Thoughts on our opponents this next year ....

[MarkL]

I took a good look at our opponents this year and have some thoughts on a each of them ...

Troy - This might be the first time in a while that Troy doesn't win the Sun Belt. They've got a good team as usual, but there's a ton of holes to fill, starting at QB. Troy will be a tough environment for our team to play in. It will be really hot and humid. Think @FIU 2006. Which also worries me a lot ... because the game after that against Kent, we were missing around 1/4 of our starters due to injuries sustained in that humidity. It's just really tough to prepare to play in the deep south when you can't practice in those conditions.

Tulsa - We owe them a vengeance beating. 'nuff said.

Marshall - They lost their star RB but other than that, they should have a pretty solid offense. Marshall defensively was very hit or miss last year. I don't know much about the new coach Doc Holliday or what he plans to do with the team. That being said, playing a team in a coach's first year is generally the best time to play them.

Michigan - We win and RichRod is fired the next day. That being said ... I'm sensing a turnaround in Ann Arbor this year. This game's going to be really tough. Michigan defensively has looked more like Indiana than Michigan recently and that might remain. They're going to be very young but talented in the secondary. RichRod finally has the players he wants on offense. If we win, it will be in a shootout. Whoever wins QB for us better be ready!

Buffalo - I love the hire of Jeff Quinn at Buffalo. He was Brian Kelly's offensive coordinator and according to a couple insiders I know of the UC program, Quinn was more of an Xs and Os genius than Kelly. UB's going to get really good fast under Quinn IMO. Must win this homecoming game ... we haven't won one since the 2007 slaughter of WKU. Last four games against UB were instant classics, including two OT games at BG including ... yeah let's forget that crap happened. IMO, BG has evolved into UB's rival in the MAC as they have no historic rivalries with anyone in the conference.

Ohio - The away team has won the last four. Frank Solich really has got a good team on his hands. I picked OU as last in the east going into this past season and ... well ... I guess they outperformed my expectations and made me look dumb. Is Solich's DUI the reason he's still in Athens? Unless there's something I'm missing, I thought it a little odd that his name didn't come up at least in rumors for the Michigan job a couple years ago, and if we beat Michigan, I hope his name comes up in Ann Arbor the next day.

Temple - Turnaround is complete. Temple is legit. This is going to be a really tough game and our run defense will have their hands full with that RB Pierce. And, the team is probably going to be bruised and beat up after this one. Temple is very physical along both lines. I really wish our bye week were after this one.

Kent State - Doug Martin leads the team to a bowl game this year or he's gone IMO. Kent does not recruit high profile players, but they continue to put players into the NFL. Why on earth, though, does that not translate to winning seasons? One word ... coaching. Add to that, there was a little incident involving the coaching staff not taking concussions seriously, I think this might be Martin's last year at Kent barring a turnaround. That being said, they had a true freshman QB last year in Spencer Keith who looks like a future all-Mac performer. The kid put up 70 TD passes in his last year of HS. No excuses for Martin this year.

CMU - I thought CMU was really dumb a few years back in hiring some unknown WR coach from WVU to replace Brian Kelly. Three years, two MAC championships, two consecutive wins over Big 10 teams, and only three conference losses later, Butch Jones is now at Cincinnati and I again think CMU made a dumb move in hiring some unknown RB coach from MSU. Hi Dan Enos ... are you going to make me look stupid again? CMU is probably still the most talented team in the conference but they've got some big names to replace. Defense was top of the conference last year and that might carry over to this year. That MLB Bellore is the real deal. We're catching them at the perfect time with the rebuilding year on offense and the new HC and all. That being said, I'd still have rather drawn EMU from the west.

Miami - I thought Haywood was a stupid hire when they picked him up and it looks like so far I'm correct. Sure, he had a really young team to work with, but they went from at least being in games in 2008 to just playing dead in 2009. That being said, there's enough talent returning to make me think winning four or five games this year is an attainable goal. We still should be able to beat them, though. In GB's first year, we went 0-2 vs Miami and he went a total of 1-5 vs them. DC's already started out well going 1-0. Like Kent, they've got a pretty good looking QB who was a freshman last year. Like all recent Miami QBs, though, Dysert spent more time grass stained than standing. O line needs work. And so does the defense, giving up 42, 42, and 48 in the first three weeks.

Toledo - <rant>. Beckman has accomplished absolutely nothing as a coach, only as a recruiter. When he was a DC here, his defenses were dreadful until some young guy named Urban Meyer showed up, and the 2001 defense was one of the top few in the conference. Either Beckman out of nowhere became some great coordinator, or the turnaround was reflective of the head coach motivating his players to play to their absolute best. Guess which one I'm going with. Defense stayed good until and including 2003, GB's first year, when it was still essentially Meyer's team. 2004, when it started to become GB's team with mostly GB's influence, the defense started looking bad. Then he headed to Ohio State where he had all the talent in the world and where it's impossible to put up bad numbers. Those players could have coached themselves. Then he headed to OKSt for three years as DC where his defenses never finished above 89th in the country. First year where somebody other than Beckman was DC, their defense jumped to 32nd. As UT's head coach, he led the team to two more wins than the previous year, which was the minimum everyone expected as they had over 90% of lettermen returning. In other words ... Beckman has accomplished absolutely nothing as a coach. All he can do is recruit, not do anything with those players. No real reason to believe the hype UT has been getting. Expect 5-7 or so again.</rant>

WMU - WMU has outstanding coaching. Bill Cubit is a guy I really respect for coaching his guys the right way, getting the most out of them, and in each of 2006, 2007, and 2008, they beat a BCS team who would have been bowl eligible had they not lost to the Broncos. That is in sharp contrast to UT's wins over craptastic BCS teams that finished 3-9 or so. WMU hasn't yet put together a complete season under Cubit, but they've always been at least dangerous. Playing them at the end of the season when they're gelling nicely could be scary. That being said, WMU traveled to lowly Ball State for the finale last year and gave the Cards their second win of the season.

OK ... there's some thoughts. Feel free to add. Actually, please add and discuss. Part of why I wrote this up is I'm sick of all the alignment crap.

Let's talk BG Football already! Go Falcons!

[Redwingtom]

Toledo - <rant>...In other words ... Beckman has accomplished absolutely nothing as a coach. All he can do is recruit, not do anything with those players.</rant>

Maybe so, but he is the twitter master!
http://twitter.com/coachbeckman

[Falconfreak90]

I took a good look at our opponents this year and have some thoughts on a each of them ...

Troy - This might be the first time in a while that Troy doesn't win the Sun Belt. They've got a good team as usual, but there's a ton of holes to fill, starting at QB. Troy will be a tough environment for our team to play in. It will be really hot and humid. Think @FIU 2006. Which also worries me a lot ... because the game after that against Kent, we were missing around 1/4 of our starters due to injuries sustained in that humidity. It's just really tough to prepare to play in the deep south when you can't practice in those conditions.

Tulsa - We owe them a vengeance beating. 'nuff said.

Marshall - They lost their star RB but other than that, they should have a pretty solid offense. Marshall defensively was very hit or miss last year. I don't know much about the new coach Doc Holliday or what he plans to do with the team. That being said, playing a team in a coach's first year is generally the best time to play them.

Michigan - We win and RichRod is fired the next day. That being said ... I'm sensing a turnaround in Ann Arbor this year. This game's going to be really tough. Michigan defensively has looked more like Indiana than Michigan recently and that might remain. They're going to be very young but talented in the secondary. RichRod finally has the players he wants on offense. If we win, it will be in a shootout. Whoever wins QB for us better be ready!

Buffalo - I love the hire of Jeff Quinn at Buffalo. He was Brian Kelly's offensive coordinator and according to a couple insiders I know of the UC program, Quinn was more of an Xs and Os genius than Kelly. UB's going to get really good fast under Quinn IMO. Must win this homecoming game ... we haven't won one since the 2007 slaughter of WKU. Last four games against UB were instant classics, including two OT games at BG including ... yeah let's forget that crap happened. IMO, BG has evolved into UB's rival in the MAC as they have no historic rivalries with anyone in the conference.

Ohio - The away team has won the last four. Frank Solich really has got a good team on his hands. I picked OU as last in the east going into this past season and ... well ... I guess they outperformed my expectations and made me look dumb. Is Solich's DUI the reason he's still in Athens? Unless there's something I'm missing, I thought it a little odd that his name didn't come up at least in rumors for the Michigan job a couple years ago, and if we beat Michigan, I hope his name comes up in Ann Arbor the next day.

Temple - Turnaround is complete. Temple is legit. This is going to be a really tough game and our run defense will have their hands full with that RB Pierce. And, the team is probably going to be bruised and beat up after this one. Temple is very physical along both lines. I really wish our bye week were after this one.

Kent State - Doug Martin leads the team to a bowl game this year or he's gone IMO. Kent does not recruit high profile players, but they continue to put players into the NFL. Why on earth, though, does that not translate to winning seasons? One word ... coaching. Add to that, there was a little incident involving the coaching staff not taking concussions seriously, I think this might be Martin's last year at Kent barring a turnaround. That being said, they had a true freshman QB last year in Spencer Keith who looks like a future all-Mac performer. The kid put up 70 TD passes in his last year of HS. No excuses for Martin this year.

CMU - I thought CMU was really dumb a few years back in hiring some unknown WR coach from WVU to replace Brian Kelly. Three years, two MAC championships, two consecutive wins over Big 10 teams, and only three conference losses later, Butch Jones is now at Cincinnati and I again think CMU made a dumb move in hiring some unknown RB coach from MSU. Hi Dan Enos ... are you going to make me look stupid again? CMU is probably still the most talented team in the conference but they've got some big names to replace. Defense was top of the conference last year and that might carry over to this year. That MLB Bellore is the real deal. We're catching them at the perfect time with the rebuilding year on offense and the new HC and all. That being said, I'd still have rather drawn EMU from the west.

Miami - I thought Haywood was a stupid hire when they picked him up and it looks like so far I'm correct. Sure, he had a really young team to work with, but they went from at least being in games in 2008 to just playing dead in 2009. That being said, there's enough talent returning to make me think winning four or five games this year is an attainable goal. We still should be able to beat them, though. In GB's first year, we went 0-2 vs Miami and he went a total of 1-5 vs them. DC's already started out well going 1-0. Like Kent, they've got a pretty good looking QB who was a freshman last year. Like all recent Miami QBs, though, Dysert spent more time grass stained than standing. O line needs work. And so does the defense, giving up 42, 42, and 48 in the first three weeks.

Toledo - <rant>. Beckman has accomplished absolutely nothing as a coach, only as a recruiter. When he was a DC here, his defenses were dreadful until some young guy named Urban Meyer showed up, and the 2001 defense was one of the top few in the conference. Either Beckman out of nowhere became some great coordinator, or the turnaround was reflective of the head coach motivating his players to play to their absolute best. Guess which one I'm going with. Defense stayed good until and including 2003, GB's first year, when it was still essentially Meyer's team. 2004, when it started to become GB's team with mostly GB's influence, the defense started looking bad. Then he headed to Ohio State where he had all the talent in the world and where it's impossible to put up bad numbers. Those players could have coached themselves. Then he headed to OKSt for three years as DC where his defenses never finished above 89th in the country. First year where somebody other than Beckman was DC, their defense jumped to 32nd. As UT's head coach, he led the team to two more wins than the previous year, which was the minimum everyone expected as they had over 90% of lettermen returning. In other words ... Beckman has accomplished absolutely nothing as a coach. All he can do is recruit, not do anything with those players. No real reason to believe the hype UT has been getting. Expect 5-7 or so again.</rant>

WMU - WMU has outstanding coaching. Bill Cubit is a guy I really respect for coaching his guys the right way, getting the most out of them, and in each of 2006, 2007, and 2008, they beat a BCS team who would have been bowl eligible had they not lost to the Broncos. That is in sharp contrast to UT's wins over craptastic BCS teams that finished 3-9 or so. WMU hasn't yet put together a complete season under Cubit, but they've always been at least dangerous. Playing them at the end of the season when they're gelling nicely could be scary. That being said, WMU traveled to lowly Ball State for the finale last year and gave the Cards their second win of the season.

OK ... there's some thoughts. Feel free to add. Actually, please add and discuss. Part of why I wrote this up is I'm sick of all the alignment crap.

Let's talk BG Football already! Go Falcons!

Good post, Mark. I can see BG going anywhere from 4-8 to 8-4. We have a lot of questions marks but have some very solid talent. A lot of teams on the 2010 sked are in the same boat. Only 68 days til kickoff in Troy!!!!

BEAT TROY!

[MUTeke]

Marshall - They lost their star RB but other than that, they should have a pretty solid offense. Marshall defensively was very hit or miss last year. I don't know much about the new coach Doc Holliday or what he plans to do with the team. That being said, playing a team in a coach's first year is generally the best time to play them.

Darius Marshall declared early for the NFL Draft this spring against the advice of just about everyone in Huntington. He went undrafted and has yet to be picked up as a free agent. It's a shame too... I think he could have benefited as an individual from the discipline that Holliday and his staff have brought to Huntington. We return Martin Ward(Pizza Bowl MVP) and Andre Booker(returned a punt for a TD in the Pizza Bowl) at running back.

We have a QB controversy this season though. Brian Anderson is a senior who has never quite lived up to his Lexington Male High School pedigree. AJ Graham is a redshirt freshman, the 2008 Mr. Florida in football has impressed this spring and summer. Also in the mix, and expected to win the job, is Clemson post-graduate transfer Willy Korn.

Holliday hired Bill Legg from FIU to be the Herd's OC. Prior to FIU, Legg was the OC at Purdue for years. He was an assistant coach under Pruett when Leftwich was here and promised to bring back the vertical passing game that's been missing at Marshall since 2005. We will operate predominately out of the shotgun utilizing 4-5 WRs. If Anderson is the QB then we expect more of a vertical passing game, if it's AJ we expect more of the zone read and short screens/routes, if it's Korn we're expecting a more balanced attack.

Defensively, we return the most experienced and deepest D-lines in CUSA. Mario Harvey returns at ILB and was benefited from the Florida Strength and Conditioning Program brought to Huntington by Doc's new S&C coach. He has dropped about 15 pounds and reportedly ran a sub 4.4 this summer. The defensive backfield will be a big question mark. Some of Doc's highly touted recruits may be counted on to contribute there this season as freshmen.

The punter returns but the kicker is a complete unknown at this point.

That all being said Holliday has proven to be an incredible recruiter so far, bringing in Marshall's most talented recruiting class in it's history, including the program's first Rivals 4 star recruit. To this point he has proven to be a strict disciplinarian that command's respect and results. How that all translates to wins and losses remains to be seen. The expectations are certainly high for him. He inherited a program in much better shape than the one his predecessor did. He has a full allotment of scholarships and a proven Athletic Director that is committed to moving the program forward.

Doc has more than 30 years of coaching experience. His learning curve shouldn't be the same as if we would have hired some hot shot up and coming kid. Right now he has resurrected the excitement and the mystique, but if he only wins 3 or 4 games next season Herd fans could turn on him quickly.

I would expect a lot of Herd fans to make the trip up to BG in September. Here is a 6 minute highlight clip of the Green/White game this April. It's on the bottom left of the media player.

http://www.wsaz.com/marshallsports/head ... 27939.html

[Trojan Delta Chi]

I took a good look at our opponents this year and have some thoughts on a each of them ...

Troy - This might be the first time in a while that Troy doesn't win the Sun Belt. They've got a good team as usual, but there's a ton of holes to fill, starting at QB. Troy will be a tough environment for our team to play in. It will be really hot and humid. Think @FIU 2006. Which also worries me a lot ... because the game after that against Kent, we were missing around 1/4 of our starters due to injuries sustained in that humidity. It's just really tough to prepare to play in the deep south when you can't practice in those conditions.

You'll be surprised to see just how little a dropoff Troy is going to experience. We may have lost a lot of starters, but we have reached a point where depth allows us to plug those holes immediately with talent and speed. The QB position is not a problem for us. We have three guys who could all start for any team in your Conference or ours. Out of those three one will emerge and lead us just as efficiently as Levi Brown did (of course no one can replace him though). Expect the Trojan offense to be just as, if not more, explosive than last season.

Defense is where we lost the most. 8 starters gone off last year's roster. However, we have two transfers, some JUCO kids, and some very good backups stepping in to fill the shoes. The unit looked GREAT against our first team offense at the first scrimmage and we are all excited about how well they have gelled in such a short time. Your offense may struggle against these kids.

As for the weather, yeah your boys are going to have a hard time. It's been in the 100's every single day for two months now. The turf is also artificial so it'll be much hotter than regular grass. With the tempo of our offense and the weather being what Alabama weather is, i'd expect to see your Falcons sucking wind and falling behind by the second half.

We're really excited about BGSU coming to Troy. we're ready for some payback.

[NWLB]

Toledo - <rant>...In other words ... Beckman has accomplished absolutely nothing as a coach. All he can do is recruit, not do anything with those players.</rant>

Maybe so, but he is the twitter master!
http://twitter.com/coachbeckman

Indeed, he is a master twit.

[Falconfreak90]

I took a good look at our opponents this year and have some thoughts on a each of them ...

Troy - This might be the first time in a while that Troy doesn't win the Sun Belt. They've got a good team as usual, but there's a ton of holes to fill, starting at QB. Troy will be a tough environment for our team to play in. It will be really hot and humid. Think @FIU 2006. Which also worries me a lot ... because the game after that against Kent, we were missing around 1/4 of our starters due to injuries sustained in that humidity. It's just really tough to prepare to play in the deep south when you can't practice in those conditions.

As for the weather, yeah your boys are going to have a hard time. It's been in the 100's every single day for two months now. The turf is also artificial so it'll be much hotter than regular grass. With the tempo of our offense and the weather being what Alabama weather is, i'd expect to see your Falcons sucking wind and falling behind by the second half.

We're really excited about BGSU coming to Troy. we're ready for some payback.

Good thing temps have been in the 90's and humid the past two months so we're used to it. Also, our turf is artificial as well.

I like our chances to win in Troy and perhaps the tempo of our offense will have your Trojans sucking wind.

BEAT TROY...AGAIN.

[factman]

If it's gonna be in the 100's at gametime, that is a damn good reason to NOT make the trip!!!!!

[Trojan Delta Chi]

I took a good look at our opponents this year and have some thoughts on a each of them ...

Troy - This might be the first time in a while that Troy doesn't win the Sun Belt. They've got a good team as usual, but there's a ton of holes to fill, starting at QB. Troy will be a tough environment for our team to play in. It will be really hot and humid. Think @FIU 2006. Which also worries me a lot ... because the game after that against Kent, we were missing around 1/4 of our starters due to injuries sustained in that humidity. It's just really tough to prepare to play in the deep south when you can't practice in those conditions.

As for the weather, yeah your boys are going to have a hard time. It's been in the 100's every single day for two months now. The turf is also artificial so it'll be much hotter than regular grass. With the tempo of our offense and the weather being what Alabama weather is, i'd expect to see your Falcons sucking wind and falling behind by the second half.

We're really excited about BGSU coming to Troy. we're ready for some payback.

Good thing temps have been in the 90's and humid the past two months so we're used to it. Also, our turf is artificial as well.

I like our chances to win in Troy and perhaps the tempo of our offense will have your Trojans sucking wind.

BEAT TROY...AGAIN.

Haha, well best of luck to you guys. I'm really feeling a Trojan win this time around, but you can never be sure until it is behind you.

[jpfalcon09]

Love the smack talk, means the season is near!

Truth is, no one knows what each team will bring. That's the great thing about the start of a season, hopes and expectations are high.

I expect a good game against a very good Troy team, and I don't see weather being a huge issue. We had 18 90+ degree days up here, and numerous in the upper 80s with ridiculous amount of humidity.

May the best team win!

[kdog27]

Birmingham had their record streak of 90 degree days come to an end yesterday at 50 in a row (it was 89 yesterday, and the old record was 37 straight days). It also had been almost 2 months since low temperatures hit the 60's until yesterday. It has been especially hot down here this summer. I know Ohio has it's share of hot days, but not quite like this. Heat indexes were 110 around most days this summer. Troy is a tad further South so they have similar weather.

Not saying it even matters, but just saying.