VIRGINIA FOOTBALL
Early Sunday morning, Taquan Mizzell, a five-star running back recruit out of Bayside High in Virginia Beach, was arrested on 14th Street in Charlottesville during his official recruiting visit. The 5-foot-10, 183-pound running back was charged with underage possession of alcohol. He was discovered by an officer trying to kick an oncoming car on the street. The prevailing thought seems to be he will remain an incoming recruit and this incident won't affect his status. Obviously, he will be on a short leash from here out. Mizzell verbally committed to UVa on Aug. 21.
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| RB Taquan Mizzell |
Hopefully Mike London/his parents/etc. get in his ear and punishes him and that is the end of his escapades. This is Virginia's first five-star recruit since 2005 when the Cavs landed offensive lineman Eugene Monroe and its first skill-position five star-recruit since who knows when. Virginia kicked current New York Giant running back Ahmad Bradshaw off the team in 2004 before he even played a game after he got in trouble with the law in Charlottesville.
National Signing Day is Feb. 6.
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VIRGINIA POUNDS FLORIDA STATE
The Cavaliers gave one of their better performances of the year Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena vs. Florida State. I attended the game and came in pretty nervous. Virginia had looked pretty bad in losses away from home to Wake Forest and Clemson. "Away from home" is the key term so far for the Cavs this season. Aside from one early loss to Delaware when Virginia was trying to find a point guard to fill in for the injured Jontel Evans, the Cavs have been terrific at home (11-1) and have played their best ball there. The road, aside from one early win at Wisconsin that seems inexplicable now, has been unkind to the 'Hoos.
Saturday, after a week off, Virginia looked refreshed, rejuvenated, and eager to be back in front of the home crowd, crushing Florida State 56-36. UVa had lost seven straight games in the series. Its last win came during the 2006-07 season. The Seminoles took a 2-0 lead but it was all Virginia after that. The first half included a 22-6 Cavalier run and UVa led, 33-15, at halftime.
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| UVa forward Joe Harris |
Florida State made just 1 of 15 3-pointers while Virginia made 7 of 13 and shot 78 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. No Seminoles scored in double figures. Their high scorer was Michael Snaer, who was held in check all game by Paul Jesperson and Joe Harris. Snaer scored just nine points, six less than his season average.
The 36 points for FSU was the third lowest by a Virginia opponent in the shot clock era and the lowest by an ACC team. It was the lowest point total in JPJ history as well. It was the fourth time this season that UVa held an opponent under 40 points. The Cavaliers are second in the nation in points allowed per game (50.6).
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| UVa forward Paul Jesperson |
Harris led the Cavaliers' offensive effort with 17 points and made 3 of 6 3-pointers. He also had four steals. Akil Mitchell looked great and had a good bounce in his step so hopefully there are no lingering effects from an ankle injury for him. The sophomore forward put in 13 points and four rebounds. He made 6 of his 7 shots, including, from what I remember, three dunks. The much-maligned by fans Jesperson scored eight points, an ACC career high, hitting two 3-pointers and driving along the baseline for a nice, acrobatic lay in. Justin Anderson also had eight points, including a pair of high-arching 3-pointers. The energetic freshman added three blocks. On one particularly cool sequence, Anderson blocked a shot, busted down to the other end of the floor where he received a pass from Evans and made a 3-pointer, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Speaking of Evans, he was still a little sloppy with the ball, turning it over five times. But, those turnovers are easier to live with when he does other good things, which he did not do against Wake Forest and Clemson. But against the Seminoles, Evans had six points and seven assists. He even made around an 18-foot jump shot. Any jumper Evans makes is a huge bonus, given that he usually can't make them.
Evan Nolte got the start in place of the injured Darion Atkins and didn't contribute much offensively, scoring just two points, but did put in some good work defensively on the Seminoles' Okaro White, limiting him to just eight points. Nolte added a career-best seven rebounds and blocked a shot.
Overall, Virginia had 16 turnovers but Florida State had 18. It was just another Dr. Jekyll-type performance in this schizophrenic season for UVa.
Now if only the 'Hoos can take this effort, intensity, defense, and shot-making on road. Next up is a Thursday contest at in-state rival Virginia Tech, which is 11-6 and 2-2 in the conference.
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SUPER BOWL XLVII
Not to say I was right, but I was right. I was late on my NFL championship picks, but despite being down 7-0 at the time, I still picked the 49ers to beat the Falcons in the NFC championship, and they did, 28-24, but not before getting down 17-0. And then my AFC championship pick was also true, as the Ravens came through with a 28-13 drubbing of the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.
So which storyline for the Super Bowl will get tired first? This being the HarBowl, Har-Bowl, Harghbowl, Super Baugh, however you want to say it and write it, with Jim's 49ers and John's Ravens facing each other? The fact that this is Ray Lewis' swan song and Baltimore's emotional leader has led the team to the brink of asecond Super Bowl title? The rise of 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick? And of course, there's always talk about Joe Flacco and whether he is an elite quarterback. He is reminding me a lot of Eli Manning. Not that flashy, but the guy gets the job done. In only his fifth season, Flacco has the most road playoff wins in the history of the NFL. Quite impressive.
Anyway, it should be a fun couple weeks leading up to the big game and I think the game itself will be highly entertaining. I'm not sure yet if lots of points will be scored because both defenses are playing pretty well but really you just want a close game and I think we will get that. And if not, there's always Super Bowl commercials.
I don't care for any of the storylines. I'm tempted to rout for the Ravens because I think the media is too tough on Joe Flacco, who is a better than average QB. And it's Ray Lewis' final season. But as a huge Washington Redskins fan, it feels wrong to cheer for Baltimore. Final thought. I don't think the game will be close, which means I'll be watching it for the commercials.
ReplyDeleteI meant root, not rout.
ReplyDelete