I got to watch a few different Division I recruits last Friday night along with Major Applewhite, who was at the same game I was. He was there to see one of Texas' verbal commitments, defensive end Caleb Bluiett from Beaumont West Brook.
Bluiett is a big defensive end who can play with leverage and is strong enough to play down inside, as the Bruins have moved him to a 3-technique because of injuries the past two seasons. He's a disruptive force at times, but wasn't against the Port Arthur Memorial Titans last Friday.
In fact, Bluiett didn't get his name called but once all night. With a defensive lineman, that's not always indicative of a bad game, since lots can happen in schemes to take a player out. West Brook did get good pressure on Memorial's quarterback,but it almost all came on blitzes up the middle.
Bluiett, then, may have taken up more guys to open those blitzes, but that wasn't the case either. Looking through the video again, it seems that Bluiett was just contained by another Division I talent in Memorial left tackle Tre'Von Armstead. The Baylor commit is a big boy who's having an outstanding year, along with the rest of the Memorial offensive line and Armstead more than handled Bluiett in this one.
After the jump, I've got some quick thoughts on the other players in this game...
TItan running back Nate Holmes continues to impress me with his speed. He broke the opening play of the game for 48 yards and did it on a dive play up the middle. He was just fast enough to get past the linebackers and safeties before they could close it down.
The other impressive thing about Holmes in recent weeks has been his physicality. Holmes put a defender down with a great stiff arm that extended a run 15 more yards against West Brook and had multiple plays in the middle of the line where his second effort got him four or five yards.
Memorial's Terrence Singleton did not have a good game passing, but it was mainly because the Bruins were in his face all night. By bringing pressure straight up the middle, they didn't allow Singleton to escape to the edges and forced him backwards in the pocket. That led to some bad throws but no interceptions. Singleton did rush well in this one, putting the game out of reach with a 47-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that put him over 100 yards for the game.
Here's a sleeper to watch out for: Memorial defensive end/tackle Matthew Romar. The senior has the size to play inside at the next level and is quick enough to penetrate into the backfield and disrupt plays. Armstead says he's the player that's helped him the most in pass protection because Romar is so quick off the ball. He hasn't committed anywhere yet, but expect him to play somewhere next year.