CFB Forum

CFB Notes Part II

Posted By: Ben Dover
Date: 24 Aug 03, 6:41 pm

CFB Notes Part II

WAC

Fresno State - Fresno State's revamped offensive line took a major hit Sunday, losing right tackle Logan Mankins for the entire 2003 football season with a knee injury. Without Mankins, who started 28 consecutive games since his freshman All-America season, the Bulldogs will be a lot younger in the offensive line than they ever intended following the departure of four players who started 10 or more games a year ago. Without Mankins and Shack, Fresno State could send out a starting offensive line of Matt Stevenson at right tackle, Sean Finnerty at right guard, Kyle Young at center, Noah Pouono at left guard and Chris Denman at left tackle. Stevenson has played mostly left tackle during practice. That's two sophomores (Stevenson and Finnerty), two redshirt freshmen (Young and Denman) and a junior-college transfer (Pouono) who joined the team two weeks ago. Stevenson, who appeared in 13 games last season, is the most experienced. The bad news doesn't end there. Projected starting Right guard Dartagnon Shack is sidelined indefinitely after leaving Saturday's scrimmage with a high ankle sprain. He is on crutches and unable to walk. "We've been told we won't have Shack for the first three games," offensive line coach Dennis Wagner said. "Anything sooner than that will be a surprise." Just three days ago, seven-year assistant Wagner remarked on how this was the deepest pool of linemen he has had at Fresno State. We'll soon find out if he's right.“I've said all along I was comfortable with the 10 guys that we have," Wagner said. "Losing two means now we feel comfortable with eight. Of course, most of the experience we had has gone out the window. But that will come on the first play of the game." At Monday's practice, Fresno State went with a starting five of right tackle Matt Stevenson, right guard Sean Finnerty, center Kyle Young, left guard Noah Pouono and left tackle Chris Denman. Pouono pulled double duty, lining up at center with the second unit alongside left tackle Kawika Edwards, left guard James Martin, right guard Dylan Storey and right tackle Adam Messick. Stevenson is the most experienced, appearing in 13 games last season and starting three. Finnerty saw limited action in two games. The rest? Zero.
Nevada - If Friday night’s scrimmage was any indication, the Nevada football team’s offense has little to do but fine tune before next Saturday’s season opener against Southern Utah. And the defense just needs to get its starters healthy. Fueled by a crisp passing attack and a productive running game, the Wolf Pack’s first-team offense scored six touchdowns in the two-hour semi-controlled scrimmage under the lights at Mackay Stadium. Jeff Rowe started at quarterback for the first-stringers and did nothing to lose his front-runner status for the starting job. The sophomore completed 10-of-16 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns against no interceptions to lead a strong night from all three signal-callers competing for the job. The rushing attack didn’t miss a beat from last week’s scrimmage. The top three backs on the depth chart — Chance Kretschmer, B.J. Mitchell and Talib Wise — combined to average 7.95 yards per attempt. Kretschmer, the starter who is coming off reconstructive knee surgery, played sparingly but gained 49 yards on seven carries.
UTEP - The best news for the offense is that the line should be solid. “Everybody's got a lot of experience going into this season," said tackle Trey Darilek, a three-year starter. "Everybody knows what's expected out of them." Nord said the defensive line has depth and experience, and there's a solid kicking game.
Rice – Spread option broken bone offense. Runs no-huddle offense for most drives. Returning starter, LT Mike Holman, will miss season due to knee injury.

San Jose State: That is reason enough for San Jose State to smile. But, one year after finishing in a fourth-place tie, Coach Fitz Hill is talking about winning the Western Athletic Conference title and here's why:• Senior quarterback Scott Rislov, who threw for 3,251 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2002, is firmly entrenched as the starter.• The defense, one of the nation's worst under Hill, is bigger up front and has more depth.• Although the Spartans still have the WAC's fewest number of scholarship players, with 73, they have 12 more than last season. ``The talent pool is so deep, we actually have a chance to put other people in,'' defensive end Philip Perry said. Ronnie Lee, the defensive coordinator in 2001 and '02, left in January to become the secondary coach at Wisconsin. New coordinator Chris Wilkerson, who coached the defensive ends last season, has helped implement a unique alignment -- four linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs -- that the Spartans hope will improve their pass defense. Hill has a player, senior Neil Parry, who is still hoping to return to play in a game this season, three years after having his leg amputated just below the knee. Last year's leading rusher was Lamar Ferguson, who at 5-foot-5, 143 pounds is the smallest player in Division I-A football. He has been slowed by a knee problem, but he still figures to be the Spartans' big-play back. Hill calls Ferguson a "space runner," which refers not to a science-fiction hero, but to Ferguson's open-field skills.

Tulsa: Kilian worked with the first team and, except for one errant pass, played well, completing 5 of 9 passes for 78 yards. Smith, working with the second team, also looked sharp except for his last pass, completing 3 of 6 passes for 66 yards.

UTEP: Jon Schaper -- a staple of UTEP's crowded quarterback corps -- is experimenting with a new position, Miners coach Gary Nord said. Though Nord said Schaper will still be in the quarterback rotation, his athletic ability demands that he be utilized elsewhere. "He's too good of an athlete to be standing next to me," Nord said. Thursday and Friday, Schaper was used as a tight end -- a position that takes advantage of the San Antonio native's 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame. So far, Nord said the project is turning out better than expected. "He'll be able to help us," Nord said. "He's got excellent speed and quickness. He's a natural athlete. He made a circus catch today." Just 20 minutes from the completion of an encouraging Camp Socorro, UTEP endured a crippling blow Wednesday. Sam Clarke, the projected starting left defensive end and one of just seven seniors on the 2003 roster, apparently tore his Achilles tendon -- possibly ending an anticipated outstanding season. Even Duarte and junior Jon Schaper, who lost the job to Cruz, are impressed. "That's something me and Schap have talked about," Duarte said when asked if Cruz is cut out for the job. "He'll handle the pressure well. He's the kind of guy that won't let any of it affect him."
One of the bright spots, he said, was the offense. Quarterback Orlando Cruz emerged as the starter -- and a potential star -- after Saturday's impressive aerial display in which he passed for more than 300 yards and scored on all eight of the drives he engineered. And a young receiving corps -- freshman Chris Marrow, sophomores Aaron Givens and Chris Francies, and junior Dirk Dillard -- has shown flashes of brilliance. On the defensive side, Nord said the unit stopped the run better. And he said sophomore linebacker Thomas Howard is the most improved. Freshman backup quarterback Jordan Palmer -- the highly touted younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner and top NFL draft pick Carson Palmer -- said he's fine with the selection of sophomore Orlando Cruz as the starter.
"Coach Nord has put us in a position to win," Palmer said. "Win first and play later." Miners big underdog to Arizona Joe Muench El Paso Times: UTEP fans, has Las Vegas got a deal for you.
Get hotel accommodations, show tickets and your own pig-out table at the buffet. How about some sesame chicken chunks with those sweet 'n sour shrimps, heh? Yes, sir, pay with your winnings because the sports books in town have apparently gone atilt. It just can't be probable that Pac-10 football weakster Arizona, with several impact players kaput, is truly a 21-point favorite to defeat UTEP Aug. 30. But so say the early line oddsmakers. Twenty-one points? That's three touchdowns. What? Have the bookies' senses been mottled by a summer of posting Tour de France odds? Too many WUSA over/under dilemmas?
Whereas UTEP should not be favored to win, it being a lower-conference WAC school, it certainly should not be that big of an underdog to a team in such turmoil.

Sun Belt

Idaho: Michael Harrington said he’s been waiting for the opportunity to lead the University of Idaho football team. On Wednesday coach Tom Cable said that opportunity comes Aug. 30 when the Vandals open the season against Washington State University at Seahawks Stadium at Seattle. Harrington started the season finale in 2002 when Lindgren was sidelined with a separated shoulder. He played in three other games and totaled 272 yards while completing 27 of 57 passes. His best outing was the finale against New Mexico State when he finished with 20 completions in 35 attempts for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
Cable remains committed to play both quarterbacks every game.

MAC

N. Illinois - Six of the team's 11 defensive starters return this season. The most glaring gap is on the defensive line -- nose tackle Eric Didesch and defensive tackle Anthony Falbo along with the loss of Charles Johnson due to academics. The Huskies spent the spring and August camp trying to fill the void in the middle. Martin Wilson and Leonard Cooksey will be asked to plug the middle while defensive ends Jason Frank, Travis Moore, Vinson Reynolds and Quince Holman will rotate inside on occasion.
Cooksey won the nose tackle spot following a strong showing as a starter in the last four games of last season. The 6-foot, 293-pounder teams up with the 6-foot, 255-pound Wilson to form the interior of the Huskies' line. DL averages just 255 lbs. "We're still thin at defensive tackle, but we're working hard," Frank said. "We're going to have some new guys who don't have much experience and they will make mistakes, but we have to play hard and come together as a unit." The Huskies believe they can compensate for their defensive line with a deep and talented linebacking corps and experienced secondary. The 2003 offense remains mostly intact with the only major losses coming on the offensive line. The Huskies lost three starters on the line and the death of sophomore offensive tackle Shea Fitzgerald during a June porch collapse in Chicago's Lincoln Park area hampers an already thin unit."The offensive line is an athletic group, but they're not mature physically," said Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak.

Bowling Green - Brandon said he was hard-pressed to identify problem areas after watching his team work in pads this week for the first time since the spring. "I think we have quality players at all the positions. We’re a little thin at linebacker, but we’re so strong in the back end [defensive backfield], if we have to play with two linebackers, we could play with two linebackers."

Central Michigan - During spring drills, junior Jeff Perry claimed the No. 1 job and has maintained that this fall despite a challenge from incumbent senior Derrick Vickers. DeBord plans on announcing his decision at quarterback this week.

Toledo: The biggest question in the preseason has been settled-for now. Sophomore Bruce Gradkowski has been tabbed by Amstutz to start Toledo's season opener. Junior Cedric Stevens will play in at least few series in the UNLV game, according to Amstutz. Gradkowski is two inches shorter than Stevens, but in practice last spring he showed excellent scrambling ability, a skill that served both of UT's last two starting quarterbacks, Jones and Bolden, very well.

Akron: Junior quarterback Charlie Frye led the first-team offense to three scores in Akron's final preseason scrimmage Thursday morning at the Rubber Bowl.``I feel good about what we have accomplished to this point, but it is obvious we still have work to do,'' Akron Coach Lee Owens said. ``There are things we need to correct on both sides of the ball.''Frye hit Matt Cherry with a 25-yard touchdown strike on the first drive of the morning.Frye went on to complete his first seven passes, including a 7-yard TD pass to tight end Mike Brake, and finished the scrimmage 11-of-13 for 140 yards. Bobby Hendry also ran for a touchdown.

Buffalo: Buried amid the numbers that are the ruins of last season is one that especially infuriates: average yards rushing - 98.3. Six times UB failed to gain 100 yards on the ground. That shouldn't be a problem this season. At quarterback, junior Randall Secky returns, but because Hofher promises to emphasize the run Secky's pass attempts should decrease significantly. While returning 17 starters would have most ready to celebrate piles of victories, this is still a young team and one that finished with a poor record. There are 14 seniors, and only six are potential starters. The schedule is also more challenging than last season with road games at Rutgers, Iowa, Central Florida, Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Kent State. Miami, Toledo, Marshall and Northern Illinois are expected to challenge for the MAC championship. While another 1-11 season would be a mild surprise, anything more than a two-win season would be equally unexpected.

Kent - The starting offensive line paved the way for a dominating running game as the Kent State University football team held its first scrimmage of the preseason Saturday (Aug. 16) at the practice fields behind Dix Stadium. Senior tailback David Alston (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro), who missed more than half of the 2002 season due to injury, rushed for 87 yards on 10 carries behind a remolded line that includes three new starters. He averaged 8.7 yards per attempt with four carries of 14 yards or more. Redshirt freshman Elijah Brooks (Largo, Md./DeMatha Catholic [D.C.]) ran for 61 yards on 12 carries with the starting unit, including a four-yard touchdown run up the middle. “I felt good that we were able to move the ball on offense,” said Kent State head coach Dean Pees. “On defense, we broke down at times and didn’t play as well as we had in practice. The Kent State University football team held its second and final scrimmage of the preseason Thursday (Aug. 21) with backups seeing the bulk of the playing time as head coach Dean Pees looked for depth on both sides of the ball. Redshirt freshman quarterback Antwan Smith’s (Laurel, Md./Meade) play highlighted the offense in the one hour and five minute scrimmage at the practice fields behind Dix Stadium. Playing with the first-string offense, he completed 8-of-11 pass attempts for 133 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown to sophomore wideout Derrick Bush (Colquitt, Ga./Fork Union [Va.] Academy) on the final play from scrimmage. Junior wide receiver Darrell Dowery Jr. (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) caught a scrimmage-high five passes for 61 yards. Early in the scrimmage, he made a leaping 13-yard touchdown grab in the back corner of the end zone from starting quarterback Joshua Cribbs (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dunbar [D.C.]. Third-string tight end Jim Alexander (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) had three receptions for 24 yards.

Marshall: As opposed to previous seasons, the Thundering Herd is expected to parlay an improved running game into a more balanced attack. With three-year starter Butchie Wallace and junior college transfer Earl Charles providing a potent 1-2 punch at tailback, the components for a more ball control offense are at Pruett’s disposal. For the first time since the 1999 undefeated season, Marshall enters the year with proven depth along the front eight.

Mountain West - NANTKES SHINES: Concerns about the back injury that forced Nantkes to miss seven practices should have been erased with his performance in Thursday night's scrimmage. Nantkes had 11 completions in 16 attempts for 150 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns, mostly against the second team-defense. He connected with tight end Steve Vaccaro for a 30-yard touchdown

Mississippi - Starting corner Travis Johnson faces a two-game suspension for his role in the improper use of a university long-distance code. Cutcliffe said he was not sure if three other potential starters will be available for the season opener. Junior receiver Bill Flowers (shoulder), senior cornerback Marcus Woodson (knee) and senior center Justin Sawyer (knee) continue to nurse injuries. Head trainer Tim Mullins said Sawyer is making progress with a strained MCL."I don't have any good indications at this time," Cutcliffe said after the scrimmage. "One of the biggest concerns I've got is to get some people back on the field. We've now got two tight ends out, and it looks like Marcus Woodson is out indefinitely." Chris Spencer's play at center the past week has drawn high praise from teammate and nose tackle Jesse Mitchell. Mitchell has lined up across from Spencer when the starting defense has faced the first-team offense in drills.Spencer, a 6-4, 320-pound sophomore from Madison Central, was moved from guard to center when projected starter Justin Sawyer suffered a knee injury.

PAC 10

Arizona: Arizona's star senior wide receiver Andrae Thurman has flunked off the team. The Wildcats have lost five defensive linemen over the past month. Nose tackle Vince Feula was academically ineligible; end David Sharp is still waiting on summer school grades to be posted; end Brad Brittain is no longer on the team for undisclosed reasons; end Tim Volk was not cleared medically after suffering a back injury and tackle Cedric Cofer is gone for the year with a stress fracture.University of Arizona lineman Ismael Garcia went from blocking for the quarterback to attacking him in one day.
The Wildcats, desperately in need of more big bodies along the defensive front, have moved the 6-foot-6, 305-pound freshman from Garey High School in Pomona, Calif., from offensive guard to the defensive line.RB Mike Bell, the former Arizona Republic Player of the Year from Tolleson, figures to be UA's starter. "He's really matured," Mackovic said of the redshirt sophomore. "He's running very well, and he's taking on some leadership."Ordinarily, running back would not loom so large in the wide-open passing attack that Mackovic prefers. But there's real doubt about whether the Wildcats can mount, much less sustain, an air attack.The receiving corps is in shambles with the loss of Andrae Thurman, a senior from Avondale who was declared academically ineligible. He figured to be UA's top receiver. Then, there are questions about who will deliver the ball, sophomore Nic Costa or redshirt freshman Ryan O'Hara. O'Hara is a classic drop-back passer. In terms of experience and physical strength, however, he still appears to be a year away. Costa is a scrambler. A couple of weeks into preseason camp, Mackovic indicated he would play both for a few games. There's at least as much uncertainty on defense as on offense. With a new defensive coordinator in Mike Hankwitz, the Wildcats will abandon the unorthodox double-eagle flex that had been their trademark since 1992. In its place, there will be a more traditional 3-4 alignment. Whatever the alignment, there's potential trouble along the defensive front. Five defensive linemen have been lost for a variety of reasons. At the end of training camp, injured players include offensive tackle Tanner Bell and offensive guard John Parada, both suffering from knee injuries. Bell is expected to return to action within the next few weeks. Parada is uncertain.

Arizona State - Walter is ahead of any other quarterback Koetter has been around as far as second-year starters, such as Akili Smith at Oregon. He just hopes he can see what kind of progression two years would hold for Walter and where that would put him in ASU lore. Walter said. "(The offense) is 1,000 times further along than where it was last year."

Oregon State: As Oregon State coach Mike Riley entered his last several days to decide a starting lineup, his players said they liked his offense but acknowledged they needed to be more consistent at executing it.
Tailback Steven Jackson, who will be involved in more pass plays than he was in previous seasons, said he thought Riley's shorter, more varied game will benefit himself and quarterback Derek Anderson.
"I think for him not to always look for the deep ball and just have me in the flat, it really helps him out in his confidence and his rhythm," Jackson said. Kenny Farley, the starting slot receiver, said he's dropping "way too many" passes, and that the offense still looks sloppy at times. "We're still making a lot of assignment errors right now," Farley said. "Quarterbacks not making the right reads all the time. Receivers are still running wrong routes sometimes, lining up wrong. . . . Once camp's over and we rest a little bit, we'll get the mental part down." But Farley said he and his teammates have seen improvement from Anderson. "Everybody on defense has noticed that his arm strength is a lot better," Farley said. "Just reading the defense and understanding the offense, he's gotten a lot better since last year. He's starting to trust us a little bit more. I think that was a big thing last year." Anderson still struggles with consistency, following outstanding practices with mediocre ones. But the same could be said for the entire offense, which has had a crash course in everything. "Our defense at times overwhelms the offense with some speed," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said after his team's first scrimmage of preseason camp. "That's always a hard thing. You've got your offense working against your No. 1s all the time, and I think our defense is pretty quick and pretty good." Derek Anderson made progress and nudged up his completion rate. He went 8 for 18 with 136 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The touchdown pass, a 30-yard strike to Josh Hawkins, hearkened to Anderson's blistering nonconference play last season.

But overthrows and drops by receivers -- last season's passing-game nemeses -- chipped at Anderson's consistency. And his interception came on a brain freeze: He ran the play to the wrong side and cornerback D.J. Coote snatched the ball.

Stanford: "We came off a successful season, so we were like 'Why are we making these changes when we were successful with it?'" Powell said. "I think once we lost to Boston College (in the season opener) and then Notre Dame went undefeated for the first five or six weeks, all that just played into guys not really trusting what coach Teevens was trying to do with the program. It was the defensive unit that impressed most during spring practice, and, as fall practice opened this week, the defense continued to hold the edge over an offense that is breaking in a young line and establishing a contingent of new starters at both running back and wide receiver. Last season, the Stanford defense allowed a Pac-10 worst 34.3 points a game and 384.7 yards a game as first-time starters got acquainted with the Cardinal's new attacking, swarming scheme. Williams said he already sees a much greater understanding among the returnees. said offensive coordinator David Kelly, who takes over the job this season. "You know what? Neither do we. If you assume a starting position at Stanford, the expectation is that you will get it done. Period."
Kelly is installing something different from the "Fun N'Gun" that Teevens was supposed to bring from Florida. Discipline: Dumb penalties and second-half meltdowns. If indeed the players are fully behind Buddy Teevens and his staff this season, this is where it's going to show the most.

UCLA: Offense: The West Coast offense replaces Bob Toledo's quick-strike attack, meaning that regardless of whether Olson or Matt Moore is at quarterback the Bruins plan to move the ball with short passes to a variety of receivers and lots of carries by Ebell. White is a powerful short-yardage option and Bragg is the home run threat. Drew might be only true freshman to make an impact. Defense: This could be one of the top defenses in the Pac-10. The line is experienced with six seniors, linebackers Chillar and Havner are playmakers and middle linebacker Justin London is a rising star. The secondary will be strong as long as Matt Clark can step into the shoes of the departed Manning. Adapting to new coordinator Larry Kerr's gap-control alignment with an emphasis on zone coverage is the challenge. Matt Moore has edged ahead of Drew Olson in the UCLA quarterback competition, and Olson is almost out of time to recover before Coach Karl Dorrell names a starter for the opener Sept. 6 against Colorado. Picked to start Saturday's scrimmage with the first team because he had a stronger week in practice, Moore directed a touchdown drive on the first possession and a field-goal drive on his second, displaying a strong arm and poise under pressure.

USC: Alex Holmes' status for the season is questionable, so sophomore Dominique Byrd will start at tight end.

Washington: Pelluer was hoping that Friday night's full-scale scrimmage would provide all the answers to who the new kickers will be. Instead, subpar performances by both the punters and kickers only muddied matters further. "We were not overly impressed, I promise you," Pelluer said. The kicking didn't look much better Friday night. Walk-on Evan Knudson, who has been leading scholarship freshman Michael Braunstein, was short on his only attempt, from 44 yards. Braunstein made his only attempt from 31 yards.

Washington State: WSU's offense under coordinator Mike Levenseller is expected to be more interested in the move-the-chains drives instead of big hits down the field. Linebacker Pat Bennett (shoulder sprain) is out 1 to 3 weeks. Running back Jonathan Smith has continued to make the most of his extra reps this fall. Smith, who has been the featured back in the last two scrimmages, is seeing more time because of continued tightness in Jermaine Green's back. And the coaching staff has taken notice of Smith's ability. Somebody who might not be ready to go is guard Billy Knotts. The senior broke his thumb and could be out for a while, Doba said.

Texas A&M - That is, what kind of offensive line will be operating in front of McNeal/Long and the Aggie running game? Tackle Jami Hightower, a two-year starter, is out indefinitely due to a severe infection. According to A&M sources, Hightower spent time in a hospital and remains on antibiotics. Earlier last week, senior guard Andre Brooks decided to leave the team because his surgically repaired knee was not responding. The loss of both Brooks and Hightower could change the composition of the offensive line, an area that was somewhat unsettled even before last week.
Troy State: "There wasn't a lot going on for our offense today," Troy State head coach Larry Blakeney said. "It seems like we just don't have the manpower to get it done. We've got to find a way to gain some confidence and start making plays. Nobody did that today at any position."

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