Southern Miss takes scrimmage on the road

For the second consecutive year, Southern Miss will hit the road and play a spring scrimmage off-campus.

The Golden Eagles will hold their first scrimmage at Ocean Springs High School in Ocean Springs, Miss., on Friday, the second consecutive season that they’ll played in that venue.

“It’s a big opportunity for our players,” Fedora said. “It’s another chance for them to show what they can do in front of these coaches. We get to go down to Ocean Springs and for all our Golden Eagle fans that are down there on the coast, they get to come watch the team. It’s also good for our kids because it’s like an away game. You get to go somewhere else with people in the stands and they get to show what they can do in front of everyone.”

The trip is also good for recruiting.

Southern Miss’ best offensive player, wide receiver DeAndre Brown, hails from Ocean Springs and the Golden Eagles picked up Ocean Springs running back Allen Howze in the 2010 class.

This year, Ocean Springs wide receiver Joe Morrow is one of the top recruits in the state and is on the ESPNU 150 Watch List. Mississippi State, Ole Miss and the Golden Eagles are all recruiting him.

And it’s not just Ocean Springs players who come out to watch. Playing a scrimmage off campus attracts several recruits from different schools around the Gulf Coast.

Playing a scrimmage on a high school campus is a good way to circumvent the NCAA’s recruiting quiet period. The quiet period, which lasts until April 14, prohibits any coach from contacting a prospective recruit or his parents. A player and/or his parents can visit a college campus and can write and phone the coach, but the coach cannot initiate the contact.

However, on April 15, the evaluation period begins and coaches can start visiting high school campuses. So even though Fedora and his staff won’t be able to speak with recruits during Friday’s scrimmage, they’re laying the groundwork to chat with them in about a month.

It’s scrimmages like these that have made Fedora so successful in recruiting against the SEC schools both in his state and his region. Every year he’s been with the Golden Eagles, he’s managed to snare a few of the top targets while bolstering goodwill toward the Southern Miss program.

Today’s Big 12 tournament games – ESPN (blog)

Washington Post Today's Big 12 tournament games ESPN (blog) Texas Tech vs. Kansas, 12:30 pm (ET): The Red Raiders had lost seven in a row before beating Colorado in the first round

Orange and Hoyas clash in Big East quarterfinals – WBIR-TV

TSN Orange and Hoyas clash in Big East quarterfinals WBIR-TV New York, NY (Sports Network) – The third-ranked and top-seeded Syracuse Orange make their much anticipated debut in the Big East Tournament today, as they lock up with the 22nd-ranked and eighth-seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the quarterfinals at Madison … Big East Tournament: A closer look at the quarterfinal matchups The Star-Ledger – NJ.com NCAAB: Georgetown Hoyas vs. Syracuse Orange 3/11/2010 AccuScore Despite Big East tournament win, Georgetown remains a mystery Washington Post WatertownDailyTimes.com

Buffalo adds two more signees

Buffalo has added two more members to its 2010 recruiting class.

First-year head coach Jeff Quinn announced that Dalton Barksdale, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end from Detroit, and Jake Silas, a 6-foot-8, 270-pound offensive tackle from Portland, Mich., will join the Bulls in August.

Barksdale was an All-Metro and All-City selection at Cass Tech, and is also a member of the National Honor Society. He had 12 tackles for loss as a senior.

Silas earned all-conference and regional honors and will play in the Michigan East-West All-Star game at Michigan State in June. Silas also is a member of the National Honor Society.

The additions push Quinn’s first class to 23.

Buffalo adds two more signees

Buffalo has added two more members to its 2010 recruiting class.

First-year head coach Jeff Quinn announced that Dalton Barksdale, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end from Detroit, and Jake Silas, a 6-foot-8, 270-pound offensive tackle from Portland, Mich., will join the Bulls in August.

Barksdale was an All-Metro and All-City selection at Cass Tech, and is also a member of the National Honor Society. He had 12 tackles for loss as a senior.

Silas earned All-Conference and regional honors play in the Michigan East-West All-Star game at Michigan State in June. Silas also is a member of the National Honor Society.

The additions push Quinn’s first class to 23.

Bolden looks for 16 inches of daylight

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue running back Ralph Bolden knows exactly how much room he needs to break away.

“All I need is 16 inches of daylight,” Bolden told me Wednesday. “That’s it. I’m gone.”

Bolden proved it early last season, zooming to the top of the national rushing charts with 357 yards and four touchdowns in his first two games. On his very first carry in the opener against Toledo, his first touch as the Boilermakers’ starter, Bolden raced 78 yards to the end zone.

He showed flashes of his breakaway ability throughout the fall, finishing third in the Big Ten in rushing (77.9 ypg) with an impressive 4.7 yards-per-carry average. Bolden also was a factor in the passing game — a must for a Purdue back — with 20 receptions, 261 yards and two touchdowns.

Not bad for a freshman.

OK, Bolden technically was a sophomore in 2009, but the 5-foot-9, 194-pound Georgian wasn’t much of a factor in 2008 as he recovered from a serious knee injury he suffered late in his high school career.

“He didn’t play much his freshman year, but he didn’t get redshirted, so they kind of wasted him,” Boilers offensive coordinator Gary Nord said. “He didn’t get to spend any extra time in the weight room, and then he didn’t get to play and get the experience, either. He was like a freshman last year and will be like a sophomore this year.”

After another full offseason under his belt, Bolden will hit the practice field March 24 with higher hopes.

“I wasn’t able to do what I want [in 2009],” he said. “This year, I expect a lot more. I know how people are going to move, what to expect, so it’s like, ‘You know what to expect, you’ve got to do something.’ A lot of times people just do stunts and slants and stuff. It caught me off [guard] last year, I looked for the cutback a lot. But I’m going to stick with my blocks and be more disciplined.”

Bolden has been trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to bulk up a bit this offseason, but his breakaway speed isn’t going anywhere.

Boilers running backs coach Cornell Jackson often tells his players that they only need 16 inches of room to burst through. Bolden proved the theory last fall, and Nord has bigger plans for the back in 2010.

“He’s got a great first step, he can really take off fast,” Nord said. “He’s got very good vision, he got a lot better in the blocking part of it, in the protection schemes, and he’s got extremely good hands. We move him out and play him at wideout, we put him at the top of the I, and we’ll keep him as the 1-back.

“He’s very valuable to us, and another year under his belt with maturity is going to be amazing for him.”

Notre Dame-Pittsburgh Preview – ESPN

Yahoo! Sports Notre Dame-Pittsburgh Preview ESPN Luke Harangody's injured knee kept him on the sidelines when Pittsburgh visited South Bend two weeks ago. At the time, Notre Dame appeared headed for the NIT

LSU’s Shepard finds a home at receiver

It may take Russell Shepard a while before quarterback is completely out of his system.

“You’re giving up something you’ve always done, so that’s hard,” he said.

Not as hard, though, as being a glorified gimmick, which Shepard was for much of his freshman season at LSU.

He came to Baton Rouge as the No. 1-rated multi-purpose quarterback prospect in the country, one of those rare athletes that doesn’t come along very often, but never found his niche last season in an LSU offense that never found its identity.

Shepard practiced with the quarterbacks and dabbled with the receivers. He never settled into a comfort zone at either position, and the end result was that the Tigers got very little production out of perhaps the most dynamic playmaker on their roster.

That won’t be a problem in 2010.

Shepard is working exclusively with the receivers now and considers himself a receiver. He’ll also get a little work at running back and will get a shot at returning kickoffs and punts, too.

He’s playing the ‘Z’ receiver position, which is where Brandon LaFell and Early Doucet lined up in the LSU offense. The Tigers have typically moved the ‘Z’ receiver around to create favorable matchups.

“It’s a big chance at such a young age, but I’m going to do a lot of things at that position, and I’m going to get in the backfield some and do a lot of things, sweeps, catching the ball out of the backfield, some of the things they may not ask Stevan Ridley or Richard Murphy to do,” Shepard said. “I’ll be on special teams, too, on punt return and kick return.

“They’re going to give me the ball as much as possible next year.”

Over and above his vast talent, one of the most refreshing things about Shepard is his attitude.

Sure, he was a five-star prospect coming out of high school, but he didn’t fall prey to that five-star, I’m-entitled mentality.

Even when he wasn’t getting the ball last season and sort of faded into obscurity in LSU’s stagnant offense, he never complained. He never pouted, and he never quit believing that he could help the team.

“I think last year helped me, because it humbled me and taught me patience,” said Shepard, who didn’t have an offensive touch in the 19-17 Capital One Bowl loss to Penn State. “That’s the way it is when you have All-Americans in front of you.

“But, honestly, it made me such a better player. Sitting on that sideline really hurt, but I know now what it takes to be an impact player in this league. That’s what is most important for me, being a big contributor to this LSU football team.”

Sensing that his quarterback days were probably numbered, Shepard went to LSU coach Les Miles two days after the Florida loss last season, a game in which the home Tigers were held to a single field goal and only 162 yards of total offense.

In short, Shepard told Miles that he was ready to make a position change and was willing to give up quarterback for good.

“It was the best thing for me and the best thing for this team,” Shepard said. “I knew coming into this spring that it was going to be different, and it has been.”

The 6-1, 188-pound Shepard has immersed himself into being a receiver at this level, which means gleaning anything he can from the likes of LaFell and Doucet and soaking up the nuances of playing the position.

“The biggest adjustment is just learning the process,” Shepard said. “When you’re on that island one-on-one with a Patrick Peterson or a Janoris Jenkins, that’s a whole different deal. It’s not like the quarterback position where you’re going on instinct a lot of the time. You have to know where you’ve got to be. You have to know your reads, your hot reads, and you have to be on the same page as the quarterback.

“Running around and catching balls has been the easiest thing for me, because I am a natural athlete. But learning all the little things that it takes to be a great receiver will take some time.”

That may be, but Miles has seen enough of Shepard to know that he’s a natural wherever he is with the ball in hands.

“Who knows where he’ll take a lot of the snaps from?” Miles said. “But I can tell you that the opportunity to give him the ball will be easier (at receiver).”

Preview | Box Score | Recap – Yahoo! Sports

MiamiHerald.com Preview | Box Score | Recap Yahoo! Sports Luke Harangody's injured knee kept him on the sidelines when Pittsburgh visited South Bend two weeks ago. At the time, Notre Dame appeared headed for the NIT.

Three-point stance: Big Ten/Notre Dame sitcom continues

1. Notre Dame and the Big Ten remind me of a sitcom couple – How I Met Your Fighting Irish, or maybe Modern Big Ten Family. Whenever one side is ready to hook up, the other isn’t. This sitcom has been running for more than 80 seasons. The Irish have a problem. If the Big Ten takes from the Big East, and the Big East comes to Notre Dame and says help us or get out, where do the Irish go? Where do they play basketball?

2. Last I heard, Oregon officials are confident that quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had nothing to do with the frat-house burglary. If it’s a case of mistaken identity, Masoli has to be patient and wait for his name to be cleared. That’s easy to say – it’s not my name. Either way, it keeps the Ducks’ off-field problems in the spotlight for another few weeks.

3. And so we wait to see Urban Meyer’s role in Florida’s first spring practice. Does he appear? Does he coach? Does he speak? Meyer has spent the last nine weeks underground. Obviously, he should take all the time he needs. But until Meyer’s role becomes clear, every tidbit of news will be magnified. Hence the news flash this week that Meyer won’t speak to Gator Clubs this spring. That’s normally not news. But Meyer, at this point, is not the normal coach.

Next Page »

ScoreBoard Latest

• Rockies extend Helton for 2 years, $9.9M (AP)
• Ike’s not afraid to throw fur when things get hairy
• AEG Out as Casino Operator at Aqueduct
• THS: Tampa Bay Derby and San Felipe
• Merlin Olsen, Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman, dies at 69
• NYRA Unveils 2010 Belmont Stakes Logo
• Toyota Bonus Bucks program lessens sting of Lane’s Classic shortfall
• Pro Football Hall of Famer Olsen dies (AP)
• Jose Reyes of New York Mets told to rest, out at least two weeks
• Reyes told to rest until thyroid normal (AP)