Tonight, the June Jones Era begins in Houston for SMU as they take on the Rice Owls.  What do we know about these Owls?  Well, for one, they have two of the most electrifying players in Conference USA.  Second, they haven’t been very good with defense for a while now.  If SMU’s Run and Shoot can score points, the Ponies and Owls might break the scoreboard.  For a preview we, once again, turn to our friends at The Red Zone Report.  Our blogger/previewer is Jake Keyes.

David Bailiff’s first season as head coach at Rice was a tough one to say the least. The Owls went 3-9 and finished fourth in the C-USA West at 3-5. A good offense kept the Owls close against some of the league’s top teams, but the inability to make stops on defense resulted in some tough losses against Tulsa, Houston, and Memphis. An easier schedule in ‘08 should give Rice fans hope that they will have a chance to win their first bowl game since 1953.

Read the Rice Preview here.

The Bears hired Houston Coach Art Briles to turn around the program in Waco.  Is that really possible?  The Bears won 3 games last year, but few believe they will improve much on those wins.  They open the college football season tonight hosting 23rd ranked Wake Forest.  It’s the Battle of the Baptists.  For the previews, you can read Baylor’s official (and optomistic) preview.  The other option is by Bo Vandy of the MostValuableNetwork.com.

Baylor seems to be in uncharted territory this season. After hiring yet another new coach, some would think that they are exactly where they’ve always been, trying to tread water in a division that is just too good for them.

Read Bo’s Preview here.

Our Texas Tour continues with a preview of the University of Houston Cougars from the Conference USA.  Writing our preview is the Collegefootballtopten.com guest blogger Thomas B. Gray, a big Houston fan, alum and blogger.  Check out his blog where he writes about many things including college football.

Houston Cogar Cougar Preview

There are always risks and uncertainties involving a new coaching staff, especially one led by somebody with no previous head coaching experience. But Kevin Sumlin, who assumes control of the Houston Cougars following the departure of Art Briles to Baylor, has an excellent pedigree as an assistant coach. Sumlin spent the last five years working under Bob Stoops as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator; previous to that, he served at the same position at Texas A&M. The Indianapolis native, who played for Purdue as a linebacker, has also served as an assistant on coaching staffs at Washington State, Wyoming, Minnesota and his alma mater. Joining Sumlin is an experienced staff including former Texas Tech offensive coordinator Dana Holgerson and defensive coordinator John Skladany, who previously served as defensive coordinator at Iowa State and Center Florida.

OFFENSE

Sumlin’s first big decision of the fall was made a week ago, when Case Keenum was named starting quarterback. Keenum, last year’s Conference USA Freshman of the Year, had spent the offseason battling for the starting position with Blake Joseph, whom also took snaps at QB last season. The stronger-armed Joseph apparently looked good during spring practices, but Keenum, who clearly has the better scrambling ability and pocket presence of the two quarterbacks, performed better during August drills. Although doubts about his ability to lob the deep bombs persist, Keenum has been working on his arm strength over the offseason and should be able to pick up where he left off last fall as offensive leader.

The offensive line is expected to be the strength of the offense this fall. LT Sebastian Vollmer, RG Mike Bloesch and C Carl Barnett, who had a rough start last year but improved as the season wore on, return as offensive line starters. The biggest news on the o-line, however, is the return of SirVincent Rogers, who hasn’t played since 2006. There’s no denying that SirVincent was one of the most talented linemen in the conference prior to his injury, but he was also so prone to committing devastating personal fouls that teammates gave him the nickname “Sir Penalty.” If he has matured as a player and if he can stay healthy – always a concern for players returning from major injuries – he could be playing on Sundays. As a welcome change, O-line depth is not a concern either: reserves Josh Bell, Isiah Agson and Matt Hart are all experienced upperclassmen. The o-line needs to provide better pass protection than they did a year ago, when they gave up a cringe-inducing 34 sacks. To be fair, however, some of those sacks were caused by young quarterback uncertainty more than anything else.

The wideouts are the weakest position on offense. Mark Hafner, who played tight end last year but is being moved to the slot receiver position in Holgerson’s new offense, is almost certainly the best receiver on the team. Last year, he caught 40 passes for 428 yards. Other than Hafner, the two other most experienced returning wide receivers are LJ Castile and Chris Gilbert. However, neither of them show up as starters on the latest depth chart: Gilbert is still recovering from off-season surgery, and LJ was apparently too inconsistent in practice to nail down a starting gig. The relative inexperience of the other wide receivers that are listed as starters – redshirt freshmen Patrick Edwards and Tyron Carrier, JUCO transfer Kierrie Johnson and sophomore Charles Rodriguez – is cause for concern.

The backfield situation is a bit more set. Terrance Ganaway’s decision to transfer out of the program means that Andre Kohn will assume the starting RB position by default. He didn’t see a lot of action last year, carrying only 28 times for 146 yards, but made a name for himself with his 67-yard touchdown reception in the Texas Bowl. His backups will include true freshman Bryce Beall, who apparently made such an impression in practice that he climbed to the top of the depth chart, and redshirt freshman Justin Johnson. Again, not a lot of experience here, but since the new offense will likely rely on the pass rather than the run, that’s not as big a concern as the wide receiver situation.

DEFENSE

The defense is reverting back to a 4-3 scheme in order to take advantage of a line that is expected to be the strength of the Cougar defense this fall. All-Conference senior Philip Hunt, who notched 10.5 sacks and 18 TFLs last season, is the star of the defense. He is joined on the line by seniors Tate Stewart and Ell Ash and sophomore Isaiah Thompson. Experienced backups include seniors Cody Pree and Jake Ebner and transfer Tyrell Graham, who previously played linebacker at Arkansas. Unfortunately, another top D-line sub, Billy Hartford, suffered an ACL injury in practice and is done for the season.

The defense will likely have to rely on the line to stop the run because they feature only one returning starting linebacker, Cody Lubojasky. Lubojasky, a four-year starter, had 59 tackles last season. Junior Matt Nicholson, who played in every game last season and notched 36 tackles, will be joining him, and as will true freshman Marcus McGraw. This position is clearly the weak spot in the defense.

The secondary is going to be anchored by safety Kenneth Fontennette, another defensive leader and all-conference player who had 65 tackles and four interceptions last year. Safety Earnest Miller and corners Quinte Williams and Brandon Brinkley also return from last season’s squad. While the secondary did lead the conference in pass defense, they also gave up 28 touchdowns last season and only managed to pick off 14 interceptions, so there is plenty of room for improvement.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Special Teams were clearly an area of neglect during the Briles era, and it showed. The Cougars were 114th (out of 119 FBS teams) in net punting average, and kicking game (or lack thereof) cost the Cougars at least one win last year (when T. J. Lawrence missed not one, but two, late field goals against East Carolina). Replacing Lawrence at place kicker is Ben Bell, who is back after sitting out all of last season. He is usually reliable from inside 40 yards. He is being pushed, however, by true freshman Jordan Mannisto, who has impressed in practice. Chase Turner returns as punter; after a slow start, he came on strong last season and averaged 42.7 yards per punt. He needs better punt return coverage; the Cougars also need to a better job with kick returns this fall.

Penalties and turnovers were other problems for the Cougars last year, as the team was among the top ten most-penalized programs in FBS last season and was 99th in turnover margin.

SCHEDULE AND OUTLOOK

The Coogs start the Sumlin era at home against Southern, but then have to go on the road for five of the next seven games, starting with a trip to Stillwater to play Oklahoma State and to Fort Collins to play Colorado State. The Cowboys lost to Houston at Robertson Stadium two years ago and will have revenge on their minds, while the UH offense will probably still be working out some kinks. The Cougars then play a pair of Mountain West teams, hosting Air Force and then going to the thin air of Fort Collins to play Colorado State. The Cougar road trip continues the following week with a trip to Greenville, North Carolina to play the East Carolina Pirates.

After a well-timed bye week in early October, the Coogs host UAB and then go on another back-to-back road trip. The game against SMU and new coach June Jones in Dallas will likely be a shootout, and a Tuesday night game against Marshall will give the Coogs some exposure on ESPN. November, however, shapes up nicely. The Cougars do not have to leave the City of Houston and get two of their toughest divisional opponents, Tulsa and UTEP, at home along with Tulane. The Bayou Bucket at Rice Stadium is the last game of the season.

How the Cougars perform in 2008 is going to depend on a variety of factors. The team certainly returns a lot of talent, and that along with a reasonably-favorable schedule are reasons for optimism. But there are also a lot of questions that remain to be answered. How will Sumlin and the rest of his staff adapt to their new roles as coaches? How quickly will the offensive players grasp Holgerson’s spread offense? How will the two biggest question marks on the team – wide receivers and linebackers – perform? Will there be significant improvement in special teams, penalties and turnovers? The answers to these questions will be the difference between contending for the C-USA title and a rough, transitional year.

Thomas B. Gray
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
indotav.blogspot.com

The Texas Tour continues with just a few schools left before the first games begin on Thursday night.  Tonight we are looking at the Texas Longhorns.  Our guest blogger is Eddie from The Red Zone Report.  Eddie is the engine driving the mega football site which comments on NFL and NCAA football.

Last season wasn’t quite the season that Texas probably hoped for, but it was a good season nonetheless.

The Longhorns started the season 4-0, but losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma in their first two Big 12 games dealt a huge blow to their conference title hopes. But, Texas reeled off five straight wins to keep themselves in the picture for an at-large BCS berth, until a 38-30 loss to Texas A&M in their regular-season finale saw them end up in the Holiday Bowl, where they defeated Arizona State 52-34 to complete a 10-3 season.

Read the preview here.

The Texas Tour continues moving from the teams in West Texas all the way down to College Station to visit the Texas A&M Aggies.  The Aggies are starting a new era with new Head Coach Mike Sherman.  Will Sherman return the Aggies to glory?  To preview the Aggies’ season, we turn once again to the guys at The Red Zone Report. The author is Eddie Griffin who is the force behind The Red Zone Report.  Eddie and his site will keep you up to date with all the latest in football.

2008 Texas A&M Aggies Preview: Will a new coach bring the best out of the Aggies?

When Texas A&M fired R.C. Slocum after a 6-6 season in 2002, it was a sign that the program wouldn’t settle for mediocrity after being a regular fixture in the national spotlight throughout the 80s and 90s.

Well, I guess we’re back at square one now. The Dennis Franchione era didn’t exactly yield the results that were expected after Franchione came into College Station a hot property after turning things around in short order at Alabama, as there were more losing seasons in Franchione’s five (two) than there were in 21 seasons under Slocum and predecessor Jackie Sherrill (one).

Read the preview here.

Our Preview of the University of Texas at El Paso is brought to us by The Red Zone Report.  The Red Zone Report is a comprehensive, mega football site covering NCAA and the NFL.  They are all your all things football site  with reviews and commentaries on a daily basis.  Make sure you check them out during the football season.  The author of the UTEP Preview is Mark Scott.

2008 UTEP Miners Preview: QB Vittatoe looking to strike gold

The 2007 season was a roller-coaster ride that came to a crashing end for UTEP. After starting 4-2, the Miners lost six straight games to finish the season, with their final three losses coming by 15 or more points. Defense was a big reason for the strugglers, as they had a tough time trying to replace 13 of their top 17 tacklers from 2006.

Read the Preview Here

We start our Texas Tour this weekend with a visit to Texas Tech.  Joining us as guest blogger is Seth who is the brains behind Double T Nation.  If you want to know more about the Texas Tech Red Raiders, I highly recommend visiting Double T Nation for your Red Raider fix.

By Seth of Double T Nation

OFFENSE

This may be the most explosive offense in Texas Tech history and much of the reason for that is the return of Graham Harrell at quarterback and Michael Crabtree at receiver.  For the first time in the Mike Leach era he returns a quarterback for the third year, making Graham Harrell’s tenure with the Texas Tech offense unprecedented.  Harrell (512 completions; 713 attempts; 5,705 yards; 48 touchdowns) returns as the NCAA leader in total offense and is primed to have another outstanding year at Texas Tech.

Harrell’s options at receiver begin with Michael Crabtree, who led the world in recieving (134 receptions; 1,962 yards; 22 touchdowns).  Crabtree is a true difference maker, who is incredibly gifted in the open field, probably because his background is a quarterback in high school.  In addition to returning Crabtree, the Red Raiders also return Eric Morris (75 receptions; 767 yards; 9 touchdowns) and Edward Britton (48 receptions; 631 yards; 4 touchdowns).  The lone starter that Texas Tech has to replace on offense is Danny Amendola and many are expecting Detron Lewis (10 receptions; 120 yards; 3 touchdowns) to be an upgrade over Amendola as he may be a more athletically gifted receiver.

Running back is still a three horse race, and possibly a 4 horse race depending on how things shake out during fall practices.  The Texas Tech running game last year was poor, even for Texas Tech standards, only 59 yards per game, however, this year the Red Raiders hope than Shannon Woods, Aaron Crawford, or Baron Batch will all be able to carry the load and increase the rushing production.  Woods is perhaps the most talented of the three runners but has had off-field issues.  Crawford has the size that most Texas Tech running backs haven’t had but lacks the speed of Woods.  While Batch is an attractive combination of both Crawford’s size and Woods’ speed.

The entire offensive line returns for Texas Tech, led by all-conference Louis Vasquez (6-6/335) at left guard.  Rylan Reed (6-7/305), who is a cancer survivor, played minor league baseball, shattered his ankle against Virginia in the Gator Bowl and recently broke Texas Tech’s bench press record at 625 pounds returns at left tackle.  Rounding out the massive Texas Tech offensive line is Brandon Carter (6-7/354) at right guard and Marlon Wynn (6-6/325) at right tackle and the lone position battle along the line is at center where Stephen Hamby (6-3/292) and Shawn Byrnes (6-4/295) are battling it out this fall to determine the starter, although both expect to play quite a bit this fall.

DEFENSE

Much like the Texas Tech offense, the Texas Tech defense is returning almost everyone.  Gone is Joe Garcia at safety, Paul Williams at linebacker, and Chris Parker at cornerback.

Starting up front, Colby Whitlock (47 tackles; 8.5 tackles for loss; 2 sacks), a freshman All-American, returns for his sophomore season at nose tackle while junior Rajon Henley returns at defensive tackle (45 tackles; 7.5 tackles for loss; 4.5 sacks).  At the defensive end position, incumbent starter Jake Ratliff (26 tackles; 3 tackles for loss; 1 sack) could be replaced by Brandon Sesay, a highly recruited junior college end.  Also at the left end position is Brandon Sharpe, another JUCO recruit who redshirted last year due to injury.  Brandon Williams (44 tackles; 12 tackles for loss; 5.5 sacks) hopes to build on a strong sophomore season and returns at the other defensive end position, while Daniel Howard (23 tackles; 6 tackles for loss; 3 sacks), a guy who’s motor continually runs and never stops, is Williams’ top backup.  Currently, McKinner Dixon is a question mark at defensive end due to eligibility issues.

The linebacker position returns quite a bit of experience and youth all at the same time.  At the strong side, true sophomore Bront Bird (16 tackles; 1 tackles for loss) is your starter, while redshirt freshman Tyrone Sonier backs him up.  Brian Duncan (69 tackles; 4 tackles for loss) is your starter in the middle, while bowling ball Victor Hunter, at 5-11/265 (28 tackles; 4.5 tackles for loss) backs up Duncan and Sam Fehoko, another redshirt freshman, and former Hawaii defensive player of the year expects to see some action.  Marlon Williams (81 tackles; 1 tackles for loss) is your weakside while uber-fast Blake Collier (11 tackles; 2 tackles for loss) backs up Williams.

In the secondary, another All-Big 12 player, junior cornerback Jamar Wall (54 tackles; 5 interceptions) returns on one side.  Wall is tremendously gifted and the Red Raiders are set at this left corner spot.  As fall practices started, the coaches determined that former receiver turned safety, now turned cornerback senior L.A. Reed was running with the first team.  Reed adds quite a bit of size to the right corner spot, 6-2/212.  Despite Reed’s emergence, expect LaRon Moore (8 tackles), Brent Nickerson and Pete Richardson (4 tackles) to all see quite a bit of action at cornerback, irrespective if Reed struggles or not.  Darcel McBath (73 tackles; 2 interceptions), perhaps one of the more underrated players in the Big 12 returns for his senior season at free safety.  The current depth chart has Daniel Charbonnet (34 tackles; 1 interceptions) backing up McBath, but could see quite a bit of time considering the number of teams running spread offenses in the Big 12.  At strong safety, there are still a number of candidates vying for the job, with senior Anthony Hines (24 tackles; 1 interceptions) hopefully recovered from an injury suffered against Oklahoma and senior Lance Fuller (9 tackles) also expected to see quite a bit of time.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Sophomore Johathan LaCour is your punter and finished 3rd in the Big 12 in average (42.6) and should be even better in his second full year.  Kicker is still yet to be determined as freshman Donnie Caronoa is competing with senior Cory Fowler to replace the departed Alex Trlica.  Carona has the stronger leg and should assume kickoff responsibilities, however, Fowler may be a little more steady.

For more of Seth’s posts, visit Double T Nation, an Unofficial Texas Tech Red Raiders blog.

Thanks for the tour Seth!