The Zone Read starts today with the story of DeAndre Hopkins, a wideout from Clemson who turned heads this weekend with a 13 catch performance racking up 119 yards and one touchdown. But it whas what Hopkins did in the week of practice leading up to the game that is making the rounds on the internet early this week.
Highlight of my week….was seeing DeAndre Hopkins get Baptized in front of his teammates on Thursday after practice. twitter.com/coach_jeffscot…
— Coach Jeff Scott (@coach_jeffscott) September 3, 2012
The baptism has drawn praise in the south even outside of the Clemson fanbase, replies to the tweet seem to be positive, and Hopkins performance on the field set a school record for receptions.
Kevin Gemmell’s Pac-12 Heisman Watch after the first week of games includes Oregon’s DeAnthony Thomas. Gemmell says Thomas did enough to open the eyes of some out-of-conference voters but says the Ducks utility player didn’t get enough touches to really show what he could do.
The only bad part about Thomas’ performance was that we didn’t get to see more of it. With the Ducks so far ahead there was no reason to keep him in anyway. That affects his numbers. But he put enough highlights on film to satisfy those outside of the conference who are curious about what he can do.
The first AP and Coaches polls of the regular season are out, and Oregon has moved up a spot from fifth to fourth in each poll. The Ducks even picked up a first place vote in the coaches poll while Pac-12 south heavyweights USC now sits at second in both polls after opening up first in the AP poll and third in the coaches poll.
Rob Moseley has this piece on the play of Oregon’s true freshmen, notably Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner, who both played big roles up front for the Ducks against Arkansas State and figure to do the same throughout the rest of the season.
With a nod towards week two, the Fresno Bee reports that Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter feels his Bulldogs will need to avoid getting into a shootout with the Ducks on Saturday.
