If theres such a thing as a virtuoso on the football field, Vanderbilts Zach Cunningham is your guy. He plays the game so naturally, so instinctively and so consistently.The 6-4, 230-pound redshirt junior linebacker misses tackles the way Eric Clapton misses notes on his guitar.It doesnt happen.Fittingly, Cunningham plays a little guitar himself, going back to his youth at Birminghams New Life Evangelistic Worship Center. He taught himself to play and has since taken a few guitar classes at Vanderbilt. He prefers what he calls jazz type stuff but can play a little bit of everything.As humble as he is talented, Cunningham doesnt hesitate when asked whether hes a better football player or guitar player.Football, for sure, he says.Its doubtful anybody whos tried to block him this season would disagree, regardless of whether theyve heard him play the guitar. Thats because Cunningham has been unblockable. He wrecked just about everything Georgia attempted to do last week with a career-high 19 tackles in Vanderbilts 17-16 win over the Bulldogs, the Commodores first win at Sanford Stadium in a decade.His fourth-down stop of Isaiah McKenzie for no gain to preserve the win is the kind of play Cunningham has been making since he was a gangly 175-pound linebacker at Pinson Valley High School just outside of Birmingham, Alabama.Ive been seeing him do that forever, said Pinson Valley coach Matt Glover. I once saw him take the quarterback, then the fullback with one arm and still get out to the pitch man to make the play. The funny thing is that when he first came to me, he was a running back and we had to talk him into playing linebacker. He didnt like it at first, but looks like he made the right decision.There might be bigger names on the defensive side in college football, and there might be flashier players who get more headlines. But good luck in finding a more complete (or productive) defender than Cunningham, who ranks fourth nationally with 81 total tackles and second nationally with 13 tackles for loss. Against SEC competition, hes been even better with 55 total tackles and nine tackles for loss in four league games.Go back and watch that last play against Georgia, and you dont even see Zach in the picture, Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason marveled. All of a sudden, you see a blur and a snatch. You look up and youre like, Where did he come from? You dont coach that.Hes the best linebacker nobodys talking about.In truth, theyre talking about him, just not as much as they probably should be. One NFL scout told ESPN.com Cunningham had shown the versatility to play in a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme at the next level and was moving up draft boards weekly because of his ability to make plays sideline to sideline. The pro scouts also love Cunninghams length, and even though hes already put on 50 pounds since his high school days, he has the frame to put on 10 or 20 more.Cunningham redshirted his first year at Vanderbilt in 2013, but it didnt take him long to make an impression on Mason. During their first season together in 2014, Vanderbilt was playing Georgia, and Cunningham on three occasions tackled Todd Gurley in one-on-one situations.It was Zach and Gurley one-on-one. It wasnt Zach and somebody else and Gurley, just Zach, and he made the play all three times, Mason recalled. Guys in the NFL dont tackle Gurley in that situation, and it made me realize how special this young man can be. He sees things before they happen and has so many dimensions to him as a player, but what separates him is his ability to close and finish.Cunningham, whos majoring in economics, credits Mason and his inside linebackers coach, Chris Marve, for helping him to become a better tactician and better student of the game.I watch film differently than I used to and have a lot more knowledge of the game and what offenses are trying to do, said Cunningham, who was a first-team All-SEC performer last season. Theyve helped bring more knowledge to me, and thats helped me play even faster and pick up quicker on what teams are trying to do.Marve, who was also an All-SEC linebacker at Vanderbilt, said its always easier to coach someone whos as passionate about the game as Cunningham.Hes in love with the game of football, and you see that every day in the way he prepares, Marve said. Hes always putting in extra time, but he also does a lot of things naturally that you dont see in a lot of players. You hear guys say they want to be great. Zach practices that way and approaches every game that way.Vanderbilt has had a ton of success with players from the state of Alabama. Earl Bennett, Zac Stacy, Jordan Matthews and Reshard Langford all come to mind. Cunningham also managed to get out of the state and signed as part of James Franklins last class at Vanderbilt before Franklin left for Penn State.Glover said hes never seen a player blow up in recruiting circles the way Cunningham did his senior year. He was still 17 when he graduated high school, and it wasnt until the eighth game of his senior season that he received his first SEC offer. The offers came flooding in after that, and Cunningham had Miami, Oregon, South Carolina and Tennessee all hot on his trail, along with Vanderbilt.Alabama and Nick Saban were interested, but the Crimson Tide wanted Cunningham to grayshirt -- waiting a semester to enroll -- and take that time to bulk up and get stronger. Auburn offered initially, but in the transition from Gene Chizik to Gus Malzahn, Glover said the Tigers informed him late that they were pulling the scholarship offer because they only had one left at linebacker and were saving it for Reuben Foster.The frenzy in the final hour didnt faze Cunningham, who wasnt a big name entering his senior season because he didnt spend the summer going to all of the camps and combines. Besides, he and his family had already set their sights on Vanderbilt and the world-class education the Commodores could offer.I just felt like I would develop more fully as a player and a person at Vanderbilt, Cunningham said. I fell in love with everything about Vanderbilt. It was more than just football.He concedes that being an economics major at Vanderbilt keeps him up late at nights studying but added, I kind of knew what I was getting myself into. Id talked to some guys who had majored in economics here before me and knew what was coming my way, but I wanted the challenge.What he doesnt want is engaging in any debate about where he ranks in the SEC or nationally with other linebackers. Hell leave that for everybody else.I dont really focus on stuff like that, Cunningham said. Im more focused on going out there and doing my best to help my team win.But, then, thats vintage Cunningham, the same guy who as a senior in high school got up to speak at the Mr. Football awards banquet in Montgomery, Alabama, and one of the first people he thanked was his home economics teacher for letting him borrow an iron to iron his shirt.Ive coached a lot of good ones, Mason said, but Zach is one of those guys who makes a lot of things right.And thats whether hes blowing up a play on fourth down or blowing it out on his guitar.Wholesale Nike Shoes NZ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Nike Free Run NZ . 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Discount Nike Free Run NZ Shoes . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games.ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan has gotten good at focusing on each opponent, avoiding the tendency some teams have of overlooking inferior opponents.Illinois provides another opportunity, especially with the Wolverines game next week against rival Michigan State on the road and next months showdown at No. 2 Ohio State.The third-ranked Wolverines (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) are favored to rout the Fighting Illini (2-4, 1-2) by more than five touchdowns. When theyve been favorites by a lot of points this season, theyve usually delivered. The latest example came in Michigans last game when it was expected to win at Rutgers by nearly four touchdowns and ended up winning 78-0.Jim Harbaugh, though, looks and sounds the same every week. Whether his team is preparing to play the Scarlet Knights, or a ranked team such as Wisconsin, he beats the same drum publicly and privately.Even though Illinois appears to pose no threat to spoiling the Wolverines potentially special season, you wouldnt know it by listening to Harbaugh.Itll be a challenge, he said. A championship-type football game for our team.Here are some things to watch when Michigan hosts Illinois on Saturday:THE COMEBACK: Michigan linebacker Mike McCray has been one of the top players on a highly touted defense, making 32 tackles, including five for losses, intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble. McCray, a senior, hadnt started a game until this years opener against Hawaii. He missed all of last season with a shoulder injury.Its a lot different now, McCray said. I feel a lot better. Im not down or anything on myself.BACKFIELD BY COMMITTEE: Illinois best bet to move the ball has been its running game. The Illini are averaging 189.8 yards rushing, primarily due to the work of tailbacks Reggie Corbin, Kendrick Foster and KeShawn Vaughn. Vaughn went into the season as the starter, a job that the freshman Corbin has taken over. All thhree share time in the backfield.dddddddddddd The top producer so far has been Foster, who has run for 384 yards -- 6.2 per carry -- with five rushing touchdowns and two more receiving.We have like a three-headed monster in the backfield, Foster said. We all bring something from speed to wiggle to explosiveness.NO OFFENSE: History will be made at the Big House when Harbaugh and first-year coach Lovie Smith become the first college coaches to face each other after leading teams to the Super Bowl. In their only previous NFL matchup, Harbaugh helped San Francisco beat the Smith-led Chicago Bears 32-7 in 2012. When asked about matching up with Smith again, Harbaugh couldnt recall the game in which Colin Kaepernick made his first start for the 49ers.I dont remember any meetings we had in NFL, Harbaugh said.TAKEAWAYS: Smith came to Illinois preaching the takeaway philosophy his Bears teams relied on and the Illini are tied for fourth in the country in turnover margin at plus-eight. The five turnovers Illinois forced in last Saturdays win over Rutgers were a big difference in the game.Weve got to keep building on that, Smith said. Thats a part of our DNA.THREE AND OUT: Michigans Jabrill Peppers-led defense leads the nation in six categories, including how it fares on third downs. Teams are converting just 12.2 percent of third downs against the Wolverines this season.It takes all 11 playing well together, Harbaugh said. Stopping the run on third and short yardage situation, pass-rush, tackling, not allowing yards after contract, not allowing yards after shorter passes, defending deeper balls.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Associated Press writer David Mercer contributed to this report from Champaign, Illinois. ' ' '