College Football Quick Guide | scarletbuckeye's Blog

This is an overview of what to expect in 2008-2009 for college football. And a quick guide of what to know/watch.
The Big Names

Sam Bradford,QB, Oklahoma- After a record setting freshman season in which Bradford led the nation in passing efficiency Bradford is expected to be a heisman candidate, on a national-title contending team.

Chase Daniel, QB, Mizzou-Daniel led a surprising Missouri team to a school record best 12-2 season, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 30+ TD's, as well as winning Big 12 player of the year and becoming a heisman finalist. Now Mizzou is loaded again and a national title contender.

Tim Tebow, QB, Florida-Tim Tebow is back after becoming the first underclassmen to win the heisman. Tebow set a record becoming the first player to throw for over 30 TD's and run for over 20. Tebow is back and his team appears primed for a national title run with Tebow at the helm.

Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia-Last year Moreno was a surprise player coming out of nowhere to run for over 1,300 yards and 14 TD's and lead the Bulldogs to a sugar bowl win and the #2 ranking in the nation. This year Moreno should get the majority of the carries from day 1 and expect him to be a heisman contender on his top-5 team the Georgia bulldogs.

Beanie Wells, RB, Ohio State- Wells is a heisman favorite this year after running for over 1,600 yards and 15 TD's last year despite a broken hand, and various other injuries. This year he is healthy and after carrying the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title last year he wants to do the same this year and hopefully take his team to a National Title as well.

George Selvie, DE, USF- LAst year USF was a Cinderella team climbing all the way to #2 in the rankings before falling to a still respectable 9-4 record. The key to that success was Selvie. He led the nation with 31.5 tackles for loss and chipped in 54 tackles and 14 sacks, proving to be the premiere pass rusher in college football. Expect another big year from Selvie and the Bulls this year.

Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC-Rey is one of the most feared players in college football. A season ago he had 78 tackles and 8 sacks, and this year should improve on those numbers. He flashed his potential in the Rose Bowl earning the games defensive MVP award. Expect big things from Maualuga, and the Trojans this year.

James Laurinaitis, ILB, Ohio State-The animal returns for another season after recording over 110 tackles for the second straight season, and last year winning the Butkus award. Laurinaitis is a favorite for many awards this year and has great passion, and ability to always be around the ball. With a great OSU team, expect big things from the Animal this year.

National Title Contenders

Georgia Bulldogs- Georgia returns 18 starters including RB Knowshon Moreno, a heisman contender and QB Matt Stafford, who many believe will be a top 10 pick in the NFL draft. The Bulldogs have a solid offnesive line and are building off last years impressive finish especially the 41-14 beatdown of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. The defense especially up the middle will be very strong behind the likes of Geno Atkins, Dannell Ellerbee, Asher Allen, and Prince Miller. The biggest obstacle for Georgia is their schedule. This team goes to South Carolina, Arizona State, LSU, and then at Auburn, they play Florida nuetral, and at home against Tennessee, and Alabama.

Ohio State- OSU returns a plethora of talent losing only 3 starters. RB Beanie Wells is a heisman contender and QB Todd Boeckman was a first -team big -ten selection. The "O" line is filed with all-americans and 5* recruits. On defense all-americans James Laurinaitis, and Malcolm Jenkins hold down the fort. The schedule is manageable, road trips against USC, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan State, home test against Penn State, and Michigan.

USC USC lost a ton of talent to the NFL draft, but is still a national title contender. New QB Mark Sanchez has loads of weapons to toy with starting with RB;s Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, and CJ Gable. Expect the defense to be spectacular with stars like Fili Moala, Brian Cushing, Rey Maulauga, Kevin Ellison, and Taylor Mays prowling the field making plays. THe schedule has only 2 real tough road games at Arizona and UCLA, other than that they will be at home for Oregon, ASU, and Ohio State.

Clemson-Clemson comes into this season stacked, and primed for a national title run. They return stars like Cullen Harper, James Davis, Cj Spiller, and Aaron Kelley on an explosive offense that ranks among the top 5 in the nation. The defense is strong up front and in the secondary, but lacks a solid LB unit to stop the run. With the easy schedule CLemson plays only 3 games are real tests. Alabama, @Wake, and against BC.

Mizzou-Mizzou comes into this season riding high after a 12-2 season a year ago in which they nearly won the Big 12. The offense is loaded behind Chase Daniel, who is back for his senior season and will be a Heisman Trophy candidate and WR/RB/PR/KR Jeremy Maclin one of the most explosive players in the country and a true game breaker who led the nation in all-purpose yards. THe "D" has talent in safety William Moore, and OLB Sean Weatherspoon a pair of all-american candidates. This team plays Illinois, and Kansas in a nuetral site, and Nebraska and Texas on the road. Those are really the only roadblocks for this team.

Florida- Florida returns Heisman winner Tim Tebow, and all-everything Percy Harvin. Those 2 alone make this a top-5 offense in the country not to mention the other 6 starters returning on offense. The "D" has plenty of weapons with Carlos Dunlap, Brandon Spike, and Major Wright, but needs to improve to allow Florida to take the next step toward becoming a title contender. The schedule has trips to FSU and Tennessee, and the nuetral date with Georgia as well as home games with LSU, Miami, And South Carolina.

Oklahoma- OU is another team that returns a lot of fire power on both sides of the ball. The offense has weapons in Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Juaqim Inglasisas, and Jermaine Gresham. Oh and the best "O" line in the nation. The "D" line is also top 5 caliber with stars like Auston English and DeMarcus Granger. The LB's and secondary are a bit young, but Nic Harris should hold that down. OU plays Cincy, TCU, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas Tech at home, and a neutral battle with Texas and road games against Washington, and Texas Tech.

Can't Miss Games
Ohio State @ USC- A battle between a pair of national title contenders that should be must-see TV, and the game of the year.
Georgia vs. Florida (Jacksonville)- The annual rivalry, only this time both are top-5 teams, out for a win to win the SEC east and put themselves in the National Title Hunt.
Illinois vs. Mizzou (St. Louis)- 2 offensive powerhouses going at it in another rivalry with added excitement as the winner will be on a collision course for the BCS.
Oklahoma @ TTU- 2 more big time passing attacks, the Winner likely taking the Big 12 North, and the revenge factor for OU, in a game that should decide some BCS games.

Top Players By Position
QB-Tim Tebow, Florida
RB-Chris Wells, OSU
WR-Michael Crabtree, TTU,
TE-Travis Beckum, Wisconsin
OT-Michael Oher, Ole Miss
OG-Duke Robinson, Oklahoma
OC-Alex Mack,Cal
DE-George Selvie, USF
DT-Sen'DerricK Marks,Auburn
ILB-James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
OLB-Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri
CB-Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State
S-William Moore,Mizzou

Sleeper Teams(from my previous blog)

South Florida-This team is loaded, if they are not ranked it will be a huge shocker to me and I think many people would get angry. USF is loaded they return 19 starters including 10 on offense. This team also has the talent to go out and beat anybody. They have stars like Matt Grothe, who had over 3,500 total yards a year ago. George Selvie who had 31.5 tackles for loss a season ago. And Tyrone McKenzie who had 121 tackles a season ago.

Michigan State-This is another team, that could and should be in the preseason top 25. They return one of the best coaches in the game Mark Dantonio, and he has this program on the rise. They return 14 starters, but are especially loaded on offense, with star RB Javon Ringer, and steady QB Bryan Hoyer. This team has the weapons on offense to stay in any game, and that makes them very, dangerous. On "D" this team is young, but returns a pair of sophomore LB's ready to break out Greg Jones and Eric Gordon. Both can fly all over the field and should take big leaps in year 2.

Boston College-Every one is touting this season as a down one and expect a drop off with the loss of Matt Ryan. It seems I am the only one, but I see BC staying at that level this season. They only return13 starters, but they should play very well. If they establish a running game they should be fine because they have a great set of receivers. Brandon Robinson and Rich Gunnell each had over 55 catches a season ago, and TE Ryan purvis also had over 50. They should allow Jeff Jagodzinski's west coast offense to flourish. Defensively they are loaded, among the top 10 in the nation. Alex Albright is back he, BJ Raji( who is returning from suspension) and Ron Brace could all be 1st team all-ACC and I wouldn't be surprised. At LB Brian toal returns from injury and Mark Herzlich is back after nearly recording 100 tackles a season ago.

Wake Forest-Wake Forest is another program, loaded with veteran stars. QB Riley Skinner is very accurate, they have a rising star in Josh Adams, and a top WR in Chip Brinkman., the "O" line lost some talent, but Jim Grobe consistently puts out talented players. The "D" will be the strength of this team, returning all-american candidates in Alphonso Smith, Aaron Curry, and Chip Vaughn. The x-factor is Kicker/Punter Sam Swank.

FAU-The defending sun belt champs are loaded, I mean really loaded this season. They return the most starters of any team in the nation with 21, and have a decent shot to be a BCS sleeper team. This team returns the reining Sun Belt player of the year QB Rusty Smith who had over 3,400 yards a season ago. He should put up better numbers with great targets in Cortez Gent and TE Jason Harmon who each had over 800 yards a season ago. Oh and this team ahas a 3 headed monster at tailback that combined for over 2,800 total yards a season ago. So in case you haven't figured this out they are loaded on offense. The "D" is not as bad as people claim, it returns 2 stud corners in Tavious Polo and Corey Small who combined for 12 picks a season ago

Arizona-One of the best offenses in the nation returning. This team returns star QB Willie Tuitama who had nearly 4,000 yards and 28 TD's a season ago. WR Mike Thomas had 11 TD's and over 1,000 yards, and TE Rob Gronkowski had 28 catches a season ago and has been the talk of the spring. RB Nic Grigsby, had over 800 total yards last year. And this team has one of the best "O" lines in the nation. With this offense in year 2 of the TTU like spread attack, Zona should become even better on offense, where they return 10 starters. More than how the offense plays it is the defense that will dictate the season. The ydo return talented players like Devin Ross, and Ronnie Palmer, but the inexperience will be tough to over come,

Coaches on The Hot Seat- Tyrone Willingham at Washington, Mike Stoops at Arizona , Ralph Freigen at Maryland,Bobby Johnson, at Vanderbilt, Mark Snyder at Marshall, and though it is early for these two Randy Shannon of Miami, and Steve Kragthorpe of Louisville.

Projected Preseason Top 25 (From LSUfootball.net)
1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
6. Missouri
7. West Virginia
8. LSU
9. Clemson
10. Texas
11. Auburn
12. Wisky
13. Kansas
14. Texas Tech
15. Illinois
16. BYU
17. Arizona State
18. Virginia Tech
19. Tennessee
20. South Florida
21. Penn STate
22. Oregon
23. Wake Forest
24. Pittsburgh
25. Fresno State

Comments (6) Add A Comment

July 22, 2008 07:40 PM ET

Report Abuse | QUOTE

I'm very diapointed in our team website, Ohio State #1, funny...

*LSU*

West Monroe, LA

Total Comments (3043)

July 22, 2008 09:42 PM ET

Good job. Put Philip Fulmer in that list of coaches on the hot seat.

Undefeated: is Go…

Total Comments (2932)

No OSU at no. 1 though. haha.

July 22, 2008 10:02 PM ET

The National Championship game will likely be the winner of the Georgia-Florida game Vs. the winner of the OSU-USC game, but in regards to that i have a USC-Georgia Nat'l Championship with USC winning

thebasketballguru

Total Comments (668)

July 22, 2008 10:37 PM ET

USC lost 4 out of there 5 starters on the o-line, there starting RB, the best TE in school history, Two first round caliber D-linemen, there starting QB, one of there best LB's in years, and 2 of there top 3 corners, I think the national championship game is a little out of reach for the trojans this season

July 23, 2008 09:59 AM ET

I don't care if UGA is ranked #1 or #2, just so long as they're in a BCS driver's seat.

As for USC, I agree with you LSU, but we'll see if that crazy recruiting will pay dividends this season. It's a roll of the dice to rely upon new talent, but they have no other choice.