The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

[A_True_Fan]

Game: NCAA '09
Settings: Heisman
Sliders: Edited, in favor of CPU







Hey there. My name is Benjamin Taylor. I’m a senior here at Central High School, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. I will be keeping a blog of my times here at Central. I play quarterback for our football team, and hopefully, will be leading us into the playoffs this year!

I guess I should tell you a little bit more about my family. My mom and dad are both professors at the local university, Tennessee State University. We live about five minutes away from the campus, and I’ve grown up around the school. My family is strict Catholics, so other than MTSU, we cheer for Notre Dame. Go Irish!

Central High is a pretty good school. It’s an academic school mostly, but we have a really good football team this year. Right now, we are 7-0! We play in a lower division – 1A – so we don’t get a lot of publicity or recruiters coming to our games. I’m hoping that I can do enough to get some Division 1 offers. Dad thinks I should play at MTSU, even if I don’t get a scholarship and have to walk-on. I don’t know what I want to do, but it’s still early in the process…Right now, I’m just going to concentrate on my schoolwork, and of course, winning some more football games !

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Hey, it’s been a bit since I’ve written. Just thought I’d update on what has been going on.

We start the 1A playoffs tomorrow night. We are one of the top seeds, and are hoping to stay undefeated. Personally, I’ve been playing pretty well this year. It’s only my second year at quarterback, but I’ve been able to do some pretty good things. Coach considers me a “dual threat” – but I don’t run like Michael Vick or Pat White or anything. I tend to only run when I have to, and these playoffs may make if more often than I want.

As for the recruiting process, it’s been kinda slow. I’ve had some offers from the likes of lacename w:st="on">Alabamalacename> lacetype w:st="on">Statelacetype>, and lace w:st="on">lacename w:st="on">Murraylacename> lacetype w:st="on">Statelacetype>lace>, and some other lower division schools, but I’m still holding out that maybe a Division 1 school somewhere will offer me a scholarship. I have talked to the coaches over at MTSU a couple of times, and they have said that they would love to have me walk on, and compete, but they haven’t officially given me any official scholarship offering yet. Maybe I can help change that with a good showing tomorrow night. I know one thing, though; we have to keep winning against better quality opponents so these recruiters get a chance to get a good look at me….>>


Well, I'll write again after our opener. Let's go Central Tigers!

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Well, we won our first playoff game. McMinville was tough, but we ended up pulling away and winning 28-6. I threw 2 TD passes and ran for another, and felt like I played pretty good overall. I don’t know if I did enough tonight to make MTSU change their mind, or for any of the other schools to make me an offer, but we’ll see…



Here's a shot of me racing down the sideline for a big gain....



And here's another of me throwing the deep post pattern.

I'll write again after our next game. We play Severville, who is supposed to be pretty good....

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Just got done with our second playoff game. Sevierville had us against the ropes all night. Chris Collins, our starting RB, had fumbled twice in the game, and we were in a 21-10 hole going into the fourth quarter. The good news, though, is that somehow, we pulled it out! I threw for 2 TD’s in the fourth quarter, and we held on to win, 24-21. I’m so pumped! Two more victories and we are state champions! Maybe that’ll turn some heads!:

This is my first score of the game, a long TD run. We ran the option to the right, and I cut up the field, when I saw an opening...


It looked like their safety was going to bring me down, but i gave him a bit of a juke:


And then beat him down the sideline for an early score....


We play Brentwood this week. I hope we can win and make the Championship Game!

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Hey. Well, our semi-final game against Brentwood was a tight, defensive battle! We ended up winning 17-14. I played pretty okay – I threw for a TD pass early, but we were pretty much bottled up most of the game. I asked Dad if he thought many scouts were at the game, but he told me not to worry about it. “MTSU is going to come around, son. You will be a Blue Raider one way or another, either by scholarship or walk-on.” Oh well. Hopefully, Dad knows I still haven’t made up my mind. MTSU is great and all, but I’d like to get out on my own somewhere, too….

Not a lot of shots from today's game, but here's me throwing the deep out pattern. Most of the coaches I talk to say that my arm strength is their biggest concern. To play at a good D1 program, I've got to hit the weights, and learn to throw that out pattern on a rope. No lofting it out there, or it'll be picked for sure...

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

The state championship game is tonight! We play Trousdale County, who is the #1 team in the state. They are big and mean, and I think their D-line outweighs our O-line by like thirty pounds a player. Man, I hope we can slow them down….

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Hey. Well, we lost. No state championship. Trousdale beat us 12-10, and it really didn’t feel that close. I made a couple really dumb decisions in the game, like getting sacked for a safety, which turned out to be the difference in the game. They got up 12-0 on us, and though we fought back, and kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to get within 2, we just didn’t have it in us to come back and pull off the upset.

Here's me about to get hammered for the safety. They just had more guys coming than we had blockers, and I didn't get rid of the ball in time.



I was really being pressured most of the game, and never felt comfortable back there in the pocket. I never had my feet set, like this pass here:




Now that high school football is over for me, I will really focus in on this recruiting business, and try to find that perfect school for me. I know that there is one out there, and I'll make a difference on someone's roster!

[hockeyplaya2724]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

This is really good I can't wait to see what college you go to

[Equinox831]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

This looks good.. Keep going with it

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

This is really good I can't wait to see what college you go to

Thanks for following. I hope to have everytyhing written through Signing Day today...

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

December 25

Merry Christmas! I’ll give you an update of everything that has been going on these last couple of weeks since our loss in the Championship Game….


I’ve been working out a lot, trying to get bigger and stronger. I’m not that big, like 6’3, and I’m still pretty skinny – only like 185 pounds. Dad said it would be good if I could get to up to 200 before next year.

Other than that, I’ve had a lot of help putting together my highlight tapes and sending them out to various schools. Dad keeps telling me that MTSU has me on their radar, and that I shouldn’t worry about trying to get any other offers…unless of course, Notre Dame comes calling. I think that’s the only school he would be okay with me moving away to. I don't think I'm really on Notre Dame’s list, though, so that may be a bit of a fairly tale. Who knows, though?! Rudy did it, maybe I can too.....lol.

The good news is that I have received a few D1 offers. Kent State, Western Kentucky, Akron, and Navy have all offered me a scholarship. I would love to make an official visit to Kent State or Western Kentucky. They are both probably in my Top Five right now, although Dad says it’s pretty much MTSU and everyone else. I have talked to some of the coaching staff over at Vanderbilt, too. They are at least still located in Nashville, and I wouldn't be too far from home. I don’t know what they think of me, but maybe I could convince them to give me a shot. Oh well.

I still have at least a couple of months before I really have to make a decision. Hopefully, these next few months go well, and I find a good home for the next four years!

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

January 12

Hey...I just got back from a long trip of visiting some campuses with the family during Winter Break. Dad drove me up to see a bunch of schools in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. We hit Notre Dame, Kent State, Akron, Western Kentucky, and Indiana. My head is spinning, and its hard to keep all the schools apart. Here's what I remember, though:

Notre Dame: This place was awesome. A whole lot of tradition, and just cool to walk around and see the really old buildings and the stadium and everything. Dad really enjoyed it, and said that if I wanted to come here instead of MTSU, he'd understand.

Kent State: It was nice and quiet. The coaching staff really seemed interested in me, and definitely made me feel at home. I really felt that Kent State wanted me to be there and to be on their team.

Akron: I liked it well enough, and there was a really cute girl who helped show me around campus The campus seemed cool, and everything seemed very nice. I can't remember much else, though, except for the cute girl....

Western Kentucky: Western seemed to be a decent place, but I didn't really feel like I fit in there. I got the feeling that I was being recruited as an afterthought, like a couple of other guys they really wanted had backed out. Oh well. They are still on the list, but maybe down a couple of notches....This was supposed to be our last stop, but I convinced Dad to go over to Indiana and check out their campus.

Indiana: I really liked everything about Indiana -- the town, the campus, all of it seemed really cool and how a college town is supposed to feel. Dad mentioned several times that Indiana has not offered me any type of scholarship like most of the other places we had visited, and if I was going to walk on, it should be to MTSU or Notre Dame. He's probably right. But maybe I can strum up some more offers before signing day....

[hockeyplaya2724]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Wow you're dad is obsessed with Notre Date and MTSU

[A_True_Fan]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Feb. 1

Hey...Well, I think I have narrowed this thing down to a couple of schools. My high school coach has really been helping me try to get some more scholarship offers, and it seems that Vanderbilt, MTSU, and Indiana are all at least considering making me an offer. That would be great! Notre Dame still hasn't budged, but that's not really surprising...

I guess my Top Five is:

1. MTSU
2. Indiana
3. Vanderbilt
4. Notre Dame
5. Kent State

I really think it will come down to one of the first three schools. If I can get a scholarship offer from one of those three, I'll probably sign there...

Oh yeah, my coach says that Rivals has me listed as a 2 star recruit....I was hoping for three stars, but whatever, that's cool. It just means I will have more motivation to prove everyone wrong once I get on the field!

[Equinox831]

Re: The Diary of Benjamin Taylor

Out of those three I say Vanderbilt, but it's your choice. Keep this going and have fun with it, this is great