- Between 1st round flame-outs from the Stars and the Mavs and the Rangers sucking once again, football season is finally here to rescue us from a crap summer. No matter what the calendar says, it's now autumn. I quote the great Ron Franklin's intro to the football season, "the leaves have turned."
- Kevin Millwood not terrible last night, but not great either. He continues a very ordinary season last night. Rangers lose, 4-3.
Rangers seek more from ace in 6-3 loss
01:17 AM CDT on Thursday, August 9, 2007
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – When his night was done and his jersey soaked Wednesday, Kevin Millwood had given the Rangers six innings. He had allowed Oakland three runs and left with the score tied at three.
That meets the minimum qualifications for a quality start.
But Millwood's job description is to be the Rangers' ace, and clubs need more than the minimum from their ace. Millwood has rarely has seen the seventh inning this season. Because he didn't Wednesday, the Rangers had to go to unproven relievers with the game on the line, and Oakland took advantage in a 6-3 win over Texas.
After some slip-ups in the second and third, Millwood steadied himself enough to fight through six innings. His strikeouts of Marco Scutaro and Donnie Murphy to end the sixth pushed his pitch count to 107, an exhausting total on a night when the game-time temperature was 94 degrees.
"He got us deep into the game, and when he left we still were in the game," manager Ron Washington said. "That's what you want from a starter. Sometimes, you'd like a guy to go seven or eight innings, but by the time he got through the sixth, he had more than 100 pitches, and it was hot out there."
Regardless of temperature, Millwood has struggled to give the Rangers the kind of innings they need from their top starter. He has pitched more than six innings just twice in 21 starts this season.
Compare that with the first nine full seasons of his career. In those seasons, including one where he was limited to 21 starts by injury, Millwood averaged 15 starts per season of more than six innings. Last year, he pitched into the seventh in 17 of his 34 starts for Texas. Even in the injury-plagued 2001 season, he went more than six in seven of his 21 starts.
Millwood's two longest outings – one of eight innings and one of seven, both against the Los Angeles Angels – came 10 days apart. Subtract that three-start stretch, and Millwood is just 2-9 with a 6.87 ERA.
For the season, Millwood, who missed a month with a hamstring injury, has averaged just 5 1/3 innings per start. That's No. 5 starter material.
Millwood, who battled an upper respiratory infection last week, acknowledged the season has been a struggle for him, but he said he has made some adjustments that should allow him to go deeper into games over the final seven weeks of the season. The biggest change is moving from the third-base side of the rubber to the first-base side. Millwood said it helped "free up" his arm. He was still hitting 94 mph with his fastball in the sixth.
"I like to go deep every time out, but physically and mentally, this season has been a struggle to stay consistent," Millwood said. "I think tonight was a pretty big step forward. Hopefully, the rest of the way, I'll be able to go deeper and deeper into games. Next time, I want to be better than I was today."
When Millwood ran out of gas, the Rangers turned to lefty A.J. Murray. He surrendered a homer to No. 9 hitter Rob Bowen on his fourth pitch. An inning later, Wes Littleton surrendered a two-run homer to Bowen.
Had Millwood been able to give the Rangers seven or eight innings, manager Ron Washington might have been able to better deploy his bullpen.
Instead, he had to ask the relievers to go a little harder and a little longer – that's what the Rangers need from their No. 1 starter on more than the rarest of occasions.
- Nebraska news/notes
- O-line slowly but surely creeping back to respectability.
NU Football: Deep offensive line sees strength in numbers
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — Dennis Wagner nods his head before the question is even complete.
Is this the kind of depth and balance Nebraska needed back in 2004, when you took over as coach of the offensive line?
"Now, finally, we're in a situation where we should be," Wagner said. "It's what you expect."
Debate all you'd like about other areas of the NU football team as the Huskers progress through the first week of preseason practice. There's no argument about the offensive line: This group is more complete than any unit at the school in several years.
Exhibit A is standing in the corner of the Hawks Center on a recent evening after practice. Keith Williams and D.J. Jones pass the eyeball test better than any pair of freshman linemates in years, perhaps ever, at Nebraska.
Williams, a guard from Florissant, Mo., and Jones, a tackle out of Omaha Central, are both rock solid at 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds. Both redshirted last season. It's a luxury Nebraska has not enjoyed much lately, but one that laid the foundation for line dominance at NU when Wagner watched from afar 10 years ago as coach at Division II Wayne State.
Throw in redshirt freshman tackle Mike Smith, a 6-6, 290-pound converted defensive lineman, and the Huskers are stacked with imposing young linemen set to contribute as part of a 10- or 11-man rotation next month.
"Those guys got the year that I didn't get to have," junior Matt Slauson said. "Just to practice, get smarter and stronger, it's a big thing. There were times for me when I didn't know what I was doing. I was all over the place. Keith and D.J. and Mike Smith, they have a great advantage. All those guys are going to be great players."
In recent years, Wagner said, the Huskers "had good kids, just not enough of them."
"When we had an injury, we couldn't compete because of the numbers we had behind them," the fourth-year Nebraska assistant said. "We have three more true freshmen this year, and they want to compete. But hopefully they can redshirt. And then a year from now, they'll really be a factor."
Slauson started three games in 2005 as a true freshman. He played both tackle positions before settling this fall as the projected starter at right guard.
Williams serves as his backup. Jones is playing behind junior Lydon Murtha at right tackle. Smith is a reserve at left tackle, where senior Carl Nicks is set to start.
"Last year, I wanted to play," Jones said, "but I wasn't ready. I'd never sat on the bench before. I needed that year to sit back. Right now, practice is so much more smooth because I sat out that year."
Jones, regarded as the top prep prospect out of Nebraska in 2005, has bulked up considerably during the past 12 months. He said he's made big gains in the weight room. Just as important for his development, he has remained focused on one position.
That's not the case with Smith, who arrived in Lincoln as a 250-pound defensive end with aspirations to play football and baseball after his dual-sport high school career in Las Vegas as a defensive lineman, tight end and power-hitting first baseman.
As he gained weight, Smith shifted to defensive tackle in practice last fall. Then after the season, as he considered joining Mike Anderson's baseball team, Smith got word from coach Bill Callahan that the football staff wanted him to move to offensive tackle in spring practice.
So much for baseball.
"It's been only 17 practices on offense, but it seems like a lot more than that," Smith said. "I'm so glad I got to have last spring, or I would be just like a new guy coming in. Now that I've studied real hard through the spring and summer, I feel like I'm ready to help."
Williams may be the most ready to help among the youngsters.
He played extensively with the No. 1 offense during spring practice in March and April as guards Andy Christensen and Mike Huff recovered from injuries.
Last year, the intensity of the Huskers' summer conditioning drills caught Williams by surprise. He said he was prepared this time around.
"It still wasn't easy. But it helps," he said. "I feel like sitting out that year, it helped a lot. Every freshman's dream is to play. You come into a situation and you want to be the best. So every day, you're out there trying. But I knew when I was doing it that (redshirting) would help me."
Wagner's sentiments exactly.
"We're in a spot where we want to have 11 guys ready to play," he said. "That gives you competition in practice. And with our system and the verbiage, it just makes them more acquainted with what's going on.
"I have no problem with (Williams, Jones and Smith) playing. As far as understanding our offense, they've got that. I'd be disappointed if all three of them didn't make the travel team."
- Another mohawk sighting, this time it's Terrence Nunn.
- The NoTex Rant Top 25
#25 - Missouri
#24 - Hawaii
#23 - Oklahoma St.
#22 - Alabama
Playtime is over at Alabama.
Oh sure, it's been fun to poke the legend of the Bear and the Tide program for the last few seasons, given the coaching fiascos of Dennis Franchione bolting to Texas A&M and the bizarre issues with Mike DuBose and Mike Price. Now things have gotten serious with the hiring of Nick Saban, and for Tide fans who think their program is among the elite of the elite, it's time to start winning SEC titles again.
It's not like Alabama was bad under Mike Shula, but there was a sense that things were slipping a bit, even if some rebuilding was needed after going 10-2 in 2005 and winning the Cotton Bowl. In 2006, Florida won the national title, LSU firmly entrenched itself as a superpower, and Arkansas (freakin' Arkansas!) won the SEC West. All that might have been forgivable ... if the Tide hadn't lost to Auburn for a fifth straight season.
So how fast can Saban turn things around? While the team will be far better, thanks to a more experienced offense, a better line and a Saban-type defense that should quickly become one of the SEC's nastiest, it's not like the rest of the league got worse. Florida, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and yes, even Auburn, are all as good, if not better, and as South Carolina has shown over the last two seasons, just having a superior coach doesn't mean the best conference in America is going to start quaking.
Instead of seeing Saban as an instant savior, consider him the spark that might set off the explosion. Even the most impatient of Bama fans know it might take a year to get the Tide rolling again. Come 2008, when the offense will be full of seniors, the defense will have had a year under Saban, and a shockingly good, brought-together-at-the-last-second recruiting class will have had time to get its feet wet, Alabama might actually beat Auburn again.
What to watch for on offense: Air Tide. Hurt by a young line that didn't provide any room for the running game to move, Alabama ended up going to the passing attack more often than anyone might have liked. For all the rocky times and inconsistencies, last year allowed John Parker Wilson to get a good first look at what life as an SEC starter is like. With D.J. Hall and Keith Brown (two of the SEC's most unappreciated receivers) as targets, Bama should be able to bomb away with anyone in the conference.
What to watch for on defense: Aggressiveness to the nth degree. Every defense likes to attack, and last year's Tide defense was no different. But it didn't get the play from the line it needed to be effective. There was no pass rush, and little consistent push into the backfield. That won't happen under Saban, who was a master at bringing out the best in the front fours at LSU, and should get Tide rushers behind the line early and often. Which is why ...
The team will be far better if ... it sacks somebody. Thirteen sacks and 55 tackles for loss. That's not exactly the type of defensive play the Tide was looking for from the defensive front last year, so job one for Saban and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be to make sure those numbers double, if not triple. A move from a 4-3 to a 3-4 will try to make that happen.
The Schedule: If the Tide can roll at home, it'll be a great season. The three SEC road games before the season finale at Auburn are as easy as can be, against Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. There's a neutral site date with Florida State in Jacksonville to save the non-conference slate from being considered a total joke. The real excitement is over the home slate, which features Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU in SEC play.
Best Offensive Player: Sophomore OT Andre Smith. At 6-4 and 348 pounds, he's a huge body at left tackle, and he's living up to every bit of the hype. Considered by some to be the No. 1 recruit in America last year, he stepped in and was a rock from day one. Several NFL teams would love to have him right now.
Best Defensive Player: Senior CB Simeon Castille. The centerpiece of the Tide defense, Castille will erase one side of the field and be the first player most quarterbacks look for when they step up to the line. He's big, has a nose for the ball, and is good at getting into the backfield when needed.
Key players to a successful season: Senior DEs Wallace Gilberry and junior Bobby Greenwood. Steady pressure into the backfield has to start coming from the ends, so the coaching staff doesn't have to get cute and send in the linebackers. The ends have the size and quickness to get into the backfield, but now they have to do a better job of closing. They also have to figure out what they're doing. The new defense isn't rocket science, but it'll take time to figure out the overall roles.
The season will be a success if ... The Tide wins nine games. It's not going to be easy considering all the tough games, but almost all are at home. If they can pull out a win over Florida State, they'll have four wins alone from the non-conference schedule. Anything less than 5-3 in SEC play will be considered a major disappointment.
Key game: Nov. 24 at Auburn. It's easy to point to the rivalry game with Tennessee, the Saban showdown with LSU, or even the interesting battle against Florida State as showcase games. But after losing five straight to that "cow college," Saban has to turn the tide in the Iron Bowl series to show that things really have changed under the new regime.
2006 Fun Stats:
Alabama points allowed by quarter: 1st 44, 2nd 102, 3rd 46, 4th 48
Penalties: Opponents 90 for 732 yards; Alabama 78 for 557 yards
Sacks: Opponents 28 for 204 yards; Alabama 13 for 100 yards
Alabama Crimson Tide
Team Information
Head coach: Nick Saban
1st year at Alabama
12th year overall: 91-42-1
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 20, Def. 24, ST 3
Lettermen Lost: 17
Ten Best Players
1. OT Andre Smith, Soph.
2. CB Simeon Castille, Sr.
3. WR D.J. Hall, Sr.
4. LB Prince Hall, Soph.
5. QB John Parker Wilson, Jr.
6. WR Keith Brown, Sr.
7. OG Justin Britt, Sr.
8. DE Wallace Gilberry, Sr.
9. DE Bobby Greenwood, Jr.
10. C Antoine Caldwell, Jr.
2007 Schedule
Sept. 1 Western Carolina
Sept. 8 at Vanderbilt
Sept. 15 Arkansas
Sept. 22 Georgia
Sept. 29 Florida St (in Jax)
Oct. 6 Houston
Oct. 13 at Ole Miss
Oct. 20 Tennessee
Nov. 3 LSU
Nov. 10 at Miss State
Nov. 17 UL Monroe
Nov. 24 at Auburn
- Picks O'the day
Yesterday - 3-1
YTD - 107-90
1) Atlanta +105 - Hudson pitching very well this season (2-0 with a 1.19 ERA in his last 3 starts) and Atlanta is scoring a lot of runs as well.
2) Arizona -140 - I'm going with Arizona until they stop playing well.
3) Baltimore -130 - Cabrera throwing well in his last 3, 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA.
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