Here at KCCGD headquarters, we are drawing up game plans and doing walkthroughs for the upcoming football season. We have some goodies coming up in the next couple of weeks, including analysis, predictions, and some new looks. We’re busting a major sweat and pouring it out into everything we do here to make KCCGD the best place to go for you Kansas City college football needs. Be on the lookout. Until then, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
- Kansas State’s lawyers are bringing the full “he said, she said” stating that no such attempts were made to quiet Ron Prince, which his lawyers accused the school of. This is a real bad case of a coach and school parting ways. It’s only gonna get worse. Please remember to hug a coach and a school official today.
- Backup Nebraska quarterback Cody Spano is out for the year with a torn ACL. The Husker’s projected starter is Zac Lee and if he goes down there really is nobody left behind him. Plus, it’s his first year as a starter. Husker fans need to hope Zac stays healthy if they want to live up to the pre-season hype of a projected Big 12 North title.
- 15 Duke football players have symptoms of the swine flu. Usually colds and flus make their way through teams and then move on. What’s interesting about this article is that Heather Dinich called it the swine flu. Not H121. Way to go Heather! We like realistic names and not ones deemed okay to say by Congress.
- Oregon football players (or as new ESPN sportscaster Jon Gruden calls it, OrEEgon) are now wearing cameras on their helmets during practice. The more tape, the better. Our guess is the next step in the evolution of video games will include this footage. Then, in turn, football players could practice by playing the video game. Geekery abound!
- Colorado cornerback Ben Burney had his blog axed after the first draft. Being the blogging realm we are disappointed to see such speech revoked. Although the kid probably shouldn’t have touted how well in the sack he is. That’s not quite the inside look people are looking for in football.
- New Mexico State is asking fans to pitch in for snacks for the football team after practice. Seriously? We know the economic downturn is affecting everyone, but what’s the deal with a school not springing for orange slices and Capri-Sun after a workout?
- Mike DeArmond from the Kansas City Star profiles Missouri’s defensive secondary. They were the worst in the Big 12 last year and are looking for a turnaround. With many of the offensive players from last year drafted away to the NFL, the defense needs to step up and help shoulder the load (and transition).
- Speaking of defense, bot the Topeka Capital Journal and the Manhattan Mercury talk about Kansas State’s defense. There’s no place to go but up for the defense as they ranked below 100 in the terms of total defense last year. To help the attempted turnaround, they are featuring nickel defense much more this season. Hopefully that will help counteract the explosive offense most of the Big 12 teams bring into the year.
- Former Duke basketball starter Greg Paulus will now be the starter for the Syracuse Orangemen. We’re not sure if it’s because he’s super talented (he was a five star football recruit in high school) or if the rest of the quarterbacks on the team stunk. At any rate, the school will sell more tickets because of this guy and that’s a good thing.
- Former Rivals #1 recruit Bryce Brown and Tennessee are under investigation by the NCAA for alleged violations in his recruitment to the university. The question is whether funds raised for Brown’s trip out to Tennessee was legit or not. Brown, a Wichita native, tread the news waters earlier this year when he was waffling back and forth between schools after his commitment to Miami expired, including Kansas State. This guy smells like trouble and chances are he won’t turn out well.