The calender finally turns to August tomorrow, and with the new month a new season finally begins. The Bearcats will practice tomorrow and Saturday at Nippert Stadium before making their way to Higher Ground on Sunday.
The Bearcats will make a couple of appearances in the New York Times this week as columnist Pete Thamel writes a very positive piece on the Bearcats and their apparent snub at BIG EAST Media day.
Also, check tomorrow as UC will be tabbed as 28th team on The Quad's Countdown of every team in FCS.
7.31.2008
7.29.2008
BIG EAST Media Day
The folks that cover the conference gathered in Rhode Island today...the group included UC beat writer Bill Koch, which should have pleased Brian Kelly at the least. Anyways, here is what they came up with.
Rank Team Pts.
1. West Virginia (22) 189
2. USF (1) 149
3. Pittsburgh (1) 128
4. Rutgers 110
5. Cincinnati 98
6. Connecticut 97
7. Louisville 69
8. Syracuse 24
In other news, the BIG EAST announced the television schedule for the season. Here are all the nationally/regionally televised games that UC will play in this year.
ABC
Sat., Sept. 6 Cincinnati at Oklahoma 3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Fri., Oct. 3 Cincinnati at Marshall 8 p.m.
Thurs., Oct. 30 USF at CINCINNATI 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 14 CINCINNATI at LOUISVILLE 8 p.m.
ESPN Regional
Sat., Oct. 11 SYRACUSE at WEST VIRGINIA or RUTGERS at CINCINNATI
Sat., Nov. 22 PITTSBURGH at CINCINNATI or WEST VIRGINIA at LOUISVILLE
Sat., Nov. 29 SYRACUSE at CINCINNATI
Rank Team Pts.
1. West Virginia (22) 189
2. USF (1) 149
3. Pittsburgh (1) 128
4. Rutgers 110
5. Cincinnati 98
6. Connecticut 97
7. Louisville 69
8. Syracuse 24
In other news, the BIG EAST announced the television schedule for the season. Here are all the nationally/regionally televised games that UC will play in this year.
ABC
Sat., Sept. 6 Cincinnati at Oklahoma 3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Fri., Oct. 3 Cincinnati at Marshall 8 p.m.
Thurs., Oct. 30 USF at CINCINNATI 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 14 CINCINNATI at LOUISVILLE 8 p.m.
ESPN Regional
Sat., Oct. 11 SYRACUSE at WEST VIRGINIA or RUTGERS at CINCINNATI
Sat., Nov. 22 PITTSBURGH at CINCINNATI or WEST VIRGINIA at LOUISVILLE
Sat., Nov. 29 SYRACUSE at CINCINNATI
Know Your Foe: Pittsburgh
(Courtesy of The NY Times)
No. 32 Pittsburgh
Quick facts: In baseball terms, the Dave Wannstedt era has been a fly ball to the warning track: Much promise, great expectations, but when all is said and done, largely unremarkable. It wasn’t supposed to be so. Wannstedt’s hiring was nearly universally lauded, as the former Bears and Dolphins head coach brought with him a sterling resume and a well-deserved reputation as one of the nation’s best recruiters. In addition, the Pennsylvania-bred and Pittsburgh-educated Wannstedt epitomized the blue-collar ethics that define the Steel City, making him an even more attractive candidate. There is certainly still time for Wanny to make an impact at his alma mater, but the first three seasons (a combined 16-19) have been underwhelming. He enters 2008 needing a big season to silence his critics.
Tidbit: Though the last three seasons have fallen short of expectations, the Panthers are still averaging almost seven wins per season this decade. While this total falls short of their success in the 1970s and 1980s, it remains an improvement over the disastrous 1990s, where Pittsburgh stumbled through eight sub-.500 campaigns.
Tidbit (empty seat edition): Though playing its games at the spacious, off-campus Heinz Field is largely to blame, Pitt finished last among B.C.S. teams in average percentage of capacity attendance – 51.2 percent – during its seven home games.
Team Information
Head coach: Dave Wannstedt (’74 Pittsburgh), 16-19 after three seasons at his alma mater. Wannstedt, a former Panthers captain (1973), is well known among football fans for his two head coaching stints in the N.F.L., first with the Bears (1993-98), then with the Dolphins (2000-4). Both tenures started well – he was the 1994 N.F.C. coach of the year, and was 41-23 through his first four seasons in Miami – but Wannstedt, in both cases, was unable to maintain his early success. Both terms ended poorly: In Chicago, the Bears fired Wannstedt after back-to-back 4-12 seasons from 1997-98, and in Miami, he stepped down after a 3-4 start to the 2004 season. Yet while Wanny has struggled as a head man – yes, we’re counting his job with the Panthers – he has excelled as both a college and pro assistant, most notably under Jimmy Johnson, his coaching mentor. Their association began at Oklahoma State, where Wannstedt served as both defensive line coach (1979-81) and defensive coordinator (1982). After a three-year stint at U.S.C. (1983-85), Wannstedt reunited with Johnson at Miami (1986-88), coaching the defense. Over that three-year span, the Hurricanes went 34-2, winning the 1987 national title; much of that was due to Wannstedt’s defense, which held opponents to three-year averages of 10.9 points per game and 2.2 yards per carry. Wannstedt followed Johnson to Dallas, serving as his defensive coordinator from 1989-92 and winning one Super Bowl. Calling 2008 a make-or-break season for Wannstedt may be extreme – barring a monumental collapse, he’ll return in 2009 – but the talent is there for the Panthers to win the Big East. Fans will not be happy with anything less than a bowl appearance. Seat temperature check: baking.
Tidbit (coaching edition): No offseason move – not even the recruitment of the much-heralded incoming freshman Jonathan Baldwin – will have as big an effect as the hiring of Phil Bennett as defensive coordinator. Though the departed Paul Rhoads (now leading the defense at Auburn) was no slouch, Bennett, the former head coach at S.M.U., is one of the best defensive minds in the entire F.B.S. Many teams were angling for Bennett’s services for the 2008 season; it was a coup for Wannstedt and the Panthers to land the talented coordinator.
2007 record: 5-7 (3-4). The 5-7 finish has to be construed as a disappointment, though the Panthers were crippled by a number of key injuries, forcing them to play a number of inexperienced underclassmen. The most damaging injuries were to the all-Big East receiver Derek Kinder – who was lost to an A.C.L. tear in fall camp and did not play a down all season – and starting quarterback Bill Stull, who played only part of the opening game of the season. However, even in a five-win campaign, there were a few bright spots. What should have Panther fans the most excited was the performance of the sophomore running back LeSean McCoy, who turned in the best season by a freshman running back in the nation. Additionally, the injury to Stull allowed another freshman, the much-hyped Pat Bostick, to start eight games, which will pay dividends as his career progresses. The talented young duo were the key cogs in a Pitt offense that averaged 22.8 points per game, though the team averaged only 319.5 yards per game, a rather pedestrian total. Conversely, the defense was very strong, allowing only 297.7 yards per game (fifth in the nation), but allowed 24.2 points per game. The Countdown believes Pittsburgh’s minus-five turnover margin is partly to blame for that discrepancy.
High point: Bar none, the 13-9 upset victory over West Virginia in the season finale. What makes the win even more impressive is the fact that the referees seemed to do everything in their power to keep Pittsburgh from gaining the victory. The loss knocked the hated Mountaineers out of the B.C.S. title picture, which took some of the sting out of Pitt’s disappointing five-win finish.
Low point: A four-game losing streak following a 2-0 start. The losses did come against solid competition: Michigan State (by 17-13), Connecticut (by 34-14), Virginia (by 44-14) and Navy (by 48-45 in double overtime). Against Navy, Wannstedt elected to go for a potential game-winning 2-point conversion in the second overtime instead of electing for the extra point and an additional O.T. frame. Four of Pitt’s seven losses (Michigan State, Navy, by 24-17 to Louisville and by 20-16 to Rutgers) came by a total of 18 points.
Tidbit (rivalry edition): Pittsburgh’s intense rivalry with West Virginia, known as the Backyard Brawl, marked its 100th anniversary last fall. The rivalry gets its juice from the two university’s close proximity – they are separated by approximately 70 miles. Pittsburgh holds the edge in the series, 60-37-3, though the Mountaineers have won 11 of the past 16 matchups.
Returning starters: 15 (8 offense, 7 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, all three lost starters come from up front. The biggest loss is tackle Jeff Otah, a first-round pick of the Carolina Panthers is the N.F.L. draft. A former JUCO transfer, Otah came to Pittsburgh amid little fanfare, but ended his career as the best offensive linemen to come out of the program this decade; he was honored for his play with a first-team all-Big East selection in 2007. Wannstedt, a former Panthers offensive lineman himself, called Otah the best lineman he’s ever coached, which is high praise. Otah’s sterling play somewhat overshadowed his tackle partner Mike McGlynn, a four-year starter at both tackle and guard and a three-time all-Big East honoree. McGlynn, taken by the Eagles in the fourth round of April’s draft, will stay inside at guard as a pro. The third starter lost on the line was center Chris Vangas.
On defense, the Panthers lost both starting ends (Joe Clermond and Chris McKillop) and a pair of starters in the secondary (corner Kennard Cox and strong safety Mike Phillips). Clermond is the biggest loss. He led the team in sacks each of the last two years (5.5 in 2006, 10.5 last fall), earning second-team all-Big East honors each season. Clermond also led the Panthers in tackles for loss in 2007 (13). McKillop, whose younger brother Scott will receive heavy mention in our players to watch section, was a three-year starter for the Panthers. The end pair were a big reason why Pittsburgh made 35 sacks as a team last fall, the program’s most in a season since 2001. At corner, Cox, a seventh-round pick of the Bills, was the lone Panther defender taken in the N.F.L. draft. As a senior, Cox had 32 tackles and an interception.
Players to watch: The story on offense must start with McCoy, the star sophomore running back. McCoy set a number of records with his outstanding rookie campaign: Most yards by a freshman back in Big East history (1,328), most points by a Panthers freshman (90) and most touchdowns by a Pitt rookie (14). The latter two marks shattered the Panthers legend Tony Dorsett’s 34-year-old records. McCoy led all freshmen backs in the F.B.S. with 110.67 yards rushing per game, though Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno had more total yards. His performance earned him the Big East Rookie of the Year award, all-Big East honors and freshman all-America status. He enters his sophomore campaign as a strong candidate for all-America honors and a dark horse for the Heisman. The wide receiver position will be a strength, especially if Kinder can return from the knee injury that caused him to miss all of 2007. He was a first-team all-Big East selection in 2006 after leading Pitt with 57 receptions for 847 yards. Joining him at wideout will be the juniors Oderick Turner, a former freshman all-American, and T.J. Porter. Turner led the Panthers with 496 yards and 5 scores in 2007, while Porter took advantage of extra playing time to make 37 receptions for 329 yards. The Panthers will be without the services of the would-be sophomore Maurice Williams, who will miss the 2008 season due to academic issues. His ineligibility may open the door for the incoming freshman Baldwin, who was one of the top 25 players in the nation as a high school senior. The senior kicker Conor Lee went 18 for 22 in field goals last fall, and enters his final season as the Big East’s active career leader in field goal percentage (83.3 percent). The defense will be led by the senior middle linebacker Scott Mckillop, a likely candidate for all of the major defensive honors in 2008. McKillop led the nation in tackles per game last fall (12.58), leading to his first-team all-Big East and third-team all-America selections. His total count of 151 tackles was the third-highest single-season total in team history. He is the preseason favorite for the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award. Joining him at linebacker are the senior Adam Gunn (60 tackles) and the junior Shane Murray (59), who finished two-three on the team in tackles, respectively. Though losing Cox at corner hurts, the Panthers return a talented starter in the junior Aaron Berry, who led the team with two interceptions in his first season in the starting lineup. The defensive front will receive a boost from the return of the junior tackle Gus Mustakas, who missed all of 2007 after injuring his knee in a win over Eastern Michigan in the second week. He will join his fellow junior Mick Williams and the senior Rashaad Duncan to make the Panthers’ interior front a strength of the team.
Position battle to watch: There are four viable options for Wannstedt to choose from at quarterback: the junior Stull, the sophomores Bostick and Kevan Smith and the JUCO transfer Greg Cross, who enrolled in January and participated in spring ball. Stull is the favorite, though his sample size as a starter (last fall’s season opener) is too small to automatically hand him the starting job. Bostick was a heavily recruited quarterback in the 2007 class, and after going through some personal difficulties prior to the season opener, saw action in 10 games after Stull went down, starting eight. He was a typical freshman quarterbacks, making some poor decisions (see his 13 picks, against 8 touchdowns), though fans should be pleased with his strong completion percentage (61.5 percent). He threw for 1,500 yards for the season. Smith started the first three games after Stull’s injury, throwing for 415 yards and a single touchdown against four interceptions. Cross is running last in the competition, mostly due to his lack of familiarity with the offensive system. The competition is a good problem for Wannstedt to have: Stull is the incumbent, a capable starter, and Bostick looks the future of the position. As an outsider to the program, the Countdown feels sharing reps between the two, especially given Bostick’s flashes of tremendous talent in 2007, would benefit the program in the long run. Stull, as mentioned, is the favorite.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 30 Bowling Green
Sept. 6 Buffalo
Sept. 20 Iowa
Sept. 27 @ Syracuse
Oct. 2 @ South Florida
Oct. 18 @ Navy
Oct. 25 Rutgers
Nov. 1 @ Notre Dame
Nov. 8 Louisville
Nov. 22 @ Cincinnati
Nov. 28 West Virginia
Dec. 6 @ Connecticut
Game(s) to watch: The rematch with West Virginia, this time at home. After last year’s game was meaningful only for pride – and to knock the rival Mountaineers out of the B.C.S. title game – this fall’s matchup may determine the Big East champion. Away games with South Florida and Notre Dame are also of interest.
Season breakdown & prediction: This fall looks to be the year the Panthers break out of their recent stretch of mediocre play, and with a young nucleus of underclassmen, the program’s future is very bright. Wannstedt, even with the on-field struggles, has continued to reel in top 25 recruiting classes. Eventually the Panthers will begin to reap the benefits of that talent. Looking at 2008, I have Pittsburgh finishing 8-4, good for fourth in the Big East behind Cincinnati, South Florida and West Virginia. Could Pittsburgh be better? Absolutely. There is a great amount of talent: on offense, Turner, Kinder and McCoy; on defense, McKillop, the heart and soul of the unit, is one of the best defensive players in the nation. So why fourth, especially when most publications have Pittsburgh as high as in the top 20 in the nation? For one, I have concerns about Pittsburgh’s schedule, which, while not too difficult out-of-conference, forces the Panthers to go to U.S.F. and Cincinnati, two of the top teams in the Big East. In addition, despite the depth at the position, the Panthers must get more consistent play at quarterback. Though Bostick and Smith showed promise, the pair combined to turn the ball over way too much, leaving their defense in precarious predicaments. However, Stull’s return may alleviate some of the concerns at quarterback. While I like Pittsburgh to take a step forward this season, I think they are a program on the rise for 2009, as the underclassmen who dot this fall’s roster continue to gain experience on the college level and in Wannstedt’s system.
Dream season: The Panthers bust out in a 10-2 regular season, winning their first outright Big East title and earning their second B.C.S. game appearance.
Nightmare season: A fourth straight disappointing finish: 6-6, 3-4 in the Big East. The lack of progress draws the ire of the overwhelming majority of the Panther fan base.
No. 32 Pittsburgh
Quick facts: In baseball terms, the Dave Wannstedt era has been a fly ball to the warning track: Much promise, great expectations, but when all is said and done, largely unremarkable. It wasn’t supposed to be so. Wannstedt’s hiring was nearly universally lauded, as the former Bears and Dolphins head coach brought with him a sterling resume and a well-deserved reputation as one of the nation’s best recruiters. In addition, the Pennsylvania-bred and Pittsburgh-educated Wannstedt epitomized the blue-collar ethics that define the Steel City, making him an even more attractive candidate. There is certainly still time for Wanny to make an impact at his alma mater, but the first three seasons (a combined 16-19) have been underwhelming. He enters 2008 needing a big season to silence his critics.
Tidbit: Though the last three seasons have fallen short of expectations, the Panthers are still averaging almost seven wins per season this decade. While this total falls short of their success in the 1970s and 1980s, it remains an improvement over the disastrous 1990s, where Pittsburgh stumbled through eight sub-.500 campaigns.
Tidbit (empty seat edition): Though playing its games at the spacious, off-campus Heinz Field is largely to blame, Pitt finished last among B.C.S. teams in average percentage of capacity attendance – 51.2 percent – during its seven home games.
Team Information
Head coach: Dave Wannstedt (’74 Pittsburgh), 16-19 after three seasons at his alma mater. Wannstedt, a former Panthers captain (1973), is well known among football fans for his two head coaching stints in the N.F.L., first with the Bears (1993-98), then with the Dolphins (2000-4). Both tenures started well – he was the 1994 N.F.C. coach of the year, and was 41-23 through his first four seasons in Miami – but Wannstedt, in both cases, was unable to maintain his early success. Both terms ended poorly: In Chicago, the Bears fired Wannstedt after back-to-back 4-12 seasons from 1997-98, and in Miami, he stepped down after a 3-4 start to the 2004 season. Yet while Wanny has struggled as a head man – yes, we’re counting his job with the Panthers – he has excelled as both a college and pro assistant, most notably under Jimmy Johnson, his coaching mentor. Their association began at Oklahoma State, where Wannstedt served as both defensive line coach (1979-81) and defensive coordinator (1982). After a three-year stint at U.S.C. (1983-85), Wannstedt reunited with Johnson at Miami (1986-88), coaching the defense. Over that three-year span, the Hurricanes went 34-2, winning the 1987 national title; much of that was due to Wannstedt’s defense, which held opponents to three-year averages of 10.9 points per game and 2.2 yards per carry. Wannstedt followed Johnson to Dallas, serving as his defensive coordinator from 1989-92 and winning one Super Bowl. Calling 2008 a make-or-break season for Wannstedt may be extreme – barring a monumental collapse, he’ll return in 2009 – but the talent is there for the Panthers to win the Big East. Fans will not be happy with anything less than a bowl appearance. Seat temperature check: baking.
Tidbit (coaching edition): No offseason move – not even the recruitment of the much-heralded incoming freshman Jonathan Baldwin – will have as big an effect as the hiring of Phil Bennett as defensive coordinator. Though the departed Paul Rhoads (now leading the defense at Auburn) was no slouch, Bennett, the former head coach at S.M.U., is one of the best defensive minds in the entire F.B.S. Many teams were angling for Bennett’s services for the 2008 season; it was a coup for Wannstedt and the Panthers to land the talented coordinator.
2007 record: 5-7 (3-4). The 5-7 finish has to be construed as a disappointment, though the Panthers were crippled by a number of key injuries, forcing them to play a number of inexperienced underclassmen. The most damaging injuries were to the all-Big East receiver Derek Kinder – who was lost to an A.C.L. tear in fall camp and did not play a down all season – and starting quarterback Bill Stull, who played only part of the opening game of the season. However, even in a five-win campaign, there were a few bright spots. What should have Panther fans the most excited was the performance of the sophomore running back LeSean McCoy, who turned in the best season by a freshman running back in the nation. Additionally, the injury to Stull allowed another freshman, the much-hyped Pat Bostick, to start eight games, which will pay dividends as his career progresses. The talented young duo were the key cogs in a Pitt offense that averaged 22.8 points per game, though the team averaged only 319.5 yards per game, a rather pedestrian total. Conversely, the defense was very strong, allowing only 297.7 yards per game (fifth in the nation), but allowed 24.2 points per game. The Countdown believes Pittsburgh’s minus-five turnover margin is partly to blame for that discrepancy.
High point: Bar none, the 13-9 upset victory over West Virginia in the season finale. What makes the win even more impressive is the fact that the referees seemed to do everything in their power to keep Pittsburgh from gaining the victory. The loss knocked the hated Mountaineers out of the B.C.S. title picture, which took some of the sting out of Pitt’s disappointing five-win finish.
Low point: A four-game losing streak following a 2-0 start. The losses did come against solid competition: Michigan State (by 17-13), Connecticut (by 34-14), Virginia (by 44-14) and Navy (by 48-45 in double overtime). Against Navy, Wannstedt elected to go for a potential game-winning 2-point conversion in the second overtime instead of electing for the extra point and an additional O.T. frame. Four of Pitt’s seven losses (Michigan State, Navy, by 24-17 to Louisville and by 20-16 to Rutgers) came by a total of 18 points.
Tidbit (rivalry edition): Pittsburgh’s intense rivalry with West Virginia, known as the Backyard Brawl, marked its 100th anniversary last fall. The rivalry gets its juice from the two university’s close proximity – they are separated by approximately 70 miles. Pittsburgh holds the edge in the series, 60-37-3, though the Mountaineers have won 11 of the past 16 matchups.
Returning starters: 15 (8 offense, 7 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, all three lost starters come from up front. The biggest loss is tackle Jeff Otah, a first-round pick of the Carolina Panthers is the N.F.L. draft. A former JUCO transfer, Otah came to Pittsburgh amid little fanfare, but ended his career as the best offensive linemen to come out of the program this decade; he was honored for his play with a first-team all-Big East selection in 2007. Wannstedt, a former Panthers offensive lineman himself, called Otah the best lineman he’s ever coached, which is high praise. Otah’s sterling play somewhat overshadowed his tackle partner Mike McGlynn, a four-year starter at both tackle and guard and a three-time all-Big East honoree. McGlynn, taken by the Eagles in the fourth round of April’s draft, will stay inside at guard as a pro. The third starter lost on the line was center Chris Vangas.
On defense, the Panthers lost both starting ends (Joe Clermond and Chris McKillop) and a pair of starters in the secondary (corner Kennard Cox and strong safety Mike Phillips). Clermond is the biggest loss. He led the team in sacks each of the last two years (5.5 in 2006, 10.5 last fall), earning second-team all-Big East honors each season. Clermond also led the Panthers in tackles for loss in 2007 (13). McKillop, whose younger brother Scott will receive heavy mention in our players to watch section, was a three-year starter for the Panthers. The end pair were a big reason why Pittsburgh made 35 sacks as a team last fall, the program’s most in a season since 2001. At corner, Cox, a seventh-round pick of the Bills, was the lone Panther defender taken in the N.F.L. draft. As a senior, Cox had 32 tackles and an interception.
Players to watch: The story on offense must start with McCoy, the star sophomore running back. McCoy set a number of records with his outstanding rookie campaign: Most yards by a freshman back in Big East history (1,328), most points by a Panthers freshman (90) and most touchdowns by a Pitt rookie (14). The latter two marks shattered the Panthers legend Tony Dorsett’s 34-year-old records. McCoy led all freshmen backs in the F.B.S. with 110.67 yards rushing per game, though Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno had more total yards. His performance earned him the Big East Rookie of the Year award, all-Big East honors and freshman all-America status. He enters his sophomore campaign as a strong candidate for all-America honors and a dark horse for the Heisman. The wide receiver position will be a strength, especially if Kinder can return from the knee injury that caused him to miss all of 2007. He was a first-team all-Big East selection in 2006 after leading Pitt with 57 receptions for 847 yards. Joining him at wideout will be the juniors Oderick Turner, a former freshman all-American, and T.J. Porter. Turner led the Panthers with 496 yards and 5 scores in 2007, while Porter took advantage of extra playing time to make 37 receptions for 329 yards. The Panthers will be without the services of the would-be sophomore Maurice Williams, who will miss the 2008 season due to academic issues. His ineligibility may open the door for the incoming freshman Baldwin, who was one of the top 25 players in the nation as a high school senior. The senior kicker Conor Lee went 18 for 22 in field goals last fall, and enters his final season as the Big East’s active career leader in field goal percentage (83.3 percent). The defense will be led by the senior middle linebacker Scott Mckillop, a likely candidate for all of the major defensive honors in 2008. McKillop led the nation in tackles per game last fall (12.58), leading to his first-team all-Big East and third-team all-America selections. His total count of 151 tackles was the third-highest single-season total in team history. He is the preseason favorite for the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award. Joining him at linebacker are the senior Adam Gunn (60 tackles) and the junior Shane Murray (59), who finished two-three on the team in tackles, respectively. Though losing Cox at corner hurts, the Panthers return a talented starter in the junior Aaron Berry, who led the team with two interceptions in his first season in the starting lineup. The defensive front will receive a boost from the return of the junior tackle Gus Mustakas, who missed all of 2007 after injuring his knee in a win over Eastern Michigan in the second week. He will join his fellow junior Mick Williams and the senior Rashaad Duncan to make the Panthers’ interior front a strength of the team.
Position battle to watch: There are four viable options for Wannstedt to choose from at quarterback: the junior Stull, the sophomores Bostick and Kevan Smith and the JUCO transfer Greg Cross, who enrolled in January and participated in spring ball. Stull is the favorite, though his sample size as a starter (last fall’s season opener) is too small to automatically hand him the starting job. Bostick was a heavily recruited quarterback in the 2007 class, and after going through some personal difficulties prior to the season opener, saw action in 10 games after Stull went down, starting eight. He was a typical freshman quarterbacks, making some poor decisions (see his 13 picks, against 8 touchdowns), though fans should be pleased with his strong completion percentage (61.5 percent). He threw for 1,500 yards for the season. Smith started the first three games after Stull’s injury, throwing for 415 yards and a single touchdown against four interceptions. Cross is running last in the competition, mostly due to his lack of familiarity with the offensive system. The competition is a good problem for Wannstedt to have: Stull is the incumbent, a capable starter, and Bostick looks the future of the position. As an outsider to the program, the Countdown feels sharing reps between the two, especially given Bostick’s flashes of tremendous talent in 2007, would benefit the program in the long run. Stull, as mentioned, is the favorite.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 30 Bowling Green
Sept. 6 Buffalo
Sept. 20 Iowa
Sept. 27 @ Syracuse
Oct. 2 @ South Florida
Oct. 18 @ Navy
Oct. 25 Rutgers
Nov. 1 @ Notre Dame
Nov. 8 Louisville
Nov. 22 @ Cincinnati
Nov. 28 West Virginia
Dec. 6 @ Connecticut
Game(s) to watch: The rematch with West Virginia, this time at home. After last year’s game was meaningful only for pride – and to knock the rival Mountaineers out of the B.C.S. title game – this fall’s matchup may determine the Big East champion. Away games with South Florida and Notre Dame are also of interest.
Season breakdown & prediction: This fall looks to be the year the Panthers break out of their recent stretch of mediocre play, and with a young nucleus of underclassmen, the program’s future is very bright. Wannstedt, even with the on-field struggles, has continued to reel in top 25 recruiting classes. Eventually the Panthers will begin to reap the benefits of that talent. Looking at 2008, I have Pittsburgh finishing 8-4, good for fourth in the Big East behind Cincinnati, South Florida and West Virginia. Could Pittsburgh be better? Absolutely. There is a great amount of talent: on offense, Turner, Kinder and McCoy; on defense, McKillop, the heart and soul of the unit, is one of the best defensive players in the nation. So why fourth, especially when most publications have Pittsburgh as high as in the top 20 in the nation? For one, I have concerns about Pittsburgh’s schedule, which, while not too difficult out-of-conference, forces the Panthers to go to U.S.F. and Cincinnati, two of the top teams in the Big East. In addition, despite the depth at the position, the Panthers must get more consistent play at quarterback. Though Bostick and Smith showed promise, the pair combined to turn the ball over way too much, leaving their defense in precarious predicaments. However, Stull’s return may alleviate some of the concerns at quarterback. While I like Pittsburgh to take a step forward this season, I think they are a program on the rise for 2009, as the underclassmen who dot this fall’s roster continue to gain experience on the college level and in Wannstedt’s system.
Dream season: The Panthers bust out in a 10-2 regular season, winning their first outright Big East title and earning their second B.C.S. game appearance.
Nightmare season: A fourth straight disappointing finish: 6-6, 3-4 in the Big East. The lack of progress draws the ire of the overwhelming majority of the Panther fan base.
7.13.2008
Know Your Foe: UConn
(Courtesy of the NY Times)
No. 47 Connecticut
Location: Storrs, Conn.
Nickname: Huskies.
Quick facts: After coming so close a season ago – 5-2, tied with West Virginia atop the conference – is Connecticut ready to take home the Big East crown? Some signs points towards yes: 17 returning starters, the departure of Rich Rodriguez to Michigan and playing three of the conference’s tops teams (Cincinnati, West Virginia and Pittsburgh) at home, where the Huskies did not lose once last fall. On the other hand, UConn was able to take advantage of an extremely disappointing Big East last fall, a conference that saw Louisville, Rutgers and Pittsburgh (again) fall short of their lofty preseason goals. So, UConn, the Countdown asks you this: Was last season a blip on the radar, or are you ready to take on the mantle of Big East champs?
Tidbit: The Huskies won all seven of their homes games at Rentschler Field in 2007, joining the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers as the only Big East teams to finish the season a perfect 7-0 at home.
Tidbit (are you kidding me? playoffs? edition): UConn is one of only seven programs since 1978 to win both a bowl game and a Division I-AA playoff game, joining Boise State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Nevada and Troy.
Team Information
Conference: Big East.
Head coach: Randy Edsall (’80 Syracuse), 50-55 in nine years at Connecticut. Edsall oversaw UConn’s transition from Division I-AA in 2000, and has since led the program through independent status (2000-3) into the Big East (2004-present). Edsall has coached in the F.B.S. at Syracuse (1980-90), Boston College (1991-93) and Georgia Tech (1998). It was perhaps his close ties to his alma mater – combined with his strong coaching, obviously – that led Connecticut to sign Edsall to a five-year extension this winter. His first two teams on the F.B.S. level (2000-1) are the main contributors to his sub-.500 record: a combined 5-17. However, the 2002 team – the first UConn team to field a full roster of 85 scholarship players – finished 6-6, the program’s best mark since winning 10 games under the current East Carolina coach Skip Holtz in 1998. The strong finish has carried over to recent Huskies teams: UConn finished 9-3 in 2003, its final season as an independent, and has won at least eight games twice as a member of the Big East. Last fall, a 9-4 season, saw the Huskies enter the Top 25 for the first time and make their second bowl appearance, both under Edsall. There is no question that UConn is a program to watch not only in the Big East but in the F.B.S. as a whole; there is also no doubt that Edsall’s coaching has been the impetus behind the Huskies’ rapid growth.
2007 record: 9-4 (5-2). It was UConn’s best season since joining the F.B.S. from Division I-AA in 2000: its first shared Big East title, its Top 25 ranking (No. 16 on Oct. 28) and its second bowl game. In addition, the nine wins tied the 2003 team for the program’s most as a member of the F.B.S. UConn’s five Big East wins fell only victory shy of its total from 2004-6. The story of the season was defense, which lowered its points against average from 27 to 19, 14th in the F.B.S. The offense, led by the junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen at quarterback, also showed great improvement: 347.2 yards per game, up from 323.9 in 2006, and 26.5 points per game, an improvement over its 21.4 scoring average the season before. The Countdown has even more statistics: UConn was plus-14 in the turnover department, eighth in the nation. This is a staple of good teams; nine of the top 14 teams in the F.B.S. in terms of turnover margin won at least nine games in 2007.
High point: A five-game winning streak to start the season, the most impressive victory being a 34-14 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 22. UConn beat three teams that had been ranked, at one point in the season, in the top 10: South Florida (22-15), Louisville (21-17) and Rutgers (38-19). A controversial punt return propelled the Huskies to the close victory over Louisville.
Low point: UConn’s first loss came at Virginia, a 17-16 nail-biter decided by a late field goal. Connecticut entered its regular-season finale at West Virginia – then No. 4 in the nation – with the opportunity, with a win, to finish as the outright Big East champion. It was never close; the Mountaineers scored early and often in a 66-21 win over the Huskies. UConn’s trip to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, its second bowl appearance under Edsall, ended in a 24-10 loss to Wake Forest.
Tidbit (Top 25 edition): UConn debuted in the Associated Press rankings at No. 16, the highest initial ranking for a program since Florida State broke into the A.P. Top 25 at No. 10 on Oct. 12, 1964.
Returning starters: 17 (9 offense, 8 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, the Huskies lost only a handful of contributors, only two of whom were starters: wide receiver Terence Jeffers and guard Donald Thomas. Jeffers, who led the team in receptions (44), receiving yards (582) and touchdowns (5), opted to transfer; his likely destination seems to be Vanderbilt, a university he considered before committing to Connecticut. Jeffers will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the mandatory season due his transfer. Thomas, the only offensive player from UConn taken in the draft, was a late bloomer for the Huskies, an athletic interior lineman who did not become a full-time starter until the end of the 2006 season. Thomas started only 14 games, 13 of which came during his senior season. UConn also lost the lilliputian return man/wide receiver Larry Taylor, who, despite measuring only 5-5, 172 pounds, finished his senior season with 26 receptions for 259 yards and 2 punt returns for touchdowns (11.5 yards per return).
On defense, Connecticut lost cornerback Tyvon Branch, a four-year contributor and a second-team all-Big East selection as a senior. Branch was the first Huskies player selected in the 2008 draft, landing with the Raiders in the fourth round; Oakland actually traded up to get him. As a senior, Branch had 89 tackles (fifth on the team) while averaging a Big East-leading 28.9 yards per kick return. UConn also lost its leading tackler, Danny Lansanah, a three-year starter in the middle. In addition to leading the team in tackles with 121 (14 for loss), Lansanah added two sacks and four interceptions (second on the team). On the line, the team must replace the starting tackle Dan Davis. Davis, who had 35 tackles and a sack last fall, was voted co-team M.V.P.
Players to watch: The UConn offense flourished under the senior Lorenzen in his first season in Storrs, as the former JUCO all-American turned in the most efficient passing season by a Huskies quarterback since the current Detroit Lion Dan Orlovksy in 2004. Lorenzen had 13 touchdowns (against only 6 picks) while completing 57 percent of his passes. His quarterback efficiency of 122.98 dwarfed the team’s 103.94 average in 2006. Mostly responsible for the subpar 2006 average is the senior D.J. Hernandez: Then a quarterback, Hernandez is now a starter at receiver for the Huskies. In his first season at the position, Hernandez caught 30 passes (second on the team) for 404 yards and 2 touchdowns. The junior Brad Kanuch joins Hernandez at wide receiver. He averaged a team-leading 16.0 yards per reception in 2007. Another option in the passing game is the senior tight end Steve Brouse, whose 26 receptions and 286 yards receiving were good for fourth on the team. UConn features a potent 1-2 punch in the backfield in the junior backs Andre Dixon and Donald Brown. The pair combined for 1,649 yards last season (Dixon 828, Brown 821). While Brown followed up an 896-yard freshman season, Dixon, who had yet to register a carry, was the fall’s biggest surprise. A second-team all-Big East pick, Dixon also had 280 yards receiving, the most by a Huskies running back on the F.B.S. level. The offensive line returns four starters: the seniors Will Beatty and Keith Gray and the juniors Mike Hicks and Dan Ryan. Rounding out the group will be the junior Alex LeMagdelaine, who has 18 career starts at guard. On defense, the Huskies will hope to ride a talented and experienced front four to another top 20 ranking. The most talented position on the defense, and potentially on the entire roster, is defensive end, which returns the senior starters Cody Brown and Julius Williams. Brown led all defensive linemen with 50 tackles, including a team-best 16.5 for loss. He added seven and a half sacks, second to Williams’s team-leading eight and a half. Linebacker features two interesting story lines to watch. The first is the battle to fill Lansahan’s old middle spot, where the coaching staff hopes the freshman all-American Scott Lutrus can fill in for the team’s leading tackler. Lutrus was tremendous in his first season: 107 tackles (third on the team), a sack and four interceptions (tied with Lansahan for the team lead). Lutrus will move from his strongside spot into the middle, leading UConn to move starting safety Dahna Deleston down to occupy the open position. Though undersized (6-0, 198 pounds), the staff hopes that Deleston can use his terrific tackling ability to make plays closer to the line. The junior free safety Robert Vaughn had seven interceptions in 2007, tying him for fourth in the nation. Vaughn had interceptions in four straight games from Sept. 15 to Oct. 13; UConn won three of those games.
Position battle to watch: With so few open positions, it has been relatively serene on the position battle front. However, though the Huskies have two returning contributors at wide receiver, the search is underway for a difference maker at receiver. The Huskies have the running game and the quarterback. If UConn was to locate a true receiving threat, it could field one of the Big East’s best offenses. Besides Kanuch and Hernandez, the Huskies receiving corps will feature three seniors: Marcus Easley, Ellis Gaulden and Rob Theoudele; the trio combined for five receptions in 2007. Edsall hopes that the redshirt freshmen Kashif Moore and Isiah Moore are ready to contribute after sitting out last fall.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 28 Hofstra
Sept. 6 @ Temple
Sept. 13 Virginia
Sept. 20 Baylor
Sept. 27 @ Louisville
Oct. 4 @ North Carolina
Oct. 18 @ Rutgers
Oct. 25 Cincinnati
Nov. 1 West Virginia
Nov. 15 @ Syracuse
Nov. 22 @ South Florida
Dec. 6 Pittsburgh
Game(s) to watch: If UConn wishes to repeat as co-Big East champs, it will need to come to play against Cincinnati, West Virginia, South Florida and Pittsburgh. In order to win the conference, UConn will need to win at least three of those four games.
Season breakdown & prediction: With 17 returning starters off a nine-win team, there is no reason to think UConn will inexplicably fall off the radar screen in 2008. However, there is also no reason, at least in the eyes of the Countdown, to use the plethora of returning players as justification for the Huskies being the favorite in the Big East. This is because of talented teams like West Virginia, Cincinnati and South Florida, and because of the expected turnaround of teams like Pittsburgh and Louisville, who look to be better than they were a season ago. When it comes to overall talent, UConn is, at best, the fifth-best team in the Big East. Having said that, there was something about this team last fall – a toughness and self-confidence that allowed them to get past more talented opponents. This may be partly due to the leadership of Lorenzen, who took over this team immediately after stepping onto campus. With Lorenzen returning for his senior season, can the Huskies hope to carry over last season’s play to 2008? Winning nine games for the second straight season is not out of the question: there are three definite wins out of conference (Hofstra, Temple and Baylor), and the Huskies get West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati at the “Rentch.” However, while I’m willing to easily put UConn back into a bowl game, a lack of offensive playmakers limits its chances to take the Big East crown from West Virginia. The season finale with Pittsburgh could decide where UConn lands in the conference pecking order. I have the Huskies finishing 8-4, 4-3 in the Big East.
Dream season: After coming so close a season ago, UConn rides a tough defense and a timely offense to an outright Big East crown and a B.C.S. game appearance.
Nightmare season: The Huskies revert back to the style of play that led to back-to-back losing seasons in 2005-6. A 6-6 finish, with 17 returning starters, would be disappointing to UConn fans.
No. 47 Connecticut
Location: Storrs, Conn.
Nickname: Huskies.
Quick facts: After coming so close a season ago – 5-2, tied with West Virginia atop the conference – is Connecticut ready to take home the Big East crown? Some signs points towards yes: 17 returning starters, the departure of Rich Rodriguez to Michigan and playing three of the conference’s tops teams (Cincinnati, West Virginia and Pittsburgh) at home, where the Huskies did not lose once last fall. On the other hand, UConn was able to take advantage of an extremely disappointing Big East last fall, a conference that saw Louisville, Rutgers and Pittsburgh (again) fall short of their lofty preseason goals. So, UConn, the Countdown asks you this: Was last season a blip on the radar, or are you ready to take on the mantle of Big East champs?
Tidbit: The Huskies won all seven of their homes games at Rentschler Field in 2007, joining the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers as the only Big East teams to finish the season a perfect 7-0 at home.
Tidbit (are you kidding me? playoffs? edition): UConn is one of only seven programs since 1978 to win both a bowl game and a Division I-AA playoff game, joining Boise State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Nevada and Troy.
Team Information
Conference: Big East.
Head coach: Randy Edsall (’80 Syracuse), 50-55 in nine years at Connecticut. Edsall oversaw UConn’s transition from Division I-AA in 2000, and has since led the program through independent status (2000-3) into the Big East (2004-present). Edsall has coached in the F.B.S. at Syracuse (1980-90), Boston College (1991-93) and Georgia Tech (1998). It was perhaps his close ties to his alma mater – combined with his strong coaching, obviously – that led Connecticut to sign Edsall to a five-year extension this winter. His first two teams on the F.B.S. level (2000-1) are the main contributors to his sub-.500 record: a combined 5-17. However, the 2002 team – the first UConn team to field a full roster of 85 scholarship players – finished 6-6, the program’s best mark since winning 10 games under the current East Carolina coach Skip Holtz in 1998. The strong finish has carried over to recent Huskies teams: UConn finished 9-3 in 2003, its final season as an independent, and has won at least eight games twice as a member of the Big East. Last fall, a 9-4 season, saw the Huskies enter the Top 25 for the first time and make their second bowl appearance, both under Edsall. There is no question that UConn is a program to watch not only in the Big East but in the F.B.S. as a whole; there is also no doubt that Edsall’s coaching has been the impetus behind the Huskies’ rapid growth.
2007 record: 9-4 (5-2). It was UConn’s best season since joining the F.B.S. from Division I-AA in 2000: its first shared Big East title, its Top 25 ranking (No. 16 on Oct. 28) and its second bowl game. In addition, the nine wins tied the 2003 team for the program’s most as a member of the F.B.S. UConn’s five Big East wins fell only victory shy of its total from 2004-6. The story of the season was defense, which lowered its points against average from 27 to 19, 14th in the F.B.S. The offense, led by the junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen at quarterback, also showed great improvement: 347.2 yards per game, up from 323.9 in 2006, and 26.5 points per game, an improvement over its 21.4 scoring average the season before. The Countdown has even more statistics: UConn was plus-14 in the turnover department, eighth in the nation. This is a staple of good teams; nine of the top 14 teams in the F.B.S. in terms of turnover margin won at least nine games in 2007.
High point: A five-game winning streak to start the season, the most impressive victory being a 34-14 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 22. UConn beat three teams that had been ranked, at one point in the season, in the top 10: South Florida (22-15), Louisville (21-17) and Rutgers (38-19). A controversial punt return propelled the Huskies to the close victory over Louisville.
Low point: UConn’s first loss came at Virginia, a 17-16 nail-biter decided by a late field goal. Connecticut entered its regular-season finale at West Virginia – then No. 4 in the nation – with the opportunity, with a win, to finish as the outright Big East champion. It was never close; the Mountaineers scored early and often in a 66-21 win over the Huskies. UConn’s trip to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, its second bowl appearance under Edsall, ended in a 24-10 loss to Wake Forest.
Tidbit (Top 25 edition): UConn debuted in the Associated Press rankings at No. 16, the highest initial ranking for a program since Florida State broke into the A.P. Top 25 at No. 10 on Oct. 12, 1964.
Returning starters: 17 (9 offense, 8 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, the Huskies lost only a handful of contributors, only two of whom were starters: wide receiver Terence Jeffers and guard Donald Thomas. Jeffers, who led the team in receptions (44), receiving yards (582) and touchdowns (5), opted to transfer; his likely destination seems to be Vanderbilt, a university he considered before committing to Connecticut. Jeffers will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the mandatory season due his transfer. Thomas, the only offensive player from UConn taken in the draft, was a late bloomer for the Huskies, an athletic interior lineman who did not become a full-time starter until the end of the 2006 season. Thomas started only 14 games, 13 of which came during his senior season. UConn also lost the lilliputian return man/wide receiver Larry Taylor, who, despite measuring only 5-5, 172 pounds, finished his senior season with 26 receptions for 259 yards and 2 punt returns for touchdowns (11.5 yards per return).
On defense, Connecticut lost cornerback Tyvon Branch, a four-year contributor and a second-team all-Big East selection as a senior. Branch was the first Huskies player selected in the 2008 draft, landing with the Raiders in the fourth round; Oakland actually traded up to get him. As a senior, Branch had 89 tackles (fifth on the team) while averaging a Big East-leading 28.9 yards per kick return. UConn also lost its leading tackler, Danny Lansanah, a three-year starter in the middle. In addition to leading the team in tackles with 121 (14 for loss), Lansanah added two sacks and four interceptions (second on the team). On the line, the team must replace the starting tackle Dan Davis. Davis, who had 35 tackles and a sack last fall, was voted co-team M.V.P.
Players to watch: The UConn offense flourished under the senior Lorenzen in his first season in Storrs, as the former JUCO all-American turned in the most efficient passing season by a Huskies quarterback since the current Detroit Lion Dan Orlovksy in 2004. Lorenzen had 13 touchdowns (against only 6 picks) while completing 57 percent of his passes. His quarterback efficiency of 122.98 dwarfed the team’s 103.94 average in 2006. Mostly responsible for the subpar 2006 average is the senior D.J. Hernandez: Then a quarterback, Hernandez is now a starter at receiver for the Huskies. In his first season at the position, Hernandez caught 30 passes (second on the team) for 404 yards and 2 touchdowns. The junior Brad Kanuch joins Hernandez at wide receiver. He averaged a team-leading 16.0 yards per reception in 2007. Another option in the passing game is the senior tight end Steve Brouse, whose 26 receptions and 286 yards receiving were good for fourth on the team. UConn features a potent 1-2 punch in the backfield in the junior backs Andre Dixon and Donald Brown. The pair combined for 1,649 yards last season (Dixon 828, Brown 821). While Brown followed up an 896-yard freshman season, Dixon, who had yet to register a carry, was the fall’s biggest surprise. A second-team all-Big East pick, Dixon also had 280 yards receiving, the most by a Huskies running back on the F.B.S. level. The offensive line returns four starters: the seniors Will Beatty and Keith Gray and the juniors Mike Hicks and Dan Ryan. Rounding out the group will be the junior Alex LeMagdelaine, who has 18 career starts at guard. On defense, the Huskies will hope to ride a talented and experienced front four to another top 20 ranking. The most talented position on the defense, and potentially on the entire roster, is defensive end, which returns the senior starters Cody Brown and Julius Williams. Brown led all defensive linemen with 50 tackles, including a team-best 16.5 for loss. He added seven and a half sacks, second to Williams’s team-leading eight and a half. Linebacker features two interesting story lines to watch. The first is the battle to fill Lansahan’s old middle spot, where the coaching staff hopes the freshman all-American Scott Lutrus can fill in for the team’s leading tackler. Lutrus was tremendous in his first season: 107 tackles (third on the team), a sack and four interceptions (tied with Lansahan for the team lead). Lutrus will move from his strongside spot into the middle, leading UConn to move starting safety Dahna Deleston down to occupy the open position. Though undersized (6-0, 198 pounds), the staff hopes that Deleston can use his terrific tackling ability to make plays closer to the line. The junior free safety Robert Vaughn had seven interceptions in 2007, tying him for fourth in the nation. Vaughn had interceptions in four straight games from Sept. 15 to Oct. 13; UConn won three of those games.
Position battle to watch: With so few open positions, it has been relatively serene on the position battle front. However, though the Huskies have two returning contributors at wide receiver, the search is underway for a difference maker at receiver. The Huskies have the running game and the quarterback. If UConn was to locate a true receiving threat, it could field one of the Big East’s best offenses. Besides Kanuch and Hernandez, the Huskies receiving corps will feature three seniors: Marcus Easley, Ellis Gaulden and Rob Theoudele; the trio combined for five receptions in 2007. Edsall hopes that the redshirt freshmen Kashif Moore and Isiah Moore are ready to contribute after sitting out last fall.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 28 Hofstra
Sept. 6 @ Temple
Sept. 13 Virginia
Sept. 20 Baylor
Sept. 27 @ Louisville
Oct. 4 @ North Carolina
Oct. 18 @ Rutgers
Oct. 25 Cincinnati
Nov. 1 West Virginia
Nov. 15 @ Syracuse
Nov. 22 @ South Florida
Dec. 6 Pittsburgh
Game(s) to watch: If UConn wishes to repeat as co-Big East champs, it will need to come to play against Cincinnati, West Virginia, South Florida and Pittsburgh. In order to win the conference, UConn will need to win at least three of those four games.
Season breakdown & prediction: With 17 returning starters off a nine-win team, there is no reason to think UConn will inexplicably fall off the radar screen in 2008. However, there is also no reason, at least in the eyes of the Countdown, to use the plethora of returning players as justification for the Huskies being the favorite in the Big East. This is because of talented teams like West Virginia, Cincinnati and South Florida, and because of the expected turnaround of teams like Pittsburgh and Louisville, who look to be better than they were a season ago. When it comes to overall talent, UConn is, at best, the fifth-best team in the Big East. Having said that, there was something about this team last fall – a toughness and self-confidence that allowed them to get past more talented opponents. This may be partly due to the leadership of Lorenzen, who took over this team immediately after stepping onto campus. With Lorenzen returning for his senior season, can the Huskies hope to carry over last season’s play to 2008? Winning nine games for the second straight season is not out of the question: there are three definite wins out of conference (Hofstra, Temple and Baylor), and the Huskies get West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati at the “Rentch.” However, while I’m willing to easily put UConn back into a bowl game, a lack of offensive playmakers limits its chances to take the Big East crown from West Virginia. The season finale with Pittsburgh could decide where UConn lands in the conference pecking order. I have the Huskies finishing 8-4, 4-3 in the Big East.
Dream season: After coming so close a season ago, UConn rides a tough defense and a timely offense to an outright Big East crown and a B.C.S. game appearance.
Nightmare season: The Huskies revert back to the style of play that led to back-to-back losing seasons in 2005-6. A 6-6 finish, with 17 returning starters, would be disappointing to UConn fans.
7.10.2008
Know Your Foe: Louisville
(Courtsey of NY Times)
No. 50 Louisville
Nickname: Cardinals.
Quick facts: Was there a more disappointing team in the F.B.S. last fall than Louisville? Despite the loss of Coach Bobby Petrino to the Falcons, the Cardinals returned enough weapons (quarterback Brian Brohm, wide receivers Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia) that many predicted them as a dark-horse contender for the national crown. However, the transition from Petrino to the former Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe was a difficult one. Though the Cardinals maintained a high level of play on offense, the defense was atrocious, allowing opponents to score 38 points or more seven times. The Louisville fan base, prepping for another Big East title run and accompanying B.C.S. appearance, quickly turned on Kragthorpe and the Cardinals. The coming fall, therefore, is huge not only for Kragthorpe but for the Louisville program. The Cardinals need to show that 2007 was an aberration, and that fans should expect an equal degree of success with the new regime as they experienced under Petrino.
Tidbit: Louisville’s offense has ranked among the top 10 in the nation each of the last five years – a stretch, not coincidentally, beginning with the arrival of Petrino in 2003. The Cardinals finished first in the F.B.S. in 2004 and second in 2006.
Tidbit (rebuilding edition): How do Louisville fans feel about Athletic Director Tom Jurich’s statement that Louisville football is in a rebuilding mode? It isn’t very often that a program goes from a conference title and a B.C.S. game appearance to an admitted rebuilding phase in two seasons. Is he merely attempting to explain the team’s underwhelming performance last fall?
Team Information
Conference: Big East.
Head coach: Steve Kragthorpe (’87 West Texas State), 6-6 in one season with Louisville. Though his first year with the Cardinals has to be deemed a disaster, Kragthorpe’s tenure with Tulsa showed him to be one of college football’s best young coaches. His four-year record (2003-6) of 29-22 with the Golden Hurricanes is made all the more impressive when considering Tulsa’s 2-21 combined record from 2001-2. Kragthorpe’s first season with Tulsa, an 8-5 finish, was capped by a trip to the Humanitarian Bowl, the program’s first bowl appearance since 1991; the seven-game improvement over a 1-10 season in 2001 constituted the biggest turnaround in the F.B.S. that fall. After taking a step back to 4-8 in 2004, Kragthorpe and Tulsa went to back-to-back bowl games in 2005-6 (Liberty Bowl and Armed Forces Bowl). In 2005, the team won Conference USA, Tulsa’s first conference title since joining the F.B.S. in 1986. Kragthorpe came to the Golden Hurricanes from the N.F.L., where he served as the quarterbacks coach for the Buffalo Bills from 2001-2. In 2002, Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe set a team record with 4,359 passing yards. Kragthorpe’s collegiate experience includes a four-year stint with Texas A&M (1997-2000, the final three as offensive coordinator), two years with North Texas (1994-95) and one season with Boston College (1996). Kragthorpe has a great relationship with Jurich, so his job may not be in jeopardy, but the fan base will demand a better on-field product than they saw last fall. Seat temperature check: simmering.
Tidbit (coaching edition): In an effort to improve upon last fall’s terrible defensive performance, Kragthorpe and Louisville tabbed the former Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English to lead their defense, replacing Mike Cassity. He is part of a complete defensive overhaul. Louisville hired Ken Delgado to coach the line, Eric Lewis as cornerbacks coach and Bill Miller as linebackers coach. The staff could have been even better; Louisville had hired the former Duke coach Ted Roof to coach the linebackers, but he left shortly after accepting the job to become Tim Brewster’s defensive coordinator at Minnesota. A suggestion for Roof: If 2007 is any sign, rent, don’t buy.
2007 record: 6-6 (3-4). It was a major step back from 2006. The Cardinals saw their win total cut in half (from 12 to 6) from their Big East title-winning season in Petrino’s final year. However, the offense continued to be explosive despite losing the coach many felt was directly responsible for its production. The Cardinals finished sixth in the nation in total offense (488 yards per game) and had one of the passing attacks in the F.B.S. (341.9 yards per game). However, thanks to a horrendous defense (ranked 93rd in the F.B.S. in scoring defense), Louisville was unable to take advantage of quarterback Brian Brohm’s final season. Fans knew something was amiss when the Cardinals lost the Governors Cup to Kentucky and, inexplicably, gave up 38 points in a loss at home to Syracuse in back-to-back weeks in September. Though the Cardinals finished bowl eligible at 6-6, they were not selected for a bowl game. It was a fitting end to a highly disappointing season.
High point: The fall’s signature win, a 28-24 victory at then-No. 15 Cincinnati. The season ended on a high note, as Louisville scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat Rutgers, 41-38, in the season finale. In all seriousness, a 58-42 win over Middle Tennessee State on the second weekend of the season may have been the high point of the season; it put the Cardinals at 2-0, No. 8 in the nation.
Low point: There were no good-looking losses on the schedule, but the worst were the losses to Kentucky and Syracuse. Louisville allowed a touchdown with less than 40 seconds left in the 40-34 loss to the Wildcats. Against Syracuse, Louisville wasted 555 yards passing from Brohm in a 38-35 loss.
Returning starters: 9 (4 offense, 5 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, Louisville lost Brohm, a three-year starter and the team’s career leader in passing yards (10,775) and touchdowns (71). A second-round pick of the Packers, Brohm earned a number of conference and national honors during his time at Louisville, including the Big East F]freshman (2004) and offensive player of the year (2005) and an Orange Bowl M.V.P. (2007). His senior year – 4,024 yards (sixth in the F.B.S.) and 30 touchdowns – was his best season for the Cardinals. Benefiting from Brohm’s abilities were receivers Harry Douglas (71 receptions for 1,159 yards, 7 scores) and Mario Urrutia (35 for 501 in 10 games). Douglas was the second Cardinal selected in the draft, landing with the Falcons in the third round. Urrutia, who declared early for the draft, was a seventh-round pick of the Bengals. Louisville will also need to replace the productive tight end Gary Barnidge – a fifth-round pick of the Panthers – who finished second on the team with 55 receptions. He tied Douglas for the team lead with seven touchdown grabs. He was one of two Cardinals taken by Carolina in that fifth round: offensive tackle Breno Giacomini also landed with the Panthers. The Countdown, again, recognizes the efforts of the special teams: kicker Art Carmody was the N.C.A.A.’s career leading scorer with 433 points. No pressure on the true freshman Chris Philpott (likely the new starter), you’re just replacing the most prolific kicker in the history of college football. The junior wide receiver JaJuan Spillman was kicked off the team after his second arrest in 18 months. More of a return threat thus far in Louisville career (22.2 yards per return), Spillman’s playing time at receiver would have increased with the departure of Douglas and Urrutia.
On defense, Louisville lost six starters off one of the worst units in the F.B.S. The biggest loss is middle linebacker Lamar Myles, who left early for the N.F.L. but went undrafted. He was signed to a free-agent deal by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Myles led the Cardinals with 128 tackles (second in the Big East) en route to first-team all-conference honors. As a note, the next-leading Louisville tackler (the rising senior safety Bobby Buchanan) had 54 stops. Myles’s fellow linebacker Malik Jackson, who had 43 tackles, a sack and an interception, signed a free-agent deal with the Raiders. Louisville will be without two starters in its secondary: corner Rod Council, who led the team with two interceptions, and safety Deon Palmer, who finished third on the team with 47 tackles. Palmer also added two sacks.
Players to watch: Stepping in for Brohm at quarterback is the senior Hunter Cantwell, who bided his time behind Brohm for the last three seasons. He has some experience; Cantwell started four games from 2005-6, including the 2006 Gator Bowl loss to Virginia Tech. Over all, Cantwell takes a 3-1 record as a starter into 2008. His career totals include 1,419 passing yards and 10 touchdowns with a 58.6 percent completion percentage. There are not many weapons remaining to help him ease into the full-time starting job. At running back, the Cardinals return the senior Brock Bolen, who rushed for 456 yards (second on the team) and 7 touchdowns in 2007. The sophomore Bilal Powell was explosive in limited duty last fall (19 carries for 187 yards, 2 scores), and should receive additional action in 2008. The junior receiver Scott Long is the only experienced wideout on the roster. One of eight Cardinals with at least 15 catches a season ago, Long will be looked to improve upon his 27-reception, 358-yard (with zero touchdowns) season last fall. The junior Trent Guy, who figured to be in the mix for a starting spot at receiver, is questionable for the fall after being shot during an altercation outside a nightclub over the weekend. Guy had 11 receptions for 177 yards and 2 scores in 2007. One offensive position that looks to be in good shape is the line, which returns two all-conference honorees in the senior center Eric Wood (first-team) and the senior tackle George Bussey. Wood enters his senior season with 37 straight starts and Bussey with 25. With three starters returning on the defensive line, the front four looks to be a position of strength on an already questionable defense depleted by graduation. Louisville returns both starting ends, the senior Maurice Mitchell (team-leading nine tackles for loss) and the junior L.D. Scott (20 tackles, 1 sack). At tackle, the senior Earl Heyman led the team with four sacks while topping all defensive linemen with 40 stops (7 for loss). Keep an eye on the senior tackle Adrian Grady, who showed flashes of ability as a redshirt freshman (30 tackles) but has been plagued by injuries since. His health could be a deciding factor in the improvement of the defense. In the secondary, the senior Woodny Turenne needs to improve upon his 2007 performance. One of the most highly-decorated JUCO recruits in the 2007 class, Turenne struggled in his first season with the Cardinals.
Position battle to watch: The receiving corps, already crippled by the loss of Douglas, Urrutia, Barnidge and Patrick Carter (26 receptions in 2007), took another hit with the dismissal of Spillman and Guy’s unfortunate injury. While Long will occupy one starting spot, who will step up and start alongside him? The good news is that Louisville has only one senior receiver of consequence on the roster. The bad news is that until the group gets game experience, the passing game may go through some growing pains. The lone senior is Chris Vaughn, who had 2 catches for 11 yards last fall. He will be in the mix for a prominent role, as will the junior Maurice Clark (a spring enrollee out of junior college) and the sophomores Doug Beaumont and Troy Pascley. Keep an eye on the redshirt freshman Josh Chichester, who at 6-8 may be the tallest receiver in the F.B.S.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 31 Kentucky
Sept. 6 Tennessee Tech
Sept. 17 Kansas State
Sept. 26 Connecticut
Oct. 10 @ Memphis
Oct. 18 Middle Tennessee State
Oct. 25 South Florida
Nov. 1 @ Syracuse
Nov. 8 @ Pittsburgh
Nov. 14 Cincinnati
Nov. 22 West Virginia
Tidbit (we’re No. 120! edition): Duke University used an interesting argument to explain away a breach of contract suit brought against it after the university backed out of three scheduled games (2007-9) with the Cardinals. The Blue Devils’ deal with Louisville stated that a $150,000 penalty would be assessed if the Cardinals could not find a program “of similar stature” to replace the Blue Devils. The argument? That Duke, below .500 every season since 1995, could be replaced by any team in the F.B.S.
Game to watch: The season opener with the Wildcats. Kentucky’s upset victory last September threw Louisville into a tailspin. Can the Cardinals return the favor against their in-state rival?
Season breakdown & prediction: There is a distinct lack of depth on this Cardinals roster, leading the Countdown to believe that Louisville will struggle as the season moves into November and December. It is therefore a good thing that Louisville plays only one road game through the start of November. The Cardinals actually play only four away dates all season, a huge positive for a team still searching for its identity under Kragthorpe. But onto the bad news: offensively, the Cardinals need to replace Brohm and nearly the entire receiving corps, and on defense, the hiring of English is still not enough to offset an overall lack of talent. Even if Cantwell were to play up to the potential he has thus far shown in his small sampling, the offense cannot match the unit’s output from a season ago. The only saving grace for Louisville is its schedule, which features eight home games and the relatively easy (by B.C.S. conference standards) Big East slate. Nevertheless, it is hard to make the case that Louisville will be any better than a season ago. However, giving Kragthorpe the benefit of the doubt, and taking into account the home-heavy slate, I predict a 7-5 finish, a one-game improvement over last fall’s upsetting finish.
Dream season: Kragthorpe makes Louisville fans forget about Petrino with a 9-3 regular season.
Nightmare season: It’s more of the same: a 5-7 finish.
No. 50 Louisville
Nickname: Cardinals.
Quick facts: Was there a more disappointing team in the F.B.S. last fall than Louisville? Despite the loss of Coach Bobby Petrino to the Falcons, the Cardinals returned enough weapons (quarterback Brian Brohm, wide receivers Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia) that many predicted them as a dark-horse contender for the national crown. However, the transition from Petrino to the former Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe was a difficult one. Though the Cardinals maintained a high level of play on offense, the defense was atrocious, allowing opponents to score 38 points or more seven times. The Louisville fan base, prepping for another Big East title run and accompanying B.C.S. appearance, quickly turned on Kragthorpe and the Cardinals. The coming fall, therefore, is huge not only for Kragthorpe but for the Louisville program. The Cardinals need to show that 2007 was an aberration, and that fans should expect an equal degree of success with the new regime as they experienced under Petrino.
Tidbit: Louisville’s offense has ranked among the top 10 in the nation each of the last five years – a stretch, not coincidentally, beginning with the arrival of Petrino in 2003. The Cardinals finished first in the F.B.S. in 2004 and second in 2006.
Tidbit (rebuilding edition): How do Louisville fans feel about Athletic Director Tom Jurich’s statement that Louisville football is in a rebuilding mode? It isn’t very often that a program goes from a conference title and a B.C.S. game appearance to an admitted rebuilding phase in two seasons. Is he merely attempting to explain the team’s underwhelming performance last fall?
Team Information
Conference: Big East.
Head coach: Steve Kragthorpe (’87 West Texas State), 6-6 in one season with Louisville. Though his first year with the Cardinals has to be deemed a disaster, Kragthorpe’s tenure with Tulsa showed him to be one of college football’s best young coaches. His four-year record (2003-6) of 29-22 with the Golden Hurricanes is made all the more impressive when considering Tulsa’s 2-21 combined record from 2001-2. Kragthorpe’s first season with Tulsa, an 8-5 finish, was capped by a trip to the Humanitarian Bowl, the program’s first bowl appearance since 1991; the seven-game improvement over a 1-10 season in 2001 constituted the biggest turnaround in the F.B.S. that fall. After taking a step back to 4-8 in 2004, Kragthorpe and Tulsa went to back-to-back bowl games in 2005-6 (Liberty Bowl and Armed Forces Bowl). In 2005, the team won Conference USA, Tulsa’s first conference title since joining the F.B.S. in 1986. Kragthorpe came to the Golden Hurricanes from the N.F.L., where he served as the quarterbacks coach for the Buffalo Bills from 2001-2. In 2002, Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe set a team record with 4,359 passing yards. Kragthorpe’s collegiate experience includes a four-year stint with Texas A&M (1997-2000, the final three as offensive coordinator), two years with North Texas (1994-95) and one season with Boston College (1996). Kragthorpe has a great relationship with Jurich, so his job may not be in jeopardy, but the fan base will demand a better on-field product than they saw last fall. Seat temperature check: simmering.
Tidbit (coaching edition): In an effort to improve upon last fall’s terrible defensive performance, Kragthorpe and Louisville tabbed the former Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English to lead their defense, replacing Mike Cassity. He is part of a complete defensive overhaul. Louisville hired Ken Delgado to coach the line, Eric Lewis as cornerbacks coach and Bill Miller as linebackers coach. The staff could have been even better; Louisville had hired the former Duke coach Ted Roof to coach the linebackers, but he left shortly after accepting the job to become Tim Brewster’s defensive coordinator at Minnesota. A suggestion for Roof: If 2007 is any sign, rent, don’t buy.
2007 record: 6-6 (3-4). It was a major step back from 2006. The Cardinals saw their win total cut in half (from 12 to 6) from their Big East title-winning season in Petrino’s final year. However, the offense continued to be explosive despite losing the coach many felt was directly responsible for its production. The Cardinals finished sixth in the nation in total offense (488 yards per game) and had one of the passing attacks in the F.B.S. (341.9 yards per game). However, thanks to a horrendous defense (ranked 93rd in the F.B.S. in scoring defense), Louisville was unable to take advantage of quarterback Brian Brohm’s final season. Fans knew something was amiss when the Cardinals lost the Governors Cup to Kentucky and, inexplicably, gave up 38 points in a loss at home to Syracuse in back-to-back weeks in September. Though the Cardinals finished bowl eligible at 6-6, they were not selected for a bowl game. It was a fitting end to a highly disappointing season.
High point: The fall’s signature win, a 28-24 victory at then-No. 15 Cincinnati. The season ended on a high note, as Louisville scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat Rutgers, 41-38, in the season finale. In all seriousness, a 58-42 win over Middle Tennessee State on the second weekend of the season may have been the high point of the season; it put the Cardinals at 2-0, No. 8 in the nation.
Low point: There were no good-looking losses on the schedule, but the worst were the losses to Kentucky and Syracuse. Louisville allowed a touchdown with less than 40 seconds left in the 40-34 loss to the Wildcats. Against Syracuse, Louisville wasted 555 yards passing from Brohm in a 38-35 loss.
Returning starters: 9 (4 offense, 5 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, Louisville lost Brohm, a three-year starter and the team’s career leader in passing yards (10,775) and touchdowns (71). A second-round pick of the Packers, Brohm earned a number of conference and national honors during his time at Louisville, including the Big East F]freshman (2004) and offensive player of the year (2005) and an Orange Bowl M.V.P. (2007). His senior year – 4,024 yards (sixth in the F.B.S.) and 30 touchdowns – was his best season for the Cardinals. Benefiting from Brohm’s abilities were receivers Harry Douglas (71 receptions for 1,159 yards, 7 scores) and Mario Urrutia (35 for 501 in 10 games). Douglas was the second Cardinal selected in the draft, landing with the Falcons in the third round. Urrutia, who declared early for the draft, was a seventh-round pick of the Bengals. Louisville will also need to replace the productive tight end Gary Barnidge – a fifth-round pick of the Panthers – who finished second on the team with 55 receptions. He tied Douglas for the team lead with seven touchdown grabs. He was one of two Cardinals taken by Carolina in that fifth round: offensive tackle Breno Giacomini also landed with the Panthers. The Countdown, again, recognizes the efforts of the special teams: kicker Art Carmody was the N.C.A.A.’s career leading scorer with 433 points. No pressure on the true freshman Chris Philpott (likely the new starter), you’re just replacing the most prolific kicker in the history of college football. The junior wide receiver JaJuan Spillman was kicked off the team after his second arrest in 18 months. More of a return threat thus far in Louisville career (22.2 yards per return), Spillman’s playing time at receiver would have increased with the departure of Douglas and Urrutia.
On defense, Louisville lost six starters off one of the worst units in the F.B.S. The biggest loss is middle linebacker Lamar Myles, who left early for the N.F.L. but went undrafted. He was signed to a free-agent deal by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Myles led the Cardinals with 128 tackles (second in the Big East) en route to first-team all-conference honors. As a note, the next-leading Louisville tackler (the rising senior safety Bobby Buchanan) had 54 stops. Myles’s fellow linebacker Malik Jackson, who had 43 tackles, a sack and an interception, signed a free-agent deal with the Raiders. Louisville will be without two starters in its secondary: corner Rod Council, who led the team with two interceptions, and safety Deon Palmer, who finished third on the team with 47 tackles. Palmer also added two sacks.
Players to watch: Stepping in for Brohm at quarterback is the senior Hunter Cantwell, who bided his time behind Brohm for the last three seasons. He has some experience; Cantwell started four games from 2005-6, including the 2006 Gator Bowl loss to Virginia Tech. Over all, Cantwell takes a 3-1 record as a starter into 2008. His career totals include 1,419 passing yards and 10 touchdowns with a 58.6 percent completion percentage. There are not many weapons remaining to help him ease into the full-time starting job. At running back, the Cardinals return the senior Brock Bolen, who rushed for 456 yards (second on the team) and 7 touchdowns in 2007. The sophomore Bilal Powell was explosive in limited duty last fall (19 carries for 187 yards, 2 scores), and should receive additional action in 2008. The junior receiver Scott Long is the only experienced wideout on the roster. One of eight Cardinals with at least 15 catches a season ago, Long will be looked to improve upon his 27-reception, 358-yard (with zero touchdowns) season last fall. The junior Trent Guy, who figured to be in the mix for a starting spot at receiver, is questionable for the fall after being shot during an altercation outside a nightclub over the weekend. Guy had 11 receptions for 177 yards and 2 scores in 2007. One offensive position that looks to be in good shape is the line, which returns two all-conference honorees in the senior center Eric Wood (first-team) and the senior tackle George Bussey. Wood enters his senior season with 37 straight starts and Bussey with 25. With three starters returning on the defensive line, the front four looks to be a position of strength on an already questionable defense depleted by graduation. Louisville returns both starting ends, the senior Maurice Mitchell (team-leading nine tackles for loss) and the junior L.D. Scott (20 tackles, 1 sack). At tackle, the senior Earl Heyman led the team with four sacks while topping all defensive linemen with 40 stops (7 for loss). Keep an eye on the senior tackle Adrian Grady, who showed flashes of ability as a redshirt freshman (30 tackles) but has been plagued by injuries since. His health could be a deciding factor in the improvement of the defense. In the secondary, the senior Woodny Turenne needs to improve upon his 2007 performance. One of the most highly-decorated JUCO recruits in the 2007 class, Turenne struggled in his first season with the Cardinals.
Position battle to watch: The receiving corps, already crippled by the loss of Douglas, Urrutia, Barnidge and Patrick Carter (26 receptions in 2007), took another hit with the dismissal of Spillman and Guy’s unfortunate injury. While Long will occupy one starting spot, who will step up and start alongside him? The good news is that Louisville has only one senior receiver of consequence on the roster. The bad news is that until the group gets game experience, the passing game may go through some growing pains. The lone senior is Chris Vaughn, who had 2 catches for 11 yards last fall. He will be in the mix for a prominent role, as will the junior Maurice Clark (a spring enrollee out of junior college) and the sophomores Doug Beaumont and Troy Pascley. Keep an eye on the redshirt freshman Josh Chichester, who at 6-8 may be the tallest receiver in the F.B.S.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 31 Kentucky
Sept. 6 Tennessee Tech
Sept. 17 Kansas State
Sept. 26 Connecticut
Oct. 10 @ Memphis
Oct. 18 Middle Tennessee State
Oct. 25 South Florida
Nov. 1 @ Syracuse
Nov. 8 @ Pittsburgh
Nov. 14 Cincinnati
Nov. 22 West Virginia
Tidbit (we’re No. 120! edition): Duke University used an interesting argument to explain away a breach of contract suit brought against it after the university backed out of three scheduled games (2007-9) with the Cardinals. The Blue Devils’ deal with Louisville stated that a $150,000 penalty would be assessed if the Cardinals could not find a program “of similar stature” to replace the Blue Devils. The argument? That Duke, below .500 every season since 1995, could be replaced by any team in the F.B.S.
Game to watch: The season opener with the Wildcats. Kentucky’s upset victory last September threw Louisville into a tailspin. Can the Cardinals return the favor against their in-state rival?
Season breakdown & prediction: There is a distinct lack of depth on this Cardinals roster, leading the Countdown to believe that Louisville will struggle as the season moves into November and December. It is therefore a good thing that Louisville plays only one road game through the start of November. The Cardinals actually play only four away dates all season, a huge positive for a team still searching for its identity under Kragthorpe. But onto the bad news: offensively, the Cardinals need to replace Brohm and nearly the entire receiving corps, and on defense, the hiring of English is still not enough to offset an overall lack of talent. Even if Cantwell were to play up to the potential he has thus far shown in his small sampling, the offense cannot match the unit’s output from a season ago. The only saving grace for Louisville is its schedule, which features eight home games and the relatively easy (by B.C.S. conference standards) Big East slate. Nevertheless, it is hard to make the case that Louisville will be any better than a season ago. However, giving Kragthorpe the benefit of the doubt, and taking into account the home-heavy slate, I predict a 7-5 finish, a one-game improvement over last fall’s upsetting finish.
Dream season: Kragthorpe makes Louisville fans forget about Petrino with a 9-3 regular season.
Nightmare season: It’s more of the same: a 5-7 finish.
7.06.2008
Rivals.com Preseason Countdown Tabs UC as 26th in the Nation
(Courtsey of Rivals.com)
OFFENSE
THE SCHEME: Brian Kelly brought the spread offense with him when he arrived from Central Michigan last season. The Bearcats usually line up three receivers and have one running back in the backfield. Dominick Goodman had 68 receptions for 869 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
STAR POWER: Take your pick between either of Cincinnati's two exceptional receivers, sophomore Marcus Barnett and senior Dominick Goodman. Barnett caught 62 passes for 862 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. He caught three touchdown passes against Syracuse and had two touchdown catches in four other games. Goodman had 68 receptions for 869 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
IMPACT NEWCOMER: Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones could play a big role at quarterback, particularly if the NCAA doesn't grant incumbent starter Ben Mauk a sixth season of eligibility. If Mauk doesn't play this fall – he's on his last appeal and should hear any day now – Jones will compete with Dustin Grutza for the starting job. Jones was Notre Dame's season-opening starter in '07, but the former four-star prospect didn't play in an Irish uniform again after a 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech.
IT'S HIS TIME: After starting at right tackle last season, senior Khalil El-Amin moves over to the left side to replace Digger Bujnoch, who performed well as a senior last season. The line's success will depend in part on how well El-Amin handles this transition.
STRONGEST AREA: Cincinnati's receiving corps is a good one. Goodman, Barnett and Marshwan Gilyard are back after combining to catch 166 passes for 2,287 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. This is a big group - the Bearcats' projected top six receivers all are at least 6 feet.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: The Bearcats can't expect to throw for 3,720 yards again, particularly if Mauk isn't around this season. So, they'll have to do a better job running the ball. Cincinnati ranked 63rd in the nation in rushing offense last season despite averaging more than 4 yards per carry. In Cincinnati's spring game, the squads combined for just 123 rushing yards on 51 carries.
OVERVIEW: Even if the Bearcats don't have Mauk operating the offense, they should be able to throw well because their receiving corps is so talented. The question is whether the running game can offer some balance. It would help if Cincinnati could find a feature back. Cincinnati didn't have anyone rush for 500 yards last season. Mauk's likely exit leaves junior running back Jacob Ramsey as the Bearcats' top returning rusher, and he gained 362 yards on 96 carries. If Mauk gets his sixth year, this could be one of the top 20 offenses in the nation. If not, the Bearcats might have to lean on their defense early in the season.
GRADE: B.
DEFENSE
THE SCHEME: Cincinnati runs a 4-3 defense that thrives on forcing turnovers and producing big plays. The Bearcats had 42 takeaways last season to tie conference foe USF for first in the nation. They also ranked sixth in turnover margin and eighth in sacks.
STAR POWER: The Bearcats have two legitimate All-America candidates in senior tackle Terrill Byrd and senior cornerback Mike Mickens. Byrd, a squatty guy (6-0/271) who is a bull in the middle of the line, had 17 tackles for loss and eight sacks last season. Byrd closed the season by recording 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in his final two games. Mickens, headed into his fourth season as a starter, picked off six passes last season and returned two of them for touchdowns.
IMPACT NEWCOMER: Cincinnati needs to find a pass rusher after losing each of its starting defensive ends from last year. That opening creates a huge opportunity for defensive end Alex Daniels, a former four-star prospect who came to Cincinnati after being kicked off Minnesota's team. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Daniels was accused of using his cell phone to film a former teammate having sex with a woman described as physically helpless after a night of binge drinking, but he never was charged with a crime. Cincinnati athletic director Mike Thomas announced Thursday that he would allow Daniels to play for the Bearcats this season.
IT'S HIS TIME: Senior Connor Barwin has moved to defensive end from tight end and is expected to earn a starting job as the Bearcats look to replace the departed Anthony Hoke and Angelo Craig. Cincinnati had one of the top pass rushes in the nation last season, but it's tough to imagine the Bearcats matching their '07 performance in that regard unless Barwin or another candidate emerges at end.
STRONGEST AREA: Mickens and DeAngelo Smith give Cincinnati one of the nation's top cornerback duos. When teams try throwing away from Mickens, Smith usually makes them pay. Smith tied for the NCAA lead last season with eight interceptions, including three in the Papajohns.com Bowl. The lack of a dominant pass rush could prevent Smith and Mickens from matching their interception totals of '07, but they still should cause nightmares for opposing quarterbacks.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: Mickens and Smith will have to be particularly good because opposing quarterbacks might have more time to throw. Byrd's presence in the middle of the line should prevent the pass rush from being a major weakness, but the lack of experience at end offers plenty of cause for concern.
OVERVIEW: Cincinnati returns most of its top players from a unit that ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense. The Bearcats occasionally are susceptible to the big play – they allowed at least 28 points in four games – but they also create plenty of big plays with sacks and turnovers. They might not deliver as many sacks as usual, but Byrd, Mickens and Co. should assure the Bearcats continue to force opposing offenses into plenty of mistakes.
GRADE: B+.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Senior Kevin Huber led the nation with a 46.9 punting average last season. Huber also helped the Bearcats lead the nation in net punting. Sophomore Jake Rogers went 11 of 19 on field-goal attempts. Although Rogers made a 55-yard field goal – his only attempt from at least 50 yards – he was just 1-for-6 from 40-49 yards. Smith and Gilyard are expected to handle the return duties.
GRADE: B+.
COACHING
The only concern is how long Cincinnati will be able to hold on to Kelly, who has emerged as one of the nation's hottest coaching prospects. Kelly followed up a 9-4 season at Central Michigan in 2006 by leading Cincinnati to its first 10-win season since 1951. Kelly owns a .730 career winning percentage and won two Division II national titles at Grand Valley State (Mich.). The only offseason departure came when running backs coach Ernest Jones accepted the coaching job at Division I-AA Alcorn State. Former linebackers coach Tim Hinton now is coaching the running backs, while William Inge took over Hinton's old spot. Inge spent the past two seasons as San Diego State's linebackers coach.
GRADE: A.
SCHEDULE
After opening the season with a tune-up against I-AA Eastern Kentucky, the Bearcats will get a huge test Sept. 6 when they head to Oklahoma. If the Bearcats stay competitive in that game, they should feel confident about their chances of competing for a Big East title. Cincinnati should be at least 4-1 when it plays its Big East opener Oct. 11 against Rutgers. The schedule gets much tougher on Halloween night when the Bearcats begin a four-game stretch against USF, West Virginia, Louisville and Pittsburgh. Those four games will go a long way toward determining the Bearcats' fate.
OUTLOOK
This program is no one-year wonder. The Bearcats should stay competitive in the Big East as long as Kelly stays in town. This team bears quite a bit of resemblance to the 2007 USF squad, which was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation last season before a late-season tailspin that included a 38-33 loss to Cincinnati. Both squads had a dominant defensive lineman (George Selvie at USF, Byrd at Cincinnati) to go along with a dynamic cornerback tandem. Both teams had a high-profile non-conference game early in the season (USF won at Auburn, Cincinnati heads to Oklahoma). The Bearcats could repeat USF's national emergence if they're able to welcome back Mauk, who's every bit as good a quarterback as USF's Matt Grothe. If the Bearcats have to make do with Grutza or Jones under center, they probably won't win the Big East. But this defense is good enough to get Cincinnati back into a bowl even if someone other than Mauk is running the offense.
OFFENSE
THE SCHEME: Brian Kelly brought the spread offense with him when he arrived from Central Michigan last season. The Bearcats usually line up three receivers and have one running back in the backfield. Dominick Goodman had 68 receptions for 869 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
STAR POWER: Take your pick between either of Cincinnati's two exceptional receivers, sophomore Marcus Barnett and senior Dominick Goodman. Barnett caught 62 passes for 862 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. He caught three touchdown passes against Syracuse and had two touchdown catches in four other games. Goodman had 68 receptions for 869 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
IMPACT NEWCOMER: Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones could play a big role at quarterback, particularly if the NCAA doesn't grant incumbent starter Ben Mauk a sixth season of eligibility. If Mauk doesn't play this fall – he's on his last appeal and should hear any day now – Jones will compete with Dustin Grutza for the starting job. Jones was Notre Dame's season-opening starter in '07, but the former four-star prospect didn't play in an Irish uniform again after a 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech.
IT'S HIS TIME: After starting at right tackle last season, senior Khalil El-Amin moves over to the left side to replace Digger Bujnoch, who performed well as a senior last season. The line's success will depend in part on how well El-Amin handles this transition.
STRONGEST AREA: Cincinnati's receiving corps is a good one. Goodman, Barnett and Marshwan Gilyard are back after combining to catch 166 passes for 2,287 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. This is a big group - the Bearcats' projected top six receivers all are at least 6 feet.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: The Bearcats can't expect to throw for 3,720 yards again, particularly if Mauk isn't around this season. So, they'll have to do a better job running the ball. Cincinnati ranked 63rd in the nation in rushing offense last season despite averaging more than 4 yards per carry. In Cincinnati's spring game, the squads combined for just 123 rushing yards on 51 carries.
OVERVIEW: Even if the Bearcats don't have Mauk operating the offense, they should be able to throw well because their receiving corps is so talented. The question is whether the running game can offer some balance. It would help if Cincinnati could find a feature back. Cincinnati didn't have anyone rush for 500 yards last season. Mauk's likely exit leaves junior running back Jacob Ramsey as the Bearcats' top returning rusher, and he gained 362 yards on 96 carries. If Mauk gets his sixth year, this could be one of the top 20 offenses in the nation. If not, the Bearcats might have to lean on their defense early in the season.
GRADE: B.
DEFENSE
THE SCHEME: Cincinnati runs a 4-3 defense that thrives on forcing turnovers and producing big plays. The Bearcats had 42 takeaways last season to tie conference foe USF for first in the nation. They also ranked sixth in turnover margin and eighth in sacks.
STAR POWER: The Bearcats have two legitimate All-America candidates in senior tackle Terrill Byrd and senior cornerback Mike Mickens. Byrd, a squatty guy (6-0/271) who is a bull in the middle of the line, had 17 tackles for loss and eight sacks last season. Byrd closed the season by recording 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in his final two games. Mickens, headed into his fourth season as a starter, picked off six passes last season and returned two of them for touchdowns.
IMPACT NEWCOMER: Cincinnati needs to find a pass rusher after losing each of its starting defensive ends from last year. That opening creates a huge opportunity for defensive end Alex Daniels, a former four-star prospect who came to Cincinnati after being kicked off Minnesota's team. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Daniels was accused of using his cell phone to film a former teammate having sex with a woman described as physically helpless after a night of binge drinking, but he never was charged with a crime. Cincinnati athletic director Mike Thomas announced Thursday that he would allow Daniels to play for the Bearcats this season.
IT'S HIS TIME: Senior Connor Barwin has moved to defensive end from tight end and is expected to earn a starting job as the Bearcats look to replace the departed Anthony Hoke and Angelo Craig. Cincinnati had one of the top pass rushes in the nation last season, but it's tough to imagine the Bearcats matching their '07 performance in that regard unless Barwin or another candidate emerges at end.
STRONGEST AREA: Mickens and DeAngelo Smith give Cincinnati one of the nation's top cornerback duos. When teams try throwing away from Mickens, Smith usually makes them pay. Smith tied for the NCAA lead last season with eight interceptions, including three in the Papajohns.com Bowl. The lack of a dominant pass rush could prevent Smith and Mickens from matching their interception totals of '07, but they still should cause nightmares for opposing quarterbacks.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: Mickens and Smith will have to be particularly good because opposing quarterbacks might have more time to throw. Byrd's presence in the middle of the line should prevent the pass rush from being a major weakness, but the lack of experience at end offers plenty of cause for concern.
OVERVIEW: Cincinnati returns most of its top players from a unit that ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense. The Bearcats occasionally are susceptible to the big play – they allowed at least 28 points in four games – but they also create plenty of big plays with sacks and turnovers. They might not deliver as many sacks as usual, but Byrd, Mickens and Co. should assure the Bearcats continue to force opposing offenses into plenty of mistakes.
GRADE: B+.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Senior Kevin Huber led the nation with a 46.9 punting average last season. Huber also helped the Bearcats lead the nation in net punting. Sophomore Jake Rogers went 11 of 19 on field-goal attempts. Although Rogers made a 55-yard field goal – his only attempt from at least 50 yards – he was just 1-for-6 from 40-49 yards. Smith and Gilyard are expected to handle the return duties.
GRADE: B+.
COACHING
The only concern is how long Cincinnati will be able to hold on to Kelly, who has emerged as one of the nation's hottest coaching prospects. Kelly followed up a 9-4 season at Central Michigan in 2006 by leading Cincinnati to its first 10-win season since 1951. Kelly owns a .730 career winning percentage and won two Division II national titles at Grand Valley State (Mich.). The only offseason departure came when running backs coach Ernest Jones accepted the coaching job at Division I-AA Alcorn State. Former linebackers coach Tim Hinton now is coaching the running backs, while William Inge took over Hinton's old spot. Inge spent the past two seasons as San Diego State's linebackers coach.
GRADE: A.
SCHEDULE
After opening the season with a tune-up against I-AA Eastern Kentucky, the Bearcats will get a huge test Sept. 6 when they head to Oklahoma. If the Bearcats stay competitive in that game, they should feel confident about their chances of competing for a Big East title. Cincinnati should be at least 4-1 when it plays its Big East opener Oct. 11 against Rutgers. The schedule gets much tougher on Halloween night when the Bearcats begin a four-game stretch against USF, West Virginia, Louisville and Pittsburgh. Those four games will go a long way toward determining the Bearcats' fate.
OUTLOOK
This program is no one-year wonder. The Bearcats should stay competitive in the Big East as long as Kelly stays in town. This team bears quite a bit of resemblance to the 2007 USF squad, which was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation last season before a late-season tailspin that included a 38-33 loss to Cincinnati. Both squads had a dominant defensive lineman (George Selvie at USF, Byrd at Cincinnati) to go along with a dynamic cornerback tandem. Both teams had a high-profile non-conference game early in the season (USF won at Auburn, Cincinnati heads to Oklahoma). The Bearcats could repeat USF's national emergence if they're able to welcome back Mauk, who's every bit as good a quarterback as USF's Matt Grothe. If the Bearcats have to make do with Grutza or Jones under center, they probably won't win the Big East. But this defense is good enough to get Cincinnati back into a bowl even if someone other than Mauk is running the offense.
7.03.2008
Know Your Foe: Rutgers
(Courtsey of NY Times)
Quick facts: Something funny has happened on the banks of the old Raritan: after years of ineptitude, Rutgers has matured into a consistent winner, a program that has placed itself into yearly contention for not only bowl appearances but Big East titles. Five years ago, when the Scarlet Knights were in the midst of 27 wins over the previous decade, such a description seemed entirely unrealistic. However, under the steady hand of Coach Greg Schiano, Rutgers has turned over a new leaf, one that seems to be indicative of the future of the program.
Tidbit: In 2007, Rutgers became the first team in N.C.A.A. history to have a 3,000-yard passer, a 2,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season.
James Gandolfini is one Rutgers alum who is very happy with the direction the program has taken. (Matt York/Associated Press)
Tidbit (better late than never edition): A trip to the International Bowl last season marked Rutgers’s third straight bowl appearance, a first in the 138-year history of the program. Back-to-back bowl victories (the International Bowl and the Texas Bowl) are also a program first.
Team Information
Conference: Big East.
Head coach: Greg Schiano (’88 Bucknell), 38-46 in seven seasons with the Scarlet Knights. If there is only one thing you need to know about what Schiano has done at Rutgers, it is this: prior to his arrival, the Scarlet Knights played in only one bowl game in 131 years of football. Though Schiano struggled early on in attempting to reverse the program’s losing culture, he has rebounded from a 3-20 mark from 2001-2 to post 35 wins over the last five seasons, including a 26-12 record over the past three years. Though Rutgers finished with a winning season – and bowl trip (Insight Bowl vs. Arizona State) – in 2005, the effort Schiano put into this rebuilding project paid off in a big way in 2006, when the Scarlet Knights were America’s college football darling in an 11-2, top-25 season. That fall earned Schiano a well-deserved Big East and National
Coach of the Year award. Prior to taking the Rutgers job, Schiano served as an apprentice both on the college (Miami from 1999-2000, Penn State 1990-95) and pro level (Bears 1996-98). Part of the initial draw for Rutgers was his recruiting familiarity with the Miami region, an area that the Scarlet Knights have mined effectively under his watch. The job he has done with Rutgers is nothing short of incredible; after a slow start, Rutgers looks like a consistent bowl team with definite potential for Big East championships and B.C.S. appearances. Unfortunately, and troublingly for Rutgers fans, Schiano’s success has led to his name being attached to many job openings at major F.B.S. programs, most recently at Miami and Michigan; Michigan’s pursuit of Schiano led the Rutgers administration to sign him to a four-year extension through 2016. Schiano is likely to be a favorite to suceed Joe Paterno at Penn State.
2007 record: 8-5 (3-4). It is surprising to the Countdown to say it, but the eight-win finish may have been a disappointment to Rutgers fans, many of whom had Big East and B.C.S. bowl hopes. Nevertheless, one can make the case that Rutgers was even better – at least statistically – than it was during its magical 11-2 2006 season. Offensively, the Scarlet Knights set a team record with 426 points (32.8 per game), one of eight teams in program history to score 300 points in the season. The offense also set records in total offense (5,841 yards, 18th in the nation) and first downs (294). On defense, Rutgers allowed only 22.5 points per game (30th in the nation) – ranking 17th in the F.B.S. in total defense (330.3 yards allowed per game). So how did the Scarlet Knights lose five games? For starters, they were unable to take advantage of a home-heavy schedule (eight home, four away), finishing the fall 5-3 at Rutgers Stadium. Rutgers also came up short against the top 25, losing three of four against the nation’s best, including two in a row in Big East play. That an eight-win fall can be construed as falling short of expectations is evidence of how far Schiano has taken the Rutgers program.
High point: The best win of the season was a 30-27 defeat of then-No. 2 South Florida, a loss that dropped the Bulls from the ranks of the unbeaten. A university-record 44,267 fans packed into Rutgers Stadium to watch the upset (the stadium’s “capacity” is 41,500). Rutgers won its second straight bowl game, topping Ball State by 52-30 in the International Bowl.
Low point: A year after Cincinnati ended Rutgers’s B.C.S. hopes with a late-season 30-11 victory, the Bearcats again topped the Scarlet Knights, winning the Big East opener by 28-23. Rutgers lost back-to-back conference games against top-25 opponents, by 31-3 to West Virginia and by 38-19 to Connecticut. The loss to the Mountaineers, its 13th straight setback in the series, dropped Rutgers from the top 25.
Tidbit (tale of two halves edition): The Scarlet Knights outscored opponents by 280-143 in the first half of games (aided greatly by a 42-point second-quarter outburst in a 59-0 win over Norfolk State), but were outscored by 149-146 in the second half. Rutgers allowed second-half outbursts to Louisville (24 points), Cincinnati (21) and Maryland (20).
Returning starters: 15 (7 offense, 8 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, Rutgers will be hard-pressed to replace the best back (apologies to the Brian Leonard fans out there) in team history, the Doak Walker Award finalist Ray Rice. An early entrant into the N.F.L. draft, the second-team all-American concluded his Rutgers career with a team-record 4,926 yards rushing, the second-highest total in conference history. His final season – 2,012 yards (the first in Rutgers and Big East history to reach 2,000) and 24 touchdowns – was his best, but Rice was consistently strong from the day he stepped on campus: 1,120 yards as a freshman was followed up by a 1,794-yard sophomore campaign. Perhaps Rice knew his final game, the bowl victory over Ball State, would be his last; his rushed for a program- and conference-record 280 yards in the win. A nearly impossible player to replace – both on and off the field. Rutgers lost three starters off its tremendous offensive line, a unit that finished second in the F.B.S. in sacks allowed. Tackles Jeremy Zuttah and Pedro Sosa were all-Big East selections while Mike Fladdel, the left guard, started the final 26 games of his Scarlet Knight career. Zuttah was the second, and last, Rutgers offensive player drafted in April, landing in the third round to the Buccaneers. Sosa, equally impressive at Rutgers, signed a free-agent deal with the Vikings. He is a guard on the next level.
On defense, three starters from a season ago are gone: the all-Big East tackle Eric Foster, the four-year starting strong safety Ron Girault and the team captain Brandon Renkart. Foster, currently battling it out for a spot on the Colts defense, concluded his tremendous career with 64 tackles (15 for loss) and 7 sacks as a senior; he was named a Sporting News second-team all-American. The Colts got a steal in landing the talented lineman as an undrafted free-agent. Girault started all but four games of his sterling career with the Scarlet Knights, while Renkart, a former walk-on, finished fourth on the team with 67 tackles.
Players to watch: The Scarlet Knights hope to offset the loss of Rice with the Big East’s best passing attack, a group headlined by the senior quarterback Mike Teel and his two dynamic receivers, the junior Kenny Britt and the senior Tiquan Underwood. Despite playing second fiddle to Rice, last fall’s passing game was among the most productive in team history. An interesting prospect, Teel enters his third full season as the Scarlet Knights starting quarterback as the key to the entire offense. The most successful Rutgers quarterback of the Big East era (a career mark of 21-8), Teel’s junior season was a major step forward after being defined by his inconsistency in 2005-6: 3,147 yards passing and a team-record 20 touchdown passes. Teel’s 145.4 passing efficiency rating was 17th in the nation. Britt, a second-team all-Big East member (62 receptions for a Big East-leading 1,232 yards, 8 touchdowns), and Underwood, a first-team selection (65 for 1,100, 7 scores), became the first teammates in Big East history, and only the 26th in F.B.S history, to reach 1,000 yards in the same season. While Underwood has pro prospects of his own, Britt is a potential first-day pick when he becomes eligible for the N.F.L. draft; long (6-4, 205) and rangy, the local product (Bayonne, N.J.) has shown both a tremendous big-play ability (19.9 yards per catch) and a knack for moving the chains. Another future star, the sophomore Anthony Davis, earned freshman all-American honors at right guard in 2007; Schiano and his staff hope to offset the important losses on the offensive line by moving Davis to left tackle, turning a potential question mark into a position of strength. Though the defense lost three leaders, there is enough returning talent for it to again be ranked among the best units in the Big East. On the line, the senior end Jamaal Westerman led the team, and was sixth in the conference, with eight sacks. He enters his final season with 20 career sacks, fifth on the Rutgers career list. His biggest challenge will be duplicating his 2007 totals while receiving the pressure most offensive coordinators dedicated to Foster over the past few seasons. Rutgers also returns its two leading tacklers in the senior free safety Courtney Green (101) and the senior linebacker Kevin Malast. Keep an eye out for the sophomore Joe Lefeged, a freshman all-American selection last fall; Rutgers has high hopes Lefeged will be able to fill the hole left by the departed Girault at strong safety.
Position battle to watch: The biggest key for Rutgers this fall is finding a running back to replace Rice, the most productive back in program history. Two backs have the leg up on the competition after serving as Rice’s backups last fall. The sophomore Kordell Young was a capable replacement in the early going (58 yards rushing, 32 yards per kick return) before being lost for the year in the victory over Norfolk State in the third week. Picking up the slack in his absence was another sophomore, Mason Robinson, who was impressive in understudy duty: 202 yards rushing on a 5.6 yard average. Two players who redshirted as freshmen in 2007 are Joe Martinek and Jourdan Brooks; both will be in the mix for carries. Martinek is the leading rusher in New Jersey state history, while Brooks, a 6-1, 255 pound bruiser, could present a different look for the rushing attack.
2008 schedule:
Sept. 1 Fresno State
Sept. 11 North Carolina
Sept. 20 @ Navy
Sept. 27 Morgan State
Oct. 4 @ West Virginia
Oct. 11 @ Cincinnati
Oct. 18 Connecticut
Oct. 25 @ Pittsburgh
Nov. 8 Syracuse
Nov. 15 @ U.S.F.
Nov. 22 Army
Dec. 4 Louisville
Game(s) to watch: Rutgers has hopes for the Big East title, so every conference game counts. Unfortunately, the Scarlet Knights meet the four teams most are predicting as the favorites for the conference crown – West Virginia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and South Florida – on the road. Out of conference, the Fresno State game is possibly the top game of the opening weekend.
Season breakdown & prediction: With success comes raised expectations, something the Rutgers program will now have to deal with on a yearly basis. Last fall, the Scarlet Knights seemed to buckle under that pressure, especially when dealing with equally talented opponents. Can they win games against top 25 teams, especially on the road? When it comes to this fall, I know Rutgers fans are going to be perturbed with their No. 58 ranking on the Countdown, but I believe this slot is representative of where the Scarlet Knights fall in the Big East pecking order; losing Rice, Foster and the key members of the offensive line will be damaging both on the field and in the locker room, as the lost starters were integral leaders for the Scarlet Knights. Over all, I have Rutgers as high as fourth, and as low as sixth, in the Big East. And before Rutgers fans wish me bodily harm, remember: despite the 8-5 mark, the team finished tied for fifth in the Big East in 2007. Is this team better than a season ago? I acknowledge that the roster may be deeper, but I do not think they will be as explosive on offense. A seven-win season and fourth straight bowl trip falls in line with the progress Rutgers has taken under Schiano. If the program continues to recruit as well as it has, and is, Rutgers will only get better.
Dream season: Rutgers explodes out of the gate, beating West Virginia and Cincinnati on the road, and wins its first Big East championship. A loss at South Florida in November is the only regular-season blemish.
Nightmare season: Unable to make their fourth straight bowl appearance, 2008 is a major disappointment for the Scarlet Knights. To make matters worse, Schiano leaves the Rutgers program he built to replace the retiring Paterno at Penn State
7.01.2008
Know Your Foe: Miami (OH)
No. 59 Miami of Ohio
Location: Oxford, Ohio
Nickname: Redhawks, a bird yet to be discovered. The university was known as the Redskins until 1996. Miami must not have Dan Snyder’s lawyers.
Quick facts: Perhaps no other non-B.C.S. conference team has the history of Miami of Ohio, a program distinguished by its historical significance as the breeding ground for some of college football’s most legendary coaches. Lost in the background of its strong past is the program’s stellar play over the last 20 years, a stretch that has seen Miami finish with only three losing seasons since 1990. This is due to the faith the university has placed in the coaches it hires: the ‘Hawks have had only three head coaches over that span. The Countdown does not mean to imply winning football is a new concept to the Redhawks, far from it. Only one coach since 1912 has concluded his career at Miami with a losing record (Tim Rose, 31-44-3 from 1983-89), though the incumbent Shane Montgomery, 15-21 in Oxford, needs to get his act together to stay off that ignoble list. Eleven of the last 12 Redhawk coaches (names like Hoeppner, Schembechler, Parseghian, Hayes and Gillman) have gone on from Oxford to lead B.C.S.-conference teams; this is a testament to the program they helped build.
Tidbit: For the first time in Miami history, the Redhawks will host six games at Yager Stadium – four MAC games and two non-conference games. Miami won its final four games at home in 2007, snapping a team-record seven-game home losing streak.
Tidbit (best in the MAC edition): Miami is the winningest program in MAC history, both in terms of total victories (647) and winning percentage (.631).
Tidbit (Victory Bell edition): The oldest non-conference rivalry in the F.B.S. (first played in 1888), the winner of the rivalry game between Miami and Cincinnati receives the Victory Bell. The Redhawks hold a 59-46-7 lead over their in-state rivals, though each program has won four games this decade.
Team Information
Conference: Mid-American, East Division.
Head coach: Shane Montgomery (’90 N.C. State), 15-21 in three seasons with the Redhawks. Montgomery arrived in Oxford as one of the nation’s youngest coordinators in 2001, ratcheting up an already strong offensive attack to one of the best in the F.B.S.; in 2003, the Redhawks’ 501.1 yards per game was the second-highest average in the nation. His most famous protégé is Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the team record-holder in all meaningful Q.B. statistics, who Montgomery tutored to three all-MAC selections and third-team all-American honors in 2003. A two-time nominee (and 2003 finalist) for the coveted Broyles Award (given to the nation’s top assistant coach), it came as no surprise that, despite his young age, Montgomery was tabbed to replace the late Terry Hoeppner in 2005. His first season was a success – a 7-4 finish (the fourth-best first season in Miami’s illustrious coaching history) and a co-MAC East title – but 2006 was extremely disappointing: 2-10, a major drop-off for a program accustomed to being one of the best in the MAC. It was a nice bounce-back season last fall, but 2008 is a big year for Montgomery. He is no danger of losing his job, but Montgomery needs to show the Redhawks’ faithful that he has the program aimed in the right direction; alternating MAC East titles with sub-.500 seasons would be a bad harbinger for the future.
2007 record: 6-7 (5-2). Miami rebounded nicely from a disastrous 2-10 2006 season to earn its third MAC East title since 2003. The Redhawks won vital head-to-head matchups with Bowling Green and Buffalo, giving them the necessary tiebreakers to win the East. Unlike in past years, when the offense set the pace for the season, the defense was among the best in the MAC: first in scoring defense (25.6 points per game), second in total defense (375.4 yards per game), second in pass defense (206.8 yards) and first in sacks (32). Though the season ended poorly – a 35-10 loss to Central Michigan in the MAC championship game – 2007 illustrated that Miami, with 17 returning starters, is ready to take another step forward this fall.
High point: The aforementioned victories over Bowling Green (a 47-14 drubbing) and Buffalo (31-28). A 14-13 season-opening victory over Ball State looked better and better as the season went on.
Low point: Losing to Central Michigan in the MAC championship game was doubly devastating: it kept the Redhawks from their first conference title since 2003 and dropped the team to 6-7, preventing them from being eligible for postseason play. The Countdown believes that teams that participate in conference title games (division-winning teams) should be automatically eligible for a bowl appearance, regardless of record. A 47-10 loss to Cincinnati hurt; a 41-35 overtime loss to Minnesota – the Gophers’ only victory of the season – was embarrassing.
Returning starters: 17 (8 offense, 9 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, the Redhawks need to replace a trio of departed running backs, each of whom started in 2007. Cory Jones and Austin Sykes handled the majority of the carries and combined to rush for 949 yards (Jones 483, Sykes 466). Brandon Murphy was the opening game starter, and played extremely well – 201 yards, 6.5 yards per carry – before a season-ending injury in the second week of the season. The line lost two valuable starters in left tackle Charlie Norden and center Steve Meister. Norden rebounded nicely after missing the 2006 season due to injury, while Meister, a three-year starter, was invaluable due to his ability to play all three interior positions.
On defense, Miami lost only two starters: cornerback Jerrid Gaines and end Craig Mester. Gaines was Miami’s premier corner, a two-year starter who finished his career with three interceptions. Gaines was grabbed shortly after the draft by the Browns, but let go shortly after; he landed on his feet with another free-agent deal with a local team, signing with the Bengals. With questions in the Bengals secondary, Gaines has a better chance to stick in Cincinnati. Can Redhawks fans, known for their hatred of all things University of Cincinnati, root for the Bengals? Mester was a key cog in Miami, leading the MAC in sacks.
Players to watch: The Redhawks had 11 players with double-digit receptions in 2007, proof of Montgomery’s ability as a game-planner and play-caller. Miami returns four wideouts who had at least 25 catches, all underclassmen: the junior Dustin Woods (40 receptions for a team-best 603 yards) and the sophomores Eugene Harris (team-leading 46 grabs, 542 yards), Ahmad Robinson (33 for 471) and Chris Givens (25 for 430, team-leading 17.2 yards per catch). The position was a question mark entering last season; this fall, it is the deepest on the offense. Its depth has to have the junior quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh smiling from ear to ear. He split time with the co-captain Mike Kokal last season, but started the final seven games and has the leg up over the redshirt freshman Clay Belton for the starting job. Raudabaugh threw for 2,431 yards with 12 touchdowns, but also threw 12 interceptions. He needs to improve on that ratio as well as his completion percentage; 54.7 percent is not good enough, especially with the weapons he has at his disposal. The offensive line, though in a rebuilding mode, has two solid starters on the left side in the seniors Steve Sutter (tackle) and Dave DiFranco (guard). Sutter moves to the left side after holding down the right tackle spot as a junior while DiFranco, a third-team all-conference choice last fall, is one the MAC’s best returning linemen. The heart of the Miami defense is unquestionably its linebacking corps, a unit composed of a trio of all-conference and award candidates. The group is led by the senior Clayton Mullins, the defending MAC defensive player of the year. A tremendous talent on the weakside, Mullins led the Redhawks with 143 tackles (13.5 for loss) while adding four sacks; he is a definite all-American and Butkus Award candidate for 2008. Complimenting Mullins are two linebackers with skills of their own: the senior middle linebacker Joey Hudson (99 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions) and the junior Caleb Bostic (103 stops, 11 for loss). Bostic sat out the spring due to a foot injury, but is expected to be at full strength in the fall. He could take notes from Hudson; the senior sustained a potentially serious knee injury early in the season, but played through the setback to earn second-team all-MAC honors for the second straight season. The defensive line is led by the senior end Joe Coniglio, the only returning starter on the ‘Hawks front four. He led the team with six and a half sacks in 2007, adding 10.5 tackles for loss. Though Miami lost its best corner in Gaines, the senior strong safety Robbie Wilson is a steadying presence in the secondary, totaling 75 stops and 2 interceptions, tied for the team lead.
Position battle to watch: Belton is primed to take over should Raudabaugh struggle at quarterback. The position is essential, obviously. The incumbent needs to improve upon his decision making abilities, but Belton, without any game experience, may not be much of an upgrade in that regard. The real question on offense is at running back. A definite starter needs to be found after Miami struggled to find a rock-solid No. 1 back – because of injuries or ineffectiveness – in 2007. The sophomore Thomas Merriweather, the leading returning rusher with 143 yards, is the most likely lead ballcarrier for the Redhawks, though he will be challenged by the return of the junior Andre Bratton, who missed the final nine games of 2007 due to injury. Bratton led Miami with 285 rushing yards as a freshman. One of the two needs to step up and take the starting job.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 28 Vanderbilt
Sept. 6 @ Michigan
Sept. 13 Charleston Southern
Sept. 20 @ Cincinnati
Oct. 4 Temple
Oct. 11 @ Northern Illinois
Oct. 18 @ Bowling Green
Oct. 25 Kent State
Nov. 4 @ Buffalo
Nov. 11 Ball State
Nov. 21 @ Toledo
Nov. 28 Ohio
Game(s) to watch: Anything less than a MAC East championship would be a disappointment for the Redhawks, so matchups against Bowling Green, Buffalo and Ohio are key. The East champ cannot afford to lose more than two MAC games, so Miami must get at least two of three against its main competition.
Season breakdown & prediction: I really like Miami, despite its losses at running back and questions at quarterback. Those issues will resolve themselves: Bratton and Merriweather will, at worst, present a capable one-two punch in the running game, and if Raudabaugh takes a step back from his up-and-down sophomore season, the coaching staff loves what Belton brings to the table. The real reason for my positive outlook for the Redhawks is their defense. They have the MAC’s – and potentially any non-B.C.S. conference’s – best linebacking corps, an experienced defensive line and a deep secondary. There is no reason to think the unit’s level of play will decline; it may even improve upon last fall’s totals. While the non-conference slate (at Michigan and Cincinnati, especially) may be tough, I think Miami is as talented as any MAC team on its schedule, and should repeat as MAC East champs. Though the Redhawks do play Ball State, the game is at home; not getting the other two West favorites in Central and Western Michigan is a good break. If the offense can find some consistency, the Redhawks are the favorite to land another trip in the MAC title game, and could, potentially, win their first MAC championship under Montgomery. Though I think Central Michigan or Ball State is the team to beat for the MAC championship, I have Miami winning the East division with a 8-4 record, 6-2 in the MAC. And the future looks even brighter – the Redhawks have a roster that is young enough to expect another strong season in 2009.
Dream season: It’s a breakout fall for the Redhawks under Montgomery, the program’s first season with double-digit victories and a MAC title since Hoeppner led Miami to a 13-1 mark in 2003.
Nightmare season: Even seasons have not been kind to Montgomery, as the Redhawks slip to 4-8, 3-5 in the MAC.
Location: Oxford, Ohio
Nickname: Redhawks, a bird yet to be discovered. The university was known as the Redskins until 1996. Miami must not have Dan Snyder’s lawyers.
Quick facts: Perhaps no other non-B.C.S. conference team has the history of Miami of Ohio, a program distinguished by its historical significance as the breeding ground for some of college football’s most legendary coaches. Lost in the background of its strong past is the program’s stellar play over the last 20 years, a stretch that has seen Miami finish with only three losing seasons since 1990. This is due to the faith the university has placed in the coaches it hires: the ‘Hawks have had only three head coaches over that span. The Countdown does not mean to imply winning football is a new concept to the Redhawks, far from it. Only one coach since 1912 has concluded his career at Miami with a losing record (Tim Rose, 31-44-3 from 1983-89), though the incumbent Shane Montgomery, 15-21 in Oxford, needs to get his act together to stay off that ignoble list. Eleven of the last 12 Redhawk coaches (names like Hoeppner, Schembechler, Parseghian, Hayes and Gillman) have gone on from Oxford to lead B.C.S.-conference teams; this is a testament to the program they helped build.
Tidbit: For the first time in Miami history, the Redhawks will host six games at Yager Stadium – four MAC games and two non-conference games. Miami won its final four games at home in 2007, snapping a team-record seven-game home losing streak.
Tidbit (best in the MAC edition): Miami is the winningest program in MAC history, both in terms of total victories (647) and winning percentage (.631).
Tidbit (Victory Bell edition): The oldest non-conference rivalry in the F.B.S. (first played in 1888), the winner of the rivalry game between Miami and Cincinnati receives the Victory Bell. The Redhawks hold a 59-46-7 lead over their in-state rivals, though each program has won four games this decade.
Team Information
Conference: Mid-American, East Division.
Head coach: Shane Montgomery (’90 N.C. State), 15-21 in three seasons with the Redhawks. Montgomery arrived in Oxford as one of the nation’s youngest coordinators in 2001, ratcheting up an already strong offensive attack to one of the best in the F.B.S.; in 2003, the Redhawks’ 501.1 yards per game was the second-highest average in the nation. His most famous protégé is Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the team record-holder in all meaningful Q.B. statistics, who Montgomery tutored to three all-MAC selections and third-team all-American honors in 2003. A two-time nominee (and 2003 finalist) for the coveted Broyles Award (given to the nation’s top assistant coach), it came as no surprise that, despite his young age, Montgomery was tabbed to replace the late Terry Hoeppner in 2005. His first season was a success – a 7-4 finish (the fourth-best first season in Miami’s illustrious coaching history) and a co-MAC East title – but 2006 was extremely disappointing: 2-10, a major drop-off for a program accustomed to being one of the best in the MAC. It was a nice bounce-back season last fall, but 2008 is a big year for Montgomery. He is no danger of losing his job, but Montgomery needs to show the Redhawks’ faithful that he has the program aimed in the right direction; alternating MAC East titles with sub-.500 seasons would be a bad harbinger for the future.
2007 record: 6-7 (5-2). Miami rebounded nicely from a disastrous 2-10 2006 season to earn its third MAC East title since 2003. The Redhawks won vital head-to-head matchups with Bowling Green and Buffalo, giving them the necessary tiebreakers to win the East. Unlike in past years, when the offense set the pace for the season, the defense was among the best in the MAC: first in scoring defense (25.6 points per game), second in total defense (375.4 yards per game), second in pass defense (206.8 yards) and first in sacks (32). Though the season ended poorly – a 35-10 loss to Central Michigan in the MAC championship game – 2007 illustrated that Miami, with 17 returning starters, is ready to take another step forward this fall.
High point: The aforementioned victories over Bowling Green (a 47-14 drubbing) and Buffalo (31-28). A 14-13 season-opening victory over Ball State looked better and better as the season went on.
Low point: Losing to Central Michigan in the MAC championship game was doubly devastating: it kept the Redhawks from their first conference title since 2003 and dropped the team to 6-7, preventing them from being eligible for postseason play. The Countdown believes that teams that participate in conference title games (division-winning teams) should be automatically eligible for a bowl appearance, regardless of record. A 47-10 loss to Cincinnati hurt; a 41-35 overtime loss to Minnesota – the Gophers’ only victory of the season – was embarrassing.
Returning starters: 17 (8 offense, 9 defense).
Key losses:
On offense, the Redhawks need to replace a trio of departed running backs, each of whom started in 2007. Cory Jones and Austin Sykes handled the majority of the carries and combined to rush for 949 yards (Jones 483, Sykes 466). Brandon Murphy was the opening game starter, and played extremely well – 201 yards, 6.5 yards per carry – before a season-ending injury in the second week of the season. The line lost two valuable starters in left tackle Charlie Norden and center Steve Meister. Norden rebounded nicely after missing the 2006 season due to injury, while Meister, a three-year starter, was invaluable due to his ability to play all three interior positions.
On defense, Miami lost only two starters: cornerback Jerrid Gaines and end Craig Mester. Gaines was Miami’s premier corner, a two-year starter who finished his career with three interceptions. Gaines was grabbed shortly after the draft by the Browns, but let go shortly after; he landed on his feet with another free-agent deal with a local team, signing with the Bengals. With questions in the Bengals secondary, Gaines has a better chance to stick in Cincinnati. Can Redhawks fans, known for their hatred of all things University of Cincinnati, root for the Bengals? Mester was a key cog in Miami, leading the MAC in sacks.
Players to watch: The Redhawks had 11 players with double-digit receptions in 2007, proof of Montgomery’s ability as a game-planner and play-caller. Miami returns four wideouts who had at least 25 catches, all underclassmen: the junior Dustin Woods (40 receptions for a team-best 603 yards) and the sophomores Eugene Harris (team-leading 46 grabs, 542 yards), Ahmad Robinson (33 for 471) and Chris Givens (25 for 430, team-leading 17.2 yards per catch). The position was a question mark entering last season; this fall, it is the deepest on the offense. Its depth has to have the junior quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh smiling from ear to ear. He split time with the co-captain Mike Kokal last season, but started the final seven games and has the leg up over the redshirt freshman Clay Belton for the starting job. Raudabaugh threw for 2,431 yards with 12 touchdowns, but also threw 12 interceptions. He needs to improve on that ratio as well as his completion percentage; 54.7 percent is not good enough, especially with the weapons he has at his disposal. The offensive line, though in a rebuilding mode, has two solid starters on the left side in the seniors Steve Sutter (tackle) and Dave DiFranco (guard). Sutter moves to the left side after holding down the right tackle spot as a junior while DiFranco, a third-team all-conference choice last fall, is one the MAC’s best returning linemen. The heart of the Miami defense is unquestionably its linebacking corps, a unit composed of a trio of all-conference and award candidates. The group is led by the senior Clayton Mullins, the defending MAC defensive player of the year. A tremendous talent on the weakside, Mullins led the Redhawks with 143 tackles (13.5 for loss) while adding four sacks; he is a definite all-American and Butkus Award candidate for 2008. Complimenting Mullins are two linebackers with skills of their own: the senior middle linebacker Joey Hudson (99 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions) and the junior Caleb Bostic (103 stops, 11 for loss). Bostic sat out the spring due to a foot injury, but is expected to be at full strength in the fall. He could take notes from Hudson; the senior sustained a potentially serious knee injury early in the season, but played through the setback to earn second-team all-MAC honors for the second straight season. The defensive line is led by the senior end Joe Coniglio, the only returning starter on the ‘Hawks front four. He led the team with six and a half sacks in 2007, adding 10.5 tackles for loss. Though Miami lost its best corner in Gaines, the senior strong safety Robbie Wilson is a steadying presence in the secondary, totaling 75 stops and 2 interceptions, tied for the team lead.
Position battle to watch: Belton is primed to take over should Raudabaugh struggle at quarterback. The position is essential, obviously. The incumbent needs to improve upon his decision making abilities, but Belton, without any game experience, may not be much of an upgrade in that regard. The real question on offense is at running back. A definite starter needs to be found after Miami struggled to find a rock-solid No. 1 back – because of injuries or ineffectiveness – in 2007. The sophomore Thomas Merriweather, the leading returning rusher with 143 yards, is the most likely lead ballcarrier for the Redhawks, though he will be challenged by the return of the junior Andre Bratton, who missed the final nine games of 2007 due to injury. Bratton led Miami with 285 rushing yards as a freshman. One of the two needs to step up and take the starting job.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 28 Vanderbilt
Sept. 6 @ Michigan
Sept. 13 Charleston Southern
Sept. 20 @ Cincinnati
Oct. 4 Temple
Oct. 11 @ Northern Illinois
Oct. 18 @ Bowling Green
Oct. 25 Kent State
Nov. 4 @ Buffalo
Nov. 11 Ball State
Nov. 21 @ Toledo
Nov. 28 Ohio
Game(s) to watch: Anything less than a MAC East championship would be a disappointment for the Redhawks, so matchups against Bowling Green, Buffalo and Ohio are key. The East champ cannot afford to lose more than two MAC games, so Miami must get at least two of three against its main competition.
Season breakdown & prediction: I really like Miami, despite its losses at running back and questions at quarterback. Those issues will resolve themselves: Bratton and Merriweather will, at worst, present a capable one-two punch in the running game, and if Raudabaugh takes a step back from his up-and-down sophomore season, the coaching staff loves what Belton brings to the table. The real reason for my positive outlook for the Redhawks is their defense. They have the MAC’s – and potentially any non-B.C.S. conference’s – best linebacking corps, an experienced defensive line and a deep secondary. There is no reason to think the unit’s level of play will decline; it may even improve upon last fall’s totals. While the non-conference slate (at Michigan and Cincinnati, especially) may be tough, I think Miami is as talented as any MAC team on its schedule, and should repeat as MAC East champs. Though the Redhawks do play Ball State, the game is at home; not getting the other two West favorites in Central and Western Michigan is a good break. If the offense can find some consistency, the Redhawks are the favorite to land another trip in the MAC title game, and could, potentially, win their first MAC championship under Montgomery. Though I think Central Michigan or Ball State is the team to beat for the MAC championship, I have Miami winning the East division with a 8-4 record, 6-2 in the MAC. And the future looks even brighter – the Redhawks have a roster that is young enough to expect another strong season in 2009.
Dream season: It’s a breakout fall for the Redhawks under Montgomery, the program’s first season with double-digit victories and a MAC title since Hoeppner led Miami to a 13-1 mark in 2003.
Nightmare season: Even seasons have not been kind to Montgomery, as the Redhawks slip to 4-8, 3-5 in the MAC.
6.25.2008
Know Your Foe: Hawaii
(courtsey of NY Times)
The Quad Countdown: No. 65 Hawaii
Location: Honolulu.
Nickname: Warriors. The team shortened its name from the Rainbow Warriors prior to the 2000 season, though a number of the university’s teams still refer to themselves with the original nickname.
Quick facts: June Jones is gone – opting for another reclamation project at S.M.U. over maintaining the program he built in Honolulu – but his decision to leave is not merely the normal case of a money-grabbing, mercenary coach; blame must lie with the athletic department, then under the guidance of Herman Frazier, since fired for his improper handling of a myriad of athletic issues. Frazier was unable to (or decided not to) provide the university’s athletic teams with even adequate facilities (see Colt Brennan’s comments last spring), and his lackluster support of the football program – a major money maker – eventually wore upon Jones, who repeatedly stated his desire to finish his career at Hawaii. This seems an inexcusable reason for losing the best coach in program history: every F.B.S. program should have proper facilities for its athletes, and Frazier’s inability to deliver on this most basic need should define his tenure at Hawaii. Though nearly every Hawaiian, from Gov. Linda Lingle down to the guy serving plate lunch at L&L Drive-In, wanted Jones to stay, the melancholy majority have turned the page on the illustrious Jones era (76-41, two WAC championships) and welcomed with open arms the former defensive coordinator Greg McMackin, the 21st coach in team history. His assignment? To reload, not rebuild, and keep Hawaii in the upper-echelon of the WAC.
Tidbit: The 2007 Warriors broke or tied 15 N.C.A.A., 18 WAC and 47 team records. Leading the way was quarterback Brennan, whose 11 N.C.A.A. records include most touchdown passes (131), highest completion percentage (70.4), yards per game (387.9) and consecutive 200-yard passing games (34).
Team Information
Conference: Western Athletic.
Head coach: Greg McMackin (’69 Southern Oregon), entering his first season as the coach of the Warriors. McMackin had an impressive return to Hawaii as defensive coordinator last fall, improving the defense from 93rd nationally in total defense to 34th. While this is McMackin’s first head coaching job on the F.B.S. level, he has the resume to justify Hawaii’s faith. In addition to two separate stints at U.H. (1999 and 2007), McMackin has served as defensive coordinator at Utah, Navy, Texas Tech and Miami, and has been the associate head coach for the Seattle Seahawks (1995-98) and San Francisco 49ers (2003-5), both times under his good friend Dennis Erickson. It is likely no coincidence that “Coach Mack” has been involved in the two greatest seasons in Hawaii’s history (the nine-game turnaround in 1999, and last fall’s run). Though he has a monumental task ahead of him in replacing Jones, Hawaii seems to have chosen the right man for the job. Most importantly, players, fans and U.H. supporters have almost universally lauded the hiring, an integral step in the program moving forward after a difficult divorce from his predecessor.
2007 record: 12-1 (8-0). An unforgettable season: six close, hard-fought games, the program’s first outright WAC championship and a trip to the Sugar Bowl to take on the SEC’s mighty Georgia Bulldogs. Hawaii finished the season 19th in the A.P. poll and 17th in the U.S.A. Today poll, the highest final rankings in team history. Hawaii fans were able to experience the tremendous play of Brennan, the dynamic play-calling of Jones and a surprisingly stingy and opportunistic defense. While the offense garnered the acclaim – and deservedly so – McMackin’s defense was fifth nationally in tackles for loss, ninth in sacks and 11th in interceptions; they also recorded five defensive touchdowns. Even if the new offensive coordinator Ron Lee, a long-time Hawaii assistant, cannot maintain the high play of the Warriors offense, the defense will be good enough in 2008 to keep Hawaii in games.
High point: Many highlights, but the Countdown has a three high points limit. At Louisiana Tech in the second week of the season, the senior kicker Pat Kelly – a first-team all-WAC pick – drilled a 49-yard field goal to send the game to overtime, and the Warriors stopped a 2-point conversion to escape with a 45-44 victory. After sneaking past Fresno State (37-30) and Nevada (28-26), Hawaii rolled up 574 yards of total offense in beating Boise State, 39-27, to clinch the WAC. Hawaii still had to get past Washington to get into the B.C.S., and it did, defeating the Huskies, 35-28, on a rain-soaked first night of December. The final pair are two of the most unforgettable games in Hawaii’s history.
Low point: The only defeat, a 41-10 loss at the hands of a faster, more athletic Georgia team in the B.C.S. Sugar Bowl. It was a disappointing end to the season, but shouldn’t detract from the Warriors’ spectacular play throughout the year.
Returning starters: 8 (4 offense, 4 defense).
Key losses:
On offense there are so many. The biggest is Brennan, a Heisman finalist each of the past two season (he finished third last fall) and, as we noted above, a multiple-N.C.A.A. record holder. Hampered by injuries in 2007, Brennan’s numbers – 4,343 yards, 38 touchdowns – fell short of his amazing junior season, when he threw for 5,549 yards and 58 scores. However, looking at the big picture, Brennan is one of the great quarterbacks in recent college football history, and will forever be associated with this glowing era of U.H. football. He was the lone Warrior taken in the draft, selected by the Redskins in the sixth round. While many pundits have questioned his pro potential (the Countdown thinks that though he has landed in a good situation in Washington, though a lack of size and arm strength will limit his chances), his time in the N.F.L. can never detract from his record-breaking collegiate career. The leading four receivers from last year are gone, two through graduation – Jason Rivers and C.J. Hawthorn – and two through early entry into the draft – Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullen. Bess (108 receptions, 1,266 yards), Rivers (92 for 1,174), and Grice-Mullen (106, 1,372) each reached 1,000 yards in 2007, making them the second receiving trio (2003 Texas Tech) to reach that mark. Not to be forgotten, C.J. Hawthorn finished fourth on the team with 61 receptions for 859 yards. All four went undrafted, though Bess (Dolphins), Rivers (Titans) and Grice-Mullen (Texans) all inked free-agent deals. The biggest loss up front is the all-conference guard Hercules Satele, who started 27 games for the Warriors. Satele signed a free-agent deal with Cardinals shortly after the draft.
On defense, the Warriors lost seven starters off its strong 2007 defense, but the unit will still be strong. Among the three starters lost of the line is end Amani Purcell, a transfer from Penn State, and tackle Michael Lafaele, a first-team all-WAC performer. The Warriors will also be without three starters from its secondary: safety Jacob Patek (third on the team with 77 tackles) and corners Myron Newberry (tied for the team lead with four interceptions) and Gerard Lewis (51 tackles, 2 picks).
Players to watch: The Warriors return three starting offensive linemen: the junior center John Estes and the seniors Keith AhSoon (left tackle) and Keoni Steinhoff (right tackle). Estes has started 27 straight games since his freshman season. Keep an eye on the sophomore Kealoha Pilares, who the coaching staff moved from running back to wide receiver to help replace some of the departed quartet’s production. Another wideout expected to step up is the junior Malcolm Lane, who has shown flashes in the receiving game (14 catches for 270 yards last year) but excels as a return man, returning two kicks for touchdowns in 2007. Though the running game is secondary to the air attack, Hawaii has a capable, explosive back in the junior Leon Wright-Jackson, a transfer from Nebraska. The leaders on defense are the senior linebackers Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian, both of whom received first-team all-WAC honors in 2007. Elimimian led the team, and was 14th nationally, with 141 tackles (12 for loss), while Leonard finished with his second consecutive 100-tackle season (105) and added 4 interceptions, 2 of which he returned for touchdowns.
Position battle to watch: Who will replace Brennan? The most logical answer is the senior Tyler Graunke, who has served as an understudy the last three seasons. Graunke is experienced; he has attempted 236 passes, starting two games last year when Brennan was injured. However, Graunke’s academic issues (he was suspended from the team in the winter and came back No. 3 on the depth chart) have the allowed the junior Inoke Funaki, the third-string quarterback in 2007, to make his push for the starting job. With more mobility, Funaki may give opponents a different look to think about. Still, Graunke’s numbers when starting in place of Brennan last fall bode well for the continuity of the Hawaii offense: 90 of 137 (65.7 percent completion percentage), 1,234 yards and 10 touchdowns. It should be his job.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 30 @ Florida
Sept. 6 Weber State
Sept. 13 @ Oregon State
Sept. 27 San Jose State
Oct. 4 @ Fresno State
Oct. 11 Louisiana Tech
Oct. 17 @ Boise State
Oct. 25 Nevada
Nov. 1 @ Utah State
Nov. 8 @ New Mexico State
Nov. 22 Idaho
Nov. 29 Washington State
Dec. 6 Cincinnati
Game(s) to watch: Despite all the losses, Hawaii still has hopes for the WAC crown; therefore, the games to watch are at Fresno State and Boise State, both within a three-week span in October. U.H. shouldn’t sleep on Nevada, which will be greatly improved over 2007.
Season breakdown & prediction: The first team from the final A.P. Top 25 to crack the Countdown, Hawaii is bound to take a step back after a magical 2007 season. This is due to a perfect storm of obstacles: replacing a legendary coach and the meat of a talented roster in the same off-season. However, there is no reason to predict a complete drop-off in success, for the following reasons:
1. Despite losing Brennan and his receivers, Hawaii will still be able to move the ball (albeit less so than in 2007).
2. The defense will be strong enough to mask most offensive deficiencies, and will keep Hawaii in games.
3. Hawaii still plays in the WAC, and even with its losses, will be more talented than at least half of its conference brethren.
4. The Warriors are extremely difficult to beat at home; they have lost only 10 regular-season games in Honolulu since 2001, half of which came against out-of-conference opponents.
While I think Hawaii will struggle, it is still a bowl-caliber team. I predict an 8-5 finish, good for fourth in the WAC. Worse than 2007, for sure, but making a bowl appearance in the first year under McMackin would be a good omen for the direction of the program.
Dream season: Hawaii, while not nearly as good as a year ago, doesn’t experience the slide many are predicting. A nine-win season, especially with a tough non-conference schedule, would be tremendous for the program.
Nightmare season: The Warriors struggle without Jones at the helm, stumbling through a 5-8 season – their third losing season since 1999.
The Quad Countdown: No. 65 Hawaii
Location: Honolulu.
Nickname: Warriors. The team shortened its name from the Rainbow Warriors prior to the 2000 season, though a number of the university’s teams still refer to themselves with the original nickname.
Quick facts: June Jones is gone – opting for another reclamation project at S.M.U. over maintaining the program he built in Honolulu – but his decision to leave is not merely the normal case of a money-grabbing, mercenary coach; blame must lie with the athletic department, then under the guidance of Herman Frazier, since fired for his improper handling of a myriad of athletic issues. Frazier was unable to (or decided not to) provide the university’s athletic teams with even adequate facilities (see Colt Brennan’s comments last spring), and his lackluster support of the football program – a major money maker – eventually wore upon Jones, who repeatedly stated his desire to finish his career at Hawaii. This seems an inexcusable reason for losing the best coach in program history: every F.B.S. program should have proper facilities for its athletes, and Frazier’s inability to deliver on this most basic need should define his tenure at Hawaii. Though nearly every Hawaiian, from Gov. Linda Lingle down to the guy serving plate lunch at L&L Drive-In, wanted Jones to stay, the melancholy majority have turned the page on the illustrious Jones era (76-41, two WAC championships) and welcomed with open arms the former defensive coordinator Greg McMackin, the 21st coach in team history. His assignment? To reload, not rebuild, and keep Hawaii in the upper-echelon of the WAC.
Tidbit: The 2007 Warriors broke or tied 15 N.C.A.A., 18 WAC and 47 team records. Leading the way was quarterback Brennan, whose 11 N.C.A.A. records include most touchdown passes (131), highest completion percentage (70.4), yards per game (387.9) and consecutive 200-yard passing games (34).
Team Information
Conference: Western Athletic.
Head coach: Greg McMackin (’69 Southern Oregon), entering his first season as the coach of the Warriors. McMackin had an impressive return to Hawaii as defensive coordinator last fall, improving the defense from 93rd nationally in total defense to 34th. While this is McMackin’s first head coaching job on the F.B.S. level, he has the resume to justify Hawaii’s faith. In addition to two separate stints at U.H. (1999 and 2007), McMackin has served as defensive coordinator at Utah, Navy, Texas Tech and Miami, and has been the associate head coach for the Seattle Seahawks (1995-98) and San Francisco 49ers (2003-5), both times under his good friend Dennis Erickson. It is likely no coincidence that “Coach Mack” has been involved in the two greatest seasons in Hawaii’s history (the nine-game turnaround in 1999, and last fall’s run). Though he has a monumental task ahead of him in replacing Jones, Hawaii seems to have chosen the right man for the job. Most importantly, players, fans and U.H. supporters have almost universally lauded the hiring, an integral step in the program moving forward after a difficult divorce from his predecessor.
2007 record: 12-1 (8-0). An unforgettable season: six close, hard-fought games, the program’s first outright WAC championship and a trip to the Sugar Bowl to take on the SEC’s mighty Georgia Bulldogs. Hawaii finished the season 19th in the A.P. poll and 17th in the U.S.A. Today poll, the highest final rankings in team history. Hawaii fans were able to experience the tremendous play of Brennan, the dynamic play-calling of Jones and a surprisingly stingy and opportunistic defense. While the offense garnered the acclaim – and deservedly so – McMackin’s defense was fifth nationally in tackles for loss, ninth in sacks and 11th in interceptions; they also recorded five defensive touchdowns. Even if the new offensive coordinator Ron Lee, a long-time Hawaii assistant, cannot maintain the high play of the Warriors offense, the defense will be good enough in 2008 to keep Hawaii in games.
High point: Many highlights, but the Countdown has a three high points limit. At Louisiana Tech in the second week of the season, the senior kicker Pat Kelly – a first-team all-WAC pick – drilled a 49-yard field goal to send the game to overtime, and the Warriors stopped a 2-point conversion to escape with a 45-44 victory. After sneaking past Fresno State (37-30) and Nevada (28-26), Hawaii rolled up 574 yards of total offense in beating Boise State, 39-27, to clinch the WAC. Hawaii still had to get past Washington to get into the B.C.S., and it did, defeating the Huskies, 35-28, on a rain-soaked first night of December. The final pair are two of the most unforgettable games in Hawaii’s history.
Low point: The only defeat, a 41-10 loss at the hands of a faster, more athletic Georgia team in the B.C.S. Sugar Bowl. It was a disappointing end to the season, but shouldn’t detract from the Warriors’ spectacular play throughout the year.
Returning starters: 8 (4 offense, 4 defense).
Key losses:
On offense there are so many. The biggest is Brennan, a Heisman finalist each of the past two season (he finished third last fall) and, as we noted above, a multiple-N.C.A.A. record holder. Hampered by injuries in 2007, Brennan’s numbers – 4,343 yards, 38 touchdowns – fell short of his amazing junior season, when he threw for 5,549 yards and 58 scores. However, looking at the big picture, Brennan is one of the great quarterbacks in recent college football history, and will forever be associated with this glowing era of U.H. football. He was the lone Warrior taken in the draft, selected by the Redskins in the sixth round. While many pundits have questioned his pro potential (the Countdown thinks that though he has landed in a good situation in Washington, though a lack of size and arm strength will limit his chances), his time in the N.F.L. can never detract from his record-breaking collegiate career. The leading four receivers from last year are gone, two through graduation – Jason Rivers and C.J. Hawthorn – and two through early entry into the draft – Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullen. Bess (108 receptions, 1,266 yards), Rivers (92 for 1,174), and Grice-Mullen (106, 1,372) each reached 1,000 yards in 2007, making them the second receiving trio (2003 Texas Tech) to reach that mark. Not to be forgotten, C.J. Hawthorn finished fourth on the team with 61 receptions for 859 yards. All four went undrafted, though Bess (Dolphins), Rivers (Titans) and Grice-Mullen (Texans) all inked free-agent deals. The biggest loss up front is the all-conference guard Hercules Satele, who started 27 games for the Warriors. Satele signed a free-agent deal with Cardinals shortly after the draft.
On defense, the Warriors lost seven starters off its strong 2007 defense, but the unit will still be strong. Among the three starters lost of the line is end Amani Purcell, a transfer from Penn State, and tackle Michael Lafaele, a first-team all-WAC performer. The Warriors will also be without three starters from its secondary: safety Jacob Patek (third on the team with 77 tackles) and corners Myron Newberry (tied for the team lead with four interceptions) and Gerard Lewis (51 tackles, 2 picks).
Players to watch: The Warriors return three starting offensive linemen: the junior center John Estes and the seniors Keith AhSoon (left tackle) and Keoni Steinhoff (right tackle). Estes has started 27 straight games since his freshman season. Keep an eye on the sophomore Kealoha Pilares, who the coaching staff moved from running back to wide receiver to help replace some of the departed quartet’s production. Another wideout expected to step up is the junior Malcolm Lane, who has shown flashes in the receiving game (14 catches for 270 yards last year) but excels as a return man, returning two kicks for touchdowns in 2007. Though the running game is secondary to the air attack, Hawaii has a capable, explosive back in the junior Leon Wright-Jackson, a transfer from Nebraska. The leaders on defense are the senior linebackers Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian, both of whom received first-team all-WAC honors in 2007. Elimimian led the team, and was 14th nationally, with 141 tackles (12 for loss), while Leonard finished with his second consecutive 100-tackle season (105) and added 4 interceptions, 2 of which he returned for touchdowns.
Position battle to watch: Who will replace Brennan? The most logical answer is the senior Tyler Graunke, who has served as an understudy the last three seasons. Graunke is experienced; he has attempted 236 passes, starting two games last year when Brennan was injured. However, Graunke’s academic issues (he was suspended from the team in the winter and came back No. 3 on the depth chart) have the allowed the junior Inoke Funaki, the third-string quarterback in 2007, to make his push for the starting job. With more mobility, Funaki may give opponents a different look to think about. Still, Graunke’s numbers when starting in place of Brennan last fall bode well for the continuity of the Hawaii offense: 90 of 137 (65.7 percent completion percentage), 1,234 yards and 10 touchdowns. It should be his job.
2008 schedule:
Aug. 30 @ Florida
Sept. 6 Weber State
Sept. 13 @ Oregon State
Sept. 27 San Jose State
Oct. 4 @ Fresno State
Oct. 11 Louisiana Tech
Oct. 17 @ Boise State
Oct. 25 Nevada
Nov. 1 @ Utah State
Nov. 8 @ New Mexico State
Nov. 22 Idaho
Nov. 29 Washington State
Dec. 6 Cincinnati
Game(s) to watch: Despite all the losses, Hawaii still has hopes for the WAC crown; therefore, the games to watch are at Fresno State and Boise State, both within a three-week span in October. U.H. shouldn’t sleep on Nevada, which will be greatly improved over 2007.
Season breakdown & prediction: The first team from the final A.P. Top 25 to crack the Countdown, Hawaii is bound to take a step back after a magical 2007 season. This is due to a perfect storm of obstacles: replacing a legendary coach and the meat of a talented roster in the same off-season. However, there is no reason to predict a complete drop-off in success, for the following reasons:
1. Despite losing Brennan and his receivers, Hawaii will still be able to move the ball (albeit less so than in 2007).
2. The defense will be strong enough to mask most offensive deficiencies, and will keep Hawaii in games.
3. Hawaii still plays in the WAC, and even with its losses, will be more talented than at least half of its conference brethren.
4. The Warriors are extremely difficult to beat at home; they have lost only 10 regular-season games in Honolulu since 2001, half of which came against out-of-conference opponents.
While I think Hawaii will struggle, it is still a bowl-caliber team. I predict an 8-5 finish, good for fourth in the WAC. Worse than 2007, for sure, but making a bowl appearance in the first year under McMackin would be a good omen for the direction of the program.
Dream season: Hawaii, while not nearly as good as a year ago, doesn’t experience the slide many are predicting. A nine-win season, especially with a tough non-conference schedule, would be tremendous for the program.
Nightmare season: The Warriors struggle without Jones at the helm, stumbling through a 5-8 season – their third losing season since 1999.
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