Spring practices are in the books and
fall camps will be here before you know it so that means
getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season.
Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt
Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this
upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006
College Football Preview.
#112 – Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 4-7 SU; 5-6 ATS
Fargo’s Take The Blue Raiders will have a lot of new looks
in 2006 – a new head coach, a new playing surface, new
uniforms and hopefully a whole new attitude. Winning has not
been a theme in Murfreesboro for the last four seasons and
that led to the departure of head coach Andy McCollum and
the hiring of Rick Stockstill to take his place. Stockstill
has been around a long time and has worked under some of the
best head coaches around so he does bring in a winning
philosophy. Middle Tennessee brings back a lot on offense
and should be improved in that area. Defensively, it was one
of the best in the country last season but there are a lot
of holes to fill this year due to graduation and injuries.
The Blue Raiders have been huge underachievers over the past
few years as they were talked about as being one of the best
but never got it done. It will take some overachieving this
year to make it work. Academic penalties have hurt the
incoming class so depth could be a big concern.
Returning Starters on Offense – 7Middle Tennessee
averaged only 19.1 ppg last season as it was held to 10 or
fewer points on five different occasions. Senior quarterback
Clint Marks returns and he has the game to be the best
quarterback in the conference but has yet to prove it. He
threw only eight touchdown passes a season ago and with
numerous question marks at the receiver position, he will
have to step it up to be more productive. The running game
looks good with Eugene Gross leading the way behind a very
experienced line. Stockstill is considered an
offensive-minded coach but he has served as high as
offensive coordinator only once and that was with the 2003
East Carolina Pirates who ended up being one of the worst
offenses around. The difference is that there is talent
here.
Returning Starters on Defense – 5A repeat
performance from last year’s defense is not likely as there
are simply too many losses to deal with. The defensive line
took the biggest hit as there is not a senior around on the
two-deep chart. The secondary is also without a senior as
well but it has one of the best cover corners in the
conference with Bradley Robinson. Experience is also
prevalent at the safety spots. Similar to what Idaho is
implementing on defense this year, the Blue Raiders are also
going with speed to make up for some of the shortcomings.
While the defense won’t be nearly as good, don’t expect a
huge drop-off either as there is still enough around to
remain competitive.
Schedule Don’t expect too much success with the schedule
that is on the plate of this team as it is brutal.
Non-conference games at Maryland, Oklahoma and South
Carolina are next to impossible as is a neutral site game
with Louisville. It will come down to the Sun Belt slate and
while it certainly is not a power conference, it doesn’t set
up very well for the Blue Raiders. The four toughest games
in the conference schedule are on the road but this team
went 3-3 away from home last season (2-1 SBC) so winning on
the road might not be a problem after all.
You can bet on… A
college football picks moneyline win over Tennessee
Tech is a guarantee unless Middle Tennessee decides to look
ahead to its game at Oklahoma the following week. The Blue
Raiders have not had a winning season in five years but they
have won four or more games every season showing how close
they were to being a very good team. They finished with a
losing mark against the number and that was due to the
difficulty of getting it done at home where they went 1-4
both SU and ATS. The four losses were by a combined 23
points, so reverse those and the Blue Raiders could be
defending a conference title this season. They aren’t
however and it won’t happen this year either.
