Fri Feb 1 19:04:06 2008

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Final All-Star game pits Nation vs. Texas

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El Paso, TX (Sports Network) - The 2nd annual Texas versus the Nation All-Star bowl game is set to take place this Saturday at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. This game pits the top collegiate players originally from Texas or who play college football in Texas against top players from around the nation. Former NFL coach Buddy Ryan will coach the Nation's all-stars, while Gene Stallings, former Alabama/Texas A&M coach, will lead the Texas front. In last season's inaugural game of this event, the Nation prevailed over Texas, 24-20, in front of a crowd of 21,258. Paul Mosley of Baylor and Cameron Siskowic of Illinois State were named MVP of last season's event. This will be the last all-star game before the NFL combine, so its a good chance for many players to showcase their talent.

The Nation features a pair of talented and successful quarterbacks in Taylor Tharp and Omar Haugabook. Tharp, who led Boise State to a bowl game, put up big numbers this season, converting 68.3 percent of his pass attempts for 3,340 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Haugabook adds a different dimension than Tharp, as he is a bit more elusive outside of the pocket. The Troy gun slinger threw for 2,975 yards and 18 touchdowns, in addition to rushing for 631 yards and 11 more scores. Southern Illinois signal caller Nick Hill, a Walter Payton Award finalist, should see some action. Hill led the Salukis to a 12-2 mark, completing 258 passes for 3,148 yards and 28 scores.

At tailback, Rodney Kinlaw highlights a talented group of athletes, as he rushed for 1,329 yards and 10 touchdowns to lead Penn State in both departments. Louis Rankin, of Washington, is another back that can do some damage and he led the Huskies with 1,294 rushing yards, to go with six touchdowns. Fellow teammate, Marcel Reece, also had a solid season for Washington and he brings 761 receiving yards and eight touchdowns to the Nation side. Tight end Tyson DeVree was one of the top players at his position in the Big 12 this season and he racked up 37 catches, 402 receiving yards and eight touchdowns for Colorado.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Nation will surely be able to put some pressure on opposing quarterbacks courtesy of end Ervin Baldwin, who led Michigan State with 18.5 TFLs, to go with 8.5 sacks. In the middle of the field, LB Nick Watkins is a tackling machine and he led Clemson with 100 stops, including 61 of the solo variety. Derrick Doggett can play either linebacker or safety and he displayed his versatility by leading Oregon State in both tackles (93) and interceptions (four). Corner Leslie Majors had 62 stops and two interceptions for Indiana and he will be protected over the top by safety Brandon Sumrall, who logged 98 tackles and six picks for Southern Miss.

The Texas all-stars are led on offense by quarterbacks Caleb Hanie from Colorado State, Adam Tafralis from San Jose State and a late addition from Iowa State, Bret Meyer. L-S-U signal caller Matt Flynn decided to skip the game due to a shoulder injury. Meyer threw for over 2,100 yards for the Cyclones, completing over 60-percent of his passes. Hanie had a very productive season with Colorado State, throwing for 18 touchdowns while hitting on 64-percent of his tosses. Tafralis tossed for 3,022 yards and 18 scores, as he completed 251 passes for San Jose State.

The talented trio will have some weapons to work with on this side of the ball and that includes James Johnson. The speedy tailback led Kansas State with 1,106 yards and 12 touchdowns, and he averaged an impressive 6.4 yards per carry. At the wideout position, the Texas side is led by the tandem of Travis Brown and Danny Amendola. With New Mexico this season, Brown hauled in 76 passes that went for 1,301 yards and six scores. Amendola was a primary target in Texas Tech's pass-happy offense and he turned in a tremendous campaign that featured 109 receptions, 1,245 receiving yards and six scores.

Defensively, Texas will look to 308-pound tackle Henry Smith to stop the Nation's ground attack. Smith did a good job of slowing down some of the top backs in the Big 12, as he posted 39 tackles for the Aggies of Texas A&M. Defensive end Derrick Gray will get his shot to impress the scouts by applying pressure in the back field as he had 75 tackles, 24.5 TFLs and 10 sacks for Texas Southern this season. Matt Castelo of San Jose State recorded an incredible 141 stops, to go along with 12.5 TFLs, and he will surely showcase his skills in this one. Safety Brian Bonner posted 78 tackles for TCU and expect him to come up and help support the run defense this weekend.

The Nation appears to have a few more weapons on the offensive side of the ball and that should help it to capture the victory over Texas.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Nation All-Stars 28, Texas All-Stars 20.