The NFL season got a little bit closer for NFL fans, as earlier this afternoon, the NFL announced that the defending Super Bowl champions will travel to Denver to take on the Broncos.

BYU’s Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah may be the hottest prospect in the NFL Draft. He is fast, tall, and athletic, yet he is a risk that teams are going to have to decide if its worth it.

Ansah is freak of an athlete. He is 6’5″, and 274 pounds with an arm length of 34 and five-eighths, and a hand length of 10 inches. Ansah even runs like a track athlete, as in 2010, he walked-on to the BYU track team and ran 21.9 seconds in the 200-meter dash. He was also cut twice from the BYU basketball team.

Ansah is a projected first-round draft pick.

NFL scout and executive Phil Savage says, “I’m thinking that maybe even the top five with the way teams are so desperate to adjust to what they’re doing for all these read-option quarterbacks. You are going to need guys on the defensive line who can chase those guys down.”

CBS Sports NFL Draft expert Rob Rang says, “Ansah compares to Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, New York Giants. Ansah is not the same terror-off-the-edge pass-rusher that Pierre-Paul was coming out of South Florida, but he’s similarly gifted and plays with greater commitment to the run. Like there was with Pierre-Paul, there is some risk factor with Ansah, but his upside is through the roof.”

Ansah finished 2012 with 62 total tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, one interception, and nine pass defenses.

In the Senior Bowl, Ansah shined, recording seven tackles, including three and a half for loss (one and a half for sacks), and a forced fumble off Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib.

Ansah has played several positions while at BYU, a stand-up rush linebacker, a defensive end, and nose guard. Ansah is a type of player that can create mismatches and has flexibility.

Perhaps, the biggest questions surrounding Ansah, is his experience. Coming into 2012, he had just zero career starts and 10 total tackles.

Tomorrow’s Super Bowl is the first time brothers will coach against each other in the big game. The Super Bowl has been referenced as the HarBowl, Bro Bowl, or even the Jimmy John’s Bowl.

These story lines have dominated Super Bowl XLVII:

• Ray Lewis’ last ride of his 17-year NFL career, and allegations using deer antler spray as a performance-enhancing drug.
• Is this Ed Reed’s last game in a Baltimore Ravens uniform?
• Colin Kaepernick is making his Super Bowl debut in only his tenth NFL start.
• Is Joe Flacco finally a elite quarterback?

However, it all comes down to Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens square off after two weeks of preparation and speculation. Let’s take a look at the game’s biggest match-ups, and what to watch for on the NFL’s biggest stage.

Jim Harbaugh vs. John Harbaugh

Which brother can outwit each other and motivate his team to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy? John Harbaugh is 54-26 and 8-4 in the postseason as Ravens coach. Jim Harbaugh is 24-7-1 and 3-1 in the postseason as 49ers coach.

Colin Kaepernick vs. Ravens Defense

The Ravens have to stop the 49ers’ pistol read option to win the game’s most coveted trophy. They faced Robert Griffin III earlier this year, and took Griffin out of the game with a knee injury, but still lost. Griffin had 242 passing yards and touchdown, and 34 rushing yards on seven carries against the Ravens.

The Ravens also allowed Alfred Morris to run against them (122 yards and a touchdown), which means that the Ravens can be run on, and Kaepernick isn’t the only runner to game plan for. Frank Gore has rushed for 209 yards and three scores this postseason for the 49ers.

The Falcons limited Kaepernick to two carries on 21 yards, but made the second-year quarterback comfortable in the pocket. He passed for 233 yards and a score.

The Ravens must make the early adjustments and set the tone early to try to get Kaepernick and his offense uncomfortable.

Joe Flacco vs. 49ers Secondary

Joe Flacco has finally grown up and got past the New England Patriots two weeks ago to send the Ravens to the Super Bowl. The Falcons exploited the 49ers secondary for 396 touchdowns and three touchdowns, and was the reason the 49ers played from behind in the NFC championship game.

The Ravens have three deep threats, Torrey Smith (17.1 yards per catch on 99 career receptions), Anquan Boldin, and Jacoby Jones (burned Denver on a 70 yard score to send game to overtime).

Flacco, meanwhile, has thrown eight touchdowns, and no interceptions this postseason, and the 49ers live for turnovers. Perhaps none was bigger last week when Chris Culliver intercepted Matt Ryan in the second half two weeks ago and shift the momentum for the 49ers.

The craziest stat of all is Flacco has thrown the ball 101 times for 21 or more yards and hasn’t been intercepted.

Offensive Lines vs. Defensive Lines

The biggest battle of the Super Bowl may be in the trenches. The 49ers Mike Iupati and Joe Staley will have their hands full against Haloti Ngata, who has the most tackles of all the Ravens defensive lineman. It will also be interesting to see how the 49ers cover the Ravens linebackers Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis (44 tackles in 3 postseason games).

The 49ers offensive line also must establish itself early in the game for the pistol read option and run game to work, or else the Ravens will figure them out.

On the flip side, the 49ers have two dominant pass rushers, and a dominant middle linebacker, as well. Aldon Smith and Justin Smith have combined for 22.5 sacks on the year, Aldon Smith has a 20 quarter sack drought, and Justin Smith is still trying to get over his torn triceps. The two Smiths’ will be key to put pressure on Flacco to make mistakes and not hit his wide receivers deep for long plays.

The 49ers also have Ray Rice to worry about. Rice has ran for 247 yards and two scores in the postseason.

Super Bowl XLVII should be exciting and it appears balanced between the 49ers and Ravens which will provide for great entertainment. Neither the 49ers and Ravens have ever lost a Super Bowl and one will for the first time. It all comes down to Sunday for the Vince Lombardi trophy.

(I published this article on Friday at ESPN991.com, and be sure to check out my other articles here: http://espn991.com/author/samtastad/)

Before the 2013 BCS National Championship, Manti Te’o's draft stock had him in the first round. Perhaps, that changed against Alabama.

Before the title game, Te’o had only missed two tackles, and recorded 101 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and seven interceptions. Te’o was a Heisman finalist, and won the Nagurski, Butkus, and Lott trophies.

Against Alabama, the Crimson Tide exposed the Fighting Irish defense and Te’o. When Te’o didn’t allow two missed tackles all year, he had two missed tackles in the first quarter.

Alabama’s duo running back tandem of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon ran all over the Irish defense and Te’O for 265 yards of total rushing yards.

Te’o wasn’t much of a factor at all, and most of the times when he burst past offensive lineman, he missed Lacy or Yeldon.

CBS Sports NFL draft analyst said of Te’o, “Te’o's first-half performance, when he struggled to avoid being blocked and, more tellingly, missed several tackles on Lacy and Yeldon, should be troubling to pro scouts.

In the biggest of big games you have to play well,” Rang said at halftime. “The fact he’s not has got to be an area of concern for any NFL talent evaluator. You don’t get more NFL (offensive) talent than Alabama. You don’t get a bigger stage. … For of player with his hype to not be able to make tackles, it will hurt his draft stock.”

Te’o missed a big opportunity to impress NFL scouts against Alabama, especially considering Alabama is a team filled with NFL talent. Te’o will  now have to make the most of opportunities at the Combine, along with his workouts for pro scouts.

A day after Florida’s loss to the Louisville Cardinals, a pair of Gators are declaring early for the 2013 NFL Draft. Defensive tackle Shariff Floyd and safety Matt Elam had decided to forgo their junior seasons.

Floyd, 6’3″, 303 pounds is expected to be a first round pick. He 46 tackles, three sacks, and a team-high 13 tackles for a loss for the Gators this year. He also blocked two kicks on special teams for the Gators. He moved to defensive tackle this year, after playing defensive end the previous two years. Floyd was an All-SEC team selection in 2012.

Elam, 5’10″, 202 pounds, was an first team All-American, and posted 76 total tackles (second on the team), for the Gators. He had 11 against Louisville in the Sugar Bowl last night. He also had four interceptions and five pass breakups on the year.

Earlier this college football season, the Baylor Bears (7-5, 4-5) made a statement by knocking off previously undefeated and the number one team in the country, Kansas State, 52-24. Meanwhile, the UCLA (9-4, 6-3) fell to Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship game, but had a few quality wins over the year (Nebraska, and USC).

Baylor lost Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III to NFL, but reloaded with senior Nick Florence. Florence is the national leader in total offense with 387.7 yards per game. He has thrown for 4,121 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and completed 61.2% of his passes on the year.

The Bears are number one nationally in total offense with 578.8 yards per game and fifth with an average of 44.1 yards per game.

The Bears other star is wide receiver Terrence Williams. Williams was a Biletnikoff award finalist, and caught 95 passes for 1,764 yards, 12 touchdowns and an average of 18.6 yards a catch.

The key for UCLA to stop Baylor, will be finding a way to stop sophomore running back Lache Seastrunk. Seastrunk has shown his ability to break off huge runs, and this season has ran for 874 rushing yards, and six touchdowns. He averages 7.6 yards per carry.

For UCLA, the Bruins are led by senior running back Johnathan Franklin. Franklin  was a Doak Walker award finalist, and is UCLA’s all-time leading rusher with 4,369 rushing yards. In 2012, Franklin ran for career bests of 1,700 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, 32 receptions, 319 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. The senior running back averaged 6.3 yards a carry over the year.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Hundley threw for 3,411 passing yards, 26 touchdowns (second most in UCLA history), and completed 68.2% of his passes.

On defense for the Bruins, junior linebacker Anthony Barr, (led nation with 13.5 sacks), and sophomore linebacker Eric Kendricks (fifth in FBS with 137 tackles).

This is the first meeting for the two teams. Baylor has split 18 Bowl appearances, where UCLA is 14-16-1.

The Fresno State Bulldogs will square off against the Southern Methodist Mustangs in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.

Fresno St. (9-3) enjoyed a share of the Mountain West conference title in their first year in the conference, and will take on former rival SMU (6-6), of the Western Athletic Conference.

Fresno St. averages 40.3 points per game and gives up 22.3 points per game. SMU averages 29.5 points per game and gives up 27.0 points per game.

The Bulldogs are led by junior quarterback Derek Carr, and is the little brother of former number one pick, David Carr.

Derek Carr has said he is coming back for his senior year. He has thrown for 3,742 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, five interceptions, and completed 68.1% of his passes.

SMU’s quarterback, Garrett Gilbert, the former Texas quarterback, and is making his first Bowl game appearance since the 2010 BCS title game, has thrown for 2,720 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and completed 53.1% of his passes.

The player to watch is Fresno St. senior running back, Robbie Rouse. Rouse has ran for 1,468 yards, 12 touchdowns and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. He is the Bulldogs all-time leading rusher, and posted his third straight 1,000 rushing yard season this year. Last year, he had 1,549 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, watch for Fresno St. safety Phillip Thomas. Thomas leads the nation with eight interceptions and was named the MWC defensive player of year and was a Thorpe award finalist.

Fresno St. and SMU square off at 8:00 ET on Christmas Eve.

South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore has announced he will enter the 2013 NFL Draft. An official announcement will be made this week, and possibly Wednesday.

Lattimore is currently rehabbing his knee after suffering an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in October. He says that rehabbing with NFL team doctors will help him recover the fastest. Lattimore isn’t on crutches anymore, either.

Lattimore also missed half of the 2011 season, but began the 2012 season. Lattimore is 6’0″ and 218 pounds, and burst on the scene his freshman year after rushing for 1,197 yards and 17 touchdowns while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Before he got injured this season, he rushed for 662 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Lattimore has rushed for 2,677 yards, and 38 touchdowns in his career at South Carolina.

A source told Fansided.com, that North Carolina State defensive back David Amerson is going to enter the 2013 NFL Draft. Amerson is the second defensive back to declare for the draft in two days.

Amerson is a  6’2″ and 194 pound cornerback. His speed could make him more of a safety at the next level.

Amerson has 45 total tackles in 2012 (33 solo, and 12 assisted). He has five interceptions for a touchdown on the year, along with 11 pass defenses. His best game was against Clemson when he recorded nine total tackles (six solo, and three assisted), along with three pass defenses.

Fansided.com has him projected to be drafted in the third or fourth round.