It’s never too early to start talking about college football, which is why our staff will continue to discuss some of the hottest topics in the game today. After discussing the best and worst coaching hires of the offseason, we’ll be discussing our surprise teams for the 2016 campaign.
Question: Which team will be the biggest surprise in college football this season?
Kevin Causey
On Twitter @CFBZ
It’s only April and I don’t have a real good feeling for any “underdog” teams so far for 2016. However, one that should be significantly better is the Washington Huskies.
I’ve always been a fan of Chris Petersen. He hasn’t had instant success at Washington, which has caused some to question whether he can be successful there. Also against him is the fact that Stanford and Oregon are members of the Pac-12 North.
One reason I like the Huskies is they have 15 returning starters, 8 on offense and 7 on defense. That’s not the most in the Pac-12, but they played a lot of young guys last year. That will start to pay off for Petersen this season.
One player in particular to watch is rising sophomore QB Jake Browning. He completed 63% of his passes as a freshman and will benefit greatly from being allowed to make mistakes in “real time” last season.
Keep an eye on Petersen and the Huskies, they will turn some heads this fall.
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
Washington will be back, eventually. I promise. Go ahead and bet your bottom dollar on 2016 being a launching point.
The Huskies have mostly borne the brunt of the rise of the Ducks and Cardinal in the Pac-12 North and the Pac-12 in general. It seems like eons ago that Washington was a fixture in the top 10. It will happen again. Chris Petersen is now in year three of this project (15-12 thus far isn’t knocking anyone’s socks off, but there wasn’t much to work with going in), and the turnover is in the rear-view mirror.
Last season, returning only eight starters, the Huskies snared seven wins and won their last three games. Their last three Pac-12 wins were by a combined score of 146-20 (Arizona, Oregon State, and Washington State). The Pac-12 is going to be typically rugged, but there are probably more questions at Oregon than any time in recent memory, and Stanford suffers heavy losses as well.
Quarterback Jake Browning is back after a stellar true freshman season. Fellow sophomore Myles Gaskin is back behind him to hand the ball to, and what was a struggling offensive line in 2015 should be better or, if nothing else, exhibit better communication. Returning four starters to the field should help.
The secondary is deep and talented, and Petersen will get this thing turned around in a major way. If it’s possible to be such, the Huskies are young and yet veteran in key places. They should springboard back into the national consciousness in 2016.
Joe Dexter
On Twitter @BuckeyeRadio
Whether you buy into the hiring of Kirby Smart or not, there’s no doubt that Georgia has been on the minds of college football fans this offseason.
Like Terry, my gut reaction was to judge the hiring of Smart this winter. Actually, the judgment was mostly cast on firing Mark Richt.
Yet, I have a feeling that the Bulldogs have the talent in place to compete at the highest level of the SEC East. It’s a high level when you get past Kentucky, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Missouri, right?
Sure, the Dawgs have a lot to figure out at quarterback, but in the Southeastern Conference, if you have something to actually figure out, you’re ahead of schedule at the position.
Greyson Lambert might not have had the greatest year last season, but he proved that he could be serviceable in the right offense. So, if the freshman phenom Jake Eason isn’t the answer, the Bulldogs can make do with a guy that has proven himself in conference play.
If the signal caller can manage games, Georgia can use its one-two punch on the ground in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel to terrorize defenses.
On defense, the Dawgs return starters Aaron Davis, Quincy Mauger, Dominick Sanders, and Malcolm Parrish to the secondary — a unit that finished no. 1 in pass defense a year ago.
It’s hard to be a surprise team when you went 10-3 last season, but with a schedule that only has one tough road game against Ole Miss, the Dawgs could break free from the chain that has held them back as championship contenders in the Richt era.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
The Texas Longhorns will be the most pleasant surprise in college football.
Make no mistake about it: no one expects UT to win the Big 12 this fall. After all, the ‘Horns are just 11-14 over the past two seasons, and failed to qualify for a bowl game last year. Given that Texas ranked 92nd nationally in total offense and 107th in the country in total defense last season, it’s not a stretch to think that most media publications will pick Charlie Strong’s club to finish in the bottom half of the league again in 2016.
I will not be one of them. This Longhorn team is much better than people think it is.
Let’s be honest: Texas wasn’t as bad as everyone said it was last year. Sure, the ‘Horns went 5-7, but they also beat top 25 opponents Oklahoma (the Sooners’ only loss of the regular season) and Baylor. While those seven losses don’t look so good on paper, three of them were by a field goal or less. With a little luck – especially on special teams – those contests easily could have gone the other way, and UT would have finished 8-4.
Regardless, the Longhorns will be much better this fall. The UT offense will improve dramatically under the leadership of new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, whose Tulsa squad was 12th in the country in yards per game, averaging 507.4 per contest. That total includes a 603-yard effort against Oklahoma last season.
On the other side of the ball, Texas is in good shape as well. Yes, last season’s numbers were terrible, but history suggests that it was an aberration. Since he took over as Charlie Strong’s coordinator at Louisville in 2010, Vance Bedford’s defenses have always ranked 26th or better nationally in yards per game, including his first season with the ‘Horns. With that type of track record, there’s no reason to think that the UT defense won’t turn things around this year.
In other words: expect a breakout season from Texas in 2016… just like Strong’s third year at Louisville, when the Cardinals went 11-2 and beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
