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Here's Dave Campbell's Texas Football's outlook for Sun Belt teams.
Troy Trojans
Troy enters the season on a roll after falling to N. Illinois in the Silicon Valley Classic. The Trojans will be among the chief challengers for North Texas but must find a way to replace DeWitt Betterson, the school's career rushing leader. Sophomore Kenny Cattouse and freshman Joel Whingter are among the top contenders for the starting job.
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Junior Clint Marks is among the top quarterbacks in the Sun Belt and will have plenty of options despite the departure of all-conference receiver Kerry Wright. The blue Raiders hope to get back on track after a disappointing season.
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
Louisiana-lafayette hopes to get back on track after a down year. The Ragin' Cajuns were second in the Sun Belt in 2003, but fell to 2-5 in league play past year. They will look to junior quarrterback Jerry Babb, who accounted for 2,843 yards last year, to change their fortunes
Florida Atlantic Owls
Florida Atlantic turned heads last season with two wins over Sun Belt teams, including North Texas. Matching that performance could be tough. FAU lost 15 starters from its 2004 team that prepared the Owls to join the Sun Belt full time.
Louisiana-Monroe Indians
Louisiana-Monroe improved in its second year under head coach Charlie Weatherbie. The Indians were 5-6 in 2004, one year after finishing 1-11. ULM's improvement can be attributed in part to quarterback Steve Jyles, who threw for 2,322 yards and rushed for 587 yards as a junior in 2004.
Arkansas State Indians
Arkansas State dropped its 4-2-5 defense during the offseason in favor of a 4-3 alignment after allowing 33.2 points a game last season. The key for ASU's offense could be the status of running back Antonio Warren, who rushed for 1,036 yards last season. Warren sat out his freshman year to fulfill NCAA academic requirements and spent the summer trying to meet guidelines to receive an additional year of eligibility.
Florida International Golden Panthers
FIU enters its fourth season of college football and its first in the Sun Belt looking for an initial winning season. The Panthers have 18 returning starters and showed they could be competetive in the Sun Belt after losing games to league members Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe by less than 10 points last year.
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06-25-2005 02:04 PM |
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