Category Archives: NCAA Football

>Football Previews: Houston

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>The Cougars finished the season at 10-4 and made their fifth straight appearance in a bowl contest in 2009. 

   Offense – As the nation’s No. 1 team in total offense (563.4 ypg.), passing offense (433.7 ypg.) and scoring offense (42.2 ppg.) in 2009, the Cougars return nine starters from this record-breaking squad, including senior quarterback Case Keenum, who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was a finalist for several other national honors.

   Keenum, enters his senior season as a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate and is on the cusp of setting every Houston, Conference USA and NCAA total offense and passing marks. In 2009, Keenum became only the second quarterback in NCAA history to throw for at least 5,000 yards twice (Texas Tech’s Graham
Harrell is the other), tossing for a career-best 5,671 yards and 44 touchdowns. His 5,671 yards were over 1,400 more than the second place finisher and he has amassed 13,741 total yards in his Cougar career.  His 12,905 passing yards are about 4,000 less than all-time leader Timmy Chang. Keenum has thrown a touchdown pass in 30 straight games. 

   Not many teams in America can boast they have back-to-back Freshmen of the Year in their backfield.  The Cougars tout sophomore Charles Sims (2009 winner) and junior Bryce Beall (2008 winner) at running back, and both could be considered first-team running backs in Conference USA. Last season Sims burst on to the scene by rushing for 698 yards and nine touchdowns while hauling in 70 passes for 759 yards,
while Beall—once year removed for rushing for 1,247 yards and 13 scores—added 670 yards and seven touchdowns and had 32 catches for an additional 311 yards.

   The Cougars became only the fourth team in NCAA history to have three wide receivers with over 1,000 yards receiving. Throw in Keenum’s 5,000- plus yard passing and UH was only the third team to have the 5,000-yard passer, 1,000, 1,000, 1,000-yard receiving quartet. C-USA Newcomer of the Year James Cleveland led the Cougars in receiving with 104 catches for 1,214 yards and 14 touchdowns; this, despite missing two games with injuries. He is joined in the four-receiver set by juniors Tyron Carrier (91 catches, 1,029 yards, seven touchdowns) and Patrick Edwards (85 catches, 1,021 yards, six touchdowns) as well as senior Kierrie Johnson (16 catches, 237 yards).

   Defense – Brian Stewart assumes the role of Defensive Coordinator this year and plans to take advantage of the Houston speed and athleticism on defense to put non-stop pressure on opposing offenses with his new 3-4 scheme. Stewart has six returning starters to work with in 2010.

   Sophomore Zeke Riser and junior David Hunter return to battle for their spots. With the change in schemes, Riser holds on to one defensive end spot while Hunter shifts outside to man the other end spot.  Hunter finished the year ninth on the team in tackles with 57.  Of those eight and a half were for loss and four sacks.  He also contributed with four pass breakups as well as three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles, both of which were second on the team.  Riser had 36 tackles, three and a half for loss, two and a half sacks and two fumble recoveries.

   With 259 total tackles in two years as a starter, junior linebacker Marcus McGraw has developed into one of the premier defenders in C-USA. Inserted into the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2008, McGraw has started 27 straight games and should add to that streak in 2010. He will man one inside spot while redshirt
freshman George Bamfo is listed at the other. Bamfo should be a nice compliment to veteran in the middle.
Sophomore Phillip Steward is slotted in at one outside spot, and after a trial by fire a year ago he should be a top-line defender this year. Another sophomore, Kelvin King III, is listed as the starter opposite Steward,
making the move this spring from defensive end to linebacker.

   Houston has two returning starters in the secondary, senior cornerback Jamal Robinson and junior free safety Nick Saenz.  Saenz finished third on the team in tackles with 114 and should be the leader in the
secondary again this season. Robinson had 58 tackles, and a team-high five interceptions.  He also added eight passes broken up and five tackles for loss.  Heading into 2010, senior Loyce Means appears to have nailed down the other cornerback slot and his experience as a part-time starter over the past two seasons should help.

   Recruiting – The Cougars bring in 26 recruits in 2010, highlighted by two quarterbacks and four linebackers.  Terrance Broadway comes in from Louisiana as a rivals.com four-star player, as well as the fifth-best dual threat quarterback.  In his senior year, he threw for 2,140 yards and 20 touchdowns.  The other quarterback comes from Texas powerhouse Southlake Carroll.  In 2009, David Piland threw for 2,668 yards and 20 touchdowns.

   Efram Oliphant and Austin Wilson lead the four-man linebacker group.  Each was a three-star recruit by rivals.com and had over 100 tackles as seniors.  Oliphant finished his final season with 125 tackles, six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.  Wilson had 108 tackles (60 solo), 10 tackles for loss, four sacks and two interceptions.

   Schedule – Houston opens the year with four of its first five games at home.  The first two are against in-state rivals Texas State and UTEP.  The UTEPSMU and Memphis.  That’s followed by two home games against UCF and Tulsa before finishing with road games at Southern Miss and Texas Tech.  In all, nine of Houston’s 12 teams are in the state of Texas.

>Football Previews: Georgia Tech

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>   The 2009 season was one of firsts for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.  It marked their first-ever BCS appearance, first outright ACC title since 1990 and their first-ever win in Tallahassee against Florida State, amongst other feats.  Despite losing some key pieces to the team, the Jackets will be looking to make it back to the lofty heights they did last season.

   Offense – The Ramblin’ Wreck has adapted to Paul Johnson’s spread option offense by producing the highest rushing totals in school history the past two years.  Half of that outstanding duo, quarterback Josh Nesbitt, returns after running back Jonathan Dwyer left for the NFL.  In fact, their 295.4 rushing yards per game was the highest in the ACC and second-best in the nation.  Their total offense (442 yd/g) and scoring offense (33.8 ppg) totals were both best in the ACC and 11th best in the nation.

   Nesbitt returns for his senior season after rushing for 1,037 yards in 2009.  His rushing total was the highest for a quarterback in Tech history and second highest in ACC history.  His 2,069 career yards rushing make him the most prolific rushing quarterback in Tech history and ranks him second in ACC history.  Despite only attempting 162 passes and completing 71, Nesbitt threw for 1,701 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Combining his rushing and passing totals, Nebitt accounted for over 2,700 yards and 28 touchdowns.

   Despite losing their leading rusher in Dwyer, the team does return some experienced backs in Anthony Allen and Marcus Wright, each of whom played in all 14 games last season.  Allen returns from last year’s spot at the A-back position after rushing for 618 yards and six touchdowns.  Wright was Dwyer’s main backup and rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns.  Allen will look to combine with Nesbitt to become the second consecutive Jackets to each rush for over 1,000 yards after Dwyer and Nesbitt did it last year.

   Unfortunately for Nesbitt, his favorite target in 2009, Demariyus Thomas, left for the NFL, leaving a very young wide receiver core for the upcoming season.  Last year’s second and third-leading receivers return, but they combined for only 14 catches and two touchdowns.  The coaches feef that Stephen Hill has to be a star.

   Defense – The defense got a major overhaul in the offseason, bringing in three new coaches, including defensive coordinator former Virginia head coach Al Groh.  Groh brings in a new system however, as he favors the 3-4, so it will be interesting to see how the team reacts to the change.

   The linebacker and defensive back units comes back as the strongest parts of the defense.  The linebackers are led by Brad Jefferson and Steven Sylvester, who finished first and eighth in tackles, respectively.  Jefferson racked up 95 tackles, including eight for loss and had two forced fumbles.  Sylvester was in on 40 tackles, four for loss and three sacks.

   The defensive backfield returns three of four starters from last year squad, including both cornerbacks.  One of those corners, Jerrard Tarrant, was a pain for opposing receivers after coming up with 58 tackles, which was fourth on the team.  He also added a tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and a team-high six passes broken up.  His partner across the field, Marcus Butler, wasn’t far behind him in all of the stat categories either.  Butler finished with 45 tackles, four and a half for loss, two interceptions and three passes broken up.  Mario Edwards returns at one safety spot after starting the last five games of the year.  He contributed to the cause with 36 tackles and two passes broken up.

   The defensive line also returns three starters, including both tackles, Ben Anderson and Logan Walls, as well as end Anthony Egbuniwe.  Walls led the returnees with 25 tackles, three for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.  Egbuniwe was right behind him with 19 tackles, two and a half for loss, one and a half sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.  Anderson was in on 15 tackles, five for loss and two sacks.

   Recruiting – The Yellow Jackets bring in 18 kids in this year’s signing class, including 14 from Georgia.  They bring in a bunch of studs of defensive studs, including two linebackers and a defensive back.  Jeremiah Attaochu had a monster senior season where he had 118 tackles and 14 sacks.  They stole Quayshawn Nealy out of Florida after he had 121 tackles (85 solo), 25 tackles for loss, two interceptions and five sacks.  Corner Louis Young comes in after being ranked in the top 20 of cornerbacks nationally by both scout.com and rivals.com.  One offensive player to keep an eye on is Tony Zenon, who finished his senior season with 2,264 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns.

   Schedule – Georgia Tech starts the season with a home game against South Carolina State before going on the road for consecutive games at Kansas and North Carolina.  Three of the next four games are as home as they host N.C. State, Virginia and Middle Tennessee State.  They travel to Wake Forest between the N.C. State and Virginia games.  The team’s next five games will most likely be their toughest stretch as they travel to Clemson, Virginia Tech, host Miami and Duke, before finishing the season with their annual rivalry game against Georgia, this time in Athens.