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Big 12 football: Week 3 lookahead

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 5:32 PM

Observations as we head into Week 3 of the Big 12 football season:

--Folks in these parts were quick to label Decatur MacArthur's victory at Centennial last week as an upset. I wouldn't be so hasty. The Generals (2-0) are for real. This is a team that's headed to the postseason and, come Week 9, we might look back at this result with a much different feeling than now.

The Chargers have inexperienced players at several spots, and the talent level isn't what it was a few years ago. As a result, their margin for error isn't large. Too many mistakes doomed them against MacArthur, coach Mike McDonnell said after Friday's game.

--This week's Danville-Centennial matchup is of great importance for both teams. The Vikings have designs on remaining in the title chase; they're one of three unbeatens in the league. Centennial, meanwhile, would be putting itself in a precarious position with another defeat. At 1-2, the Chargers would still have games remaining against some of the league's best teams: Bloomington, Normal Community and Champaign Central among them. A loss Friday essentially would mean that Centennial would need to win at least one of those three games.

--Central's Denzel Stewart is averaging more than 200 yards a game, a pace that's tough to maintain in a rugged conference like the Big 12. Teams like Community and Bloomington aren't likely to surrender 200 against many running backs, even ones as explosive as Stewart.

Nevertheless, the junior is putting himself in a position to, potentially, break some records.

It's hard to envision Stewart getting close to Mikel Leshoure's Twin City single-season rushing mark of 2,458. To get that, the Maroons certainly would have to make a deep playoff run, which isn't likely.

But if he stays healthy, Stewart eventually could break Leshoure's Twin City career mark of 3,596. Heading into Friday's game at Decatur Eisenhower -- where Stewart could hit 200 again -- he has 1,374 career rushing yards. So, he needs 2,632 to break Leshoure's record. Let's say Stewart plays eight more games this season (that would include one playoff game) and 10 games as a senior. That's 18 games. To reach Leshoure, he'd need to average 146 yards a game -- certainly do-able for a back of his quality.

--I'll be at Tommy Stewart Field for Danville-Centennial on Friday night. Back then.