Dowling and Blakely named to 2012 pre-season All Transfer Team

It's never too early to talk about college football, which might be good news for local standouts Jon Dowling from Southeast and former Manatee High running back Mike Blakely.

Both were selected to the 2012 All-Transfer team released by CollegeFootballNews.Com. Ironically both began their careers at the University of Florida where you might say they stayed long enough to get a quick lunch.

Okay that might be a stretch. But neither was there long enough to finish their freshmen year and both are ready to go in 2012: Dowling at Western Kentucky and Blakely at Auburn.

Dowling, who was rated among the top two or three cornerbacks in the country by some scouting services, figures to be a jack of trades and master of many for the Hilltoppers. WKU head coach Willie Taggart says Dowling will start at DB (either safety or CB) and see time at receiver.

Blakely was rated the 10th best running back by Scout.Com when he signed with Florida, but was unhappy with the new coaching regime and left. He will be battling returnees Onterio McCalebb and Tre Mason to replace Michael Dyer who transferred to Arkansas State.

All three will be vying to fill some big shoes. Dyer was the Tigers leading rusher and first team All SEC pick before he was suspended from the team prior to its bowl game and eventually left transferring to Arkansas State where he will play for new head coach Gus Malzhan, who was his offensive coordinator at Auburn.

Don't ever say college football gets dull! Both of these guys will get a second chance and lets hope everything works out for them this time.

AJ Love catches passes from Cam Newton

A.J. Love has not played in a football game since 2009, but that doesn’t mean the USF receiver isn’t getting his name out to the right people.

Thanks to Jon Gruden’s ESPN “QB Camp” workouts that are being held on USF’s new practice fields and Love has had a chance to catch passes from some of the NFL’s top quarterback prospects.

Recently the Southeast High product caught passes from Auburn’s Cam Newton, who might be the first pick in Thursday night’s NFL draft. Love looked good and his former teammate at Southeast, , also going into his final season at USF, got into some of action.

The 6-2, 205 pound Love looks as if he has fully recovered from his ACL surgery that forced him to sit out last season. In fact, USF head coach Skip Holtz says it’s just a matter of the receiver getting his confidence back and he doesn’t expect that to be a problem.

Gruden put in a plug for Love and the others telling the media and that USF has a good looking bunch of receivers. The former Bucs head coach who spoke at Holtz’s coaching clinic last month, got to spend time with Southeast head coach Paul Maechtle.

Holtz has told Paul Maecthle that the coaching staff is counting on Love and expects big things from him in 2011. They love Love’s size, soft hands, athleticism and perhaps most of his leadership skills.

Sandberg gets another accolade

The accolades keep rolling in for the Manatee High quarterback Cord Sandberg, who has yet to start a regular season varsity game.

The lefty was listed among the top 100 sophomores in the country this week by MaxPreps, which has been taken over by CBSSports.com.

The 6-1, 180 pounder gained a lot of notoriety last spring when he threw five touchdown passes in Manatee’s 48-41 victory Palm Bay Side, connecting on 21 of 23 passes for 320 yards.

The best part is that he is obviously more than a one night wonder. Sandberg looked good in several college football camps this summer, particularly impressing the coaches at Auburn, who told him he was high on their radar screen and would likely get a scholarship in the not too distant future.