Our Sun Belt roundtable analysis will continue for the rest of the week. Today, we’re going to talk about which team(s) will surprise college football fans this fall.
Question: Which team will surprise in the Sun Belt in 2016?
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
Surprises aren’t always good, though the vernacular with these sorts of articles suggest that “surprises” in sports are more positive, than, say, “surprise! Someone stole the rims off your truck when you were at work!”
For the sake of being positive, we won’t shake things up too much. Go with Georgia State. Trent Miles returns plenty of talent from a team that was 4-0 in their last four regular season games and won them by an average of 19 points per game.
That allowed GSU to get to bowl eligibility, stunningly so, after a 2-6 start. Ascent seems only natural, though replacing quarterback Nick Arbuckle will be an issue. Three will vie for the spot, the most intriguing being the graduate transfer from Utah who has two years of eligibility left, Connor Manning.
GSU likes to throw it around, mostly because they do it well, and mostly because they were 126th in the nation in rushing last season, so the alternative wasn’t working. Penny Hart and Robert Davis are completely opposite players in terms of style (Hart is a shifty 5’9” while Davis is 6’3”) and they combined for 133 catches last year.
That should make any new quarterback’s life easier. Look for GSU to mostly continue their climb, make another bowl game, and probably tack on an additional win or two in the process.
Kevin Causey
On Twitter @CFBZ
After going 1-23 in the FBS, Georgia State finally started to break through last year. The big win that opened a lot of eyes was when they went to Statesboro and beat up Georgia Southern.
Like Bart, I like Georgia State and Trent Miles to continue to improve. Because they were so bad for so long, a lot of the Sun Belt teams will probably still underestimate them.
The Panthers have some tough early games. After a very winnable game against Ball State they head out on the road to take on Air Force, Wisconsin and App State. After four games they will likely be 1-3. The good news is then they face Texas State, Troy, and UT-Martin. If they can come out of the gates 4-3 (with the Troy game being the biggest doubt of those three), I think the Panthers can post another good season and probably get to another bowl.
After the shape of the program looked to be in, that’s a pretty big surprise in my book.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
I’ll go with Troy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the Trojans are going to win the Sun Belt (but I’ll tell you who will in tomorrow’s roundtable). However, they will finish in the top half of the league and capture their first bowl bid since 2010.
Make no mistake about it: Troy’s offense will be as explosive as any in the league this season. The Trojans welcome back seven starters from last year’s squad that threw for 290 yards or more in five of its final six games. That includes quarterback Brandon Silvers, who was absolutely brilliant in the season finale, completing 22 of 28 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, there’s plenty of reason for excitement as well. Eight starters return from a unit that led the league in fumbles recovered, finished third in sacks, and fourth in tackles for a loss. Anchored by Rashad Dillard (9 TFL, 7 sacks) and William Lloyd (59 tackles, 9 TFL), the Troy D will force opponents to play from behind the sticks quite often.
Adding these factors together, it’s tough not be excited about the Trojans’ chances for the 2016 season. I think they’ll avenge last season’s blowout loss to Georgia State and finish the season with eight wins.
That will certainly surprise a few people.
