I was talking to a 8th grade coach and he said that NIL money is coming to high schools. High schools will have up to $1M, either for whole team or per individual max (not sure at the moment), for the high school players. Likely only private schools will have that kind of money to shell out. So, the high schools with money to spend will separate themselves even more from the rest. These 8th grade feeder teams become even more important so the kids can get into the right high school program. All this seems to be going in the wrong direction.

I like the sound of that! Let's go Ags!

Nevada beat Eastern Washington 73-52, but it was an exhibition, while Colorado struggled to beat Eastern Washington. While it is hard to make those comparisons, it seems we have a chance to notch another big win tonight.

I didn't expect to win and thought we would lose by a fairly substantial amount, but this game was hard to watch because we could have won or at least made it very close. Too many dropped passes, and a couple of bad passes. The worst was the miss to Dixon that would have been a TD. Pinnick just had to put a little loft in the ball. Not everything has to be a rifle shot.

I am encouraged by the win tonight. NDSU has been historically pretty strong and was a pre-season pick to be 4th in their league despite a big makeover on their roster from last year. They played Oregon St very close and Oregon St. is expected to be strong this year. Way too early to tell of anyone who is good yet, but the win is encouraging. I just caught some of it on ESPN streaming and Sevilla looked quick and confident, Cooper seemed improved from last year and Niko also seems improved.

What an awful loss! We shouldn’t even be in the top 25 after this. What a joke.

If Plough really believes the "finding joy" idea, which I think he does, I don't think he would leave for more money. I guess if he thought bigger time football was a joy to him, then he might, but he can have a good life here. Way less pressure to win, some NLI issues but nowhere near the same at other schools. So, good kids still mostly playing for the love of the game.

Caden is doing a good job for us here, but he is a little short to move up to bigger programs. There are successful short QB's, but I don't believe Caden has Flutie or Mayfield skills. He doesn't have the arm strength the top programs are looking for.

Southern Utah and Weber are not that good. We don't know how good Davis is yet. Cal Poly beat Sac St and play SFA close until they lost their primary QB and gave up a punt return and interception for TD's. Cal Poly defense played Sac St tough. I think this will be a close game. I took the under on our points guess at Davis scoring between 21-30.

Nice win. Pinnick seemed more comfortable. Tough call between Fisher and Vargas over who should get more touches. Fisher did great but Vargas runs hard. Loves Mitchel Dixon’s toughness!

Hope we can still play better. Not sure we are going to knock off NDSU, SDSU or Montana St with this play and porous defense.

Ah well, Cal Poly played them tough for the first half. In any event they are better than last year. They should definitely win more games this year than last.

Cal Poly looks a lot better this year. Pitt transfer QB has a strong arm. I would expect them to beat Stephen F Austin and play at Sac while 3-0. They should win a few more Big Sky games this year.

Harper looked more comfortable in the pocket than Pinnick but was inaccurate in his throws. I guess I won't keep thinking we should put Harper in the game. I liked the one good throw from Cleeland. Wouldn't mind seeing him a little more in other games when we can work in the #2.

Mercer lost to Presbyterian, so maybe we have played two weak teams close. Makes me nervous about the year.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them try Harper. Pinnick makes a lot of awful throws and poor decisions. Forcing balls to guys with too much coverage, hand offs to guys he can see will be immediately tackled, short passes to guys in the backfield that are covered. Feels like his inexperience is showing as he feels it necessary to complete the play as called no matter what. The more pressure on him the worse his decision making, same as in the Mercer game.

Pinnick looked good at first, but was pretty awful in second half. Some throws were straight into the ground, so that makes me worried. He had some incredible runs, but not sure if he is leaving the pocket too quick. With all the talk about our OL, seemed like Pinnick did not have a lot of time and had to scramble often.

Sounds like Larison is at least getting a fair look in the camp.

https://x.com/LosTalksPats/status/1927029198176047175


https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2025/05/27/patriots-udfa-lan-larison-repping-top-unit/83877119007/

Not sure if these links are going to work or not.

Below is from BVM Sports:

The New England Patriots have made notable additions to their roster, particularly focusing on undrafted talent. Among them, running back Lan Larison from UC-Davis stands out, as he has been impressing during OTAs, even running drills with the first unit. His performance raises the possibility that he may challenge veteran Antonio Gibson for a role in the backfield, especially with starter Rhamondre Stevenson absent due to personal reasons. Larison's impressive college career included 1,470 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns, along with 65 receptions for 865 yards.


By the Numbers
Lan Larison rushed for 1,470 yards and scored 17 touchdowns last season.
He also caught 65 passes for an additional 865 yards.

State of Play
Larison is competing for a spot on the depth chart alongside veterans Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson.
The Patriots are focused on enhancing their roster and have recently signed impactful undrafted players like tight end CJ Dippre.

What's Next
As the offseason progresses, Larison's development will be closely monitored, especially as training camp approaches. His ability to push established players like Gibson will determine his role and future with the team.

Bottom Line
Lan Larison's strong performance at OTAs indicates he could become a valuable asset for the Patriots. If he continues to impress, his ascent might signal a shift in the team's running back hierarchy, challenging the status quo and enhancing overall team depth.

He looks hard to tackle. Maybe switch him to running back!

Watched some of Jack Bryant's highlights. He looks pretty good. Strong arm and quick release.

Les definitely has his positives, but we are still a middling program and his record here sounds like it is breakeven. We were strong for a few years in a row a couple times but he could not take that success and create a more consistent winning program. All the while other Big West times blew us by like CSUN coming out of the cellar to pass us by and UCSD coming out of DII to blow right by us. I thought I heard that our total athletic budget is one of the highest in the nation for a school at the FCS football level. So, it seems we have a competitive budget.

Hawkins was a good guy and had success, but Plough seems to have brought new energy to the program. Maybe the basketball program could find some new energy in a new coach.

Our roster looks pretty thin. Unless we get some strong transfers, it seems like we will have a rough year next year.