I really do believe in this football team and what Coach Mason is doing along with his vision for this program. We sit at 3-4 and are off this week, then have  5 winnable games left. Next up we’re at South Carolina in a game we can definitely win on Saturday, 10-28. Time and TV to be announced. We’ll play Western Kentucky, at home, 11-4, Kentucky, at home, 11-11, Missouri, at home, 11-18, then play those guys from the East, 11-25. The games are all on Saturdays. Kyle is still playing at a high level under center, Ralph ran for 160+ yards last Saturday at Ole Miss, and the defense, I know this may sound funny, did some good things last Saturday. They really did. We just got behind by a bunch and couldn’t come back. But we still played some good ball at times. I like our players a lot. They will bounce back. Coach Mason will have them ready for SC. We need that one. Last year, we were 2-4 during the bye week and we came back and won 4 straight. We can do the same this year, win 5 straight and finish 8-4 with a quality bowl game victory.

Coach Mason has a really solid ’18 class with 3, 4-stars, and a good amount of 3 stars. It’s shaping up to be an excellent class. We have 14 committed. We’re in on some other good players. l really like what Coach Mason is doing. He’s an outstanding coach. Know we can turn this thing around. It was a massively hard stretch with Bama, @ Florida, Georgia, and @ Ole Miss. We can regroup this week and be ready to go a week from Saturday. 

MLB guys

Sonny was awesome yesterday for the Yankees in their 6-4 victory over the Astros to tie the ALCS at 2-2. Yanks play the Stros today at 4:08 PM CT on Fox Sports 1. The man went 5 innings, gave up 1 hit, 2 runs with only 1 earned, with 2 walks and 4 K’s. Sonny threw 84 pitches with 46 for strikes against 29 balls. He pitched really well. He hit 95 a couple of times and struck out the great Carlos Beltran on 95 mile per hour heat. The Yanks didn’t give him any help with the gloves or the bats, committing 2 errors and not scoring any runs. But did they ever light up the Houston bullpen. Down 4-0, the superb Aaron Judge cranked one out to cut it to 4-1 in the bottom of the 7th. Gary Sanchez hit a sac fly in the same inning to cut it to 4-2. In the bottom of the 8th, Judge doubled to deep left central to tie the game at 4 after Brett Gardner hit a ground out for a Ribeye. Sanchez doubled in same inning and drove in 2 to put the Yanks ahead 6-4. Aroldis Chapman came in for the top of the 9th and mowed down the Astros 1-2-3 throwing it 98-101. Wow, he’s electric. The game was nothing short of miraculous. Nothing like Yankee Stadium in October. Like Sonny in Yankee Stadium in October. 

 Like where Sonny and the Yanks are right now. One more in the Bronx and then back to Houston. Manager Joe Girardi will throw ace Masahiro Tanaka today against Houston lefty ace Dallas Keuchel. Should be a total classic. The Yanks have battled back from a 2-0 deficit in this series and are playing superbly right now. Like their chances. Have some tough assignments with Kuechel and Justin Verlander waiting, but like where the pitching and bats are. Gloves need to keep playing better, but feel like they will. Hitting and pitching are contagious for the defense. Want to see Sonny keep pitching. Like his team and really like the man. He’a a Mr. October type.

David Price pitched superbly well for the BoSox in the postseason. Unfortunately, they fell to the Stros in the ALDS, but DP’s work was as a solid as it gets out of the bullpen. Due to his elbow issues, John Ferrell wanted to work him out of the pen in the playoffs. David answered the bell throwing 6.2 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, with 2 walks and 5 K’s. His ERA was 0.00 and his WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) was 1.05, which is outstanding. Anything under 1.10 is very good. He was especially good on Sunday, a week and a half ago, as he went 4 innings, gave up 4 hits with 1 walk and 4 K’s in the BoSox 10-3 victory. They lost the game and the series on the next day when Ferrell made some questionable pitching decisions. He lost his job because of it. I’m sorry for him, he seems like a good guy, but apparently he’s made some poor decisions and this time it cost them the playoffs. So GM Dave Dombrowski felt a change was needed. The new manager has not been named. Regardless, was really pumped with how David pitched. He looks good to start next year. He was hitting 97 on that Sunday and his stuff was electric. He’s ready for a huge ’18 season as a starter.

Mike Minor pitched super well for the KC Royals out of the pen this year. He struck out the awesome Francisco Lindor for the Indians, who crushed 33 homers this season, that ended the Indians’ 22 game winning streak and it was in Cleveland. Mike was hitting 95-96 and his breaking ball is through the roof good. It’s great to see Mike back and pitching well. Hope the Royals give him a shot to start. 

Still believe in Pedro. He was awesome at the Norfolk Tides, the triple A club for the Orioles. He hit a ton of home runs and got called up to the O’s in Sept. He’s still got a great bat and has cut down on his strikeouts. Really believe in Pedro. He can be a great 1st or 3rd baseman or an outfielder if he needs to be. He’s an outstanding athlete. Just needs a shot with a big league club, the Orioles or whomever else. 

Dansby had a solid finish with the Braves. He played excellent shortstop and finished off the season with a pair of hits. The Braves are building and going through the growing pains of developing young talent in the big leagues. They should be a lot more competitive in 2018 and have a shot to make the postseason and keep getting better in years to come. It’s kind of like what the Astros did with their young talent. It’s tough while the guys are developing, but it pays off eventually. I know it will for the Braves. Dans doing a great job for them and there couldn’t be a better teammate and representative for a team. Dans is super like all our guys are.

Carson Fulmer pitched well for the ChiSox when he got called up in September. Carson did some really good things starting and got a couple of victories. Like what Carson can become in the big leagues. Like the potential of Tony Kemp and Tyler Beede, too, with the Astros and Giants respectively. Both guys can do some great things. Both were in triple A, Tony knocked the cover off the ball and played stellar 2nd base, while Tyler pitched well for Sacramento as a starter before getting hurt in late July. Like where those 2 can go. Tony just needs a shot and Tyler can keep developing. Kyle Wright should be a factor for the Braves in the near future, and Walker Buehler will be for the ultra talented Dodgers in the near future as well. We have so many, I know I’m leaving some guys out. 2018 should be super for our MLB guys. 

Our college team looks highly promising for 2018. We’ve got some super talented freshman along with some stud vets. Like what Corbs can do with this group. I’ll talk to Corbs in January and give you his rundown of Vanderbilt baseball 2018.

NFL guys

Jay Cutler played some really good quarterback for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in their 20-17 massive victory over Atlanta. Man, I stay nervous all weekend with my college predictions/hopes on Saturday and Jay playing quarterback on Sundays. Jay started slowly as the Dolphins trailed 17-0 at halftime and the opinionated CBS halftime guys were doggin him. I muted the TV. But Jay and the ‘phins came back scoring 20 unanswered to win on the road in Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the NFC champs from 2016. Jay finished 19 for 33 for 151 yards, 2 TDs and one int. He had a 76.7 quarterback rating, which is decent, but he was so efficient in the second half and showed incredible leadership and resiliency. He threw an 11 yard TD pass to Kenny Stills, formerly from Oklahoma, to cut the lead to 17-7, then threw a 7 yard TD pass to Jarvis Landry, from LSU, to trim the deficit to 17-14. Cody Parkey from Auburn kicked a couple of field goals, the last one from 38 yards with 2:30 left in the game, and the Dolphins intercepted a Matt Ryan pass deep in Miami territory with the Falcons driving in for a game tying field goal or game winning TD. So it was huge for Jay and the Dolphins. Next up is the Jets this Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami at noon CT. The Dolphins are now 3-2 and 1 game back of the Patriots. Need to keep this momentum going. Proud for Jay.

Zach Cunningham and Andre Hal are excelling on defense for a very good Houston Texans team. Andre had a couple of ints 2 weeks ago, and Zach has been a tackling machine for the Texans. They had some tough things happen against the Chiefs on Sunday Night football a week and a half ago as they lost the awesome J.J, Watt for the season with a knee injury during the game. They also lost super linebacker Whitney Mercilus for the year, too, in that game. But the Texans are playing well with the stellar DeShaun Watson playing quarterback. It’s tough without those 2, but they snapped back from a home loss to KC a week and a half ago and won this past Sunday over the Cleveland Browns, 33-17. The Texans are 3-3. I like where Zach and Andre are.

Casey Hayward is still playing very good cornerback for the LA Chargers, weird to call them LA instead of San Diego, but getting used to it. Casey is a stud. Spencer Pulley is also the starting center and doing a great job for the Bolts. They got a huge victory at Oakland this past Sunday.

Wesley Johnson playing superb center for the New York Jets. I watched some of Wesley’s game Sunday versus the Patriots, which the Jets lost in a close, hard fought contest, and Wes looked outstanding. 

Jordan Matthews is still recovering from an injury, but, according to reports, has a chance to play for the Buffalo Bills this Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Bucs. JMatt has  played some this season, but has struggled with some injuries, but he’s working his tail off I’m sure to get back at wide receiver for his team. That’s who Jordan Matthews is. 

Basketball

I really like the material Bryce has assembled for 2017-18. We’ve got some really good vets and some stud freshmen. I like our chances to do well in the SEC and nationally. Not too far away from the season opener. Austin Peay is at 3:30 PM CT on Friday Nov. 10th at Memorial. Should be an electric season this year for our basketball team. Will have more on Bryce and the team next week.

We do have a commit for the 2018 class and he is 94, 4-star Aaron Nesmith. Aaron is out of Charleston, S.C. Great pickup by Bryce and the staff. Aaron is a 6’5″, 190 pound small forward and the recruiting services sure think a lot of him. I know he’ll be exceptional. We’re in it for some big time players that, if we could land them, would be game changing for our program. But I really like the squad we have this year. We can be special.

Will hit ya back next week. Thanks.