus-two?

1.)  Nebraska vs. Texas

 

This is the big one.  It’s got all the makings of a tooth and nail, bad-blood curdling clash of the old Big Eight and Southwest Conferences.  A final shot at each other after the Big XII had diluted their rivalry to the point of obscurity until now.  Of course, the conference that had watered down all the Big Red/burnt orange hate has made amends by setting up the biggest showdown of the season in its swansong year. 

 

  The Pokes have some remodeling to do.

Holgorsen, OSU's first-year offensive coordinator, and Gundy have expressed confidence that 26-year-old junior Brandon Weeden can be an effective quarterback.

But when the Cowboys gather for August camp, there will be an urgency to become more settled on the offensive line (manned by at least four new starters) and to establish a rotation of between six and eight dependable receivers.

 

The Dallas Morning News has five reasons Tech fans should be optimistic.

5. Home game against Texas early in the season: Texas Tech fans love to upend high-profile teams before a large TV audience and the Texas game lines up perfectly for the Red Raiders. The Sept. 18 game will be Texas’ – and first-year starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s -- first test against a hostile crowd. While Texas Tech probably won’t be ranked in the Top 10, the Texas game will be a prime time atmosphere ripe for an upset.

And five things to be concerned about.

Defensive backs. The Red Raiders have inexperience at defensive back in a conference full of talented wide receivers. Redshirt freshman and Carter-ex Jarvis Phillips is slotted as a starting defensive back. Sophomore Will Ford will start on the other side of the field after playing mostly in nickel situations last season. If the two corners aren’t capable of covering explosive receivers like Texas’ Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin then the Red Raider offense will have to shoulder some of the burden.

 

  Here are five reasons Aggies should be upbeat about the upcoming season.

5. The schedule: Sure, the Big 12 is still a gauntlet, but A&M gets Texas Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska at Kyle Field. The early-season schedule sets up for A&M to get off to a 7-1 or even 8-0 start. Granted, going to Stillwater for an early-season showdown won't be easy and winning in Austin is never a small task, but the 2010 slate along with some good fortune should give A&M a reasonable shot at 10 wins.

And five things Colleyville should worry about.

National attention. Labeled as the dark-horse in the Big 12, A&M could be close to a resurgence. But the Aggies have been hearing this sentiment since the Dennis Franchione era. The Aggies get their chance to finally prove it to the country with early-season televised matchups against Oklahoma State and Arkansas. Add those matchups to games against Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas that should draw some national interest. A&M was 0-7 in televised games last season.

 

It seems the NCAA is concerned about their student-athletes and the influence of agents.

Rachel Newman-Baker, the NCAA's Director of Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities, cannot comment on specific investigations (including USC's, which is currently in the appeals process). But she said her seven-member investigative team is receiving increased cooperation from parties that might have information about potential misdeeds.

"I think people are tired of watching the abuses taking place in this area," Newman-Baker said Monday.

CNBC's Darren Rovell wonders why are they cracking down on this now?

With agent investigations now taking place at North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, the NCAA is telling us that its investigative team is getting more tips and acting on them now more than ever before.

Please.

I’ll estimate that at least 50 college players (between football and basketball) get paid by agents in varying amounts each year. That’s in the form of either payments while they are still eligible and playing or promises or guarantees made while they are still eligible and playing.

That number represents about 20 percent of those drafted each year in the NFL and NBA drafts yet the NCAA catches almost no one.

 

  Investor's Business Daily has a great story on Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson.

 

If you have some extra cash and need a drink, this is the bottled water for you.

 

Bush is banned.

But the announcement Tuesday by USC president-elect C.L. Max Nikias that Bush basically will be banished from campus is no small punishment. Bush’s ban isn’t physical, at least as far as I know. But his legacy has been crushed.

The Bush Heisman no longer will sit in USC’s Heritage Hall with those won by outgoing athletic director Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson (gulp), Charles White, Marcus Allen, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

That’s no small punishment. That’s tough love. That’s a statement.

They kept the O.J. Simpson Heisman...Only at USC.

 

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