The 2011 college football season starts in one week people! I, for one, love this time of year: the cooler weather, the leaves changing colors, football being played. My last post was the SEC West preview and I left Auburn out so I could devote an entire post for them. I know I'm a homer, but so what? so are you. Anyway, Auburn returns the fewest starters of any national champion ever, thus the reasoning behind AU being ranked lower than other national champ ever. The tigers start off #19-23 depending on which poll you look at, but it really doesn't matter because it usually evens itself out.
The offense: Auburn will start Barrett Trotter at QB. Trotter has been in Malzahn's system for the last 3 years and knows it better than anyone. He is a redshirt junior and played a little mopup duty for Cam last year. He came out of highschool playing the spread and should be able to lead the team. He won't be counted on to be as big a part of the offense as Cam was last year, but that's the great thing about Malzahn's offense: he designs it with the type players he has at his disposal. Trotter has a good throwing arm and his forte is his accuracy. While he won't run over you, he might fit a completion into a tight spot. He can run, however that is not what he will do too much of, probably. Trotter has better than average speed and will run if need be, but I would be willing to bet that passes more often than he tucks and runs. Dyer and McCalleb are back as the one of the most productive back duos in the league. The receivers will be new except for the reliable Emory Blake who emerged as a go-to guy last year. DeAngelo Benton, Q. Carr, and a host of freshmen will be asked to step up and produce this year. The offensive line must replace 3 out of 5 starters (A.J. Green was a starter until he got hurt in the Clemson game). As many as 3 freshmen may see significant playing time and may even start. There is a ton of talent there, just really short on experience.
The defense: The secondary will be better and deeper than in the past 3 years. Chris Davis and T Bell will lead the corners with extremely talented freshmen Jonathon Rose and E. Florence backing up. The safety position is held down by Neiko Thorpe and D. McNeal. Lots of talent and more experience here than most other positions. The linebacking core will have Jake Holland leading the group along with Eltoro Freeman and Daren Bates. Harris Gaston and Jonathon Evans will probably be (capable) backups. Holland is a smart kid and will take some time to learn on the fly but he is very good and I expect by the end of the year, to be very productive. The D line is the biggest question mark of the defense this year. Nosa Eguae and Corey Lemonier anchor the ends with Dee Ford playing alot. Sophomores Kenneth Carter and Jeffery Whitaker will be the interior linemen and will have to be studly to counter the SEC's big boys up front. I think they will be able to eventually but just need that big game experience.
The kicking game: Cody Parkey and Steven Clark will handle the place kicking and punting duties respectively. Parkey had a hand in a handful of extra points and kickoffs and Clark was pretty inconsistent at times last year, but had a good spring game and fall camp. I think we will be just fine here.
Overall, I think AU will go 9-3 and be in every game this year. The losses will come at Arky (dont play well there usually), LSU (haven't won in BR since Clinton was president) and either South Carolina or Bama. I think we handle MSU and Clemson and beat UF at home. USC will be too close to call and we have a great shot at beating UGA this year (esp if UGA loses early and packs it in for the rest of the year). Bama will be tough but we usually play them close.
Predicion: Auburn will go 9-3 with a close loss to USC and a win over bama to end the regular season. Auburn will play in the Cotton or Outback Bowl and have 10 wins to follow up the national championship season. Not too bad, esp considering no one thinks they will win 6 games. Now, this is homerism at its best and my prognostication skills are terrible. I don't think AU will be as bad as people think but won't win every game either. With a little experience and keeping the injury bug away, this team has a chance to finish really strong. It will be a fun year, no matter what, and like I said before: I love this time of year! Play ball!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
SEC WEST PREVIEW
Ok, I've had enough of this talk about conference expansion, Miami, Danny Sheridan and everything else that drags down college football. It's time for my prognostication skills to come forward and predict how the West will pan out. I will list my order of finish but will save my Auburn preview for another post.
1. Alabama: unfortunately (haha) the tide have 10 starters on defense returning this year and 6 on offense so they are the odds-on favorites to win the West and possibly the MNC. Questions arise however because of the vacancy of some pretty crucial positions, esp on offense, that bama has to replace. The first is quarterback. A J McCarron and Phillip Sims are vying for the top spot. McCarron filled in (mop up duty) for McElroy last year and has the most experience albeit a handful of snaps more than Sims. Saban has said Sims is an amazing athlete, but as we all know, athlete doesn't necessarily mean great leader/QB. Another is the top wide receiver now that Julio has become rich with the Falcons. Will Marquis Maze be able to handle the load now that there really isn't anyone that will demand a double team? The other is a dominant defensive lineman. Saban said himself that this defense will be different from his other ones because he doesn't have that dominate lineman that can disrupt so much. But, since when do we take anything Saban says to the media without a grain of salt?
I think bama will be favored in all their games and will probably win most if not all of them as well. Saban does not require alot from his QB, so if Richardson stays healthy all year and can carry the majority of the runs (due to injuries), bama will be just fine. If a team is going to beat them, they will have to play a perfect game b/c bama's defense is going to be really tough to score against. I don't really see a big hurdle in the schedule except maybe LSU, but it's at home. Auburn on the road will be tough, but certainly has proven manageable (see 2008/2010). I don't think bama will run the table (wishful thinking maybe?) but will go 11-1 and play in the SEC championship game against a very beatable SEC East team. A 12-1 tide team playing for the national championship is very probable.
My prediction: 12-1 and playing for the MNC.
2. LSU: LSU will have a great defense and if they can get any production out of the QB, LSU will be very very tough to beat. If Jefferson plays at all like a QB and not throw stupid interceptions, I believe the winner of the LSU and bama game wins the West. LSU does have a much tougher schedule than bama (who doesn't this year?) starting with a HUGE game vs. Oregon. LSU plays Auburn and Arkansas at home, but has bama and West Virgina on the road. I think one or two of those games trips them up and keeps them out of Atlanta.
My prediction: 10-2 and possibly playing as an at large team in a BCS bowl.
3. Arkansas: Arkansas' success will largely depend on new QB Tyler Wilson and the newly revamped defense. Arkansas' defense failed them miserably last year (see Auburn game) with the offense failing them less but in a big way (see bama game). Tyler Wilson has the best receiving corp in the SEC and possibly the nation and the running game was something that could have been really good until Knile Davis broke his ankle last week and is out for the year. That is why I put Arkansas third behind LSU. Ronnie Wingo is ok, but he is no Davis. If the defense plays well, Arky could win 10 games. If not, it will be a shootout every game and I'm not sure that Arky could hang like that with bama or LSU. I choose the latter.
My prediction: 10-2 with losses to bama and LSU but beating AU and a good Texas A&M team. Probably playing in Cotton or Capital One bowl.
4. Auburn - coming soon
5. Mississippi State: I'm not buying into Dan Mullen's resurgence of MSU into a team to be reckoned with just yet. He is a good coach but until I see MSU win a bunch, I can't put them high in the SEC West. Jackie Sherrill, largely regarded as the best coach ever at MSU, only won 9 games in his best season (I think that is right, I could look it up but I'm lazy. Nevertheless, it wasn't that many). MSU will be better and may even beat AU, but playing at JHS is tough and AU will be better than most think. With road games at Arky and UGA and playing LSU and bama at home will be too tough... even with a better team.
My prediction: 6-6 with losses to AU, LSU, UGA, USC, UA, Arky. Playing in a lower tier bowl, possibly in B'ham.
6. Mississippi: Ole Miss is just bad. They had Jeromiah Misoli last year and still stunk, mainly because of their defense. They allowed something like 6.1 yards per play which is atrocious. They replace alot of starters, but the schedule helps with the only road games being at Vandy, Fresno (what?), AU, UK and MSU. Home games, however, include BYU, bama, UGA, Arky and LSU. Houston Nutt has his work cut out for him.
My prediction: 4-8 (very generous) and maybe a close Egg Bowl game.
1. Alabama: unfortunately (haha) the tide have 10 starters on defense returning this year and 6 on offense so they are the odds-on favorites to win the West and possibly the MNC. Questions arise however because of the vacancy of some pretty crucial positions, esp on offense, that bama has to replace. The first is quarterback. A J McCarron and Phillip Sims are vying for the top spot. McCarron filled in (mop up duty) for McElroy last year and has the most experience albeit a handful of snaps more than Sims. Saban has said Sims is an amazing athlete, but as we all know, athlete doesn't necessarily mean great leader/QB. Another is the top wide receiver now that Julio has become rich with the Falcons. Will Marquis Maze be able to handle the load now that there really isn't anyone that will demand a double team? The other is a dominant defensive lineman. Saban said himself that this defense will be different from his other ones because he doesn't have that dominate lineman that can disrupt so much. But, since when do we take anything Saban says to the media without a grain of salt?
I think bama will be favored in all their games and will probably win most if not all of them as well. Saban does not require alot from his QB, so if Richardson stays healthy all year and can carry the majority of the runs (due to injuries), bama will be just fine. If a team is going to beat them, they will have to play a perfect game b/c bama's defense is going to be really tough to score against. I don't really see a big hurdle in the schedule except maybe LSU, but it's at home. Auburn on the road will be tough, but certainly has proven manageable (see 2008/2010). I don't think bama will run the table (wishful thinking maybe?) but will go 11-1 and play in the SEC championship game against a very beatable SEC East team. A 12-1 tide team playing for the national championship is very probable.
My prediction: 12-1 and playing for the MNC.
2. LSU: LSU will have a great defense and if they can get any production out of the QB, LSU will be very very tough to beat. If Jefferson plays at all like a QB and not throw stupid interceptions, I believe the winner of the LSU and bama game wins the West. LSU does have a much tougher schedule than bama (who doesn't this year?) starting with a HUGE game vs. Oregon. LSU plays Auburn and Arkansas at home, but has bama and West Virgina on the road. I think one or two of those games trips them up and keeps them out of Atlanta.
My prediction: 10-2 and possibly playing as an at large team in a BCS bowl.
3. Arkansas: Arkansas' success will largely depend on new QB Tyler Wilson and the newly revamped defense. Arkansas' defense failed them miserably last year (see Auburn game) with the offense failing them less but in a big way (see bama game). Tyler Wilson has the best receiving corp in the SEC and possibly the nation and the running game was something that could have been really good until Knile Davis broke his ankle last week and is out for the year. That is why I put Arkansas third behind LSU. Ronnie Wingo is ok, but he is no Davis. If the defense plays well, Arky could win 10 games. If not, it will be a shootout every game and I'm not sure that Arky could hang like that with bama or LSU. I choose the latter.
My prediction: 10-2 with losses to bama and LSU but beating AU and a good Texas A&M team. Probably playing in Cotton or Capital One bowl.
4. Auburn - coming soon
5. Mississippi State: I'm not buying into Dan Mullen's resurgence of MSU into a team to be reckoned with just yet. He is a good coach but until I see MSU win a bunch, I can't put them high in the SEC West. Jackie Sherrill, largely regarded as the best coach ever at MSU, only won 9 games in his best season (I think that is right, I could look it up but I'm lazy. Nevertheless, it wasn't that many). MSU will be better and may even beat AU, but playing at JHS is tough and AU will be better than most think. With road games at Arky and UGA and playing LSU and bama at home will be too tough... even with a better team.
My prediction: 6-6 with losses to AU, LSU, UGA, USC, UA, Arky. Playing in a lower tier bowl, possibly in B'ham.
6. Mississippi: Ole Miss is just bad. They had Jeromiah Misoli last year and still stunk, mainly because of their defense. They allowed something like 6.1 yards per play which is atrocious. They replace alot of starters, but the schedule helps with the only road games being at Vandy, Fresno (what?), AU, UK and MSU. Home games, however, include BYU, bama, UGA, Arky and LSU. Houston Nutt has his work cut out for him.
My prediction: 4-8 (very generous) and maybe a close Egg Bowl game.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Fishing Trip
I wanted to talk about the trip I took about three weeks ago. It was a guys trip to Gulf Shores, AL to go deep sea fishing. Me and 8 other guys from work went down there on a Friday night and came back Sunday morning. The morning of the actual fishing day (Saturday), we awoke to a huge thunderstorm and torrential rain. We were supposed to meet the captain at the dock at 6 am but he had called and told us to wait an hour and then call back because it was raining too hard. The rain did slack some but never did stop completely. When we got to the dock, the captain met us there and asked if we really wanted to go out. We told him we were there to do some fishing so if it was safe, then let's do it. We, of course, knew of the risks of getting sea sick so we took precaution and each had a scopolamine patch on. We set out with it still raining and the trip out wasn't so bad....until we lost sight of land. Once that happened, there was nothing you could really focus on so it was easy to get carried away by the swaying of the boat. Oh yeah, did I mention there were 7 foot swells? I looked out at the horizon at one point and saw a huge base of black clouds that looked like a wall cloud of a tornado. The deckhand (Drew) told us it would probably behoove us to go inside the cabin while we went through that storm. So we did and really regretted it. I started to get really light headed and my mouth started watering and my stomach was turning. Before I puked, I got outside and was able to get a little better. Two guys were not so fortunate. They puked like crazy. Drew told us he had only ever seen one person get sick while wearing a scope patch and we had two. Once we stopped to fish, I felt fine. And boy did we catch some fish. Amberjack and Grouper were closed but we caught a ton of snapper and king mackerel and a fish Drew called albacore jack. It's in the amberjack family but not quite the same fish. Robert, one of the guys on the trip, caught a HUGE amberjack. He weighed at least 50 pounds and Robert worked on reeling him in for a good 30-40 minutes. Drew picked him up to his chin and his tailfin was dragging the deck. After the picture was taken, Drew dumped him overboard. It was really depressing, especially for Robert, to work that hard and then let the fish go. Oh well, it was still fun. We ended up going about 42 miles out to sea and the sun shone for about the last hour of fishing. Other than that, it either rained or was very overcast. Not too bad really, because it wasnt so hot. It took us 3 hours to ride back into shore and once we got back, we had Drew clean the fish for us and said we caught about 400-500 pounds of fish total. I was able to take back 4 gallon size baggies of filets back with me. I had a cookout for family (about 12 people) and still had 2 gallon and 4 quart size bags of fish left over. We had an amazing time and I would love to go back and do it again. In my next post, I want to talk about the trip Erika and I just took to Dismals Canyon near Phil Campbell this past week to celebrate our 7th anniversary.
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