Best
Players:
Raeshon McNeil, East CB- I love
all the connections that can be made
between the 05 and 06 game. With
McNeil, look no further than last year’s
stud corner Derek Pegues who used a
terrific AA game to launch himself into
the top 3 of corners. McNeil is a stud,
played a mistake free game, and was
simply toying with receivers as the day
went on. The best part, he was one of
the few DBs out there that knew how to
play the ball once it was in the air.
AND he runs back a blocked FG for a
Touchdown, just call him MVP.
Kenneth “Deon” Beasley, West WR-
Opened the game with a great return on a
fake reverse then followed with a
phenomenal catch on a poorly throw
Mustain pass. Terrific speed. Great
leaper as well, and made a beautiful
adjustment and catch on a high fade that
Snead threw into the end zone in the 2nd
quarter. This kid has the athleticism
to play either side of the ball, but
it’ll be hard to put him any position
where the ball won’t be in his hands.
Sam Young, East OT- Didn’t notice
Sam Young much during the game? I
wouldn’t expect it, considering he was
the only OT that was holding his own for
much of the contest. Young’s
performance playing opposite his normal
slot at LT will make him an even hotter
commodity than he already is, and as
signing day nears, his situation gets
even murkier.
Chris Wells, East RB- I wasn’t
too sure about Wells because it seemed
like he was just walking over far less
talented opponents in HS, but this guy
came to play. He reminded me a lot of
TJ Duckett with his running, perfect for
the Big Ten. Not sure about his feet,
but he always keeps his legs moving and
knows how to get in the end zone. Also,
you better bring about 15 guys if you
want to tackle him once he gets moving.
Gerald McCoy, West DT- For a big
man, this kid has some kind of moves,
not that he really needed most of them.
Anything and everything he was trying to
get past the east OL was working, I’m
pretty sure that politely asking them to
move would’ve been just as effective.
Worst
Players:
Mitch Mustain, West QB-
Congratulations Mitch, just like Toney
Baker last year, NBC hyped you beyond
belief and you laid a massive egg in the
game. I know he decommitted from
Arkansas recently, if he knows what’s
good for him he’ll change his mind and
resign. The only completion of note he
made was on a badly thrown ball that
Beasley made a terrific catch on.
Connor Smith, East OL- I don’t
mean to pick on Smith here, really the
player should read “80% of the linemen
in this game”. Smith got embarrassed by
Gerald McCoy play in, play out. You
could tell he just had no answer.
Honorable mention here will be
J’Marcus Webb, Jake Bscherer, Justin
Boren, Steven Schilling and
all the other OLs that made this
possible.
Other
players of note:
Jai Eugene, West CB- Eugene gets
a lot of praise for his speed and
athleticism, but he was absolutely
mugging the east WRs on a few of those
deep patters. He was going stride for
stride with Harvin on one occasion, then
resorted to bumping him when the ball
came close even though it was
unnecessary. Struggled when a bigger WR
like Hazelton went against him.
Robert Rose, East DE- Great speed
rusher, abused just about every
offensive tackle that the west dared to
throw at him. Jake Bscherer and Bartley
Webb seemed to take the brunt of Rose’s
play. He was also taking some snaps in
there at Tight End, certainly one of the
bonuses to playing with your old HS
coach; should be an instant impact kid
at the Ohio State University next
season.
Maurice Evans, East DE- Rose’s
bookend, did the same exact thing to the
west’s RTs as Rose did the LT’s. Ian
Symmonette and J’Marcus Webb took their
turns as the designated, “help the QB up
after Evans knocks him down” guy.
Committed to PSU during the game, might
as well start the kid immediately with
Hali gone.
Myron Rolle, East S- Myron is an
odd case, because he’s been getting so
much hype for so long that one almost
expects perfection from him. He made
some bad plays early on, letting the
quick west WRs get by him, but as the
game went on he really turned his game
up. He’s got a lot more speed to him
than people give him credit for.
Taylor Mays, West S- Taylor will
get my “KP Award”, given to the
defensive back that is completely and
totally avoided all night long. To see
a kid as big as he is, 6-3 225, keeping
up stride for stride with Percy Harvin
and easily knocking a pass away is a
terrifying sight. This kid better not
move to LB, he’s a Sean Taylor-like
freak of a Safety.
David Ausberry, West WR- Is it
just me, or did anyone else think that
it was Terrell Owens out there playing
for the West squad? This kid didn’t get
many chances early on, considering
finding a QB on the west squad just
couldn’t get him the ball, but it
certainly looked like he won’t have any
trouble adjusting to the college game
from a physical standpoint. Once Snead
settled in he was able to make some big
plays as well.
Jake Bcsherer, West OL- Had some
nice plays, but will be remembered for
the beatings he took. Early on got
schooled by Robert Rose on a number of
occasions, one of which he was pushed so
far back into the backfield that when
the HB pitch was missed it fell right
into his hands.
Kyle Peterson, West Punter- The
6-5 Californian spent much of the first
half desperately trying to avoid a East
special teams unit throwing themselves
into blocking his punts. The fact that
he takes a few steps on the run before
he punts certainly didn’t help, but he
got them all off. They finally got to
him in the 2nd.
Percy Harvin, East WR- Whatever
you think of Percy Harvin, just know
that the kid is the same type of
gamebreaker that Derrick Williams, Ted
Ginn, and Reggie Bush all were before
him. It’ll be interesting to see how
the Gators use him, because he’s got the
talent to be pretty much whatever the
coaches dream up. They did say that he
had words with Coach Ginn during
practice this week, which is pretty
ridiculous on Harvin’s part.
Bartley Webb, West OT- Nearly
managed to get Mitch Mustain killed on
the very first drive. Barely even made
an attempt to stop Robert Rose on a pure
speed rush.
DeMarco Murray, West RB- Didn’t
get a load of carries, but he certainly
looked like he had the quickness to make
some plays. Made his big splash with
his decision to attend Oklahoma. After
Moody picked SC and Goodson decided not
to declare, it was pretty evident that
it was OU or nothing for Murray.
Jacques McClendon, East DL- If
there’s one thing I can say about
Jacques McClendon, is that he looks like
a football player. Played well too,
making up for the performance of his
future teammate Adam Myers White in last
year’s game.
Stafon Johnson, West RB- I get
it, he’s not going to be a running back
in college, but this kid has the talent
to do so if he really wants it. Not
that big, but a tenacious runner, he
fights for every yard he gets; and he
has great speed when he gets around the
edge. Probably the same type of case as
Leon Jackson last year.
Brandon Graham, East LB- Jevan
Snead will certainly think twice the
next time he tries rolling out of the
pocket when Graham is on the field
opposite him. Graham closed on him in
no time flat and dropped him like it was
nothing. That and he has the biggest
neck pad I’ve ever seen.
Al Woods, West DL- Playing out of
position at DE, Woods was able to show
some impressive athleticism for a man
his size. On one play in particular, he
blew by Justin Boren on an inside move
and got to Zach Frazier before he even
realized he had the snap. This 320
pounder will be playing the second he
steps on the field at LSU, no question
about that with Wroten and Williams off
to the NFL.
Eddie Jones, West DE- The fact
that the East coaches decided they
needed to double team Eddie Jones even
though he was already going up against
the best OT in the country, Andre Smith,
is all you need to know about this kid’s
ability. And yes, he was still getting
into the backfield.
Andre Smith, East OT- Speaking of
Smith, there was some good and some
bad. Like I said, they felt the need to
give him help against Jones, but on the
brighter side, if he gets his hands on a
DE, it’s over. Strong, great feet for a
guy his size, and really no downside to
him whatsoever.
Emmanuel Moody, West RB- Not as
big as I thought he would be based on
scouting reports, but his pure running
style seemed to be pretty well rounded.
He only really had three chances, one
was a fumble and another was a bigtime
loss. The biggest impact he made was
being the first commitment of the day,
but they even got that wrong on the
commit ticker.
Jevan Snead, West QB-
Interesting performance from Snead.
With the news that Vince Young will be
going pro, people might take it a bit
harder on Snead because they think he
might have a shot at starting next year,
but in reality he’s not going to be the
guy for a few years. Very good athlete
and a strong arm, he stepped up big-time
in this game. Needs the same type of
coaching Young did, but he was easily
the best QB out there.
Zach Frazer, East QB- Of all the
QB performances in the game, Frazer
probably played the closest to what I’d
expected. With Brady Quinn returning,
he’ll take over the reins for ND in a
couple years. He made one particularly
beautiful throw on a rollout pass to TE
Nate Byham, just an absolute bullet of a
pass.
Antwine Perez, East S- Perez was
flying around the field with a purpose
today. The West didn’t even bother
throwing at him when he was in the game,
but when they made the mistake of
running the ball anywhere near him, he
made sure to make them pay. Two
decleaters and a free shot at the punter
later, it’s pretty clear that fans won’t
forget his name any time soon.
Nate Byham, East and Konrad
Reuland, West, TEs- Tight Ends don’t
usually get much exposure in a game like
this, though both did make some quality
catches early on. Nice job by both
blocking as well.
Sergio Kindle, West LB- I don’t
think there’s a player included in
Texas’ very impressive class that should
excite the fans more than Kindle. I
really can’t find any weaknesses in his
game; he can do whatever the staff will
ask of him, and do it extremely well. I
wish I’d have gotten a chance to see the
equally talented RB line up on offense
once or twice.
Tim Tebow, East QB- Not quite the
performance one would really want from
the best QB prospect in the country, but
it wasn’t terrible. He really is made
for a certain kind of offense, and the
one setup in two weeks preparing for the
game really isn’t it. Was effective
running the ball, which I’m sure Urban
Meyer loved to see.
Chris Bell, East WR- They
relegated him to returning for the first
3 and a half quarters of the game, then
when he finally gets his chance on
offense he can’t bring in an end zone
pass from Frazer.
Allen Bradford, West LB- Plays
like a linebacker, but looks like a
cornerback. Odd that he’d pick USC,
considering that they have tremendous LB
depth, as well as safety depth. He’d
have had a much bigger short term impact
if he’d have went to a school like UCLA,
now he risks being lost in the shuffle.
Vidal Hazelton, East WR- The
thought of he, Ausberry, and Patrick
Turner from last year all winding up at
the same school is a terrifying
thought. Hazelton only made a couple
plays, but he’s got the speed and
strength to be a very good WR early on
in his college career.
Justin Harrison, East OT- Made a
great block on the Chris Wells TD run in
the 3rd quarter completely
walled off the DE (not to mention Nate
Byham blowing up Allen Bradford) and
gave Wells an easy walk into the end
zone.
Micah Johnson, East DE- Many rate
him as the #1 DE in the country, but he
had a relatively quiet first three
quarters. He made some nice plays when
Stephen Schilling was matched up against
him, but in Schilling’s defense, he was
out of position.
Michael Goodson, West RB- Decided
not to commit during the game after all,
Lemming said it might have been because
of the Moody selection of USC. After
watching that one huge run, I’m sure the
Trojan staff are a little disappointed
that Goodson didn’t enter the fold
already. Whoever gets him is picking up
a stud, plain and simple.
Terrence Austin, West WR- The
UCLA commit took a while to make an
impact (that’s what’ll happen when
Raeshon McNeil’s covering you), but made
a great TD catch in the 4th
when the ball was thrown to his outside
shoulder.
Best
Moments (on the field):
-
The East was just waiting for the
opportunity to get Percy Harvin the
ball, and when they handed it to him on
a reverse, he didn’t disappoint. He
first ran all the way left, stopped on a
dime, and ran straight back across the
field to get an 18 yard game out of
nothing. I bet SC wishes they’d
convinced this kid to be the next Reggie
Bush. Also, East RB Chris Wells lit up
West LB Anthony Lewis on the play.
-
After the 3rd poor pass on
the same exact play, a simple out to the
right side of the field, the color
commentator praises Mustain for settling
down. After all, when the first two
passes go 5 yards over the WR’s head,
nothing spells progress like bouncing it
to a 6-5 WR.
-
Late in the first, Emmanuel Moody dives
into the line in front of him and loses
the football. Kenny Beasley sees it,
picks it up and somehow takes it for a
first down. This kid is electric I tell
you.
-
Early on in the 2nd, after a
beautiful playaction by Snead to DeMarco
Murray, Snead rolls out to the right and
picks up a bunch of yardage. It was so
good that Murray actually tried to take
the ball, then got rewarded by getting
hammered by East DE Maurice Evans.
-
I’d figured that the story of the
trenches would have been the great west
DL vs the equally talented east OL, but
it’s clear that it’s the East DE’s
Maurice Evans and Robert Rose. On one
play during the 2nd quarter,
both did a speed rush to get around the
two tackles and just lay out Josh
Freeman.
-
Perhaps it’s just me, but as the game
goes along I’m starting to really see
the difference in the two coaching
staffs. The West coach, Jim Rackley, is
from Texas, and the near-paranoid way
he’s acting on the sideline suggests
that he’s used to close, tough games.
On the other side, Ted Ginn Sr. is the
epitome of cool, that’s what coaching on
of the most dominating teams annually in
the country will do for you.
-
3rd and 28 early on in the 3rd
quarter for the East squad, Tebow takes
the snap, avoids pressure from Gerald
McCoy, and throws a bomb down field
that’s somehow caught by Vidal Hazelton
after Jai Eugene runs helplessly by.
Not the smartest throw to make by Tebow,
but a definitely the type of gutsy play
that will be needed in the Florida
offense.
-
After Wells’ second rushing touchdown,
the extra point was snapped over the
holder’s head, and picked up by kicker
Matt Bosher. Bosher, a Miami commit,
thought he might have had a seem
apparently and tried a few cutbacks out
in the open field, but eventually got
smothered by about 10 West defenders.
-
A great return by the West’s Chris
Caflisch is cut short when Myron Rolle
comes out of nowhere to make the tackle
72 yards downfield. Caflisch, playing
the token local, wild card kid this
year, is playing returner, holder, long
snapper, pretty much any role the team
asks of him, so seeing him break that
would have been incredible.
-
Toward the end of the third, USC commit
Antwine Perez showed Mitch Mustain that
just because he’s a Free Safety doesn’t
mean he can’t hit. Mustain was falling
forward but Perez came in and popped
him, sending him flailing back. Perez’s
tackling skills have been on display all
night, but this is the one for the
highlight reel.
-
After getting close all day, the East
squad gets to Kyle Peterson. He somehow
got the kick off as Antwine Perez was
hitting him, yet he still got up and
made the touchdown saving tackle of
Akeem Hebron. That isn’t just a punter,
that’s a football player.
-
There seems to be a theme developing
here. Another blocked kick, this one a
FG for the East squad. Brandon Graham
came up through the middle and blocked
the attempt early in the 4th
quarter, then laid some nice blocks as
Raeshon McNeil ran it back for 6.
-
Beautiful run by Michael Goodson toward
the middle of the 4th
quarter. Up until now there hasn’t been
much noise from the West RBs, but he
made about 6 guys miss, reversed field
and somehow found a seem and flew up the
sideline. On the next play, Maurice
Evans laid out Jevan Snead after JMarcus
Webb forgot block him.
Best Random
Moments (not directly football related):
-
Early on in the broadcast we get our
first shot of Jamie Newberry from
Scout.com. I don’t know what it is,
perhaps the goofy 1985 headset he’s
wearing or the fact that he’s basically
posed next to a computer, in case you
didn’t know scout.com was a website
obviously, but I get the feeling we’ll
be seeing some unintentional humor from
him. Oh, and he looks like a thin Jimmy
Kimmel.
-
Ahh on air commitments, there’s nothing
quite like it in all of sports. Brandon
Spikes got the group off to a fantastic
start with his choosing of Florida early
on in the first quarter. Much like
Jerrell Powe from last year, this one
took a few rewinds, but I think I got
it:
Reporter: So Brandon, where will you be
headed?
Spikes: well. Lissue, I beheaded
flowah.
Somehow that becomes, Next year, I’ll be
headed to Florida. Can’t write some of
this stuff.
-
After Jai Eugene commits, Newberry comes
on to say that he’s surprised that he
thought it’d be LSU, Miami, or maybe
Florida. Way to rack up the
subscriptions there. Also about Eugene,
he seemed to go on for about 15 minutes
flashing random signs at the camera
after his commitment. Apparently, the
only sign he doesn’t know is that of
pass interference, which is what he was
getting away with all night.
-
Just the first quarter and the announcer
is already racking up the quotes. He
may have set a record for most
consecutive jokes that utterly bombed.
The first, saying that he couldn’t run
for 2000 on his own; and the second:
“128 pancake blocks? Wow. I’d need
some syrup with that many.” (dead
silence for about 5 seconds)
This guy is my hero.
-
After a beautiful TD pass from Jevan
Snead to Kenny Beasley, the two future
Horns share a mighty whiff of the
jumping high 5 made famous by Miami
during the ‘01 National title run. It’s
not really that important, just wanted
to mention the great Kenny Beasley
again.
-
It’s getting harder and harder to show
much love to this announcing team.
Jamie Newberry is trying, but the fact
that it took him a whole half to get one
email question kind of brings up some
red flags. Can’t forget Tom Lemming up
there either, though it’s very easy to
do so. I swear, the man is a fountain
of useless information. I guarantee
that if you ever ran a 100 meter dash in
your life Lemming knows the time.
-
If there’s one thing that I hate, it’s
when recruits start to lean one way
during these live declarations and pick
another team. Terrence Austin started
to grab the Oregon hat, but dropped it
and went with UCLA. Not really sure
what that accomplishes besides
collectively destroying the hopes of
every Oregon fan watching on TV.
-
The winner of the most awkward
commitment of the game goes to Butch
Lewis and Allen Bradford. It seemed
like the announcers weren’t even
prepared for it, they sent it down
hurriedly to a clearly shaken sideline
reporter. He said a few random
comments, then needed to make three
comments about them picking their school
before Bradford of Lewis even moved. In
a shocking move, they selected the only
team with two hats on the table, USC.
That’s all I have from the
All American game. Any questions or
comments, my email is
charring21@yahoo.com
. Thanks for reading.
