Crystal Ball Gazing -- 2006

[PapaBear]

To those of you who are in the playoffs, congratulations and good luck. I will be rooting for any A-10 school and plan to watch every game I can find. A true championship series that takes place on the field. What a concept!

To those of us waiting till next year, I’m curious:

What are your team’s biggest reasons for optimism AND pessimism about 2006?

I will start with the Umaine Black bears.

OPTIMISM
Arel Gordon returns; clearly one of the premier playmakers in the league if not the nation.
Lots of first-year kids return with tons of game experience, on both sides of the ball.
Very good size and speed.
Great team chemistry (I can’t imagine a college football team that’s any closer than these guys).
QB Ron Whitcomb returns as a 4-year starter (see below).
Menacing D-End Matt King returns from Medical redshirt.

PESSIMISM
No “winning” momentum. (Unless they whip URI & pull off a miracle vs. UNH.)
Uncertainty about recruiting … Can Cos & Co. match this year’s Signing Day success?
QB Ron Whitcomb must regain the efficiency & productivity that earned him A10 ROY honors.
Need more consistent punting/kicking game.
Need a Big Play receiver to replace McMahan (Gordon can’t do it all).

[89Hen]

For Delaware, it's all optimism. For one, nothing could be much worse than this injury laden season, but the Hens return a ton of players who have seen action this year. I lost count on how many Frosh and Sophs played, but I believe it is now over 20. There will be a lot returning on both sides of the ball, too many to even list.

The other thing to be optomistic about is we lose our QB. He never panned out. Whether it was the injuries to the line or WR corps, he just never won many over. The Hens have another two year I-A transfer who will be competing with a senior and soph for the starting job.

Payton watch list RB Omar Cuff is back for two more years and should be on the list again. Both of the other backs that saw action are back too (one will be a senior and the other a soph).

The WR corps was dessimated this year with injuries but that allowed two redshirt freshman to see a lot of action.

Even special teams is looking good with freshmen PK, P and PR all having great seasons this year. Lots to look forward to next year in Henville. :nod:

[Ivytalk]

For Harvard:

Optimism: 1. Our two soph QBs will be juniors next year. 2. One more year of Clifton Dawson.

Pessimism: Same as always! 1. Too many penalties. 2. Questionable pass defense and special teams play.

[Kosty]

Two things that make the future very bright for UMass next season......Liam Coen will be a red shirt sophomore and Baylark will be back for his senior year.

[colgate13]

Colgate's looking real bright in 2006 IMO.

Optimistic

-Offense is back.
-Specifically, QB Saraceno gets another year in the system and can work on some of his decision making this year. I like him for a full year next year with this one under his belt.
-RB Jordan Scott. This frosh should take home PL ROY honors and rush for close to if not over 1,000 yards in 9 games. We can build an offense around him for the next three years
-WR's Kenny Parker and Erik Burke will be the best receiver tandem in the league. TE Brent Dillingham will be a force.
-OL should be solid. We lose three seniors, but I like what we got coming back. One freshman who has started all 9 games return as well as a junior. Two junior back ups come back. We've got one guard position to be worried about, but I can see the backup freshman center stepping in there.
-Defensive backfield is 3/4 back.
-Kicker and punter are back.

Pessimistic

-I'm not down on our defense next year, we just have some new faces that have to step in up on the line and for the linebackers.
-We lose 2 out of 3 linebackers. We've got some talented freshman who might leapfrog the back up sophomores.
-My biggest worry: We lose 6 out of 8 defensive lineman. We need some guys to step up here big time.

My outlook: preseason 1st or 2nd in the PL - I haven't checked up on other teams yet. We find that we have solid defensive lineman and our linebacker backups are worthy, and we're top 25 material IMO. We'll get a huge test against UMass early. If we win that, watch out.

Now, back to the season at hand!

[atlGAmocs]

UTC Pros
Eldra Buckley
Antonio Miller will be a JR.
Wide Recieveing corps remains mostly intact.
Young improving secondary.
Coach Rodney Allison

Cons
Offesive line graduates a couple players
Lack of depth on D-Line
Will the current situation have a negative impact on recruiting, I think it will.

[fuEMO]

Since Furman is still trying to make the playoffs for 05. I think I can join in here. Despite what many think 05 was a year of transition for the Paladins. Only Ravenell would be a starter on the D Line if Sellers, Palazzo, Porter, Glover and Alford. Had not transfered, graduated early, or had to retire due to injury. Also heralded corner Mashran Austin had a nasty knee injury and has had to take a year and a half off to rehab. Next season Furman will have 9 starters back on defense, plus the entire unit of backups, totaling 23 returning defensive players. Adding to the mix next season will be 4 redshirts on the dline that have size; 255, 270, 273, 230 and mobility. Our linebackers will again be our defensive strength. The problem will be who gets left out of the mix. Jones, Nelson and Williams should be the starters. But Hunter Twitty is something special and he could become a starter with a good spring. Our safeties and corners have to step it up Thacker and Riley are fast and big but have not played physical this season, if this continues look for Scott and the other Twitty, who is a headhunter to make a bid for PT.

Offensively, Furman fans are excited. The rest of the SoCon won’t be. There will be life after Ingle. Furman’s offensive players are more suited to run the option, set up the pass. Big, athletic o-linemen are ready to step in for the departing 3 seniors. They will be missed but Menocal, Kivett, Shuford, Goolsby, Bell, Slaughter have played a lot snaps this season. Jumping to get into the fray will be 3 first team all-state o-linemen that will be coming off redshirts.
At wideout Furman will have a mix of veterans and young athletic playmakers. Stepp and Sprague will be solid but look out for 6-3 RJ Webb, converted from quarterback, APP fans think of Richie Williams at WR. The rotating tailbacks will end next season as Felton and Gipson become a force for their Junior and Senior years. Redshirts LaFrance and Salley are very athletic and talented but should only see mop up duty.

That brings us to quarterback. Will it be Gray or will it be Sorrells. Spring will be interesting and I see it coming down to the Hoss. Gray will make GSU fans feel deja vu is it Revere, is it Chaz. Its been a very long time since Furman has had a quarterback that can run like Gray with a cannon arm to boot. Sorrels will get PT, you don’t throw 10 miles of passes in high school and sit on the bench.

06 will be fun and Furman will have some youthful growing pains again during the first part of the season. I think the Paladins will finish with a flurry and in 07 you could see one of the best Furman team ever.

[AppGuy04]

UTC Pros
Eldra Buckley
Antonio Miller will be a JR.
Wide Recieveing corps remains mostly intact.
Young improving secondary.
Coach Rodney Allison

Cons
Offesive line graduates a couple players
Lack of depth on D-Line
Will the current situation have a negative impact on recruiting, I think it will.

Buckley is def. a talent

[UNH_ORACLE]

two names: Ball and Santos...

[blur2005]

I have a lot of optimism. This year the Dukes struggled to win the close games. That kind of experience can lead to better results, as the team will have been in those situations and will be better prepared to pull them out. In the A-10 this is a necessity...which we had last year, but not this year.

Optimism besides this:
-Rascati will be a senior, and he will have lots of receivers to throw to
-D.D. Boxley might get to play the whole season and not miss the first eight games
-Maurice Fenner and Alvin Banks...yeah, that's a two-headed monster
-Tony LeZotte will be a junior
-The fairly young starting lineups on both sides of the ball will be a year older
-All of our LBs are back

Pessimism
-We are losing Magerko and Clint Kent
-We're losing 3/4 of our defensive line
-1/2 of our seconday is gone, though a lot of younger players have gotten playing time

[89Hen]

in 07 you could see one of the best Furman team ever.
The I guess it's good we don't have you until '08 and '09. :p I guess schedule should enter into this discussion of optimism and pessimism.

Overall, I think the Hens have a favorable schedule IF they can exorcise some road ghosts. They continue their seven home game slate with West Chester, Albany and Hofstra as the OOC games all at home. The rotation changes next year for the A10, so the Hens have URI, UNH and NU from the north and get to miss UMass. The Hens have had problems at Parsons of late (dropped last two there) and URI (lost last time up there too). The other two on the road are Richmond (lost two of the last three times there) and JMU (lost there last time). Because of the field condition debacle, next year will be the third straight trip to UR.

[colgate13]

The I guess it's good we don't have you until '08 and '09. :p I guess schedule should enter into this discussion of optimism and pessimism.


Good call - on both counts! We get Furman in '08.

As for the schedule, we're on the road for our two biggest: UMass and Lehigh. Of our six home games, the biggest threat is Lafayette, but realistically we have a good shot at 6-0 at home (won't overlook another mid-major in Monmouth or Dartmouth two years in a row). At Fordham and Bucknell stand to be good chances for wins. At Cornell is tough because of the rivalry.

Worst case: 6-5. Best case: 11-0 (:p). Realistic case: 10-1/9-2/8-3. IMO we will really need one of the UMass/Lehigh games in order to prove a playoff case with the rest of that schedule.

[OL FU]

Since Furman is still trying to make the playoffs for 05. I think I can join in here. Despite what many think 05 was a year of transition for the Paladins. Only Ravenell would be a starter on the D Line if Sellers, Palazzo, Porter, Glover and Alford. Had not transfered, graduated early, or had to retire due to injury. Also heralded corner Mashran Austin had a nasty knee injury and has had to take a year and a half off to rehab. Next season Furman will have 9 starters back on defense, plus the entire unit of backups, totaling 23 returning defensive players. Adding to the mix next season will be 4 redshirts on the dline that have size; 255, 270, 273, 230 and mobility. Our linebackers will again be our defensive strength. The problem will be who gets left out of the mix. Jones, Nelson and Williams should be the starters. But Hunter Twitty is something special and he could become a starter with a good spring. Our safeties and corners have to step it up Thacker and Riley are fast and big but have not played physical this season, if this continues look for Scott and the other Twitty, who is a headhunter to make a bid for PT.

Offensively, Furman fans are excited. The rest of the SoCon won’t be. There will be life after Ingle. Furman’s offensive players are more suited to run the option, set up the pass. Big, athletic o-linemen are ready to step in for the departing 3 seniors. They will be missed but Menocal, Kivett, Shuford, Goolsby, Bell, Slaughter have played a lot snaps this season. Jumping to get into the fray will be 3 first team all-state o-linemen that will be coming off redshirts.
At wideout Furman will have a mix of veterans and young athletic playmakers. Stepp and Sprague will be solid but look out for 6-3 RJ Webb, converted from quarterback, APP fans think of Richie Williams at WR. The rotating tailbacks will end next season as Felton and Gipson become a force for their Junior and Senior years. Redshirts LaFrance and Salley are very athletic and talented but should only see mop up duty.

That brings us to quarterback. Will it be Gray or will it be Sorrells. Spring will be interesting and I see it coming down to the Hoss. Gray will make GSU fans feel deja vu is it Revere, is it Chaz. Its been a very long time since Furman has had a quarterback that can run like Gray with a cannon arm to boot. Sorrels will get PT, you don’t throw 10 miles of passes in high school and sit on the bench.

06 will be fun and Furman will have some youthful growing pains again during the first part of the season. I think the Paladins will finish with a flurry and in 07 you could see one of the best Furman team ever.

Very good analysis. It would probably surprise most people that our concern is not losing Martin. Not a slap. He is a great quarterback but probably better suited to a team that throws 40 times a game. My biggest concern, which you covered some, is the loss of Stewart, Laggis and Covington, the middle of the line.

[89Hen]

We get Furman in '08.
Interesting OOC in '08. The Hens are at Furman and Maryland. :eek:

[VictorG]

Although the Griz are still in the playoff hunt this year, I can't even begin to tell you how high expectations will be next year. I get the feeling from fans that anything short of the National Championship will be a major disappointment. Many fans feel that way every year but next year, I'm betting even the old "salty" fans such as Grizo maybe expecting even more!

The reason is that the Griz only have about 12 Seniors this year, the most important lose of which will be a Defensive Lineman and a Wide Receiver. The remaining seniors all play a big part on the team but IMO there are really no standouts in the bunch and their replacements are already here.

Our QB will be a sophomore, our best running back Lex Hillard will be a senior, our receivers will be Sophomores and Juniors and our Offensive Line should be in good shape. Almost all of our defense returns with a good mixture of the different grade levels. Additionally, both our kickers will also be returning AND we have a couple of Freshman that are red shirting this year who may become immediate contributers next year.

I don't have time to elaborate more so I'll let my fellow Griz fans fill in the details but..........

The future looks VERY bright in Griz Land!!!!! But with our fans and expectations, they couldn't pay me enough to be the coach! God help him!!! :)

[ISUMatt]

Illinois State gets QB Drone, RBs Rembert and Rice back and WR Robinson with 60% of the O-Line!!! Things will be looking very optimistic in Normal next yr. That said, I really think ILS has a fair shot at getting an at-large this yr with 4 losses. Our GPI is very high, we need some help, but we may be the best 4 loss team eligible!!! (If we beat 0-10 Indiana St)

[OL FU]

Interesting OOC in '08. The Hens are at Furman and Maryland. :eek:

and for us we go to Colgate and Va Tech. :eek: :eek: with UD at Home.

[youwouldno]

I like ILS next year.

So far as Furman... I think Gray will start but Sorrells will get important PT to keep defenses on their heels. O-line will be fine, though losing the guys up the middle hurts.

The defense should be better, but still will be the #1 concern heading into next season, IMO... much more so than losing Martin. Hopefully Williams can develop into a consistently good punter... he's shown definite potential.

[fuEMO]

Very good analysis. It would probably surprise most people that our concern is not losing Martin. Not a slap. He is a great quarterback but probably better suited to a team that throws 40 times a game. My biggest concern, which you covered some, is the loss of Stewart, Laggis and Covington, the middle of the line.

Talked to John Kivett's dad before the GSU game, very nice guy. Had alot of great things to say about the guys that will be replacing the trio you mentioned. Your comment made me remember what he said. Clay Hendricks. Name a better o-line coach in 1AA football. Clay could go anywhere. But he stayed with BL, he knows what it takes to play on the line in Furman's offense. I have been told by many in the program last years recruiting class has ability like they've never coached, alot of it is on the o-line. In 07, 08 you could see a line that has two 6-5, 250 tightends, two 300 pound tackles, two 300 guards, and a 260 pound center. But we all know its not just size, its foot work and technique. And that is what seperates the 05 class of linemen.

[fuEMO]

sorry I double posted, strange things with the internet. I forgot to mention the twin 6-5 tightends in my first post these two guys are monsters. And they can run and catch the ball.

[Tod]

Although the Griz are still in the playoff hunt this year, I can't even begin to tell you how high expectations will be next year. I get the feeling from fans that anything short of the National Championship will be a major disappointment. Many fans feel that way every year but next year, I'm betting even the old "salty" fans such as Grizo maybe expecting even more!

The reason is that the Griz only have about 12 Seniors this year, the most important lose of which will be a Defensive Lineman and a Wide Receiver. The remaining seniors all play a big part on the team but IMO there are really no standouts in the bunch and their replacements are already here.

Our QB will be a sophomore, our best running back Lex Hillard will be a senior, our receivers will be Sophomores and Juniors and our Offensive Line should be in good shape. Almost all of our defense returns with a good mixture of the different grade levels. Additionally, both our kickers will also be returning AND we have a couple of Freshman that are red shirting this year who may become immediate contributers next year.

I don't have time to elaborate more so I'll let my fellow Griz fans fill in the details but..........

The future looks VERY bright in Griz Land!!!!! But with our fans and expectations, they couldn't pay me enough to be the coach! God help him!!! :)

Vic, I thought we had 11 starters that are seniors this year. No?

[blueballs]

In 2006 GSU will return 9 starters and 18 of 22 of the two deep on offense. They will return 6 starters and 17 of 22 of the two deep on defense. All the specialists will return. They redshirted 25 out of 28 signees from the 2/2005 class and 23 of the 44 on the current two deep are freshmen or sophmores.

The future looks very bright from a personnel standpoint indeed.

[ucdtim17]

As UCD Coach Biggs said before this season, UCD should be a hell of a team in '06. The whole O-line returns, Grant will be back for his third season as the starter at QB and Tony Kays will be back to set every UCD receiving record. The team should be much deeper, bigger, and more talented than this year's team, with more D1 recruits stepping into important roles. Considering that the '05 team, when healthy and playing to potential, has clearly shown to be as good as any in I-AA, it's safe to say it's looking good out here.

[OL FU]

In 2006 GSU will return 9 starters and 18 of 22 of the two deep on offense. They will return 6 starters and 17 of 22 of the two deep on defense. All the specialists will return. They redshirted 25 out of 28 signees from the 2/2005 class and 23 of the 44 on the current two deep are freshmen or sophmores.

The future looks very bright from a personnel standpoint indeed.

While, I did not know all the details, I was thinking about that most of Saturday between 4 and 7 PM.

[VictorG]

Vic, I thought we had 11 starters that are seniors this year. No?

I don't know for sure and don't have time to research. However, all of the seniors are not or are no longer starters.

[WCU LawCat]

For the Catamounts

The Bad
-We lose 2 solid Fullbacks
-number of senior OL graduate, Transfers from Tulane and Auburn along with the current young freshman need to step up into starting roles.
-2 starting LB's graduate
-2 starting secondary players graduate
-Rico Reese Graduates

The Good
-Defensive line will be solid group
-Clark comes back at QB for one more year after showing some signs of being able to lead the Cats to victor this year. Tallented backup returns
-Younger part of the secondary is good
-same for LB's
-Darius Fudge returns at tailback
-WR core returns
-Maybe Calivn Ginyard comes back and signee gone JuCo David McDowell comes to Cullowhee.

[blur2005]

The I guess it's good we don't have you until '08 and '09. :p I guess schedule should enter into this discussion of optimism and pessimism.
Well, for JMU, we'll have Delaware and William & Mary at home from the South Division. The question after that is which of the three North opponents we'll have next year (UNH, URI, and Northeastern) will come to JMU. I'm hoping UNH comes to Bridgeforth. That could be a very good game.

JMU has Coastal Carolina at home (REVENGE ;) ). I don't know who the other two out of conference opponents will be, but hopefully they'll both be Division I opponents, as we don't need another Lock Haven.

[shakdaddy3]

Illinois State gets QB Drone, RBs Rembert and Rice back and WR Robinson with 60% of the O-Line!!! Things will be looking very optimistic in Normal next yr. That said, I really think ILS has a fair shot at getting an at-large this yr with 4 losses. Our GPI is very high, we need some help, but we may be the best 4 loss team eligible!!! (If we beat 0-10 Indiana St)
ILSU has a great shot at being even better next year.
Players to be excited about: Offense
QB - Luke Drone
RB - Pierre Rembert and the Rice brothers
WR - Laurent Robinson (of course) and Pierre Jackson, and Jason Horton
TE - Dave Mordis, but we are losing a gret blocker in Jon Denley
Like Matt said, we are getting back 3 out our 5 O-Linemen... the 2 being replaced will be replaced by guys with 2 or more years experience at ILSU
Defense
DLs - Losing 3 guys overall, only one is a true starter b/c Conner is a fill-in for an injured Jarek Thomas who will be back next year too
LBs - ALL coming back except a back up
DBs - Losing all except Ramon Barber

[grizband]

Here is a list of seniors currently on the UM roster:
68 Frink, Jason SR OG 6' 4"
48 Noel, Kyler SR TE 6' 1"
69 Orwig, Chris SR OG 6' 5"
76 Rhoades, Brad SR OT 6' 5"
99 Saenz, Alan SR DT 6' 1"
89 Simpson, Ja'Ton SR TE 6' 5"
96 Spencer, Lance SR DE 6' 2"
2 Talmage, Jon SR WR 6' 4"
31 Thomas, Tyler SR SS 6' 0"
20 Waller, JR SR RB 5' 9"
23 Edwards, Kevin SR CB 6' 2"
58 Gallagher, Kyle SR DT 6' 1"

There are some big losses there, but other than in the case of Saenz, nothing we don't already have a replacement for. Things are looking good in Griz land.

[coastalalum]

blur.....for some reason i don't think the coastal/jmu rematch will occur until 2007, not '06. not sure ccu will be a walkover next year anyways. we only have 10 seniors on the entire roster. :D

[blur2005]

blur.....for some reason i don't think the coastal/jmu rematch will occur until 2007, not '06. not sure ccu will be a walkover next year anyways. we only have 10 seniors on the entire roster. :D
Oh, well then. We're playing VMI apparently, so there's the patsy. We play UNC in 2007, which should be fun.

[DTSpider]

Richmond's surprise run at the playoffs this year bodes very well for the future. We only lose a few starters from this year and have a lot of freshmen & sophomores playing significant roles. Unfortunately one of seniors is Stacy Tutt (i.e. our entire offense). Still I think that we're turning the corner into becoming a better program.

[Coastal89]

blur.....for some reason i don't think the coastal/jmu rematch will occur until 2007, not '06. not sure ccu will be a walkover next year anyways. we only have 10 seniors on the entire roster. :DWe'll have 29 seniors on next years squad which might hurt our chances for 2007.