James has been naming every player on the EA Sports video game rosters for half a decade now, he’s finally putting his knowledge to better use writing for us here at CappersPicks.com. Your comments are welcome below…Give Us Your Take!
With control of one of the smaller fish in the conference pond, head coach Mike London is doing an excellent job in Charlottesville. London’s guidance pushed the Cavs to an 8-5 record last year, perhaps squeezing out some close games they shouldn’t have. There are also some pieces back in 2012 to make up a strong offense and a competent defense.
Miami was once long a power on the college football scene, but its last national championship occurred in 2001. The program has been in a really trying time of late; coaching changes have gone hand-in-hand with scandal (I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of hearing that word as it pertains to NCAA football) and Miami fans, frankly, aren’t used to seeing a .500 ballclub.
Virginia Tech has simply been one of the most consistent programs of the past decade and a half of college football. The Hokies are all about coaching continuity; head coach Frank Beamer has been at the helm for over 25 years (the 2012 campaign marks his 26th season holding the clipboard in Blacksburg); offensive co-ordinator Bryan Stinespring is in his 20th year on the staff and “D”
co-ordinator Bud Foster has held that position since 1995.
2012-13 Football Previews – Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – North Carolina (NC) State Wolfpack
It has been a long road of incremental steps for the Wolfpack during head coach Tom O’Brien’s tenure. Injuries, flirtations from the baseball diamond and transfers have seen a lot of NC State’s best talent squandered; it also must compete every year with a cross-state rival Tar Heels squad that reels in a lot of the best recruits in the state.
2012-13 Football Previews – Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Tech head coach Paul Johnson – quirky option offense and all – knows how to bring a scrappy team to the yard. In his first season wearing the headset in 2007 – with predominately underclassman players on the roster – Johnson guided the Jackets to a 9-3 record, and they haven’t looked back.
This season, Georgia Tech once again has a competitive team that has the assets to contend with North Carolina or Virginia Tech in the ACC Coastal division. The Jackets will have to deal with a tricky schedule, but it’s always a ton of planning for opposing defenses when they face Tech’s triple option; especially because the offense seems to be slowly developing a more comprehensive passing attack in recent seasons.
ACC 2012-13 Football Previews: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Coach: Paul Johnson
2011 Record: 8-5
Georgia Tech Gambling Odds from Sportsbook.com to win BCS:
Even though most people don’t associate Georgia Tech with passing, it’s easy to forget that successful pro WRs Calvin Johnson and, more recently, Demaryius Thomas have gone through Atlanta. Although don’t be confused for a second: Coach Johnson and the Yellow Jackets hang their hat on the run game. Tech’s multi-look option offense will be powered by QB Tevin Washington, and RBs David Sims, Orwin Smith and B.J. Bostic. Look for back-up RB Charles Perkins and second-string pivot Synjyn Days to also get some looks. The efforts will be underscored by Tech’s offensive line, which is the best Johnson has had in his tenure. Junior LG Will Jackson is outstanding, and RG Omoregi Uzzi, C Jay Finch and LT Ray Beno are all well-suited to the scheme.
On “D”, Tech has some of its usual versatile athletes, but perhaps the best of the bunch is junior CB Louis Young. He has been flying under the radar, but perhaps not for long, as he has all the tools to play DB at the next level. Linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, DE Izaan Cross and safety Isaiah Johnson should also stand out on defense. Also, look for a big spike in production from sophomore LB Quayshawn Nealy, who registered 52 tackles in ’11 and should start at Will ’backer. Tech always seems to have a couple defenders every year that have a nice blend of size and speed, and project well for pro football.
The special teams duties will be handled by junior K Justin Moore and junior P Sean Poole, both returning starters. The Jackets should improve in special teams productivity, with the addition of special teams coach David Walkosky.
2012-13 Georgia Tech Football Prediction: 9-4
Head coach Johnson has a fantastic track record at Georgia Southern and Navy, and he produced a winning ball-club in Atlanta as soon as he arrived five seasons ago, even though Tech at the time had one of the youngest rosters in the ACC. This might be the most talented overall crop that Johnson’s had run out of the tunnel. An experienced offensive line should really maximize the efficacy of the triple option and the previously mentioned defenders should shine on the other side of the ball.
The scheduling gods didn’t do GT any favors, though. Tech plays road games at Virginia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina and Georgia. Tech also gets Miami on Sept. 22 and an at-times-pesky BYU squad drawn from out of conference. I’ll call for merely a one win improvement from last year – not because the Yellow Jackets aren’t talented – but because that away schedule is a gauntlet.
2012-13 Football Previews – Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – North Carolina Tar Heels
After NCAA investigations (gosh, aren’t we getting used to hearing that phrase) cost former coach Butch Davis his job in 2011, defensive co-ordinator Everett Withers took over on an interim basis; he was just keeping the seat warm.
Last year, the Clemson Tigers were the Figure 1A example of a “feast or famine” team in college football. The Tigers started out a flawless 8-0 and ranked #6 in the AP poll, only to lose four of their last six.
The timeless mantra we’ve all heard is that defense wins championships. The ’Noles look mighty powerful this year because of their outstanding defense. It’s been a pretty lengthy road back for FSU since the dominant Bobby Bowden-led years of the 1990s.
The Vanderbilt football program has a similar – though more emphasized – problem that Notre Dame and Stanford encounters; its high academic standards put it out of the contest on some top recruits.
Kentucky has gained somewhat of a reputation in recent years for being a scrappy, hard-luck program that plays the role of spoiler for the bigger bullies in the SEC. Indeed, Kentucky often plays up to its competition and is usually only a couple upsets away from a bowl game.
With the arrival of Mizzou to the SEC (along with Texas A&M this season) a third team with the “Tigers” nickname is added to the conference fray. Missouri hopes to distinguish itself far more than its mascot, however.
Auburn fans weren’t thrilled when Gene Chizik, then from Iowa State, was hired to replace Tommy Tuberville, but Chizik has done an excellent job with the Tigers. He delivered the program’s second national title in 2010, its first since 1957.
Ah, the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols. The Sherbet and White. Rocky Top. What a wild ride UT has had over the past few seasons – and what an interesting case study the Vols make! A few years ago, head coach Phil Fulmer was an institution in Knoxville, owning a career 152-52 record as Tennessee coach.
In comes former Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze to try and fix the mess in Oxford, Mississippi.
Last year was Houston Nutt’s final chance holding the clipboard at Ole Miss, and once it was announced that Nutt wouldn’t be back, the Rebs got crushed in three consecutive games, including embarrassing losses to LSU (52-3) and – even more shamefully – to in-state rival Mississippi State, 31-3 in the Egg Bowl.
South Carolina was knocking on the door for a long time, with a good-but-unspectacular SEC East team under “the Ole Ball Coach” Steve Spurrier.
Last season saw the Gamecocks kick the door in, with an 11-win season that included victories over Florida, Georgia and Tennessee (for the second straight year, actually) and a drubbing of #21 Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.
While it is a tragedy to college football fans that the storied Texas-Texas A&M rivalry has come to a close, there will be plenty of excitement around College Station in 2012 with A&M’s move to the SEC. The Aggies will play in the West division; they move to a conference and division that – with all due respect to Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – is more ferocious than the Big 12.
