Depending on whom you ask, Central Michigan quarterback prospect Dan LeFevour is anywhere from a third round pick to a late round selection. And due to scouts’ concern about his lack of arm strength, the latter is probably more realistic.

After a lackluster week of practice leading up to the game, LeFevour threw for 97 yards and a touchdown on ten attempts in last month’s Senior Bowl. In effort to ride that success, he has decided not to throw at the NFL scouting combine, which kicks off Wednesday, February 24 and runs through March 2.

After racking up 12,905 passing yards, 2,948 rushing yards, 149 total touchdowns and a completion percentage of 66.4, his collegiate numbers speak for themselves. But is he taking a major risk by not throwing at the combine? Does he need to prove to scouts that he can make all the throws?

To gain a better perspective on the topic from someone who watched LeFevour play in college, I asked Central Michigan beat writer Drew Ellis of the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun about the benefits and risks of LeFevour not throwing at the combine.

“The strategy behind not throwing at the combine could simply be to try and give LeFevour the best chance to impress scouts when he finally does throw in front of them,” said Ellis. “LeFevour has chemistry with Bryan Anderson and Antonio Brown and if threw at the combine, he could be throwing to some guy he has never met or worked with.”

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One of the biggest beefs that the standard news outlets have about blogs is that blogs will claim work as their own, even though they borrowed the information from an original source.

We here at The Scores Report make a conscious effort to not only link to the original source, but to also state who the source was that we got the information from.

Maybe FootballCoachScoop.com should try the same practice.

Here are two excerpts from an article Central Michigan football beat writer Drew Ellis (who writes for the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun) wrote last night about Chippewa head coach Butch Jones, who is being pursued by other programs, including former MAC rival Marshall:

Heeke spoke Friday about working on a new contract for Jones, and sources close to Central Michigan University have confirmed that the new contract would make Jones the second highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with a base salary over $400,000 and incentives that could earn Jones another $200,000 annually.

The new contract offer would be a five-year deal and begin immediately.

Jones also has a $475,000 buyout in his current CMU contract, which increases to $700,000 if he is to leave the Chippewas prior to the end of the season, which includes the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.

This morning, FootballCoachScoop.com wrote this about the Jones’ contract situation in their “Scoop” section:

Our source close to the situation has confirmed that Athletic Director Dave Heeke has offered Head Coach Butch Jones a new contract. According to our source, the new contract would make Jones the second highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with a base salary over $400,000 and incentives that could earn Jones another $200,000 annually. The new contract offer would be a five-year deal and begin immediately. Jones also has a $475,000 buyout in his current CMU contract, which increases to $700,000 if he is to leave the Chippewas prior to the end of the season, which includes the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.

Sound familiar? While it’s possible that the site has its own source, the fact that their report is a word-for-word copy of Ellis’ article makes this highly unlikely. This is a clear case of a blog ripping off a newspaper’s information and passing it off as their own. Look at Ellis’ final paragraph and compare it to the last line in FootballCoachScoop.com’s paragraph. It’s identical and again, Ellis’ article posted last night and the blog posted their “scoop” this morning.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “It’s a MAC story – who cares.” But if FootballCoachScoop.com is stealing from Ellis, then who else are they stealing from? The blog routinely bolds the phrase “FIRST TO REPORT” on some of their stories, but are they the ones actually reporting the news first? Or are they stealing the content from beat writers across the country?

I’d love for FootballCoachScoop.com to reveal their “sources” on this story, because I’m pretty sure their “sources” are ctrl-alt-c for copy and ctrl-alt-v for paste.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Hey, I get it – it’s been a rough year in South Bend. The team was yet again a disappointment, expectations weren’t met and the head coach was fired after months/years of speculation that he would eventually be kicked to the curb.

But if you’re Notre Dame, why not accept a bid to go to a bowl game this year?

On Friday, ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that the school has decided against going to a bowl game with a 6-6 record, citing that without a head coach and offensive coordinator, the school wouldn’t have an experienced play caller for the game. Swarbrick also pointed out that the school would likely have lost money because their only option would have been a minor bowl.

The offensive coordinator excuse is logical, but the bit about losing money holds little water given how much loot Notre Dame just threw at Charlie Weis to get the hell out of town.

That said, one would think that the Irish seniors would want to strap it up for one last game together and try to go out as winners. If it were up to the players, I would have to assume that they would want to play – especially players like Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, both of whom might be heading for the NFL draft in April.

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Central Michigan won its third MAC Championship in four years on Friday after beating Ohio 20-10 at Ford Field in Detroit. In the victory, Dan LeFevour set college football’s record for combined touchdowns passing, rushing and receiving with his 147th and 148th career scores.

LeFevour’s touchdown mark is just one of many college football records that he now holds. He has the MAC record for total offense, passing yards and completions, and he’s also the only quarterback to pass for more than 12,000 yards and rush for more than 2,500. To put things into perspective, he has more rushing yards than Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy, as well as more passing yards than Tebow.

LeFevour might not be first round material, but much like Tebow he does have a place in the NFL. He’s a natural athlete, has good size and can run. Given that he played in the spread while at CMU, he may struggle learning the nuances of the pro game. But again, he holds plenty of value for a team that runs the Wildcat formation and considering that he’s a smart kid and a hard worker, over time he could develop into a solid pro.

As for CMU, coach Butch Jones has done a wonderful job taking over the team after Brian Kelly left the program in the lurch to coach at Cincinnati. It’ll be interesting to see if Davis stays in Mt. Pleasant after this season, because other schools (Marshall) will no doubt be in hot pursuit of his services.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

For those of you that partook in Wednesday night’s MAC football matchup between Toledo and Central Michigan, you had to be impressed from what you saw out of senior quarterback Dan LeFevour.

LeFevour completed 29-of-36 pass attempts for 341 yards and two touchdowns in the Chippewas’ 56-28 rout of the Rockets. He also rushed 14 times for 19 yards with a whopping four touchdowns, which was rather Tim Tebow-esqe.

LeFevour doesn’t get as much press as fellow quarterback prospects Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford because of the conference he plays in. Hell, he even takes a back seat to Cincinnati’s Tony Pike on Mel Kiper’s list of top senior prospects at the quarterback position.

But the kid is good – real good.

Now, I admit that I’m biased because I went to CMU. But it’s hard not to appreciate what LeFevour can do when you watch him. He has great size at 6-3, 238-pounds, can run, can throw with accuracy, and has demonstrated excellent leadership. He was the 2006 MAC Freshman of the Year, the MVP for the 2006 Motor City Bowl and the 2007 MAC Championship Game and was the 2007 MAC Offensive Player of the Year.

You might be thinking, “MAC football? Wow, who cares…” But don’t forget that Ben Roethlisberger is a product of the MAC, as is Chad Pennington. While not quarterbacks, Randy Moss, Joshua Cribbs, Lance Moore and a host of others also played in the MAC, so it’s clear that the conference is harvesting talent.

Granted, LeFevour does benefit from playing in a college-style offense that allows him to put up gaudy numbers and therefore it might take him awhile to learn a pro system. He also doesn’t throw the prettiest deep ball and his threat as a runner will be neutralized in the NFL because he doesn’t have great top-end speed. But he has the size, strength and durability to play at the next level, is a student of the game and is a winner. He could be a steal in the middle rounds in next April’s draft.

Photo from fOTOGLIF