College Confidential

Several local players on inaugural Pony Express Award watch list

Former SMU teammates Craig James and Eric Dickerson have joined forces to create the Pony Express Award, which will be given for the first time in 2011 to a talented tandem of college players from the same school.

A total of 48 tandems cracked the inaugural watch list of duos or trios, including tandems from Texas A&M (QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Cyrus Gray, WR Jeff Fuller), TCU (LB Tank Carder, LB Tanner Brock), Texas (LB Emmanuel Acho, LB Keenan Robinson and DL Kheeston Randall; also S Blake Gideon and S Christian Scott), Oklahoma (QB Landry Jones, WR Ryan Broyles and WR Kenny Stills; also LB Travis Lewis, LB Tom Wort and DB Tony Jefferson), Oklahoma State (QB Brandon Weeden, WR Justin Blackmon), Baylor (QB Robert Griffin III, WR Kendall Wright, WR Josh Gordon) and SMU (DE Taylor Thompson, DE Margus Hunt).

A full list of all watch list tandems is below:

2011 PRESEASON WATCH LIST - PONY EXPRESS AWARD
SCHOOL
#
QB Andrew Luck, WR Chris Owusu, TE Coby Fleener
Stanford
3
QB Nick Foles, WR Juron Criner
Arizona
2
QB Landry Jones, WR Ryan Broyles, WR Kenny Stills
Oklahoma
3
QB Brandon Weeden, WR Justin Blackmon
Oklahoma State
2
QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Cyrus Gray, WR Jeff Fuller
Texas A&M
3
QB Darron Thomas, RB LaMichael James, RB Kenjon Barner
Oregon
3
QB Kellen Moore, RB Doug Martin
Boise State
2
QB Matt Barkley, WR Robert Woods
USC
2
QB Stephen Garcia, RB Marcus Lattimore, WR Alshon Jeffrey
South Carolina
3
RB Michael Dyer, RB Ontario McCalebb
Auburn
2
RB Trent Richardson, WR Marquise Maze
Alabama
2
QB GJ Kinne, WR Damaris Johnson
Tulsa
2
OT Mike Adams, OT JB Shugarts, C Mike Brewster
Ohio State
3
DE Broderick Binns, DT Mike Daniels
Iowa
2
DE Donte Paige-Moss, DE Quinton Coples, DT Tydreke Powell
North Carolina
2
LB Keenan Robinson, LB Emmanuel Acho, DL Kheeston Randall
Texas
2
DE Max Holloway, LB Luke Kuechly
Boston College
2
LB Courtney Upshaw, LB Dont'a Hightower, LB Nico Johnson
Alabama
3
LB Tanner Brock, LB Tank Carder
TCU
2
LB Lavonte David, CB Alfonzo Dennard
Nebraska
2
K Blair Walsh, P Drew Butler
Georgia
2
QB Kirk Cousins, RB Edwin Baker, WR Keshawn Martin
Michigan State
3
LB Travis Lewis, LB Tom Wort, DB Tony Jefferson
Oklahoma
3
DE Andre Branch, DT Brandon Thompson
Clemson
2
LB Zach Brown, LB Kevin Reddick
North Carolina
2
LB Ronnie Sneed, LB Danny Trevathan
Kentucky
2
LB Sean Spence, S Ray Ray Armstrong
Miami
2
S Christian Scott, S Blake Gideon
Texas
2
RB Jeff Demps, RB/WR Chris Rainey
Florida
2
WR Dwight Jones, WR Erik Highsmith
North Carolina
2
QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Dan Herron, WR DeVier Posey
Ohio State
3
WR Greg Childs, WR Joe Adams, WR Jarius Wright
Arkansas
3
QB Robert Griffin, WR Kendall Wright, WR Josh Gordon
Baylor
3
DT Alameda Ta'amu, LB Cort Dennison
Washington
2
QB Geno Smith, WR Tavon Austin
West Virginia
2
RB Montee Ball, RB James White
Wisconsin
2
DE Devin Taylor, DT Melving Ingram
South Carolina
2
RB Chris Polk, WR Jermaine Kearse
Washington
2
DE Jonathan Massaquoi, LB Kanorris Davis
Troy
2
LB Manti Te'o, LB Darius Flemming
Notre Dame
2
G Cordy Glenn, C Ben Jones
Georgia
3
QB Jordan Jefferson, WR Russell Sheppard
LSU
2
QB EJ Manuel, RB Jermaine Thomas, RB Lonnie Pryor
Florida State
3
QB Logan Thomas, WR Jarett Boykin, WR Dyrell Roberts
Virginia Tech
3
DE Taylor Thompson, DE Margus Hunt
SMU
2
S Mark Barron, S Robert Lester
Alabama
2
OT Jonathan Martin, G David DeCastro
Stanford
2
CB Greg Reid, CB Xavier Rhodes, LB Nigel Bradham
Florida State
2

 

_ Jimmy Burch

OU sales to benefit tornado victims

 The University of Oklahoma, Team FanShop, and the United Way of Norman have teamed up on a project that will lend much-needed assistance to agencies providing relief after recent tornadoes that struck throughout Oklahoma.

United Way will distribute all t-shirt and hat sales to agencies providing relief statewide.  Two United Way partners, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, work directly with disaster relief victims.

The shirt sells for $19.95, the hat $15. Both items carry a message that says, “Rebuild, Restore, Re-emerge and Recover, Sooners for the Sooner State.” All sales will be conducted online at SoonerSports.com, the official web site of the OU Athletics Department.--Mike Jones. 

 

 

 

 

Bottom-seed Oral Roberts forces Monday showdown vs. Dallas Baptist

Bottom-seeded Oral Roberts won two games Sunday and are a win away from its first trip to the NCAA Super Regionals since 2006.

The Golden Eagles (39-21) defeated No. 3 seed Dallas Baptist 7-2 Sunday night to force a deciding game against the Patriots in the Fort Worth Regional at 7 tonight at Lupton Stadium.

Oral Roberts upset TCU 8-4 Sunday afternoon and received a complete game from starter Mark Guest. Guest (2-0), making just his fifth start this season, held DBU to five hits. He retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced, including the last 11 to end the game.

The Patriots (41-18), playing in their second NCAA regional, struggled to solve Guest, a left-hander who had only thrown 16 innings before Sunday because of a torn pectoral muscle that kept him out of action until April 24.

Chris Elder walked five times against DBU, scoring twice, including on Brandon King’s two-run homer in the third that gave ORU a 4-0 lead. The Golden Eagles added runs in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings and Guest did the rest.

 

Texas gets commitment from blue-chip OL Estelle

Texas has received a verbal commitment from Kennedy Estelle, a blue-chip offensive lineman from Pearland Dawson, multiple recruiting websites reported today. Estelle (6-foot-7, 300 pounds), who cannot sign until February, projects to be a left tackle in college.

_ Jimmy Burch

Top-seeded TCU eliminated from NCAA tournament

No. 11 TCU was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by bottom-seed Oral Roberts after the Golden Eagles stunned the Horned Frogs with an 8-4 win Sunday in the Fort Worth Regional.

Oral Roberts (38-21) advances to play No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m. Sunday night. If DBU wins, it moves on to play in its first Super Regional at either Rice or Baylor.

TCU, a College World Series participant in 2010, struggled all season with injuries to its pitching staff. Kyle Winkler, who has missed two starts in the last three weeks, started Sunday but left with two outs in the first inning after developing elbow soreness.

Chris Elder's grand slam on a 1-2 pitch in the sixth inning proved to be the back-breaker for the Frogs, who had pulled to within 4-3 before the homer to right field off left-handed reliever Teddy Nowell.

TCU falls to Dallas Baptist 3-2

Dallas Baptist relief pitcher Chris Haney struck out TCU's Josh Elander with the tying run at third base in the ninth inning to give the Patriots a 3-2 win over the Horned Frogs.
TCU (43-18) plays Oral Roberts at 2 p.m. Sunday in an elimination game at Lupton Stadium. The winner meets DBU (41-17) at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Fort Worth Regional championship.
Matt Purke allowed two runs in five innings Saturday and left with the game tied at 2-2. The Patriots scored in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead against Frogs' reliever Trent Appleby (4-3) who took the loss.
DBU scored a run in the first when Ryan Behmanesh scored from second on a two-base wild pitch from Purke. Jason Krizan's nation-leading 39th double in the third scored another run to put the Patriots up 2-0.

Oklahoma eliminated in Fort Worth

Oklahoma, a College World Series participant a year ago, was eliminated Saturday with a 7-0 loss to Oral Roberts in the Fort Worth Regional at Lupton Stadium.
The No. 22 Sooners (41-19) committed six errors in the game and fell behind 6-0 after the Golden Eagles (37-21) scored three runs each in the first two innings. Oral Roberts starter Drew Bowen (6-2) pitched eight innings, allowing six hits and three walks.
Oral Roberts advances to meet either TCU or Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m. Sunday.

TCU routs Oral Roberts in regional opener, 10-2

TCU pounded out 12 hits to beat Oral Roberts 10-2 Friday in the Fort Worth Regional opener at Lupton Stadium.
The No. 11 and top-seeded Horned Frogs (43-17) play Dallas Baptist (40-17) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Patriots beat No. 22 Oklahoma 3-2 in 10 innings earlier Friday.
The Sooners (41-18) and Golden Eagles meet at 2 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game.
TCU starter Andrew Mitchell pitched seven innings against Oral Roberts, holding the Golden Eagles to two hits and a walk. Mitchell (6-1) didn't allow an ORU runner to reach second base until the ninth inning. By then the Frogs led 10-0 after scoring one run in the first, four in the second, three in the sixth and two runs in the eighth. Jantzen Witte led the Frogs with three RBI on three singles, including a two-run single up the middle in the sixth that gave the Frogs an 8-0 lead.
-- Stefan Stevenson 

Texas-BYU game set for 6 p.m. kickoff, Sept. 10 on ESPN2

ESPN/ABC officials announced today they have selected the Texas-Brigham Young game for a national telecast on ESPN2. Kickoff for the Sept. 10 game will be at 6 p.m. in Austin.

In addition, the Longhorns’ season opener _ Sept. 3 against Rice in Austin _ has been selected for a telecast on an ESPN network, with time and network to be determined. It is possible the contest could be carried by the Longhorn Network, which will debut in August and will be run in partnership between the school and ESPN.

_ Jimmy Burch

Big 12 officials announce more kickoff times for 2011 football telecasts

Big 12 officials announced kickoff times toay for multiple football games that will be televised during the 2011 regular season.

The Baylor-Texas Tech game, set for Nov. 26 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, will kick off at 2:30 p.m. It will be televised nationally by Fox Sports.

In addition, three Oklahoma home games have been selected for prime-time TV windows. All three contests will kick off at 7 p.m. in Norman, Okla. The dates and opponents include: Tulsa (Sept. 3, FX), Missouri (Sept. 24, FX) and Iowa State (Nov. 26, FX).

_ Jimmy Burch