my 2008 SoCon superlatives/2009 outlook

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Biggest Surprise - I think this is a no-brainer - Samford. I think most were predicting either 1-7 or 2-6 for their SoCon record. Nice job, guys.
Honorable mention (1st runner up) Wofford. Don't think many anticipated that they'd be better this year than they were last year. They had a fantastic year this year and it's really too bad they had to play the number 1 seed even though they were arguably one of the best teams in the bracket
Honorable mention (2nd runner up) App. State. They did very well to run the table in the SoCon. didn't think they'd ever be able to do that this year, but they did.

Biggest Disappointment - The Citadel. 2-6 SoCon record. Ouch.

Best performance versus an FBS - With all due respect to the good showings by Samford versus Ole' Miss and Furman versus Virginia Tech, I think this has to go to Wofford versus South Carolina. If you covered up the opponents on South Carolina's schedule and results, you would think that Wofford was an SEC opponent.

Best SoCon game - I didn't seen every game, but the best game I have seen was GSU versus App. State. The last few minutes of the game was a game in itself.

Best OOC WIN - The SoCon lost to the three best FCS OOC opponents we had this season xbangx , but if you have to pick one it'd be Furman over Colgate.

Most Disappointing OOC loss - Elon getting drubbed by Liberty. Blew a chance to get 3 SoCon teams in.
Honorable Mention (1st runner up) App. losing to JMU
Honorable Mention (2nd runner up) Elon getting owned by Richmond

Play of the year - The best play I've saw was the fourth down conversion ASU made against GSU on their winning drive. It was kind of a fluke, but wouldn't have happened without Edwards' ability to evade pressure and still find an open receiver.

My 2009 Outlook - correct me if you think I am off base on any of these. Hang on to your butts, guys, because next year the competition will be even stiffer with all the young teams in the league. I see 7 teams getting better next year and 2 that will likely be better. '09 could be the year that we get more than 3 in for the first time.

ASU - ASU should be pretty scary next year. Most of their skill position players on offense are freshman and sophomores so there should be an improvement offensively. Loses a few key players on defense but should still have a good D. Will be better next year, IMO.

Tennessee-Chattanooga - Returns most skill position players on offesnse and most players on defense. I don't see how they won't get better after this abysmal year.

The Citadel - Andre Roberts and Bart Blanchard will be back. Freshman runningback Asheton Jordan who has averaged 5 ypc will obviously be back. They lose some key receivers but have some promising freshman behind them that have gotten some game experience. The Citadel returns most of their starters on defense. Will be better next year, IMO.

Elon - Riddle and Hudgins will be back at QB and WR, and Newsome at RB. Most defensive starters will be back. Will be better next year, IMO.

Furman - Furman is like ASU on offense in that they have a rising senior QB with pretty much all sophomores and freshman in the skill positions. With all those young players the offense they should be much better on that side of the ball. The defense will be a question mark as Furman seems to have a good many seniors on that unit. Will be better if Furman can rebuild the D.

GSU - The biggest question mark on offense will be at the receiver position. GSU loses their top 3 receivers. The good news is GSU managed to lead the SoCon in passing yards this year (times sure have changed, haven't they?) and our pass protection should be much better next year. Lee Chapple seems to be a very promising QB for us. On defense GSU loses 4 important starters but has some good freshman with game experience to take their place. Will be better next year, IMO.

Samford - QB Taliaferro will be back for his sophomore year, their good runningback Chris Evans will be a junior. They also return all of their receivers. They will also only lose one player from their scary OL. Their defense is young and will only lose two or three starters. Will be better next year, IMO.

Western Carolina - WCU's QB and top two rushers on offense are freshmen. WCU's top receivers Marquel Pittman and Adam Hearns will be back. They should be better on the OL with only losing one senior. Defense will most likely be better as they return most of their starters. Factor in Wagner's skill of turning programs around and you can bet WCU will be better next year.

Wofford - I won't say Wofford won't won't be better next year after what happened bewtween this season and the last one, but losing Widmyer, Stirckland, and Romero leaves question marks on offense. The good news is most of the rest of their team (especially the defense) is very young. If Wofford has good players to fill the shoes of Widmyer, Romero, and Strickland, they will be better.

[ASUTed]

Very good writeup. One thing that sticks out to me is that it looks as though everyone will be better next year. It will be tough for some of the teams fans next year due to the fact that there will be ups and downs. I am sure glad we don't have to play @ GSU every year, they could be owefer the season and take us to the wire. That is what makes this conference though. Great rivalry's and quite a bit of talent.

[Silenoz]

Well somebody has to get worse

[Biff]

Good write. I think you may see chances from The Citadel at running back and QB. Bart started much of the year, but at times was swapped out and we have a sophmore redshirted last year that could fight for the starting spot. Also, the transfer from UNI, John Shaw, has sat out a redshirt at UNI and now a his transfer year, so he is older and had time to bulk up a little with a lot of years of eligibility left. Look for him to get some time running the ball. Andre is Andre, but one of our secondary WR's that took pressure off of Andre in 2007 will be back in 2009 from a season ending injury. Defense is the big question for us. We need to start seeing guys step up.

[Biff]

Well somebody has to get worse

I think it will be more like the conference is that much better, but someone has to finish last.

[gofurman]

Wofford loses a lot on the OL. That is key./

[smallcollegefbfan]

Wofford loses a lot on the OL. That is key./

That will be their key. They lose 7 starters on each side of the ball and thus they will likely be very young on both sides. While I think Wofford will be somewhat down from this year in terms of where they finish, I think they should be a national title contender in 2011.

[mcveyrl]

Well somebody has to get worse

I was about to make a joke about how NOBODY in the SoCon ever got worse, they just get better.

But...after looking at each team from an outsider's point of view (and I'm smack dab in the middle of SoCon country, so I DO keep up with the SoCon), I think most of that is probably prett accurate.

I would say, though, that I think Wofford will be worse (but hey, they were probably a top 5-10 team this year, so that's not saying much, plus they have to replace a lot when everybody returns a lot) and there's a chance that UT-C could be worse with their coaching situation. I also think that Samford, while not being worse, may have a hard time repeating the success they had this year (it will be everybody's second go 'round with them). Having said all of that. Here's my mid-December 2008 prediction for the 2009 SoCon:

(I reserve the right to change, manipulate, rotate, flip, or shimmy this at any time. Anybody who quotes this post in mid-November 2009 to make fun of my failure, will be reported and hopefully banned :D ):

1. ASU
2. GSU
3. Elon
4. Furman
5. Wofford
6. The Citadel
7. Western Carolina
8. Samford
9. UT-C

I think at least the top three make the playoffs... xeyebrowx

[PhoenixPhan06]

One of the most over-looked and under-rated aspects of a team is Special Teams IMO. This is the biggest area of concern for us going into the 2009 season. Our Special Teams were led by First Team All-American K Andrew Wilcox and All-SoCon P Brandon Lane, both graduating seniors. Add the fact that WR Bo Williamson (also a graduating senior) was a huge factor as a KR and PR and we're looking at a lot of turnover (no pun intended) among our Special Teams.

If we can shore up our kicking game, our offense and defense will take care of the rest and we should make another strong push for the SoCon championship and finally make it to the playoffs!

[Woof]

Glad everyone still doubts the Terriers... It is much more fun playing the role of the underdog...here's hoping for plenty of similar press clippings to wallpaper the locker room for '09. xthumbsupx

[mcveyrl]

Glad everyone still doubts the Terriers... It is much more fun playing the role of the underdog...here's hoping for plenty of similar press clippings to wallpaper the locker room for '09. xthumbsupx

Hey, it's not that I doubt them, but they are in a similar situation to JMU. Both teams have to replace a lot of talent and have a high standard to live up to to be "better."

[AshevilleApp2]

App could have a better team, but end up with a worse record. Away games against Elon and the South Carolina contingent make for a tough road next year.

[Rekdiver]

Yeah, the question is getting better that the previous year good enough?

I think the usual suspects will prevail again in '09.

In alpha order...ASU Elon FU GSU WC.

El Cid just can't seem to break thru, Chattys a joke, Samford who knows and WCU is still years away.

Davidson, UNCG and Cof C will finish last........

[OL FU]

I would certainly like to think FU is going to be better than 08. I was one that was more disappointed with the 07 record than the 08. Lost a lot of players in 07 and switched Os and Ds. That had the making for trouble and I think we saw some it. We lose three of our five interior Oline so some repair is needed there. BUt more than anything, we need to throw the ball down field. Three yard passing routes are fine but you can't throw them all day without occasionaly making some noise in the D back field.

[WVAPPmountaineer]

Very good observations about the SoCon season - not to make things more "scary" but APP only lost 1 senior on defense who started all year - plus we lost our starting DE - Tony Robertson and starting CB - Dominique McDuffie for the entire season during the JMU game as well as Quavian Lewis who never got back after that game - Also All-American DE Gary Tharrington is scheduled to return for his senior year after missing the entire season AND we also lost our top RB Devon Moore for the season in the JMU game as well

[elcid96]

I don't how much of a dissapointment The Citadel was this year. Everyone in FCS was expecting great things after our missing the playoffs by one game the previous season and returning Andre and Bart, but the Coach and many Citadel fans had realistic expectations. All of our RB's were freshmen this year. We did not have a running game and our kicker only made a 30 yarder this year as his best FG. We lost all our starting receivers, except Andre. So, it was not too hard to beat us this year. Basically pass rush and shut down Andre. I do have good expectations for our team next year. We "should" have a good running game next year. We will also be bringing out a new QB next year that has the talent to throw and run. With multiple threats next year, we will be much harder to beat. However, lets be realistic here. We are "The Citadel" and historically we are not expected to do well. So forgive us if we get really excited about 6-7 wins. Next year has some potential, while this year was always viewed a rebuilding year.

[phoenixphanatic21]

Yeah, the question is getting better that the previous year good enough?

I think the usual suspects will prevail again in '09.

In alpha order...ASU Elon FU GSU WC.

El Cid just can't seem to break thru, Chattys a joke, Samford who knows and WCU is still years away.

Davidson, UNCG and Cof C will finish last........

xlolx
If only those schools were good enough to have SoCon football

[appfan2008]

i will just reiterate what some other app posters have said... app could have a worse record next year and be a better football team with just as good of a shot at a NC... we could go 8-3 and still be a seed type of a thing next year... sort of like 05

[mcveyrl]

i will just reiterate what some other app posters have said... app could have a worse record next year and be a better football team with just as good of a shot at a NC... we could go 8-3 and still be a seed type of a thing next year... sort of like 05

I'm not sure if they would get a seed at 8-3, the difference being that in '05 they had two I-A losses - '09 would probably be two FCS losses. Of course, a lot would depend on how everybody else did -'Nova didn't get a seed with their only FCS loss being to us...

But, your point is still valid - ASU could be better, but have a worse record.

EDIT: As I look at your schedule for next year, I note that the game against Chattanooga is "Education Day." I'm sure we can anticipate plenty of "taking them to school" smack that week...

[citdog]

2009! BELONGS TO THE CADETS!

















[SIZE="1[/SIZE]

[OL FU]

2009! BELONGS TO THE CADETS!

















[SIZE="1[/SIZE]

you better predict a 3-8 record this year :p

[appfan2008]

2009! BELONGS TO THE CADETS!

















[SIZE="1[/SIZE]

I think we have heard that before

[mcveyrl]

2009! BELONGS TO THE CADETS!




It's spelled Keydets...

And I heard they might be dropping scholarships...

And they're not in the SoCon.

This post was way OT...

[fuEMO]

Furman made major improvements on defense in 08. But inexperienced depth across the defensive line hurt later in the season. I also think Furman was hurt by lack of size at corner and lack of sideline-to-sideline speed at linebacker. It looks like Furman could bring in up to four defensive linemen with this recruiting class. Furman has had terrible attrition on the defensive front, IMO this has been the biggest issue along with linebacker speed. Furman should be vastly improved in 09.

Wiley, Anderson, and Boykin will be the fastest collection of linebackers that Furman has put on the field. It was amazing to see the impact Wiley had when he came and single-handed made every tackle against Wofford's second team. The key here of course is how quickly this guys get up to speed as starters, my guess is by the last part of 09 they will be very effective.

That leaves corner and free safety to a bunch of talented young guys. I think Steed and Griffin will make mistakes but also cause alot of headaches.

Offensively, I think BL knows that's where Furman underperformed. Man were they hit or miss. Furman is loaded at every offensive skill position and they are young.

One question what do you do with all these runningbacks:
Stephan LaFrance SR, Mike Brown JR, Tersoo Uhaa SO, Tank Baker SO, Walt Lenard RSFR, and rumoured commit Jerodis Williams

[citdog]

I think we have heard that before

hope springs eternal.









assxrulesx

[citdog]

It's spelled Keydets...

And I heard they might be dropping scholarships...

And they're not in the SoCon.

This post was way OT...

only by gaywads at Vagina Military Institute

couldn't compete with WHOLE MEN FROM THE CITADEL

SEE ABOVE

I DO MY BEST

[SU DOG]

Samford #8 in the SoCon next year? xlolx NO WAY that will happen!! The Bulldogs have just about everything coming back and have some immediate impact players who were red-shirted this year. Also, Pat Sullivan's recruiting continues to be amazing. Samford is going to be a threat in the SoCon - get used to it.

[GATA]

Samford #8 in the SoCon next year? xlolx NO WAY that will happen!! The Bulldogs have just about everything coming back and have some immediate impact players who were red-shirted this year. Also, Pat Sullivan's recruiting continues to be amazing. Samford is going to be a threat in the SoCon - get used to it.

I think picking Samford to finish 8th is a stretch too. From what I saw, Samford is very similar to Furman and just as good. I think Furman has a better offense than Samford right now, but that's about it. Samford plays great defense and I think that will keep them in the middle of the pack in the SOCON next year.

I'd predict Samford to finish 4th or 5th.

[appfan2008]

hope springs eternal.









assxrulesx

nothing wrong with hope!

[appfan2008]

Samford #8 in the SoCon next year? xlolx NO WAY that will happen!! The Bulldogs have just about everything coming back and have some immediate impact players who were red-shirted this year. Also, Pat Sullivan's recruiting continues to be amazing. Samford is going to be a threat in the SoCon - get used to it.

i am thinking 5th ahead of the usual suspects... TC, WCU and UTC

[mcveyrl]

i am thinking 5th ahead of the usual suspects... TC, WCU and UTC

My thinking on that was I think the bottom four (6-9) will be very close. I could be wrong, and quite frankly I hope I am, but I think Samford had a few things in their favor going into this year that they won't have next year, namely the newness factor. Again, I will be happy to be incorrect, but it's just my two cents, I don't have a dog in any of these fights.

[Tribe4SF]

Wofford - I won't say Wofford won't won't be better next year after what happened bewtween this season and the last one, but losing Widmyer, Stirckland, and Romero leaves question marks on offense. The good news is most of the rest of their team (especially the defense) is very young. If Wofford has good players to fill the shoes of Widmyer, Romero, and Strickland, they will be better.

The Terriers lose 7 starters on offense, and six on defense from the two deep for the JMU game. Hard to conceive that they will be better in 2009. The defense loses 2 of 3 on the DL (and most of their size), and 3 of 4 at LB.

[OL FU]

I see know reason to think that Samford won't be better. They had a very young team this year and started slow and made significant progress through the year. I realize there is something to teams overlooking the newbie and there is something to coaches not being as familiar with the schemes. But it looks to me like they have personnel that grew in 08 and can get even better in 09 along with a coach that understands the game and how to deal with young men. xtwocentsx

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

I don't how much of a dissapointment The Citadel was this year. Everyone in FCS was expecting great things after our missing the playoffs by one game the previous season and returning Andre and Bart, but the Coach and many Citadel fans had realistic expectations. All of our RB's were freshmen this year. We did not have a running game and our kicker only made a 30 yarder this year as his best FG. We lost all our starting receivers, except Andre. So, it was not too hard to beat us this year. Basically pass rush and shut down Andre. I do have good expectations for our team next year. We "should" have a good running game next year. We will also be bringing out a new QB next year that has the talent to throw and run. With multiple threats next year, we will be much harder to beat. However, lets be realistic here. We are "The Citadel" and historically we are not expected to do well. So forgive us if we get really excited about 6-7 wins. Next year has some potential, while this year was always viewed a rebuilding year.

Not only because of last season, but the 427 yards of total offense versus Clemson this season.

[mcveyrl]

I see know reason to think that Samford won't be better. They had a very young team this year and started slow and made significant progress through the year. I realize there is something to teams overlooking the newbie and there is something to coaches not being as familiar with the schemes. But it looks to me like they have personnel that grew in 08 and can get even better in 09 along with a coach that understands the game and how to deal with young men. xtwocentsx

I'm not doubting they'll be better, but as others have stated, that's probably not going to be good enough, on its own, to sustain in next year's SoCon.

Also, and I'm not trying to disrespect the Samford program, but I have a hard time grasping that a team that traditionally struggled in the OVC will have consistent top 5 or top half success in the SoCon right away.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

I'm not doubting they'll be better, but as others have stated, that's probably not going to be good enough, on its own, to sustain in next year's SoCon.

Also, and I'm not trying to disrespect the Samford program, but I have a hard time grasping that a team that traditionally struggled in the OVC will have consistent top 5 or top half success in the SoCon right away.

We'll never know how Samford would have done in the OVC this year, but it's possible that Sullivan just plain knows how to run a program. We'll find out.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish in the top 4 next year (and not in a 3-way-tie for fourth like this year) with all the starters that they have returning. Especially with a rising sophomore QB coming back.

[mcveyrl]

We'll never know how Samford would have done in the OVC this year, but it's possible that Sullivan just plain knows how to run a program. We'll find out.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish in the top 4 next year (and not in a 3-way-tie for fourth like this year) with all the starters that they have returning. Especially with a rising sophomore QB coming back.

I hope you're right and I'm wrong (I do think Sullivan's a great coach, I just think it may take a couple more years for the consistency to kick in). I think it would be great for the SoCon for Samford to be a consistent contender. A strong Alabama presence would be beneficial.

[OL FU]

I'm not doubting they'll be better, but as others have stated, that's probably not going to be good enough, on its own, to sustain in next year's SoCon.

Also, and I'm not trying to disrespect the Samford program, but I have a hard time grasping that a team that traditionally struggled in the OVC will have consistent top 5 or top half success in the SoCon right away.

I too have a difficult time believing it but they started by barely beating West Georgia and ended up giving everyone a game (except Wofford, I think) and beating a good but inconsistent GSU. But you are right, the question is where will everyone else in the SoCon be. It is hard to see many falling except maybe Wofford but I wouldn't count on that. Wofford historically has been up and then down as their classes graduate. My recollection is they lost some pretty key players in 07 and seemed to have reloaded quite well in 08.

The Socon was down this year from last year. I predict it will be back up to 07 standards which might make Samford's run more doubtful but I wouldn't count on it. If GSU can add some consistency and close out the close ones, if FU can keep their defense good like this year and add some diversity to their offense, it could be another year with 6 or 7 strong teams beating each other up pretty good.

Lots of ifs, but I believe Samford will be in the running, youth and the building process may keep them from competing for the title ( I don't know) but they should be in the hunt.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

I think GSU's inconsitancy stems from Hatcher trying to find a way to adapt to having very poor pass protection (run blocking wasn't that great, either). The cubbard was left pretty bare at that position more so than most others and hopefully we will never have to play with a unit as inexperienced as this one.

Next year all of our opponents will probably be getting the furious barrage of passes like we gave Furman this year. If I may be so bold as to make a judgement based on one game, I think we'll be pretty good on offense next year. 17 points against Furman is not great, but considering the number of points teams like VT (with Tyrod Taylor) and App. State were able to put on them, it certainly wasn't bad.

It's going to be another horse-race (like 2007) in the SoCon next year, and I expect we'll be running with the group of horses at the front of the pack for at least most of the season.
xpeacex

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford can replace Strickland, Romero, and Widmyer.

When you see the players replacing them there will be no b*tching over how fast we are.

The big thing to replace is the OL and the LBs. I feel very good about every other position though.

[Reign of Terrier]

That will be their key. They lose 7 starters on each side of the ball and thus they will likely be very young on both sides. While I think Wofford will be somewhat down from this year in terms of where they finish, I think they should be a national title contender in 2011.

No I actually doubt that. We lose 4 of 5 OL going into that year and some others.

I actually think we'll be better in 2010. We will be very balanced.

[Reign of Terrier]

I was about to make a joke about how NOBODY in the SoCon ever got worse, they just get better.

But...after looking at each team from an outsider's point of view (and I'm smack dab in the middle of SoCon country, so I DO keep up with the SoCon), I think most of that is probably prett accurate.

I would say, though, that I think Wofford will be worse (but hey, they were probably a top 5-10 team this year, so that's not saying much, plus they have to replace a lot when everybody returns a lot) and there's a chance that UT-C could be worse with their coaching situation. I also think that Samford, while not being worse, may have a hard time repeating the success they had this year (it will be everybody's second go 'round with them). Having said all of that. Here's my mid-December 2008 prediction for the 2009 SoCon:

(I reserve the right to change, manipulate, rotate, flip, or shimmy this at any time. Anybody who quotes this post in mid-November 2009 to make fun of my failure, will be reported and hopefully banned :D ):

1. ASU
2. GSU
3. Elon
4. Furman
5. Wofford
6. The Citadel
7. Western Carolina
8. Samford
9. UT-C

I think at least the top three make the playoffs... xeyebrowx

I kind of agree but right now I don't see Furman beating us. They haven't really stopped us on offense the last 2 years and now the lose a lot on defense. Samford is probably a little too low.

[Reign of Terrier]

The Terriers lose 7 starters on offense, and six on defense from the two deep for the JMU game. Hard to conceive that they will be better in 2009. The defense loses 2 of 3 on the DL (and most of their size), and 3 of 4 at LB.

Wofford uses everyone on the 2 deep every game. I'm not concerned with the DL at all but the LBs could be a problem.

I don't think we'll be better but we have the potential to be just as good.

[Reign of Terrier]

When it comes to the talent perspective I think Samford is very very good. Their OL is huge. They will be playoff bound in the next 2 or 3 years and maybe even this year.

The Citadel has the potential to still be a very good team. they could have won 7 games last year but fell just short.

Western will be pretty decent too. Catamount man said they were 2 years away so I think they'll beat Chattanooga and all of their OOC FCS or lower.

If Georgia Southern creates some efficiency on offense and decides to play defense they will be a very good team.

App will be good and consistent. Enough said.

Elon is sadly my already preseason number 1 in the Socon. They have the talent and they should make the playoffs.

Furman-??? offense was ineffective in '08 and the defense was the reason they won games.

Wofford- as stated before we've lost players before and have done fine. there is a difference this year. In the last 2 years we've had very good OL, next year there will be only 2 players with starting experience on OL. The coaching for Wofford is IMO the best so I really don't think this will be as big of a problem (does anybody have the same HC, OC, and DC as they did 20 years ago? I didn't think so) but the offense will change. We won't as Mickey Matthews said "run the same play in different formations." In '08 we took advantage of the power of the OL and abused the opposing DL by running straight at them with The Triple option (using the fullback) and with little misdirection. Next year I predict we will run a faster system like we did in '07 with more misdirection, reverses, and trick plays. I also think we'll run more QB draws.

(dang that was long)