BoiseStateFan's 2017 College Football Predictions/Preview Thread

[BoiseStateFan27]

Central Michigan Chippewas

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Preview: To this day, even after doing these previews for years now...I still have no idea what a Chippewa is, the first thing I think of is an Indian tribe, but with how everyone was trying to get rid of the Indian names from college mascots I can't imagine that's what a Chippewa is. Central Michigan has been a rather interesting program, in the past several years they have had some rather incredible finishes to games, several years ago in the Bahamas bowl against Western Kentucky they rallied from down 49-14 in the 4th quarter to score a touchdown on a wild hail mary lateral play, they went for 2 and failed to convert it to lose that game. Fast forward to last year and they brought up a similar play, this time against Oklahoma State in more controversial fashion. After several years of being the dominant team in the Mac under Brian Kelly and Butch Jones, this is the new identity Central Michigan has carved up, and if they didn't have that they might be known as a program that has absolutely perfected mediocrity. I mean seriously they have gone between 7-6 and 6-7 each of the past 5 years.

Last year started with an easy win over Presbyterian, then came the aforementioned wild upset win over Oklahoma State and then Central Michigan easily beat UNLV for a very dominant and promising 3-0 start, it looked like they were ready to go toe to toe with Western Michigan to win the Mac, that sure didn't turn out to be the case. They simply got worse from there. Central Michigan suddenly struggled defensively against Virginia trailing most of the game only to tie it up at 35 and then collapse to lose by 14, and so much for going toe to toe with Western Michigan, Central Michigan played them at home and lost 49-10. Central Michigan did at least win a close game over Ball State, and somehow one their 3rd consecutive game over Northern Illinois. Then Central Michigan lost to Toledo, and took an awful loss to Kent State, and lost to Miami (OH) at the beginning of their surge. Central Michigan suddenly beat Mac East Champ Ohio out of nowhere to hit 6 wins, and then lost to Eastern Michigan. They were absolutely humiliated in their bowl by Tulsa 55-10.

Central Michigan's offense was mostly solid last year but there's a lot of change. Their offensive coordinator retired, then his replacement came and left a few weeks later, finally Central Michigan settled on former Northern Michigan head coach Chris Ostrowsky, an interesting choice. Some changes at the QB position though as Cooper Rush a longtime starter graduated, and he threw all but one pass last year, that one pass was thrown by the punter. There's a sea of inexperienced QBs who may step up or Michigan transfer Shane Morris might take the starting job, so far he's played awful in his limited action, but he did come in at some pretty bad times. Devon Spalding is a good running back at times, he had some really good games last year but also had some where he struggled. At receiver Central Michigan has a very good one in Corey Willis, and two other solid receivers in Mark Chapman and Brandon Childress. Central Michigan also has a solid TE in Tyler Conklin and they lose hail mary lateral receiver Jesse Kroll, but he only played in 4 games because of injury last year anyway. 5 offensive linemen with starting experience return.

Central Michigan's defense was a rather large disappointment last year, especially as the year went on, it started out really well as they help Oklahoma State's amazing offense to only 27 points, they regressed so far later in the year that they gave up the same amount of points to a bad Kent State offense. Oddly enough this defense was mostly injury free. Central Michigan didn't use a lot of players on the defensive line but at least the ends are back, Joe Ostman especially since he had 13.5 TFL and 9 sacks last year. Defensive tackle is a question mark as there's not a lot of experience. Only 4 linebackers saw significant playing time last year, and now two of them are gone, but Malik Fountain is an excellent playmaker as he had 10 TFL last year. Central Michigan returns almost all of their corners but they lose their starting safeties, at least the backups there have some experience.

The schedule is pretty tough, after an easy opener against Rhode Island, Central Michigan has tough non-conference games against Syracuse, Boston College and an improved Kansas. They have a bad draw from the East as they face both Miami (OH) and Ohio, at least they get Kent State. Overall probably have to expect the usual, somewhere around 6-6.

Predictions:

Aug. 31 Rhode Island: Rhode Island was blown out by last year's Kansas team, should be an easy win. W
Sep. 9 @ Kansas: Mentioning Kansas, I suspect they will be a little better this year, and Central Michigan loses. L
Sep. 16 @ Syracuse: Syracuse runs the same offense as Tulsa, I'm not sure if Central Michigan's defense can handle Syracuse's offense. L
Sep. 23 Miami (OH): Central Michigan struggles to handle Miami in another loss. L
Sep. 30 @ Boston College: Boston College's defense dominates this game as Central Michigan struggles to score. L
Oct. 7 @ Ohio: Another game where Central Michigan's offense struggles to score. L
Oct. 14 Toledo: L
Oct. 21 @ Ball State: Finally the schedule eases up and Central Michigan wins. W
Nov. 1 @ Western Michigan: Central Michigan wins this in an upset...just because. W
Nov. 8 Eastern Michigan: Central Michigan wins another battle of directional Michigan's. W
Nov. 14 @ Kent State: W
Nov. 24 Northern Illinois: Like I said earlier Central Michigan seems to be Northern Illinois' number, so they win again. W

Predicted Record: 6-6(5-3)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Eastern Michigan Eagles

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Preview: Eastern Michigan had been well known as one of the worst programs in FBS football. They have struggled miserably for a long time, even at one point there was a movement to possibly move the program down from FBS. That move never happened and good thing it didn't. Chris Creighton was known as a good program builder, on the FCS level he managed to produce some good seasons at some places not known for success. Creighton took on quite the building job here though, and after two rough years his 3rd year was something different. Creighton's 3rd year was astounding in fact...Eastern Michigan was actually good and they made a bowl for only the 2nd time in history, the first since 1987.

Last year started off with a 61-14 blowout win of Mississippi Valley State, didn't go so well the following week as Eastern Michigan was blown out 61-21 by Missouri. They rebounded though as they easily beat Charlotte, then pulled a rather surprising win over Wyoming and concluded the surprising winning streak with a win over Bowling Green. The win streak ended with a loss to a good Toledo team, Ohio then beat Mac East division champ Ohio. Eastern Michigan managed to hang with Western Michigan in a 45-31 loss, before taking a sketchy at the time but understandable loss to Miami (OH). Eastern Michigan then beat Ball State in a 48-41 shootout to be bowl eligible. They lost in overtime to Northern Illinois and then beat Central Michigan to conclude the regular season. Eastern Michigan played a very good Old Dominion game in the Bahamas bowl, they only lost by 3 but Old Dominion controlled the game.

Eastern Michigan's offense wasn't exactly the most stable and yet they were pretty good. They improved even more when Brogan Roback who was suspended early in the year and then had to take the starting job from Todd Porter, Roback led Eastern Michigan's comeback win against Wyoming and took over from there. Roback is perhaps the best Eastern Michigan QB since Charlie Batch (not that there's a lot of competition.) RB Shaq Vann was good in 2015 and looked very promising entering last year but he got hurt early in the year. Due to that injury a committee emerged, Ian Eriksen became a solid and steady runner while Breck Turner became a big play guy. Eastern Michigan returns every receiver from last year's team, Sergio Bailey II, Antoine Porter and Eddie Daugherty are all solid receivers and then there's Dieuly Aristilde who came out of nowhere to become extremely productive late last year. This offense had a good offensive line last year and now 3 of those starters and one reserve are gone, there's 3 players with starting experience back so this is the biggest question mark for the offense.

Eastern Michigan wasn't good on defense by any means but this program has been absolutely awful on defense for some time, so the fact that they sucked less on defense was good. The defensive line loses two starters, which isn't bad but one of the starters was a leader in Pat O'Connor who was pretty good. They return every impact linebacker from last year, only two of them start but they're ok. Eastern Michigan's defense is led by an excellent set of safeties, there's Ikie Calderon, Jason Beck and Vincent Calhoun who all played well last year and one of their better safeties from 2015 in Anthony Brown missed all of last year. They do lose their top corner but everyone else is back.

Eastern Michigan does not have a bad schedule, they play two conference conference opponents, but if you had to choose the most beatable ones Rutgers and Kentucky are definitely at the top of the list, Eastern Michigan has a tricky game against Army, and a game against Charlotte. Eastern Michigan gets a pretty tough draw from the East in Ohio, Miami (OH) and Bowling Green who could be the 3 best from that division. Overall it certainly is possible that this could be one of Eastern Michigan's best teams ever, and they very well could return to a bowl.

Predictions:

Sep. 1 Charlotte: Eastern Michigan should be able to roll past Charlotte easily. W
Sep. 9 @ Rutgers: If Rutgers is as bad as they were last year Eastern Michigan could win this one, regardless they will give Rutgers a tough time but I think Rutgers pulls it off. L
Sep. 23 Ohio: The bye week helps in preparation as Eastern Michigan takes down Ohio. W
Sep. 30 @ Kentucky: Kentucky will be able to run really well and use that to beat Eastern Michigan. L
Oct. 7 @ Toledo: Toledo is another team with a run game good enough to drive down the field, and Eastern Michigan might not have the corners to cover the Toledo receivers. L
Oct. 14 @ Army: I'm going with Eastern Michigan to surprise Army and win. W
Oct. 21 Western Michigan: This game turns out to be an absolute shootout, I think Eastern Michigan's offense outscores Western Michigan's. W
Oct. 26 @ Northern Illinois: Eastern Michigan does drop one as they lose to Northern Illinois. L
Nov. 2 Ball State: W
Nov. 8 @ Central Michigan: Eastern Michigan loses this game in a shootout. L
Nov. 15 @ Miami(OH): The Redhawks roll past Eastern Michigan. L
Nov. 21 Bowling Green: Eastern Michigan once against gets in a shootout and they end up winning this one. W

Predicted Record: 6-6(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Kent State Golden Flashes

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Preview: The Paul Haynes era is one that has so far failed to take off. Haynes took over for Darrel Hazell after Hazell surprisingly had Kent State one overtime away from playing in the Orange bowl. That last season under Hazell Kent State won 11 games, in 4 years under Paul Haynes they have won a total of 12 games. Haynes was rumored to have been fired at one point in the offseason but the AD came out in support of him and he is here for at least another year, his contract expires after this year so he needs a big turnaround to save his job... Can it happen?

Last year Kent State opened with a pretty solid defensive performance against Penn State it was even a tied game until late in the 2nd quarter, final score was 33-13. Any progress made there came to a half as Kent State took an embarrassing 4 Overtime loss to North Carolina A&T, they did recover to beat Monmouth. Kent State then took the expected beating from Alabama as they lost 48-0, and then they took a close loss to Akron. Kent State blew out Buffalo on the road, lost a close game to a winless at the time Miami (OH), and then they lost another close game to Ohio. Kent State upset Central Michigan, before being easily beaten by Western Michigan and being blown out by Bowling Green, then they finished off the year with a loss to Northern Illinois.

Kent State's offense was very bad last year, they were at least decent at running the ball but this team had the worst passing game in college football. Kent State shuffled all sorts of different players around in hopes of finding something, Nick Holley moved around between RB and WR for the early part of the season before even becoming the QB at one point, the positive he brought was that he was another option for the offense to run the ball with, no matter what they couldn't pass. Kent State has several short running backs they use, Justin Rankin was one of them and he was a walk-on true freshman last year, he ended up leading the team in receptions as well. Finding receivers could really help too, the lead returnee at receiver had 231 receiving yards last year...a few receivers in topped that in a single game last year. There are 3 starters back on the offensive line.

Kent State's defense disappointed a little bit last year as it really wasn't as good as it was in 2015. Two of Kent State's top defensive linemen are gone, one of those was Terrence Waugh who was by far the best at making big plays. Two experienced linebackers are back but two are gone. The secondary now looks like a major question mark as only one safety with pretty much any experience is back, but at least Kent State's top corners are back led by Jerrell Foster.

Kent State's schedule is pretty rough, when you're one of the worst teams in football the last thing you want to see is a season opening game against the defending champs, not only that but 3 weeks later they go on the road to Louisville and face last year's Heisman winner. There's an easy game against Howard and a rough game at Marshall in-between. Kent State draws Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan from the West once again. Sometimes you never know with team's in the Mac, any given season one of them could rise up and nearly win the conference...but this doesn't look promising.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 @ Clemson: This by the way is the 2nd year in a row that Kent State faced the defending champs in non-conference play. Just for reference in 2018 they play Illinois, Howard, Penn State and Ole Miss...Ole Miss isn't eligible and Howard isn't division 1...looks like your national champs are coming from the Big 10 this year! L
Sep. 9 Howard: Howard went 2-9 in FCS last year, they're pretty bad so that must be why Kent State snagged them for 2 years in a row. W
Sep. 16 @ Marshall: Marshall wins this easily. L
Sep. 23 @ Louisville: They will also have to face Lamar Jackson for a half at least. L
Sep. 30 Buffalo: Yes Kent State will struggle so badly I think Buffalo will even manage to beat them. L
Oct. 7 @ Northern Illinois: L
Oct. 14 Miami (OH): L
Oct. 21 @ Ohio: Kent State usually gives Ohio a tough time, they might do that again here but they're not going to be able to win. L
Oct. 31 Bowling Green: They likely won't win this one either. L
Nov. 8 @ Western Michigan: L
Nov. 14 Central Michigan: Kent State struggles in this game as well. L
Nov. 21 @ Akron: L

Predicted Record: 1-11(0-8)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Miami of Ohio Redhawks

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Preview: The Chuck Martin era at Miami didn't look like it was ever going to take off and then suddenly came last year's late season surge. Miami had usually been one of the better programs in the Mac but had been dealing with several years of struggles lately. Other than a brief amazing season in 2010, Miami has basically been bad since about 2005. Now suddenly the Redhawks could possibly be looking at a conference championship, but first they need to win some close games. So far Chuck Martin has been very bad in close games.

Miami started off the year about as badly as possible, they were easily beaten by Iowa and then with 4 minutes left against Eastern Illinois they led 17-7 and lost 21-17. Miami then rather surprisingly played well against Western Kentucky and Cincinnati but lost both games by a touchdown. Then Miami lost to Ohio by 10, before a collapse against Akron. Facing an 0-6 start they barely beat a bad Kent State by 4, but it was nonetheless a win in a close game, they followed it up easily beating Bowling Green, upsetting Eastern Michigan on the road, beating Central Michigan and then closing out an amazing 6 game win streak with wins over Buffalo and Ball State. It was an amazing out of nowhere rally, they ended the year losing by 1 to Mississippi State in a game they had a good chance to win. Not bad, typically when you start 0-6 you never expect to end the year barely losing to a SEC team in a bowl, even if that SEC team wasn't that good.

Miami improved offensively as the year went on, of course it's easy to point to where the improvement came from. QB Gus Ragland was hurt for the first 6 games, he took over as starter as soon as he was deemed healthy enough. He was incredible, went 6-1 as the starter and threw 17 TDs and only one pick. 3 of Miami's running backs return, and they also played better later in the year. Alonzo Smith was mostly the starter but Kenny Young and Maurice Thomas started getting more carries during the winning streak. Miami returns two solid receivers in James Gardner and Jared Murphy, they do lose Rokeem Williams who was fantastic late in the year. They have a solid TE in Ryan Smith. It also helps that 4 starters return on the offensive line.

Miami's defense is pretty solid, they definitely put on a good display in the bowl game holding Nick Fitzgerald and co to only 17 points. Miami loses their top 3 defensive ends, but the good news for the defensive line is the defensive tackles are all back. Miami returns a good set of experienced linebackers, all the starters are back. Problem is they don't have that many on the roster, if injuries hit it can be real problematic. Miami has a fantastic secondary, corner Heath Harding is a star and he's even got the attention of some NFL scouts, on the other side they have Deondre Daniels, they will be backed up by two good safeties in Tony Reid and Joshua Allen. In a conference with a lot of teams that like to pass this secondary is a major asset.

Miami has a favorable schedule, there is a tough non-conference game against Notre Dame to deal with, and a tricky road game against Marshall. Plus Miami as usual faces Cincinnati and they will be looking for their first win since 2005...that is so long ago that it was just two years after Ben Roethlisberger played for them. They also play Austin Peay as an easy game. Bad news for the rest of the East division as Miami draws Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Ball State from the West division, that's about as good as the draw gets.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 @ Marshall: Playing Marshall on the road is always tough, I think Marshall pulls a minor upset to show they're going to be improved this year. L
Sep. 9 Austin Peay: W
Sep. 16 Cincinnati: Yes for the first time since 2005, I think Miami manages to finally beat Cincinnati. W
Sep. 23 @ Central Michigan: This proves to be a close game but Miami escapes with the win. W
Sep. 30 @ Notre Dame: Martin at least knows Brian Kelly well, I don't think they will pull off this upset though. L
Oct. 7 Bowling Green: Miami does roll past Bowling Green. W
Oct. 14 @ Kent State: W
Oct. 21 Buffalo: W
Oct. 31 @ Ohio: Yes Ohio keeps themselves alive for the division as they upset the Redhawks (a little repayment as Miami did upset Ohio the last time Ohio was ranked). L
Nov. 7 Akron: Miami rolls to an easy win. W
Nov. 15 Eastern Michigan: Miami's offense has a big day to lead them past Eastern Michigan. W
Nov. 21 @ Ball State: Miami easily wins this game as well. W

Predicted Record: 9-3(7-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Northern Illinois Huskies

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Preview: Northern Illinois had for a long time been a constant on top of the Mac conference, they're usually always a solid team that everyone has to worry about in the division title race and they are capable of upsetting some of the bigger teams as well. Northern Illinois really hit a peak starting in 2010 where they won the West division 6 years in a row. They did this with 3 different coaches at the helm first there was Jerry Kill who started the rise and then came Dave Doeren who led Northern Illinois to an Orange bowl appearance and then left, and then came Rod Carey who's first game as the head coach came in the Orange bowl. it was a tough task but Northern Illinois hung in there until the 4th quarter. Carey then took over as the head coach and kept this program dominant for the most part but he has laid a few eggs in the Mac championship and in their bowl appearances as well and then last year the program collapsed.

It was not a good year, Northern Illinois opened the year with a double overtime loss to Wyoming that was a surprising upset at the time, as it turned out Wyoming was good. Northern Illinois was blown out by South Florida and easily beaten by San Diego State and then to complete an 0-4 start they even lost to Western Illinois. Northern Illinois opened Mac play by getting a win as they beat Ball State, but Western Michigan beat them for the first time in a while, Central Michigan beat them once again. Northern Illinois did start to look like themselves with blowout wins over Buffalo and Bowling Green but then lost at home to Toledo, their first loss to them in a very long time. Northern Illinois did end the year with an upset over Eastern Michigan (never thought those words would be typed) and a win over Kent State. For the first time in a while they didn't make a bowl.

Northern Illinois' offense has struggled with a lot of QB injuries throughout the few years, I mean no one else has had this level of injuries where in most of these years they started at least 4 different QBs each year. Carey had the tough and durable Jordan Lynch as his QB in his first year, and the injuries have been going on since Lynch left.. Is Carey's offense simply too punishing on his QBs? One has to wonder, anyway Anthony Maddie was the best of the QBs last year unfortunately he was denied a 6th year of eligibility so it's down to Ryan Graham or Daniel Santacaterina. Neither of those two really played well both turned the ball over way to much and were at times inaccurate with their passes. The starting RB for most of last year Joel Bouagnon is gone but Jordan Huff emerged last year and proved to be a running back more capable of producing big games, he looked ready for a bigger role in the offense so he should be fun to watch. Northern Illinois loses 3 of their top 6 receivers including the leader Kenny Golladay who was a 3rd round pick in the NFL draft, as it was this group of receivers mostly struggled whether it was the QB missing them or receivers dropping pass Northern Illinois as a whole wasn't efficient passing the ball, perhaps keeping a QB healthy would help. Northern Illinois has 3 really good offensive linemen back but a few starters are gone as well including all-conference tackle Levon Myers and expected starter Shane Evans transferred to Purdue.

Northern Illinois was awful defensively to start the year but the defense surged and improved greatly as the year went on. Northern Illinois loses a lot of their defensive line from last year, there is still some experience at the ends but there is almost no experience at defensive tackle. Northern Illinois loses solid linebackers in Jamaal Payton and Sean Folliard, there are two experienced outside linebackers returning but the middle is a huge question mark for this year. The secondary was the catalyst for last year's improvement, two of Northern Illinois' top corners got hurt early in the year forcing younger players into big roles, after growing pains early in the year this secondary got better and now there's a lot of experience back for this year. Secondary should definitely be a strength.

Northern Illinois has a pretty tough non-conference schedule, they play Boston College at home and get Nebraska and San Diego State on the road, and their FCS opponent Eastern Illinois has upset quite a few FBS teams lately. Northern Illinois gets a big break in the cross-division opponents as they get Kent State, Buffalo and Bowling Green. The possibility for a rebound is there, but simply I just don't trust Rod Carey to pull through with it, it won't take much to make a bowl appearance this year still.

Predictions:

Sep. 1 Boston College: Even if Northern Illinois is improved Carey doesn't have a great record against power 5 programs. L
Sep. 9 Eastern Illinois: This will be a tricky game but Northern Illinois wins it. W
Sep. 16 @ Nebraska: This likely won't go well. L
Sep. 30 @ San Diego State: Their lack of experience in key run stopping positions will make it tough for Northern Illinois' defense here. L
Oct. 7 Kent State: This should be an easy win. W
Oct. 14 @ Buffalo: Another easy win. W
Oct. 21 @ Bowling Green: Bowling Green is another team that will exploit the NIU defense with their run game. L
Oct. 26 Eastern Michigan: Northern Illinois does beat Eastern Michigan again, Eastern Michigan has beaten them once since 2001. W
Nov. 2 @ Toledo: Prior to last year's loss Northern Illinois had basically had Toledo's number, I'll go with them in the upset here. W
Nov. 9 Ball State: Northern Illinois wins this as well. W
Nov. 15 Western Michigan: Western Michigan is another team that will exploit Northern Illinois with their strong run game. L
Nov. 24 @ Central Michigan: Central Michigan has somehow beaten Northern Illinois 3 years in a row, they make it 4 now. L

Predicted Record: 6-6(5-3)

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[BoiseStateFan27]

Ohio Bobcats

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Preview: The job Frank Solich has done with Ohio is impressive, every single year you have to think of them as a contender to win the East division and while they haven't won a conference title under his watch they tend to always be solid. Prior to Solich taking over as the head coach in 2005 Ohio had only made two bowl appearances in their history, under Solich they have only missed out on the bowl in 3 seasons. Obviously the fact that we now have like 500 bowls helps but still this is by far the best run Ohio has been on and last year was one of their better years.

Last year really didn't start out that way though, Ohio lost an absolutely bizarre opener at home against Texas State 56-54 in triple overtime, not once the rest of the year did Ohio's offense get close to scoring that many points and their defense never came close to giving up that many points again, it was also Texas State's only win over a FBS team. Ohio was solid after, they beat Kansas easily on the road, and then challenged Tennessee keeping it close and only losing 28-19. Ohio would then beat Gardner-Webb, Miami (OH) and Bowling Green. Ohio did lose a surprise home game against an improved Eastern Michigan before struggling but beating Kent State. Ohio surprisingly took advantage of turnovers as they stunned Toledo on the road, then they beat Buffalo easily. Ohio lost an upset to Central Michigan and then beat Akron 9-3. Ohio earned a bid to the Mac championship where they lost by only 6 to an unbeaten Western Michigan, and then Ohio lost to a very good Troy team by 5 in their bowl game.

Ohio struggled offensively for much of last year, and it seemed to even get worse later in the year. It didn't help their originally planned starter never played and the backups struggled, Greg Windham played most of the year he had some good performances and struggled a lot also and he got hurt a few times, Windham is gone but the injuries gave freshman at the time Quinton Maxwell a head start, he too had some struggles and was an odd fit as he was a bit wild, he had a tendency to look for big plays and he would hit on them sometimes but he also threw a lot of incompletions and fumbled 8 times last year. RB A.J Ouellette was supposed to be exciting to watch and he immediately got hurt for the year in the opener, Maleek Irons and Dorian Brown took over a lot of the carries both backs were capable of big plays but would also have times where they didn't go anywhere, the trio is exciting though with the reliable Ouellette back. Ohio loses their top 3 receivers but their tight end Troy Mangen returns and so does slot receiver Papi White who really came on in the 2nd half of the year last year. It's mostly inexperience beyond that but some good targets could emerge. The offensive line has a big loss in all-Mac tackle Troy Watson but 5 players with experience do return.

Ohio's defense basically carried them through a lot of last year, they were especially exciting in the front 7. Ohio deployed a deep rotation on the defensive line so even though they lose 4 contributors they still have a few players with experience but they will sorely miss Tarell Basham who was a NFL draft pick this spring. Ohio only loses one linebacker from the roster but they lose a good one in Blair Brown who was also a NFL draft pick, Quentin Poling leads the returnees and he had 13.5 TFL last year. Depth is a concern for a lot of the front 7 though, a few injuries could really insert some inexperienced players into the lineup. Mentioning that, the defense was strong in spite of a secondary that was hit hard with injury and shuffled inexperienced players in a lineup all year. 10 defensive backs were shuffled in and out last year and now 8 of them return, 5 of them are sophomore this year, that additional experience though could mean the weakness becomes a strength.

Ohio does not have the worst schedule by any means, just a few improvements makes every single game winnable. Their non-conference includes games against Hampton, Purdue, Kansas and UMass. Ohio draws Central Michigan, Toledo and Eastern Michigan from the West division. There's a lot of question marks with this team which could mean more struggles than usual, under Solich it means around a 6 win season.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Hampton: Hampton was pretty bad last year going 5-6 at the FCS level and losing 54-21 to Old Dominion, Ohio should easily win. W
Sep. 8 @ Purdue: Purdue might be a little better under Brohm, Ohio will probably test them but with so many question marks I think they fall short of a win. L
Sep. 16 Kansas: Same goes for Kansas, I also think they will be better. L
Sep. 23 @ Eastern Michigan: Ohio struggles in this game as well and loses. L
Sep. 30 @ Massachusetts: Yes even more struggles as Ohio suffers a minor upset loss. L
Oct. 7 Central Michigan: Ohio begins to stabilize as they take down Central Michigan. W
Oct. 14 @ Bowling Green: They drop another though as Bowling Green has been mostly good against Ohio lately. L
Oct. 21 Kent State: Ohio struggles here but wins. W
Oct. 31 Miami (OH): This is where Ohio comes up and pulls a surprising upset over Miami. W
Nov. 8 Toledo: Ohio comes close to pulling another but loses in a close one to Toledo. L
Nov. 14 @ Akron: Ohio does win this one rather easily. W
Nov. 24 @ Buffalo: Ohio also wins this game. W

Predicted Record: 6-6(5-3)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Toledo Rockets

Preview: Toledo has become remarkably consistent since around 2010. They've done this under multiple coaches and each time the next coach has been ready to step up and keep this program towards the top of the Mac. Toledo though has been consistent in both good and bad ways. Toledo has each year managed to be one of the best teams in the Mac but have been completely incapable of winning the division. The 2015 season was perhaps the biggest offender when Toledo beat an Arkansas team that caused havoc in the SEC West on the road, but choked two games away against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, Toledo easily beat Bowling Green on the road that year but Bowling Green beat NIU for the Mac championship even though Toledo was probably the conference's best team. Jason Candle's first year followed the pattern they played well but once again mastered the art of falling short, can this be the year they finally break through?

Last year Toledo started off with a dominant win over Arkansas State on the road, and then destroyed a Maine team that took UConn to the brink just the week before, Toledo then blew out Fresno State for a dominant 3-0 start. Toledo took on BYU on the road in a wild shootout but lost on a late field goal to lose 55-53. Toledo beat Eastern Michigan, surprisingly struggled against Bowling Green but won, and then beat Central Michigan. Unfortunately against Ohio, Toledo was completely undone by turnovers and surprisingly lost. Toledo would then blowout Akron, and win over Northern Illinois for the first time in nearly 6 years. They easily beat Ball State and then lost the division to Western Michigan where some early turnovers put them behind and they were blown out. Toledo took on a very good Appalachian State team in their bowl game, and gave up a kickoff return TD and allowed Appalachian State to play keep-away in a 3 point loss.

Toledo's offense was mostly fantastic, there were some glitches with turnovers but if that didn't happen this offense could move up and down the field on anyone. QB Logan Woodside was one of the best QBs in college football last year, his passer rating was 2nd only to Baker Mayfield. The fact that he torched a BYU defense that pretty much every other team struggled against was impressive. Toledo loses a fantastic weapon in RB Kareem Hunt who was picked in the 3rd round of the NFL draft, but they still have a great RB in Terry Swanson who played very well splitting carries with Hunt and in limited action Art Thompkins looked ready to be the next in line. Along with the excellent passing game came the fact that Woodside had a lot of weapons and spread the ball around a lot. WR Cody Thompson is a star and is one of the most underrated receivers in the country, there's also Jon'Vea Johnson who was also fantastic last year. Toledo does lose their slot receiver in Corey Jones but backup Danzel McKinley-Lewis got some action late in the year and played well when he got that chance, Diontae Johnson is also back after missing last year because of injury. TE Michael Roberts was a great endzone threat and blocked very well, he was drafted this spring and is a big loss. Toledo had a great offense last year in spite of a line that shuffled a lot, only two players started the entire season and both of them are gone, but there are 5 linemen back who have a lot of experience. This looks to be by far the best offense in the Mac.

Toledo's defense was solid most of the year but in their losses their defense mostly let them down, in two of their losses the defense gave up 55 points and in the other two losses it gave up 31, only in the Bowling Green game did Toledo give up 31+ points and win. Toledo's defensive line has a lot of experience in their projected starting lineup, they lost two starters but returnees defensive end Olasunkanmi Adeniyi and tackle Marquise Moore combined for 16 TFL and 9 sacks last year, it was not a deep rotation though, there's a lot of inexperience behind the starters. Same is true at linebacker where all three starters return in Ja'Wuan Woodley, Josh Teachery and Tyler Taafe, but there's not much experience behind them. Toledo had a deeper set of safeties last year which helps because the top 2 are gone, if the new starters are ready to take on the full time roll this secondary should be strong as the starters are back and so are some good backups. Trevon Mathis and Ka'dar Hollman are the strong starting duo.

Toledo has a very doable schedule. They have a non-conference headliner road game against Miami (Fl) and they also play a Tulsa team that won 10 games last year at home, Toledo plays Nevada on the road and they get Elon in the opener. Toledo draws Ohio, Akron and their annual rivalry game against Toledo from the East division. Overall it's all on the table now, Western Michigan is starting over, NIU has a lot of questions, this has to be the year Toledo breaks through and finally wins the Mac with this senior loaded roster.

Predictions:

Aug. 31 Elon: Toledo should win this one easily. W
Sep. 9 @ Nevada: This road trip but be tricky but I'm going with Toledo as Nevada seems to be in rebuilding mode. W
Sep. 16 Tulsa: Tulsa will give Toledo's defense fits, but I think Toledo will outscore them. W
Sep. 23 @ Miami (FL): The one sign of good news for Toledo in this game is that Miami plays Florida State the week before, only once since 2013 has Miami won the game after Florida State. L
Oct. 7 Eastern Michigan: Toledo's offense will be too much for Eastern Michigan. W
Oct. 14 @ Central Michigan: The same turns out to be the case here. W
Oct. 21 Akron: Toledo wins in a blowout. W
Oct. 26 @ Ball State: Toledo easily wins this game as well. W
Nov. 2 Northern Illinois: Unfortunately once again Toledo gets upset by Northern Illinois. L
Nov. 8 @ Ohio: Toledo struggles but survives. W
Nov. 15 @ Bowling Green: Toledo hasn't lost to Bowling Green since 2009, chances are that continues. W
Nov. 24 Western Michigan: With P.J. Fleck out of the way I think Toledo finally beats Western Michigan again, after losing to them the past several years. W

Predicted Record: 10-2(7-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Western Michigan Broncos

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Preview: Now we get to find out how does Western Michigan follow up an absolutely incredible season. Western Michigan had perhaps their best year ever as they went unbeaten through the entire regular season and got to prove their worth in the Cotton Bowl. P.J Fleck was a complete unknown when he took over as the coach and after a complete reset year Western Michigan immediately became a solid program under Fleck and then last year they took over the Mac. Now they replace Fleck with another unknown, at least to anyone who doesn't follow Western Michigan. Former Western Michigan QB Tim Lester takes over, he has some Division II and III head coaching experience, and was an offensive coordinator at Syracuse at one point. What does he have in store for year 1?

Last year again was simply fantastic. Western Michigan opened the year beating Northwestern 22-21 in a game they led pretty much all the way through, it was big at the time as it was Western Michigan's first win over a power 5 school since 2007. Western Michigan easily beat NC Central and then got their 2nd win over a power 5 school since 2007 with a much more definitive 34-10 beating of Illinois. Western Michigan easily beat Georgia Southern in what was supposed to be a group of 5 showcase, and then blew out Central Michigan. Western Michigan got their first win over Northern Illinois in several years as they easily won that game, they destroyed Akron after. Eastern Michigan tested Western Michigan a bit but Western Michigan still won by 2 TDs, they then easily beat Ball State, Kent State and shutout Buffalo. To conclude conference play Western Michigan took advantage of Toledo's mistakes to blow them out and then Western Michigan survived a challenge from Ohio to win their first conference championship since 1988. Western Michigan took on Wisconsin in the Cotton bowl and proved they belonged there, they hung with Wisconsin the whole game and lost 24-16.

Western Michigan's offense was pretty much prolific for being a Mac school. QB Zach Terrell was terrific, he was accurate and almost never made mistakes, he actually was one of the least mistake prone QBs in college football. Western Michigan has a task of replacing him, the QB battle was between Joe Flacco's younger brother Tom Flacco and sophomore Jon Wassink, whether Flacco decided he just wanted a change of scenary or maybe Wassink was gaining an edge on him, Flacco has transferred so the job belongs to Wassink. Western Michigan has some fantastic running backs, the duo of Jarvion Franklin and Jamauri Bogan are so good that they could start for a lot of power 5 schools. There's some backups who got some carries that proved to be solid when they had a chance as well. Now there's the question of receivers, the top 3 are gone and the leader of the bunch was Corey Davis who was absolutely fantastic, so good in fact that he was a top 5 NFL draft pick, talent like that doesn't come around this program often. D'Wayne Eskridge was a solid slot receiver, and he's pretty much the only receiver returning that caught a pass. The offensive line loses an amazing talent in tackle Taylor Moton who was also drafted, and a solid guard. There are two starters back and both were all-Mac linemen last year.

Western Michigan wasn't quite as good defensively, typically it would allow teams to go score for score with the offense until the opponent feels pressure to keep and turns the ball over. The defensive line loses two starters, Keion Allen is a big loss as he had 18 TFL and 7.5 sacks last year, they also lose a defensive tackle which is a spot where they didn't have a big rotation so someone inexperienced might step in. Western Michigan loses a good starting linebacker and a backup but that is all, granted Robert Spillane was pretty good last year so he's a pretty big loss. Western Michigan's secondary looks like it will improve. A trio of experience corners are back and sophomore safeties Justin Tranquill and Davontae Ginwright both had a lot of playing time last year.

Western Michigan definitely gets a step up in their schedule this year, they open the season playing USC and Michigan State on the road, and even Idaho could be tricky as Idaho did win a bowl last year, there's also a game against Wagner. Western Michigan's conference slate is favorable though, they draw Buffalo, Akron and Kent State, perhaps the best draw you can possibly have from the East division. If Western Michigan finds a passing game it is possible that they could really piss off Toledo and take the Mac West again. Western Michigan should at least be capable of another bowl appearance, but a repeat of last year's unbeaten run certainly won't happen.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 @ USC: This would have been more fun with last year's Western Michigan. L
Sep. 9 @ Michigan State: I'm sure Western Michigan wishes they played Michigan State last year, they haven't beaten them since 1919. L
Sep. 16 Idaho: I think Western Michigan will use the run game well to beat Idaho. W
Sep. 23 Wagner: W
Sep. 30 Ball State: Western Michigan likely dominates. W
Oct. 7 @ Buffalo: Another easy win. W
Oct. 14 Akron: W
Oct. 21 @ Eastern Michigan: Western Michigan gets in a shootout and is beaten by Eastern Michigan. L
Nov. 1 Central Michigan: Central Michigan pulls a random upset. L
Nov. 8 Kent State: W
Nov. 15 @ Northern Illinois: Western Michigan does at least win their 2nd in a row over Northern Illinois. W
Nov. 24 @ Toledo: This time Western Michigan does not get the joy of ripping the hearts out of Toledo. L

Predictions: 7-5(5-3)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

MAC Conference

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East:

1. Miami of Ohio Redhawks: 9-3(7-1)
2. Bowling Green Falcons 6-6(5-3) - beat Ohio
3. Ohio Bobcats 7-5(5-3)
4. Akron Zips 4-8(3-5)
5. Buffalo Bulls 3-9(2-6)
6. Kent State Golden Flashes 1-11(0-8)

West:

1. Toledo Rockets 10-2(7-1)
2. Central Michigan Chippewas 6-6(5-3) - Beat NIU and WMU
3. Western Michigan Broncos 7-5(5-3) - beat NIU lost to CMU
4. Northern Illinois Huskies 6-6(5-3)
5. Eastern Michigan Eagles 6-6(4-4)
6. Ball State Cardinals 2-10(0-8)

MAC Championship: Miami (OH) Redhawks vs Toledo Rockets- Both with solid teams and both teams haven't played for a MAC championship in a long time, can Toledo finally win a MAC championship or will Miami who wasn't good until mid-way through last year rise up and steal the crown. Also what happens if this game is close? Both teams were notoriously bad in close games last year.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Army Black Knights

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Preview: Jeff Monken was a very good hire when Army picked him up, he was a perfect fit for the program as he runs the triple option offense very well, and Army saw this pay dividends last year. Monken incidentally ended up with the tougher job when he left for Army instead of guiding Georgia Southern through the beginning stages of FBS life, no one knew at the time that Georgia Southern would instantly become a solid program. For a while Army had struggled, but last year was a breakthrough and now the next step is they want to take home the Commander in Chief's trophy for the first time since 1996.

Army immediately showed they were improved last year in their season opener when they surprised a Temple team that was very good the year before (and good last year too), Army easily beat Rice and absolutely destroyed UTEP on the road 66-14 to start a surprising 3-0. Army laid an absolute dud the next week though as they lost in overtime to a struggling Buffalo team. Army then lost a low scoring game to Duke before blowing out Lafayette. Army then dropped yet another dud as they lost 35-18 at home against North Texas, and then naturally they followed it up by upsetting Wake Forest on the road. Army got crushed by Air Force and Notre Dame and then blew out Morgan State. Then Army pulled off the biggest win in a long time as they finally managed to beat Navy for the first time in 15 years, it was a huge upset and showed Monken has this program in the right direction. Army then got revenge on North Texas beating them in overtime in their bowl game for an 8-5 record.

Army's offense was geared around playing keepaway from their opponents, usually if Army could hold on to the ball for a lot of the game they would usually manage to win. They have an excellent QB to run the option in Ahmad Bradshaw, and down the middle they have two excellent powerful fullbacks in Andy Davidson and Darnell Woolfolk. Then Army completes the recipe with some good slotbacks on the outside, led by Kell Walker and Jordan Ashberry. The QB returns, the fullbacks return, 4 of the top 6 slotbacks return led by Walker and Ashberry. One issue though for Army is they are completely helpless if they fall behind the chains, basically if they didn't pass on a down where a pass wasn't expected they likely weren't going anywhere. That was with Edgar Allen Poe who was a fantastic big play receiver, now he's gone, and so is his brother Christian Poe. That leaves only one of the top receivers back in Jeff Ejekam. Army ended up starting 10 different offensive linemen last year due to shuffling and injuries, 8 of those 10 do return this year. Army also still had a turnovers problem last year, but with all that experience that should improve.

Army's defense surged last year which was another big help in their improvement. They were especially good at forcing turnovers. Army didn't have a big rotation on the defensive line last year, and a little over half those players return, the defensive line wasn't near as impactful as the linebackers though. Jeremy Timpf (13 TFL), Alex Aukerman (15 TFL), Andrew King (11 TFL) and Kenneth Brinson (7.5 TFL) absolutely wreaked havoc on the opposing offenses last year, but Timpf and King are both gone, James Nachtigal looked promising in limited action, he made only 12 tackles but 5 of them were for a loss. Army was very young in the secondary last year and now that turns into experience as they were starting two freshmen and a sophomore at corner, now they're sophomores and a junior. Rhyan England has proven to be an absolute playmaker from the safety position as well.

Army has a rather winnable schedule this year. Replacing Notre Dame with Ohio State isn't too favorable but either way the result there will likely be the same. The rest of the schedule features a lot of beatable opponents, though Army does play only one FCS opponent this year compared to two last year. Army has to play Air Force on the road which makes the journey for the Commander In Chief trophy difficult (as usual Navy is at a neutral site.) Army most definitely will make a return to a bowl game, it's tough to tell how many games they will win though. All it could take is a few drives behind the chains for a game to completely unravel for Army, so they will likely lose some games that are unexpected.

Predictions:

Sep. 1 Fordham: Army will be able to easily win this game. W
Sep. 9 Buffalo: I think Army gets their revenge against the Bulls here. W
Sep. 16 @ Ohio State: L
Sep. 23 @ Tulane: Here is one upset loss, Tulane has a defense that could force Army into those bad situations and even force turnovers, allowing Tulane to win it. L
Sep. 30 UTEP: Army likely won't beat UTEP as badly this year but I do think they win rather easily. W
Oct. 7 @ Rice: Army easily blows out Rice. W
Oct. 14 Eastern Michigan: Eastern Michigan's offense proves too difficult to keep up with and Army drops a surprising one. L
Oct. 21 Temple: Army once again surprises Temple as they manage to move the ball well and Army's linebackers make a lot of plays. W
Nov. 4 @ Air Force: Army will find it tough to beat Air Force on the road. L
Nov. 11 Duke: L
Nov. 18 @ North Texas: Army should roll past North Texas this time, 3rd time in roughly a year the two of them play. W
Dec. 9 Navy (Philadelphia): This year I think Navy gets their revenge and does not take Army lightly, it proves to be a close game and Navy pulls it off. L

Predicted Record: 6-6

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Brigham Young Cougars

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Preview: BYU has consistently managed to be one of the most steady programs in college football, they were a top program in the Mountain West and a pest to the bigger programs, then BYU moved to Independence and lately they take on a bunch of big teams early in the year, beat 1 or two of them, take on solid opponents in the middle and then dominate lesser opponents late in the year. The equation usually leads to 8 or 9 wins each year. That steadiness was threatened last year when Bronco Mendenhall left for Virginia and Kalani Sitake a first time head coach took over. The year 1 results are in and as it turns out nothing has changed. Could this year be any different, for better or worse?

BYU was easily one of the most dramatic teams in college football for most of the year. BYU sputtered offensively in the opener against Arizona but still held a 15-3 lead early in the 4th quarter before blowing it, Arizona scored two TDs but failed on the 2 point try after their 2nd TD but led 16-15 with a little over a minute left, BYU drove down the field and ended up kicking a field goal at the end to win 18-16. The following week BYU took on rival Utah and it was another ugly game as both teams combined for 9 turnovers, Utah was responsible for 6 of them but BYU couldn't take advantage, still down 20-13 BYU's offense pulled it together when they needed to and drove down the field for a touchdown, but they went for 2 and failed to convert in a 20-19 loss. The next week BYU and UCLA got in a defensive struggle where BYU rallied late but lost 17-14. Naturally after 3 low scoring games BYU got into shootouts, against West Virginia they fell behind 35-19 before quickly going on a rally to bring the deficit down to 35-32, BYU drove late with a chance to win but was intercepted on a tipped ball. Then BYU faced Toledo in one of the most bonkers games of the year which featured 8 2nd half lead changes, Mack Brown bailing to go to the airport to catch his flight and Toledo scoring with a minute left only for BYU to rally and kick a field goal to win 55-53. Finally against Michigan State BYU was in a game decided by more than 3 points as they dominated Michigan State, then BYU won a wild double overtime battle over Mississippi State, then things got weird again. BYU played Boise State in a game where BYU forced 5 Boise State turnovers and didn't turn it over once themselves, although there was a sequence where BYU attempted a fake punt on 4th and 19 from their own endzone and somehow Boise State got nothing out of it. BYU had a late field goal blocked in a 28-27 loss. BYU finally stabilized and ended the regular season with easy wins over Cincinnati, Southern Utah, UMass and Utah State. BYU then beat Wyoming to win their bowl game.

BYU was inconsistent on offense as you can tell, capable of exploding and imploding in any game. Taysom Hill who was around for seemingly forever graduated and now hail mary master Tanner Mangum takes over after starting almost his entire freshman year in 2015. BYU loses a good running back in Jamaal Williams, backup Squally Canada was decent when he played last year, but several other backs might make this a committee approach. For the 2nd year in a row BYU loses 3 of their top receivers, so there is a lot of inexperience at this position which could hurt, at least there are some solid TEs in Moroni Laulu-Pututau and Tanner Balderee to stabilize things. Another thing that will help is BYU returns 4 seniors with a lot of experience on the offensive line, and there's two others with experience as well, there's also two transfers who could make an impact or provide depth.

BYU's inconsistent production on defense was easily explained though. BYU had a strong run defense, but if you had a good passing offense you could torch them. Basically you had to have a solid passing game to move the ball on BYU, if you didn't their defense feasted on you. It could change though, BYU loses 4 of their top 5 linemen, including every single starter. Basically anyone that has to step in will be unproven there is a lot of size in the potential starters, and perhaps we will see freshman Motekiai Langi who is a mammoth 6'7" 417 pounds!!!!! BYU does return all their starting linebackers and only loses a few backups, Fred Warner and Butch Pau'u lead the returnees, they combined for 17.5 TFL last year. Perhaps it not a surprise that BYU's secondary struggling was a result of youth, two of their starting corners were freshmen last year, BYU does lose their one experienced corner and their big time playmaker in Kai Nacua, they do have two senior safeties returning in Micah Hanneman and Matt Hadley.

You can probably guess what BYU's schedule looks like, other than a "week 0" tune-up against Portland State, their schedule is more of the same, several early season challenges, solid mid-season opponents and then opponents they can steamroll late. Good news is BYU has shown they can hang with about anyone, chances are they will find ways to get weird again and win around 8-9 games.

Predictions:

Aug. 26 Portland State: Should be a tune-up game for BYU, Portland State was extremely tough in 2015, but regressed last year into being bad. W
Sep. 2 LSU (Houston): LSU was almost automatic in these season openers until they lost to Wisconsin last year, for BYU this isn't a season opener, should be interesting to see how the tune-up helps them in this one. Hard to go against LSU though. L
Sep. 9 Utah: You know for a fact these two are going to have a wild game, Utah has won the last 6 meetings though, so I'll go with them. L
Sep. 16 Wisconsin: Perhaps the most impressive part of this stretch is BYU plays every one of these games at home or at a neutral site. They will be able to test Wisconsin but I'll go with the Badgers in a close one. L
Sep. 29 @ Utah State: Naturally after hosting those big programs BYU goes on the road against Utah State, I think they roll past them rather easily. W
Oct. 6 Boise State: Boise State used to have BYU's number but ever since this became an annual game the home team has won each year. W
Oct. 14 @ Mississippi State: BYU is going to beat one of these power opponents, I think they'll take this game. W
Oct. 21 @ East Carolina: Here's where the easily wins come in. W
Oct. 28 San Jose State: W
Nov. 4 Fresno State: W
Nov. 11 @ UNLV: W
Nov. 18 Massachusetts: W
Nov. 25 @ Hawai'i: This goes a little against the trend, but with Rolovich as the coach Hawai'i seems to have their attitude back, and with that comes the return of weird things happening on the island late in the year. Hawai'i takes the upset. L

Predicted Record: 9-4

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Massachusetts Minutemen

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Preview: Massachusetts was among the teams that moved up to FBS during the large influx of new teams recently. Some of them have struggled but a lot have had success. UMass is definitely one of those that have struggled. As a FBS member they have won between 1 and 3 games each year. They were originally brought up and joined the Mac, but once Temple left the Mac decided UMass wasn't worth the effort it would take to come up with a schedule for 13 teams, so the Mac left UMass by the roadside. Mark Whipple in 2014 took over as the head coach for his 2nd stint at UMass, his first was rather successful in 1998 he beat Paul Johnson's Georgia Southern team to win the FCS title. So far he has a bigger challenge this time, but it hasn't taken off yet. Seeing that he had success here before he does have a little bigger of a leash.

In all reality last year wasn't horrible for UMass, it just didn't show up in the win column. UMass opened the year at Florida and entering the 4th quarter they were right in the game only down 10-7, Florida wore them down and pulled away in the 4th to win 24-7. They lost 26-7 to Boston College the following week and then got a win as they beat FIU. UMass led Mississippi State at halftime before a bad 3rd quarter hurt them, still they got it back within 41-35 late in the 4th before Mississippi State iced the game away with a late TD. UMass lost by 7 to Tulane, then started to fall apart a little bit as Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech blew them out. UMass pulled it together again as they rallied but lost 34-28 to South Carolina, and then beat Wagner to get a win. UMass got blown out pretty badly by Troy and BYU but ended the year losing a 46-40 shootout at Hawai'i.

UMass struggled offensively until week 3 when QB Andrew Ford took over as the starter, from then on he never looked back. Ford was only a sophomore at the time and now he's an experienced junior, with how well he played it looks promising. UMass also had a sophomore starting last year in now junior RB Marquise Young. Andy Isabella was UMass' top receiver and he took is only a junior this year, there are also good potential young receivers in Brennon Dingle who looked good this spring and Sadiq Palmer who made a great catch against Mississippi State but otherwise was hurt and didn't play much. The star of the team is TE Adam Breneman who is perhaps one of the best TEs in the nation this year, he used to be on Penn State but actually retired at one point due to injuries before coming back and playing for UMass last year. UMass does have the concern of 3 starting offensive linemen departing.

UMass was mostly bad on defense throughout the year, especially late in the year but simply having experience might help. UMass only loses one starting defensive lineman and one backup. This unit is led by defensive end Sha-ki Holines and tackle Ali Ali-Musa. Most of UMass' linebackers return as well, seniors Steve Casili and Da'Sean Downey were both really good playmakers last year. UMass loses a starting safety and a corner in the secondary but everyone else is back. UMass has a lot of younger talent behind the seniors so they will be hoping those younger players can come in a rotate with the seniors or this defense could be in trouble in 2018.

UMass has a rather tough schedule this year unfortunately. Once again they take on a few SEC teams, play BYU and take on some of the better group of 5 teams in the nation (including South Florida). This might be the best team Massachusetts has had since joining FBS, this schedule makes it very unlikely that UMass will be bowl eligible this year but finally surpassing 3 wins is a reasonable target.

Predictions:

Aug. 26 Hawai'i: Another one of these "week 0" games, UMass and Hawai'i look ready to get in a shootout once again but I think UMass actually pulls the upset as this is a long cross-country trip for Hawai'i. W
Sep. 2 @ Coastal Carolina: This game already looked like a toss-up to me seeing that Coastal Carolina is tough to figure out, this is their season opener and with Moglia not being able to coach due to health issues this could be tough for them. W
Sep. 9 Old Dominion: I think UMass keeps this close but loses. L
Sep. 15 @ Temple: UMass' offense will get stopped too much to win this one. L
Sep. 23 @ Tennessee: L
Sep. 30 Ohio: With Ohio having some early season struggles I'm going with UMass to pull the upset. W
Oct. 14 @ South Florida: Blowout loss. L
Oct. 21 Georgia Southern. L
Oct. 28 Appalachian State: L
Nov. 4 @ Mississippi State: They'll find it difficult to even keep up with Mississippi State like they did last year. L
Nov. 11 Maine (Fenway Park): What?? Who's idea was it to have these two play in a baseball stadium? For the first time ever Fenway Park will be empty with a game going on. W
Nov. 18 @ BYU: L

Predicted Record: 4-8

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

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Preview: Notre Dame has certainly been far from boring these past two years. Notre Dame had mostly been steady under Brian Kelly and all of a sudden they're wildly unpredictable. In 2015 Notre Dame was hit really hard with injuries and despite all of that Brian Kelly took them to the Fiesta bowl in the best coaching job of his career. With all that experience back last year looked very promising only for Notre Dame to lose just about every close game they were in and they plummeted to 4-8 in the worst coaching job of Brian Kelly's career. What does he have in store next?

Last year opened with immediate disappointment, in a wild shootout against Texas Notre Dame ended up losing 50-47 in double overtime. They followed it up by easily beating Nevada and then had an awful game where they fell behind 36-7 against Michigan State before rallying to lose 36-28. Notre Dame followed that up by losing a shootout to Duke 38-35. Every loss seemed like it was a decent loss when it happened but in all reality these were 3 losses to teams that failed to even make a bowl. Notre Dame did manage to beat Syracuse 50-33. Notre Dame then lost 10-3 to NC State in a Hurricane induced monsoon game in which the field was flooded the entire game and both teams seemed like they did what they could to avoid scoring. It was such a beautiful display of poor football by both teams that I even did a fumble tracker for the game, in the end it was a blocked punt that NC State returned for a TD in the 4th quarter that gave them the win. Notre Dame seemingly dominated Stanford the next week leading 10-0 and then collapsed in the 2nd half allowing Stanford to win. Notre Dame nearly gave it away again the following week against Miami but managed to hold on for their one close win of the year. Navy dominated possession of the ball to beat Notre Dame the next week and then Notre Dame took some frustrations out on Army in a blowout win. Notre Dame then blew a 24-7 lead near the end of the first half to lose 34-31 to Virginia Tech, then Notre Dame collapsed for good in a blowout loss to USC.

Notre Dame's offense aside from the Hurricane game was mostly good, but they just had a problem with turnovers that occur at the most inopportune times. It was just the timing of the turnovers though, it was the fact that as soon as one happened it snowballed into multiple other issues. Notre Dame entered last year with a QB battle between DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire that ended quickly, Kizer was the starter and he was very talented but error prone. Now Kizer is off to the NFL and Zaire transferred to Florida. This year it seems Notre Dame has a starter picked out already in junior Brandon Wimbush, there's a lot of hype around him and delivering on that will be huge for a turnaround. RB Josh Adams is solid, and Dexter Williams can occasionally be good for a big play. The top receiver has an incredible name...Equanimeous St Brown, he is very tall and has proven to be reliable but is fast too, Tori Hunter Jr is gone but most of the other receivers return and so does the latest in the line of solid Notre Dame tight ends Durham Smythe. Notre Dame will have an absolutely fantastic offensive line this year, 4 of 5 starters are back and Notre Dame is extremely lucky to have left tackle Mike McGlinchey back as he could have been the top left tackle in this year's NFL draft, left guard Stephen Nelson makes it two potential first round picks on this line.

Notre Dame's defense was just simply horrible to start last year and Brian Kelly fired VanGorder 4 games into the season, afterwards the defense improved from horrible to only a little bad. It should be very interesting to see what the hire of Mike Elko brings to this defense. Notre Dame is going to be rather young on the defensive line, they had a mix of some upperclassmen and some really young players last year, two of the upperclassmen Jarron Jones and Isaac Rochell are gone. Notre Dame loses linebacker James Onwualu who had 11.5 TFL last year but besides him every single linebacker on the roster is back so this will be a strong experienced group. The secondary though is a major question mark, Notre Dame is looking at the possibility of starting 3 sophomores back there, and while all 3 played last year they did get burned a lot, so did the possible starter at safety in junior Nick Coleman. Notre Dame might get some help from Navy transfer Alohi Gilman but it is August and so far no news on his eligibility for this year.

Notre Dame as usual has a schedule filled with games against ACC teams, and rivals. They get the benefit of not playing Clemson, Florida State or Louisville though. The unusual opponents that grace their schedule this year are Temple, Miami (Oh) and most notably Georgia. This team has talent, but after the last two years it's difficult to predict what will happen. After last year's struggles the big key for Notre Dame's season is to avoid everyone getting a feeling of "oh no not this again" as soon as they hit the first sign of trouble. I actually do have faith in a Notre Dame rebound though.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Temple: Temple has to replace quite a bit from last year's team, I don't think they can keep up with Notre Dame. W
Sep. 9 Georgia: A huge statement opportunity for both teams here, Georgia still has some questions on their offensive line which Notre Dame's linebackers take advantage of, meanwhile Notre Dame's offense stays mostly mistake free in a big win. W
Sep. 16 @ Boston College: Just because it's Brian Kelly and Notre Dame I can't give them a statement win without them taking a random loss, Boston College has one of the tougher defenses Notre Dame faces and traditionally Boston College has given Notre Dame a tough time, even when Notre Dame is significantly better. L
Sep. 23 @ Michigan State: Another upset loss as Mark Dantonio seems to bring the best for his rivals, Notre Dame fans probably will be happy with this pick, I am always wrong on this game. L
Sep. 30 Miami (OH): W
Oct. 7 @ North Carolina: North Carolina has a lot to replace this year, unless a hurricane rolls in I think Notre Dame will take this one. W
Oct. 21 USC: Having the bye week could help but USC's passing game will be very capable of exploiting this secondary. L
Oct. 28 NC State: Sorry NC State there will be no hurricane, no punt blocks and no fumble tracker by me to save you this time. W
Nov. 4 Wake Forest: Elko goes up against his old team, I have a feeling Notre Dame takes this easily. W
Nov. 11 @ Miami (fl): Notre Dame absolutely has Miami's number, so much so they even beat them in a close game last year. Miami hasn't beaten them since 1989, I'm going with Notre Dame. W
Nov. 18 Navy: Notre Dame should be able to handle Navy this year. W
Nov. 25 @ Stanford: This game ends up being a close one but in the end I think Stanford takes it. L

Predicted Record: 8-4

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Alright everyone take your pick, which conference should I begin previewing tomorrow?

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Well that's the last time I give you fuckers a choice lol

Let's go with the Pac-12 then

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Arizona Wildcats

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Preview: The Rich Rod era seemed like it was a successful one at Arizona. His first several years were very good and it peaked with a Fiesta bowl appearance in 2014, but since then it has been a struggle. 2015 was an injury filled drop to a disappointing 7-6 record and last year was more of the same except worse as Arizona just collapsed completely. It seems this program is capable of random spurts but never seems quite able to maintain success. It was unfathomable entering the 2015 season but suddenly there is a possibility this season could be Rich Rod's last at Arizona.

Last year started with Arizona losing on a late field goal to BYU in the opener, then they really struggled falling behind 21-3 against Grambling State before Grambling State's QB got hurt and Arizona won 31-21. Arizona blew out Hawai'i and took a very good Washington team to the brink before losing in overtime. Then it was all downhill from there, Arizona was blown out by UCLA, easily beaten by Utah, destroyed by USC, blown out by Stanford, lost 69-7 (!) to Washington State. Then Arizona was blown out by Colorado and even blown out 42-17 by Oregon State a team seemingly thought to be stuck in the same misery. Arizona did at least get one highlight for the year as they completely demolished Arizona State 56-35 in the finale.

Arizona mostly struggled offensively before absolutely running all over the place on Arizona State in the finale. There's a lot of experience at least. QB Brandon Dawkins is probably known by most of the people here for tackling Miss Arizona during the Arizona State game (no news on if he got lucky after or not) but he is a fast mobile QB, not the best of throwers though. He's the favorite but there's some competition in 26 year old Donavan Tate, who was a first round pick....in baseball in 2009. Simply keeping a running back healthy would help, RB Nick Wilson was fantastic his freshman year, and plays well when he actually plays..problem is he hasn't gotten to play much since that 2014 season, sophomore J.J. Taylor played well against Hawai'i and Washington and then he got hurt for the year, Zach Green carried the ball the rest of the year and wasn't as good until the finale against Arizona State. WR Shun Brown was a very good slot receiver last year, and he's the only one of the top 4 receivers that is back, of course Brown was probably the best one to have back this passing game was miserable except for him. Just to add to the mess only two offensive linemen made it all 12 games last year, at least almost everyone is back so there's more experience now.

Arizona's defense was the first to collapse in 2015, and they tried making some changes but it just didn't work. Simply providing any sort of resistance against opposing offenses proved to be too much for this defense. The defensive line loses 2 of it's 3 starters and the most experienced players back are former walk-ons, linebacker might even be worse off as the top 5 are all gone, I mean what a mess. Good thing Arizona uses 5 defensive backs, because after using a lot of freshmen and sophomores back there, it means they have a lot of sophomores and juniors that are experienced returning. Secondary is a strength but something needs to happen up front to allow this defense to get off the field on occasion.

With the depth of this conference every schedule is tough. Arizona has a tough non-conference game against Houston, but the other two against Northern Arizona and UTEP should help. At the very least Arizona draws Cal, both Oregon schools and Washington State from the North, that's not easy by any means but definitely preferable to having to face Washington and Stanford. If everyone stays healthy I can see some sign of a rebound this year, but a full rebound from a collapse like this might not be possible this year with the competition in this league.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Northern Arizona: This opener should at least provide an easy win to start for Arizona. W
Sep. 9 Houston: Arizona upsets Houston as Houston doesn't quite have their ground game developed to take advantage of Arizona's defense. W
Sep. 15 @ UTEP: Interesting road trip to the Sun bowl, I'm not sure UTEP has a defense that's ready to stop Arizona's offense. W
Sep. 22 Utah: Conference play is where it gets difficult, chances are Arizona loses this one. L
Oct. 7 @ Colorado: Arizona won't be able to contain Colorado's offense. L
Oct. 14 UCLA: UCLA has absolutely had Arizona's number lately. L
Oct. 21 @ California: Two struggling teams get in a shootout, I'll go with Cal. L
Oct. 28 Washington State: Arizona likely gets crushed in this game. L
Nov. 4 @ USC: L
Nov. 11 Oregon State: Arizona manages to put up a fight but loses this game as well. L
Nov. 18 @ Oregon: Arizona's defense likely lets them down again here. L
Nov. 25 @ Arizona State: Arizona State could be worse off than Arizona is, once again Arizona runs all over them. W

Predicted Record: 4-8 (1-8)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Arizona State Sun Devils

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Preview: There isn't just one program in the state of Arizona going through a collapse, Arizona State is another one that seems to be falling apart as well. Todd Graham was hired the same season that Rich Rod was hired at Arizona, both led their respective programs to very good seasons and now both suddenly bear the burden of proof after a couple very bad seasons. Arizona State had injury issues at QB, which explains some of the trouble, other programs have also been very quick to pluck from Arizona State lately if they're looking for a new coordinator or they're a smaller program in need of a head coach and that could explain some of this collapse too. Suddenly Graham needs a rebound or his seat could get very warm very fast.

Last year really didn't start off so bad for Arizona State, they easily beat Northern Arizona and then beat Texas Tech in a ridiculous 68-55 shootout. Arizona State showed their first sign of struggles when they barely escaped UTSA's upset bid, then Arizona State beat Cal in a 51-41 shootout before being blown out by USC who was starting to surge. Arizona State did beat UCLA in a battle of teams losing QBs to injuries and then a collapse. Arizona State was blown out by Colorado, lost a shootout to Washington State, was blown out by an Oregon team that had it's own struggles, and then were blown out by Utah and Washington. Finally all they had to do was beat their miserable rival to salvage a bowl bid and avoid a complete collapse from a 5-1 start, and instead Arizona State was blown out 56-35.

Arizona State's offense could occasionally hit on some big pass plays early in the year to help in shootouts, but when QB Manny Wilkens started dealing with injuries the offense started to struggle. Wilkens wasn't the greatest either but at least the passing offense went somewhere when he was under center. Wilkens will be pushed by Alabama transfer Blake Barnett, Barnett started originally for Alabama last year, but struggled and took a lot of sacks, he quit the team once it was clear he wouldn't be the starter so that he could be eligible this year. Arizona State's running game seemingly vanished as the year went on, at least RB Demario Richard is back, he has flashed ability at times. Kalen Ballage was an all-around offense player, he played RB at times, played receiver and took snaps at QB in the wildcat formation. Ballage had an impressive 14 rushing touchdowns last year, at least until you realize exactly half of them were against Texas Tech. Arizona State has their leading receiver N'Keal Harry back but they lose their two solid slot receivers in Tim Wright and Fredrick Gammage and the injury prone Cameron Smith transferred to Notre Dame. Arizona State's offensive line struggled last year, and while they lose their left tackle just about everyone else is back...experience could help perhaps but this line is worrisome.

Arizona State's defensive collapse is another reason for their struggles. This defense was just simply bad and suffered an absolutely ridiculous amount of breakdowns. Arizona State at least seems to have a strength on the defensive line, JoJo Wicker and Tashon Smallwood combined for 20 TFLs last year and both of them return, some backups have shown good signs of playmaking ability as well. Arizona State brings back linebackers DJ Calhoun (11.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks) and Koron Crump (11.5 TFL, 9 sacks), and Christian Sam returns after basically being hurt all of last year. The secondary though is a problem, I mean it was almost like they weren't out there on the field, if a player got past the front 6 chances are they were taking it to the endzone. I really don't know if it will get any better. 2 of their top 4 corners graduated, and one of the remaining 2 transferred, one of their starting safeties retired from football due to injury issues.

Arizona State schedule does not favor them. It's pretty much rough beyond the opener against New Mexico State, they play a tough San Diego State team, and go on the road against Texas Tech in non-conference play. Arizona State has the misfortune of playing both Washington and Stanford from the north in addition to playing the Oregon schools. Things can fall apart fast, a rebound is always possible but I'm not too optimistic.

Predictions:

Aug. 31 New Mexico State: Arizona State should be able to win this game very easily. W
Sep. 9 San Diego State: San Diego State's defense will give Arizona's offense fits, meanwhile San Diego State will likely bust off some big runs to win. L
Sep. 16 @ Texas Tech: The black hole of defenseless, Arizona State's front 6 will hassle Tech's QB...at least enough for about 2 defensive stops... that's all they'll need. W
Sep. 23 Oregon: Arizona State has not beaten Oregon since 2004!! and this is the most winnable game until November...ouch. L
Sep. 30 @ Stanford: Stanford likely makes this a rough day for Arizona State. L
Oct. 14 Washington: Washington has not beaten Arizona State in Tempe since 2001, but like 2001 this year Washington will be good and Arizona State will be bad. L
Oct. 21 @ Utah: L
Oct. 28 USC: Sam Darnold is going to torch this defense. L
Nov. 4 Colorado: I'm not too optimistic about Arizona State making enough stops in this game either. L
Nov. 11 @ UCLA: Arizona State has a slight chance but most likely Rosen burns them. L
Nov. 18 @ Oregon State: Oregon State likely finds ways to score a lot on Arizona State also. L
Nov. 25 Arizona: Arizona State doesn't lose as badly this time but I trust Rich Rod just a little more than Graham. L

Predicted Record: 2-10(0-9)

 

[WizardHawk]

Wow. 2-10? Damn.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Wow. 2-10? Damn.

In all honesty now that Colorado is better it is a complete crapshoot to see who will be the worst team in the Pac-12, Arizona State is the team that I am least confident in. That secondary especially worries me, you can't have that bad of a secondary and hope to compete in this conference.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

California Golden Bears

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Preview: California has been struggling for a while now, they had several good years in the early days of Jeff Tedford back when future NFL stars like Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, and Desean Jackson were on campus. Eventually Tedford no longer had players like that and Cal collapsed under his watch. Sonny Dykes came in with an airraid offense, and after slowing building he had a good 8 win season in 2016, last year Cal dropped as expected but Dykes and the front office clearly weren't getting along, Dykes constantly flirted with other jobs and he was fired late in the cycle last year. In comes well traveled defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. Wilcox had been at several programs, though most in the Pac-12 but usually wherever he went an excellent defense followed, though there was a bit of a rough ending at USC but he rebounded with a fantastic defense at Wisconsin. Now we shall see what his first year brings, can he avoid having a complete reset year?

Last year started out rather dramatic. Cal opened the year beating Hawai'i in a shootout in Australia, then they lost 45-40 to a solid San Diego State team, then Cal upset Texas who at the time seemed like they were in the process of a rebound that too was a shootout (50-43.) Cal then lost a 51-41 shootout to Arizona State and upset Utah in a close game. Cal then lost a 47-44 shootout to Oregon State before beating Oregon 52-49, Cal was a lot of fun to watch early in the year. They collapsed though, as they were blown out by USC, Washington and Washington State. Cal rebounded a little bit late as they kept it slightly close against Stanford and they randomly dominated UCLA 36-10 in the finale.

Offense certainly hasn't been a problem for Cal, late last year they dropped off a little bit but not much. Wilcox will be keeping in a similar offensive philosophy as he brought in Eastern Washington head coach Beau Baldwin as his offensive coordinator, considering that Baldwin was in the running for some head coaching jobs and absolutely torched Pac-12 defenses for years, he is a great hire. There are some question marks though, QB Davis Webb threw every single pass besides one that was thrown by a punter, and now he's gone. There will be an inexperienced signal caller and the favorite is junior Chase Forrest. RB is less of a question mark, Khalfani Muhammad was the "starter" last year and he is now gone but they had a bit of a committee. RB Tre Watson does return, and he is a steady back with receiving ability, and there's Vic Enwere who's capable of breaking big runs. The receivers are exciting though, sophomores Demetris Robertson and Melquise Stovall both return. Robertson looks set to break out as a star receiver and Stovall is excellent in the slot, and we've already seen what Baldwin can do with receivers after his work with Eastern Washington receivers like Cooper Kupp. 3 experienced starters are gone from the offensive line so that is a bit of a question mark.

Cal was a team that just looked completely disinterested in the idea of playing defense, pretty much only Texas Tech had a worse defense than they did. Cal is switching their defensive alignment and they might have the players to pull it off. Two experienced defensive ends return after combining for 12.5 TFL last year, they both weigh around 280 pounds, and nose tackle Tony Mekari returns, he's 295 pound which isn't bad. The linebackers weren't all that good last year, they didn't make many plays as a unit. The good news is at least every linebacker returns, and JUCO transfer Alex Funches could help perhaps. One thing that didn't help the defense was how many injuries occurred in the secondary, there were a ridiculous number of defensive backs that shuffled in and out throughout the year, the good news is at least all but two of them are back. Corner Darius Allensworth played well in 2015 and only played in 6 games last year, the best safety that returns is Evan Rambo who tore his ACL in the season opener last year.

Cal's schedule is absolutely ridiculous, they are a contender for the toughest schedule in college football this year. Their non-conference features games against North Carolina and Ole Miss (though the recent troubles make Ole Miss much less daunting) and one easy game against Weber State. Cal has the misfortune of drawing USC as a cross-division opponent, and they also face Colorado, UCLA and Arizona from the South. Cal might actually be improved this year, but they would need a dramatic turnaround to even make a bowl against this schedule.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 @ North Carolina: If you're going to face North Carolina OOC at least do it in week one, North Carolina has dropped week 1 duds that make absolutely no sense in hindsight, so I'll go with an upset to keep that trend going. W
Sep. 9 Weber State: Cal should easily take this game. W
Sep. 16 Ole Miss: Ole Miss is a mystery because of everything going on there, Cal is the first opponent with a pulse that Ole Miss plays, this game is a late night kickoff that means nothing for Ole Miss so I think Cal could take this. W
Sep. 23 USC: Cal gets blown out in this game. L
Sep. 30 @ Oregon: This game is likely to be another shootout, I think Oregon takes it. L
Oct. 7 @ Washington: L
Oct. 13 Washington State: Wow Pac-12 after dark on Friday the 13th in October?? That should be fun, and it will be a scary night filled with bad luck for Cal. L
Oct. 21 Arizona: Cal will struggle to stop the run but I think they take this game in a shootout. W
Oct. 28 @ Colorado: Cal gets rolled in this game. L
Nov. 4 Oregon State: Cal struggles to stop Oregon State's run game in a loss. L
Nov. 18 @ Stanford: Cal hasn't beaten Stanford since 2009. L
Nov. 24 @ UCLA: This will likely be a close game with UCLA barely taking it. L

Predicted Record: 4-8(1-8)