2011 Pre-Season Preview: Northwestern Wildcats

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (7-6, 3-5 in Big 10)

Head Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (34-29 All-Time, 18-22 in Big Ten)

Last Bowl Game: 2010/2011 TicketCity Bowl (lost to Texas Tech 45-38)

2010 Preview

 

CFBZ Northwestern Links

2010 Exit Survey

Big Ten Roundtable

Pre-Spring All Big Ten Team

Returning Big Ten Offensive Firepower

 

Schedule

9/3: at Boston College

9/10: Eastern Illinois

9/17: at Army

10/1: at Illinois (2010 result: lost 48-27)

10/8: Michigan

10/15: at Iowa (2010 result: won 21-17)

10/22: Penn State (2010 result: lost 35-21)

10/29: at Indiana (2010 result: won 20-17)

11/5: at Nebraska

11/12: Rice (2010 result: won 30-13)

11/19: Minnesota (2010 result: won 29-28)

11/26: Michigan State (2010 result: lost 35-27)

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2011 Pre-Season Preview: Fresno State Bulldogs

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (8-5, 5-3 in WAC)

Head Coach: Pat Hill (108-71 All-Time)

Last Bowl Game: 2010 Humanitarian Bowl (lost to Northern Illinois 40-17)

2010 Preview

2010 Exit Survey

 

Schedule

9/3: at California

9/10: at Nebraska

9/17: North Dakota

9/24: at Idaho (2010 result: won 23-20)

10/1: Ole Miss (2010 result: lost 55-38)

10/7: Boise State (2010 result: lost 51-0)

10/15: Utah State (2010 result: won 41-24)

10/22: at Nevada (2010 result: lost 35-34)

11/5: Louisiana Tech (2010 result: won 40-34)

11/12: at New Mexico State (2010 result: won 33-10)

11/20: at Hawaii (2010 result: lost 49-27)

11/26: San Jose State (2010 result: won 33-18)

12/3: at San Diego State

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2011 Pre-Season Preview: North Carolina State Wolfpack

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (9-4, 5-3 in ACC)

Head Coach: Tom O'Brien (25-25 at NCSU, 100-70 All-Time)

Last Bowl Game: 2010 Champs Sports Bowl (beat West Virginia 23-7)

2010 Preview

 

CFBZ NC State Links

ACC Roundtable

Pre-Spring All-ACC Team

Returning ACC Offensive Firepower

Spring Football Questions: ACC Atlantic

 

Schedule

9/3: Liberty

9/10: at Wake Forest

9/17: South Alabama (2010 result: won 21-16)

9/22: at Cincinnati

10/1: Georgia Tech (2010 result: won 23-13)

10/8: Central Michigan (2010 result: won 16-10)

10/22: at Virginia (2010 result: lost 19-0)

10/29: at FSU (2010 result: lost 24-21)

11/5: UNC (2010 result: won 24-19)

11/12: at Boston College (2010 result: lost 44-17)

11/19: Clemson (2010 result: lost 31-13)

11/25: Maryland

Georgia Bulldogs Roundtable Discussion

Written by Kevin on .

The Georgia Bulldogs will be one of the most intriguing teams this fall. In his first eight years as Head Coach of the Bulldogs Mark Richt built a record of 82-22. Over the last two years the Dawgs have gone 13-12 and Richt now finds himself on the hotseat. The Bulldogs lose leading receiver A.J. Green, leading tackler Akeem Dent, leading sacker Justin Houston and leading rusher Washaun Ealey. They also had three other players drafted in Kris Durham, Clint Boling and Shaun Chapas. That's a lot to lose off of a team that went 6-7 this past season. Did I mention that they also lost one of their starting tackles, Trinton Sturdivant, to a knee injury this spring. To cap all of that off Georgia starts with the toughest first two games in the country as they play Boise State in Atlanta and then host the defending SEC East Champs in Athens.

Despite all of the losses, there is still quite a bit of optimism around this Georgia program. Georgia returns the top QB in the SEC, one of the best TE groups in the country, a highly touted recruiting class and looks to have a much improved front seven on the defensive side of the ball. To get some perspective and opinions on this years Bulldogs I sought out some of my favorite bloggers/writers that cover Georgia football to join me in a panel discussion.

First let's get started with some introductions. Make sure you visit these guys sites and bookmark them, add them to your reader or do whatever you do to consume their website on a daily basis. Also, make sure you follow them on Twitter for some lively discussion during football season and to find out what kind of beer Bernie is drinking on a daily basis or find out when Kit posts one of his podcasts.

Who Site Twitter Handle
BernieDawg Bernie's Dawg Blawg @BernieDawg
ECDawg Leather Helmet Blog @ecdawg_LHB
Genxdawg A Damn Beast!!! @ADamnBeastBlog
Kevin Sicemdawgs.com @sicemdawgscom
Kit Kitchens Dawg Gone Blog @ludakit
MikeInValdosta Dawgs BUI 2.0 @MikeInValdosta
Tyler Dawgden Georgia Sports Blog @TylerDawgden

 

QUESTION #1: Which game is more critical for Georgia to win: Boise State or South Carolina?

2011 Pre-Season Preview: Penn State Nittany Lions

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (7-6, 4-4 in Big 10)

Head Coach: Joe Paterno (46th year at PSU, 401-135-3 All-Time)

Last Bowl Game: 2010/2011 Outback Bowl (lost to Florida 37-24)

2010 Preview

 

CFBZ Penn State Links

5 Players Ready To Break Out In The Big Ten

2010 Penn State Exit Survey

Big Ten Roundtable

Pre-Spring All Big Ten Team

Returning Big Ten Offensive Firepower

 

Schedule

9/3: Indiana St

9/10: Alabama (2010 result: lost 24-3)

9/17: at Temple (2010 result: won 22-13)

9/24: Eastern Michigan

10/1: at Indiana (2010 result: won 41-24)

10/8: Iowa (2010 result: lost 24-3)

10/15: Purdue

10/22: at Northwestern (2010 result: won 35-21)

10/29: Illinois (2010 result: lost 33-13)

11/12: Nebraska

11/19: at Ohio State (2010 result: lost 38-14)

11/26: at Wisconsin

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This Week In College Football: Dana Holgerson, Terrelle Pryor, USC Trojans, Russell Wilson, Tennessee Volunteers

Written by Kevin on .

Each week during the off-season we will be doing this feature that will simply be called "This Week In College Football". We will cover the biggest news and stories of the past week and give some opinions and analysis. In addition to covering the weekly happenings we also have started our Pre-Season Previews and we have several up already. This week we previewed Baylor, Boston College, Miami (Fl) and Texas Tech. Next week Duke, Fresno State, NC State, Northwestern, Penn State and Wake Forest will be among the teams that we preview. There were three big happenings in the world of college football this week so we will get to those first and then add some quick hits on the back side:

DANA HOLGERSON TAKES OVER AT WEST VIRGINIA

Last week we briefly touched on "coach in waiting" Dana Holgerson being in some hot water due to an incident that happened at a casino. Then we started hearing rumblings about then Head Coach Bill Stewart asking a local reporter or two to "dig up dirt" on the new coach in waiting. I've never liked the "coach in waiting" position and I've yet to see it really work in the world of college football outside of Jimbo Fisher and even then there were some tremendously awkward moments and Bobby Bowden had to be forced out against his will (so I guess you could chalk that up to "not working"). Bill Stewart was a surprising hire from the beginning. I would compare him to the Ray Goff hire at Georgia. He was generally thought of as a good guy but in no way should have been given the keys to a college football team. Oliver Luck's decision to hire Holgerson was a great decision but his decision to keep Stewart on for another year as Head Coach and tab was Holgerson as the coach in waiting was a colossal failure.

In the wake of this scandal, Bill Stewart resigned and the reigns were turned over to Holgerson one year early. This is great news for Mountaineers fans as it means that the Holgerson era is here a year early. I've been high on West Virginia for a while as they were part of our 5 Team To Watch in 2011. Obviously, the way this happened wasn't what West Virginia wanted but I think that the outcome will be the best thing for the Mountaineers. Geno Smith and Tavon Austin running a Dana Holgerson offense should be pretty exciting to watch this fall and could give the Big East some National recognition that it so longs for.

2011 Pre-Season Preview: Texas Tech Red Raiders

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (8-5, 3-5 in Big 12)

Head Coach: Tommy Tuberville (2nd Yr at TT, 118-65 All-Time)

Last Bowl Game: 2010/2011 TicketCity Bowl (beat Northwestern 45-38)

 

CFBZ Texas Tech Links

2010 Season Exit Survey

Big 12 Roundtable

Pre-Spring All-Big 12 Team

Returning Big 12 Offensive Firepower


Schedule

9/3: Texas State

9/17: at New Mexico (2010 result: won 52-17)

9/24: Nevada

10/1: at Kansas (2009 result: won 42-21)

10/8: Texas A&M (2010 result: lost 45-27)

10/15: Kansas State (2009 result: won 66-14)

10/22: at Oklahoma (2010 result: lost 45-7)

10/29: Iowa State (2010 result: lost 52-38)

11/5: at Texas (2010 result: lost 24-14)

11/12: Oklahoma State (2010 result: lost 34-17)

11/19: at Missouri (2010 result: won 24-17)

11/26: Baylor (2010 result: won 45-38)

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2011 Pre-Season Preview: Baylor Bears

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (7-6, 4-4 in Big 12)

Head Coach: Art Briles (15-22 at Baylor, 49-50 All-Time)

Last Bowl Game: 2010 Texas Bowl (lost to Illinois 38-14)

 

CFBZ Baylor Links

Big 12 Roundtable

Pre-Spring All-Big 12 Team

Returning Big 12 Offensive Firepower

 

Schedule

9/2: TCU (2010 result: lost 45-10)

9/17: Stephen F. Austin

9/24: Rice (2010 result: lost 30-13)

10/1: at Kansas St (2010 result: won 47-42)

10/8: Iowa St (2009 result: lost 24-10)

10/15: at Texas A&M (2010 result: lost 42-30)

10/29: at Oklahoma State (2010 result: lost 55-28)

11/5: Missouri (2009 result: won 40-32)

11/12: at Kansas (2010 result: won 55-7)

11/19: Oklahoma (2010 result: lost 53-24)

11/26: Texas Tech (2010 result: lost 45-38)

12/3: Texas (2010 result: won 30-22)

 

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2011 Pre-Season Preview: Boston College Eagles

Written by Kevin on .

2010 Record: (7-6, 4-4 in ACC)

Head Coach: Frank Spaziani (16-11 at BC, 9-7 in ACC)

Last Bowl Game: 2010 Fight Hunger Bowl (lost to Nevada 20-13)

2010 Preview

 

CFBZ Boston College Links

ACC Roundtable

Pre-Spring All-ACC Team

Returning ACC Offensive Firepower

Spring Football Questions: ACC Atlantic

 

Schedule

9/3: Northwestern

9/10: at UCF

9/17: Duke (2010 result: won 21-16)

9/24: Massachusetts

10/1: Wake Forest (2010 result: won 23-13)

10/8: at Clemson (2010 result: won 16-10)

10/22: at Virginia Tech (2010 result: lost 19-0)

10/29: at Maryland (2010 result: lost 24-21)

11/3: FSU (2010 result: won 24-19)

11/12: at NC State (2010 result: lost 44-17)

11/19: at Notre Dame (2010 result: lost 31-13)

11/25: at Miami, Fl

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15 Games That Will Decide The National Champion: LSU at Alabama

Written by Kevin on .

When we last left our countdown we were in the state of Ohio and talking about the Buckeyes and Badgers. The closer it gets to the start of the season the worse it looks for the Buckeyes, which could open the door wide open for the Badgers. But for now, let's focus on the toughest division in all of college football. The division that has won three of the last four National Championships. Who are we talking about? If you don't know the answer to that question then I'm shocked that you found this blog. For our tenth game in this series we are heading down to Tuscaloosa where the Crimson Tide meet Crazy Les Miles and the Tigers of LSU.

LSU Tigers at Alabama Crimson Tide

When: November 5th

Where: Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

 

Most people have Alabama and LSU as the top two teams in the SEC West this year. For me personally, I have Alabama, then Arkansas and then LSU but I have all three ranked in my top six right now (we will release our official CFBZ Pre-Season Top 25 this August). Those are the three teams that will define the SEC West, the SEC and most likely the National Title this year. And it helps that there is a little bad blood in this game since Nick Saban once coached the LSU Tigers. You have to go back to 2006 until you can find a Bama/LSU game that's been decided by double digit points. So odds are that this one will be a nail biter.