For a player who was barely recruited out of high school, Dustin Garrison is coming up big for West Virginia. Garrison has emerged from a trio of freshmen running backs after a 291-yard performance against Bowling Green last week in his first career start. But Garrison started showing serious flashes in the second half against LSU. His 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of that game brought the Mountaineers to within six. In the last two games, Garrison has gotten 42 combined carries — compared to three in the first three games. All three of those came against Norfolk State. “It’s hard when you have so many guys to get a guy into a rhythm, but there’s nothing you can do about that,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “You have to tell those guys to take advantage of the opportunities they’ve had. The last six quarters, Dustin has been able to get in there and get on a roll. The more we gave it to him, the better he’s gotten.” Garrison remained patient through the first several games of the season, even after he got zero carries against Marshall and Maryland. He had shown his ability as a receiver out of the backfield, but wanted to make sure the coaches knew what he could do when he got his hands on the ball. His mom told him before every game to just wait. He would get his chance. Once he got his opportunity against Bowling Green, he was not going to let anything stop him. “It was hard for a while just waiting for my chance, but once I finally got it, I knew I had to show them I could make things happen,” Garrison said in a phone interview. Garrison ran for 233 yards in the first half, a school record. Neither he nor his teammates had any idea he had surpassed 200 yards in the half. It was only as they were headed to the locker room that they realized what he had done. “It was great,” Garrison said. “I never had the ball like that since high school, so it was like déjà vu. I had to go out there and make plays. It was a great feeling going out there and making people miss and things like that.” As a senior at Pearland (Texas) High, Garrison set school single-season records with 406 carries for 2,842 yards and 46 touchdowns. He also added 36 catches for 595 yards and five touchdowns. But no scholarship offers came. Schools were concerned about his size: 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds. It was not until Robert Gillespie, then an assistant with Oklahoma State, called to say he was moving on to a new opportunity and they wanted Garrison with him. The new opportunity was at West Virginia with Holgorsen. “These last two games helped my confidence a lot,” Garrison said
Filed under Football by on Oct 5th, 2011. Comment. 
For a player who was barely recruited out of high school, Dustin Garrison is coming up big for West Virginia. Garrison has emerged from a trio of freshmen running backs after a 291-yard performance against Bowling Green last week in his first career start. But Garrison started showing serious flashes in the second half against LSU. His 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of that game brought the Mountaineers to within six. In the last two games, Garrison has gotten 42 combined carries — compared to three in the first three games. All three of those came against Norfolk State. “It’s hard when you have so many guys to get a guy into a rhythm, but there’s nothing you can do about that,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “You have to tell those guys to take advantage of the opportunities they’ve had. The last six quarters, Dustin has been able to get in there and get on a roll. The more we gave it to him, the better he’s gotten.” Garrison remained patient through the first several games of the season, even after he got zero carries against Marshall and Maryland. He had shown his ability as a receiver out of the backfield, but wanted to make sure the coaches knew what he could do when he got his hands on the ball. His mom told him before every game to just wait. He would get his chance. Once he got his opportunity against Bowling Green, he was not going to let anything stop him. “It was hard for a while just waiting for my chance, but once I finally got it, I knew I had to show them I could make things happen,” Garrison said in a phone interview. Garrison ran for 233 yards in the first half, a school record. Neither he nor his teammates had any idea he had surpassed 200 yards in the half. It was only as they were headed to the locker room that they realized what he had done. “It was great,” Garrison said. “I never had the ball like that since high school, so it was like déjà vu. I had to go out there and make plays. It was a great feeling going out there and making people miss and things like that.” As a senior at Pearland (Texas) High, Garrison set school single-season records with 406 carries for 2,842 yards and 46 touchdowns. He also added 36 catches for 595 yards and five touchdowns. But no scholarship offers came. Schools were concerned about his size: 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds. It was not until Robert Gillespie, then an assistant with Oklahoma State, called to say he was moving on to a new opportunity and they wanted Garrison with him. The new opportunity was at West Virginia with Holgorsen.
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Dustin Garrison comes up big for WVU
Filed under Football by on Oct 5th, 2011. Comment.
Bowling Green is 25 point underdogs at Michigan this week and I have to see, I’m kind of feeling them as a pick this week. Michigan wasn’t impressive at all against UMass last week and the Wolverines’ defense looked like it can be exploited. The Falcons Source: Bleacher Report
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College Football Picks Week 4: 10 Underdogs That Will Cover the Spread
Filed under Football, News by on Sep 23rd, 2010. Comment.
Here are your non-AQ conference players of the week: Conference USA Offense: East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis . He threw for a career-high 383 yards and five touchdowns, along with the 33-yard Hail Mary to Justin Jones in the end zone as time ran out to give the Pirates a 51-49 win over Tulsa. Davis also scored once on the ground. The five passing touchdowns were the most by an East Carolina quarterback since Jeff Blake threw five against Southern Miss on Nov. 9, 1991. Defense: Tulane LB Trent Mackey. The transfer from Duke made his first career start for Tulane and made a career and game-high 13 tackles, including two stops for minus-8 yards and also forced a fumble against Southeastern Louisiana. Special teams: SMU K/P Matt Szymanski, who made a school-record 61-yard field goal at Texas Tech. The 61-yarder is the second-longest in C-USA history. He also had a 49.3-yard punt average, the second-highest single-game average of his career. MAC, East Division Offense: Kent State QB Spencer Keith . He threw a career-high three touchdown passes and went 24-for-35 for 275 yards in a 41-10 win over Murray State. Defense: Bowling Green DB Keith Morgan. The junior finished second on the team with 11 tackles and added an interception in the Falcons’ 30-27 loss at Troy. Special teams: Temple K Brandon McManus. The sophomore made a career-high four field goals in a 31-24 win over Villanova, including the game-winning 43-yarder with 3 seconds remaining. He also added a career-long 53-yard field goal, the second-longest field goal in school history. West Division Offense: Eastern Michigan RB Dwayne Priest . Ran for a career-best 142 yards on 26 rushes and scored two touchdowns. Defense: Central Michigan LB Nick Bellore. Had a team-high 11 tackles and one tackle for loss in a 33-0 win over Hampton. Special teams: Western Michigan P Ben Armer. Averaged 40.9 yards a punt at Michigan State, including a career-matching long 62-yard punt. He also had two punts inside the 20, including one that hit at the 1-yard line and was downed at the 2.
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Non-AQ conference players of the week
Filed under Football by on Sep 6th, 2010. Comment.
Now it is time to give out helmet stickers for some of the top non-AQ performances. Utah freshman safety Brian Blechen: He saved the day for the Utes with his interception of Tino Sunseri on the first play of overtime. That allowed Joe Phillips to kick a 21-yard field goal to give Utah the 27-24 win over No. 15 Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Utah had blown an 11-point lead until Blechen came up big in his first career game. Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel : Yes, Borel threw an interception with five minutes remaining in a 31-24 loss to Oklahoma , but Utah State would not have been in the game if it was not for him. He threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 20.1 yards per completion. Utah State players said earlier in the week they would have something to show Oklahoma, and they backed up that talk. For a team that many believe could be in the mix for a bowl berth, Utah State drew plenty of eyes for its performance Saturday
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Non-AQ Helmet Stickers
Filed under Football by on Sep 5th, 2010. Comment.
We told you about quarterback battles still going on among the non-AQ schools in a two part series yesterday: Part I and Part II . Here is a look at the quarterback battles that have already been decided as we close in on the start of the season: Akron Winner: Patrick Nicely . Buzz: Nicely and Matt Rodgers played pretty evenly throughout fall camp and split the reps evenly. But Nicely emerged thanks to his play throughout the spring and camp. He started seven games as a true freshman in 2009, completing 120 of 222 passes for 1,349 yards and six touchdowns. Bowling Green Winner: Matt Schilz . Buzz: With Tyler Sheehan gone, Bowling Green turns to the redshirt freshman, who has never thrown a pass in a collegiate game. The Falcons have had much stability at the quarterback position, so it will be interesting to see how Schilz does this season. Colorado State Winner: Pete Thomas. Buzz: The highly touted true freshman enrolled in school early and beat out redshirt freshman Nico Ranieri . The last time a freshman started at quarterback for Colorado State was Caleb Hanie in 2004. Louisiana Tech Winner: Steven Ensminger . Buzz: The Auburn transfer found new life under new coach Sonny Dykes’ spread offense. After playing tight end last spring under former coach Derek Dooley, Ensminger was able to beat out Ross Jenkins , who started parts of the past two seasons. Marshall Winner: Brian Anderson . Buzz: The incumbent survived a challenge from A.J. Graham , Eddie Sullivan and former Clemson player Willie Korn to emerge as the starter once again. Korn ended up transferring. Important to note: Anderson is learning his third different offense, now that new coach Doc Holliday is there. New Mexico Winner: B.R. Holbrook . Buzz: Holbrook won the job over freshman Tarean Austin and Brad Gruner , and coach Mike Locksley cited his knowledge of the offense, the way he moved the team during scrimmages and his mostly error-free play. New Mexico State Winner: Matt Christian
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Non-AQ quarterback battles resolved
Filed under Basketball, Football by on Aug 26th, 2010. Comment.
