Guest Tigrinum Major Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 CFN's Bottom 19 Feel free to opine. 102. Ball State 2005 Record: 4-7Why to get excited: The Cardinals dealt with suspensions and a miserable start to the year to win four of their final seven. Now Brady Hoke’s team can focus just on football, and if it plays as hard as it did over the final month, with wins over MAC Championship finalists Northern Illinois and Akron, it’ll be in the West mix. Why to be grouchy: The run defense struggled all last year and it has to open the season at West Virginia. There are a few holes to patch on the offensive line which might make the running game, which struggled to get on track last year, slow out of the gate. The number one thing to work on is: More offensive production. Blame the early season suspensions for this, but the Cardinal offense struggled to find something to hang its hat on. The defense should be better, so the offense has to pick up the slack with more consistency and more from the ground game. Biggest offensive loss: RB Charles Wynn Biggest defensive loss: DE Blair Kramer 108. Arkansas State 2005 Record: 6-6Why to get excited: Now that the program has had a taste of the bowl life, it should be more confident and inspired more than ever. The offensive line is there to keep the fantastic running game going, and the defense should be even better, especially in the secondary, but ... Why to be grouchy: … the team has to go on without QB Nick Noce and RB Antonio Warren. It doesn’t help that the top backups are gone, too. The ground game should still be effective thanks to the coaching and the line, but if a passer doesn’t emerge this spring, it’ll be back to the land of the Sun Belt also-rans. The number one thing to work on is: Being more consistent offensively. There was a 66 point explosion against FIU, and a three point puzzler against Florida Atlantic. There were the 39 points against UL Lafayette, and the seven against MTSU. The improvement will only come with more from the passing attack. Biggest offensive loss: RB Antonio Warren Biggest defensive loss: DT Myron Anderson 119. Temple 2005 Record: 0-11Why to get excited: There’s nowhere to go but up after finishing dead last, or near the bottom, in every major statistical category. The MAC is still a year away giving new head coach Al Golden a season to get the pieces in place. Why to be grouchy: This was a senior dominated team last year and it still stunk. Golden will really, really be starting from scratch. The number one thing to work on is: Establishing an offensive identity. The offense scored in double-digits just five times and never scored more than 17. Biggest offensive loss: QB Mike McGann Biggest defensive loss: DT Antwon Burton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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