Good News for GCT & ASU. Good to see a local player do well. Another thread reported that some of Blake's team mates called him the hardest worker on the team. Must be a good young man in general.

Here's the article from the Jonesboro Sun

Thursday, August 7, 2008


By Ben Cowens
Sun staff writer

JONESBORO — By late July in 2007, Jeff Blake had pretty much given up on his dream.

For years Blake wanted a chance to play Division I football. It was part of the reason he endured bruises and broken bones in his high school career at Greene County Tech. It’s why he had visited Arkansas State earlier in the spring to gauge the coaches’ interest in an undersized, lightly recruited linebacker.

But as July prepared to roll into August, Blake had waited long enough. He had fought to realize his dream, but he was pragmatic about the situation as well. If he couldn’t play at the highest level, he wasn’t going to miss a chance to play somewhere else.

Division II Henderson State offered Blake a partial scholarship to play linebacker, and Blake wasn’t going to pass it up. He was packing for the drive to Arkadelphia, ready to start his career 200 miles and one Roman numeral south of where he wanted to be. “I was going to take it,” Blake said of Henderson’s offer. “I just wanted to have a chance to play football at another level.”

Blake didn’t have the measurements to impress Division I coaches. He stands 5-10 with a stocky, 220-pound build — broad shoulders complemented by thick arms and legs. His high school didn’t have the pedigree to garner attention, either. Greene County Tech, for all its recent success on the hardwood and baseball diamond, is hardly a state power in football.

As a quarterback and linebacker, Blake toiled as the best player on a mediocre team at a school that hasn’t made a playoff appearance since 1991.
He earned all-state twice for his play at linebacker, but received minimal college interest. While football standouts around the country were taking official visits and pulling in offers, Blake had few options. He hadn’t received an immediate invitation as a preferred walk-on at ASU, but he said he expected a phone call before fall camp to see if he’d be invited. As the days went by, the call seemed less likely. Then days before he was to report to Henderson State, his phone rang. It was ASU running backs coach David Gunn. In that instant, everything changed.

“I told him I’d be here Aug. 1,” Blake said.
Blake made good on his promise, competed in camp and two months after Gunn’s fateful call, he was again preparing for a road trip. This time he was as an ASU fullback ready to make his first college start against the University of Texas in Austin. All of a sudden, the walk-on freshman from Paragould was starting in front of a Longhorn-crazy crowd twice the size of his home town.
“It was mind-blowing,” Blake said. “It wasn’t the people, it was the big bull (Bevo) they had right beside us when we walked out.”

Blake entered the game early in ASU’s first series. He lined up, settled his nerves and completed his assignment — a block on a Texas safety that helped spring Reggie Arnold for a minimal gain. “I didn’t want to let my teammates down,” Blake said. “I just didn’t want to mess up and screw the play up. I was nervous ... so nervous.”

Blake’s rise to the top of the depth chart as a freshman was as quick as it was unlikely. He spent most of fall camp as a linebacker before moving to fullback when Danny McNeal was injured. William Anderson and Jermaine Robertson were going to be redshirted, so Blake — who had impressed the coaches with his toughness on defense — got a shot on the other side of the ball.

“I guess the biggest thing for any freshman is how quickly can you learn the system,” Gunn said. “He was able to not only learn it but to execute it as well. He did a very good job.”

Despite having no background at the position, he earned playing time. Aside from the start against Texas — his only start of the year — he played in three other games in 2007, splitting time with McNeal, who eventually returned from his injury. Blake had found his place on the roster.

“It wasn’t too difficult,” Blake said. “Danny was a great mentor. He taught me. He was with me after every play when I came out. He would tell me what I did wrong and how I was supposed to do my steps. “You don’t really have that many sets to learn at the fullback position. You just need to know how to read and how to block.”

This fall, Blake has a golden opportunity to seize the starting job outright. His main competition for playing time appears to be Robertson, because Anderson had to quit football for medical reasons. With McNeal academically ineligible, Blake is the only returning fullback with game experience.

Blake has done everything he can to impress the right people, including head coach Steve Roberts. “Jeff is a great young man and a good athlete,” Roberts said. “He learns well and he works extremely hard to be successful. He’s the type of guy you want to have in your program.”

Roberts and his staff have already proven they have no problem relying on walk-ons at the fullback position. Current Oakland Raider Oren O’Neal earned honorable mention all-conference in 2006 for the Indians after starting his career without a scholarship.

Blake may be on top of the depth chart, but he knows as well as anyone what can happen during fall camp. “I’m still fighting for it,” Blake said. “We’ve got a good fullback in (Robertson) and he’s just as good. He’s fast and strong, but this is a great opportunity. “It’s what I dreamed off.”

bcowens@jonesborosun.com

UPDATE - Jeff was offered a scholarship today!

Good for GCT & ASU!

You can go onto aggieathletics.com and sign up for FREE to watch and listen to the Saturdays game Texas A & M verses ASU. Jeff is listed as the starting Fullback.

That's good for Jeffrey but as an ASU fan I am thoroughly disappointed Danny McNeal is not available due to grades. He could have been one of the better fullbacks ever at ASU.

anyone hear that danny mcneals problem were not his fault that a academic advisor gave him classes that did not count towards ncaa standards..

I did not hear that..all I knew was that he didn't qualify academically and nothing more. That's too bad for him and for us. He was going to be counted on to be a big part of our offense this season. Our backfield is a mess with only Reggie to be counted on (no offense to Blake)

Well, we certainly hope your feelings get proven out to be wrong. We would love to see Danny back in good standing. But Blake and Lawson may surprise us. I hear Blake has nothing but respect for Danny - but I can tell you they are all three outstanding players and Blake has the versatility to play other positions as well.