All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.
We may have a quarterback. [Houston Chronicle]
Perhaps the most stunning gamble UT coach Mack Brown could make in the Longhorns' Sept. 3 opener against the Owls would be to start a true freshman at quarterback. Three more experienced options remain in the four-way race to line up under center, but players confirmed Tuesday that the positive rumblings about 6-3, 215-pound newcomer David Ash are legitimate.
Ash graduated early from Belton High School to enroll at UT in January, but when Brown announced he would receive equal practice time to incumbent starter Garrett Gilbert and second-year players Case McCoy and Connor Wood, few thought he was a legitimate candidate.
Fozzy Whitaker previews the Longhorn running backs. [Dallas Morning News]
On Malcolm Brown: "He's a great athlete. One thing that I've noticed is he's been very attentive. I get with him after every practice, watch film with him and critique him."
On Jeremy Hills: "He has been very good, running between the tackles very well."
On Traylon Shead: "He's shown a lot of physicality."
On Joe Bergeron: "He's still learning the game but he's one that will probably come out and shock some people. He'll come downhill real fast but still has the speed to get outside."
On D.J. Monroe: "He's one of our fast guys, very hard to catch. D.J.'s real shifty and has learned a lot of the offense."
Three Horns that could have a monster year. [Dallas Morning News]
Can Texas go independent? [Dallas Morning News]
Rick Gosselin: Why not. There are probably three or four schools in the country that can do it. Notre Dame is one. Texas is another. BYU is attempting to do so. I think Texas will be the gorilla in any room.
The only ones worried about the network seem to be the Aggies. [Tulsa World]
Dodds and Burke Magnus, senior vice president of college sports programming for ESPN, said they don’t worry about the network leading to any unraveling of the Big 12.
“I sleep well knowing that Texas has been very open and transparent about this effort from the get-go,” Magnus said. “This did not sneak up on anybody ... and the opportunity that Texas is taking advantage of with us is something that other institutions in the conference can take advantage of as well.”
Congratulations to Karlee Bispo. [Texas Sports]
T. Boone Pickens has some advice for the Aggies. [NewsOK]
"Stay home," he said.
"That's a big mistake for Texas A&M to move out," Pickens said Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. "They're moving out of Texas when they do that, and I don't think that's a smart deal."
The Aggie are mixing it up at the OLB position. [San Antonio Express-News]
Sean Porter wants to be the next Von Miller. [San Antonio Express-News]
Here is your A&M feel good story of the day. [San Antonio Express-News]
Land Thieves
Kenny Stills likes to Tweet. [NewsOK]
Middle linebacker Tom Wort is playing for Austin Box this season. [NewsOK]
Is there anything sweeter than Land Thief bonding? And here is your Sooner feel good story of the day. [ESPN Big 12 Blog]
Pokes
The Cowboys have a tough road schedule this year. [Tulsa World]
McDonald's hamburgers and football just don't mix. [Tulsa World]
"I liked McDonald's, of course," he says. "That's probably everybody's favorite. Cheeseburgers at McDonald's."
OSU coaches hoped that the 6-foot-3 Littlehead would arrive last year, for his first August in the program, at 305 pounds.
Instead, the former Tahlequah Sequoyah star rolled in at 358.
"I didn't look at him very long," Cowboy coach Mike Gundy recalls. "It scared me. I thought he was going to be a health risk."
Talk to David Selby, etc. about backroom deals first. It is extremely annoying when the Baylor president lectures others about open and transparent discussions. [USA Today]
The Heisman campaign has begun. [Wall Street Journal]
Schools everywhere have begun quixotic campaigns touting their players for the Heisman Trophy. Northwestern has put up billboards and mailed out 7-pound dumbbells in its "PersaStrong" campaign for quarterback Dan Persa. Baylor has sent out trading cards promoting quarterback Robert Griffin III. Even Hawaii has started a Facebook page touting quarterback Bryant Moniz for the award.
TCU gets a stadium make-over to go along with their new big boy status as a member of the Big East. [Ft. Worth Star-Telegram]
BON's fearless leader and head legal mind is just dead wrong. [Braves & Birds]
One final caveat: the fact that I am pooh-poohing the legal claims that the Big XII would have against ESPN and the SEC does not mean that the former will not threaten or even bring claims. A party does not need a fully meritorious claim in order to initiate a lawsuit. There are some fairly complicated issues involved that would ultimately be addressed by a judge or jury, which is a prospect that would scare any defendant, let alone two out-of-state defendants in a Texas court. ESPN and the SEC would like to avoid that fate and they are almost certainly governing their actions accordingly. That said, the claims that Outkick the Coverage and Burnt Orange Nation are describing are overblown.
UTSA is gearing up for their first season. [San Antonio Express-News]
The Good, The Bad, The Sanctioned
Bravo. Just when you thought USC ruled the day as far as programs.[Yahoo Sports]
The Miami gospel, according to Luther Campbell. [Dr. Saturday]
Campbell would also like to clear up a few old misconceptions. One: Unlike Shapiro, he was never "a booster"; he never gave money to the university or the football program. Two: Despite his reputation, he never broke NCAA rules when was "the team's biggest fan" in the 1980s, and in fact was cleared by the NCAA. (Although he did regularly host players at his strip club and may have once threatened to rat out the athletic department if Ryan Collins wasn't named the starting quarterback.) And three: Under no circumstances would he "have ever paid for a stripper to abort a baby allegedly fathered by a UM football player," as Shapiro claims he did. Because bankrolling an epic scandal is one thing, but a man's got to have a code.
And the stupid
When a policeman asks you about an illegal substance it is just best to deny having said illegal substance. [Orlando Sentinel]
We already knew that Oregon corner Cliff Harris was pulled over June 12 and cited for 118 miles per hour as well as driving with a suspended license.
What wasn’t common knowledge was the fact that star quarterback Darron Thomas was a passenger in the car when it was pulled over by Oregon State Police. Also not brought forth was the issue that the officer asked Harris, "Who’s got the marijuana?" Harris responded by saying, "we smoked it all."
And finally...
Let the bad break up analogies begin. [Banditree]
BDR doesn't endorse any of the rubbish out there in the interwebs, we just link to it. For a lot more daily rubbish on a somewhat timely basis, follow me on Twitter.com/dimecoverage.