Though the kickoff of the college football season is still a few months away, I've been doing some research, going with my instincts, and looking back at last season for clues as to what I expect to see this season. At the end of the season, I'll go back and see how I did. However, the summary of the 2007 season should be, a big year for Clemson, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Cal and of course West Virginia. Meanwhile, I expect Matt Grothe, DeMarco Murray, Andre Woodson, Bobby Reid and DeSean Jackson to become household names while Steve Slaton and Pat White build upon their legacies.
While The "U" rebuilds its fallen dynasty, Florida State searches for an offense, Georgia Tech searches for a big play receiver, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils try to I win multiple games in a season, and Wake Forest attempts to prove 2006 was not a fluke, the hidden dragon crouching Tigers of Clemson will win the ACC Championship.
Pat White will win the Heisman Trophy. Colt Brennan will come second. DeSean Jackson will finish third. He'll make the same leap, Vince Young and Troy Smith made in their progression as passers.
Darren McFadden will not be invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation. First of all, he's going to have to share more carries with Felix Jones who is coming into his own and this season he's got more of a target on his back.
Felix Jones will rush for more yardage than Darren McFadden.
Junior California wide receiver DeSean Jackson will be the recipient of the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top wide receiver.
With the chance to finally carry the bulk of the carries, Kregg Lumpkin will rush for at least 1,100 yards and 10 TD's this season.
In a loss to Georgia in the season opener, Bobby Reid of the Oklahoma State Cowboys will pass for 250 yards, 2 touchdowns and rush for 80 yards. Remember the last time we played a team which featured a quarterback with above average mobility. Against Georgia, QB Bernard Jackson ran right through our defense for 85 yards and nearly 200 yards passing. Reid is similar to Jackson but with a stronger more accurate arm and a more potent offensive attack. With Paul Oliver gone in the NFL Supplemental Draft, the young secondary will have to go through some growing pains in the season opener.
Illinois will win 8 games. They're setting the stage for a potential Big 10 title in 2008. Juice Williams is one of the fastest quarterbacks in the nation and once he perfects his passing skills will be a major threat His development is similiar to Troy Smith's.
Kentucky will pose a serious challenge Florida and Georgia for the SEC East crown.
Andre Woodson will be named SEC Player of the Year.
Andre Woodson will lead the SEC in passing yardage and Td's thrown. (how many you ask?)Oh just toss a number...3,600 and 33. This darkhorse Heisman candidate will improve slightly upon his breakout 2006 season where he led the resurgence of Kentucky's football program and accomplished something even Tim Couch could not do-- win(a bowl game). I picked him as my #1 players to watch back in January and he won't dissapoint, especially with wide receiver Keenan Burton returning.
Louisville will lose to Kentucky September 15 and West Virginia November 8.
By November, Ryan Perrilloux will be the LSU starting quarterback Early in the season,, the Tigers will use Perrilloux and Matt Flynn as a Cajun form of Tebow-Chris Leak if he rejins the team.
Ike Whitaker will inherit the starting quarterback position from Sean Glennon by November. Virginia Tech has the same issue at quarterback. Unfortunately, Beamer made a hasty decision by declaring Glennon as the starter before the spring even began. IBeamer's offenses and his teams experience their most productive seasons when he's got mobile quarterbacks,(Marcus Vick, Micheal Vick, Brian Randle) behind the center. Thats just what Whitaker.
When Wisconsin and Michigan face-off on November 10, both teams will be undefeated.
When Boise State and Hawaii meet on November 23, both teams will enter undefeated.
The winner of Cal v. USC on November 23rd will vie for the national championship at the Sugar Bowl on January 8th 2008.
Wisconsin will win the Big 10 title.The Badgers have the Big Ten's best record since 2004, but their 31 wins have gone virtually unnoticed outside the league because of the headlines grabbed by Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Now the bright lights are trained on Madison,given the return of 18 starters from a 12-1 team that won its New Years bowl game against Arkansas you can expect the Badgers to seize their opportunity. However, they will be left out the national championship game because of the Big 10's perceived weakness as a result of Ohio State and Michigan's performances against Florida and USC respectively last season.
Ohio State running back Chris Wells will rush for 1,300 yards and 15 TD's.
Tennessee will win only 8 games.
Notre Dame will win 8 games.
Troy will win the Sun Belt conference title.
Florida will not have a 1,000 yard rusher this seasonbut will have at least 3 players rush for over 500 yards.
Percy Harvin will earn 700 receiving yards, rush for 500 yards and score 10 touchdowns.
Tim Tebow will have more wins than Stafford by the end of the season and Tebow will account for more yardage than Stafford. Wins: Stafford <>
Miami Hurricanes running back Javarris James will tally at least 1,100 rushing yards. As the cousin of Edgerrin James, Javarris will be the next installment in the pantheon of great running backs in Miami's history. James did not make his first start last season until the fourth game but still gained 802 yards. That was the second most by a Miami freshman since Clinton Portis (838 yards) in 1999.
Miami will win 9 games.
Noel Devine will account for at least 500 total yards in his freshmen campaign.
Colt Brennan will shatter at least 2 of his own NCAA passing records-- which means he'll lead the nation in pretty much ever major passing statistic category again.
Freshman quarterback Willy Korn will be the Clemson Tigers full-time starting quarterback by mid-October. No true freshman has played quarterback for the Tigers since 1994, but figure on that run ending in 2007. Korn, who graduated high school in time to attend spring practice, shot his way up to No. 2 on the depth chart behind Cullen Harper. He should close the gap even further during fall practice.
Though he's currently number 2 on the depth chart, redshirt freshman running back (the guy is simply amazing) DeMarco Murray will eventually become the starter and his exciting style of play will quickly replace Adrian Peterson in the immediate recollection of Sooner fans, rush for 1,000 yards, 10 touchdowns and stay healthy through the entire season.His performance in the Sooners spring game was even more incredible, rushing for 103 yards on four carries. Plus he can play a little wide receiver out of the slot. His movements are Reggie Bush like and aftyer seeing him play I understand now why ESPN aired the Sooners spring game.
The Texas Longhorns will beat the Oklahoma Sooners in their single meeting this season and go on to win the Big 12 title game.
Nebraska will win the Big 12 North followed by Missouri in second place.
Jarrett Dillard of Rice will lead the nation in receptions.
Steve Slaton will lead the nation in rushing yardage
Pat White will rush for more touchdown's than Steve Slaton.
Pat White will continue his development as a passer and exceed 2,000 passing yards.
Pat White and Steve Slaton will each rush for at least 15 touchdowns.
More than two teams will finished 2007 undefeated
A non-BCS team will crash the party this season and the Hawaii Warriors will be that team to go undefeated into a BCS Bowl game-- but not the national championship. If nothing else but for the sake of college football fans everywhere I hope the coaching staff continues to wears those stylish Hawaiin shirts and straw hats.
TCU will win the Mountain West title.
Ray Rice will compile at least 200 more rushing yards than Darren McFadden.
Wisconsin running back, P.J. Hill will lead the Big 10 in rushing with 1,600 yards.
As much as I despise him, Nick Saban will win just as many games at Alabama as Steve Spurrier will atSouth Carolina this season.
Tommy Bowden will win more games than Bobby Bowden.
The Oregon Ducks will win 9 games.
C.J. Spiller will rush for over 1,200 yards, and 12 TD's. After he spent the off season flirting with a transfer to Florida, Tommy Bowden will make sure Spiller becomes a more involved piece of the offense.
Darius Reynard will be an All-American.
Pat White, John David Booty, and Andre Woodson will be named All-Americans.
The Big East champion will play for a national championship.
South Florida sophomore quarterback, Matt Grothe will establish himself as one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the nation. All I'm saying is when you get a chance catch a South Florida game. As a freshman, Grothe was already a moreefficient passer than Pat White though just as dangerous as a runner. In fact,Grothe led South Florida to a victory in their final game of the season over Pat White's Mountaineers which denied WVU of their second consecutive BCS bowl game. If I don't say so myself, Grothe is the definition of swaggarious. It seems like each conference has built their own specific brand of football and the Big East is establishing itself as a factory for exciting offensive players.
The California Golden Bears will win the Pac-10 and face West Virginia in the national championship game.I gotta explain why I picked Cal which constantly comes up short over the perennial championship contending Trojans. First off I don't wanna sound like Chris Berman and pick the same teams(Super Bowl XLII: Bills v. Niners) every season. It just doesn't happen in modern D-1 college football. Take for example, those great Miami Hurricane teams at the beginning of the millenium. They should have had a 3-peat, yet outside factors always seemed to deter them. The Trojans which used to have thatmagical aura about them seemed to have lost some of that charm after they ran into Vince Young. Last season, there was the failed two point conversion against Oregon Stae and the interception thrown by Booty which sealed the deal for UCLA. While, I have no doubt that it will return, right now the Trojans seem to have hit a wall, however, unlike those Hurricane teams Carroll seems to have learned from Butch Davis' mistake and plans to stay as long as he can keep this dynasty intact. Booty is a great quarterback, however, he just doesn't have that Leinart/Palmer aura about him or an x-factor on offense(i.e. Jarrett, Bush, Mike Williams, White,etc.)to take the load offhis back. With that said, the Trojans probably have the best defense since their 5 year BCS Bowl run began, however, their offense needs to gather some experience. As deepas theirdepth chart is, the majority of the high profile recruits they've stockpiled on offense are too inexperienced. With the arrival of Mitch Mustain, the Trojans now possess the top 2 quarterbacks from two seperate recruiting classes as well as a top 3 quarterback from the class of 2007 in Aaron Corp. After losing Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett to the NFL, Patrick Turner, the #1 wide receiver in the class of 2005, and Vidal Hazelton will have to assume more responsiblities. With that said, experience, rules for the Bears. DeSean Jackson will be a Heisman candidate and Nate Longshore will produce in Jeff Tedford's offensive system. Meanwhile, running back Justin Forsett proved last season that he can be a great featured back during Marshawn Lynch's absence due to injury. Now with Lynch's absence more permanent, I expect Forsett and the Golden Bears to finally break through for their best shot at a national title.
Angry at finishing second in the Big East last season, Steve Slaton, Pat White, and Rich Rodriguez will finish what Major Harris and Don Nehlen started by defeating Cal to win the 2008 college football national championship. -- D.J. Dunson
No comments:
Post a Comment