Spotlight #1: South Carolina DE Devin Taylor

Spotlight #2: Arkansas S Tramain Thomas 

1^st quarter

13:54: Taylor double teamed and knocked down. Pancaked.

13:43: Taylor run at, little gain in a pile.

13:10: Taylor blows past his man, Wilson steps up in the pocket and does a nice job of still completing it.

12:37: Taylor been on the left side all game, double teamed and blocked here for a long time, eventually able to get free with a good spin, but nothing comes of it.

8:12: Taylor beats his man with a spin, Wilson under pressure by multiple guys goes the other way, Taylor does a good job of chasing him across the field. Nothing comes of it, but good motor.

5:43: Thomas with an open field tackle after a short catch by the back.

3:41: Thomas is one of 4 of 5 Arkansas players that combine to take down Alshon Jeffery in the open field. Powerful run after the catch.

2:20: Dennis Johnson with a kick return touchdown. Just a junior, but an awesome return man and a good back in place of the injured Knile Davis.

0:40: Jake Bequette almost has a sack. He’s been dominant here in the 1^st quarter.

2^nd quarter

13:36: Taylor gets some pressure.

13:12: Taylor gets into the backfield, gets some pressure, stays with it, in position when a teammate hits the quarterback and Wilson forces it out, right into the hands of Taylor, who shows great hands and instincts as well as athleticism to return it for 6.

12:52: Jarius Wright, opposite Stephon Gilmore, gets a long quick strike touchdown, 68 yards. First play of 40+ allowed all season by South Carolina.

10:50: Bequette with a good spin move to force the quarterback to flush to pocket for a small gain on the ground.

9:00: Shaw is doing a really poor job of getting the ball to Jeffery once again, doesn’t see him open and tries forcing it into double coverage instead. Jeffery also playing hurt.

5:50: Melvin Ingram with good hustle play to chase the scrambling quarterback down from behind, short of the sticks on 3^rd down.

4:11: Jarius Wright with his 2^nd touchdown of the game, both out of the slot.

3:26: Bequette continues his dominant night, this time actually gets to the quarterback for a sack.

0:42: Devin Taylor uses his long arms well with a spin move. He does play tall.

0:08: Arkansas almost had another touchdown in the slot, not Wright this time, dropped.

 

3^rd quarter

14:09: Thomas one of two covering Alshon Jeffery, good double coverage, not the best throw, incomplete.

13:50: Jeffery doesn’t have a ton of production, but still making an impact. Here he is double teamed, allowing the back to be open underneath on 3^rd and long and then an awesome job blocking to help propel the back to the first.

12:39: Thomas in on a tackle on a run up the middle for a gain of 6 or so.

11:20: Bequette gets more pressure, continuing his dominant night, unfortunately, he accidentally roughs the passer. 15 yards. Bad hit, helmet to helmet and late. Gotta clean that up.

10:57: Thomas one of two on Jeffery in the end zone. Jeffery can’t win the jump ball because he slipped. It’s been another mixed bag for him.

10:37: Gilmore allows a 6 yard catch.

9:40: Joe Adams with a big catch, not matched up with Stephon Gilmore.

8:39: Wright drops a slight inaccurate ball near the goal line with Gilmore draped all over him.

8:34: Gilmore almost gets an end zone pick, jumped the slant, couldn’t quite complete the play, not covering Wright or Adams.

8:01: Gilmore thrown on again, allows short catch, makes a nice tackle, forces field goal. Nice series by him in the end zone.

7:42: Tramain Thomas with good instincts on an end around to blow up a well executed play for a gain of just 3, huge hit on the play as well, big, clean hit.

5:51: Thomas gets in on a tackle after a decent sized run. Good job to fight for the ball after the ball, but ruled down.

5:08: Jerry Franklin gets a fumble recovery here on a botched handoff.

3:55: Taylor using those long arms and 6-7 frame to deflect the ball, good instincts.

3:47: Taylor with a tackle for loss or no gain in the backfield, power back does push him a bit after initial contact, but it was still a solo tackle for loss and a nice play.

2:23: Devin Taylor doesn’t bite on a play fake, doesn’t get juked out by the quarterback and completes the sack.

2:07: Arkansas receivers have had drop problems all night, including two would be touchdowns. Wright drops his 1^st here.

1:45: Gilmore allows a short catch to Greg Childs, but stops him short of the first on 3^rd down, forces field goal.

1:04: Thomas allows a 6 yard catch to Jeffery over the middle, one on one.

4^th quarter

14:16: South Carolina receiver drops a pass over the middle with Thomas closing on him.

13:06: South Carolina takes a shot deep, incomplete, biggest play of the night has been 12 yards.

11:51: Thomas off balanced and run over in the open field for South Carolina’s biggest play of the game, 23 yards by the back. Back was open because of Jeffery drawing yet another double deep.

11:09: Thomas with a good nose for the ball and good form on a quarterback run for 7 that could have been longer. Redeemed himself.

10:40: Thomas just barely whiffs in the open field after disengaging from a block. Would have been a tough play.

7:54: Ball forced to Jeffery, linebacker undercuts the route for a pick, Thomas in coverage tight with Jeffery once again as well.

6:25: Taylor bites on play action, tries to tackle back in the backfield.

6:22: Taylor run at in the red zone on 4^th and short, gets penetration and a tackle for loss. Clutch play.

5:42: Jeffery has a big catch deep, 23 yards, wiped out by holding.

5:17: Bequette with a sack and a forced fumble. This is the dagger. Quarterback hurt too, pure speed rush, but then powerful hit.

0:00: Probably the highest draft pick in this game was South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery looked like a top 5 pick coming into the season after a sophomore year in which he caught 88 passes for 1517 yards and 9 touchdowns. However, the 6-4 Jeffery has really regressed this season, at least statistically, to the point where some are even wondering if he deserves to be a top 15 pick. On the season, Jeffery has 45 catches for 614 yards and 7 touchdowns, though you can blame a lot of that on poor quarterback play.

Jeffery had yet another statistically unimpressive game in this one with 3 catches for 19 yards, though he did have a 23 yard catch wiped out by a penalty. He was double teamed all night and the safety helping double him was no slouch himself, Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas a potential day 2 pick whose stock is rising in my book at this point. Jeffery’s constant doubles helped open things up for other guys short, but they didn’t help his numbers. Jeffery needs to do a better job of getting open against double teams and fighting for the ball in jump ball situations in tight coverage. On one play in the end zone, he was well covered yes, but elite receiver makes that catch. Jeffery didn’t even give a very good effort. He also seems to lack elite speed downfield and there are rumors he’s out of shape.

Of course, South Carolina’s quarterback play isn’t helping him. South Carolina only has 180 completions for 2129 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season, and Jeffery does have a good chunk of that. In this one, they were 16 of 25 for 128 yards and 1 pick, but those numbers don’t say everything. Jeffery was not targeted open on several occasions and Shaw refused to take shots downfield. South Carolina only had 2 plays of 20+ yards on the game (not counting Jeffery’s 23 yard completion wiped out by penalty), and Jeffery was involved on one of them, tying up coverage deep. He was also involved on another sizeable gain tying up coverage deep on a check down and then doing a great job blocking. The 6-4 230 Jeffery is an excellent blocker.

Overall, it was another mixed bag for Jeffery. He should have had better numbers, but he needs to do a better job getting open against double teams and fighting for the ball when targeted against tight coverage. Tramain Thomas was run over on South Carolina’s biggest play of the game, a 23 yard check down to the back, but overall had a great game with 11 tackles. On the season, the 6-1 205 Thomas has 87 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 5 picks, and 6 deflections. He’s having a great season and had yet another great game here, especially in coverage on Jeffery. He’s also part of the reason why South Carolina didn’t complete a play longer than 23. A safety’s job is to prevent deep plays and South Carolina had almost none of them in this one, though part of that is for lack of trying. Thomas looks like a late day 2 pick in my book.

Thomas isn’t Arkansas’ only pro prospect on defense. Jerry Franklin didn’t have the best game and didn’t show up a lot, but he had a fumble recovery and generally should remain as a mid round pick. Defensive end Jake Bequette had 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble and easily could have had 4 sacks. He was matched up with a red shirt freshman right tackle, so not the toughest matchup, but South Carolina had to bench their right tackle midgame and switch to another player, who didn’t have any better luck.

The 6-5 270 pound Bequette looks like a left end at the next level with equal ability against the run and the pass. Despite injuries, Bequette has 25 tackles, 8.5 for loss, and 8 sacks on the season. He plays with a great motor, but has a tendency to overpursue and be too aggressive, as was seen on a play action bite and a personal foul penalty for roughing the passer.

Arkansas also had plenty of talent on offense with 3 great receivers in Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, and Greg Childs and Tyler Wilson throwing to them, though Wilson, the 1^st year starter, redshirt junior is likely not going to be a draft prospect until 2013. Wilson had a good game against a good South Carolina defense, going 20 of 37 for 299 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a pick, in spite of a bunch of drops by his receivers, including a couple of would be touchdowns. Of the big 3 at receiver, only Wright was responsible for a drop, though he did uncharacteristic drop a touchdown and had another tough ball go off his hands near the end zone. He needs to catch that.

Wright definitely made up for it with 4 catches for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns, lining up primarily in the slot. The slot seems like where he’s destined to play in the NFL and the normally sure handed 5-10 180 pound receiver looks like a mid round pick after 63 catches for 1029 yards and 11 touchdowns. Joe Adams, meanwhile, had 4 catches for 63 yards, while Greg Childs had just one 11 catch against prevent defense on 3^rd and long, to force a field goal. He’s obviously not all the way back from injury yet.

South Carolina cornerback Stephon Gilmore is a potential first round pick and despite all the numbers Arkansas had passing in this one, Gilmore was rarely responsible for the catches. Wright burned them in the slot, especially on one 68 yard reception for a touchdown that was the first play longer than 40 yards South Carolina had allowed on the season. Wright was matched up with Antonio Allen’s replacement. Allen, a mid rounder at safety, could see a stock increase by not playing with an injury because South Carolina’s defense was significantly more susceptible to the deep pass without him out there. South Carolina is lucky Arkansas’ receivers had trouble with drops.

But back to Gilmore, he held Wright in check when Wright was split out wide against him. He also held Adams and Childs in check. Gilmore allowed 3 catches in the game, for very little damage, including two short of the sticks on 3^rd down, forcing field goals, and a 6 yarder to Joe Adams. He had one great sequence in which he was targeted 3 times in a row on the goal line and forced a drop (though Wright probably should have caught it), a near pick, and a reception short. Other than that, Arkansas stayed away from him and had most of their production away from him. The 6-1 195 junior Gilmore is a great athlete and a 3 year starter who is having another fantastic year after being an All-American 3^rd teamer in 2010. In 2011, he has 41 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 3 picks, and 7 deflections. He’s a fringe 1^st rounder.

Finally, South Carolina has two great draft eligible defensive end (and an awesome true freshman, but we’ll save him for a couple of years). Melvin Ingram has been the most productive this season splitting time between tackle and end with 44 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 2 picks, and 2 deflections, but he was the quieter of the two ends in this one, though he had one great hustle play to chase down the quarterback from behind on a scramble short of the sticks on 3^rd down.

Taylor was the spotlight and he really stood out. He had a sack, a pick, and a deflection and generally wreaked havoc. Arkansas didn’t have an answer for him out there. He even had some success against double teams. The 6-7 260 pound end is a great athlete with long arms and he knows how to use them. He hasn’t had the best season with 37 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 5 sacks, 1 pick, and 2 deflections and he does play a bit high, but he had an awesome great here and definitely flashes. Given that and his athleticism and measurables, he could still go in the 2^nd round if he declares, though he’s probably best serving returning as a senior and trying to get into the first with a good season.