2015 Conference USA football power rankings, from Charlotte to WKU

ODU got a lot of respect. A lot of ODU fans are sold on Shuler Bentley. I haven't seen him play. I just know you can't get too excited over a RS Freshman at QB, even if he is a 4-star stud who is tearing up Spring.

I'm excited to see how things shake out. They definitely got tier 1 right, IMO.

(04-01-2015 07:28 PM)Fatalisk Wrote:  2015 Conference USA football power rankings, from Charlotte to WKU

ODU got a lot of respect. A lot of ODU fans are sold on Shuler Bentley. I haven't seen him play. I just know you can't get too excited over a RS Freshman at QB, even if he is a 4-star stud who is tearing up Spring.

I'm excited to see how things shake out. They definitely got tier 1 right, IMO.

Not me. Great write ups as usual, bit I think he left one team out of his top tier that should be there.

(04-01-2015 09:17 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(04-01-2015 07:28 PM)Fatalisk Wrote:  2015 Conference USA football power rankings, from Charlotte to WKU

ODU got a lot of respect. A lot of ODU fans are sold on Shuler Bentley. I haven't seen him play. I just know you can't get too excited over a RS Freshman at QB, even if he is a 4-star stud who is tearing up Spring.

I'm excited to see how things shake out. They definitely got tier 1 right, IMO.

Not me. Great write ups as usual, bit I think he left one team out of his top tier that should be there.

I don't know, Rice does have to replace a lot of talent on the defensive line, but you're right, they will still be very good.

Marshall may have lost Cato, but I was more impressed with Devon Johnson at RB

(04-01-2015 10:10 PM)techdawg88 Wrote:  Marshall may have lost Cato, but I was more impressed with Devon Johnson at RB

He is easily our best offensive weapon going into the 2015 season. I just hope whoever takes the reins at QB can get up to speed quick enough to where we don't have to put so much weight on Devon. He's coming off some surgery and giving him a disproportionate amount of the offense early on stresses me out.

Report from spring is WKU's offense clicking about the same and we have had 2 or 3 WRs really step up there games....OL remains a question at center due to injuries, hopefully we get that squared away.....

Defense seems to be a lot better according to our beat writers from this past spring....A lot more guys are making plays and a lot more depth as well...Hopefully this carries over for defense when the fall starts, I just don't see how our defense could be any worse than last season and evident this guy is thinking the same thing.....

What concerns me is this schedule, its looking harder and harder ever day I go through it...7 road games and spacing of those road games will not give WKU any favors...

We looked really good in spring practice yesterday. Defense looks to be very good and Offense will too with some new wrinkles compliments of Jeff Driskel. I cannot wait for football season when the talking stops and the walking starts!

(04-02-2015 08:13 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  We looked really good in spring practice yesterday. Defense looks to be very good and Offense will too with some new wrinkles compliments of Jeff Driskel. I cannot wait for football season when the talking stops and the walking starts!

100% agree. Though friendly bantering and posturing is fun.

(04-02-2015 08:34 AM)FTW ODU Wrote:  

(04-02-2015 08:13 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  We looked really good in spring practice yesterday. Defense looks to be very good and Offense will too with some new wrinkles compliments of Jeff Driskel. I cannot wait for football season when the talking stops and the walking starts!

100% agree. Though friendly bantering and posturing is fun.

I agree as well. It can get too heated here sometimes. There are some pretty big egos for our CUSA fan bases.

(04-01-2015 10:08 PM)banker Wrote:  

(04-01-2015 09:17 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(04-01-2015 07:28 PM)Fatalisk Wrote:  2015 Conference USA football power rankings, from Charlotte to WKU

ODU got a lot of respect. A lot of ODU fans are sold on Shuler Bentley. I haven't seen him play. I just know you can't get too excited over a RS Freshman at QB, even if he is a 4-star stud who is tearing up Spring.

I'm excited to see how things shake out. They definitely got tier 1 right, IMO.

Not me. Great write ups as usual, bit I think he left one team out of his top tier that should be there.

I don't know, Rice does have to replace a lot of talent on the defensive line, but you're right, they will still be very good.

I see what you did there. Not bad.

I think ODU and Marshall to a lesser degree are being over-rated given the loss of their long-time QB's. I mean I don't think that ODU has ever gone into a game without that QB; I'd be very surprised if they don't miss a beat without him. Marshall is a more seasoned program but still needs to transition and I'd say the loss of Cato and Shuler are worth 3-4 wins from the tally. So the Herd should still be good for an 8-9 win season.

WKU with their 6th year Sr. QB is going to be this year's juggernaught and you'll probably need to hang 50 on them to beat 'em.

(04-02-2015 10:01 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  I think ODU and Marshall to a lesser degree are being over-rated given the loss of their long-time QB's. I mean I don't think that ODU has ever gone into a game without that QB; I'd be very surprised if they don't miss a beat without him. Marshall is a more seasoned program but still needs to transition and I'd say the loss of Cato and Shuler are worth 3-4 wins from the tally. So the Herd should still be good for an 8-9 win season.

WKU with their 6th year Sr. QB is going to be this year's juggernaught and you'll probably need to hang 50 on them to beat 'em.

I agree 100%...Every off season we go through this with posters from other teams say they will not miss a beat when their experienced QB is gone(last season was UTSA and North Texas)...This season I think you can throw ODU, La. Tech and Marshall in this boat...I guarantee at least one of those teams is going to have an extremely disappointed season and it will be because the QB struggled...QB's are college football these days...

(04-02-2015 10:09 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(04-02-2015 10:01 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  I think ODU and Marshall to a lesser degree are being over-rated given the loss of their long-time QB's. I mean I don't think that ODU has ever gone into a game without that QB; I'd be very surprised if they don't miss a beat without him. Marshall is a more seasoned program but still needs to transition and I'd say the loss of Cato and Shuler are worth 3-4 wins from the tally. So the Herd should still be good for an 8-9 win season.

WKU with their 6th year Sr. QB is going to be this year's juggernaught and you'll probably need to hang 50 on them to beat 'em.

I agree 100%...Every off season we go through this with posters from other teams say they will not miss a beat when their experienced QB is gone(last season was UTSA and North Texas)...This season I think you can throw ODU, La. Tech and Marshall in this boat...I guarantee at least one of those teams is going to have an extremely disappointed season and it will be because the QB struggled...QB's are college football these days...

I think a lot of Marshall fans' confidence lies in the fact that, despite losing a lot of great players, our recruiting under Doc has been stellar and we have a lot of high prospect players backing up those we lost OR we have players that've gotten considerable playing time last season that showed a lot of great ability.

I'm honestly not that concerned about any aspect of our game, with the exception of QB. Cato was incredible, and I don't think anyone EXPECTS any of our current QB's on roster to equate to one of our best QB's in program history. They've all got great prospects and potential, but the bottom line is that none of them have starting experience at Marshall.

My secondary worry ties right in with the QB position and that's having to put too much on Devon Johnson early on in the season. Devon may be one of the best RB's we've had at Marshall in a long time and with his injury last season, I don't want us to have to run the ball a ton with him if the QB is hitting some hurdles.

I really wish the Purdue game was game #3 or #4 rather than the very first game so we could have some game time vs an FCS program and a MAC program or two to get our feet more firmly under us.

Finally, I think generally expectation among Marshall fans is for a 9-10 win season. I've seen quite a few Marshall fans posting regular season expectations for a result somewhere between our 2013 (9-win) and 2014 (11-win) season and I'm right in that boat, personally. Again, though, it's all going to depend on the QB IMO.

I'm going to have to ask the UALR fans exactly what the hell I'm supposed to do when all my conference mates are talking football.

I agree with the QB thoughts. I had high hopes after our best qb left in 2009, but we had an Alabama transfer coming in. It did not work out. I remember seeing the same things happen at Houston, UTSA, etc., in recent years. That's not to say it CAN'T happen (Marshall fans will point to Pennington/Leftwich), but that's more the exception.

As for Rice, I'm fine with where we're placed. I'm getting increasingly worried about how much we're losing on defense, although I feel good about our offense. You never know who will step up, so maybe these fears are unfounded, but we've got a lot of unproven guys.

I have full confidence in our transfer QB.

(04-02-2015 10:09 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  I agree 100%...Every off season we go through this with posters from other teams say they will not miss a beat when their experienced QB is gone(last season was UTSA and North Texas)...This season I think you can throw ODU, La. Tech and Marshall in this boat...I guarantee at least one of those teams is going to have an extremely disappointed season and it will be because the QB struggled...QB's are college football these days...

Which ODU fan says we won't miss a beat with Heinicke?

(04-02-2015 10:01 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  I think ODU and Marshall to a lesser degree are being over-rated given the loss of their long-time QB's. I mean I don't think that ODU has ever gone into a game without that QB; I'd be very surprised if they don't miss a beat without him. Marshall is a more seasoned program but still needs to transition and I'd say the loss of Cato and Shuler are worth 3-4 wins from the tally. So the Herd should still be good for an 8-9 win season.

WKU with their 6th year Sr. QB is going to be this year's juggernaught and you'll probably need to hang 50 on them to beat 'em.

Not any FBS game. But for 2.3(ish) years, we had Thomas Demarco under center. He currently holds the most running yards/game at ODU. He's currently playing for the RedBlacks in Ontario.

Our first few games will be rough, but they aren't against top competition, so we may be able to squeak out wins. But I think we'll get into a rhythm by the middle of the season.

(04-02-2015 10:48 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  I have full confidence in our transfer QB.

Same here.

(04-02-2015 10:01 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  I think ODU and Marshall to a lesser degree are being over-rated given the loss of their long-time QB's. I mean I don't think that ODU has ever gone into a game without that QB; I'd be very surprised if they don't miss a beat without him. Marshall is a more seasoned program but still needs to transition and I'd say the loss of Cato and Shuler are worth 3-4 wins from the tally. So the Herd should still be good for an 8-9 win season.

WKU with their 6th year Sr. QB is going to be this year's juggernaught and you'll probably need to hang 50 on them to beat 'em.

Marshall was and still is way more than just Cato on offense.

We were the 8th best rushing team in the country last season and had over 3800 yds on the ground. All of our RBs that contributed to that come back this season, including Devon Johnson, who had 1767 yds despite missing all or the majority of 3 games due to injury.

Quite frankly, Johnson was likely the best offensive player in conference last season and will be this season, if not the best player on either side of the ball. The guy is a beast.