2014-15 Football Previews – (SEC) – Gators
The University of Florida, Gators fans and the team’s boosters are not accustomed to losing. Clearly, last year’s 4-8 effort went over like a lead zeppelin in Gainesville.
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The University of Florida, Gators fans and the team’s boosters are not accustomed to losing. Clearly, last year’s 4-8 effort went over like a lead zeppelin in Gainesville.
It took a while for the publicized move to pay dividends, but having head coach Steve Spurrier – formerly of Florida Gators fame – patrolling the sideline for South Carolina has been fruitful.
Similar to the 2014 South Carolina team, Georgia is in a situation where its starting QB for 2014 has been caddying for the past three years, patiently awaiting his chance for the spotlight.
For years, when college pigskin fans thought of NCAA ball in the state of Tennessee, Vanderbilt’s program would not come to mind. Yet, the Commodores have undergone a remarkable ascension in the SEC under former head coach James Franklin.
Randy Edsall’s Maryland Terrapins are newcomers in the Big Ten Conference this year. Along with Rutgers, Maryland is taking a significant step up in competition this year.
Rutgers makes the big jump from the AAC to the Big Ten this year. While no one can say the Big Ten is a strong football conference right now, it is a much better conference than the extremely weak AAC. The Scarlet Knights are likely to have their hands full this year.
Entering the 2014-15 college football season, it’s clear that the Pac-12 South Division is going to be top-heavy as it pertains to the top-tier competition.
The Stanford Cardinal are the defending Pac-12 champions, and when looking at the north division of the conference, there’s really only one team standing in their way of making it back to the Pac-12 championship game in 2014.
Illinois put their faith in Tim Beckman a couple years ago, and so far it hasn’t worked out. Tim Beckman is definitely on the hot seat now. If Illinois doesn’t win at least six games this year to become bowl eligible, I would expect Beckman to be on his way out of Champaign.
Purdue had the worst season in its 126 year football career last year. The Boilermakers went 1-11 overall and 0-8 in the Big Ten Conference. Purdue was one of the worst teams the Big Ten has ever seen.
Ohio State started last year 12-0 before losing their last two games of the season to Michigan State and Clemson. For a team with such lofty expectations, even a 12 win season felt like a bit of a disappointment.
Michigan fans are never going to be satisfied with a 7-6 season. Brady Hoke came in and turned the program around right away, but now Michigan is struggling to keep their success going under Hoke. In his first year, the team went 11-2. In the past two years, they have gone 8-5 and then 7-6.
Iowa went 11-2 in 2009, but they haven’t won more than eight games since that season. The Hawkeyes had a quality 8-5 season last year. Their first three losses came against teams that lost a combined one game in the regular season (Northern Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan State).
It would be tough to find a coach who has gotten more out of less than Jerry Kill. Well Bill Snyder would fit the bill, but outside of Snyder I can’t think of anyone who fits any more than Jerry Kill.
Bill O’Brien did a tremendous job holding together the Penn State football program through an extremely difficult period. There were many who thought it was the impossible job, but O’Brien did a great job getting his players to believe. O’Brien has moved on to be a head coach in the NFL.
Northwestern was unbeaten and ranked 16th in the nation heading into their home contest against Ohio State last year. They ended up losing in heartbreaking fashion despite playing very well, and after that loss Northwestern’s season would never be the same.