Thoughts on all 12 opponents of 2012

[MarkL]

Long post alert. I ramble a lot.

So I posted one of these in 2010 and it got a ton of comments. Posted the same in 2011 and it got a ton more but ended up being an annoying fit over the merits of playing an FCS team. So with that in mind ... here comes the no-comments-regarding-non-conference-scheduling-of-FCS-team-or-other-scheduling-decisions thoughts for the 12 opponents of 2012. This isn't a season prediction, just one guy's thoughts ...

Florida. Damn good team. Seriously. Damn good team. UF is among the most talented teams in the country and got stuck last year with a donut-eating offense coordinator. Now they ditched the guy who got away with cheating and was lucky enough to have Tom Brady as his QB and Bill Belicheck as his HC and now get a real OC. The new guy is nothing short of a genius and proved it at Boise State. OK, so maybe I should give Weis a little bit of credit. He could go toe-to-toe with Amstutz at any Golden Corral. UF has one of the brightest defensive minds in the country as a HC and one of the brightest offensive minds as OC, to go with a roster returning just about all the starters on defense from last year. Muschamp had a good year to kick off all the players who wouldn't try hard and implement his style of practice and play. Now all they have to do is reload a bit on offense and find a QB who will play fine. This is one outstanding team and it wouldn't shock me in the slightest if they win the SEC East in 2012. And of course if they win the SEC that means they automatically get to play in the National Championship due to rule 27 b in the NCAA bylaws.

Idaho. The ground sure fell out from under this team after 2009. They had a rock solid offense in 2009 but their defense has been a punchline to a lot of jokes since the war of 1812. Like always, Idaho has a big strong offensive line, some good skill positions on offense, poor special teams, and this year is I believe the last shot for the muppet as HC unless they win 7 games or so. Idaho typically does not play well on the road, does not play well outside of their time zone, but they are pissed off at us after last year's awesome start to the season. Their best player is their punter, and he was the second best punter on the field last year when we took them on.

That team up north. I know very little about the new head coach, other than he was the offensive coordinator for us in 2008 when our offense rarely worked, he's looked up to as a OL coach, and he's supposed to be an outstanding recruiter. He's such a good recruiter as the HC that three or four commits for the next year's class decided to ditch and head to a better school. The defense for that team hasn't been anything stellar and never once stopped us last year outside of an odd pick. Had our receivers hung onto the passes in the first half or if Schilz would have been able to hit open receivers with more consistency we would have led that team about 21-0 or so at halftime and coasted to a win. For whatever reason the offense just didn't execute in the first half and it was painful to watch. This year that team has a great looking QB but a depleted set of WRs, including losing a guy to the NFL that was such a sure lock for a third round pick that he didn't get drafted. OK, be nice MarkL, he was an outstanding returner. Anyways ... that team up north is in transition but still a good team. They've got some reloading to do and have a new HC so really hard to tell much about them.

Virginia Tech. I'm a huge Cincinnati football fan and my parents are both Bearcat alums. UC plays VT the week after we do, so I told them my guys would soften up the Hokies for the 'Cats. This is a rock solid team. Like all VT teams, the defense will be nasty. I'm still unsure at the kickoff of every season why Bud Foster is still the DC. Either he really doesn't want to be a HC and is happy to be the DC or other teams aren't willing to give him the shot. He is among the best DCs in the business, just as good as Muschamp, and our offense gets to face both of these defenses this year. Lucky us. Offensively VT is pretty loaded and has an up-and-coming QB in Logan Thomas. I think he could turn out to be an outstanding NFL guy. I really don't see any real weaknesses in this team.

Rhode Island. If you make a comment regarding the merits of playing an FCS team, I will label you a tool. What I will say is we better end that damn homecoming jinx this year. If we don't I don't think it will ever end. Rhode Island didn't win a ton of games last year but they really were not bad. They beat Delaware and if you know anything about FCS football you know why that's a big deal. Same goes with William and Mary. They battled Syracuse extremely well (Cuse hammed WV last year FWIW) and played UMass quite well. They beat Fordham and I think that is where Clawson started coaching. So basically Rhode Island is not as bad as their record shows. Most of their games were pretty high scoring but that is common with FCS teams.

Akron. I would normally feel really bad for Akron, but I just don't. Ianello was among the worst head coaches in recent history, right up there with Turner Gill at KU, but the way he was let go was reprehensible. The AD called him while he was driving to his mother's funeral to inform him that he would not be the HC anymore. Utterly reprehensible. There is no way, no way at all the AD was not aware that his highest payed employee would be driving to bury his mother. The AD just couldn't wait to get his coaching search started. So while I feel for how bad Akron's football program fell while opening the new stadium, I guess the athletic director deserved it to a certain degree. This team is bad. Nothing works. The offense has been miserable and outside of a couple of talented players in the back seven, the defense is awful. I also would normally feel bad for the QB Patrick Nicely, who was a true freshman in 2009 and played well but did not play well in the new coach's system, but at the same time he did seem to be a bit on the hot-headed side. Also for more sad news surrounding Akron, I just saw that Chris Jacquemain, the QB in 2008, was found dead this past December. It sounds like he got mixed up with the wrong people and turned to a drug addiction. Very, very sad story. Life is short.

That team down south. We beat this team silly in 2009. We beat them in 2010 when they won the MAC title but some legally blind referees were unable to tell that an "intercepted" Matt Schilz ball hit the ground a foot or so ahead of a DB before hitting his hands and leading directly to a short game winning field goal. We beat them in 2011 in an outstanding effort including one hell of an awesome run by Anthon Samuel. Beat them again and I can say the "Miami Whammy" has been temporarily forgotten about. Beat them and the family weekend jinx leading back to 2005 is over. Two thousand freaking five! This team has one of the MAC's better QBs and a good receiving corps and an all around solid defense. They also have a tendency to lose an average of three offensive linemen per game to injury. Who wants to step up to play right tackle? Any takers? Someone who can last a few quarters without knee injury? This should be a pretty solid team and I think they are really, really close to being at the top of the MAC east.

UMass. Kellen Pagel would be the starter for UMass after transferring from BG, but he's been a bit banged up. We'll see if he can go. I always thought he should have been number two on the depth chart in 2010 above Pankratz and Hurley, but that's just from my observations and I'm not at practice every day. I'm really curious how UMass will do being in the MAC and FBS for the first time. Their fans are really excited about the jump. I think the starters at UMass are probably mostly pretty good but the depth is basically FCS depth. They had a losing record last year but pretty well beat up both Delaware and Richmond. It will be very interesting to see just how big the jump is from the parity of FCS to the parity of the MAC.

Eastern Michigan. It seems like they always play us close. They played us closer than anyone else we beat in 2004, they nearly beat us in 2006, it took some great late game heroics to beat them in 2007, and I choose to forget that the game happened in 2008. EMU this year will be very strong defensively. They lose a lot of players from last year's defense but Ron English is a great DC. Offensively their QB Gillet is the beginning and end of the story with his arm and legs. If they can find some offensive consistency, EMU looks like a sleeper in the MAC West. They're the closest thing the MAC has right now to an old-school team. Strong defense, win with running game and try to control time of possession. That formula led to a near upset of NIU last year.

Ohio. We need to beat OU to win the MAC East. If we had beat them in 2009, we would have been in Detroit. If we had beat them last year, we had a chance at being there. (We did beat them, if the ref understood the difference between a false start and an offsides.) OU is the model that we should strive to be. They have great depth at every position and are not decimated when an outstanding senior class graduates. Basically, what happened to us in 2010 and 2011 doesn't happen at OU. Their QB should be one of the stars of the conference. He's not a great passer, not a great runner, but he's very effective in that offense. They start the season off at Penn State and I think they've got a shot at the upset. We need to win this game. I'm sick of losing to them since we've lost three in a row. I remember when OU was the MAC East's punching bag. What a job Solich has done.

Kent State. I still don't have an explanation for last year's meltdown. Kent is I think one of the better teams in the East. They've got a solid defense, a veteran QB, and a head coach I really respect. I know people say this each and every year ... this could be the year Kent finally goes to a bowl game. They came alive at a good time last year and kept EMU from getting to a bowl game. We get them at home this year and last time we played them at home we were one special teams bizarre play from getting shut out. What a shock, that was family weekend.

Buffalo. If you make a comment regarding the merits of playing a game in Columbus, I will label you a tool. It seems like games with UB are always fluky. 2006 took three OTs to decide, 2007 included some spectacular plays on offense and a great defensive effort, 2008 didn't happen, 2009 had some great heroics by Freddie Barnes, 2010 was a game nobody wanted to win and statistically the most bizarre game I've ever seen, and 2011 showed what BG could have been when firing on all cylinders. I've always respected Jeff Quinn, and he came into a rough situation. He inherited a mediocre at best team a couple years removed from the flukiest and luckiest MAC title in history so expectations were disproportionately high. He came in expecting to run and pass wild but has yet to put up any decent offense. His QB last year was a senior transfer and might be starting the guy who played all of 2010. They've got some decent receivers and a decent defense but there's nothing to hang your hat on. Still, it's Buffalo, so if we play them and both teams combine for 1000 yards but only 12 points, it wouldn't shock me one bit.

So there's my thoughts on our opponents. I'd love to hear other thoughts, especially insights from fans of opposing teams.

Edited because I STILL get FBS and FCS confused.

[Falcon137]

Florida will be solid, but they are not going to win the SEC. Preseason number 23 seems about right. They are a few years away from being able to compete with LSU and Alabama. They have a lot of question marks on offense. Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps are gone, their 2 biggest play makers from last year and still don't have a clear cut #1 QB. Their top skill player back had 16 catches for 432 yards and 4 TDs.

Granted their D should be solid but they are not a national title contender. They do have about as easy an SEC schedule as you can get. No Alabama; South Carolina and Mizzou home. But, I don't see them beating Georgia in Jacksonville, LSU or South Carolina at home. Plus I think Tennessee they split their road games with Tennessee and Vandy. Throw in a loss at FSU. I think they will go 8-4.

Alabama, LSU, and Florida State outscored them 100-28 last year. They are not getting to get THAT much better this year.

I don't expect BG to beat them, but I expect them to give them a fight, much like Miami did in 2010. Where Florida's D just overwhelmed them. But the game was basically a rock fight. Miami was up 3-0 in the 2nd quarter. Dysert threw 4 picks, 1 for a TD, 2 which led to short fields for TDs.

Good write up though, I agree with you on pretty much everyone else.

[Falcon137]

As for Toledo....I hope this picture is hanging in everyone's locker Sunday after Idaho.

http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/p ... 143104.JPG

[Flipper]

I like the fact that our money games aren't against big, physical teams. UF and VT don't play that smashmouth styke that a Michigan State or Wisconsin plays. We probably will lose both games, but we won't be nearly as beaten up physically.

This season is going to tell us a ton about our coaches. They've got the systems in place. The roster has more experience and maturity....if the team doesn't take a major step forward this year, you have to question if it ever will.

[h2oville rocket]

Long post alert. I ramble a lot.



That team up north. Had our receivers hung onto the passes in the first half or if Schilz would have been able to hit open receivers with more consistency we would have led that team about 21-0 or so at halftime and coasted to a win.

shoulda

[h2oville rocket]

coulda

[h2oville rocket]

woulda

[h2oville rocket]

But seriously.....OU is getting huge props this year and I don't see it. We're getting a lot of votes for top 2 in the west and I don't see that either. I think a 7 win season is about the best we can expect. Kent is another cipher- they have some great individual players but they always do. But at the end of the day they're Kent. BG should be competitive in the East which might actually be the better division this year.

[MarkL]

I don't think I'd say the east is the better of the two but I'll say it is close and the east is far easier to predict. I can make a case for all six west teams heading to Detroit but I see at most four east teams in that boat.

[Falcon137]

The West is better top to bottom, simply because Akron and UMass reside in the East.

Toledo is going to miss Page more than most UT fans are willing to admit. Their offense did not look good when they couldn't get the ball to him, couple that with Thomas being gone and having to replace some o linemen, Toledo's O will not be as high powered this year.

OU is going to miss Brazill. I think Tettleton is great, but it will be interesting to see how they replace their top 3 (both top receivers and leading rusher) playmakers on offense and top punt returner.

White is gone from Western also. White, Page, and Brazill were great players in the MAC. It will be interesting to see how those teams replace those guys.

[kdog27]

Good write up Mark.

If we can beat Toledo and be 2-1 I think we will be set up for a nice season. Obviosuly I would like to be competitive and somehow beat UF or VT, but we just got to worry about winning our division outright this year.

[Falconfreak90]

Good stuff Mark...Sure UF and Va Tech will be very difficult but neither team is an absolute beast. Would love to steal one of them but that would be a tall order. Still, in the words of the great Doyt Perry, "Any game can be won or lost" and I truly believe that.

I see BG going no worse than 8-4, 6-2 MAC this year. We have tough road games at tsun and Ohio and do NOT overlook EMU...Ron English has really done a nice job there so far. Kent State has beaten us 2 years in a row and that hasn't happened since '72-'73. Another team we simply cannot take for granted...especially at home.

Only 19 days to go now...Bring it on and close the deal fellas. GO FALCONS!!!

[Falconfreak90]

As for Toledo....I hope this picture is hanging in everyone's locker Sunday after Idaho.

http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/p ... 143104.JPG

Damn right about that....

[kdog27]

As for Toledo....I hope this picture is hanging in everyone's locker Sunday after Idaho.

http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/p ... 143104.JPG

Damn right about that....

Just threw up.