July 25, 2010
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By Marc Daniels
UCFAthletics.com
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Two-a-days are on the way. Freshmen will emerge. Depth charts will be adjusted. The wait is over. The college football season is here. UCF returns a talented team that focused on getting bigger, stronger and tougher during the offseason. The Knights want to get rid of the sour taste of the loss to Rutgers in the bowl game. UCF will contend for a league title, but that is one of many storylines in the league:
10. C-USA must improve its record vs. BCS teams: Last year the conference posted a 4-23 mark against BCS opponents. George O'Leary has said many times the league can no longer just schedule these games, it has to start winning and that means everyone in C-USA. There are a number of games out there to win. UCF faces NC State and Kansas State. Houston gets Mississippi State at home and won in Starkville last year. SMU gets a rebuilding Texas Teach team to start the season and Southern Miss gets Kansas at home.
9. Bruce Miller is that good: Move him inside, he stuffs the run. Slide him outside and he beats any tackle and blocking back and gets to the quarterback. The preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year will be double teamed all season. It won't matter. Miller knows that and he is simply that good.
8. Houston's Case Keenum will be a Heisman candidate: You don't throw for 5,671yards and 44 touchdowns by accident. Houston is loaded on offense and Keenum will fling it all over the field. My guess is Heisman voters will cap his ceiling in regards to their polls and not vote him above 3rd on their ballots. But the guy is good.
7. SMU faces a brutal schedule to start the season: The Mustangs were one of the biggest surprises in 2009. After a 1-11 season in 2008, June Jones guided his team to an 8-5 season and a bowl win at Hawaii. This season they open at Texas Tech. They come home six days later to play their conference opener against UAB, then face Washington State at home before hosting TCU six days later. The Mustangs also play at Navy later in the year and get Houston the following week.
6. UCF's schedule indicates a big season: If you put any stock in records of a previous season as an indicator for how a team will be the following season (and that's dangerous), the Knights should have a big 2010. UCF's opponents this season had a combined record of 66-82 last year. That ranks 114th among the 120 FBS schools.
5. C-USA attendance must pick up: Last year the league had just three teams average over 30,000 fans per game. UCF was second to East Carolina in attendance. Southern Miss was the only other school over 30,000. All three will continue to draw well, but Houston, SMU, UTEP and Marshall need to join the list. Attendance matters to this league and fan support means continued bowl ties.
4. UCF ranks fourth in C-USA winning percentage over the last ten years: The Knights have only been in the league five of those 10 seasons. But their .650 win percentage sits behind only Southern Miss, Louisville (no longer in the league) and Tulsa. UCF is 26-14 all-time in the league. That's fourth best among current teams and they are 16-8 the last three seasons, which is third best.
3. George O'Leary and UTEP's Mike Price are the deans of the league: Change is not uncommon in C-USA. O'Leary and Price enter their seventh seasons at their schools. In fact, no coach after O'Leary and Price have been at their school for five years. Tulsa's Todd Graham, Rice's David Baliff, Tulane's Bob Toledo and UAB's Neil Calloway enter their fourth seasons at their schools.
2. 192, 186, 179, 149, 133, 126 and 83: The number of rushing yards per game allowed by UCF over the last seven seasons (thanks to Phil Steele's College Football Preview 2010). It's very interesting when you look at the trend. Last season UCF's defense was a swarming unit when teams tried to run. Besting 83 yards per game will be tough this season, but if you can shut down the ground game, your opponent is in trouble. If teams try to pass on UCF, they boast one of the best secondaries...in the nation.
1. UCF at Houston, Nov. 5: It's the league's biggest game going into the season. It gets a prime time national television slot and might be the first of two showdowns between the Knights and Cougars this season. Case Keenum wants this game big time. UCF should want it as much. It is the middle game for UCF of a tough three game stretch with East Carolina and Southern Miss before and after Houston. For Houston, the UCF game comes after three-straight road conference games. But it very possible both teams come in 4-0 in league play.
Knights notes and more: Kudos to President Hitt for securing a new television deal for the league. Hitt served as the league's chair for this item. The deal does not bring SEC type money, but in the current economy there were few broadcast outlets willing to shell out big dollars to C-USA. What the league needs is for CBS to get serious about its cable sports network. Either be more aggressive in getting local cable systems to carry your channel or allow local stations in C-USA markets to carry your games live with the hope fans will ask for the channel... Little birdie tells me Michigan State transfer Tom Herzog can be a huge impact guy for Donnie Jones' basketball team. The fifth-year senior is eligible as a degreed transfer (see Brett Hodges). Birdie says the 7-foot Herzog today would be one of the better big men in the league...Final thought: Someone recently asked me for my home phone number. I had no idea. After all, my cell phone contacts read "Home." When I told my family about the story, my kids asked me if I knew their cell numbers. I said sure, and then scrolled down to their names on my speed dial.
Marc Daniels' From the Press Box runs several times per month on UCFAthletics.com. Listen to Marc during UCF football, men's basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the UCF-ISP Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts "The Beat of Sports" on ESPN 1080 in Orlando from 9-11 a.m.