Middle Tennessee St. +19
The Blue Raiders are familiar going into hostile environments – in the last 3 years they have traveled to LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Florida. The players have expressed that they are more excited than they are nervous. The Raiders, who were 10th in scoring last year at over 37 ppg, will be trying to replace their record setting QB Wes Counts. Taking over will be junior Andrico Hines, a transfer from Southwest Miss CC. Although he hasn’t seen playing time, he has traveled with the team and knows the offense. 8 starters return to the high-powered unit led by Doak Walker candidate Dwone Hicks, who has rushed for over 2,600 yards in his career. The loss of Counts will be a big spot to fill, but the offense has enough veterans to keep the yards and points rolling. Coach Andy McCollum has developed this program into something special especially since in joined 1-A in 1999. Defensively, they return 6 starters, but have very physical players in key roles. Fall camp was different this year with more contact than usual so they could prepare for the early season tough schedule. ''I think as far as being in shape, this is the most physical-type camp we have done,'' MTSU center Glen Elarbee said. They have been penned as one of the top 5 most underrated team in the country by ESPN and are ranked #8 in the ESPN Mid-Major top 10.
Alabama comes into 2002 on a big downer. The Tide was put on five years' probation with a two-year bowl ban for recruiting violations. How this will affect them throughout the year remains to be seen, but it is definitely in the back of their minds. With Alabama being so rich in tradition, players know that they cannot just sit down and die, but at the same time, will their hearts be into every game? Probably not. The rivalries and the big games, yes, but the Sun Belt games – no. The Tide returns 7 offensive and 8 defensive starters and is led by Tyler Watts at QB, a very mobile quarterback. Finishing a disappointing 7-5 last year, Alabama was then hit with the penalties in the off-season, marring one of the great football programs in the country.
The big factor in this game is who wants it more? Alabama travels to Oklahoma next week and although Coach Fran says that they are focused on MTSU only, you know they are looking ahead somewhat. They will be playing the role of spoiler all year long and what better place to start than in Norman. With Tennessee and Kentucky on deck for the Blue Raiders, they know that each of these games are all just as important and a win in any of them would bolster the program even more. Look for this team to play their hearts out in the opener and stay within the number.
Rice –7.5
The Owls finished last year with 8-4 record, the best since for Rice since 1953. Unfortunately, they return only 4 starters on each side of the ball. The good news is that the triple option skill payers are all still intact, led by Junior QB Kyle Herm. A revamped offensive line will have to open holes but this attack is one of the hardest to defend in football. The offense started to really click toward the end of 2001, averaging 33.5 ppg in their last 6 games, compared to 22 in their first 6. Hern is also a very capable passer, throwing for 1,211 yards last year; a pretty good number for a team that stresses the run and finished 2nd in the nation with 281 ypg. They will be going against a defense that yielded an average of 211 ypg and 39 ppg in 2001. The Cougars return 6 players to this unit led by safety Hanik Milligan, who averaged almost 17 tackles per game. An impressive individual number, but not an impressive team number since it shows that the front 7 couldn’t stop anyone.
The youthful Owl defense must stay healthy. Returning from injuries this year are LB Jeff Vanover and DL Jeremy Calahan, both of which missed last year. Brandon Green, who led the Big 12 in sacks last year, also returns and is the leader of this unit. Many believe that the athletes are in place here to make this a very strong defense in 2002. They will be facing a wide-open attack from Houston, who passed for almost 250 ypg last season. Unfortunately for the Cougars, no one has stepped up to guide the offense. They have talented wideouts but at this point, they will have trouble getting the balls thrown to them.
Rice will be going for their 3rd consecutive victory over Houston and hope to retain the Bayou Bucket, the prize for the winner of this Houston city series. Rice must step up with the loss of 25 seniors, but they should have no problem to handily beat an overmatched Cougar team.
Utah –9.5
Utah and Utah St. will meet for the 102nd time Saturday with Utah holding the series advantage 69-28-4. The Aggies will try to improve on their 3-8 record from last year without their All-American RB Emmett White. Defense was the problem last year as they ranked 112th in passing defense, 77th in rushing defense and 110th in scoring defense. They bring back 8 starters from this unit that needs to make a huge improvement if they plan on reversing those numbers from 2001. Utah brings back 5 starters on offense, led by QB Lance Rice. Even though the strength of this team is the defense, the offense averaged 29 ppg last year. The offensive line will be solid; the question is who will run the ball between them. Marty Johnson is the leading candidate to take over for Hunter and Tate. Johnson missed 11 games last year because of injuries. His only game was against the Aggies, where he rushed for 95 yards and a TD. With a year as a starter under his belt, Rice should be able to make things work once they get into the red-zone; the teams Achilles heel last year.
Defense is the strength of the Utes, where they gave up only 18.5 ppg last year and bring back 8 starters. They should be able to start right where they left off. With White gone, more pressure is put on QB Jose Fuentes to keep the offense rolling along for Utah St. They were 13th nationally in passing last year and return most of the cogs to keep it going in 2002. However, they enter the season going against one of the best in the D’s country. Utah won last year’s battle 23-19, holding the Aggies to 301 total yards, 120 less than their 2001 average. Utah actually led the game 23-6 with 2:30 remaining but gave up a TD and then a punt return for a TD as time expired (Utah was favored by 9 in that game – that’s a tough pill to swallow for Ute backers). Look for the Utes to continue where they left off last year when they held USC to 6 points in the Las Vegas Bowl.
GLTA!!
Adding:
Baylor +9.5
We do know one thing here; the Bears will win this game. Whether it’s the Cal Bears or the Baylor Bears, that we don’t know, which makes the 9.5 points very attractive. Both of these teams are in a serious rebuilding year and are looking for much needed improvement on both sides of the ball. Our feeling is that with a new coach and systems, it will take some time for a team to gel. The first game is always a test with new schemes and formations so expect them to play a bit conservative. Cal brings in new head coach Jeff Tedford to turn around a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 1993. The same goes for Baylor. Former San Jose St. head coach Dave Balwin, who was offensive coordinator at Cincinnati last year, comes in to lead the offense. With the offenses still learning, look for a game dictated by both defenses.
Baylor returns 9 starters from a very young and inexperienced defense last year that yielded 32.5 ppg. All of the front line returns and there is speed at the linebacker position where all 3 starters return as well. Junior right cornerback Matt Johnson and redshirt freshman SS Maurice Lane are the newcomers to the secondary that was 93rd in the country in passing at 247 ypg. With the experience of last year, this unit should be much better. Cal returns 6 starters on offense including QB Kyle Boller for new head coach Tedford. Tedford comes to Cal from Oregon, where he was offensive coordinator. He was able to put together good offenses at Oregon and Fresno St. before that. He is known for getting the most out of young quarterbacks and his pupils included David Carr and Joey Harrington. Unfortunately, Boller is a senior and his completion percentage (45.1) and touchdown/interception ratio (36-38) might be just too much to fix. He should improve as he has the receivers to throw to, but don’t expect any miracles.
Cal returns 8 to their defense that was even worse than the Baylor D. Cal finished 115th in passing D (296.4 ypg) and 113th in scoring D (39.2 ppg). Cal has been known for their defense in the past but last year was a significant dropoff. Baylor comes in with 6 returning starters, led by 6th year senior QB Greg Cicero. OC Baldwin plans on running the ball more and he feels the spread offense should help open things up for a running game that was 108th last year in rushing. As with Boller, there is potential in Cicero to improve.
Head coach Kevin Steele is on the hot seat and needs to turn things around in a hurry. Don’t look for that to happen in the Big 12, but a soft non-conference schedule should help some. Baylor has Samford on deck next week, so there will be no look ahead. Both of these teams come in with whole new looks and it should take time to get the offenses rolling. Look for the game to be played conventional as both of these teams want to start off with a win. A team that finished 1-10 last year laying 9.5 in their first game is just way too many to give.
GLTA!
Adding:
Troy St. +36
The Trojans are getting much more respect than last year when they were getting 47 from the Huskers. Troy St. went 7-4 in its first year in 1-A including a win over Mississippi St. They also defeated eventual Sun Belt champ North Texas and played both Nebraska and Miami tough. Troy St. has another brutal schedule this year but they are getting excellent exposure by taking on the big names. They return 17 starters from last year along with their punter and kicker. They must replace QB Brock Nutter with sophomore Hansell Bearden and also replace RB Demontray Carter. On defense, they return 8 with the linebacker position the only one to fill. With a year of experience at this level, overall, they should be ok defensively.
We weren’t overly impressed with the Nebraska offense last week as the Huskers had 2 blocked punts, one for a touchdown, a third that was shanked for 19 yards and an interception that was returned for a touchdown, all of which led to 28 points. Lord looked pretty good running the ball and didn’t commit mistakes but the passing game needs improvement. The defense gave up 258 total yards to ASU, a lot in mop up time, but that could be the case here as well. The Huskers won’t take Troy St. lightly, seeing that they only led by 14 at half time last year. However, this is a different Nebraska team that is working on its own cohesion as well. Troy St. has the confidence knowing that they can hang around and won’t be intimidated by the huge crowd in Lincoln. Look for the Trojans to play some solid D and keep it within the number. And if need be, the back door should be left open.
GLTA!
Adding:
Miami Ohio +7
MAC freshman of the year Ben Roethlisberger lead the Miami Redhawks into Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina. Roethlisberger led all division 1-A freshman quarterbacks in yards, touchdown passes and total offense. He has proven that he can be a team leader as he broke all of the Miami single season records last year. He has 2 excellent receivers returning and has Luke Clemens in the backfield to rely on. The defense returns 7 and could be the strong point of this team. 5 of the top 6 tacklers return to a unit that ranked 47th in passing defense and 52nd in rushing defense, not too bad with Michigan, Iowa, Marshall and Hawaii on their schedule. The season starts off with three difficult non-conference games, with Iowa and LSU on deck. This is probably the most winnable game of the three and escaping Chapel Hill with a W could propel them with the necessary confidence for the next 2 games. In 1998, Miami defeated the Tar Heels 13-10.
The Tar Heels lost 8 starters on defense, normally the school's strong point. Can the offense carry this team? Maybe.... but that might be asking too much. A strong 8-2 finish last year should give the team some confidence coming in, but most of those players have moved on. The QB battle is still going on and there is no big time running back to help. It looks to be another rebuilding year for North Carolina as they are picked to finish near the bottom of the ACC. Miami proved that they could win here and coming in this year with a better cast than in 1998, things look good again.
GLTA!
Adding:
Arkansas St. +1
Feeling here is that the line is in part due to 2 factors. One is the Indians 56 point loss last week at Virginia Tech and the other is the fact that last weeks starting QB Tommy Miller is out. The loss last week sure hurt, but it will help this team going forward, knowing how they have to avoid turnovers to stay in ballgames. When Miller left last week, Elliot Jacobs came in to complete 9 of 16 passes for 177 yards. Granted it was against the Va Tech 5th teamers, but that’s the caliber he will be facing this week. Plus he did get a lot of playing time in 2001. The Indians move back in class against a team that they can beat.
San Jose St. is the youngest team in 1-A, returning only 30 lettermen in total. They bring back a good QB in Arroyo but return only 2 OL to help protect him. The defense brings back only 2 starters from last year and one of those, Brandon Miles, was moved to fullback. The Spartans finished last in defense in 2001 and the future doesn’t look good for this year with the lack of experience coming in.
For such an inexperienced team to be favored on the road doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Believe there is a lot of value in this line coming off the big loss and with last weeks starting QB out. Jacobs is capable of holding his own.
GLTA!