[4everfsu]

Those who know or think they know, please share

[Stevev]

You can start with the offensive line as a serious weakness. We are young and undersized. This is where the coaching staff is going to have to come in and evaluate what was left over from the carnage of last year , make changes, teach technique, and make them hit the weight room to bulk up. We lack depth since I believe that the 2nd string are all redshirt freshmen and then you have Coach Roccos's 4 recruits. The transfere from East Carolina will help but we could use some immediate help here.

I am worried about the depth at running back. After Rasaad Jenning we have only a true freshman (Terry Williams) and a former DE (Stokes) to count on to relieve Jennings. After that all walk-ons since all the others moved to different positions (Terrill to QB and Greisher to safety).

The secondary lost most of the starters but it was pretty horrible last year so no big deal. The inexperience factor could play.

It is going to take more than just new facilities and a new attitude to fire these guys up.

That is how I see it. Will add more as time goes on and waiting to see how other people more "in the know" than me see things. Thanks for starting this thread by the way. I was waiting for someone to start it.

[4everfsu]

I have to admit at last homecoming game, I told my sister that LU team looked like high school players based on their size. Or maybe it was where I was sitting at that made that impression for me.

[Stevev]

Last year we had 3 starters who were around 250. In this day and age that is way too small. Could see it if we ran the wishbone or Wing T which requires OL to move around and such but that is not the case here.

[Chris Lang]

Terrell won't stay at quarterback. Trust me, they'll find a way to get Zach 20-25 touches a game ... at RB, WR, QB, whereever. Rocco is keeping his plans tightlipped on that, though, which is smart.

[Libertine]

With only 63 schollies, depth is always a problem at the I-AA level and we are certainly no exception.

I am actually less concerned about the O-line this year than I was last year for several reasons. We had some very poor line play last year, but not very much of it came from the freshmen (Godsil and Stone) who made up 2/3 of the starting lineup. Also, Sene spent most of last year injured. Add in the addition of Davis from ECU, a year of college experience for Godsil, Weaver and Mosier along with a much less-complicated blocking scheme and I feel a lot better about our '06 prospects than I did at this time last year.

The RB position can best be described as fluid right now. Jennings is pretty much stamped into the starting spot. Stokes (who was a DE last year after spending his 1st two years at TE), who starred at FB in high school, will likely start there. Beyond that, Terron Lawrence and Danny Corprew both showed flashes in spring training but are both walk-ons. True freshman Terry Williams arrives in August and may see considerable time on the field.

QB is also up in the air. Both Terrell and Smith performed well enough in the spring to make the answer of who should be the sole starter a tough one. Given Terrell's success last year and the lack of depth at RB, could he end up moving further back in the backfield? That question will have to be best answered by incoming freshman Landis, Oelschlager or Broggin, one of whom would have to cement themselves in the minds of the coaches as a solid #2.

WR and TE I'm not worried about. As long as Luck stays healthy at TE, he's a dangerous pass-catching threat and will take some of the pressure off of BT, Wynton and Darnell.

Depth is also an issue on the D-Line but less so than on the offensive side because we're moving to a 3-4. Besides, Ackley, Jason Horn and (Tyler) Turner are pretty good. I'm also really anticipating what the German kid, Wendland, can do.

LB is probably the strength of the team right now. Manny Rojas, Stevie Ray Lloyd, Brandon Duke and Nick Hursky are about as solid a LB lineup as we're going to face ourselves. Add in Wes Lambert, Dan Hughes, Derek Lisko (did well at safety late last year) along w/ freshmen Trowbridge, O'Donnell, Bishop, and Terry Adams and I'm very happy.

We lost 2 seniors from the secondary last year and actually improved the position in my opinion. I like what I've seen from Calvary and, when he's healthy, from EL. However, in August, I would anticipate either of the true freshmen, Donald Manns and Tim Torrence, showing enough to see some time. Keep an eye on Torrence. He's my early pick to be the star of the class. At safety, Dickerson showed a lot of fire, heart and brains in the spring and is in on the one side. I would expect Greiser to start on the other side. Chuck Duffy, Pierre Penn should also see time there.

Overall, I would say that our strength is the LB spot and agree with Stevev that O-Line is our biggest problem area, though I'm a little more optimistic. This probably isn't the unit to carry us deep into the playoffs, but I bet they could get us a Big South ring. As far as attitude goes, this team is already more fired up than I've ever seen since coming back to LU. Personally, I'm pretty excited about next year and I'm not a guy who gets excited. (The night we came back against VMI, I called my wife, called my brother, hugged two people and then went back to work.) We've been waiting for this facility to actually go up for 6 years now and to finally see that the university is investing in the program in a visible way means more than anyone outside the program could ever know. The new turf is a pretty nice bonus.

[PAmedic]

I agree that the O line looked suspect last year- then again, so did MUCH of the team (Place kicking, anyone?)

I would DISAGREE that we have an issue at RB, though. I think our depth there is one of the reasons Greiser and others were moved- as LANG said: (paraphrasing here) Terrell is ALWAYS an option and a threat when he is on the field.

QB should be fine, TE should be good- assume Luck is starting? I'd have to say WR may be a little weak, but I could be completely wrong there.

DBs should be much improved w/ Calvary and the addition of Greiser and co, LBs have been and will continue to be stout.

JMHO

EDIT: ok, this post now looks STUPID because LIB beat me to it and I didn't see his post when submitting mine. Feel free to ignore it!

[A.G.]

Medic--we are all used to ignoring you.

[Libertine]

Sorry, Medic. It took me an hour to write all that (I do some actual work) so it might not have actually been there when you read the thread.

[Stevev]

Terrell won't stay at quarterback. Trust me, they'll find a way to get Zach 20-25 touches a game ... at RB, WR, QB, whereever. Rocco is keeping his plans tightlipped on that, though, which is smart.

I was thinking that maybe the option type of offense would be installed since the Offensive Coordinator is from a program that was option oriented (Rice). For that type of offense you need a quarterback with speed, cutting ability, and good instincts which Terrill has. So I was assuming the Terrell would be the starting QB with Brock Smith coming in in passing situations. I don't think that we will go to the Wishbone or Triple option this year but could be gradually phased in over the years. Of course, I am only speculating here based on the Offensive Coordinators background.

[SuperJon]

I had heard that we were doing a pro-style backfield with split backs. Kind of a thunder and lightning deal with Rashad and Zach.

[Chris Lang]

I don't think Wachenkeim wants to run the option, nor does Rocco. One of the reasons he left Rice was because he felt pigeonholed into being a coordinator who could only run an option offense. In the option, you not only need a quarterback who can move, but a running back who's equally adept at getting to the outside and getting in front to block for the quarterback when he takes off.

I think what you're going to see with Terrell is that he'll be an option at running back and at quarterback and at wide receiver. You can't just say he's going to be the quarterback in option situations. That's pretty transparent to an opponent, who will figure the option is coming any time he's cycled in. I saw some option during spring ball, but not a bunch.

Also, after the disaster of the first few games last year, with the quarterbacks shuffling in and out, I can't see Rocco being dumb enough to follow in Karcher's footsteps on that one.

Medic ... the WRs are solid. Turner and Jackson bring experience, and Dominic Bolden showed some flashes.

As for the OL, yes, still a question. Godsil did a great job learning on the fly and became a leader in that unit. The older guys were awful last year. Markus Ferguson underperformed, Sene came into camp overweight and out of shape and then got hurt and Kevin Inge flat disappeared. Winfrey, Godsil and Stone played well, though.

The secondary? Don't get me started. There was nothing worse than watching the end of that Charleston Southern game, when Collin Drafts looked straight at Jared Brogden and said "I'm going to throw it at you every time, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't defend it." Sure, he didn't REALLY say it, but that was the gist of things. They just picked that kid apart. That unit has nowhere to go but up.

[Stevev]

I was always under the assumption that our senior class last year was the worst ever and the reason for our poor performance. After reading the above posts I can now say it with certainty that it was.

[BJWilliams]

With all of the talk about different freshmen, I do have to wonder what about guys that we haven't talked a lot about (like Pierre Tinsley and Coach Rocco's nephew Chris)

[thesportscritic]

I thought our defense was horrible but then again we did play several teams that were heads and shoulders better than us.

[Stevev]

I thought that the horribleness was across the board and not just on defense. Our O-Line flat out sucked last year.

As far as the freshmen I thought that Adams, Trowbridge, and Williams stood out as the top of the class with Tassara, Landis, Bishop, Bailey, and Manns getting honorable mention. As far as the rest of the class, I heard some good comments about some of them but nothing else (No video's put out there on the board). Overall I think that on paper it was a pretty good class especially Coach Rocco did not have a lot of time to put it together. I guess we will see what transpires when camp opens. Nice to hear some good reports come the second week of August.

[Chris Lang]

The linebackers and Jason Horn were the only real bright spots on defense last year ... Manny made his share of mistakes, but he was trying to make up for some of the ineptitude around him, so that should be forgiven. Hursky and Duke played well for youngsters, though Hursky was banged up a bit. Kenneth Kemp (another senior) was a disappointment. Jason Horn really played well on the line. Actually got penetration and made the quarterback sweat.

[Roberto]

I think the defense this year will be a vast improvement from last. New 3-4 makes it a lot easier on the OLB's knowing they have 2 big guys in the middle to turn the ball back to (Lloyd and Rojas).
With EL and Calvary at corners, rest assured they won't leave Dickerson and Greiser (or Penn, depending on who wins the spot in summer camp) out to dry like last years corners did to CJ Moore and Shane Lancaster. (i.e. brogden at CSU)
D-Line is the only question mark, but Horn proved himself worthy last season but needs some help at the two end positions.
Overall though, LU has hard hitters across the board: Brandon Duke, Nick Hursky, Manny Rojas , Stevie Lloyd and a head hunter at safety in Pat Dickerson. Look out for a lot of big open field hits and less missed tackles. Thats my prediction!

Go Flames!

[Sly Fox]

Roberto - Are you from Houston? Whether you are or not, you need to register and join the discussion on a regular basis. The guys who know football are always welcome around here.

And I know its just placekicking, but we need either Ben or Zacry (or somebody new) to step up bigtime. Last year's field goal situation was unacceptible. Hopefully somebody proves themself worthy to the new staff and then delivers this fall.

[A.G.]

I thought our only weekness was 3 or 4 plays.

After all, Karcher said all along that we were 3-4 plays from being 7-4.

[Rocketfan]

And.....Mel Hankinson is still trying to implement his defense to this day to soundly defeat Tusculum. I truly believe those two guys are two peas in a pod.

[texasballer41]

Yes indeedy I watched all the close ones last season and we definetly need to address the kicker situation.
One thing we could try and do this year, is do everything and anything possible to keep the game out of the kickers hands! (or feet) Too many hard fought games have come down to the kickers and it like getting stabbed in the heart seeing that ball hit the post over and over again. So i hope they have been working hard at it all summer because last year was unacceptable.
As for the offense..I have a few predictions. I believe that Rashad will do a great job and will take control of the game, opening everything up for brock smith or zach terrell. I also believe that Terrell will be surprisingly used a lot at QB unless smith shows up in camp. He did a good job in the spring and right now is the man to beat. Terry adams or williams or whoever the freshman is will have to watch and study how a real college running back totes the rock. I believe that it will be Rashad, and when he gets tired, split time between Terron Lawrence (walk on) and Terry the freshman. I dont believe in confusing zach with learning two positions, it would be like crippling him. he's a playmaker at either position, but i believe a laser is better than a flashlight. keep him zoned in on one position and watch him do his thing. O-Line, get ready because we will be running the ball this year. i hope they've all been eating a lot this summer. Stokes is gonna kill everyone on the power play, and it's just gonna be a fun year. Imagine last year, but with a strong running game, and no brock farrell to throw it to the other team 3 times a game! Chill bumps... Its gonna be like night and day, trust me.
Roberto---aka, Robert

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for stepping up and registering anfd then diving right into the discussion, Roberto. Its always good to have more Texans on the board.

[Chris Lang]

Don't forget that Zach got most of the reps in spring practice at QB because Brock Smith missed half the spring battling mono. I don't think you can keep either of these kids on the bench. Both are extremely talented.

[01LUGrad]

I think it is safe to say our weakness last year was football.