Kedren, Kyle and company will have to be very good tonight; Getting pumped for MCB
Will have a full breakdown of MCB on the blog tomorrow with a prediction. Watched video of practice yesterday. The guys look like they’re having a blast and really getting after it. James said yesterday to the media that he thought some of our guys last year were just content to get to a bowl game, and Cincinnati, last year’s opponent, had been in big games before like the Sugar Bowl in 2010, and knew how to play in those big stage games. This year we’ve got experience and we look hungry for a W. There was a rib eating contest yesterday and James used some of the younger guys because he didn’t want the older guys carrying five extra pounds of ribs going into the game. Guys like Adam Butler and some of the younger linemen competed and James used 162 pound Brandon Banks as his “secret weapon.” State prevailed, but Butler protested there was some foul play on State’s part as one of their competitors was just pulling the meat off the rib instead of eating it. I think we need to appeal this to the SEC and to the NCAA to get the State victory vacated.
Anyway, the players looked great in practice. JMatthews was running excellent routes and catching everything thrown his way. Jordan’s not lightning fast, but very quick, runs his routes perfectly, and just has a knack for the big play. Wow, the future is unlimited for Jordan. The line was going hard in drills, crushing the dummies. There was some pretty good hitting going on. These guys are just having fun playing football. They love it. Very excited for Monday at noon ET/11 CT on ESPN. State has a pretty good quarterback in Mike Glennon. Will get into more detail on them tomorrow.
An interesting recruiting note; Mitch Parsons, a four-star tight end by Rivals and an 89 three-star by 247 sports (highest three-star) has narrowed his choices down to us and Ole Miss. He’s coming to visit Jan. 18, which is a huge recruiting weekend for us with all the commits and some key prospects on campus. Parsons is 6’4″, 235. A player. We’ve got probably two spots left, but I understand that commit Malik Foreman is thinking about switching to UT, so that may open up another spot if Malik decommits. Hopefully, he won’t. But we’ve got Parsons and possibly L3. L3 will announce at the Under Armour All-State game next Friday, Jan.4. Believe that game is being televised by ESPN. L3 really likes the music program at USC. He is into music and wants a good program. Of course, we have Blair School of Music, so that’s a good option too. I’m sure James and the coaches are doing everything they can to get L3 to Nashville. Friday will be huge.
Tonight’s game against Butler is at 8 PM ET/7CT on The U (ESPNU). A victory would be season-changing in my opinion. Butler has our old nemesis Rotnei Clarke, who single handedly beat us in Nashville two years ago scoring 36 points sinking six-of-eight trifectas when he was the point guard for Arkansas. He transferred to Butler when John Pelphrey was fired and now he’s in his first season at Butler and playing very well. I was at the Arkansas game with my girls, and every time he put the shot up I just thought to myself “Please not again.” Sure enough he would drain it. He’s having a good year for the Bulldogs averaging 17 and shooing 45 percent from trifecta. They’re a pretty good rebounding team averaging 36 per game, while we pull down around 31 per game. We’ve got to get good work in the middle. I know I say that every time, but it’s critical every game. Josh Henderson, Rod Odom, James Siakam and Shelby Moates have got to give us good minutes on both ends. Butler has beaten Indiana, 88-86 in overtime, in what was so far the best game of the season. The Hoosiers were the number one team in the country at the time and have a good shot of being a Final Four team, so we know Butler is for real. They’ve also beaten North Carolina (which is young and starting to get it together with all those four and five star youngsters), and Marquette, but have lost to Illinois and Xavier at Xavier, whom we beat in overtime. Kyle, Kede and Kevin Bright will have to be on from trifecta and play lockdown on the defensive end and Rod needs to knock down some threes and penetrate the middle scoring there. I would like to see Sheldon Jeter get some more minutes. Sheldon is 6’7″, very athletic, and can shoot the three. He sinks a three every time he gets in a game. I think Sheldon, a freshman, is going to be a player for us. We just need to play him more.
It’s going to be a tough game, but I still think this team is capable of having a good season. A victory tonight would be a springboard for that. I know the guys will be amped up and ready to play. They always play hard. Oh yeah, Dai-Jon should be even better this week. If Dai-Jon can give us some shooting to go along with his usual stellar defense, that could really help. Dai-Jon has looked to me like he’s still getting into playing form. Tonight may be when the light really clicks on and he’ll have a nice game for us.
Huge tonight. Will have full recap tomorrow. And of course, MCB coverage will be front and center tomorrow. Let’s get it done tonight.