Other College Football Features: New coach Kelly's debut nears at Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Brian Kelly's wait is nearly over. Call it 20 years in the making.
Those other head coaching stops at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and Cincinnati? They helped prepare him. Now, it's really time to step up.
He'll be greeted by 80,000 boisterous fans Saturday when he takes his Notre Dame team onto the field for the first time for the season-opener against Purdue. Most eyes will be on him. He's already pledged that his mission is to win immediately and put the Irish back on the national radar.
"I'll be excited, obviously, running out and being on the field for the first time but that will go all away just like it goes away, the excitement or the jitters, on that first hit," Kelly said.
"It goes away as a coach on that first play call. Especially if they boo you. It gets your attention right away ... I think once you get into that game and that ball is kicked, you focus like any other game. You focus like you're at Grand Valley State."
But it won't be.
And if Kelly's nervous with game day approaching, it doesn't show. He's trying to immerse himself in preparations for the Boilermakers, a game important for more than just being the opener. It's an early opportunity to show his team and those watching that what he's been preaching and installing really works for them — like it did at Cincinnati, where the Bearcats went 12-0 in the regular season a year ago.
As you would imagine, Kelly has gotten a read on his team since taking over in December and going through both spring and prison practices. It's a sense you get when you're around young players for so many hours in close quarters, sometimes patting them on the back, sometimes loudly criticizing them.
Kelly took his team to Notre Dame Stadium last Friday and could tell that his players were tight. So he gave them an example to loosen them up: himself.
"So it was pretty clear to me that our football team needed to stop thinking about being Notre Dame football players and just play the game," Kelly said.
"And I used my own circumstances to try to bring it on a more understandable plain for them," he said. "That is, I can't come to work every day thinking I'm the head coach at Notre Dame. There are just too many things out there that you would succumb to all the pressure. I come thinking about the process every day."
As far as his players go, Kelly said that even though freshman Tommy Rees is listed behind Dayne Crist on a two-deep depth chart that he is not necessarily the No. 2 quarterback ahead of Nate Montana, the former walk-on and son of Joe Montana who is now on scholarship.
Kelly said Rees and Montana could have been listed as 2A and 2B but he only filled out two slots.
"There is no No. 2 or No. 3," Kelly said, adding that spot will continue to be evaluated all season. "I don't think it's accurate to say that he's nailed that position down."
And Crist, who replaces Jimmy Clausen under center for the Irish? He's getting his first start and his teammates have were barred from hitting him during spring and preseason practice. After knee surgery last November, Crist's first contact will come on his first hit in the Purdue game.
Swinney ready to prove Clemson skeptics wrong
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Dabo Swinney has heard too often how the Clemson offense this season can't possibly be as good without tailback C.J. Spiller and several other standouts.
Now, Swinney is ready to see his new guys prove everybody wrong.
"College football, to me, that's what's awesome about it. Every four years, somebody's leaving," Swinney said Tuesday. "You got to take what you've got and play with them. All I can tell you is, I like our players."
The Tigers get to show off several new potential playmakers when they open the season against North Texas at Death Valley on Saturday. Few are expecting the production that made Spiller one of Clemson's all-time greats.
Spiller accounted for 21 touchdowns — he was the only Division I player to score in every game last year — and 2,680 yards on the way to Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.
"C.J. is going to be in the Ring of Honor" at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, left tackle Chris Hairston said. "A guy like that leaves your team, it's an event, something that you worry about and lose a little sleep over."
Clemson's attack in 2009 also featured wide received Jacoby Ford and tight end Michael Palmer.
Ford was considered the fasted player in college football — he had a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at last February's NFL combine — and backed that up with a team high 55 catches last fall.
Palmer was next with 43 catches, a record for Clemson tight ends.
Spiller, Ford and Palmer put up more than two-thirds of the Tigers' nearly 6,900 yards last fall and more than 63 percent of their 54 touchdowns.
But don't sell the replacements short.
Andre Ellington led the Tigers with more than seven yards a carry last season and fellow reserve runner Jamie Harper had the longest run from scrimmage.
Swinney has said that sophomore tight end Dwayne Allen has the ability to surpass Palmer's record season and Clemson's young receivers have shown promise this summer.
"There's a lot of people out there not expecting us to do anything this year," Ellington said. "The first game is a chance to show them."
Swinney said he's got a host of receivers vying for playing time. Four days before the opener, only junior Marquan Jones has locked down one of the three starting spots.
Spiller and Ford were also factors on special teams, combining for six touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns. Swinney says starting cornerback Marcus Gilchrist will take on the bulk of Clemson's returns.
Gilchrist is "awfully excited that C.J. and Jacoby are gone," Swinney said.
The Mean Green, playing Clemson for the first time, don't figure to stress last year's ACC's Atlantic Division champs. North Texas went 2-10 last season and allowed more than 35 points a game.
Mean Green tight end Draylan Ross thinks his team has brought an improved attitude to preseason workouts. "We're all taking care of our own jobs and you feel comfortable about the next man executing what he has to do," said Ross, a senior.
It may not matter if Clemson's reserves from last year come close to the 2009 offensive production.
Hairston, the offensive lineman who takes over the group's leadership mantle from departed senior Thomas Austin, says the line gained comfort with the hard work put in by runners Ellington and Harper.
"It gave us a sense easiness knowing that we can go in and rush the ball like we did last year," Hairston said. "C.J., the plays he made, nobody else can. But collectively, we can pick up that slack."
-- Pete Iacobelli
South Carolina's starting QB still up in the air
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is going to rotate his quarterbacks when the Gamecocks open the season Thursday night with Southern Mississippi.
And Spurrier wants to remind fans it has worked for him before at Florida.
"I know some of you here know a lot more about coaching quarterbacks than I do and you're not supposed to jerk them in and out of the game. It hurts their feelings and all that," Spurrier said Tuesday. "But of the eight conference championships that I've been fortunate to coach teams, four of those eight, we used two quarterbacks."
Spurrier won't name a starter for Thursday's game, but said he usually leans toward the more experienced player. That would favor junior Stephen Garcia, who started every game last season, throwing for 220 yards a game, second best in the Southeastern Conference.
But Spurrier said 18-year-old freshman Connor Shaw will get some snaps in the first half. And he didn't rule out a start.
"One of them may have a great practice today. You just never know around here," Spurrier said.
Shaw's sudden sprint up the depth chart to challenge Garcia has been just one unfolding story in a preseason practices full of turmoil for the Gamecocks.
The NCAA has been in Columbia, both investigating starting tight end Weslye Saunders possible ties to an agent and reports that several players got unusually cheap rates at a luxury hotel.
Spurrier said Saunders will continue to serve an indefinite suspension for violating team rules. He hopes the NCAA makes a ruling on the players involved with the hotel before kickoff, but won't hold anyone out if a decision hasn't been made.
"All you can do is do what the NCAA tells you to do," Spurrier said.
Quarterback isn't the only position where Spurrier hasn't decided on a starter. Competition is still ongoing for running back, right tackle, and two linebacker slots and as many as eight different receivers could play. Hamstring injuries have sidelined linebacker Shaq Wilson and backup defensive tackle Byron Jerideau.
But Spurrier won a Heisman Trophy as a quarterback and his Fun-N-Gun offense at Florida made stars of Jessie Palmer and Danny Wuerffel, so much of the attention during preseason practice has turned to the Gamecocks quarterbacks after Spurrier said Shaw impressed him enough to get a chance to start as a true freshman.
In five years at South Carolina, Spurrier hasn't had a star emerge to run his South Carolina offense. He has questioned Garcia's commitment and his ability to run Spurrier's precise schemes.
On Tuesday, Spurrier praised Shaw for how fast he learned the offense, graduating early from high school so he could participate in last spring's drills too.
"His life is about, pretty much about, family, football, his faith, I guess," Spurrier said. "And I think he has a girlfriend back home. So while he's here in school, football and going to class is about it for him."
Southern Miss coaches are making sure they prepare for both quarterbacks, pulling tapes from Shaw's high school games last year at Flowery Branch, a suburb of Atlanta.
The Golden Eagles have their own questions. They have to replace four offensive linemen and a pair of running backs who combined for 1,662 of the team's 2,358 rushing yards last season.
Coach Larry Fedora hasn't settled on a kicker and is carefully watching junior quarterback Austin Davis, who missed the final eight games of last season with a ligament tear in his left foot.
"He has really progressed as we have come through camp," Fedora said.
Southern Miss is a dangerous opener for South Carolina. The teams both went 7-6 last season. The Eagles knocked off Virginia last season and played Kansas close.
Back in 1992, Southern Miss gave Spurrier once of his biggest scares ever from a team outside the BCS. The Golden Eagles lost just 24-20 as the Gators made it to the first ever SEC title game.
Spurrier has never lost to a team outside the BCS in his career, going 38-0 at South Carolina, Florida and Duke. He is also 19-1 in season openers, proof he has been able to put any preseason problems behind him once the ball is kicked off.
"I don't believe in distractions," Spurrier said. "Whatever our team is out there Thursday night, that's our team."
-- Jeffrey Collins
Vols DEs to play at tackle spot to fill out D-line
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee coach Derek Dooley has struggled to find talented defensive tackles. Now he's just looking for capable players to fill out the line.
The Volunteers have an abundance of talent on the outside of the line, so Dooley plans to start defensive end Gerald Williams inside at the tackle spot when Tennessee opens Saturday against Tennessee-Martin. Another end, Corey Miller, likely will spend some time inside too.
Dooley says he knows the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Williams is better suited for the end position, but the Vols have very few true defensive tackles available. He'll start next to sophomore tackle Montori Hughes. Chris Walker and Malik Jackson will start at defensive end.
"It's just a big-picture philosophy — put a better guy in, put a better player in," Dooley said. "Will Gerald be a better tackle than he will be an end? No, but he'll be better playing, probably, than the next defensive tackle."
Dooley says the defensive line will be more of a committee effort. Walker sums it up by saying the move will allow the Vols to "get our best four on the field at defensive line."
Tennessee's depth at tackle was strained even before fall camp began on Aug. 4. An anticipated starter, Marlon Walls, suffered a possible season-ending injury to his Achilles' tendon. Tackle John Brown, a junior college transfer, found out from the NCAA that he would not qualify to play.
That left the Vols with one really talented tackle in Hughes, who made 20 tackles in 13 games as a backup in 2009.
Yet Tennessee's defensive changes — and troubles — do not make Skyhawks coach Jason Simpson any more confident about facing them.
"I know they've had some injuries, but there's still some quality players on that defense," Simpson said. "Those kids, in the next year, will be all-SEC and potential draft picks."
Williams, a senior from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., had 15 tackles and a recovered fumble playing in 13 games last season, including two as a starter. But he was one of the team's many talented ends that included Walker, a preseason second team all-Southeastern Conference pick, Southern California transfer Jackson and Willie Bohannon, a much-improved backup from 2009.
Williams is undersized for the position considering his fellow starter, Hughes, is 305 pounds. But what he lacks in size, he makes up for in ability, football smarts and attitude, said linebacker Nick Reveiz.
"You want them heavier, but if you're talking about heart, this guy wants it so bad," Reveiz said. "A lot of things with tackle, too, is how you play with your hands, as far as striking and using your hands and getting off blocks, and that's something Gerald does great. He controls the blocks. When he has to pass rush, he gets up field. He does everything the coaches ask him to."
Williams also likely will play at defensive end. But he'll share time with other players, including Corey Williams, another hybrid end/tackle. Also in the mix are senior Victor Thomas, who spent the spring practicing at offensive line before returning to tackle; redshirt freshman Arthur Jeffery, who hasn't played in two seasons because of an ACL injury; and converted ends Steven Fowlkes and Rae Sykes.
Gerald Williams is no stranger to switching positions, having played linebacker in high school and junior college before being moved to defensive end as a junior last season.
It's a team effort," he said. "I'd be selfish to pout about moving from a position. All D-line is all the same to me, and I'm going to make my mark wherever I'll be at."
-- Beth Rucker
To beat Navy, Maryland must stop the spread option
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — If Maryland is to launch its comeback season with an uplifting victory, the Terrapins have no option but to stop Navy's multifaceted running game.
Navy's spread option attack last year averaged 280.5 yards rushing, the fourth-highest total in the nation. Ricky Dobbs scored 27 touchdowns, an NCAA record for a quarterback. He was just as adept at pitching the ball.
Fortunately for the Terrapins, they've had most of the summer to prepare for Monday's opener. To simulate the speed at which the Midshipmen execute their option, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen ordered his scout team to run it without a ball.
"It's very, very difficult to defend," Friedgen said. "We have a good plan. But it all depends on how well we execute and how disciplined we are. You have to play your responsibility. It really puts a lot of stress on your defense."
Safety Antwine Perez is wary of making a mistake. Dobbs doesn't pass often, but when he does, the Terrapins better be ready.
"You get lazy and they take a shot deep, it's a touchdown," Perez said. "I'm the last line of defense. You can't be back there and bite on the run, because that's when they're going to throw the ball down the field."
Maryland went 2-10 last year, by far its worst record since Friedgen arrived in 2001. Defeating Navy would go a long way toward erasing the memory of 2009, but that can't happen unless the Terrapins stop Dobbs, fullback Vince Murray and slot backs Aaron Santiago and Gee Gee Greene.
"It's probably the most important thing. That's what their offense has been doing for years," Maryland linebacker Alex Wujciak said. "They get three or four yards a play, and that just marches them down the field. They're in great shape, and they really wear you down."
Navy began using the option under coach Paul Johnson, who left for Georgia Tech in December 2007. Ken Niumatalolo took over, and under his direction the Midshipmen led the nation in rushing for a fourth straight year in 2008.
There was a slight decline last season, but Navy ran well enough to go 10-4, including a 35-13 win over Missouri in the Texas Bowl.
When Maryland and Navy last met in 2005, the Terps held the Midshipmen to 246 yards on the ground in a 23-20 victory. That won't mean much in the long-awaiting rematch.
"Navy's a lot better now," Friedgen said.
The main reason is Dobbs, who is 10-3 as a starter and has rushed for at least 100 yards in nine of those 13 games. He's scored at least four touchdowns on four different occasions.
"He's a smart quarterback. He's able to read everything," Wujciak said. "We've seen him on film; he'll get it to the pitch man at the last second. You don't see him make a lot of mistakes, even in the passing game."
Although Navy is coming off a 35-13 win over Missouri in the Texas Bowl and Maryland lost its last seven games in 2009, the Midshipmen are taking nothing for granted.
"They lost a lot last year, but they lost a lot of close games," Niumatalolo said. "(Friedgen) has done a lot during his tenure there. Our focus is to be ready for a great Maryland football team."
-- David Ginsburg
Michigan State's Jones thrilled he put NFL on hold
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State's All-American linebacker Greg Jones is glad he put his dreams of playing in the NFL on hold.
"The real world hasn't kicked in yet," Jones said Tuesday. "I'm so happy to be back."
The Spartans are pretty fired up about it, too.
They'll need the Jones-led defense to play much better than it did last year, especially against the pass, to compliment what seems to be a solid offense to have any hope of reaching their goal of winning the Big Ten title for the first time in two decades.
"He's special," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said.
The Cincinnati native was the only Big Ten player to be named as a first-team All-American by The Associated Press last year, then decided to stay in school instead of cashing in as a second- or third-round pick in the NFL draft.
"It was the biggest decision of my life," he said. "And, I don't have any regrets."
Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit wishes Jones was gone so he didn't have to figure out a way to block him Saturday at Spartan Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
"They've got the best linebacker in the country, and one of the better ones I've seen in my career," Cubit said. "He's just relentless. Pass-rushing wise, he's outstanding. He's always trying to get to the football. He's a scary guy and a big problem."
Dantonio said the only linebacker he's seen up close as good as Jones was former Ohio State star Chris Spielman, adding he has been encouraged by his quest to get keep improving.
"He's added almost 15 pounds of good solid weight and he's much improved in pass coverage," Dantonio said. "As a pass rusher, he's pretty good."
The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Jones, whose talents are touted at the website gregjones53.com that was set up by the school, has 15½ sacks in three seasons. Sacking quarterbacks is fun, he admits, but he wants to knock down more of their passes and make an interception for the first time in his career.
"It's very important because you have to be versatile to be a great player," Jones said. "People think I like to blitz all the time, but I want to do more than that."
If Jones can become an all-around great on the field this fall, he might live up to the billing of being perhaps the best defensive player in the country and one of Michigan State's best linebackers along with Percy Snow, Carl Banks and Dan Bass.
"It's a huge compliment when somebody says that — it's also humbling," he said. "But you can't say you're made it or that you've arrived, though, because if you get complacent you get worse."
-- Larry Lage
Are the Gophers ready to surprise on defense?
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Little success is expected from Minnesota this season, judging by the lack of love from preseason predictions around the Big Ten and that super-tough schedule.
It would be natural for the same sentiment to prevail toward the team's defense, with nine starters lost from last year's group including the entire front seven.
But just as the Gophers have rallied around the opportunity to spring some upsets, the guys on defense have adopted a bring-it-on attitude in 2010.
"It's the element of surprise," said defensive tackle Brandon Kirksey, a junior who is one of the team's four captains. "We've got a whole different level of talent."
The defense had a decent showing at times last fall, holding Iowa to 12 points in the regular season finale and finishing in the middle of the pack in the conference in most statistical categories.
"Nothing to be taken from them, but we're better," said Kirksey of his departed teammates, which include Minnesota Vikings rookies Nate Triplett at linebacker and Marcus Sherels at cornerback. "They were more technique. They honed their craft. We're more athletically talented."
On the first team, the only players who have started games in the past are defensive tackle Jewhan Edwards, cornerbacks Ryan Collado and Michael Carter and linebacker Mike Rallis, whose only start came two years ago.
Plus, the two returners at safety, Kim Royston and Kyle Theret, won't play in the season opener at Middle Tennessee on Thursday. Royston is still recovering from a broken leg suffered during spring practice and Theret is suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. Both started all 13 games last season.
However, with the exception of true freshman Matt Garin at defensive end and James Manuel at strong safety, along with free safety transfer Christyn Lewis, the rest of the players on the first team defense announced by coach Tim Brewster on Tuesday have seen ample playing time.
"We're not starting with 11 new guys that we just picked up off the street," said Rallis, who was moved from the secondary to linebacker during spring practice. "We have a lot of leaders on defense, and the main thing we're trying to do is lead by example."
Said Brewster: "We're rather inexperienced on the defensive side, but I feel very good about who we have and the type of leadership that we're getting. They understand what the battle's about."
The Gophers need to understand quickly about Middle Tennessee's starting quarterback. With the record-setting Dwight Dasher suspended, the Blue Raiders have penciled in junior college transfer Logan Kilgore for the opener. Kilgore threw 22 touchdown passes last season as a freshman at Bakersfield College in California.
Brewster has friends in the California junior college system he sought after for video and scouting reports on Kilgore.
"I'm sure they have a guy who can step in there and do a lot of the same things that Dasher could," Rallis said. "We're not going to take them any lighter. We've got to do our jobs."
Purdue's Marve ready to play Irish
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Long before LeBron James made "The Decision" on ESPN, Robert Marve did something similar.
In a press conference televised on ESPN, Marve announced last year that he would play for Purdue after transferring from Miami. Much like the Miami Heat's expectations rose when James made his choice, Purdue's expectations went through the roof after landing Marve.
Purdue coach Danny Hope said Marve immediately made Purdue a better program. Now, after sitting out a year as required by NCAA transfer rules, Marve will lead the Boilermakers for the first time on Saturday at Notre Dame.
"I'm looking forward to showing everybody what I've got, I'm looking forward for Purdue," Marve said Tuesday. "It's an exciting time for the program, for coach Hope and all the players."
At Miami, Marve threw more interceptions than touchdowns and didn't play in the bowl game because he was academically ineligible. But his strong arm and mobility stand out.
Then there's that swagger.
"He's a commanding guy," receiver Justin Siller said. "He's a perfectionist. He demands the best from our offense all the time. He's a great leader, a great quarterback and a great guy to have leading your offense and your team."
Teammates say Marve's preparation and work ethic match his talent.
"He really knows his assignments, and he makes sure the receivers are on top of their game," running back Al-Terek McBurse said. "He's going to get the ball to them."
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, who tried to recruit Marve to Cincinnati, is aware of the redshirt junior's talent.
"He's a dual threat quarterback, and I think it starts with his ability to keep plays alive," Kelly said. "He's shown that he's got great athletic ability."
Marve opened his Miami career at Florida in 2008, then led the Hurricanes to a win at Texas A&M the next week. He expects that experience to serve him well at Notre Dame Stadium.
"It gives me an extreme advantage," he said. "Playing in the Swamp, you can't even hear yourself talk. It's extremely loud. I'm expecting that same type of atmosphere."
Marve became Miami's starting quarterback in the second game of the 2008 season. He made 11 consecutive starts and helped guide Miami to five straight wins from Oct. 11 to Nov. 13. He threw for 1,293 yards with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions that season.
He was held out of the Emerald Bowl as a punishment for missing class. Jacory Harris started in the 24-17 loss to California and was selected the starter entering 2009, prompting Marve to leave on unpleasant terms.
He feels he has forged a new path at Purdue.
"I feel good about playing football," he said. "Everybody can say what they want to say. I don't think that image is there anymore. I stay focused. I've done everything the coaches have asked."
Though he hears the fans and experts who compare him to past Purdue greats Drew Brees and Kyle Orton, Marve won't put too much pressure on himself.
"I've just got to do it one play at a time," he said. "There's not anything you can prove to all your fans, the program and everybody across the country in one play."
Hope, who has done his share to raise expectations, said Marve is still learning Purdue's version of the spread offense. Plus, Marve hasn't played in a game in nearly two years.
"It's important that we have a package put together for Robert that he's comfortable with," Hope said. "Can't go in there with the whole playbook. It's too much. We're going to do the things we're good at and try to do them to some degree of excellence, better than our opponent."
Hope isn't worried about Marve doing his part.
"We have to get Robert in position to be successful," Hope said. That's up to the coaches, play-calling-wise and scheme-wise, to get him in a position to be successful. If he's successful, our team is going to be successful."
-- Cliff Brunt
Froman, Hartline searching for respect, big plays
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — There is no hidden gunslinger in Mike Hartline.
Sorry, he's just not built that way. The Kentucky quarterback doesn't have a cannon for a right arm, he doesn't see a receiver streaking through double-coverage and think he can somehow thread the needle.
It's not that the senior doesn't want to. He just doesn't see the point. He's not out there to gamble. He's out there to win. Period.
"I don't look at the numbers, I really don't," Hartline said.
Neither does Louisville quarterback Adam Froman, at least, not anymore. The senior who once threw for 525 yards in a junior college game is no longer being asked to win games with his arm. Froman is OK with that.
"My job is to be a leader and help our guys make plays," he said.
The word most associated with both quarterbacks, who face each other Saturday in the Governor's Cup, is "efficient." While the word can sometimes be the coachspeak equivalent of being told you have a nice personality, it's not a moniker either player avoids.
"That's what you want out of your quarterbacks," Froman said. "As a quarterback, not only do you have to do your job well, you have to do it quickly, you have to operate in and out of the huddle, run your plays with crispness."
Even if it means there are few chances for Hartline or Froman to post the eye-popping numbers of predecessors like Brian Brohm and Andre Woodson.
While Kentucky coach Joker Phillips says the offense has the chance to be as dynamic as it was during Woodson's senior season in 2007, when Woodson threw for a school-record 40 touchdowns, the first-year head coach isn't really worried about it.
"Mike gives us the best chance to win games," Phillips said.
It's something Hartline has done when healthy during his career. The Wildcats are 8-6 when Hartline starts, and he can become the first Kentucky quarterback to beat Louisville three times if the Wildcats prevail Saturday.
Yet Hartline has struggled to keep a firm grasp on the job. He earned the spot by default as a sophomore when Curtis Pulley was dismissed from the team when fall camp began. He appeared to be flourishing last fall before a knee injury shelved him.
Freshman Morgan Newton did enough in Hartline's place for coach Joker Phillips to declare the position wide-open when spring ball began.
That was fine by Hartline, who was eventually named the starter a week ago.
"You need the competition," he said. "I believe I needed it to get better."
The Wildcats will need Hartline to be better if they want to take the next step up the ladder in the uber-competitive Southeastern Conference. Hartline completed 59 percent of his passes a year ago with six touchdowns and seven interceptions. His longest completion was 55 yards and he's never come close to posting a 300-yard game, something Woodson did seven times in his career.
Yet Kentucky managed a 7-6 record last year despite finishing dead last in the conference in passing, averaging just 140 yards per game. They survived behind a steady dose of versatile wide receiver Randall Cobb, who became a big-play threat while running out of the "WildCobb" formation.
While Hartline knows he doesn't have to play "bombs away" for Kentucky to qualify for a fifth straight bowl game, he does have to make enough plays to keep defenses from stacking the line of scrimmage and daring him to throw.
"I think we can be better vertically," said Hartline, who threw for 178 yards and a score in Kentucky's 31-27 win over the Cardinals last year. "That doesn't mean I'm going to just throw it down there and hope we come down with it."
Hartline believes big plays start out as little ones. A 50-yard completion can just as easily be a screen pass executed perfectly as it can be a heave downfield.
"We've got 10 other guys on offense who are on scholarship," he said. "My job is to help them go out and show how good a football player they are."
It's a mantra shared by Froman, who volunteered to play on special teams last year when Justin Burke won the starting job out of training camp. Injuries, however, thrust Froman into a starting role and he played well at times on a team that struggled mightily to move the ball.
Froman threw for 1,354 yards and completed 60 percent of his passes while starting seven games. Though his mobility made him a perfect fit for new offensive coordinator Mike Sanford's spread offense, Froman still had to go out and beat Burke and Will Stein during training camp.
"He has a presence about him, a leadership quality," said coach Charlie Strong.
What he doesn't have, however, are proven playmakers at wide receiver.
Senior Doug Beaumont is reliable, but has failed to score a touchdown despite hauling in 100 passes during his career. Troy Pascley was slowed by injuries a year ago and junior college transfer Josh Bellamy has yet to play a down of big-time college football.
Still, Froman remains optimistic. There's a clock on the wall counting down the days until the end of the season. He's watched it slowly tick away over the last four months. He knows there's little time left. He's ready to make it count.
"I'm looking for a chance to prove this team can win and I can win," he said.
-- Will Graves
WVU's Stewart warns not to overlook Chanticleers
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Coastal Carolina is entering just its eighth season of football and West Virginia coach Bill Stewart is doing his best to make the Football Championship Subdivision Chanticleers sound like a formidable foe.
"Our work's cut out for us," Stewart said. "People who think this is a walk in the park have absolutely no idea what college football is all about."
For a lesson in focus, all Stewart has to do is look to last year's season opener against another opponent from the Big South.
West Virginia struggled to move the ball at times against a Liberty defense that returned just four starters and the lackluster Mountaineers didn't put away the 33-20 win until the fourth quarter.
"We learned last season that you need to finish the deal," Stewart said Tuesday.
Stewart will be breaking in his third starting quarterback in his three seasons and said he hasn't decided how much playing time to give Geno Smith when No. 25 West Virginia and Coastal Carolina meet on Saturday.
Smith, who played in five games as a freshman backup a year ago, will get his first career start.
"I am going to tell him to go get seven points and not three," Stewart said. "Are we going to play reckless? No, we can't do that. I want Geno to play, and I want Geno to lead and our team to follow him.
"Whoever our quarterback is, it is his team to guide. That is the kind of mindset Geno needs to get. This is his team. I want Geno to play fearless and I want him to lead. I want him to get in that huddle and command that respect. That is what all great quarterbacks do — they commanded that presence."
Stewart also hasn't announced who his backup quarterback will be. Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson have been battling since the spring.
"We'll know more about that Saturday," Stewart said. "Right now they are both pretty much even."
When asked how he feels on season-opening games, Stewart said he has had a headache for a month because he's always thinking about what he needs to do.
"When I quit having that excitement and those butterflies, then I don't need to coach and they don't need to play," Stewart said. "You need to be prepared and you don't want to have that word 'upset' creep into your vocabulary if you are the 'favored' team.
"For the fans, I can't wait. I can only imagine what it is like. When I come out of the tunnel, it is all business. It is fun, but it is business as well. I want to see how tough, explosive and fast the Mountaineers play. I also want to see us bond and fight fair as a family."
-- John Raby
Lloyd tears off redshirt, will start against UM
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut's coaches have scrapped plans to make linebacker Greg Lloyd Jr. take this season off, using a redshirt year to recover from the serious knee injury he went down with in November.
Lloyd, the son of the former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee on Nov. 28 against Syracuse. Doctors told him that with intensive rehabilitation work and good healing, if all went well, he might be ready for football activities sometime this fall.
The coaches were going to ease him back, and perhaps convert him to a defensive end.
But Lloyd had other plans.
He worked out three times a day to make his knee stronger, and said he considers himself a fast healer.
After being cleared to practice at the start of training camp, he sneaked into drills he wasn't supposed to be doing, and took repetitions he wasn't supposed to be taking.
"I just threw myself in there to see how the knee would hold up," he said. "When I saw I could handle like, basic linebacker drills, I was like, 'Well, we can handle that, so hitting people shouldn't be that bad."
Soon he was playing in scrimmages and it became clear to coach Randy Edsall that Lloyd was going to play.
"He did all the things that as a coach that you want to see, and there were no ill effects from any of the practicing or scrimmaging that he did. So, you go with your best, and he's one of the best that we have."
Lloyd had 91 tackles last season, and the image of him flying through the air and knocking the helmet off Notre Dame running back Armando Allen Jr. on the goal line has come to symbolize the most notable win in the history of UConn football.
His teammates say Lloyd's return has given them an emotional lift heading into Saturday's season opener with Michigan.
It also reunites perhaps the best linebacker trio in the Big East. Lloyd and outside linebackers Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson are all seniors, and last year combined for 300 tackles.
"It's great to have our big run stopper in the middle back," Lutrus said. "I don't know what it is, it must be in his blood with his father or whatever, but he's just got that instinct to get in there, and hit big guys."
Lloyd wears the same 95 as his dad, but doesn't talk about their relationship. They have been estranged since Lloyd was 12 and he father was accused of putting a gun in the boy's mouth because he received some bad grades. Two assault trials ended in mistrials.
Lloyd's injury is also now part of his past, and he said he's just looking forward to again to playing in a game.
"It's been on my mind since missing the bowl game. I honestly can't wait," he said. "I'm just happy to be back in the mix of things and getting ready to hit everybody."
-- Pat Eaton-Robb
S. Miss' DeAndre Brown wants to be complete player
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — DeAndre Brown didn't like what he saw as he watched his performance on game tape.
The Southern Mississippi wide receiver missed a key block downfield, preventing his teammate from ripping off a big gain. He even took a play off every now and then.
"I got pretty disgusted with myself," he said.
So he got out a notepad and wrote down all his faults and shortcomings while watching each of Southern Miss' 2009 games two or three times.
Think of it as his road map to the first round of the NFL draft.
He'll find out just how far he's come Thursday when the Golden Eagles open the season at South Carolina on ESPN. The Gamecocks likely will be the biggest, baddest defense Southern Miss and Brown will face this season.
The talented 6-foot-6, 240-pound Brown realized in the offseason he's been coasting at times, especially as he continued to recover from a broken leg last season.
To achieve his goal — the one predicted for him as a young teen who stood head and shoulders above almost everyone — he knows he'll have to do more.
For sure, NFL scouts who evaluate him when the draft rolls around — the junior's not sure whether he'll declare this year or stick around to polish his game — will be looking closely at how Brown performs against a defense from the elite Southeastern Conference.
Brown hopes they see a player who not only can make a leaping catch in the back of the end zone, but also one who can throw the touchdown-breaking block or lead two defenders on a wasted trip down the field.
His teammates hope they see that guy, too, because he's a game changer.
"That's the verdict that's out," quarterback Austin Davis said. "Is he going to do the little things that make great players great? I hope so. And I think he will. I think he's going to realize that that's what it takes. That's what everybody's waiting to see."
Coaches and fans have been predicting great things since Brown first starting catching footballs in Ocean Springs, Miss. He was on everyone's list, including that of Ellis Johnson, the South Carolina assistant head coach who was a Mississippi State defensive coordinator.
"He's a very talented player," Johnson said. "I remember him coming out of high school."
How could you forget a kid like Brown? Already towering above defenders, he could dominate a game. He was a member of the so-called "Big Three," the trio of unbelievably large and talented wide receivers in the 2008 recruiting class that included Julio Jones of Alabama and Georgia's AJ Green.
Brown surprised almost everyone by turning away from LSU and joining Southern Miss and coach Larry Fedora's spread offense. He then had a breakout freshman season like everyone expected, catching 67 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns. But then he broke his leg at the New Orleans Bowl.
Doctors warned that Brown was so tall he might not ever heal properly and it cost him a big chunk of 2009. Even though he was back on the field after sitting out the first game, the pain and lack of endurance limited him until November.
He helped the Golden Eagles make a run at the Conference USA title game and clinch a bowl, finishing with 785 yards and nine touchdowns to lead the team. Along the way he's made a highlight reel of crazy catches as he dominates much shorter cornerbacks and safeties. They stand out on game tape.
"He's made big plays on a lot of teams," Johnson said.
Brown participated in the offseason training program for the first time in college, and says he feels stronger than ever. Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora has seen signs of that.
"He continues to improve each and every day," Fedora said. "He makes plays here and there that make us go, 'Wow.' I think our expectation level for him is high and so the standards are very high. We expect the most day in and day out for him, and I know that's a difficult thing for a young man. But if we don't expect those things from him they'll never happen."
Brown is sure they're going to happen — whether this year or next, it doesn't matter. He thinks he could be one of the best, with just a little more effort.
"I feel like I would be there with the elite, the Randy Mosses, the Terrell Owenses, Calvin Johnsons, Brandon Marshalls, just being the next big receiver," he said. "Those guys have made a name for themselves and I've watched tape on them as much as I've watched tape on myself just to try to take some of the things that they have in their game today and try to put it in my game."
-- Chris Talbott
Tebow's prep successor poised to start at Wake
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Ted Stachitas doesn't want to be known only for the quarterbacks he's replaced. That's not easy when one of them is Tim Tebow.
After taking over for Tebow in high school, Stachitas now is poised to succeed record-breaking Riley Skinner as the man under center for Wake Forest.
"I'm used to everyone's expectations .... and all the questions, the doubts," Stachitas said Tuesday.
So instead of merely being recognized as somebody's replacement, the redshirt sophomore is looking to create an identity of his own — starting Thursday night when the Demon Deacons open against Presbyterian.
That will mark his first start since he was at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in 2007, the year after he inherited Tebow's job. He led Nease to consecutive Florida Class 4A championship games in both years as the starter despite what he said was a prevailing opinion that "people didn't really think we could duplicate what he did with the team."
Meanwhile, down the road in Gainesville, Tebow blossomed into one of the sport's most heralded figures while winning two national championships, two Southeastern Conference titles and a Heisman Trophy.
Nobody's expecting that kind of production from Stachitas, who has a different style than Tebow but a similar habit — a knack for tucking the ball under and running when he needs a yard or two.
That skill could make Stachitas, who rushed for 845 yards and 15 touchdowns as a high school senior, a valuable weapon for a Wake Forest team looking to re-establish its ground game after the Skinner-led offense wound up throwing more often than coach Jim Grobe perhaps was comfortable with.
Teammates say they have something else in common: Intangibles.
They describe Stachitas as more soft-spoken and not as reliant on rah-rah techniques as Tebow is. But they insist he still shows just as much leadership.
"Tim and Ted were similar in the fact that, if they ... didn't find a wide receiver, they were able to run the ball," said Wake Forest linebacker Hunter Haynes, a teammate of both at Nease. "Tim was a little bit different — he was more of a fullback running the ball, and Ted was faster. You do see a little bit of influence from Tim on Ted ... (but) he kind of developed into his own leader and was a different player than Tim."
Stachitas' next task is only slightly less daunting — taking over for the holder of just about every significant passing record in the Wake Forest media guide.
Skinner may have thrown for 9,762 yards and 60 touchdowns in his career, but Stachitas has his eye on another of his marks — his 32 victories as a starter.
"I'm not worried about any of Riley's records or what he's done here," Stachitas said. "He did great, and I respect everything that he did here, but I'm worried about getting wins for our team."
Stachitas played a handful of snaps as a third-stringer last season but has yet to attempt a pass in a game. He wasn't even on the depth chart after spring, but played his way into the starting role with consistent play throughout preseason camp, Grobe said.
"We really wanted to make sure that we made our quarterback earn it," Grobe said. "We didn't just want to flip the coin at the end of practice and find out who it's going to be. From Day 1, we started charting these guys on a lot of things ... and Ted's just accumulated a lead on the other guys, (and) that makes him deserving of being the quarterback. Now, the next step is, he's got to go out Thursday night and prove we made the right decision."
-- Joedy McCreary
Duke still looking for production with the run
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — David Cutcliffe sounds confident about entrusting Sean Renfree with Duke's pass-heavy offense. He'd just like to see the talented — but unproven — quarterback get a little help on the ground, too.
While the five-win Blue Devils finished with their best win total in 15 years, they ranked last among Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing yards per game.
That continued a long-running trend that has seen the Blue Devils fail to average even 100 yards as a team in four of the past six seasons.
Cutcliffe, entering his third season, is mindful of those struggles. When asked what to expect from this year's running game in Saturday's opener against Elon, he was quick to respond, "Let's hope there is one."
"I don't think I'd call what we were a year ago a running game, so the first thing is to see it," Cutcliffe said Tuesday.
Duke averaged about 64 yards per game on the ground last season, putting the burden of the offense entirely on the shoulders of Thad Lewis. Lewis also took every snap knowing the pass rushers were charging forward without having even a fleeting worry about Duke's ground game.
Now the job belongs to Renfree, a sophomore whom Cutcliffe has been high on since his arrival in Durham. While the coach calls Renfree a "big, strong, prostyle quarterback," he probably doesn't want to have to rely on him to make every play just yet.
It's not about churning out 100-yard rushers every week. It's about being productive enough to keep defenses honest.
"When you have that balanced running game, it's hard to sit on a pass or at least know it's a pass," Renfree said. "We'll have a play-action game this year, which is important."
Sophomore Desmond Scott tops the depth chart at running back, despite failing to run for more than 41 yards against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. Backup Jay Hollingsworth fared worse, failing to reach the 40-yard mark all year.
"It all starts with the mindset," Scott said. "Our mindset is we're not going to be 120th (nationally) in rushing any more from here on out. ... Any team, if you can run the ball well, it opens up the passing game and makes the quarterback more relaxed."
Scott earned the starting job because he is solid in both running routes on the Blue Devils' screen passes or taking the handoff, Cutcliffe said. He also said the coaching staff has been quick to rely on the pass in the past because they it's been so effective, possibly at the expense of developing the ground game.
"When you feel like you can complete passes, it's hard not to want to throw 70 balls a game and stop running," he said. "But we've got to run the football to make ourselves better as a team. We've got to call it and stick to it enough to find out just how good we can be running the ball, because we've got some threats there in the backfield right now."
-- Aaron Beard
