Well it's that time of year again. Only a few days away from USC vs. Va. Tech so i figured I'd start a thread to let people talk about their favorite team (maybe give a scouting report), key games, and to pick their Ntl Champion and whatever else you want to rant about. 2004 Ohio State Buckeyes Great defense, great kicker, questionable offense and questionable punter. To most schools a good punter is far down on your list of questions but at Ohio State it really hurts. Tressel runs a very vanilla offense, he tries to win teh game with field position and has been blessed since he started in having a couple great punters. OSU does have a potentially good young punter in AJ Trauppso but he is suspended for a couple open container vialotions. Senior Huston (a kicker until this year) will try to handle the punting. D Line - Should be a good group anchored by Sr DE Simon Frasier. Fraiser is the only returning started and despite losing 3 draft picks there is a lot of experience coming back and should have decent depth. Linebackers - This is the strength of the team and (IMO) the best in the nation. AJ Hawk is a pre-season All-American and makes plays. Bobby Carpenter started much of last year on the outside and is a run-stopper. Joining those 2 are Schlegel a transfer from Air Force who was all-conference his last year and is getting rave review from the coaches at MLB, Kerr a transfer from Indiana, and D'Andrea who was the most recruited LB in his class (over Hawk and Carpenter). These 5 will all play and expect to see OSU experiment with 4 LBs more than ever to get this athletic bunch on the field. Secondary - Anchored by CB Dustin Fox a 3 year starter. The other CB spot is likley EJ Underwood but Buckeye-Land is in love with Tedd Ginn the Freshman sensation who has been working as a CB, WR and returned. This kid is special, don't know how often they can get him on the field but he needs to play. Whitner is aply maker at safety but is in a dog fight to start. O-Line - 2 returning startes in Sims (LT) and Mangold (C) who both should merit All-American consideration. Guard spots are locked down by Datish and Kne, bioth solid, neither great. RT is open to 3 players so be interested to see if either can step up. This group needs to play better than last year to protect the QB and establish the running game. Receivers - Santonio Holmes is a playmaker, question is can they get him the ball? TE position was hurt when izzary was kicked off the team (likely 2nd TE) but Ryan Hamby vcan get the job done (not flashy but can block and has decent hands). Backs - 1st year starter at QB will likley by Justin Zwich (Red Shirt Soph) a Ohio HS Phenom a couple years ago. Backing him up is Troy Smith who is much more mobile and will get some action. If the O-line struggles Smith may end up with this job. Brandon Joe will be the FB and he is a good one. Schnikker backs him up and he is more of the big blocking FW, while Joe is a FB who can catch and carry the ball (played HB in last years Fiesta Bowl). Who will step up as the TB? Lydell Ross gets the 1st chance and has all the tools but is oft injured. Mauruce Hall is very fast but even more oft injured. Eric Haw is a true freshman who may take the spot. Large kid with great speed, he's my surprise player this year. Nugent is a very good kicker and should merit All-American honors. Season projection - Probably 2 losses, but a share of the Big 10 title. Going to NC State worries me. Getting Wisky and Michigan at home is a good thing, but the Buckeyes offense is too inexperienced to win them all this year. A great defense keeps the team in every game. If the punting game falters (which it could) 3-4 losses is very realistic. Around the Big 10 - Lot of good teams, but I don't see a "great" team right now. Michigan is loaded at WR but needs a RB and Gutirrez (sp) needs time at QB. Wisky will be good, Purdue could be sleeper bringing back Orton at QB, and I'm curious as to what Iowa brings to the table this year. I'd be shocked to see any team run the table in conference but IMO if anyone does it's Minny who has a very favorable schedule and a pair of stud RBs. Around the Country - I think Texas beats Ok finally this year. Maybe it's wishful thinking but I hope Mack keeps his job (Texas comes to OSU in 2005). But I still see them losing a game along the way too. lt's lots of parity this year (the ACC is loaded). Easily could be a couple one loss teams in the Championship game. If I have to predict the teams in the Orange Bowl I'd guess Georgia and USC with Georgia winning (note I do think Va Tech will give USC all they can handle this Saturday)
University of Texas Coaching--sucks. Mack may never beat Bob. have a nice day. David University of Texas Graduate 1994 Longhorn fan for life. Reality is harsh.
mateo.. ... all these preseason people are predicting us to not be the worst team in sec.... win 5 or 6 games.. that's a brilliant year for Vandy..... some say cutler is top pro qb prospect in sec... definitly top 3 sec qb... and we just landed a commitment from number 9 overall ranked hs qb yesterday... bring on the 5 win seasons..
I'm actually getting really encouraged about CU this year. Coaching is still a weakness, but other than that, almost all have "percieved" weaknesses have really stepped up. I'm still worried about CB's, but our LB's are gonna be wicked this year. Frosh Jordan Dizon is gonna be a monster out there. Bad Thad has been bumped to second string, but that's only temporary, he's gonna be one of the better MLB's in the Big XII. Add Iwuh who was a safety for us last year (4-2-5) and we're set there. DE has some concerns, but DT is set. I could see CU finishing anywhere from 8-3 to 5-6. I think we're gonna surprise people this year.
Alabama Crimson Tide Last season: 4-7 Coach: Mike Shula (second year) Strengths: Linebackers, quarterback Weaknesses: Depth everywhere, defensive line, secondary, receiving corps, offensive line Outlooks: The Tide endured a miserable season last year as probation took its final and more horrific bites out of the Tide. Even though this year's club is less talented than last year's edition, an easier schedule may lead to a bowl berth and at least six or seven wins, a definite improvement. Shula will have some years before he can be considered to be on the hot seat, but the only thing expected in T-town is winning. And some stability wouldn't hurt either. But injuries on the defensive line and at quarterback could mark the difference between 7-4 and 5-6. My take: Tide finish 7-4, third in SEC West, receive a bowl bid to either Music City Bowl or Independence Bowl.
7-4? I thought you said 8-3 earlier. They're picked by Herbstreit as the SEC 'surprise team'. Anyway, this is my first post in like a week; I finally got time to use a computer and I still need to go buy Best Buy or Circuit City (or Dell) and get one. To anyone who wonders, Miami is fantastic. The campus is great, even though classes started today. I've seen Willie Williams a couple times and even said hello to him and just yesterday met Larry Coker (no pics this time, but there will be later). Coker is one of the nicest guys I've ever met (even briefly). You would think he would hate being bothered by so many people considering he's a celebrity around here (hell, he's the most popular ball coach in this city), but no, I shook his hand and introduced myself. Man, Sept. 6 will be crazy around here.
I am as well. Drew Tate will be a Sophmore starter this year at Quarterback. He had limited playing time last year, but there are high hopes for him. We're picked third behind Michigan and Ohio State and have all the tough teams on our schedule this year. I think third is a fair estimate for this year, but we'll be looking to move up next year! I can't wait for September 4th when they play the Throwback Game Celebrating 75 years of Kinnick Stadium. I grew up going to home games there, it will be a nice taste of home to watch on TV.
Boston College If they don't win the lousy Big East conference and go to a BCS bowl this year, they might as well stick to hockey. After this season when they move to the ACC with Miami and FSU, the only bowl that BC might be looking at are the ones during Christmas in Idaho or Detroit. It doesn't look good for UT against OU. The number of points OU has scored the last three years: 2001: 14 2002: 35 2003: 65 I'm thinking they break 90 this year.
I don't think that CU beats KSU, Texas, or Mizzou, so you can go ahead and scratch those off your list immediately. But they will win one or two games that they're not supposed to. Gary Barnett is very Jekyll and Hyde coach, who's awesome one week, and totally clueless the next. I hear that the big guy, Bobby Purify is back this season and starting since Bobby Calhoun transferred.
Miami has a big hole to fill at tailback with Gore out for most of the year, and Jarrett Payton graduated. Brock Berlin is flaky, so expect Derrick Crudup to get some reps early in the season. Antrei Rolle is a stud though, and might be one of the best DBs in college football. Roscoe Parrish should have a breakout year. The FSU-Miami game is on the same day as Texas-OU, October 9th. That is always a kickass day for college football. This year we get the 11AM kick, followed by Miami-FSU at 2:30PM.
I'm glad to see you back. Well, with all the injuries in camp, they are in serious trouble ALREADY! I think 7-4 is generous.
You mean the worst defensive coordinator in the NFL last year? The guy who's been fired by Shanahan and Vermeil? He's not going to make a damn bit of difference. His "read and react" philosophy is very confusing and failed him everywhere he's been. Not to mention the fact that we lost key starters in Marcus Tubbs, Nathan Vasher, and Kalen Thornton to the NFL.
What are you talking about? Frank Gore is currently practicing right now, but the coaches are taking it easy on him because of his knee. I don't know if he will be at 100% for the opener, but I don't think he is going to be out for the whole year. Besides, if he is, Miami has Tyrone Moss, who lettered as a true freshman last season, and several blue chip highschoolers coming in. Wrong, wrong, wrong on Crudup - redshirt freshman Kyle Wright will play before him and it may not be long before he is starting over Berlin, as I suspect Coker will not hesitate to go to the redshirt freshman. Parrish is pretty much a possession guy who happens to be an above-average punt returner - nothing special. The guy that you should keep an eye on is Ryan Moore who was decent last season but did not play to his potential. Miami does not play FSU like they normally do in October, that game is on Labor Day night, September 6. The key to their season besides stabilizing the QB position will be replacing the LBs (with Vilma and DJ Williams gone) and their safeties (especially Sean Taylor). It doesn't help that super freshman Willie Williams has a knee injury and may be redshirted this season. Remember the name Leon Williams - he was highly regarded coming out of high school in New York but hasn't gotten much playing time other than reserve action. It is time for him to live up to his press clippings. The good news is that Miami's O-Line and D-Line are very good and I think the reason why they beat FSU again. However, I think they will lose a game in the regular season. I just don't think they are as good as the 2001 and 2002 teams. Sadly, the 2003 team would have been right there if they had a damn offense. bama, Has Alabama gotten off their bowl probation ban?
Had Miami stayed in the Big East, they had a very good chance at running the table this season and playing for a national championship. What's amazing is that apparently the Canes open the season on Monday night, September 6 against FSU! The past few years they played each other on the first Saturday in August. I guess the whole conference change screwed up the schedule. It's going to be fun watching Berlin and Rix duke it out. I'm kinda suprised that Kyle Wright passed Crudup on the depth chart since he's only a freshman. I remember Mack recruited him pretty hard two years ago.
After watching him keep Greg Davis and Carl Reese on the staff past all reason - why should we trust Brown to make a good hire at a coaching position? Texas will probably be similar to last year - the offense will be entirely Vince Young and Benson - the defense will be about the same too. Defensive line will the thin, but the linebacking core should be stout. We'll lose to OU, but the game should more resemble the 14-3 game(good defensive performance unable to overcome mind-boggingly inept offensive gameplan), than the complete meltdown of last year. Probably drop one more game as well that we shouldn't(arkansas, tech, mizzou) - go to Cottoliday Bowl again. regarding another team - this is probably Les Miles' make-or-break year.
