All-American Bowl: Whose stock is on the move after Saturday
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SAN ANTONIO – The scoreboard lit up as records fell in the 19th edition of the All-American Bowl on Saturday. The East dominated the West by a final score of 48-14, led by several standout performances on the offensive side of the football.
STOCK UP
Brooks made our stock up report after Thursday’s practice when he made plays all over the field, and that’s exactly what the future LSU linebacker did during Saturday’s game. Brooks led all players with seven tackles, three more than the next best. He recorded a sack of quarterback Sam Howell in the first half, though Howell was able to escape Brooks’ grasp on a second half touchdown run. Overall it was a strong week from Brooks, who is an elite athlete for the linebacker position.
This game performance would not have been projected based on Blalock’s week of practice. He did not show the explosiveness of other receivers and had several drops, but when the bright lights came on the future Georgia Bulldog was ready to showcase his best stuff. His two first quarter touchdowns with both great individual plays complemented by good passes, and he would come back to throw his own touchdown pass later in the game.
Cross has made regular appearances on this list the entire week of practices, so it is fitting he caps it off with a fine performance in the game. The 425 total yards of offense and 48 points posted by the East in Saturday’s win required some good efforts up front, and Cross stood out as a key asset in keeping his quarterback’s upright and able to throw down the field. Mississippi State has itself the ideal left tackle prospect in Cross, who is tall and lean and athletic.
After a good week of practice, Cross showed up big time in Saturday’s game. The Florida State commit was all over the field and denied deep throws on play-after-play registering several pass break ups. Cross has the range to track down sideline passes and the size to separate receivers from the football, as he did on a couple of occasions on Saturday. Cross capped his big day with an interception of Ryan Hilinksi and a subsequent 84-yard return to set up an East touchdown.
The West defense got lit up for 48 points on Saturday, but the fault was not Jackson’s. The USC signee had an outstanding week of practice and carried that effort over to the game, recording the second-most tackles on the West team which included a pair of sacks. Jackson’s size/speed combination caused problems for offensive tackles throughout the week, and the right side of the East offensive line could not figure out that puzzle in Saturday’s contest.
Mertz had the All-American Bowl record for touchdown passes in a game early in the second quarter when he connected with Jadon Haselwood for his third scoring toss after checking into the play when he saw single coverage. But, Mertz did not stop there. In the fourth quarter he found Cornelius Johnson twice for scoring strikes, finishing with five total touchdown passes and 188 passing yards for the game. The future Wisconsin Badger earned game MVP honors for his play.
Throughout the week of practice it was obvious Robinson was going to have a key role in Saturday’s game with the play designs the coaching staff set up for the future Nebraska Cornhusker. Right off the bat Robinson made his impact felt, returning the opening kickoff out to the 37-yard line and then tucking and running for five yards on the game’s first offensive play after an attempted double-pass that broke down. Robinson would finish the game with four receptions for 91 yards.
We did not write many words about Smith during the week of practices, but he stepped up in Saturday’s game with several impressive tackles. Cornerbacks are not usually known as big hitters, but Smith made one of the biggest hits of the game when he separated the football from tight end Austin Stogner, who outweighs Smith by more than 50 pounds. The South Carolina signee was all over the field on Saturday and stepped up when the lights came on.
Smith was the most intense competitor we encountered this week, so it was no surprise to see his stuff the stat sheet on Saturday. He tied for the team lead in tackles with four total for the game, but two of those occurred behind the line of scrimmage, including a sack of Ryan Hilinski in the first half. From a size standpoint Smith is caught between linebacker and defensive end, but calling him a “tweener” is not completely accurate because he is a five-star at either position.
Coming into the week Wilson was one of the prospects we had our eye on as a possible five-star contender. The future Ohio State Buckeye had a really quiet week of practices, though, before saving his best for last. Wilson made two exceptional touchdown catches to account for the West team’s only scores of the day. He elevated over a future Big Ten foe in Indiana’s Tiawan Mullen for both of his acrobatic receptions.
STOCK DOWN
It was a difficult day for linemen on both teams, as sacks, quarterback hurries and tackles behind the line of scrimmage were plentiful. That Brown was among the linemen who struggled the most Saturday is surprising considering his play had been gradually improving throughout the course of the week, even registering on the stock up report after Thursday’s practice. In the game, though
Like Brown, Kristofic had actually been really steady throughout all week and would have ranked among the top half of offensive line performances in All-American Bowl practices. On Saturday, though, Kristofic was victimized repeatedly by West defensive end Drake Jackson, who beat him for a pair of sacks. A versatile offensive lineman who appears to have potential at both tackle and guard, Kristofic should be fine going forward as long as he has a short memory.
