2006
Northwestern-Miami Oh
Press Notes
head football coach Shane Montgomery announced today that junior Mike Kokal has been named the RedHawks’
starting quarterback for the upcoming 2006 season. Kokal,
two seasons, had been one of three
quarterbacks vying for the position since last spring. Since 2001,
passing offense has ranked fourth nationally in passing yards per game (291.0)
behind only Texas Tech,
and
The RedHawks have ranked among the nation’s Top 30 in
total offense, passing offense and scoring offense in each of the past three
years. Joining Kokal
on the offensive side of the ball are five returning starters, including
all-MAC senior wide receiver Ryne Robinson (
running back Brandon Murphy. Bet
the NFL now at -107 juice!
Check out the latest odds at CanBet.
2006
Utah-UCLA
Associated Press
As expected, UCLA coach Karl Dorrell
announced Monday that Ben Olson has beaten out Patrick Cowan and will start at
quarterback for the Bruins on Sept. 2 when they open the season against
at the Rose Bowl. Olson played briefly in relief of starter Drew Olson last
season, completing 2-of-4 passes for 11 yards. The 23-year-old Olson enrolled
at UCLA last winter after transferring from BYU. He
had been on a church mission for the previous two years after redshirting as a freshman in 2002. Olson, a 6-foot-5,
225-pound sophomore, was one of the country’s top recruits before deciding to
attend BYU. The left-hander passed for 2.989 yards
and 32 touchdowns as a senior at Thousand Oaks High in 2001. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21
percent sign up bonus
Washington State-Auburn
Associated Press
Indeed,
has lost three of its last four openers, beating only Louisiana-Monroe en route
to a 13-0 season in ‘04. (The Tigers also lost a close game at USC in 2002). It’s
a remarkable statistic for a team that has managed to win 35 games during that
four-year span. A similarly punchless performance
against
would spoil all the enthusiasm and expectations surrounding this team. Indeed,
has lost three of its last four openers, beating only Louisiana-Monroe en route
to a 13-0 season in ‘04. (The Tigers also lost a close game at USC in 2002). It’s
a remarkable statistic for a team that has managed to win 35 games during that
four-year span. A similarly punchless performance
against
would spoil all the enthusiasm and expectations surrounding this team. Both
were far better the rest of the season, leading the SEC’s best offense. Irons
only started nine games but wound up rushing for 1,293 yards and closing the
regular season with six consecutive 100-yard games. Cox posted the fourth-best
single-season passing total in school history (2,324 yards) and was the league’s
No. 2-rated passer in his first season as starter, guiding a 9-3 team. A
revamped defense will have to come through for
to stake that claim. With linebackers Tray Blackmon and Kevin Sears suspended
for an unspecified number of games – probably including the date with LSU – converted safeties Will Herring and Steve Gandy won’t
have much grace period to master their new positions. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21 percent
sign up bonus
Akron-Penn State
CSTV
The biggest change for Penn State in ‘06 unquestionably is
at quarterback, where junior Anthony Morelli faces
the task of trying to replace Big Ten Offensive MVP Michael Robinson, who put
together a tremendous season in leading Penn State back. “Michael Robinson was
as good of a college football player and had as much of an impact on our
football team as any player I’ve ever coached in all the years I’ve been
around,” Paterno said. While Robinson will be missed,
there is a great deal of optimism surrounding the new junior quarterback, who
was Robinson’s backup last season, completing 13-of-20 passes for 155 yards and
a touchdown in occasional action. With the new quarterback though, you can
expect some things to change due to the different style of play by Morelli. “Last year, Robinson could run the option or do
something with his athletic ability to get us out of a jam,” Paterno said. “We don’t have that anymore. We have a
different type of back. We have a true quarterback that’s going to have to be
able to read coverages and him
and the offense have to get comfortable with each other and we’ll see what
happens.” “Morelli is more of a pocket passer so we’re
going to have to give him a little more time and we’ll have to adjust to that,”
Brown said. “We can’t just assume that if we mess up here, that Mike is just
going to run off with the ball because he’s not back there. Morelli
is back there. So, we’ll just have to give him more time and allow him to learn
the game.” Another question mark on
who must replace four starters from last season. Brown returns as the only
starter and will be looked upon to lead the unit. Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21
percent sign up bonus
Hawaii-Alabama
UWire
And last season, despite a 5-7 record, the Warriors showed
us a young offense loaded with talent. Colt Brennan emerged as the clear
starter and went on to lead the NCAA in passing yards, something Jones feels
will happen again this season. Freshman wide-receivers Davone
Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullen each posted 1,000-yard seasons and became impact
players. Once Nate Ilaoa
snapped into shape, he was a bruising running back that complimented
aggressive passing game. Bet
the NFL now at -107 juice!
Check out the latest odds at CanBet.
Virginia-Pittsburgh
Post Gazette
The Panthers had the Big East Conference’s leading
receiver (yards per game) eight of the past nine
seasons and became the first school to produce two Biletnikoff
winners (Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald). This year’s group, however, has
not progressed as expected and, if things don’t improve in a hurry, Pitt could
easily be referred to as “Wide Receiver, Who?” The Panthers are set to finish
camp tomorrow and likely will do so with a depth chart at wide receiver that is
unsettled. And unlike other positions, such as the defensive line, where the
depth chart is cloudy because so many players have performed well, the receiver
position is unsettled because of inconsistency. Hill pointed out that the
receivers’ failure to progress as fast as he would like hasn’t
been completely about a lack of ability. There have been injuries—McGee (calf)
and Turner (ankle) have missed some time—and off-field issues—Porter left the
team for a day and senior Joe DelSardo has been
suspended for two weeks—that have hindered their progress as well. The group
also is extremely inexperienced—Kinder and DelSardo
are the only two with more than five receptions in a game. But the explanations
for the state of the receiving corps don’t erase the fact that there is a game
to be played in 11 days and the Panthers have only two receivers ready to play.
Bet now through the Greek, home of the 21
percent sign up bonus