Five programs are poised to make a big leap
by Anthony Gimino on Aug. 23, 2008, under Sports
Heisman Trophy favorites include (clockwise from left) Tim Tebow (Florida), Knowshon Moreno (Georgia) and Chris Wells (Ohio State).
The story locally is whether Arizona rightly can be considered a team on the rise.
Nationally, the Wildcats are viewed as a potential sleeper – given senior quarterback Willie Tuitama and nine other returning starters on offense – but few are willing to go completely out on a limb.
Arizona isn’t predicted to finish higher than fifth in the Pac-10 in any of the major magazines or Web sites.
The Wildcats can certainly make the little jump from losing season (5-7) to winning season (7-5), but here are five other programs who seem poised to make an even bigger leap:
1. Pittsburgh: The Panthers were only 5-7 last season, but have All-America candidates in running back LeSean McCoy and linebacker Scott McKillop. The schedule is built for at least eight victories and a stay in the top 25.
2. North Carolina: Second-year coach Butch Davis will get the Tar Heels turned around sooner rather than later, and perhaps right now. North Carolina, which has a terrific young defensive line, could win the ACC’s weak Coastal Division, especially because Virginia Tech has lost a lot and Miami is still rebuilding. The Heels were 4-8 last season.
3. Notre Dame: Well, it can’t get worse. The Irish were 3-9 last season, stunningly finishing last in the nation in total offense. Sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen is bigger, stronger, healthier and smarter this season, and the addition of assistant coach Jon Tenuta will improve the defense.
4. SMU: The Mustangs aren’t necessarily looking at a winning season after posting a 1-11 record, but new coach June Jones will do in Dallas what he accomplished at Hawaii. SMU will run-and-gun and be lots of fun. There will be no more one-win seasons.
5. Miami: The Hurricanes have been on a six-year decline after their 2001 national championship, bottoming out at 5-7 last year. Stellar recruiting by coach Randy Shannon will make this season a bit more palatable, and watch out in 2009.
Top 10 themes
Other than the big one – the race for the BCS championship – here are 10 major talking points for the 2008 season.
1. Michigan makeover: Rich Rodriguez, fresh off a messy divorce from West Virginia, brings a run-based spread offense to Ann Arbor. Ol’ Big Blue will never be the same. Expect first-year growing pains for college football’s winningest program.
2. Heisman repeat? Florida quarterback Tim Tebow already is a legend – a Heisman winner and the inspiration for the breathless “Tim Tebow facts” such as this one: “Tim Tebow counted to infinity – twice.”
3. Eyes on Irish: Face it. College football is just more interesting when Notre Dame is actually good and worth rooting against. Last season was just pathetic. Coach Charlie Weis couldn’t possibly survive another losing season, could he?
4. Surprise, surprise: Last year was the Season of Huge Upsets – Appalachian State over Michigan, Stanford over USC, Louisiana-Monroe over Alabama, etc. That might be more of a trend than an aberration.
5. Big 12 quarterbacks: This might be the best collection of quarterbacks in one conference, ever – Missouri’s Chase Daniel, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell, Kansas’s Todd Reesing, Texas’ Colt McCoy, Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson . . . and Texas A&M’s Stephen McGee, Kansas State’s Josh Freeman and Nebraska’s Joe Ganz could have big years, too.
6. Retirement party: Will Penn State’s Joe Paterno and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden ever retire?
They keep pushing each other for the winningest major-college coach, with Bowden at 373 and Paterno at 372.
7. The hot seat: The time to win is now for UA’s Mike Stoops, Washington’s Tyrone Willingham and Syracuse’s Greg Robinson.
8. Rule changes: There are more changes in the clock rules this season. The main thing that a viewer will notice is the clock will no longer stop on out-of-bounds plays; it will be restarted when the ball is marked ready to play. Note, however, that the clock won’t run in out-of-bounds situations in the final two minutes of each half.
9. Tech experiment: Paul Johnson is bringing his version of the triple-option offense from Navy to Georgia Tech. He is the guru of this offense, successful wherever he has been. But will it work – or will it be a wreck – in a major conference?
10. SEC bad blood: The SEC is creating bitter new rivalries in addition to all the great traditional ones. How about LSU (Les Miles) and Alabama (Nick Saban)? Coach Houston Nutt switched schools, landing at Ole Miss after being fired by Arkansas. New Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino is no wallflower. South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier gets along with everyone, right?
Names to know
New stars emerge all the time. Here are five newcomers who will make an impact at top-of-the-line teams.
1. QB Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State. The nation’s top recruit will be used as a change-of-pace athletic quarterback behind steady starter Todd Boeckman.
2. DE DaQuan Bowers, Clemson. He enrolled early and was a terror in the spring. Could be quite a force with Ricky Sapp at the other end.
3. TE Blake Ayles, USC. Physically ready to take over the starting job from departed star Fred Davis.
4. WR Julio Jones, Alabama. He’s 6 feet 4 and 210 pounds – the kind of immediate impact recruit that could have the Tide rising into the Top 25.
5. WR Chris Rainey, Florida. The redshirt freshman – pure playmaking speed – is part of a much more capable stable of Gator running backs.
Biggest games
1. Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville, Fla.), Nov. 1 – Can’t win the national title if you don’t win the SEC, and you can’t win the SEC if you don’t win the SEC East.
2. Ohio State at USC, Sept. 13 – After flameouts in past two national title games, the Buckeyes are in dire need of a major nonconference victory.
3. Oklahoma vs. Texas (Dallas), Oct. 11 – Should be the Sooners’ biggest obstacle in the regular season.
4. Georgia at LSU, Oct. 25 – If the Tigers are getting steady quarterback play by this point, watch out,Dawgs.
5. Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 22 – Potentially epic if Ohio State is still playing for the biggest prizes and new Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez stands in the way. Same story line for USC-UCLA on Dec. 6, with first-year Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel.
Georgia back will press Tebow
It’s never as easy as just identifying the best player, because the Heisman Trophy, with rare exception, goes only to a quarterback or running back on a team that’s really, really good.
With that in mind, it makes sense for the premier offensive talent on our preseason No. 1-ranked team to be our Heisman favorite as well. That would be Georgia sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno.
It used to be that being a sophomore was an unofficial disqualifier for the Heisman. No sophomore had won until Florida quarterback Tim Tebow did it last season. Oh, yeah, Tebow.
He’s back, looking to join Ohio State running back Archie Griffin (1974 and 1975) as the only two-time winner of the famous stiff-armed trophy.
But as QBs Jason White (Oklahoma) and Matt Leinart (USC) discovered in recent seasons, it’s tough to repeat. Not only is the returning winner judged against everybody else, he’s also judged against his Heisman-winning season.
It will be difficult for Tebow to match 2007 because coach Urban Meyer plans to curtail Tebow’s planned runs in an effort to keep him healthy.
Then again, Tebow is such a talented and mature young man that he has the right stuff to pull off a Heisman double.
Overall, it looks like a great field of candidates this season . . . and check out all the sophomores on our preseason Top 10, with the final spot reserved for something of a reasonable long shot:
1. Knowshon Moreno, RB So Georgia
2. Tim Tebow, QB Jr. Florida
3. Chris Wells, RB Jr. Ohio State
4. Chase Daniel, QB Sr. Missouri
5. Sam Bradford, QB So. Oklahoma
6. Pat White, QB Sr. W. Virginia
7. Percy Harvin, WR Jr. Florida
8. Michael Crabtree, WR So. Texas Tech
9. Jeremy Maclin, WR/KR So. Missouri
10. Joe McKnight, RB So. USC
Neuheisel, others start new eras
It was an intriguing offseason of coaching changes, with 11 major-conference teams undergoing an overhaul.
Big names Bobby Petrino and Rick Neuheisel (right) returned to college, and traditional powers Michigan and Nebraska begin new eras, too. Texas A&M is another to watch, as ex-Packers coach Mike Sherman brings a pro-style, drop-back offense to the Aggies.
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COACHING CHANGES
School Old coach New coach ’07 record
Arkansas Houston Nutt Bobby Petrino 8-5
Baylor Guy Morriss Art Briles 3-9
Colorado State Sonny Lubick Steve Fairchild 3-9
Duke Ted Roof David Cutcliffe 1-11
Georgia Tech Chan Gailey Paul Johnson 7-6
Hawaii June Jones Greg McMackin 12-1
Houston Art Briles Kevin Sumlin 8-5
Navy Paul Johnson Ken Niumatalolo 8-5
Michigan Lloyd Carr Rich Rodriguez 9-4
Mississippi Ed Orgeron Houston Nutt 3-9
Nebraska Bill Callahan Bo Pelini 5-7
Northern Illinois Joe Novak Jerry Kill 2-10
SMU Phil Bennett June Jones 1-11
Southern Miss Jeff Bower Larry Fedora 7-6
Texas A&M Dennis Franchione Mike Sherman 7-6
UCLA Karl Dorrell Rick Neuheisel 6-7
Washington State Bill Doba Paul Wulff 5-7
West Virginia Rich Rodriguez Bill Stewart 11-2
