So here is a quick post that I wrote for a website called Sports Alert. It provides free text alerts for sports scores, and also has some editorial content. Very small scale, but I'll be double-posting, and I will include a link once the story is live on the website...
That didn’t take long. Just a week after our Top 25 preseason poll, the injury bug is still picking some high profile teams out of its teeth.
At Virginia Tech, the news is downright devastating. Running back Darren Evans is done for the year thanks to a torn ACL. Evans ran for over 1200 yards last fall, but without him, the Hokies’ offense could be stuck in neutral. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor has shown flashes of brilliance, but the fact remains that there is a reason why he was almost redshirted last year: mainly, the seven interceptions against two touchdowns Taylor threw last year. Virginia Tech should still be the cream of the ACC crop, but probably no longer merit a top ten ranking.
The news is not quite as gloomy at Ohio State, where linebacker Tyler Moeller will sit out the year because of a head injury he got on a family vacation. I want to know how many family vacations end in a son being punched in a bar, and landing on his head, but I guess that is beside the point. The loss of Moeller for 2009 is a tough blow—he was a projected starter for them this fall, and had three tackles for a loss last year. On the plus side, however, doctors originally feared Moeller might never return to the gridiron, but say now that he is expected to play again for the Scarlet and Gray.
Over at USC, the news hardly qualified as a blip on the radar screen. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp could miss most of August with a knee injury, after getting rolled up on in practice—and not the good kind. Corp returned to practice the same day, but will now have to sit after the joint flared up on him. The good news for the Trojans is that they have an insane amount of depth at the position. Remember Mitch Mustain, the one-time Arkansas signal caller whose future looked so promising with then-coordinator Gus Malzahn? Mustain transferred over to Figueroa Tech, where he is STILL buried on the depth chart. True freshman Matt Barkley will instead be the new man under the microscope for the men of Troy. Considering that he was considered to be the top recruit in the country, Aaron Corp’s days as a starter could be numbered.
These three programs are of course not the only ones affected by injuries. In fact, just about every team in the country will have some changes to their depth chart during fall practice. What separates the elite from the pretty good in college football is having the depth to overcome those pesky teeth marks left by the injury bug.
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