I'm glad there is some discussion on this game.....with all the hype of the UW and Montana games that this one is sandwiched between, I hope we're not overlooking USD. Any road game against a decent FCS team is not to be taken lightly.
As far as the team we'll be fielding this season, it's hard not to be a little excited to watch them. Nine returning starters on offense, to include the QB (and MVP of last year's NC game) and all of the receiving corps along with 4 of 5 on the O-Line. The big losses on offense are RB Taiwan Jones who was perhaps one of the biggest play-makers in Big Sky history, a starting Offensive Guard, and a Tight End. If there are any real question marks, it's probably in the running game, but we expect to get solid production from who we have returning, along with a couple of pretty promising true Freshman who may get a shot to play this season. Jones isn't really "replaceable" anyway, as he was a threat to score every time he touched the ball and players like that only come around every once in a blue moon. We run a typical west coast one-back offense - generally three WR's and one TE, situation dependent. All of our WR's are 6'3 or over and have great speed. One goes 6'5 and causes some real mis-match problems for smaller db's. As great as the WR's are, I expect our TE's to be more involved in the passing game this season and more of a scoring threat in check-down situations as we have two with considerably playing experience that were Freshman last year. Names to look for on offense are LT Gabe Jackson, Center Chris Powers, QB Bo Levi Mitchell, WR's Brandon Kaufman and Nicholas Edwards. I can't say a whole lot more about the offense, other than the fact that we are basically loaded there. That's a bit biased, but all things considered probably an accurate assessment and one that most people wouldn't disagree on.
There are probably a few more questions marks on defense, but as I said before we still have 7 returning starters there. The big losses are MLB JC Sherritt (won the Buchanan Award for top FCS defenser last season), DT Tyler Jolley, and both starting corners, one of which is vying for a spot on the Seahawks. That said, most people feel fairly comfortable with the defense, despite the losses. The Johnson brothers (Zach at MLB and Matt at SS) could actually be close to the best football players on the team. Zach had great productivity last year and will pick up most of Sherritt's numbers from last year. Matt Johnson is the best Safety in the Big Sky Conference and will probably break the school record for interceptions this year. The defensive line is anchored by DT Renard Williams, a Senior All-American who should have a legit shot at playing on Sundays. There is a small question mark at the other DT position, as the projected starter is unable to play this season due to some issues regarding his transfer from Washington. At DE, there's a ton of athletic guys there that have good size and speed and make a lot of plays. I think the biggest thing that will stand out about our defensive play is the overall team speed. I think many teams were surprised by that throughout the playoffs, and that included Delaware. When we started blitzing late in the game, their QB crumbled under the pressure.
Hope this helps. Looking forward to watching this one. I still wish USD would have joined the Big Sky with UND as a package deal - you guys kinda screwed things up there and now we're stuck with an odd looking conference.
