CFB AM: Ute introduces newborn son like only football players can

Published Sep. 4, 2014 9:00 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

Last week was a pretty good one for Andy Phillips.

Utah’s sophomore kicker made eight extra-point attempts as the Utes buried Idaho State 56-14 in their opener.

It doesn’t even come close to comparing to this week for Phillips, though, and we’re still two days away from Utah playing Fresno State.

On Tuesday, Phillips became a father.

The 25-year-old and wife Megan welcomed a little boy – Maximus Andrew Phillips.

So how did Phillips introduce his newborn son to the world? By doing something only football players can do:

What a photo.

The official Utah football account also posted a picture of young Maximus draped in daddy’s jersey:

How did Phillips’ parents and wife like the photos? I’m sure they were thrilled, although all three of them are BYU Cougars.

At least we can take comfort in knowing that house will consist of nothing but peace and harmony during the holiday (i.e. football) season. Congrats Phillips family!

(h/t Bleacher Report)

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. A few more details emerge, courtesy of Stewart Mandel’s piece, on Wisconsin QB Joel Stave and how he’s developed the Yips over the last few weeks. It got so bad in practice leading up to the season-opener that Stave couldn’t complete basic throws – he was short-hopping simple 10-yard routes. Last Saturday in Houston, as some reporters at the game also noticed, Stave was wildly inaccurate during pregame warmups and couldn’t connect with receivers on routine throws. Even during Tanner McEvoy’s awful game, Gary Andersen’s only other option was bringing in a third-string QB. He couldn’t play Stave. Couple brief thoughts:

* This explains why Andersen released a statement saying Stave was “injured” only to then after practice on Tuesday say that the QB isn’t injured, just that he’s “not ready to play.” This seemed like the second miscommunication in three days, which I pointed out in Wednesday’s post, but it’s now obvious that Andersen was protecting Stave and didn’t want to embarrass him by mentioning “Yips” in a statement. I still think there were mixed messages around Melvin Gordon’s health last Saturday against LSU, but what Andersen did with the Stave statement is totally understandable and I’d like to give him credit for that.

* In Mandel’s piece, he talks to a current college softball coach who played her entire collegiate career – even earning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors – without being able to throw a ball overhand to first base because she had such severe Yips. Now she speaks out with other coaches at all levels about how to work with players on this. I strongly encourage you to read the story – this is an important issue that, while rare in football, is now bubbling to the surface in a sport that doesn’t traditionally treat anything perceived as “mental weakness” with any kind of tact. Stave will inevitably catch grief from opposing fans, but he shouldn’t. What he’s dealing with is the worst feeling imaginable, because he suddenly can’t do what he’s probably done effortlessly since he was 6 years old and there’s no physical fix. He can’t see the error on film and then correct it on the field. It’s a mental web he must untangle. Hopefully he can overcome it and finish this season in a productive manner.

2. This is EXACTLY what Oregon needs the week of Michigan State: Former tight end Colt Lyerla said in a longform profile published by SB Nation that he was promised a house and car by a booster to play at Oregon, and now the school’s compliance department is examining the case. Here’s the profile if you want to read it in full.

3. What a few days for Texas. The Longhorns lost starting center Dominic Espinosa for the season with a broken ankle he suffered last week against North Texas and then found out QB David Ash’s concussion symptoms returned; he’s out for the BYU game this week, and his future is unclear at this point. Now, on late Wednesday afternoon, coach Charlie Strong announced both starting tackles, Kennedy Estelle and Desmond Harrison, were suspended for this week’s game due to violations of team rules.

So Texas will be without 60 percent of its starting offensive line, its starting quarterback, starting receiver Daje Johnson (suspended) and starting safety Josh Turner (suspended) against the Cougars, who embarrassed the ‘Horns last year. Charlie Strong certainly has his reasons for the purge, but at some point there will be a significant cost for these moves, and it might be paid this weekend at home.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. Week 2 kicks off tonight! Arizona at UT-San Antonio (8 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). It’s our second look at Arizona’s redshirt freshman QB Anu Solomon, who was sharp against UNLV in his first start, and another opportunity to enjoy Nate Phillips, Austin Hill and all those Wildcat receivers. Plus, Larry Coker has UTSA coming off a great road win over Houston last week. Should be a lot of fun.

2. We have a number of quality pieces dedicated to the best game this week – Michigan State at Oregon (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET, FOX) – and the latest is Coy Wire’s look at how the Spartans can shut down the Ducks and potentially upset them in Eugene. It’s a great Xs-and-Os look at the most critical part of the matchup – whether or not Michigan State can contain Oregon’s read-option run game like Stanford did last season when the Cardinal knocked off UO. Give it a read if you have a few minutes. I promise you’ll be a more intelligent fan afterwards.

Also: Bruce Feldman has been in East Lansing for the last couple days reporting on the Spartans, and he has a Q&A with head coach Mark Dantonio.

3. This is pretty cool: A member of the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band put a GoPro camera on his snare drum before the pregame performance last week against Clemson, so now we get to see first-hand what it’s like to be on an SEC drum line inside a packed stadium.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. Really, Florida State fans, it’s time to stop trolling the SEC. Last year is done with, and it’s not like your team hasn’t given opposing fans plenty of things to get crabby over since the national title game.

2. Before their first home game of the season, the Texas A&M Aggies will have the ‘Swagcopter’ on display.

3. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly wore one hell of a jacket during Wednesday’s press conference and wants you to know this is what good style looks like:

LASTLY

* Good read from Kellis Robinett on Mark Mangino preparing to dive back into Big 12 play as Iowa State’s offensive coordinator.

* Despite bigger games and more buzz elsewhere in the country, tickets for Michigan-Notre Dame are by far the most expensive in the country this week.

* Former Miami Hurricane and current Louisville assistant Lamar Thomas took a nice little shot at his alma mater on Twitter.

* LSU defensive tackle Quentin Thomas tore his bicep in fall camp and was told surgery would be required to re-attach the tendons. He’d miss all of the 2014 season. “Within three days, I was doing things I wasn’t supposed to be able to do,” he said. “I had full motion, I could lock it out, I was carrying stuff. So the trainers did another strength test and it was no different than before I hurt it.” Wow. Here’s the full story from Randy Rosetta.

* If you have 17 minutes, this is a pretty cool behind-the-scenes video of Texas A&M’s big win over South Carolina in Week 1. Great production.

* Really cool aerial highlights of the inaugural game at Baylor’s McLane Stadium.

Have a great Thursday, all.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

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