Part 5 of 12 part CANE 2012 opponent series

In part 5 of the 12 part 2012 CANE opponent series, we'll preview the 2012 North Carolina State Wolfpack. They are led by Tom O'Brien who will be entering his 6th season in Raleigh. They went 8-5 last year finishing 4th in the Atlantic Division of the ACC and winning the Belk Bowl over Louisville.

In 2012, the expectations are higher in Raleigh. In past seasons, its been slow starts and strong finishes, another slow start this year and the heat will be Tommy O again. Anyway, let's look at each unit.

Offensively, it starts with QB Graduate student Mike Glennon, who in 2011, ran 56% of the time on standard downs. They need to see more from him in the passing game in 2012 because last season, the running was non-existent. They were 115th in Rushing; and their two primary running backs, Senior James Washington (6' 195) and RS Sophomore Tony Creecy (6' 210), combined for 25 carries per game but only averaged 3.8 yards per carry. However, vs Georgia Tech, they rushed for 208 yards (6.5 per carry) in a losing effort, but just 3.6 per carry against everyone else. If they're going to reach bigger heights in 2012, the running game needs to step it up. Nobody knows how good Glennon is going to be for them. In 2011, when you include sacks, he averaged just 5.9 yards per pass attempt and threw 12 picks, but also had a 63% completion rate and 31 TD passes. He had some good games (253 yards, 7.8 per attempt) and 3 TDs vs. Clemson, (264 yards, 7.6 per attempt) and 3 TDs vs. Louisville in the Belk Bowl victory. However, he did what the staff asked him to do. In 2012, if they tell him to go deep, he won't have T.J. Graham to go anymore (gone to the NFL with the Buffalo Bills). However, he will have Senior Tobias Palmer to go to. In 2011, Graham and Palmer combined to average 15.1 yards per catch. They're going to need a another deep threat to complement Palmer in 2012. If they ask again for him to go short or intermediate, he won't have Jay Smith or Steven Howard to go anymore (both gone to graduation). Both Smith and Howard averaged 9.1 yards per catch, while Washington and Creecy were targeted 6.6 times per game on passes that almost never actually went anywhere. Washington and Creecy are going to have to step up this year in the short to intermediate passing game with Smith and Howard gone.

A key player that will have to step up is Sophomore Mustafa Greene. He missed all of last season with a foot injury and was out of their Spring Practice due to legal issues. The good news is that they return six O-Linemen from 2011. However, the key for their success is how well their line protects Glennon and how good is his decision making in the pocket.

Defensively, they are pretty good, but especially so, when it came to going after the ball. How well? So well that only Oklahoma State and Cincinnati went after the ball better than them in this area. They forced 19 fumbles, picked off 27 passes, and broke up 35 more. This is a very good defense and aggressive too. They shut down the Clemson running game, they held their arch rival North Carolina to 165 total yards, and they made life miserable for former CANE commit, and later went to Louisville, QB Teddy Bridgewater. They were knocking him down all night long and forcing him to throw sooner than he wanted to.

In 2012, they have to replace three key players from their defense. who made at least 9.5 tackles for loss: LBs Terrell Manning (14.5, with four forced fumbles and eight passes defended, 5th round pick by the Green Bay Packers) and Audie Cole (13.5, with four more forced fumbles and four passes defended, 7th round pick by the Minnesota Vikings) and DT Markus Kuhn (9.5, 7th round pick by the NY Giants). You add LB Dwayne Maddox (6.5) and DT J.R. Sweezy (4.0, 7th round pick by the Seattle Seahawks), and you're looking at some holes that have to be filled pretty quickly. However, on the other hand, they do return seven players who had at least 3.0 TFLs in 2011 and could produce at a similar level, if not exceed it in 2012 with more opportunities. Among the returnees are three interesting ends (RS Sophomore Art Norman [6'1" 242], RS Junior Darryl Cato-Bishop [6'4" 278], and Senior Brian Slay [6'3" 274]) who combined for 14.5 sacks in 2011.

Where they are strongest on D is in their secondary. They return a lot of key guys here and if their front seven generate any good pass rush, this is going to be a unit few are going to want to throw to. They return Graduate student S Earl Wolff (6' 207), Senior Brandan Bishop (6'2" 205) and Junior Dontae Johnson (6'3" 205). In 2011, they combined for 9.5 TFLs 8 picks, 8 passes broken up, and 4 forced fumbles. Their best player coming back for them in their secondary is Junior CB David Amerson (6'3" 194). He's possibly the best CB in the country. He picked off 13 passes last year and broke up 5 more); and he almost certainly won't match that total this year, if he does, he'll easily win the Thrope. Some compare him to Ed Reed when he was at the U. He averaged 15.8 yards per return and took two picks back for TDs. As good as Amerson and the secondary is, they are going to have to fill a lot of voids here on D. They lose 5 of their front 7 from 2011 and their top backup Junior D.J. Green (6'4" 220), is suspended for the entire 2012 season because he failed a drug test. You don't replace four key players who combined for 205.0 tackles in 2011, that's 30 percent of their total. To put it in perspective, their three players who were first-stringers on their Spring depth chart and played in their spring game (RS Junior Rickey Dowdy (6'2" 240), Graduate Student Sterling Lucas (6'2" 231), Sophomore Brandon Pittman [6'3" 216]) combined for 1.5 tackles. Lucas is coming off knee surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2011 season. Dowdy has played one snap in two years, and Pittman played in six games as a true freshman last fall. They need to step up and produce more in 2012 because filling Cole and Manning's shoes are going to be very tough.

They do return experience in key areas of the team. They won 8 a year ago, but can they do it again in 2012? We're going to find out on August 31st when they go to Atlanta to face Tennessee. That's where we're going to get some questions answered about the 2012 NC State Wolfpack. Unless NC State has a disastrous season, Tom O'Brien will be back in 2013. My prediction for the Wolfpack in 2012 is 8-4.

In Part 6, we're going to talk a hated CANES rival that we haven't faced in the regular season since 1990 and that's the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Part 4 of 12 part CANE 2012 opponent series

In Part 4 of the CANE 2012 opponent series, we're going to preview the 2012 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Paul Johnson is back for his 5th season in Atlanta. Whenever you see a Johnson-coached team, you know its going to be the Triple Option you see on O. Case in point, last year was another decent year, going 8-5, after starting 6-0. The M.O. of a Johnson-coached team is a strong running game, but a pitiful passing game. GT was 2nd in the nation in rushing, but 112th in passing. If you're going to win big in major college football, you have to have balance and that's something GT doesn't have at all. However, now, Johnson has his personnel in place.

They do bring RS Senior QB Tevin Washington (6' 205) back to run the Triple option and one of the backs he'll rely on this year is senior A-back Orwin Smith (6' 202), who was named to the preseason watch list for the Hornung Award. He's rushed for 1,157 career yards, but he also ranks among Tech's all-time prolific kick returners with 1,357 yards and he has more than 500 yards receiving. If he gets 3,041 yards, he will become just the fifth player in Yellow Jacket history to accumulate more than 4,000 career all-purpose yards. Also they have a bruiser for a blocking back in RS Junior FB David Sims, but also a productive back, who in 2011, rushed for 698 yards and 7 TDs and another receiving.

When you look at their O-Line, they do have experience back in 2012. The key to that line is RS Junior Jay Finch (6’3" 285). He returns to be their starter at Center. He had an illness that caused a big weight loss and the offense struggled without him. Other O-Linemen returning for them in 2012 are fellow RS Junior LG Will Jackson (6’3", 285) and RS Senior RG and All-ACC Omoregie Uzzi, a (6'? 3", 300). All three were redshirted as incoming freshman in order to have the appropriate amount of time to get a feel for the Triple Option and how to execute it properly.  This is going to be a line that will be reckoned with in 2012 and now, they have solid depth in the trenches. Their starting tackles will be RS Junior Ray Beno (6’2", 295)., and either fellow RS Junior Tyler Kidney, (6'2" 262 and a former walk-on); or RS Sophomore Morgan Bailey, (6’4", 295). In 2011, both Beno and Kidney played substantial time in a three tackle rotation along with Phil Smith who has since transferred, and Bailey saw the most action and he might win the job at RT.  Other O-Linemen returning for them are RS Sophomore Catlin Alford (6’3", 291), who will likely be the backup to Finch at center, but if need be, he can also play at the guard position, RS Senior Nick McRae, (6’3", 291), who has also played both the center and guard positions the past several seasons and has played a lot of time at both positions, and the only one on the line, who started every game in '11 is last season, Sophomore Shaquille Mason (6'1" 300), and will push Jackson for the starting spot at LG. Mason was the starter in the Sun Bowl when Uzzi was out due to injury.  This line is deep and is very talented. To further illustrate that, also coming into the fold are RS Freshmen Bryan Chamberlain (6’4", 295), Erin Joe (6’3", 295), and Trey Braun, (6’5" 295), and a RS Junior J.C. Lanier, (6’4", 300).

Defensively, off the bat, they were dealt a big setback when their All-ACC LB Julian Burnett (120 tackles, 1 sack) suffered a neck injury against Utah in the Sun Bowl. He will not be playing in '12 and his future is in serious doubt. Burnett will not play this season and his career may be over as well. Al Groh will have to do magic with the defense, without Burnett's services. However, the secondary that he has to work with, will be strong again in '12. They have three starters back from their 28th ranked pass defense (197.85 ypg). and they return six starters with no recorded sacks among the group. One of those three starters back on Defense is Junior CB Louis Young (6'1" 201), who had 52 tackles (3 TFLs), 1 INT, 5 passes broken-up, 1 QB hurry, and a forced fumble. The 2nd starter back for them is Senior CB and 4th team Preseason All-ACC, according to Phil Steele, Rod Sweeting (6' 184). In '11, he had 56 tackles (37 solo, 3 TFLs), 10 pass break-ups which was tied for 5th in the conference, and was their team leader in INTs with 3. He also had a fumble recovery and forced 2 fumbles. The third key starter back on Defense for them is, 4th team Preseason All-ACC, according to Steele, Senior DE Izaan Cross (6'4" 300). In 2011, he had 32 tackles (1 TFL), a fumble recovery, 2 QB hurries, and 4 pass break-ups. He's also their most decorated player on the team with 28 career starts and also their only starter back on their D-Line in 2012. Also back for them is their leading tackler in 2011 Junior Isaiah Johnson (6'2" 205), who had 87 tackles, and Junior LB Jeremiah Attaochu (6'3" 240), who was their leader in sacks with 6. Both are 2nd team preseason All-ACC, according to Steele. In 2011,  their D couldn't catch a cold when it came to stopping the run. They'd better have a much better pass rush in 2012, or it could be another long year for Groh's D in Atlanta.

On Special Teams, they were just horrible in 2011. How horrible you ask? Consider this: They only had a net of 19 yards per kickoff return and only 8 on Punt returns. If you have to go 80 yards on every drive, you're not going to win.  If it wasn't for that Triple option of theirs, it would have been much much worse. They could be more dangerous in 2012 with a stronger return game, hell it can't get any worse than it was in 2011 for them. 

When I look at GT in 2012, I think Washington will be better running that offense. If they get any sort of a decent passing game, they will be very very dangerous. The key will be the defense. This has been the M.O. with Paul Johnson teams in Atlanta and even going back to when he was in Annapolis with Navy, when teams solve the triple-option, as many have over the years, when they are behind, and they have to throw, they don't win, because their passing game is just horrendous. It puts more strain on the defense and when it gets tired, that's when you become more effective against them. That said, Johnson coached-teams win about nine a year, but this year, it'll be tough to get 8-9 wins again this year. 

Their schedule is daunting. They do have to go to Blacksburg to open the season, but they get Miami and UVa at home, but have to also go to Clemson and to Athens to end the season with UGa. My prediction for Georgia Tech in 2012 is 7-5. 

In Part 5 of the series, I will preview the 2012 NC State Wolfpack. 

Part 3 of 12 part CANE 2012 opponent series

In Part 3 of the 12 part series on our 2012 opponents, we're going to talk about the opponent in our home opener, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.

They are led by 3rd year head coach Brian Jenkins. In his two years in Daytona Beach, his teams are 18-5. They finished 2nd in their conference (MEAC) behind Norfolk State, who won the league title. They got four spots on the first team and three on the second of their preseason conference teams. Key players that return for them in 2012 are RS Junior RB Isidore Jackson (5'10" 195), who rushed for 866 yards on 146 carries in 2011, Junior OT Terrance Hackney (6'6" 310), RS Juniors LB Jarkevis Fields (6' 230), who led the team in tackles last year and Safety D.J. Howard (6' 185), who makes it two from both offense and defense on their conference first team.

Also, they have three on the conference preseason second team. Leading that group is RS Senior WR  Eddie Poole (6'3" 195, from Belle Glade Glades Central), who was with their Coach at the conference's pressers up in Norfolk,VA. The other two that are back in 2012 that are on the conference's 2nd team are Junior OL Marquell Rozier (6'7" 325) and Senior DT Harold Love III (6'3" 325).

This team, according to Lindy's, is ranked #14 in the FCS preseason poll. When you look at their schedule, we are the only FBS team that they play and we blew them out 45-14 last year at Sun Life, I think this team can make the FCS playoffs this year and make a deep run once there, and win their league, also, they get their biggest test in conference at home (Norfolk State). I predict for BCC a 10-1 season (only loss obviously to us), and run the table in their conference. 

In Part 4 of the series, we'll talk about the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.  

Part 2 of 12 part CANE 2012 opponent series

In Part 2 of the 12 part 2012 CANE opponent series, we're going to preview a team that's a darkhorse to maybe win the whole thing and that's the Kansas State Wildcats. 

In 2011, the Wildcats went 10-3, and finished #16 in the Coaches Poll, #15 in the AP, and #8 in the final BCS standings. 

When we look at the 2012 version, we'll first start on Offense. Collin Klein (6'5" 226) returns at QB for his senior season. He led them in both rushing and passing yards last year. He threw for 1,900 yards last season while completing 57% of his passes, and throwing for 13 TDs, which is pretty impressive when you consider that he's also one of the top rushing QBs in the country rushing for 1,141 yards and 27 TDs.


Kansas State isn't just Klein in the running game, they also have very good backs returning from 2011 in Junior John Hubert (5'7" 191) and Senior Angelo Pease (5'11" 215). Hubert was 2nd on their team only to Klein in yards gained on the ground last season with 970 yards, although the majority of the scores went to Klein as Hubert eclipsed the goal line just three times.


We know that they are going to run the ball first and foremost. However, they will go to the air from time to time and when they do, they'll have two returning starters at WR. They're top target in the air this season might be Senior TE Travis Tannahill (6'3" 253), who is one of the better TE's in the Big 12 this season, and can block with the best of them, as well as be a very good pass catcher.


If there's a weakness in their offense, it's going to be on their O-Line. They only return two starters from their '11 team and they don't have much experience. You might want to watch RS Freshmen Cody Whitehair (6'3" 300) and Boston Stiverson (6'4" 306). They are both young and talented and you'll see them on the field a lot for them in '12. 


Now, we'll talk about the Defense.  Their D-Line returns both starters at DE from 2011 in Seniors Adam Davis (6' 259) and Hendricks Award candidate Meshak Williams (6'3" 245). They are very good, especially Williams, but will need to step up their game if they're going to get pressure on the QB in 2012 and have the rest of the back seven's job much simpler. 
 
They do have their top tackler from a season ago back in Senior LB Arthur Brown (6'1" 228), a former CANE, who is one of the top LB prospects in the country this season. He's on the watch lists for the Camp, Nagurski, Butkus, and Bednarik . In 2011, he had 101 tackles,  (7.5 tackles for loss) and two sacks. However, Brown is not a one man show at LB. they are going to have to count their other LBs Junior Tre Walker (6'3" 225) and Senior Justin Tuggle (6'3" 223) to step up in 2012 and make plays when teams are doubling and tripling Brown. 


Their pass defense was pitiful in '11 as they were ranked 107^th in pass defense. A big reason why is there were little to no pass rush was because of the fact that the pass rush they did have was very inconsistent, however, you can make the case that their secondary takes some of the blame also. They do have Senior Nigel Malone (5'10" 185) back at CB, and he's going to be asked to shut down the opposition best receiver a lot in '12. He's going to need help doing so. they don't have the depth or the talent to get it done by themselves without a consistent pass rush.


Time for my prediction for Kansas State in 2012. They will be very good and I think a darkhorse to reach the BCS championship game. They will be very good again this season, but they are not going to surprise anyone like they did in 2011. They will be very good again rushing and they will be a little better in the passing game. However, their Achilles heel will be their defense, and I believe we're going to see a lot of high scoring games with K-State from time to time and when you have a run dominant offense and not much of a passing game, its going to be tough to be a BCS title team.
 
They host Miami early, then start Big 12 play on the road in Norman vs Oklahoma, and their other Big 12 road test is in Morgantown vs newcomer West Virginia. They do get Oklahoma State and Texas at home, with the latter being in the season finale on December 1st. Looking at their schedule, I can see 8-9 wins for them this season. I am predicting a 8-4 season for the Wildcats in 2012.


In part 3, I'll talk about a very good team in the FCS in the state of Florida, and that's the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. 

Part 1 of 12 part CANE 2012 opponent series

Each day for the next 12 days, we're going to preview the opponents for the 2012 CANES season. Today in Part 1 of the 12 part opponent series, we're going to preview the 2012 Boston College Eagles.

Up in Beantown, the heat is on head coach Frank Spaziani in his 4th season as the head man with the Eagles. There are many up in Boston that want him out. They've been in decline since 2007 when  Jag (Jeff Jagodzinski) was there running things and Matt Ryan was a stud.

On O, Doug Martin is the new coordinator. We're going to see from them more of a spread offense than people are used to seeing from them in the past, even in the glory days of Ryan. This will be their 4th OC in 2 years, not so good from a stability standpoint.

However, Martin will have key pieces back to run his offense. Notably, Junior QB Chase Rettig who  in 2011; had a completion rate of 54% and a sack rate of 7% of a deep ball thrower, however, he only averaged 11.5 yards per completion due to the fact that he didn't have anyone that could stretch the field on the deep balls. Even though Montel Harris is gone (transferred to Temple), they have  Rolandan Finch, who's a junior, Andre Williams, also a junior and Tahj Kimble, who's a sophomore back for 2012, after combining for 1,378 yards in 2011 (albeit at just 4.3 yards per carry with a combined minus-19.2 Adj. POE). The receiving core all return and they are led by Bobby Swigert and Colin Larmond Jr., as in 2011, they combined for 103 catches for 1,305 yards (6.9 per catch, 54 percent catch rate). At TE, they have a preseason Mackey award candidate in Chris Pantale. This guy had 236 yards, 7.9 per catch, with a catch rate of 70%. He will see the field more and this will be a go to guy for them. On their O-Line, Emmett Cleary, a two-year starting tackle on their line, is their leader there who has 64 career starts. Their other senior on that line is John Wetzel (6'8" 302). They also have 2 two sophomores (Bobby Vardaro 6'5" 312 and Harris Williams 6'4" 301) and a Junior (Ian White 6'5" 303).

The question in Beantown is can this staff, specifically Martin and Spaziani develop that talent? We'll see and they'll get a quick idea when Miami comes to town on 9/1 in the season opener. Finch had a great spring game (27 carries, 196 yards), but it is hard to simply develop big-play ability in an offseason; you typically either have it or you don't, and nobody had it last year. If you're looking for new blood to make a difference, you might want to keep an eye on redshirt freshman Brian Miller, a four-star tight end recruit and big, lanky target (6'4, 232 pounds), and awesomely-named sophomore Spiffy Evans, B.C.'s kick returns man last year.

Defensively, when you look at the 2011 season, their defensive line was just horrible, some would say the worst they've seen in a very long time. Their front seven was devastating, and they had some run stuffers on their D-Line and if the back got by them, Luke Kuechly would finish the deal. When you see how many tackles he had in 2011, 22.2% of their tackles, its no wonder he was drafted in the Top 10 of this past NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. Their line ranked 80th in Adj. Line Yards and 119th in Adj. Sack Rate, which is just appalling. The other linebacker (Kevin Pierre-Louis) had 55.5 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss last season.

Now, Kuechly's gone, and not there to bail them out this year. Yikes. It'll be up to Sophomore Sean Duggan to fill those huge shoes left by Kuechly's departure. However, with Duggan, Pierre-Louis and junior Steele Divitto returning, their LB corps will still be pretty good and formidable. On their D-Line, they get Senior DT Kaleb Ramsey (6'3" 288) back, He missed the entire 2011 season with a foot injury (and was incredibly missed), their D-Line will be better with him returning.

This stat really blew me away. In 2011, their front seven combined for an anemic nine sacks; even if you are in read-and-react mode and aren't sending seven pass rushers on every passing down, you should still stumble into more sacks than that. With Ramsey back and Can some combination of tackles Ramsey (2.5 sacks in 2010) and sophomore Dominic Appiah (6'5" 291) (2.0 in 2011), ends Junior Kasim Edebali (6'2" 258) and sophomore Brian Mihalik (6'8" 285) (combined: 1.0 sacks) and redshirt freshmen Connor Wujciak (6'4" 267) (four-star tackle) and Kieran Borcich (6'3" 254) (three-star end) make the requisite improvement up front?

As for their secondary, this unit is going to have to step up the most with Kuchely's departure. They lost starters from 2011, which includes Donnie Fletcher (two interceptions, five passes broken up), however, with sophomores Manny Asprilla and Al Louis-Jean, who both saw more action in 2011 than they perhaps anticipated returning, they still have one of the more exciting sets of corners in the conference, even though, in 2012, they'll have to likely go through more tough times. When you add sophomore safeties Spenser Rositano and Sean Sylvia to the mix, their future looks pretty darn good, however, its going to be good, if their front seven doesn't step up.

My take for the Boston College Eagles in 2012, they will be better, hell, it can't get any worse for them. They'll be better and in the end, I think 7-5 is a reasonable projection for them in 2012.

In Part 2 tomorrow, I will talk about a team that might be a serious contender for a BCS title in 2012, and that's the Kansas State Wildcats. 

2012 opponent series coming soon

Its been two years since I did this, but I am back now and will have the 2012 opponent series out pretty soon.