Fansided College Football Roundtable
By Editorial Staff
August 16th, one of the last mondays of 2010 that you’ll have to sit in your office wondering how much longer until college football starts. Only a few days stand between you and the smell of fresh cut astro turf grass. Before we start hunkering down and going into the positional previews we’re going to touch on a few questions you might have as a non Penn State fan. We will also step back and look at the greater landscape of college football. Make sure to check out the rest of the Fansided college network for answers to these questions for 14 other college football teams.
1. One Penn State player that will be a household name by seasons end.
I’m going to have to go with Michael Mauti. He isn’t really an unknown player having played in every game during the 2008 season, but after having to sit out the 2009 season with a torn ACL most casual fans have forgotten the “Cajun Connor“. Of the returning linebackers this year Mauti is probably lined up to be the next great at Linebacker U. As long as he stays healthy Mauti should be one of the leaders on the defensive side of the ball. He really is coming back from the same sort of injury Sean Lee had, and Lee was able to rack up 86 tackles during his return season. It remains to be seen if Mauti will be on the same level as Sean Lee, but the blueprint for success after an ACL injury has been laid out.
2. Game on your schedule that doesn’t get talked about but should.
I think this years schedule played out in a pretty black and white fashion. The tough games are pretty easy to spot, I’ll be the millionth person to point out that Penn State is playing 3 BCS bowl winners from the year before all on the road, (Iowa, Alabama, and Ohio State). Outside of those games it seems pretty straight forward. That being said the game to me stands out as a possible pot hole in whatever sort of season Penn State has going for them, is against Temple.
Based on Temple’s growth as a program over the past few years this would be the best chance for them to beat Penn State. They went 9-4 last year and have gone 15-9 in the MAC since 2007. Al Golden has done a terrific job building the program to the level that they are at now and in theory this could be the season that turns their program around. I honestly believe that Penn State has scheduled them yearly for an easy win, and a way to help the program a long. In a sense they’re seeing what Golden is made of as he is in a lot of the conversations as to whom would succeed Paterno.
When it comes down to the actual game Temple is going to have to do a lot of things right to win the game. They do have a talented running back in Bernard Pierce and a DE/LB Adrian Robinson who was tied for 6th in the nation in sacks last season, but that talent alone probably won’t be enough to beat the Nittany Lions. Penn State should win the game, but I wouldn’t be suprised to see Temple put up a good fight.
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3. First glance at your schedule, whats your record?
Looking over it in a 30 second glance you can really make a case for anything between 10-3 and 8-5. I think it’ll land somewhere in between at a 9-4 record. Unless the offensive line and quarterbacking situations come together faster than most people think winning at Alabama, Iowa and Ohio State seem like long shots. Iowa could possible be a win if Ricky Stanzi has an off night, but their defense is turning into one of the best in the nation. Outside of those three games Minnesota and Michigan State could both prove to be an issue. Minnesota should be better this year and Michigan State is getting tired of losing so badly, not to mention there is almost always one game you lose that you don’t expect to. I’d put those two games up as the ones to watch. Michigan also could pull it out, but Rich Rod doesn’t seem to really know whats going on. Plus a night game in Happy Valley doesn’t sound too bright for the Wolverines.
4. Teams biggest weakness:
I think picking the quarterback position is too big of a cop out. As fas as weaknesses that I already know about, the offensive line still has a lot to prove. People threw Clark under the bus post Iowa and Ohio State, but he had absolutely no help. If your offensive line can’t give you a good push up front you’re in for a long season. They did well enough when it counted, but in big games they didn’t have that extra level. Moving Stefen Wisniewski back to guard will help a lot, but I don’t see the offensive line being as strong as some people are billing it to be. A strong offensive line is the 2008 line, not the 2009 one.
The rest of college football-
5. Which unranked team will be ranked at the end of the season?
I think Cincinnati has a chance to have a very strong season again, Zach Collaros proved to have what it takes when Tony Pike got injured and they have a pretty mixed bag when it comes to a schedule. It isn’t unreasonable to see them going 5-2 in the Big East and 9-3 overall. Mardy Gilyard will be tough to replace, but Cincinnati won so many shootouts last season that one of their 7 returning starters should be able to step up. Defensively on paper they’re a more experienced team, so in theory it’s all about getting the parts moving at the same time. That whole new coach issue could be an issue.
6. Which ranked team will look back and want to redo their season?
Looking over the Top 25 the first team that really jumps out at me is Florida State. They’re a talented group, but they’re dealing with a new headcoach now that Bowden has stepped down and at times last year they just looked down right awful. FSU’s biggest issue was giving up points (30 points allowed per game gave them a 94th place ranking) and they have a tough schedule. New coach, suspect defense. It could be ok for FSU fans, but it just doesn’t seem to bode well.
7. Season end top 5
- Boise State
- Iowa
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Alabama