http://www.yardbarker.com/content/school/114 Recent Yardbarker Articles: Houston Cougars en-us FIO staff writer Dan Mesday's 2008 preview of the Conference USA... included for each team in the conference are: key returning players, key losses, best h.s. signings, must-see games, and a 2008 outlook. Also check out Mesday's year-end standings predictions. Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:22:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313643 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313643 Conference USA No one will be able to stop Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane was nearly unstoppable on offense last fall, and if Coach Todd Graham can find a quarterback to replace Paul Smith, the team should not miss a beat. Tulsa is the overwhelming favorite in the West Division, although Houston, led by the new coach Kevin Sumlin, could reach a bowl game. Texas-El Paso, which struggled through an uncharacteristic 4-8 campaign in 2007, will be improved. Although Southern Methodist went 0-8 in the conference, the former Hawaii coach June Jones will transform the Mustangs into a conference contender in no time. In the East, Central Florida will have a hard time repeating as champion without running back Kevin Smith. It looks as if Memphis and Southern Mississippi are the teams to beat in the East. Southern Miss seeks to update its offense with the new coach Larry Fedora, who was Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator. PLAYERS YOU SHOULD KNOW Rice receiver Jarrett Dillard holds the program's records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. East Carolina safety Van Eskridge led the Pirates with 104 tackles in 2007. Tulsa returns three 1,000-yard receivers: Brennan Marion, Trae Johnson and Charles Clay. Marion averaged 31.9 yards a catch. Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:36:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/312194 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/312194 As Athlon continues to preview the fantasy season, up next is Conference USA. This conference provided plenty of fantasy options last season and 2008 should be no different. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:08:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291622 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291622 These are my rankings for the C-USA offenses for fantasy college football. In no way does this reflect how I predict teams to finish in the conference standings. Thanks for viewing! Comments are welcome here or my site! Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:56:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291304 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291304 This one will be similar to the Colorado State preview since they also play the Houston Cougars. This game is taking place in Houston and is during week three of the season. By this game the Falcons will have played Southern Utah and conference foe Wyoming Cowboys and should be ready for this Houston game. The same can be said for the Cougars who will have played I-AA Southern University and then play Oklahoma State in week two, so Houston will have had a big challenge the week prior and could be looking to rebound after a possible loss to Oklahoma State. Offense: The Houston Cougars return six starters on the offensive side of the ball, and will be lead by wide receiver Mark Hafner who had 445 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Those are modest stats, but when playing behind Donnie Avery and Jeron Harvey who are no longer with the program, because of graduated, those are pretty good stats for a third wideout. With the Cougars new coach Kevin Sumlin he has improved the offensive output at each stop he has made, but his biggest improvement was with Texas A&M where Sumlin was moved into the offensive coordinator role, and the Aggies averaged 33.0 points per game after posting just 16.0 per game before he took control. He is an innovator on offense and should keep the recent tradition from Art Briles of being able to score bunches of points. The QB position is one that is muddled, but whoever gets the position should thrive in. The two quarterbacks are currently listed as number one on the depth chart which should be figured out in fall camp. The two are Case Keenum and Blake Joseph who split time last with Keenum playing in every game and starting eight, while Joseph played in eleven and started in five games. Keenum has more mobility and rushed for 412 yards and nine touchdowns which is solid for a quarterback. As for passing Keenum had 2,259 yards, 68 completion percentage, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. While Blake Joseph in less time threw a comparable percentage, however Joseph's touchdown to interception ratio was 2.25 to 1.5 but that could be inflated due to playing time. Whoever is at the quarterback position they should be able to thrive. Being the third game of the season the quarterback situation still might be in the air and having a quarterback by committe, because it is doubtful anything will be proven by playing Southern where both should get plenty of time. Depending on how the Oklahoma State game goes, where both should play again there that will be the game where a starter could be named. The key lose at running back is Anthony Alridge who will be replaced by Terrance Ganaway who as a back up had 550 yards, six touchdowns, and an average of 5.0 per carry and should be able to put up similar numbers as Alridge who rushed just under 1,600 yards. If these new players who are taking over starting spots and a quarterback is chosen Houston's offense should not skip a beat from last year. Defense: The defense will need to help carry the offense while it finds its way and becomes acquainted with the new offense, by this game the offense should be up to speed and help the defense as well. There are eight returning starters on defense from a team who did give up 27 points per game, which needs to improve to help the Cougars be in more games. Last year the offense was able to just out score teams and the defense was called upon to make timely stops when it counted, but not this year the defense will need to share the load. Returning start on defense are defensive end Phillip Hunt who had 10.5 sacks and 18 for loss, and will see a lot of double teams and free up another player to make the play, but Hunt is the leader of the front seven. In the secondary the Cougars return Kenneth Fontenette and Ernest Miller and these had four picks and eleven passes broken up, and will only get better. Early Prediction: This game being on the road does favor the Houston Cougars, but the Falcons are accustomed to the throwing attack of Houston. With the inexperience of the Falcons offense they will not be able to score enough points, so look for Houston to win by ten points. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:16:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289367 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289367 This game will pit two first time head coaches with only a few games under their belt with Houston Cougars trying to replace Art Briles who left for Baylor at the end of the season, and is being replaced by Oklahoma's co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin. Last year these two teams faced off in Houston and the Rams let a 17-3 before fading fast and ultimately losing the game. The Cougars lost a lot of fire power in the form of running back Anthony Alridge and wide receivers Donnie Avery and Jeron Harvey. So, the main question is if the Cougars have enough offensive fire power to keep up what they have achieved in the past. Offense: The Houston Cougars return six starters on the offensive side of the ball, and will be lead by WR MIke Hafner who had 445 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Those are modest stats, but when playing behind Donnie Avery and Jeron Harvey who are no longer with the program because they graduated those are pretty good stats for a third wideout. With the new coach Kevin Sumlin he has improved the offensive output at each stop he has made, but his biggest improvement was with Texas A&M where Sumlin was moved into the offensive coordinator role, and the Aggies averaged 33.0 points per game after posting just 16.0 per game before he took control. He is an innovator on offense and should keep the recent tradition from Art Briles of being able to score bunches of points. The QB position is one that is muddled, but whoever gets the position should thrive in. The two quarterbacks are currently listed as number one on the depth chart which should be figured out in fall camp. The two are Case Keenum and Blake Joseph who split time last with Keenum playing in every game and starting eight, while Joseph played in eleven and started in five games. Keenum has more mobility and rushed for 412 yards and nine touchdowns which is solid for a quarterback. As for passing Keenum had 2,259 yards, 68 completion percentage, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. While Blake Joseph in less time threw a comparable percentage, however Joseph's touchdown to interception ratio was 2.25 to 1.5 but that could be inflated due to playing time. Whoever is at the quarterback position they should be able to thrive. The key lose at running back is Anthony Alridge who will be replaced by Terrance Ganaway who as a back up had 550 yards, six touchdowns, and an average of 5.0 per carry and should be able to put up similar numbers as Alridge who rushed just under 1,600 yards. If these new players who are taking over starting spots and a quarterback is chosen Houston's offense should not skip a beat from last year. Defense: The defense will need to help carry the offense while it finds its way and becomes acquainted with the new offense. There are eight returning starters on defense from a team who did give up 27 points per game, which needs to improve to help out this team. Last year the offense was able to just out score teams and the defense was called upon to make timely stops when it counted. Returning start on defense are defensive end Phillip Hunt who had 10.5 sacks and 18 for loss, and will see a lot of double teams and free up another player to make the play, but Hunt is the leader of the front seven. In the secondary the Cougars return Kenneth Fontenette and Ernest Miller and these had four picks and eleven passes broken up, and will only get better. The defense should improve over last years defense with the eight starters returning, and they will need to take charge for the offense to gel together. Early Prediction: This game should be a close and competitive game, and I could see either team winning this game. With both teams having new coaches, but the edge has to go to Colorado State, because they are at home and have more of their offense returning then the Cougars. As of now look for the Rams to win by 3, because of the home field. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:26:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286105 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286105 Basketball Transition Defense: Are you Tom Izzo or Dick Bennett? If you ask most coaches to describe what the game of basketball is when you simplify it to its basic principles they will give you offense and defense. While this is true, Bobby Knight believes that transition is a critical component of sound basketball. Think about it for a second…if you are a great half court defensive team, but you allow transition lay-ups, how good is your defense? In a worse cast scenario, if your players aren't crashing the glass for the offensive rebound and they aren't back in transition, then where the heck are they? We are going to examine where they should be in regards to two different philosophies on what a team should do after a missed shot. For more information, join our online coaches club at Basketball Coaches Club (www.basketballcoachesclub.blogspot.com) or email me at coachdeforest@gmail.com. Offensive Rebounding or Limiting Transition Opportunities As a coach you basically have to choose between two options in regards to transition defense. Remember that you can't be good at everything or you are going to be good at nothing. For example, if you try to crash the offensive glass, but you expect the other team not to score any lay-ups in transition then you are setting your team up for failure. CHOOSE and EMPHASIZE your philosophy based on the talent of your team. Also remember that the philosophy a coach chooses should mirror their offensive philosophy. I would like to present the two basic philosophies that most coaches adopt in regards to transition defense. The Philosophy to Offensive Rebound Tom Izzo, the great coach at Michigan State, has built his program on the belief that most teams aren't good at the defensive box out. His teams are among the nation's leaders in rebounding margin (+11.7) since he took over the Spartan program. He spends at least 15 minutes each practice on teaching his players the habits to crash the offensive glass. They fight and compete to tip the ball, keep it alive, and own the offensive glass. A byproduct of this hard work is that his teams are fantastic at defensive box outs because they are used to going to "war" (a drill he uses) each day in practice. Most teams don't compete like the Spartans on the glass. For more information, take a look at his DVD: Tom Izzo-Dominating Rebounding & Man to Man Defensive Drills. Basic Offensive Rebounding Principles ·Choose if you are more athletic than the best teams in your conference ·Point guard to half court line and everyone else to the paint to rebound ·Stress that 70% of all rebounds come opposite – overload that side on shots ·Practice and chart – do your players get 4 to the paint and the PG to half court in your drills? Offense? Defense? ·Teach them to tap the ball against the backboard if they can't come down with it ·Keep the ball alive – TIP it! ·Celebrate offensive rebounding ·Never accept it, but be prepared to see teams fast break more often The Philosophy of Limiting Fast Break Opportunities On the other hand, another great coach that believes coaches have control over transition, Dick Bennett of Washington State, would send two and sometimes three players back depending on the opponent in an effort to neutralize fast break opportunities. His teams traditionally held opponents under 60 points per game. Coach Bennett's philosophy was that his team was better than your team at half court execution on offense and defense. His teams only pressed if behind in games late and they played strictly man-to-man defense. In other words, his teams were simple to prepare for, but difficult to beat because of their execution. For more information, take a look at his DVD: Dick Bennett's "Pack-line" Pressure Defense. Basic Principles of Limiting Transition Opportunities ·Choose if you are less athletic than the best teams in your conference ·Send the PG to the opposite FT line and the Off Guard to the half court line ·Another option is to also send the shooter back immediately against superior teams along with the two guards ·Stress that we are not giving up ANY transition lay-ups ·Work on defending scramble situations in the full court every day ·Teach how you want to match-up and remember that open shots NOT match-ups beat you ·Practice and chart – do your players have defensive balance in your drills? Offense? Defense? ·Choose offensive sets that allow for defensive balance; For example: stay away from 1-4 low sets or the Flex. Instead use 2-3 high sets or 4 out – 1 in motion Prepare them the best you can so that your team can achieve to the best of their potential because you put them in the best situation to succeed. Transition is often overlooked and the main thing a coach needs to do is decide from Day 1 what their team is going to do in regards to defensive transition. Teach that all year long and emphasize it in practices and games. I hope this article has helped you to better understand the two basic philosophies of transition defense. If you want to learn more about these coaches or philosophies, join our online coaches club at Basketball Coaches Club or email me at coachdeforest@gmail.com. Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:58:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/244106 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/244106 A look at the one game worth watching in the conference tournament. The C-USA has been dominated by Memphis this year. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:12:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/190822 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/190822 SportProjections.com has released their first version of the college football bowl projections for next season. Where is your team bowling? Visit each team page to get the latest headlines from local newspapers and the best bloggers on the web. Remember to add a profile for other sport fans to discuss the picks. If you're a blogger, add your profile and website address to help your SEO and advertise your site. If you're a fan of a smaller school that doesn't have a group on our site please add your team and rss feeds for the team. If you have any questions how to create it please contact us at sportprojections@gmail.com Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:47:26 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/167407 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/167407 Last year's crop of running backs contained only two truly elite prospects, Adrian 'Rookie of the Year' Peterson and Marshawn 'It don't get no better than solid' Lynch. This year's class is much, much deeper, with most of the top prospects juniors. So, start day-dreaming about a few of these top-notch tailbacks dropping below the first couple of rounds, because it's going to happen. Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:59:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/148845 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/148845 The Red Zone Report's Kelsey McCarson provides in-depth analysis of how signing day went for all 12 teams in Conference USA. Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:22:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/136852 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/136852 The loss on Wed to ASU in this year's first Duel in the Desert…it really hurts. But alas, we must go on…So we decided to contact our Wildcats Insiders and get their take on the loss to ASU and the Arizona Wildcats season thus far. In our second Wildcats Roundtable(the first here) with Josh Gershon, Senior Editor and Columnist for GOAZCATS.com and Michael Schwartz, Beat Reporter and Columnist for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, we cover everything about the highly talked about ASU/UA game. Listen and learn… Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:05:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/70215 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/70215 Taking a look at the upcoming bowl matchups for the end of this week-- Champs Sports, Texas, Meineke Car Care, Emerald, Liberty and Alamo Bowls. Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:03:50 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/54580 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/54580 I know, I know. The whole bashing-of-the-bowls thing is getting a little old, but we couldn't resist. Tomorrow the mighty Horned Frogs of TCU battle the Houston Cougars in a time-honored college football tradition - the Texas Bowl. Alive and well since all the way back in 2006, the Texas Bowl should be of genuine interest to about 12 people in the United States (and that figure includes David Klingler and Andre Ware). Unfortunately, for any of those twelve living outside the Houston area, the game may be difficult to find. Yes, in a marketing move sure to drum up even excitement and future viewers to an already highly-anticipated television event, the organizers of the Texas Bowl went with the NFL Network as their broadcast partner... Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:39:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/53884 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/53884 Yes, the Wildcats now sit at 4-5 and are in the middle of their first four-game losing streak since the '89-'90 season. However, Kentucky fans have a lot to be excited about in terms of looking ahead to the future. FIO staff writer Dan Rossi discusses how new head coach Billy Gillispie will rectify this team. Gillispie has a great track record, and with some quality early commitments, the Wildcats could be singing a different tune next season. Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:45:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/50976 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/50976