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I am pleased to inform you all that we have begun to post the 2009 MAC football preview from VanDelay Sports. The 2009 Pigskin preview once again features teams capsules for all 13 teams, predicted order of finish ad a predicted W-L for every game on each team's schedule as well as a breakdown of the offense and defense for each MAC school.

We have started with the predicted MAC standings for 2009 on the main page that you will land on per the link above and have the All-VanDelay 2009 MAC preseason football team listed as well. The Ball State, CMU and Akron team previews are up as well with more team previews to come.

As always, we welcome your feedback and best of luck to all of you this coming fall.

Luke
VanDelay Sports
Thanks for posting Luke, and a special thanks to Evan Meyer for his assistance in writing this year's team articles.

Below are some of the Ball State and Akron articles. I look forward to hearing and reading your responses as these team articles are posted over the next few days.


BALL STATE
If Ball State was in the east they would probably contend for a divisional title but that seems highly unlikely given the strength and talent of Central and Western Michigan in the west. The ‘Cards recruited extremely well under Hoke so there is definitely talent to keep this program on top but what was disheartening was the play of this team after Hoke left. Ball State looked terrible under his guidance in the MAC Championship Game (42-24 loss to Buffalo) and in the GMAC Bowl (45-13 loss to Tulsa). Parrish has an abysmal 2-31-1 record as a DI-A head coach. Of all of the MAC teams, Ball State will be the hardest to figure considering their talent level is as good if not better than almost everyone in the league but until this new coaching staff can prove they can make them execute in the same manner as Coach Hoke did, this could be a very frustrating year for the Cardinal faithful.

http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/m...9/bsu.html



AKRON
This is a big year for the program that has been floundering just below .500 the past few seasons. With a beautiful new stadium and a ton of offensive fire power, there is pressure on the coaching staff to win now and build the fan base to unprecedented heights. That’s why Coach JD Brookhart added Walt Harris and Shane Montgomery to the coaching staff. If the defense shows improvement and UA can win a few of those heartbreaking games they’ve lost last season, an eight-win season and a MAC Title Game is not out of the question.

http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/m...akron.html
Yeah, but who "reeeeeeally" wrote them 03-wink
Yay! Always enjoy your work.

Thanks!
Thanks UT Astro. I don't always have the time to do this like I used too but it's still a labor love.

For RedWingTom, you'll be happy to know that I have BG picked to beat Toledo again for the third year in a row. I think you'll like your new coaching staff, just be patient with a very difficult early schedule for the Falcons. Same goes for the Rockets.
(07-28-2009 11:37 AM)IBleedMACGreen Wrote: [ -> ]I am pleased to inform you all that we have begun to post the 2009 MAC football preview from VanDelay Sports. The 2009 Pigskin preview once again features teams capsules for all 13 teams, predicted order of finish ad a predicted W-L for every game on each team's schedule as well as a breakdown of the offense and defense for each MAC school.

We have started with the predicted MAC standings for 2009 on the main page that you will land on per the link above and have the All-VanDelay 2009 MAC preseason football team listed as well. The Ball State, CMU and Akron team previews are up as well with more team previews to come.

As always, we welcome your feedback and best of luck to all of you this coming fall.

Luke
VanDelay Sports

I would take NIU RB Justin Anderson off the 2nd team offense and put Me'co Brown or Chad Spann. Justin Anderson isn't even listed on the three deep at RB right now and he barely saw much playing time last season. For whatever reason, the coaching staff doesn't like to use him.
Thanks for the info EpaSnoopy. Already have him listed so I'll admit to wrong on that pick right off the bat.


What's your thoughts on this year's NIU team? With the losses on defense to graduation, I see the Huskies taking a step back this year before being a force to win the west in 2010. Your thoughts?
BTW... this might sound odd coming from a Toledo fan but.

All things considered isn't

Toledo a bit high
and
BGSU underrated?
"All things considered isn't; Toledo a bit high & BGSU underrated?"

Look at the cross-over games when reviewing the articles after all are posted. BG is at Ball State & hosts Central and Toledo. The Falcons do not play Temple for the second year in a row. The Rockets host Temple and travel to Miami & BG.

Overall I expect to see most of the conference to be hovering around 5-3, 4-4 or 3-5 in MAC play with the exception of Central and Western Michigan. Whatever the tie-brakers are now in the league's by-laws, expect them to come into play big-time this fall, especially in the east where Temple and BG do not play. Look for a lot of 4-4 teams reading those tie-braker rules prior to the Dec 5 MAC Championship Game.
(07-28-2009 12:29 PM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks UT Astro. I don't always have the time to do this like I used too but it's still a labor love.

For RedWingTom, you'll be happy to know that I have BG picked to beat Toledo again for the third year in a row. I think you'll like your new coaching staff, just be patient with a very difficult early schedule for the Falcons. Same goes for the Rockets.

Thanks dad!

But in all honesty, It really doesn't matter to me whom you pick, especially 4 months before the game and before camp even starts! 03-wink
CENTRAL MICHIGAN

It’s hard to pick against the team that has the MAC’s best QB, best overall group of receivers and returns ten starters on defense. For Central Michigan, just winning the MAC this fall won’t be enough. This program needs to take the next step forward and not only win the league, but win a notable non-conference game (Arizona, MSU or BC) and then win their bowl game over a ‘name’ team and not lose to someone like Florida Atlantic. The 2009 ‘Chips have the ability to win ten or eleven games. Anything short of that has to be considered a disappointment.

http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/m...9/cmu.html
VanDelay's preview is a joke. Once again Temple gets no respect. But thats OK we will prove it on the field.
(07-28-2009 02:40 PM)75rm Wrote: [ -> ]VanDelay's preview is a joke. Once again Temple gets no respect. But thats OK we will prove it on the field.

Why doesn't this surprise me. I guess he should have picked Temple to finish 8 - 0. Your defense may be good enough to do that, but I doubt your offense will hold up their end of the bargain.

He had Temple as being tied for the best record in the East. If that were to be the senario, the tie breakers could fall Temples way and they could be in the title game.

Ahh.....never mind.
Here's a quick peak at the Temple preview, certainly doesn't look negative to me and in fact reads rather positive compared to the last two decades of Owl football predictions.

As a former resident of Philadelphia, Temple has come a long way from where they were when I lived there from 1992-1997.

==============================

2009 TEMPLE OUTLOOK:
Temple finished 5-7 last, their best record in more than decade - but how close were they to something really special? Consider this, three times Temple lost on the game’s final play in 2008 and the Owls were just 18 points away from being 10-2. Wow. This fall TU gets a big break by not playing Central or Western Michigan from the west. Also, for the second year in a row they avoid playing divisional member Bowling Green. Defensively Temple will be stout against every team except Penn State. The offense is another story though and likely will keep this team from playing in their first bowl game since 1979. With just three starters on this side of the ball and unproven quarterback play, Temple may be looking at their second straight season of ‘what-could-have-been.’

Key game that will determine the success of the season:
Sept 3 against Villanova and Sept 26 against Buffalo. Temple needs to beat cross-town rival Villanova so that The 'Main Line' snobs do not continue to look down on the current Owl program. ‘Nova leads the all-times series 14-12-2 and is a preseason FCS (formally I-AA) Top-10 team. After losing three straight years to Buffalo, beating the reigning MAC champ to begin conference play could be the springboard this program needs to finally turn the corner.

==============================
(07-28-2009 02:54 PM)Crebman Wrote: [ -> ]
(07-28-2009 02:40 PM)75rm Wrote: [ -> ]VanDelay's preview is a joke. Once again Temple gets no respect. But thats OK we will prove it on the field.

Why doesn't this surprise me. I guess he should have picked Temple to finish 8 - 0. Your defense may be good enough to do that, but I doubt your offense will hold up their end of the bargain.

He had Temple as being tied for the best record in the East. If that were to be the senario, the tie breakers could fall Temples way and they could be in the title game.

Ahh.....never mind.

Crebman like I said we will have to prove it the field.
(07-28-2009 12:34 PM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the info EpaSnoopy. Already have him listed so I'll admit to wrong on that pick right off the bat.


What's your thoughts on this year's NIU team? With the losses on defense to graduation, I see the Huskies taking a step back this year before being a force to win the west in 2010. Your thoughts?

Based on the current depth chart nine of the 11 defensive starters are upperclassmen and seven of the 11 backups are also upperclassmen. We still have a good amount of experience on defense.

Quote:NIU's defensive prowess of a year ago was far from a one-man show as the Huskies employed a liberal substitution philosophy that saw 22 different players make at least 10 tackles on the year and 19 start at least one game. Nearly all of the 19 defensive letterwinners returning in 2009 played in key moments and contributed last year.

"The defensive coaches did an excellent job a year ago of getting people in the right places, and I think our philosophy of playing a lot of players will benefit us this year," Kill said. "If you look at our starting linebackers, all of them played a lot of football for us last year. Both our inside tackles are back, and all three safeties are back. So, if you look down the middle - I always say it's like baseball, you better be good down the middle - that core is returning."
Source: http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-footb...09aae.html

I think our defense will be good again this year, in the top 3 or 4 amongst MAC teams. I think too many people are discounting our D because of Larry English. But think about the two seasons prior to last season that our D was average or below average with Larry English. I think a big reason for the improvement was the new coaching staff and how they rotated the front seven so much, plus we weren't devastated by injuries like 2007.

On the DL we return senior starter Mike Krause. DJ Pirkle, Brandon Bice, and Jake Coffman all have a lot of experience on the line. DT Adam Coleman saw a good amount of action as a true freshman last season. We brought in 6'4" 263 lbs JUCO DE Kyle Jenkins, who had 19.5 sacks at Harper College last season.

I think the safety and linebacker units should be amongst the top 3 in the MAC.

Safety David Bryant had a really good season last year in his first season at safety. Coach Kill thinks he is NIU's next NFL player. Sophomore Tracy Wilson made such a big impact as a freshman last season he will supplant last year's 12-game starter Mike Sobol at the strong safety spot.

At LB, we only return one starter, Alex Kube, from last season but there is still a lot of depth at that position. Former safety turned OLB Spencer Williamson will backup Kube. He is a senior who has a lot of game experience and has started past games at safety. Cory Hanson who will start at OLB missed most of last season due to injury and he has played in 30 games (25 of which he started). John Tranchitella who has played in 36 games (11 of which he started) will backup Hanson. Pat Schillar played a good amount last season as a freshman and will start at the ILB position. Redshirt freshman Victor Jacques will back him up. The coaching staff moved Victor Jacques from FB to ILB this season and was really impressed with him in spring practice.

The biggest position of worry by most fans on defense is CB. We lost two good corners in Melvin Rice and Chase Carter. Junior Patrick George is about all we have in the way of experience at that position.

On offense, we should be more productive than last season. The offense was the problem last season as our D was the reason we had the chance to win most of our games.

At QB, we should only get better. Chandler Harnish was the most productive freshman QB in the history of the program with over 2,000 yards of offense. He started nine games and missed others due to injury. I would imagine with a good amount of playing experience and a year under his belt of learning the new offensive system he should have a much better sophomore season. Backup sophomore QB DeMarcus Grady should also be better like Harnish. He played in six games and started in one against Miami.

Our offensive line should be amongst the top 3 in the MAC and it all starts up front. We return 88 career starts on the OL and the starting five average 6'4" and 302.4 lbs. The left side of the line is cemented with LT Trevor Olson and LG Jason Onyebuagu. Center is locked up with senior Eddie Adamski. We lost two starters on the right side but the RT spot is locked up by 6'7" sophomore Kevin Skatrud. RG is the only spot still open with Panan Tense and Joe Pawlak fighting for top honors.

At WR, we lost five seniors but only three of them made any impact on the program and two of them were injured a lot last season in Matt Simon and Britt Davis, who are both now in the NFL. I would think we'd actually be better at this position than last season because of the lack of productivity by the seniors and their injuries. Willie Clark, Nathan Palmer, Landon Cox, and Marcus Lewis who will play for us this season played a lot last season because of the injuries to the seniors. Kill wants one or two of the new true freshman WR's to step up for us in fall camp.

At RB, we're deep as usual. This position has three or four guys who could start in Me'Co Brown, Chad Spann, Justin Anderson, or Ricky Crider. Brown or Spann should end up the starter though as the two of them combined for almost 1,000 yards and 10 TD's. We bring in a transfer from Iowa State by the name of Cameron Bell (6'2" and 243 lbs) who will probably play on short-yardage and goal-line situations. The coaching staff is awaiting his NCAA appeal to play this season but seems very confident he will win the appeal.

At TE, we return a lot of experience. Jason Schepler walked on last season and played a lot as a true freshman. He was thought of so highly the coaching staff gave him a schollie and made him our starter this season. Junior Bryan Beckner and senior Reed Cunningham back him up. Coach Kill said he would like to use a two-TE set more this season due to the depth and experience at the position.

At FB, a position added with our new coaching staff, we have two good juniors in Kyle Skarb and Connor Flahive. Like the TE position, Coach Kill would like to use the fullbacks a lot more this season.

At special teams, we return one of the top 3 kickers in the MAC in Mike Salerno who had a very good season as a first year starter and transfer from Winona State. We lost our starting punter but brought in a JUCO in Josh Wilbur who can apparently bomb them so we shouldn't be any worse at that position.

I think we'll end up with at least a 2-2 non-conference record with what should be easy victories over Idaho and Western Illinois at home. We should have a very good shot at beating Purdue. They lost so much on offense and have a new coaching staff. Wisconsin will be tough but is winnable. They were an average team last season that got destroyed in their bowl game and lost a lot of players on offense and defense.

In MAC play we should win all our home games and the Miami road game. Western Michigan is our HC game and we've done very well in our HC contests the last decade. The last three contests have been decided by two, four, and three points against WMU. It's about time we get revenge. I see Toledo and Ohio as toss-ups and CMU most likely as a loss.

I see us as 7-5 overall, 5-3 MAC record. We could potentially have a 9 or 10-win season at best but a 5 or 6-win season at worst. In the last decade, we have had eight winning, one .500, and one losing MAC record.
(07-28-2009 12:34 PM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the info EpaSnoopy. Already have him listed so I'll admit to wrong on that pick right off the bat.


What's your thoughts on this year's NIU team? With the losses on defense to graduation, I see the Huskies taking a step back this year before being a force to win the west in 2010. Your thoughts?

... You're not wrong .....A guy who rushed for 1200 yards and caught 40 passes as a sophomore IS one of the better backs in the MAC. He may not play much this year, but that is the COACHES decision. If he was @ Temple he may be the piece to push them over the top. Anderson can play football and deserves to be on the field, he would play at most schools in the MAC.
(07-28-2009 01:14 PM)Redwingtom Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks dad!

But in all honesty, It really doesn't matter to me whom you pick, especially 4 months before the game and before camp even starts! 03-wink

Nick, I can refer you to several very good support groups to help you through your grief over Tom's harsh words. I know you're devestated.
So the guy who had the most pass receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns last year isn't one of the two best WRs in the conference? Who knew?

Mike Newton doesn't make first or second team all-MAC? He was second-team all-MAC last year. Did he somehow get worse during the off-season?

Also, UB isn't going to lose to a 3-8 team with the division title on the line. Ask the Zippies and the BUGS how UB plays when the division title is on the line. They lost to KSU last year because they had already wrapped up the division and played like the game didn't matter to them.
(07-28-2009 09:25 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]
(07-28-2009 01:14 PM)Redwingtom Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks dad!

But in all honesty, It really doesn't matter to me whom you pick, especially 4 months before the game and before camp even starts! 03-wink

Nick, I can refer you to several very good support groups to help you through your grief over Tom's harsh words. I know you're devestated.

Devestated? 05-nono
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