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Ball State used to be a perennial doormat in football, but that is no longer the case. The Cardinals put together a very good season in 2012. Ball State has been winning by outscoring its opponents. If they are going to take that next step toward a MAC title, they’ll have to be better on defense.
Western Kentucky made a ton of progress under head coach Willie Taggart, but Taggart took the head position at South Florida during the offseason. Western Kentucky decided they wanted to hire a big name, and they brought in Bobby Petrino to be their new coach.
North Texas will make the jump from the Sun Belt up to Conference USA this year. A couple years ago this team was one of the worst in the nation, but Dan McCarney is doing a nice job putting the pieces of the puzzle back together slowly. Can North Texas continue to grow in a more difficult conference in 2013?
The Troy Trojans got very used to winning the Sun Belt Conference and dominating on an annual basis. The past two years something has gone very wrong. After winning five straight Sun Belt Conference titles between 2006 and 2010, the Trojans have won only eight games in the past two seasons combined.
Arkansas State is the defending champion in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves went 7-1 in the conference and 10-3 overall in 2012. Gus Malzahn left the team for Auburn after last season, and Bryan Harsin will get the chance as the team’s new head man.
How on earth could a team go from 12-2 to 0-12 in the next season?
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles managed to do that in 2012. Larry Fedora left for North Carolina and Ellis Johnson took over the Golden Eagles program. Johnson was let go after one season of futility.
The Ohio Bobcats started last season with a big win at Penn State and even entered the Top 25 at one point, but injuries held the team back, and they finished the MAC with just a 4-4 record. They did finish off the season with a very impressive 45-14 win in the Independence Bowl over Louisiana-Monroe.
Bowling Green has made a lot of progress in the last couple years, but this season’s team has the highest upside of any Bowling Green football team in a very long time. There are nine starters returning on offense and nine starters returning on defense.
Louisiana Tech had a very successful season in 2012, but they lost their head coach after the season. Sonny Dykes left for California in the offseason, but Louisiana Tech was able to bring in another big name head coach. Skip Holtz did a great job at East Carolina before struggling at USF.
The Rice Owls have had a very strange last few seasons. Rice went 10-3 in 2008 and it seemed like David Bailiff had the program going in the right direction. The team turned around and went 2-10 in 2009 and 4-8 in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012, the team went 7-6 and went to a bowl game again.
Expectations were high for Mike Price at UTEP, but the program just never got going under Price. He retired at the end of last season, and Sean Kugler is now the head man of the Miners football program. Kugler is a 1989 graduate of UTEP.
There is no doubt that Middle Tennessee State University will be up against a tougher class of opponents this year in Conference USA. The Sun Belt improved while MTSU was there, but Conference USA has more depth and a lot more very good offenses. The Blue Raiders will have to raise their level of play in 2013. The Blue Raiders won eight games a year ago, but weren’t invited to a bowl game. The team is still upset about that snub.
Conference USA 2013 College Football Previews: MTSU Blue Raiders (Team Link)
Head Coach: Rick Stockstill
2012 Record: 8-5
MTSU Gambling Odds to win BCS Championship: +2,000 (Part of Field)
MTSU Gambling Odds to win Conference USA East Division: +410
MTSU Gambling Odds to win Conference USA: +875
MTSU returns nine starters on the offensive side of the ball. They also return seven starters from a defense that was much improved in 2012. The defense in particular will be tested much more in this conference, and they’ll need to be ready for a heavy dose of lots of passing from just about every team in this league. How will MTSU fare in its first year in Conference USA?
Logan Kilgore is a talented senior quarterback leading the show for the Blue Raiders. Kilgore is an athletic quarterback who makes plays happen at the right time.
He doesn’t have the huge statistics that some other quarterbacks in this conference have, but he is a great leader for this offense. Kilgore is one of those guys with the “it” factor.
Kevin Byard and Jimmy Staten give the team star power on the defense. Byard is only a sophomore, but he was amazing in his freshman season last year at strong safety. Staten is a big defensive tackle who does a great job plugging up the running lanes.
Jordan Parker was the team’s leading rusher as a freshman last year, and he could easily have a breakout season as a sophomore. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
MTSU doesn’t have any real play makers at the linebacker spot on the defense. Because of this, the Blue Raiders aren’t able to stop their opponent in the backfield very often or get a very good pass rush on the quarterback without committing players from their secondary. MTSU was one of the worst teams in the nation at getting sacks last year, and that will need to change if they are going to have any success in Conference USA.
The Blue Raiders offense racked up a lot of yardage last season, but they have to improve when it comes to finishing off drives. MTSU can’t continue to settle for field goals in a very high scoring conference where a lot of points will be required each week.
The cornerbacks have been beaten deep a lot in the past, and they’ll be tested even more this season. Team depth in the secondary is very poor. MTSU’s secondary is going to have to find a way to keep the plays in front of them.
2013-2014 MTSU Football Prediction: 5-7
The move to a better conference will likely be too much for this team. MTSU’s defense has a couple of stars, but there are far too many holes here for them to slow down many of the teams in this league. Kicking field goals won’t be enough this season. Look for them to fall short of a bowl bid.
8/29/13 7:30 PM ET WCAR
9/7/13 12:30 PM ET @NCAR
9/14/13 TBD MEM
9/21/13 TBD @FLATL
9/27/13 9:00 PM ET @BYU
10/5/13 TBD ECAR
10/12/13 TBD @NOTEX
10/24/13 7:30 PM ET MARSH
11/2/13 1:00 PM ET @UAB
11/9/13 4:00 PM ET FLINT
11/23/13 TBD @SOMIS
11/30/13 TBD UTEP
East Carolina was highly successful under Skip Holtz during his time at the school, but they have been unable to match that success since he left. Last year’s team went 8-5 and showed lots of promise. With 8 starters returning on each side of the ball, expectations are high for this squad.
Marshall went just 5-7 last year, but their explosiveness has led oddsmakers to make them co-favorites in the Conference USA East Division heading into 2013. Rakeem Cato is probably the best player in the entire conference, and he really came into his own during the 2012 season.
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane have a nice history in college football. Tulsa hasn’t necessarily gotten a lot of attention because of their competition, but this is a program that just constantly puts up impressive seasons. They went 11-3 last year and won Conference USA.
Urban Meyer was the massive pickup for Ohio State before the 2012 season, and man did he have a great first season in Columbus. The Buckeyes went unbeaten and would have played in the title game if they weren’t ineligible due to NCAA sanctions. Ohio State is eligible again this year, and expectations are higher than ever in Columbus.
