Bleacher Report - Articles by Eric Hyde

Notre Dame Football Preview: Can Irish Rebound from Last Year's Debacle?

Eric Hyde — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:00:29 -0400

Ouch. Perhaps no season was more embarrassing than 2007 in Notre Dame history. Blowout losses to Georgia Tech, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, and USC—not to mention two losses to service academies—really put things in a negative light last year.

With enough experience coming back, there is hope for the Irish to return to the postseason after going 3-9 a year ago. Will Charlie Weis and crew do it?

THE OFFENSE

It's up to Jimmy Clausen now. Good luck. The true freshman got pounded on a week-to-week basis. It didn't help that he made his fair share of freshman mistakes behind center.

Clausen has considerable potential, but it won't matter if his offensive line doesn't get shored up in a hurry—more on that in a little bit. Clausen should take the next step in his development for the 2008 season.

At RB, Notre Dame has a few decent options. James Aldridge saw the most time last year, but Robert Hughes could become the starter with the way he finished last season. Armando Allen is a decent back as well, so Notre Dame shouldn't be as poor running the football as they were.

The Irish should be okay at WR with Duval Kamara and David Grimes. While the unit returns just about everybody, John Carlson will be missing from the team. Trying to fill in for him is Mike Ragone, who is a decent receiver.

Sam Young will try his best to lead a line that ranked a woeful 119th in the nation in sacks allowed (that's the worst in the country, folks). Young hasn't quite reached his potential yet, but there's still plenty of hope around South Bend that he can.

The good news is that this unit could gel over time, and they get four starters back. Dan Wenger is the only new guy at center, and he should do a solid job there.

This was the worst statistical offense in the nation, and it was a dangerous mixture of inexperience and a brutal early schedule that caused it. Look for them to hop about 30 or 40 spots now that they know what they're doing and the schedule isn't as difficult.

THE DEFENSE

The defense actually did a nice job last year, but it was overshadowed by the offense (in a bad way). This side of the ball ranked 39th in total defense but ranked 72nd in scoring defense thanks to an inept offense.

John Tenuta will join the staff thanks to the overhaul going on at Georgia Tech. He has the ability to make this team more aggressive, and it could pay dividends.

Trevor Laws wasn't the most gifted of athletes, but the guy knew how to play football. His disruptive presence will be missed. Look out for Morrice Richardson at DE though. Ian Williams could have a nice year in the interior at DT. He showed some upside last season.

Maurice Crum, Jr. is the leader of the defensive squad with real NFL potential. He's their most intimidating force at LB and should have a massive season in terms of production.

The LB corps isn't what I'd consider pedestrian, but it didn't do a fantastic job last year, and there is a little bit of youth on this year's team.

FS David Bruton is the leader of the secondary and one of the best on the team. He had three picks and finished third on the team in tackles. CB Terrail Lambert, like Bruton, is a senior, and he should see a rise in his play.

This is a defensive unit that shouldn't get any worse than last year with the addition of Tenuta.

THE SCHEDULE

Sep. 6 San Diego State

Sep. 13 Michigan

Sep. 20 at Michigan State

Sep. 27 Purdue

Oct. 4 Stanford

Oct. 11 at North Carolina

Oct. 25 at Washington

Nov. 1 Pitt

Nov. 8 at Boston College

Nov. 15 vs. Navy

Nov. 22 Syracuse

Nov. 29 at USC

Comparing this year's slate with 2007's, this is slightly easier. Oh sure, the usual suspects are there again—Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford, Navy, and USC—but the best news is that San Diego State, North Carolina, Washington, Pitt, and Syracuse are mid-to-low level BCS schools that are more than winnable for the Irish.

They could catch Michigan early if the Wolverines haven't gotten their feet wet with the switch in regimes, so I wouldn't rule that one out either.

Don't Even Think About It: @ USC

Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: Michigan, Purdue, @ Boston College

Good/Probable Shot At It: San Diego State, @ Michigan State, Stanford, @ UNC, @ Washington, Pitt, Navy, Syracuse

THE OUTLOOK

Notre Dame will be either 6-6 or 7-5. This team should be way better than last season's disaster.

I'm not sure whether Charlie Weis is to blame for not being able to develop the talent he's hauling in with his recruiting classes or not, but with all of the guys he's getting back on offense, they should see a pretty large improvement overall. The addition of Tenuta can only help matters, and the schedule isn't a monster.

I've seen projections ranging from no bowl game to the Gator Bowl, and I think I'll kind of go in between that with a bid to the...

BOWL GAME?

Papajohns.com Bowl (remember, it's against an SEC foe this year, not a C-USA team).

Florida Gators Football Preview

Eric Hyde — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:37:52 -0400

Readers, consider yourselves lucky (yeah right)! I haven't published this preview on Saturday Sound Offs yet, but you Bleacher Report readers will get to see it first. I'm sure you're thrilled.

On with the Gators for the 2008 season.

Florida Gators

Nobody was really counting on Florida to play for the national title last year. As a matter of fact, besides the bowl game, Florida pretty much did what was expected: Tebow blew up and the defense was average.

That has to change. The expectations have been cranked up a notch, especially since their national title two years ago.

THE OFFENSE

Where do we begin? Tim Tebow won the Heisman trophy last year. I'm sure I'm not informing you of anything you didn't already know.

The freakishly impressive combination of accuracy, arm strength, speed, and power that is Tim Tebow should be in the running for the Heisman trophy again, even though it would potentially be his second time winning it. He led Florida to about 42-points a game, good for third in the nation in total offense.

The thing that really caught my attention was how balanced this team was. Percy Harvin is the biggest weapon outside of Tebow, and he usually gets the ball on end-arounds or other option plays. He's often used in this fashion, but it doesn't mean he isn't a receiving threat either.

Everything I hear or read is saying that Tebow won't be used as much. I pretty much agree with that—he was getting hit hard and often as the season wore on—but the reason for that will be the emergence of Chris Rainey, the redshirt freshman running back.

This guy is perfect for the kind of offense that Urban Meyer runs, and let's not forget, USC transfer Emmanuel Moody is ready to step in and lighten Tebow's load.

Now that the Gators have a true weapon at RB, it should make the offense that much more explosive and dynamic. Kestahn Moore should be the starter early on, but the youthful explosion of Moody/Rainey will make the most sense to play.

The TE tandem of Aaron Hernandez and Cornelius Ingram is the best in the country, in my opinion, but Tebow will need a solid No. 2 man behind Harvin if the offense is set to become the best in the nation. Louis Murphy should do a fine job, but Riley Cooper has the potential to see some more playing time.

The offensive line is led by guard Jim Tartt, who should be a really good anchor. There is some youth, but there is plenty of untapped potential on the line. It's nothing to worry about.

If you get the picture, this should be the best offense in the country.

THE DEFENSE

Here's where things did not go too well. It was the best of times for the offense, and the so-so of times for the defense. Derrick Harvey, the pass-rushing terror that provided most of the excitement for this side of the ball, is gone, and that's something that a young secondary will have to deal with.

The defensive backfield needs to shape up its pass defense, or else the Gators will be watching the BCS championship game again this year. Wondy Pierre-Louis has to step up and be the man. He's certainly capable—it's just a matter of putting it all together at cornerback.

The other side is occupied by Joe Haden, who is only a sophomore, meaning there's more room for development. For the 98th-ranked pass defense, the secondary sure does have some athletes—it's just their inexperience that handicapped their efforts. Look for that to change.

On the defensive line, Jermaine Cunningham should have the kind of season that makes him shoot up draft boards. Carlos Dunlap will be the main man in replacing Derrick Harvey, and he will do all right his first season.

Brandon Spikes is another guy attracting attention from the NFL scouts. The linebacker should be gone after this year. I think A.J. Jones also has the ability to become one of the better LBs in the SEC.

All in all, watch out for the Gator defense. They have the talent to surprise a lot of people.

THE SCHEDULE

Aug. 30—Hawaii

Sep. 6—Miami

Sep. 20—at Tennessee

Sep. 27—Ole Miss

Oct. 4—at Arkansas

Oct. 11—LSU

Oct. 25—Kentucky

Nov. 1—Georgia (Jack.)

Nov. 8—at Vanderbilt

Nov. 15—South Carolina

Nov. 22—The Citadel

Nov. 29—at Florida State

This gauntlet is not for the faint of heart. Hell, even The Citadel shouldn't be that bad of a team. The opener against Hawaii will attract attention, but it won't even be close, due to the fact that Hawaii is the road team and going through a rebuilding kind of season.

For those of you awaiting the return of the Miami/Florida series, it comes back this year! Getting LSU and South Carolina at home are huge advantages to winning the East this year.

Don't Even Think About It: None

Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: None

Good/Probable Shot At It: The entire schedule.

THE OUTLOOK

Florida WILL be one of the best teams in the entire nation. Just scanning the roster should give you that idea—it's crazy. Urban Meyer has stocked the cupboards full during recruiting, and it is definitely showing.

Now, all they have to worry about is Georgia. The Bulldogs are the one roadblock keeping them from getting to the SEC Championship Game. Florida isn't going to win because they are still kind of young defensively, and it will hurt them at times, but not as much as it did in 2007.

Florida is just about as close to a lock as possible for the BCS.

BOWL GAME?

Sugar Bowl.

As usual, be sure to check out my home blog, Saturday Sound Offs.

USC Football Preview from Saturday Sound Offs

Eric Hyde — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:43:07 -0400

Hey, this is Eric from the blog Saturday Sound Offs. I thought using the Bleacher Report would be a good way to expand my blog audience.

Basically, I'm just going to repost some of my previews of college football teams from my ongoing segment called "2-a-Days" where I preview two teams daily, hence the "2."

This is one I did on USC—tell me what you guys think.

USC Trojans

Pete Carroll has wasted no time building USC into a Pac-10 power and one of the most dominant forces on the college football landscape. With that said, the 2004 season is still the last time this team won a real national championship. Will this year be the year it happens again?

THE OFFENSE

There's a QB battle brewing in L.A. between Mitch Mustain, the Arkansas transfer, and Mark Sanchez, the hotshot recruit from a few years ago. Even though Sanchez is officially the starter (for now), Mustain still has some time to impress the staff. Expect Sanchez to be the guy in the opener though.

The RB position is stockpiled with talent, again, but Joe McKnight should receive most of the touches. He should come through big-time this season and remind people of those Reggie Bush days.

USC has some good receivers, but they haven't exactly been the kind of top-notch guys many expected them to be. Even so, that's nitpicking because there aren't many QBs who would have an issue with Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton as a one-two punch at that position.

LG Jeff Byers leads a pretty solid core of offensive linemen, but this position does have some competition right now. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. Basically, let's just say there have been better offensive lines to pass through USC.

THE DEFENSE

This is USC's bread and butter. The offense was good, but it was sort of disappointing last year if you were expecting astronomical numbers.

The Trojan D, on the other hand, did live up to the hype. This was a team that only gave up 16 points per game in the offense-oriented Pac-10.

If that's not impressive enough, USC was third in sacks and fourth in run defense, not to mention fifth in pass efficiency defense. This unit is just going to reload every year, so expect similar production.

Fili Moala should make huge waves throughout every NFL draft war room with his size and skill at the interior tackle position. The guy hasn't played a lot, but that's because he was buried on the depth chart.

Of course, how could we talk about USC's defense without mentioning the linebackers? These guys are something else. Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga should have gigantic years playing LB.

Even though Cal's set of LBs are really good, this set is probably the best. Luthur Brown should get a spot, mainly due to his upside, and he'll have a fantastic year.

Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays will team up to make one ridiculous duo at the safety position, and Shareece Wright will have a great year filling in for Terrell Thomas. It's the same-old, same-old with the USC defense heading into 2008.

THE SCHEDULE

Aug. 30 at Virginia

Sep. 13 Ohio State

Sep. 25 at Oregon State

Oct. 4 Oregon

Oct. 11 Arizona State

Oct. 18 at Washington State

Oct. 25 at Arizona

Nov. 1 Washington

Nov. 8 California

Nov. 15 at Stanford

Nov. 29 Notre Dame

Dec. 6 at UCLA

Okay, despite whatever I said about California and UCLA, this schedule is tougher. When the easiest team you play on the schedule is Stanford (who beat you last year), it's never an easy slate.

The road game against Virginia will be a challenge and, oh yeah, not to mention, USC gets to face a L-O-A-D-E-D Ohio State team. The Pac-10 schedule should be pretty hard, but at least they get to face Oregon and Cal at the Coliseum.

Don't Even Think About It: None

Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: None

Good/Probable Shot At It: The whole schedule.

THE OUTLOOK

This USC team should be good enough to get to the national championship game. There's no reason why they shouldn't. As long as Mark Sanchez doesn't do what John David Booty did (try to win the game on each and every throw), USC should be fine.

I do think they'll stub their toe once, but it won't matter. In my unlikely scenario (remember, it's just a blogger's worthless prognostications), USC will lose the last game to Rick Neuheisel's revamped UCLA Bruins, but it won't stop them from getting to the title game.

This team isn't flawless, but they're about as close as it gets.

BOWL GAME?

BCS Championship.

Be sure to check out my blog, Saturday Sound Offs.