Notre
Dame (9-3)
Offensive MVP: QB Carlyle
Holiday (sr)
Defensive MVP: MLB Courtney
Watson (sr)
Special Teams MVP: KR Julius
Jones (sr)
Newcomer to make biggest impact: DE Victor Abiamiri (fr)
Notre Dame MUST…
pose more of an offensive threat. Talk about luck of
the Irish, their defense bailed them out of too many
contests last season. That’s all well and good, but
when they faced offensive powers USC and N.C. State,
they fell behind too far too fast, and the offense posed
no such threat of a comeback. They get Julius Jones
back to help the run game, but Holiday must emerge as
a steady QB who can hurt teams with his arm more than
his legs.
Notre Dame CAN’T…
rely on their special teams units to bail them out again.
Nicholas Setta managed to hit only 14-of-25 FGAs. The
Irish will also have to break in a new punter. The Irish
do pose one of the better return threats in the country
with Vontez Duff (who will return punts) and Julius
Jones. Teams are likely to kick away from Duff, though,
and the Irish would like to return as few kickoffs as
possible.
UConn
(9-3)
Offensive MVP: QB Dan
Orlovsky (jr)
Defensive MVP: DE Uyi
Osunde (sr)
Special Teams MVP: P Adam
Coles (sr)
Newcomer to make biggest impact: WR Seth Fogarty (fr)
UConn MUST… improve against
the run. UConn went 2-6 when an opposing back rushed
for more than 100 yards. Conversely, when holding opposing
backs to under the century mark, they were 4-0. Altogether,
the Huskies were 59th in the nation in rush
defense, allowing 155 yards per and 18 TDs total. They
were 5th in the NCAA against the pass, so
by stopping the run, UConn could be pretty dangerous.
UConn
CAN’T… let up. They
ended 2002 with a full head of steam. If they had played
their first six games like they did their last six,
their season might have ended in a bowl game. They’ll
head to the Big East in 2004 and would love to have
two strong seasons under their belt to give them confidence.
Few teams will be looking past them this year, and they’ll
need to be ready for that fact.
Navy
(5-7)
Offensive MVP: QB Craig
Candeto (sr)
Defensive MVP: FS Josh
Smith (jr)
Special Teams MVP: P John
Skaggs (sr)
Newcomer to make biggest impact: DB Keenan Little (fr)
Navy MUST… stop the pass.
It would be easy to say the Midshipmen must pass the
ball to succeed, but stopping the pass is much
more of a concern. Navy yielded 220 yards per game through
the air, and less than half their opponents liked to
throw more than run. By decreasing this number, the
defense can keep the offense out of many holes, which
allows the O to then confidently work their game plan.
Navy CAN’T… break discipline. The Midshipmen pride themselves
on strict guidelines and strategy, so they cannot be
forced out of their strategic routine early. They run
the football, we all know that. Falling behind early
frustrated them last year, and they don’t have the offense
to come back from any sizeable deficits. Navy was outscored
21 to 12 in the first half last season. As long as they
can hold close and stick to that exasperated option
offense, they could be in a position to win more games.
Troy
State (3-9)
Offensive MVP: RB DeWhitt
Betterson (jr)
Defensive MVP: DE Demarcus
Ware (jr)
Special Teams MVP: KR/PR Toris
Rutledge (so)
Newcomer to make biggest impact: OT Joe Fowler (jr)
Troy State MUST…
create more of a passing threat. The Trojans only mustered
127 yards per 2002 game throwing. That number has to
improve to allow their offense to kick into a higher
gear. RB DeWhitt Betterson averaged seven yards per
carry last season as a backup. Think of what he could
do this year, as a starter, with a passing game to support
him?
Troy State CAN’T…
turn the ball over. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The
Trojans were (–10) in their overall TO margin, and fumbled
the ball 42 times!!! They recovered 26 of them, but
they simply cannot put the ball on the ground four times
a game and hope to be successful. The 19 INTs were not
helpful either, considering their anemic passing game.
