Aug. 25, 2008

2008 C-USA Football Preseason Notebook

DALLAS, Texas - The 2008 Conference USA football season gets underway on Thursday to kick off an exciting holiday weekend of conference action. UTEP travels to Buffalo to begin the season and C-USA’s first televised game follows on Friday when Rice will host division foe SMU in a league contest on ESPN. Seven more games will take place on Saturday highlighted by East Carolina’s contest in Charlotte, N.C. against Virginia Tech that will also be televised by ESPN.

STRONG SLATE
Conference USA schools will play a total of 11 games against nine different teams that are ranked in the preseason Top 25. Nine C-USA schools face at least one preseason Top 25 team, with East Carolina and Marshall facing two.

TOUGH OPENING ACT
Conference USA faces a very challenging opening two weeks of the season. C-USA will face at least one team from five of the six BCS AQ conferences during that stretch.

East Carolina will face No. 15 Virginia Tech on a neutral field in Charlotte this Saturday and then on September 6 C-USA teams will face six different nationally-ranked teams, three at home and three on the road. East Carolina will host No. 8 West Virginia, UTEP will welcome No. 11 Texas to El Paso for the first time ever and UCF will be at home for No. 19 South Florida. Marshall will battle No. 13 Wisconsin for the first time, Southern Miss will go to No. 10 Auburn and Alabama plays at No. 24 Alabama.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE USA
The 2007 Conference USA Football Championship game featured Tulsa and UCF battling for the league title and the two squads are favored once again for a title shot in 2008, according to the league’s 12 head coaches. The defending champion Knights were picked to win the East Division crown, garnering 67 of a possible 72 points. The Golden Hurricane was unanimously picked to win the West, grabbing all 72 available points.

UCF was picked to finish third in the East Division in last year’s poll, but behind record-setting running back Kevin Smith, the Knights finished the year 7-1 in the league and advanced to host the third annual C-USA Football Championship game. UCF rolled to the league championship with a 44-25 win over TU and went on to play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, just the second bowl appearance in program history. The team returns nine starters in 2008 to a defensive unit that picked off a school record 24 passes in 2007.

Despite falling in the C-USA Championship game, Tulsa represented the league in the GMAC Bowl and routed Bowling Green, 63-7, to finish the season at 10-4. The 10 wins were the most for the program since 1991 and along the way TU became the first team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer, three 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher. More importantly, nine starters return in 2008 to an offensive unit that led the nation in total offense a season ago.

C-USA ON NATIONAL TV
Conference USA has announced its television schedule for the 2008 football season. The current confirmed schedule features nearly 50 games to air nationally or regionally. National games will be-televised on CBS College Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, the NFL Network and the Big Ten Network. Included are a number of unopposed windows that provide tremendous exposure to C-USA, as well as several exciting league match-ups, and many challenging non-conference contests. Additionally, at least seven other games will be regionally-televised throughout the southeast on CSS.

This season marks the fourth year of C-USA’s partnership with CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV). In 2005, Conference USA signed a six-year initial term that includes significant national and regional exposure for football, men’s and women’s basketball and other C-USA sports. CBS College Sports Network is widely available on cable systems across the country and via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 613 (Premier Package and Sports Pack) and Dish Network Channel 152 (America’s Top 200 Package).

Conference USA will also be featured on ESPN and its family of networks with at least 10 regular season contests televised this fall as part of its contract with the network. Additional non-conference games may be selected by the network through agreements with other conferences. The fourth annual Conference USA Football Championship Game will be televised by ESPN or ESPN 2 on Saturday, December 6.

SUMLIN TABBED TO LEAD UH
University of Houston Director of Athletics Dave Maggard announced on Dec. 14 that Kevin Sumlin was hired as the Cougar football head coach. Sumlin becomes the 11th head coach in UH history, but more importantly, he becomes the first African-American to lead the prestigious Cougar program.

Sumlin is the first African-American to be hired to lead a Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision program in the state of Texas. Former North Texas head coach Matt Simon was first hired in 1993 when the UNT program was a Division I-Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) school, later moving up a division and coaching the North Texas program from 1994-97 as a member of the Division I-FBS.

The 43-year-old Sumlin arrives on Cullen Boulevard after spending the past five seasons at the University of Oklahoma, where he has served as both the co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach (2006-07) and special teams coordinator/tight end coach (2003-05).

JONES TO GUIDE MUSTANGS
Director of Athletics Steve Orsini announced June Jones as the head football coach at SMU on January 7. Jones arrives on the Hilltop after nine years at Hawai`i, where he resurrected a downtrodden Warrior football program to make it one of the most exciting and competitive squads in the country.

Jones led his Hawai`i teams to 76 wins -- the most by any Hawai`i coach -- two Western Athletic Conference Championships and six bowl-game appearances. He developed six All-Americans and produced 16 NFL draft picks, with a school-record five in 2007. In the five years before Jones’ arrival, Hawai`i combined for 12 wins and not a single draft pick or bowl game berth. In 1998, Hawai`i suffered its first-ever winless season. The following year, the first under Jones, the Warriors went 9-4, marking the biggest turnaround in NCAA history.

Jones catapulted the Warrior program into the national rankings in his nine seasons, with Hawai`i ranking in the top 40 in seven of his nine years, including a top-10 ranking in 2007.

SOUTHERN MISS CALLS ON FEDORA
University of Southern Mississippi President Martha Saunders and Director of Athletics Richard Giannini announced the hiring of Larry Fedora as the 18th head football coach in the 91-year history of the program on Dec. 12.

Fedora, 45, comes to Southern Miss after spending the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State where the Cowboys have been in the top 10 in rushing yards per game and in the top 20 in total offense per game in each of the last two seasons. During Fedora’s three-year tenure at OSU, the Cowboys have raised their rushing, passing and total offensive yards in each year that he has been there. In 2006, the Cowboys were one of just two teams - the other being Boise State - to average over 200 yards both rushing and passing.

The offense has averaged over 30 points per contest over the last two seasons as well. The Cowboys made the biggest improvement in the country in scoring following his second season of running the offense, jumping from 96th nationally in 2005 to seventh in 2006.

TULSA TRIO
Tulsa WRs Brennan Marion (1,244 yards), Trae Johnson (1,088 yards) and Charles Clay (1,024 yards) all finished the season with over 1,000 yards receiving.

Tulsa became only the third team in NCAA history to have three receivers over 1,000 yards in a single season. Texas Tech did it 2003 and Hawaii did it this season (Ryan Grice-Mullen, Davone Bess and Jason Rivers).

COUGAR HIGHLIGHTS
Houston’s appearance in the Texas Bowl last December marked the third consecutive season that the Cougars competed in a bowl game. It was the first time that the Cougars competed in three straight bowl games since UH competed in four straight from 1978 to 1981. It was also the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Cougars played in a bowl game.

CALHOUN EXTENDS STREAK
Memphis sophomore WR Duke Calhoun caught a three-yard pass in the second quarter of the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl to extend his receiving streak to 24 games. He has caught a pass in each of his 24 career games. The 24-game streak ties for third all-time in the Memphis record book. The Memphis school record is 27 games by Russell Copeland (1989-92). Calhoun finished the season with 62 catches for 890 yards and five touchdowns.

WINNING WAYS
In 2007, Southern Miss clinched its 14th-straight winning season. Only four programs have longer active winning season streaks in the FBS. Florida State has the longest with 31 straight, followed by Michigan (23), Florida (20) and Virginia Tech (15).

BOWL STREAK
After participating in the 2007 Papajohns.com Bowl, the Golden Eagles have now played in a bowl game six straight seasons and10 times in 11 seasons.

CAN’T CATCH FLETCH
Southern Miss junior RB Damion Fletcher carried 29 times for 155 yards in the Papajohns.com Bowl to finish the season with a single-season best 1,586 yards and 15 rushing scores. He has recorded a total of 16, 100-yard rushing games in his first two seasons at USM, along with seven multi-touchdown games on the ground and 26 career scores. Fletcher already ranks fourth on the school’s all-time rushing list with 2,974 yards and needs just 622 yards to become the all-time leader.

DILLARD EIGHTH ALL-TIME
Rice WR Jarett Dillard became the eighth receiver in NCAA history to reach 40 career TD catches with his 25-yarder in the second quarter against Tulsa to end the 2007 regular season. Dillard enters the 2008 season as the active NCAA leader in catches, yardage and touchdowns. He has now scored a touchdown in 17 of his last 18 conference games and in 23 of his last 27 overall. Dillard is 10 TD catches away from tying the NCAA career mark.

Dillard extended his streak of catching at least two passes in a game to 36. With his 89 receiving yards, he reached the 1,000 yard receiving plateau for the second straight year. He finished the 2007 season with 1,056 receiving yards.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Nine starters return to a UCF defensive unit that picked off a school-record 24 passes in 2007. Seniors-to-be Joe Burnett and Johnell Neal were the first teammates in school history to pick off at least six passes in the same season. Burnett ranks second on the UCF career charts with 12 picks, which is tied for second among active returning players in the NCAA FBS.

ANOTHER NEW CHAMP
With UCF capturing the 2007 Conference USA Championship, the Knights became the seventh different team to win the C-USA title since 2002. Houston won it in 2006, Tulsa in 2005, Louisville in 2004, Southern Miss in 2003 and Cincinnati and TCU shared the crown in 2002.

CUT TO THE CHASE
Rice senior quarterback Chase Clement broke a total of 18 school records last season. He finished the year with 3,377 yards passing and 6,741 career total offensive yards. He threw 29 touchdowns and ran for eight more scores. Clement became the first player in NCAA history to record consecutive games with over 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing, accomplishing the feat against both UTEP and SMU.

In addition, Clement needs 32 touchdowns to become the third player in C-USA history with 100 touchdowns responsible for in his career. Paul Smith (109) and Kevin Kolb (106) are the others. Clement totaled 37 touchdowns in 2007.

McRATH IS BACK
Southern Miss junior linebacker Gerald McRath is a preseason candidate for the Butkus, Lombardi and Nagurski Awards. McRath, the reigning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, led the Golden Eagles with 139 tackles last season to go along with 12 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three passes broken up and one forced fumble. For his career, he has tallied 249 career stops, including 23 TFLs and 6.5 sacks. Last season, he tallied seven games in which he recorded 10 or more tackles including a career-best 21 at home against UCF.

SLATE THE GREAT
The tight end position has been a strong position for Marshall for the past two seasons and looks to be as potent as ever in 2008 with the return of the All-Conference USA and Mackey Award candidate Cody Slate. He led the Herd with 818 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2007.

IN THE HUNT
Senior DE Phillip Hunt is a member of the Hendricks Award and the Lombardi Award watch lists. Hunt was a one-man wrecking crew on the Cougar defense, as his 10.5 sacks were tops in Conference USA and his 18 tackles for loss ranked second. Hunt was a first-team All-Conference selection and finished with 49 total tackles and a nation’s best 10 pass breakups for a defensive lineman.

C-USA QUICK HITS
- East Carolina will once again face one of the most challenging schedules in the nation. The Pirates will “host” ACC Champion Virginia Tech in Charlotte to open the season and then welcome Big East Champion West Virginia to Greenville the following week. ECU will visit rival N.C. State on Sept. 20 and travel to Virginia, which is coming off a New Year’s Day bowl appearance, on Oct. 11.

- Houston sophomore quarterback Case Keenum was chosen as the league’s Freshman of the Year by both the media and coaches in 2007. Keenum completed 69 percent of his passes for 2,259 yards and 14 touchdowns. He threw for a career high 335 yards in the Texas Bowl. Keenum was named the starter once again for the 2008 season on August 17.

- SMU head coach June Jones announced that Bo Levi Mitchell and Braden Smith, both true freshmen, would be the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart to begin the season. Justin Willis, a junior who has started 22 of the last 23 games and holds the school record with 51 career touchdown passes, is the third-stringer.

- Tulane senior S David Skehan returns to the Green Wave in 2008 after finishing 2007 with 66 tackles (39 solo, 27 assist). He led the team with four interceptions and was second on the squad with 10 pass break-ups.

- UAB senior PK Swayze Waters was a first team All-C-USA selection after finishing the season 22-of-28 on field goal attempts, setting a new UAB single-season record for field goals. Waters was a 2007 Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He also served as the Blazers punter, ranking fourth in C-USA with a 41.4 yards average of 69 kicks.

- UTEP sophomore QB Trevor Vittatoe had the second-most passing yards among NCAA FBS freshmen, trailing only Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford (3,121). Vittatoe was 32nd in passing efficiency (135.87) and 43rd in total offense (247.4).

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina will once again face one of the most challenging schedules in the nation as the Pirates open the season Saturday, Aug. 30 when they “host” ACC Champion No. 15 Virginia Tech in Charlotte. The game will be televised live from Back of America Stadium by ESPN at Noon ET. ECU is coming off an 8-5 season in which they posted a school-best 6-2 record in C-USA play and capped the season with a thrilling 41-38 win over No. 22 Boise State in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. The Pirates closed the year by scoring 30 or more points in six of its last seven C-USA games, and they hope to continue that trend in 2008. Led by QBs Patrick Pinkney and Rob Kass, the ECU offense will have two signal callers that bring a combination of mobility, speed and arm strength. While Pinkney earned the starting nod at the completion of spring drills, even the thought of possibly forcing opponents to prepare for a two-pronged attack again should be advantageous for ECU. With two winning seasons and a bowl victory in tow, a C-USA title is the ECU’s main focus in 2008.

HOUSTON COUGARS
The Cougars will open the Kevin Sumlin era at home on Saturday against Southern University. Houston has won its last five home openers at Robertson Stadium. Sophomore QB Case Keenum has won the battle to be UH’s starting QB. The 2007 C-USA Freshman of the Year went into preseason camp in a battle with junior Blake Joseph for the starting nod behind center. The two players split time at QB last season, with Keenum completing 69 percent of his passes for 2,259 yards and 14 touchdowns. Senior DE Phillip Hunt is a preseason All-Conference selection and appears on several preseason watch lists for national awards. He led C-USA with 10.5 sacks last season and ranked second in tackles for loss with 18. He added 49 total tackles and a nation’s best 10 pass breakups for a defensive lineman. Hunt is one of eight starters that are returning to a unit that is switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme.

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
The Thundering Herd will begin the 2008 campaign at Joan C. Edwards when they host Illinois State Saturday. The contest will be broadcast locally on WOWK at 4:30 p.m. ET. Head coach Mark Snyder added new coordinators for both offense and defense for 2008 as John Shannon and Rick Minter will call the plays on offense and defense, respectively. On offense, Shannon will have the use of nearly all of the team’s skill players from 2007, including a stable of running backs led by 2007 C-USA All-Freshman selection Darius Marshall. Veterans also abound on the outside as well as Marshall brings back a number of vertical threats including TE Cody Slate and WRs Darius Passmore and Emmanuel Spann. For Minter, the defense defensive line should get a huge boost from the return of 2006 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year Albert McClellan and senior defensive lineman Montel Glasco, who were sidelined a year ago with injuries. A stable of talented young players that benefited from significant playing time a year ago, and the return of impact players like All-C-USA selection C.J. Spillman at safety and Maurice Kitchens at linebacker give the Marshall faithful plenty to be excited about on the defensive side of the ball.

MEMPHIS TIGERS
Memphis opens the season on the road against SEC foe Mississippi on Saturday. In 2008, the Tigers will be looking for their fifth postseason appearance in the last six years and will have some new faces on the sidelines. Head coach Tommy West added two new assistant coaches for the 2008 season as Tim Walton returns to Memphis as the defensive coordinator and Lytrel Pollard joins the squad from C-USA rival Southern Miss to coach Tiger corners. Walton previously coached Tiger DBs from 2000-01 and came to Memphis after serving four seasons on the staff at the University of Miami. Offensive lineman Brandon Pearce and WR Duke Calhoun were selected to the preseason All-Conference USA Team, as selected by the league coaches. Calhoun, who was named to both the Coaches and Media All-C-USA teams in 2007, led the Tigers with 890 yards on 62 receptions. He enters the 2008 season with an active 24-game receiving streak. Michael Grandberry also returns in 2008 as a kick returning threat. Grandberry holds the school record with 1,826 yards on 81 returns.

RICE OWLS
The Owls will host SMU in a nationally-televised season opener on Friday night (7 p.m. CT on ESPN). Rice has won the last two meetings between the schools, by one point last year in Dallas and by four points in Houston in 2006, a postseason showdown game that sent the Owls to its first bowl game in 45 years (the R+L Carriers New Orleans). Rice returns players who accounted for 92% of their school-record offensive explosion in 2007, including all but six of the school-record 377 points they scored last year. Over their last seven games of 2007, Rice averaged 495 yards per game, including an even 700 yards in the finale against Tulsa. Seniors QB Chase Clement and WR Jarett Dillard, both natives of San Antonio, have combined for 32 touchdown passes, six shy of the NCAA record that was set by Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech and matched last year by Colt Brennan and Davone Bess of Hawaii.

SMU MUSTANGS
The Mustangs will open the June Jones era on Friday night at Rice (ESPN, 7 p.m. CT). SMU will be seeking a season-opening victory for the first time since defeating Kansas in the inaugural game at Ford Field in 2000. In 1999, Jones took over a Hawaii team that had gone winless the season before and led the Warriors to nine wins, a share of the WAC Championship and an appearance in the Oahu Bowl. On August 18, Jones announced that true freshmen Bo Levi Mitchell and Braden Smith had separated themselves and would be the top two quarterbacks heading into the season opener. Senior P/K Thomas Morstead enters the season having hit 77 consecutive PATs and boasting an SMU-record 44.3-yard career punting average. Morstead led C-USA with a 44.6 yards per punt average and was named first team All-Conference USA at punter. With 18 career receiving TDs, junior WR Emmanual Sanders enters the season with a good shot at breaking SMU’s all-time record of 25.

SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
The Golden Eagles will open the 2008 season at M.M. Roberts Stadium for the second consecutive season when they host Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, August 30 at 6:00 p.m. First-year head coach Larry Fedora, considered to be one of the great offensive minds in the game of football today, promises to bring an attack offense as the Golden Eagles unveil its South End Zone Complex. The Eagle’s Nest is also a new feature for the stadium on the East Side, which features a new, chairback seating area. The new additions to the program hope to enhance its illustrious history that currently includes 14-straight winning seasons, six consecutive bowl appearances (10 in the last 11 years) and four league championships in the 12-year history of Conference USA. The 2008 Southern Miss squad features the Conference USA preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in RB Damion Fletcher and LB Gerald McRath. Overall, the Golden Eagles return five starters on offense and four on defense and have their sights set on another league title in 2008.

TULANE GREEN WAVE
The Green Wave is the only team in Conference USA that does not play this weekend. Tulane will visit No. 24 Alabama on Sept. 6 for its season opener. The defense returns seven starters under new coordinator O’Neill Gilbert. Senior S David Skehan produced 66 tackles (39 solo) last season, led the team with four interceptions and was second with 10 pass breakups. He missed the beginning of preseason camp as he recovered from a sports hernia injury suffered during the summer. Senior DE Reggie Scott recorded four sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles in 12 starts last season. Sophomore Kevin Moore, who threw for 432 yards and two TDs in parts of eight games last year, was named the Wave’s starting quarterback on August 14. Junior RB Andre Anderson is scheduled to be the starter to take the place of record-setting rusher Matt Forte’. A two-year letterwinner, Anderson carried 14 times for 91 yards and one touchdown in 2007. Moore and Anderson will work behind an offensive line that returns four starters, including Lombardi Trophy watch list member Michael Parenton.

TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
The Golden Hurricane will open the season with a conference game for the first time since 1996 when Tulsa travels to UAB on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Hurricane has won its last two season openers. Tulsa returns nine starters to a unit that led the nation in total offense with an average of 543.9 yards per game. Senior David Johnson will take over the reins at quarterback for the record-setting Paul Smith, although head coach Todd Graham has indicated that A.J. Whitmore will also see time under center in the opener. Johnson has seen limited action in his three seasons at TU, completing 41-of-63 passes for 472 yards and two touchdowns. The QB transition will be made easier by the presence of a veteran line and a trio of 1,000-yard receivers in Brennan Marion, Trae Johnson, and Charles Clay. And, the team’s leading rushers from the last two years are also back. Senior Tarrion Adams rushed for 1,225 yards and caught 30 passes after 2006 starter Courtney Tennial was lost with a season-ending Achilles injury.

UAB BLAZERS
UAB kicks off its 2008 season at Legion Field with a C-USA game against Tulsa on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Head coach Neil Callaway finished 2007 with 14 true freshman seeing action, including 12 that were on the field beginning with the season opener. A trio those rookies, Frantrell Forrest, Mario Wright and Mike Jones, all will be back on the field in 2008 and combined for 90 receptions for 1,051 yards and nine touchdowns last season. Forrest finished the campaign with a UAB freshman record 49 receptions for 563 yards with five scores. The Blazers defensive line featured three freshman starters in 2007 and with the return of two preseason first-team all-conference selections, the Blazers defense should be much improved. Senior Will Dunbar has established himself as one of the top defensive players in C-USA at his safety position. He led the conference in tackles per game last season at 12.2. Linebacker Joe Henderson also was a coaches’ choice for first-team honors in the summer after recording 109 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in 2007.

UCF KNIGHTS
UCF begins its second season at Bright House Networks Stadium on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET as it host South Carolina State. The Knights enter the 2008 season in a different role than years before. This time around, the Knights are the hunted. The 2007 edition of the Knights captured the first conference championship in program history with a 44-25 victory over Tulsa in the Bright House Networks Conference USA Championship. Gary Blackney will lead the Knights’ defensive backs in 2008. Blackney inherits a unit that has four players who have started at least six games in each of their three seasons at UCF. Senior CB Joe Burnett headlines the group and enters 2008 ranked second on the UCF career charts with 12 interceptions, which is tied for second among active retuning players in the NCAA FBS. Senior OL Pat Brown will be the anchor on the offensive Brown has more starts at left tackle than any player at his position in the country and will be in charge of protecting newly named starting quarterback junior Michael Greco.

UTEP MINERS
The Miners will be the first C-USA team to open the 2008 season when it makes the 1,946-mile journey to Buffalo for a game on Thursday night. UTEP lost its offensive coordinator from the past four years when Eric Price, son of head coach Mike Price, went to the Kansas City Chiefs during the offseason. Entering 2008, Aaron Price, Mike Price’s other son, assumes the role of Co-Offensive Coordinator. Joining the Price duo is Bob Connelly, who came to UTEP from UCLA in the offseason. While Connelly isn’t family, he does have connections to Mike Price. He was a member of Price’s staff at Washington State during consecutive 10-win campaigns in 2001 and 2002. One key for UTEP’s success this season may be improvement on defense. New coordinator Osia Lewis brings from New Mexico a 3-3-5 set that uses three hybrid safeties and attacks from different spots on the field.