GridironStuds Player of the Day: Maceo Beard – Cegep de Thetford, Canada

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

If you know the story of GridironStuds then you know that it began as a simple website that would allow local kids in South Florida to put their highlights up and market themselves to college football coaches.  Over time,  it spread from local South Florida kids, to Florida kids, to kids all over the United States and then globally. One of the best things about running GridironStuds is seeing how athletes play football all over the World.  Today’s player of the day would be a great example of that.

Let’s be honest,  you don’t find very many white defensive backs these days.  You don’t find many great DBs in Canada and you virtually never find French born Canadians killing it in American Football.  Maceo Beard from Cegep de Thetford School in Quebec, Candad will smash all of your streo-types very quickly.  Cut the film on and you’ll see a highly athletic prospect that can make both the athletic play and the smart play.  Watch Beard jump short routes,  go up high to snag deep routes and drop a shoulder on WRs trying to catch a ball in the heart of the defense.  They play a bit of a different brand of football in Canada but Beard definitely has the looks of a prospect that can handle his own on a high school football field in the U.S. and then in college.

Beard also includes in his GridironStuds profile,  a video of him working out with further lends legitimacy to his athleticism.  When scouting prospects for their college worthiness,  projection is a big part of the process.  Between Beard’s athletic ability and his seemingly solid football IQ,  he presents himself as a legitimate candidate for college football programs in the United States.  Let’s hope that this Beard is trim enough to get some offers from a college football program near you.

Check out Maceo Beard’s profile on the GridironStuds App.

Do You Love Ball or Do You Just Love Recruiting?

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

There’s no question that college football has become a big deal and the deal is become bigger with each passing day.  With it reaching heights never seen before,  it becomes more difficult to separate those who love football from those who love recruiting.

One of the biggest things for teenagers is acceptance.  Nothing screams acceptance like an article written about you by one of the major recruiting outfits like Rivals, 247sports or ESPN.  Nothing can conjure up the thrill of acceptance more than searching your name on Twitter and watching fans fighting over your attention in hopes that you attend their school.  It would seem odd that a kid that appears to be good at something may not really love it but I’m here to tell you that it happens.

Getting attention is infectious for almost everyone and that goes especially for teenagers.  So getting attention for playing football will naturally act as a drug for any teenager but what are you really hooked on?  Are you hooked on the feeling of defeating an opponent on a football field or your position in the Top 100?  Are you addicted to training like an animal to be a beast in between the lines or your 247sports cumulative point rating?  Are you enamored by studying your opponent so you can outfox him on game day or the thrill of receiving that post season all star game jersey in a ceremony before all of your high school classmates?

For those of you who are not as highly regarded or recruited,  is football only worth it if you can go to a school that plays on TV every Saturday?  I have witnessed some kids want to pack it all in if Clemson doesn’t come calling.  I have news for you,  the football is damn good at Georgia Southern.  If you truly love playing this game then football is football.  Your chances of succeeding and reaching your ultimate goal (if that is playing professionally) only increases if your mindset is about being the best you can be no matter where you go.

One of the biggest keys to success in life is letting go of comparing yourself to others.  Comparing yourself to teammates or opponents that are going to bigger schools than you is a recipe for failure.  You may think that comparing yourself to them is motivating yourself to do better but chances are you are not.  Each time you do not obtain what they obtain, whether that is an extra star, all star invite or all county nomination,  you devalue yourself.  If you truly want to reach your potential and succeed then compare yourself today to the person you were yesterday.  If you have not surpassed that person then start figuring out why and fix it.

So while you are taking your recruiting journey,  do not place much stock in the level of school recruiting you.  Fall in love with the actual game of football and you will notice an increase in the quality of school that comes after you.  Notice that I said “quality” and not “size”.  Your aim should be to attend a quality school with a quality football program.  If it’s a big time school that plays January bowl games then congratulations,  don’t take it for granted.  If it’s not a school that has College Game Day showing up for their broadcast then it doesn’t mean they play two hand touch football.  Go there,  immerse yourself in the tradition and I promise you that you will come out of it 4-5 years later very proud of what you have accomplished.

GridironStuds College Football 3-for-3 Pick’Em for Week 11

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Woy! Back to back to back 1-2 weeks have me in the training room.  Despite that,  I am still winning 58% (14-10) of these picks vs. those boys in Vegas.  The problem for college football coaches and people trying to handicap games this time of year is trying to figure out who’s motivated and who’s not.  The last couple of weeks I have focused strictly on the X’s and O’s only to be victimized by the emotions of 18-22 year old college aged men.  Time to factor in psychology now.  It’s getting late in the season.  Last week’s lone winner was Alabama over LSU.  I figured a 20 point win for the Tide and they won by 29.  Thinking Penn St. would keep it close when they were recently eliminated from all their pre-season goals was an oversight on my part.  Kentucky’s one dimension couldn’t stand up vs. Georgia.  I am not mad at that pick.  Let’s get off of the bench this week and sink some shots.

#10 Ohio St. @ #18 Michigan St. 

We’re probably looking at two over ranked teams here.  Something is definitely going on in Columbus and it’s not good.  This is not the Ohio St. team that was playing the first four games of the  season.  I can guarantee you that the Buckeyes and Urban Meyer are not having fun but here’s the deal,  everything thing they wanted in the preseason is still in reach.  So that keeps them maximally engaged in the week to week outcomes.  For me,  that’s enough to surge them ahead of this Michigan St. team.  Sparty has been weird this year struggling against lesser teams and showing up to fight vs. some of the bigger ones.  Ultimately,  having watched Michigan St.,  I don’t think they’re that good.  They will fight the good fight early in this game but I think the Buckeyes’ playmakers take over to give Ohio St. a feel good type of win.  Ohio St. 28  Michigan St. 17

#24 Auburn @ #5 Georgia

Here’s a game where psychology comes into play.  On it’s surface,  I do think that Georgia is at least two TDs better than Auburn.  This is due in large part to the advantages in the trenches for the Bulldogs.  Auburn’s problems this season have been up front and especially on offense.  Unfortunately,  the line of scrimmage is a place Georgia loves to own.  However,  this Dawgs team has been through back to back weeks of exhaustive preparation and emotion for games against Florida and Kentucky.  No one in Athens expected to have to exert themselves like they did vs. Kentucky back when they were planning in July.  As such,  preparation may not have been what it should for Auburn this week causing this game to be closer than expected.  Ultimately Georgia is a stronger team in many ways and will do what they have to do down the stretch.  However,  I think Auburn keeps it close.  Georgia 23  Auburn 13

#2 Clemson @ #17 Boston College 

Here goes another one.  Clemson has outscored their opponents by a combined 177-33 the last three weeks.  This is hard for the betting public to ignore and as such,  the oddsmakers seek an opportunity to throw a little extra cheese on this pizza.  That cheese serves to motivate the home team,  Boston College and warp the mind of the visiting Clemson Tigers.  Dabo Swinney is a good coach but he has his hands full trying to keep his young Tigers’ head on straight after mugging previous conference darlings Florida St. and Louisville in back to back weeks.  That desire to chill is likely rampant and may show it’s head here.  Other than the lower temperatures in Chestnut Hill,  there’s no reason to chill vs. Boston College.  This physical football team will not back down and has shown all season long that they can play with anyone.  At 7-2 B.C. is no slouch and one of those two losses came when their best player was sidelined.  I think Boston College gets real physical with the Tigers and reminds them that they are no push overs.  Clemson 31  Boston College 17.

Recruiting School: The Waiting Game Is Not For Everybody

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Whoever said good things come to those who wait definitely was not a high school football player hunting for a college football scholarship.  Many a college football recruit has done damage to themselves by waiting too long to make a very important decision.  For some,  waiting is best,  for the majority,  not so much.

I’ve told the story on my Instagram account (@GridironStuds) about the time I took a recruiting visit out of high school to California Berkeley.  It was the biggest of my handful of offers and I was not a rated recruit.  In 1990,  it was a whole lot harder to get ranked and recognized as a high school football player and with only one good season of playing under my belt,  no chance.  With that in mind,  I had no business making a school like Cal in the Pac-10 wait for my commitment.  However,  I lacked guidance in the process and pretty much flew by the seat of my pants in the World of recruiting.

It’s a little bit harder these days to not know but on a topic like this,  many don’t really understand how waiting works against them.  I am keenly aware of how much attention recruits get nowadays.  In this day in age you can be #223 out of the Top 250 and have a steady stream of phone calls and DMs permeating your digital devices.  Go look up permeating,  it might be on your ACT.   Getting back to the matter at hand,  this constant attention can leave a recruit confused about his place and the amount of time he has to make a decision.  Year after year,  I have seen recruits wait to pick a school only to have the decision made for them.  How is the decision made?  It’s made by the schools dropping the recruit and shrinking his options.  Of course,  nothing will make a school seem like the one like them deciding they no longer want you.

The trick to the game in recruiting and in life is to create options for yourself.  You did the work in creating the options by playing well and performing in front of scouts, media, etc.  Don’t undo that work by failing to know your role and have those options disappear.  The best thing to do is make your decision when you have all of your options on the table.  You can’t decide which service station stop at after the car runs out of gas.  If you are not one of the top 10 players in the country,  you may not want to wait until signing day to make your decision.  That may sound crazy to some of you because you see a ton of national signing day announcements every February.  What you may not know is that a lot of those youngsters made their decisions long before that,  informed the school and kept it a secret until National Signing Day.  However,  not everyone can play that game either.  Perhaps if you are in the Top 50,  a top flight college football program will be willing to take a chance that what you told them in secret in January will hold up on the first Wednesday in February.  Some schools will continue to recruit other players at your position while you’re keeping your secret and if they are successful in landing someone that they feel is as good or better than you,  those phone calls and DMs will dry up like crazy glue on a broken fingernail.

If you are not Top 10 overall at your position,  I would strongly recommend that you make your decision prior to signing day.  I would even recommend that you make your decision prior to the New Year unless there are some special circumstances surrounding your recruiting.  Those special situations could be a possible coaching change, waiting to meet NCAA academic standards, etc.  I understand the need to feel like “the man” and keep the suspense until signing day.  I understand that it’s a great feeling for an 18 year old to have ESPN cameras or local TV cameras on them as they announce to the World their choice.  However,  the pain of missing out on the school you want is rarely worth it.  It can affect the course of your life.  If you want to make memories and be a star,  make your decision after you have carefully weighed your options.  When you have come to that conclusion,  inform the schools.   After that,  bust your ass to make the school you chose feel like the best thing they ever did was give you a scholarship.  If you do that,  I can guarantee you that you will get more attention than you ever thought possible.

GridironStuds College Football 3-for-3 Pick’em Week 10

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Well what do you know, a bit of a fall back to Earth after going 1-2 for the 2nd straight week.  Perhaps I can blame it on my travel or I hurt my leg or my dog ate my homework.  I am going to just ask y’all to lower your expectations.  But seriously though,  handicapping Washington St. is tough and so I was wrong about them vs. Stanford.  The Cardinal can’t handle the brain that is Mike Leach.  I bet Stanford would have sent him a denial letter when he was coming out of high school.  Penn St. and Iowa was the only game I got right as the Hawkeye hype got bigger than the Penn St. hype for one week and I took advantage.  I told y’all I wasn’t buying that Texas crap but I did enough to take them vs. struggling Oklahoma St. and they vomited all over me.  That’s what I get.  I am pressed for time this week so you will get the Twitter version of write ups on this week’s picks.

#14 Penn St. @ #5 Michigan

Why is Penn St. ranked at #14 again? I am not a buyer of Penn St. but apparently neither is Las Vegas.  In my mind,  I have Michigan as 10 points better than the Nittany Lions at home.  Vegas put it at 12.5 and that’s a little too rich for me.  I think the Wolverines have the horses to slow down the Penn St. offensive attack but I don’t know that they have enough horses to stay two touchdowns ahead.  I think we see a good game with a late score from Michigan giving them a comfortable margin but not by 12.  Take Michigan to win the game but Penn St. to stay closer than Vegas thinks.  Michigan 27  Penn St. 17

#6 Georgia @ #9 Kentucky 

The schedule makers could have done Kentucky a favor by making this a night game in Lexington but who would have ever thought that Kentucky would be involved in a marquee game in the SEC this late in the season.  This is another game where I like the favorite to win but not by the prescribed point spread.  Kentucky struggles to throw.  However,  they are good up front and can bang in the trenches with Georgia for an entire 60 minutes.  Georgia’s M.O. is to punch you in the face while you also punch them in the face and at some point their punch will knock you down.   That’s going to be tough with Kentucky in Lexington.  Georgia also has to be a tad bit emotionally drained after last week’s win over Florida.  Did y’all see Kirby jumping up and down in that locker room afterwards.  He’s still catching his breath.  Close UGA win here.  Georgia 21  Kentucky 17.

#1 Alabama @ #3 LSU

It’s absurd to have Alabama favored by two touchdowns on the road at Baton Rouge in any year.  Well except this one.  LSU is tough and have probably earned their current #3 ranking but I have said all season long that LSU is tailor-made for Alabama.  LSU is a run between the tackles and run first football team.  They don’t have a dynamic quarterback that can frustrate Alabama’s defense.  The Crimson Tide eat pro style offenses for breakfast.  LSU has a pro-style offense.  LSU’s weakness on defense is their secondary.  Ooops,  the passing game is a strength for Alabama this year.  Maybe LSU picks off Tua for the first time this season but I think the Tide march all over the Tigers.  Take Alabama 34-14.

GridironStuds College Football 3-for-3 Pick’em Week 8

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

For the first time this season,  I did not have a winning week.  It was bound to happen at some point and lucky week number seven was it.  It started with a weird game in East Lansing with Michigan and Michigan St.  Of course there was the pre-game antics as Devin Bush Jr. broke up Michigan St.’s 10 yard fight impression.  Then there was a weather delay and the game itself was weird.  Michigan St. refused to run the ball in a tight 7-7 game that ended up getting away from them as their passing attack never really materialized.  What a shock.  I was just flat out wrong with NC State vs. Clemson.  I thought the Wolfpack could put up a fight against a Clemson team that I have not been impressed with it.  Boy did the Tigers show me.  The Mississippi St. vs. LSU game went pretty much how I expected,  short on offensive creativity and long on defense.  Enough about the past other than for me to tell you that after last week’s 1-2,  I am 12-6 vs. the spread and straight up for the season.  Let’s see if week 8 is great.  Oh for any of you newbies wondering,  I don’t pick Florida and Miami games because I will totally lack the ability to be objective.

#18 Iowa @ #17 Penn St. 

I have not been impressed with Penn St. this season.  The masses were heaping praise on them and I was definitely not on that train.  I looked like a clown when they took Ohio St. to the wire but then in the space of two weeks,  things have shaped up and out to mirror my thoughts.  First,  the Nittany Lions went down to an average Michigan St. squad then last week,  Ohio St. got a serious buzz cut from the Boilermakers.  With that said,  all my intentions to back Iowa point spread wise in this game evaporated when I saw the line.  Yes,  Penn St. is not as impressive as people would like you to believe but at home,  versus this Iowa squad,  I think they are better than a touchdown.  Penn St. has their problems defensively.  They don’t get a pass rush and they don’t cover all that well but Iowa lacks the ability to really exploit it.  On the flip side,  Penn St. can do damage with their offense and the multiplicity of Trace McSorley.  Add to that the running of Miles Sanders and a decent WR group and I think Iowa will be overwhelmed.

The Hawkeyes got avalanched by Wisconsin earlier this year on the road.  I have seen improvement since then but their weakness defensively will be exploited by what it is that Penn St. does.  Iowa pitching the shut out vs. Maryland last week probably contributed to this line staying under seven and for that be thankful.  I think they may come in a little too big headed.  Iowa’s methodical approach to moving the ball down the field will net them some points in this game but not nearly enough to keep pace with Penn St.’s big plays.  Take Penn St. 31-21.

#14 Washington St. @ #24 Stanford

This is definitely not one of your best Stanford squads in the David Shaw era and that might lead people to a mistake in this game. I have observed this odd phenomenon for this 2018 brand of the Stanford Cardinal.  They struggle with teams that want to be physical and do quite well against those that are finesse. The Cardinal had nothing for Notre Dame and Utah but was quite fine against Arizona St. and Oregon.  Washington St. is more Oregon than they are Notre Dame.  Mike Leach’s throw the ball around offense and like-minded defense,  plays into the hands of Stanford.  Now the Cardinal can finally crank up their run game and play action fake.  That is when they are at their best.  Defensively they can get rough and tough with the Hollywoodish attack of the Cougars and find some success.

Washington St. wants to kick themselves for the loss earlier this year to USC.  Were it not for that,  they would be undefeated.  This week they face a team more like USC in Stanford and I expect some struggles.  The only other team to duke it out with the Cougars this year was Utah,  who is also physical.  The Cougars had that game at home,  this contest is on the road.  Leach and friends have gotten the best of Stanford in the last couple of meetings.  It is just inconceivable to me for a David Shaw coached team to lose three in a row to Mike Leach.  Take Stanford 38-31

#6 Texas @ Oklahoma St. 

I might be getting totally trapped but I will trust me eyes here.  I am not 100% sold on the Texas Longhorns.  I think they are getting an extra pump for beating an Oklahoma team that went brain dead defensively in their game.  However,  I watched Oklahoma St. on film and they aren’t Mike Gundy’s best creation.  The Cowboys lack an identity on offense,  seem prone to mistakes in all phases of the game and lack confidence.  How that equates into them being minor underdogs to this Texas team is beyond me.  Again,  I’m going to trust my eyes.  Oklahoma St. has been unworthy in every game they have played this year vs. a worthy opponent. Texas Tech and Iowa St. put up 41 and 48 points on the Cowboys in home losses.  Last week Kansas St. bitch slapped them 31-12 on the road.  I see no reason why their cheeks won’t be red again this week.

A look ahead to West Virginia for Texas is the only thing that should make your hand shake if you are a Longhorn backer but outside of that,  Texas is quite a bit better than 3.5 points over Oklahoma St.  The Longhorns can play defense in much the same fashion that Kansas St. did vs. Oklahoma St. last week and they certainly have the weapons on offense to matriculate down the field against this pillow soft Cowboys defense. Unless Tom Herman’s club shows up without their jockstraps on,  this should be all Texas.  Oddsmakers have accounted for the West Virginia look ahead with the small line.  I think Texas handles their business 34-21.