Returning Starters
Offense: 8
Defense: 6

Key Player
Offense: Brian Johnson (QB)
Defense: Robert Johnson (FS)

Key Losses
Steve Tate (DB)

2007 Key Stats
9-4 (5-3)
Rushing Offense: 167 Yd/Game (43)
Passing Offense: 201 Yd/Game (81)
Scoring Offense : 26 Pt/Game (68)
Rushing Defense 144 Yd/Game (52)
Passing Defense: 184 Yd/Game (11)
Scoring Defense: 16 Pts/Game (5)
Sacks Allowed: 2.15/Game (67)

Schedule/Early Prediction
Aug. 30: @ Michigan
Sept. 6: UNLV
Sept. 13: @ Utah St.
Sept. 20: @ Air Force
Sept. 27: Weber St.
Oct. 2: Oregon St.
Oct. 11: @ Wyoming
Oct. 18: Colorado St.
Nov. 1: @ New Mexico
Nov. 6: TCU
Nov. 15: @ San Diego St.
Nov. 22: BYU

Italics: Loss- I’m convinced. E-Mail me your hate.

Summary

Under Kyle Whittingham Utah has made slow and steady improvements on both sides of the ball. Last year Utah struggled on offense at times but was generally held together by an aggressive, swarming defense which ranked in the Top 25. Despite losing 5 starters off defense, the offense returns enough to warrant a Top 25 placing and a schedule easy enough for Utah to talk about going bowling in January.

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Returning Starters
Offense: 7
Defense: 8

Key Player
Offense: Antonne Smith (RB)
Defense: Everett Brown (DE)

Key Losses
Geno Hayes (LB)

2007 Key Stats
7-6 (4-4)
Rushing Offense: 127 Yd/Game (91)
Passing Offense: 241 Yd/Game (47)
Scoring Offense : 23 Pt/Game (90)
Rushing Defense 116 Yd/Game (22)
Passing Defense: 245 Yd/Game (85)
Scoring Defense: 22 Pts/Game (34)
Sacks Allowed: 1.69/Game (T-41)

Schedule/Early Prediction
Sept. 6: Western Carolina
Sept. 13: Chattanooga
Sept. 20: Wake Forest
Sept. 27: @ Colorado (Jacksonville)
Oct. 4: @ Miami
Oct. 16: @ NC State
Oct. 25: Virginia Tech
Nov. 1: @ Georgia Tech
Nov. 8: Clemson
Nov. 15: Boston College
Nov. 22: @ Maryland
Nov. 29: Florida

Italics: Loss- I’m convinced. E-Mail me your hate.

Summary

This is a Florida State football team that has fantastic talent throughout defense and is in a rebuilding process on the offensive side of the ball. Many FSU fans will tell you they don’t deserve to be in the top 25, but well, I disagree. For once being the Florida homer I am I have to say that this is a FSU team very capable of surprising teams this year. Do I see a 11…12 win season out of the Noles? Not by a long shot, and I shall explain after the jump.

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Returning Starters
Offense: 7
Defense: 7

Key Player
Offense: Rudy Carpenter (QB)
Defense: Troy Nolan (S)

Key Losses
Brandon Rott (OT)
Robert Gustavis (OG)
Mike Pollak (C)
Julius Orieukwu (OT)
Zach Krula (OT)
Robert James (LB)

2007 Key Stats
10-3 (7-2)
Rushing Offense: 137 Yd/Game (77)
Passing Offense: 262 Yd/Game (34)
Scoring Offense : 37 Pt/Game (37)
Rushing Defense 116 Yd/Game (21)
Passing Defense: 228 Yd/Game (61)
Scoring Defense: 22 Pts/Game (31)
Sacks Allowed: 4.23/Game (117)

Schedule/Early Prediction
Aug. 30: Northern Arizona
Sept. 6: Stanford
Sept. 13: UNLV
Sept. 20: Georgia
Oct. 4: @ California
Oct. 11: @ USC
Oct. 25: Oregon
Nov. 1: @ Oregon St.
Nov. 8: @ Washington
Nov. 15: @ Washington State
Nov. 28: UCLA
Dec. 6: @ Arizona

Italics- Loss, I’m convinced. E-Mail me your hate.

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Returning Starters
Offense: 10
Defense: 7

Key Player
Offense: Ryan Mathews (RB)
Defense: Ben Jacobs (LB)

Key Losses
Marcus Riley (LB)

2007 Key Stats
9-4 (6-2)
Rushing Offense: 210 Yd/Game (14)
Passing Offense: 208 Yd/Game (71)
Scoring Offense : 32 Pt/Game (32)
Rushing Defense 181 Yd/Game (85)
Passing Defense: 226 Yd/Game (56)
Scoring Defense: 27 Pts/Game (60)
Sacks Allowed: 1.38/Game (22)

For those new to the statistical side of things, anything in parenthesis is the respective teams official NCAA Ranking in that specific category.

Schedule/Early Prediction
Sept. 1: @ Rutgers
Sept. 13: Wisconsin
Sept. 20: @ Toledo
Sept. 27: @ UCLA
Oct. 4: Hawaii
Oct. 11: Idaho
Oct. 25: @ Utah State
Nov. 1: @ Louisiana Tech
Nov. 7: Nevada
Nov. 15: New Mexico State
Nov. 21: @ San Jose State
Nov. 28: @ Boise State

Italics: Loss- I’m convinced. E-Mail me your hate.

Continue after the jump….

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A huge thanks to EA Sports’ Will Kinsler who was nice enough to invite me to their football community day this past week at the Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Florida. In this second part of a three part series, I will go over my experiences with NCAA Football 2009.

Initial Reaction
Upon arriving at EA Sports last week,I was told that NCAA Football 2009 would be the first game that I would play. Man, was I pumped and let me tell you, the producers and designers didn’t disappoint. I immediately took control of Knowshon Moreno and the Georgia Bulldogs. Wow! I have always jocked Georgia since Champ Bailey left, so don’t think I just played with them because they’re #1. I proceeded to lose my first match up against Justin from EA Sports World by a slim margin. Back to the game though. I was simply taken away at the “crisp” player controls and juke moves. Have you ever wanted to pull a little shimmy/shake on someone instead of using a cutback? Well in NCAA Football 2009, get ready to used that feature. The producers of the game added a whole new breakaway engine that allows you to take full control of the animated athletes. Designer Ben Haumiller explained that it is much easier to run in and out of tackles, slap a defensive player with a huge stiff arm or even pull the new shimmy/shake on them. If you can get a team that allows players to easily get to the flats, you could do some damage.

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The real story about last night’s Holiday Bowl wasn’t the easy win by Texas (although it sure brought any ASU sackriders down to earth.) It was the strange play that, for a short time, gave Arizona State tons of momentum. A member of Texas’ football operations staff, later identified as Chris Jessie, allegedly touched a ball squirming towards the Longhorns sidelines. The ball was eventually recovered by Texas and taken into Sun Devil territory. Instead, officials called unsportsmanlike conduct on Texas and gave the ball back to ASU inside the Texas 10.

In the end, not much came of it besides some laughs. ASU’s momentum was short-lived. A fake punt by Texas and two ASU personal fouls quickly took all of that momentum away and got Jessie, Mack Brown’s step-son, off the hook. I don’t watch Texas much but it seems like their sideline must constantly get involved in these controversies. After all, on any given play, more than half the coaching staff is a couple steps on the field. Luckily for Jessie and Texas, his brain fart didn’t change the end result of the game: A convincing Texas win.