From the first drive on, the National Team dominated with their offensive line on the way to a 27-7 victory against the American Team in the 2017 NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl.
“I was pretty impressed with that first group,” said National Team Head Coach Mike Martz on the offensive line play. “I think every one of them has a chance in the league.”
The National Team improves to 6-0 since the NFLPA Bowl started in 2012 while Martz improves to 3-0 in coaching this game. He had his players ready to go with his message before kickoff.
“Don’t think of this as an all-star game, think of it as a job interview,” Martz said.
The running backs and offensive line heard Martz message loud and clear on their way to 213 yards rushing on 42 carries.
“This was by far the best offensive line,” he said. “I thought it was a good group during the week. Its some really good players in there.”
That line consist of Javarius Leamon (South Carolina State), Ethan Cooper (Indiana University of PA), Jay Gulliermo (Clemson), Josh Boutte (LSU) and Jermaine Eluemunor (Texas A&M).
The group of offensive lineman helped open holes for running back Taquan Mizzell (Virginia) run for the most rushing yards in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl history with 96 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.
Running Backs B.J Logan (North Carolina) and Lenard Tillery (Southern) had themselves a day as well. Logan added 63 rushing yards on 14 carries while also being the National Team leading receiver with 28 yards on two catches.
“I was able to get a couple plays, catch a couple balls out the backfield,” said Logan on his week at practice leading up to the game. “When I got out here it was really just like a real game.”
Tillery did just about everything for the National Team. When he wasn’t running the football at running back, Tillery was catching passes out of the backfield, lining up at fullback or returning punts and kickoffs. He had 20 yards on 6 carries and added two catches for 25 yards.
“He’ll make somebody’s team no worse than a special teams player,” Martz said on Tillery.
The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl continues to improve their talent level each year. Martz believes there is about four or five more players compared to last year that can make a NFL roster.
“This is by far the best year,” said Martz on the talent level in the game. “They’ve gotten better the three years I’ve been in it.”
Follow us on twitter @PlayerInsiders @ColdAsFrost_.
