Ronnell Lewis (Remember the name)

Wow! What a hit! A big time special teams play could energize an entire team and motivate them to play with heart and determination. While watching the Sun Bowl today between Stanford and Oklahoma I saw one of the best special teams hits I have ever seen. It was reminiscent of Colts' Darrell Reid's explosion on Chris Henry of the Titans in 2007. True Freshman linebacker Ronnell Lewis, Oklahoma, ran downfield unblocked and unloaded on the Stanford returnman like a freight train. He did not slow down to make the hit, instead he bulled him over and ran right through him. Then on that same Stanford possession their RB Toby Gerhart ran through multiple tackles and was on his way to the endzone when Lewis hustled back and performed a textbook strip move as he punched the football out of Gerhart's arm causing a fumble in the endzone. Then, later in the game the Stanford FB ran a delay curl route and a poorly thrown ball caused his to stretch out unbalanced right as Lewis unloaded on his back right between the numbers. It was his second vicious hit of the game as the fullback's head snapped back when he went to the ground. What a tremendous hit by Lewis to explode into the receiver. Remember this kid's name. He is only a true freshman, but has the looks of a dominate linebacker for the next few years in college football. I think he will be playing on Sundays and quite possibly could be a 1st round pick on his way there. Keep an eye on Ronnell Lewis.

Florida Citrus Bowl Field is a disgrace

For whoever watched the Miami (Fl.) vs. Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl is was undeniable to notice the fact that the sod on the field was defective and dysfunctional for a football game. The most unfortunate player on the field was Miami game-breaker Graig Cooper. On the play he was returning a kick and while running through a hole up the field went to cut inside and saw his knee collapse just like the ground he planted his foot into. His right foot pushed up about a foot of useless sod when he planted it into the sloppy field. Instead of getting the anticipated push off from a solidified ground Cooper sadly mistrusted the soft sod of the field and as a result he received a terrible knee injury. His game was done, season was done and according to AP reports his 2010 campaign is done as well. An injury that serious most definitely means a torn ACL and possibly a torn MCL too. Cooper is a integral part of the Hurricanes backfield and is a heck of a football player. He displayed tremendous athletic ability and speed early in the 1st quarter of the game when he bounced outside and got into the endzone for a Miami touchdown. He was a big part of the team's plan for the game and when he went down so did his team's offense. Without him they had to rely on the arm of Jacory Harris and the Wisconsin defensive line knew it. They pinned their ears back and went after his all game long beating his up in the pocket. He also injured his knee during the game due to the field and the ruthlessness of the monsters in red. The Hurricanes started the game two-dimensional, then become one-dimensional when Cooper got hurt and then became no dimensional when Harris started taking a beating behind center. Any football fan feels for Graig Cooper because no one wants to see anyone go through that kind of pain. Hopefully he will recover quickly and be ready to dominate college football during his senior season in 2011. Also, for the safety of the players and the fairness of competition lets hope the people involved with the field care at the Florida Citrus Bowl field figure out a better way to take care of the surface so we can avoid these terrible injuries in games to come.