- 2006 Spring Questions
14-20
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7-13 |
4-6 |
1-3
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2007 Spring Questions
No. 20 to
No. 16 |
No. 15 to
No. 11
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No. 10 to No. 6 | No. 5
and No. 4 | No. 3 (The
Heisman)
2.
Ten things to
pay attention to this spring
10. The
LSU quarterback situation
It wasn't all that long ago when LSU fans were openly wondering
whether or not Matt Flynn was the better option to run the team than
JaMarcus Russell. After all, Flynn was arguably the best quarterback in
spring ball over the last few years and came up with a tremendous
performance against Miami in the 2005 Peach Bowl. Had Russell come back,
LSU might have been the preseason No. 1 team, but it won't be far off
with Flynn.
While the coaching staff says the starting job is wide open, it's really
Flynn's to lose. Sophomore Ryan Perrilloux, who's already one off on his
prediction that he'd win four Heismans and is back in good graces after
being questioned by the Secret Service about a counterfeiting ring, will
get his shot to shine.
9.
The Alabama
running game
Alabama a passing team? With John Parker Wilson throwing to Keith
Brown and D.J. Hall, the Tide will have one of the SEC's better air
attacks. Nick Saban will want more balance and an effective ground game
utilizing a running back by committee approach until a hot hand emerges.
Top recruit Demetrius Goode will eventually be the man, but this spring
it'll likely be up to Jimmy Johns, Roy Upchurch and Ali Sharrief
providing a nice blend of speed and power. The backs will be fine;
better play from the offensive line is the bigger issue when it comes to
pounding the ball..
8. The USC running backs
Talk about having an abundance of riches, USC's three top incoming
freshman backs alone would likely start for about 100 other teams. Joe
McKnight is just buying time until he goes pro, Marc Tyler has the speed
and power to be an every down playmaker, and Broderick Green provides
the LenDale White-like power. Oh yeah, and then there's Chauncey
Washington, C.J. Gable, Emmanuel Moody, Allen Bradford, Stafon Johnson,
and even Desmond Reed, who's coming back from a leg injury, all good
enough to be "the guy." Some of them will move to other positions (Gable
might be the first to move around this spring), and some will have to
wait their turn in practices to shine. Basically, there's no excuse to
only average 128 rushing yards per game again.
7.
All the new
Notre Dame offensive skill players
Close to 80% of the rushing production is gone with Darius Walker
bolting early to the NFL along with Brady Quinn, who was second on the
team with 82 carries. James Aldridge was the team's second leading
rusher last year, but that was mostly in mop-up duty. True freshman
Armando Allen needs to come in and provide a speed burst, while Robert
Hughes is the type of power runner Charlie Weis hasn't had yet.
The running game is the least of the worries with Quinn, Jeff Samardzija
and Rhema McKnight needing to be replaced. The quarterback situation
will be fascinating with super-recruit Jimmy Clausen expected to come in
right away and be another Quinn, but it's not like Evan Sharpley, Zach
Frazer and Demetrius Jones are just going to step aside and give up the
job. All four will be around this spring.
6. The Ohio State quarterback situation
And so begins the Todd Boeckman era. Maybe. He's a big 6-5, 235
passer with a little bit of experience and the inside line on the job.
Sophomore Rob Schoenhoft is even bigger at around 6-6 and 240 with a big
arm. Now he just needs time to work. Antonio Henton is the wild-card in
the mix as the only mobile option of the three. He has a nice arm, but
if he's starting this season, it's because Boeckman and Schoenhoft fell
flat on their faces. It doesn't help the situation that the receiving
corps is also in a state of flux.
5. The improvement of Kansas State QB Josh Freeman
Kansas State is loaded with experience after a shocking bounceback
year in Ron Prince's first season, and the move from point A to B
depends on the improvement of Freeman, who had his moments of greatness
as a true freshman. He also had his moments of complete and utter
ineptitude looking lost at times as he threw eight interceptions and no
touchdown passes in his first six appearances before finally breaking
through in the second half of the year. For all the problems, he has the
potential to be the type of star who can carry Kansas State back to
national prominence, even if it takes another year to get to that point.
At 6-6 and 235 pounds and with decent mobility, think JaMarcus Russell
with half the arm.
4. Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe
Bobby Petrino was so hot when he first started at Louisville, Auburn
made a late-night pitch to possibly replace Tommy Tuberville before the
Tiger program exploded. Kragthorpe is just as much of a burgeoning star
after taking a woeful Tulsa program to Conference USA prominence, and
after a wonderful recruiting class and a vote of confidence from
everyone involved in the program, don't look for the program's momentum
to slow down. This spring, he and his staff are likely to try to open
things up a big more and use should-be-in-the-NFL QB Brian Brohm even
more than Petrino did when the Cardinals were seventh in the nation in
passing. Even though this might be a BCS-caliber team, six road games,
including dates at West Virginia, Kentucky and South Florida, should
make it tough to get back to a big money game.
3. The Texas backup quarterback situation
With Jevan Snead transferring and with the way the team struggled
when Colt McCoy got dinged up, the difference between a Big 12
championship and an above-average bowl season might be in the backup
quarterbacks. John Chiles and Sherrod Harris will each get equal shots
at being the number two man with Harris, because of his experience,
likely to have the edge. Even so, Chiles, a former receiver who isn't
being considered for anything but quarterback duty, will be needed at
some point over the next few years with no other viable options past him
if he's the three.
2. The big new coordinators
While coordinator movement might not mean much to the average fan
who gives all the credit or blame to the head coach for success or
failure, this is one of the biggest years ever for coordinator moves.
Several conference and national title contending teams are undergoing
major moves in key spots. Jimbo Fisher leaves from LSU to be Florida
State's offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian runs USC's attack,
Patrick Nix, despite being the choice after others turned the gig down,
will handle the Miami offense, New York Jet defensive back coach Corwin
Brown will handle the Notre Dame defense, and Gary Crowton goes from
Oregon to replace Fisher. How the tweaks and changes are made to those
teams, and others like Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Oregon, UCLA and
Nebraska, will be worth watching all spring long.
1. Miami's offense
What in the name of Bernie Kosar, Clinton Portis, Edgerrin James,
Andre Johnson, Michael Irvin, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Alonzo
Highsmith, Craig Erickson, Kellen Winslow, Randall Hill, Ken Dorsey,
Jeremy Shockey, Frank Gore, you get the idea, is going on? How could the
Miami Hurricanes, the Miami Hurricanes, average 313 yards and
fewer than 20 points per game? Lost in the miserable 2006 season was how
good the defense was finishing seventh in the nation overall and 13th in
scoring D. With road games at Oklahoma, Florida State, Virginia Tech and
Boston College to deal with, Randy Shannon's team, and Patrick Nix's
offense, had better be rolling right off the bat this spring to avoid
another unMiami-like season.
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