Jimmy Clausen and his golden locks might get the credit, but if Notre Dame makes it back to the BCS, Golden Tate will be the real hero.
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We’ve told you about the teams. We’ve told you about the conferences, and the coaches, and the championship games, but any head man worth his weight in Gordon Bombay coaching loafers will tell you that it’s easy to look good when you’ve got the right players. So here they are, the 15 athletes you have to know this season conference-by-conference.
We’ve got the five best each league has to offer. The stars, the frontmen, the cover boys. These are the guys that you’ve already heard of, and they’re likely to wallow in the limelight for at least one final season before rocketing to the NFL.
Then there are the shoe-fillers. The players who might be stepping up into the role of a guy who fit in the first category last season. When one star departs, it’s up to these athletes to stop the gap and keep the wins coming. They may be the most pivotal of the young men listed here. It’s the stars that will get the glory, but these are the players who will create the subtle differences between 9-3 and 12-0.
And finally, just because we’re such seers, we’ve gone ahead and listed five players likely to live on the tongues of every pundit around by the end of the year. The players who either flashed just enough potential as freshman, or are heading into a perfect collegiate situation with a deadly blend of talent and opportunity.
Today, we take a look at the Non-BCS 15 Players to Know. So go ahead, and you know, know them.
The Best:
1.) Jerry Hughes, DE, TCU — What more do you want from this guy? He’s the consummate leader of the nation’s most consistently smothering defense. Sure, TCU only returns a few starters from last year’s unit, and yeah there’s going to supposedly be more pressure on the offense to pick up the slack. But the only pressure that seems sweat-worthy to me is the pressure opposing QBs will be under on every down that Hughes plays. He led the nation in sacks in 2008 with 15 (that’s 1.15 per game), and he’ll be even better this season with another year of experience and loads of motivation with a possible first round selection awaiting him in the 2010 NFL Draft.
2.) Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame — Jimmy Clausen gets all of the press. And why not? He looks like Viggo from Ghostbusters, he was a number one recruit coming out of high school, his two brothers were average to good passers in college, and most importantly, he’s the QB at Notre Dame. But he wouldn’t be anywhere without Tate. Golden just makes plays. Every time I turn on the tape, there he is breaking off a long run after the catch while making defenders miss like Jimmy Fallon delivering a monologue joke. He grabbed 58 passes last season, while turning more than one out of ever six of them into TDs (10), and his ypc average was a stellar 18.6. Not a bad way to head into your junior, and probably final, season in South Bend.
3.) Stevenson Sylvester, LB, Utah — One of my favorite players in college football… by far. Sylvester is the football embodiment of the Prius. His motor never stops, he’s got unlimited mileage, and he somehow still remains quiet in the eye’s of spectators. Trust me, his opponents know him well. It’s hard not to notice a guy after he whooped the Alabama offensive line for three sacks in the Sugar Bowl shellacking. And with seven starters back on the Ute stop unit, he’ll help the best non-BCS team over the last ten years continue their reign of dominance on the defensive side of the ball.
4.) Case Keenum, QB, Houston — Want to know who this season’s Graham Harrell/Colt Brennan/Juice Williams (okay, I’m kidding about that last one) will be? Here’s your answer — it’s Keenum. Maybe his game won’t translate to the pro ranks, and maybe he’s a beneficiary of his offensive system, but I’m willing to bet the system is just as thankful. Keenum piloted one of the country’s best offensive machines last season, and with his leading rusher and leading receiver back with him for another go, it shouldn’t shock anyone when he surpasses last seasons 44 passing scores, 5000+ passing yards, and seven rushing touchdowns.
5.) Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada — Baby Tebow. Little Lefevour. Call him whatever you want, but don’t you dare call him unimportant. Hell, you might as well call him Wyatt Earp considering how well he handles the pistol. Piston offense, that is. A formation scoffed at by many coaches around the league, Kaepernick is making a case for the latest wrinkle to the all-popular spread offense. Mike called him his most underrated player in the nation, and he makes a strong point with some help from the Wolfpack junior, who I’m calling the next coming of Matt Jones considering his lanky 6-06 215 pound frame and penchant for making defenders miss. His 39 total TDs (22 passing, 17 rushing) shoulod speak form themselves.
The Shoe-Fillers (AKA The Guys Who Must Step-Up)
1.) Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame — Hey, here’s Viggo again. Thank God he cut that damn hair. Now if he could just cut down on the turnovers he’d be fine. Not sure a barber could help, but his offensive line, rushing game, and top-flight receiving corps should. He’s got the target on his back for a Notre Dame team that is back in the polls for the first time since the final 2006 rankings. I’ve got a feeling (and so does Mike) that the Irish are in for big things. But with a schedule as easy as this one, only Clausen will be to blame if he doesn’t put up monster numbers that could catapult him into a possible first round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. First goal, though: making it back to the BCS.
2.) Dennis Pitta, TE, BYU — I know Pitta seems like a strange choice here. He’s been a consistently scintillating tight end in the potent BYU passing attack for a few seasons now, and he’s managed to put up over 800 yards and at least five scores over each of the last two years. But he’s facing a new challenge in 2009. Gone is leading receiver Austin Collie, and if BYU, a team with an underrated defense full of potential, wants to finally get over the BCS hump, they’ll need Pitta to become even more of a consistent target in Collie’s absence. He’ll need to use his 6-05 frame to become a more viable red zone threat as well.
3.) Andy Dalton, QB, TCU — If TCU wins this season, and wins big, you can bet that the story line will be similar to years past. It’ll be behind a strong defense. But considering the Horned Frogs lose seven starters on that side of the ball, the offense might have to play a bigger role. They may not be able to rely on the clock management, “don’t screw this up for us” philosophy that has worked so well for them recently. Dalton’s the quarterback, and that means he’s the lynchpin on offense. Throw in the fact that Aaron Brown will no longer be running in the backfield, and the the onus on Dalton looms even larger.
4.) Ralph Johnson, CB, San Jose State — San Jose State wasn’t relevant during the 2008 college football season, and that wasn’t really film-at-11 stuff. What did make for an interesting storyline, however, was the fact that the little non-BCS squad made plenty of noise during the 2009 NFL Draft. Both starting corners (Coye Francies and Christopher Owens) were plucked by professional squads, and both were advertised as prospects full of potential. Now Johnson has to step up and replace one of those spots, and he’ll have to do it without pass rushing specialist and former teammate and current NFLer Jarron Gilbert. It’s not an easy task, but if this team wants to get back to the postseason, Johnson’s going to have to step up.
5.) Michael Ray, DE, Houston — Brian Orakpo, Aaron Maybin, Larry English, and Clay Matthews got all the press as the premier pass rushers in the recent draft, but Houston had a productive QB killer of their own in Philip Hunt. Hunt’s gone now, and so are his 14 sacks. Houston has big plans on offense this year, and the production on that side could lead them to the CUSA championship game, but it won’t matter without some semblance of a defense. That’s where Ray comes in. He’s going to have to fill the giant shoes left by Hunt, and if he can manage even slightly more than half of Hunt’s production, the Cougars have a real shot at a conference title.
The Next Superstars (And for this section, we’ll call them underrated guys)
1.) Trevor Vittatoe, QB, UTEP — I’ve done extensive talking about how underrated Vittatoe has been. I’m not ready to call him a great pro prospect, but as far as a college passer, I’d take him over quite a few bigger names. He’s put up 58 TDs to only 16 INTs over his first two years in college, both of which he played as the starter. And he missed nearly a full game last season. Anyway, I won’t drown you in Vittatoe love here. If you need more proof check out what I wrote on him in one of our recent debates.
2.) Vai Taua, RB, Nevada — And another guy who fits the underrated aspect of this category more than he fits the whole “next superstar” thing. Sadly, that’s not because he has unlimited potential (which he nearly does), but more because playing running back for Nevada is a good way to remain less famous than Spencer Pratt’s grandmother. I first fell for Taua after compiling my college fantasy rankings. But he goes beyond that. Playing tailback in the pistol formation means catching as well as you run. Mission accomplished. Taua rushed for 1521 yards and 15 TDs last season, but the reason he’s so valuable is the fact that he added 30 receptions for three scores. With the top two receivers gone from the team, expect Taua to step up even further as a pass-catcher.
3.) Austin Davis, QB, Southern Miss — Zac Robinson caused some controversy when he replaced Bobby Reid as the Cowboys QB followed by Mike Gundy’s infamous “I’m a man, I’m 40!” rant. But since then, Robinson has caused nothing by coos from Oklahoma State fans with his dynamic, heady, and often electric play. Well the man responsible for a large part of his developmet, former OSU OC Larry Fedora, is at it again in Hattiesburg. In his first year in the new system, and his first year in college football, Davis tossed for more than 3000 yards with a 23-8 TD-INT ratio. He also added 508 yards on the ground and an additional nine scores.
Considering the statistical improvements Robinson has made each season in the same system, it’s scary to think what Davis could do in year two under Fedora. Especially considering he’s part of one of the most underrated trios in the country (along with WR DeAndre Brown and RB Damion Fletcher). Oh, and if that’s not enough, Davis recently said that having Brown sit out of spring practice with an injury may have been a bittersweet help since he was forced to identify other targets. It’s going to be a big year for the sophomore.
4.) DeAndre Brown, WR, Southern Miss — Of course, missing spring practice shouldn’t really have anyone souring on Brown. The uber-recruit who chose Southern Miss over LSU, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas Tech was incredible as a freshman, and it’s not like he needed too much extra practice. He burst onto the scene in 2008 with 1117 yards and 12 TDs, including a 221 yard, four TD performance against Rice. He’s the Golden Eagles version of Dez Bryant, and considering what Bryant accomplished in his sophomore season (1480 yards, 19 TDs), there’s no reason not to believe that Brown can’t have a monster season at 6-06 231.
5.) Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State — I think he’s one of the most underrated defensive backs in the country. You hear about Joe Haden, Javier Arenas, Trevard Lindley, SydQuan Thompson, and Crezdon Butler, but Wilson might be as good as any of them. Wilson has improved his INT total every season since his first as a starter as a freshman (1 to 2 to 5) despite being thrown at less and less. With Boise getting some serious help from the preseason polls, Wilson should have enough of a spotlight to become a household name. He’ll get his first chance when his Broncos host the Oregon Ducks on September 3rd to kickoff the 2009 college football season.
