PRYOR VS. GRIFFIN

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin set a Bowl Subdivision record on Saturday for the most pass attempts to start a career without an interception by a freshman. Griffin was 15 of 27 for 162 yards in the Bears' 34-6 loss at Oklahoma State, extending his streak of passes without an interception to 155.You would think that Griffin, after setting such a record would be regarded as the best freshman quarterback in the country. “Not so fast my friend “ in the words of Lee Corso. Most would argue that this honor belongs to freshman quarterbackTerrelle Pryor of Ohio State.
For the season Pryor has completed 59 or 90 pass attempts for 653 yards and with a 65.6 completion percentage with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Griffin has completed 94 of his 155 pass attempts for 1,271 yards and 9 touchdowns with no interceptions. Griffin has better numbers but there are two factors to take into account. Griffin graduated from Copperas Cove High School in December 2007 in order to enroll early at Baylor. Furthermore, Griffin won his starting job in the spring at Baylor and has been the starter ever since. Pryor did not even sign with Ohio State until May 19th of this year after Griffin has already completed a full semester at Baylor and had earned All-American honors for his efforts with the Baylor track team. Pryor also did not become a full-time starter until a few weeks ago, as Todd Boeckman was the starter for the Buckeyes early in the season. Technicalities aside these two quarterbacks are the future of college football and both have a good head on their shoulders. Pryor chose OSU because he wanted to run a pro style offense in prepping for the NFL and Griffin chose Baylor over Stanford, Tennessee, Houston and Kansas because he plans to be a lawyer after school and chose Baylor because of their strong academic tradition. At this point, 6mag is going to tag Griffin as the better quarterback, based off of statistics and quality of competition in the Big 12, at the moment but Pryor is gaining fast every week and the Bucks offense is beginning to gain some steam. Here are some highlights of these two freshman phenoms. Enjoy and take care.

Sincerely, Billy Ocean

What Demarco Muarry and Michael Jordan Have In Common

It has been said that the only person that could hold Michael Jordan under 30 points was Dean Smith, Jordan's college basketball coach. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball, team hosted other All-Americans besides Jordan, but more importantly they ran a slow tempo style of offense that didn't fit Jordan's explosive style. Jordan still shined and did what he could, but had Dean Smith just given the ball to Jordan and let him do his thing, they would have won more championships.

Yes, this is a football blog, no we are not changing. I say what I said about Jordan to say this, Bob Stoops and Demarco Muarry are the exact same. Look at Muarry's Redshirt Freshman season last year he made big play after big play with scores on runs from 92 yards and 65 yards. He also helped on special teams with kickoff return scores of 91 yards and 81 yards. He amased 764 yards, 13 toudowns with 6 yards per carry last year while sharing the load with two backs. Not to mention he averaged 29.3 yards per kick return with two scores. This year the numbers aren't down actually, but the numbers are misleading. Yes, Muarry has 520 yards and 7 touchdowns and a deceptively good average of 4.8 yards per carry. But this is not the Demarco Muarry expected coming out of high school and not the glimpses of stardom we saw last year. His longest run from scrimmage this year is 49 yards, he had 35 more carries through the first five games this year than last year and his longest kickoff return was 38 yards. To the average athlete these are great number, but not for Muarry. Muarry dislocated his knee cap last year causing him to miss the last three games of the year as well as spring drills but he and Stoops say he is healthy.

Muarry's father, Kevin Muarry, helped mold his son into the future NFL star he is and has noticed a hitch in his son's giddy up.

"Something is not there this year," Kevin said. "I don't know what's the problem. Either he's still hurt and doesn't want to say anything or he doesn't have the confidence back in that knee. He always says, 'Dad, I'm OK.' I think it's more of his confidence."

Offensive Coordinator for the Sooners, Kevin Wilson has this to offer on Muarry's performance.

"I see him cutting against the grain and trying to find big plays instead of just running," Wilson said. "If you're looking to make a big play, you won't make it. Just like trying to find a four-leaf clover. Sometimes it's right in front of you. You see it even though you're not looking for it.

"He will make more big plays by just playing hard and sticking to it. Like last year at Texas (on Murray 's 65-yard run), he just hit it hard, here's a crease, he jumps over a guy and he's gone."

I disagree with Muarry's father and coach Wilson. However, I place full blame on Wilson and Stoops. If you look at Muarry's running style in high school, he was the next Reggie Bush. Did Pete Carroll change Bush's style, no he let him flourish into a Heisman trophy winner and a top 3 draft pick in the NFL. Muarry's coaches are changing his running style and making him run stiff, inconsistent, and unconfident. The coaches need to realize that if they wanted a one cut running back they should have recruited one.

Brian Westbrook, Reggie Bush, Marshall Faulk, Barry Sanders and many other great running backs with unconvential running backs have succeeded and been some of the most marketable backs of all-time. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Well, Stoops and Wilson broke Demarco Muarry's running style when there was nothing wrong with it and now they must fix it and let the boy do his thing.

We at 6magazine hope to see the real Demarco Muarry before the season is over if not hopefully soon in the NFL.

Funny ESPN Article by Pat Forde

This is a great and funny article by Pat Forde of ESPN written yesterday. Take a look when you have a chance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&page=dash0808&sportCat=ncf

America's Team

The Dallas Cowboys were the clear Superbowl favorite after the first three games of the season this year. Then a home loss to the Redskins, mumblings from T.O. and the snide began. Since then, the boys have lost QB Tony Romo for 4 weeks, SS Roy Williams for the rest of the year, CB Pacman Jones indefinitely, Rookie RB Felix Jones for two more weeks, and CB Terrance Newman is struggling with a groin injury. They have suffered an embarrassing loss to a losing St. Louis Rams team, which has seemingly been the straw that has broken the camel's back.

To add insult to injury, Marion Barber is fine and is getting the ball none. The first three games of the year the Cowboys were running the ball 30 times a game. In the four games the Cowboys have won, they've ran the ball 30 times. Although, Jones is banged up, He can carry the load and Rookie RB Tashard Choice can help carry the load as well.

They need to get back to the Bill Parcels way of life and run the ball til the wheels fall off. The defense is good enough that if the offense controls the time of possesion with a 30 plus run game, the Cowboys will be back to their winning ways.

The media is down the Boys' back right now and counting them out, whether they truly believe it or are simply doing it for ratings no one really knows. Bottom line is that adversity reveals character as ESPN's Tom Jackson stated this past week.

Don't count the Cowboys out. They will still make the playoffs and actually will still make the Superbowl. Yes, I said it. The Bears will fold, the Falcons are a fluke, they play the Giants and Redskins enough to know how to defeat them if the playoffs if they meet them, and the Cardinals, Buccaneers, and Panthers will all be exposed for the mediocre teams that they are by season's end.

Peace,

Ricky Writer

Penn State vs. Ohio State

Penn State head coach Joe Pa faces the big fish that got away this week, in the form of Pennsylvania grown Freshman super stud Terrelle Pryor and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Pryor added fuel to the fire by stating this week that “he does not care about making Penn State happy and that Jeanette, Pa is hometown but Ohio is now his home. What is really important in this game is that OSU is shooting for an unprecedented 3rd straight Big 10 title. Furthermore, they are still in control of their BCS destiny if they beat the Nittany Lions.

There are great match-ups all over the field in this game of Big Ten foes. Derrick Williams, the great Penn State wide receiver, versus the all world Ohio State Corner, Malcolm Jenkins. Then you have Evan Royster, the youthful running back who has put up 800+ yards rushing this season versus James Lauranitis, the son of the Animal, and a damn good Buckeye Linebacker. Last but not least, Terrelle Pryor versus the seasoned but still first year starting Junior QB, Daryll Clark.

The Penn State offense, that seems at times to be unstoppable, versus the stingy and fast OSU defense. The biggest match up will be the quarterback battle in this one. The quarterback who plays the best and leads their team down the field in this will to win game, will lead their team to victory. I am calling for yet another upset in this one, and I think that Ohio State behind the deadly combination of Pryor and tailback Beanie Wells will wreak havoc on the Penn State defense that struggled in the first half of last week's game to stop a similar offense that Michigan employs. If Michigan can put up decent numbers for a half against Penn State, Ohio State should put up some lofty numbers. I’m calling for a Buckeye Victory 35- 21

Truly, TRON CLAYBORNE

Cowboy Up: Oklahoma State VS. Texas

Texas is the team to beat in the BCS race. Oklahoma State is the new kid on the block with one of the nastiest offenses that college football has seen in a while. Texas has the hometown hero quarterback Colt McCoy with a name that leads you to believe he was ordained from the football gods to be a Texas quarterback. OSU counters with Zac Robinson, the silky smooth Poke quarterback. that is flashy but backs up his GQ football fashion with great numbers and top-notch efficiency. Based on both their games with Missouri, Texas has the upper hand with more overall speed. However, Oklahoma State is no slouch on defense and has improved every week since the beginning of the season.

Since no team in the BIG XII ranks in the top 30 in total defense, there is fair reason to believe there will be a lot of points scored in this game. OSU will be at home and they are ranked 7th in the country. I’m calling an upset in the game as OSU walks away with a 45-37 victory in front of the home crowd. Look for this to be a very entertaining game unless Texas jumps all over the Cowboys early. If the Longhorns do not put the Pokes away early, look for an OSU victory.


Sincerely, Cowboy Clayborne

It Could Happen

Rematches conveniently start with an "r" just like the word revenge. Most rematches are won by the team or individually who lost first. Mark my words there will be a rematch for this year's national championship game. Between whom you may ask? Keep reading kind sir/fine lady.

The BCS standings came out this past Sunday. The top 5 reads as follows: Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Oklahoma and USC. Now we all know that college football is about as stable as Britney Spears in 2007. You know their are going to be upsets that you would never imagine. The Longhorns have been battle tested and I do not see them losing again. OSU, who is ranked 6th in the BCS and plays the Longhorns this weekend will be exposed by the Longhorns. Texas Tech plays Texas in two weeks and doesn't have enough athletes to keep up nor do the Kansas Jayhawks who play the Longhorns in a month. Also, don't look for the Horns to let up in the Big 12 Championship game either.

Alabama still has to play LSU. If you know anything about college football that is that you do not bet against Les Miles. Before coming to LSU, Miles' OSU Cowboys used to give Bob Stoops' OU Sooners fits with far lesser talented athletes. You give me a Les Miles coached team with LSU athletes and I'm taking Les over Alabama head coach, Nick Saban, any day.

Penn State has to play Ohio State this week. Penn State has quality wins over Wisconsin and Illinois but it is safe to say the Big 10 isn't what it used to be. Terrell Pryor, OSU starting QB, is an emerging star. Beanie Wells is quietly having a great year as well. The defense is still the staple of this team. Penn State's starting QB Daryll Clark is in his first year as the starting QB and will not be ready for the pressure he is about to face in the Horseshoe this weekend.

Oklahoma has had their wake-up call from the Longhorns. The Sooners next big contests are from the OSU Cowboys and Texas Tech Red Raiders. Texas gave future OU opponents the blue print to defeat the Sooners, which is to hold the ball and hit the middle of the zone pass defense. OU has addressed that problem with SS Nic Harris moving to middle linebacker with the injury to former starter Ryan Reynolds. Harris hits like a linebacker and covers like a safety. The Sooners will defeat the Cowboys and Red Raiders and finish thier regular season with one blemish on their schedule.

USC will close out the seaason with one loss as well, but a weak Pac-10 conference as well as a BCS back breaking loss to a struggling Oregon State team will not help the Trojans jump anyone in the BCS rankings.

Hmm...so what happens when the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams lose? The 4th team naturally moves up to the number 2 spot, they play the number 1 team for the national title. The number 4 team in the BCS just happens to be the OU Sooners.

Florida and Florida State played a rematch game for the national title in 1996. In 2006, people argued that Ohio State vs Michigan should have a rematch for the BCS title. That never happened and Ohio State was exposed by a much more skilled Florida Gator team. The reason the Big Ten rematch didn't happen was not because they did not want two Big 10 teams playing for the title, it was because Michigan lost late in the year and Florida, another one loss team, lost early in the year. The BCS doesn't care if teams are from the same conference, it fact it loves it. BSC lives for controversy and two teams from the same conference is enough to make the system stay in tact. One more rebuttal in case someone wants to bring up the fact that OU shouldn't be allowed to play in the national championship because they will not win their conference title. That didn't matter in 2003 when OU lost its conference title to the Kansas State Wildcats, yet still played LSU in the Sugar Bowl for the BCS Championship.

Don't argue with me people, nod your heads and pat me on the back for my Nastradamus like insight. OU vs Texas all over again, this time for all the marbles in Dade County baby!