The 2015
College Football Season begins this week and this will be the second year of
the College Football Four-Team Playoff format.
This week I will be giving my preview of the major teams and players to
watch for in 2015. One of the elements
that makes the College game so exciting is the unpredictability. There’s no
preseason, always new players coming in as freshman, and past players leaving
via graduation or early exit for the NFL.
Also, I enjoy watching College Football for the many different styles of
offenses and defenses run on the field each week. Unlike the NFL in which only a few different
schemes are utilized each week, the College ranks over the last few decades
have seen so many variants of styles and we the viewers have seen some of the
greatest players succeed with these unique game plans.
Today I will
highlight teams to watch from the Big Ten Football Conference:
University of Michigan
2015 Projected Record: 7-6
Win/Loss Plus-Minus Variable: +3/-1
Make or Break Games: 9/3 @ Utah; 9/26
vs BYU; 10/17 vs Michigan State; 10/31 @ Minnesota; 11/21 @ Penn State; 11/28 @
Ohio State
Synopsis: In his first year as Head
Coach at his Alma mater, Jim Harbaugh has to navigate one of the toughest
schedules in all of college football in 2015.
They are scheduled to play two teams in the top ten in the country
(Michigan State and Ohio State), play away against three of the most underrated
teams in the country (Utah, Penn State and Minnesota) and play a team with a
potential Heisman trophy finalist (BYU with Taysom Hill). Despite all of these obstacles, Harbaugh is
great at bringing out the best in his players and maximizing their
talents. That projected record above is
a low ball guesstimate; don’t be surprised if Michigan wins a couple games this
season that they are “expected to lose”.
Michigan has a lot of depth on defense and that could prove a folly for
many inter-conference opponents, allowing Michigan to walk away with a few
upset victories in 2015.
Michigan State University
2015 Projected Record: 9-3
Win/Loss Plus-Minus Variable: +1/-2
Make or Break Games: 9/12 vs Oregon; 10/17 @ Michigan; 11/7 @
Nebraska; 11/21 @ Ohio State; 11/28 vs Penn State
Synopsis: The good news for Michigan
State is their starting Quarterback Connor Cook is really good; bad news is
their defense last season was underwhelming to say the least. For years Michigan State has been known to
play good defense but last season they got ran over by high powered offenses
like Oregon and Baylor. The potential of
Michigan State Spartans season hinges on if that defense is improved enough
from last season because they cannot expect their QB Cook to win every game for
them. Football is a team sport and the
defense needs to step up this season. If
they don’t, then those gamblers in Las Vegas are going to lose money when
placing bets and Spartans’ fans will be disappointed with a season in which
they lost to rivals.
Penn State University
2015 Projected Record: 9-3
Win/Loss Plus-Minus Variable: +1/-2
Make or Break Games: 10/17 @ Ohio
State; 10/24 vs Maryland; 11/21 vs Michigan; 11/28 @ Michigan State
Synopsis: Penn State comes into the
2015 season with two major positives: upperclassmen depth at many positons and
Christian Hackenberg at Quarterback.
Both of those positives could also become sticking points as the season
progresses. Before October 17th’s
game at Ohio State, Penn State plays four non-conference opponents with less
talent on their rosters than they do.
This may lead to overconfidence.
Confidence is a powerful emotion, able to lift their level of play above
and beyond what is expected or it can set one up for disappointment and
failure. From October 17th
through November 28th Penn State has a gauntlet to survive of four
games away from their home field against inter-conference opponents, two of
them top ranked teams (Michigan State and Ohio State). Hackenberg will be tested and so will the
confidence of this team during the second half of the 2015 season. Passing this difficult test will determine more
than just what bowl they will end up playing in, it can also determine the
potential NFL draft futures of many of the players on the roster.
University of Wisconsin
2015
Projected Record: 11-1
Win/Loss Plus-Minus Variable: +0/-3
Make or Break Games: 9/5 vs Alabama;
10/10 @ Nebraska; 11/28 @ Minnesota
Synopsis: Wisconsin comes into the 2015
season with their third head coach in the last four seasons. Despite the lack of stability, the team
continues to be a consistent contender in the Big Ten Conference. The Wisconsin Badgers start of the season
against one of the top football teams in the nation (Alabama) then proceed to
have one of the easiest schedules, in terms of strength of opponent, in the
conference. This may be a blessing in
disguise because they will be starting a young offensive line, a new Running
Back, and starting Quarterback Joel Stave is coming off a rough 2014
season. It make take this team some time
to come into their own and that schedule may allow them to grow through the
season before facing equally talented competition again.
Ohio State University
2015 Projected Record: 11-1
Win/Loss Plus-Minus Variable: +1/-1
Make or Break Games: 9/7 @ Virginia
Tech; 10/17 vs Penn State; 11/21 vs Michigan State; 11/28 @ Michigan
Synopsis: Ohio State enters the 2015
College Football season as the number one ranked team in the nation. Last season’s national champions return 18
starters from last year’s team and they are arguably one of the most talent
deep teams in college football. The
biggest pitfall for Ohio State this season will be underestimating their
competition. Starting the season on the
road playing Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia will not be an easy
task. They also have at the end of their
schedule a talented Michigan State team and then face their rivals, Michigan,
in a game that never seems to play out as anticipated by experts. Head Coach Urban Meyer has been down this
road before and the burden will be on him to keep his team hungry while not
being overconfident. Starting the season
without a couple players due to suspensions (One being the top Defense End in
all of College Football, Joey Bosa) will make the first game the biggest
obstacle from going undefeated in 2015.
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