On Campus With Sneaks

[JT Sneaks]

On Campus

Every week I am going to start a thread displaying information on as many college games as possible for that week. Stats will include articles, trends, injuries, etc but will mostly focus on information from the schools themselves taken from university websites and local newspapers as well as other places that I dig them up. This will allow everyone to just check in on the thread to check on information instead of spending the time going from one site to another. On game day I will follow up with my analysis, if any, and any selections I may have with reasoning. With so many games each week I will try to focus on the key games or the bigger market games but if time allows I will hit as many as possible. I will try to highlight things that stand out to me in case you are just looking to skim the articles or pressed for time.If you are a fan of a certain team or have time to dig up the information on a game or just want to voice your opinion feel free to throw it in the thread as well. I hope this helps everyone make some money during the college season and if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know and I will make the changes that best help everyone!!

So without any further delay I will start with this week and post as much as I can:

Thursday Games

Oregon vs. Houston

Reported August 25th---

Oregon Penalty Problems


EUGENE -- Redshirt freshman Ryan Keeling (Springfield) and senior Nate LiaBraaten (Bend) are just two players trying to overcome injuries that have hampered their careers and move up the depth chart this season. In Oregon’s second major scrimmage of the fall, the two proved to be amongst a few bright spots in a day where the Ducks’ special teams struggled find its rhythm, the offense committed six penalties and the defense added three of its own.
Keeling caught three passes for 43 yards, including a five yard touchdown pass from Kellen Clemens to lead all receivers while LiaBraaten punished the Oregon offense all day, leading the team with five tackles, including three for a loss of six yards. In all, the Duck offense scored 23 points in the 49-play scrimmage held in Autzen Stadium.
“It’s been important for me to work hard and get on the field this season,” Keeling said. “I was hurt last season and wasn’t able to progress as much as I would have liked to, so I’ve used this fall to really try to get myself in a position to be a contributor and get on the field.”
In an effort to simulate game-like scenarios, the Ducks turned up the crowd volume and began the scrimmage by taking multiple repetitions from the two-yard line. But the noise seemed to be a factor as the day wore on and the team committed 10 penalties for 60 yards.
“In my mind, we have a lot of work to do,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “The special teams didn’t set a very good tone to start the scrimmage and I feel like we have to be much sharper. We played with noise for the first time and obviously it showed. Our offensive linemen jumped a bunch and we had some miscues with our hands on defense and those are things we can’t tolerate.”
In its first two drives of the scrimmage, the Duck offense was unable to find the endzone, but in the third drive of the day, quarterback Dennis Dixon drove the second team offense 75 yards — which included a 44-yard reception by tight end Dan Kause that set up a 26-yard field goal by Paul Martinez.
LiaBraaten and the Oregon defense stifled the Duck offense at the three-yard line in the next series when LiaBraaten tackled tailback Andiel Brown for a loss of three yards, negating a fourth-down attempt by the offensive unit. However, in Oregon’s next drive, Clemens drove the Ducks 75 yards and capped the drive with a 5 yard strike in the corner of the endzone to Keeling, but the PAT was no good. Clemens finished the day 7-of-11 for 84 yards and one touchdown.
Martinez then missed a 45 yard field goal attempt in Oregon’s sixth series of the day before the offense put together scoring drives in its next two series'.
“We’re close to being game ready, but we have areas in all aspects that need to be fixed or done better. Offensively, we didn’t click today as much as I would have liked and defensively we took a lot of our players out early to protect them. And special teams-wise we need a lot of work. I’m not sure where we are there. I was not pleased with our effort or our execution today.”
Reported August 27th
Oregon Preview

The University of Oregon football team (0-0) opens the 2005 season vs. the Houston Cougars (0-0) at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, Sept. 1. For the first time since Sept. 2, 1999 (at Michigan State), the Ducks play a Thursday game, which will be broadcast on ESPN2. The Ducks are one of 58 teams to open the season on the first day of competition after being the last Division I school to open the 2004 season.

SEASON OPENERS - NEWS AND NOTES
* The Ducks have won 18 of their last 21 season openers
* Oregon is 8-2 in season openers under Head Coach Mike Bellotti and has outscored its opponents, 310-209, in those 10 contests
* The last overtime game in a season-opener for the Ducks was a 30-27 win at Fresno State, Aug. 31, 1996 - the first year the overtime rule was put into place
* Oregon last won by shutout in its opener Sept. 10, 1988 vs. Long Beach State (49-0)
* Last season’s 30-24 season-opening loss to Indiana broke a string of four consecutive opening-day victories
THE SERIES VS. HOUSTON, CONFERENCE USA
Oregon is 1-0 all time vs. the Cougars with the only meeting taking place Sept. 24, 1983, in Autzen Stadium. The Ducks won 15-13 to improve to 1-2 on the season. The game marks only the eighth time in school history that Oregon has faced a team currently affiliated with Conference USA, with the Ducks boasting a 6-1 all-time record, but its the first time Oregon has actually faced a Conference USA opponent. UTEP was the last team now connected to the 10-year-old league to face the Ducks (with Oregon winning, 47-28, in 1999) when the Miners were a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Oregon and Houston will meet again in 2007 when the Cougars travel to Autzen Stadium to open the season.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
Junior quarterback Kevin Kolb is a preseason Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien nominee as the nation’s top offensive player and top quarterback, respectively. Last year, he paced Conference USA in total offense (256.1 ypg) and stood second in passing (251.5 ypg). In his two-year career, he has completed 418-of-713 passes for 5,897 yards and 36 touchdowns, and has been intercepted only 12 times. Kolb was one of three Cougars tabbed to the CollegeFootballNews.com preseason squad and was a second-team choice, while senior wide receiver Vincent Marshall and sophomore offensive tackle SirVincent Rogers were first-team picks. Another receiving option, sophomore wideout Donnie Avery, earned freshman all-conference accolades. Senior running back Anthony Evans was a third-team all-conference selection two years ago, but was hampered by injuries in 2004. On defense, UH will unveil a new 3-4 look, and is paced up front by defensive end Kade Lane. The third-team all-conference choice last year has started all 36 of his career appearances. Junior Wade Koehl was a 2004 Butkus Award nominee will anchor the linebacking corps, while sophomores Brendan Pahulu and Rocky Schwartz were conference all-freshman first-team honorees last year at linebacker and strong safety. On special teams, UH will have to replace last year’s kicker, holder and snapper. Junior punter Justin Laird lost his starting spot for part of last season, then recovered it at the end of the campaign. Overall, Houston returns eight starters on both offensive and defense.
PLAYING WITH THE INSTANT REPLAY
For the first time in school history, the Ducks will play a game with an instant replay procedure. Conference USA will experiment with an ‘NFL Model’ for its instant replay, which differs from the Pac-10 procedure in that it allows the referee to make the final decision. The Pac-10 version says that a technical advisor in the booth will make the final call. The Conference USA procedure allows a technical advisor to call for the replay, but not make the final decision. Plays that may be reviewed include: Plays governed by sideline, goal line and end line (scoring plays, pass complete/incomplete/intercepted at sideline, goal line, end line, runner/receiver out of bounds and recovery of loose ball in bounds); Passing Plays (complete/incomplete/intercepted in the field of play and end zones, touching of forward pass by ineligible receiver, touching of forward pass by defender, QB forward pass or fumble, illegal forward pass or illegal handling beyond line of scrimmage, forward or backward pass thrown from behind line of scrimmage); Other (runner not ruled down, all obvious forward progress errors, touching of a kick, forward progress errors with respect to first down, clock adjustments, fourth down/try fumble plays). Plays that may NOT be reviewed: Holding, offside/encroachment, pass interference, personal fouls, illegal blocks, illegal formations, face mask, taunting/excessive celebration, false starts, roughing passer/kicker, fighting participants.


Houston
HOUSTON - Duck season comes early to Southeast Texas as the University of Houston Cougars hunt down the Oregon Ducks on Labor Day weekend. Cover yourself in camouflage or Cougar clothing, both available at Academy Sports and Outdoors, and partake in some down-home waterfowling by calling out the Ducks with duck calls provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors to the first 2,000 U of H students through the gates at Reliant Stadium.
Watch the U of H offense break the Ducks' defensive formation and bird-dog to the Ducks' end zone. Then, sit back and enjoy the Cougars' new 3-4 defense as they blitz from the secondary like buckshot from behind a blind. You can use your duck call to help lure those lame Duck "passes" into the safety of a Cougar's grip and make those mallards want to migrate early. After the fourth quarter, stick around and join the band by using your duck call in a particularly gamey version of "Eat 'Em Up" to celebrate the Cougars' snapping of the Oregon Ducks' wishbone offense (or whatever kind of wish Oregon calls their offense). It's an egg-cellent way to start the season.
Houston New Defense
Switching to a 3-4 alignment and shuffling the coaching staff provide a fresh look on defense
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
The Houston Cougars will have a whole new look on defense this season, with many, many changes that will be visible in Thursday's season opener against Oregon at Reliant Stadium.
Oh, yeah. They're also going to change to a 3-4 defense.

Indeed, most of the changes have been made on the sidelines, where coaches Alan Weddell (inside linebackers) and Clay Jennings (secondary) will debut, and others such as Erik Slaughter (from strength and conditioning to outside linebackers) and Jason Phillips (wide receivers to cornerbacks) will take on new duties.
And even though Ron Harris is still pulling all the strings as defensive coordinator, it's been a wake-'em-up and shake-'em-up offseason for the UH defense. The move to the 3-4 is not so much a reaction to last year's 3-8 season but more designed to take advantage of the Cougars' wealth of speed on defense.
"I think that size is the least important thing on the defensive front," Weddell said. "I think speed is No. 1 because you have to be able to get to the football, and that's the name of the game, especially nowadays with so many teams spreading the field so much.
"That fourth linebacker can get to the football a lot faster than that fourth defensive lineman in a 4-3. At least that's my opinion. But when you get there you have to be strong enough to make a play and make a tackle."
The coaches like to refer to the 3-4, which features Kade Lane, Marquay Love and Gerard Richard across the front, with linebackers Wade Koehl, Brendan Pahulu, Trent Allen and Cody Lubojasky, as more of a tweak than any kind of major overhaul. The biggest adjustment has been replacing senior starters Will Gulley (safety) and Lance Everson (linebacker), both of whom are recovering from knee injuries.
"Is it radically different? I'd say no," Harris said. "I think the thing that really mandated this switch to the 3-4 is because of all the spread offenses now. Everybody's spreading out, and Memphis is a classic example of that. They have arguably the best running back in the country (DeAngelo Williams), but they're still going to spread you out to do it rather than just lining up and pounding you."
Besides, the Cougars are calling their new defense a 3-4, but it could mean just about anything depending on the situation on the field.
"If you take five colleges in the country that run a 3-4, you're going to get five different looks," Weddell said. "I'll give you an example — we went out and looked at the Texans, we saw the Pittsburgh Steelers and I looked at a lot of tape of the San Diego Chargers, all of which are supposed to be 3-4 teams. And then there are the Ravens, the Patriots and now the Cowboys, who are putting in a 3-4.
"Now, if you take those six teams I just named, they're all going to look different. They're going to be different in how they play their linebackers, what stunts they run, the secondary coverages they combine with those fronts and their automatics out of it. I think the real uniqueness of the 3-4 is that it's unique."
It had better be good as well as unique, especially considering some of the teams the Cougars will face, not only in the restructured Conference USA, but also in the pre-conference schedule. The Cougars will face quarterbacks such as Oregon's Kellen Clemens, UTEP's Jordan Palmer and Tulane's Lester Ricard, among others.
"I can tell you one thing — we're going to try and keep the ball in front of us," Jennings said, laughing. "That's going to be goal No. 1. And goal No. 2 is that we're going to be sure tacklers in the open field. I know I'm going to have a few sleepless nights this year thinking about facing these guys.
"We're going to see some quality arms, and not only just quality arms, but guys who are athletic, who know what to do with the ball and who have some pretty good football intelligence as well. And they're all in offenses that are very efficient, very explosive and designed to showcase (those quarterbacks). We're going to be tested."

Oregonian Newspaper

Ducks ready if Houston weather turns sticky
Sunday, August 28, 2005
JOHN HUNT
EUGENE -- It not only was the first day of Oregon's first game week, but Saturday also was Day One of the Ducks' hydration schedule.
"You start hydrating right now," coach Mike Bellotti said as his team prepared for Thursday's season opener in Houston. "Four or five days ahead, you force-feed electrolytes and fluids."
The Ducks are preparing for what Bellotti said might be the most extreme heat that has dogged one of his teams. And as UO practiced on another dry, hot August day in Eugene, in what essentially was a Tuesday practice in a normal week -- full pads, some game plan implementation -- Hurricane Katrina was churning across 90-degree water off the Gulf Coast.
Ducks ready if Houston weather turns sticky
Sunday, August 28, 2005
JOHN HUNT
EUGENE -- It not only was the first day of Oregon's first game week, but Saturday also was Day One of the Ducks' hydration schedule.
"You start hydrating right now," coach Mike Bellotti said as his team prepared for Thursday's season opener in Houston. "Four or five days ahead, you force-feed electrolytes and fluids."
The Ducks are preparing for what Bellotti said might be the most extreme heat that has dogged one of his teams. And as UO practiced on another dry, hot August day in Eugene, in what essentially was a Tuesday practice in a normal week -- full pads, some game plan implementation -- Hurricane Katrina was churning across 90-degree water off the Gulf Coast.
Projections had Katrina making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane somewhere around New Orleans, about 350 miles east of Houston. Its westward progress Saturday got the attention of Ducks coaches.
"Just today was the first time it sort of shifted and looked like it was going to become a problem," Bellotti said.
But forecasts for Houston called for sunny skies and 95 degree temperatures Thursday, with a West Coast-like humidity of 55 percent.
That would make for conditions similar to those in Oklahoma last season, where temperatures in the 90s were not nearly as big a factor as the Sooners' Adrian Peterson, who ran for 183 yards in Oklahoma's 31-7 win in Week 2.
If it does get muggier, the Ducks are prepared. They have cooling vests available, and they might use "slipcovers" in practice that make the footballs feel wet and slimy.
"The biggest thing is the perspiration of the people who handle the ball," Bellotti said. "As big a factor as the heat-related concerns is just handling the football."
Open or shut? The Cougars could choose to have the roof of Reliant Stadium open, to subject the visitors from the Northwest to Gulf conditions, or they could have the roof closed and turn on the air conditioning for the comfort of their fans.
Houston has not divulged its plans, and Bellotti doesn't expect an answer until Wednesday -- the team is required to inform Oregon of its plans 24 hours before kickoff.
"We're having a walkthrough there on site around game time the day before," Bellotti said. "I assume that, however they're going to play, they'll have it that way that day."
Traveling squad: Bellotti said he will take 68 to 70 players to Houston -- larger than the usual travel squad, because of the weather conditions
If weather were not a factor, the Ducks probably would be reluctant to play many inexperienced players, given the Cougars' unorthodox offense and uncertain defense -- they have a new-look defense that nobody has gotten much of a look at yet.
"I think we'll be forced to play more players due to the heat factor," Bellotti said. "I think we have to be prepared to rotate players maybe more than we normally would. The fact that they may not be as experienced, they're going to have to grow very quickly.
"I think the heat factors right now outweigh the experience factors."
Health concerns: The season opener is a medical marvel in itself. Players who lined the Ducks' practice fields without pads, nursing various ailments, were nearly all out on the field Saturday.
"It's an amazing phenomenon -- all those little injuries and little owies disappear," Bellotti said.
The only exceptions -- besides receiver Brian Paysinger (out until at least Week 3) and offensive lineman Shawn Flanagan (out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle) -- were defensive linemen David Faaeteete and Haloti Ngata.
Faaeteete has a sprained knee. And someone fell on Ngata's knee early in the practice, but he was showing no ill effects other than a wrap and said he could play if he had to.
Also, receiver Kyle Weatherspoon aggravated an ankle injury and is day-to-day.
Receiver Demetrius Williams and running back Terrence Whitehead practiced at full speed. Only offensive guard Palauni Ma Sun (hamstring) and tight end Dante Rosario (infected knee) wore the cautionary yellow jerseys.
Offensive line less of a concern
Monday, August 29, 2005
AARON FENTRESS
EUGENE -- Oregon entered preseason training camp looking like a team more than capable of improving on last season's disappointing 5-6 record.
Most areas of the team appeared solid. The positions of quarterback, running back, defensive line, wide receiver and defensive backs all offered few glaring question marks.
But a couple of areas presented concerns, chief among them: offensive line and linebacker. Questions also surrounded the potential contributions of two of the most heralded recruits in the Oregon's history, sophomore wide receiver Cameron Colvin and freshman running back Jonathan Stewart.
Training camp ended last Wednesday, meaning the season's first game week began Thursday in preparation for the opener this Thursday at Houston. Also ending last week was the time allotted for answering key concerns.
The following are four questions that faced the team entering preseason camp and the answers that developed:
1. Will an inexperienced offensive line jell in time for the season opener?
Things look promising.
The emergence of two young tackles is reason for optimism.
The Ducks returned three linemen with starting experience but lost one when Shawn Flanagan had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle and was ruled out for the season. That left right guard Ian Reynoso (14 career starts) and center Enoka Lucas (eight career starts) as the team's only linemen with significant experience playing in the Pacific-10 Conference.
Guard Palauni Ma Sun, a transfer who joined the team last spring, has won the left guard job. But a hamstring injury kept him out of much of camp.
The real bright spots, however, have been the continued improvement of sophomore right tackle Geoff Schwartz and redshirt freshman left tackle Max Unger. Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said both have continued to improve and have won his confidence.
Also, the new spread-option offense will take pressure off the line in terms of preventing the quarterback from being a stationary target and keeping the defense guessing.
The big question going into the season is how both will adapt to the speed of action in the Pac-10. Schwartz got a taste last season but said there's really not much he can tell Unger to prepare him.
"It's the kind of thing you have to experience for yourself," Schwartz said


JT Sneaks

[JT Sneaks]

Eastern Michigan vs. Cincinnati

Eastern Michigan
As can be expected in the early going finding information on this team is a bit weak but I am sure more information on the team will pop up from the bearcats.

GAME 1 STORYLINES
1. 2005 SEASON KICKS OFF: The Eastern Michigan University football team
kicks off its 114th season in 2005. The first year of intercollegiate football in
Ypsilanti was 1891 when the team posted an 0-2 record. EMU has fielded a team
every year since 1891 with one exception, when the 1944 season was cancelled
because of World War II.

2. 30th MAC SEASON: The 2005 season is the 30th year of Mid-American Conference
action for the Eastern Michigan University football team. Eastern was
admitted into the MAC in 1971, but a complete MAC football schedule could not be
cleared until 1976.

Cincinnati

Bearcats Open 2005 Season vs. EMU
The University of Cincinnati opens the 2005 football season hosting Eastern Michigan on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at Nippert Stadium, in the season-launching contest for both teams.

The game will mark Bearcat Bobblehead Night with the first 5,000 entering the stadium receiving a BIG EAST commemorative Bearcat Bobblehead.

Both teams are entering the new season with the momentum of successful runs in 2004. Cincinnati posted a 7-5 record under new head coach Mark Dantonio, winning four of its final five games to finish in a tie for second place in Conference USA. The Bearcats advanced to the Fort Worth Bowl where they defeated Marshall, 32-14.

Eastern Michigan, 4-7 overall in Jeff Genyk’s first year at the helm, posted a .500 record in Mid-American Conference play for the first time in six years and defeated rivals Central Michigan and Western Michigan in the same season for the first time since 1986.

The two teams enter 2005 on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of experience. Eastern Michigan has 12 returning starters, seven on offense. Cincinnati has starters returning at only six positions, three on each side of the line of scrimmage. With a total of eight returning regulars, which includes kicker Kevin Lovell and punter Chet Ervin, UC fields one of the youngest teams in the country in terms of experience.

The Bearcats will be kicking off their 118th football season. Cincinnati, which began grid play in 1885, boasts the nation’s fifth-oldest Division I-A program, with only Rutgers (1869), Michigan (1879), Navy (1880) and Minnesota (1883) having longer histories. Eastern Michigan is no newcomer to college football, having fielded teams since 1891.

Cincinnati is 69-38-10 in season openers. The Bearcats have won five of their last eight lid-lifters. UC is 49-37-3 in home openers, and has won five of its last six home openers.

Cincinnati, which finished first or second in Conference USA in four of the past five seasons, begins play in the BIG EAST Conference this season. The Bearcats’ first BIG EAST game will be on Oct. 8 when they visit Pittsburgh. UC’s first BIG EAST home contest will be on Oct. 15 when Connecticut visits for Homecoming.

UC vs. Eastern Michigan
Thursday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between Cincinnati and Eastern Michigan. UC is 10-6-0 vs. teams from the state of Michigan.

UC vs. the MAC
While Thursday’s game is UC’s first vs. Eastern Michigan, the Bearcats are no stranger to the Mid-American Conference. Cincinnati is 81-91-11 vs. teams which currently comprise the Mid-American Conference. UC is 44-58-7 vs. rival Miami and has a 23-23-4 ledger vs. Ohio.

Bearcats Once Ruled the MAC
The University of Cincinnati once ruled the Mid-American Conference. The Bearcats were members of the MAC for six seasons, from 1947 through 1952, during which time they compiled a 19-3-0 record and won five conference championships.


Cincinnati is one of the nation’s youngest teams, in terms of returning starters and in terms of projected senior starters. UC has starters returning at eight positions—tackle Steve Eastlake, tight end Brent Celek and fullback Doug Jones on offense; end Adam Roberts, cornerback Antoine Horton and Dominic Ross and JaJuan Hall, who shared the strong safety position on defense; along with punter Chet Ervin and kicker Kevin Lovell. Only two schools have fewer returning starters, Navy with six and Marshall with seven.

UC projects five senior starters on offense and defense, entering the 2005 season, second fewest to Rice which has three projected senior starters.

What a Difference a Year Makes
When the Bearcats opened the 2004 season, they boasted 26 seniors, 17 of whom were projected starters and seven more who were listed as backups. The total starting experience of the 2004 Bearcats was 256 games, 127 on offense and 129 on defense. The 2005 team enters the season with 85 games, 57 on offense and 28 on defense.

First Freshman Start
When Dustin Grutza makes his appearance as the Bearcats’ starting quarterback in Thursday’s Cincinnati-Eastern Michigan game, it may be the first time in UC history that a freshman has opened the season as the team’s starting quarterback. There is no evidence in available records, dating back to the post-World War II years, that a freshman has ever before started a season opener. The last time the Bearcats opened the season with a quarterback who had never played for UC was in 1983 when junior college transfer Troy Bodine made his debut and helped lead Cincinnati to a 14-3 upset of defending national champion Penn State.
Thursday Game Not So Rare for UC
Thursday night games are not exactly rare for the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats have played 53 games on Thursdays, compiling a 21-28-4 record. UC’s annual rivalry with Miami (Ohio) has been played on Thursdays 50 times, 49 of those on Thanksgiving Day—the game a fixture there from the early century through the 1950s. UC’s last Thursday night appearance occurred last season when the Bearcats defeated Marshall, 32-14, at the Fort Worth Bowl on Dec. 23.
Hair-Rinsing Experience
Brent Celek will hope Thursday’s game vs. Eastern Michigan is a hair-rinsing experience. The Bearcats’ junior tight end has abstained from washing his hair since the beginning of summer workouts—a span of nine weeks and counting—and vows not to wash it until UC’s first victory.

JT Sneaks

[JT Sneaks]

Vanderbilt vs. Wake Forest

Vanderbilt

Coach Johnson's Monday Press Conference
8/29/2005
Vanderbilt head football coach Bobby Johnson met with representatives from the media Monday afternoon for his first press conference of the 2005 season. A portion of his comments are available below:
Head Coach Bobby Johnson
(Opening remarks)
Good afternoon. Thanks for coming. We’re at the point where we’re tired of practicing against each other and want to play some real football. That’s the great thing about college football – the preseason doesn’t last that long and you have to get at it and go right to it. We’re anxious for Thursday to get here and see what we can do.
(On Wake Forest’s program)
It’s going to be two hungry teams coming in there Thursday, both wanting to do well right off the bat. They’ll give us some challenges. They run the ball extremely well and I know they’re trying to improve their passing game. They think Benjamin Mauk will be a very good quarterback for them to do that. In high school he threw a lot and he was a record-setter. It’s going to be an interesting game. We’re looking forward to it.
(On Preseason All-SEC QB Jay Cutler)
We’re going to use Jay Cutler to the fullest so that obviously means we’re going to throw the football. But if you sit back and throw the football all the time in the ACC and SEC, where there are great pass rushers and great defensive coordinators who can do things to you if you’re going to be a pass-only team, then your yards per attempt are probably going to go way down. So we’re going to have to run the football – there’s no doubt about it. But the threat of Jay’s passing ability, I think, will allow us to do that better. We’re going to use him to throw it and we’re going to use him as a threat to throw it. And hopefully we can still stay balanced and make people defend everything against us instead of just Jay Cutler.

Vandy Newspaper
Vandy plans to play freshman corners

Duo tries to fill shoes of suspended Dixon

By BRYAN MULLEN
Staff Writer


Vanderbilt cornerbacks Jared Fagan and Josh Allen have never played in a college football game.

On Thursday both will. And one will start. This has to be an issue, right?

“We don’t have the luxury of it being an issue,” Commodores secondary coach Jamie Bryant said. “Because they’re both going to play.”

While that may sound simple enough, the issue of making your first collegiate start, in the first game of the year, on the road, is a tad more complex.

Vanderbilt will be without junior Sean Dixon on Thursday when the Commodores travel to Wake Forest. Dixon, the starting cornerback opposite senior Andrew Pace, was suspended for the game because of an unspecified violation of team and NCAA rules.

Vanderbilt’s coaches have yet to name Fagan or Allen as the starter. And the players may not know until the last minute.

“It will be one of those late decisions,” Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson said. “They are very similar. It will probably be the one who recognizes things the best and makes the calls we need to make. He needs to be aware of certain sets.”

Johnson and Bryant said the two cornerbacks are similar in talent, and unfortunately for Vanderbilt, are also similar when it comes to game experience. When it comes to performances at practices during the past week, neither has pulled away from the other, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, coaches said.

“I think that they are both trying to do the best they can,” Bryant said. “They’re good players. They are pretty much even right now. When we get (to Wake Forest), we’re going to line up and play with one of them, but they’re both going to play in the game.”

If it weren’t for their jersey numbers, it would be difficult to tell Fagan and Allen apart. Fagan is 5-foot-10 and 172 pounds. Allen is 5-foot-9 and 174 pounds.


Both are still learning about responsibilities as a starter, and quite frankly, still learning the position as it relates to the collegiate level.

Both are inexperienced when it comes to not only playing college football games, but also playing college football games on the road in front of hostile crowds.

But both are also quick and shifty and break on the ball well.

“I think they both have good feet and they both have good hips,” Bryant said. “They’ve learned the system. They’ve been here a while, so it’s time for them to go out and play.”

They will be playing a team facing a worse scenario. Wake Forest has to replace their two starting cornerbacks from last season. Eric King was a two-time All-ACC selection, and Marcus McGruder set the single-season ACC record in interception returns for touchdowns (three).

Filling one of the spots will be Riley Swanson, a junior who played in all 11 games but started just one last year. Behind him are sophomore Johnny Edwards and three redshirt freshmen.
More weather issues: Hurricane Katrina could affect everyone else in the Vanderbilt football program.
The Commodores are scheduled to travel to Wake Forest for a Thursday night game.
Projections yesterday showed that the remnants of the storm are expected to hit Tennessee around midday on Wednesday, the same time the Commodores are scheduled to leave for Wake Forest.
Vanderbilt is scheduled to leave the Nashville International Airport on a Delta charter at 3 p.m.
"We are waiting on the actual direction the storm will take, as well as the landfall direction," Vanderbilt Director of Sport Operations Brian Reese said.
With only four days before their season opener, the Commodores have managed to avoid serious injuries to their starters. And as a whole, the team is surprisingly healthy.
The most pressing issue deals with defensive tackle Ray Brown, who had been wearing a protective boot on his injured left foot. Brown has not worn the boot the past two days. Yesterday, Brown pulled on his shoulder pads for the first time and did some side work with a blocking sled.
"Getting Ray Brown back is pretty big," Johnson said. "He's got a chance, but when you're not out there doing all the adjustments, it's just hard for him to be able to play."
Freshman tight end Jake Bradford is wearing a sling after dislocating his right shoulder. Bradford would like to redshirt this season, but injuries and other factors may not make that possible.
"What we probably would have done, like we did with Curtis Gatewood and Jonathan Goff, we would have probably dressed (Bradford) and had him ready to go just in case," Johnson said. "But we would have hoped to not play him."
Offensive lineman Nigel Seaman has been sidelined for several practices after suffering a concussion during contact drills. Fullback Steven Bright (neck stiffness) continues to wear a non-contact red jersey and will do so until game day.
"It's no use to take it off. We're not going to hit anymore," Johnson said. "Just having it on keeps people from accidentally hitting him."
Keeping up with Pace: Senior cornerback Andrew Pace continues to impress the coaches and is becoming more comfortable at his new position. Pace, who moved from safety to cornerback in the spring, intercepted a pass by backup quarterback Chris Nickson yesterday.
"Just reliable as you can be," Johnson said about Pace. "He works hard. Heck, he could probably play quarterback if we wanted him to."


JT Sneaks

[JT Sneaks]

This Week’s Game
On the opening night of major college football around the nation, in front of a national audience, Wake
Forest kicks off the 2005 season at Groves Stadium against Vanderbilt. The game is set for Thursday,
September 1 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU, the first Division I football game to air on the infant network.

Wake Forest is a perfect 4-0 in home openers under Jim Grobe.
Thursday’s game also marks the first season opener that doubles as
a home opener for the Demon Deacons under Jim Grobe’s watch.
Wake Forest has started each of the last four seasons on the road,
posting a 2-2 record. All of those games were decided by seven
points or less and both of Wake Forest’s losses were in overtime (more
about close games on page three).
The Vanderbilt game will be just the second time the Deacons
have started their season at home since 1998. Wake Forest is 65-34-
3 all-time in home openers, including eight wins in the last 10 years

Wake Forest returns 16 starters from last year and played close
games week-in and week-out. The Deacons were leading or tied in
the fourth quarter in nine of their 11 games, but finished 4-7.

Wake Forest brings back four players who earned mention on last year’s postseason All-ACC
teams. Senior punter Ryan Plackemeier is among the frontrunners for the Ray Guy Award, junior offensive
tackle Steve Vallos is on the Lombardi Award Watch List and sophomore middle linebacker Jon
Abbate is one of the top young linebackers in the nation.

Against Vanderbilt, Wake Forest will be without two-time All-ACC running back Chris Barclay and
Riley Swanson, the Deacons’ most experienced cornerback. Both are serving one-week suspensions for
a violation of team policy.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series six games to three. However, this will be the first meeting
between the schools since 2000 when the Commodores left Groves Stadium with a 20-10 victory (more
about the series history on page seven).


The Benjamin Mauk Era Begins
Redshirt sophomore Benjamin Mauk, who set national passing records at Kenton High School in Ohio,
has been named the starting quarterback.
Mauk originally came to Wake Forest with quite a bit of fanfare and notoriety. In high school, he
operated in a no-back, five-wide, no-huddle offense. He totaled 6,540 passing yards and 76 touchdowns
in his senior season, en route to a second straight state championship and Mr. Football in Ohio
honors.
Last year, Mauk rotated with the veteran Cory Randolph, who has 20 career starts under his belt.
When a toe injury sidelined Randolph against Duke last October, Mauk capitalized on the opportunity.
He led the Deacons to victory that day and started the season’s final three games against North
Carolina, Miami and Maryland.
In part-time duty, Mauk completed 52.1 percent of his passes for 572 yards, two touchdowns and
three interceptions. His 295 rushing yards ranked second on the team. But it was his fearless, hardnosed
style that endeared himself to Wake Forest teammates, coaches and fans. Mauk bowled over a
would-be tackler against Duke last season. After the game, he told reporters that “if I wanted to slide
I'd play baseball. Football is all about hitting.”
The sophomore performed well enough in the spring and in the preseason to supplant Randolph
for the starting position. In the team’s final scrimmage, he led the Deacons on three scoring drives and
capped one with a rushing touchdown.

Who’s This Guy?
With Chris Barclay and Riley Swanson on the sidelines
against Vanderbilt, the Deacons will ask a
handful of young players to fill some big shoes.
Barclay, of course, is a two-time 1,000-yard
rusher, the only one in Wake Forest history. But the
coaching staff feels very confident with sophomore
back-ups Micah Andrews and De’Angelo Bryant.
Both have experienced ACC competition.
So as good as Barclay is, the bigger loss
might be Swanson. That’s because the cornerback
position was already the least experienced position
for Wake Forest.
Without Swanson, the Deacons will be forced
to utilize a number of young cornerbacks who have
never played a down of college football.
That will be a stark contrast to the end of the
2004 season when the Deacons had future NFL
draft pick Eric King (42 career starts) and Marcus
McGruder (35) as the starting cornerbacks.


Seniors Are Few And Far Between
Despite returning 16 starters, Wake Forest will once
again field one of the youngest teams in the nation.
Using the depth chart as a guide, only five
seniors are expected to start, including offensive
tackle Wesley Bryant, receiver Chris Davis, linebacker
Jason Pratt, punter Ryan Plackemeier and
defensive tackle Goryal Scales.

Nailbiters Are The Norm
In the four seasons since Jim Grobe arrived at Wake
Forest, the Deacons have played 47 games. Of
those, 26 contests have been decided by seven
points or less and three have gone to overtime.
Last year, eight of the team’s games were
decided by a touchdown or less and two went into
overtime.
Much has been made of Wake Forest’s close
losses last year -- six losses by a total of 36 points.
It seemed that every close game went against the
Deacons in 2004.
But it might surprise some to note that Wake
Forest has almost broken even in games decided by
a touchdown or less under Grobe. The Deacons are
12-14 in those contests.


JT Sneaks

[BangTheBook]

Good stuff JT

[Demster]

Nice info JT

[JT Sneaks]

Thanks guys, i will try to post as much in here as I can to save research on so many games on everyone's part

Central Florida vs. South Carolina

South Carolina


Aug. 29, 2005
With just three days before the season opener Thursday night against UCF, the South Carolina Gamecock football squad worked out for a little over two hours on the Bluff Road practice fields Monday afternoon. The session was like a typical "Wednesday" practice for the Gamecocks. Here are head coach Steve Spurrier's comments following the practice:
"We're about 72 or 73 hours away from finally playing. It was a decent practice. Nothing too exciting happened today. We got some good work in. The weather's been very good the last few days - good and hot and no thunderstorms, so we've been in good shape.
"Usually you need to practice well to play well. We haven't practiced extremely sharp, but we'll play to our potential Thursday night.
"They don't want Sidney (Rice) to play yet. They're afraid if he gets hit on his finger again, it's not healed enough to play. He's very doubtful.
"(Blake Mitchell's) got a chance to really play well. He's got a lot of potential. He can make all the throws. He's just got to get comfortable and have some good things happen and we have to pass block well. Hopefully he can stay away from getting hit by blitzers and stay out of trouble. We'll try to help him as much as we can."
INJURY REPORT: O.J. Murdock remained out due to an illness. Jonathan Hannah was sidelined with a left ankle injury. Dakota Walker was on crutches after having an infection in his left knee. Eric Stroman (left elbow), Michael Flint (right hand), Sidney Rice (left little finger) and Jared Cook (foot) also were in yellow jerseys on Monday.


Is Spurrier’s toughness too much for the gamecocks?

Former players say Spurrier’s tough training hard to endure

By BOB GILLESPIE

Senior Writer

Eleven years later, Terry Dean says he has “nothing but positive memories” about his four seasons playing quarterback at Florida for Steve Spurrier. Memories such as beating Alabama 28-13 in the 1993 SEC Championship Game and throwing seven touchdowns against New Mexico State in 1994, the SEC record.
But the Naples, Fla., financial consultant admits his warm and fuzzy feelings about his college football career are, in part, the result of a highly selective memory.
“My dad has a CD of some old games, but I don’t remember some things. I guess I’ve just blanked them out.”
He says he has tried to forget the battles with Spurrier during those four years, and the pressures of always being in the spotlight — for good and bad — in Gainesville. Most of all, Dean prefers to forget the emotional roller coaster that finally derailed and crashed Oct. 15, 1994.
That day, the senior and early-season Heisman Trophy candidate threw four interceptions in a 36-33 loss to Auburn at Florida Field. It was the Gators’ only regular-season loss that season and their last home loss for five years, a string of 30 victories, none with Dean in charge of Florida’s offense.
When Dean went to the bench, replaced by sophomore Danny Wuerffel, he recalls telling his brother, a wide receiver, “I’m done. I’ll never play again.”
Says Dean: “He didn’t believe me. But I knew it.” The rest of his senior season, he threw 15 passes, none when it mattered.
A week before the Auburn game, Dean had played poorly in a 42-18 rout of LSU. He says Spurrier showed him film of mistake after mistake from the game, punctuated by sarcastic comments about his play.
Dean wondered if Spurrier tries to tear down his quarterbacks, Marine Corps-like, in order to rebuild them the way the coach wants. Spurrier says that’s not his method of coaching.
“But my experience, that (tearing down) happened to me,” Dean says. “I struggled with that. I got the X’s and O’s, but his style was not my way. We had a lot of arguments. We never got along the way I had envisioned.”
In the final weeks of 1994, Dean saw Wuerffel survive, even thrive, in the Spurrier crucible. “Danny and Shane (Matthews) were more accommodating to his style,” Dean says. “If you were able to sit and do what you were told, the way you were told, you could handle it. I wasn’t able to.”
Spurrier still doesn’t buy that. “When a guy plays poorly, he gets benched. Terry had a few good games here and there, then he sort of lost his confidence somewhere along the way.
“Maybe I yelled at him and he lost it. But he was losing it before I started yelling a lot.”
Former Gators quarterback John Reaves, a Florida assistant at the time, remembers Dean as “a natural talent. He could run, threw a beautiful ball, was smart. But he got all nervous and uptight.
“Other quarterbacks get nervous around (Spurrier), too. I think a lot of it is personality, how people get along.”
Or, in this case and in others, how they didn’t get along with the coach.
Dean’s story is perhaps the most dramatic, and personally tragic, but it hardly is the only case of coach-quarterback dysfunction during Spurrier’s 12 seasons at Florida.
Spurrier, who won the 1966 Heisman Trophy, is notoriously demanding of, and often brutally critical of, his proteges. Some players took the benchings and tongue-lashings as hard wisdom; others did not.
Nearly one-fourth of the quarterbacks who signed with Florida from 1990-2001 left the team, a number not significantly higher than at other schools. Others, like Dean and, later, Doug Johnson, stayed, if not always happily.
Some say they came away with bruised psyches and feelings ranging from bitter to bittersweet. Others, years removed from the collegiate pressure cooker, now grudgingly grant the then-devil, Spurrier, his due.
“I don’t wish I’d gone elsewhere,” says Johnson, who played at Florida from 1996-99 and ranks seventh in career passing yardage (7,114), fourth in career touchdowns (62) and is now a backup for the Cleveland Browns.
“I came out with the skills and knowledge that allowed me to make an NFL team my rookie year as a free agent, and that doesn’t happen without playing for (Spurrier).”
But Johnson also learned in his senior season of 1999 the price for not meeting Spurrier’s standards. The Gators, with a 9-1 record, lost to Florida State 30-23 in a game in which Johnson threw a pair of interceptions.
Three weeks later, vs. Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, he attempted two passes as Jesse Palmer took over.
“He takes great pride in that position (quarterback), because he was one,” Johnson says. “He takes (failure) personally. It’s a tough situation for a player. Playing quarterback for him is probably more demanding than anywhere else.”
For some, it was too demanding. Donald Douglas, who started the final four games and bowl game for Florida in 1989, before Spurrier arrived, transferred to Houston. Kyle Morris, another regular in 1989, left for Division II Mississippi College.
Later, Antwan Chiles (Liberty), Luke Bencie (Michigan State), Eric Kresser (Marshall), Bobby Sabelhaus (West Virginia, then San Jose State) and Tim Olmstead (Vanderbilt) also left — some angry, some relieved.
Sabelhaus, a Parade All-American, never took a college snap and eventually underwent treatment for bipolar disorder, which he later said was exacerbated by playing football. In a 2002 interview, he seemed to tie Spurrier to his failures.
“Everything I did was wrong,” Sabelhaus told The New Yorker. “I was used to coaches yelling at me, but they also would sometimes pat you on the back. Not Spurrier.
“He was constantly berating me. I would wake up in the morning and spend the entire day dreading the afternoon meeting. The other quarterbacks went through the same thing. (They) could take it. Not me.”
Spurrier, not speaking specifically about Sabelhaus, says the notion that quarterbacks were scared of him are attempts to justify failure.
“Well, that’s an excuse. If they were afraid of me, that was their excuse for it. I tried to coach them all pretty much the same, but some guys could do it the way you asked, and do it more consistently. Some could not.
“The ones who could not, you yelled at them a little bit more, until all of a sudden (he realized), ‘Maybe this guy can’t do it, and I’m barking up the wrong tree,’ because he’s not going to get any better. But some of those guys had a lot of ability.”
One who did was Spurrier’s first college quarterback, Duke’s Ben Bennett. The two had famously fractious battles.
“They both had strong egos. They were a lot alike, to be honest,” says Red Wilson, who hired Spurrier to be his offensive coordinator in 1980. “Ben would have the nerve to say, ‘Coach, I don’t like it.’ But like it or not, that’s what they were going to do.”
Bennett, now the coach of the AFL2 Manchester (N.H.) Wolves, eventually became a convert, but the process wasn’t painless.
“I’d called all my own plays in high school and had tremendous success,” Bennett says. “I felt I knew all there was to know.
“It took me three weeks of preseason to learn I didn’t know everything — but Steve did.”
In a game vs. Wake Forest in Bennett’s freshman season, Spurrier started Ron Sally at quarterback, “to show Ben he couldn’t run the team,” Wilson says. When the Blue Devils faltered, a motivated Bennett came on to throw for 469 yards.
Bennett says now that Spurrier disliked his clothes, his hair and even his car, a Corvette T-top, but mostly his attitude. “He was trying to make me more of a team player, not alter me as a person. That caused some friction, until I realized he was right.”
Johnson also came to understand Spurrier’s methods, sort of. After signing with Florida, he signed a $450,000 contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. That, and shoulder and leg injuries, led Spurrier to question Johnson’s commitment to football.
Then, before his senior season, Spurrier made it clear to Johnson that if he wanted to play, he needed to stay in Gainesville and work out that summer.
“I made that decision,” says Johnson, who turned his back on baseball. “That’s why I’m in the NFL now.”
But if Johnson learned lessons from Spurrier that served him well in the pros, he says they came at the expense of what he would have liked as a college player.
“Bottom line, he was strictly business,” Johnson says. “Coach doesn’t care about your personal life. He’s not concerned with things off the field.
“In my opinion, and I’m a parent now, when you have an 18-year-old kid (playing football), you need to be a little more concerned with him as a human being. You need someone you can talk to about life and have a personal relationship with. That wasn’t there with Spurrier.
“If you go to play for him, you’re going to a guy who’ll make you the best quarterback you can be, and that’s it. Don’t expect more. It’s a business relationship. He’s there to win games.”

[JT Sneaks]

UCF

ORLANDO - For the fourth consecutive season, the UCF Golden Knights open the season on ESPN in front of a national television audience. The Golden Knights visit South Carolina in primetime on Thursday, September 1 in the first college football broadcast of the season on ESPN.

UCF makes it ESPN Thursday night primetime debut in a game featuring two of the top coaches in the nation in George O'Leary and Steve Spurrier.

Mike Tirico will call the action on ESPN while Kirk Herbstreit provides the color commentary and Erin Andrews patrols the sidelines. The UCF ISP Sports Network begins pregame coverage at 5:45 p.m. The radio broadcast is also available at ucfathletics.com.


Series Notes
UCF is 0-2 all-time vs. South Carolina, with both losses coming in Columbia. The Golden Knights lost 33-14 in 1996 at South Carolina in UCF's first season as a Division I-A member. The following season, the Gamecocks survived a scare from the Golden Knights, holding on for a 33-31 victory. Daunte Culpepper threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns in the two-point loss.

George O'Leary has faced Steve Spurrier three times, but never as a head coach. The two met when O'Leary was the defensive coordinator for Bobby Ross at Georgia Tech from 1987-89 while Spurrier was the head coach at Duke. The Blue Devils won 48-14 in 1987, 31-21 in 1988 and 30-19 in 1989.





UCF is 1-9 all-time vs. SEC schools, with the lone win coming in 2000 at Alabama (41-38). The Golden Knights have lost four games by five points or less to SEC competition, including two games by one point.


UCF on ESPN
UCF is 0-4 all-time on ESPN, including last season's 34-6 loss at Wisconsin to open the season. George O'Leary has coached 10 games on ESPN Thursday night primetime telecasts, going 6-4 when he was the head coach at Georgia Tech.


UCF in Season Openers
UCF is 14-12 all-time in season openers in 26 years of football. Over the last six seasons, the Golden Knights have faced some of the top teams in the nation to start the season, including No. 21 Wisconsin in 2004, No. 9 Virginia Tech in 2003, No. 24 Penn State in 2002, No. 19 Clemson in 2001, Georgia Tech in 2000 and No. 22 Purdue in 1999.

George O'Leary is 5-3 in season openers as a head coach. O'Leary missed UCF's season opener last season to attend the funeral of his mother.


Senior Starters
UCF is third in the nation with just six senior starters entering the 2005 season. Only Rice (3) has fewer senior starters than the Golden Knights.


Ready for Action
UCF head coach George O'Leary will have one of the nation's youngest teams in 2005. UCF's current depth chart features 23 freshmen or sophomores listed among the team's top 44 offensive and defensive players.

Nine true freshmen dot the depth chart, including one starter. True freshman Cory Hogue is the projected starter at weakside linebacker.

Running Back by Committee
How do you replace UCF's all-time leading rusher in Alex Haynes? The Golden Knights will look to several players to fill the void of Haynes, who graduated last December and is now in training camp with the Baltimore Ravens.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of preseason camp has been the play of freshman tailback Kevin Smith. The Miami native has been sensational, showing excellent athleticism and the ability to break the long run in camp. With terrific agility and speed, Smith has shown he can run in-between the tackles and also break a run to the outside. Even more shocking, Smith did not play tailback his senior year in high school at Southridge High School in Miami. Smith played defensive back as a senior, but rushed for 1,125 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior for Southridge.

Junior Dontavius Wilcox is the starter at tailback after a solid spring and preseason camp.

Jason Peters is another running back who should see significant time. Peters is the starter at fullback entering the season. He was ranked by some media outlets as the No. 3 tailback in the junior college ranks last season.


Since joining Division I-A in 1996, the Golden Knights are 10-27 in the month of September

Scouting South Carolina
The Gamecocks of South Carolina begin the 2005 season with the return 39 letterwinners from last year's 6-5 team. The Gamecocks welcome back 11 starters - four on offense, four on defense and three on special teams - as head coach Steve Spurrier begins his first season at the helm.

The 2004 season ended with a 29-7 loss at arch-rival Clemson in Lou Holtz's final game as the USC head coach.

South Carolina sophomore rover Ko Simpson was named a first-team preseason all-conference honoree by the Southeastern Conference coaches.

Simpson was joined on the preseason all-SEC squad by offensive tackle Na'Shan Goddard, who was a second-team selection, offensive tackle Jabari Levey, who was recognized with a spot on the third team and kicker Josh Brown, who also garnered third-team honors.

Widely recognized as one of the top safeties in the country this preseason, Simpson comes off a freshman season in which he led the SEC and ranked third nationally with six interceptions. He also recovered three fumbles and scored two defensive touchdowns in 2004.

Orlando Press

UCF's opening game is three days away, and the Golden Knights' heavy bags are packed. Now they're laboring over small matters.

Their goal is for the little things not to become big problems. Things like substituting on the fly, calling plays from the sideline, being able to communicate on the field under fire.

In practice, such adjustments carry little penalty. Game days, it's a different story.

"You have to get that stuff right," defensive coordinator Lance Thompson said. "The last thing you want to do is have the wrong personnel in or get a penalty [for having too many players on the field.]

"Polish," is what UCF Coach George O'Leary calls it. It covers a lot of ground, from special teams to the 2-minute drill.

Polish is not what the Knights had Sunday. O'Leary called Sunday afternoon's two-hour indoor workout "sloppy," saying too many players "were going through the motions."

Ready for takeoff

It was easy to tell Sunday that a big-time opponent is up on UCF's schedule. O'Leary Air sounded ready to take off.

UCF managers strapped a large speaker to the back of a golf cart and blasted jet engine noise inside Nicholson Fieldhouse as QB Steven Moffett huddled the offense and called signals at the line. The noise is to help the Knights cope with what is expected to be a whipped-up 82,500 at South Carolina's Williams-Brice Stadium.

"It's loud, I can tell you that," O'Leary said. "My ears are clogged."

O'Leary used the noise last year when the Knights got ready for trips to Wisconsin and Penn State.

Etc.

The Knights have a handful of players nursing minor bumps, bruises or sprains but none who will miss the game because of injury. . . . K Matt Prater must like kicking under pressure better than he does without it. A practice-closing 52-yard field-goal attempt -- players to run sprints if he missed -- sailed true and would have been good from another 10 yards. He missed two earlier attempts from 52. . . . UCF Board of Trustees Chairman Dick Nunis peeked in on Sunday's two-hour workout. . . .



JT

[JT Sneaks]

Buffalo vs. Uconn

Uconn

SERIES NOTES
BULLS ON PARADE
In terms of recent history, Buffalo is by far the most familiar face on UConn’s 2005 schedule. The Huskies and Bulls have met 15 times previously and on Thursday night will face each other for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, the lone exception being 1998. UConn leads the series 11-4 on the heels of a 29-0 win last Nov. 20 at Rentschler Field. The Huskies have won seven of the last eight meetings, with the exception of a 37-20 Bull win in Storrs in 2001. Buffalo is the only team to play UConn in each of the Huskies’ first four Division I-A seasons. UConn’s first four I-A slates include three contests each with Army, Boston College, Georgia Tech and Rutgers.


MAC-NIFICENT
Buffalo is UConn’s only opponent from the Mid-American Conference for the 2005 season. UConn has become quite familiar with the MAC, having faced four of its members in both the 2002 and 2003 seasons and two more last fall, going a combined 9-1 in those contests. The lone loss came to Ball State, 24-21 in overtime, on Sept. 28, 2002 at Memorial Stadium in Storrs. UConn’s last meeting with a MAC school was historic for the school as the Huskies topped league champion Toledo, 39-10, on Dec. 27 in the Motor City Bowl.



START ME UP
September 1 equals the third-earliest starting date in UConn football’s 107-year history. UConn also started its 2001 season on Sept. 1, falling to No. 9 Virginia Tech, 52-10, in Blacksburg. UConn’s earliest opener came on Aug. 30, 2003 when the Huskies inaugurated Rentschler Field with a 34-10 win over Indiana. UConn opened its 2002 season on Aug. 31, dropping a 24-16 decision at Boston College.

LET’S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER
UConn will be playing its third ever game under the lights at Rentschler Field. The Huskies are 1-1 in their previous forays into the East Hartford night. UConn’s debut was auspicious as on Sept. 30, 2004 the Huskies defeated eventual BIG EAST champion Pittsburgh, 29-17, before a national television audience on ESPN2. Two weeks later, the team was not as fortunate, falling to No. 17 West Virginia, 31-19, on Oct. 13 live on ESPN.

RUBY THURSDAY
Playing on a weekday is nothing new to the Huskies, In 2004, UConn had a game on every day of the week except for Sunday and Tuesday, playing five non-Saturday games in all. The Buffalo game marks the first of three weeknight contests this fall for UConn, joining games against Syracuse (Fri., Oct. 7) and West Virginia (Wed., Nov. 2). UConn was 3-2 on weekdays in 2004, including its Motor City Bowl win over Toledo on Monday, Dec. 27. Prior to last year, UConn had not played a mid-week game since 1982. The Huskies last played on a Thursday on Nov. 25, 2004 topping Rutgers, 41-35, on Thanksgiving morning in New Jersey.

SYMPATHY FOR THE SCHEDULE BECAUSE TIME IS ON MY SIDE
Allowing a young team to benefit from three bye weeks, UConn will play the longest regular-season schedule in the nation this year, covering the full 94-day regular season playing period permitted by the NCAA. September 1 is the first permissible playing date for Division I-A football, while UConn is also scheduled to play on the last permissible regular season date when the Huskies welcome Louisville to Rentschler Field on Dec. 3. UConn is the only team in the nation to have a regularly scheduled game on both the first and last days of the season. However, Houston, Marshall, South Carolina, Tulsa, UCF, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest can potentially match UConn’s 94-day regular season. All open their 2005 seasons on Sept. 1 and would also play on Dec. 3 should they advance to their respective conference’s championship games.


LET’S GET IT STARTED
UConn is 45-58-2 in season openers dating back to 1896. The Huskies are 2-0 in season openers at Rentschler Field after defeating Murray State, 52-14, last Sept. 4 and Indiana, 34-10, on Aug. 30, 2003. The wins snapped a four-game opening day losing streak that had stood since a 1998 win at Colgate...They are also UConn’s first two season opening wins under Randy Edsall and the only two times that UConn had opened at home under his watch. UConn’s last home season-opener before 2003 was in 1997, a 38-26 win over Northeastern at venerable Memorial Stadium...UConn is 17-6 when opening its season at home since 1947...This will mark the first time the Huskies have opened at home in three consecutive seasons since the team played eight straight season openers at Memorial Stadium from 1985-92...UConn last won three consecutive season openers when it ran off a string of four straight from 1995-98...UConn last won three consecutive season openers at home when the team ran off a string of five straight from 1985-89.


HUSKIES DOMINATING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
Over the past 28 games, UConn has outgained its opponent 24 times. The first exception came when UConn was outgained by Rutgers 455-321 on Nov. 8, 2003 in its home finale, a game the Huskies won 38-31. The other three were on Sept. 17, 2004 at Boston College when the Eagles held a 334-291 edge, on Oct. 13, 2004 when West Virginia held a 462-365 advantage and on Nov. 13, 2004 when Georgia Tech outgained UConn 410-225. The Rutgers contest marked the first time since losing at Vanderbilt on Oct. 26, 2002 that UConn had been outgained. Over this 28 game span, UConn has averaged 454.6 yards per game of total offense and 321.7 yards per game of total defense. In its last 17 games, UConn has eclipsed 500 yards of total offense seven times.

CONN-TROLLING THE FLOW OF THE GAME
A telling sign of UConn’s strong performance on both sides of the ball during its brief tenure as a Division I-A program has been its ability to both record and prevent long drives. Since the start of the 2002 season, UConn’s offense has strung together 31 scoring drives of at least 80 yards while the Husky defense has surrendered just 15 such marches. UConn also holds a 7-2 advantage over its opponents in the number of 90-yard and over drives since becoming a I-A program.

FEWER FRESH FACES
With the development of the Husky program the past few seasons, UConn has been able to redshirt more players and rely less on true freshmen to make an immediate impact just months removed from high school. Only three true freshmen (FB Anthony Barksdale, DE Cody Brown and CB Courtney Robinson) appear on UConn’s Buffalo week depth chart and all three are slated to play reserve roles. Eight true freshmen appeared for UConn a year ago while six true freshmen played for the Huskies in 2003.


THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
UConn has an aggregate total of just 18 varsity letters earned by its current offensive players, tying for the second fewest of any team in the nation. Navy returns just a combined total of 17 offensive letters while UConn’s 18 equals Louisiana-Lafayette. Although inexperienced, UConn’s current two-deep is loaded with some of the most talented players to ever come into the Husky program as the program’s recruiting has improved dramatically with the ever-improving stature of the team and UConn’s facilities. Proof positive that a low number of returnees can still be reason for optimism is the team in fourth place directly behind UConn and ULL...near-unanimous preseason No. 1 Southern California.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL
A year ago, UConn was benefitting from an offensive line that combined to start an incredible 174 career games and powered the Huskies to the BIG EAST’s top spot in both scoring and total offense. In 2005, seven of the 10 student-athletes on UConn’s two-deep have never played a single down on the Huskies’ offensive line. Grant Preston (35 career starts) and Craig Berry (12 career starts) are the two veteran members of the line corps and have shifted roles to anchor the group from the tackle sports. Those two will be asked to help bring the unit along, in addition to position coaches Norries Wilson (centers and guards) and Dave McMichael (tackles). Randy Edsall has taken non-line duties off of the plates of both assistants so that they can focus more on the daily development of the linemen. Reports out of both spring practice and fall camp were that the group was progressing quickly, but practice experience is no substitute for game experience, something the group sorely lacks. Against Buffalo, UConn will start redshirt freshmen making their UConn debuts at both center (Trey Tonsing) and right guard (Immanuel Hutcherson). The starting left guard will be junior Matt Applebaum, a converted defensive lineman who has played sparingly in eight career games, all of them on defense. Of the five backups, three are redshirt freshmen and only sophomore left guard Brian Kersmanc (three games played) has ever seen action for the blue and white.

BROCKING THE HISTORY BOOK
Cornell Brockington, who led the BIG EAST with 1,218 rushing yards in 2004, has an opportunity to make conference history this year. No player has ever led the BIG EAST in rushing twice. Further, should Terry Caulley, or another Husky, emerge as the team’s top threat at tailback, they would also have a chance to make history on behalf of UConn. No single school has ever produced the BIG EAST’s leading rusher in consecutive seasons.

TOTAL RE-CAULL
UConn will welcome the return of junior tailback Terry Caulley in 2005. With his knee not yet 100-percent recovered from a serious injury suffered on September 27, 2003 at Virginia Tech, head coach Randy Edsall decided prior to the start of fall 2004 drills to air on the side of caution and redshirt Caulley for the season.

ROLL THE BONES
Junior Matt Bonislawski has earned the starting nod at quarterback as the season opens. Used as a backup the past two years, throwing seven career passes, the majority of Bonislawski’s previous playing time has come as the holder for Matt Nuzie’s kicks. Bonislawski’s experience with UConn’s system from his practice time over the years was a major factor in him holding off a charge from redshirt freshman D.J. Hernandez during their competition for the starting spot this past spring and fall preseason. It will mark the first time that a UConn quarterback has made a starting debut since Dan Orlovsky was pressed into action against Eastern Michigan on Oct. 6, 2001 after Keron Henry suffered an injury the previous week at Rutgers. Orlovsky’s numbers were average but effective that day as he completed 14-of-32 passes for 180 yards with one touchdown and one interception in UConn’s 19-0 win. Orlovsky has started each of UConn’s last 41 games, including every contest of the Division I-A era.


DEFENSE NOTES
DESPITE LOSSES, DEFENSIVE LINE LOOKED FINE
A year ago the defensive line was one of UConn’s biggest areas of concern as the Huskies had to replace three great senior starters from a solid 2003 unit, including one of the program’s best-ever ends in Uyi Osunde. A year later, it is the most experienced area of the defense and a formidable unit at that. Five different active Huskies have started a game on the defensive line, with four of those (Rhema Fuller, Shawn Mayne, Deon McPhee and Jason Ward) starting at least half of the games last fall as the Huskies marched to a berth on the Motor City Bowl. All but one face on the current two-deep (true freshman Cody Brown) has UConn playing experience, the lone defensive position group that can make that claim. In all, 10 active Huskies have played at least one game for UConn on the defensive line, 11 if you include Matt Applebaum who has since been moved to the offensive line.

SOLID BACKING
Just as talented understudies stepped in to fill big shoes on the defensive line a year ago, similar results will be expected for UConn’s linebackers in 2005. The unit must replace two of the top five tacklers in UConn history in departing seniors Alfred Fincher and Maurice Lloyd. The central figure of the group in 2005 will be