Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

Hello BG fans and happy new year. I, as a Badger fan must now turn my attention to your team for the long 9 month off-season. You guys gave us a good run at the Camp last fall and I would not expect anything less this time.

Tell me, is there any word on Omar yet? I have not been able to find much. If there is no official word then what is your gut feeling.

We are going thru the same type of thing with B. Calhoun and Joe Thomas. Word has it JT is staying. Calhoun is still up in the air.

Taking Omar out of the equation, are you suppose to be stronger or weaker next year? Where are you going to have the most experience?

Omar - the general belief is that he will go pro. Nobody is quite sure when the final decision will be announced.

Calhoun - I really hope he goes pro.

Without Omar - alot of people think we're headed for a rough season without Omar. I don't. Our OOC schedule is absolutely brutal, including dates with Wisconsin, Boise State (18 or 19 returning starters), and the Suckeyes in Columbus. Anthony Turner will likely be our starting QB. He got 3 starts this year going 1-2 in MAC games when Omar got hurt. He looked shaky at times in those games, but he wasn't given much of an offense to run either. The coaches seemed to hold his hand during those games. The kid looked flat out awesome in the Spring Game last year and has a ton of potential. I think he will have a great year.

We lose many of our best skill players on offense, including Charles Sharon, Steve Sanders, P.J. Pope, and B.J. Lane. Returning are Corey Partridge and Marques Parks at WR. Both were injured for quite a bit of last year, but they both showed promise in their time on the field. A bunch of unproven, young guys and rising seniors that haven't seen much PT round out the receivers. True soph running back Bobby Thomas showed flashes last year and Dan Macon (redshirt last year - junior) will finally get a chance for significant action. The offensive line loses Rob Warren, but should be improved from last year.

On defense, I think we will be much better. Devon Parks can be an absolute terror at DE when he wants to and Dyrall Briggs showed good pass rushing ability late in the year. Brad Williams also returns at DE. On the inside of the DL are a couple of young guys, Nick Davis and Brandon Curtis, that got a little playing time last year, but will get much more this year. A question mark is Matt Leininger who was out last year following some off-the-field issues. If he comes back, I can only assume that he will start.

At linebacker, Terell White will be our leader. He just makes a ton of tackles. The other linebackers are inexperienced and could be a question mark. Who plays at those spots is up in the air IMO. In the defensive backfield, we return true soph. Antonio Smith at one corner and Kenny Lewis (another true soph) will likely man the other corner. Safety is another question mark with one of last year's starters (Deaudre Perry) status unknown. From head coach Gregg Brandon's comments, we had a lot of young guys on defense that we redshirted last year that could really play. I'm sure those guys will all get a chance to play if they show their stuff in practice. I am interested to see the improvement in this unit with Coach Lovett (defensive coordinator) having an entire spring and summer with the team.

Our current recruiting class seems to be fantastic. From Brandon's comments, some of these guys could see significant action next year.

I can't wait for September 2nd!! Enjoy the offseason. If you happen to see Brian Calhoun walking around campus, remind him how much money NFL players make.

BGGrad01 wrote:A question mark is Matt Leininger who was out last year following some off-the-field issues. If he comes back, I can only assume that he will start.

Unfortunately, Matt is done here at BG. Not just with football, but school as well. If anyone explodes and goes off saying this is the end of the world, I sure hope the posts get deleted. He's taking the next steps in his life and I wish him the best as I hope all of you do as well!

Sorry to hear that Matt has moved on. I hope he finishes his education and lives a long, happy life.

If Minturn, Hardwick, Frericks and James all stay in the program, we'll be looking pretty good at that spot. We've had a tough time keeping DT's in the program (Wallace, Durham, Leininger, Campbell and Latkiwicz and I'm sure I forgot one or two)so it wouyld be nice to build some quality depth. Brandon Mack slid over some from DE last year and he looked pretty good. There were times that he and Briggs lined up alongside each other and looked pretty disruptive....if somewhat undersized.

I look for some marked improvement next year on defense. The unit was very unsettled last year...we had true freshmen walking in and getting spots on the two deep in the secondary and you had DB's getting moved to LB...with all of that confusion out of the way, I think they can't help but be improved.

I really don't want to face Calhoun again.

Everyone here has pretty much covered what BG might look like next year. I think our D will be vastly improved. Sure we have to replace lots of skill players on offense but I'm confident young guys will step up.

I am so sorry to hear Matt Leininger is done....I really am. I loved watching him play for BG and he was always great with kids after games. Matt, I wish you nothing but the best. I hope everything turns out for ya.

GO FALCONS!

Metz wrote:

BGGrad01 wrote:A question mark is Matt Leininger who was out last year following some off-the-field issues. If he comes back, I can only assume that he will start.

Unfortunately, Matt is done here at BG. Not just with football, but school as well. If anyone explodes and goes off saying this is the end of the world, I sure hope the posts get deleted. He's taking the next steps in his life and I wish him the best as I hope all of you do as well!

I wish him well, too. I have never heard anyone say anything is the end of the world on AZZ, however.

Look for Brad to move back inside. He said over break that he has been told to be ready to play DT next year.

ironmikecw wrote:Look for Brad to move back inside. He said over break that he has been told to be ready to play DT next year.

Some had speculated that. Thanks for the confirmation. I'm willing to bet that Winovich ends up at DE, then, too. Planning on lots of second-helpings at the summer cookouts this year?

I thought Winovich was moving back to QB, with Omar leaving and AT stinking and all.

Warthog wrote:I thought Winovich was moving back to QB, with Omar leaving and AT stinking and all.

well-played