One of the most fascinating aspects of sport is the excitement and anticipation that surround the discovery of a new talent, a talent so unique that the influence he will have on his game can be projected many years in advance. These are stars like Lebron James, Lance Armstrong and Diego Maradona; prodigies whose abilities were instantly evident to anyone and everyone that saw them compete.
It is a very rare occurrence for one to have the privilege of witnessing such transcendent talent firsthand, but that is just what Pwang got to do over fall break. Pwang traveled to Williamsburg, Va., for the ostensible purpose of visiting his girlfriend, who attends college there, but my genuine attention was directed an hour to the east.
I had heard of a freshman high school football player living in the Hampton Roads area who has already attracted the attention of major college scouts. He doesn't even play on his school's varsity team yet, but his pedigree alone has put his name on the lips of many an NFL personnel director.
At 15 years old, the six-foot, three-inch freshman already possesses enough arm strength to effortlessly toss a football through a hanging car tire from over 50 yards away. His coaches say that he ran his first timed 40-yard dash in the eighth grade, and despite the fact that he was wearing sneakers on a wet grass field he still crossed the line in 4.28 seconds.
He will move up to the varsity squad next year after the current quarterback, a four-year starter and two-time team captain, graduates. His head coach is fiercely loyal to his upperclassmen and thought it would serve this young talent well to spend a year playing with the JV squad.
What makes this player stand out any more than the others? The answer is simple, and it really only takes four letters to explain — the player's last name.
D'Michael Vick, the younger brother of Michael and Marcus Vick, is the most dynamic football player I have ever seen at any level. I made the trip to King's Fork High School in Suffolk, Va., to watch him play, and I have to say he made a believer out of me. After the game, I had a chance to chat with D'Michael, under the pretense of writing a story for a New Brunswick area newspaper. I couldn't resist asking him about his brothers, and with a smile on his face, he confided in me that Marcus was the bully in the family, but Michael was always there to look out for him. D'Michael added before climbing onto the team bus, "I'm proud to have my big brother's name, and in honor of him I would like to be called D'Mike from now on."
It's going to be a lot of fun to see the heights this kid will reach.
No. 13 Tennessee (+5.5) @ No. 11 Arkansas
Arkansas super sophomore running back Darren McFadden is averaging 115 yards per game on the ground and he has already scored 11 touchdowns. He's tall and lean (6'2", 205 lbs.), but he dazzles in the open field and has rockets in his shoes once he gets to the corner. If you don't already know who he is, take notice this weekend because he is going to be a big time name in college football for the next two years if he can say no to the NFL's money after his junior year.
The Arkansas quarterback situation is unsettled after the benching of true-freshman starter Mitch Mustain. Mustain had performed well enough (10 TDs, 8 interceptions) in helping the Hawgs to their 9-1 record, but he's been inconsistent at times and too frequently overlooks open receivers.
Tennessee nearly knocked off both LSU and Florida, so don't be put off by the fact that they have two losses. I could definitely see this game going either way, but I think it will end up being closer than 5.5 points.
Pick: Tennessee (+5.5) over Arkansas
No. 9 Notre Dame (-11.5) @ Air Force
Brady Quinn hasn't thrown a single interception in his last five games. Notre Dame's last five opponents have a combined record of 17-29 and have the following national pass defense rankings: 33, 100, 73, 62 and 79. So, is Quinn as good as his 25 TDs, 2579 yards and 63.9 percent completion percentage would make people think — or is he just playing against a bunch of terrible teams?
I'd say the answer is somewhere in between, but he definitely isn't so great that he can't get bothered by the chilly weather Notre Dame might encounter at Falcon Stadium. If Quinn's passes flutter and his wideouts' hands get a little too cold to catch the ball, then Air Force might just keep this one close.
Pick: Air Force (+11.5) over Notre Dame
Nebraska (-1) @ No. 24 Texas A&M
This one is as close to a tossup as they come. Nebraska has impressed me this year by nearly knocking off Texas and taking down Mizzou, but that 41-29 loss against Big 12 cellar-dweller Oklahoma State forced me to tone down my excitement a little. I know the transitive property doesn't apply to football, but I'm going to use it here anyway. Texas A&M lost a 17-16 heartbreaker at home to Oklahoma last week, and I think Oklahoma is a much better team than Nebraska. Ergo ...
Pick: Texas A&M (+1) over Nebraska
No. 21 Oregon (+8) @ No. 7 USC
This one isn't nearly as big as the Cal-USC throwdown is going to be next week, but if the Trojans can't get by the Ducks, Jeff Tedford's Golden Bears will have the Pac-10 title in hand with a two-game lead and two to play before they meet USC. Oregon is a good team; runningback Jonathan Stewart averages 6.0 yards per carry and has scored seven TD's. Oregon also has the No. 15 rush defense in the country. Unfortunately, their pass defense is ranked No. 115. I look for USC to light the scoreboard up like a Christmas tree in this one.
Pick: USC (-8) over Oregon
Princeton @ Yale
Pwang will be there. We've got nine buses full of kids and a bunch more that are making the drive up. With all the people turning out for both sides, the crowd will really be buzzing inside the Yale Bowl this Saturday. A win sets us up well for at least a share of the Ivy title, and, oh yeah, we get a massive bonfire too.
So Yale is pretty good. They did win 21-9 on the road against Cornell, the only team that beat us. Their running back Mike McLeod has run for 1096 yards and 12 TDs. People have knocked Princeton for not really blowing teams out of the water this year, but when you actually look at the numbers you see that Yale only wins by an average of 3.9 points per game.
Princeton has the top passing defense in the Ivy League (206.3 ypg) and the No. 2 rush defense (113.0 ypg). What are those things that defense is supposed to win?
Pick: Princeton 24, Yale 17
Overall Record A.T.S. ( 26-19-3)
Last Week A.T.S. (4-2)
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