Towson Tigers Football Preview

When I moved to Baltimore almost a full decade ago, the sole reason I knew of Towson University was because it had helped save the Colonial Athletic Association.  Richmond departed in a sleezy manner and the conference was able to get Towson, Hofstra, Delaware and Drexel to join, saving the conference from disintegrating. 

I've gotten to know Towson better over the years.  There's a Bill Bateman's on campus; outside of Buffalo Wild Wings and Hooters, Bateman's has the best buffalo wings of any chain restaurant.  The best first date I ever had took place in Towson.  The Towson Town Fair is quite the experience.  But most importantly, Recher Theatre is where I first saw Nuno Bettencourt in person.  Nuno was only my musical Yoda growing up.  Suffice it to say, Towson has become an important part of my life.

Nuno Bettencourt, circa 2004, on tour with his band Dramagods.

So it's with a bit of sadness that Towson University's athletics have not excelled since joining the CAA.  I want to see the local CAA team perform well, just not at the expense of ODU, and it simply hasn't happened.  The men's basketball team and football team went winless in conference play in the collective 2010-2011 seasons.  If you pay close enough attention, though, you'll see that pieces are in place for good things to happen going forward.  So today, we'll take a look at the 2011 Towson Tigers football team.

Football History
Towson University was founded in 1866 and began football in 1968.  Over the course of its history the Tigers program has compiled a record of 223-218-4, which isn't bad considering their recent history.  Eight Tigers have gone on to play in the NFL, including Sean Landeta and Dave Meggett.  Towson's home field is Johnny Unitas Stadium, which was built in 1978 and was recently rennovated.

I've lived in Baltimore for almost a decade now, and I've never heard one negative word uttered about Johnny Unitas.

2010 Highlights
Towson defeated Coastal Carolina 47-45 in five overtimes.  I don't mean to be flippant but that's their lone highlight, as they lost their other ten games.  The offense had two All-CAA Second Team players in FB Tyler Wharton and WR Hakeem Moore.  Moore was briefly in Ravens' camp this season but has already been released.  Linebacker Yaki Ibia also made the All-CAA Second Team.  No Tigers were in the top ten of rushing yards, receptions or passing efficiency.  Let's move on.

A picture of Baltimore native Stacy Keibler should make Tigers fans forget the 2010 season.

History with Old Dominion
2011 will be the first meeting between Towson and Old Dominion on the football field.  The Monarchs selected the October 15th date in Norfolk as its Homecoming game, so that gives you an indication of the administration's chances against the Tigers compared to its other CAA home opponents.

2011 Outlook
I expect the Tigers to win at least three games this season.  There have been a few articles already published by others that are worth reading.  They provide great detail behind this simple truth - the program is turning around for the better.  It won't happen over night, but it IS happening. 

Tigers head coach Rob Ambrose took over the program a couple years ago and had to clean house.  Winning is a mindset, and Ambrose is in the process of turning over the roster composition into the type of team he wants.  On the Tigers' official website there's an interesting read about where he is with this team.  Mat Schlissel, now a contributor on their official site, documented in great detail the offense, defense and special teams on the CAAZone.  Lastly, The Baltimore Sun put out an article at the time of the CAA Media Day.  Whether the players believe what they're saying or not, it's good to see how they're handling themselves in the preseason.

Coach Ambrose is rebuilding the program for the long-haul. (Photo credited to TowsonTigers.com)

But you're not reading this blog to get links to stories by other people.  (...right?)  Towson loses their two quarterbacks who started for them last year.  Redshirt sophomore Peter Athens got significant playing time two years ago as a freshman but sat out last year with an ACL tear.  He'll be competing with Baltimore native/UConn transfer Leon Kinnard for playing time.  The running back situation is more wide open as there is no established featured back; the team has transfers from both Boston College and Colorado at that position.  The best news is that four starters are returning to the offensive line.

On defense there are seven starters returning, led up front by rising senior DT's Marcus Valentine and Rob Osborne and preseason All-CAA DE Frank Beltre.  They'll need more production out of the DT's and DE's as the team had a collective 14 sacks of their opponents last year; will another offseason of better conditioning and coaching be enough?

The links I provided above show more detail than I want to divulge in my own blog for preview purposes.  But the reader should be aware that generally the players Ambrose has brought to the program are going to turn things around.  It's more about attitude with the kids than it is talent.  In 2009 the team won more games than in 2010, but they also gave up way too often.  In 2010, the team seemed to be focused on the process of competing every play regardless of the score.  That will pay dividends in 2011 and beyond.  I expect Towson to open up the season with wins over Morgan State and Colgate, and get at least one conference win.

Tigers fans almost broke the single season attendance record despite their team's 1-10 record.  (Photo credited to TowsonTigers.com)

Summary
Many fans of CAA football see Towson as the most likely first victim of the Monarchs.  I tend to agree with this.  I don't see the Tigers coming into S.B. Ballard Stadium on Homecoming weekend and beating Thomas DeMarco et al, unless I see significant improvement from Towson the first half of this season.  The CAA coaches and SID's even voted Old Dominon tenth ahead of Towson (eleventh) in the preseason poll.  At this point it's a matter of "I'll believe it when I see it."  I am high on Towson heading into 2012, but from what I see of both teams, the Monarchs are better.  And if Towson does win, I'll just head over to Bateman's to drown my sorrows in beer and wings.

Rhode Island Rams Football Preview

Quick personal plug - head over to SaturdayBlitz.com to read this week's FCS roundtable.  There are some quality bloggers who follow FCS teams that provide material weekly.  This week's topic - the best rivalries within the conferences they follow.  And now, on to the rest of today's post.

A few years ago, a friend of mine had a college buddy staying with him here in Baltimore for a weekend visit.  One night before we hit the bars we were pre-gaming with beers and some DVD's of a TV show called "Family Guy."  At one point we were introduced to Ollie Williams for the Channel 4 weather report for Quahog, Rhode Island.  His classic, angry line "IT'S GON' RAIN!!!" was one of the best punchlines I've ever heard; I was in tears from laughing so hard. 

Several years have passed and I don't watch "Family Guy" on a weekly basis anymore, yet the show remains one of my favorite TV series ever.  The Griffin family and their friends have brought me countless hours of entertainment from their fictional home of Quahog.  Well, now I have another Rhode Island product to pay attention to, and it may be reason enough for me to trek up there on October 8 - the Rhode Island Rams football team.

Weather has never been delivered more succinctly.  Or angrily.

Football History
The Rams of Rhode Island have been playing football since 1895, compiling an all-time record of 385-546-45.  They have not had the same overall success that Delaware and UMass have had, winning only eight conference titles over time.  Still, they've produced more than 15 NFL players.  Rhode Island football plays their home games at Meade Stadium, which was built in 1928.  For a point of reference, ODU has existed since only 1930.  We have some catching up to do.

A view from above of Meade Stadium.

2010 Highlights
Similar to UMass' 2010 season, URI had a mediocre season in terms of results, finishing with a 5-6 (4-4) record.  And similar to our analysis of UMass' season, the Rams were better than their record indicates.  In two of their last three games, they upset #3 Villanova as well as #19 UMass.  There was talent on this team.  Get used to me saying that about every team we review.

The Rams scored just under 20 points per game last season.  Starting quarterback Steve Probst was the only CAA player with 1,800 passing yards and 600 rushing yards last season, actually leading the team in rushing yards.  Defensively URI was led by DL Victor Adesanya, who was the Rams' only All-CAA First Team player on offense or defense.  (Wil Kamin and Travis Hurd made First Team Kicker and Kick Returner, respectively.)  Adesanya and Company showed significant improvement in 2010, allowing only 24.4 PPG compared to 36.9 PPG in 2009.



The Rams' five wins were the program's most since 2001. (Photo credited to PhotoSports.com)

History with Old Dominion
Blah blah blah, this will be the first meeting between the two schools in football.  Don't expect this matchup to develop into a rivalry, either; Rhode Island will be leaving CAA Football after 2012 to join the Northeast Conference in 2013 for football.  It's a little complicated but the short version is that it's getting too expensive for the Rams' administration for traveling purposes.  With ODU and Georgia State joining the CAA coinciding with UMass leaving, the Rams don't want to be part of the suddenly southern-centric conference.

I first remember Rhode Island athletics being relevant because of Lamar Odom.  Odom is married to one of the Kardashian sisters.  The only important Kardashian sister is Kim, because she's the only one who seems genuinely pretty even without makeup.  (Other than smiling seductively and looking pretty, what exactly does she do?)  You know what that means, right?  Gratuitous picture time!

Something something something, Kim Kardashian.  (How about that - another Family Guy reference!)

2011 Outlook
Eight of the Rams' primary starters on offense from 2010 return this season.  Probst was selected All-CAA Preseason First Team QB, so you know the coaches and SID's expect him to have another outstanding season.  Rising Junior Ayo Isijola led Ram running backs with 455 rushing yards, while Rising Senior Anthony Baskerville returns as the leading WR.

The returning defense is a different story.  While Adesanya is lost to graduation, the Rams return three other starters on the defensive line.  In addition to losing their best defensive player, all three starting LB's from last year are gone in 2011, one of whom (Matt Hansen) was All-CAA Second Team.  Two of the four defensive backs return.  It should also be noted that kick returner Hurd returns and was selected First Team KR in the preseason poll.

With an offense returning almost completely in tact, Probst has the firepower to guide the Rams back to at least five wins.  They'll win four conference games and take out Fordham and Brown in their OOC schedule, giving them six overall.

Summary
Of the three CAA opponents we've reviewed so far, Rhode Island represents the Monarchs' best chance for a victory to date.  Delaware is too strong in all phases of the game, and UMass' defense might be too improved to get a win.  However, the Monarchs should be able to run against a team that must replace three starting linebackers and two starting defensive backs.  Nevertheless, that does not mean that URI is an automatic win.  It's too soon to make a concrete prediction, but I'm leaning towards selecting ODU's first CAA victim to be the Rams. 

But we've got eight weeks before the game, giving me plenty of time to brush up on my Family Guy trivia.  The question is whether I'll make the trip to URI for the game, or take it easy and stay local for Towson v Richmond.

You can't have pie without cool Hwip!

UMass Football Preview

In today's post, we'll take a look at the University of Massachusetts football team.  The Minutemen will be the second CAA opponent the Monarchs face in conference play, and the game marks the first official conference game at S.B. Ballard Stadium. 

But first we have a couple updates.  The Monarchs started camp today and we fans got a letter from the desk of head coach Bobby Wilder.  Unfortunately we got a bit of bad news - RS Junior DE Andrew Turner will probably miss the season with an Achilles injury.  The injury occurred in spring practice but there was a setback recently.  He got significant playing time each of the last two seasons, so some younger guys will have to step up their performance this season.

We'll get into more detail on the Monarchs in about a week.  In fact we'll get more information on each opponent during the season.  My goal in August is simply to provide a high-level analysis for those who may not be familiar with our CAA football opponents. 

For now, though, our attention is turned to Old Dominion's October 1st opponent, the Minutemen of UMass.

Football History
UMass as an instituion was founded in 1863, and they have accumulated a record of 551-524-51 since starting football in 1879.  A member of D1-AA/FCS football circa 1978, they have won several conference championships and even the 1998 D1-AA national title.  The program has seen more than 25 players in the NFL, with Vladimir Ducasse being the most recent. 

A second round pick of the Jets, Ducasse is the latest pro from UMass.  (Photo credited to JetsGab.com)

In April 2011, it was announced that UMass would leave CAA Football to join the Mid-American Conference effective for the 2012 season.  Fans of the old Yankee Conference may find this sad, but I think the BCS is driving college athletics to this point for better or worse.  That's a discussion for another day. 

For 2011 the team will play its home games at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium but will play home games at Gillette Stadium in 2012.  Don't expect a rivalry to form between UMass and ODU - there are other FCS programs that FBS-UMass would schedule before scheduling the Monarchs.  (Side note - ODU is fortunate to have the financial support from donors to avoid throwing itself at the mercy of FBS teams for a big payday.  Keep the checks going, ODAF members!)

UMass...Gillette Stadium...Patriots...Tom Brady...gratuitous G-rated picture of his wife...

2010 Highlights
Massachusetts finished 2010 with a 6-5 record (4-4 in conference play).  It's difficult to go from examining Delaware's season to examining a 6-5 team while conveying that the former is nearly just as good as the latter.  But that's the reality of the CAA: a team that finished 6-5 opened the season with a 27-23 win over Co-CAA Champion William and Mary.  The team also battled the Michian Wolverines to the end but fell 42-37 in Ann Arbor.  This 2010 team was talented.

There were three Minutemen on the All-CAA First Team in 2010, led by LB Tyler Holmes.  The Co-CAA Defensive Player of the Year was also named the 2010 Phil Steele Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-American.  You could say he had a decent season with 110 tackles, 12 sacks and five INT's. 

Rising senior LB Tyler Holmes had quite the season in 2010. (Photo credited to UMassAthletics.com)

History with Old Dominion
This will be the first meeting between UMass and Old Dominion on the footbal field.  You should get used to me saying that in every preview going forward except The College of William and Mary.  A quick search of both Google and my memory failed to provide any basketball contests in the last couple decades, either.

2011 Outlook
The Minutemen bring back seven starters on offense, including WR Julian Talley, a 2011 Preseason All-CAA Team selection.  Running back Jonathan Hernandez returns for his senior season after finishing second in the CAA with 938 rushing yards.  I remember Hernandez specifically from the UMass/James Madison contest last season.  The Dukes' offense could not keep the defense off the field, and Hernandez had some pretty big plays.  This guy knows what to do with the ball.

Massachusetts loses its starting quarterback of last season, Kyle Havens, to graduation.  In eleven games he threw for 2,700 and 20 touchdowns.  Those are impressive numbers considering the defenses of the CAA.  As of the team's spring game in April they had not decided on a new starting quarterback, and I haven't found anything else definitive since then.

On defense, it doesn't get much better than Holmes.  Despite giving up more than 25 points per game as a unit, the fact that they return nine starters from 2010 lends to the conclusion that the team should improve in 2011.  The team gave up scores on 32 of 40 opponents' trips to the red zone, including 25 touchdown.  They must improve on that 80% clip of seeing the other team put points on the board within the 20 yard line.

The one thing I guarantee you without a doubt is that the Minutemen will finish their season with a conference record of 0-0.  In the preseason CAA poll, UMass was picked to finish fifth.  However, their wins and losses will count only for their opponents, since the Minutemen are ineligible for FCS playoffs during this transitional year to FBS.  I feel for the seniors but that's the hand life has dealt them. 

Summary
If the Minutemen's defense cannot correct its red zone deficiencies by the middle of 2011, we could see the Monarchs put some points on the scoreboard.  Will it be enough to overcome a solid CAA opponent?  We will see.  For further information on UMass football before the season starts, you should head over to the UMass Football Blog.  The gentleman behind that site updates it with regular posts, and I'm sure we'll visit them again as we get closer to October 1.

Delaware Blue Hens Football Preview

In my previous posts I've reviewed the three out-of-conference opponents of Old Dominion University football - Campbell, Georgia State and Hampton.  Unless the Monarchs break camp with significant injuries you can expect them to enter conference play 3-0.  Once they reach conference play, however, all bets are off. 

The Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference is the best FCS conference from top to bottom.  The Southern Conference has Appalachian State and Georgia Southern with several national championships between them, but it's hard to argue the rest of their conference mates compare to the collection of CAA programs. 

With this in mind, the CAA scheduling department chose to throw ODU into the fire at the reigning national runners-up, the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, to kick off their conference slate.

The Blue Hens welcome the Monarchs to CAA Football. 

Football History
Delaware has been playing football since 1889 and has compiled a record of 653-420-45.  A member of the D1-AA/FCS level since only 1980, the Blue Hens have one FCS national title and two other appearances in the last ten years - including last year.  More than a dozen former Hens played in the NFL, including quarterbacks Rich Gannon and Joe Flacco.



Baltimore is wacko for Flacco, hon'!

 2010 Highlights
Delaware went 12-3 in 2010, losing in the FCS Championship game to Eastern Washington University, after sharing the CAA regular season crown with William and Mary.  Four Hens made the CAA First Team, led by seniors QB Pat Devlin and freshman running back Andrew Pierce.  Playing behind a superior offensive line, Pierce led the CAA with more than 1,600 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.  No other individual had 1,000 rushing yards.  On the defensive side of the ball, Delaware led all FCS teams by surrendering only 12.1 points per game.  Suffice it to say, 2010 was a good season for Delaware.

History with Old Dominion
2011 will mark the first time Old Dominion plays Delaware in football.  Delaware helped save the Colonial Athletic Association by joining in 2001.  Richmond stabbed other teams in the back by leaving for the A-10 after it convinced all other existing teams to stay.  I will always have thanks for Delaware, Towson, Drexel and Hofstra. 

2011 Outlook
Despite losing Devlin, who joined the hated Miami Dolphins as a free agent, the offense should do well pretty well.  Four of last season's dominant offensive linemen return, as do all significant reserve linemen; three other starters on offensive come back in 2011.  Did I mention how good Pierce was last year as a true freshman behind this line?  You're going to hear the name "Andrew Pierce" a lot this season. 

No matter the signal caller on offense, expect Delaware quarterbacks to hand the ball to Pierce frequently in 2011.

The dominant defense loses a lot from last year's team.  Two of the three returning starters, DL Michael Atunrase and LB Paul Worrilow, made the 2011 Preseason All-CAA First Team.  It's not typical for a team to lose eight starters and actually improve on its #1 scoring defense ranking, but there's still a lot of talent on that side of the ball. 

In the 2011 CAA preseason poll, Delaware was picked to finish third behind William & Mary and James Madison.  While the Tribe are one of the two teams I expect to have the best chance at the 2011 FCS national title, don't be surprised to see Delaware advance far into the playoffs.  It's just difficult to see them make it to the title game after losing an NFL-caliber QB and eight starters on defense.  They should finish no lower than fourth in the CAA, which will get them into the playffs.

Delaware will be just fine running the ball this season behind a dominant line.

Summary
This isn't college basketball, where Old Dominion is establishing itself as a consistent NCAA Tournament team while Delaware struggles to finish .500.  This is college football, and the CAA is the toughest FCS conference in the land.  It will take literally a perfect game for Old Dominion to beat a team as good as Delaware on the road.  Last season ODU had the Tribe on the ropes into the fourth quarter before finally falling.  Don't expect that to happen in the Monarchs' eight conference games this season.  I'll be there in person to report on the game, but I go in knowing how tough Delaware will be.

Hampton University Football Preview

Old Dominion hosts Hampton Roads rival Hampton University on Saturday, September 17, to complete the Monarchs' OOC schedule.  I've already previewed Campbell and Georgia State, so soon I'll get to the CAA portion of the schedule. 

I attended Old Dominion in the mid-to-late '90's, graduating in 2001.  Unfortuatenly that coincided with the Jeff Capel years in men's basketball.  The Capable Coach Capel did well with the players Oliver Purnell left him but he couldn't keep the momentum going with his own recruits.  I bring this up because one year I witnessed a Hampton basketball team play at the old Fieldhouse and whup up the Monarchs.  So when I think of Hampton University, that's the lone memory.



A loss to the Hampton Pirates basketball team was one of many lowlights for the Monarchs during the Jeff Capel years.  He's a good man and a good coach, but it didn't work out for him in Norfolk.


Football History
Hampton University played its first football game in 1902, giving the program more than 100 years of the sport.  The Pirates have been members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) since 1995; for most of the rest of its existence it was part of the CIAA.  Unlike ODU's two other OOC opponents, Hampton has hundreds of games experience with an all-time record of 532-382-35.  That ain't too bad, no matter the competition.

2010 Highlights
Hampton had a record of 5-2 heading into its showdown with Old Dominion last season (see below) but finished with an overall record of 6-5.  Junior quarterback David Legree, a former transfer from Syracuse, passed for almost 1,700 yards and accounted for eleven total touchdowns.  Freshman running back Antown Chisholm was named MEAC ROY and was Second Team All-MEAC after rushing for 607 yards and four touchdowns in ten games.

On defense the Pirates gave up only 23 touchdowns and surrendered 271 yards/game.  Kenrick Ellis graduated from Hampton and was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft by the NY Jets.  Along with Ellis, Hampton had two other defensive players on the 2010 All-MEAC First Team - DL Brandon Peguese and DB Ricardo Silva, JR. 

Ellis, drafted by the Jets, will have to suffer Mark Sanchez. (Photo credited to HamptonPirates.com)

History with Old Dominion
As Hampton has more than 100 seasons of football history, and this incarnation of Monarch football has two, the 2010 contest between the teams is the only one to discuss.  Old Dominion traveled across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in late October and shipwrecked the Pirates, 28-14.  Deron Mayo, currently in Denver Broncos camp, was credited with two blocked punts.  Without knowing Hampton had such a quality defensive line, I was initially surprised they held ODU to only 251 yards of offense.  I know better now.

2011 Outlook
The strength of the Pirates last year was their defense.  Giving up less than 70 yards per quarter over the course of a season is no small feat.  But replacing Ellis, Silva JR and Peguese (all of whom graduated) will be an even bigger challenge.  And unfortuatenly for the defense, the offense last year scored only one more touchdown (24) than the defense allowed (23). 

There should be natural improvement with the continuity of their starting quarterback and running back returning, but will it be enough to compensate for what the defense loses?  While Legree had decent numbers at QB, his career completion percentage is less than 50%.  I'd expect defenses to crowd the box to stuff Chisholm, forcing Legree to beat teams in through the air.  He hasn't been able to do that in two seasons with Hampton to date.




I Googled "8 men in the box football" for diagrams.  This was on the first page of image results.  Imagine if I hadn't included the word "football."

The MEAC coaches and SIDs think highly enough of Hampton to have voted them fourth in the preseason MEAC poll.  Chisholm and DB Micah Pellerin represent Hampton on the preseason MEAC First Team.  Still, a team with a senior QB and a Second Team running back behind him should be able to put points up on the board.  The question is, will they score enough?  It says here the defense lost too much talent from last season for Hampton to improve on its 2010 record of 6-5.

Summary
Similar to Campbell University, there is not much in the way of message board information on the Pirates.  At the time of this post no official media guide has been published.  Without message board fodder or a media guide, my analysis is somewhat limited.  But I do know that it's difficult for programs to lose three First Team Conference players on defense and get better the following season.  The Pirates are the most complete, accomplished OOC team the Monarchs face this season, but I still expect ODU to wrap up its third consecutive win before heading to Delaware to open its CAA schedule.  Regardless of the outcome, I hope the rivalry continues over the years; it's good to have local rivalries.

Random Aces

There has been a bevy of news of interest to this blogger, too many to not share in a random post.  I excel at randomness.

On Tuesday night, Daniel Hudson pitched eight strong innings in a 6-1 victory over two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.  It looks like Justin Verlander has some competition for the best former ODU baseball player in the Majors.  They have 26 wins between them this season.  While Verlander is obviously the more dominant pitcher, Hudson is in his first season in the Majors and has plenty of time to improve.




I got to see Verlander take on the Orioles earlier this season.  I'll give you one guess who won that contest.


Tickets for the second annual Colonial Clash went on sale Tuesday.  The University of Massachusettes takes on the University of New Hampshire at Gillette Stadium.  This may be the first and only time I post a link to the New England Patriots' website with no malice.  Last season almost 33K people saw the Wildcats defeat the Minutemen 39-13.  I can't find word on whether the Colonial Clash will continue once UMass leaves CAA Football for the MAC.

Towson football announced officially today that it will take on the Tigers of LSU in September 2012.  On another Towson note, their football media guide from their official website is worth a look.  New Towson basketball coach Pat Skerry was interviewed on WBAL this evening.  It's hard to not like this guy, from everything I've heard and read from and about him. 

Old Dominion basketball got a verbal commitment from Aaron Bacote of Bethel High School.  The rising senior averaged 15-5-3 as a junior last season and more importantly has a 4.1 GPA.  On more of a downer note, the Monarchs learned that star Kent Bazemore may miss games into December with an injured foot.  George Mason, the Virginia basketball rival of ODU that has respectable fans (I'm 100% genuine here), also picked up a verbal commitment from a solid prospect. 




This photo is sponsored by Jerry Beach to counteract my compliment to GMU fans.

The Virginian-Pilot had an amazing story on the new tennis coach, Aljosa Piric.  It was also announced today that the Monarchs men's soccer team is ranked 26th in the College Soccer News preseason poll. 

Lastly, Saturdayblitz.com is really coming through with quality information in its FCS Roundtable.  This week's topics include key conference matchups and potential FCS wins over FBS programs. 

We'll take a look at Hampton University's football program in the next post.  Look for it by the end of the week. 

Georgia State Football Preview

Once upon a time there was a collection of collegiate athletic programs called The Sun Belt Conference.  ("Once upon a time" includes "now.")  The Georgia State University Panthers were part of this conference from 1976-1981.  Following the Panthers' departure, Old Dominion was a member of the Sun Belt from 1982-1991, and then joined the CAA the following season.  In 2005 Georgia State joined the CAA along with Northeastern University, securing the Colonial's footprint from Atlanta to New England.

While Northeastern dropped its football program following the 2009 season, Georgia State began football the subsequent season.  The Panthers drew an impressive 30K fans to their opening game against Shorter College in the Georgia Dome, and averaged more than 15K the rest of the season.  In today's post we'll take a look at whether Georgia State can expect to improve on their 6-5 record from a year ago.

Playboy model Amy Leigh Andrews is by far the most impressive product of Georgia State University.  (Photo credited to something called BittenAndBound.Com)

Football History
As mentioned above, the Panthers have only had one season.  Through interacting with their fans on message boards (thank you, World Wide Web!) it sounds like there were too many political road blocks for Georgia State football to materialize before now.  Eventually they got the right mixture of president and athletic director; in the late 2000's football was announced and their first season was 2010.

Their only season was a bit of a roller coaster ride.  After trouncing Shorter in front of 30K fans, the following week the team lost to NAIA's Lambuth University in front of an announced crowd of 12K.  Lambuth University no longer exists as a stand-alone school, and their 2011 rematch was thus cancelled.  But that loss was followed with a gritty OT loss to FCS power Jacksonville State.  They won six of their eleven games as the see-saw season eventually ended with a nationally-televised game against Alabama.

Not many FCS teams have made the cover of ESPN the magazine over the years, let alone a start-up FCS program.  When ESPN gives you that much free press there's no doubt that people pay attention.  The long-term question is, will that attention lead to winning?  Only time will tell.


This is not as cute as Amy Leigh Andrews.  (Photo credited to ESPN the Magazine)


2010 Highlights
The Panthers finished 2010 with a winning record, which in and of itself is a highlight.  With teams like Alabama, Jacksonville State and Old Dominion among their opponents, a winning record is an accomplishment.  Redshirt freshman QB Drew Little threw for more than 2,100 yards with 18 TD's.  Their punter, who's lining up to be the starter at QB for 2011, was cited several times for strong performances by the College Football Performance Awards last season.  Also, did I mention they played Alabama on national television to end their season?  

History with Old Dominion
As 2010 was Georgia State's only season to date, they've had one lone game against ODU: a loss of 34-20.  The Panthers took a 6-0 lead early but saw the Monarchs score 34 unanswered points, with Georgia State scoring two touchdowns in garbage time. 

Led by running back Mario Crawford, the Monarchs rushed for 229 yards against the Panthers in 2010.

2011 Outlook
The 2011 offseason has been so fluid for the Panthers, it's difficult to establish reasonable expectations.  We'll list what has happened and try to figure it out at the end.

Star Jackson, a gifted QB who transferred from Alabama before the 2010 season, left the program in the winter after playing in only four games.  In March it was announced that Drew Little would be suspended the first four games of 2011 for a violation of team rules.  Three others were suspended (one of whom would subsequently leave the team) and another was dismissed from the team. 

Now for some good offseason news - there will be three new BCS transfers on the Panthers' roster this year.  AJ Portee, a defensive end who previously played at UConn, announced in May that he was transferring.  Subsequently Donald Russell and Alex Smith, former Kentucky Wildcat offensive players, officially transferred in July.  Georgia State fans hope these three BCS transfers provide better results than Star Jackson.

And now back to the not-as-good offseason news.  Kelton Hill, the Panthers' leading rusher from 2010 who was expected to start in place of the suspended Little, was arrested and charged with forcible entry in relation to a burglary.  Hill's player bio has been pulled from the Georgia State Athletics web site and he is currently not with the team.  We'll let the court system settle this one. 

The two remaining quarterbacks on the roster are Bo Schlecter, their punter from last season, and Ben McLane, an incoming freshman.  However, Coach Bill Curry announced recently that Little's suspension may be reduced, even though it has nothing to do with the lack of depth at the position.  In related news, I have a skyscraper in Atlanta to sell Georgia State.

How soon will Drew Little be taking snaps as the Panthers' QB?

So what does it all mean?  Hell if I know.  Their defense gave up more than 183 yards per game on the ground last season.  How much improved will they be with Portee's arrival coupled with improvement of their returning players? 

Regardless of how improved the defense can be, how good will the offense be?  Forget that their projected starting QB was their punter last year; for what we know he's a decent athlete who could do well at the position.  How much practice time will Drew Little get with the first team offfense throughout camp and into the season?  Won't rotating reps with the first team between quarterbacks be more disruptive than helpful, especially if we don't know the timetable for Little's return? 

Side note - the Panthers' quandry reminds me of the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles.  That team had a defense that rivaled the '85 Bears and the '00 Ravens.  However, they couldn't even make the playoffs because of the quarterback situation.  Randall Cunningham was injured that year and the offense simply didn't score enough, negating superior results from Reggie White and Company.

Unfortunately for Bill Curry, his defense is not the 1991 Eagles.  They should absolutely improve this season simply because they have a full season under their belts, as well as an influx of talent.  I doubt that talent will be enough for them to win more than one game that Little misses - the season-opener against Clark Atlanta University.

CAU is one of three sub-FCS teams Georgia State faces, which I find odd since ODU didn't schedule sub-FCS teams after its first two games of its first season, but you should expect the Panthers to win those games.  Other winnable games include a game against start-up University of Texas - San Antonio, as well as their season finale against Campbell.  All bets are off beyond that - it's not a matter of talent on Georgia State, it's a matter of continuity of the offense.

Summary
There is no doubt that Georgia State has some talented players on its roster - five players (including Little) were named to the CFPA Watchlist.  Six players were named to Phil Steele's 2011 Preseason All-Independent Team.  The team won six games last year and other than Little and his four-game suspension, they are returning much of that talent from last year.  But at this time I cannot pick a team with a punter at quarterback to defeat an ODU team that now has four years of scholarship athletes cycled through the defense.  There are more than five weeks before the game is played and a lot can happen, but things are shaping up well for ODU remain undefeated against the Panthers.