Special Teams Ace: LAJ'sDon Williams wrote about special teams ace, current walk-on RB Gerardo Acevedo. Special teams coach Eric Russell talks about Acevedo:
"He’s one of those guys you hope you find, who aren’t figuring in as much as they want to on offense or defense, but they have the great effort and enthusiasm to be able to play on multiple special teams,’’ Russell said. "He’s gotten better throughout the year. He just brings good energy and great effort. He might mess something up, but it’s going to be at least full speed, and he’s not afraid of contact.’’
Interestingly, the coaching staff wants Acevedo to put on a few pounds to take over for current RB Ryan Hale:
"They want me to gain some weight, because I’m at 200 pounds and I have to block the big linebackers,’’ Acevedo said. "It’s a tough process, because I still want to be fast for kickoff and special teams. Gradually, I’ll gain some pretty good weight. I know I’m tough enough. I know I can play this position. Hopefully, I’ll get everything down and just get it done.’’
It's always nice to read about stories like this and I hope Acevedo gets that scholarship sooner rather than later.
More on the McRoy Brothers: The Orlando Sentinel's Chris Hays and Bill Buchalter and The Ledger's Tom Zebold have a bit more on the commitments of Ben and Javares McRoy. The OS's story has the stats from both players:
For the season, Javares caught 39 passes for 786 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran the ball 35 times for 325 yards and two touchdowns and had two punt returns for TDs, as well.
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Ben, however, was no slouch in his senior season. The running back had 872 yards on just 99 carries, a whopping 8.8 yards per carry and five TDs. He also had three touchdown receptions and a kickoff return for a TD.
And the Ledger article has this from Javares:
"We're going to enjoy our time in college together and spend time before we have to move on with our lives. We'll have another four years together," Javares said Sunday.
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"We chose Texas Tech because we felt like my brother would have a better chance of getting time to play there," Javares said.
Twittering Position Changes: RRS.com's Chris Level tweeted the other day that in addition to Daniel Cobb changing positions from safety to linebacker, DE Kerry Hyder will move to defensive tackle, Joel Gray will move to center and there is a possibility that S Will Ford will move to cornerback. Considering the overall lack of depth at defensive end after Howard and Sharpe graduate, it's interesting that the staff wants Hyder to move to defensive tackle, unless we can expect additional defensive end signees.
More on Suspensions: The Rivalry, Esq.'s Graham Filler wonders how the suspensions will affect the Spartans and the Lansing State Journal's Dan Kilbridge has an excellent summary of how the receiving corps are left to two players and some walk-ons and Michigan St. QB Kirk Cousins wants to make this situation a positive:
"We feel we can take a negative situation and turn it into a positive," Cousins said. "This hasn't been the first time we've faced adversity this season and it's not gonna be the last time. So one more time, we need to get ourselves up off the mat, dust ourselves off and get back to work and that's what we're gonna do."
Miscellaneous Links: The Providence Journal's Jim Donaldson writes about how awesome Wes Welker is and Patriots QB Tom Brady confirms:
"He’s been such a big player for this offense since he’s been here. He’s consistent, reliable, durable, explosive. He catches the ball every time you throw it to him. He’s pretty awesome. Those plays he made in the third quarter really sparked us." . . . Oread Boom Kings looks at the new hires at Kansas, including the coordinators (still trying to figure out why Gill chose Carl Torbush and Chuck Long other than they are familiar with the recruiting scene) . . . CT's Dave Matter with some general thoughts on college football . . .
Should Be Ranked: ESPN's Andy Katz writes three pieces of advice for coaches voting this week, which includes the thought that the coaches should vote Texas Tech to the top 25, as well should New Mexico, who beat the Aggies this weekend in Houston and the Red Raiders will travel to New Mexico later this month. That's going to be one tough game.
Looking Really Far Ahead: LAJ's Courtney Linehan wonders where the Red Raiders will be seated in the field of 65 and although I'm really optimistic about what Texas Tech has done thus far this year, I think looking this far ahead at this point of the season is unrealistic. The Big 12 is going to be incredibly tough and wins on the road will be tough to come by as will wins at home. Texas Tech has improved but so has a number of other squads.