2014 Season Preview thread

[HammerDown]

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Oregon State Beavers

Preview: Oregon State actually had a disappointing season last year relative to the rise they had in 2012. Oregon State's defense took a big drop off last season, it was evident in the opener when they were upset by Eastern Washington of FCS, where Oregon State just couldn't stop them. Oregon State needs to improve on defense and very likely will, one good thing from last year is how well the offense developed under Sean Mannion, but while he returns this year his number one receiver who put up a lot of stats, Brandin Cooks is now gone. Last two seasons Oregon State has been on a trend of starting the year strong and then losing games later in the year when the tougher portion of Pac-12 play takes place, they will look to reverse that trend, if they somehow do they'll be in the Rose bowl, I don't think that's very likely though.

Predictions: Oregon State opens the year against Portland State, they aren't near as good as Eastern Washington so no repeat of last year here, Oregon State wins a game at Hawai'i, and then at home over San Diego State. Oregon State suffers their first loss of the year at USC, but then wins at Colorado. Oregon State wins a Thursday night game over Utah, before going on the road against Stanford who Oregon State put a hard fought effort against last year but not scoring in Stanford territory led to a loss, expect Oregon State to lose to them again this year. Oregon State then wins home games over Cal and Washington State before the home game against Arizona State, where Oregon State will lose in a shootout. Oregon State then plays at Washington who they suffered an embarrassing 69-27 home loss against last year, I don't think Oregon State will have that kind of meltdown again, but still expect a loss there. Oregon State then hosts rival Oregon in the regular season finale, last year they nearly got that win over Oregon that they've been trying to get for a while now, but came up a point short, for this year unless Mariota isn't healthy again expect Oregon State's losing streak against Oregon to continue.

Predicted Record: 7-5(4-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Stanford Cardinal

Preview: Jim Harbaugh revived this program from being one of the most pathetic in college football, and after he left to the NFL David Shaw took over and he didn't just maintain it, he elevated it. Each season under David Shaw Stanford has been a national title contender, no one could have seen this happening 5 years ago. David Shaw has consistently has a tough, strong team that primarily runs a power running game on offense, and has a tough defense that forces the opposing offense to earn every yard. Everyone is waiting for them to fall back to being the Stanford of the old, but I don't believe the Stanford of the old exists anymore, these guys are here to stay. This season is similar to two years ago when Stanford had to replace Andrew Luck and most of their offense, they managed to upset Oregon that year and win the Rose bowl. Now this year they have to replace a lot of their amazing defense, along with the genius behind it Derek Mason. Stanford will have a very good offense though, and with a lot of the players a year older perhaps more consistency will be there this year, they occasionally had moments last year where they didn't move the ball, that will happen a lot less this year. It's going to be a challenge getting the defense near to where it was last year, but it's very difficult to count David Shaw out from a BCS bowl bid.

Predictions: Stanford opens the season with a win over UC Davis, and then wins at home over USC and Army, Stanford then faces a tough road test going to Washington, but Stanford has a bye week the week before so I believe that will allow them to prepare well enough to get the victory. Stanford gets another big win, winning on the road over Notre Dame, before winning at home over Washington State. Stanford then wins at Arizona State and at home against Oregon State, before their next big test at Oregon, the last two years Stanford perfectly defended the Ducks offense and got surprising wins over them, but the man behind the schemes Derek Mason is now gone, I believe the Ducks will hand Stanford their first loss of the year. Stanford gets revenge for last year's upset loss to Utah at home, Utah won't be near as healthy as they were when they had Stanford last season, Stanford gets yet another opportunity to embarrass their rival Cal, this time on the road, but then Stanford ends the regular season with a tough road game against UCLA, but with this game being at UCLA, and UCLA seems to be better on offense and defense this year, I think Stanford will end up losing this game.

Predicted Record: 10-2(7-2)

 

[Tin Man]

Oregon State Beavers

Preview: Oregon State actually had a disappointing season last year relative to the rise they had in 2012. Oregon State's defense took a big drop off last season, it was evident in the opener when they were upset by Eastern Washington of FCS, where Oregon State just couldn't stop them. Oregon State needs to improve on defense and very likely will, one good thing from last year is how well the offense developed under Sean Mannion, but while he returns this year his number one receiver who put up a lot of stats, Brandin Cooks is now gone. Last two seasons Oregon State has been on a trend of starting the year strong and then losing games later in the year when the tougher portion of Pac-12 play takes place, they will look to reverse that trend, if they somehow do they'll be in the Rose bowl, I don't think that's very likely though.

Predictions: Oregon State opens the year against Portland State, they aren't near as good as Eastern Washington so no repeat of last year here, Oregon State wins a game at Hawai'i, and then at home over San Diego State. Oregon State suffers their first loss of the year at USC, but then wins at Colorado. Oregon State wins a Thursday night game over Utah, before going on the road against Stanford who Oregon State put a hard fought effort against last year but not scoring in Stanford territory led to a loss, expect Oregon State to lose to them again this year. Oregon State then wins home games over Cal and Washington State before the home game against Arizona State, where Oregon State will lose in a shootout. Oregon State then plays at Washington who they suffered an embarrassing 69-27 home loss against last year, I don't think Oregon State will have that kind of meltdown again, but still expect a loss there. Oregon State then hosts rival Oregon in the regular season finale, last year they nearly got that win over Oregon that they've been trying to get for a while now, but came up a point short, for this year unless Mariota isn't healthy again expect Oregon State's losing streak against Oregon to continue.

Predicted Record: 7-5(4-5)

Upon reading this, did anyone else hear inside their head, Split beaver fold-out to the tune of '10th Avenue Freeze Out?' Flash back to Mandy Patinkin offering to share his lunch (Beaver?) with Jame's Caan in 1988's 'Alien Nation?' Does anyone else have their own Orgasm State stories?

 

[Wamu]

Colorado Buffaloes

Preview: Mike MacIntyre continues his journey in trying to rebuild this program. Last season was a pretty nice 4 win campaign for Colorado, but two wins were against FCS opponents, but Colorado did get a win over rival Colorado State, and didn't have a bad ending to the year, blowing out Cal for a Pac-12 win and then showing a nice pulse in the last two games. WR Paul Richardson left for the NFL draft, with the current state of Colorado's program that isn't a surprise, but unfortunately he was by far the best talent on the roster and will be tough to replace, I still do believe that Colorado will be a better team this year, the win/loss record definitely won't show it though, Colorado doesn't play 2 FCS opponents non-conference this year(one of last year's was a result of flooding cancelling a game against Fresno State), but do expect them to be more competitive in their losses, and maybe spring an upset, but it's clear that this project will take a while.

Predictions: Colorado opens the season with their rival Colorado State at Mile High stadium for their traditional rivalry game, Colorado State has made more progress improving since last year so Colorado loses this one, Colorado does win a road game against UMass in Gillette stadium the next game though, before losing at home to Arizona State. Colorado gets a home win over Hawai'i and then wins a Pac-12 game by beating Cal on the road. Colorado then hosts Oregon State, and it's really difficult to see Colorado matching up with them, or USC on the road. The losing streak keeps going with home losses to UCLA and Washington, and road games against Arizona and Oregon. The home game against Utah in the finale is a decent chance for another Pac-12 win but Utah's team would have to be very beat up for Colorado to get a win.


Predicted Record: 3-9(1-8)

CU's football program sucks. They could give away free Buffs tickets here & still wouldn't fill the stadium.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Preview: UCLA has been on the rise under Jim Mora Jr, and he has definitely been recruiting some excellent talent to this program. UCLA had a good year last year but were unable to beat any of the top 3 teams in the Pac-12 last year, but now with all those teams having losses, while UCLA does lose their amazing talent at linebacker Anthony Barr, Myles Jack is still there after an incredible freshman year, he will be focusing solely at linebacker this year after playing at running back for a little bit last year. Brett Hundley is back and will be leading a very good offense, Hundley has been more consistent, and will be moreso this year too. This year is the year for this group of players to show they can reach the top of the Pac-12 and contend for a national title, UCLA definitely has the talent to make the college football playoff, I do believe they can in fact beat the top teams, but will they avoid upsets, they did last year but there's some landmines on the schedule this year.

Predictions: UCLA opens on the road against Virginia, which is an odd game, and UCLA travels across to the east coast, this game starts at 9am UCLA time, I actually do think UCLA might be sluggish in this one, but for this being a matchup of 2 power-5 schools UCLA's talent advantage is ridiculous, UCLA will still win. UCLA then has a home game against Memphis that they win before going to play Texas at Cowboys Stadium, it will be a very intriguing game between the two, I'm taking a random shot here and picking UCLA to get upset, unexpected results happen between these two teams, and I feel like Texas will at some point put together a one-off really good game this year, similar to Oklahoma last year. UCLA then goes on the road against Arizona State on a Thursday night and they recover by winning this one as their offense scores a lot of points, while their defense produces some stops. UCLA then hosts Utah, which they should win even though Utah will be tougher at this point than later in the year. UCLA then hosts Oregon, and this is the moment where UCLA finally puts themselves towards the top of the Pac-12, their defense frustrates Mariota, and Hundley produces an excellent game for a UCLA victory. UCLA follows it up with 2 road games, against Pac-12 opponents, this sounds difficult until you notice its Cal and Colorado, UCLA wins both easily. UCLA wins at home over Arizona and then goes on the road against Washington in a very tricky one, Washington has been very dangerous at home with this group of players, and Chris Petersen produces great performances at home too, UCLA gets caught out in this one and is upset. UCLA gets a bye week prior to playing USC at home in their big rivalry game, UCLA ends up winning that one, as USC will probably be a little healthier later in the year than in the middle, but still not enough for UCLA to lose. The regular season finale has UCLA hosting Stanford, another big one for UCLA to gain their position towards the top of the Pac-12, UCLA's defense dominates, and Hundley does enough to win this one for UCLA.

Predicted Record: 10-2(8-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

CU's football program sucks. They could give away free Buffs tickets here & still wouldn't fill the stadium.

They were a pretty good program not too long ago, and then they got hit with penalties and no one's been able to turn it around since.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Southern California Trojans

Preview: Last season was so up and down for USC it is a lot to say in this preview, but Steve Sarkisian is now the 4th head coach they've had since this time last year. USC started the year under Lane Kiffin, and lost at home to Washington State in an ugly 10-7 game, and then in Kiffin's last game suffered an embarrassing 62-41 blowout to Arizona State, just look at the differences in the kind of games these were! Ed Orgeron took over and won his first game before losing a close game to Notre Dame, and then going on a 5 game winning streak that included an upset win over Stanford, they lost the finale to UCLA though and didn't make the conference championship game, Orgeron didn't get the head coaching job and displeased with that fact he left the program before the bowl game, so coach number 3 Clay Hendrix took over for the bowl game and he led a 45-20 blowout over a ranked Fresno State team, not to take away from it but Fresno State is horrible in bowl games, despite that still a very good performance. Now Steve Sarkisian is ready to take over, at the very least things are finally settled at USC, WR Marquise Lee is gone but he was hurt a lot last season and USC learned to cope without him. The starting talent is very good, but depth is lacking and that's what will hold USC back for at least one year.

Predictions: USC opens the season with the exact team they ended last season with in Fresno State, USC takes a win in that one, before going on the road against Stanford which will see Stanford get revenge on USC, USC will put up a good fight though. USC then goes on the road against Boston College, now USC WITH Lane Kiffin won 35-7 over Boston College with Andre Williams last year, so needless to say both programs have gone different directions now, so USC should win this one. After the bye week USC wins at home over Oregon State, and Arizona State. USC wins at Arizona and at home over Colorado, but then the lack of depth will likely start to take effect around this time, USC suffers surprising upsets two weeks in a row, on the road against Utah and Washington State. USC does then get an extra few days and Cal on the Thursday night to recover though, USC beats Cal easily and is healthier for the road game at rival UCLA, UCLA would most likely win this game regardless though, but Sarkisian gets the win that makes the Trojan faithful happy in the regular season finale by grabbing a home win over Notre Dame, ending USC's losing streak against them.

Predicted Record: 8-4(5-4)

 

[Tin Man]

If only the former FN Trogs fans were on 'SportsHoopla to read your analysis, BSF27...

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

If only the former FN Trogs fans were on 'SportsHoopla to read your analysis, BSF27...

who are these LOL?

 

[pabartl787]

Penn State Nittany Lions


Preview: Penn State faces yet another season under sanction with no bowl eligibility, but that doesn't mean their short of talent on the team though. Last season saw Penn State have some good games(including upsetting Wisconsin), but also saw them get destroyed by Ohio State and surprisingly blown out by Indiana. Focus is difficult with no bowl game or conference title hopes, so they're quite erratic. Penn State also saw an offseason coaching change, losing Bill O'Brien but they managed to hire another great coach in James Franklin, this year they return some good starters too. Penn State will still be slightly erratic, but James Franklin is a good motivator so there will be less of it this year.

Predictions: Penn State opens with two non-power 5 conference teams that are actually quite challenging opponents in UCF and Akron. I see Penn State winning both, as well as winning at Rutgers, and at home against Northwestern to start 5-0.[B] They suffer their first loss at Michigan,[/B] then lose at home to Ohio State. Penn State wins at home over Maryland, at Indiana and at home over Temple. Then suffers a random upset loss at Illinois before upsetting Michigan State at home.


Predicted Record: 9-3(5-3)

You think we are going to lose to Meatchicken and Illinois???? That is a riot

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

You think we are going to lose to Meatchicken and Illinois???? That is a riot

Michigan will be improved and are difficult to beat at home under Brady Hoke

the Illinois was an upset pick, I'll either look really stupid or really smart, we will see

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Utah Utes

Preview: Utah's journey since entering the Pac-12 has not been a fun one, and the biggest issues have been injuries and the offense. These issues do go hand in hand though, Utah has not had a QB make it through an entire season healthy since 2008, the year Brian Johnson led them to an unbeaten season and a dominant Sugar Bowl win over Alabama. The head coach Kyle Whittingham has been searching for solutions, Dave Christensen came over after being fired as the head coach at Wyoming, but he was a very good offensive coordinator, he will be tasked to finally make this offense good, the defense is actually very solid and one of the better in the Pac-12, but they don't get much help from the offense. Last season Utah actually got off to a good start, starting out 4-2 with close losses to Oregon State and UCLA, and having a big upset win over Stanford, it seemed like Utah was on the right track and then they lost QB Travis Wilson for the year to an injury and everything derailed from there. Travis Wilson is actually a good QB for Utah when he is healthy, obviously the best game of his career so far is that win over Stanford, but that win definitely showed the potential he has if he can just stay healthy. I think Utah can actually emerge to have a very good year this year if they can actually stay healthy, but I'm not willing to bet that they will, so they will likely hang around bowl eligibility, either barely making it or just missing.

Predictions: Utah gets a strong start early in the season with a healthy team, winning home games over Idaho State and Fresno State. Utah then goes on the road and picks up a very big win over Michigan in a minor upset, Utah then wins at home over Washington State to continue a great start. Utah takes their first loss at UCLA, and suffers another at Oregon State on a Thursday night game, Utah gets a nice highlight though, they upset USC in a pretty ugly game where both teams are likely beat up. Then it's unfortunately the point where Utah's season goes off the rails, they lose at Arizona State, at home against Oregon, at Stanford and at home to Arizona. Utah does get bowl eligibility though as they win at Colorado in the finale.

Predicted Record: 6-6(3-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Washington Huskies

Preview: Very rarely do you lose your head coach to a conference rival end up with one like Chris Petersen, but Washington in fact did. The sense of optimism for Washington is a lot higher as a result. Petersen will definitely have a lot of success here, and when it comes to this season Petersen takes over a team in pretty good shape, the defense is loaded with talent and offense has some great recievers and the offensive line is very good after being a weakness for Washington for a while. The main questions come at QB and RB where Keith Price and Bishop Sankey are both gone, and the man once expected to take over at QB Cyler Miles got in some trouble and currently is buried on the depth chart, he's the one man with starting experience after starting in place of an injuried Keith Price and leading Washington to a ridiculous 69-27 victory at Oregon State last season. The offense should be pretty good regardless though, but whether Miles can get out of Petersen's doghouse and on to the football field will determine whether this season will be just good or it could be great.

Predictions: Washington opens with a road win at Hawai'i which won't provide much of a challenge. Washington then plays Eastern Washington who upset Oregon State last year, and with Washington's next two opponents being home games against Illinois and Georgia State, Eastern Washington might actually be Washington's toughest non-conference opponent, Washington has to be careful, Eastern Washington is dangerous, but I do expect Washington to win all 3 of these games. Washington then gets Stanford at home, while Washington is very good at home, it's tough to see them getting a win over Stanford, they lose this one. Washington plays at Cal after a not so useful bye week, and wins that one easily. Washington then plays at Oregon, and what will happen in this one? Will Washington finally end their long losing streak to Oregon, or will Oregon finally get a win over a Chris Petersen coached team, my bet is on the latter, I just can't imagine Washington winning at Oregon this year. Washington does get a nice home win over Arizona State though, getting revenge for the very strange 53-24 blowout they suffered to them last year. Washington wins at Colorado, then gets a big upset win at home over UCLA, Washington does offset the nice win with a minor upset loss at Arizona. Washington ends the regular season winning at home over Oregon State and beating rival Washington State on the road.

Predicted Record: 10-3(6-3)

 

[WestEndVol]

You think we are going to lose to Meatchicken and Illinois???? That is a riot

Michigan will be improved and are difficult to beat at home under Brady Hoke

the Illinois was an upset pick, I'll either look really stupid or really smart, we will see

I get Illinois being an upset, but what's crazy about PSU losing at Michigan?

Both teams won 7 games last year and PSU only beat Michigan by 3.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Washington State Cougars

Preview: Slowly but surely Mike Leach is making this program better, and it's really exciting for all of us, after Washington State's previous coach Paul Wulff was unable to recover from the mess given to him, Mike Leach made it to a bowl game in just his second year. Leach has a solid gunslinger QB in Connor Halliday, he is very capable of good games but can also be turnover prone. The entire offense is a good Mike Leach offense, and the defense is going to be good enough to get Washington State some wins. It should be fun to watch Mike Leach's offense again, not much progress from their 6-6 record will be made this year though, I don't think Washington State will get many wins against the top half the conference. The schedule is tough of course, it's the Pac-12, Washington State didn't get to play Colorado from the South, but instead got Utah on the road early in the year, USC, Arizona and Arizona State. I'm not expecting an improvement in the record though the team might be improved, I would wouldn't surprised if they did get some extra wins though.

Predictions: Washington State wins the home opener over Rutgers to start out the season, and then wins on the road over Nevada in a game that could be an upset if they're not careful, but Washington State should win that one. Washington State beats Portland State, and then plays Oregon at home, a loss is very likely but we'll see if Washington State can manage to attempt more passes then the 89 they attempted last year against Oregon. Washington State goes on the road against Utah, which will be a difficult game at this point in the year and Washington State loses that one. Washington State gets a home win over Cal, before going on the road against Stanford, Washington State might be able to put up a fight, but they don't have much of a chance to win. Washington State does get a home game against Arizona after a bye week, and in a fun battle of offensive minds Mike Leach gets the best of Rich Rod and Washington State gets a good win, but they then get an even better win, upsetting a beat up USC team at home. Washington State then goes on the road against Oregon State and loses that one, they also lose at Arizona State and at home to rival Washington in the season finale.

Predicted Record: 6-6(3-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

North

1. Oregon Ducks 11-1(8-1)
2. Stanford Cardinal 10-2(7-2)
3. Washington Huskies 10-3(6-3)
4. Oregon State Beavers 7-5(4-5)
5. Washington State Cougars 6-6(3-6)
6. California Golden Bears 2-10(0-9)

South

1. UCLA Bruins 10-2(8-1)
2. USC Trojans 8-4(5-4)
3. Arizona State Sun Devils 8-4(5-4)
4. Arizona Wildcats 7-5(4-5)
5. Utah Utes 6-6(3-6)
6. Colorado Buffaloes 3-9(1-8)


Pac-12 Championship: Oregon over UCLA

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Sun Belt conference will be next, then we finish off with the SEC

 

[Tin Man]

who are these LOL?

Of the Trogs fans on FN, one of my favorites went by the screen name, Sandy Underpants. Many FN CFB regulars opined that he was an inmate at Arkham Asylum with Internet access privileges. His Trogdom was unrelenting. His posts were outrageous, so far out in left field that he'd be in the lake at Wrigley. He made frequent use of the wrestling term, "jabronies."

Others were simply knowledgeable, tolerant of others' fandom, and wrote well. If only they'd find there way here...

 

[Tin Man]

Sun Belt conference will be next, then we finish off with the SEC

P40s!!!!!!!