Independence Preview 2012 - 2x NCAAF handicapper champion Fr

[Freddy Wills]

|

Other Previews: | | | | | | |

The college football scene is quickly changing with all the shifting and realignment that has gone on in the last year. It all comes down to revenue for these programs and yet there are still 4 schools that are independent. We are already seeing Navy making a commitment towards the Big East in 2015 which will impact our . Army is rumored to follow, but what about Notre Dame and BYU? Notre Dame has proven it can survive on its own, but I’m not so sure about BYU who has to join a conference to get better bowl games at some point. Either way here is my preview and what to look for in the 2012 season for all 4 teams


1. LB Manti Te’o, Sr. Notre Dame
2. TE Tyler Eifert, Jr. Notre Dame
3. C Braxston Cave, Sr. Notre Dame
4. DT Louis Nix, Soph. Notre Dame
5. QB Gunner Kiel, Fr. Notre Dame

– The problem once again for Notre Dame is going to be the fact that they do not have a conference to play for and they once again do not have a starting QB. They have four good young capable talents battling for the gig and that creates a lot of distraction for a team that has a ton of talent on offense and an experienced line

Offense – Tyler Eiftert has got to be the leader of the offense. The senior TE will be headed to the NFL, but with all the controversy over who will start at QB he’s got to step up. We know head coach Brian Kelly will waffle a bit all year long as soon as one of his QB’s makes a mistake. You’d think junior Tommy Rees with all the experience would be a shoe in for the job, but too many mistakes and not enough athleticism the job can be Everett Golson’s if he wants it, but he’s got Andrew Hendrix who is least likely as he just does not have as much upside as Gunner Kiel, one of the nation’s top recruits. The experienced offensive line with three returning starters along with the return of RB Cierre Wood and athletic WR’s should alleviate the doubt that will come with the shuffling of the QB position.

Defense – The front seven is the real strength of this team led by Manti Te’o who could have been drafted in the first round last year, but decided to come back for his senior season. Overall the talent and athleticism on this defense has improved dramatically since the arrival of Brian Kelly and they’ll improve this year once again. They’ll be hard to run on, but the early question mark will be their pass defense as they do not have the depth in the secondary and losing pass rusher Aaron Lynch hurts. Notre Dame has to come up with more than 14 turnovers like last year if they want to have a special season.


Coming off an over rated 10-3 season last year where their schedule was very weak BYU will look to build. They have a relatively easy schedule once again, but road games at Boise State, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech should and could be all losses. They still have to face 3 PAC 12 teams in Washington State, Utah and Oregon State and neither one of those three are slouches. We could be looking at another dismal season for this program 8-4 at the best.

Offense - The key to the Cougars season is going to be senior QB Riley Nelson who started late last year but once he did the offense started clicking. Is it ironic that it was against weak opponents? He gets a strong offensive line back with some new starters, but these are not boys these are men starting along the offensive front so regardless it will be a strength of this team. Nelson has a teriffic group of receivers led by Cody Hoffman (61 rec, 943 yds and 10 TD’s in 2011). BYU will have to find out what they have at running back and junior RB Michael Alisa has got to step up.

Defense - Part of our is to analyze a defense and BYU was among one of the best ranked 13th in yards allowed last year. They have all the parts in Kyle Van Noy, a terrific pass rusher and they are big enough in their 3-4 scheme to create a lot of noise especially against the run. If they can solve the puzzle of getting a traditional pass rush and force turnovers this could be a special year.

- After 8 straight bowl games Navy went just 5-7 last year and missed out and now head coach Ken Niumatalolo is calling for more physical play. Nothing was different last year the ground game improved and was amongst the best in the nation averaging 312 yards per game. The difference in a winning season was the losses in the close game. Navy will have winnable games on the schedule after facign Notre Dame to open the year they get a week off before facing Penn State and then the schedule gets really easy. My is that they will return to one in 2012.

Offense - They have a slew of veteran slot backs and the strength of this unit once again will be the running game which should dominate over countless number of bad teams they face on their schedule. They’ll have their hands full in the opener against Notre Dame, but the rest of the way this team should be fine.

Defense - This is the group that took a step back in 2011 and has to come back to its old ways led by senior LB Matt Warrick. As always Navy has a great rotation at linebacker. As always this team will struggle on third down and red zone defense without an effective pass rush or speed to make plays in the backfield.

- Not bad for a run first team to have their best returning player be senior QB Trent Steelman. Now its time for this team to get more consistent and they’ll open up with an open date and then a road game at San Diego State. There is nothing but winnable games on their schedule and I believe this team can and will go bowling.

Offense - Army led the nation last year with 346.5 yards rushing and they’ll get plenty of that talent back for 2012 including senior backs Malcolm Brown and Jared Hassin. The offensive line is experienced but under sized and will get pushed around when they decide to pass or run while facing a team with a strong defensive line and quick linebackers. Luckily they won’t face many teams like that in 2012.

Defense - There is no doubt about it this team has some versatility as do most of the service academies. They will also lack size and run defense because they are not allowed to get very big, but quickness is another benefit to that. The only way for them to compete is to stay off the field and that's why you see them run the ball as much as they do.
CONTINUE READING & GET MORE backed by the #1