I think UCF will be better, question is ... Does that mean more wins?

(05-16-2017 03:45 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  I'll try and break this up to be quick, easy reading:

Defense - Trend down, Stay even at best
• UCF loses 3 starting Linebackers, and every starting DB from last year - This will be an issue, but fortunately we retain a young, very talented D-Line with depth (our 2 deep is really 1A and 1B), with Senior Jamiyus Pittman anchoring NT. The AAC Defensive Player of the Year is the lone returnee at LB, and is the vocal leader of the D, but he's joined by 2 huge MLB's and another OLB who saw significant snaps last year;
• Verdict - Passing Defense will probably have growing pains, and may even be a weakness if the former high 3* and 4* recruits in the defensive backfield don't gel, but Run D will remain strong, if not improve. If we remain a top 50 defense, that is a victory.
  

Offense - Trend up, Trend waaaaaaaaay up at best
• Everything relies on the line, and if they make progress. If they don't, and McKenzie Milton doesn't make progress either, it will be the same as last year. Reports out of camp is that McKenzie has amped up his leadership, vocally and physically. Hype out of camp is he's playing like Johnny Manziel... but it's probably coach-speak. Still, every report out of camp is that the offense has taken it to the next level. It's no longer learning the scheme, but now polishing. Is that because the Defense has regressed? Possibly. Is that because the Offense is clicking? Who knows.
  
  UCF loses very little on the offensive side. A backup WR, and starting Center, a backup RB (as far as I can remember), but returns all key playmakers with a plethora of youth (from starting so many true freshman) with talent, and now experience (from returning those true freshman). The run game will ONLY get better from here on out, with news that the #1 RB and overall recruit for the AAC will likely be eligible. Combine that with progress from an already impressive freshman performance from Jawon Hamilton and Adrian Killins, and the sky is the limit.
• Verdict - It will be a marked improvement from last year (will be difficult to be as bad as last year tbh). By how much depends on the O-Line. If they show an above average performance, this will be a top 3 offense in the league.
  
  

I am not convinced that UCF will see improvement this season. I think we over achieved early on in the season. We still have a good deal of leftovers from the prior system. We need one more year before we see things really turn. I am predicting another 6-7 win season.

(05-16-2017 04:19 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  I think UCF will be better, question is ... Does that mean more wins?

With the East being down, a more difficult draw from the West, and a marginally easier OOC overall... I think our floor is six wins.

FIU, Maine, ECU, UConn, Cinci we will be favored... Temple, SMU, Maryland are 50:50, USF, Memphis, Navy and GT, we are underdogs.

Ceiling there is probably 8-9 wins.

The team will be better but the schedule will be more difficult so... Who knows?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using CSNbbs mobile app

No one in Tulsa knows what to make of the team until we see the QB's in real game action where the other team can actually hit them. I'm hoping Luke Skipper ends up being the starter because he's the better throwing QB. If our production in the air can come anywhere close to that of last season, we'll be in great shape.

I am expecting USF to be better based on the improvement we should make on defense. More depth, experience, better coaching on that side. We return 9 starters with the one big question being LB position since we are moving more from a 4-2-5 to a 3-3-5. We are loaded, up front and in secondary.

Offense obviously losing Mack and Adams is big, but we do have good players returning in those spots. Who gets the LT position which is the biggest question mark will be key. Once again there is talent there just not proven yet.

Looking forward to season, if defense improves as expected we could be really deadly.

Memphis

Defense- Will our D-Line physically be developed after a year of learning through fire for some. Some of our guys also redshirted. This area is what needs to have its act together for Memphis to be successful on D. Our LB core is going to be sick. Our secondary is a question mark. We have very talented young players back there that played at or had offered from SEC schools and other P5 schools but it's going to be some rough bumps for them early.

Offense- Better than last year and will probably set some records. O-Line added more depth and experience this off season. We need to be better in our run blocking for our stable of RBs.

Special Teams- can Riley Patterson fulfill Jake Elliot's shoes?

(05-16-2017 12:30 PM)rabidTU2 Wrote:  I guess my answer to that question would be two fold in that we have a better and older defense and an offensive line that is one of the best in the country. Also, our backfield is very talented and deep. The receivers will be close to, but not quite as good and of course we are breaking in a new QB. At that position, we will have a more talented athlete, but the skill throwing level is still a mystery. Defensively, we will be very talented top to bottom with better players in the DLine and secondary, but a little younger at LBer.

The key to TU FB this year is that our staff has now been together for three years and the system is now entrenched with players this staff recruited.

"TU FB - Its not how fast you play, its how WELL you play fast!"

Tulsa will be loaded this year. Don't worry about the QB. Montgomery replaces QB's without missing a beat. When he was the QB coach a Baylor they replaced a Heisman winner the next year and never missed a beat.

Tulsa may very well win the the conference championship.

Funny...

Does anyone here expect someone to say "worse" at this point in the year?

Unless you hate your team's coach, everyone is going to say "We're going to be 'better' next season..."

(05-16-2017 05:29 PM)M1T4 Wrote:  Memphis

Defense- Will our D-Line physically be developed after a year of learning through fire for some. Some of our guys also redshirted. This area is what needs to have its act together for Memphis to be successful on D. Our LB core is going to be sick. Our secondary is a question mark. We have very talented young players back there that played at or had offered from SEC schools and other P5 schools but it's going to be some rough bumps for them early.

Offense- Better than last year and will probably set some records. O-Line added more depth and experience this off season. We need to be better in our run blocking for our stable of RBs.

Special Teams- can Riley Patterson fulfill Jake Elliot's shoes?

Virtually everyone's back, Tulsa has a new, untried QB, UH & Navy are supposed to be down somewhat, if in fact the Memphis defense is better (I know we'll be faster), Memphis will be two wins better - and that is pretty darn good.

Navy will be better because....

Defense will be better.
1. Dear heaven above, it is hard to picture our worst defense since 2007 going the other direction.
2. Lost in all the discussions of Smith and Worth, that defense was where it was because of some critical injuries on that side of the ball. Defensive captain Gonzalez and then his backup went down.
3. Defensive backfield was plebes and sophomore and now they're better and more experienced.

On offense, we will be just as good as last year.
We lost TEN offensive starters from 15 to 16, and the major dropoff was 9-5(7-1). We lose less. Abey has two starts under his belt plus all of spring g and fall camps. Line returns more than last year.

Still schedule is tough (@ Memphis, Tulsa, Temple, ND, and Houston). Better overall can still mean 9-3(6-2).

(05-16-2017 03:46 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 03:39 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 03:31 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Lol I know right...

There's a reason JUCO kids and transfers move to better opportunities, and there's a reason they fail more than they succeed.

If ECU has more new faces taking over traditionally recruited positions, I say that's more a sign of desperation than potential success.

UCF had many JUCO signees from last year. Pretty sure absolutely none of them panned out... at least none that mattered enough to be remembered.

This year UCF has an eligible transfer from Alabama, Shawn Burgess-Becker, but he's solidly at #2 for Safety. May contribute, but hadn't heard anything crazy.

Also have a grad transfer Linebacker from Boston College (I think?). Even with the attrition at LB from last year, he seems to be filling depth, as Pat Jasinksi and Nate Evans are stepping up at MLB. Demeitre Brim was a transfer from Linebacker, but he only really contributed last year, and even then was mostly quiet in the 2nd half of the season.

Without a doubt the most successful transfer for UCF was Storm Johnson, who had a breakout year in the Fiesta Bowl run behind an elite Offensive Line. Outside of that, most JUCO's / Transfers are temporary depth plugs.

And your last sentence is exactly our situation. Lack of depth. These guys are a stop gap until the actual recruits have had time to develop or not. No one ever knows if anyone will pan out but one can hope.

I can respect that. Your OP representative seems to be implying these stop gaps will take the starting job and perform from day 1, with 100% efficacy.

That's how I read it too. I'll believe it when I see it though. I've been an ECU fan since school in the late 80's so I've grown to temper expectations and not get too down when we suck. If we're good, great, but I'm not expecting a miracle.

(05-16-2017 06:24 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  Funny...

Does anyone here expect someone to say "worse" at this point in the year?

Unless you hate your team's coach, everyone is going to say "We're going to be 'better' next season..."

I expect Temple to be worse this coming season. I think 6 or 7 wins can still be done to make a bowl but Temple has questions at QB, OL and TE on offense plus DE and LB on defense. They have some talented younger guys who have played some and a lot of redshirts expecting to make an impact but they lost a lot from last year. Add in a new coach and a what I think is a tougher schedule and we will need to see how it goes.

If the coach is the right guy though, expect Temple to be strong again in 2018 (as they will be playing a lot of underclassmen this year who were pretty highly recruited the last couple years).

(05-16-2017 06:24 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  Funny...

Does anyone here expect someone to say "worse" at this point in the year?

Unless you hate your team's coach, everyone is going to say "We're going to be 'better' next season..."

I think our D will be worse. I'm worried about our OL, which could make our offense worse. I think having the same skill position players will help. Obviously, a new starting QB makes things more challenging.

I would say it's pretty likely we are worse than last year, but that could mean winning 8 games instead of 10.

(05-16-2017 09:27 PM)malenko2 Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 06:24 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  Funny...

Does anyone here expect someone to say "worse" at this point in the year?

Unless you hate your team's coach, everyone is going to say "We're going to be 'better' next season..."

I expect Temple to be worse this coming season. I think 6 or 7 wins can still be done to make a bowl but Temple has questions at QB, OL and TE on offense plus DE and LB on defense. They have some talented younger guys who have played some and a lot of redshirts expecting to make an impact but they lost a lot from last year. Add in a new coach and a what I think is a tougher schedule and we will need to see how it goes.

If the coach is the right guy though, expect Temple to be strong again in 2018 (as they will be playing a lot of underclassmen this year who were pretty highly recruited the last couple years).

I don't think TE is a question at all. Yeboah is a stud. They love Petrick. They love Myarick. Robinson is probably more of an H-Back than TE. Anderson is an absolute tank at 6'3 265. Deloatch, Thompson, Yeboah, and Myarick combined for 23 receptions in an offense that very rarely utilized the TE. I'd be shocked if Yeboah doesn't have 30+ receptions.

(05-16-2017 12:43 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 12:35 PM)fishpro1098 Wrote:  Temple - offensive line will be good. New QB will be better than expected. Offensive coordinator seems to be both experienced and flexible depending on the talent qualities of the players. Head coach is a defensive guru. These are the pluses. Negative - new coach with no HC experience, how will he do on game day situations? The schedule is much more challenging than last year. 7-5 or 8-4 might be our ceiling.

.

I'm not sure the OL will be good. It's probably our biggest weakness.

One of the kids from Temple's O-line was quoted in Philly.com that this is the best line since he has been here. I'm going off his assessment. I do not have a scouting report from an independent source.

Edit.

Slightly off. ""This might be the most versatile line in my five years here," said redshirt senior Adrian Sullivan, who started all 14 games at right guard last season. "We have got guys who can play all over."

Versatile is not the same as best, obviously, but I like the notion that the coaching staff is preparing kids to switch positions. In a game that could turn on key injuries, seems like a smart move.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/coll...sehan.html

I think Cincinnati channels Memphis and beats Michigan, A strong SMU beats TCU handily, And Tulsa clips Oklahoma state, Houston beats Tech and Arizona .
Banner year for the American

(05-16-2017 10:56 PM)fishpro1098 Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 12:43 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 12:35 PM)fishpro1098 Wrote:  Temple - offensive line will be good. New QB will be better than expected. Offensive coordinator seems to be both experienced and flexible depending on the talent qualities of the players. Head coach is a defensive guru. These are the pluses. Negative - new coach with no HC experience, how will he do on game day situations? The schedule is much more challenging than last year. 7-5 or 8-4 might be our ceiling.

.

I'm not sure the OL will be good. It's probably our biggest weakness.

One of the kids from Temple's O-line was quoted in Philly.com that this is the best line since he has been here. I'm going off his assessment. I do not have a scouting report from an independent source.

Edit.

Slightly off. ""This might be the most versatile line in my five years here," said redshirt senior Adrian Sullivan, who started all 14 games at right guard last season. "We have got guys who can play all over."

Versatile is not the same as best, obviously, but I like the notion that the coaching staff is preparing kids to switch positions. In a game that could tuern on key injuries, seems like a smart move.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/coll...sehan.html

That's pretty meaningless.

Memphis lost several defensive starters & replaces them with bigger more physical guys but who have not much experience at all. steep learning curve, especially with UCLA coming to town in week 3.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sp...100026158/

Quote:The Tigers, despite all of their defensive inconsistency, benefited from having one of the most experienced groups of defensive backs in the conference last season. Three of their four starters were seniors, as were three of their four best backups. Now, all of those guys are gone. So Memphis will spend spring ball searching for the right combination of youth and experience to put around rising senior safety Jonathan Cook. Junior-college transfers (and former Oklahoma Sooners) Marcus Green and Tito Windham will both have immediate opportunities to start, and there's still room for a host of redshirt freshmen, Josh Perry among them, to carve out playing time. But make no mistake: Rebuilding a secondary is not easy. It's not just about replacing the three starters, including NFL draft hopeful Arthur Maulet. It's also about finding enough quality backups to play inside on passing downs, or fill valuable roles on special teams.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sp.../99114424/

Houston will be much better because I want them to be better...

(05-17-2017 07:18 AM)JHS55 Wrote:  Houston will be much better because I want them to be better...

And here is the most accurate post. Most believe each year their team will be better...human nature. Until we see how teammates mesh and respond on the field, none of us know the outcome. Good luck to all.