College Football: Anatomy of a can't-miss wide receiver

There are some receivers who just get it. DeChe Milburn is one of them.

Milburn knows the key to being a great wide receiver doesn't begin and end with catching the ball. He knows he needs to be:

Decisive in the open field — Look at the embedded video from 0:07-0:24. When Milburn catches the ball on a bubble screen, the first place he looks is up the field. Milburn locates his blockers and uses them to get into space. He puts a mean juke on the first defender that tries to square him up and then is off to the races. Quotable from Milburn: "I know how to make plays when the ball is in my hands. I know how to make people miss in the open field."

Physical — Check out the video from 0:56-1:05. It's another simple bubble screen to Milburn, but when his blocking breaks down, it's up to him to make a play. Milburn slips one arm tackle and then goes toe-to-toe with an opposing defensive back. After blasting through the defender, he carries a pile of four players into the end zone for a touchdown. Quotable from Texas State wide receivers coach Kevin Brown: "A lot of times you don't hear me say that about some of the wide receivers, but he's a contact player. That's the biggest thing that jumped out to me."

A darn good blocker — Take a look at the video from 4:55 until the end. Granted, Milburn seems adept at leveling unsuspecting defensive backs on crack-back blocks, but still, he gets the job done. Milburn puts a cornerback flat on his back (4:58), takes out two defenders with one block (5:05) and then springs a teammate for extra yards (5:50). Quotable from Brown: "A lot of times when a wide receiver is catching 80-some balls a year in high school, they don't tend to put the same effort in the run game that they do in the passing game. Right off the bat, you see that he's a contact player and he wants to block. He doesn't just get in the way. He wants to hit you and put you on your back."

College Football: Three questions from signing day

Q: With Texas State recruiting on of the Top 32 quarterbacks in the nation (Tyler Arndt), does this create a quarterback controversy? Who will be the starter next season?

A: You don't bring in one of the top quarterbacks in the nation to redshirt him or put him at third string. Texas State doesn't have that luxury like Florida, Texas or any other big-time FBS team. While he will only be a freshman, I fully expect Arndt to push for the starting job when he joins the Bobcats in the summer. Tim Hawkins has been with the program for three years now, but it's hard to believe he is ready to lead this team. Hawkins might be better suited running the zone read out of the shotgun like he did last season — but with an expanded role in 2010.


Q: Who will be the breakout star of this year's recruiting class?

A: I'd say three players have the shot at being this year's version of Mishak Rivas in 2008 — Jarrad Stewart, DeChe Milburn and Tyler Arndt (in that order). Stewart will start at safety, so he's going to immediately bring stability to a secondary improved each game in 2009. Milburn is being heralded by the Texas State coaching staff as a "bigger and stronger version of Cameron Luke." If Milburn isn't the top or second-leading receiver in 2010, I'd be very surprised. Arndt is the wild card here. I like his chances of starting in 2010, but it all comes down to whether he can handle it mentally.


Q: Where does this signing class rank among those in the Southland Conference?

A: You'd be hard-pressed to find a better recruiting class, pound-for-pound than what Texas State just landed. The Bobcats only had 13 scholarships to use (12 on signing day after Stewart transferred) and didn't misfire once. Texas State landed three 3-star recruits and two 2-star standouts (once Austin Kirpes joins the team). If you look around the conference, other teams had a lot more scholarships to use, as Northwestern State added 35 players and Texas-San Antonio landed its first signing class in school history. Southeastern Louisiana did well for itself (three 3-stars and four 2-stars) as did the Roadrunners (three 3-stars and five 2-stars).

College Football: Bobcat Live Chat (Recruiting Edition) — 9:30 pm

College Football: Quotables from Signing Day (updated)

Carthage head football coach Scott Surratt on new Texas State defensive tackle DeShun Williams:

• "I've been coaching for 20 years and he's the best defensive lineman I've been around."
• "His first step is something else. He's so quick off the ball."
• "When we matched him up one-on-one with an opposing offensive lineman, we knew there wasn't a player in the state who could stop him."

H.M. King head football coach Andrew Hrncir on new Texas State tight end David Lewis:

• "There was never a doubt that David would sign with Texas State. Rice and Baylor also had interest in him, but when he visited Texas State, that's where he wanted to go."
• "He's big (6-foot-4, 240 pounds) but he can move."

Clear Springs head football coach Clint Hartman on new Texas State wide receiver DeChe' Milburn:

• "He's a steal. DeChe' is probably the best wide receiver in high school that I've coached."
• "He has great hands and I believe he's a natural-born leader."
• "DeChe' was one of two players on our team who we made an effort to get the ball to five times in the first half. If he didn't have five catches by halftime, somebody was going to get chewed out."

Milburn on himself (just got off the phone with him):

• "It feels great to sign with Texas State. It's been my goal since I was little to play college football and finally it's going to happen."
• "I moved from Arizona to Texas, so a lot of schools lost interest, but out of the ones that stayed, Texas State fought the hardest."
• "I didn't know much about the school to begin with, but once I visited, I knew it was the place I wanted to be. It was a bigger school than I expected and the coaches are all really good guys."
• "I'm going to catch every ball that's thrown to me. I know how to make plays when the ball is in my hands. I know how to make people miss in the open field."

Cuero head football coach Rick Owens on new Texas State quarterback Tyler Arndt:

• "Tyler is a proven winner. He's started for us since his sophomore year and kept getting better."
• "There were times when I thought there wasn't a play to be made, but Tyler put the ball right where it needed to be."

La Marque head football coach Darrell Jordan on new Texas State wide receiver Michael Gilmore:

• "He makes things happen in a hurry."
• "He's going to excel on the next level, there's no doubt. He was our kick and punt returner and teams finally learned to kick the ball away from him."
• "Pound for pound, he's one of the best receivers I've ever coached."
• "He's not a rah-rah guy. He's not a party guy. He's going to make this and that community proud."

Lake Dallas head football coach Michael Young on new Texas State linebacker Drew Hamilton:

• "Drew is a kid who plays with so much heart and intensity that we had to slow him down out there sometimes."
• "There were times when a running back was well across the field, but Drew would track him down and make a play."
• "I don't know whether he'll play inside or outside for Texas State, but he'll play."

Taylor head football coach Flint Risien on new Texas State tight end Trent Guiberteau:

• "He's a very versatile player with great hands. He's a great blocker out in space and you can spread him out or move him in tight."
• "When he locks on to somebody, he's a guy who is going to finish the block the whole way through the echo of the whistle."
• "Trent has always been interested in Texas State as a place to go academically. It's a great situation for him now that he can play football too."

New Luling athletic director Michael Waldie on new Texas State defensive back Craig Mager (who played RB in high school):

• "He's one of the most explosive players I've seen and that's saying something because I've sent five kids to FBS schools in the last two years."
• "He has a gear that not many people are blessed with."
  

College Football: It's National Signing Day

Be sure to check back here for all your needs about the new Bobcats coming into the fold for Texas State. We'll be meeting with Bobcats head coach Brad Wright at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the new recruiting class.

As soon as Texas State releases names, we'll be right on it.

Texas State 2010 Signing Class

• Jarrad Stewart, transfer DB from Utah.
• Tyler Arndt, QB from Cuero High (according to Cuero HS).
  
• DeShun Williams, DT from Carthage High (according to Carthage HS).
• Terrance Franks, RB from Angleton High (according to Angleton HS).
• David Lewis, TE from H.M. King High (according to H.M. King HS).
• DeChe' Milburn, WR from Clear Springs High (according to Clear Springs HS).
• Drew Hamilton, LB from Lake Dallas High (according to Lake Dallas HS).

I should be receiving more names shortly.

College Basketball: Where the Bobcats rank (men and women)

Here are where both Texas State basketball teams are currently ranked (as of 1/31/2010) out of all full-fledged Division I institutions. There are 334 men's teams and 332 women's squads.

Scoring offense — Men: 76.5 ppg (46th), Women: 63.0 (186th)
Scoring defense — Men: 78.6 ppg (326th), Women: 71.0 (310th)
Field-goal % — Men: 41.6 (256th), Women: 37.2 (253rd)
Field-goal % D — Men: 46.4 (302nd), Women: 39.5 (166th)
3-point FG % — Men: 33.0 (198th), Women: 29.6 (216th)
3-point FG defense — Men: 39.8 (324th), Women: Not Ranked
Assist/TO ratio — Men: 0.82 (252nd), Women: 0.51 (298th)
Turnovers per game — Men: 18.8 (333rd), Women: 20.9 (286th)
Steals per game — Men: 9.3 (15th), Women: 7.2 (262nd)

College Football: Recruiting news (2/1/10)

• As many of you know by now, DeChe' Milburn will sign with Texas State on National Signing Day. I spoke with several people close to his recruitment and they said the Bobcats were a clubhouse leader.
• That being said, if a team from the FBS blows Texas State's offer out of the water, all of this could change.
• One person I spoke to about Milburn said he has "FBS talent" and would "fit perfectly as a wide receiver on Baylor or Houston."
• Milburn has great hands and uses his size (5-foot-11, 180 lbs.) to his advantage.
• Not many recruiters in Texas knew about Milburn since he moved to Texas last summer. They didn't know what to think about this new wide receiver putting up numbers like his (81 catches, 1,344 yards and 16 touchdowns).
• I also confirmed that Texas State is no longer in the running for Cy Wilson.
• I spoke with Wilson's high school coach (Tim Buchanan) and he said, "...being a SWT alumni, Class of 1983, tried everything I could to get Texas State to offer Cy, but Coach (Brad) Wright did not think Cy was good enough to play at Texas State. He must have some GREAT high school players coming in to not offer Cy Wilson."
• Wilson took a visit to Stephen F. Austin, but wasn't offered a scholarship yet.