Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Maryland’

Military/Texas/Alamo Bowl Forecasts!

December 29th, 2010 No comments
MILITARY BOWL
2:30 PM ESPN
Click on the bowl logo for MORE info!!!!

EAST CAROLINA (6-6) VS MARYLAND (8-4)

Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
A.O.R
EAST CAROLINA 97
305
29
2.5
-
98.0
MARYLAND
198
240
44
1.5
••••
99.0
First meeting between these two teams and this will be the final game for Maryland HC Ralph Friedgen as he was fired a couple of weeks ago despite winning the ACC COY award. East Carolina dropped the final 2 games of the regular season by a 107-76 mark finishing at 6-6 and narrowly reaching the postseason while Maryland is very disappointed as they went from a 2-10 tm, to 8-4 but were relegated to the 8th seeded ACC bowl. These two both played Navy and NC State with EC going 1-1 as they knocked off NCSt in OT before being blasted at home vs Navy 76-35 (all’d 521 rush yds). MD went 2-0 stopping Navy twice at the GL to preserve a 3 pt win in the opener and they fought off an NC State comeback bid in the finale.

East Carolina’s success TY can be solely credited to their offense (#26) led by JC transfer Davis who broke Jeff Blake’s school TD pass record with 36 as EC avg’d 38 ppg and 445 ypg. The defense is ranked #119 all’g 43 ppg and an FBS worst 479 ypg on the year including dismal performances vs Navy (76 pts, 521 rush) and Rice (62 pts, 639 yds). The secondary all’d 258 ypg (60%) with a 30-9 ratio placing them #102 in my pass D rankings. EC also has my #98 ST unit.

Many MD fans were up in arms when backup QB O’Brien saw the field vs Navy (fmbl’d his 1st college att). Now those same fans are singing his praise. O’Brien was thrust into the spotlight vs FIU and remained the starter even after option runner Robinson ret’d from injury. The top receiver, Smith, is the first 1,000 yd receiver here S/’92. The Terps have scored 6 non-off TD’s TY and 4 have come by the #44 rated D. MD ranks #24 in my pass eff D all’g 221 ypg (53%) with a 15-17 ratio and MD has my #5 ST’s unit with PR Logan finishing #3 NCAA and avg nearly as much as the top KR. MD is also +4 in the punt block department.

EC has been one-dimensional as they have my #119 D and have allowed 40+ pts 9 of 12 games but MD is not an offense that sustains long drives. EC’s offense has been dynamic and they have topped 32 pts in their L/8 gms and this game should feature a lot of points but the Terps might have the emotional edge sending their coach off with a win in his final game after a pretty successful tenure. Read more…

My Favorite Teams for 2010!

August 12th, 2010 8 comments

A lot of people ask me if I have a favorite team. I was born and raised and still live in Cleveland, Ohio. I was a fan of many teams as a child but now that I put out a National magazine, I cannot afford to be a fan of any team. I have to pick the teams where I think they will finish each year. I was doing a radio show last week and I was asked if I have a favorite team or teams. My response was a strong YES! The interviewer was surprised by that answer and also eager to hear which team I would pick. My answer was my favorite team each year is the team I pick #1 in the magazine and my favorite teams are the ones I have picked higher than all the other major magazines out there. I then said that each year I establish a list of my favorite teams for that year. I then give this list to my wife. I wear a shirt and tie to work every day during the week and my tie is always a college team. I wear polo shirts during the weekend and when not at work and they are always different college teams. The list I give my wife is the ones to buy that I will be wearing for the upcoming year as these are the teams I will be the biggest fan of for the upcoming season. I was then asked “What teams will your wife be buying ties and shirts of this year? That was a great question and I thought I would answer it in a blog. Read more…

Most Improved Total Offenses of the L/20 Years

July 23rd, 2010 No comments

Today’s blog will continue with my series of analyzing the most/least improved units over the last 20 years. Each day this week I will have a new offensive or defensive statistical category to examine and today I will breakdown total offensive yards.

There are many factors that contribute to a significant change in total offense. First, a team may see a significant improvement if they return a bunch of experienced starters including their quarterback from a team that was relatively inexperienced the year before. Naturally a team that loses a bunch of starters especially their quarterback, running back and receivers from an experienced team will usually see a drop off in total offense. Read more…

Most Improved Offensive and Defensive PPG

June 16th, 2010 2 comments

My 2010 College Football Preview Magazine has so much information in it that it would take months to go thru it all. It is like 120 media guides rolled into one. 

Magazine is a loose term for it as the Preview is more like a book with over 100 pages more than any other college football magazine. Not only does it have more pages but the magazine has 2 to 3 times the amount of information on each page! That gives my magazine 3 to 4 times the amount of information of any other magazine!

I mention all of this because there are even parts of the magazine that I myself forget about during the year. Every spring once I have finished my conference write ups, Top 40, All-American and All-Conference Teams I wrap up the “other” pages in the magazine. One of those pages that I find a lot of fun is the projected stats which is on page 324 and 327. Read more…

2010 Schedules: Going Up…..Going Down

June 8th, 2010 No comments

Today is the official on sale date for my 2010 College Football Preview!!! If you do not already have a copy, head out to the bookstores and newsstands today. The magazine is available nationwide at Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, WaldenBooks, Borders, Hastings, Media Play, Target, Books-A-Million, K-Mart and Circle K. There are other locations where we shipped to, so check the magazine section at stores near you. The cost is just $8.95 in the stores but they tend to fly off the shelves. If you’re having trouble finding a copy visit the store or call 1-866-918-7711 and order your copy thru the office (plus shipping). Read more…

2010 Starters Broken Down By Class

June 3rd, 2010 No comments

For more than 7 years I have published an “Experience Chart” in my National College Football Preview. The old version of this chart just took into account the overall experience from the 2 deep for each squad. Last year I revised the Experience Chart and created a New and Improved version. The new chart uses 20% of the experience grade from the old chart, 20% from the % of lettermen returning, 20% from the % of tackles returning, 20% from the % of yards returning and 20% from the career starts of the offensive line.

The most experienced teams when using the old chart were usually the service academies which play a lot of seniors and juniors. Using the old method (which is listed below) the top 5 most experienced teams in terms of upperclassmen in the two deep are: 1. Hawaii 2. Navy 2. Army 4. UAB and 5. Air Force. Iowa St ranks the highest among BCS teams coming in at #10. Read more…

What a weekend! (Week 8)

October 25th, 2009 2 comments

Last week there were no team’s had a 100 point game rating. This week there are four, meaning more dominant performances even though top teams (Florida, LSU, Alabama) continued to struggle.

Read more…

Week 8 Gameday News & Notes

October 24th, 2009 2 comments

Navy QB Dobbs has a small crack in his kneecap from a prior inj in HS that will have to be repaired, but he is hoping to play thru the injury and have it fixed after the season….

Michigan’s Rich Brooks isn’t hiding his quarterback decision this week.  He’s said true frosh Morgan Newton will start….

S Carolina is looking to avenge last year’s loss to Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is coming off a 34-10 loss to Georgia and South Carolina’s 20-6 loss at Alabama….

Read more…

More Week 7 News and Notes

October 20th, 2009 3 comments

Troy/FIU was a misleading 42-33 final as the Panthers managed to score 17 of their points in the final 1:10 of the 1H and on the final play of the game. Troy jumped out to a 28-10 lead but FIU got a 49 yard 6 play drive for a TD with 1:10 left in the half then after a fumble got a 22 yard FG with :08 left to cut it to 28-20 at halftime. Troy led 42-20 after 3Q’s. FIU got a TD with 6:03 left to cut it to 15. Their last gasp appeared to end when on 4th & goal from the 6 they fired incomplete but Troy on 4th & 12 took a knee on its own 2 with :04 left and FIU got a 2 yard TD pass with no time remaining to only lose by 9.

Read more…