by Tyler Harvey | Jan 11, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The Titans 2019-2020 campaign has been a successful one up to this point, but this has not been without unexpected changes with its starters on the field. Lipscomb Students and Titans fans Juan Oliva and Caleb Williams gave their opinion on the team’s performance thus far, the changes made by the team and the Titans chances of winning. The biggest change the Titans made happened in week six of the season when the Titans went on the road to play the Denver Broncos. Titans coach Mike Vrabel decided to pull starting quarterback Marcus Mariota from the game to start the second half after losing 6-0 up to that point. QB Ryan Tannehill replaced Mariota, and while he didn’t lead the Titans to a come from behind win against the Broncos; Tannehill played well enough that the Titans coaches decided to name him the new starting quarterback for the next game. “I really did think they would play Mariota the whole season because the organization had banked on him so much. Up to that point the organization had seen him as their franchise quarterback,” Oliva said. “While I did think benching him (Mariota) and mixing things up was a good idea, I did think it kind of blew our chance at a postseason,” Williams said. The Titans had 2-4 record at the time of the switch and had lost their last two games. However, the Titans quarterback change sparked a turning point in the season, the team went on to win a wildcard spot for the NFL playoffs this year. Since naming Tannehill, the starter, the Titans have won eight of...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 18, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer will soon be on Lipscomb Academy’s payroll. Dilfer was named the Mustangs’ next head football coach at a press conference Friday afternoon. “This is a calling,” Dilfer said. “When God does something this weird in your life, you never doubt it. This isn’t a career move.” Dilfer said he was attracted to the “sense of community” at Lipscomb, and the timing just happened to be right. Former Lipscomb coach Scott Tillman resigned in November after finishing with a 2-9 record in 2018. “There’s a lot that we loved about [coming to Lipscomb],” Dilfer said. A former first-round pick out of Fresno State in 1994, Dilfer spent time as a starter and backup for five NFL teams — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. The highlight of Dilfer’s NFL career came when he helped the Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. The 6-foot-4 California native appeared in 130 career games and threw for 20,518 yards and 113 touchdowns over his 14-season career. “The people that have had a football journey like mine understand that the game part of it is awesome,” Dilfer said. “But it’s what it does to your soul, your core, and the people you play with that is so much bigger than what happens between the lines.” After his retirement in 2007, Dilfer joined the NFL Network as an analyst. He eventually signed a contract with ESPN in 2010 and served as a backup announcer for Monday Night Football. However, Dilfer was a victim of ESPN’s mass layoff...
by Cory Woodroof | Oct 28, 2014 | Opinion, Sports
Hello, fellow NFL fans! Cory Woodroof here. The NFL season is half-way over, and we’ve got some awards to give out. The players and teams below are the ones I designate the “Midseason fill-in-the-blank” winner so far this year. These players or teams may not hang on for the rest of the year, but I’d bet in their favor. MVP: DEMARCO MURRAY – RB, COWBOYS To me, the best player in the NFL comes down to three players: DeMarco Murray, Peyton Manning and J.J. Watt. Manning is playing at an incredibly high level on the best team in the NFL, and Watt is wrecking opposing offenses on a regular basis. But, can we really say anyone is having a more impactful year than Murray? The running back has rushed for over 100 yards in eight consecutive games and has seven touchdowns on the season. Murray is also reportedly on pace to top former Rams great Eric Dickerson’s all-time season rushing yard record of 2, 105. The Cowboys are the surprise team of the NFL this year, and Murray’s big year is one of the huge sparks that has gotten them there. If Murray keeps up this pace and breaks Dickerson’s record, he’s the MVP. No questions asked. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: PEYTON MANNING – QB, BRONCOS After winning MVP last year, the Sherriff has not slowed down. Manning has thrown for 22 touchdowns and has a 90.1 QBR so far this season. After getting settled in the season, he’s got the Broncos offense playing at such a high level right now that the team looks to be unbeatable. Having...
by Cory Woodroof | Sep 23, 2014 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
This week in the NFL, an age-old truth was once again proved: the better team always wins. We saw it when Baltimore got a last-minute win against Cleveland. We saw it when the Bears held off the Jets. We saw it when Philadelphia fended off Washington. We saw it when the Patriots got the best of the Raiders by game’s end. The NFL regular season isn’t always the kindest to the underdog, which can make things fairly predictable. But, what happens when Goliath stumbles? So far this season, three NFL powerhouses, the Packers, the Saints and the 49ers, are all staring a 1-3 record in the face if they all lose in week four. With the Pack traveling to Chicago, the Saints heading to Dallas and the Niners hosting the Eagles, there’s a distinct possibility these three teams could quickly be headed in this direction. The NFL can be predictable, but it can also be full of surprises. Rookies can emerge to have huge games. Veterans can struggle at all the wrong moments. The Browns can prove to be competitive without their top offensive weapon. Sometimes, you just don’t know what professional football will have in store. Here are the 10 things I’m thinking after week three. 1. The Broncos and Seahawks’ Super Bowl rematch was the game we needed back in February. Despite being bullied by Seattle for three quarters, the Broncos put up 17 points on Seattle’s defense, including a late-game drive by QB Peyton Manning that looked like the kind of football that usually closes out a movie. Ultimately, the Seahawks were able to pull out...
by Cory Woodroof | Sep 9, 2014 | Opinion, Sports
Hello, NFL fans! Football nerd Cory Woodroof here. I’d like to welcome you into The Film Session, a new recap of the week in the NFL that will be published every Tuesday here on the site. I’ll always offer you 10 of my takeaways from the week, go over the power rankings and give my player of the week. Also, I’ll highlight five games that have me excited for the week ahead. Shall we begin? Week one in the NFL is always one of the sports’ best times, but it’s also one of the worst times to be gauging a team’s future success (or lack-thereof). Think back to last year. Could any of us predict that, after week one, the Chiefs were back in business? How about that the Texans were on track to pick number one in the 2014 draft? We may get small hints of this and that, but there’s still a long season ahead. So, if your team won a big one, congrats, but don’t get too comfortable. And, if your team is struggling, don’t lose hope. The best coaches can always make adjustments and get their teams back to business. This week, a few teams got back to playing like they’re known for playing, a few surprise teams handed defeats to some of the league’s best and Peyton Manning was Peyton Manning. Here are my top 10 takeaways from the first week of the season. If there’s such a thing as the “Super Bowl Slump,” don’t tell the Seattle Seahawks. In a complete home field pummeling of the Green Bay Packers, the reigning champions proved...
