Twitter Tuesday: Oklahoma, Auburn, Clemson, Maryland, UCLA
Our weekly #TwitterTuesday file continues this week where you ask National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell your football questions via social media. Here are five questions we chose, including Farrell’s take on Oklahoma and Texas.
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Of course you are talking about this article where I listed Oklahoma as one of the most overrated preseason AP Top 25 teams and Texas as one of the most underrated. So far, that isn’t looking so hot. Texas got smashed by Maryland and is facing a potential 1-2 start as the Horns head to USC this weekend. Meanwhile, Oklahoma looked amazing against Ohio State and could easily play for the national title this season.
However, like with preseason predictions, we all have to be careful two weeks into any season. Some big games – USC, Kansas State, Oklahoma – for Texas will tell us a lot about this team as it battles through quarterback issues. And for Oklahoma, the end of the season will be huge as the Sooners face Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU in a four-game span.
But right now? My overrated list of Clemson, Penn State, Michigan and LSU in addition to Oklahoma doesn’t look so smart. My underrated list, which includes Oklahoma State, Georgia, Miami, USF and Texas isn’t quite as bad but still up in the air.
I have no idea, honestly. There is a lot of talent on that offense. Jarrett Stidham is a talented quarterback, he just hangs onto the ball way too long. The offensive line is solid but was just overmatched by a great Clemson defensive line. I’m not sold on the wide receivers and when Kamryn Pettway is forced to run laterally, he can’t do much. But let’s remember this: Auburn lost by eight points to a top five team and was overwhelmed by the best defense I’ve seen so far this season. Will the Tigers' offense stink from here on out? No, I don’t think they will. But when they face defenses like LSU, Georgia and Alabama, things could get ugly.
South Carolina looks good. The Gamecocks have beaten two solid Power Five programs already and the offense is firing on all cylinders. There is a solid balance between the run and pass, quarterback Jake Bentley is taking the next step in development and Deebo Samuel looks like one of the best players in the SEC. The defense has been solid as expected as well.
Many feel that South Carolina is a year or so away from making real noise in the SEC East but I haven’t been overly impressed with certain aspects of Florida (offense) and Georgia (quarterback play), so we’ll see if the Gamecocks can break through.
South Carolina's game against Kentucky this weekend will be interesting and the end of the schedule is tough with Georgia, Florida and Clemson in three of the team's last four games. But, so far, I've been impressed.
That’s a really good question since Clemson is loaded with talented youth at both the wide receiver and defensive end positions.
I’ll go with K.J. Henry for two reasons. First, it’s harder to find elite ends than receivers. Second, North Carolina is a much more important recruiting territory for Clemson than Alabama. I think Justyn Ross is the more talented prospect overall, but based on geography and position, I’ll go with Henry.
It’s really hard to tell how good Maryland is until we see the Terps play at Ohio State at the end of September. Texas was supposed to be a good test, but early indications are that the Longhorns were overvalued entering the season. Maryland can beat UCF and Minnesota, which should set up a big game in Columbus with a 4-0 Terps team.
Maryland's schedule is challenging because Northwestern is still a tough out from the Big Ten West and Wisconsin is very good. Throw in Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State and its a rough slate. I think a 7-5 season is possible if the Terps handle business in the next two games. Next year they can make more noise, but I don’t think they are close to the top three in the Big Ten East yet.
UCLA is ranked No. 10 right now in the Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings, but staying in the top 10 will be tough as it has a fairly pedestrian 3.17 average star ranking across their 23 commits. Last year, for example, Utah's 3.15 average star ranking was good for 25th in the country, so UCLA will likely land somewhere in the Nos. 15-25 range unless a lot of its commits get ranking bumps or the program adds a few elite guys down the stretch.
The Bruins could add another four- or five-star wide receiver, but they’d have to pull an upset. Most feel Amon-Ra St. Brown will end up at USC if he picks a team in Los Angeles, and other guys like Devon Williams, Chase Cota and Bryan Addison might head out of state. The Bruins should be happy pulling Jahan Dotson from Pennsylvania as an elite slot receiver in a big cross-country grab.