Michael Harrison update: Not dismissed, but don’t expect to see him in 2012
Oklahoma State receiver Michael Harrison looks for open field after making a catch during a college football game against Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo., Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Tons of rumors have been swirling about the status of Oklahoma State wide receiver Michael Harrison the past three days or so.
It is my understanding that Harrison has not been dismissed from the team, as other reports have indicated. But I don’t expect to see him play in 2012.
A source told The Oklahoman Sunday night that the Cowboys were “not counting on (Harrison)” playing this season but did not say he had been dismissed.
Harrison’s absence would be a pretty significant blow to the OSU passing game, as he was expected to slide into a starting role on the outside and at least help make up for the loss of star wide receiver Justin Blackmon. Harrison tallied 20 catches for 255 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore in 2011.
Without Harrison, an already thin group returning at receiver for OSU is even thinner, as Josh Cooper, Hubert Anyiam and Colton Chelf were all seniors this past season.
Tracy Moore (45 catches, 672 yards, four touchdowns), Isaiah Anderson (28 catches, 315 yards, four touchdowns) and Josh Stewart (19 catches, 291 yards, two touchdowns) will be the top returning wide receivers in 2012.
OSU signed six wide receivers — C.J. Curry, Austin Hays, Jhajuan Seales, Brandon Sheperd, Jesse Vester and Blake Webb — in its 2012 recruiting class. The Cowboys also signed pass-catching junior college tight end Blake Jackson, and athlete Dominic Ramacher is expected to start his OSU career as a tight end-receiver.
Harrison was briefly ruled ineligible by the NCAA prior to the 2011 season but was reinstated the day before the Cowboys’ opener against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Oklahoma State recruiting target Trae Elston to make college choice on ESPNU’s Signing Day special
Oklahoma State recruiting target Trae Elston is expected to make his college announcement during ESPNU’s National Signing Day Special, the network announced Wednesday.
Elston, a defensive back from Oxford, Ala., could visit either OSU or LSU this weekend. He played in the Under Armour All-American Bowl and is a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.
Rivals lists Mississippi as Elston’s current leader.
Oklahoma State Spring Game set for April 21
Oklahoma State has announced that its Spring Game will be April 21 at a time still to be determined.
Coach Mike Gundy has tentatively set March 12 as the first day of spring practice.
We’ll post a full schedule when that becomes available.
Oklahoma State is Wide Receiver (Recruit) U
Oklahoma State added its fifth wide receiver commit Sunday when Jhajuan Seales from Port Arthur Memorial High School in Texas switched his pledge from Houston to the Cowboys. And there could still be more commits at the position coming before Signing Day.
OSU is the leader for four-star receiver Jaydon Mickens of Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports and his Twitter account. Javon Williams, a four-star receiver from Chandler, Ariz., visited OSU this past weekend.
(Updated: I missed a report by Scout.com’s Inna Lazarev yesterday that Williams is down to UCLA and Arkansas.)
OSU does have holes to fill at receiver, with Justin Blackmon, Josh Cooper, Hubert Anyiam and Colton Chelf all leaving.
But placing this kind of emphasis on the position—and adding a pass-catching tight end in JUCO All-American Blake Jackson and big-armed quarterback Wes Lunt—shows that Todd Monken likely won’t deviate much from the wide-open, spread attack post-Weeden2Blackmon.
Someone on Twitter brought up how using a tight end would be different, which is somewhat true. But, as I wrote Sunday, Monken plans to use Jackson much like Tracy Moore was this season. Jackson is a big target, but he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. He’ll find holes in the zone, create matchup problems, break tackles and stretch the field.
Still, it would be interesting if OSU signed five or six wide receivers and two tight ends, but no running backs in this class.
Here’s a look at the wide receivers OSU has signed over the past three seasons and their production in the 2011 season.
2011
Torrance Carr (Dallas)–no action at receiver
David Glidden (Mustang High School)—no action at receiver
Johnny Haynes (Irving, Texas)—wound up at Navarro JC
Isaac McCoy (Alma, Ark.)—no action at receiver
Josh Stewart (Denton, Texas)—19 catches, 291 yards, two touchdowns
2010
Chris Dinkins (Tyler, Texas)—moved to linebacker, no longer on roster
Kevin Johnson (Houston, Texas)—no action at receiver
Montra Nelson (Arlington, Texas)—moved to fullback, no longer on roster
2009
Michael Harrison (Dallas)—20 catches, 255 yards, three touchdowns
Charlie Moore (Bullard, Texas)—three catches, 56 yards
Tracy Moore (Tulsa Union)—45 catches, 672 yards, four touchdowns
Twitter tells us Michael Wilson, Chance Allen now Cowboys; Keon Hatcher a Razorback
Twitter gave us three pieces of recruiting news Saturday—two that are good for Poke fans and one that is not so good.
Bad news first?
Owasso wide receiver Keon Hatcher appears to be set on signing with Arkansas.
Hatcher has been committed to the Razorbacks since August, but OSU entered the running late, and he was very “vocal” (on Twitter) about how much he enjoyed his visit to Stillwater last weekend. But he took his official to Fayetteville this weekend and tweeted “IMA HOG 100% #WPS” and a photo of him in Arkansas gear in the Hogs’ locker room. Someone then asked him if that was an “official” commitment (he never decommitted, by the way) and he responded “Yessir.”
Now for the good: Blake Webb was breaking all kinds of news Saturday night.
First, he revealed that Michael Wilson, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound offensive lineman from Aledo, Texas, switched his commitment from Texas A&M to OSU on his official visit this weekend.
Webb tweeted “Got my boy Big Mike Wilson Wilson to join tha brothahood #GoPokes.” Later, Cowboy wide receiver Charlie Moore tweeted “Big mike (Michael Wilson) joined cowboy nation today!! #bignight #okstate.”
Wilson, who committed to A&M last February, is a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.
Wilson isn’t the only A&M commit that OSU is trying to lure away. Five-star running back Trey Williams and three-star defensive back Corey Thompson, who have both pledged to the Aggies, will visit Stillwater next weekend.
Later, Webb tweeted “In case y’all were wondering, we got @DudaMcLovin Too!!! #cowboynation.”
@DudaMcLovin is Chance Allen, a three-star wide receiver from Missouri City, Texas. Allen is a high-school teammate of Thompson.
Wide receiver continues to be the most active position on the recruiting trail for OSU over the past few weeks, with Allen in and Hatcher out. The Cowboys now have four receiver commits in this class in four-star prospect C.J. Curry (Flowery Branch, Ga.) and three-star prospects Brandon Sheperd (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Blake Webb (The Woodlands, Texas) and Allen. Javon Williams (fours stars, Chandler, Ariz.) and Jhajuan Seales (two stars, Port Arthur, Texas) are among the wide receiver prospects that OSU is still targeting, according to Rivals.
This was a huge recruiting weekend for the Cowboys, as evidenced by the large number of prospects and their families sitting in Section 314 at Gallagher-Iba Arena for the men’s basketball game. I also spotted offensive coordinator Todd Monken, defensive coordinator Bill Young, offensive line coach Joe Wickline, wide receiver coach Kasey Dunn, linebacker coach Glenn Spencer, director of football operations Mack Butler and recruiting coordinator Jonny Barr at the game.
That means we should have plenty more news in the coming days as we enter the home stretch before Signing Day.
Mike Gundy’s second national Coach of the Year award: What does it mean?
Mike Gundy picked up another national coaching honor late Thursday night, winning the 2011 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year.
National Coach of the Year awards are a bit like All-America teams—there are a lot of them. But there are five “main” ones—Bear Bryant, Eddie Robinson, American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press and Home Depot.
This season, those five awards were split between Gundy and Les Miles. Gundy also won the Eddie Robinson Award, while Miles won the other three. Another connection between the former OSU colleagues.
I thought it would be interesting to go back and revisit the Coach of the Year awards from the past 10 seasons. You’ll see expected names like Nick Saban, Gary Patterson, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Joe Paterno and Chris Petersen. You’ll see some “huh?” names like Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham.
But the only coach to sweep all five awards during that time? Mark Mangino in 2007. My friendly colleague Travis Haney put it best: “It’s that hard to win football games at Kansas. Take ‘em to a BCS game, you’re going to get love.”
2011
Eddie Robinson: Mike Gundy (OSU)
Bear Bryant: Mike Gundy
AP: Les Miles (LSU)
Home Depot: Les Miles
AFCA: Les Miles
2010
Eddie Robinson: Chip Kelly (Oregon)
Bear Bryant: Gene Chizik (Auburn)
AP: Chip Kelly
Home Depot: Gene Chizik
AFCA: Chip Kelly
2009
Eddie Robinson: Gary Patterson (TCU)
Bear Bryant: Chris Petersen (Boise State)
AP: Gary Patterson
Home Depot: Brian Kelly (Cincinnati)
AFCA: Gary Patterson
2008
Eddie Robinson: Nick Saban (Alabama)
Bear Bryant: Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
AP: Nick Saban
Home Depot: Nick Saban
AFCA: Kyle Whittingham
2007
Eddie Robinson: Mark Mangino (Kansas)
Bear Bryant: Mark Mangino
AP: Mark Mangino
Home Depot: Mark Mangino
AFCA: Mark Mangino
2006
Eddie Robinson: Greg Schiano (Rutgers)
Bear Bryant: Chris Petersen (Boise State)
AP: Jim Grobe (Wake Forest)
Home Depot: Greg Schiano
AFCA: Jim Grobe
2005
Eddie Robinson: Charlie Weis (Notre Dame)
Bear Bryant: Mack Brown (Texas)
AP: Joe Paterno (Penn State)
Home Depot: Joe Paterno
AFCA: Joe Paterno
2004
Eddie Robinson: Urban Meyer (Utah)
Bear Bryant: Tommy Tuberville (Auburn)
AP: Tommy Tuberville
Home Depot: Urban Meyer
AFCA: Tommy Tuberville
2003
Eddie Robinson: Nick Saban (LSU)
Bear Bryant: Nick Saban
AP: Nick Saban
Home Depot: Pete Carroll (USC)
AFCA: Pete Carroll
2002
Eddie Robinson: Jim Tressel (Ohio State)
Bear Bryant: Jim Tressel
AP: Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
Home Depot: Tyrone Willingham (Notre Dame)
AFCA: Jim Tressel
Jhajuan Seales: the next Oklahoma State commit?
Jhajuan Seales, a wide receiver from Port Arthur Memorial High School in Texas, had no college offers coming into his senior year.
Now he has the opportunity to join a program that finished No. 3 in the final Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ polls after its greatest season in school history.
Seales, who committed to Houston on Sunday, received an offer from Oklahoma State on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. He will visit Stillwater on Friday and Houston next weekend, a source told the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise.
Credit my friend and former colleague, Beaumont Enterprise reporter David Henry, for being on this story since the beginning. Ditto for Sam Khan, the UH beat reporter at the Chronicle.
Rumors surfaced late Wednesday night that Seales had switched his commitment from UH to OSU after the offer came from the Cowboys. But the source told the Enterprise that Seales is still committed to the Cougars and that if he changed his mind, he likely would not say until Signing Day on Feb. 1.
Seales is a classic example of a late bloomer. After being used sparingly is junior season, he caught 54 passes for 1,207 yards and 13 touchdowns this past season for a Memorial team that advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals.
His recruiting interest then skyrocketed. He received offers UNLV and Houston, as well as FCS programs Lamar, Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State. Seales first worked out for OSU about two weeks ago and is being recruited by Kasey Dunn.
“He’s a big-play receiver with great speed, great hands and a heck of a vertical leap,” Memorial coach Kenny Harrison told The Enterprise. “He is just explosive. He knows how to read coverages and has a great knowledge of the game.”
OSU loses four receivers in its two-deep in Justin Blackmon, Josh Cooper, Hubert Anyiam (who missed half the season with a broken foot) and Colton Chelf. The Cowboys already have three wide receiver commitments in this class in C.J. Curry (Flowery Branch, Ga.), Brandon Sheperd (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Blake Webb (The Woodlands, Texas).
Here is Seales’ highlight video.
Blackmon: Simply The Best
Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon (81) celebrates a touchdown during the Fiesta Bowl between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) and the Stanford Cardinal at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Monday, Jan. 2, 2012. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
By John Helsley
follow on twitter @jjhelsley
With the OSU offense sputtering in the second half and Stanford ahead 14-0, Justin Blackmon did what he does best, striking for a 43-yard scoring play to get the Cowboys started.
First, however, Blackmon got mad.
“I knew we could play better,” Blackmon said. “If that takes me getting mad, I guess I get mad and go out there and do it.”
Blackmon got mad and soon enough the Cowboys got even.
And eventually, after a full 60 minutes of game time, they pulled ahead, for the first time at the end of overtime, good enough for a 41-38 win in a Fiesta Bowl classic.
Andrew Luck was everything he’s been billed to be, maybe more. And Brandon Weeden was great, too, throwing for 399 yards and three touchdowns, although he wasn’t getting near the love of Luck.
But in the end, the Fiesta Bowl was Blackmon’s Big Show.
Eight catches and 186 yards and three touchdowns, with Stanford committed to stopping him and Blackmon supposedly slowed by a bum leg caused by an infection.
He did it, too, with a receiving corps that featured Colton Chelf as the No. 2 option, as more explosive wideouts Tracy Moore and Michael Harrison played only limited roles due to apparent disciplinary issues. Did it with the running game going nowhere.
Blackmon averaged 23.3 yards a catch, scored on receptions of 43, 67 and 17. And he made the defining play of the game for OSU, a fourth-down grab on the game-tying drive in the final minutes of regulation, rendering Stanford’s fifth-year senior corner Corey Gatewood helpless on a quick slant.
“If I know it is one-on-one,” Weeden said, “I’m going to Blackmon 100 percent of the time.”
Cardinal coach David Shaw was fully aware of Blackmon’s potential impact heading into the game. Afterward, he was no less impressed.
“The fact that Justin Blackmon did not get Heisman votes is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” Shaw said.
During the week, Shaw had compared Blackmon to Terrell Owens.
“Yards after catch, physical play, great blocker, plays with an attitude,” Shaw said. “Give the kid all the credit in the world. He deserves it.
“He’s going to do the same thing on the next level that he does on this level. Guys like that play that way in high school, junior high school, college and the NFL. He’s special.”
Don’t we all know it.
“To make big catches in crucial situations then make plays with the ball in his hands when the other team knows he is going to do it, it is pretty amazing, especially when the teams roll up on him like tonight,” Mike Gundy said.
“Stanford’s game plan, other than blitz, was to roll up and play a guy down on him. He still finds a way to get open and get the ball and the quarterback finds a way to get it to him.”
Blackmon found a way to will the OSU offense Monday night.
And to will the Cowboys’ victory.
The program has featured some elite wide receivers. Gundy played with Hart Lee Dykes and has long proclaimed his greatness. Rashaun Woods was all but unstoppable, once catching seven touchdowns in a single game. Dez Bryant dazzled with regularity.
Gundy hadn’t been willing to place Blackmon alone at the top of the list, until Monday night.
“I resisted in saying he was the best wide receiver that has ever played atOklahomaState,” Gundy said. “He is, bar none.”
HireCoachGundysCoaches.com takes off
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was asked at his Monday press conference if he was worried about keeping his staff together because assistants like offensive coordinator Todd Monken and associate head coach/special teams coordinator Joe DeForest are or have been in the mix for various head-coaching positions. This was Gundy’s response:
“I’m thinking about starting a website that says “HireCoachGundysCoaches.com” and just let people come in and fill out an application. And then at the end of the day, I’ll just go through. I don’t type good enough, (so) I’ll have somebody type and email them back, and then they can catch me up the next day.”
Sorry, Gundy. Someone beat you to it. Most likely an OSU fan.
HireCoachGundysCoaches.com went live sometime Moday afternoon after the press conference. It plays off the “Hire OSU grads” campaign and has a Twitter feed of Gundy news. And, best of all, it features a slowed-down version of the now-famous video of the man himself doing “The Gundy” in the locker room after the Texas A&M game.
Brandon Weeden chops down the Stanford Tree
Some OSU fans having fun with a holiday Ecard program…
