CENTER OF ATTENTION: WEEK 1
John Sullivan (6-4, 303), Notre Dame
Quarterback at Notre Dame is one of college football's glamour
positions - but glory can't come without a clean snap. That'll be
senior John Sullivan's duty on Saturday when the Fighting Irish host
Georgia Tech in one of Week 1's most intriguing match-ups. After
working with Brady Quinn the last few years, Sullivan, who just
this week was named an Irish captain, must help break in a new
quarterback this season. But the fifth-year senior should be up for
the task. He's the most experienced offensive player on the squad with
21 consecutive starts and 33 starts overall, and he's taken on the
added responsibility this season of pointing out the blocking
responsibilities before each play. Quinn had handled the job the past
two seasons. Irish Head Coach Charlie Weis is simple in his
praise of Sullivan: "(John) is the heart and soul of our offense."
IN THE TRENCHES
A weekly look at keys to evaluating college football centers
The Center as signal caller: The center's job is to make things
easier for the offensive line to execute its blocks. For example,
let's say that the right guard is supposed to cut off the right
linebacker on all sweep plays to the right side. And let's say that
the linebacker lines-up behind the nose guard on most plays. It would
be easy for the right guard to do his job. However, let's say that the
offense calls for a sweep right and the linebacker is no longer
lined-up behind the nose, he is now behind the tackle. There is no way
that the guard will be able to cut off the right linebacker from the
play. That is where the center comes in. His job is to change the
blocking scheme so that it's easier for one of his line-mates to seal
off the right linebacker from the play. For example, the tackle might
be asked to cut off the right linebacker while the guard might be
asked to block the tackle's man.
THEY SAID IT
"My first SEC road start was at Georgia. The crowd was loud. I
couldn't hear a thing. We were backed up and I said to myself, 'This
right here is SEC football. This is what I was sent here to do.' I
live for those games, though. You use that to fuel your fire. That's
when I knew I was in the thick of things."
-- University of Tennessee center Josh McNeil, the 6- 4,
28-pound sophomore was the only unanimous pick to last season's
All-SEC freshman squad. McNeil's Vols take on Alex Mack and Cal
on Saturday in a key early season matchup between Rimington Watch
Listers.
DID YOU KNOW?
6-3, 272-pound TCU center Blake Schlueter set a school record
this summer by squatting 860 pounds. Want more Schlueter trivia? At
Granado (TX) High School he blocked 13 kicks while on special teams.
Those tidbits alone should get you a free cup of coffee from any
Horned Frog supporter.
OUR MISTAKE
In the most recent edition of the Rimington Watch List, a University
of Hawaii backup inadvertently made his way onto the list instead of
UH's superlative, 6-2, 292- pound sophomore John Estes. Our
apologies.
GAMES TO TIVO
This week's head-to-head match-ups of Rimington Watch Listers:
Saturday, Sept. 1
- Virginia (Jordy Lipsey) at Wyoming (Tim Bond)
- Wake Forest (Steve Justice) at Boston College (Kevin Sheridan)
- Missouri (Adam Spieker) at Illinois (Ryan McDonald)
- Georgia Tech (Kevin Tuminello) at Notre Dame (John Sullivan)
- UCLA (Chris Joseph) at Stanford (Tim Mattran)
- Washington St. (Kenny Alfred) at Wisconsin (Marcus Coleman)
- Tennessee (Josh McNeil) at California (Alex Mack)
- San Jose St. (Justin Paysinger) at Arizona State (Mike Pollak)
