Archive for July, 2018

Penn State has the best quarterback room in the nation

Posted: July 11, 2018 in College football
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McSorley_Trace (A-17-Iowa-MS) 5260

Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley

A school that for years was known as “Linebacker U” has gotten much more attention on the other side of the ball recently. More specifically at quarterback.

Trace McSorley returns for his Senior season in Happy Valley after starting all 27 games the last two years. While slight in frame at six feet tall and just 198 pounds, McSorley set Nittany Lion records after throwing for 3,614 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2016. He followed that up by throwing for 3,570 yards and 28 touchdowns in one less game last year. McSorley earned second team Big Ten honors the last two years and is 1,089 yards away from passing Christian Hackenberg to become Penn State’s career pass yards leader. He’s also the first in school history with back-to-back 3,000 yard passing seasons.

McSorley has a strong arm with a quick release and is highly accurate. He makes others around him better and can extend plays with ease due to his playmaking ability with his feet. Noted college football prognosticator Phil Steele has tabbed McSorley pre-season first team All-Conference.

McSorley doesn’t have any injury history, but serving as his backup is Junior Tommy Stevens, who has seen action in 16 games last two years. At 6’5” and 232 pounds, Stevens has the prototypical size for the next level. Defensive coordinator Brent Pry claims that Stevens would be a starter at 75 percent of the schools playing in the FBS. Despite his size he is actually faster than McSorley and was just beaten out as the starter in 2016.

The extremely deep quarterback room doesn’t end there. Redshirt freshman Sean Clifford was rated by Steele as the No. 15 quarterback in the nation coming out of high school in 2017. Clifford, who has characteristics similar to McSorley, saw a lot of reps this spring and has shown tremendous maturity despite his youth. Sophomore Jake Zembiec was the Gatorade player of the Year in New York as a high school senior, but injuries have limited his college career thus far. Joining the room this fall will be 6’3” 220 pound true freshman Will Levis, who threw for 2,793 yards and 27 touchdowns in his final high school season.

Steele projects the Nittany Lions to average 298 passing yards per game in 2018 so assuming McSorley remains healthy, he’ll obliterate the school record.

Penn State won’t be put in a bad situation when McSorley’s eligibility is exhausted as they’ve built up their quarterback room to be the best in the nation. Whether its Stevens, Clifford, Zembiec, or Levis, the Nittany Lions will have a formidable option under center for years to come.

This day in boxing history, July 11

Posted: July 11, 2018 in Boxing
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International Boxing Hall of Fame member and lineal Super Bantamweight world champion Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gomez made the first defense of his title after stopping Raul Tirado at 2:59 of round five at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July. 11th, 1977. The 20 year old Gomez improved to 16-0-1, 16 KO’s.

This day in boxing history, July 10

Posted: July 10, 2018 in Boxing
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World Boxing Council Super Lightweight World Champion Bruno Arcari made his first defense of his title when Rene Roque was disqualified for head butting at 1:29 of round six at Stadio Beach, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy on July 10th, 1970. The 28 year old Arcari improved to 40-2, 22 KO’s, while the 28 year old Roque dropped to 43-8-6, 6 KO’s. Arcari would go on to make nine successful defenses before vacating the belt to move up to welterweight.

More experience doesn’t necessarily mean more wins

Posted: July 9, 2018 in College football
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Football at Iowa State

LB Joe Dineen earned 2nd Tm AA Honors in 2017

Every year college football prognosticator Phil Steele releases an experience chart that compares every FBS team and ranks each them accordingly. The factors include career offensive line starts returning, percentage of tackles returning, percentage of yards returning, percentage of letterman returning, and Seniors listed as starters or in the two-deep. Teams ranking high on the chart are typically improved from the prior season.

Surprisingly, the most experienced team on the chart in recent years however, hasn’t always shown the normal improvement.

In 2015 Steele graded UMass as the most experienced team in the country entering the season with a point total of 83.6. Coming off a season in which they finished 3-5 in conference play and 3-9 overall, the Minutemen ended 2015 just 2-6 in conference play with the same 3-9 overall record.

Kent State was Steele’s most experienced team in 2016 with a point total of 79.9. The Golden Flashes were 3-9, including 2-6 in conference play in 2015. Unfortunately, Kent State finished with the exact same marks.

Last year Florida Atlantic earned the title from Steele as the most experienced team entering the season (80.3 grade). The improvement was substantial as the Owls went from 2-6 in conference play and 3-9 overall, to 9-0 in league action and 11-3 overall including a blowout Boca Raton Bowl win!

Kansas has the most experienced team in the nation according to Steele this year with a point total of 85.5. The Jayhawks return 19 starters from a team that finished 1-11 overall, including 0-9 in the Big 12 in 2017. They will be a ‘dog in all nine of their conference games this year, meaning they will need to pull an upset to avoid another winless B12 season. They could, however, double their overall win total. A victory over FCS member Nicholls in the opener should be attainable. While Kansas has lost 49 straight games away from Lawrence, they will be playing with revenge at a Central Michigan squad that is picked to finish last in the MAC West.

Wins and losses may not be a fair assessment of the improvement Kansas could show this season. They were outscored by over three touchdowns and outgained by 139 yards per game last year, but Steele is projecting the Jayhawks to get outscored by just over a touchdown this year while being outgained by 68 yards per game.

While Jayhawk fans are likely in for another long season with a coaching change imminent, at least the faithful should see a more competitive product on the field and the amount of blowout losses will be reduced.

This day in boxing history, July 9

Posted: July 9, 2018 in Boxing
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International Boxing Hall of Fame member Orlando Canizales won the IBF World Bantamweight championship after stopping Kelvin Seabrooks at 1:03 of round 15 at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 9, 1988. Canizales scored knockdowns in round one and 15 and led on the scorecards 138-127, 138-128, and 137-128 at the time of the stoppage. The 22 year old Canizales improved to 20-1-1, 17 KO’s and would go on to defend the title a Bantamweight record 16 times. The 25 year old Seabrooks was making the fourth defense of the title and fell to 26-14, 21 KO’s.

This day in boxing history, July 8

Posted: July 8, 2018 in Boxing
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International Boxing Hall of Fame member and World Boxing Council Super Featherweight World Champion Alexis Arguello made the fifth defense of his title after stopping Rafael Limon at 1:40 of round 11 at the Felt Forum in New York City on July 8th, 1979. A cut over Limon’s right eye prompted referee in charge Tony Perez to call a halt to the bout. The 27 year old Arguello led on all three scorecards 7-1, 7-2, and 6-2. Arguello improved to 59-5, 49 KO’s while the 25 year old Limon dropped to 43-9-2, 32 KO’s.

This day in boxing history, July 7

Posted: July 7, 2018 in Boxing
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World Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes tied Joe Louis’ record with his seventh straight title win via stoppage after referee Davey Pearl rendered Scott LeDoux unable to continue due to a severe cut under his left eyelid at 2:05 of round seven at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota on July 7th, 1980. The 30 year old Holmes led 60-53 on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage and improved to 35-0, 26 KO’s. LeDoux, 31, fell to 26-9-4, 17 KO’s.

The best set of defensive backs reside in Ann Arbor

Posted: July 6, 2018 in College football
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Lavert Hill

Michigan cornerback Lavert Hill

When Jim Harbaugh was hired to take over the Michigan program beginning with the 2015 season, the offense was expected to improve, but it’s the defensive backfield that has taken the biggest jump.

Noted college football prognosticator Phil Steele has his own set of pass defense rankings that take into effect more than just the standard statistics that the NCAA uses. His rankings are adjusted based on the strength or weakness of each passing attack. For example, last year Georgia allowed just 158 passing yards per game on 55 percent completions with 13 touchdowns allowed and 10 interceptions. That would be good enough to rank No. 2 according to the NCAA. However, under Steele’s more accurate rankings, Georgia finished No. 25 due to facing numerous week passing attacks.

Michigan’s best pass defense ranking per Steele’s formula from 1998-2014 was No. 17 in 2006. The year before Harbaugh’s arrival the Wolverines ranked No. 62. Michigan improved all the way up to No. 3 in 2015! After another No. 3 finish in 2016, Michigan had to replace their top five defensive backs into 2017 including two NFL draft picks. An expected drop in the rankings was to be expected, however the Wolverines only fell to No. 6.

Cornerback David Long and free safety Tyree Kinnel started all 13 games last year, while CB Lavert Hill and strong safety Josh Metellus started 12. Hill earned second team All-Conference honors. All four starters return this year, as well as cornerback Brandon Watson and strong safety J’Marick Woods, who both started one game.

Hill (first team) and Kinnel (third team) were named 2018 pre-season All-Conference by Steele. Hill is very natural and instinctive with natural man-to-man coverage technique. As if the Wolverines didn’t already have enough depth, Casey Hughes was added as a graduate transfer after starting 11 games for a Utah team that finished No. 5 in Steele’s rankings!

A consistent group with everyone returning while also adding another starting cornerback from a premier defensive back gives the Wolverines the edge when ranking the top defensive back unit into the 2018 season.

This day in boxing history, July 6

Posted: July 6, 2018 in Boxing
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World Boxing Association Flyweight World Champion Betulio Gonzalez made the third defense of his title after stopping Shoji Oguma at 1:12 of round 12 at the Tochigi Prefectural Gym in Utsunomiya, Japan on July 6th, 1979. This was an immediate rematch after the pair fought to a 15 round draw in January. The 29 year old Gonzalez was up on the cards at the time of the stoppage with scores of 107-105 twice and 106-104. With the victory, Gonzalez improved his record to 65-7-3, 44 KO’s while the 27 year old Oguma fell to 31-8-1, 18 KO’s.

This day in boxing history, July 5

Posted: July 5, 2018 in Boxing
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Alfredo Escalera won the WBC Super Featherweight World Championship after stopping Kuniaki Shibata at 2:56 of round two at the Kasamatsu Athletic Park Gym in Hitachinaka, Japan on July 5th, 1975. The 28 year old Shibata was making his fourth defense of the title and entered with a record of 44-5-3, 25 KO’s. The 23 year old Escalera entered with a record of 29-7-1, 18 KO’s and this was his first World Championship bout. Escalera would go on to make 10 successful title defenses before losing to future International Boxing Hall of Fame member Alexis Arguello in 1978.

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