Fall Fantasy Question

Will Tevin Washington be the Nesbitt Successor? Washington came out of the spring with the edge at QB, but there are certainly some lingering questions after his performance in the spring game. He threw three interceptions, lost two fumbles, was sacked three times and completed 10 of 26 passes. Backup Synjyn Days ran for 112 yards and led his team to a 21-7 win. Add to the mix a pair of true freshmen, including highly-touted Vad Lee, and it could make for an interesting August. Read the rest of this entry →

Fall Fantasy Question

How much better is QB Chase Rettig in the new system? There’s no doubt that Rettig will be better in his second season as a starter, but he has to learn a whole new scheme under first-year coordinator Kevin Rogers. Spaziani has said that the offense won’t look dramatically different, but there is new terminology involved and there will be some wrinkles. A new OC means a new scheme, regardless of how the HC tries to water it down for the media.

2010 overall record: 7-6

Returning starters: Offense: 7, defense: 7, punter/kicker: 2

Top returns: LB Luke Kuechly, QB Chase Rettig, TB Montel Harris, WR Bobby Swigert, TE Chris Pantale

Key losses: LT Anthony Castonzo, LB Mark Herzlich, RG Thomas Claiborne, RT Rich Lapham, CB DeLeon Gause Read the rest of this entry →

Meineke Car Care Bowl:  Friday December 31, Noon ET

South Florida Bulls (7-5, 3-4 Big East) v. Clemson Tigers (6-6, 4-4 ACC)

Bulls Storyline – Is there a better reason against this current system of bowl games than South Florida v. Clemson? My God this game stinks so badly I’ll be blasting Febreeze for three straight hours. The Bulls have new head coach Skip Holtz and a decent enough defense while Clemson has Dabo Swinney trying to convince the powers that be he shouldn’t be fired.

Impact Player:  In the sense of the Christmas season, I’m going to cut to the chase here. Every Big East team playing these next few weeks has a legit enough defense and major questions on offense save for West Virginia. The Bulls fit this model perfectly with a shaky QB situation and little to no offensive fire power around him. So the answer is…there is no impact player.

Overview:  Did you know that next year Belk department store chain will be this bowl’s major sponsor? Get ready for the Belk Bowl! Oh you wanted an overview of this bowl game? In all reality, the Clemson Tigers have more fire power on offense than the Bulls.  However, if Holtz’s defense holds, this game should be low scoring, ugly, and tough to watch!

Matt’s Pick – Clemson 21, USF 14

The Chick-fil-A Bowl will feature the SEC and ACC runners-up as No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks versus a surprising 23rd-ranked Florida State Seminoles. The Noles, under new leadership from head coach Jimbo Fisher, mounted a resurgence to the ACC Championship Game and narrowly lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Spurrier versus Florida State, circa "I don't want to talk" part of the rivalry (Tampa Tribune)

The Gamecocks on the other hand looked good most of the year, but were crushed by the powerhouse Auburn Tigers twice including the SEC Championship game.

The funny thing is that even though Bobby Bowden is no longer at FSU and Steve Spurrier is now at South Carolina rather than Florida, this is still feels like a rivalry reminiscent of the old days. This will be Spurrier’s first time coaching against Florida State since Florida’s 37-13 win in 2001. Read the rest of this entry →

Talk about two storied programs from years-gone-by falling to a level of mediocrity that no one could have predicted.

1986 Hurricanes, the most hated team in modern sports (SI.com)

The fans of this series look at this game and yearn for the days of the Jimmy Johnson led Miami team battling the Lou Holtz controlled Irish from the late 80s. This game will really demonstrate just how dire things have gotten in Coral Gables and in Big Bend as this game would have once been a headliner, but is now more of just another game.

What started out as a season expected to be the year Miami would return to dominance quickly turned into another forgettable year for the Canes. The season culminated with the firing of head coach Randy Shannon, leaving many to wonder what would become of the “U” in the future.

Fact is that Notre Dame was in this same exact spot last off-season as the Irish fired then head coach Charlie Weis and replaced him with up-and-coming offensive guru Brian Kelly. Kelly has brought a different style of offense to Big Bend this year that didn’t seem to ever really take off the current players just do not seem to fit the scheme.

Miami announced back on Dec. 12 Temple head coach Al Golden would be taking over the program after the bowl game. You might ask yourself, “Who is Al Golden?” which again reiterates just how long gone the glory days are for Miami.

Time to step out of the Wayback Machine, on to this season’s matchup. Read the rest of this entry →