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Spiritus Nox
Sep 2, 2011

So we're a little over halfway through July, which means it's nearly august, which means it's almost almost time for College football. I think it's time to engage in the proud annual tradition of battling offseason boredom by jerking off over how awesome your favored football team is going to be this year. That's right, your favorite team is awesome! You're gonna win it all! You've got the hot QB, the smothering defense, the favorable schedule! You're going to win the national championship! Or maybe you won't, but you can be drat sure that you'll bring down your hated rival/make it to a bowl game/win a conference game/win a game/get some fresh air! It's all optimism here, in the predictions thread! ...Or maybe not. If you're lame.

Well, with all said and done, I'll kick things off with

The Baylor Bears



Head Coach: Art Briles

2014 Record: 11-2, Big 12 Champions.

Baylor's in a bit of an awkward spot as far as expectations go this year. They're coming off of their second straight big 12 title (shared with TCU, whom they beat) and also off of a deflating bowl loss that saw them allow 20 unanswered points to Michigan State in the 4th quarter to lose 42-41. They return 9 starters, tons of talent, and excellent depth on both sides of the ball, but lose both an excellent metaphorical QB in MLB Bryce Hager and an excellent actual QB in QB Bryce Petty to graduation. To the limited extent that it's possible for people to sleep on a team that will reasonably be expected to chase a 3rd straight conference championship and an opportunity to play for a national championship, Baylor is being slept on. However, that works out all right for me and I suspect it works out all right for Art Briles - because Baylor always seems to choke the hardest when most people expect the most from them, and because this is still going to be a very, very good football team.

Offensive Outlook

Key Losses: QB Bryce Petty (63.1 Completion Percentage, 3855 Yds, 9 YPA, 29 TDs, 7 INTs), WR Antwan Goodley (830 Yds, 6 TDs), Offensive Coordinator Philip Montgomery

Key Returnees: WR Corey Coleman (1119 yds, 11 TDs), WR KD Cannon (1030 Yds, 8 TDs), RB Shock Linwood(1252 Yds, 5 YPC, 16 TDs), LT Spencer Drango, the entire rest of the offensive line.

New Faces To Watch: QB Seth Russell, WR Ishmael Zamora, WR Chris Platt, WR Davion Hall, RB Terrence Williams, FS Chance Waz, CB Tion Wright, TE Laquan McGowan, Offensive Coordinator Kendall Briles.

If you ask someone why they have TCU winning the Big 12 this year, most people will share two primary bullet points: 1. Baylor lost the Cotton Bowl to Michigan State while TCU flogged Ole Miss and Bo Wallace on live television in the Peach Bowl. 2: TCU returns their very good QB, Baylor does not. And while Bryce Petty was indeed a very, very good QB for Baylor to have to replace, you'll have to forgive me if I expect Baylor's coaching staff to do okay for themselves on this front. RG3 won the Heisman in 2011. Then some barely-3-star guy named Nick Florence threw for 4300 yards in 2012. Then Bryce Petty leads BU to conference championships two years straight. If Art Briles can't get productivity out of his QB this year - whether that's expected starter Seth Russell or young blue-chippers Chris Johnson or Jarrett Stidham - it will be the first time in a long time that he's failed to do so. And goodness knows, Seth Russell will have plenty of help. The receiving corps could very well be the best in the country even after losing a trio of steady contributors in Antwan Goodley, Clay Fuller, and Levi Norwood. Corey Coleman and true freshman phenom KD Cannon both return from 1000 yard seasons and present a match-up nightmare for most opposing defenses, even before you factorsteady contributors like Jay Lee and Lynx Hawthorne, Cannon's fellow blue-chip True Sophomore Davion Hall, and redshirt freshmen coming off of a very strong spring in Ishmael Zamora and Chris Platt. Russell will be throwing to them from behind a big, mean, almost entirely senior offensive line anchored by an all-american left tackle in Spencer Drango and featuring a pair of big, physical tight-ends in Travon Armstead and the 408 lb Laquan McGowan, the latter of whom caught one of the fattest of fat man TDs in the Cotton Bowl. Baylor also has the second or third best stable of backs in the league. Shock Linwood is the headliner - a steady, reliable back without gamebreaking speed but with great vision, balance, physicality - and he'll be spelled by Devin Chafin, who was a minor revelation as a power-back when not battling injury, and RS sophomore Johnny Jefferson, who's offered tantalizing hints of the breakaway speed Baylor lost with the departure of Lache Seastrunk. Also coming off of a redshirt year is Terrence Williams, another bowling ball of a back, and RB/WR hybrid JaMycal Hasty might get a chance to show off his speed if Baylor feels the need to burn his redshirt. With all of this around him, Baylor doesn't need Seth Russell or anybody to be a stellar QB in order to win a lot of games - just someone who understands how to distribute the ball to the considerable talent Baylor has all across the field. As for Russell himself, Baylor's run of blowouts over the last two years have given him a lot of opportunites to test himself in garbage time, and the results have generally been positive. His completion percentage is a little low at 58.3 percent and he doesn't appear nearly as cautious with the ball as Petty was, but his average YPA is quite high and he clearly brings much more speed to the position than Petty ever showed. Don't be surprised if Baylor incorporates a whole lot more of the read option this year and force opponents to account for Russell's legs in addition to their bevvy of skill position players. We won't know until we know, and an inconsistent performance in relief for an injured Bryce Petty late in a near disaster vs Texas Tech has left skeptics and worriers with some ammunition, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over Baylor's QB situation or the offense at large until I see it sputter consistently under the guidance of a QB who's been prepared as the starter rather than as the backup.

Also noteworthy: Longtime offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery left Baylor for the head coaching position at Tulsa after the end of the 2015 regular season. I'm not too worried - former WR coach and passing game coordinator (and son of Head Coach Art Briles) was promoted to OC before the Cotton Bowl, and the offense performed all right, ringing up nearly 600 yards on a very good defense isn't a bad debut, despite the final score. The Baylor offense is Briles' baby, not Montgomery's, and Kendall's been around it for a long long time himself. I don't see any reason to expect the offense to sputter, but if it does, expect this to be a storyline.

TL;DR: Baylor's offense is loving stacked, literally the only cause for concern is that it has a new guy at QB, a position at which this coaching staff has had a ton of success and which benefits immensely from being surrounded by the kind of talent that will be surrounding Seth Russell in 2015.

Defensive Outlook

Key Losses:
MLB Bryce Hager (114 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 12 TFL, 1 INT, 5 Forced Fumbles)

Key Returnees: DE Shawn Oakman (51 Tackles, 11 Sacks, 19.5 TFL, 5 FF), DT Andrew Billings (37 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 11.5 TFL, 1 FF), the entire rest of the defensive line, OLB Taylor Young (92 Tackles, 4 Sacks, 8.5 TFL, 2 FF, 3 Passes Defensed), CB Xavien Howard (13 PD, 4 INTs), S Orion Stewart (121 Tackles, 7 PD, 5 Ints)

New Faces To Watch: MLB Grant Campbell, CB Tion Wright, NB Travon Blanchard.

At the risk of simply copy/pasting Bill Connelly, the Baylor Defense was almost exactly what people expected it to be last year. Nominally a 4-2-5 like TCU's and in practice more akin to a 4-3 lineup, Baylor's defense seeks to play extremely agressively, stuff the run, and tolerate the occasional big passing gain by the opposing offense if it allows them to force negative plays, hurried incompletions, and turnovers. A big, mean, reasonably experienced front 6 absolutely mauled people up front, stuffing the run and causing havoc in the backfield much more often than not. Meanwhile, a very young secondary breaking in a new safety, a new pair of CBs, and a former walk-on at nickel back struggled to stop proficient passers from getting the ball away from the pass rush in a hurry and had their customary game or two where their physical style of coverage combined with inexperience to draw roughly a million yards of penalty yardage from defensive pass interference calls. As a result, the run defense was very good but let down that a pass defense that, while better than you might think (ranked 35th in defensive S&P, via Football Outsiders), still wasn't good enough to keep Kevin White and Mario Alford in check or put down furious rallies by Texas Tech or Michigan State. The good news is that the most pressing issues faced by Baylor's defense tend to resolve themselves with more experience, which is precisely what you get when you lose only two starters, only one of whom was a huge contributor. Baylor returns its entire defensive line, including preseason DPOY in defensive end and all-around massive piece of man-flesh Shawn Oakman. Currently something of a one-trick pony, simply using his massive size and long arms to bull-rush opposing tackles out of the way and drag down the QB, Oakman might be in for a Clowney-esque season if he can refine his technique - or a Clowney-esque disappointment if he can't. Alongside him is a player who probably deserves the award a bit more despite playing the relatively unsexy DT role - Andrew Billings, a massive human being and power-lifting champion against whom double-teams are an out-and-out necessity. Factor in proven contributors in DT Beau Blackshear and veteran DE's Jamal Palmer and KJ Smith, and possibly Boise State transfer Sam Ukwuachu, and you have what is easily one of the better defensive lines in the country. Behind them, the LB corps is exciting but largely unproven. Aiavion Edwards was playing well at OLB to start the year, but an early injury paved the way for redshirt freshman Taylor Young to start, where he proved to be a revelation, bringing a lot of fire to Baylor's already nasty pass rush and gaining mentions for all-big 12 honors. The rest of the position is in flux. Second-year Juco Transfer Grant Campbell looks to replace the former heart of the Baylor defense in MLB Bryce Hager - most Spring observers believe Campbell to be up to the task and he's performed well in garbage time, but Hager was a force in the middle of the defense, so eyes will be on the MLB position until Campbell, Raaquan Davis, or perhaps Edwards lock it down. At Nickelback, Travon Blanchard looks to provide a significant upgrade in athleticism over former walk-on Collin Brence, who was good at covering underneath passing routes but little else, and has played well in reserve but is, again, unproven as a starter. Baylor stands to benefit a lot if he can bring more heat on the QB or allow Baylor to mix up its pass coverage more often than his predecessor did. DB was very young across the board last year, and got burned a lot, but returns entirely intact, and hopefully better for the experience. CB Xavien Howard quietly had a very, very good season at the CB1 spot, snagging 4 picks and breaking up a whole lot of passes, but for all Baylor's hopes of having a lockdown corner, he got burned badly covering WVU's Kevin White and never quite performed to the same level for the rest of the season. That said, he was seldom bad and his numbers are great across the board, so the expectation around the program is that the junior can continue to grow into the lockdown role Baylor would so dearly love to see. On the opposite end of the field, Ryan Reid was often a scapegoat for Baylor's pass defense as a whole, but he had 12 breakups to his own name, and had a number of very nice plays among them. Experience matters a lot at CB, especially when you're playing in a defense like Baylor's that leaves it corners on islands, so for a pair of sophomores to play like Howard and Reid did isn't necessarily cause for long-term concern. Orion Stewart stepped into the strong safety role to replace departed thumper Ahmad Dixon, and while he didn't bring nearly the physicality in run support that Dixon did, he did bring a lot of speed and a nose for the football, and was very much a bright spot in the secondary despite his two star billing. Finally, Terrell Burt appeared to regress somewhat after a fairly strong 2013, often finding himself on the wrong end of deep passes down the middle of the field. Still, he was productive in '13 and there's been some talk that Brence's limitations at NB put a lot more pressure on Burt in pass coverage, so hopefully Blanchard can provide an upgrade at NB and help Burt find his mojo again.

Also noteworthy is new Safties coach Cris Dishman, a quality NFL guy. If he can improve the fundamental play of Baylor's DBs, that would also be a potentially game-changing development, given the immense pressure Baylor's system puts on them. A few less pass interference calls per game would probably win Baylor an extra game all by itself.

TL;DR: A defense that thrives when it can play fast and aggressive appears to have all the tools it needs to continue to play fast and aggressive. Front six will be ferocious unless MLB, generally a strong point under DC Phil Bennett, is a disaster. A back end that was better than you probably remember it being also looks deeper, healthier, better.

Schedule Breakdown

And here's the fun part. Record picking!

Sept. 4: @SMU - W - I like the Chad Morris hire a whole lot and think that SMU will get pretty good pretty fast on his watch. I do not think he will be ready to overcome an absolutely loving massive defecit in athleticism and talent in the first game of his tenure, even if Russell is atrocious.
Sept. 12: Lamar -W - Cupcakes! Get your cupcakes!
Sept. 26: Rice -W- Rice is a pretty good CUSA team, last I checked. If a pretty good CUSA team comes anywhere close to beating Baylor in the new house, we're in trouble.
Oct. 3: Texas Tech @ Jerry World (Baylor designated home) -W- But if there's a game that Baylor will be expected to win that I'm worried about losing, it's this one. Mahomes fried us last year and if TTU, who I expect to rebound a bit this year, can beat Arky then they'll come in remembering that and ready to play. That said, it still took a pretty lackluster effort on both sides of the ball and an injured QB on Baylor's part for TTU to get as close as they did, so I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be a Baylor win. At any rate, we'll probably have a pretty good idea how big a difference the extra year's experience is making in Baylor's defensive backfield by the end of this one.
Oct. 10: @Kansas -W- If ever there's a time to be glad you're getting a team on the road, it's Kansas this year. A KU team that was bad to begin with loses basically everybody and breaks in a new coach. That's...not scary.
Oct. 17: WVU -W- That defense will be very, very good, but the offense probably won't replicate the absolute bombshell that was Trickett-White-Alford and I don't expect Briles to get outschemed again. REVEEEEEEEEEEENGE.
Oct. 24: ISU -W- I expect ISU to improve this year, if they can stay healthy. I don't expect them to spoil Baylor's homecoming.
Nov. 5: @KSU -W- Thursday night in Manhattan is a bit scary, but KSU looks to be a run heavy team this year with no proven running back and a questionable O-line. I expect Baylor to win comfortably barring some major miscues by Russell.
Nov. 14:OU -W- I expect OU to play us better than they did in last year's disaster, but not 30 points better.
Nov. 21:@OSU -Toss up- Scary game. Promising young QB, deep receiving corps, solid defense, a stadium in which Baylor's never played well. That said... their O-line still has a lot to prove, their running game is a big question mark, and a lot's being made of what that young QB and solid defense might become rather than what they are. So I'm leaning towards Baylor breaking through and getting their first win in Stillwater. But I labeled this a toss up because..
Nov. 27: @TCU -W- Yup. TCU has a lot of questions to answer before I'm as high on them as a lot of folks. People rave about that offense, and it was quite good, but it wasn't as good as you might think it was in big games. They only barely outgunned an OU team that wasn't as good as advertised at the time, Baylor actually contained Boykin reasonably well on a play-by-play basis, although the sheer pace of that game and the sheer number of plays run inflated everyone's numbers quite a bit, WVU had to go basically a full quarter without a spark of offense to lose to them, and Texas and Ole Miss actually held that offense to pretty pedestrian numbers. The thing is, TCU benefitted a lot by their defense making quick stops and turnovers and giving them great field position and free points - especially versus Texas and Ole Miss. And that defense has to account for the departure of two very, very good linebackers, a very good safety, and a superstar cornerback. I know that defense is Patterson's baby, but you don't lose four players on the level of Kevin White or Paul Dawson and improve. Considering that Baylor already torched that defense pretty badly last year, and assuming as I do that our own defense will improve as defenses tend to when they return as much production as Baylor does, and I'll take the win in Frog-town, thank you kindly.
Dec. 5: Texas -W- Nope. Not scared of Texas.

Best Case: 12-0: Russell is as good as expected, Baylor's defense improves led by the lockdown play of Xavien Howard. Baylor runs the table, makes the playoff, wins at least one game.
Worst Case: 8-4: Russell is a disaster, Briles shifts Chris Johnson and Jarrett Stidham in and out of the gameplan to little avail, Baylor defense regresses. Losses to Texas Tech, OU, and spankings by OSU and TCU.
Fence-sitter bet: 11-1: Russell is good but either a bit inefficient or turnover prone, defense treads water overall. Loss to OSU or TCU or someone relatively out of nowhere like Tech, UT, or WVU. Big 12 left out of the playoff again, a whole lot of interminable whining and shade throwing and stat-comparing ensues.

Spiritus Nox fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Jul 23, 2015

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Benne
Sep 2, 2011

STOP DOING HEROIN
Prediction: the Washington Huskies will be poo poo and make me very sad every Saturday

R.D. Mangles
Jan 10, 2004


Prediction: HAT

Detroit_Dogg
Feb 2, 2008
Aaron Rodgers is gay and lame and oh please cum in me Aaron PLEASE I NEED IT OH STAFFORD YOUR COCK IS NOT WORTHY ONLY THE GAYEST RODGERS PRICK CAN SATISFY MY DESPERATE THROAT
W @ Illinois
W Delaware State
W @ Minnesota
W Marshall
W Miami Ohio
W @ Toledo
W @ Mass
W Bowling Green
W Buffalo
W @ Ohio
W Central Michigan
W @ Akron (Death to Akron)

W MAC Championship @ Ford Field
W Semifinal Playoff Game
W Championship Game

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮


at Florida State L
Prairie View A&M W
Southern Mississippi W
at Houston L
at Louisiana L
South Alabama W
at Georgia Southern L
New Mexico State W
Georgia State W
Louisiana-Monroe W
at Idaho W
at Arkansas State W

8-4, still no bowl game because we play in the Sun Belt.

Sash!
Mar 16, 2001


"@" Temple W
Buffalo W
Rutgers W
San Diego State W
Army W
Indiana W
@ Ohio State L
Maryland W
@ Northwestern W
Michigan L
@ Michigan State L
Bowl Game how the hell should I know, but probably W

PSU doesn't leave Pennsylvania for a game until the middle of October! It's like being an SEC team! I just hope the Ohio State and Michigan State games aren't horrible disasters and I hope the Michigan game is a large enough margin that I'm not like "ugh how did they lose that" but also not like "oh geez I just want this to be over" by the end of the third. I'm not super sure about Northwestern because I never know what to think about Northwestern.

R.D. Mangles
Jan 10, 2004


Sash! posted:

I'm not super sure about Northwestern because I never know what to think about Northwestern.

You should be afraid, Sash.

Will Styles
Jan 19, 2005
Arizona State Sun Devils


Year 4 of the Todd Graham era. I still think he comes off as a used car salesman but the results have been great so far. Let's keep this trending up!

Deffense
Key Losses: DE Marcus Hardison, SS Damarious Randall
Key Returnees: FS Jordan Simone and almost the entire starting defense
ASU was mediocre to good last year on defense and had to rely on the secondary to provide pressure via blitzing. A year of experience plus a spring/summer to get bigger/better the defense will hopefully be better this year.
The defensive line is where ASU struggled the most last year, and losing Hardison doesn't help. There's some hope that newcomers will make a difference but only time will tell. This will be the weak point of the group.
The linebacker core is probably the deepest unit we have and will likely need to pick up the slack from the line. All three starters are back and they were pretty productive towards the end of the season.
The secondary lost a really good SS in Randall but the other three spots should be able to handle things.

Offense
Key Losses: QB Taylor Kelly, WR Jalen Strong, WR Cameron Smith (injury), LT Jamil Douglas
Key Returnees: QB Mike Bercovici, WR DJ Foster, RB Demario Richard, RB Kalen Ballage
The biggest concern here is the loss of Jalen Strong and Cameron Smith at wide receiver. This has forced Foster to move from running back to receiver. There's still optimism for the group though since we picked up some new talent through transfers and incoming freshman.
At running back Richard, Ballage and Hayes will keep defenses honest and force them to stack the box. Richard and Hayes were young last year but still produced a lot of yards, with an entire spring/summer to get better the group should be pretty scary this year.
On the line all three interior lineman return and the replacements outside are looking pretty good, this will be one of the better lines in recent years.
Bercovici played better football than Kelly last year so the change at quarterback will likely be an upgrade, Bercovici just needs to cut down on the interceptions. He also brought us "Bercoing" which Tony Romo seemed to like:



Schedule
Sat, Sept 5 vs Texas A&M ? - I don't know what to make of this one. aTm was pretty bad on defense last year and despite getting a new DC I think they'll still be too new in the system to fight off ASUs offense. Then again ASU is 0-9 all time against SEC schools and we play like poo poo in big games so who knows on this one.
Sat, Sept 12 vs Cal Poly W - FCS cupcake
Fri, Sept 18 vs New Mexico W - FBS cupcake
Sat, Sept 26 vs USC L - We've beaten USC twice in a row but with the talent/experience USC has coming back I'm not sure we can win this one.
Sat, Oct 3 @UCLA W - ASU will be out for revenge on this one. I don't think Rosen will be as good as people hope and UCLA will struggle offensively.
Sat, Oct 10 vs Colorado W - Oh Colorado, when will you not be terrible?
Sat, Oct 17 @Utah W - Utah always plays us tough but somehow we always win. Expecting more of the same
BYE
Thu, Oct 29 vs Oregon L - Vernon Adams will have had enough time to learn the offense by now. ASU struggles against good run teams so I expect a loss here.
Sat, Nov 7 @Washington St W - Wazzu hasn't had an answer for us and Graham has Leach's number. I don't expect much to change.
Sat, Nov 14 vs Washington W - Washington is set up to have real bad year. Hopefully we can put this one away early and rest up for the next one.
Sat, Nov 21 vs Arizona W - gently caress these guys. Really though this game will be close again and anything can/will happen. Last year we broke the streak of visitors winning so maybe home-field advantage will be with us this time.
Sat, Nov 28 @Cal W - Cal will be better this year, I just don't think they'll be good enough to stop ASUs attack while our Defense will pressure Goff into making bad decisions

Best case: 12 - 0: ASU has the talent to be competitive in every game, and with a little luck could run the table in the regular season
Worst case: 6 - 6: Losses to aTm, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Utah and Arizona going on to lose in some mediocre bowl because the players gave up on the season
Predicted: 10 - 2: Splitting USC/UCLA and a loss to Oregon, coming in 2nd in the south.

Time for the territorial cup to come back to Tempe

Will Styles fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Jul 23, 2015

Frinkahedron
Jul 26, 2006

Gobble Gobble
The 2015 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Hokies

tl;dr: Defense is going to be amazing, the entire two deep defensive line are starters on any other team in the country, Kendall Fuller at corner is gonna be a 1st round draft pick in April. Offense is going to be competent, maybe, we are hoping for no injuries.



Best case: We run the table, Frank Beamer wins his title, retires off into the sunset to make moonshine in the mountains, Bud Foster takes over as HC.
Worse case: We lose to Ohio State badly, lose to Furman in a post-Ohio State hangover, then the wheels fall off the offense, the defense can't keep up because the offense can't stay on the field, we don't make a bowl, Frank gets fired, Bud Foster takes over as HC.

Predictions:
Ohio State - W
Furman - W
@ Purdue (what) - W
@ ECU - W
Pitt - W
NC State - W
@ Miami - W
Duke - W
@ BC - L
@ GT - L
UNC - W
@ UVA - W

Gonna beat Ohio State on Monday Night Football on Labor Day, lose in excruciating fashion sometime later, recover and get back to the ACCCG. This is as homer as I can get now.

Gonna lose to GT but win the Coastal because GT is gonna lose to both FSU and Clemson and one other team that I can't be bothered to pick.

Sash!
Mar 16, 2001


R.D. Mangles posted:

You should be afraid, Sash.


Yeah, but remember in 2011 when Dan Persa just sort of fell over no obvious reason and then Penn State won?

Point is, no one ever knows what's going to happen in a PSU-NW game, but somehow they're not at all exciting. 2005 was. But other than than it's always like "someone wins 24-10."

pillsburysoldier
Feb 11, 2008

Yo, peep that shit

Your reigning BCS Champions Florida State University Seminoles




Head Coach: John James Fisher

2014 Record: 13-1, ACC Champions

The Florida State Seminoles were God's team last year, beloved and respected throughout the land. They were the best looking undefeated team all season, by a large margin, but they took everyone's best shot, week in and week out. Our leader, the unflappable Jameis Winston, leaves for bigger and better opportunities in the NFL, along with a record setting 30+ players the past couple years. This coming year sees a new cast along the offensive line, quarterback, tailback, and defensive tackle. The defense sees some big changes as well, with the departure of Eddie Goldman, Mario Edwards Jr, and several others, including the entire starting CB corps.


Offensive Outlook

Key Losses: QB Jameis Winston, RB Karlos Williams, OL The Entire Offensive Line except one, WR Rashad Greene, TE Nick O'Leary, etc.
Key Returnees: LT Roderick Johnson, The Best Kicker Ever Roberto Aguayo, WR Travis Rudolph, WR Ermon Lane, RB Dalvin Cook (eventually), RB Mario Pender, QB Sean Maguire
New Faces To Watch: WR George Campbell, RB Jacques Patrick, QB Everett Golson, QB Deondre Francois, the Offensive Line

FSU's offense could be totally new next year. Jimbo has always tailored his offenses to the strengths of his players, but it may be tempting to stay in the system we ran with Jameis. The reason being, FSU has a top WR group. Travis Rudolph can end up being a taller Rashad Greene, Ermon Lane is a battleship and one of the best blocking WRs I've ever seen. If George Campbell takes a spot, he'll have done it by beating out several players with a 3+ years experience, and that doesn't seem out of question at the moment.

But we're also breaking in a new OL except will-be first rounder Roderick Johnson. It is a huge, physically imposing group. Like, gigantic. So that's good, except the huge dearth of experience. In a sense, this was kinda planned for a couple years ago. Mavety and Are are JUCO OL who signed on back then, knowing that they were going to play this year. We hope this means that we have steady competency at the line, but nothing is guaranteed.

Put this all together, and we have a couple options, depending on how the QBs come out. Everett Golson, for all his faults, has seen it all, and is doing what he can to earn the locker room. That said, when he's bad, he's really bad, and he doesn't have the juice in him to lead comeback after comeback. With that in mind, we may run a somewhat by the numbers spread-zone offense with automatic checks at the line when we see certain alignments, like we did under Christian Ponder. Golson's legs make this a possibility as well, as we ran a ton of zone option with Ponder as well. Maguire has his share of faults as well - he has a pretty good arm, and his one game starting was against a slew of NFL defenders in Clemson, and we had no center, but he throws some balls that make you think that maybe FSU isn't God's team. Then he throws some absolute dimes other times. Behind an okay o-line, we're not quite sure what this means.

The running game won't have Dalvin Cook for a good amount of the year, so we effectively have 2 RBs, and 2 versatile FBs. By all accounts, Mario Pender knows it's his time and is doing way, way more than asked of him during the offseason to impress in the fall. He's a great story himself, and it's really good to see him making the most of some bad experiences in his life. Jacques Patrick is, at the very least, a huge load battering ram who looks like Greg Jones already Here they are together!

Or maybe FR Deondre Francois impresses immediately and wins out. Who knows.


Defensive Outlook

Key Losses: CB Ronald Darby, CB PJ Williams, DT Eddie Goldman, DE Mario Edwards,
Key Returnees: DB Jalen Ramsey, LB/S Nate Andrews, NT Niles Lawrence-Stample, LB Terrance Smith, LB Reggie Northrup, S Lamarcus Brutus
New Faces To Watch: S Derwin James, CB Tarvarus McFadden,

The defense is going to be weird as hell. Supposedly, much of the gameday playcalling was done by the now departed DE Coach, Sal Sunseri. Who knows. It's an extremely talented group sans the paper thin depth at LB. R Sr Brutus will probably take the safety spot since he's shown that he never blows coverage, he's just kinda not all that physically imposing. DL is deep as hell, but without an obvious superstar. Lorenzo Featherston is pretty spindly but a good pass rusher. Chris Casher is extremely dumb and is falling down the depth chart because of it. The scheme is supposedly being tweaked to be more like something we did against Auburn - a 3-2-6 alignment with Nate Andrews playing Money. It's really strange to see what they do. Shouldn't be bad, though.

No really, it's a lot of weirdly experienced talent with little known about what they do exceptionally except a couple players, and how that fits in in the scheme. Nate Andrews in the box is good because he's a sure tackler and has a nose for the ball, and his hips suck so he's not gonna be put in a position to get burnt by a competent WR. He does fine against TEs. Jalen Ramsey'll just do anything asked of him. LB Northrup is terrible in coverage but better than average against the run. LB Pugh is fantastic doing everything but not quite at pass rushing. It's such a weird hodgepodge. It seems more appropriate to talk about what the departing players did well and treat that as a framework for what we need to be successful but then it becomes a long screed about the things our defense might not be.


Schedule Breakdown


9/5 - Texas State W
9/12 - South Florida W
9/18 - Boston College W
BYE
10/3 - Wake Forest W
10/10 - Miami W
10/17 - Louisville W
10/24 - Georgia Tech W
10/31 - Syracuse W
11/7 - Clemson W
11/14 - NC State W
11/21 - Tenn - Chattanooga W
11/28 - Florida W

I hate playing GT.

Best Case Scenario: FSU completes a third undefeated season
Worst Case Scenario:FSU loses two games, Clemson and Georgia Tech.
What'll Probably Happen: Unfathomably losing more than two games.

anne frank fanfic
Oct 31, 2005
Baylor Championship 2016 the only sure bet is Destroying WVU at Home and the TCU away game will be a good tossup with Baylor Winning champions (2016 champions) (3 in a row Big 12) (go houston rockets) (finally win a bowl game and win the playoffs and the champions too) (also baylor bball will win in the tourney this time)

kayakyakr
Feb 16, 2004

Kayak is true
Texas Tech Red Raiders



Year 3 of Kliff Kingsbury sees our 3rd defensive coordinator under Kliff and 7th in 7 years. This is the first one he's gotten that has DC experience, so hopefully that's a good sign!

Offense
Key Losses: WR Bradley Marquez
Key Returnees: OL La'Raven Clark, RB DeAndre Washington, WR Jakeem Grant

We have 2 QBs that could be playing. Davis Webb struggled as a sophomore, throwing too many interceptions, knocking Tech out of some of the games that they were in on (OSU/WVU). He got hurt and Pat Mahomes came in and played well, showing a different sort of QB than we were used to: a mobile guy that took decent care of the ball. They're both 100% and the general idea is the Mahomes will win the starting job. I'm guessing both will play this season.

The OL might be among the best in the Big XII. They return 4 from a unit that was already a veteran unit last season. The biggest issue for them is that they are not deep. We have 2 spots on the 2 deep going to freshmen or walk-ons. The numbers have suffered for years now, though we're finally seeming to get that together.

The WR's started to step forward toward the end of last season. We lose a veteran, but return a flashy junior in Devin Lauderdale and a senior in Jakeem Grant. The big question marks are if Ian Sadler can emerge at Y, who will come out at Z between Reg Davis (who will start the season on the bench) and Dylan Cantrell, and if there's anyone behind those 5 + Cam Batson. Depth is an issue here as well, with no idea which newcomers will emerge.

Defense
Key Losses: LB Sam Euguaven, DE/DT Jackson Richards
Key Returnees: LB Micah Awe, DE Pete Robinson, DE Brandon Jackson, DB Nigel Bethel III
Key Newcomers: LB/DE Mike Mitchell, DT Breiden Fehoko

This defense was atrocious last year. I mean, historically bad. Gave up over 200 yards per game on the ground. There's good and bad news on that front: They were bad, but they're all back. The team returns nearly all of the DL and for once it actually looks like a fairly deep and veteran unit. Our 1st team features 2 possible NFL players in Pete Roberson and Branden Jackson and a 40 lb lighter Rika Levi. After them is a few more seniors and a highly touted freshman.

The back end has some good corners and decent safeties while the LB's are still a question mark.

The biggest thing is that it's a whole new DC with a different philosophy. He runs a pressure/turnover-based 4-3 with a stand-up end. Tech will likely have the conference sack leader again this year and with luck may be up there overall in sacks. They've also been among the conference's worst in generating turnovers. Let's hope that can change.

Schedule
9/5 vs Sam Houston State - W #2 team in FCS. Will be close early with Tech pulling away.
9/12 vs UTEP - W UTEP is not a good team. If Tech struggles, that's a bad sign
9/19 @ Arkansas - L I'd love to claim we're going to go off to Arkansas to beat them, but I just don't have enough confidence in our ability to not get run over. To win we will need no punts, no turnovers and to turn them over instead.
9/26 vs TCU - W Huge trap game for TCU. Tech will want revenge for the 82 TCU put up, it's in Lubbock, and Tech will be coming in with little hype. More likely Aaron Green will go for 300.
10/3 vs Baylor - L This is going to be close, again. Russell will need to be on-point. If TTU loses to TCU, I think they upset Baylor.
10/10 vs ISU - W ISU is going to be a sneaky good team that's going to lose a lot of close games in ISU fashion. Being in Lubbock, I think TTU puts the pedal down early and ISU can't keep up.
10/17 @ Kansas - W poor Kansas
10/24 @ Oklahoma - W Baker Mayfield plays this game after Trevor Knight is knocked out against UT. Tech really hates him. His stat line: 10/25 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 Fumbles. Perine isn't enough, TTU starts rolling
10/31 vs Oklahoma State - W Halloween in Lubbock is great. Teams try to turn it into a shootout, as usual. Davis Webb does not throw a back breaking interception.
11/7 @ WVU - L Tech riding too high, has a letdown against a dangerous WVU squad.
11/14 vs KSU - W Never want to play KSU late in the season, but Tech turns them over 3 times for a complete role reversal from normal.
11/26 @ Texas - W gently caress the Longhorns

Best case: 12-0 - TTU has a defense-fueled revival that mirror's TCU's from last season. 6 players are drafted in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 2x5th, & 7th rounds. That's OK because our last 8 of 29 recruits are all 4 & 5*'s
Worst case: 3-9 - Tech repeats last season, beating only ISU, Kansas, and UTEP, losing to SHSU in the opener besides. Kliff Kingsbury stays coach, but the situation is dire.
Predicted: 9-3 - Tech surprises some teams, upsets a few, and returns to the middle of the pack with a defense that isn't a liability and can sometimes make up for the offense being stupid.

kayakyakr fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Jul 23, 2015

Thermos H Christ
Sep 6, 2007

WINNINGEST BEVO
I predict Texas will still not have a working offense :(

Pakled
Aug 6, 2011

WE ARE SMART
e: why not

Georgia Tech

Alcorn State W
Tulane W
@Notre Dame W
@Duke W
North Carolina W
@Clemson L
Pittsburgh W
Florida State L
@Virginia W
Virginia Tech W
@Miami W
Georgia W :getin:

Of course, realistically I'm sure we're going to drop the ball against one of our divisional opponents in addition to dropping two out of Clemson/FSU/Georgia, but gently caress if I can tell which team we're going to do that to.

Pakled fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Aug 1, 2015

Pimpcasso
Mar 13, 2002

VOLS BITCH
Vols bitch

Zoran
Aug 19, 2008

I lost to you once, monster. I shall not lose again! Die now, that our future can live!
Obligatory Oklahoma 14-0

VDay
Jul 2, 2003

I'm Pacman Jones!

Will Styles posted:

Best case: 12 - 0
Worst case: 6 - 6
Predicted: 10 - 2

Pac12South.txt

I was going to write a full thing for UCLA but having a freshman as your starting quarterback puts a pretty big question mark over everything. If Rosen ends up being the real deal then the sky's the limit, and if he ends up getting hurt or being terrible/mediocre then the pieces around him are still good enough that we should still get 8-9 wins. We get a nice soft start to the season for Rosen to get used to the college game/pace, but then a fairly tough conference start with Arizona, ASU, and Stanford. I'll be happy if we get out of that at 4-2, with some decent but certainly winnable games for the rest of the year until USC. Who knows what the team will play like by then but hopefully we'll have our poo poo together and Rosen won't be broken in half. If that's the case we have a good shot at finally getting over the hump and winning the Pac-12, but if it's not we could easily finish 4th or 5th in the division. Can't wait, should be a pretty fun year either way.

swickles
Aug 21, 2006

I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just some QB that I used to know

pillsburysoldier posted:

Your reigning BCS Champions Florida State University Seminoles




Head Coach: John James Fisher

2014 Record: 13-1, ACC Champions

The Florida State Seminoles were God's team last year, beloved and respected throughout the land. They were the best looking undefeated team all season, by a large margin, but they took everyone's best shot, week in and week out. Our leader, the unflappable Jameis Winston, leaves for bigger and better opportunities in the NFL, along with a record setting 30+ players the past couple years. This coming year sees a new cast along the offensive line, quarterback, tailback, and defensive tackle. The defense sees some big changes as well, with the departure of Eddie Goldman, Mario Edwards Jr, and several others, including the entire starting CB corps.


Offensive Outlook

Key Losses: QB Jameis Winston, RB Karlos Williams, OL The Entire Offensive Line except one, WR Rashad Greene, TE Nick O'Leary, etc.
Key Returnees: LT Roderick Johnson, The Best Kicker Ever Roberto Aguayo, WR Travis Rudolph, WR Ermon Lane, RB Dalvin Cook (eventually), RB Mario Pender, QB Sean Maguire
New Faces To Watch: WR George Campbell, RB Jacques Patrick, QB Everett Golson, QB Deondre Francois, the Offensive Line

FSU's offense could be totally new next year. Jimbo has always tailored his offenses to the strengths of his players, but it may be tempting to stay in the system we ran with Jameis. The reason being, FSU has a top WR group. Travis Rudolph can end up being a taller Rashad Greene, Ermon Lane is a battleship and one of the best blocking WRs I've ever seen. If George Campbell takes a spot, he'll have done it by beating out several players with a 3+ years experience, and that doesn't seem out of question at the moment.

But we're also breaking in a new OL except will-be first rounder Roderick Johnson. It is a huge, physically imposing group. Like, gigantic. So that's good, except the huge dearth of experience. In a sense, this was kinda planned for a couple years ago. Mavety and Are are JUCO OL who signed on back then, knowing that they were going to play this year. We hope this means that we have steady competency at the line, but nothing is guaranteed.

Put this all together, and we have a couple options, depending on how the QBs come out. Everett Golson, for all his faults, has seen it all, and is doing what he can to earn the locker room. That said, when he's bad, he's really bad, and he doesn't have the juice in him to lead comeback after comeback. With that in mind, we may run a somewhat by the numbers spread-zone offense with automatic checks at the line when we see certain alignments, like we did under Christian Ponder. Golson's legs make this a possibility as well, as we ran a ton of zone option with Ponder as well. Maguire has his share of faults as well - he has a pretty good arm, and his one game starting was against a slew of NFL defenders in Clemson, and we had no center, but he throws some balls that make you think that maybe FSU isn't God's team. Then he throws some absolute dimes other times. Behind an okay o-line, we're not quite sure what this means.

The running game won't have Dalvin Cook for a good amount of the year, so we effectively have 2 RBs, and 2 versatile FBs. By all accounts, Mario Pender knows it's his time and is doing way, way more than asked of him during the offseason to impress in the fall. He's a great story himself, and it's really good to see him making the most of some bad experiences in his life. Jacques Patrick is, at the very least, a huge load battering ram who looks like Greg Jones already Here they are together!

Or maybe FR Deondre Francois impresses immediately and wins out. Who knows.


Defensive Outlook

Key Losses: CB Ronald Darby, CB PJ Williams, DT Eddie Goldman, DE Mario Edwards,
Key Returnees: DB Jalen Ramsey, LB/S Nate Andrews, NT Niles Lawrence-Stample, LB Terrance Smith, LB Reggie Northrup, S Lamarcus Brutus
New Faces To Watch: S Derwin James, CB Tarvarus McFadden,

The defense is going to be weird as hell. Supposedly, much of the gameday playcalling was done by the now departed DE Coach, Sal Sunseri. Who knows. It's an extremely talented group sans the paper thin depth at LB. R Sr Brutus will probably take the safety spot since he's shown that he never blows coverage, he's just kinda not all that physically imposing. DL is deep as hell, but without an obvious superstar. Lorenzo Featherston is pretty spindly but a good pass rusher. Chris Casher is extremely dumb and is falling down the depth chart because of it. The scheme is supposedly being tweaked to be more like something we did against Auburn - a 3-2-6 alignment with Nate Andrews playing Money. It's really strange to see what they do. Shouldn't be bad, though.

No really, it's a lot of weirdly experienced talent with little known about what they do exceptionally except a couple players, and how that fits in in the scheme. Nate Andrews in the box is good because he's a sure tackler and has a nose for the ball, and his hips suck so he's not gonna be put in a position to get burnt by a competent WR. He does fine against TEs. Jalen Ramsey'll just do anything asked of him. LB Northrup is terrible in coverage but better than average against the run. LB Pugh is fantastic doing everything but not quite at pass rushing. It's such a weird hodgepodge. It seems more appropriate to talk about what the departing players did well and treat that as a framework for what we need to be successful but then it becomes a long screed about the things our defense might not be.


Schedule Breakdown


9/5 - Texas State W
9/12 - South Florida W
9/18 - Boston College W
BYE
10/3 - Wake Forest W
10/10 - Miami W
10/17 - Louisville W
10/24 - Georgia Tech W
10/31 - Syracuse W
11/7 - Clemson W
11/14 - NC State W
11/21 - Tenn - Chattanooga W
11/28 - Florida W

I hate playing GT.

Best Case Scenario: FSU completes a third undefeated season
Worst Case Scenario:FSU loses two games, Clemson and Georgia Tech.
What'll Probably Happen: Unfathomably losing more than two games.

Good write up, but whats the O/U on covered up rapes and DV cases? I am saying it will be 3.5 and I will take the over.

buddhanc
Feb 16, 2010

Thermos H Christ posted:

I predict Texas will still not have a working offense :(

If the offensive line is even mediocre as opposed to terrible, then the running game and passing game would be loads better. If gray actually runs behind an okay offensive line for a whole season then we won't have to rely on the quarterback nearly as much.

Alaois
Feb 7, 2012

GO



REDBIRDS



BITCH

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


The Bowling Green State University Falcons


The Falcons take the field in front of a raucous and adoring crowd.

2014 Record 8-6

2014 was a bit of a weird year. New head coach Dino Babers came in promising a video game offense that never quite showed up, partly due to the 1st game injury to QB Matt Johnson. James Kanapke was thrown into the fire, and for the most part handled things pretty admirably. Defense was a complete afterthought just one year after they were the best in the conference. Wild late win over Indiana at home was a blast, then things got strange. Getting smoked by Wisconsin was not a shock, but barely slipping by lovely UMass the very next week was. A disaster of a loss to Ball State at the end of the year paved the way for us to get murdered by NIU in the MAC championship, then squeaking out a win over South Alabama in the ESPN Needs More Television Here's A Bowl Game Nobody Cares About Bowl.

2015 Outlook

Matt Johnson is back! :toot: Between him and a much more comfortable Kanapke, BG has a pretty nice 1-2 punch at QB now. Johnson is a scrambler that's happy to leave the pocket, Kanapke is more of a traditional pocket guy, but part of that may have been just keeping his game simple considering the hand he was dealt.

We are completely loaded at wide receiver, and having Johnson back to extend plays should only make the passing game better. They are not the biggest guys (few WRs in the MAC are), but they are stupid fast, and having three 5th-year seniors should be a good help.

Travis Greene will likely get most of the carries when we do go to the ground. Nothing spectacular (160 carries for 908 yards last year), but should be enough to keep defenses honest. We also have some kid from Georgia Tech. I know nothing about him but they run the ball a lot so... yay?

We get one more year of kicker Tyler Tate, and I think he's on an award watch list. Very dependable kicker.

I mention this a lot but our punter is loving 6'7". He hit a 78 yard bomb last year against Ball State. Only 3 touchbacks all year. Kid is really impressive and should get us out of trouble.

O-Line was hit-and-miss last year but overall pretty solid and they've added quite a bit of size. They're serviceable for the MAC but will be overmatched in the OOC games.

Tight Ends are lol this is the MAC, what the gently caress is a Tight End? I think we have like... 2

"Hey DJExile I can't help but notice you're not talking about the defense"

shut up shut up shut uppppppppp la la la I can't hear yoooooouuu shut uppppppp


2015 Predictions
9/5 vs. Tennessee @ LP Field - L - I think we originally had a I-AA team slotted here, and UAB was going to open the season against Tennessee. When UAB dropped football we jumped. We're going to get 100% murdered but MAC teams basically live and die for the checks we get from these games, and playing in an NFL stadium should be fun for the guys.

9/12 @ Maryland - L - We might hang in there for a while, and I know Maryland isn't a world beater, but I don't see this going well, especially after playing Tennessee the week before. Still, there's at least a puncher's chance.

9/19 vs. Memphis - Toss-Up - This could be a lot of fun. Memphis had a fantastic defense last year, and our offense should be clicking by this point.

9/26 @ Purdue - Toss-Up - I know Purdue is a joke but it's entirely possible we limp into this after a brutal first three games. We should win this though.

10/3 @ Buffalo - W - No reason to lose to Buffalo. Firing Jeff Quinn was a huge mistake and they're going to pay for that this year.

10/10 vs. UMass - W - Lol UMass

10/17 vs. Akron - W - This has all the makings of a trap game. Akron has been miserable as of late but they've slowly built a solid passing game and defense.

10/24 @ Kent - W - See above. No reason to think we should lose this, but Kent will likely be desperate. Paul Haynes is a good coach in a tough situation, and if they're coming in off a win over UMass, they'll have some momentum.

11/4 vs. Ohio - W - Thus begins MACTION TV MONTH. This game being after mid-October means Ohio should be well into their late-season spiral into the earth.They actually do have a pretty solid defense but they can't score on anyone.

11/11 @ Western Mich - Toss-Up - If the weather doesn't suck, you could easily see 100+ points scored here. Western had a great turn-around in the last couple years and this could easily be a shootout.

11/17 vs. Toledo - Toss-Up - Toledo has had our number the last few years, and this game likely determines who goes to the MAC Championship. Should be a blast. I have no clue who's coming back at Toledo but they seem to reload quickly.

11/24 @ Ball State - W - If we lose twice in a row to Ball loving State, Dino Babers should be fired immediately.

BG will likely still be the top team in the MAC East, but that's mostly down to the rest of the division not being too great. The MAC's power is in the West (NIU, Toledo, Western). We should get back to the MAC Championship, at the least. Barring injuries, I see no reason we shouldn't finish with at least 8 wins.

pillsburysoldier
Feb 11, 2008

Yo, peep that shit

swickles posted:

Good write up, but whats the O/U on covered up rapes and DV cases? I am saying it will be 3.5 and I will take the over.

Evidently zero

Thoguh
Nov 8, 2002

College Slice
Your 2015 Iowa State Cyclones


Offensive outlook: Hazy

Defensive outlook: Cloudy with a chance of touchdowns

Northern Iowa - L
Iowa - L
@Toledo - L
Kansas - W
@Texas Tech - L
TCU - L
@Baylor - L
Texas - L
@Oklahoma - L
Oklahoma State - L
@Kansas State - L
@West Virginia - L

1-11. But we bowled in our end zone, which is nice. So at least we've got that going for us.

Raku
Nov 7, 2012

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Roll Tide
Alabama Fighting Derrick Henrys



Lots of questions this year. Two linemen are our only returning offensive starters. Incredible front seven on defense, but our secondary is just reshuffled around with some new assistant coaches and lost Landon Collins. Hopefully our quarterback doesn't have to deal with every 3rd and long against our defense being converted this year--whoever he is.

And if Derrick Henry or Kenyan Drake get hurt again we might be playing walk-ons at runningback, cuz the only other guys with a scholarship haven't been through the S&C program yet.

And we've got the hardest schedule in the country by a wide margin. Four of our opponents get byes before they play us--and it's all in the crucial month of October.

9/5 vs. 13 Wisconsin W, but who knows how close or scary it might get. There is no tape on this talented team.
9/12 vs. Middle Tennessee W.
9/19 vs. 17 Mississippi W, and it's probably going to be ugly. A revenge game in Tuscaloosa before the gauntlet really begins.
9/26 vs. Louisiana-Monroe W. Not even a bad enough cupcake to call it a bye in disguise.
10/3 at 9 Georgia W. A vicious, gritty win. At least they've got most of the same issues we do (who is their QB, relying on Nick Chubb) and generally worse coaching (Richt and Schotty vs Sabes and Lane-Train)
10/10 vs. Arkansas W. Glad it's in T-Town this year.
10/17 at Texas A&M W. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf0JUyoklZk
10/24 vs. Tennessee W. Is in Tuscaloosa. Plus we have tape on Dobbs now, who surprised us last year and made the game appear deceptively competitive.
11/7 vs. LSU W. Does anyone still believe in Les? Also, Alabama finally gets a bye week.
11/14 at 11 Mississippi State W. Why is this team ranked so high preseason? Will be close because it's at that lovely cowbell arena and we'll have our customary post-LSU hangover.
11/21 vs. Charleston Southern L. I just don't see us pulling through this one, boys.
11/28 at 22 Alabama Women's College W. Muschamp has never been able to stop us.

SEC Championship: will be won if it's us against anyone but Spurrier, who is the one coach who's offense this year would really be able to pick us apart imo.


Best case scenario: playoff birth. Coker proves he's smarter than we thought and we throw 4 deep touchdowns a game and limit turnovers enough to keep Derrick Henry healthy enough for a heisman season.
Worst Case scenario: perfect storm of bad quarterbacking, green offense, shaky secondary, and brutal schedule lead to us having our worst season since 2010. Everyone says Saban's washed up. In a rage he unleashes his now complete stable of mobile QBs in 2016 by bringing back the wishbone and not letting any other team have the ball for more than a minute a game. Three more championships.

Raku fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Jul 23, 2015

Raku
Nov 7, 2012

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Roll Tide
I would be remiss to not disclose the fact that for every close game, I decided Alabama will win because our loving punter is that good y'all.

BI NOW GAY LATER
Jan 17, 2008

So people stop asking, the "Bi" in my username is a reference to my love for the two greatest collegiate sports programs in the world, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Marshall Thundering Herd.


West Virginia University Mountaineers, Bitch

Hope springs eternal in the Mountain State. After a much improved year that ended on a sad note (gently caress A&M); there is reason for cautious optimism. One of the leagues best defenses, when healthy, returns nearly intact and deeper for 2015. The secondary has been billed as being one of the top units not just in the conference, but in the nation. The return to the 3-3-5 has been big, and there is reason to believe this could be one of the better defensive units we've had in at least a decade. Offensively, the biggest question is how quickly junior Skylar Howard meshes with a crop of talented, if unproven WR. The running game should prove potent with Rushell Shell and Wendell Smallwood returning and a restructured online that now features former Michigan bluechip Kyle Bosch.

This year's schedule is certainly no cakewalk, with an absolutely brutal October, but it's not the minefield we went through last year.

Sep 05, 2015 Georgia Southern W This will likely be uglier than it needs to be.
Sep 12, 2015 Liberty W :patriot:
Sep 26, 2015 Maryland W Losing this game likely indicates that the offense is much worse than expected and Dana's seat is gonna get real hot, real quick.
Oct 03, 2015 at Oklahoma* L We've come very close to beating OU since joining the Big XII, but I don't feel comfortable predicting it.
Oct 10, 2015 Oklahoma State* W A must win.
Oct 17, 2015 at Baylor* L I just hope it goes better than our last trip to Waco.
Oct 29, 2015 at TCU* L 1-3 in the Month of October will be pretty good, frankly.
Nov 07, 2015 Texas Tech* W Kliffmentum is over.
Nov 14, 2015 Texas* W I am not very bullish on this pick. A win here could mean the difference in another bleh season or a good one.
Nov 21, 2015 at Kansas* W We shall not speak of the last time we visited this place.
Nov 28, 2015 Iowa State* W gonna lol heartily when we lose.
Dec 05, 2015 at Kansas State*L Can grandpa retire already.

Scarf
Jun 24, 2005

On sight


Clemson Tigers

Clemson is predicted to be at the top of the ACC this year, but it comes with a pretty big "if." If, and only if Deshaun Watson can stay healthy and continues to perform the way he did last year, Clemson should have an outstanding season. Coming off of a torn ACL always leads to questions about health and stability, so we'll just have to see how he performs. The running and receiving corps are in good shape in both experience and depth. Charone Peake is returning for his final season and will likely be Watson's #1 target in the passing game. On the ground, CJ Davidson is also returning for his final season and will likely get the majority of the carries, but look for Tyshon Dye and Wayne Gallman to be more prominent this year. Junior TE Jordan Leggett should also be seeing a lot of action this year as well. With all of that said, it can't be stated enough that the loss of OT Isaiah Battle from the offensive line was a huge hit to the offense.

Defense is the big question-mark for the Tigers this year. Clemson lost some amazing defensive talent in Vic Beasley, Stephone Anthony, Tony Steward, and Grady Jarrett. There's no doubt that there is absolutely still some great talent in Clemson's defense, but the lack of experience may prove problematic.

Schedule:

9/5 Wofford - W, Sorry Terriers, enjoy your time in Clemson!
9/12 Appalachian State - W, App State is not nearly the team they were a few years ago... Shouldn't pose any problems.
9/17 @ Louisville - W, A Thursday night away game, and definitely Clemson's first "test" of the season, but Louisville lost a lot from last season.
10/3 Notre Dame - W, This game is going to be an amazing experience. Home field advantage is going to be huge, Clemson comes out ahead. gently caress Notre Dame.
10/10 Georgia Tech - W, This is a bit of a toss-up like most years. If Watson is still healthy, Clemson pulls a narrow win.
10/17 Boston College - W, Addazio has been building BC back up to a good team, I don't think they're quite there yet... It'll be a hard-fought win.
10/24 @ Miami - W, This might be a weird one for Clemson, they're not used to playing in completely empty stadiums.
10/31 @ NC State - W, The Wolfpack is going to be salty after last year's shutout, and with the home field, they'll make it a lot closer. Clemson still wins though.
11/7 Florida State - W/L, Honestly I can see this going either way, and I'm never comfortable calling this game. If Watson is still healthy, we SHOULD win. But a loss is equally as likely.
11/14 @ Syracuse - W, Sorry fellas, still only room for one orange team in this division.
11/21 Wake Forest - W, I'd really like to see Wake be somewhat competitive again in the ACC. But it isn't happening this year.
11/28 @ South Carolina - W, Hard to call because I have no idea what Scar is going to be like this year... So going off of last year's performance, Clemson should win again.

Best Case Scenario: Deshaun Watson stays healthy and leads Clemson to an undefeated season, an ACC Championship and a spot in the CFB Playoff. Given this schedule and Watson's ability, this is incredibly possible, even with the questions on defense.

Worst Case Scenario: Watson gets reinjured early in the season and Clemson loses to Notre Dame, GT, FSU, and Scar.

Most likely Scenario: Clemson loses one or two games again this season either to FSU, Notre Dame, or GT.

Obligatory:

Scarf fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Jul 23, 2015

TheGreyGhost
Feb 14, 2012

“Go win the Heimlich Trophy!”
Your National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes

Last year: 14-1

Head Coach: Urban Meyer

This is the best returning team I can think of short of the repeating Alabama team from a few years ago or early 2000s Miami. Last year was a strange prediction for me in TFF because I totally failed to call the VT upset but called the ceiling of a national championship correctly. In other words, Ohio State made no goddamn sense to the fans or critics last year, proving that this thread is nothing but chest beating by all of us. As such, I shall now beat my chest.

Key Losses: DT Micharl Bennett, WR Devin Smith, TE Jeff Heurman, MLB/perpetual source of frustration Curtis Grant, CB Doran Grant, DE Steve Miller, RT Daryl Baldwin

Key Returners: the Quarterback triumvirate, WR Jalin Marshall, 4/5 of the offensive line, WR Michael Thomas, TE Nick Vannett, RB Ezekiel Elliott, DE Joey Bosa, DT Adolphus Washington, LB Darron Lee, LB Joshua Perry, S Vonn Bell, S Tyvis Powell

I could list a lot more returners. Devin Smith is easily the biggest loss largely because of his ability to singlehandedly take the top off of any defense.

QB: Whoever starts, there will be packages for the other guys. I'm not going to bother handicapping this since you guys all know who these guys are and what they do. I still believe it will be Barrett starting with Braxton moving positions and the creation of a Cardozer package.

RB: Zeke is peered by Nick Chubb and Fournette for best back in the country. Backing him up is Curtis Samuel who is a slight chance smaller, slightly faster back in the same vein. Samuel will also get reps in the slot leaving carries for Brionte Dunn--this year's candidate for the Curtis Grant award for possibly learning the system in time for his senior year while also working his way out of the dog house. Freshman Mike Weber may get some carries in blowouts too.

WR: Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall, and Dontre Wilson will likely start and dominate the catches this year. Thomas is a much more physical receiver while the other two are smaller, shifter receivers who are constant big play threats. Past that, they'll be looking for a similar deep threat to Devin Smith, such as Noah Brown, Johnnie Dixon, or James Clark to step up, with the first two being likely candidates. I'm expecting to see Parris Campbell also get some touches out of the slot in blowouts as he may be the fastest guy on the team.

TE: Nick Vannett may have outplayed Heurman the second half of last year and will return to start. He's a bigger target and better blocker though not quite the throwing mismatch Jeff was. Perpetual member of the Urban Meyer doghouse Marcus Baugh will likely get the other touches in receiving situations. Otherwise, there are two freshmen coming in who constitute the rest of the depth, but I don't see them getting much playing time with the other guys here.

O-line: The best in the country. 4/5 returning starters and likely NFL draft picks with 2 guys warranting first round consideration. This group got very very good after the VT fiasco last year and Warriner may be the best coach in the country for the group. Taylor Decker will be a first round pick at the end of the year at left tackle.

DE: Joey Bosa is the best player in the nation and you're a fool if you think otherwise. He's at Clowney levels of people trying to scheme around him and basically tossed around anyone going against him last year. Tyquan Lewis and Sam Hubbard battle for the other spot. Lewis is more seasoned but Hubbard is a more freakish athlete and has a higher ceiling despite having far less time at the position. Jalyn Holmes will be the next man after that and see a lot of reps with the lead.

DT: Adolphus Washington had to play as a 280 pound nose tackle last year to give Bennett the chance to be productive as a pass rusher. This year, Washington will move to his natural 3 tech and 320 pound Tommy Schutt will take over the 1-tech. This should help the line spacing and consistency a lot more, but depth is a mild concern here as Michael Hill has had trouble staying healthy. Donovan Munger could see rotational time at both spots.

LB: Converted LB Darron Lee did a really good job replacing Ryan Shazier last year and could have gone for middling high school quarterback to NFL first round pick based on how this year goes. He's fast, covers well, and can pass rushing him a monster. Josh perry is a tackling machine and solid run stopper at the will who will likely lead the team in tackles yet again. Everyone is extremely happy to be rid of Curtis Grant and his bad tackling in the middle of the defense, meaning expectations for Raekwon McMillan, especially after his freshman campaign, are sky high. If he lives up to them, this becomes the best unit since the AJ Hawk days.

CB: my biggest concern this year. Eli Apple played decently as a starter last year, but Garron Conley was getting burned for most of last year, especially against apart. Damon Webb will see a lot of time consequently backing him up, and a healthy Marshon Lattimore could take this unit to a new level in nickel and dime packages.

S: Vonn Bell and Tyvis Powell are future NFL draft picks and a terrifying combo of coverage and box abilities. Bell is mildly undersized but Powell is oversized. They cover each other's deficiencies perfectly. Cam Burrows will see rotation in during nickel situations and will be a more than adequate backup.

K: Sean Nuremburger had a mediocre freshman year but had the leg to kick 50+ yards. That said, I don't see us kicking many field goals until like, Sparty or the conference championship so not a huge deal. Cam Johnston was the best punter that wasn't Alabama's God emperor last year.

Schedule:
VT: W. Lightning does not strike twice. Bud foster is good, but he's not winning this on his own when there isn't the huge experience gap he preyed on last year. Urban will be out for blood in this game, and I see it being close for 3 quarters until depth comes into play.

Hawaii: W. Noon game at the shoe for a bad team facing jet lag.

Northern Illinois: W. I see a closer game than I want here just because they have that weird Indiana quality where they always score points in every game. But no. Ohio state will not lose to a Mac team this year.

Western Michigan: W. PJ Fleck shed a single tear as his boat goes down in a Viking funeral

Indiana: W. Will be close for no reason other than their stupid air raid and being in Bloomington. Both always make Buckeye teams underperform.

Maryland: W. Go back to the ACC already.

Rutgers: W. No, I will not go the way of all things TFF and discuss the merits of the Rutgers football team.

Penn State: W. Night game in Columbus? First real conference opponent? I can see this being a statement game after how unbearably close last year was.

Minnesota: W. Mitch Leidner doesn't have anyone to throw to and is slower than most of our D-line. Plus it's in the shoe instead of being in Siberia. This gets ugly.

Illinois: W. Urban isn't losing to a guy trying to needle Northwestern football into a rivalry.

Sparty: W/toss up. I'll be curious how the defense turns out this year but I don't think Cook has enough weapons on offense to make this too threatening. I give Sparty respect as long as Dantonio is breathing though.

Harbaugh: W. Jake Rudock--Shane Morris combine for almost 1 full arm and brain between the two of them. Unfortunately only one of them is playing, and neither is very good.

Big 10 championship: A game against a bad division who will likely get steam rolled by Wisconsin again.

Best case: an undefeated national championship.

Worst case: a wet fart against a pissed off Wisconsin team or some bizarre losses against 2 of Sparty, Penn State, or Michigan.

Likely: a playoff berth, big 10 championship and ticket to the final with perhaps 1 fluke loss along the way. Top 3 finish.

Let's go the college football bitch

LeeMajors
Jan 20, 2005

I've gotta stop fantasizing about Lee Majors...
Ah, one more!


University of Florida Gators:


Offense:



Defense:



Special Teams:




Fin.

Former Everything
Nov 28, 2007


Is this right?
Kentucky Wildcats

After a disastrous end to the Joker Phillips era, Mark Stoops took over a team with three scholarship WRs, five scholarship TEs, two healthy scholarship RBs and a cobbled-together offensive line. Stoops immediately recruited three classes better than anything in Kentucky's recent history and began using connections (and Vince Marrow) to land top 20 players from the state of Ohio. After going 2-10 in his first season, he began 2014 by going 5-1 with the only loss being in OT to Florida in the Swamp, breaking a 16 game SEC losing streak along the way. The back half of the 2014 season was disastrous, losing badly to LSU, UGA and Tennessee. 2015 is a bowl-or-bust season for Stoops.

Head Coach : Mark Stoops

2014 Record: 5-7 (2-6)

Offensive Outlook:

Key Losses: OT Darrian Miller, WR Javess Blue, WR Demarco Robinson

Key Returnees: OT Jordan Swindle, OC Jon Toth, QB Patrick Towles, RB Boom Williams, WR Ryan Timmons, WR Garrett Johnson

New Faces to Watch: TE CJ Conrad, WR Thaddeus Snodgrass, RB Siheim King

Kentucky's offense was up and down in 2014. Towles looked like a world-beater throwing for 369 yards and 3 TDs against UF. He looked like the best QB in the SEC throwing for 390 yards and rushing for more than 100 (non-sack) yards against Mississippi State. But he also looked like the same old terrible QBs Kentucky fans were used to watching in a number of games, including the season-ending game at Louisville where he threw for 176 yards and 2 INT against 0 TD. As Towles goes, so goes Kentucky's season.

The good news is that Kentucky returns 4/5 of its offensive line, its leading WR and leading rusher. WRs Alex Montgomery and Jeff Badet both flashed a lot of talent as freshmen in 2013 but missed 2014 with injuries. They are both back and healthy. Kentucky's TE play has been atrocious since Jacob Tamme left, but freshman CJ Conrad could go a long way in providing Towles a reliable target in the middle of the field and a threat in the redzone. WR depth is finally where it should be for a team looking to run a pass-heavy attack. RB Boom Williams is a home run threat, averaging 6.6 YPC last season and garnering over 1,100 all-purpose yards at 10.6 YPP. As a change of pace, Kentucky has sophomore RB Mikel Horton, a 6'1 230 pound power back who averaged over 5 YPC last season.

The bad news is that Kentucky still has some questions on the OL. Former RT Jordan Swindle has been moved to LT and there are lingering doubts about his athleticism and propensity to false-start.

Neal Brown, after improving Kentucky's offense for two years in a row, took a job as the HC of the Troy Trojans. He has been replaced by WVU OC Shannon Dawson. This is another situation to watch, as Dawson coached under Holgerson, who is known for running his own offense. It has yet to be seen what, if any, differences Dawson will have over Brown.

TL;DR: Kentucky has some explosive playmakers and a potentially great QB. Questions remain on the OL and with the new OC, but this could be one of the best units in the SEC in 2015.

Defensive Outlook:

Key Losses: OLB Bud Dupree, DE Za'Darius Smith

Key Returnees: MLB Josh Forrest, WLB Ryan Flannigan, DT CJ Johnson, NT Melvin Lewis, SS AJ Stamps, FS Marcus McWilson, NB/S Blake McClain, OLB Jason Hatcher

New Faces to Watch: CB Chris Westry, CB Derrick Baity, SS/NB Marcus Walker

Kentucky's defense was not very good in 2014. Hell, it hasn't been good in years. OLB Bud Dupree was a first round draft pick and played Sam OLB in the newly-implemented 3-4 scheme where he was asked to do a lot of things other than rush the passer. DE Za'Darius Smith was great at playing the run and setting the edge. Replacing those two will be a challenge. For those looking on the bright side, UK had 15 interceptions in 2014 after combining for 8 in 2012 and 2013. NT Melvin Lewis and MLB Josh Forrest have the highest draft potential on the 2015 team and must play at a higher level if Kentucky is ever going to make progress on its horrible run defense. 6'7 360 pound Matt Elam got playing experience at NT last season and should be more capable of providing quality backup reps in 2015. OLB Jason Hatcher must play at a high level to prevent a huge drop-off after the loss of Bud Dupree. The move to the 3-4 will allow the coaches to bring more exotic pressure, something they have talked about doing since the end of last season.

The good news is that Kentucky looks very solid (and big) in its projected front 7. In the middle of the field, these are the most talented safeties Kentucky has put on the field, maybe ever. There is a lot of experience coming back and after a transition year, the new 3-4 defense should be more ingrained.

The bad news is that Bud Dupree is gone and not coming back. Add that to the fact that Kentucky's projected starters at CB (Fred Tiller and Cody Quinn) have just not been very good. Kentucky will likely be relying on two or three freshmen to try and shore up those spots. Westry is 6'4 and 185 pounds and Baity is 6'3 and 180 pounds. If they can grasp their coverage obligations, this defense will be better against the physical outside receivers who have killed UK for years.

TL;DR: Kentucky has to figure out how to replace Bud Dupree and Za'Darius Smith while finding some coverage at the CB spot. The front 7 has potential to be very stout against the run and schematic consistency should result in more assignment-sound football.

Special Teams:

P Landon Foster is returning as a 3 year starter and has been good-to-great. PK Austin MacGinnis is one of the best kickers in the SEC and potentially the nation. Kentucky has some explosive talent at returner, but it is unknown who will start where. Boom Williams is dangerous as is Ryan Timmons. It's yet to be seen, however, if Stoops will risk his top offensive playmakers on return duty. Jeff Badet, Garrett Johnson and freshman RB Sihiem King all have a shot as well.

Schedule:

9/5 Lousiana-Lafayette: No disrespect to Hudspeth or his great RB, Elijah McGuire, but Kentucky is going to roll in this game - W
9/12 @South Carolina: UK beat SCAR at home last season, but has to go on the road against the OBC. SCAR plays UGA the following week, so could get caught looking ahead. - L/W
9/19 Florida: Kentucky almost got Florida in the Swamp last season and UF is struggling to find an OL. Hard to believe, but I think UK has a slight edge at home. - W/L
9/26 Missouri: Maty Mauk is back and so are two great LBs, but where is the pass rush coming from and who is Mauk throwing to? I think Mizzou takes a significant step back. - W/L
10/3 Eastern Kentucky: An EKU player sucker punched Drew Barker on EKU's campus after a fight between UK players and an EKU player in a Richmond bar. A bloodbath. - W
10/15 Auburn: Kentucky gets nearly two weeks to prepare and an Auburn team playing on Thursday night on the road. Still don't think it will be enough, but might be close. - L
10/24 @Mississippi State: Kentucky gets a couple of extra days to prepare for an MSU team that lost a lot of starters. Dak, Redmond and others will still be tough. - W/L
10/31 Tennessee: UT smashed UK at home last season, but UK was playing its 8th straight game and Towles was injured in the first drive. Still, UT is talented. - L
11/7 @Georgia: Chubb and the offensive line. The returners on D. In Athens. Not much of a chance, in my opinion. - L
11/14 @Vanderbilt: Mason might be fired by this time of the year. Kentucky wins handily. W
11/21 Charlotte: FCS offering. More TDs for the TD god. - W
11/28 Lousiville: Petrino is a good coach, and has some good talent returning on defense, but who the hell is going to play WR? Their offensive line sucks. In Commonwealth, Kentucky wins. - W

Best Case: Kentucky wins every toss-up game and surprises South Carolina at home. 9-3
Worst Case: Kentucky loses every toss-up game and can't find a way to beat Petrino. 4-8

Most Likely: Kentucky gets a couple of toss-up games, wins one they shouldn't and loses one they shouldn't. 6-6

Former Everything fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Jul 23, 2015

Jeremor
Jun 1, 2009

Drop Your Nuts




(this picture is 11 years old)

South Carolina Fightin' Gamecocks

So 2014 sucked pretty hard, yall. The Gamecocks came into the season on the high of a third 11 win season, a fifth straight win over rival Clemson, ranked in the preseason top 10 and predicted to win the SEC East division. In a recollection that physically hurts me to write, every single one of those expectations were to be proven fallacy by the end of the first game against Texas A&M. Losses to the NFL and the defensive recruiting class took a much larger hit than predicted, and the Gamecocks would go on to set records for some of the worst defensive play in South Carolina history. While the offense continued to be surprisingly potent despite the loss of Connor Shaw and Bruce Ellington, the defense somehow managed to let opponents back into games and blow 2 td leads in the 4th quarter. The Gamecocks ended the season by losing to a one-legged quarterback named Deshaun Watson, then with a win over Miami in some bowl I don't remember the name of. Doom and gloom permeated the offseason, articles were written about Steve Spurrier being old and the Gamecocks trending downward, and fans grumbled about running the dang ball more.

But whatever it's 2015 and you can't be a Gamecock fan without being bipolar as all hell. Right now we get to be manic and optimistic for a while. Several top-flight JUCO prospects are now on campus(Marquavius Lewis being the headliner), mainly along the Defensive line that was so very atrocious last season, and Jon Hoke has been lured away from the NFL to come coach another Spurrier defense. The defense remains mostly intact from last season, but the offense will need to take strides in several areas of concern. Quarterback Dylan Thompson is gone along with running back and twitter pro Mike Davis, the offensive line must replace All-SEC AJ Cann, and a receiver not named Pharoh Cooper must step up as a reliable threat. Hopefully Connor Mitch isn't terrible and the fixes put in place on the defensive side of the ball make some huge strides. Look for David Williams and Brandon Wilds to have good years if our O-line can open things up for them.

09/03/15 vs. North Carolina - Win. Could be a loss or a statement game, I really don't know about this one.
09/12/15 vs. Kentucky - Win. If we lose to kentucky again, I just don't know anything anymore. I don't know if anything is real.
09/19/15 at Georgia - Loss. I just don't see it happening in Athens. Nick Chubb will either have a Heisman day or do absolutely jack poo poo, because there is no inbetween with us.
09/26/15 vs. UCF - Win. Sloppy game, some offensive blunders keep it closer than it should be, but we pull off the win.
10/03/15 at Missouri - Win. I don't understand Missouri. They were dreadful for most of last season.
10/10/15 vs. LSU - Win. This is very optimistic. I just have a good feeling about this one, I think being at home plays a big difference. Again, Fournette either sets records or disappears this game.
10/17/15 vs. Vanderbilt - Win. No matter what happens, we won't suck as bad as Vanderbilt.
10/31/15 at Texas A&M - Loss. I just don't see us pulling it off in a hostile environment like that.
11/07/15 at Tennessee - Toss-up. It's away, which makes me think loss, but I don't really buy the hype. I think we keep it very close the whole game and Tennessee probably wins on some bullshit.
11/14/15 vs. Florida - Win. Florida needs more time to clean up Muschamp's mess. I think we play well this game.
11/21/15 vs. The Citadel - Win. Connor Mitch inexplicably throws 3 interceptions and gets benched, so we just pound the ball for a boring win.
11/28/15 vs. Clemson - Win. loving Clemson.

gently caress it, 9-3.
I don't know what the hell to expect from this season, so I choose to think we'll be better than expected. That's what the offseason is for, right? Unbridled optimism? Just hope Jon Hoke can teach people how to tackle. Worst case scenario is that the offense takes a huge hit, the defense doesn't improve, and we probably scrape our way to 6 wins or worse. poo poo, that sounds too realistic.

RumbleFish
Dec 20, 2007

^Ha, you beat me to it! Here are my thoughts, anyway.

South Carolina has pretty much been left for dead at this point, which I think is a bit dramatic given the overall state of the SEC East. We've got our share of question marks, though -- a new starting quarterback (Connor Mitch, though he's been in the system for three years), an infusion of young talent in the receiving corps (someone needs to help take the burden off of Pharoh Cooper), new defensive coordinator (Jon Hoke is calling all the plays, despite his "co-coordinator" title), and a rebuilt defensive line. The recruiting class that was supposed to help our defense in 2014 has finally arrived on campus, but whether they perform to up their expectations remains to be seen. We've got a lot of pieces in place that could add up into an above-average season, but the schedule is brutally hard.

Schedule

vs. North Carolina (neutral site) - toss-up, leaning toward W. Given how much talent UNC returns on offense, this will be a big early test for our defense. UNC's 2014 defense was somehow even more broken than ours, though, so that's the equalizer. This has the potential to be a crazy shootout, especially when you throw first-game jitters into the mix.
vs. Kentucky - W. Revenge game. If we're still unable to defend the wildcat, could get interesting.
at Georgia - L. I'm not really sure what Georgia's offense is going to look like outside of a billion handoffs to Nick Chubb, but we were terrible against the run last year so it's hard to feel bullish about containing him. Georgia's defense is solid and coming together well, too. As the first true road game of the season, things could snowball into a double-digit loss.
vs. UCF - W. This should be a classic Carolina "Get this over with and just get out of here with the win, Jesus Christ" performance against a "cupcake."
at Missouri - toss-up. Tough to get a read on this one. I think Missouri could take a huge step back with the talent they lost on defense and at receiver, but they've performed far above expectations lately, so underestimate them at your own peril. I think we should be able to hang with these guys and could steal a road win.
vs. LSU - L. I'm just assuming this will be a loss because we've had terrible luck against LSU in recent years, despite playing some very close and competitive games. Could be a repeat of the Georgia game with a stud RB (Leonard Fournette) turning us into roadkill.
vs. Vanderbilt - W. Hard to see things getting much better for Vandy anytime soon.
at Texas A&M - L. The timing of this game is pretty good -- we've got a bye week after Vandy -- but I don't know how well that preparation time will serve us. College Station is a long way from home and until I see us actually play defense against Aggy, I can't just assume we will.
at Tennessee - likely L. The Tennessee hype train is out of control and I'm not drinking the kool-aid, but Butch Jones has gotten Spurrier's goat the past two seasons with inferior teams. They will be improved this year, even if it's not to the extent some people believe. I think we can hang, but it's tough to call this a true toss-up, especially if A&M tattoos our asses again. I like this as a game UT could be sleeping on, though.
vs. Florida - toss-up, leaning toward W. Florida's defense should still be very good, and at this point in the season, McElwain could have their offense rolling. I think that turnaround process is gonna take a couple years, though.
vs. The Citadel - W. Another in-state cupcake, another loving triple option team. Hate these guys.
vs. Clemson - toss-up, leaning toward L. I tend to stay away from definitive predictions for rivalry games, especially when they're played at home. Sitting here in late July, it doesn't look good for us. But Clemson has a lot of questions they need to address as well, even if Deshaun Watson has everyone starry-eyed right now (which he certainly deserves, but he needs to make it through a season first). Throw out the records, stranger things have happened, etc.

Best case scenario: Connor Mitch picks up where Dylan Thompson left off and continues to lead a school record breaking offense. Jon Hoke and the new talent come together for a respectable defense that looks like it's actually on the field. We win 8-9 games for a nice rebound year.

Worst case scenario: Connor Mitch sucks. Jon Hoke has been away from college ball too long, and the new defensive talent either doesn't measure up or isn't enough to cure the unit's ills. We win 5-6 games in another step of a backward slide and Spurrier's status comes into question again.

My prediction: I think this will be a better team than the 2014 Gamecocks, but the schedule is so hard that our record might not reflect much -- if any -- improvement. All season openers are important as tone-setters, but that UNC game carries an especially strong sense of urgency. If we get off to a good start, we could reach 8 or even 9 wins via a bowl. If we lose to UNC, I could see it starting a downward spiral that ends in a losing record. I'm going to sort of just land in the middle here and say we go 7-5 in the regular season. I don't think we're so screwed that a losing record is a given, but I also don't feel confident enough to predict more than an average year.

RumbleFish fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jul 23, 2015

Former Everything
Nov 28, 2007


Is this right?

RumbleFish posted:

vs. Kentucky - W. Revenge game. If we're still unable to defend the wildcat, could get interesting.

Shannon Dawson, Kentucky's new offensive coordinator, gave an interview during spring ball where he admitted that he's never run the Wildcat, at any stop, ever. I have to imagine that it stays in the toolbox for 2015, but who knows?

BI NOW GAY LATER
Jan 17, 2008

So people stop asking, the "Bi" in my username is a reference to my love for the two greatest collegiate sports programs in the world, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Former Everything posted:

Shannon Dawson, Kentucky's new offensive coordinator, gave an interview during spring ball where he admitted that he's never run the Wildcat, at any stop, ever. I have to imagine that it stays in the toolbox for 2015, but who knows?

That's not entirely true.

Real Name Grover
Feb 13, 2002

Like corn on the cob
Fan of Britches
Your Nebraska Cornhuskers

Views: gently caress it, Phil Steele has us going 7-1 in Big 10 play so I'll roll with that, never mind that we have a new coach and 1.5 linebackers.

That said, our conference slate is sort of favorable, as we get Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa at home, and Minnesota, Rutgers, Purdue and Illinois on the road.

Former Everything
Nov 28, 2007


Is this right?

BI NOW GAY LATER posted:

That's not entirely true.

Maybe not, but it's what he told the press during spring camp when asked about using the Wildcat in 2015.

BI NOW GAY LATER
Jan 17, 2008

So people stop asking, the "Bi" in my username is a reference to my love for the two greatest collegiate sports programs in the world, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Former Everything posted:

Maybe not, but it's what he told the press during spring camp when asked about using the Wildcat in 2015.

Hmm. I can't imagine a coach saying something he didn't really mean.

dirty shrimp money
Jan 8, 2001

South Columbus Buckeye Circledrillgars (aka the Houston Cougars)

Last season - The worst 8-5 team in the history of ever. Should have been the worst 10-win team (thanks UTSA and Tulane). Tony Levine gets some nice parting gifts.

UH is stuck in the second tier of the Cathy Conference and that's not considered to be acceptable to a university with its sights set on being a much more elite facility than it is now. So, UH opened the wallet and got the OC from the national champs at Ohio State, Tom Herman, and the biggest coaching staff budget of the G5s. Herman promises manliness, circle drills, grinding puny Cathy teams to dust using the option-ish offense brought over from Ohio State, and aggressively recruiting southeast Texas. Herman has set a high bar; whether any of this this translates into wins on the field and butts in the stands (or god forbid, escaping the AAC) remains an unknown.

This season - This year's going to be all about leaning on the running backs and the legs of QB Greg Ward on offense, while having the secondary cover the front seven's rebuild. Fortunately, most of the incoming players are 3* guys replacing 2* guys, so it should work out in the end.

Key Losses: All but 33 receptions at WR, three offensive linemen, the whole starting front seven on defense :doh:
Key Returning: QB Greg Ward, all but 5 touches at RB, the whole defensive secondary, everyone on special teams

Schedule:

Best case - Greg Ward takes off in the Herman offense like the Hydra at OSU, the running backs excel, and the front seven gels. Louisville forgets they play Houston, and then account for the one inexplicable loss, and 11-1, AAC champs, I pack my bags for the Fiesta Bowl.

Worst case - The change in schemes cause a big ol mess that doesn't get solved in 2015. Texas State and Tulane prove to be better than expected, Memphis stays in 2014 shape, and the team checks out for Navy. 4-8. Ed Oliver goes to LSU like he is supposed to.

Realistic case - The schedule gives a lot of breaks for UH, like only one truly tough road game in conference and a November homestand with three tough Cathys:

Tennessee Tech - W
@ Louisville - Louisville probably won't overlook Houston sandwiched between Auburn and Clemson, right? L
Southwest Texas State - If UH doesn't push these guys off there are serious issues. W
@ Tulsa - Baby Baylor + Experienced Secondary = W
SMU - SMU's got a huge hole to dig out of. W
@ Tulane - Another L to these guys will incense UH boosters. W
@ UCF - A place UH has never won. L
Vanderbilt - They 'posed to be SEC. Would be a lot more scared if this was in Nashville. W
Cincinnati - It's Tuberville so you just never know, but they are more talented. L
Memphis - It's at home, it's Memphis, they're regressing. W
@ UConn - UConn's a mess. W
Navy - Tom Herman's offense should be prep enough for the triple option. W
AAC Championship game, apparently - This means UH goes 5-0 on the rest of the Cathy West, so UH is in the championship game. Another loss to UCF or Cincinnati. L

9-4, conference runner ups.

Cathy Shakedown:

East -
1. Winner of UCF/Cincinnati
2. Loser of above
3. East Carolina
4. Temple
5. USF
6. UConn
West -
1. Houston
2. Navy
3. Memphis
4. Tulane
5. Tulsa
6. SMU
Champ game - UCF/Cincy over Houston

Access Bowl Winner: Boise State

Playoffs -
Alabama vs Baylor
USC vs Ohio State
Ohio State over Alabama (go Bucks)

dirty shrimp money fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jul 23, 2015

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Pimpcasso
Mar 13, 2002

VOLS BITCH
VOLS BITCH

vs Bowling Green - W Cupcake
vs Oklahoma - L Still don't think our line is good enough.
vs W Carolina - W Cupcake
@ Florida - W This is the best chance we've had in ten loving years even if it's in the swamp.
vs Arkansas - Toss up Had to say with both of us being up and comers.
vs Georgia - Toss upRicht barely beat us the last two years with our terrible quaterbacks, Dobbs gives us a shot.
@ Alabama - L :fuckoff:
@ Kentucky - W This should be the last game of the year.
vs South Carolina - W Jones has Spurdogs number.
vs North Texas - W Cupcake
@ Missouri - W Feel like Mizzou has lost too much.
vs Vanderbilt - W Glad to have Vandy back in its rightful place.

Hopefully 9-3, probably 8-4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRzQbnbAHxY

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