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Noles come up short against Bulldogs

by Bill from Tampa

If you are a fan of offensive basketball with a lot of action from end to end, the first half of tonight’s Florida State/Butler game was NOT for you.

The Seminoles made just five baskets in the first half shooting just 28%.

Butler was not much better, connecting on just 29% of their shots. And yet somehow the ‘Noles trailed by just two points at intermission, 21-19.

That’s when the offensive fireworks took place in a shootout contest between FSU’s Chris Singleton and Butler’s Shelvin Mack. Singleton had just two points going into the locker room and came out to score 26 more on the strength of a career high six three pointers.

It was not enough however as the Seminoles came up just short to the Bulldogs, 67-64.

Mack, held scoreless in the first half, scored 17 in the second period with 7 coming in the first 3:50. The flurry by Mack helped fuel a 20-6 Bulldog run.

The latest on DT prospect Terry Bell from his high school coach

We talked to Terry Bell’s high school coach, Dave Robson at Tenoroc High in the Lakeland area. Robson is a good judge of talent since he coached several guys who went to the NFL -- most notably Ray Lewis, when they were both at Kathleen High in Lakeland. Here’s what he told us about Bell (rated 3-Stars by both Rivals and Scout).

Current Situation - “He’s going to wait till signing day to make his final decision. He’s still considering a couple of places,” but Robson says Odell Haggins came on strong during the season and believes FSU is Bell’s top school. Auburn and Miami had been in the picture, says Robson, but he’s had no contact from the Hurricanes lately.

Academics - Bell took his ACT tests again recently but won’t have results till after the first of the year. His GPA was not far off, says Robson. He’s steadily boosted his GPA during high school to overcome some poor grades in middle school.

On the field - “If he progresses, he can be really good. He can run. Good footwork. He’s just physical and verbal. When he locks up on someone you can hear him grunt from deep down inside. He’s man-sized and naturally strong. He was pretty dominant against opponents,” says Robson. Bell played both DE and DT at Tenoroc. He also played OL (left tackle) and “Trickett likes him a lot,” says Robson, though he believes Bell will end up on defense.

Why we heard about him so late in the recruiting process - “He only played two and half games for us last year (after being injured). He wanted to come back for the last game, but I wanted to make sure his knee was okay.” Also Tenoroc is a new school and still moving up the classification ladder (they were 3A last season). Robson says Bell was discovered by Preps Report when they were cutting up film of another team, saw Bell, and were amazed that he could run so well for his size. “After that the phone blew up,” says Robson. “West Virginia offered early. He’s had 25 offers in all.”

Character - Robson says Bell has never been in trouble. His mom and dad are strict disciplinarians. In fact, Robson says that Bell “missed a game once because his father was punishing him for running over a sprinkler head with the mower.”

Footnote: Robson says FSU’s recruiting efforts this year have been “more intense with strong follow-up. For awhile they didn’t do a good job in Polk County, but now they’re working hard.”

We ask Butler's beat writer to compare Markus White and Tank Carradine

They're two intense pass rushers in the same mold from the same junior college. Which is or was best equipped to be a star at the D-1 level? For answers we turned to Tony Adame, the writer who covers Butler C.C. football for the Wichita Eagle. Here's his evaluation.

I’ve seen four NJCAA national defensive players of the year in five years of covering the Jayhawk Conference – Butler linebacker Austin Panter (Michigan) in 2006, Butler defensive end Markus White (Florida State) in 2007, Hutchinson defensive tackle Eugene Kinlaw (Troy) in 2008 and Butler defensive end Cornellius Carradine (Florida State) this season.

Undoubtedly, White and Carradine had the most potential of the four because of the premium put on rush defensive ends at the high-Division I level and in the pros nowadays and because each one has the perfect physical acumen for the position. A guy that can get to the quarterback is worth his weight in gold, but a guy that is 6-foot-4, 260 pounds and can get to the quarterback can help you keep your job.

These two guys are freaks – here’s three ways to break them down:

TALE OF THE TAPE

They’re both 6-4, 260, like I said. I know Cornellius measured a 39-inch vertical leap in preseason testing and got quite a bit faster between his freshman and sophomore year – I’d guess he knocked a good 2/10th off his 40 time by living in the weight room, dropping him down to 4.5 range. Markus played the game so fluid, so naturally, that you never really questioned how hard he worked. Cornellius had a lot more work to do between his first and second seasons in my opinion, but it was just a matter of unlocking that potential. Markus made it look easy.

GAMETIME

Both of these guys will fight an offensive tackle to the death. Their approach to big games at the junior-college level was always so focused and so concise that it made an impression on me as an uninvolved observer. Aware of their teammates. Aware of game situations like down and distance and tendencies, which you might scoff at but you might be surprised isn’t as common as you might think. And putting up numbers …. oh baby. White’s 50-plus tackles, 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss really blew me away this year considering all he’d been through. Carradine’s numbers on the junior-college level match up very similar to those of another Jayhawk Conference defensive end, Fort Scott’s Jason Pierre-Paul, who spent one year at South Florida before the NY Giants grabbed him in the first round.

DEMEANOR

Two distinct memories from these two, both involving the week leading up to their respective national championship games. We did a feature on White and the defensive line at Butler his sophomore year right before his title game – all four starters ended up Division I starters, including current Oregon nose guard Zac Clark. The crazy thing was that they’d lost Kansas State d-end Antonio Felder to a knee injury in the first game and each of these other three dudes had kind of adapted White’s persona that year because he’d kind of adopted them. Called them his brothers. They grew their hair out long, wore clothes that were a little too baggy … it was an interesting rebellion that they’d made amongst themselves with him as the lynchpin. Nothing that went against the team, just new-school bonding. And they won a national title.

My only knock on Carradine would be that maybe he was wound too tight at times. I remember before the national title game this year (which they lost) he was so consumed by the game plan and by the pressure being put on him to pick a school, that the coaches were having to check on him to make sure he was eating. This is a dude who will sell his heart and soul to put his team in a position where they can win. Football is everything to him … it wasn’t a surprise when I saw he chose Florida State because of his intense loyalty to his junior-college coaches and the high regard they held for White and the FSU coaching staff.

Can’t wait to see how it all shakes out.

P.S. Adame reported that Tank Carradine dominated in every game this season but one....

Did Marcus Lattimore transform pass-happy Spurrier into a run-oriented play-caller?

Another Q & A with the Carolina crew at Leftover Hot Dog, one of the oldest and best read Gamecock blogs.

Q: Stat-wise South Carolina's offense appears pass oriented (235.6 per game avg. versus 155.5 y.p.g. on the ground). But by season's end, with Lattimore going strong, were the Gamecocks a run-first team?

A: The Gamecocks this year on offense are really more about a balanced offense. When they are able to be balanced, then they win. When QB Stephen Garcia is forced to throw for 300+ yards then that means the offense is not clicking the way it should and normally this also means that USC is playing from behind. The key to USC's offense in 2010 has been the run game. Having an effective run game led by Marcus Lattimore is crucial to success.  Look at the games SC won - UGa, UF, Bama.... it was because the run game was so effective in grinding yards and keeping the opposing offense of the field.

Look at the games USC lost, it is because the SC run game was shut down. USC needs its run game working so it opens up the pass game to be effective and not desperate (difference there).

The key to beating FSU is USC being able to run the ball. The Gamecocks need for Lattimore to get 100+ rushing yards in the game. Spurrier knows that his offense can not be pass happy against the 'Noles and that he needs the run game to control the tempo of the game. Do this and Carolina wins.

The big reason Maryland's hot to roll the dice with loose cannon Mike Leach

The Washington Post reports this morning that Mike Leach is "very interested" in the Maryland job. The only hurdle now is Ralph Friedgen -- convincing him to retire so the school doesn't have to pay a $2 million buyout. Despite a revived offense and high hopes for 2011 with QB Danny O'Brien, Maryland needs Leach to create buzz and sell tickets, according to The Post:

Maryland’s first-year Athletic Director Kevin Anderson is trying to make an attention-grabbing hire to stimulate the fan base, sources said. Season ticket sales have declined for five straight seasons. The school fell more than $500,000 short of season ticket sales projections in each of the past two seasons. And only once this season – despite a successful 8-4 record – did Maryland fill Byrd Stadium to 75 percent capacity.

And despite finishing in a three-way tie for third in the ACC, Maryland fell to the eighth slot in the ACC bowl pecking order in large part because of concerns about how well fans would travel to a bowl game.

Florida State goes Hollywood with laidback West Coast win

by Bill from Tampa

It is a certainty that when the schedule came out, Loyola Marymount (picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference) circled the date with Florida State, and they played like it.

Numerous times the Seminoles would eek out a small lead only to see the Lions come back by putting enormous pressure on FSU’s defense.

But in the end FSU managed to earn a hard fought 74-63 win.

It wasn’t until 8:30 were left in the game that Michael Snaer hit a three pointer from the right corner and the nearly four minutes later hit from the opposite corner following an offensive rebound to give the ‘Noles a 61-54 lead with 4:55 to play.

A minute later Devidas Dulkys added a three from way above the key to give FSU its first double digit lead of the game, 66-56.

Vernon Teel almost made it a four point game with less than three minutes to play when he knocked the ball away from Chris Singleton but could only make one of two free throws.

A floater by Derwin Kitchen made it 68-61 at the 1:40 mark.

What basically sealed the victory for the ‘Noles  was when Snaer missed a three with one minute to play, but FSU was able to grab the rebound running off twenty four seconds before Teel fouled Singleton giving FSU a new thirty five seconds, just two seconds short of the time left on the game clock.

Jimbo tells Atlanta sports talk radio, "I’m very optimistic" about Ponder playing in the Chick-fil-A Bowl

More of what Jimbo told Tony Barnhart and Wes Durham today (Friday) on 790 the Zone.

On Ponder playing in the bowl:

"I’m very optimistic about it…They said the surgery went very well. His hand and arm look better than any time (lately). They wanted to give time for that heal up and I said it would be crazy to do anything here, (so) let him have a full week of practice once we got up there and see where we’re at. A week or two ago I would’ve said I just don’t see it…But when they did the procedure, the doctor said we think it heals right if you go well. And it seems to be doing that right now. So I’m very optimistic about it."

On E.J. Manuel's play:

"I thought he played well (against Va. Tech). The first interception was a freak, just a pure crazy ball. The second one he made a high throw. And the other play that was disappointing is where he slipped down. We had zero coverage on a post and had a chance for a big play and he just slipped. But other than that, he managed the game, led us up and down the field. He had about four dropped balls and was 23 of 31. So I thought he handled the pressure well and really love the direction we have in the future…He’s been in a lot of big time, quality moments. And for a backup to do that and play very well, we feel good going into the future."

About FSU having tickets left for the bowl game:

"You know, I’m not sure. We’re meeting in the morning, practice from one to three (p.m.), then I jump on a plane and go till about midnight, come back and get ready for the next day. Hey, this is hell week right here (laughs). Bowl games are great for y’all, but it’s just double work for us, dadgum it."

Has your first season been all you hoped for?

"It really has. We’ve been able to establish our presence in the conference again. Our presence nationally, with a win at Miami and with Florida, and playing the big games -- Clemson and some of those folks. And then how we’re preparing, the attitude of our kids, and the foundation of the program…I love the attitude of our kids and the work ethic. And you know we lost some tough ones there in the middle that we could’ve won. But in the past, I don’t know if we could’ve consistently come back and won games after that, because we would drift off. Our kids have done everything we asked. And the foundation we’ve laid and the direction we’re going, I couldn’t be more pleased."

5 keys for So. Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl

Good insight from the Charleston Post and Courier on what Spurrier and the Gamecocks hope to fix, tweak and capitalize on against FSU in the Georgia Dome. The outcome goes beyond just the game. Point no. 5 addresses recruiting issues. In particular Jadeveon Clowney, the nation's top prospect, and how the winner of the game will affect his choice of school.

1. Repair (or try, at least) the pass defense

Yeah, yeah. You've heard this one. Again and again. The 2010 season has been a broken record in terms of the secondary's struggles, and the SEC title game — giving up a season-high 335 passing yards to Heisman winner Cam Newton — was one of the low points. The Gamecocks are currently ranked 107th in the country in passing D, giving up 253.6 yards a game through the air.

What do you do at this point, if you're secondary coach Lorenzo Ward? Good question. Make sure your guys are prepared for Florida State's speed, is probably a good starting point. Stephon Gilmore, particularly, would love to shake off that SEC title game showing.

2. Get Marcus going again

After a dominating 212-yard, three-touchdown performance, Lattimore was really pretty quiet against Clemson and Auburn. He barely had 100 combined yards (132) in those games, and no touchdowns.

It seemed, after Florida, that Lattimore would have a legitimate chance at Shaun Alexander's SEC record of 24 total touchdowns. Now he's just trying for one more, to tie Reggie Cobb's freshman record of 20.

Lattimore has had a sensational freshman season — no question about that — but he'd love to finish off the season with a strong showing. The line needs to help Lattimore, as well.

3. More acclimation for Elliott, O-line

In the summer months, the story of this season was to be the offensive line's progress. It figured to be the one area, more than any other, that could potentially hold the team back from success. Who knew that, in reality, it would be the secondary?

The line hasn't been terrific this season, but it hasn't been a major concern, either. There's no question that Shawn Elliott has this group moving in the correct direction. Elliott admitted in August that this was more than a one-season project. So, having this time, in addition to spring 2011, is very important in terms of continuity. The Gamecocks will return three starters, so long as guard Rok Watkins comes back. That leaves a couple of openings for younger players such as A.J. Cann and Ronald Patrick.

This is a good month for those guys.

4. Tweak the process

Kreft debuts as Noles stuff Hatters, 97-63

by Bill from Tampa

If Stetson had thoughts of upsetting the Seminoles after getting up early 6-1, it didn’t last long.

Corey Walden scored back to back three pointers with the second coming 1:20 into the game. Nearly ten minutes would pass before the Hatters scored another basket and that was on a goal tending call.

Meanwhile Florida State’s offense attacked the various zone defenses of Stetson and went on a 32-4 run to blow open the game in just over ten minutes into the half en route to a 97-63 victory.

And if they weren’t setting up the half court offense the Seminoles were turning over the Hatters pushing the ball up the floor for the transition basket. FSU forced nine first half miscues converting them into 19 points.

But the 49 trips to the free throw line (converting 32) indicate how relentlessly the Seminoles went at the basket greatly pleasing Leonard Hamilton.

“We executed real well against their zone defense getting the ball inside”, Hamilton said. “Obviously they were overmatched, but tonight we were playing ourselves.”

The referees seemed to be enjoying blowing the whistle however in sending Stetson to the line 27 times.

After rolling to a 49-27 halftime lead about the only suspense for the rest of the game was if the ‘Noles would break 100. The walks on came in with 2:35 left to play and leading 91-51 but just could not get any of their numerous three pointers to go down.

Chris Singleton found his offense again in leading a pack of Seminoles in double figures with 17 points on 6-11 shooting (2-4 threes) but just one rebound. Devidas Dulkys was four of seven from the arc in scoring 14. Terrence Shannon had a nice outing displaying some new moves in reaching a career high 13 points. Okaro White and Xavier Gibson each added 12 points.

Gibson added a game high 8 rebounds.

Stetson put three players in double digits with Ridge Graham leading the way with 17.

FSU showed once again why it is the nation’s leading team in field goal percentage defense holding the Hatters to just 32% from the floor that included 5 of 26 three pointers.

Of note was the first appearance of Jon Kreft. While he missed his only shot, a half hook from the right of the basket, he did connect on 6 of 10 from the stripe and collected 6 boards in 14 minutes.

Piling on: Another skeptical look at the U

Adding to Bud's less than optimistic view of the U on Tomahawk Nation:

That was then, this is now. There was a day Miami could actually use its subpar facilities as a strength. A former FSU player told us about a recruiting trip to UM back in its heyday. He was surprised to see the weight room -- not a complex, but a room -- was sparse and not even air conditioned. Sensing his diappointment, the Hurricane varsity member showing him around said: "If you want fancy facilities, go to Florida or FSU. If you want to win championships, come here."

Reverse chic spin might have worked in the days when the Canes exuded swagger and flashed national title bling. But today's blue chippers were just unfertilized cells back then. And the last time the U won a crystal trophy these kids were in second grade. Their memories are of Coker, Shannon and half-filled stadiums.

And bare bones facilities won't impress impressionable high schoolers who see jaw-dropping digs at every other D-1 school they visit. Miami A/D Kirby Hocutt says a $15 million upgrade will include a new football locker room, team lounge, athletic training room and academic support facility. The work starts late next year with completion sometime in 2012.

But will it be enough to catch up to all major conference schools who’ve had at least a decade head start on the U? Has Miami already crossed the tipping point?

Even Cane-friendly media is skeptical. Jorge Millan, who covers UM for The Palm Beach Post, calls the hiring of Golden a gamble. He goes on to suggest that Miami is at a sink or swim crossroads:

“Hocutt has to be right or the tailspin UM’s program has found itself in recent years will linger. Too many more seasons like this season’s 7-5 campaign and the Hurricanes will fall into irrelevance…”

Like some fans of the U, the new coach appears to be living in the past. This week Al Golden told ESPN Radio, “The U is the most recognizable brand in college sports.”

Really? While it’s smart to try and leverage past glory, Cane-branded merchandise isn’t exactly flying off the shelves anywhere north of Coral Gables. In fact, the most recent rankings of teams based on the sale of their gear has Miami at no. 28.

Only a new, Golden era can launch the U back into the top 20 of everything from cap sales to the BCS. If he does, it’ll be a feat worthy of a superhero.