Jumping Ship: Who’s leaving early for the NFL?

The good folks at ESPN’s data center have the updates on which college football underclassmen are leaving school in search of huge bags of money a career in the NFL. Here’s the updated list, with a few notable talents highlighted.

Asher Allen CB 5-1 198 Georgia
Chris Baker DT 6-2 298 Hampton
Kenny Britt WR 6-4 215 Rutgers
Eben Britton OT 6-5½ 310 Arizona
Donald Brown RB 5-10 210 Connecticut
Everette Brown DE 6-4 252 Florida State
James Casey TE 6-4 245 Rice
Jeremy Childs WR 6-0 196 Boise State
Glen Coffee RB 6-1 198 Alabama
Austin Collie WR 6-2 206 BYU
Emanuel Cook S 5-10 203 South Carolina
Jared Cook TE 6-5 243 South Carolina
Michael Crabtree WR 6-3 214 Texas Tech
Andrew Davie TE 6-5 266 Arkansas
Nate Davis QB 6-1¾ 217 Ball State
Vontae Davis CB 5-11⅞ 203 Illinois
Josh Freeman QB 6-5½ 238 Kansas State
Shonn Green RB 5-10¾ 233 Iowa
Percy Harvin WR 5-10¾ 187 Florida
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 6-1⅞ 203 Maryland
P.J. Hill RB 5-11 236 Wisconsin
Greg Isdaner OG 6-4 322 West Virginia
Ricky Jean-Francois DL 6-3 289 LSU
Paul Kruger DE 6-5 265 Utah
Jeremy Maclin WR 6-0 198 Missouri
Sen’Derrick Marks DT 6-0⅞ 289 Auburn
Aaron Maybin DE 6-3½ 250 Penn State
LeSean McCoy RB 5-11 205 Pittsburgh
Gerald McRath LB 6-3 220 Southern Miss
D.J. Moore CB 5-10 184 Vanderbilt
Knowshon Moreno RB 5-10¾ 207 Georgia
Captain Munnerlyn CB 5-9 185 South Carolina
Hakeem Nicks WR 6-1 215 North Carolina
Kevin Ogletree WR 6-2 189 Virginia
Jerraud Powers CB 5-9 191 Auburn
Mark Sanchez QB 6-2½ 225 USC
Andre Smith DT 6-4⅞ 341 Alabama
Sean Smith CB 6-2½ 212 Utah
Matthew Stafford QB 6-2½ 235 Georgia
Brandon Williams DE 6-5 246 Texas Tech
Chris “Beanie” Wells RB 6-1 235 Ohio State

Of course, it’s worth mentioning a few standout players who are not going pro this year:

Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson
Greg Hardy, DE, Mississippi

Equally notable, FSU S Myron Rolle will leave the Noles, but isn’t going to the NFL… yet. Rolle accepted a Rhodes Scholarship and will study medical anthropology at Oxford. Rolle was expected to be a top 50 or better pick, but will instead look to enter the 2010 NFL draft.

The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 26th and 27th in New York City.

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Corrections in Fiesta Bowl statistics

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

The NCAA made several statistical corrections from the bowl games, including two items from the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl between Texas and Ohio State.

Thanks to ESPN Stats & Information for these items:

• Intentional grounding call against Texas originally entered as incomplete pass and 18-yard penalty instead of 18-yard sack and 0-yard penalty. This gives Colt McCoy 58 pass attempts (not 59)
• One Ohio State pass incorrectly credited to Terrelle Pryor instead of Todd Boeckman.

Here's the updated box score from the game.
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Big Ten helmet stickers: Bowl edition

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

The Big Ten probably wants to forget this postseason after going 1-6 in bowls. But several players stood out, even in defeat, and they deserve recognition. Let's hand out helmet stickers for the final time this season, beginning with the one Big Ten team (Iowa) that actually won its bowl.

Iowa running back Shonn Greene – Playing in what would be his final collegiate game, the Hawkeyes' junior went out with a flourish, racking up 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns against South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Greene eclipsed 100 rushing yards in all 13 games and set a single-season school rushing record with 1,850 yards.

Iowa strong safety Tyler Sash — South Carolina was in a giving mood (five turnovers), and Sash capitalized with two interceptions, raising his season total to five. Sash, a redshirt freshman who became one of the team's top playmakers, picked off Stephen Garcia's first pass of the game and had interception returns of 45 and 29 yards.

Iowa cornerback Bradley Fletcher — The senior recorded an interception and a forced fumble in his final game in a Hawkeyes uniform. With Iowa up 14-0, Fletcher squashed any chance of a South Carolina rally by intercepting a Garcia pass in the end zone for a touchback. He also forced a fumble on South Carolina's first play of the second half.

Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman – He hadn't taken significant snaps since September but gave Ohio State a big lift in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl against Texas. The offense was sputtering until Boeckman found Brian Robiskie for a 48-yard completion on the first play of the fourth quarter. Boeckman later threw a touchdown to fellow quarterback Terrelle Pryor and nearly helped Ohio State to a big upset.

Ohio State's defense — Colt McCoy and Quan Cosby had the final word in Glendale, but Ohio State held the high-powered Texas offense well below its season scoring average. The Buckeyes racked up three sacks and nine tackles for loss and limited big plays until Cosby's 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left.

Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher — Bacher ended an up-and-down senior season with arguably his best performance in the Valero Alamo Bowl. He threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns against Missouri in a 30-23 overtime loss. Bacher threw only one interception and spread the ball well to his veteran targets.

Northwestern's senior wide receivers — Rasheed Ward, Ross Lane and Eric Peterman combined for 19 receptions, 261 yards and three touchdowns in the Alamo Bowl. All three had scoring receptions of 20 yards or longer, highlighted by Lane's circus catch in the back of the end zone late in the third quarter.

Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman – The Rose Bowl was a rough one for Penn State's defense, but Bowman certainly did his part with five tackles for loss and a sack. Bowman finished the season with 106 tackles and 16.5 tackles for loss. Next season he'll form the Big Ten's top linebacker tandem with Sean Lee.

Michigan State safety Otis Wiley – Wiley and his fellow defenders held Georgia to three first-half points in the Capital One Bowl and gave the Spartans offense a chance to create some distance on the scoreboard. Michigan State eventually caved against Matthew Stafford, but Wiley had a forced fumble and seven tackles to go along with 87 return yards in his final collegiate game.

Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker – Decker returned from knee surgery and an ankle injury to boost the Gophers in the Insight Bowl with eight receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown. The junior set Minnesota bowl records for receptions and receiving yards and will return in 2009 as one of the Big Ten's top targets.

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QB play is first step toward Big Ten fix

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

The Big Ten took a beating this bowl season, but rather than gripe about unfavorable locations and matchups, it’s time to acknowledge a fact about the league.

The quarterback position stinks.

And in this age of college football, that equals competitive suicide.

All it took was a look across the field during bowl season to realize how far the Big Ten must progress at the quarterback spot.

The list of quarterbacks the Big Ten faced included:

• Texas junior Colt McCoy, a Heisman Trophy finalist who ranks fourth nationally in pass efficiency, fifth in total offense and ninth in passing yards.
• USC junior Mark Sanchez, who ranks sixth nationally in pass efficiency and 20th in pass yards.
• Georgia junior Matthew Stafford, who ranks 15th nationally in pass efficiency and 14th in pass yards.
• Missouri senior Chase Daniel, who ranks fourth nationally in pass yards and fifth in total offense.
• Kansas junior Todd Reesing, who ranks eighth nationally in both passing yards and total offense.

Of the Big Ten quarterbacks competing in bowl games, only one, Penn State’s Daryll Clark, ranks among the top 25 nationally in pass efficiency (Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor did not qualify). Minnesota’s Adam Weber had the most passing yards (2,761), which ranks 35th nationally.

Granted, the Big Ten’s best statistical passer, Illinois’ Juice Williams, didn’t reach the postseason, but this league is losing the arms race.

The Big Ten had by far the best stable of running backs in the country this season, boasting three of the nation’s top six ball carriers (Shonn Greene, Javon Ringer, Chris “Beanie” Wells).

Who cares?

College football has become a quarterback’s game, and the Big Ten has fallen way behind. For the Big Ten to restore its place among the nation’s top conferences, the fix must begin under center. It takes more than adopting the spread offense, which most Big Ten teams have done. Quarterbacks must be better developed in this conference.

And despite the league’s sagging national reputation, there is hope.

The quarterback spot figures to be stronger in 2009 than it was in 2008.

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Cosby show goes out with style for Texas

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

	Kirby Lee/US Presswire
	Quan Cosby pulled in the winning 26-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds to play.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — They made it back to the team hotel Sunday minutes before curfew and headed straight for the water.

As Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and wide receivers Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley and Brandon Collins hopped back and forth between the hot and cold tubs, they began talking about the next day’s game.

“The night before a game, that’s all that’s on your mind really,” Shipley said. “We feel like it could always come down to a play like that.

Added Cosby: “People say, ‘I dreamed about it,’ and all that stuff. Everybody dreams about it. We talked about it [Sunday] night as we were sitting in ice, which wasn’t very fun.”

Cosby had plenty of fun Monday night as he lit up Ohio State’s defense for 171 receiving yards on 14 receptions, none more important than the last, a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds remaining. The score lifted Texas to a dramatic 24-21 win against Ohio State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and capped a stellar senior season for Cosby, who notched career highs in both receptions and yards in his final collegiate game.

The 5-11, 200-pound senior had three receptions on Texas’ game-winning drive, and he found a way to slip behind Ohio State defenders who employed an aggressive scheme but did an excellent job of keeping plays in front of them all night. The Buckeyes had prevented big plays with textbook tackling, but Cosby got free of safety Anderson Russell and leaped into the end zone.

	Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire
	Cosby torched Ohio State’s defense for 171 yards and 14 receptions.

“Quan is as good a football player as I’ve ever been around,” Shipley said. “He always seems to make plays. He just kind of slipped through. He caught a slant and just slipped off the tackle and then it was nothing but green grass from there.”

As he trotted off the field following Texas’ trophy presentation, Cosby was asked what he saw on the game’s decisive play.

“A touchdown,” he replied, smiling.

McCoy was named the Offensive Player of the Game, but the award easily could have gone to Cosby, who nearly broke free several times and set a Texas bowl record for receptions. Cosby became the first Texas receiver to eclipse 100 yards in a bowl game since Roy Williams in the 2003 Cotton Bowl against LSU.

“He is the MVP in my mind,” McCoy said. “On that last play when [Ohio State] brought everybody, he kind of said over and over, ‘If I catch the same look give me a slant behind the linebacker. If he comes, you just make that miss, we will score.’

“We had confidence in each other. We have done that all year long.”

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Cosby show goes out in style for Texas

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

GLENDALE, Ariz. — They made it back to the team hotel minutes before curfew and headed straight for the water.

As Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and wide receivers Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley and Brandon Collins hopped back and forth between the hot and cold tubs, they began talking about the next day’s game.

“The night before a game, that’s all that’s on your mind really,” Shipley said. “We feel like it could always come down to a play like that.

Added Cosby: “People say, ‘I dreamed about it,’ and all that stuff. Everybody dreams about it. We talked about it [Sunday] night as we were sitting in ice, which wasn’t very fun.”

Cosby had plenty of fun Monday night as he lit up Ohio State’s defense for 171 receiving yards on 14 receptions, none more important than the last, a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left. The score lifted Texas to a dramatic 24-21 win against Ohio State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and capped a stellar senior season for Cosby, who notched career highs in both receptions and yards in his final collegiate game. 

The 5-11, 200-pound senior had three receptions on Texas’ game-winning drive, and he found a way to slip behind Ohio State defenders who employed an aggressive scheme but did an excellent job of keeping plays in front of them all night. The Buckeyes had prevented big plays with textbook tackling, but Cosby got free of safety Anderson Russell and leaped into the end zone.

“Quan is as good a football player as I’ve ever been around,” Shipley said. “He always seems to make plays. He just kind of slipped through. He caught a slant and just slipped off the tackle and then it was nothing but green grass from there.”

As he trotted off the field following Texas’ trophy presentation, Cosby was asked what he saw on the game’s decisive play. 

“A touchdown,” he replied, smiling. 

McCoy was named the Offensive Player of the Game, but the award easily could have gone to Cosby, who nearly broke free several times and set a Texas bowl record for receptions. Cosby became the first Texas receiver to eclipse 100 yards in a bowl game since Roy Williams in the 2003 Cotton Bowl against LSU.

“He is the MVP in my mind,” McCoy said. “On that last play when [Ohio State] brought everybody, he kind of said over and over, ‘If I catch the same look give me a slant behind the linebacker. If he comes, you just make that miss, we will score.’

“We had confidence in each other. We have done that all year long.”

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Final: Texas 24, Ohio State 21

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Texas needed one final push against a staunch Ohio State defense that had kept Longhorns receivers in front of it all game.

The Longhorns got it from wideout Quan Cosby, who wriggled free of Ohio State safety Anderson Russell and sprinted to the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left. Quarterback Colt McCoy led a masterful drive, as Texas marched 78 yards in 11 plays without using a timeout. Cosby had a huge performance in his final game in a Longhorns uniform.

Though Texas failed to make the statement it needed for split national title, the favored Longhorns survived to notch their fifth straight bowl victory and third in a BCS game.

Ohio State mounted an impressive fourth quarter comeback behind quarterbacks Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor, who hooked up for a touchdown with 7:26 left. The Buckeyes’ ground attack secured the lead despite a hamstring injury to Chris Wells, but a defense that has stepped up all game couldn’t get the final stop.

The Buckeyes weren’t embarrassed like the last two seasons and had control for most of the game, but they ended up dropping their third consecutive postseason contest. The Big Ten did absolutely nothing to improve its national reputation after a 1-6 bowl record, arguably the worst postseason performance in league history. The league has lost six consecutive BCS bowls.

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3Q update: Texas 17, Ohio State 6

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Texas finally established the run, and the Longhorns have taken total control of this game.

After finishing the first half with minus-9 net rushing yards, Texas ignited its ground game on two touchdown drives. Fozzy Whittaker, who had no carries in the first half, had four touches in the quarter, and star quarterback Colt McCoy started using his legs to make plays. Chris Ogbonnaya also is finding some gaps in the Buckeyes’ defense.

Ohio State’s defense looks exhausted despite an admirable performance. Texas used a fast pace to march 85 yards to the end zone, as McCoy and his wideouts continue to build a nice rhythm. The Longhorns had 14 first downs in the quarter, while the Buckeyes couldn’t move the chains once.

The missed opportunities in the first half are coming back to haunt Ohio State, which can’t get anything going. Some odd play-calling and an inability to get Terrelle Pryor running room are dooming the Buckeyes, who ran only 10 plays in the quarter. Chris “Beanie” Wells has been silent since halftime.

After a sluggish first half, Texas opened the second half the way it needed to, with an 80-yard scoring drive. It took a fake punt, another fourth down conversion and two third-and-long conversions, but the Longhorns broke through.

Ohio State continued to help out with three more penalties. Cornerback Chimdi Chekwa was flagged for an obvious pass interference foul, and defensive end Thad Gibson got hit with his second personal foul for a blow to McCoy’s head.

Good news on Ohio State special teams stud Shaun Lane, who had to be carted off in the second quarter after sustaining an injury on kickoff coverage. Lane was taken to a local hospital but has movement in all of his limbs.

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Halftime update: Ohio State 6, Texas 3

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Ohio State survived the dreaded second quarter without major damage, but the Buckeyes should be ahead by more than three points.

Jim Tressel’s team has executed its game plan against a favored Texas squad boasting the nation’s fourth-highest scoring offense (43.9 points per game). Ohio State has dominated possession time (17:19 vs. 12:14), established a run game with Chris “Beanie” Wells (96 rushing yards) and Terrelle Pryor (42 rushing yards) and put consistent pressure on Colt McCoy.

But will it be enough?

Despite a heroic performance by the defense, Ohio State managed only two field goals. Five penalties and lack of execution — dropped passes, Pryor running out of bounds too soon — have prevented the Buckeyes from reaching the end zone. An offense that at times relied solely on big plays can’t seem to hit the home run against Texas. Ohio State has run 22 plays in Longhorns territory and scored only six points. Not good enough.

But Pryor has been able to find room around the edges, and Ohio State should emphasize outside runs in the second half.

Texas simply needs to run the ball. The Longhorns finished the first half with minus-9 rushing yards and only 10 net yards by running backs Chris Ogbonnaya and Cody Johnson. McCoy has been efficient (20 of 27 passing) but threw an interception near the goal line with three seconds left, preventing a game-tying field-goal attempt.

Both defensive lines are getting pressure, but Ohio State’s front has been more impressive. Thad Gibson and Doug Worthington both have sacks, and McCoy is constantly under duress. But Quad Cosby and the Texas wideouts are making plays, and it’s only a matter of time before the Longhorns find the end zone.

On the health front, Ohio State lost special teams standout Shaun Lane to an apparent shoulder injury on kickoff coverage with 5:34 left. There’s no update on Lane yet, but it’s safe to say he won’t be back tonight after being carted off.
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1Q update: Ohio State 3, Texas 0

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Once again, Ohio State has an early lead in a big game.

Can the Buckeyes hold it?

The second quarter has doomed Ohio State in recent showcase games and will be crucial against Texas, which is showing some life on offense. Colt McCoy and the Longhorns have accelerated their pace on offense and marched inside Buckeyes’ territory after two punts.

Ohio State has controlled the tempo so far, though the Buckeyes don’t have much to show for it.

They didn’t waste any time unveiling their much-discussed two quarterback plan.

Senior Todd Boeckman took the game’s first snap with Terrelle Pryor lined up wide and found Brian Robiskie for a 17-yard gain. Boeckman left the field but re-entered three plays later and threw a beautiful deep fade that Robiskie dropped. The veteran seems on his game and could be a weapon later in the game.

Ohio State has moved the ball decently, but pass-protection problems are already surfacing. Texas All-American rush end Brian Orakpo is schooling Buckeyes left tackle Alex Boone, and Pryor took a sack that nearly took the team out field-goal range.

Pryor looks decent so far, though twice he has curiously run out of bounds when he easily could have gained more yards.

Ohio State was outscored 55-7 in the second quarter in its two national championship game losses and a Sept. 13 setback at USC.

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