Numbers Crunch: State of Texas, QB powers
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There's a good reason SMU is struggling to compete. A few good reasons, actually. Being this bad is one thing. Being bad when college football prospects accidently drive by your campus every day is quite another. SMU is one of two FBS football teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and there's no reason the roster should be so short on effective Texas talent. Past years have seen the Mustangs get too caught up chasing out-of-state prospects and falling behind on players they have a chance of landing in the DFW metroplex. SMU landed one top 100 player in the 2014 class and another in 2013. In 2012, the Mustangs secured a whopping two.
Because of location and location alone, one would assume a good prospect or two every year would get lost and end up on the SMU campus out of happenstance, but SMU just has not been able to develop a steady program. This looks like the fourth time in the past 11 years SMU will finish the season with one win or zero wins.
116
Combined points by which Texas, SMU and Texas Tech lost this weekend.
Not a banner week in the Lone Star State. Baylor and Texas A&M were on byes and TCU, possibly the best team in the region, benefited by playing Texas Tech, which it drilled 82-27. That number matters little in any practical sense. The only thing it proves is that we now live in a world in which Baylor and TCU are the powerhouses in the country's most football-obsessed region.
5
Times since 2007 that the top-ranked high school player in Texas has left the state.
Linebacker Malik Jefferson appears to be staying in state for college.
Hey, it's not all gloom and doom in the Lone Star State. Despite the documented struggles of the in-state programs, this year's No. 1 seems to be leaning toward staying home. Both Texas and Texas A&M are viable options for five-star linebacker Malik Jefferson. Other programs are also involved, most notably Ohio State, but the Longhorns or Aggies seem like good bets to beat the odds and keep the state's top prospect under Texas skies. An announcement from Jefferson isn't expected until December.
5
Schools that have landed a quarterback rated four stars or higher every year since 2012.
The group consists of Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Washington and Texas. The Aggies, Irish, Huskies and Longhorns already have verbal commitments from players that will extend the streak upon signing letters of intent, while OU's run would end if the recruiting cycle ended today. No school has a streak that reaches back to 2011.
3
Five-star running backs that have chosen Florida State since 2011 (including Jacques Patrick).
Florida State has long been a destination for skill position players and everything seems to be compounding on itself again. Jacques Patrick, the No. 2 ranked running back and No. 17 overall prospect in America, picked the Seminoles on Monday evening, becoming the second five-star prospect in the school's 2015 class and the third five-star back to choose the Seminoles in the last four years. Since, 2011, Florida State has signed 10 five-stars.
4
Overtime periods played by Colorado this season.
Colorado is 2-6 and still searching for its first Pac-12 win. A juggernaut the Buffs are not. That's clear. Still, the fact that three of CU's five conference losses have been decided by less than a touchdown is significant for a rebuilding program. If given the chance to get in the door, head coach Mike MacIntyre and Co. can sell improvement and the chance to be part of a turnaround that, for the first time in a while, seems to be on the horizon. The Buffaloes have established recruiting connections in California and are now in position to sell players in the region the promise of playing time as well as the opportunity to be part of a rising Pac-12 team. CU is miles away from competing for top talent on the recruiting trail or for titles on the field, but for the first time in a long time, the program can advertise tangible signs of an impending upswing.
Rob Cassidy
Midlands/Southwest Recruiting Analyst
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