I'm not going to predict but give some insight into 2015 La Tech.

We are losing some impact players from 2014 but we should also improve in some areas.

Improved:
Offense line should be better with more depth than we have had in years.
TE and FB should be better this year.
WR a couple of redshirt freshman studs should see some playing time. Henderson will be the leagues most feared receiver.
Special teams because it can't get worse.

Down from 2014?
DL, LB and QB

DL should be fine but bates will be missed.

LB we are returning no starters but the backups got some playing time and should be good.

The biggest question is QB. If price or Higgins start, Holtz will be ultra conservative and that could cost a game or 3. Loved Sokol but he had at least 1 or 2 turnovers a game when tech opened the playbook.

We should be good next year but not picked to win the conference. We will have 1 or 2 WTF games so Bowl eligible is about as high as I can hope.

I'm not going to predict but give some insight into 2015 La Tech.

We are losing some impact players from 2014 but we should also improve in some areas.

Improved:
Offense line should be better with more depth than we have had in years.
TE and FB should be better this year.
WR a couple of redshirt freshman studs should see some playing time. Henderson will be the leagues most feared receiver.
Special teams because it can't get worse.

Down from 2014?
DL, LB and QB

DL should be fine but bates will be missed.

LB we are returning no starters but the backups got some playing time and should be good.

The biggest question is QB. If price or Higgins start, Holtz will be ultra conservative and that could cost a game or 3. Loved Sokol but he had at least 1 or 2 turnovers a game when tech opened the playbook.

We should be good next year but not picked to win the conference. We will have 1 or 2 WTF games so Bowl eligible is about as high as I can hope.

I'm not going to predict but give some insight into 2015 La Tech.

We are losing some impact players from 2014 but we should also improve in some areas.

Improved:
Offense line should be better with more depth than we have had in years.
TE and FB should be better this year.
WR a couple of redshirt freshman studs should see some playing time. Henderson will be the leagues most feared receiver.
Special teams because it can't get worse.

Down from 2014?
DL, LB and QB

DL should be fine but bates will be missed.

LB we are returning no starters but the backups got some playing time and should be good.

The biggest question is QB. If price or Higgins start, Holtz will be ultra conservative and that could cost a game or 3. Loved Sokol but he had at least 1 or 2 turnovers a game when tech opened the playbook.

We should be good next year but not picked to win the conference. We will have 1 or 2 WTF games so Bowl eligible is about as high as I can hope.

I'm sorry Cscollis, did you say something?

I think bowl eligibility is always expected. I expect us to compete with Rice for the division. Southern Miss could sneak up there too. My way too early CUSA West predictions are:

1. Rice
2. Tech
3. Southern Miss
4. UTEP
5. North Texas
6. UTSA

This is based on what's coming back and I'm open to suggestions.

(12-30-2014 01:34 PM)goherd24herdfans Wrote:  

(12-30-2014 12:17 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  1. La Tech
2 OOC games vs 2014 playoff contenders. (KSU & MSU) Capable of splitting those 2 games and running the rest of the table, if so that's best path for a CUSA team to the access bowl. MVP RB returning for Senior season locks them as top pick.
2. Rice
2 OOC vs former SWC opponents (UT & Baylor). If we can get the Horns while they're still down, and knock off the (ranked?) Bulldogs, Rice could battle WKU for the access bid Ina winner take all conference championship. Driphus Jackson has already won two bowl games vs. MWC teams, next year he's a senior and if he avoids injuries he could truly take the team to the next level.
3. WKU
Split 2 games with the SEC (LSU, Vandy), take care of business in CUSA, and the Toppers will definitely be in this conversation. The East should be up for grabs with Cato gone- but I give WKU the inside track.
4. UTSA
This team fell apart after a torrid start against UH and Arizona. I have them here partly because their entire OOC is vs teams ranked at some point in 2014. We know from last 2 years what they are capable of. With mostly new players, will this young team rise up to surprise a couple of unsuspecting OOC opponents? And even if not, they should be battle tested heading into conference play.
5. Marshall
Even with Cato gone, we expect them to be bowl eligible at the very least, and to contend for the division. I truly believe that Marshall would have deserved the Access bowl this year with one more win, and could earn it in 2015 with a 13-0 run against a stronger schedule and a P5 opponent. I don't expect them to be quite the same force this year, though.

Very interesting.
2 curious things for me on your list. You cite La Tech as #1 because they return their RB, but Marshall returns their much more effective back and is 5th?

The other one is UTSA, which loses nearly all its starters. The battle tested theory sounds great, but it doesn't work in practice. Ala utsa 2014. I don't see how this team improves much next season. Maybe in 2 years, and i think Coker will get it done. But not next year after losing all those senior starters. I would pick utsa to win 3 games next season.

Others seem reasonable to me. This is purely dialogue, looking for a discussion to understand the deeper "why" if you will. Thanks

Define effective. Our RB catches the ball too. I'm not slighting your RB, but Kenneth Dixon is one of the most dynamic players I have ever seen. Look at his whole stat line not just rushing yards. I'd gladly take another year of Dixon in Ruston than anything.

QB James Driskoll reportedly to LT from UF. I would assume 5th yr senior?

(01-03-2015 01:23 PM)CrushMI Wrote:  QB James Driskoll reportedly to LT from UF. I would assume 5th yr senior?

Interesting - he has talent but needs coaching to make the proper reads on throws but can really run the ball

USM will be break even next year, and then win the West in 2016.....

I could see WKU breaking into the Top 25 next year. We were close in 2012-2013, receiving votes for 3 weeks after starting 5-1 with a win over Kentucky.

Next year we open with Vanderbilt on the road, a game I expect us to win. Won't be a completely hostile crowd as Vandy will probably pull 30k tops for that game, and id estimate 10k WKU fans (we had about 20k travel to Nashville last year for the UK game).

After that, we have games against a bad Miami (OHIO) at home, and an average Indiana team on the road. We could very well be 5-0 (depending on when the bye week is) heading into a likely ranked LSU game, and with wins against Two p5 teams, we may be in the top 25, or pretty close. A close game against LSU should prevent us from dropping much in the rankings, and if we take care of business the rest of the way (we should be favored in all games after that), I expect to see us finish in the top 25 unless we blunder somewhere (such as losing to Vandy or IU, or somewhere in conference, which is likely to happen somewhere).

But, we always seem to "pull a Western," so I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

(12-11-2014 02:37 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(12-11-2014 01:14 PM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  But that is not what you said before... You made a blanket statement that "CUSA champ should be considered for the AB" THEN you added the bold part after I commented. To think that a 9-4 CUSA team would be in the discussion with a 12-1 Boise or ECU is absurd.
And I'll concede the argument regarding the CFP...we will never know...
And the "transitive comment" certainly did further my argument that that WKU has no defense and that they can be stopped... The same way UAB, FAU, and LaTech slowed Marshall's offense way down. By having no defense, any team has a legitimate shot at them... So yes, the east IMHO is up for grabs

On the fist point I was addressing the other WKU poster who said we have no chance against a two loss Boise and then you said a 9-4 C-USA would have no chance. But I did qualify it with 'teams with similar records'. Also, we know that WKU gave up an avg. of 40 points/game this year; the La Tech butt kicking was unnecessary hyperbole. To go far WKU must improve its defense by a minimum of 10 points/game if they are to challenge for an AP spot, imo.

Looking forward to your Oct 3 game up in Amherst at McGuirk. We are both improving teams and should be a good day of football.

(01-03-2015 01:03 PM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(12-30-2014 01:34 PM)goherd24herdfans Wrote:  

(12-30-2014 12:17 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  1. La Tech
2 OOC games vs 2014 playoff contenders. (KSU & MSU) Capable of splitting those 2 games and running the rest of the table, if so that's best path for a CUSA team to the access bowl. MVP RB returning for Senior season locks them as top pick.
2. Rice
2 OOC vs former SWC opponents (UT & Baylor). If we can get the Horns while they're still down, and knock off the (ranked?) Bulldogs, Rice could battle WKU for the access bid Ina winner take all conference championship. Driphus Jackson has already won two bowl games vs. MWC teams, next year he's a senior and if he avoids injuries he could truly take the team to the next level.
3. WKU
Split 2 games with the SEC (LSU, Vandy), take care of business in CUSA, and the Toppers will definitely be in this conversation. The East should be up for grabs with Cato gone- but I give WKU the inside track.
4. UTSA
This team fell apart after a torrid start against UH and Arizona. I have them here partly because their entire OOC is vs teams ranked at some point in 2014. We know from last 2 years what they are capable of. With mostly new players, will this young team rise up to surprise a couple of unsuspecting OOC opponents? And even if not, they should be battle tested heading into conference play.
5. Marshall
Even with Cato gone, we expect them to be bowl eligible at the very least, and to contend for the division. I truly believe that Marshall would have deserved the Access bowl this year with one more win, and could earn it in 2015 with a 13-0 run against a stronger schedule and a P5 opponent. I don't expect them to be quite the same force this year, though.

Very interesting.
2 curious things for me on your list. You cite La Tech as #1 because they return their RB, but Marshall returns their much more effective back and is 5th?

The other one is UTSA, which loses nearly all its starters. The battle tested theory sounds great, but it doesn't work in practice. Ala utsa 2014. I don't see how this team improves much next season. Maybe in 2 years, and i think Coker will get it done. But not next year after losing all those senior starters. I would pick utsa to win 3 games next season.

Others seem reasonable to me. This is purely dialogue, looking for a discussion to understand the deeper "why" if you will. Thanks

Define effective. Our RB catches the ball too. I'm not slighting your RB, but Kenneth Dixon is one of the most dynamic players I have ever seen. Look at his whole stat line not just rushing yards. I'd gladly take another year of Dixon in Ruston than anything.

You're forgetting that UTSA has essentially only flushed away all of their FCS recruits. All of the original guys were recruited because no one wanted them. The guys who will be playing in 2015 are CUSA recruits who are faster, bigger and more athletic. Many of these kids got valuable playing time last season. I don't expect to be division winners necessarily but I expect UTSA to have a much better season. With solid recruiting, things can be turned around fast. Look at La Tech from 2013 to 2014

(01-04-2015 12:20 PM)SigNuTopper Wrote:  I could see WKU breaking into the Top 25 next year. We were close in 2012-2013, receiving votes for 3 weeks after starting 5-1 with a win over Kentucky.
Next year we open with Vanderbilt on the road, a game I expect us to win. Won't be a completely hostile crowd as Vandy will probably pull 30k tops for that game, and id estimate 10k WKU fans (we had about 20k travel to Nashville last year for the UK game).
After that, we have games against a bad Miami (OHIO) at home, and an average Indiana team on the road. We could very well be 5-0 (depending on when the bye week is) heading into a likely ranked LSU game, and with wins against Two p5 teams, we may be in the top 25, or pretty close. A close game against LSU should prevent us from dropping much in the rankings, and if we take care of business the rest of the way (we should be favored in all games after that), I expect to see us finish in the top 25 unless we blunder somewhere (such as losing to Vandy or IU, or somewhere in conference, which is likely to happen somewhere).
But, we always seem to "pull a Western," so I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

You're defense will allow every team you play to be 'in the game' (unless you improve it by at least 10 points/game). If you lose a bunch of Sr.'s from this year's defense (say >30%), then I doubt you can make up those 10 points. If your defense comes back pretty much in tact then it will come down to turn-overs; you win or tie the turn-over game you'll likely win, you lose it and the game will be very much in jeopardy.

Marhsall was a good example of this (with better defense). They played pretty much lights-out on offense all year and probably won most of the turn-over battles to-boot. Your offense will probably be similar but I'm just not sure they can match Cato's consistency....mix in your defense and I find top-25 problematic.

Word of advice....WKU needs to learn how to finish (that goes directly to coaching).

(01-05-2015 11:25 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-04-2015 12:20 PM)SigNuTopper Wrote:  I could see WKU breaking into the Top 25 next year. We were close in 2012-2013, receiving votes for 3 weeks after starting 5-1 with a win over Kentucky.
Next year we open with Vanderbilt on the road, a game I expect us to win. Won't be a completely hostile crowd as Vandy will probably pull 30k tops for that game, and id estimate 10k WKU fans (we had about 20k travel to Nashville last year for the UK game).
After that, we have games against a bad Miami (OHIO) at home, and an average Indiana team on the road. We could very well be 5-0 (depending on when the bye week is) heading into a likely ranked LSU game, and with wins against Two p5 teams, we may be in the top 25, or pretty close. A close game against LSU should prevent us from dropping much in the rankings, and if we take care of business the rest of the way (we should be favored in all games after that), I expect to see us finish in the top 25 unless we blunder somewhere (such as losing to Vandy or IU, or somewhere in conference, which is likely to happen somewhere).
But, we always seem to "pull a Western," so I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

You're defense will allow every team you play to be 'in the game' (unless you improve it by at least 10 points/game). If you lose a bunch of Sr.'s from this year's defense (say >30%), then I doubt you can make up those 10 points. If your defense comes back pretty much in tact then it will come down to turn-overs; you win or tie the turn-over game you'll likely win, you lose it and the game will be very much in jeopardy.

Marhsall was a good example of this (with better defense). They played pretty much lights-out on offense all year and probably won most of the turn-over battles to-boot. Your offense will probably be similar but I'm just not sure they can match Cato's consistency....mix in your defense and I find top-25 problematic.

Word of advice....WKU needs to learn how to finish (that goes directly to coaching).

Almost the entirety of our defense is returning. Except maybe two guys. I think defense will improve but the question is how much.

And I would take Doughty over Cato any day, no offense. WKU had a much more potent offense than Marshall, but Marshall also had a good defense. I would have traded a great offense and a bad defense for a good offense and a good defense any day (Marshall), so don't take that as a hit on Marshall because it's not.

(01-05-2015 11:37 AM)SigNuTopper Wrote:  Almost the entirety of our defense is returning. Except maybe two guys. I think defense will improve but the question is how much.

And I would take Doughty over Cato any day, no offense. WKU had a much more potent offense than Marshall, but Marshall also had a good defense. I would have traded a great offense and a bad defense for a good offense and a good defense any day (Marshall), so don't take that as a hit on Marshall because it's not.

I'm not sure folks are truly aware of how young our defense was this year. We had lots of highly touted recruits on that defense but boy were they young this year. We saw moments of brilliance from those boys during the season but more moments of freshmen being freshmen and learning a new system.

(01-05-2015 11:25 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-04-2015 12:20 PM)SigNuTopper Wrote:  I could see WKU breaking into the Top 25 next year. We were close in 2012-2013, receiving votes for 3 weeks after starting 5-1 with a win over Kentucky.
Next year we open with Vanderbilt on the road, a game I expect us to win. Won't be a completely hostile crowd as Vandy will probably pull 30k tops for that game, and id estimate 10k WKU fans (we had about 20k travel to Nashville last year for the UK game).
After that, we have games against a bad Miami (OHIO) at home, and an average Indiana team on the road. We could very well be 5-0 (depending on when the bye week is) heading into a likely ranked LSU game, and with wins against Two p5 teams, we may be in the top 25, or pretty close. A close game against LSU should prevent us from dropping much in the rankings, and if we take care of business the rest of the way (we should be favored in all games after that), I expect to see us finish in the top 25 unless we blunder somewhere (such as losing to Vandy or IU, or somewhere in conference, which is likely to happen somewhere).
But, we always seem to "pull a Western," so I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

You're defense will allow every team you play to be 'in the game' (unless you improve it by at least 10 points/game). If you lose a bunch of Sr.'s from this year's defense (say >30%), then I doubt you can make up those 10 points. If your defense comes back pretty much in tact then it will come down to turn-overs; you win or tie the turn-over game you'll likely win, you lose it and the game will be very much in jeopardy.

Marhsall was a good example of this (with better defense). They played pretty much lights-out on offense all year and probably won most of the turn-over battles to-boot. Your offense will probably be similar but I'm just not sure they can match Cato's consistency....mix in your defense and I find top-25 problematic.

Word of advice....WKU needs to learn how to finish (that goes directly to coaching).

Like in what way? because that makes zero sense considering Western returns the most consistent QB in the conference...MVP of the conference, most of our offensive line, all of our RBs, along with a redshirt fr that is suppose to be as good as any rb on our team....

btw Allen had 1542 yards rushing, at 5.7 yards a carry along with another 475 yards receiving. And we lose 1 of out top 7 WR's

As for the defense....Western returns 8, maybe 9 starters along with a starter from UAB. But what I think most teams will see this coming season is a offense that comes out in the 3rd qt passing instead of running clock...

that easily accounted for 10ppg given up by our defense this past season. So I doubt you see the same mistakes made by taking the foot off the gas as you did from our rookie coach.

Other than La Tech and the only other person to stop our offense was the WKU coaches. Easily 2 extra possession a game we gave the other team by doing this...

Like I said I doubt you see that next year

(12-29-2014 06:20 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(12-29-2014 03:23 PM)mrbig Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 01:53 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 12:40 PM)MU ATO Wrote:  Marshall will be the favorite to win CUSA again.

Probably, but I wouldn't be shocked to see WKU or La Tech favored to win the league either.

I can say with confidence, however, that it will not be us.

Rice with a 5th year senior QB should not be overlooked.

And with a powerful defensive line. If Covington comes back, it may be our best DL in decades. Depth, experience, and power.

Looks like Covington is declaring early for the draft. Hard to blame him too much, with his history of injuries...I'd guess he's proven enough that he was told he could still be a 1st or 2nd round pick. I don't recall a Rice player ever leaving early, but we don't usually get that caliber player. D-line will still be improved though, with our other starting DT coming back (was out for the year last year). And Covington missed most of last year and we did alright without him. But man, would have been nice to have all the pieces fall into place and give UT/Baylor a game.

(01-05-2015 11:52 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  Like in what way? because that makes zero sense considering Western returns the most consistent QB in the conference...MVP of the conference, most of our offensive line, all of our RBs, along with a redshirt fr that is suppose to be as good as any rb on our team....
btw Allen had 1542 yards rushing, at 5.7 yards a carry along with another 475 yards receiving. And we lose 1 of out top 7 WR's
As for the defense....Western returns 8, maybe 9 starters along with a starter from UAB. But what I think most teams will see this coming season is a offense that comes out in the 3rd qt passing instead of running clock...
that easily accounted for 10ppg given up by our defense this past season. So I doubt you see the same mistakes made by taking the foot off the gas as you did from our rookie coach.
Other than La Tech and the only other person to stop our offense was the WKU coaches. Easily 2 extra possession a game we gave the other team by doing this...
Like I said I doubt you see that next year

You're right. Offense will be a juggernaught....that defense, even with everyone back is concerning. You run up against a defense who schemes to stop Doughty two or three times may get you too far behind to catch up. Couple of western teams come to mind, Rice and La Tech; hopefully you don't play them (at least to the CG) next year.

(01-05-2015 12:09 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 11:52 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  Like in what way? because that makes zero sense considering Western returns the most consistent QB in the conference...MVP of the conference, most of our offensive line, all of our RBs, along with a redshirt fr that is suppose to be as good as any rb on our team....
btw Allen had 1542 yards rushing, at 5.7 yards a carry along with another 475 yards receiving. And we lose 1 of out top 7 WR's
As for the defense....Western returns 8, maybe 9 starters along with a starter from UAB. But what I think most teams will see this coming season is a offense that comes out in the 3rd qt passing instead of running clock...
that easily accounted for 10ppg given up by our defense this past season. So I doubt you see the same mistakes made by taking the foot off the gas as you did from our rookie coach.
Other than La Tech and the only other person to stop our offense was the WKU coaches. Easily 2 extra possession a game we gave the other team by doing this...
Like I said I doubt you see that next year

You're right. Offense will be a juggernaught....that defense, even with everyone back is concerning. You run up against a defense who schemes to stop Doughty two or three times may get you too far behind to catch up. Couple of western teams come to mind, Rice and La Tech; hopefully you don't play them (at least to the CG) next year.

Sure anything is possible and if we have one of those games that we turn the ball over it could be tough...especially with this years defense.

But I don't see the defense as huge of a "fix" as most people. I saw two big problem areas. 1 is we gave up way too many big plays. 2 we couldn't get off the field on 3rd/4th down..mostly long

Both of those in my opinion were because of youngsters showing their hands. Most of the big plays came off a blitz and young players not knowing rotation off that. As bad as our defense was and at times it was really bad...but we also played some decent defense for a couple downs. Till we showed blitz.

Where we came completely apart on defense is when the offense took all the intensity out of the game. The fau, UAB and our bowl game are 3 of those...

till then our defense played fairly well. So while I saw a defense that completely came apart at the seems at times...that defense was only a couple stops away from letting that happen. So to me a 10 to 15% increase in getting off the field on 3rd down and and that same increase on not giving up the big play (25+ yards) is all this defense needs.

I think that's not asking too much just from being more experience and maybe a JUCO along with the UAB player stepping in. Do that and Western will put teams away. Which I agree with you was a huge problem this past season.

(01-05-2015 11:52 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 11:25 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-04-2015 12:20 PM)SigNuTopper Wrote:  I could see WKU breaking into the Top 25 next year. We were close in 2012-2013, receiving votes for 3 weeks after starting 5-1 with a win over Kentucky.
Next year we open with Vanderbilt on the road, a game I expect us to win. Won't be a completely hostile crowd as Vandy will probably pull 30k tops for that game, and id estimate 10k WKU fans (we had about 20k travel to Nashville last year for the UK game).
After that, we have games against a bad Miami (OHIO) at home, and an average Indiana team on the road. We could very well be 5-0 (depending on when the bye week is) heading into a likely ranked LSU game, and with wins against Two p5 teams, we may be in the top 25, or pretty close. A close game against LSU should prevent us from dropping much in the rankings, and if we take care of business the rest of the way (we should be favored in all games after that), I expect to see us finish in the top 25 unless we blunder somewhere (such as losing to Vandy or IU, or somewhere in conference, which is likely to happen somewhere).
But, we always seem to "pull a Western," so I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

You're defense will allow every team you play to be 'in the game' (unless you improve it by at least 10 points/game). If you lose a bunch of Sr.'s from this year's defense (say >30%), then I doubt you can make up those 10 points. If your defense comes back pretty much in tact then it will come down to turn-overs; you win or tie the turn-over game you'll likely win, you lose it and the game will be very much in jeopardy.

Marhsall was a good example of this (with better defense). They played pretty much lights-out on offense all year and probably won most of the turn-over battles to-boot. Your offense will probably be similar but I'm just not sure they can match Cato's consistency....mix in your defense and I find top-25 problematic.

Word of advice....WKU needs to learn how to finish (that goes directly to coaching).

Like in what way? because that makes zero sense considering Western returns the most consistent QB in the conference...MVP of the conference, most of our offensive line, all of our RBs, along with a redshirt fr that is suppose to be as good as any rb on our team....

btw Allen had 1542 yards rushing, at 5.7 yards a carry along with another 475 yards receiving. And we lose 1 of out top 7 WR's

As for the defense....Western returns 8, maybe 9 starters along with a starter from UAB. But what I think most teams will see this coming season is a offense that comes out in the 3rd qt passing instead of running clock...

that easily accounted for 10ppg given up by our defense this past season. So I doubt you see the same mistakes made by taking the foot off the gas as you did from our rookie coach.

Other than La Tech and the only other person to stop our offense was the WKU coaches. Easily 2 extra possession a game we gave the other team by doing this...

Like I said I doubt you see that next year

You must have missed the second half of the Marshall game...You were held to 10 pts