2018 CONFERENCE USA (In Alpha Order) CUSA Is at Tier Two, Meaning There Are No Individual Team Sheets and No Game by Game Rush Data Or Rush Stat Plays Tabulated
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2018 CONFERENCE USA (in alpha order) CUSA is at tier two, meaning there are no individual team sheets and no game by game rush data or rush stat plays tabulated. CSUA EAST Charlotte Each year I “publish” my bottom five coach report. Brad Lambert made the list last year and proceeded to “lead” his team to one win! Blame the staff? Lambert cleaned house, firing both coordinators and firing and demoting other assistants. 18 starters return. Lose again and it will be clear where the next change will occur. AREAS TO WATCH: Charlotte loses just two WR’s, a center and one LB from the ’17 starting lineup. This will be a heavily veteran team. Their QB hit 47.7% last year. In 7-12 games the point O was 14 or less. I like the lead RB. The new offensive coordinator was productive at Youngstown St. Charlotte intercepted just two passes in ’17! With ten returning starters this will change. They have 25 defensive sacks in their last 24 games. The run D was below average and the pass D was over 69%. They’ll improve, but to what extent. Glenn Spencer was decent as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma St. This seems like a splash hire. All three kickers return but they combined to go 4-13 last year. ‘18 PREVIEW: Last year in this spot I said to post check their stats vs. Eastern Michigan. The stats were not pretty. Let’s hope they improve with this depth opening up vs. 4-7 Fordham. Games 2-4 are hosting App. St. and Old Dominion and at UMass. 2-1 should be expected with the new coordinators and the returning talent. Will this be 1-2? 5-3 is possible if they start 2-1 with home games vs. WKU and So. Miss not that difficult (So. Miss QB currently under suspension). On paper only a host of FIU (one point loss after leading by 15) looks like a possible November win. BOTTOM LINE: Maybe 5-7, thanks to solid schedule pacing, team depth, and positive coaching changes. I won’t go higher with Lambert as coach. Finish 4-8 and it’s time for a change. HANDICAPPING TIP: I would consider fading Charlotte vs. Old Dominion as a home favorite and at UMass as a road favorite if I get the proper early clues. I won’t be afraid to fade the 49ers in their tough November schedule if the season has been disappointing. I’ll re- consider if I see stat and win progress prior to that point. Florida Atlantic FAU finished 3-9 in each of Charlie Partridge’s three seasons. The record over the past eight seasons was 28-67. Enter Lane Kiffin. All FAU did was go 11-3, winning ten in a row to close ’17. Here comes year #2! AREAS TO WATCH: The team remains deep. Ten starters return on D including 14 of their top 15 tacklers. They had 38 sacks a year ago. This could be quite a defense. Only five starters return offensively. The QB job will be won by someone without college experience. Handing off will be fun, as Devin Singletary returns off his 1,920-6.4 per carry performance. Three OL starters depart, but they were not drafted and two grad transfers were added. They did lose a fine offensive coordinator so I expect regression, especially in the pass game and in protecting a raw QB. The punter and kicker are new. ‘18 PREVIEW: Oklahoma and UCF join Air Force in making the non-conference schedule difficult. UCF will host FAU but with a new coach. Games 5-6 are at rested MTSU and home to improved Old Dominion. My early check points are QB play/turnovers and the kicking game. Marshall is a solid home team but FAU will be rested. Which new QB is playing better? Louisiana Tech is an excellent road team. FIU and Butch Davis could be tough at home but the Panthers lost a ton of defensive talent. North Texas has double revenge from ’17 and decent depth. Maybe that road game will test FAU. BOTTOM LINE: Las Vegas expected FAU to go 4-8 in ’17. I appreciated the easy $$$. I see nine teams on the schedule that could make bowl games so FAU can’t afford to have shoddy QB play or kicking. 9-3 is quite possible thanks to the league’s top defense and top RB. The early schedule will certainly be a test. HANDICAPPING TIP: As elite guitarist Nils Lofgren sings, “no mercy”. Under Lane Kiffin FAU never takes a knee late in games so scores can be lopsided. Keep that in mind when they play easier teams. If there is offensive and/or kicking slippage I’ll lean vs. the Owls at MTSU and home to Louisiana Tech. Florida International Butch Davis was a huge upgrade over forever bottom five head coach Ron Turner. FIU easily went over their posted seasonal win total (thanks), finishing 8-4 before losing their bowl game. FIU fans have to be excited, but there will be reasons for caution this September. AREAS TO WATCH: A grad transfer with little accuracy takes over for departed steady QB Alex McGough. There may be sneaky RB talent but that needs to be monitored. The OL is deep and has elite starting experience. That should help. Seven of their top nine tacklers depart, but the top two sackers return. Their average defensive coordinator will be hard-pressed to improve upon last year’s 4.8 run D (uncorrected for sacks) and 65+% pass D. One senior will start on defense and the secondary will be all new! Two very highly rated JUCO’s add DL depth. Watch defensive #’s closely all season long! The kicking game is solid. ‘18 PREVIEW: FIU moves from six to seven home games which helps when your team is younger (6-1 in home games last year). The schedule is tougher with Indiana, Old Dominion and Miami (Fla.) replacing UCF, Alcorn St. and Tulane. 2-1 seems like the ceiling early on hosting Indiana, at Old Dominion (FIU lost by seven as a host in ’17, Monarch’s more experienced now) and hosting UMass. Even at 1-2, a win hosting a good MTSU squad (lost 37-17 to them last year) could mean 4-3 prior to visiting subpar WKU. The goal is to go 2-1 in this road game (vs. WKU) and road games at UTSA (14-7 home win ’17) and Charlotte (Charlotte deeper in ‘18). They close with a highly interesting home game vs. Marshall. BOTTOM LINE: Butch Davis can outcoach many in this conference but there is no question that the defense will be weaker and QB play is a complete unknown! Somehow this gets to 6-6 and maybe 7-5, especially if the nd touted DL transfers change things for the better. Getting to a 2 straight bowl won’t be easy but can be done. HANDICAPPING TIP: A win over 2-9 Arkansas Pine-Bluff sets FIU up in a favorable revenge-bye situation vs. MTSU on 10/13. The scenario is enhanced if FIU is an underdog of 3+ points. Marshall Marshall imploded in ’16, going 3-9. Last year they regrouped, posting a 7-5 record which became 8-5 after a bowl win. 17 starters return but a new QB must be found. FAU took the conference by storm last year but Marshall only lost by five at their place despite a -4 turnover ratio. Let’s see if the Herd can improve some more this season. AREAS TO WATCH: QB play is likely to regress with a grad transfer from Wagner the new guy. The rest of the offense has plenty of experience, with two decent RB’s, a Sunday prospect at WR and five returning OL starters. The defense posted outstanding #’s last year. The point D was about 19. The run D was near 3.5 per carry. The pass D was around 56%. Marshall returns a very experienced front seven but the secondary will feature one junior and three sophomores. Both coordinators are gone. I have a slight concern offensively but a huge concern defensively with coordinator Chuck Heater a major loss (position coach at Maryland). The return game looks solid but both kickers will be new. ’18 PREVIEW: South Carolina replaces Cincy on the schedule. Both Marshall and Miami Ohio return massive starting talent. Edge Miami because Marshall will have a new QB and the coordinators will be coaching their 1st game. On 9/22 they host NC St. The Wolfpack lost their entire DL to the NFL but returns a stud QB. Can Marshall make this one close (lost 37-20 at their place in ’17)? The Herd must guard against a letdown when they open CUSA play at WKU. Games 6-8 are all challenging. They host bowl regular MTSU, play at potentially improved Old Dominion and then play a rested FAU team who will be favored to repeat as CUSA champions. The obvious pre-checks are QB play, the pass D%, kicking, and new coaching impact. Marshall might be favored the rest of the way. They’ve played well at So. Miss (good series, Golden Eagles far less returning talent). They should beat visiting Charlotte and beat visiting UTSA in a revenge game (UTSA got the win with two seconds left). The finale at FIU looks like a tossup. The pre-check here will be FIU’s defensive stats after having to replace so many key players.