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With 119 NCAA Division 1-A teams playing football, it will not be possible to provide a full writeup for every team... instead, I chose to focus on some key early games and a few teams that I think will surprise this year... some positively, some not. Bear in mind that these writeups are EARLY LOOKS and are not yet official plays.
Early Game Previews and Observations
9/3/05 Boise State @ Georgia -6
Dan Hawkins is on par with the most innovative coaches in college football, but doesn't get nearly the recognition that Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll do. He is able to recruit the talent that many schools reject and mold them into great teams. Offensively, Boise State is on par with Louisville and other high scoring programs. They will face a great opportunity to garner national attention when they open the season with a trip "between the hedges" in Athens to face a traditional SEC powerhouse in the Georgia Bulldogs.
Boise will return QB Jared Zabransky and 15 additional starters on both sides of the ball, eight on each side. They have a solid receiving corps and a terrific TE in Derek Schouman, who led the team with an average of 19 yards per catch, so he can stretch the defense. The Broncos will have some plays that will move the ball on Georgia and if they can jump out to an early lead, they may be able to steal a W in a very tough road stadium. Their biggest problem matching up with the Dawgs will be against the massive Georgia offensive line, anchored by Max Jean-Gilles at 6'4" and 340 pounds. Max could have decalred early for the NFL Draft and been a very high pick but decided to return for his senior season. The Dawgs' O-Line averages well over 300 pounds and all are experienced. This will create a problem for Boise State's smallish defensive front, especially with Georgia breaking in new QB D.J. Shockley. The Dawgs lost a lot of talent to the NFL this year, but it is generally recognized that the SEC has the best athletes top to bottom of any football conference in the NCAA. I expect the Bulldogs to impose their size advantage early and often, controlloing the clock and keeping Boise State's powerful offense off the field as much as possible. If the Broncos fall behind early and Geogia can run the ball with consistency, it will be difficult for Zabransky and Coach Hawkins to play from behind in a hostile environment. Boise will need to get out early by a couple of TD's and take control the game by forcing Georgia to throw, where they have little experience with the new wideouts under game conditions. It will take a supreme effort to conquer the Georgia 21-1 non-conference record under Mark Richt... especially in Athens. One thing that might be in their favor is the 5-2 record ats as an underdog and 16-9 ats record on an away or neutral field since 2001 under Coach Hawkins.
9/1/05 Temple @ Arizona State -28
Temple was actually told to take their football and go home by the Big East, which has made this downtrodden program a "Major" Independent for 2005. There has actually been some sentiment for disbanding the program or dropping down to NCAA D1-AA. The Owls lost the only two decent players they had to the NFL by early entry and they get booted from the Big east having lost 14 of the final 15 games they played. They could only manage 3 wins in the last two years combined and now play the 5th toughest schedule in the country, with road games at ASU, Wisconsin, Bowling Green, Clemson, Virginia and home vs. Miami, FL and Maryland plus Toledo. Not looking good for Bobby Wallace's squad, especially with only 5 offensive and 6 defensive starters returning, none of whom strike fear in opponent's hearts. They will have to go on the road in the season opener and play a rejuvenated Sun Devil team in Tempe in September, where the gametime temperature is likely to be in the 90's even at 7pm PDT kickoff.
Coming off a 9-3 season and a win over Purdue in the Sun Bowl, Sam Keller will be the starting QB after the very impressive game he played in El Paso. He had little experience playing behind Andrew Walter but had his breakout game throwing for 370 yards and 3 TD's against the Boilers. The Sun Devil offense was 5th in the country in passing last season and scored 35 of their 41 TD's by air... and all four top wideouts return. The offensive line is deep, solid and will protect Keller extremely well. Dirk Koetter is another offensive guru in the class of Meyer and Hawkins. The running game was the weak spot last year but obviously isn't the strength of a team that is a "throw first" philosophy base. With 15 returning starters, footballs will fill the air in Arizona and temple will be hard pressed to keep up. Unless the Owls can find a way to score at least 17 with the lack of skill players that they have, this one could get ugly early and often. It will be hard to find a single game that Temple can look at as a potential "W" this year. I may lay the four touchdowns in what should be a romp in the desert for a Sun Devil squad that is loaded and has had eight months to prep for a very weak team. I don't like laying DD's in early NCAA play, but this game seems to warrant it.
Saturday, September 3rd
Kansas-23 vs Florida Atlantic, Total of 42
Howard Schnellenberger was the man that brought Miami, FL and Louisville's football programs into top-tier status. His recruiting and creative offensive schemes were the model that many other programs copied. Now Howard takes on a much larger task in bringing FAU into full time Division1A status and Sun Belt Conference play. Last year's team was exceptional in a
part time role as a D1 team, going to Hawaii in the season opener and beating the Rainbows on their very strong home field and following that up by going to North Texas and beating them as well. Damn impressive if you ask me, especially if you consider that UH and NTSU couldn't be more different as far as offensive philosophy. In fact, FAU played their first FIVE games of 2004 on the road and WON THEM ALL, finishing the year 9-3. Unfortunately, most of that team is gone with only four starters on either side of the ball returning. Making matters worse is that now FAU is playing a far more difficult schedule having moved into full time D1 play. The roadies will be tough, as they plat at Kansas, Minnesota and Louisville in non-conference play and get Oklahoma State at home along with the Sun Belt schedule.
In 2003, Kansas coach Mark Mangino took the Jayhawks to a bowl game for the first time in forever... and what was once a doormat program and an afterthought on campus to basketball has been revitalized. They started last year by outscoring their first two opponents 84-17, blowing out Tulsa and Toledo at home and looked to be headed to a second straight bowl appearance. Unfortunately, the wheels came off and the Jayhawks only won 1 of their next eight games, finishing 4-7 in the Big 12 North. They did manage to cut down the defensive yards allowed per game by 70 ypg. However, they really fell of the earth offensively, losing 82 spots from 2003. This year looks promising, however with eight defensive starters returning off the much improved squad of last year.
The offense has seven starters back and should improve substantially over last year. Kansas has the benefit of playing their first three games at home and play only four roadies all year. Unfortunately, the four are at Texas Tech, Kansas State, Colorado and Texas.
What I see here is a team stepping up in class in FAU, playing it's opener on the road after dealing with adverse weather conditions in Florida with the hurricanes cutting practice and preparation time, while trying to break in a 70% changeover in the lineup. A good start is mandatory for Kansas with a tough conference schedule if they wish to get back to a bowl game. Kansas has more talent at most every
position and will a larger, faster squad. Too much for an upstart program to overcome in Florida Atlantic as they should learn how different D1A really is. Kansas
42, FAU 13.
These are previews only and not rated or official plays. All actual plays will be available Thursday to members. Thanks for reading and good luck!
Early Game Previews and Observations
9/3/05 Boise State @ Georgia -6
Dan Hawkins is on par with the most innovative coaches in college football, but doesn't get nearly the recognition that Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll do. He is able to recruit the talent that many schools reject and mold them into great teams. Offensively, Boise State is on par with Louisville and other high scoring programs. They will face a great opportunity to garner national attention when they open the season with a trip "between the hedges" in Athens to face a traditional SEC powerhouse in the Georgia Bulldogs.
Boise will return QB Jared Zabransky and 15 additional starters on both sides of the ball, eight on each side. They have a solid receiving corps and a terrific TE in Derek Schouman, who led the team with an average of 19 yards per catch, so he can stretch the defense. The Broncos will have some plays that will move the ball on Georgia and if they can jump out to an early lead, they may be able to steal a W in a very tough road stadium. Their biggest problem matching up with the Dawgs will be against the massive Georgia offensive line, anchored by Max Jean-Gilles at 6'4" and 340 pounds. Max could have decalred early for the NFL Draft and been a very high pick but decided to return for his senior season. The Dawgs' O-Line averages well over 300 pounds and all are experienced. This will create a problem for Boise State's smallish defensive front, especially with Georgia breaking in new QB D.J. Shockley. The Dawgs lost a lot of talent to the NFL this year, but it is generally recognized that the SEC has the best athletes top to bottom of any football conference in the NCAA. I expect the Bulldogs to impose their size advantage early and often, controlloing the clock and keeping Boise State's powerful offense off the field as much as possible. If the Broncos fall behind early and Geogia can run the ball with consistency, it will be difficult for Zabransky and Coach Hawkins to play from behind in a hostile environment. Boise will need to get out early by a couple of TD's and take control the game by forcing Georgia to throw, where they have little experience with the new wideouts under game conditions. It will take a supreme effort to conquer the Georgia 21-1 non-conference record under Mark Richt... especially in Athens. One thing that might be in their favor is the 5-2 record ats as an underdog and 16-9 ats record on an away or neutral field since 2001 under Coach Hawkins.
9/1/05 Temple @ Arizona State -28
Temple was actually told to take their football and go home by the Big East, which has made this downtrodden program a "Major" Independent for 2005. There has actually been some sentiment for disbanding the program or dropping down to NCAA D1-AA. The Owls lost the only two decent players they had to the NFL by early entry and they get booted from the Big east having lost 14 of the final 15 games they played. They could only manage 3 wins in the last two years combined and now play the 5th toughest schedule in the country, with road games at ASU, Wisconsin, Bowling Green, Clemson, Virginia and home vs. Miami, FL and Maryland plus Toledo. Not looking good for Bobby Wallace's squad, especially with only 5 offensive and 6 defensive starters returning, none of whom strike fear in opponent's hearts. They will have to go on the road in the season opener and play a rejuvenated Sun Devil team in Tempe in September, where the gametime temperature is likely to be in the 90's even at 7pm PDT kickoff.
Coming off a 9-3 season and a win over Purdue in the Sun Bowl, Sam Keller will be the starting QB after the very impressive game he played in El Paso. He had little experience playing behind Andrew Walter but had his breakout game throwing for 370 yards and 3 TD's against the Boilers. The Sun Devil offense was 5th in the country in passing last season and scored 35 of their 41 TD's by air... and all four top wideouts return. The offensive line is deep, solid and will protect Keller extremely well. Dirk Koetter is another offensive guru in the class of Meyer and Hawkins. The running game was the weak spot last year but obviously isn't the strength of a team that is a "throw first" philosophy base. With 15 returning starters, footballs will fill the air in Arizona and temple will be hard pressed to keep up. Unless the Owls can find a way to score at least 17 with the lack of skill players that they have, this one could get ugly early and often. It will be hard to find a single game that Temple can look at as a potential "W" this year. I may lay the four touchdowns in what should be a romp in the desert for a Sun Devil squad that is loaded and has had eight months to prep for a very weak team. I don't like laying DD's in early NCAA play, but this game seems to warrant it.
Saturday, September 3rd
Kansas-23 vs Florida Atlantic, Total of 42
Howard Schnellenberger was the man that brought Miami, FL and Louisville's football programs into top-tier status. His recruiting and creative offensive schemes were the model that many other programs copied. Now Howard takes on a much larger task in bringing FAU into full time Division1A status and Sun Belt Conference play. Last year's team was exceptional in a
part time role as a D1 team, going to Hawaii in the season opener and beating the Rainbows on their very strong home field and following that up by going to North Texas and beating them as well. Damn impressive if you ask me, especially if you consider that UH and NTSU couldn't be more different as far as offensive philosophy. In fact, FAU played their first FIVE games of 2004 on the road and WON THEM ALL, finishing the year 9-3. Unfortunately, most of that team is gone with only four starters on either side of the ball returning. Making matters worse is that now FAU is playing a far more difficult schedule having moved into full time D1 play. The roadies will be tough, as they plat at Kansas, Minnesota and Louisville in non-conference play and get Oklahoma State at home along with the Sun Belt schedule.
In 2003, Kansas coach Mark Mangino took the Jayhawks to a bowl game for the first time in forever... and what was once a doormat program and an afterthought on campus to basketball has been revitalized. They started last year by outscoring their first two opponents 84-17, blowing out Tulsa and Toledo at home and looked to be headed to a second straight bowl appearance. Unfortunately, the wheels came off and the Jayhawks only won 1 of their next eight games, finishing 4-7 in the Big 12 North. They did manage to cut down the defensive yards allowed per game by 70 ypg. However, they really fell of the earth offensively, losing 82 spots from 2003. This year looks promising, however with eight defensive starters returning off the much improved squad of last year.
The offense has seven starters back and should improve substantially over last year. Kansas has the benefit of playing their first three games at home and play only four roadies all year. Unfortunately, the four are at Texas Tech, Kansas State, Colorado and Texas.
What I see here is a team stepping up in class in FAU, playing it's opener on the road after dealing with adverse weather conditions in Florida with the hurricanes cutting practice and preparation time, while trying to break in a 70% changeover in the lineup. A good start is mandatory for Kansas with a tough conference schedule if they wish to get back to a bowl game. Kansas has more talent at most every
position and will a larger, faster squad. Too much for an upstart program to overcome in Florida Atlantic as they should learn how different D1A really is. Kansas
42, FAU 13.
These are previews only and not rated or official plays. All actual plays will be available Thursday to members. Thanks for reading and good luck!