Today, All Football Recruiting Classes are Full of Class

 

Every college football program in America got much better this week.

The headlines tell the tales.

Cardinal crop is as deep, talented as any in years — San Francisco Chronicle

Spartans excited about recruiting class — Detroit Free Press

UCLA joins USC among nation’s top recruiting classes — Los Angeles Times

Then I read The Gazette’s Page 1C headline about Iowa’s recruiting. It was stunning and troubling.

Iowa’s recruiting not in the stars

Apparently the Hawkeyes didn’t land a ton of five-star recruits. And that’s just sad.

Not really, of course. It would be tedious to list the many few-star signees that went on to become All-Big Ten players for Iowa in the last decade.

(Les) Miles wins recruiting national championship for LSU — Monroe News-Star

(Jim) Leavitt glowing after USF recruiting haul — Sportingnews.com

(Bo) Pelini’s staff finds rich recruiting soil far from Midlands — Omaha World-Herald

Hard-core Hawkeye fans won’t soon forget the winter of 2005.

Seven of Iowa’s 2005 signees-to-be played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio for high school standouts.

Ryan Bain, Tyler Blum, Jake Christensen, Dan Doering, Tony Moeaki, Dace Richardson, Trey Stross.

Bain and Christensen are no longer with the program. The other five are still Hawkeyes, but have had injury-plagued careers. Maybe one or all of them will have big senior seasons.

Only two members of Iowa’s 2005 recruiting class started for the Hawkeyes at the end of the 2008 season, linebacker Pat Angerer and offensive lineman Kyle Calloway.

When Bettendorf’s Angerer committed to Iowa in August 2004, it rated six paragraphs in The Gazette. That’s no criticism of our coverage. Angerer wasn’t a recruiting “name.”

Angerer had a terrific junior season in ‘08, and figures to be a defensive anchor as a senior.

Calloway wasn’t a nobody in Recruiting World, but he wasn’t one of the 5-star/gold-star guys that had Hawkeye fans frothing at this time four years ago.

Iowa has 19 signees this year. Pick one of those with a shorter bio and fewer stars. Tell your friends this is the guy to watch in a few years.

You’ll eventually look like a football genius.

Lane Kiffin (right): Rage Against the (Gators) Machine

Recruiting doesn’t make everyone look good, though. New Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin certainly rattled some Southeastern Conference cages Thursday.

They do things differently in the football-mad SEC: Tennessee held a “recruiting celebration” at the Knoxville Convention Center, and almost 1,000 fans showed up.

Referring to an alleged recruiting violation by Florida Coach Urban Meyer in pursuit of eventual Tennessee signee Nu’Keese Richardson, Kiffin told the gathering:

“I’m going to turn Florida in right now in front of you. Nu’Keese was here on campus (on his recruiting visit) and his phone kept ringing.

“One of our coaches said, ‘Nu’Keese, who’s that?’ He said, ‘Urban Meyer.’

“Just so you know, when a recruit is on another campus, you can’t call him. I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”

The response of Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley:

“There was no rule violation and we have confirmed this with the Southeastern Conference.

“(Kiffin’s) comments not only slandered our coach, but he violated SEC rules by publicly criticizing another coach and institution.”

But not all is unpleasant with the Gators. Meyer signed a receiver from Sanford, Fla., named Andre Debose.

“I don’t want to single any guy out,” Meyer said, “but he is as good as there is. I think he is the best player in America.”

Sometimes, as Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has proved, the most-touted recruits do turn out to be special players.

So tell your friends Debose is the guy to watch in the next two years.

You’ll eventually look like a football genius.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hlist: Everything That Happened Last Saturday in College Football and More

OPENING KICKOFF

“I’ve taken more pills in the last two months than I’ve taken all my life. … I’m not letting anybody get near me with a knife.” — Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, who watched his team’s win at Purdue from the press box because of pain in his hip and leg.

FIRST DOWNS

1. Double Decker: You Iowa fans in the crowd are keenly aware Michigan State linebacker Adam Decker kind of messed up the Hawkeyes’ final offensive play in MSU’s 16-13 win.

Decker stuffed Shonn Greene for a 3-yard loss on Fourth-and-a-foot. He called it the most exhilarating play of his life. His teammates seemed to agree with the way they pounded on Decker’s helmet.

“I had to tell them to stop,” he said. “No, it felt good.”

Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker had a big day of his own. He had 13 receptions for 190 yards in the Gophers’ 16-7 win over Indiana.

Wrote Rachel Blount in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “The Gophers would commit a turnover, or allow (Adam) Weber to be sacked, or fail to give their running backs any room to operate.

“Those stumbles ignited groans that echoed off the wide swaths of empty seats. Then Decker’s sure hands would keep a drive going and defuse the frustration while he tied the school record for most catches in a game.”

2. Flying Tigers: Missouri 52, Nebraska 17.

“That’s what they get for scheduling us for homecoming,” said Tigers tailback Derrick Washington, who rushed for 139 yards in just 14 carries and scored three touchdowns in Lincoln.

“That’s kind of like we’re a bad team or something.”

Missouri has been the Cornhuskers’ foot wipe for decades. The 52 points were the most a Mizzou team ever scored against the Huskers. It was the Tigers’ first win at Nebraska since 1978.

“That wasn’t just about the 2008 football team,” Pinkel said. “It’s about 30 years of fans from around the world and a lot of former Missouri players.”

The Kansas City Star’s Jason Whitlock sees No. 3 Mizzou as something other than bad. His words:

“Gary Pinkel has constructed arguably the nation’s most lethal offense.

“There’s just no way to stop Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman and Derrick Washington. I’m not sure you can slow them. We know Nebraska can’t.”

3. Geeked Up: Before Vanderbilt played Auburn in Nashville, a sign in the Vanderbilt student section proclaimed “Geeks Rule the Turf!” The geeks were omniscient.

Vanderbilt is the smallest and sole private school in the Southeastern Conference. Its 14-13 upset over Auburn was its first triumph over the Tigers since 1955. The Commodores are 5-0 for the first time since 1943.

“This is what coaches live for,” Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson said after the game. “I live to walk into the locker room and see how happy our players are.”

Joe Biddle of The Tennessean: “I didn’t check with Nashville International Airport air traffic control to get official confirmation, but I did see a significant number of pigs flying around Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday night.”

4. Oklahoma is OK: Oklahoma has three FBS football programs.

Tulsa: 5-0, first in the nation in scoring with 56.4 points per game.

Oklahoma State: 5-0, third in the nation in scoring with 52.6 points per game.

Oklahoma: 5-0, fourth in the nation in scoring with 49.6 points per game.

All three average at least 530 yards.

Tulsa is 5-0 for the first time since 1945. Slick Shelley returned a punt for a TD in the Hurricanes’ 63-28 dismantling of Rice on Saturday. The Hlist tells you that for one reason: To get the name “Slick Shelley” in print.

FUMBLES

1. League of Lethargy: Which is rarer these days in Big Ten football, razzle or dazzle?

The five Big Ten games played Saturday had an average of 36 points. In stark contrast, an average of 71 points were scored in the six Big 12 games.

It wasn’t Michigan’s fault Big Ten end zones were so seldom visited. The Wolverines got trampled by cool Juice Williams’ Illinois team in their 45-20 defeat.

“This is ridiculous right now,” Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez rued.

“I’m mad. I’m sorry. What do you want from me? I don’t like losing. I don’t want to accept it. I don’t want anybody in this program accepting it.”

Illinois Coach Ron Zook: “I would say it’s a big, big win for us, but we have to keep it in perspective and understand that every win is a big one,” Zook said. “Michigan had a big win last weekend and understand that in the Big Ten it’s one game at a time.”

The Hlist eagerly awaits Tina Fey’s impersonation of Zook on the next Saturday Night Live.

2. A Basketball State: The state of Indiana, fortunately, still has hoops.

Indiana, Iowa’s next opponent, didn’t get its first first-down at Minnesota until 2:29 remained in the first half. That was Minnesota’s defense, not Ohio State’s.

Purdue’s Curtis Painter, who has started 37 straight games for the Boilermakers at quarterback, was yanked from the game in the fourth quarter of his team’s 20-6 loss to Penn State.

Boilermakers Coach Joe Tiller said Painter’s lone interception was the last straw.

“It was a horrible throw, a horrible decision,” Tiller said. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it. It was really, really ugly.”

But hey, Indiana can also claim Ball State, 6-0 and in the AP Top 25 for the first time ever.

3. Tapout: Ultimate Fighting Championship star Chuck Liddell was on the sideline at the Missouri-Nebraska game, wearing a red Cornhuskers jersey.

Liddell co-owns two bars in Lincoln. They undoubtedly got business Saturday night from Big Red fans trying to drink to forget their 52-17 walloping.

“I’m sick to my stomach after this game,” sober NU quarterback Joe Ganz said. “I don’t want to feel like this again. We better get this ship righted. Otherwise it’s going to be another long season.”

Nebraska defensive end Pierre Allen sounded tipsy based on this comment he made after the game:

“We got great talent and great depth. It’s all about executing. We can compete with anybody in the country.”

Well, anybody but Missouri.

FINAL GUN

“How’s O.J. going to find the real killer now?” — radio show host Jim Rome.