Two time defending champion: Hideki Matsuyama

Matsuyama won in a 4 hole playoff over Rickie Fowler 2 years ago and another 4 hole playoff last year over Webb Simpson.

Last week’s winner: Jason Day at the Farmers Insurance Open. Day defeated Sweden’s Alex Noren in a 6 hole playoff that Day won on Monday morning on the par 5 18th. Noren went first on their respective second shots and hit a 3 wood that caught the bank and ran back down the incline into the water. Day, who hit his drive off the fairway, laid up and knocked a lob wedge from 60 yards to a foot and a half. Day tapped in for birdie and Noren finished with a bogey. It was Day’s first victory on tour since the 2016 Players Championship. He also won the Farmers in 2015 in a four man playoff.

The controversy of the tournament occurred on Sunday on the 18th hole when, in the final group, J.B. Holmes took 4 minutes and 10 seconds to hit his second shot. He was 2 shots back and needed an eagle to tie for the lead and get into a playoff. With the wind gusting at 20-30, he took forever to decide whether to go for it or not. The logical move was to go for it. Everybody in the crowd and watching at home, were expecting that, and that he was trying to decide which club to use to carry the water and give himself an eagle putt. But Holmes kept waffling, and then hit a wedge to leave himself a wedge for his third shot. He said in an interview yesterday with the Golf Channel that he thought his best chance with the wind howling was to lay up and try to hole a wedge. But it was totally unacceptable. The PGA has no ruling on officials notifying a player in the last group that he should hit, which is also unacceptable. It was taxing and could have ruined the tournament if not for a terrific playoff. There should be a new rule installed by the PGA on this. This was a mess and totally inexcusable by Holmes. I wish he could have been fined for it. He deserved it. 

 

This week

Waste Management Phoenix Open

Weather

Perfect, 80-81 every day, wind 5-7 MPH

TV

Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 2-6 PM CT

Saturday, Golf Channel, 1-2:45 PM CT, CBS 3-6 PM CT

 Sunday, GC, 12-1:45 PM CT, CBS: 2-5 PM CT.

Key hole

The 16th- The players call it the Greatest Show on Turf. 20,000 people line this fully enclosed stadium hole and cheer mightily for good shots and boo heavily for bad shots. The par 3 can play from 115 to 164 yards and features 3 bunkers around the green. It’s kind of ironic that this hole and tournament are played on Super Bowl Sunday as it’s an excellent build up to the electricity of the Super Bowl that follows. It’s a must see hole on Sunday with that kind of atmosphere and the excitement leading up to Super Bowl LII this year.

Winner

I’m going with the 29 year old from Murrieta, California by way of Oklahoma State. He’s a 4 time winner on tour, Including a 2015 Players Championship. He lost out to Matsuyama 2 years ago in a playoff, and finished tied for 4th last year shooting a final round 65. He’s already captured a victory this season at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in late November-early December. I like this guy to turn the tables on Matsuyama this year and defeat him in a playoff. Matsuyama will play well, and Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are in the field, so that makes it pretty riveting as well. I also like this guy to win a major, quite possibly this season. He can gag at times, but he’s also pretty clutch at other times. Like him to be clutch this weekend, with his massive driving and trustable putting. 

Rickie Fowler

 

 

Sleeper

Harris English

 

 

Riley LaChance has averaged 25 points in his last 3 games and Jeff Roberson has averaged 20.3. They’ve been superb players and leaders. We’ll need Riley and JRobe to give us everything they’ve got tonight as we travel to Rupp Arena to play No.21 Kentucky at 8 PM CT on ESPN.

We moved to 8-13 overall on Saturday with a huge 81-78 SEC-Big 12 Challenge victory over TCU. The SEC won that competition 6-4, with Kentucky defeating then No.7 West Virginia at Morgantown, 83-76, behind freshman Kevin Knox’s 34 points. Knox was 11-for-17 from the field, 5-for-8 from trifecta, and 7-for-8 from the stripe. He’s fantastic. The 6’9″, 215 pounder from Tampa, FL. is averaging 15.5 ppg and 5.7 rebounds. They have great length with guys like P.J. Washington, who is 6’7″, 236, Nick Richards, who is 6’11”, 240, and Jarred Vanderbilt, who is 6’9″, 214, all playing big roles on the team.  Hamidou Diallo is a 6’5″, 198 pound guard who averages 12.7 ppg. Jarred Vanderbilt, who’s only played in 4 games so far for UK due to a foot injury suffered before the season, is leading the team in rebounding with 7 per game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is another long guard at 6’6″, 180, who is averaging 11.8 per game. Washington is their leading assist guy at 4.3 per game. They don’t really have a true point guard like the great De’Aaron Fox last year or the awesome John Wall several years ago or Andrew Harrison three years back, but they’ve got a lot of lengthy guys who are versatile. They really hit their stride on Saturday, so we have our work cut out for us.

But I really like the way our team is playing. We lost Matthew Fisher-Davis for the season with a shoulder injury, which was a tough blow for our team and really tough luck for MFD. Hoping that Matt can get healed up and progress towards a professional career, whether it’s in the NBA or the European League. He certainly shoots like an NBA player. Matt’s an underrated rebounder and underrated player overall. I can see him making some noise in pro basketball, wherever that is, hopefully in the NBA. Jeff and Riley sure look like NBA players to me as well. But we want to concentrate on this season and particularly tonight. We led them by 13 last year at Rupp, but just couldn’t close it out. 

But the guys are confident. Saben Lee is a difference maker at point. Saben is and will be a spectacular player for us. Saben needs to give us a Saben Lee performance tonight. Riley and JRobe need to be the leaders that they are on this team and perform well obviously. Clevon Brown has really been playing well lately. Like where Clevon is. He can really help us tonight with his 6’9″ length. Hoping Djerry Baptiste can give us some good minutes. Djerry can really help us with a good performance. His 6’11”, 250 pound size will help a lot if he can utilize it. I like where Payton Willis, Larry Austin, Jr. Joe Toye, and freshman Maxwell Evans are. They’re all giving us good minutes. Ejike Obinna is going to be a really good player for us. Ejike, a freshman from Nigeria via Virginia Academy in Virginia, is 6’10”, 234 and has massive potential. Ejike will help us this year, hopefully tonight. He’s already done some good things and shows excellent potential. We’ll need everybody to step up tonight.

Defense and holding our own on the boards are critical. Of course, we need to take care of the basketball, and shoot it well, both from 3 and get some scoring from drives to the basket and scores from our inside guys. We’ll need to be good from the line when we get those opportunities. All of that matters tonight. Those are the principles for every game, but tonight it’s at a premium. If we’re not shooting it well early, we need to stick with it and defend and board well. Our shooting will come around. We just need to be patient and relaxed and not get nervous. I believe we can do all that.

JRobe was interviewed by VUcommodores.com great columnist Zac Ellis, and Zac asked him if the team is confident heading into Rupp tonight.

“We believe in ourselves,” Jeff told Zac. “We believe we can win every game. We go in with that mentality.”

That mentality will lead to more victories. Hopefully that mentality will prevail tonight and the Commodores improve to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in the SEC as we work our way back into the tournament conversation.

Tomorrow: Recap of Game

Thursday: My conversation with VU head baseball coach Tim Corbin as Coach previews another promising and exciting season in historically good Vanderbilt baseball. 

Women’s Final 

Simona Halep vs. Carolina Wozniacki

Melbourne, Australia

2:30 AM CT, Saturday

ESPN

 

Simona Halep vs. Carolina Wozniacki

Both these ladies have played exceptional tennis over the past 2 weeks. Caroline, the 27 year old from Odense, Denmark, is looking for her first Slam. She’s reached the Final of the U.S, Open in 2009 and 2014 and has 27 Women’s Tennis Association titles to her credit, but the coveted major title has eluded her. Serena has been a tough out for all the women. Caroline owns a 4-2 advantage over Simona, the 26 year old from Constanta, Romania, but they are 2-2 on hard courts. Simona has 16 WTA titles on her resume and was a finalist at the French Open in 2014 and 2017. “Simo’s” grit, effort and momentum gained from her classic 3 set semifinal victory over Angelique Kerber, which Simo won 9-7 in the third, carries over to the final. Simo captures her first major. Caroline is not far behind in capturing a major and will give her opponent everything she wants.

Halep over Wozniacki 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker), 4-6, 8-6

 

Men’s Final

Roger Federer vs. Marin Cilic

2:30 AM, Sunday

ESPN

The great Fed, a 19 time Major champion, goes for his 20th Slam and 96th overall title in his illustrious career. His career ATP titles are second all time to Jimmy Connors’ 109.

The 36 year old from Bottmingen, Switzerland has captured 5 Australian titles in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2017. He also has 1 French Open (2009), 8 Wimbledon titles *(2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017) and 5 U.S. Opens (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 , 2008( on his remarkable resume.

Cilic, the 29 year old from Croatia, has 17 career titles and one Slam, the 2014 U.S. Open in his career, which has a lot of mileage left in it. Marin has been impressive in this Australian fortnight, but this is a difficult assignment for the Croatian. I like Fed to capture his 6th Australian, and 20th Slam, though with a challenge from Cilic. Roger drinks from the same Fountain of Youth as the 40 year old Tom Brady, who will be competing for his 6th Super Bowl title next Sunday. Fed is victorious but in a very competitive match. 

Federer over Cilic, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

 

 

Coach Mason and his staff landed a tremendously talented 17 man early signing period class in December. We are ranked 34th by Rivals, 36th by 247 Sports, and 35th by ESPN. We’ve got 2 other commits in the fold we’re trying to secure for the February 7th signing day, and we’re in with a lot of other outstanding players for this 2018 class. Here’s a look at our signees and our 2 commits.

1. Alston Orji

LInebacker, Rockwall Texas, Rockwall High School

6’2″, 225

5.9, 4 star Rivals, 91, 4 star 247 sports, 4 star ESPN

Alston is a consensus 4 star. He’s rated 5.9 by Rivals, 91 by 247 Sports, and a 4 star by ESPN. He posted 87 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 7 1/2 sacks, forced 4 fumbles and broke up 5 passes his senior season. He’s a Zach Cunningham prototype linebacker. Alston’s a playmaker and a leader. His team won district championships and a district title in 2015 in the highly competitive state of  Texas. He’s an honor roll student and lettered in football, basketball, and track. This is some kind of stud we’re getting. He just looks tough and hard nosed in his photo. Sounds like a super young guy as well. I see Alston becoming an exceptional, game changing player for us. He looks like a re-creation of Zach. Alston’s offer sheet was through the roof good. Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan and Washington all offered among others. I can see him playing this upcoming season and teaming up with Josh Smith, Jordan Griffin and Caleb Peart etc… Really like what we’re getting here in Alston.

2. Camron Johnson

Wide receiver, Brentwood Academy, TN. 

6’1″, 182, 

5.8, 4 star, Rivals, 91, 4 star 247, 4 star ESPN

We got some really good players out of Brentwood Academy with Cam, tight end Gavin Schoenwald, who I’ll talk about in a minute, and, of course, Darius Garland in basketball. Cam lettered 4 years in football, basketball and track. His Brentwood Academy team won 3 straight state titles including going 12-0 in 2017. Cam caught 48 passes for 803 yards and 11 TDs his senior season and also returned 2 punts for house calls. He won 4 straight basketball and track state championships teaming up with Schoenwald and Darius on the hardwood. Quite a wide receiver we’re getting here. Cam has great speed and super hands. He can be a game changer for us in the passing game and in the return game. His offer list included Ole Miss, Tennessee and Purdue among others. He’ll be a stud and could play early with what should be a young, but talented receiving corps with upcoming junior Kalija Lipscomb leading the charges. Excited to see Kalija, speedster Donaven Tennyson, along with 6’4″ Chris Pierce, 6’3″, James Bostic, 6’3″ former 4 star, Alex Stump, who transferred from Ohio State, along with fellow freshman C.J. Bolar, who I’ll talk about in a minute,. I expect those guys will make a lot of plays for us in 2018 and in future years. DMase wants another receiver in this class and we’re after some talented prospects. Receiver will be an interesting position for us that could very well be pretty explosive. Coach Mason says his 2018 team will be his most talented.

3. Brendon Harris

Safety, Baylor School, Chattanooga, TN.

6’1″, 195

Consensus 4 star, 5.8, Rivals, 90, 247, 4 star ESPN

Brendon earned All-State and All Region honors in 2016 and 2017 at Baylor. He lettered in football, basketball and track. He posted 78 tackles, and as a running back, rushed for 890 yards and 14 TDs.  Brendon received offers from LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Clemson, Penn State, Ohio State and Oklahoma among others, so many programs, all elite, wanted him. He’s got hard hitting toughness and skills with the football when he gets a turnover. Super pickup by Coach Mason and the staff. Brendon was 1 of 5 signees in the secondary part of the class. We have another secondary player committed. With Joejuan Williams at one corner and Donovan Sheffield or someone else at the other, and LaDarius Wiley at safety, these freshmen could make an impact with these guys and some other returners. Brandon can play a big role for us next season.

4. Dan Dawkins Jr.

Center, The Peddie School, Staten Island, New York

6’3″, 300

5.8, 4 star by Rivals and the No.1 center in the 2018 class, 87, 3 star by 247, high 3 star ESPN

Dan lettered in football, baseball and wrestling at the Peddie School. Captained both the football and wrestling teams. Like these overall great athletes we’ve gotten. Shows they can really play football with their overall athletic ability. Dan and his team won the MAPL championship in 2016 and 2017. Dan teamed up with fellow VU signee, quarterback Allan Walters. The MALP is similar to a state championship in other states. Dan had offers from Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Boston College among others. A dominant player with excellent toughness and a very good mean streak. You like that in your linemen. Dan will fit in well with a talented, deep group we have coming back, which includes our talented leaders, left tackle Justin Skule and center Bruno Reagan. Our starting O Line may very well be all seniors next season with some talented experience and youth backing them up. Excited to see what Dan can do for us in the upcoming years. Coach Cameron Norcross will field an excellent line. Feel very confident that our O Line coach will do that.

5. Rutger Reitmaier

Defensive tackle, Lipscomb Academy, Nashville, Transfer from Oregon

6’3″, 295

5.8, 4 Star by Rivals in the 2017 class, 4 star ESPN, 89, 3 star 247

Really like this addition. Rutger transferred to us from Oregon in 2017 and there was a paperwork issue that took time to get through, but I’m close to positive he will be suiting up for us in the fall. Would really like him on the d line. Need some more size and talent there. We’ve got some good young guys, but Rutger will provide some leadership in the middle along with Dare and Dayo Odeyingbo on the outside, and quite a few others at d ends. Rutger is a big time talent and will be a major disrupter and playmaker for us up front. We’re stocking up more and more defensive linemen and we’re in the market for some more in this class. There are some prospects who like us.  Rutger is a super addition to the line. Coming out of high school as an early enrollee in 2017, Rutger had offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Penn State, Michigan, Oregon, where he signed first, Louisville and Duke. So an impressive list. Rutger made 56 tackles as a senior at Lipscomb Academy including 7 sacks and 24 tackles for loss. He earned all state honors his senior year in 2016. he also played in the prestigious US Army All-American Game. Rutger lettered in football, hockey and track and field. Like that hockey toughness, too. Hard nosed game. Like this pickup very much. We’re going to like Rutger very much. 

6. Tre’ Douglas 

Cornerback, Eagles Landing Christian Academy, McDonough, GA. 

6’2″, 190

4 Star ESPN, 5.6, 3 star Rivals, 88, 3 Star 247 sports

Excellent player here in Tre’. Key addition. Led his team to an undefeated 14-0 record his senior season which led to a state championship. Named All-State and All Region three straight years in football. Tre’ intercepted 4 passes in 2017. He lettered all 4 years in football and baseball. His team won 3 straight state titles and now have a 36 game winning streak. Tre’ had offers from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Ohio State and Georgia Tech. He was an honor roll student four times in high school. Like the brains and ability of this young guy. Tre’ will add a lot to our cornerback outfit. 

7. Allan Walters

Quarterback, The Peddie School, Highstown, New Jersey

6’2″, 200

4 Star ESPN, 5.7, 3 Star Rivals, 88, 3 star, 247

I’ve watched film on Allan and all the players, and he’s an exceptional QB. Allan passed for 2,266 yards and 31 TDs and rushed for 138 more along with another TD in 9 games. He was hurt a little bit, but is fine now. He was an All State player along with MAPL player of the year. Allan also lettered 2 years in baseball. He had other offers from Alabama, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Michigan and Louisville among others. He won the MAPL championship along with teammate and fellow signee Dan Dawkins. The Peddie School is a boarding school that’s why Allan and Dan are from different towns but still played for the same school. Allan looks like another superb quarterback on our roster to go along with Kyle Shurmur,  Deuce Wallace and Shawn Stankavage. Unfortunately, 5.7, 3 star freshman Jacob Free decided to transfer to Northwest Mississippi Community College. We are looking for another possible quarterback option. Allan will be a super player for us.

8. C.J. Bolar

Wide receiver, Purvis High School, Purvis, Mississsippi

6’1″, 195

5.7, 3 star Rivals, 88, 3 star 247, high 3 star ESPN

C.J. is another talent with great length on the offensive perimeter. He earned All State honors twice at Purvis High. He caught 45 passes for 896 yards and 11 TDs his senior season. He helped lead the Tornadoes to the District title in 2015. He’s a four time Honor Roll member and won the Martin Luther King Jr award. C.J. also held offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Louisville and Southern Miss. Watched his  film and really liked it. Catches pretty much everything thrown his way and takes it to the house quite a bit. Another game changer on the outside for us.

9. Elijah McAllister

Linebacker, Rumson Fair Haven High School, Rumson, New Jersey

6’6″, 230

5.7, 3 star by Rivals, 86, 3 star 247, high 3 star ESPN

Elijah brings super athletic ability and physical dominance to our linebacking unit. He recorded 23 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 6 pass breakups as a senior. He lettered 3 times in football and 4 times in basketball. He won 4 conference titles and 3 state titles in football and a conference championship and state championship in basketball. He’s a member of the honor roll. I watched Elijah’s film and it’s impressive. Can be an enforcer at linebacker and a game changer with his ability to sack the quarterback and make multiple TFLs which can turn momentum in offensive drives. Elijah had additional offers from Tennessee, Michigan State, Virginia, Boston College and Wake Forest among others. Really like what we’re getting here. Will be another edition to our linebacking unit along with Alston. Can dominate on the perimeter of the defense and make plays in the passing game both rushing the quarterback, and breaking up passes to go along with his ball skills in forcing fumbles and getting ints. 

10. Dashaun Jerkins

Safety, Woodbridge High School, Woodbridge, Virginia

6’0″, 190

5.6, 3 star Rivals, 87, 3 star 247, high 3 star ESPN

Dashaun was captain of his Woodbridge team twice, and earned all region twice and all state en route to a Regional Championship his senior season. He led the Vikings to a 12-2 mark this past season. He posted 85 tackles, broke up 5 passes and pulled in 4 interceptions, taking one back to the house. As a wide receiver, Dashaun caught 46 passes for 509 yards and 11 TDs. So obviously, Dashaun is a superb athlete and football player. He also possessed offers from Louisville, Maryland, NC State, Purdue and Wake Forest among others. Another excellent addition to our safety group. Like what we’re getting in Dashaun.

11. Gavin Schoenwald

Tight end, Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN.

6’4″, 225

5.6, 3 star Rivals, 87, 3 star 247, high 3 star ESPN

Gavin was a very high priority for Coach Mason and the staff as VU made a serious coup at BA. Gavin helped lead Brentwood Academy to 3 straight state championships including a 12-0 mark his senior season in 2017. He earned all state honors as a tight end as a junior and as a quarterback his senior year. As a senior quarterback, Gavin passed for 1,592 yards and 19 TDs and rushed for 482 yards and 6 scores. He and Cam Johnson along with Darius Garland in basketball give us quite a triumvirate out of BA. Gavin was a 4 year honor roll member and a two year National Honor Society member. He held additional offers from Tennessee, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Duke among others. As you can see, this class is high quality. Gavin will be an outstanding tight end for us next season to go along with returning studs Jared Pinkney, Sam Dobbs and highly promising redshirt freshman Turner Cockrell (6’5″, 230). We also have another incoming freshman in this class whom I will talk about next.

12. Ben Bresnahan

Tight end, West Forsyth High School, Cumming, GA.

6’4″, 230

5.6, 3 star Rivals, 86, 3 star 247, high 3 star ESPN

Ben lettered in football, baseball and track at West Forsyth earning All Region honors his final 3 years in all 3 sports. He recorded 742 receiving yards and 6 TDs to go along with 100 rushing yards and 4 TDs on the ground. Another super all around athlete on the roster. Coach Mason likes the tight ends and they can be serious weapons. Just ask the Patriots about Rob Gronkowski and how important he is to their team, and the Eagles with former Stanford tight end Zach Ertz, who is a super player and was highly instrumental in the Eagles blasting the Vikings last Sunday in the NFC Championship game as he caught 8 passes for 93 yards in a 38-7 Philly victory to advance to Super Bowl LII. The Eagles will face the Patriots Sunday, Feb. 4th at 5:30 PM, so the tight end position will have a major bearing on the outcome of the game. Gronk has a concussion but will most likely play a week from Sunday. These tight ends are high value players and Ben and Gavin can be stellar players for us. Ben had additional offers from Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, NC State, Utah and Minnesota among others. Like what we’re getting here in both these tight ends.

13. Maxwell Worship

Safety, Cardinal Gibbons High School, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

6’1″, 195

5.6, 3 star Rivals, 85, 3 star 247, solid 3 star ESPN

Max lettered in football and lacrosse at Cardinal Gibbons helping the Chiefs to an 11-2 mark in 2017. He was team captain his senior season in which he posted 55 tackles, one forced and one recovered football. He was an honor roll member all 4 years in high school. Looks like a natural leader here as his sister, Domonique, is a lawyer with the NBA, and his mother, Victoria, was named one of the 25 Most Influential African American Women in Business and Industry in South Florida in 2017. His dad is Sean. Max held additional offers from Kentucky, Iowa, UNC and Rutgers among others. We’re getting a leader and a heckuva football player for what should be a loaded secondary in the future. 

14. Ja’Veon Marlow

Running back, Winter Haven Senior High School, Winter Haven, FL.

5’11”, 190

5.5, 3 star by Rivals, 85, 3 star by 247 and 3 star by ESPN

Another solid 3 star who can win you a lot of games. Just ask teams like Northwestern, which won 10 games this season and defeated Kentucky in the Music City Bowl. Plenty of super 3 star players who are game changers on that team. Ja’Veon rushed for 1,366 yards on 172 carries (8.0 yards per carry) with 16 TDs and 8 receptions for 100 yards. Ja’Veon lettered all 4 years in football and was a team captain in 2017 as a senior. Excellent weight lifter and track runner as well. Member of the honor roll. Ja’Veon had additional offers from Kentucky, UNC, Duke, Nebraska, Purdue, Arizona and Central Florida. Excellent running back we’re getting to add to our running back group led by Khari Blasingame, promising Jamauri Wakefield, solid Josh Crawford, and 4 star Illinois transfer Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who will be a junior in 2018.

15. Wyatt Smock

Offensive guard, St. Xavier High School, Louisville, KY.

6’4″, 290

5.5, 3 star by Rivals, 85, 3 star 247, solid 3 star ESPN

Wyatt lettered in football 3 times and was a diver, where he also lettered three times. He helped lead the Tigers to state runner-up. Played for former VU standout and NFL veteran Will Wolford at St. Xavier. He was an All State player his senior year. Served as team captain for 3 seasons. Four time member of the honor roll and National Honor Society. Wyatt garnered additional offers from Arkansas, Louisville, Iowa State, Purdue and Wake Forest among others. Love the size and strength along with Wyatt’s athleticism. 

16. Tyler Steen

Offensive tackle, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

6’5″, 300

5.5, 3 star Rivals, 85, 3 star 247, solid 3 star ESPN

Tyler played offensive and defensive line for the powerhouse Tigers and captained them to an 11-3 record with district and regional championships in 2017. Love the size here and the fact that Tyler comes from such a football power that has won multiple state championships through the years in the highest classification in Florida. His father, Daris, played at LSU and is a retired Marine. His mother is Samantha. His grandfather is a Medal of Honor recipient for serving in Vietnam. Like the discipline and toughness we’re getting from Tyler. He held additional offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Duke and Cal. 

17. Javan Rice

Kicker, Belen Jesuit Prep, Miami, FL.

6’2″, 180

5.4, 2 star by Rivals, 81, 3 star by 247 and 3 star by ESPN

Don’t let the 2 star ranking throw you off. Kickers don’t get high rankings for some reason. Three star kickers are solid kickers. Javan lettered in football, soccer and volleyball in high school and was All-State in 2016 and All District in 2016 and ’17. Converted 3-of-6 field goals and 39-of-40 extra points, and kicked 42-of-49 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks in 2017. He also averaged 42 yards per punt on 22 kicks. Won football district titles in 2016 and ’17 and a soccer state title in 2015. Javan is a member of the National Honor Society and the National English Honor Society. Javan has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. His brother, Tavish, is a kicker at Princeton, and his sister, Sloane, is a 3 time rowing National champion at Wellesley College. Looks like we have a very good kicker. Javan also had offers from Army, Florida International and Yale among others. Like the smarts. Great to have a kicker with a super head on his shoulders. That’ll allow him to concentrate and perform in the clutch. We need another kicker and I’ve heard that Coach Mason is looking at graduate transfers. 

Commitments

1. Rayshad Williams

Cornerback, Whitehaven High School, Memphis

6’4″, 183

5.7, 3 star Rivals, 87, 3 star 247, high 3 star ESPN

Would really like to land Shad. Really like his length at corner. Shad also has offers from Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Memphis, Virginia Tech and Virginia among others. Shad finished with 6 interceptions this season and his team finished 11-3 in 2017. Would really like to secure Shad’s signature on February 7th.

2. Tyree Thompson

Outside LB, Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, CA. 

6’3″, 235

5.5, 3 Star Rivals, 83, 3 Star 247, 3 Star ESPN

Watched about 8 minutes of film on Tyree and liked what I saw. Very good at sacking the quarterback and getting tackles for losses. We’ll like Tyree when he signs and plays in 2018. 

Final Thoughts

This is Coach Mason’s best class yet and we have some super players returning. I can see some of these guys playing a lot for us early. We’re setting up for a very bright future with this class and adding 5 or 6 more in early February. We’re after some more very good prospects along the defensive line, and at receiver among other positions. But this is a loaded 2018 class already. We’re going to really like these guys. Just gotta keep it coming with more signatures on February 7th and in the ensuing years. Like what this team can do in 2018, too. With Kyle and the arsenal on offense, and Joejuan Williams, LaDarius Wiley, Josh Smith, Jordan Griffin, Caleb Peart, the Odeyinbo brothers, and the awesome pass rusher Charles Wright, we’re going to be loaded on defense. We can win several games in 2018 and see where that takes us. 

NFL players

Both Adam Butler and Stephen Weatherly played and did very well in the AFC and NFC Championship games respectively last Sunday. Adam is lighting it up for the Patriots. He posted a key sack on Blake Bortles last Sunday. It was 3rd and 10 and the Jaguars were up 14-3 and putting together a pretty good drive when Bortles went back to pass, and was scrambling out of the pocket when Adam took him down for a 7 yard loss. The Patriots got the ball back and scored a TD right before halftime that got them right back in the game which they won 24-20. I expect Adam to play a pretty big role in the Super Bowl. Adam is 6’5″, 300. 

Stephen played for the Minnesota Vikings against the Philadelphia Eagles and made a little noise. Stephen is 6’5″, 255 and can be a major disrupter in the upcoming years. Stephen’s background is extremely interesting. His grandmother received degrees from MIT and Harvard. Stephen has an affinity for chess and math and can solve a Rubik’s Cube. He also enjoys puzzles, paintball and skateboarding. He can play 9 musical instruments; the flute, the clarinet, the trumpet, the trombone, baritone, tuba, tenor saxophone, the drums and the piano. He picked the last 2 up at VU. Something else this young man. Pulling for Stephen and Adam along with our other pros to excel. Hoping Jay can find a team and shine next year and JMatt (Bills) comes back from injury and excels. Zach (Texans), Andre Hal (Texans) and the great Casey Hayward (Chargers) are fantastic pros as are Wesley Johnson (Jets) and Spencer Pulley (Chargers). 

Another note

We are on the verge of possibly hiring Jason Tarver as our defensive coordinator. Tarver has super pro lineage having coached outside linebackers for the 49ers and was co-defensive coordinator at Stanford with Coach Mason in 2011 along with a defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders. Like this move because Tarver sounds excellent, and also because Coach Mason can concentrate on being the head coach and not have to focus totally on defense. Coach Mason did a good job of managing the entire team while he was also running the defense, but this would be a really good move for him. Will keep you posted on this development.

Basketball

It was a valiant effort by Coach Drew and the team that just came up short to our rivals from the east on the eastern school’s home court. We were down by 20 in the second half and cut it to 59-57, but fell just short, 67-62. We fell to 7-13 on the season and 2-6 in the SEC. They moved to 14-5 and 5-3. I don’t like admitting it, but they’re a good team, a tournament team. But we went toe to toe with them on their floor and had a shot. Riley was awesome, finishing with 25 points and hit huge 3 after huge 3 in the second half. Jeff added 21 and pulled down 6 boards. We ended up out-rebounding them 37-31, but our shooting in the first half really was our Achilles Heel. We just had too much ground to make up. We played super ball in the second half though and showed a lot of fight. Clevon Brown, Larry Austin Jr., Payton Willis, Joe Toye and Maxwell Evans did a lot of good things. Young Maxwell, a freshman, is a superb defensive player and an awesome athlete. I like what we can get from Maxwell this year and going forward. Larry played very well at the point. Saben didn’t have his best game. Just an off night for him. Djery played hard and so did Ejike. We fought no doubt. We’ve got TCU, a top 25 team for quite a while this season, coming into Memorial on Saturday for a 3:15 PM CT tip on ESPN2. TCU is 15-5 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12. They are coming off an 82-73 victory over No.7 West Virginia at home Monday Night. So this will be a challenge in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. A lot of good bball on Saturday. Can’t wait for our game. We’re not out of it. You’re never out of the NCAA tournament until the SEC Tournament is over with. We can keep digging away and get back in that conversation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour heads to one of its most historic courses this week as Torrey Pines will host a very solid field at the Farmers Insurance Open. The defending champion is Jon Rahm, who shot a final round 65 last year, which included a 65 foot eagle on 18. Interestingly, if Rahm can emerge victorious at Torrey, he will earn the Number 1 ranking in the world overtaking Dustin Johnson, who is not playing this week. Rahm was a winner last week at the CareerBuilder Challenge in Palm Springs and will be in major factor in the majors this season. The Masters and the Open Championship look like real possibilities for the 23 year old Spaniard. He’s a talented, clutch player and a fierce competitor.

Another major storyline, the most talked about storyline this week, is the return of Tiger Woods who last played competitive golf at the Farmers last January. Woods had spinal fusion surgery on his back last year, but the 7 time winner of the Farmers and the 2008 victor at the U.S. Open at Torrey will be teeing it up in hopes of accomplishing more success this season than he’s seen in the past 4 years. He was player of the year in 2013 winning 5 tournaments, but the 14 time major winner has been hamstrung by injuries over the past 4 years. His last major title was here in 2008, when he put on a putting clinic to defeat Rocco Mediate in a 19 hole playoff on a Monday at the U.S. Open at Torrey. Will be very interesting to see how the 42 year old from Cypress, California holds up, and if he is in contention when the weekend gets here. It’ll be tough his first time back, but it will be pretty fascinating to see him back competing. He’s recorded 79 wins on tour, 2nd only to Sam Snead’s 82 victories. That’s some sensational stuff. I’m sure he wants to break that record along with capturing more majors. 

Torrey PInes South Course is a 7,698 yard, par 72 layout. The key holes to me are No.13, a 614 yard, par 5 that calls for a drive of 240 yards to carry the canyon and the Pacific on the left. Would be tougher for amateurs, but not a problem for these guys. To go for it in 2, the player will need to carry his ball 260 yards as the green is protected by bunkers and rough in the front. There is some thick rough at Torrey, so that’ll mean Tiger will have to navigate it at times. His back will be tested if he’s not accurate with his driver. The greens are Poa Annua, which can be difficult to read and will challenge the players’ putting acumen. No. 18 is a 570 yard, par 5 and leads to some heroics like Rahm’s putt last year, and the memorable 50 foot eagle putt Woods converted in the 2008 Open on Saturday. He also sank an 8 footer on Sunday to get into a playoff with Mediate. He put on a putting masterpiece. The rest of his game was pretty darn sharp too.

The weather looks very good. Sunny, high tomorrow 63, wind 7 to 12 MPH; Friday, sunny, 64, wind 7-12 MPH; Saturday, sunny, 71, wind 6-12; and Sunday, sunny, 78, wind 6-10. Conditions look ideal for scoring, though the wind can be tricky on many holes. 

The Golf Channel and CBS will televise. Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 2-6 PM CT; Saturday, Golf, 1-2:30 PM CT; CBS 3-6 PM CT; Sunday: 12-1:30 PM CT; CBS, 2-5:30 PM CT.

Contenders

Brandt Snedeker

The 37 year old from Nashvegas and Vanderbilt University has always played well here. He’s won here in 2012 and 2016, and was tied for the 54 hole lead last year, only to shoot a 73 and finish T-9th. I like Brandt’s chances.

John Rahm

I was tempted to pick the Spaniard, but with all the talk about him being No.1 if he wins, there may be too much noise going on for him to close it out. But he’s in contention wheneve he competes. 

Xander Schauffele

The rookie of the year last year, Schauffele, the 24 year old San Diego native, won the Greenbriar Classic and the Tour Championship last year though he was overshadowed in his Tour Championship victory by Justin Thomas winning the Fed Ex Cup. But that’s fantastic stuff. He’s quite a player and playing on his home turf.

Harris English

The 28 year old Valdosta, Georgia native and Georgia Bulldog finished tied for 11th last week at the CareerBuilder shooting 66 on Sunday. He tied for 14th here last year. He’s an excellent player, and it’s time for him to get a breakthrough victory. He has won at the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic in 2013, and at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico also in 2013, but I’m sure he’d like to capture a memorable one in San Diego.

Brian Harman

He’s been in the hunt from the end of last year into this season. The 31 year old Savannah, Georgia native and former Georgia Bulldog won the 2014 John Deere Classic and won last year at the Wells Fargo Championship edging out Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez. He finished tied  for 9th here last year. He was in heavy contention last year at the U.S, Open, though Brooks Koepka went ballistic on Sunday and won going away. Harmon did finish tied for 2nd with Hideki Matsuyama. Very good player and excellent competitor. Not the longest guy, but hits it 290, 300 hundred, and has a super short game.

I don’t see Tiger Woods as a contender for the title. He could play well because he really loves this course and has excelled at Torrey, but he’s not played enough to contend. If he makes the cut, that’s progress.

Phil Mickelson is playing too. This will be the 47 year old San Diego native’s 29th start at the Farmers. He’s won 3 times at Torrey Pines, but his best finish since 2001 was a runner-up to Ben Crane in 2010. Still think Phil will play well. He’s still got excellent talent and can still compete at a high level. He’s a 5 time major winner and has won 42 times on the PGA Tour, 9th best.   

Winner

I think this guy is ready to breakthrough again this season. Going with the Savannah, GA. native and Georgia Dawg to get an early victory on the tour and set himself up for a very good season.

Brian Harman

 

2018 Majors

The Masters

Augusta National

April 5th-8th

Defending champion: Sergio Garcia

 

U.S. Open

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, New York

June 14th-17th

Defending champion: Brooks Koepka

 

The Open Championship

Carnoustie Golf Club, Angus, Scotland

July 19th-22nd

Defending champion: Jordan Spieth

 

PGA Championship

Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis

August 9th-14th

Defending champion: Justin Thomas

 

The 2018 Ryder Cup

Le Golf National, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, September 28th-30th. 

 

U.S. defending. Won at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, September 30th-Oct. 2nd, 2016.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riley LaChance poured in 26 points, including 4 of 7 from trifecta, and Saben Lee added 12 with key basket after key basket at the end of the game as the Vanderbilt basketball team defeated LSU, 77-71, before 8,760 fans at Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.

The team hits the road tonight with a 6 CT assignment against that team from the eastern part of the state. ESPNU will televise. 

Riley was terrific and the awesome freshman Saben was superb in the victory. Both of them sank clutch shot after clutch shot. Jeff Roberson also played well adding 20 points to the mix. Jeff was 7-for-13 from the field and 2-for- 5 from deep range. Jeff also pulled down 6 boards. Riley was 6-for-6 from the stripe and Jeff was 4-for-5. The Commodores moved to 7-12 overall on the season and 2-5 in the SEC. LSU dropped to 11-7 and 2-4. They’ve got a quality team, so the victory was extremely important.

We’re not where we want to be, but a victory gets us going in the right direction. Like this team a lot. Riley and Jeff are playing well. Matthew Fisher-Davis is battling a shoulder injury and it’s unknown when he’ll return to the lineup. Hopefully, MFD will get back as soon as possible. But the guys are competing hard and just have to chip away at this season and not get caught up in the big picture right now. The team from the east is having a good year at 13-5 and 4-3 in the conference. They’ve beaten Kentucky at home, 76-65, defeated us at our place, 92-84, defeated A&M 75-62 at home, and just defeated South Carolina, 70-63, on the road. So we have our work cut out for us. They also defeated now No.3 Purdue at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, 78-75. They lost to No.1 Nova, 85-76, also in the Bahamas, and lost to 10th ranked North Carolina, 78-73, at home. So this is not unsurmountable. Their leading scorer is 6’7″, 241 pound power forward Grant Williams, who averages 16.4 ppg and pulls down 6.3 rebounds. 6’5″, 238 forward Admiral Schofield has added 13.2 and 5.8 rebounds. Guard Lamonte Turner averages 10 points per game. 

On our side, JRobe leads us in scoring at 15 per game and pulls down 7.4 rebounds. Jeff shoots 87% from the line and is a 40% shooter from 3. Riley averages 11.4, shoots 42% from 3 and is an 81% free throw shooter. MFD averages 11.9, is shooting 33% from 3, and is 87% from the line. Saben averages 11, is 45% from the field, 74% from the line, and 24% from 3. Saben can shoot the 3 pretty well, but he’s more like a John Wall-type who can take it to the rim and finish. But Saben can be an effective shooter from downtown. We need some more help from the talented Joe Toye, Payton Willis, who has been playing well lately, Clevon Brown and Djery Baptiste. They’re all good players, we just need to put it all together. It’s time we do that. Tonight is a major test, so hopefully we can respond and pull off a massive victory. The team is tight, hard working and talented. I see no reason why we can’t get this done.

 Bryce has excelled on the recruiting front landing the No.6 player in the country, power forward Simisola Shittu (6’9″, 220, Vermont Academy, Saxton Rivers, Vermont), the No. 14 player in the country, point guard Darius Garland (6’1″, 170, Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN.) and the No. 62 ranked player in small forward Aaron Nesmith (6’5″, 190, Porter Gaud School, Charleston, S.C.). All 3 are phenomenal. Eric Bossi, lead basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals, has us slightly in the lead for the No.5 ranked player in the country, 6’5″, 191 shooting guard Romeo Langford from New Albany, Indiana. We are slightly ahead of Kansas and Indiana in the Romeo sweepstakes. Would be an incredible coup by Bryce and the coaches to land Romeo. No idea when Romeo will decide. The late signing period starts in April, around the middle part, so it may not be until then. If we get Romeo, our team will be loaded next season.

Along with those guys, if we get Romeo, we have 2 big guys who are transfers and are sitting out this year. Matt Ryan is a 6’8″, 209 pound redshirt sophomore power forward and Notre Dame transfer, and Yanni Wetzell is a 6’10”, 235 pound redshirt sophomore power forward-center and transfer from St. Mary’s University in Texas. Yanni is from Aukland, New Zealand and Matt is from Cortlandt Manor, New York. Both will really upgrade our front line. I believe that Djery and Clevon will keep improving and I’m looking forward to seeing 6’10”, 234 pound freshman Ejike Obinna keep developing. Ejike shows a lot of potential. He was a 4 star out of high school. He can be a force in the middle in the upcoming years, and i’m hoping he can this year as he progresses, even tonight. Also, like what freshman shooting guard Maxwell Evans can do. He’s highly athletic and a skilled player.

So a lot to be excited about and this year still shows promise. A victory tonight would be a major momentum boost for our team. 

This Thursday: Complete breakdown of the 2018 Football signing class along with our 2 commits, looks like a superb group with potential for more very good players to join this group.

Next Tuesday, 1-30: A preview of the 2018 Commodore Baseball team with head coach Tim Corbin. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New England hosts Sacksonville in the first game at 2:05 PM CT tomorrow and the Vikings play at Philadelphia in the nightcap at 5:40 PM CT with the winners squaring off in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis 2 weeks from tomorrow, Feb. 4th, at 5:30 PM CT on NBC.

Last Week: 3-1

Won Philly over Atlanta, New England over Tennessee, Minnesota over New Ahlins, thanks to Case Keenum and Stefon Diggs, and took an L with Pittsburgh losing to Jacksonville. Blake Bortles, Leonard Fournette and the Jax offense were super good against the Steelers. T.J. Yeldon from Alabama had some huge plays in the passing game including a clutch 40 yard catch and run in a critical part of the game. Mike Tomlin made questionable decisions throughout the game. The Steelers coach was down 7 after a TD with over 2 minutes left and 2 timeouts, but instead of kicking deep and giving his defense a chance to stop the Jags, he decided to onside kick it. Jacksonville recovered and went on to kick a field goal to go up 45-35 and won 45-42 as the Steelers scored a TD with 1 second left in the game. That was a major blunder on Tomlin’s part. Why not give your defense a chance to stop’em, and get the ball back to your offense with over a minute left to try and score the tying TD. His offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, also made a couple of major mistakes on fourth and one, by instead of quarterback sneaking 6’5″, 240 pound Ben Roethlisberger, he first did a toss sweep to Le’Veon Bell, and then had Ben throw a 15 yard pass over the middle. Both plays were stopped. It was really 4th and a foot on both plays. Of course, Tomlin set his team up for failure by predicting in week 13, that he was getting his team ready to play the Patriots twice beginning in week 15 at home vs the Pats. Tomlin predicted then that his team would play New England in the AFC Championship also. His attitude permeated to some of his players as Bell tweeted out last Saturday Night that his team loved rematches and that they would play 2 in the next 2 weeks. They lost to Jacksonville 30-9 in the regular season and to New England in week 15, 27-24. Well, they lost again to Jacksonville, 45-42, and Tomlin and Bell looked pretty foolish with their overconfidence. 

So here’s a look at tomorrow’s classics.

Jacksonville Jaguars (12-6) vs. New England Patriots (14-3, 6-2 home)

Gillette Stadium. Foxborough, MA. 66, 829

2:05 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Tony, Trace, Jay Feely

Studio: James Brown, Coach Cowher, Nate Burleson, Boomer, Phil

Whistles: Clete Blakeman, lead laundry, Replay: Carl Madsen

New England by 7 1/2

The buzz this week has been about Tom Brady’s right hand. He received 4 stitches in it after a teammate hit Brady’s hand with  helmet strap in practice on Tuesday. It was obviously not intentional. Brady is listed as questionable but he’ll play. It is his right hand, so that’s somewhat of an issue. But the great Brady will show up and play well most likely. Sacksonville can really get to the quarterback and are good on defense though the Steelers torched them last week. I trust the great Brady, the unstoppable tight end Rob Gronkowski,  and all their other threats in Brandin Cooks, Danny Amendola, a very good and underrated running back in Dion Lewis and a defense that finished fifth in the league in scoring defense, to get the job done tomorrow. Should be a competitive game, but the Patriots in Foxborough are close to unbeatable. Brady’s hand is a concern, but I still like him to overcome that and get enough done, along with the defense shutting down Blake Bortles and Leonard Fournette, to allow the Pats to move on to Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII and play for their 6th world championship. 

Patriots 24, Jags 14

 

Minnesota Vikings (14-3) vs Philadelphia Eagles (14-3, 8-1 home)

Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA. 69,176

5:40 PM CT

FOX

Joe, Troy, EA, Chris Myers

Studio: Curt Menefee, Terry, Howie, Michael, Jimmy. Wish Jerry “Alabama Getaway” Jones would join’em. That would be some good humor. 

Yella: Ed Hochuli, Replay: Tom Sifferman

Vikings by 3

The Eagles are 6-2 against the Vikings since 2001 and 2-0 in the postseason. The Nick Foles-Case Keenum matchup may not be considered a stellar quarterback duel, but these guys are pretty good and will be critical in their teams’ respective success . Foles had a solid game last week completing 22-of-30 passes for 246 yards, 0 TDs but 0 ints also. He did a really solid job. His passer rating was an excellent 100.1. Keenum, who has had an excellent regular season, completed 25-of-40 passes for 318 yards 1 TD, the gigantic one to Stefon Diggs on the last play of the game to win it for the Vikings, 29-24, and he tossed one interception that could have been costly except for his late game heroics. He’s been outstanding this season. The Linc will be rockin tomorrow and that will really help the home team. But the weather is pretty balmy for this time of year in Philly at 45 degrees with minimal wind at kickoff. I’ve had a tough time with this one. Minnesota is the number 1 team in the league in total defense and scoring defense, but the Eagles are right behind at 4th in total defense and 4th in scoring defense. The Eagles also have the top rushing defense in the league. The Vikings are second. So this is coming down to a low scoring, one possession game that could actually come down to the last drive by either squad. Both teams have excellent receivers on the perimeter with the Vikings featuring Diggs, Adam Thielen and tight end Kyle Rudolph along with a pretty excellent third perimeter receiver in Jarius Wright. The Eagles have the great Alshon Jeffery, tight end Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor. Alshon caught 9 TDs this season, Agholor had 8 and Ertz had 8. I like the Eagles edge on the Vikings and I really like the Eagles in the Linc. But I’ll stick with the Vikings to make it back to Minneapolis and play a virtual home game in the Super Bowl.

Vikings 21, Eagles 17

 

 

 

 

 NFC and AFC teams continue their march toward Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis on February 4th as the Divisional round commences today in Philadelphia with the Falcons visiting the Eagles at 3:35 PM CT and continues on into tomorrow as the Saints and Vikings finish it off at 3:45 PM CT. In between the Patriots host the resurgent Tennessee Titans tonight at 7:15 CT and the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Jacksonville Jaguars tomorrow at 12:05 PM CT. Here’s a look at each game along with predicted outcomes.

Last year in Playoffs: 6-1

Lost Super Bowl 51 as I picked the Falcons, 38-35, only to see them fall to the Patriots, 34-28, in overtime in an all world comeback performance by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Falcons led 28-3 in the third quarter and looked to be in excellent shape, but the Patriots became the Patriots again and pulled off an improbable but typical Patriots clutch performance.

I was picking the Patriots all week at 38-35, but woke up that Thursday morning and decided on the Falcons. My heart was in it a little bit for Julio Jones. I learned not to do that again.  

Today

NFC

No.6 Atlanta Falcons (11-6) @ No.1 Philadelphia Eagles (13-3)

Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA. 69,176

3:35 PM CT

NBC

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Laundry: Referee, Bill Vinovich, Replay official, Charles Stewart

Falcons by 2 1/2

This game has all the makings of a defensive battle. The Eagles are number 4 in the league in scoring defense, giving up 18.4 points per game while the Falcons are 8th giving up 19.7 per game. The Eagles are also number 1 in rushing defense so the great Devonta Freeman and stud Tevin Coleman may have a tough time getting yards. That will lay the onus on quarterback Matt Ryan, who finished off another solid year completing 65% of his passes (342-of-529) for 4,095 yards and 20 TDs. But Ryan also threw 12 interceptions. It wasn’t even close to the MVP year he had last year. The difference in this year and last year is that in 2016, Ryan had Kyle Shanahan calling plays and this year he has Steve Sarkisian. Sark is doing his best, but Shanahan, who is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and finished off the season with 6 straight victories with October quarterback acquisition Jimmy Garappolo from New England, was a prolific offensive coordinator. The superb Julio Jones still caught 88 passes for 1,444 yards but only had 3 TDs. The conditions in Philly look tough for throwing the football today. It’ll be 31 at kickoff, feel like 21 with winds at 12-16 MPH throughout the game and getting colder as the game progresses, which will have an impact on Ryan, Jones and offense that is used to playing in an indoor stadium in Mercedes-Benz. 

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who took over from the injured Carson Wentz who was lost for the season on Dec. 10th after throwing for 33 TDs against 7 ints and having an MVP caliber year, is serviceable and that may be all he needs to be today. LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi are very good running backs, so I like the Eagles to run it well and play solid defense and Foles to make enough plays to keep the Falcons honest on defense, and allow the Eagles to advance to the NFC Championship game which will be played at Lincoln Financial if the Eagles do survive today.

Eagles 17, Falcons 16

 

AFC

No.5 Tennesse Titans (10-7) @ No.1 New England Patriots (13-3)

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA. 66,829

7:15 PM CT

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson, Jay Feely

Aladdin: Ron Torbert, be ready for massive laundry; replay: Darryll Lewis

Patriots by 13 1/2

Tom Brady led the NFL in passing again this season completing 385-of-581 passes, 66%, for 4,577 yards, 32 TDs against 8 ints. His passer rating was 3rd in the league at 102.8 only behind KC’s Alex Smith (104.7) and the great Drew Brees (103.9). Anything above 100 is considered excellent He’s got a virtual fountain of youth inside of him at 40 years old. His career passer rating is 97.3, as good as it gets. He’s also got 5 Super Bowl rings with ambitions to get more and play into his mid 40’s. I can see him doing that. He keeps himself in such tremendous shape and never gets hurt, so both of those things are attainable for Brady. Derrick Henry and Marcus Mariota played superb games last Saturday as the Titans came back from a 21-3 halftime deficit and defeated the KC Chiefs 23-21 in raucous Arrowhead Stadium where the noise can register almost 4.0 on the Richter Scale, earthquake-like. It was a sensational performance by the Titans and in particular Henry, who rushed for 156 yards and a 7, and Mariota who completed 19-of-31 passes for 205 yards and 2 TDs against 1 int. But this is in Foxborough where the Patriots are always difficult to defeat and the temperature will be 25 at kickoff and feel like 10 with an 18 MPH wind throughout the game. I like the home team to advance here.

 New England 24, Tennessee 14

 

Sunday

AFC

No.3 Jacksonville Jaguars (11-6) @ No.2 Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3)

Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA. 68,400

12:05 PM CT

CBS

Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts, Evan Washburn

Vogue: Brad Allen, Replay, Jim Lapetina

Steelers by 7

The Jaguars defeated the Steelers in week 5, 30-9, in Pittsburgh as Ben Roethlisberger threw 5 interceptions. There was talk that Ben, at 35 years old, should call it a career, but Roethlisberger finished the season completing 360-of-561 passes, 64%, for 4,251 yards with 28 TDs and 14 ints, and a 93.4 passer rating, all solid numbers. The Jags have a solid defense and awesome corner Jalen Ramsey won the game for them last week in the wild card game against the Bills with a game clinching interception in a 10-3 victory. Still, Blake Bortles had a horrible day throwing the ball as he only completed 12-of-23 passes for 87 yards and a TD. He ran for more yards in the game (88) than he passed for. The rushing yards were a major reason why the Jaguars won though. But again, the temperature will be 14 at kickoff and stay in the teens throughout the game. Not much wind, but the temperature will be tough on Jacksonville which is used to balmy northeast Florida. Leonard Fournette had a good year for the Jags rushing for 1,040 yards and 9 TDs, but only averaged 3.9 yards per carry. He didn’t do anything against a good Bills defense last week. It’s hard to tell what you’re going to get from Fournette week to week.

I like Roethlisberger and the Steelers to advance and face a much anticipated rematch with the Patriots next Sunday. The Steelers lost a tough one to the Patriots in week 15, 27-24, at home in which tight end Jesse James looked like he had caught the game winning TD in the last minute, but after review, it was ruled that James did not complete the catch through the ground when he fell into the end zone as the ball moved when it hit the ground. That rule has been controversial, but I like it. I contend that the best football players in the world, who are also extremely well paid,  should be required to hang on to the ball throughout the catch. It’s a good rule no matter what other people may say. 

Steelers 20, Jaguars 10

NFC

 

No. 4 New Orleans Saints (11-5) @ No.2 Minnesota Vikings (13-3)

U. S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN. 66,655

3:45 PM CT

FOX

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Chris Myers

Yella: Gene Steratore, could be some controversy with Steratore, Replay: Paul Weidner

Vikings by 5

Drew Brees had a phenomenal 2017 season completing 386 of 535 passes, 72%, for 4,334 yards, 23 TDs against 8 ints and had a league leading 103.9 passer rating. That completion percentage is off the charts good. He also threw for 376 yards and 2 TDs last week including an 80 yarder to Ted Ginn Jr, that hit Ginn Jr right in stride and Ginn concurrently took it straight to the house. His passer rating was 115.2 last Sunday against the Panthers a 31-26 victory in the Superdome. But the Vikings have the No.1 scoring defense in the league giving up only 15.8 points per game. They also have the second best rushing and passing defense in the league, so Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara and Brees may have some tough sledding. The Saints lost super offensive lineman Andrus Peat to injury last week. He’s out this week and that hurts the Saints’ cause somewhat

Case Keenum has been more than impressive in relief of Sam Bradford  as Bradford was injured after 2 games. In 14 starts, Keenum completed 325-of-481 passes, 67%, for 3,547 yards, 22 TDs against only 7 ints. He’s been nothing short of spectacular and has found a resurgence in Minnesota under stellar offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who is a major candidate for job openings in New York (Giants), Detroit and Arizona. Latavius Murray rushed for 842 yards and 8 TDs. The dynamite receiving trio of Adam Thielen (91-1,276, 4 TDs), Stefon Diggs (the older brother of Alabama’s Trevon, 64-849, 8 TDs) and tight end Kyle Rudolph (57-532, 8 TDs) make this Vikings offense versatile and highly formidable.

 Super Bowl 52 will be played at right there at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings take their first step towards getting there. 

Vikings 31, Saints 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spectacular ending to a spectacular college football season. Tua Tagovailoa put on a performance for the college football history books. Calvin Ridley, Da’Ron Payne, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Rashaan Evans, Terrell Lewis, Mack Wilson, Bradley Bozeman, Ross Pierschbacher, all the vets showed their heart and character in the 26-23 Crimson Tide scintillating overtime victory over the Georgia Bulldogs. It’ll be thrilling to watch many of these guys in the NFL. So many there right now and many more coming through the pipeline.

Five national championships in 11 years under S. He’s the greatest of all time and with the freshman in the program, Tua, Najee Harris, Jerry Jeudy, Devonta Smith, Alex Leatherwood and many more along with some excellent upperclassmen returning, a 6th national championship under S next year looks certainly attainable. This year is Number 17 in program history. Remarkable stuff.

Now S focuses on closing strong in recruiting like he always does. That’ll be riveting to follow. 

Greatness never gets old. What a program, what a coach, what a thrill to be a part of for the the fans of Alabama football and the state of Alabama. S isn’t going anywhere for a good while. His next venture will be retiring to Georgia and being a commentator on college football. But that could be 10 years away with the energy and passion he has for this football program.

Enjoy the victory and another amazing season for your Crimson Tide. There’s recruiting to keep up with now, and spring football is just around the corner. But today, enjoy that spectacular game, this spectacular coach and this all time good college football program. 

Golf columns crank up tomorrow, NFL playoffs write ups and predictions beginning Saturday and leading all the way up through Super Bowl 52, and Australian Open tennis preview and predictions on Sunday. We’ve got plenty left to talk about going forward and for many years to come on this blog.

Alabama football and the 2018 college football season is not far around the corner either. Spring football is just 2 months and change away. A lot of interesting stuff to look at for the Crimson Tide, the Auburn Tigers, the SEC and the national landscape for 2s018. Many riveting storylines. Can the Tide do it once again, can the Tigers challenge the Tide, what about Kirby and Georgia’s team that is trending extremely well. New coaches at A&M with Jimbo Fisher, Tennessee with Jeremy Pruitt, Dan Mullen at Florida and Joe Moorhead at Mississippi State. Penn State looks strong next year. OU will be back. Ohio State, can Harbaugh turn Michigan  around, will Army keep trending upward in football after a 10-3 season. What about Kiff’s emergence at Florida Atlantic, will it lead to a major job in the future. Scott Frost, the awesome Central Florida coach takes over at Nebraska and tries to revive a proud program and put them in the national hunt on a yearly basis. A lot of questions to examine in 2018.

Last night capped off a remarkable football season with what was a remarkably resilient football team in the Crimson Tide that never gave in, that always believed and battled through the adversity of massive injuries particularly at linebacker. They truly earned this national title with clear eyes and full hearts.

the Alabama football family is a happy group right now which they should be. The all time best coach in college football, and, quite probably, the best coach at any level ever. The best players year after year in college football, the best run program and a massively passionate and loyal fan base that never wavers in their support of their players and their all time greatest football coach. It’s spectacular stuff.

Thanks again for reading this season. A lot to talk about coming up. S says there’s always the next challenge. I hear him.  

Final record

Bowls: 18-21

Overall: 228-101, 69%

 

 

 

The CFB National Championship Game

Alabama (12-1, 7-1 SEC) vs. Georgia (13-1, 7-1 SEC)

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA. 75,000

7 PM CT

ESPN

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor, Tom Rinaldi

Officials: Big Ten, Dan Capron

Alabama by 4

Alabama

Head Coach: Nicholas Lou Saban Jr., 66 years old, Fairmont, West Virginia, Kent State, Alma Mater

11 years at Alabama,  126-20, 4 National Championships, 1 at LSU in 2003. If S wins tonight he will tie Bear Bryant’s all time record of 6 national championships.

Key players

Offense

Quarterback Jalen Hurts, 152-of-248, 61%, 2125 yards, 17 TDs, 1 int. Hurts completed 16-of-24 passes for 120 yards last Monday Night against Clemson and tossed 2 TDs. Hurts has rushed 148 times for 808 yards and 8 TDs.

Running back Damien Harris , 129-983, 7.6 per carry, 11 TDs. Bo Scarborough, 120-573, 4.8 per carry, 8 TDs.

Wide receiver Calvin Ridley 59 receptions for 935 yards and 4 TDs. Henry Ruggs III, 9 receptions 200 yards, 5 TDs. Jerry Jeudy, 12 receptions, 244, 2 TDs.

Defense

Safety Ronnie Harrison, leads the team in tackles with 70, has posted 3 1/2 for loss and 2 1/2 sacks, and 3 ints.

Linebacker Rashaan Evans, 66 tackles, 11 1/2 for loss and 6 sacks.

Linebacker Mack Wilson, 28 tackles, 4 interceptions for 39 yards and an int for a TD against Clemson last Monday.

Defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, 64 tackles, 9 for loss, and 7 1/2 sacks.

Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, the general of the defense, 55 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 1/2 sacks, 1 int

Defensive tackle Da’Ron Payne, 47 tackles, 1 interception last week against Clemson, a game changer along with a TD catch. He had S chuckling after the game about his receiving skills. The Big Fella got it done in the clutch with a nice toe tap in the end zone.

 

Georgia

Head coach, Kirby Smart, 2 years at Georgia, 21-6, 1 SEC championship and should be on his way to many more along with some national championships. 

Key players

Offense

Running back Nick Chubb, 205-1,320 yards,, 6.4 per carry, 15 TDs.

Running back Sony Michel, 142-1,129, 8 yards per carry, 16 TDs.

Running back D’Andre Swift, 77-603,, 7.8, 3 TDs.

Quarterback Jake Fromm, 165-259, 64%, 2,383 yards, 23 TDs, 5 ints.

Wide Receiver Javon Wims, 44 receptions, 704 yards, 16 yard average, 7 TDs.

Wide receiver Terry Godwin, 34-591, 17.4, 6 TDs.

Defense

The great linebacker Roquan Smith, 124 tackles, 11 1/2 for loss, 5 1/2 sacks.

Safety J.R. Reid, 76 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 ints. 

Linebacker Lorenzo Carter, 58 tackles, 8 1/2 for loss, 4 1/2 sacks.

Safety Dominick Sanders, 4 ints for 85 yards.

Linebacker D’Andre Walker, 13 1/2 tackles for loss, 5 1/2 sacks.

Analysis

I like both of these defenses and running games. These teams play hard nosed, physical football with big plays and game changing plays on the defensive side of the ball. I would say that Daron Payne won the game for the Crimson Tide last week when they blasted Clemson, 24-6. Roquan Smith was all over the place last Monday in Georgia’s thrilling 54-48 victory over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl as he and the Dawgs defense starting slowing down Baker Mayfield and the vaunted Sooners offense in the second half. Georgia settled down defensively and ended up sacking Mayfield 5 times. Of course Michel and Chubb were spectacular, as Michel rushed for 181 yards and 3 TDs including the game winning 25 yarder, and Chubb rushed for 145 yards and 2 TDs himself. Jake Fromm, the talented and poised freshman completed 20-of-29 passes for 210 yards 2 TDs and 0 ints. It was a stellar comeback by the Dawgs in the second half as they were down 31-17 at halftime. A key 55 yard field goal by Rodrigo Blakenship gave the Dawgs momentum heading into the half, and they came out and controlled most of the second half in a thriller.

For the Tide, the defense was spectacular against Clemson. Da’Ron Payne made a  terrific interception of a Kelly Bryant tipped pass and returned it 26 yards showing some major athletic ability. He later caught a TD pass in the end zone from Jalen Hurts with the nice toe tap to secure the 7. Mack Wilson had a game changing pick 6 for the Tide as well. The Tide did enough on offense, but the defense was dominant, Clemson didn’t have a chance.

The Tide features the No.1 total defense in the country allowing just 252 yards per game. They have the top scoring defense allowing just 11 points per game, and have the top rushing defense allowing just 91.8 yards per game. The Dawgs are 6th in total defense at 289.5 per game, 5th in scoring defense at 15.7 per game, and 20th in rushing defense at 121.2 per game. Still not bad on the rushing defense, but they’ll have to be good tonight to contain Hurts, Harris, Scarbrough, and Najee Harris. Joshua Jacobs is questionable to play for the Tide with a hamstring injury. 

The Tide has 3 linebackers out for the game as Shaun Dion Hamilton, Dylan Moses and Anfernee Jennings, who was hurt last week, are all going to miss the championship. Georgia is pretty healthy. Alabama still has some stellar linebackers with Evans, Wilson, Christian Miller and Terrell Lewis.

Should be a hard hitting, smash mouth football game with maybe an explosive play and a turnover deciding this one.

The Decision

I really like both of these teams. They play excellent defense and they can really run the ball and have super play action passes with the electric explosive plays. A guy I didn’t mention for Georgia is Mecole Hardman who is a threat as a receiver and as a kick and punt returner. He’s a house call waiting to happen. 

I like defense in this game with enough offense to make it a thriller. The Tide’s keys are stopping Michel and Chubb, because if they can get to the second level, particularly Michel, watch out. Then they’ll have to defend Fromm and the passing attack. The Georgia o line does a good job of protecting Fromm and he can run it a little bit. On offense, Hurts must have a good game, a solid, efficient game, take care of the ball and make plays with both his arm and his legs. Ridley needs to be heavily involved in the offense. They need big plays from him, and if some of the other guys could step up, Jeudy, Ruggs III, Cam Sims, Robert Foster, that would help. Damien would like to go out with a bang in the championship game as would Scarbrough. Najee Harris could make an impact tonight.

The Dawgs want to run the ball and play action pass it to be successful. On defense, Smith needs to control the Bama offense, and Georgia could use some turnovers to help their offense. Bama is good at protecting the ball, so the Dawgs will have to figure out ways to stop the Tide offense and work to create a turnover or two.

Both these teams have had superb seasons and the future is extremely bright at Georgia and is always extremely bright at Alabama. I’ll take the defense that is a little better, and an offense that can do a little more in this game, though if Michel and Chubb get going, this will be a sensational contest.

Alabama 21, Georgia 17

MVP: Mack Wilson