You could tell this wasn't going to be the homestanding, upset-minded Blazers of Valdosta State's night when they forced a fumble near the #1-ranked UNA Lions 25-yard line early in the first quarter, recovered it, and had the refs ignore the fumble completely and give the ball back to the offense. That was the first of two first quarter possession changes that should have gone VSU's way, but didn't. The other came when a VSU rusher was thrown into the UNA punter, and the refs called a 15-yard roughing penalty against the defense, giving the ball back to UNA. For an underdog playing high and hoping for emotion to carry them to the upset, you simply can't have those kind of "turnovers" in the first quarter, and expect to compete. With a little assist from the refs and the terrific play of Sr. QB Harrison Beck, UNA went up 27-0 before the quarter had ended, and this game was over before it really began. This is a great game for scouts. A quick gander down the UNA roster shows it is littered with transfers from DI schools--even big-time DI programs like WVU, Miami, Alabama, Nebraska, etc...

In the end UNA had just too much talent and momentum to overcome. Valdosta's fine transfer (IU) quarterback Kellen Lewis was forced to throw on the run all night, and the GSC's all-time leading receiver, Cedric Jones, was held without a catch (or even an attempt) until the 4th quarter, as UNA cemented their grip on their #1 ranking.

SCOUTING SUMMARY:

College: North Alabama Conference: Division II Columnist: Staff

Game Notes
Michael Johnson 52 6' 3.0" 254 4.75 LB 2010: An absolute beast. Should be on the watch list for Buck Buchanan Award. This guy is a legit pro prospect and just off my personal Top 100 at present. Has everything except the LOC pedigree...pro size, smarts, recognition, tackling ability, awareness in coverage, hands for the pick. Just a solid, solid prospect who should go no later than the 4th round. Plays on punt coverage. Thickly built and strong. Classic 3-4 ILB who is likely to be an enforcer at any level. May be slightly below average in speed and lateral agility numbers, but he plays for me. Looks like DII's answer to Rey Maualuga without the slight baggage concerns. GRADE: Very positive

Mico McSwain 7 6' 1.2" 205 4.50 WR 2011: That's right, "that" Mico McSwain. Some may remember he was a highly-touted tailback for Ole Miss back in 2005-06 until his brother was drowned in '07, and he lost his will/focus in the classroom, was decleared academically ineligible and disappeared from football for a couple of years. Well, he has re-emerged at UNA and is trimmed down a little and playing a deadly WR for UNA. Has speed, gifted hands, moves after the catch...Should definitely get into a pro camp, either this year or next. A very fine and versatile athlete. Slightly overaged, but he's been through the fire, and has emerged purified and ready to play! Caught 2 TDs tonight. GRADE: Positive

Calvin Wilson 77 6' 5.2" 365 5.90 OT 2011: Huge road grader, who is not all that yet. Has another year, and he needs it. ROT candidate only. Tries to do it all with his arms, and seems to hate moving his feet. Has a long, long way to go. Must lose weight. Plodder who stands around too much but has amazing size and some "want to" in the run game. GRADE: INC.

Preston Parker 5 5' 10.0" 197 4.45 WR 2010: Fumbled the opening kickoff and didn't really do much after that, which was OK, as #2 T.J. Porter, and #7 Mico McSwain took over the receiving chores most of the rest of the way. Appears fluid and fast. Need to see him again. GRADE: INC.

Quinton Andrews 4 5' 10.6" 206 4.60 S 2010: Nice DII safety. Gets into position and makes the play in run support. Decent, but far from great in coverage. No "wow" factor here, and limited pro potential. Very good college safety who could surprise if he sneaks into a camp, but is not going to warrant a draft pick, unless he runs a 4.4 and Al Davis finds out...Comes over the top in coverage and is a bull in a China shop in coverage. Athletic. Has some hands. Had a pick. GRADE: Neutral

Harrison Beck 6 6' 0.8" 220 5.00 QB 2010: Intriguing guy. A Nebraska transfer with a big league arm. Makes all the throws. Confident and knows what he wants to do and goes and does it. Throws a pretty nice looking ball from the ear hole, but his feet are sometimes in weird spots when he releases. Looks like the kind who could get a lot of balls back in his face at the next level. Very productive with the big windows in DII. Manages a good game, and shows consistency. Doesn't appear to be easily rattled. Worth a look. Yanked after three quarters, and at that point I had him 23-36 for 345, 3/0. GRADE: Slightly positive


College: Valdosta State Conference: Division II Columnist: Staff

Game Notes
Kellen Lewis 15 6' 1.5" 169 4.40 QB 2010: Bad night for Lewis. He was showing happy feet all night, and struggled to produce against the first-team defense when running away from trouble. Still a better runner than passer. I can see why IU was willing to let him go. Still has a long way to go as a QB. Reminds me of Cal U's Josh Portis as a passer, but lacks his size. If he is really 4.4, he doesn't play like it. Telegraphs his intentions. Has some skill as a passer, but lacks a QBs mental makeup. Throws questionable balls far too often, and throws off his back foot, compounding the problem, when under duress. He looked better surrounded by better linemen and WRs at IU. 169 pounds. GRADE: Slightly negative

Cedric Jones 8 5' 11.0" 188 4.58 WR 2010: THE GSC's leading WR did not sniff a ball until the game was long over. Finally caught 5 balls in the 4th quarter and showed some really nice moves in the openfield after the catch. Used as a decoy all night--BIG MISTAKE on the part of the VSU staff. He needed to be involved from the first play from scrimmage for VSU to ever have a chance in this one. Looks like he has the routes and hands to definitely warrant a camp invitation. Extremely productive and pretty elusive with the ball in his hands. GRADE: INC.

OTHER NOTES:

VSU: Their junior LB #32, Larry Dean (no relation to Coach Daivd Dean), is a heckuva ballplayer. I had him in on 14 tackles and I may have missed a couple. Really reads and reacts, but he's just 6'0", 212. Has a year to get up to 225-230 and open some more eyes. RB #3 Ronnye Nelson has some talent too, and can also return kicks. Had the highlight run of the night, busting tackles for 25-yards all the way into the endzone. WR Gerald Ford (except he's much smarter) is productive, and was a leader of the offense in this one.

UNA: RB Tim Hicks, shows some ability, as does DT Montell Crafts (#48) and DE Domini Pittman (#43). The guy to watch for the future though, may be WR T.J. Porter (#2) who really flashed hands and productivity.

Preston Parker really needs to blow it up at the D2 level after blowing it at FSU. Was he getting more defensive attention, allowing McSwain et. al. to shine, or was he just not doing it?

Don't forget that Harrison Beck also transfered from North Carolina State. Don't think he is even close to being an NFL quarterback in any way. He is a complete head case. I still remember his freshman year at Nebraska when he hurt his throwing shoulder mosh pitting at a concert at a Lincoln Bar. Or when he just randomly left Lincoln drove around for three straight days. Nobody had a clue where he was. Not even his parents.

He wasn't constantly double teamed, but he did get the most attention of all the WRs.