{"id":792,"date":"2006-08-22T16:42:11","date_gmt":"2006-08-22T21:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/advanced-news-and-notes-in-college-football\/"},"modified":"2006-08-22T16:42:11","modified_gmt":"2006-08-22T21:42:11","slug":"advanced-news-and-notes-in-college-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/advanced-news-and-notes-in-college-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Advanced News and Notes in College Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Thursday, August 31,
\n2006<\/st1:date><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Northwestern-Miami Oh <\/h1>\n

Press Notes <\/p>\n

Miami<\/st1:PlaceName> University<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>
\nhead football coach Shane Montgomery announced today that junior Mike Kokal<\/span> has been named the RedHawks<\/span>\u2019
\nstarting quarterback for the upcoming 2006 season. Kokal<\/span>,
\nMiami<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s top back-up over the past
\ntwo seasons, had been one of three Miami<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nquarterbacks vying for the position since last spring. Since 2001, Miami<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s
\npassing offense has ranked fourth nationally in passing yards per game (291.0)
\nbehind only Texas Tech, Hawai\u2019i<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\nand Arizona<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>.
\nThe RedHawks<\/span> have ranked among the nation\u2019s Top 30 in
\ntotal offense, passing offense and scoring offense in each of the past three
\nyears.\u00a0 <\/span>Joining Kokal<\/span>
\non the offensive side of the ball are five returning starters, including
\nall-MAC senior wide receiver Ryne<\/span> Robinson (Toledo<\/st1:City>,
\nOH<\/st1:State><\/st1:place>\/Central Catholic) and all-MAC junior
\nrunning back Brandon Murphy. Bet
\nthe NFL now at -107 juice<\/span><\/span>!
\nCheck out the latest odds<\/span><\/a> at CanBet<\/span><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Saturday, September 2,
\n2006<\/st1:date><\/p>\n

Utah-UCLA<\/h1>\n

Associated Press <\/o:p><\/p>\n

As expected, UCLA coach Karl Dorrell<\/span>
\nannounced Monday that Ben Olson has beaten out Patrick Cowan and will start at
\nquarterback for the Bruins on Sept. 2 when they open the season against Utah<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\nat the Rose Bowl. Olson played briefly in relief of starter Drew Olson last
\nseason, completing 2-of-4 passes for 11 yards. The 23-year-old Olson enrolled
\nat UCLA last winter after transferring from BYU<\/span>. He
\nhad been on a church mission for the previous two years after redshirting<\/span> as a freshman in 2002. Olson, a 6-foot-5,
\n225-pound sophomore, was one of the country\u2019s top recruits before deciding to
\nattend BYU<\/span>. The left-hander passed for 2.989 yards
\nand 32 touchdowns as a senior at Thousand Oaks High in 2001.\u00a0 <\/span>Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21
\npercent sign up bonus<\/b><\/a><\/span> <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Washington State-Auburn<\/h1>\n

Associated Press <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Indeed, Auburn<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nhas lost three of its last four openers, beating only Louisiana-Monroe en route
\nto a 13-0 season in \u201804. (The Tigers also lost a close game at USC in 2002). It\u2019s
\na remarkable statistic for a team that has managed to win 35 games during that
\nfour-year span. A similarly punchless<\/span> performance
\nagainst Washington<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>
\nwould spoil all the enthusiasm and expectations surrounding this team. Indeed, Auburn<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nhas lost three of its last four openers, beating only Louisiana-Monroe en route
\nto a 13-0 season in \u201804. (The Tigers also lost a close game at USC in 2002). It\u2019s
\na remarkable statistic for a team that has managed to win 35 games during that
\nfour-year span. A similarly punchless<\/span> performance
\nagainst Washington<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>
\nwould spoil all the enthusiasm and expectations surrounding this team. Both
\nwere far better the rest of the season, leading the SEC\u2019s best offense. Irons
\nonly started nine games but wound up rushing for 1,293 yards and closing the
\nregular season with six consecutive 100-yard games. Cox posted the fourth-best
\nsingle-season passing total in school history (2,324 yards) and was the league\u2019s
\nNo. 2-rated passer in his first season as starter, guiding a 9-3 team. A
\nrevamped defense will have to come through for Auburn<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nto stake that claim. With linebackers Tray Blackmon and Kevin Sears suspended
\nfor an unspecified number of games – probably including the date with LSU<\/span> – converted safeties Will Herring and Steve Gandy won\u2019t
\nhave much grace period to master their new positions. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21 percent
\nsign up bonus<\/b><\/a><\/span> <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Akron-Penn<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place><\/h1>\n

CSTV<\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest change for Penn State in \u201806 unquestionably is
\nat quarterback, where junior Anthony Morelli<\/span> faces
\nthe task of trying to replace Big Ten Offensive MVP Michael Robinson, who put
\ntogether a tremendous season in leading Penn State back. \u201cMichael Robinson was
\nas good of a college football player and had as much of an impact on our
\nfootball team as any player I\u2019ve ever coached in all the years I\u2019ve been
\naround,\u201d Paterno<\/span> said. While Robinson will be missed,
\nthere is a great deal of optimism surrounding the new junior quarterback, who
\nwas Robinson\u2019s backup last season, completing 13-of-20 passes for 155 yards and
\na touchdown in occasional action. With the new quarterback though, you can
\nexpect some things to change due to the different style of play by Morelli<\/span>. \u201cLast year, Robinson could run the option or do
\nsomething with his athletic ability to get us out of a jam,\u201d Paterno<\/span> said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have that anymore. We have a
\ndifferent type of back. We have a true quarterback that\u2019s going to have to be
\nable to read coverages<\/span> and him<\/span>
\nand the offense have to get comfortable with each other and we\u2019ll see what
\nhappens.\u201d \u201cMorelli<\/span> is more of a pocket passer so we\u2019re
\ngoing to have to give him a little more time and we\u2019ll have to adjust to that,\u201d
\nBrown said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just assume that if we mess up here, that Mike is just
\ngoing to run off with the ball because he\u2019s not back there. Morelli<\/span>
\nis back there. So, we\u2019ll just have to give him more time and allow him to learn
\nthe game.\u201d Another question mark on Penn<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nState<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> will be its offensive line,
\nwho must replace four starters from last season. Brown returns as the only
\nstarter and will be looked upon to lead the unit. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21
\npercent sign up bonus<\/b><\/a><\/span> <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hawaii-Alabama<\/h1>\n

UWire<\/span><\/p>\n

And last season, despite a 5-7 record, the Warriors showed
\nus a young offense loaded with talent. Colt Brennan emerged as the clear
\nstarter and went on to lead the NCAA in passing yards, something Jones feels
\nwill happen again this season. Freshman wide-receivers Davone<\/span>
\nBess and Ryan Grice-Mullen each posted 1,000-yard seasons and became impact
\nplayers. Once Nate<\/span> Ilaoa<\/span>
\nsnapped into shape, he was a bruising running back that complimented Hawaii<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>\u2019s
\naggressive passing game. Bet
\nthe NFL now at -107 juice<\/span><\/span>!
\nCheck out the latest odds<\/span><\/a> at CanBet<\/span><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia-Pittsburgh<\/h1>\n

Post Gazette<\/p>\n

The Panthers had the Big East Conference\u2019s leading
\nreceiver (yards per game) eight of the<\/span> past nine
\nseasons and became the first school to produce two Biletnikoff<\/span>
\nwinners (Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald). This year\u2019s group, however, has
\nnot progressed as expected and, if things don\u2019t improve in a hurry, Pitt could
\neasily be referred to as \u201cWide Receiver, Who?\u201d The Panthers are set to finish
\ncamp tomorrow and likely will do so with a depth chart at wide receiver that is
\nunsettled. And unlike other positions, such as the defensive line, where the
\ndepth chart is cloudy because so many players have performed well, the receiver
\nposition is unsettled because of inconsistency. Hill pointed out that the
\nreceivers\u2019 failure to progress as fast as he would like hasn\u2019t<\/span>
\nbeen completely about a lack of ability. There have been injuries\u2014McGee (calf)
\nand Turner (ankle) have missed some time\u2014and off-field issues\u2014Porter left the
\nteam for a day and senior Joe DelSardo<\/span> has been
\nsuspended for two weeks\u2014that have hindered their progress as well. The group
\nalso is extremely inexperienced\u2014Kinder and DelSardo<\/span>
\nare the only two with more than five receptions in a game. But the explanations
\nfor the state of the receiving corps don\u2019t erase the fact that there is a game
\nto be played in 11 days and the Panthers have only two receivers ready to play.
\nBet now through the Greek, home of the 21
\npercent sign up bonus<\/b><\/a><\/span> <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, August 31, 2006   Northwestern-Miami Oh Press Notes Miami University head football coach Shane Montgomery announced today that junior Mike Kokal has been named the RedHawks\u2019 starting quarterback for the upcoming 2006 season. Kokal, Miami\u2019s top back-up over the past two seasons, had been one of three Miami quarterbacks vying for the position since … Continue reading Advanced News and Notes in College Football<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}