Wed., Sept. 1, 2010

Outlook 2010 – Season 13

Excuse our dust: Cougars are ‘work in progress’
with intriguing mix of talented youth, return experience

Work in progress. That's the best way to sum up the 13th edition of the University of Saint Francis football team which features youth and speed mixed with enough experience back to encourage an optimistic outlook.

After just four workouts in mid-August preseason camp, USF Head Coach Kevin Donley is excited about the future of the Cougars in 2010 and beyond.

“We’ve got some speed,” Donley says to start. “We had 134 guys here for test in late June for mid-summer testing and this was probably overall the fastest team we’ve ever had.

”I like our team speed and sometimes a youthful football team can be very enthusiastic and that’s what I’ve seen early. As I look back in my coaching lifetime, 2002 was going to be a rebuilding year. We graduated our first class the year before. We started about a dozen true freshmen.”

The result was Donley’s first undefeated regular season in his career, at the time season No. 24.

“We’ve made some changes systematically to take advantage of speed and aggressiveness,” Donley adds. “We’re lookin’ for leaders. We need those players with playing experience to step up and claim things and play a leadership role. We've got good players, good people capable of doing what we ask of them to become a better team.”

Donley is a firm believer that the glass is at least half full and that positive attitudes are contagious even though the Cougars have:

• 2 starters back on defense

• 4 starters back on offense

• 6 MSFA 1st Team selections gone

• 5 NAIA / College Fans Sports Network All-Americans gone

“We’ve got some learning and maturing to do, but with the right attitude and work ethic, we’ve got the talent that if we pull together as a team, we can get back to where we want to be,” Donley says with an enthusiastic smile.

USF was ranked No. 17 in the NAIA Preseason Rating, the 130th consecutive time the Cougars have been in the Top 25. And they want to keep it that way.

 Check out the breakdowns on offense and defense

Cougars on offense

This year the Cougars will be counting on senior veteran quarterback Shaine Tierney to direct the offense and make plays with his legs as well as his arm, though Donley says nobody has their position locked up heading into preseason camp. Donley didn’t see a clear-cut difference at the quarterback spot in spring drills and is counting on Tierney, Justin Boser, Alex Beierwalter or Josh Miller to show something special in preseason.

Any one of those quarterbacks could be handing the ball off to speedy Frank Wolfe III or hard-running Bo Frye and Taylor Vieck, or the elusive Elijah Flowers or maybe even one of the freshmen coming in for the start of two-a-days. No one player is expected to do what Daniel Carter did the last four years, which was to re-write the USF record book for rushing yards, scoring and all-purpose running. He finished No. 1 on the MSFA all-purpose yardage list with 7,171 breaking the record set by another Cougar, Cory Jacquay, who finished his career with 6,772 yards after the 2005 season.

Backfield

Look for a number of Cougars to carry the ball this fall in the absence of the USF career rushing leader in Carter, who last year became the first Cougar to produce back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Junior Frank Wolfe III, who ran a 4.26-seconds 40-yard dash in June, has shown flashes of the sprinter speed he was touted for when he came to USF in 2007 and netted 293 yards in 2009 on 53 carries, an average of 5.5 yards per carry including an 81-yard TD sprint against Malone. Senior Bo Frye averaged 4.4 yards per carry rushing for 157 yards on 36 carries and four touchdowns. Flowers averaged 11.4 yards per carry in 2009 including a 52-yard run. Derek Atwood, Rich Gunn, Andre Turner and Koby Frye give the Cougars exciting options in the backfield as well.

“You don’t replace a Daniel Carter,” Donley says. “He was special. We don’t have anybody with those ‘shake and bake’ moves. But if Frank finds a seam, nobody is gonna catch him. Bo Frye and Vieck are strong runners, great blockers. Flowers also has great speed. Gunn and Atwood are real hard runners. Add Antoin Campbell in the mix, we’ve got a half-dozen guys who are talented tailbacks with different skill sets.”

Tailbacks coach Doug Coate adds, "We could have a 'tailback by committee' because of the different skills each of those individuals bring to the field. One thing they do have in common is a great work ethic and toughness. This may be the fastest group of backs we've ever had here."

Quarterback

Tierney headed into preseason camp as the quarterback with the most experience and statistics to support his argument. He is the leading returning rusher averaging 34.7 yards per game, 4.8 yards per carry, 347 yards on 72 carries and rushed for eight touchdowns. He also led the MSFA in pass completion percentage at .667, a USF single-season USF record, and finished No. 3 in NAIA passing completion percentage leaders. Tierney connected for 11 TD passes and ran for eight TDs, both career highs.

Boser is a junior who hasn’t started a collegiate game yet, but he played in six games in 2009 connecting for five touchdowns. Alex Beierwalter played in four games and started at QB in the Taylor game. Beierwalter averaged 7.2 yards per carry scoring two rushing TDs. Redshirt freshman Josh Miller is expected to challenge for playing time in 2010 after making some eye-opening plays in the annual Blue & White Game last April.

“Shaine was never 100 percent last year,” Donley says. “He had surgery in May or June of 2009 and played through pain all season. That last game of the season he had to come in and play on just one good leg. He’s a tough kid. He probably had a better spring than last fall because in the spring he was stronger and healthy again.”

But Donley expects Tierney to be challenged in preseason preparation.

“Tierney is gonna have real pressure coming from guys who were around last year in Boser and Beierwalter, and then we redshirted Miller,” Donley says. “(Miller) has 4.6 speed, is a strong, tough kid and he’s gonna be one to be reckoned with for quarterback. Miller improved a great deal in the spring in basic play execution and really worked at getting’ his feet set and throwin’ the ball down the field.”

Receivers

USF welcomes back a talented receiving corps led by seniors Jared Clodfelter and Kyle Peabody. After Brian Schultz’ 47 receptions in 2009, Peabody followed with 30 in 10 games while Clodfelter had 26 receptions in seven games. Clodfelter’s season was cut short when he sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in the first half of the game at Missouri Science & Technology. Clodfelter recovered and participated in spring drills. He's looking for big things this fall as is Peabody.

Schultz concluded his fine career with 653 yards, three TDs and a 65.3 average as a senior in 2009, but USF has a number of talented receivers ready to pick up the slack in Armando Bustamante, Ben Clifford, Koby Frye, Flowers, Wolfe, Bo Frye, Andre Turner and Austin Coleman.

“I’m ecstatic with what we have coming back,” wide receivers coach Pat Donley says. “We need leadership from Jared and Kyle as our most experienced returnees. Bustamante came on the last half of the season as did Coleman. Clifford has good hands as a tight end and with the emergence of Aaron Knight, Aaron Bettcher, Bryce Thornton in spring ball, as well as freshman TE Nate Odle, we’ve got speed and depth at our receiver positions.”

Interior Line

Junior Wyatt Tuggle moves over to center from left guard, where he started all 10 games in 2009 replacing All-MSFA MEL center Brendan Carragher.

“Wyatt has improved physically adding strength in the off season,” USF line coach Trevor Miller says. “He did a good job in the spring adapting to center. He took control of the line of scrimmage communicating with the rest of the line.”

Tuggle did spell Carragher at center later in the season, so he is familiar with the reads and skills necessary to play the position. Along with Carragher, the Cougars have to replace 2009 Silver Helmet winner Justin Vela at left tackle and All-MSFA MEL right tackle Ryan Kauchak. Frontrunners for the two tackle openings include Jeremy Mayes and Zach Greiner. Eli Alafogiannis is also a contender, though early in camp Alafogiannis was still rehabbing from off-season surgery, so expect Mayes or Greiner to emerge as a starter early in the season. Miller adds that Brice Darling, Drew McCool-Solis and freshman Cameron Edwards are expected to challenge for playing time.

“We’re looking for all of them to improve on the job,” Miller says. “Nothing is set in stone regarding the tackle positions which should make for interesting competition in pre-season practices. Greiner is athletic and smart. Mayes has added weight and strength and provides a very aggressive, tough mentality. Alafogiannis now knows our offense and what is expected while getting stronger after off-season surgery. Darling is a versatile guy who will challenge for playing time while providing depth.”

At right guard, Corey Cronk is a lock as a starter and a player Miller expects to provide more leadership for the line since experience is a concern heading into the 2010 season. Dan Muchler will be challenging Cronk for playing time after getting significant playing time in 2009 while adding strength in the off-season. On the left side Miller expects Mike Breland and Michael Goings to battle for the starting slot,” Miller emphasizes. “Goings has improve quite a bit and gives us depth at guard and center because of his versatility. Breland may be inexperienced, but he learned a lot last season and he is capable of pushing for either starting time or extensive playing time.”

Miller adds he won’t be surprised to see newcomers Edwards, Jesse Boley and Keegan Morris challenge for playing time even though they are freshmen.

“Edwards is a monster at 6-foot-4, 320, while Boley and Morris are fundamentally sound and aggressive, two keys to coming in and earning playing time,” Miller says.

 USF on Defense

Defense has some major reloading to do in 2010 with just two starters back in Jordan Wise and Bryan Hardister.

“We’ve made some changes to maximize talent coming back and new talent coming in,” says defensive coordinator Warren Maloney. USF has two new assistant coaches on defense in secondary coach Ron Wise and former USF linebacker Joey Didier, who will handle inside linebackers.

“We lost a lot of starters, that’s true,” Maloney adds. “But in our scheme, the starters don’t play every play and we’ve got some guys back who delivered significant playing time in 2009. We’ve got to make them better finishers this season to improve our defense this season.

“We’re lookin’ for leadership from guys like Hardister, Wise, (Ross) Bauman, and (Devron) Robinson as we grow together as a unit.”

Checkout breakdowns by position on defense:

Defensive End

Open season on both ends of the USF line with several returnees challenging for starter status to replace 2009 sack leaders Stephen Whited, who finished as the USF career sacks leader with 27.5, and Travis Craven. The primary candidates to step into a starting role are returnees Anthony Moore, Jon Lehman, Rex Drabenstot, and Derek Shire.

“This is as young as we’ve been at end for several years,” says line coach Eric Wagoner. “The positive about it is that all of them have something to prove, so it’s exciting as they continue to learn and improve.”

Moore, Lehman and Drabenstot all earned playing time in 2009, which Wagoner says will make a difference in 2010. Moore got his first collegiate experience after serving with the United States Marines Corps including two tours of duty in Iraq. He fought through some early injuries to contribute significant minutes. Lehmann showed flashes of brilliance, but just six months after serious surgery, he wasn’t back to full strength and fatigued more as the season wore on. Drabenstot moved out to end out of necessity as a true freshman.

“We’ve got to be mentally tough and finish plays,” Wagoner emphasizes. “Our backup players at end were almost there, but finishing plays is the difference between a starter and a backup. Part of it is experience, part of it is maturity. I think that Moore, Lehmann and Drabenstot all made good strides in spring workouts and the off-season.

“All three are smart, pick things up quick, and with experience from last year coupled with the gains they’ve made physically through training workouts, we are in solid position to improve on last year.”

“We’ll continue to work on finishing plays after we missed at least 10 sack opportunities last season,” Wagoner says. “They all have over 3.0 GPA’s, so their intelligence will serve them well along with their improved strength.”

 

Interior Line

Bryan Hardister is the most veteran among returnees on the inside after starting all 10 games in 2009. The senior ranks No. 4 among returnees on defense with 25 tackles a year ago. He also had 1.5 TFLs, one sack and one quarterback hurry. Lance Carey played in nine games in 2009 and is on a quest for more extensive playing time in 2010.

“Bryan and Lance have the experience and knowledge to create problems for offenses,” Wagoner says. “I expect more help in the rotation from redshirt freshman Marcus Neal. They are all strong, experienced players who give us flexibility and versatility to move them out to end from time to time and keep the offense off balance.

”Finishing plays will continue to be a point of emphasis in pre-season camp,” Wagoner added. “We missed maybe as many as 10 sacks last season, so you can see what an impact that has on a teams’ success or failure.”

Linebacker

Wide open or up for grabs is the best way to describe the inside linebacker competition. Robinson is a three-year veteran with extensive playing time and now looking to start as a senior.

“He really closes fast and likes to pound people,” USF inside linebacker coach Joey Didier says. Didier adds that Ethan Chappell, redshirt freshman Matt Tippman as well as freshman Garrett Harvey will push Robinson for playing time.

“What we lack in experience, we hope to make up for with speed,” outside linebackers coach Dave Ivy says with emphasis. “Jarrell Hunter and Troy Hudson leave some big shoes to fill, but we’ve got some smart guys in Cody Williamson, Quinn Doan, Justin Juarez, Solomon Grimes and Austen Macak who have some playing experience and are hungry to earn more.”

Williamson has the inside track to move into starting slots left open with the departure of Hunter and Hudson. Robinson has been a steady, dependable player in the OLB rotation for three seasons. Williamson played in all 10 games as a freshman collecting eight solo tackles, 22 total, and he contributed two pass breakups. Robinson played in nine games with 16 total tackles, nine solos, and one quarterback hurry.

Cornerback

Josh Bullock made a very strong case in spring drills for a starting slot finishing the spring with an impressive Blue and White game. The 6-foot-1 sophomore broke up five passes in the conclusion to spring drills to take an inside track on one of the two starting slots left open by the departure of All-MSFA CB Donavon Evans and Knick Middleton. Bullock is getting challenged by Keith Lewis and Bruce McNorton, who moved from offense to defense in the spring. Allen Richardson, Demarlo Cheatham and Taylor Brown are all in the mix for the other starting corner slot.

Safety

Senior free safety Jordan Wise returns at the Cougars leading returning tackler from 2009 as well as USF’s leading tackler in 2009. The Cougars also return strong safety Ross Bauman, who was No. 2 behind Wise in total tackles among 2010 returners. Wise finished with 69 tackles, Bauman 36. But new secondary coach Ron Wise is taking a good, hard look at challengers Erick Humphrey, Tim Ryan, Jake Allen and Joseph Torres for playing time in 2010.

“I really was disappointed the way last season ended,” says Jordan Wise. “We as a team can’t change it, but we can dictate this season, so you keep (2009) in the back of your mind and call on it for motivation when needed.”

Special Teams

Now under the guidance of Eric Wagoner, competition in preseason should be intense with openings at placekicker and punter. USF is looking to replace Rhys Barnhart, who set one NAIA record for consecutive extra-point conversions at 94 and two USF career records (extra points and field goals) in three seasons. The Cougars must also replace punter Kenny Paul, who set a single-season USF record in 2009.

Kevin Smith returns to handle kickoffs, and appears to have the inside track to handle extra point attempts and field goals. Aaron Lee handled punting in the Blue and White Game, but may get challenged by freshmen Adam Merriman and Jason Gordon. Smith is also capable of handling punting duties. Levi Rouch returns at longsnapper and holders Wise and Clodfelter return as well.

Wagoner expects Elijah Flowers to handle kickoff returns calling him “very good at catching the ball and he knows how to secure the ball. Aaron Knight was impressive in the spring returning punts. He’s strong, athletic and he makes a lot of plays.”

 Wise is also a capable punt returner as well.

Newcomers

This is one of those rare seasons at USF where ‘Help Wanted’ signs are hanging on a number of positions for the 47 freshman and four junior college/community college transfers. It’s an impressive class of Cougar newcomers that includes seven players from Indiana who were selected for the 2010 Grange Insurance North-South All-Star Classic. There were six of those future Cougars listed as starters including LB Devon Rush (Snider H.S.), WR Colin Harruff (Homestead H.S.), OL Matt Carden (NorthWood H.S.), OL Keegan Morris (Delta H.S.), and OL Cameron Edwards (Bloomington North). Jake Elbert (DL, Franklin Central H.S.) was also selected, but did not play.

And there’s more. Antion (pronounced Antwan) Campbell, a running back out of Springboro (OH), who rushed for 1,550 yards and 14 TDs finishing No. 17 in the talent-rich Buckeye state. A fellow Buckeye, Garrett Harvey, was an AP Division I All-Ohio Special Mention and Toledo Blade All-City First Team selection at linebacker. Wes Hunsucker produced some impressive stats at QB for Anna H.S. in Sidney, Ohio, that included setting 15 passing records.

Back in Indiana, Nate Odle (TE, Franklin Central H.S.) was an AP 5A All-State honorable mention selection as was Kory Stamps (WB, Lawrence North H.S.) while Adam Merriman was named Journal Gazette All-Northeast Indiana first-team punter.

Schedule

While USF reloads for its 13th season, this perennial NAIA Top 25 team doesn’t get much of a break from the schedule-maker in 2010. USF has four games against NAIA Preseason Ratings member, three in the Top 25.

Those Top 25 clashes heading into the season include an Oct. 9 home collision against No. 16 Walsh University and a regular-season home finish on Nov. 13 against No. 22 Taylor University. The Cougars head to Chicago on Nov. 6 to tangle with No. 4 St. Xavier University, the MSFA MEL pre-season favorite and 2009 champion. USF plays its first rated opponent in the Sept. 18 home opener against No. 27 Saint Ambrose University.