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I pretty much agree with the article except that the Broncos will finish ahead of Central. Even with our brutal schedule we will find a way to get it done. Coach Kelly will end up doing a real good job there but will need a little bit of time to get what he needs done.
I agree that WMU is more talented than CMU, but that schedule is BRUTAL! Plus, the Broncs rarely fare well at Smelly Shorts.
Good summary - I can't argue much, and with NIU's losses I don't think anyone can pick us over Toledo to win the West. Played out on the field, those home games against UT and BG will be big, especially considering our crossover games are decent Akron and UCF, not potential heavyweights Marshall and Miami.
One thing - we didn't lose most of our secondary, only 2 players - CB Drew (all-MAC) and SS Grant (all-MAC - didn't play much of the end of the season due to injury). We return our other CB (Lee), the CB who alternated the second half of the season with Lee (Hansbro), our FS (Hickenbottom) and the SS (Smith) that filled in well for Grant. Plus we have some good young speedsters coming off redshirt years back there. Some new blood might be exactly what we need back there, or at least playing less zone on third downs.
Nice job... I think Omar Jacobs has some growing to do. He has some tools that Josh Harris did not have and that could make our offense a bit more interesting this year. Jacobs is faster than Josh and he appears more comfortable throwing the ball on the run. That will allow us to run the option more effectively and shift the pocket around a little bit. He needs to work on his accuracy a bit , he was off on a couple of out patterns in the intermediate zone and he underthrew a couple of balls in yesterday's spring game.
We are stacked at RB and WR and the OL is going to be deep. The DL is the core of our defense. If academics continue to be an issue for Mitchell Crossley, Ryan Newble looks to be ready to step in at DE and play at a high level. Our secondary looks solid. Carswell and Newsom will be contenders for all conference honors. We're a bit thin at LB and may need a true freshman or two to step in right away, but haneline, Allen and Winovich all appear to have the size and tools to help immediately.
With an unproven QB it's impossible to say that we'll have the offensive firepower to match UT score for score. I think we have the division's best defense though, and that could make things very interesting.
NIU, UT and BG all have very good teams again this year. I think that NIU has the advantadge in playing UT and BG at home and their final stretch in November looks a bit easier (on paper) than UT or BG's. (UT plays a BRUTAL home stretch). I'm picking the Huskies in first with BG and UT in a battle for second. The rest of the division is hard to handicap with coaching changes at EMU and CMU. I'd probably pick WMU, BSU, CMU and EMU in that order, but I have no real confidence in those picks
HuskieDan Wrote:Good summary - I can't argue much, and with NIU's losses I don't think anyone can pick us over Toledo to win the West. Played out on the field, those home games against UT and BG will be big, especially considering our crossover games are decent Akron and UCF, not potential heavyweights Marshall and Miami.
One thing - we didn't lose most of our secondary, only 2 players - CB Drew (all-MAC) and SS Grant (all-MAC - didn't play much of the end of the season due to injury). We return our other CB (Lee), the CB who alternated the second half of the season with Lee (Hansbro), our FS (Hickenbottom) and the SS (Smith) that filled in well for Grant. Plus we have some good young speedsters coming off redshirt years back there. Some new blood might be exactly what we need back there, or at least playing less zone on third downs.
We'll be waiting for you Illinois boys to visit us :)
I'll be looking forward to everyone looking past UCF this year.
Sounds good! Last year, almost every publication and preview had BG finishing 3rd or 4th in the West as well...and we won the West. How about a repeat?
It all starts in less than 150 days!
Clearly the key early season MAC West Division game is BG at Northern Illinois (9-24).
Whoever wins this game will become the West Division favorite.
Before this game, BG plays at Oklahoma and home to SE Missouri State. NIU plays at Maryland, home to Southern Illinois, and at Iowa St. NIU will have 6 days to prepare for BG and BG will have 13 days to prepare for NIU. The stadium should be jammed packed and roaring.
If BG defeats NIU, they have a very friendly remaining MAC schedule and could come into the Toledo game 9-1 (let's pencil in a loss to Oklahoma) with no MAC losses. If so, they would also be nationally ranked.
Also, I believe Toledo plays at Northern before they play at home to BG.
I'm predicting a BG win at NIU. This would probably put them in the driver's seat for winning the West Division.
I think the fact that the BG-UT game comes late in the season benefits BG.
By the way, there are reports today that BG's game against Oklahoma has been changed from Sat. 9-4 to Sun. 9-5 and will be nationally televised.
Better watch it guys, the cards are falling in place for BG to have another super season which MAC and the nation's football fans will be able to follow on TV.
As a final thought, I hope BG crushes Marshall (at BG) as a prelim to the Toledo game. Look for a sell out in that one.
Rats, someone beat me to it.
If a change of QB is your only reason (I'm sure it wasn't), then I'm not quite sure what makes BG 3rd. I still see them as the team to beat.
I actually think NIU will have a tougher year just because teams will be geared up to play them. Novak's a gem though and will make them tough.
I also initially thought the CMU pick over WMU was crazy until I saw your write-up. Dang, WMU has a bee-atch of a schedule this year.
Two things are certain for the MAC West this year.
(1) With coaching changes at CMU & EMU, the entire division is now much stronger.
(2) Ball State and WMU play extremely difficult schedules.
Both teams will likely be better then their final record indicates.
Vandelay Wrote:Two things are certain for the MAC West this year.
(1) With coaching changes at CMU & EMU, the entire division is now much stronger.
(2) Ball State and WMU play extremely difficult schedules.
Both teams will likely be better then their final record indicates.
Nick,
Can you elaborate on your first point ?
I think with new coaches coming in, it sets a program back because you don't have a team recruited to play under that coaches system. I think that it will take 2-3 years to turn CMU (maybe sooner) & EMU (maybe never) around. UCF will have the same issues as these schools in the East. Their non-conf schedule is tough and if they start the year 0-3, look for O'Leary to go with "his" guys.
I think that Ball St will be much improved for that same reason. They already have 1 year under their new coach and a lot more talented team than they had in year's past. I think the challenge for them is how far ahead that Toledo, BGSU, & NIU are from the rest of the division.
WMU will be better as well, but they will have a new QB, which may take some time to get their offense in synch. I always fear NIU games at Waldo, because WMU plays 100X better at home than they do away.
I agree though that this is going to be a VERY EXCITING year for the MAC West. The East will be much less exciting with the usual Miami and Marshall game deciding the champ.
Lukulos Wrote:Vandelay Wrote:Two things are certain for the MAC West this year.
(1) With coaching changes at CMU & EMU, the entire division is now much stronger.
(2) Ball State and WMU play extremely difficult schedules.
Both teams will likely be better then their final record indicates.
Nick,
Can you elaborate on your first point ?
I think with new coaches coming in, it sets a program back because you don't have a team recruited to play under that coaches system. I think that it will take 2-3 years to turn CMU (maybe sooner) & EMU (maybe never) around. UCF will have the same issues as these schools in the East. Their non-conf schedule is tough and if they start the year 0-3, look for O'Leary to go with "his" guys.
I think that Ball St will be much improved for that same reason. They already have 1 year under their new coach and a lot more talented team than they had in year's past. I think the challenge for them is how far ahead that Toledo, BGSU, & NIU are from the rest of the division.
WMU will be better as well, but they will have a new QB, which may take some time to get their offense in synch. I always fear NIU games at Waldo, because WMU plays 100X better at home than they do away.
I agree though that this is going to be a VERY EXCITING year for the MAC West. The East will be much less exciting with the usual Miami and Marshall game deciding the champ.
There is no way a coaching change could possibly have set EMU back even further. If you had any familiarity with what has gone at EMU the previous four seasons you would know that nearly ANY change would have had a positive impact at EMU. As it is, when Woodruff was bounced the team won two of it's last three games at the end of last season. Woodruff had completely demoralized the program during his tenure.
New head coach Genyk has had one of the best recruiting classes in years at EMU (yes, I know it is all relative). Further, he has instilled a degree of enthusiasm around EMU football that has not been there in a long time. People are talking about the football program in a positive way.
Finally, I take some umbrage at your comment about EMU possibly never turning it around. People used to say that about other programs. It just takes the right people to get it done. Here is hoping that we are on the road to some kind of respectability again.
Chiming in on CMU's coaching change: Coach Kelly has won two championships at the DII level with Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. It's my contention -- and I'm not alone -- that CMU underachieved last season under DeBord and probably the season before, as well. Many CMU fans feel he had trouble evaluating and using available talent to best advantage. The x-factor is that CMU players appear to be more excited and driven this spring than they've been a quite awhile.
I believe the team is in better shape now than it was when DeBord took over from Flynn. DeBord's recruiting did not appear to be the main problem, and we have a few stud athletes (OLB James King, RB Jerry Seymour, LT Adam Kieft, two good TEs) to build on. Also, DeBord at least managed to get guys working hard and in good physical condition.