Winners, Losers and Grades from the 2020 All-American Bowl
The future stars of college football—and perhaps one day the NFL—were shining brightly in San Antonio for Saturday's All-American Bowl.
The West defeated the East 33-20 in the 20th edition of this event, but the final scores in these exhibition games are always irrelevant. The individual participants are the most noteworthy, because this is where the next crop of guys like Trevor Lawrence, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Brendan Radley-Hiles will come from.
And based on what the Bryce Young and DJ Uiagalelei-led passing attacks accomplished in this game, let's just say we're not expecting Alabama or Clemson to have a drop-off in offensive production anytime soon.
To recap the afternoon filled with 5-star and 4-star talents, we've assigned grades to many of the key players and hit on a few winners and losers from the All-American Bowl.
Grades: C
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C+
Brock Travelstead, K (Louisville): He missed two extra points—one was at least partially his fault; one was not—and failed to recover an onside-kick attempt that he probably should have gotten. But he also drilled all three of his field-goal attempts, one of which didn't count. All in all, not a bad day.
Logan Jones, DE (Iowa): Jones was the one who alertly fell on that surprise onside-kick attempt. Travelstead dribbled it 10 yards, and the kicking team had a three-on-one advantage at the point of attack. The future Hawkeye managed to secure it, though.
Xzavier Henderson, WR (Florida): Not long after announcing he would head to Gainesville this fall, Henderson made a nice catch on a DJ Uiagalelei deep ball late in the fourth quarter. The pass probably should have been broken up by Ayden Hector, but he's forgiven for not expecting to see a ball fly that far.
C
Desmond Tisdol, LB (Auburn): I feel bad even giving Tisdol this low of a grade, because the rules of this all-star game are ridiculous. The defense is required to play a 4-3 at all times, but the offense could use four wide receivers whenever it wanted. As a result, this inside linebacker was tasked with trying to cover 4-star wideout Gary Bryant Jr. on one play. It did not end well.
C-
Lathan Ransom, S (Ohio State): Ransom got burned by Josh Downs on a 42-yard gain in the first quarter and couldn't contain tight end Michael Mayer on a 39-yard touchdown later in the same quarter. Then in the second quarter, he got a 15-yard penalty for leaping on a field-goal attempt.
Fred Davis II, CB (Clemson): The first play of the game was a 75-yard touchdown, and Davis is largely to thank for that. It looked like he didn't even realize the game was underway, getting torched by Jalen McMillan.
Luke Wypler, OG (Ohio State): Wypler was all over the place with his snaps. He nearly launched one over Uiagalelei's 6'5" frame, and then did flip the next one out of his reach, resulting in a fumble touchdown for the opposition. He also played a key role in the West's other defensive touchdown, as his subpar snap to Evan Prater threw off the timing of the bubble screen, allowing Dwight McGlothern to jump the route for six points.
Grades: B
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B+
Casey Filkins, RB (Stanford): It was a miserable afternoon for running backs. A 12-yard jet sweep to a wide receiver seemed to be the longest run of the day. But Filkins had a couple of nice gains just before halftime and then went untouched for a six-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Cody Simon, LB (Ohio State): Simon had three tackles and forced a fumble in the second half. For a Buckeyes defense losing an awful lot this offseason, he could play a key role as a true freshman.
Kalel Mullings, LB (Michigan): Mullings had a huge stuff on a rushing attempt on 2nd-and-goal, laterally tracking the ball-carrier before exploding into the gap and stopping him in his tracks. The West ended up forcing a turnover on downs two plays later. Mullings was also the beneficiary of a blocked extra-point attempt, scooping the bouncing ball and returning it for two points.
B
Ayden Hector, DB (Stanford): The "Johnny on the Spot" award for this game goes to Hector, who tracked down a bad snap that went flying over the head of DJ Uiagalelei. The quarterback tried to tackle him before he even got to the ball, but Hector got away from him, snagged the ball on a bounce and ran it all the way back for a 99-yard fumble-return touchdown.
Michael Mayer, TE (Notre Dame): Mayer only made one catch, but it was a big one. On a play-action fake in the first quarter, he was on the receiving end of a 39-yard touchdown.
B-
Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington): McMillan went 75 yards on the first play of the game for a touchdown, but he struggled after that. He made one catch in the red zone and fumbled it out of bounds—a catch that likely would have been overturned as an incompletion if this had been a game with video reviews. McMillan also dropped a ball that hit him in the hands and lost a fumble.
Quandarrius Robinson, LB (Alabama): On the aforementioned McMillan touchdown, Robinson looked lost in the middle of the field and made no effort to tackle McMillan, who caught the ball not far from him. But Robinson was the star of one of the game's biggest highlights, blocking an extra-point attempt.
Grades: A
3 of 7
A+
Bryce Young, QB (Alabama): Is Tua Tagovailoa leaving for the NFL draft? Will Mac Jones transfer? If so, Alabama is still in great shape with this freshman. Young connected with Jalen McMillan for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. Later in the first quarter, he stumbled a bit before flicking a 43-yard dart off his back foot to Gary Bryant Jr. for another touchdown. The dual-threat QB didn't do much running in this one, but he didn't need to. He will be even more fun to watch when he starts unleashing that second skill set in Tuscaloosa.
Noah Sewell, LB (Oregon): Sewell didn't do much of anything in the first half—aside from looking foolish on a juke move we'll mention shortly—but the 6'2", 266-pounder flashed major talent in the second half. He made a leaping interception on a fourth-down desperation heave by Tate Rodemaker. A few plays later, he took a direct snap on a fake punt, running the ball 30 yards down the sideline. One can only hope we eventually get to see him get a carry and run behind his brother, Oregon left tackle Penei Sewell.
Josh Downs, WR (North Carolina): We'll have more to say about Downs later, but this guy was everywhere for the East offense. He never found the end zone, but he had 10 touches for more than 130 yards from scrimmage.
Dwight McGlothern, CB (LSU): After committing to LSU in the first quarter, McGlothern ended the first half with an interception of a semi-Hail Mary by DJ Uiagalelei. In the second half—after watching the East throw about a billion bubble screens to Downs—McGlothern jumped one of those routes and returned it for a touchdown, which included a tribute to Deion Sanders as he high-stepped across the goal line.
A
Gary Bryant Jr., WR (USC): On consecutive first-quarter plays, Bryant almost made an impossible catch after making an adjustment on an underthrown ball. Young rewarded his man for that effort by connecting with him on a 32-yard gain, which Bryant reached out for with one hand to bring in. He later scored on a 43-yard reception. He would've gotten an A-plus if he had executed his post-touchdown celebration instead of fumbling the ball three times during it.
Will Anderson, DE (Alabama): Anderson recorded sacks on back-to-back plays late in the second quarter, making mincemeat of future Washington offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten on both plays. He forced a fumble on one of them, though it was recovered by the offense. Anderson also blew up a 4th-and-2 play late in the fourth quarter, getting into the backfield before the rushing attempt had any chance to develop.
DJ Uiagalelei, QB (Clemson): It was an uneven performance for the 6'5", 246-pound QB who may well replace Trevor Lawrence in 2021. He missed the mark badly on a few deep balls and forced some questionable passes into coverage. But he also showed impressive agility, breaking Sewell's ankle with a stutter step and later evading pressure from Xavier Carlton after rolling right off a play-action fake and seeing the defensive end barreling toward him. The arm strength he displayed on the almost 60-yard bomb to Xzavier Henderson was mighty impressive too.
A-
Bryan Bresee, DL (Clemson): Playing with a club on his left hand didn't stop the No. 1 overall recruit from making a big impact on this game. He sacked CJ Stroud on the West QB's second snap of the afternoon, and he brought a lot of pressure on back-to-back plays with Malik Hornsby in at quarterback late in the first half. They also brought him in at tailback in a jumbo goal-line package, giving him a carry for a one-yard gain, though he couldn't punch it in for six.
Antonio Doyle, LB (Texas A&M): Doyle didn't have any standout moments, but it often seemed like there were several of him on the field. He led all players with an unofficial count of nine tackles.
Winner: The SEC
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The rich got richer Saturday.
There were already six SEC teams with 2020 recruiting classes ranked in the top 10, and four of the six made another key acquisition via the in-game hat ceremonies.
LSU got the party started with a commitment from cornerback Dwight McGlothern in the first quarter.
A few minutes later, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper announced his plans to attend Texas A&M.
Wide receiver Xzavier Henderson picked Florida over Clemson, Alabama and Georgia early in the third quarter.
In the fourth, safety Vito Tisdale decided to stay close to home by choosing Kentucky.
And the biggest splash came near the end of the game when cornerback Kelee Ringo—the only 5-star declaration of the day—donned a Georgia cap.
None of the decisions was surprising, least of all Ringo, who had been expected to choose the Bulldogs for quite some time. Nevertheless, it was a big day for the SEC, with the conference picking up more than half of the day's 2020 commitments.
Loser: Extra-Point Attempts
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It appears the future of the #CollegeKickers hashtag is in good shape, because there were not one, not two, but three missed extra points in the All-American Bowl—plus a failed two-point attempt that was nearly intercepted, just for good measure.
Most of that had nothing to do with the kickers, though.
East kicker Brock Travelstead (headed to Louisville) did push his first attempt slightly wide right, but the hold was far from perfect. Plus, he made up for it by hitting field goals from 35 yards and 29 yards. He also drained a 46-yarder, but the East opted to take those points off the board by accepting a West penalty.
Travelstead also missed the final extra-point attempt of the game, but that was both a bad snap and a botched hold. It's a minor miracle that he was even able to kick the ball at all with those timing disruptions.
But at least those misses didn't put points on the board for the other team.
When West kicker Matthew Shipley (headed to Hawaii) attempted an extra point midway through the third quarter, future Alabama linebacker Quandarrius Robinson came off the right edge and blocked the kick with basically his entire body, and then soon-to-be Michigan Wolverine Kalel Mullings scooped it up and took it to the house for two points.
NBC's announcers were laughing and asking if that's even legal in a game where blitzing was disallowed. They counted the two points, though.
Winner: Mack Brown and the North Carolina Tar Heels
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North Carolina didn't add any recruits Saturday. There wasn't even a Tar Heels hat on the table for any of the declarations.
Still, it was an exciting day for fans in Chapel Hill, who got a glimpse of what's to come from wide receiver Josh Downs and safety Ja'Qurious Conley.
Aside from West quarterback and game MVP Bryce Young, Downs was the most impressive player on the field.
On the East's first big play of the game, Downs made a 42-yard reception, blowing right by Lathan Ransom to the inside via a jab step to the outside.
Most of his other contributions came on bubble screens, but he did add a nice 13-yard catch along the sideline on a 3rd-and-12 play. Overall, he had nine receptions for 121 yards, as well as a 12-yard run on a jet sweep.
Conley got burned by Gary Bryant Jr. for a 43-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-11 in the first half, but that was the only time he seemed to be out of position or flat-footed in the secondary. More noteworthy were his contributions on kickoffs, as Conley had two nice returns to help set the East up with drives that started near midfield.
On the second one, he broke several tackles and spun away from other would-be tacklers, pulling an extra 15 or so yards out of thin air. He was so impactful as a returner that the West opted for a squib kick with a 33-14 lead rather than risking Conley taking one to the house.
The Tar Heels had one of the most dangerous returners in the nation two years ago in Anthony Ratliff-Williams. Conley should follow nicely in those speedy footsteps.
Loser: Red River Showdown
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Early in NBC's broadcast, there was a graphic showing that this year's College Football Playoff featured 83 guys who played in previous installments of the All-American Bowl. Ohio State led the way with 33, Oklahoma had 21, Clemson had 17, and LSU had 12.
But it was not a good afternoon for Lincoln Riley and his Sooners staff, as they both started and ended the day with only one commitment, tight end Jalin Conyers, from a field of more than 100 high school stars.
Oklahoma was at least in the conversation for many of the players who declared on Saturday. There were nine commitments in the class of 2020, and four of them—Darion Green-Warren, Vito Tisdale, Gary Bryant Jr. and Kelee Ringo—had Oklahoma hats on the table when they made their announcement.
All four spurned the Sooners.
The good news for Oklahoma fans is that their archrival didn't make any improvements, either.
Texas was also in the hunt for commitments from four players on Saturday: Ringo, Dwight McGlothern, LV Bunkley-Shelton and 2021 QB Preston Stone. But the Longhorns also went 0-for-4.
Stone's decision wasn't a surprise to the recruiting experts, as he was already projected to choose SMU. Still, it has to sting to not only miss out on one of the top 10 players in the state, but also lose him to a Group of Five school. They've got a year to try to flip the Dallas-area phenom, though.
Oklahoma and Texas are still in ninth and 10th place, respectively, in the 247Sports Composite team rankings, but they whiffed on opportunities to make up some ground on the likes of Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Ohio State.
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