lots of roster turnover, especially at the skill positions, made this a busy summer trying to sort everything out in this conference. this could be the year where we see one of the "directional michigans" or a team like kent state come out of nowhere to win one side of the conference. aside from northern illinois, theres really not a dominant team (and even niu has holes to fill).
just some random stuff that might be worth noting (or "nothing", depending on your perspective). maybe i have a clue, maybe im just spewing nonsense. hopefully something below can be useful this year.
akron -- the zips took a major hit in the backfield and at wide receiver. their duo at wide receiver last year (montgomery and hixon) was really underrated. theyre not going to be easy to replace. jabari arthur had a monster motor city bowl (8 catches for 180 yds and 2 TDs) but the fact remains that he's still a converted quarterback that is now going from getsy's 3rd option to his #1 receiver. thats a tough transition. with the loss of biggs at running back, kennedy is now the primary back for the zips. last year he was supposed to provide akron with a solid complement and change of pace to biggs in the backfield, but he only had 131 yards on 45 attempts (>3.0 ypg -- not good). to be fair, he was only a redshirt freshman in '05 so those #s figure to improve. he definitely has the size to carry the load for akron. but akron is a shaky preseason favorite on that side of the conference.
bowling green -- ok anthony turner, now that omar jacobs left for the nfl, you get the chance to be the starting qb to open the season against wisconsin at cleveland browns stadium. so what do you do? you go and get yourself suspended for the first game after being cited for marijuna possession. brilliant. so now bg heads into that wisconsin game with redshirt freshman freddie barnes under center. the coaches love the athleticism that barnes has and they compare him to a young josh harris but they probably would rather not throw him into the fire against wisconsin in week one. unfortunately they have no choice. couple that with the losses of pope/lane at running back and sharon/sanders at wide receiver and bg has some huge offensive question marks. the good news is that the guys filling those spots got their feet wet last year and have a lot of potential. still, this probably wont be the explosive bg team many have come to expect in recent years. they will still put up points and yards, but they wont be steamrolling teams like they have at times over the last few seasons. and the fact that they have just 4 home games all year makes it unlikely that they will be playing for a mac title.
miami -- no more josh betts at quarterback, but that might not be such a bad thing for the redhawks. no matter how physically talented he was, he never really developed into the quarterback he could have been. guys like chad pennington and bruce gradkowski had "it". betts did not. miami still has big time playmakers on offense. brandon murphy is probably the best running back in the mac east and ryne robinson is a poor man's ted ginn jr, both as a receiver as well as a punt returner. but much like ginn has to adjust from complementary receiver (to the ultra-reliable santonio holmes) in '05 to now the primary receiver in '06, robinson has to adjust from complementary receiver (to the ultra-reliable martin nance) to now the primary receiver in '06. that could be an issue as neither robinson (nor ginn for that matter) is a particular great route runner and neither is overly physical getting off the line of scrimmage. having said that, miami should still be in pretty good shape offensively. but theyre only going to go as far as kokal takes them at qb. the mac east is wide open, so this team could conceivably finish anywhere from first to fourth, but third seems about right. their schedule is front-loaded with all their tough games in the first six weeks before it eases up in late october.
kent state -- im on record by having told spang (foolishly, perhaps) that kent state could be the most improved team in the mac this season. this team was absolutely decimated by injuries and suspensions last year but there is considerable talent returning this year on both sides of the ball. machen has an nfl-caliber arm at quarterback (unfortunately he displayed a lot of D-III caliber decision-making last year) and he should be better now that he has a year of experience under his belt. at 6'6/225, he easily has the best size of any qb in the conference. but his TD/INT numbers were awful (11/18). its probably fair to say that half of that stat can be attributed to a depleted offensive line and running back position last year, but he also made plenty of poor decisions with the ball. but in terms of arm strength and physical tools, he definitely has the potential to be among the best in the conference. where kent state really struggled last year was at running back. they were trying to run an offense with some shotgun-spread principles, but they had absolutely no running game to keep the defense honest. that shouldnt be a problem this year, because eugene jarvis (ineligible) and tony howard (mich st transfer) are both added to the mix this fall. the receivers have never been a problem, and 8 of their top 10 receivers are back from last year. if the defense gets back to form, kent could be a dangerous team (in '04 they were among the mac's best defensively, in '05 they were among the worst). but make no mistake about it -- they were horrible last year on that side of the ball (though injuries played a significant role in that too). there are two things that could hold this team back. first is that there is a losing culture that surrounds this program. they havent had much success, and at times they almost find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. the other is that they dont get the same type of fan support that the basketball team does. obviously theres a correlation there (success on the field/court brings fans and energy into the stands) but its almost like the school expects the basketball team to be good and the football team to be bad. that can almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy with the players and performance. but if this team ever played with some confidence and pride, they have the potential to pull a handful of upsets this year. ill step out and say they will end up being the most improved team in the conference, but offer the caveat that this IS kent state football and they could just as easily go 3-9.
ohio -- nothing about this team jumps off the page, but nothing about them looks horrible either. any solich-coached team is going to want to run the ball effectively and this one is no different. mcrae is a bulldozer at running back and he is back after running for 1200+ last year. what this team needs is a quarterback to step up and be a leader. brandon jones was thrown into the fire as a true freshman last year and that should only help him this season. the problem with the ou offense is that they lack a true gamebreaker. mayle is definitely a solid wide receiver, but hes not the kind of guy that can swing a game by taking a 5 yard pass and turning it into a 55-yd touchdown. the bobcats should be solid on the defensive side of the ball and that should be enough to keep them in most games. you have to expect that a team as well-coached as OU is will show significant improvement from year 1 to year 2, so its probably not fair to completely write them off especially since the mac east is nothing special this year. but nothing screams "contender" either.
buffalo -- there is hope for this team now that gill is calling the shots. but theyre still a long way away. last year, they went the first two and a half games of the season without scoring a single point. then they gave willy a shot as a true freshman at quarterback and he provided enough of a spark to make them a respectable team down the stretch (playing solid football in a 3-week stretch against mac contenders toledo, bg, and akron). the bulls have some a promising young quarterback and some capable running backs, but nobody on the outside to stretch the field in the passing game. thats why a lot of the buffalo offense is dink and dunk. whats going to hurt this team is their opening schedule. beating temple in week one is a must because otherwise, they will be 0-1 heading into a 3-game road trip against bowling green, auburn, and northern illinois. if nothing else, gill should change the attitude of this team and get them to a level of respectability they havent had since entering D-1. but they also have a psyche thats fragile enough where if anything goes wrong, things could go downhill fast. you hate to be cliche, but this season really isnt about wins and losses at buffalo. its about finally having something promising to build toward for the future now that a respected coaching staff is in place.
will try to throw some mac west stuff up a bit later on.
just some random stuff that might be worth noting (or "nothing", depending on your perspective). maybe i have a clue, maybe im just spewing nonsense. hopefully something below can be useful this year.
akron -- the zips took a major hit in the backfield and at wide receiver. their duo at wide receiver last year (montgomery and hixon) was really underrated. theyre not going to be easy to replace. jabari arthur had a monster motor city bowl (8 catches for 180 yds and 2 TDs) but the fact remains that he's still a converted quarterback that is now going from getsy's 3rd option to his #1 receiver. thats a tough transition. with the loss of biggs at running back, kennedy is now the primary back for the zips. last year he was supposed to provide akron with a solid complement and change of pace to biggs in the backfield, but he only had 131 yards on 45 attempts (>3.0 ypg -- not good). to be fair, he was only a redshirt freshman in '05 so those #s figure to improve. he definitely has the size to carry the load for akron. but akron is a shaky preseason favorite on that side of the conference.
bowling green -- ok anthony turner, now that omar jacobs left for the nfl, you get the chance to be the starting qb to open the season against wisconsin at cleveland browns stadium. so what do you do? you go and get yourself suspended for the first game after being cited for marijuna possession. brilliant. so now bg heads into that wisconsin game with redshirt freshman freddie barnes under center. the coaches love the athleticism that barnes has and they compare him to a young josh harris but they probably would rather not throw him into the fire against wisconsin in week one. unfortunately they have no choice. couple that with the losses of pope/lane at running back and sharon/sanders at wide receiver and bg has some huge offensive question marks. the good news is that the guys filling those spots got their feet wet last year and have a lot of potential. still, this probably wont be the explosive bg team many have come to expect in recent years. they will still put up points and yards, but they wont be steamrolling teams like they have at times over the last few seasons. and the fact that they have just 4 home games all year makes it unlikely that they will be playing for a mac title.
miami -- no more josh betts at quarterback, but that might not be such a bad thing for the redhawks. no matter how physically talented he was, he never really developed into the quarterback he could have been. guys like chad pennington and bruce gradkowski had "it". betts did not. miami still has big time playmakers on offense. brandon murphy is probably the best running back in the mac east and ryne robinson is a poor man's ted ginn jr, both as a receiver as well as a punt returner. but much like ginn has to adjust from complementary receiver (to the ultra-reliable santonio holmes) in '05 to now the primary receiver in '06, robinson has to adjust from complementary receiver (to the ultra-reliable martin nance) to now the primary receiver in '06. that could be an issue as neither robinson (nor ginn for that matter) is a particular great route runner and neither is overly physical getting off the line of scrimmage. having said that, miami should still be in pretty good shape offensively. but theyre only going to go as far as kokal takes them at qb. the mac east is wide open, so this team could conceivably finish anywhere from first to fourth, but third seems about right. their schedule is front-loaded with all their tough games in the first six weeks before it eases up in late october.
kent state -- im on record by having told spang (foolishly, perhaps) that kent state could be the most improved team in the mac this season. this team was absolutely decimated by injuries and suspensions last year but there is considerable talent returning this year on both sides of the ball. machen has an nfl-caliber arm at quarterback (unfortunately he displayed a lot of D-III caliber decision-making last year) and he should be better now that he has a year of experience under his belt. at 6'6/225, he easily has the best size of any qb in the conference. but his TD/INT numbers were awful (11/18). its probably fair to say that half of that stat can be attributed to a depleted offensive line and running back position last year, but he also made plenty of poor decisions with the ball. but in terms of arm strength and physical tools, he definitely has the potential to be among the best in the conference. where kent state really struggled last year was at running back. they were trying to run an offense with some shotgun-spread principles, but they had absolutely no running game to keep the defense honest. that shouldnt be a problem this year, because eugene jarvis (ineligible) and tony howard (mich st transfer) are both added to the mix this fall. the receivers have never been a problem, and 8 of their top 10 receivers are back from last year. if the defense gets back to form, kent could be a dangerous team (in '04 they were among the mac's best defensively, in '05 they were among the worst). but make no mistake about it -- they were horrible last year on that side of the ball (though injuries played a significant role in that too). there are two things that could hold this team back. first is that there is a losing culture that surrounds this program. they havent had much success, and at times they almost find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. the other is that they dont get the same type of fan support that the basketball team does. obviously theres a correlation there (success on the field/court brings fans and energy into the stands) but its almost like the school expects the basketball team to be good and the football team to be bad. that can almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy with the players and performance. but if this team ever played with some confidence and pride, they have the potential to pull a handful of upsets this year. ill step out and say they will end up being the most improved team in the conference, but offer the caveat that this IS kent state football and they could just as easily go 3-9.
ohio -- nothing about this team jumps off the page, but nothing about them looks horrible either. any solich-coached team is going to want to run the ball effectively and this one is no different. mcrae is a bulldozer at running back and he is back after running for 1200+ last year. what this team needs is a quarterback to step up and be a leader. brandon jones was thrown into the fire as a true freshman last year and that should only help him this season. the problem with the ou offense is that they lack a true gamebreaker. mayle is definitely a solid wide receiver, but hes not the kind of guy that can swing a game by taking a 5 yard pass and turning it into a 55-yd touchdown. the bobcats should be solid on the defensive side of the ball and that should be enough to keep them in most games. you have to expect that a team as well-coached as OU is will show significant improvement from year 1 to year 2, so its probably not fair to completely write them off especially since the mac east is nothing special this year. but nothing screams "contender" either.
buffalo -- there is hope for this team now that gill is calling the shots. but theyre still a long way away. last year, they went the first two and a half games of the season without scoring a single point. then they gave willy a shot as a true freshman at quarterback and he provided enough of a spark to make them a respectable team down the stretch (playing solid football in a 3-week stretch against mac contenders toledo, bg, and akron). the bulls have some a promising young quarterback and some capable running backs, but nobody on the outside to stretch the field in the passing game. thats why a lot of the buffalo offense is dink and dunk. whats going to hurt this team is their opening schedule. beating temple in week one is a must because otherwise, they will be 0-1 heading into a 3-game road trip against bowling green, auburn, and northern illinois. if nothing else, gill should change the attitude of this team and get them to a level of respectability they havent had since entering D-1. but they also have a psyche thats fragile enough where if anything goes wrong, things could go downhill fast. you hate to be cliche, but this season really isnt about wins and losses at buffalo. its about finally having something promising to build toward for the future now that a respected coaching staff is in place.
will try to throw some mac west stuff up a bit later on.
