WHO TO WATCH IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND

November 21

In a weekend without that one or two must-see games to watch there’s an opportunity top do a little channel surfing and check out a number of prospects who don’t necessarily show up in college football’s featured contest. Of course, it wasn’t all that long ago that Michigan-Ohio State was one of those key national matchups, however, the Wolverines have fallen on some had times of late and will just be trying to get bowl eligible despite a 1-6 record in the conference when they host the Buckeyes at Noon ET on ABC. The Wolverines, though, do have one of the most dynamic edge rushers in college football in DE Brandon Graham (#55, 6-2, 270), who has 8.5 sacks and 21 total tackles for loss this fall. Michigan also has several other solid veteran players including RB Brandon Minor (#4, 6-0, 215), WR Greg Mathews (#13, 6-2, 210), OT Mark Ortmann (#71, 6-6, 290), LB/S Stevie Brown (#3, 6-0, 215) and P Zoltan Mesco (#41, 6-5, 240), however, none is rated as more than a late-round prospect at best.

Saturday’s Big Game between Stanford and California (7:30 PM ET; Versus) was expected to have been a coming out party of sorts for a top young RB, however, it was supposed to have been Cal junior Jahvid Best. Best, though, won’t play because of the lingering effects of a concussion. Instead, the guy everyone wants to see is Stanford RB Toby Gerhart (#7, 6-0, 240) who ran for over 400 yards in upset wins over Oregon and Southern Cal the past couple of weeks and has over 1,300 yards and 19 scores to date on the year. Other Stanford players to watch include DT Ekom Udofia (#54, 6-2, 322), OT Chris Marinelli (#63, 6-6, 300), safety Bo McNally (#22, 5-11, 210), and DE Erik Lorig (#80, 6-3, 265). Meanwhile, even with Best sidelined, Cal has a number of interesting prospects for the 2010 draft including DE Tyson Aluaha (#6-2, 295), CB Syd’Quan Thompson (#5, 5-9, 190), OT Mike Tepper (#79, 6-6, 321), LBs Devin Bishop (#10, 6-1, 240) and Eddie Young (#9, 6-0, 240) and safety Brett Johnson (#25, 6-0, 195).

Meanwhile, lost in all the controversy surrounding head coach Mark Mangini has been another terrific season by star Jayhawks’ junior WR Dezmon Briscoe (#80, 6-2, 200) who has been averaging 110 receiving yards per game this fall. Briscoe pairs with former QB Kerry Meier (#10, 6-2, 220), a possession receiver with 83 receptions and almost 900 yards of his own this fall, to give the Jayhawks one of the most productive 1-2 receiving combos in the country. And both will get a chance to shine in the national spotlight when Kansas plays at second-ranked Texas (8 PM ET; ABC) on Saturday evening. Going the other way, Kansas has a solid safety in Darrell Stuckey (#25, 6-0, 205) who hits like a LB, but can still run with most wideouts.

For its part, Ohio State isn’t going to have the same kind of impact at the upcoming draft as it has in recent years - the Buckeyes have had more players drafted since 2000 than any team in the country - but does have several solid second-tier prospects including safeties Anderson Russell (#21, 5-11, 205) and Kurt Coleman (#4, 510, 190), DE Lawrence Wilson (#87, 6-3, 275), OT Jim Cordle (#64, 6-3, 300) and DT Doug Worthington (#84, 6-5, 275), WR/KR Ray Small (#82, 5-10, 180), TE Jake Ballard (#86, 6-5, 260), and MLB Austin Spitler (#38, 6-2, 235). In fact, Ohio State’s best pro prospect this year may be rugged junior OG Justin Boren (#65, 6-2, 315), who transferred from arch-rival Michigan and could conceivably be the highest rated OG on the board if he did opt to enter the upcoming draft.

Have a great weekend!

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