The Original Gunslinger Ryan Mallett

The quarterback class of 2010 in college football has the potential to be one of the best in ages it may even rival the great 1983 class. Jack Locker at Washington, Andrew Luck of Stanford, Blaine Gabbert of Missouri and Christian Ponder of Florida State are all studs at the quarterback position for their respective teams. The cream of the crop, however, is Ryan Mallett, the strong armed 6'7' starting quarterback for the University of Arkansas. Mallett who like the others has some aspects of his game to work on (footwork, decision making) is still in my opinion the most NFL ready QB in a great year for the position. Mallett made a very wise decision of returning to college for another year and is the leader of the SEC's highest scoring offense at 36 pts per game. 36 per outing for any team in the defensive minded SEC is an impressive accomplishment. Furthermore, any quarterback can succeed in a Bobby Petrino's system (see Brian Brohm ) much less one with the absurd physical tools that Mallet possesses. Keep in mind that Arkansas returns nearly every one of its key playmakers on the offense in 2010. Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated named Mallett A.K.A Big Tex the number one pick in the 2011 draft over Jake Locker, Andrew Luck and Blaine Gabbert. That is a pretty impressive vote of confidence for a guy who has only one year starting experience. Mallett's "swagger" is also a positive. Mallett carries himself with confidence; something that should work in his favor, though that has been a knock on quarterbacks before (see Jimmy Clausen). Mallett set or tied 16 school records in his first year as Arkansas’ starting quarterback last fall and turned heads along the way. He threw for 3,624 yards and 30 touchdowns with 7 interceptions in leading Arkansas to an 8-5 record and win in the Liberty Bowl. He was a second-team selection on the All-SEC teams picked by the media and league’s coaches, and has already prompted Heisman Trophy talk among the national media this pre-season. The Arkansas offense will showcase Mallett's immense talents and being surrounded by D.J. Williams, Ronnie Wingo, Greg Childs, Dennis Johnson, Broderick Green, and Jarius Wright does not hurt either. This will be a huge year for the Razorbacks on the whole but the opportunity for Mallett to gain post season accolades is high if he stays healthy. Playing in the Sec west which overall will be up in 2010 may not help Mallett as much if he played in the Big East, but I will leave conference talk outside of this article. If he wins the Heisman or not Mallet is the number one quarterback in the country according to 6magazine bar none.

Ciao, Claude Clayborne

Monday Morning Cornerback: Week 1

Well, the good thing is that football nuts like me can crawl into our caves, homes, sports bars, arenas, etc and not run a muck causing chaos within society. NFL gets under way next week, but college football, which in my mind is way better got under way this week.

Biggest news/Biggest shocker: #3 Oklahoma loses to #20 BYU

Sam Bradford sprained his shoulder and was hurt at the end of the second quarter. The score was only 7-7 at the time of Bradford’s departure. The Sooners struggled all day long to move the ball. The offensive line with four new starters sucks right now, and hopefully they get better for Bradford’s sake. They had 7 holding and false start penalties. The Sooners’ defense was okay. They held BYU’s high powered offense to only 14 points, but allowed too many yards in the passing game especially late in the game.

The case can be made that if Bradford was in the game, the Sooners’ would have pulled it out, which is probably so, but line play needs to be fixed as soon as possible. I understand the coaching staff’s reservations with the o-line, but they never turned Bradford loose. They played as if he was a true freshman and not a Heisman trophy winner. It’s typical of Sooner coaches to nutt up, but we normally see it in big games and not this early in the season. The Sooners have got to get it together if they want to get back to a national championship game.

Best Game: Miami vs. #18 FSU

This game doesn’t have the same flair that it once had but the ghosts of Hurricanes and Seminoles past were exorcised for this game. The last game of a great football weekend was easily the best. Two young and uber athletic teams put up 72 points combined with five lead changes. The score seems like the defenses took the night off, but both defenses played well causing two turnovers a piece, it’s just that the offenses out performed everyone’s expectations.
Both young quarterbacks looked great. FSU’s Christian Ponder should have been the hero leading his team down the field at the end of the game. Ponder was one pass away from being a South Florida heartbreaker had it not been for a dropped pass in the endzone. Jacory Harris’ veins look like a snake’s belly that just swallowed a rat. There are huge chunks of crushed ice in Harris’ veins. He came up big at the end of the game, and threw for a Canes record 386 yards on 34 attempts for 21 completions and 2 td strikes.

The road does not get any easier for these two teams. Miami will not be able to breathe until they play Florida A & M on October 10th. Before then, they will play 14th Georgia Tech at home, travel to Blacksburg to play #13th VA Tech, and come back home to face #12 Oklahoma. I love the guts of Coach Shannon for scheduling such a tough schedule, but I also question his sanity. FSU has to worry about #7 BYU in two weeks.

Either way, we know Florida is putting work, and it looks like the old 90s will be back as the top three Florida schools rise to prominence once again.

Quick Cuts and Jukes

- I think several members of the Boise State football team are cowards for letting Byron Hout get knocked out and not doing anything about it.

- OU’s offensive line needs a lot of help and the coaches need to relax and let loose.

- The Bama/VA Tech games wasn’t as much of a defensive bore as I thought it would be. Did anyone notice Tay Cody’s pure dominance?

- OSU almost lost to Navy. Nope not Oregon State. No, Oklahoma State played Georgia this week. I mean the Ohio State Buckeyes almost lost to the Naval Academy, 27 – 31.

- I have no clue how Josh Cox can throw a ball too high for A.J. Green.

- The LSU vs. Washington game was a really good game. I wonder if Jake Locker played for Florida how good he’d be. Jordan Jefferson is going to be nice and LSU’s wideouts remind of Ike Hilliard an Riedel Anthony. Chris Polk looks icey in her jersey and even colder on the field.

- Jevan Snead didn’t look like the 1st team All-American QB I selected at the start of the season. I hope he gets it together for both of our sakes.

- I applaud teams with the guts to play top tier competition in week 1 given that college football has no preseason to work out kinks in their game.

That's all I got,


Ricky Writer