It's a Long F*ckin' Offseason: News Articles and Notes

[RJ Esq]

More bad news re CFB becoming the NFL:

ACC copies NFL

Injury reports to be standardized


<!-- /components/story/story_default.comp --> J.P. Giglio and Robbi Pickeral, Staff WritersComment on this story
GREENSBORO, GA. - The ACC will look more like the NFL in one way this football season -- injury reports.The conference will adopt a standard guideline for reporting injuries during the week, associate commissioner Mike Finn said Monday at the ACC Kickoff.
Teams will issue a report twice a week. On Monday, season-ending injuries and pending surgeries will be announced by the school's sports medicine staff. On Thursday, an NFL-style report with categories of "Out, Doubtful, Questionable and Probable" will be released.
North Carolina coach Butch Davis said N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien suggested the new standard. Previously, each team could release as much, or as little, information about injuries as it deemed necessary.
"It's a good thing," O'Brien said. "Anything that unifies it; some [coaches] would play with it one way or another."
Unlike the NFL, teams won't be fined for leaving players off the report.
"There is no punishment," Finn said. "It's a guideline, not a policy. We're trying to create a minimum standard for sharing information."
PLENTY OF OPTIONS AT QB FOR WOLFPACK: Tom O'Brien's never had to choose from five potential starters at quarterback. The second-year coach is not in a hurry to name a starter, or even a favorite, for the Aug. 28 opener at South Carolina.
"It's better to make the right decision than just make a decision," O'Brien said. "You name the quarterback when we're comfortable with who it's going to be. Now we're going to have to name one to play South Carolina, that's the drop-dead date."
Senior Daniel Evans started eight games in 2007 and junior Harrison Beck started four. The ESPN spotlight in front of 80,000 fans at South Carolina might not be the ideal for setting for a first start for sophomore Justin Burke or freshmen Russell Wilson and Mike Glennon, but O'Brien said the environment would not determine the starter.
"I know it's a tough place to play, if it's got to be a freshman, he's going to have to play in that situation anyway, you might as well start right away and go after it," O'Brien said.
In other Wolfpack news, O'Brien said, incoming freshman William Beasley (linebacker), Marty Everett (defensive lineman) and Tobais Palmer (running back) did not qualify academically.
BASKETBALL DAYS NUMBERED FOR LITTLE: UNC coach Butch Davis called Greg Little's time as a walk-on with the basketball team "a good experiment," considering it kept the starting tailback conditioned and other football players had tried it before.
But it sounds as if the sophomore won't be returning to the hardcourt next season.
"We'll talk about it,'' Davis said. "If he was a fifth guy, sixth guy, playing 20, 25 minutes -- I'm old school. I love basketball, I played basketball in high school -- but for him to be the 12th or 15th man, and for him to play 20 seconds at the end of five games, I think he's smart enough to make that decision. I don't have to make it for him."
Little appeared in 10 games, averaging 1.5 minutes, for the basketball team.
QB PLATOON HISTORY FOR HOKIES: Frank Beamer said Virginia Tech needed Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon at quarterback to win the ACC title last season, but he'd prefer to use just one this season.
"We've got to get that figured out," Beamer said. "All of us would like to get it down to one quarterback. We made it work last year, but it's still hard [to use two quarterbacks]."
Beamer said he has not discussed the possibility of redshirting Taylor, a sophomore, and thought it was unlikely to happen if Glennon, a senior, beats him out for the starting position.

 

[RJ Esq]

2-a-Days: Maryland and Navy



Maryland Terrapins



Maryland had an okay season. They lost some games they should have, but they also won a few that they probably shouldn't have. The 6-6 campaign culminated with a hard-fought loss to Oregon State in the Emerald Bowl, but there's hope that a better season lies ahead for the Terps. Will Ralph Friedgen make that happen in 2008?


THE OFFENSE: Who's the starting QB heading into the opening game against Delaware? My best guess would be Chris Turner, who played decently over the final stretch of the season once Jordan Steffy got injured. Steffy has had some issues staying healthy, but he had a nice spring and gave Turner a run for his money. I think Friedgen might open up with a dual-QB thing to see which one plays the best. Don't forget about Josh Portis, either. He was hyped up a lot, but has failed to perform. This could be his year. At RB, there's another hole that has to be filled with Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball both graduating. Morgan Green and Da'Rel Scott are promising players who should make Maryland fans move on from their old RB duo pretty quickly. WR Darrius Heyward-Bey is probably the best prospect on the entire team and really showed just how athletic he was over the course of last season. He's got great hands and is pretty fast, but there's questionable depth behind the first few options. Ronnie Tyler and Torrey Smith had nice springs with impressive performances, and they're only redshirt freshmen. Isaiah Williams, who was second in receptions with 25 (26 fewer than Heyward-Bey), was hurt and his lack of reps might hurt his preparation for the year, at least early on. Also, Danny Oquendo did a decent job, too. C Edwin Williams and OT Scott Burley are the best lineman on a unit that finished 105th in sacks allowed and did a relatively poor job run blocking. However, the line does get back boatloads of experience with probably four senior starters (the other, Phil Costa, being a junior).


THE DEFENSE: The 40th ranked run defense returns five starters and while they lost some notable guys (Dre' Moore, Erin Henderson, Christian Varner), the Terps should just fill those gaps with relative ease. The DT spot, though, might be kind of thin right now without Moore or Carlos Feliciano, but Jeremy Navarre could see some time on the interior. Navarre has established himself as one of the better DEs in the ACC, but a shift might be necessary to lessen the blow of losing two guys on the inside like they did. The good news is that guys like Trey Covington and Junior Ivey are veterans and have been with the program for a few years. The LBs are by far and away the most talented group on this side of the ball with guys like Dave Philistin, Moise Foku, Chase Bullock, and Alex Wujciak now that he's healthy. This group could even be better than schools like Florida State, Virginia Tech, and some other perennial defensive powers in the conference. There's also plenty of experience to go around in the secondary with Kevin Barnes coming back along with Nolan Carroll or Anthony Wiseman, two guys who should split time, at the CB position. Jeff Allen and Terrell Skinner should both do fine at S. This unit could become one of the best in the ACC and one of the top 20 in the nation if they can figure out something to do up the middle. There's a ton of upperclassmen.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 30 Delaware
Sept. 06 at Middle Tennessee
Sept. 13 California
Sept. 20 Eastern Michigan
Sept. 27 at Clemson
Oct. 04 at Virginia
Oct. 18 Wake Forest
Oct. 25 North Carolina State
Nov. 06 at Virginia Tech
Nov. 15 North Carolina
Nov. 22 Florida State
Nov. 29 at Boston College

The Terps should open up the year 3-1 before the going gets tough. They might beat Cal since they come to Byrd Stadium, but they have to be cautious about Delaware because they will be dangerous. The ACC schedule will probably prevent them from competing for the title with road trips against Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Boston College.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: @ Clemson, Wake Forest, @ Virgina Tech
Good/Probable Shot At It: Delaware, @ MTSU, Cal, Eastern Michigan, @ Virginia, NC State, North Carolina, Florida State, @ Boston College


THE OUTLOOK: There's potential for Maryland to win eight games, even with the pretty tough slate. The Terps should be sneakily good and the record may not indicate just how good this team is with all of the extremely difficult road games. I've got this team pegged at 7-5 though with a sub-par offense. If they can find someone to improve the offense by a decent amount, they might contend for the ACC, but I don't see it happening. The defense though should be one of the more fun ones to watch in the nation. They are stacked with, not exactly experience, but a good deal of seasoning and should improve upon last season's 40th ranked total D.


BOWL GAME?: Congressional Bowl.










Navy Midshipmen



The Midshipmen are now minus their head coach, coming off of a Poinsettia Bowl loss, and are praying for a miracle that the defense will improve by bunches. The Midshipmen are kind of in a state of flux, but the hiring of head coach Ken Niumatalolo (who I will refer to as "KN" from now on) looks to provide some stability for the program. It was a season of ups and downs including a loss to the Delaware Blue Hens and a long-awaited victory against Notre Dame, but are there bigger and better things awaiting Navy in 2008?


THE OFFENSE: Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada returns for his third season of operating the triple option. Even though there's a semi-new sheriff in town, don't expect much to change with the offense. The triple option flexbone will still remain intact and Navy will probably lead the nation in rushing offense once again. Jarod Bryant is a special athlete and a little bit more of a passer than Kaheaku-Enhada, but he still is the backup although he'll see some time all around the field. Shun White thankfully returns at slotback and he's primed for a big season. I threw in "thankfully" because losing Reggie Campbell's home-run hitting ability will really hurt. Navy uses the FB position a lot more than most teams and this year will be no different. Eric Kettani will line up behind QB and probably get the most reps of any Navy runner. It's not like Navy lives-and-dies with the pass or anything, but it's important to have one guy step up and become the #1 target in passing situations. Hope is that Tyree Barnes can fill that void. A decent receiver over the past few years, he needs to come through when the Middies are in 3rd and long situations. He should probably do fine. Andrew McGinn might be the team's best offensive lineman at RT next to Anthony Gaskins at the LG position. The Midshipmen O-lineman just have to focus on paving the way for the option to do its thing and run blocking has never been an issue before.


THE DEFENSE: It got torched often. It was a perfect (or, not perfect) storm of injuries, inexperience, and, to put it bluntly, being a step too slow to defend the better offenses. Navy's offense was always under the gun and had to score 45+ or else they wouldn't win too often. This unit surrendered 43 points to Duke, 45 to Pittsburgh, 59 to Delaware, 44 to Notre Dame (that was in 3 OTs though), none of which are particularly offensive juggernauts. They get a good number of guys back and if they can stay healthy, they should improve. If NG Nate Frazier can cut back on the mental mistakes, he should be one of the better producers at any service academy this year. He's got the measurables and now he has to capitalize on his potential. Michael Walsh might break through as the pass-rushing threat that Navy needs, they ranked a putrid 116th in sacks. Clint Sovie should be the best LB on the team. He would have really anchored this entire defense if he stayed healthy, but a bum ankle ruined his season. Now that he's back, hope is he can produce at 100%. Ross Pospisil is a hard-nosed LB who played well when he was asked to, but losing Irv Spencer will be a tough hit to take. Rashwan King is the best corner on the team and S Jeff Deliz should come back healthy.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 30 Towson
Sept. 5 at Ball State
Sept. 13 at Duke
Sept. 20 Rutgers
Sept. 27 at Wake Forest
Oct. 4 at Air Force
Oct. 18 Pitt
Oct. 25 SMU
Nov. 1 Temple
Nov. 15 vs. Notre Dame
Nov. 25 at Northern Illinois
Dec. 6 vs. Army

It's not your typical Navy slate. The Middies have taken hit after hit in their national perception regarding scheduling, but there are some good mid-level BCS conference teams and some non-BCS teams that will test their mettle. Facing Ball State, Wake Forest, and Air Force will be no gimmies and they play Notre Dame in Baltimore this year.

Don't Even Think About It: @ Wake Forest (not doubting Navy here, I just think Wake will be that good in 2008)
Ehhhhh......Maybe....: @ Ball State, Rutgers, Pitt, Notre Dame
Good/Probable Shot At It: Towson, @ Duke, @ Air Force, SMU, Temple, @ Northern Illinois, Army


THE OUTLOOK: Navy should get to 6-6, at least. They have the ability to knock off a team like Rutgers, Pitt, or Notre Dame (again), but it'll be tough. There are enough winnable games on the schedule to think of going bowling, but it all depends if KN has the respect of his players and, in a resounding fashion, it sounds like he does. Navy rebuilds at different positions every single year whether it be the slotbacks, offensive line, defensive line, etc. and they do fine. Whenever the doubters pop up, Navy always proves them wrong with a solid season and a bowl invite and this year should be no different. The Midshipmen will finish first in rushing, last in passing, the defense will get eaten alive on some occasions, and it will be good enough to win seven games.


BOWL GAME?: Congressional Bowl.

 

[RJ Esq]

What To Do With: Florida State

by SMQ on Jul 22, 2008 10:30 AM EDT
I wasn’t alone when I picked Florida State to win the ACC last year, again, but I knew then it was wrong, like a sucker who keeps doubling down instead of cutting his losses, or maybe like the defeated voice at the beginning of Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker album, who realizes he’s wrong about the original release of a particular Morrissey song, but still agrees, in the meekest, most hopeless possible way, "I’ll take that bet."
Until now, everyone has taken that bet with Florida State -- Stassen’s archive of preseason predictions goes back to 1993, FSU’s first season in the ACC, and only once (in 2004, when they picked a a virtual tie with Miami) have the mainstream outlets bumped the Noles from the top of the conference or the Atlantic division before the season, usually unanimously and always by an exceedingly wide margin -- and honestly, there’s never been a coherent reason not to project FSU as conference king, even after the disaster of 2006, if only because no rivals moved to fill the power vacuum. What, Wake Forest? At no point has Florida State ceded the bodily-kinesthetic crown, and when the athletic department moved over Papa Bowden’s objections to bring in Jimbo Fisher in place of no-account son Jeff Bowden, and hard-driving, promisingly foul-mouthed Rick Trickett to whip the perpetually underachieving o-line into shape, and old assistant Chuck Amato to bring back that old nineties magic on defense, the Noles still looked for all the world like the only bet in the division, at least, worth taking. What, Clemson?

For a guy four years in the system, Weatherford’s never had enough time.
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But even those of us who found reasons to convince ourselves these Noles who finally deserved the brand (and, much as you might protest, that was almost all of us) somehow knew we were hitching our wagons to a gimpy, wheezing horse, and that another iffy third place season after the infusion of new blood meant the glue factory couldn’t be very far away. After another season of injuries, rotating quarterbacks, a second straight loss to Wake Forest and fourth in five years to Clemson, complete failure to produce a consistent playmaker on offense and one of the most massive, embarrassing one-shot round of suspensions in the history of the sport, Phil Steele sums up the situation for professional assessors pretty well:
FSU disappointed me last year as I had them higher than most [True. PS bit on FSU in the top ten -- ed.] buying into their 3 new quality asst coaches giving the program a spark ... FSU hosts Clemson and could finish much higher but I am a little gun shy here.
- - -
We all are, Phil, by experience -- although, clearly, some of us more than others. The brand still carries some weight, for Steele in particular, who incredibly is the only member of the mainstream prognostoscenti so far willing to take Florida State over Wake Forest in the Atlantic, and one of few who still considers FSU worthy of a top 25 vote, albeit barely: the bit of doubt he expresses is part of a blurb accompanying FSU’s position at No. 24 in his national magazine, in which he also says of last year’s underachievers, "They could have won the ACC but suffered some big injuries and lost some close games." Ah, injuries, my old friend -- healthy again, who’s going to stop them now?
At least there’s Clemson this time to offer a better-than-plausible alternative; the Tigers are experienced, have largely closed the gap athletically and have dominated the recent head-to-head with their former overlords. It took long enough, but a decade into Tommy Bowden’s tenure, consider the hype baton officially passed.
There’s no clear reason, though, that Steele’s more rational quasi-exuberance shouldn’t carry the day going into the year. Offensively, Drew Weatherford, Antone Smith and Greg Carr had their best season as a group last year and deserve much higher expectations as seniors and multi-year starters in their second season under Fisher. Weatherford, especially, now that Xavier Lee has fully flaked and left the job to Drew alone, has no excuse not to deliver his best season -- he was hurt for a lot of last year and wasn’t consistent or spectacular enough to hold off the promise of Lee’s hyperbolic athleticism, but after throwing a barrage of interceptions his first two years (30 TDs to 29 INTs) Weatherford had a 9:3 TD:INT ratio last year and finished with the lowest interception percentage in the country. If he’s not in line for the "Carson Palmer-like turnaround" Steele suggests might be looming -- Weatherford was still tenth in the offensively-challenged ACC in pass efficiency and has never been confused for a blue chip talent like Palmer -- he at least has the targets now in Carr and late season breakout Preston Parker and should have the confidence and solid footing to progress beyond "Do No Harm."
But (of course there’s a "but") the offensive line remains mewling babes, and the defense was possibly Mickey Andrews’ worst -- it played well in the win over Boston College, despite allowing 415 yards passing (that’s what happens when a future No. 1 draft choice gets off 53 passes), but allowed 23 points per game, a new high under Andrews, and specifically gave up 24 to Wake, 37 to completely moribund Miami, 40 to lo-fi, freshman-led Virginia Tech and 45 in another rout to Florida. There are no stars, and outside of the potential of ex-all-universe recruit Myron Rolle and incoming JUCO sack monster Markus White, there’s barely a twinkle: only one member of last year’s D was first or second team all-ACC, and he left early for the NFL. They didn’t finish higher than sixth in the conference in any of the four major defensive categories, and allowed more yards per game than any ACC defense except bottom-dwellers NC State and Duke. It’s not really a bad defense -- it’s just, you know, there, which is a horrible thing to say about an outfit that was so legitimately dominant for so long.
But that’s Florida State in a hollow, slightly depressing nutshell destined to be filed away in the third place bowl for another year. Not bad, still there, in a competitive sense. But now that everyone’s sobered up, just not very enticing.

 

[RJ Esq]

How the Heels Stole the Coastal Division

by SMQ on Jul 22, 2008 7:28 PM EDT
‘Steal’ is an operative word: can something that belongs to no one be ‘stolen’? By any measure, Virginia Tech has owned the Coastal so far, and the ACC at large: VT has won the division twice in its three-year existence and blew out the eventual champion the year it finished second; that doesn’t even include the Hokies’ conference title in 2004, before the league split into divisions. Tech has by far the best record since joining the ACC and has finished higher than any other ACC team in the final polls all four years. If there is an overlord here worthy of claiming ownership, it’s the Hokies.
But things change quickly, and even if the window is small, the mass exodus of multi-year starters that formed the backbone of the mini-dynasty in Blacksburg throws the Coastal division wide open. Not that you’d know it from anything you read this summer, every bit of which, while nodding to its potential flaws, holds Tech will be back in the ACC Championship against unanimous Atlantic favorite Clemson. This is like the Immutable Law of the ACC going in.

Hey! I'mtrying to keep this thing on the DL, dammit!
- - -
The Hokies are extremely vulnerable, though, much moreso on paper than the Tigers on the other side. The consistently awesome defense was gutted by graduation and one killer early departure (Brandon Flowers) and what few promising options existed among a completely untested collection of offensive skill players are all either battling injuries or will miss the season altogether. The Hokie love is based in part on trust in the "Beamer Ball" brand and in part on the extreme undesirability of backing mysterious Georgia Tech behind its new coach and funky offensive scheme, foundering, dysfunctional Miami, or similarly gutted Virginia, which lost not only the best two players from the nation’s sketchiest nine-game winner to the first round of the draft, but also its starting quarterback and best up-and-coming defender to suspensions.
That leaves the Tar Heels, whom everyone recognizes must be the insurgent team in the conference, but on whom no one is willing to stake his obligatory "crazy pick" by pulling the trigger on UNC to overtake the Hokies for the division. That, based on the last four years, is too crazy.
Or...is it? If the Heels are worth a flyer in second place -- and a majority of outlets so far think they are -- it’s worth considering how well they stack up directly against the largely rebuilding Hokies, and in a couple of cases, UNC comes out looking pretty well:
They’ve Played More. Virginia Tech not only loses most of its starters, but ranks as one of the ten youngest teams in the country, according to Phil Steele’s exhaustive "Experience Rating," whereas Carolina -- while still very young itself -- returns 18 starters, most in the ACC and among the highest numbers in any conference. Butch Davis’ first year in Chapel Hill was about taking lumps while establishing a foundation with pliable young ‘uns, much like Ron Zook’s building process at Illinois; as I pointed out in March, Carolina was almost untenably young last year, starting around a dozen true or redshirt freshmen at some point in the season and another half dozen sophomores. The result is that they actually have more than 100 percent of last year’s modest offensive production returning (Joe Dailey’s un-lamented departure was accompanied by negative rushing yards) and nine starters on defense, most of them members of Davis’ first heralded recruiting class. The results were nothing special, by ACC standards, but improvement in year two from so many young players should be at least as steep as last year’s learning curve.
They’re At Least as Talented. There’s been very little difference between North Carolina and Virginia Tech recruiting over the last five years, even less so in the last three years, and with the bulk of the Hokies’ best players graduating and UNC’s advancing into maturity, the gap should be considerably narrower. This is especially true on defense, where Tech was hit hardest and UNC is preparing to unveil the non-noob versions of five-star punisher Marvin Austin, Aleric Mullins, Tydreke Powell, Quan Sturdivant, Kendric Burney, Charles Brown and league defensive rookie of the year Deunta Williams, who combined for 53 starts in their first year.
Carolina should be every bit as improved on offense, based mainly on the late spark to the running game provided by Greg Little, a major receiver recruit who apparently found a home at running back in the last two games. Receiver was a little crowded, anyway -- Hakeem Nicks was all-conference as a sophomore, Brandon Tate led the league in yards per catch and all-purpose yards and Brooks Foster and sought-after true freshman Zach Pianalto (now a tight end) were reliable possession guys.
They Were Closer Than the Record Last Year. As Steele notes, Carolina lost six games in ‘07 by a touchdown or less, all games it ostensibly could have won with just a few friendly bounces:

"Swing points" are any points via defensive or special teams touchdowns, or from offensive possessions beginning inside opponents’ 25-yard line. See here.
- - -
Here is the point I think the argument begins to strain. UNC indeed was, as Steele would say, minus-three net close losses (although his magazine lists Carolina as –4 in this category, for some reason), a sure sign of impending improvement. Again, those prospects aren’t really in dispute, but the circumstances of most of these games indicate there’s certainly a ceiling on any rise in the standings, because the gaps here can’t be attributed to a stray loose ball, blocked kick or unfriendly bounce: if the Tar Heels "should have" beaten Virginia Tech and South Carolina -- both games in which they had to score in the fourth quarter to bring the final score within a touchdown -- they were also just a couple plays away from defeat against Miami and Maryland, and their last time on the field was a narrow, fortunate escape against outmanned, lame duck Duke. UNC had to return two interceptions for touchdowns to make an otherwise lopsided affair with NC State look close. The wins were all flukier than the losses to East Carolina, Virginia and Georgia Tech; as close as they may have been to 7-5 and a bowl game, they were even closer to 1-11 misery. This bunch is still getting there -- it wasn’t playing at a consistently high enough level that a few breaks here and there could have dramatically changed the season -- and all optimism is inherently speculative.
The main difference in another very meh year and a true breakthrough on the order of Wake Forest’s in 2006 or Illinois’ last year will be in a couple areas where progress is less obvious: offensive line and quarterback. These go hand-in-hand, of course -- T.J. Yates wasn’t bad as a redshirt freshman, and hyped redshirt Mike Paulus might be even better if he can wrest the job, but where a young quarterback should be expected to improve in his second year, that can’t happen if he’s on his back. Yates was sacked more than any ACC quarterback last year except poor Thaddeus Lewis up the road in Duke, and except for possible draft pick Garrett Reynolds and maybe guard Calvin Darity, another senior without much in the way of individual recognition or team production to recommend the high opinion of recruitniks in 2004, the offensive line is the least ACC-worthy area of the team, talent-wise. Vast steps forward on defense and at the skill positions will be largely worthless if the core of the offense remains mired in mediocrity.
With three seniors and a pair of returning juniors who started every game, though, the line joins the receivers as the only area of the team that qualifies as a "veteran" unit, and if that mean Yates and/or Paulus will have more time, the offense suddenly becomes viable again for the first time in years. In that case, UNC becomes as plausible a pick as any team to win the Coastal -- not necessarily enough that I’m willing to pull the trigger on them, but maybe I’m just a wuss like that.
On the other hand...
The Have a Player Named ‘Richie Rich.’ I’m not sure this is actually a better name than "LaCount Fantroy," with whom Mssr. Rich will be competing for playing time in the custom of the common workingman behind starting corners Kendric Burney and Charles Brown, but despite his rigorously-parted hair, Eton collar and oversized red bowtie, having two of everything money can buy must be among the most effective secrets of UNC’s recruiting boom.

 

[RJ Esq]

2-a-Days: Boston College and UMass



Boston College Eagles



It's not like the cupboard is bare. So many are predicting a letdown from the annually above-average Boston College Eagles. They managed to make it to an ACC title game but couldn't close the deal against the Hokies of Virginia Tech before surviving a Champs Sports Bowl game against Michigan State. Now that Matt Ryan is off to the NFL, will Boston College still be in the hunt for the ACC championship?


THE OFFENSE: Chris Crane sounds like he'll win the job. Crane has been patiently awaiting his turn at the helm and he's now a senior. The seasoning from the past few years should serve him well. His competition is mainly from redshirt freshman Dominique Davis. Crane is the better passer and might smooth out the transition from the Ryan era to the Davis era. Davis will be the future but for now, a season backing up the starter will set him up for a good 2009 season. At RB, there was a gross lack of production from talented runners such as L.V. Whitworth and Andre Callender. Both of these guys are gone leaving a gaping hole to be filled. Jeff Jagodzinski hit the recruiting trail hard for a top-notch RB and he may have found one in Josh Haden. Rich Gunnell was the top pass-catching wideout that Matt Ryan had last year and he should be even better for Chris Crane. Only a junior, he's not the best athlete on the planet, but he did a decent job making the catches that count. Brandon Robinson, if he's healthy, is also a solid weapon at WR and he's a senior. Boston College has some depth at this position to go along with the starting experience. Ryan Purvis should come through as the go-to guy on the shorter passes, but he's proven he's a reliable receiver over the past few seasons. Boston College normally won't have a problem blocking and even though Gosder Cherilus will be missing from this year's unit, it looks to be decent yet again. Anthony Castonzo is a sophomore with a ton of upside, and he could even be the best lineman on the team right now.


THE DEFENSE: The BC Eagles finished 19th in total defense and 20th in scoring defense for an under-the-radar season. It never seemed like this side of the ball got all that much respect, but it was just another ACC defense that was dominant at times. Now that B.J. Raji comes back to the defensive line, he should be 100% and ready to clog up those rushing attacks. Ron Brace had a fantastic season in his absence and the two should combine for a great tandem at DT. Alex Albright also returns and he led the team in sacks a year ago. He's the pass rushing force that Boston College will rely on. Brian Toal might have gotten more recognition for making goal-line touchdowns than his defensive play, but when he's healthy, he could be one of the better LBs in the nation. Mark Herzlich did a nice job last season and he's only a junior. The secondary could be the biggest issue for this team with the loss of Jamie Silva and DeJuan Tribble. Jagodzinski needs a big year from the young but talented DeLeon Gause at CB. It'll be up to Marcellus Bowman to fill in Jamie Silva's shoes, a very tough task. There's a reason why this team finished 2nd in run defense and that was the strength up front. Expect the same results as last year with a tough run defense and a leaky secondary.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 30 at Kent State
Sept. 6 Georgia Tech
Sept. 20 UCF
Sept. 27 Rhode Island
Oct. 4 at NC State
Oct. 18 Virginia Tech
Oct. 25 at North Carolina
Nov. 1 Clemson
Nov. 8 Notre Dame
Nov. 15 at Florida State
Nov. 22 at Wake Forest
Nov. 29 Maryland

The ACC Atlantic is the more stacked of two divisions and it shows with the Eagles' schedule. The non-conference slate isn't that bad with Kent State, Central Florida, Rhode Island, and Notre Dame, four games they should win. The ACC conference schedule is pretty difficult, but it's not like there's any game they won't be in.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: Virginia Tech, Clemson, @ Florida State, @ Wake Forest
Good/Probable Shot At It: @ Kent State, Georgia Tech, UCF, Rhode Island, @ NC State, @ UNC, Notre Dame, Maryland


THE OUTLOOK: This year's team won't be quite as good as the previous season. The loss of Matt Ryan will be devastating to the offense that relied almost totally on the passing game. Chris Cane won't be bad by any means, but he won't be spectacular. The running game might be shaky unless the true freshman don't play like their status. While the defense will be one of the best in the country against the run, the pass defense will get torched often now that it's without Tribble or Silva in the defensive backfield. There are a few holes, but none to really worry about. This will be your usual Boston College team that goes a respectable 7-5 or, most likely, 8-4.


BOWL GAME?: Emerald Bowl.

 

[RJ Esq]

What To Do With: Northwestern

by SMQ on Jul 23, 2008 7:12 PM EDT
When I called for votes a couple weeks ago to close out this season’s Absurd/Anticipatory preview series, I got a couple of expected responses from Northwestern fans in my inbox and in the comment thread, where one enthusiastic Wildcat backer pulled out "most exciting team in the Big Ten," "darkhorse for the Big Ten championship" and "NU could be 10-2 or 11-1" in one bold swoop. Whatever. But when decidedly non-Northwestern partisan Brian Cook also shot me a note dubbing the Wildcats "interesting" and hailing C.J. Bacher’s imminent ascent up "the Basanez ladder" of minimally gifted but surprisingly effective Cat quarterbacks (see also: Kustok, Zack and Schnur, Steve), "Northwestern On the Rise" graduated to full-on meme. After all, the magazines may not be on board, but the solid and sober Wildcat blog Lake the Posts has been quietly giddy over NW’s coordinator hires and has not been shy about the prospects of going 8-4, and he doesn't seem like the type for irrational exuberance.
Northwestern has won at least six games four of the last five years, but it seems doubtful the ceiling goes much higher than that. The easiest take on the ‘07 edition, despite its down-the-fairway mark of 6-6, was that it dealt in extremes: the offense was prolific in the passing game (first in the conference in yards) and in moving the ball in general (second in total yards), but terrible at running (last in the conference, largely due to the midseason absence of Tyrell Sutton), holding on to the ball (tenth in turnover margin) and anything relating to defense -- if not for the hall-of-fame collapse at Minnesota, the Wildcats would have paced the league in futility by every conventional measure. For all the fireworks and big yards, the turnovers and blown opportunities left them next-to-last in scoring. They were –9 in turnover margin and can plausibly attribute the losses to Duke (–1, and four very long drives that ended on failed fourth down attempts inside the Devil red zone), Purdue (–4) and Iowa (–2) to giving the ball up. This is not chronic (NW had positive turnover margins in 2004 and 2005) and a pretty good indicator that

Bacher, another classic Northwestern quarterback: kinda short, kinda slow and sneaky all the way.
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But the fortune wasn’t all one-sided: what about the overtime wins over Michigan State and Minnesota, or the wild, five-point win over Nevada, where the Wildcats were outgained by 100 yards and enjoyed a +2 turnover margin? Even fully healthy, Sutton’s talents will be of little use if the defense continues to fall so far behind so often: 24-10 against Nevada, 20-7 against Duke, 45-0 at the half at Ohio State, 35-14 against Minnesota, 14-0 at Purdue, 21-0 at Illinois, all deficits Bacher was called on to pass the team out of. The run defense was a disaster for the third year in a row, allowing 4.8 per carry in conference games after giving up 4.9 to the rest of the league in ‘05 and ‘06. Bacher was sacked more than any quarterback in the conference except poor Jake Christensen in Iowa, and he threw a huge number of interceptions -- nineteen for the season and eleven in the last four games alone. Et cetera. This was by no means a team on the cusp of breaking through last year.
The main source of optimism seems to be a) Sutton’s return to full-time duty; and c) the schedule, which features no out-of-conference heavies and once again dodges Penn State and Wisconsin within the league. Taken in a certain light, that looks a lot like the formula Kansas rode to glory last year; when a glass-half-full type looks at the schedule and thinks "9-0 going into November!" it’s hard to say "No way" when the obstacles are Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana and Minnesota. But in these cases, I always invoke the longstanding "Purdue Rule," coined in response to the unusually high expectations for the Boilermakers’ Michigan-and-Ohio State-free schedule in 2005: when the best thing you have to say about a team is which other, better teams it doesn’t play, that is not a team worth endorsing (this is also true for Iowa, which misses OSU and Michigan again this year, just as they did in the process of finishing 6-6 last year, again). Assuming there are no more bizarre early hiccups like New Hampshire in ‘06 and Duke in ‘07, Northwestern should start 4-0 without much trouble, and if things go well could come out of the midseason stretch against its second tier peers at, say, 7-2, which will probably lead to some attention from the polls and maybe some murmurings about the old "Purple Magic" or something. They could just as easily flop in October and go plodding into Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois like obscure, physically overmatched lambs to the slaughter.
Even assuming the best case through the first three-fourths of the year, all hosannas will be reserved until the Cats actually make a scratch in one of those final three games, and the prospects are not very good: since upsetting Ohio State in 2004, NW has lost the last three to the Buckeyes by 41, 44 and 51 points and failed to gain a yard rushing in Columbus last year; since the oft-referenced, scoreboard-assaulting upset of Michigan in 2000, the Cats have dropped five straight by an average of 19 points and haven’t come within two touchdowns of the Wolverines. The defense gave up 541 yards in a three-touchdown loss to Illinois last November, just as the Illini’s substantial recruiting advantage the last three years would suggest. I think 7-5 would be a successful season and a validation for the direction of the program under Pat Fitzgerald -- certainly a losing record with a veteran team in his third year would summon very dark clouds over the Boy Wonder’s tenure -- but those are pretty large gaps to close to make it special.

 

[RJ Esq]

From Whence You Came, So Shall You Return

by SMQ on Jul 24, 2008 11:34 AM EDT
This fall is Joe Tiller’s farewell tour after twelve years at Purdue, more than any other active Big Ten coach except the immortal Paterno, and in relative terms -- if you were looking forward at his record on the day he was hired in 1997 -- his tenure has been an unquestioned success. Purdue was more than a decade removed from its last winning season when it lured Tiller from Wyoming, and his throw-first-ask-questions-later offense immediately surged to the top of the notoriously stodgy Big Ten. The Boilermakers won nine games his first year, played in the Rose Bowl three years later, earned ten bowl bids in eleven years (twice as many as in its previous 110 years) and pioneered the journey of the once-novel spread across the Midwest. More than a decade on, Tiller is two wins from setting the school record and it appears very likely that mulitple-receiver sets will dominate the league for the forseeable future.
But unless something very drastic and unexpected happens in the next five months, it’s hard to say Boiler partisans will actually be very sorry to begin the Danny Hope administration. As we speak, you can still read things at your local newsstand like "the Boilermakers should play with a lot of emotion" and "Purdue will be explosive offensively" (Phil Steele), or "If everything clicks, Purdue could even be a darkhorse to win the conference" (The Sporting News). But as I pointed out last summer, the actual record suggests a very different path:

* Based on final record
** Based on year-end AP poll
*** Excludes MAC teams
- - -
The one win against a winning team in 2005 was a season-opening triumph over eventual Mid-American champ Akron (final record:7-6, 1-3 outside of the MAC, including a shutout loss to Army) and the two wins against winning teams last year both came via Mid-American champ Central Michigan (final record: 8-6, 1-5 outside of the MAC, including a 30-point loss to I-AA North Dakota State). So it’s safe to assume the Boilermakers could probably dominate the MAC, given the chance, but outside of the snuggly confines of nearby mid-majors, the losing streak to non-MAC teams that finished above .500 stands at 16 games since an October 2004 win over Ohio State.

Well now, that all depends, doesn’t it, coach?
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And the gaps in those games have only gotten wider. The offense scored two completely meaningless touchdowns in the final minute of last year’s loss to Michigan, a game they trailed 48-7; a week earlier, they’d also scored a meaningless touchdown with ten seconds left to escape a shutout against Ohio State. Subtract those 21 irrelevant points from the ledger, and their efforts against the conference’s "Big Four" -- Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin -- have netted 3, 0, 7, 0 and 19 points the last two years. It’s a good thing the rotating schedule hasn’t forced the Boilers to play all four in the same year since 2004 (when, for the record, Penn State finished 3-8).
For what it’s worth, Athlon attributes this backslide to the Boilers’ "failure to perform up to its talent level," but they actually seem perfectly in line with Purdue’s talent level. From 2002-05, Rivals ranked the Boilermakers’ incoming recruiting classes fifth, fifth, third and fifth in the Big Ten, respectively, and ranked a dozen individual signees as four stars or higher. The last three years, they’ve ranked eighth, tenth and ninth, and signed exactly one four-star guy all three years. This looks exactly like what’s happening on the field.
The schedule is kind again this year, missing Illinois and Wisconsin, just as it did last year, after two years of leaving off Michigan and Ohio State in 2005-06 (although it does get tougher outside of the conference, with the addition of Oregon and must-be-better Notre Dame). Still, unless Northwestern, Minnesota (another team certain to improve by the law of averages alone), Michigan State, Iowa and Indiana manage defy to long odds and all fail to top 6-6 -- the permutations to make that mathematically possible are too obscure to consider -- the extension of that streak of futility in the face of competence will almost certainly leave Purdue to transition out of the Tiller era from the cold, lonely confines of a bowl-less Midwestern winter. Which is just about -- not quite, but very close, as judged by the fundamentals: recruits, hardware and general perception -- right where he started from.

 

[RJ Esq]

[FONT=arial, helvetica][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Mauk still waiting[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Serif]UC's practice looming
[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
By Bill Koch
bkoch@enquirer.com [/FONT] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]The waiting continues for Ben Mauk.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]A little more than a week before the University of Cincinnati begins football practice on Aug. 1, the Bearcats' once and maybe future quarterback still doesn't know if the NCAA will grant him a sixth year to complete his four years of eligibility.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]He doesn't even know when the teleconference that will give him the forum to plead his case to the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee will be held.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Mauk said he doesn't sit around agonizing over what's going to happen. But he would like to have his status resolved.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"I think it would benefit me because now I'm missing out on some job opportunities," Mauk said. "I don't know what to tell employers that are inquiring about what I'm going to do."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Mauk's request for a medical hardship waiver that would provide him with a sixth year to complete his four years of eligibility was turned down by the NCAA for the second time in 21/2 months on April 30. The NCAA said Mauk lacked documentation from his former school, Wake Forest, to support his claim that an injury prevented him from competing during his freshman year there in 2003.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]This time, Mauk and UC will present their case armed with a precedent they believe closely mirrors Mauk's situation.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]The good news for Mauk and UC is that even if the committee does not hear his case in time for the start of practice next week, the NCAA has said Mauk still can work out with the Bearcats.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"I'm still allowed to work out with the team, so I can get myself ready in case something would happen," said Mauk, who passed for 3,121 yards and a school-record 31 touchdowns last season.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"I'll be out there if I'm getting reps or not," Mauk said. "Mental reps are just as important as physical reps."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Whenever the hearing does occur, Mauk plans to be ready. He has practiced what he'll say to the committee.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]He said he doesn't blame anyone for the delay in reaching a decision.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"It's not like every day I'm on pins and needles," Mauk said. "But I've been thinking about my case a lot. I put together a speech because in the conference I didn't want to leave anything out. Obviously, you're going to be nervous when you're on the phone with the NCAA."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]In the meantime, Mauk continues to work out - and answer questions almost everywhere he goes from people who want to know whether he'll play this season.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"My mom said she's going to make me a shirt that says on the front whatever the decision is," Mauk said. "Hopefully we can get a big 'They Said Yes' shirt."[/FONT]

 

[RJ Esq]

What To Do With: Nebraska, or, Fighting the Last War

by SMQ on Jul 24, 2008 5:58 PM EDT
There’s a pretty strong consensus so far about how things are going to play out in the Big 12 North:

Switch Nebraska and Kansas State (which lost to the Huskers by six touchdowns in one of the conference’s many bizarre November shootouts), and this is exactly the order of finish in the division last year. We’re led to believe, then, that 2007 was in fact the best available model for predicting 2008. The Sporting News, for example, besides picking the Huskers fourth, specifically lists the team’s "stock report" as "Steady."

The Huskers have been truly Blackshirt-esque on defense a couple times since falling off the national radar following the high profile, back-to-back blowouts that closed 2001, once in 2005 but to a much greater extent in 2003, when they led the nation in pass efficiency D, were second in scoring D and finished in the top 25 in every major category. They’ve struggled to reach the top 25 in any single category since. The defensive coordinator in 2003 (and only 2003): Bo Pelini.
It’s not possible to say last year’s defense was "on the brink," when it was so clearly in a freefall into the abyss as early as September; the Big Red was humiliatingly crushed by USC, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Kansas and Colorado, and the only somewhat close loss, at Texas, ended with the Longhorns running for well over 200 yards en route to 19 lightning-fast, decisive points in the fourth quarter alone. If anything, it was close to being an even greater disaster, just a late interception at Wake Forest and a missed field goal by Ball State away from 3-9 and a strong bid for Worst Team In Husker History. It was certainly the worst Husker defense anyone could remember, by many, many miles.

All numbers according to Rivals. Red indicates best in category for an individual year.
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Nine of the projected starters on this year’s defense were top 50 recruits at their respective positions, what Phil Steele would call at least an "HT," in some cases a coveted "VHT." As you might expect, that’s about as many as the rest of the division combined. I wouldn’t mention this if it was close.

This is not exactly par for the course.
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So: steady? As in "expected to allow 475 yards and 38 points per game," steady? With potentially the most physically gifted unit in the division, under the fresh guidance of the architect of the best Nebraska unit (on either side of the ball) of the decade? Who was also the architect of three straight defenses at LSU that all finished first or second in the SEC by any relevant measure, as well in the top five nationally in yards allowed all three years, and that visibly dominated three straight top ten teams in consecutive bowl wipeouts? Nebraska’s defense may not be LSU’s, personnel-wise -- really, outside of maybe USC, nobody’s is -- but "steady" means "last in the conference," and it deserves a little better than that.
In terms of hemorraghing of yards, points and turnovers (Nebraska was a horrendous –19 in turnover margin, worse than all but two other teams in the country), "steady" does not even seem like a possibility; they literally cannot be worse. If the offense is merely steady -- it finished the season on a tear with Joe Ganz at quarterback, averaging 53 points over the last three games -- and Pelini’s initial efforts are good enough just to progress back toward the mean defensively -- that is, to split the difference between the best-case scenario of his lone season as coordinator and the worst-case scenario of last year’s collapse -- this is unavoidably one of the most improved teams in the country, and an impending threat to Missouri’s supposed stranglehold on the division. Or, you know, if you’re talking about Nebraska from any perspective beyond the worst single-season implosion anyone could have imagined, just steady as she goes.

 

[RJ Esq]

2-a-Days: Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan



Central Michigan Chippewas



It's not like that went all according to plan. CMU was dealt a tough non-conference schedule, but they got pounded by each and every team (losing by an average score of 52.75 to 14.25 against Kansas, Purdue, North Dakota State, and Clemson). They did however manage to become the class of a weaker-than-usual MAC conference. What are the chances Central wins the MAC for the third year in a row, cementing their place as a MAC dynasty?


THE OFFENSE: It's not like the offense was the problem. Central Michigan torched most of the MAC on a regular basis averaging about 34 points per game. Led by Dan LeFevour, this is a balanced attack and that comes on the shoulders of LeFevour. This guy can run, pass, and make very smart decisions operating this spread offense. He was the second player (Vince Young) to throw for 3,000 yards and run for another 1,000 in the game's history, a very impressive total, and that was just as a sophomore. The junior should explode with an even more potent season. Ontario Sneed should carry the load of the running game whenever it is that he gets healthy, he should be by the season opener. Of course, don't forget about Carl Volny or Justin Hoskins, either. Volny comes in as the breath of fresh air and the pleasant surprise of the spring, but Hoskins has been a steady piece of this offense ever since transferring from Notre Dame. Central Michigan does have one of the deeper stables of RBs in the Mid-America Conference. Oh, right, Marcel Archer is pretty good as well. Bryan Anderson and Dan LeFevour have hooked up many times and they've been growing together as a pass-catch combo over the last couple seasons. Antonio Brown is also a legitimate deep threat. Andrew Hartline anchors the Chips' offensive line and should be an All-MAC candidate. The other side sports Greg Wojt who has done a solid job over the last few years. If you get the picture, this could be the MAC's best offense, but I guess Ball State may have something to say about that.


THE DEFENSE: Yikes! For all of the good things I mentioned about this team offensively, the defense is really what did them in. If the Chippewas could have gotten a lick of defensive help, we could have been talking about a 9-win regular season team. CMU's run defense was at least respectable, but that could have been because everybody was throwing on it. The pass defense was 118th in the nation, second-to-last. Frank Zombo did a good job of defending last year at DE. The now-junior should be the best defensive athlete on the team. The defensive line is pretty pedestrian and won't wow anybody. Sophomore LB Nick Bellore had a fantastic season emerging as one of the best players on the Chippewa roster. He finished 07 with 102 tackles and has tremendous potential. Calvin Hissong might see some time in the rotation switching to the LB position from a safety. This move boggles my mind because the Chips need all of the help they can get in the secondary. Moving on to that defensive backfield, it'll be up to Josh Gordy to make sure that the secondary defenders don't get absolutely torched. He's a solid player, but he doesn't have much help surrounding him.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 28 Eastern Illinois
Sept. 6 at Georgia
Sept. 13 at Ohio
Sept. 20 at Purdue
Sept. 27 Buffalo
Oct. 11 Temple
Oct. 18 Western Michigan
Oct. 25 at Toledo
Nov. 1 at Indiana
Nov. 12 Northern Illinois
Nov. 19 Ball State
Nov. 28 at Eastern Michigan

The non-conference schedule this year isn't as bad as it was in 2007, opening up with Eastern Illinois. I wouldn't expect a letdown of North Dakota State proportions, but if they can get a solid victory under their belts to open things up, it will help down the road. There are pretty tough games with Georgia and Purdue, but they should give Indiana a really good go. The MAC schedule sets up perfectly with Temple, Western Michigan, and Ball State at home.

Don't Even Think About It: @ Georgia
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: @ Purdue
Good/Probable Shot At It: Eastern Illinois, @ Ohio, Buffalo, Temple, Western Michigan, @ Toledo, @ Indiana, Northern Illinois, Ball State, @ Eastern Michigan


THE OUTLOOK: Look for the Chips to finish 8-4. They are favored to win the MAC West, and rightly so, might I add. Based on the last two performances in previous seasons, it makes sense. But I'm giving Ball State the nod when it comes to this division. The Chippewas have a somewhat favorable schedule and would win the MAC East relatively easily, but their defense won't get much better if at all. The offense will still be worth the price of admission, but there will be a few unecessary shootouts.


BOWL GAME?: Motor City Bowl (not as MAC champions).











Eastern Michigan Eagles



The Eagles may have something going on. They've had some exceptional talents pass through Ypsilanti over the past few years, but there hasn't been enough of that exceptional talent to string together a winning season. Jeff Genyk is sort of on the hot seat right now, but there aren't a whole lot of rumblings coming from Eastern to suggest that he'll get fired if the team doesn't produce immediately. How will the Eagles compete in a stacked MAC West?


THE OFFENSE: Andy Schmitt is the focus of the offense. He could become one of the MAC's brightest stars if he continues his development as a passer. He's a smart guy in the pocket and knows what do in a lot of situations. Not only can he throw well, he knows how to use his legs averaging 25 yards a game on the ground. Terrence Blevins should be the leader of the ground attack, but Genyk is still searching for the best option to replace Pierre Walker. Blevins is a big-bodied, strong runner who also has a burst of speed to spare. He's a senior now, but Dwayne Priest could steal the starting RB job if he doesn't produce. Jacory Stone will come through as the team's top target. He was last year and there's a good deal of praise coming out of Eastern Michigan camp. DeAnthony White, also a junior, really had a great season as well and was a nice surprise for the offense. T.J. Lang and Andy Fretz are the leaders for the offensive line and they provide Eastern Michigan with a nice foundation to build around. There's solid depth at this area, so Genyk does have something to work with as the Eagle O-line was 24th in sacks allowed this past season.


THE DEFENSE: It wasn't a particularly good unit, but they did do a decent job at times coming up with some decent stops to keep the team in ballgames. They were 90th in total defense, so there's some room to get better, but it'll be tough without the interior presence of Jason Jones. Trying his best to emulate his playing was Josh Hunt, who was always a pretty good partner-in-crime to Jones, but now he's the main man at DT. He is an underrated player who has done a good job, but he doesn't have Jones to take away pressure now. Daniel Holtzclaw will be starting for about his 19th season in the Eastern Michigan program. He's a mainstay in Ypsi now and one of the best players to ever pass through Eastern. He racks up tackles with the best of them and should have another great year. Jermaine Jenkins should have a decent season along Holtzclaw and adds some veteran playmaking abilities to the position. The pass defense isn't exactly what you would call great, but the safeties are solid with Jacob Wyatt and Ryan Downard. CB is not one of this team's strengths.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 28 Indiana State
Sept. 6 at Michigan State
Sept. 13 Toledo
Sept. 20 at Maryland
Sept. 27 Northern Illinois
Oct. 4 at Bowling Green
Oct. 11 at Army
Oct. 18 Akron
Oct. 25 at Ball State
Nov. 1 at Western Michigan
Nov. 22 at Temple
Nov. 28 Central Michigan

I thought it was odd that the team gets back-to-back off weeks between Western Michigan and Temple, but the schedule isn't horrible. Their draw from the East includes Bowling Green, Akron, and Temple. They face Central Michigan at home whom they've had success against, and they get Army and Indiana State in the OOC slate.

Don't Even Think About It: @ Michigan State, @ Maryland
Ehhhhh......Maybe....: Toledo, @ Bowling Green, @ Ball State, @ Western Michigan, Central Michigan
Good/Probable Shot At It: Indiana State, Northern Illinois, @ Army, Akron, @ Temple


THE OUTLOOK: Eastern Michigan won't be bowling, but, and I know it sounds like this is said every year, there will be significant steps taken towards next season. If Genyk doesn't produce at least a 6-6 record in 2009, he will most likely be canned. As long as Eastern Michigan doesn't go 2-10 this year, Genyk should be back. The offense has the ability to become more potent with Schmitt and a solid offensive line to work around. While the defense will be far from special, there's the potential that they'll be good enough to win a few games. Look for a 4-8 record and Genyk makes it one more year.


BOWL GAME?: Nope.

 

[RJ Esq]

2-a-Days: Michigan and Michigan State



Michigan Wolverines



Michigan will be undergoing a pretty big change and the last year or so have been filled with their share of ups and downs. Thankfully, the RichRod fiasco is behind both West Virginia and Michigan and the teams can move on. Is the hype legitimate with the talking heads saying Michigan doesn't have the personnel to play in Rodriguez's system? And I have to say, as a Michigan fan, this preview might get kind of lengthy.


THE OFFENSE: The QB battle is the biggest issue surrounding Michigan football right now. Basically, it comes down to Steven Threet, Nick Sheridan, David Cone, or Justin Feagin. Feagin isn't really in the running although he should see some individual packages with some zone read options, stuff like that, things the other three relatively immobile QBs won't be running. David Cone is the leading passer and made the most sense to me once Ryan Mallett transferred, but he hasn't been getting a lot of attention. Nick Sheridan has reportedly been picking up the offense more than some others, but his raw skill is a little questionable. So who will get the nod at QB? It sounds like Steven Threet, the redshirt freshman, but they're just keeping the seat warm for the next QB in the Pat White-mold to do what Rodriguez wants to do. At RB, there's not a ton of speed but there are some good backs. Kevin Grady was one of the catches of Carr's recruiting class from a few years ago from around Grand Rapids, but he hasn't produced that much at RB. This could be his time to break out, but I doubt it. The bulk of the carries will be shared between Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown. Avery Horn could emerge as the breakout superstar of the offense. He's a speedster who fits the offense perfectly and will surprise a lot of people who haven't heard of him. Moving on to the WRs, the duo of Greg Mathews and Junior Hemmingway won't exactly live up to Adrian Arrington and Mario Manningham right away, but it should still do pretty good. Toney Clemons has entered the rotation as the third option at WR and Carson Butler also comes back at TE. The offensive line will only return one starter in Stephen Schilling who is a sophomore. The rest of the line though are juniors who were, for the most part, recruited strongly out of high school. These guys have talent, just lack the game experience. Mark Ortmann will probably be under the most scrutiny taking over for Jake Long at LT.


THE DEFENSE: The defense was the glue to this team last season. Even though they looked absolutely clueless as to how to stop a spread offense, at least in the first two games of the year against Appalachian State and Oregon, they buckled down and played much smarter and harder. Ron English will be gone and taking over this underratedly talented defense will be Scott Shafer who has presided for some aggressive defenses that registered a ton of sacks (Stanford saw improvement last year and Western Michigan had Ameer Ismail to rack those sacks up). The coaching staff has relentlessly stated that this won't be a 3-3-5 defense like it was at West Virginia, but a multiple defense look that will use different formations. The defensive line has the ability to become one of the better ones in America with Terrance Taylor and Will Johnson on the inside and Brandon Graham and Tim Jamison on the outside. These guys should come up with sacks like no other and they'll do great jobs defending the run if they can keep healthy. The LB corps isn't the most experienced group out there, but I really do like their potential. Austin Panter was a big haul from junior college in the Carr era, but now he'll be given the reigns to start at LB. James Mouton is a gifted athlete and should do a good job alongside Obi Ezeh, the player with the biggest potential at this position. Ezeh is just a sophomore and he should do a solid job for the next three years as a starter. In the secondary, Morgan Trent is the leader as his production skyrocketed from 2006 to 2007. He was not very good in '06 but he really took a turn for the better in his development. Stevie Brown should make some waves at S and if Brandon Harrison can get healthy, this should be a solid team of safeties.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 30 Utah
Sept. 6 Miami Univ.
Sept. 13 at Notre Dame
Sept. 27 Wisconsin
Oct. 4 Illinois
Oct. 11 Toledo
Oct. 18 at Penn State
Oct. 25 Michigan State
Nov. 1 at Purdue
Nov. 8 at Minnesota
Nov. 15 Northwestern
Nov. 22 at Ohio State

Michigan opens up with a dangerous game against Utah and they have to go on the road to South Bend this year. They need to make it out of that stretch 2-1 if they want things to be going smoothly. The Big Ten schedule looks pretty difficult with road games against Penn State, Purdue, and Ohio State. At least they get Wisconsin and Illinois at the Big House.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhhh.....Maybe....: Wisconsin, @ Penn State, @ Ohio State
Good/Probable Shot At It: Utah, Miami OH, @ Notre Dame, Toledo, Michigan State, @ Purdue, @ Minnesota, Northwestern, @ Ohio State


THE OUTLOOK: Michigan will get a ton of attention this year, but they will be sort of irrelevant on the national scale. An early loss to Utah will kind of put a damper on things for the rest of the season and that'll lead to people pressing the panic button after one week. Even though they are in transition offensively, the defense will carry this team. These guys are a pretty talented group and they'll do just fine this year. When it comes down to it, more than scheme and more than anything, football is football and Michigan is Michigan; meaning they have talented athletes. There's no way they'll miss a bowl game. I've got this team pegged at 8-4.


BOWL GAME?: Champs Sports Bowl.











Michigan State Spartans



It was nice to see Michigan State not melt when the pressure got too high. Previous teams would have quit after suffering heartbreakers against Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Michigan, but this team didn't, and that's a testament to the mental toughness that Mark Dantonio has instilled in his program after one season. Is this the year that Michigan State steps up and challenges as one of the best in the Big 10?


THE OFFENSE: Brian Hoyer may not have had all that impressive of a year, but the lightbulb clicked on late in the year. Forget the Champs Sports Bowl, Hoyer did look very impressive over the last three games of the regular season against Purdue, Michigan, and Penn State. Basically, the goal of the offense will be to play smashmouth football and pound the rock. The main guy doing that will be Javon Ringer who has been an impressive back ever since the 2005 season. This will be his senior season and he should be ready to crank out, at the least, a 1500 yard campaign. Andre Anderson should take over that backup role that has served the Spartan running game well over the past few seasons but Ashton Leggett fits more of that Jehuu Caulcrick mold of being a power runner. No Devin Thomas? No problem? Well, yeah, I suppose that is a problem, but it doesn't mean Mark Dell can't lessen the blow. Dell has a ton of upside and he should come through as the top weapon in the Spartan passing game. Deon Curry isn't a great receiver, but he has been a decent option in the passing game over the last few seasons. Jesse Miller is the best of the offensive line bunch and should have a big season over at RT. Roland Martin still has some developing to do as a senior, but he's got solid potential and he'll be playing at his more natural role at RG. This line did an underrated job run-blocking because, don't forget, MSU did rank 25th in the nation running the football. The pass protection could use some work though.


THE DEFENSE: Mark Dantonio is a conservative head coach by nature and his strength, the defense, reflected those principles. The team will be desperately scrambling to find a suitable replacement for Jonal Saint-Dic, the sackmaster of a year ago. Trevor Anderson followed his head coach from Cincinnati to Michigan State and should start right away at DE and Brandon Long is a good all-around player. Antonio Jeremiah may work his way into the starting lineup at DT and it'd be hard to keep him out of it with his size. Greg Jones had a monster season at LB as a freshman and he should keep that up. Look for him to garner more national attention. Eric Gordon did his job as a defender last year and he'll be working the OLB position on the strongside this year. Otis Wiley has been the leader of the defense for a few years now and he'll be ready to go for his senior season. He's played great ever since his freshman year in 2005 and should be ready to go out on a high note (and an NFL paycheck). His safety buddy, Nehemiah Warrick, will be gone though and that does leave a hole that still has to be filled. Kendall Davis-Clark and Ross Weaver will be the starters of a decent CB group.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 30 at California
Sept. 6 Eastern Michigan
Sept. 13 Florida Atlantic
Sept. 20 Notre Dame
Sept. 27 at Indiana
Oct. 4 Iowa
Oct. 11 at Northwestern
Oct. 18 Ohio State
Oct. 25 at Michigan
Nov. 1 Wisconsin
Nov. 8 Purdue
Nov. 22 at Penn State

Michigan State doesn't have a bye week until November, so there's that tough stretch to worry about. However, I give them a good shot of opening up the year in Strawberry Canyon with a win against Cal and Notre Dame shouldn't be that difficult of a task, but the Irish have had success in East Lansing. Sparty is dealt Michigan and Penn State on the road in Big 10 play.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: Ohio State, Wisconsin, @ Penn State
Good/Probable Shot At It: @ Cal, Eastern Michigan, FAU, Notre Dame, @ Indiana, Iowa, @ Northwestern, @ Michigan, Purdue


THE OUTLOOK: Mark Dantonio has something brewing at Michigan State, but it'll be a few years before we see this team competing for Rose Bowls. Last year was a good step in the right direction and there is talent. The offense is pretty lame, boring, and downright tedious at times to watch, but there's no question that it gets results. The defense should have a really good year as well under Dantonio's watch. However, I don't think Michigan State will have a huge year even with the amount of solid seniors. I've got MSU at 7-5 with a 4-4 Big 10 record.


BOWL GAME?: Motor City Bowl

 

[RJ Esq]

Monroe to offense, Roberson to defense

By Alan Trubow | Sunday, August 3, 2008, 06:25 PM
Position questions were at the forefront of Mack Brown’s Sunday conversations with freshmen D.J. Monroe and Ryan Roberson.
Monroe will forgo dreams of playing cornerback in lieu of a chance at being Texas’ next big standout receiver.
Roberson, a 5-foot-10, 226-pounder from Brenham, will move from his high school duties as a running back to play linebacker.
“Both (defensive coordinator) Will Muschamp and (offensive coordinator) Greg Davis were happy about those players’ decisions,” Brown said. “I think everybody saw how excited D.J. was at the (Texas High School Coaches Assocation) All-Star Football Game to get the ball in his hands.”

 

[RJ Esq]

This is a good sign that Mack is continuing the tough love treatment that he used before the Holiday Bowl.

And you think you’re up early

By Alan Trubow | Sunday, August 3, 2008, 06:26 PM
The Longhorn players can forget about the sun waking them up for the next two days. That’s because Texas will begin its first two days of practice at 6 a.m.
“The players will be up at 4:30 a.m.,” Brown said. “That’s how we have to do it because we’ve got some guys who are in summer school and we wanted to avoid having practice in the heat.”
The Longhorns will have two practices today and Tuesday. The 6 a.m. one will be for veterans with the freshmen watching on the sideline.
In the evening, the freshmen will practice and the veterans — who will be in street clothes — will help coach.

 

[gjl02]

Big help is on the way for the OL for FSU
Gene Williams
Warchant.com Publisher

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With the off-season losses of Daron Rose (academics) and Evan Bellamy (injury), the depth situation on Florida State's offensive line has gone from scary to desperate. Based on the preseason depth chart released a couple weeks ago, the starting line was slated to consist of two sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and one true freshman. Having all underclassmen up front is hardly a recipe for a successful offense.

While the prospects for offensive line coach Rick Trickett looked bleak for awhile, there is some last minute help on the way that could potentially salvage his unit.


Mt. SAC

Tonga will likely play left tackle at FSU.
Despite the first day of practice being just days away, the Seminole coaching staff was able to find a diamond in the rough and did so by going all the way across the country.

He didn't receive much attention from recruiting services over the past year, but Mt. San Antonio Community College two-year starter Joe Tonga has become a wanted man the past few months. Even though the 6-foot-5, 305-pounder has the talent to compete at an elite level in college football, a lingering eligibility issue scared off most programs, but FSU wasn't one of them.

"He had that NCAA issue and he got cleared. I'm happy for both parties." Mt. Sac head coach Robert Jastrab told Warchant.com. "Joe wanted to show the loyalty to Florida State and that's where he wanted to go from day one. You would think he would want to go back to Utah or (California) or somewhere like that but it sounded like this was his dream school."

For most of this year, there was a big question about whether his college eligibility had expired. Until the NCAA recently cleared him, it was uncertain whether Tonga, who went to high school in Utah, would have two, one or zero years of eligibility left.

"I had calls from everywhere - Kansas, Cal who offered, and Utah offered - but nobody pursued it like Florida State did to help him get his years back," Jastrab said. "All the top Division two schools offered as well but obviously it worked out for him to go Division one... He was going to Snow (College in Utah) right out of high school and I guess they enrolled him as a full-time student. In the Tongan culture you are really close to your family and when his uncle got real ill he had to go run the family business for a couple years. That's where they petitioned it, and they looked through the doctor's notes and everything else, or his clock would have started earlier."

Now that Tonga appears to be free and clear to suit up for Florida State the next two years, his former head coach has very few doubts that his star tackle will be able to compete at the highest level of college football.

"He was our starting left tackle and we ended up playing for the state championship this year out in the Mission Conference," Jastrab said. "He's a great role model, a great leader and a great person; I can't say enough about him. I always tell everybody if he needed a place to stay I would let him stay with my family, that's how I feel."

With nothing but true freshmen currently on the depth chart at left tackle; it's likely that Tonga will compete for a starting spot during preseason practices. Based on his size and experience, there's a good chance that the JUCO transfer could become FSU's primary starter at left tackle for the next two seasons.

"With (him having) two years of experience, that's huge," Jastrab said. "Mount SAC isn't Division one, but he went against one of our guys that played at Michigan (Eugene Germany), he went against him every day in practice, and he (Germany) ended up re-signing with Arizona State. He's constantly going against that caliber of athlete. As far as what I've heard, left tackle is where they are looking at him."

To prepare to play in Rick Trickett's system, Tonga has been working hard this summer and down to 305 pounds. Even though he will have to get himself in even better shape and will have get used to the Florida heat, his former coach doesn't think that will be a problem.

"He's been working out a lot with one of his best friends who is a defensive end for Seattle Seahawks, he's on the practice roster, and they were working out every day," Jastrab said. "He will have to get used to the humidity but I think he'll be fine."

Jastrab isn't sure whether Tonga will have two years of eligibility to play two, or three to play two.

 

[gjl02]

Text size:
Florida State coach Rick Trickett back to coaching, but he's still building
By Andrew Carter | Sentinel Staff Writer
August 14, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - Rick Trickett, the former Marine who some say is the best offensive line coach in college football, doesn't take off his hat and slap his players on the helmet with it as much as he once did. His voice still sounds like he has gravel stuck in his larynx, but it's not as hoarse as it once was.

Trickett still yells these days, and the hat still comes off every now and then but he's happier than he thought he might be because the condition of the Florida State offensive line, he said, is "better than I thought it was going to be."

The evaluation came Wednesday after practice, almost two months since Trickett greeted a roomful of Seminoles fans at an Orlando sports bar and predicted that he was about to endure the most difficult coaching challenge of his life.

Back then, FSU was set to enter the season with no senior or junior linemen for the first time in school history. The program's most experienced player at the position, junior Daron Rose, had been ruled academically ineligible.


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And it wouldn't be long before redshirt sophomore Evan Bellamy, projected starter at left guard, would be lost for the season with a blood clot in his left leg. On the surface, the outlook for the Seminoles' line appeared bleak.

Beneath it, though, was reason for optimism. Back in Tallahassee, the majority of FSU's six freshmen linemen were on campus, impressing "veterans" Rodney Hudson and Ryan McMahon — a pair of sophomores — with their work in the weight room and during summer workouts.

Meanwhile, Trickett continued his attempts to recruit Joe Tonga, a little-known offensive tackle at Mt. San Antonio Community College in California. Trickett had had been trying for six months to bring Tonga to Florida State and finally did days before practice began.

He joined a group of young players about whom Trickett and the returning linemen have raved.

"When the freshmen came in, you knew they were ready to work," said McMahon, the redshirt sophomore center. ". . . They're tough and they're nasty and they play hard and they go full speed every time and they're not slacking off or anything.

"They all want to play, too. They're not coming in here looking to redshirt."

It's a good thing because Trickett has no plans to redshirt them. He says he couldn't if he wanted, thanks to a lack of depth.

Along with Tonga, the probable starter at left tackle, Trickett is likely to start the two sophomores and two redshirt freshmen, including former DeLand star Will Furlong, who's projected to play right guard but could move depending on needs.

A year ago at this time, Trickett -- who'd built perhaps the best line in the country during his years at West Virginia -- spent a lot of his time exercising his vocal cords and testing the duration of his hat, which he used in hopes of slapping the bad habits out of FSU veterans.

Nowadays, Trickett said, "I get to coach now."

"I ain't prodding for effort . . . and toughness," he said. "I don't have to do that now. You know, I'm getting effort and I'm getting toughness so you know, it makes it a lot easier."

He's getting those things because now he has a unit full of Trickett Guys -- a certain type of player that Hudson, a freshman All-American guard a season ago, tried to describe.

"You can't be a loafer," Hudson said. "You've got to play hard. You've got to be tough, hard-nosed. You can't take plays off. When it's hard, you've got to play harder. When it gets tougher, you've got to keep going, find something to keep going. You can't slack off."

To an outside observer, it might appear at times that Trickett has changed, that he's become softer and kinder but, he said, "I wouldn't say that now."

He still knows how to motivate, of course. Not long ago, a writer who covers the Atlantic Coast Conference for ESPN ranked FSU's offensive line the 12th best in the league and, as Furlong said, "There's only 12 teams, and Duke's in there ... That [ticked] me off."

Trickett knew it would.

That's why he made miniature copies of the ranking, and made each one of his linemen carry around the reminder in their wallets.

"When we hit No. 1 in a year or two," Trickett said, "We'll burn 'em."

Andrew Carter's Chopping Block blog can be read at OrlandoSentinel.com/choppingblock and he can be reached at acarterb@orlandosentinel.com.

 

[RJ Esq]

Sunday Morning QB is now at his fulltime gig at Yahoo, so I have to include these. Just too much good shit.

Monday Headlinin'

By Matt Hinton
• Me and Julio Down by the Stratosphere: As hoped, Alabama’s five-star, ace-in-the-hole recruiting coup, Julio Jones, is already stealing the show in Tuscaloosa -- Jones caught five passes for 125 yards and a touchdown in Bama’s second scrimmage Saturday and grabbed top billing on the blogs and in the Sunday editions of the state’s three largest papers, the Mobile Register, Birmingham News and Montgomery Advertiser, along with a few other members of the balleyhooed freshman class in the two latter cases. Shockingly, the usually sober, patient and meek Tide partisans might be getting just a tad carried away...

...prior to Mssr. Jones’ first official snaps. (But yeah, he’s got ups).
For its part, Auburn may have found its own ‘instant impact’ freshman at receiver: despite the Tigers’ generally sluggish scrimmage Saturday, Tommy Tuberville came away praising jitterbug Philip Pierre-Louis left and right.
• Urban Meyer, Have You Met G. Gordon Liddy?: Brandon James would not fit in very well in the Bush administration, if his untimely leak to the Gainesville Sun’s Jeremy Foley re: Percy Harvin’s ankle is any indication:

Wide receiver Brandon James is the first Gator to come out and say dynamic playmaker Percy Harvin might miss some actual game time because of the nagging heel injury. James, the kick-return specialist who has been filling in for Harvin at his usual receiver spot during practice, said his teammate might not be in the lineup for the Aug. 30 season opener against Hawaii."I think he may only be out one or two games, if that, with the ankle injury," James said.
​

The other key note from that brief item: Harvin has yet to finish a full practice. James doesn’t seem to think this is a big deal -- he’ll miss a game or two, if that, whatever -- but stroking out is a viable option here for Gator fans. Missing the opener is one thing, with Hawaii unlikely to pose any threat, but the next week is against Miami, and at Tennessee two weeks later, and preseason projections aside, opposite the Canes and Vols remains no place for the limpy.

Harvin also got into a fight last week with fellow speedster Chris Rainey. Listen to the Miami Herald’s Jonathan Goodman question Percy’s commitment as a “team player” here.
• No Guarantees: If you’d asked me before Sunday, I’d have said I expected Indiana’s Kellen Lewis to make a run at becoming the best all-around quarterback in the Big Ten -- he completed 60 percent of his passes last year for 3,000-plus yards and 28 touchdowns, was second team all-conference and led IU to its first bowl game in 14 years as a sophomore; the team averaged a full touchdown more per game than it had since Antwaan Randle El was in town. But there’s a surprising quarterback derby brewing, in large part because of the athletic Lewis’ unexplained suspension in the spring and ongoing inaccuracy in practice, according to the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel: minus massive target James Hardy, he was just 6-of-16 for 29 yards in the Hoosiers’ first public scrimmage. Bigger, pocket-bound Ben Chappell hasn’t been spectacular, but given his de facto lead coming out of the spring, he might be a nose ahead.
• Bringing Them Along, uh, Slowly: Longtime running backs coach Fred Jackson is one of the few faces in Ann Arbor that survived the regime change in September, so, this being Michigan, he knows from top shelf running backs. And with vets Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor nursing some nagging injuries, Jackson is throwing gasoline on the hype surrounding freshmen Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw, say the Ann Arbor News:

"Those two guys right there, I PROMISE you that you stay nicked up too long, it's going to hurt you tremendously," Jackson said.Because Shaw and McGuffie can play right now, he said.
Shaw and McGuffie are two of the most exciting freshmen he has ever coached at Michigan, he continued.
They're Justin Fargas fast, but can cut better.
Not exactly trying to ease them into the picture, huh, Fred?
"Nooo," the 17-year Michigan assistant said, smiling. "You know how I am - I'm going to tell you like I see it. These guys are special. They're special."
​

Michigan has started a couple freshman running backs in the last decade -- Mike Hart moved in from day one, and Anthony Thomas came on strong for the '97 mythical championship team -- but that’s a high bar for McGuffie and Shaw. Either the Wolverines are desperate, or, given the recruiting hype for Brown, Minor and temporarily suspended Kevin Grady their own selves, the new guys are for real.
Quickly...
• N.C. State was already in dire straits at wide receiver, and that was with last year’s relatively lackluster leader, Donald Bowens, coming back. Now the Pack will be without Bowens, too, after doctors found a career-threatening spinal fracture. . . . Georgia Tech is “scaling back” the physicality after a rash of injuries. . . . Hey, who needs the best receivers to play, anyway? . . . Is Keiland Williams in Les Miles’ doghouse? Not as far as he knows . . . Joe McKnight can’t seem to avoid the bumps and bruises: last week, he had a door closed on his hand; Sunday, he sat out practice with a hyperextended elbow (ouch). Also: no progress on deciding between Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain if Mark Sanchez can’t go at Virginia . . . One improbably-named quarterback, Karsten Sween, has lost his starting job to an outright alias, Dax Crum, at Wyoming. . . . Two Columbia police officers were charged with misconduct in their March arrest of South Carolina lineman Kevin Young. . . . Stunningly, the ever-present shift to the no-huddle remains iffy at Oklahoma (and everywhere else it’s rumored to be on the plate). . . . And it took this blog a week to mention the name, but Terrelle Pryor? If you know how to translate Jim Tressel, sounds like the freshman's going to play, as expected...as long as he stays within the offense.

 

[RJ Esq]

Mid-Major Monday: If nothing else, Jones has stones

By Matt Hinton

From the outside looking in, coming off ten straight losses and a winless season against the rest of Conference USA, the curtain raises on the June Jones era at SMU with exactly one viable asset to build the show around: Justin Willis.
This is how good Willis was as a freshman in 2006, by SMU standards: in the nine games he played start to finish that year, the Mustangs averaged almost 33 points and were never held under 21, a mark they hadn't even reached on average since at least 1999, the earliest year for the NCAA’s online archives. Willis finished second in the conference to NFL-bound Kevin Kolb in completion percentage, touchdowns and pass efficiency; won C-USA’s Freshman of the Year; finished 6-4 as a starter and seemed to singlehandedly overturn years of futiliy by Mustang quarterbacks, at an outpost that hadn't come close to a bowl game since the NCAA's death penalty put the program on ice in the mid-eighties.
He was less efficient last year as a sophomore, despite passing and running for more yards, but however inept his comrades, Willis' first two seasons in Dallas put him on pace to break most of the school passing records by this November -- and maybe sooner, if he came anywhere near the production of Jones' run-and-shoot quarterbacks in Hawaii. Despite last year’s horrendous record, the offense still averaged more points under Willis (28.3 per game) than it had in any season post-death penalty. If there existed any hope for an immediate turnaround in the weaker division of a slowly declining conference, certainly it rested on maximizing the one somewhat special player on the roster.
Notice the past tense there. Because although Jones reinstated Willis following a rocky start in the spring, he doesn't see the picture quite the same way:

DALLAS (AP) -- SMU coach June Jones' search for a quarterback to lead his run-and-shoot offense will no longer include Justin Willis, a two-year starter and former Conference USA Freshman of the Year.Jones on Monday narrowed down the starting quarterback derby to two freshmen: Bo Levi Mitchell and Braden Smith.That leaves Willis, a junior, in the No. 3 spot. Willis is SMU's career leader in touchdown passes with 51. He was an honorable mention all-conference selection last season, when he set a school record for total yards with 3,643.
"After going through all of the tapes, I felt like Bo and Braden had a better understanding of the offense," Jones said. "I think they're executing a little bit better, so we're going to give them the reps. We will continue to give the other guys reps too, but those guys will get the focus."
Jones said he told Willis to stay ready to play.
​

Chalk up another one for Phil Steele, who noted in his obsessive preseason magazine that Jones had booted a couple of Hawaii’s best players when taking over in the islands in 1999, and actually wrote, “it would not suprise me to see Jones turn to one of his incoming frosh,” before mentioning utterly obscure recruits Smith and Mitchell by name. You know a coach has clout when he can tell the most prolific passer in school history, in the throes of implementing the most pass-heavy system imaginable, “Be ready to play, scrub. These impossibly green freshmen might get hurt.”
Then again, Jones took the Hawaii job when the Warriors were wallowing at rock bottom and immediately orchestrated the most extreme single-season improvement in D-I history, from 0-12 in 1998 to 9-4 in 1999, and SMU wasn’t quite as bad as last year’s 1-11 mark indicates (well, the defense was that bad -- probably worse -- but the Mustangs still lost five games by a touchdown or less, three of those in overtime). Under the circumstances, Jones is the proven commodity, and Willis is just the kid who maybe bullies Yag people and probably posted his own Signing Day clip to YouTube.

 

[RJ Esq]

The State of the Big 12: Offensively Speaking

By Matt Hinton
For decades, the Big Eight/SWC coalition that merged into the Big 12 had a reputation as probably the most staunchly ground-based, cloud-of-dust faction in the country, relentlessly dominated by the wishbone and other option attacks from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and, later, Colorado. But to get a grasp on the current state of the dusty old Midwesterners, all those old stereotypes have to be completely, thoroughly excised:

Just look at a handful of scores in Big 12 games last year:
• Oklahoma State 49, Texas Tech 45
• Texas 59, Texas Tech 43
• Oklahoma State 41, Kansas State 39
• Oklahoma 41, Missouri 31
• Missouri 49, Kansas State 32
• Kansas 76, Nebraska 39
• Texas 38, Oklahoma State 35
• Kansas 43, Oklahoma State 38
• Nebraska 73, Kansas State 31
• Texas A&M 38, Texas 30
• Colorado 65, Nebraska 51
That's for starters: unlike anywhere else, 31-35 points per game often guaranteed nothing. The Big 12 evolved last year into the most spread-friendly, pass-oriented, full-throttle conference in the country, and accordingly, everything you’ll read about the half dozen or so conference championship aspirants coming into 2008 -- Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech, even the fringe candidacies of Nebraska and Oklahoma State -- emphasizes some variation on, “We know the offense is going to be fine.” That’s true: all of those teams averaged about 35 points last year, or more, and all return prolific starting quarterbacks, key stars at at least one skill position and a majority of the offensive line (the teams from the South, OU, Tech, Texas and Oklahoma State, each returns essentially its entire line intact). All of them can reasonably expect to score with any offense in the country, and, obviously, with one another.

So it shouldn’t be any surprise that last year’s division champions, and the teams running away with the preseason endorsements again this summer, are the only ones that counter with really viable defenses, relatively speaking: Oklahoma and Missouri managed to hold Big 12 opponents around three touchdowns per game, an achievement when most of the rest of the league was allowing at least a touchdown more in-conference -- even usually staunch Texas allowed 28 in Big 12 games, by far the worst of the Mack Brown era, thanks to a late collapse in which the Horns gave up 25, 35, 43 and 38 in the final four regular season games (a loss and two wins via improbable fourth quarter rallies against the truly rock-bottom Ds of Nebraska and Oklahoma State). Oklahoma’s 41 and 38-point efforts were the only serious lapses by Mizzou’s defense -- Kansas State and Illinois were the only other teams that topped 30, both on late comebacks from large deficits -- and OU's was the only defense that slowed Chase Daniel and Co's steady, balanced assault; they pressured Daniel in the Big 12 Championship, hit him harder and more often than anyone else had been able to, and it was difference in the conference title and another BCS berth. Looking ahead, both the Sooner and Tiger Ds return a solid half dozen all-conference candidates apiece.
The only other defense that kept pace last year was the one from Kansas, which led the conference in total and scoring defense in all games and kept pace with Missouri and Oklahoma in conference games, as well, after you get past the inflated (or in this case, deflated) numbers from the Jayhawks’ embarrassingly soft nonconference schedule. But in relative terms, KU’s Big 12 schedule managed to turn out pretty soft, too -- the ‘Hawks missed Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech, and gave up more than 520 yards when they finally ran into the explosive outfit from Missouri; prior to that, Kansas had also been gashed by Nebraska and Oklahoma State in consecutive weeks, games KU won easily thanks to a heavy turnover margin (+5 vs. the Huskers, +4 vs. OSU) and its own explosive offense against, again, two of the most porous defenses in the conference. With Baylor, OK State and Texas A&M rotating off the schedule and Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech rotating on, no history of consistent defense and the two best players off last year’s unit, James McClinton and Aqib Talib, off to bigger things, it’s hard to see the Jayhawks’ defense keeping the same pace -- but that, along with the alleged advancement of Texas Tech’s defense over the course of the season, is a subject for another post.

 

[RJ Esq]

Update: Steffy shocks the world, beat reporters at UMD

By Matt Hinton

Following up on the quarterback quandaries in the ACC, Maryland has moved to name its starter, according to the Worldwide Leader's Heather Dinich. According to everything you could have read heading into this decision -- and I know, because I read most of it -- the competition was a race between last year's leader, Chris Turner, who started the last eight and led upsets over Rutgers and Boston College and a rout over NC State to get the Terps into their fifth bowl game in Ralph Friedgen's seven-year tenure, or Josh Portis, the athlete, the mildly troubled Florida transfer with the big upside.
So, of course, the coaches crunched the numbers and decided the job really belonged to Jordan Steffy, who opened 2007 as the starter but threw all of four passes last year after Turner came on against Rutgers in the fifth game. Steffy was better by the coaches' count throughout the spring and summer in terms of completion percentage, yards per pass, interceptions, percentage of drives ending in scores, producing yards after catch, good practices and bad practices, according to Dinich. Hard to argue with that -- unless, that is, you're the incumbent, largely credited with salvaging a sinking season in place of the guy now moving back in front of you, and even the coaches relegating you to the bench recognize it:

Steffy wins in just about every category except one: 2-0 against top 10 teams. That one belongs to Chris Turner."What made it hard is that Chris played well in the games," Friedgen said. "That's his MO. But based on not only fall practice, but I even went back to spring practices, and (Steffy) was by far and away ahead in all the statistics."
​

Most players whose "MO" is "playing well in the games" get the opportunity to continue playing in the games, especially compared to the guy whose MO is "throwing three times as many interceptions as touchdowns," (Steffy has six career picks to two scores) but maybe that's not exactly what Friedgen meant. Steffy's been the better practice player and he'll be the man for Delaware and Middle Tennessee, at least, and we'll see what happens when Cal comes to College Park in Week Three.
As for Portis:

"He will play," [offensive coordinator James] Franklin said of Portis. "He will play. He's one of the most freakish athletes I've ever been around at any level."​

He remains, however, nominally the third team quarterback -- Portis may play in a chance-of-pace situation, but if Steffy is hurt or ineffective, Turner is the every-down replacement. Which just confirms what we've come to expect from Josh Portis since his days as a Gator: he has no idea what he's doing back there, but man, he can run like hell.

 

[RJ Esq]

Unfortunately, you have to snap it to somebody

By Matt Hinton
As a conference, the ACC was already bad enough on offense last year to wind up with this:

...as its grand showcase to the rest of the country, just a year after a similar scene for a rain-soaked championship game that featured zero touchdowns. Turns out teal seats are not so good for the brand, after all.
Under most circumstances, most teams could claim “growing pains” and pledge to be a little more explosive this time around. But heading into ‘08, the league doesn’t even get the luxury of writing off its descent into clutch-and-grab field goal fests as a “rebuilding year” -- with the notable exception of Matt Ryan, most of the passers who struggled through dismal efforts last season return not to expectations of improvement, but to pronouncements that the ACC is a “graveyard for passers,” and for some, that they’re not far from joining the ranks of worm food. Less than two weeks from kickoff, half the league is still wondering who’s going to be the primary signal-caller:
Florida State. With longtime foil Xavier Lee off to groom his dreds, run 4.2 forties and reduce his receivers’ gloves to tatters on his own time, Drew Weatherford should be the de facto starter in Tallahassee -- whatever else you might say about his arm strength or athleticism, a three-year incumbent who just posted the lowest interception percentage in the country would not usually be in much danger from a pair of totally green, mostly unheralded sophomores.
But Jimbo Fisher seemed to throw open the floodgates when he said last week the race is “getting interesting,” and even though the competition is inspiring lines like,

[D’Vontrey] Richardson may have dropped a few shotgun snaps during the scrimmage, but he also dropped a few jaws as well.​

...the already embattled veteran didn’t seem to gain much ground at Saturday’s scrimmage to more mobile, live-armed youngsters Richardson and Christian Ponder. All three quarterbacks fumbled snaps, but all three produced big plays, too, including a 60-yard touchdown pass to Greg Carr by Weaterford (who didn’t complete a pass longer than 50 yards last year) and a 40-yard pass to Carr by Richardson, who also had a long run called back for holding.
Andrew Carter had a common sense take in his Orlando Sentinel blog: Richardson has the most ability but is too inconsistent, Ponder is an enigma, and it’s still Weatherford’s job to lose.
Miami. Nothing’s coming out of Cane camp any time soon, per Randy Shannon, though totally inexperienced redshirt freshman Robert Marve remains a hair ahead of totally inexperienced true freshman Jacory Harris, who at 6’4”, 175 pounds is a charter member of the Impossibly Skinny Quarterback Hall of Fame, at least. Neither seemed particularly impressive at the U’s latest scrimmage -- and that’s largely by their own account, since most of the practice was closed to reporters -- but as long as Harris is drawing comparisons to Garo Yepremian, Marve is your man. But it won’t be official for a while.

N.C. State. Tom O’Brien threw the partisans a curveball last week by eliminating Harrison Beck and Justin Burke from the competition; Beck was the highly touted Nebraska transfer pushed out of an expected starting job in Lincoln by Sam Keller, and who proceeded to throw nine interceptions to two touchdowns as the Pack’s second QB option last year. Burke was the highly touted prospect who couldn’t push past Beck or usual starter Daniel Evans last year despite their disastrous results. Burke didn’t show for the team picture over the weekend, and might be on his way out.
Instead, O’Brien is banking on the persistently underwhelming Evans as the sturdy old hand in front of a pair of even younger up-and-comers, highly-sought heir apparent Mike Glennon and more mobile redshirt freshman Russell Wilson, who have the makings of the stereotypical pocket/scrambler dichotomy that’s turning up as the rule here. Easy assumption is that Evans, with 17 starts in two years, will handle the raucous opener at South Carolina before gradually ceding the reigns to one or both of the bucks (based on his hype, probably Glennon, even if his gangly visage is a little too reminiscent of his inconsistent older brother) -- but O’Brien insists the Pack is too desperate to play a waiting game:

O'Brien hinted that he won't hesitate to use one of the freshmen on Aug. 28 in Columbia if he earns the job.“You're going to have to learn to play before a crowd sooner or later,” O'Brien said during his news conference. “So why not start off the bat and go do it?”
​

A decision could be made -- almost certainly Evans, the incumbent -- by Wednesday.
Maryland. Ralph Friedgen insisted Sunday he’s naming a starter today, although there was no indication after the weekend who, exactly, that might be. Incumbent Chris Turner “played better” in Saturday‘s scrimmage, but the Washington Post suggested last week that Josh Portis was holding his own in practice, an enticing vision for Terp fans who expected Portis to emerge as a slam dunk when he transferred in after the miraculous arrival of the Tebow Child rendered him redundant as Chris Leak’s heir apparent at Florida.
Of course, Portis is lucky to be on the team after his petulent end in Gainesville and the cheating scandal that ended his season last year and opened the door for Turner, but he has the ever-tempting upside, athletically, and if Turner and/or Jordan Steffy are safer choices, it will be hard to keep Portis out of the mix if one or both of them struggle to the extent they did most of 2007.
Virginia. Jameel Sewell’s suspension leaves the job to one of three untested names: Scott Deke, Peter Verica and Peter Lalich, currently listed on the depth chart as such in order of seniority. Deke is a fifth-year senior who’s never taken a snap, a huge, glowing red flag when any competent option would have put some heat on the likes of Sewell, Marques Hagans and/or Christian Olsen, the meh-to-awful trio that’s held down the position at various points since Deke arrived on campus; in fact, Deke has been so nondescript through his career that he was “preparing to enter the work force” when Al Groh surprised him by asking him back for a fifth season. If this is your starter, Hoos, peace be with you.
More likely, the “honor” goes to Lalich, who played a good bit last year (61 passes in eight appearances) and was not shriekingly bad as a true freshman. That it’s still up in the air, to the extent that the candidates have been cordoning themselves off from any media contact for the last week, is a good indication to sell whatever UVA stock you have sitting around from last year’s skin-of-the-teeth run, pronto.
Georgia Tech. Sophomore Josh Nesbitt has been banged up in practice, opening the door for true freshman Jaybo Shaw, but Matt Wilnkeljohn at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution covered the Jackets’ starting lineup this morning and doesn’t even mention Shaw as a potential threat to Nesbitt’s hold on the job -- as anyone who watched Nesbitt run around with his head cut off as a freshman could have guessed, the run-first nature of Paul Johnson’s quarterbacks is a match made in heaven.
Virginia Tech. It’s been a good week since any mainstream report on the quarterbacks from Hokie practice, and last we heard, Frank Beamer was fretting about the skill positions in general while quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain was cryptically suggesting to reporters that -- god forbid -- an injury or something might make his job a lot easier:

"To be very honest with you, I don't think it's going to get sorted out," O'Cain said Saturday."We're going to have to make a call, in my opinion. Right now, unless one of them gets hurt or one of them gets a sore arm and can't practice ... if something unforeseen happens then it helps us make a decision.
"We're not putting any pressure on ourselves, saying like, 'well, we want to make this decision by Aug. 21st. Shoot, we may not know until the Wednesday before we play East Carolina exactly what we're going to do."
​

Even direct practice observers on the message boards (maybe not surprisingly) disagree, not only on whether Sean Glennon or Tyrod Taylor is good enough to keep the other on the bench, but on exactly what’s going down in scrimmages ($) -- is Glennon taking too many sacks, or is it only because he’s being “touched down” by guys he’d easily escape at full speed? Or does he have “the mobility of a 101-year-old grandpa”? What’s the over/under on one of Taylor’s passes hitting a barn, or the broad side thereof?
One creative poster, however, has a solution everyone can agree on:

Only Tysean Glenrod can supply the Hokies with the perfect combination of veteran saavy and the first rate agility of capricious youth, in one unifying, multi-racial package -- if only that stem cell crap was legal. Mr. President, why are you standing in the path of progress?

 

[RJ Esq]

Have you been made aware of Southern California's many potential options at running back?

By Matt Hinton

In case you weren’t certain, the L.A. Times breaks out Part Twenty-Six of its 125-year series, "Trojans have depth in backfield" (or, as the paper dubs this edition, "At USC, it’s tailback who?"), accompanied by the much-anticipated ESPN adapatation, "Carroll sees no problem with wealth of RB talent." Seems that Southern Cal has many talented running backs to choose from . . . maybe . . . too many?
On the surface, you might not think so, with last year’s ten blue chip options whittled down to this year’s six thanks to graduation (Chauncey Washington, Desmond Reed, Herschel Dennis) and transfer due to complications associated with competition (Emmanuel Moody). But while most of the Trojanite masses have spent the last week obsessing over Mark Sanchez’s adorably dislocated knee, Joe McKnight’s hyperextended elbow and wittle fingews, and the start of filming on Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly’s hilarious turn as hangers-on at SC practices who unwittingly become embroiled in a turf war between rival gangs vying for access to pitch their fledgling sports agency to players, Davey Davidson: Trojan of Troy, it’s possible the backfield is even deeper than the ‘07 version, which on occasion was actually kinda shallow:

"As we found out last year -- a lot of this settles itself," offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said.USC opened its 2007 training camp with an almost embarrassing 10-deep list at tailback, and then watched as a transfer and injuries thinned the corps to, at one point, two players.
This year, for their Aug. 30 opener at Charlottesville, the Trojans expect to tote what the coaching staff views as a more-than-manageable six tailbacks competing for playing time.
[...]
In Sarkisian's view, the Trojans will need every one of the six tailbacks. And there apparently will be no rush to judgment about the order or combinations in which they will be deployed against Virginia.
​

A regular rotation of six tailbacks is not a realistic goal by any precedent I’m aware of -- it’s only equitable if some combination of guys is getting hurt all the time, or otherwise indisposed, and despite their circumstances in that department last year and so far this summer, that doesn’t seem like a particularly reliable avenue for thinning the ranks. Everyone at this point has his place: in simplistic terms, Stafon Johnson is the bruiser, C.J. Gable is the change of pace speedster and Joe McKnight is the line-up-anywhere wildcard on the front line; behind them, it’s less specialized, as second-year guys Allen Bradford, Broderick Green and Marc Tyler are all in the same 225-pound, between-the-tackles mold as Johnson, and therefore harder to justify bringing off the bench if Johnson locks down his role.
Still, it seems Tyler is intent on making a push, and along with Gable -- who missed almost all of ‘07 with an ab strain, the one injury the average reader is probably not even capable of suffering (though you would if you could keep the necessary six pack) -- is probably the most interesting of the lot. He was slightly less hyped nationally but nevertheless ranked right alongside McKnight at the top of last year’s list of incoming backs; under most circumstances, it would be hard for any player with Tyler’s pedigree (in addition to the rank, Marc’s dad, Wendell Tyler, was a star on UCLA’s 1975 Rose Bowl champion and an all-pro who played in Super Bowls with the Rams and 49ers) to get lost in the shuffle because of an injury, even one as serious as the broken leg Tyler endured for almost a full year, from the end of his senior season in high school.
The main number with the Trojan running backs isn't six, but the occasional failure to find one: Washington almost filled the role of feature back the last years, but only, it seemed, because none of the gifted up-and-comers behind him was ever in a position to wrest it from him -- as freshman, Moody and Gable were occasionally brilliant in 2006, but also too banged-up to establish a consistent presence; ditto Johnson and McKnight last year. It may seem petty on nights the entire pack is running wild (see: at Nebraska, or the Rose Bowl), but there are also games where no one steps up, and these don’t go so well:

In all other games -- that is, games with a strong rushing presence -- the Trojans are 20-0. As many would-be stars as they have circulating, that should be every game, one way or another; and if the scintillating athletes with the ball can’t overcome a young, potentially shaky offensive line, then maybe all the ink is being spilled over the wrong position.

 

[RJ Esq]

Why Texas' D won't suck (25 ppg allowed sucks?) this year:

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[RJ Esq]

A poll that puts its money where its mouth is

By Matt Hinton

In Western society, anyway, and probably most others, you can always be sure of the eternal maxim: follow the money to the truth. It works for cops and reporters, and for college football, too: the magazine polls are one thing, and the Official Mainstream Polls generally fall into a sort of lazy consensus that looks suspiciously similar to the end of the previous season. But as with everything else, if you’re really for real about ranking teams, you seek out the people who literally can’t afford to work off pat assumptions, crazy sleepers or letting things shake out over time: bookies.
Given the best guesses of writers, who are interested in narratives; of coaches, who are interested in their left tackle’s torn meniscus and the third-and-short zone tendencies of next week’s opponent; or of Vegas, which is interested in using said guesses to make golden fountains that spew cash, whose opinion do you really trust? When it comes to pure, good old-fashioned power polling, as Dan Steinberg asked in 2006, who wouldn’t want to have the oddsmaker’s top 25 next to the mainstream versions?
If you buy that, the initial top 30 poll released Sunday by Las Vegas Sports Consultants is probably for you. USC, not surprisingly, is at the top for sheer, unadulterated strungth, and you won’t slip past anybody by putting the chips on the Trojans. But you can get in on the ground floor with a few teams the moneychangers expect much more from than the scribes:
9. Texas Tech: Vegas is buying the buzz: Tech cracks the top 15 in both the Coaches’ (No. 12) and AP (No. 14) polls, but LVSC ranks the Raiders ninth, in a dead heat with No. 8 Texas; along with No. 3 Oklahoma, three Big 12 South teams are in the bookies’ top nine.
11. BYU: The consultants rank the Cougars higher than anyone, writer, coach or magazine, carrying over their strong opinion of BYU from the end of ‘07 (13th, according to the LVSC poll).
14. South Carolina: Actually ranked a tenth of a point ahead of LSU (see below), apparently with the expectation that the veteran defense is poised for a breakout --with Jasper Brinkley back in the middle, the November collapse is being taken as a kind of mirage, I guess. Phil Steele agrees about the Cocks, for what it’s worth, even if he was completely off the mark about their prospective insurgency last year.
17. TCU: The Frogs received five points in the AP poll (good for No. 42) and zero votes from the coaches, but their disappointing finish last year is no deterrent for Vegas: “Attention AP Voters!!! TCU 30-8 last 3 yrs & getting better.” We’ll see about that.
24. Arizona Here we’re getting out on a limb almost no one in the media would even consider: “New offense has been a roaring success. Tuitama will go wild.” O rly? LVSC has the Wildcats three spots ahead of Arizona State, good for fourth in the Pac Ten. You’re not...scared...are you?
On the other end, the oddsmakers are counting on people -- perhaps from a certain region of the country? -- getting a little carried away with:
7. Georgia: Steele’s is the only other opinion that dares drop the mainstream favorite ranked outside the top five (No. 9), behind Florida, West Virginia and Missouri. “Suspensions may hurt cohesion” -- maybe, or maybe they’re more skeptical about the lifespan of the surge over the last six games following a year and a half of mediocrity.
15. LSU: Again: ranked here behind Texas Tech, BYU, Kansas, Penn State and South Carolina. They really don’t trust the new quarterback.
18. Auburn: Take the aforemention teams ranked ahead of the other Tigers, and add No. 16 Oregon and No. 17 TCU. It’s not unanimous, but the Tigers come out in the 10-11 range in both of the mainstream polls and in the consensus take of the magazines.
So: SEC West hatin’ = $, apparently. Remember: it’s only entertainment.

 

[RJ Esq]

Tuesday Headlinin'

By Matt Hinton

• Bring on the Kid. Ohio State drew an absurd 12,000 spectators to practice Monday, more than four teams -- Idaho, Kent State, Florida International and Eastern Michigan -- averaged all of last season for actual games. The partisans were out to get their first glimpse of Terrelle Pryor, who reportedly looked good in pads and did fine. But really, for now, is it necessary to put his name in a headline like this? Clearly, they're excited enough.
• Our Long National Nightmare Is Over, Until, I Dunno, He Takes a Couple Steps. UCLA has doomed Kevin Craft to a fate worse than death by naming the San Diego State/JUCO transfer the starting quarterback for the Bruins’ opener against Tennessee on Labor Day -- assuming, dangerously, that he makes it that far. It’s just as likely Craft joins predecessors Pat Cowan and Ben Olson on the injured list when doctors are forced to take part of his leg following a freak collision with fullback Chane Moline and the Fanta machine in the break room.
Craft played in nine games for SDSU in 2006, with very bad results: when he saw the field at all, the Aztecs were 2-7 and lost to I-AA Cal Poly, while Craft specifically threw six interceptions to four touchdowns and gradually lost the job to Kevin O'Connell, the fifth quarterback off the board in April. Still, Phil Steele is probably right about this position for the Bruins: L.A. was one of a half dozen teams that completed less than half its passes last year and finished last in the Pac Ten in efficiency. Whoever settles in, there's nowhere to go but up.
• Put Me In, Coach. Across town, USC would seem to have the opposite problem -- an abundance of attractive options -- but read closely and the Trojans aren’t anxious to throw Mitch Mustain or Aaron Corp into the fire at Virginia in eleven days if Mark Sanchez’s knee will hold up. Sanchez played catch with Pete Carroll Monday and wants to be in the lineup at UVA.
Taylor, Sheets produce 1-2 punch in Purdue backfield" exposé it’s been holding back all summer, the impact was significantly lessened Sunday when the "1" in "1-2 punch," Jaycen Taylor, went down for the count after a tackler fell on his knee. It seems likely Taylor -- best known for rocking one of the sweetest mohawks ever through most of 2007, but also responsible for more than 1,200 yards on the ground the last two years -- will sit out the season pending an MRI, use the redshirt he bypassed as a true freshman, and come back in 2009, when Sheets will be gone and the job could belong to Taylor alone, at last.

In fact, might Taylor have actually caused his own knee injury to have the job all to himself next year? It seems farfetched, but if we know anything from the movies about diabolical villains, it’s to never put anything past the guy with vertically-themed hair.
• Loaded Longhorn Lobby. Texas continues to sort out its crowded running back position without much resolution in sight. It seems increasingly possible at this point that we’ll see all three of the options, according to the Austin American-Statesman:

Sophomore Vondrell McGee had the most yards rushing last season of any returning tailback. Senior Chris Ogbonnaya had the most experience. Redshirt freshman Fozzy Whittaker is the biggest breakaway threat.The positive news is all three backs are different types of players, and using them could create matchup problems for defenses. So far, the 11th-ranked Longhorns have been saying they'll use either McGee or Whittaker on first and second downs, and Ogbonnaya will be the third-down back.
​

In slightly nostalgic terms, McGee is Cedric Benson, Whittaker is Jamaal Charles and Ogbannaya is Selvin Young. Which is to say, the kids are probably going to be OK.
• Tiny Freshman Beaver Takes Corvallis by Storm. Every adolescent in America must lust after the job of headline-writer at The Oregonian, simply for the opportunity to crank out first rate Oregon State-related double entendre like "Freshman Beaver turning heads" on a daily basis. In this case, the head-turner is one Jacquizz Rodgers, diminutive younger brother of James Rodgers, the mini-mite who trashed Oregon and Maryland late in the season on a succession of speed sweeps, averaging 11-plus yards per carry and raising OSU fans’ expectations far beyond any reasonable ability to deliver a repeat as a sophomore. As for young Jacquizz, he's barely 5'6", but he was more heavily-recruited than his brother and is already drawing comparisons to Barry Sanders in practice -- as well as, more relaistically, Yvenson Bernard and Maurice Drew -- while making defenders gush with praise, coaches whet their chops at the drawing board, marketers rub their hands together, and other filthy, filthy things.
• Note to Editors of The State. I know y'all are looking for clicks and stuff, but when your all-conference quarterback shares a surname with a third or fourth-string freshman running back, it's probably better for your readers' health if you distinguished exactly who you're refering to in the headline, "Harper’s injury remains an unknown." That is all.
Cullen’s fine, by the way, Tiger fans. Just saying.
Quickly...

• After Andrew Hatch missed Saturday’s practice with a bad back, Jarrett Lee was out with back spasms Monday, the day before the LSU's final preseason scrimmage. . . . Ole Miss defensive tackle Peria Jerry underwent surgery on his knee Monday and might miss more than a month, opening the door for freshman Justin Smith to, uh, thrust in. . . . Glen Coffee seems to have surged to the top of Alabama's running back depth chart. . . . Arkansas would be set at punter, if only Ryan Mallett could throw them. . . . Hyped redshirt freshman and Knowshon Moreno understudy Caleb King missed another practice Monday and might miss more with a sketchy hamstring. . . . South Carolina returns most of its offensive line, but the Cocks are steady a-shufflin’ up front. . . . Jake Locker returned to Washington practice Monday with tape wrapped around his gimpy hamstring and a halo of ethereal splendor around the rest of his body. . . . Arizona's three long snappers (?!) are working overtime. . . . Oregon should decide on its quarterback this week, and no, it won’t be this guy, apparently. . . . Wisconsin cornerback Aaron Henry wants to be off the excercise bike and into the lineup by the start of Big Ten play. . . . Virginia Tech's impossibly green receiving corps got even greener when Zach Luckett, the only receiver with catches in an actual game, was suspended indefinitely following a drunk driving charge over the weekend. . . . Calvin Booker has a good attitude about finding a role that suits him, but he's still a fish out of water at Georgia Tech. . . . All-Big 12 defensive end Auston English was back in practice Monday for Oklahoma. . . . Demetrius Sumler looks like the number one tailback at Colorado, with highly sought-after Darrell Scott -- though "as good as advertised" so far -- likely relegated to short-yardage and goal line duty. . . . After four years in a crowded receiving corps, Texas Tech’s L.A. Reed is adapting to cornerback. . . . And Nebraska is just saying ‘No’ to fair catches on punt returns. And ‘Yes’ to increased hospital bills for poor Nate Swift, presumably.