As I wrote about in my preview, the notorious Red River Rivalry game between Oklahoma and Texas lost some of its importance with both teams disappointing out of the gate. But a famous rivalry game is still always entertaining and that proved true enough by about the fourth overtime between the two teams. The Sooners were able to ultimately claim the trophy after a hard-fought effort by the Longhorns, in a game heavy on offense. In other non-Big 12 news, the SEC is topsy-turvy with LSU losing another game and Alabama appearing vulnerable against some creative play calling by Ole Miss. Below are the prospects who stood out during another week of college football.
Christian Darrisaw OT (Virginia Tech)
The big Hokie left tackle turned in a masterful performance against a UNC defense that features quite a bit of NFL talent themselves. Outside of Darrisaw’s massive size and wingspan preventing much pressure on the quarterbacks, it was his movement skills in the run game that was particularly notable. The fact that he was even able to get his hands on the speedy North Carolina linebackers is impressive, and when Darrisaw did they were typically erased from the play.
Derrick Tangelo DT (Duke)
Collapsing the pocket and providing pressure up the middle was the name of the game for Tangelo against the Syracuse Orange. He was surprisingly quick out of his stance for a bigger guy, and frequently kept up a maximum amount of effort every play. It common to see him defeating off the snap on a play, and then hand fight his way to a stuff or a QB hurry. Although Chris Rumph II is the star of the Blue Devils’ defense, Tangelo got himself noticed with a sack, three tackles for loss, and leading his team with six tackles.
Michael Carter RB (UNC)
On the opposite side of the field from Darrisaw was Michael Carter, who was busy having himself a career day against the Hokies. Sure, his offensive line was blowing holes through the Virginia Tech defensive line big enough to drive a 787 Dreamliner through, but Carter did a fair amount of work himself once in the open field. His vision and ability to put on the brakes to find open space was evident, as was his effort in pass protection. Scouts will appreciate tape like this, showing he can be a threat in every phase.
Josh Palmer WR (Tennessee)
There were certainly receivers this week that had much better stat lines, but none had the concentrated impact of Palmer’s four catches, two of which went for touchdowns and showed that he is a dominant contested-catch receiver. Georgia has two NFL quality corners and, despite that, Palmer’s physicality got the better of them on his four catches. Granted, it didn’t look like the senior was getting much separation, but he might be one of those receivers designated as “open” even when they’re covered.
Derion Kendrick CB (Clemson)
The former wide receiver seems to be making the transition to corner quite successfully, as he was able to make his presence felt with his first interception of the season in the third quarter against Miami. It was a fantastic display of fundamentals and awareness. All day though, Kendrick and his teammates along the backend were stifling the Miami receivers, as evidenced by the fact that the Hurricanes’ previously explosive offense was held to only 121 receiving yards.