Louie's Friday Owls

[Louie]

:moneybag: 2008 College Football Season: 2-1 +470 :moneybag:

My favorite animal today is the Owl....

Friday Night's College Football

Rice Owls -3.5
(440 to win 400)

Temple Owls -7
(220 to win 200)


Good Luck Today Everyone....


Louie

[jimbojpc]

GOOD lUCK lOUIE!

[Louie]

GOOD lUCK lOUIE!Thanks Jimbo. Haven't seen you on here in years I think, no?

[jimbojpc]

Louie , Been a long time. Looking forward to a prosperous NCAAF posting here. :hitit:

[jimbojpc]

Rice Owls
Head Coach: David Bailiff
3-9 at Rice, 1 year
Off. Coord: T. Herman/B. Miller; Def. Coord: C. Driesbach/C. Naivar
2007 Record: SUR 3-9, PSR 5-6, O-U 10-1
Field: Rice Stadium (70,000) FieldTurf
The Owls must be wondering whether the 2006 campaign was a dream. If it wasn’t, then the renaissance
of the once-proud, but long-dormant Rice football program lasted just one season. Sure, former head coach
Kenny Hatfield and his old-school wishbone attack had some success in the WAC prior to the school joining
Conference USA. But, after an 8-4 campaign in 2001, the hard-trying Owls quickly lost traction. And when
the team went 1-10 during 2005—its first season in the newly-expanded C-USA—the Rice administration
finally ran out of patience and decided it was time to pull the plug on the longtime Hatfield regime.
Enter former Tulsa defensive coordinator Todd Graham. The new head coach quickly transformed the
landlocked Owl offense into a pass-happy spread attack, with magical results. After the team won only a
single game the year before he arrived, Graham led Rice to a post-season berth in his very first campaign,
the school’s first bowl bid since 1961! Unfortunately, 2006 turned out to be Graham’s one and only season
in charge of the Owls, as he returned to Tulsa to take over the Golden Hurricane when former boss Steve
Kragthorpe left for Louisville. And just like that, Rice regressed back to 3-9 in 2007.
To be fair to new head coach David Bailiff and his young staff, it wasn’t as if the Owls weren’t competitive
last year. They won three Conference USA games—including a stunning upset (as a 20½-point
underdog) at Southern Miss—while none of Rice’s five losses in league play was by more than two TDs.
And nearly all the top contributors from an offense that produced 31 ppg and more than 400 ypg in 2007
are back this season. Heading that list is the dynamic pass-catch senior duo of QB Chase Clement & WR
Jarett Dillard. The irrepressible, do-it-all Clement has thrown 50 TDP while running for another 12 scores
in just the last two seasons! Thirty-five of those 50 Clement scoring tosses have been snagged by the gluefingered
Dillard, who needs only 11 more this season to break the NCAA record for career TD receptions.
Although the retooling Owl OL looked shaky at times during the spring, insiders say Bailiff and coordinators
Tom Herman & Blake Miller are most concerned about their attack being too dependent on Clement.
After all, more than 70% of Rice’s plays from scrimmage in 2007 were either passes or runs by the star QB!
Clement (who suffered multiple injuries in 2006) topped the team in rushing last year, as true frosh Justin
Hill led the RBs with only 321 yards on the ground. Scouts think the move of shifty former WR jr. Jeramy
Goodson to RB might add some spark to the deep but unproductive platoon of ball carriers.
Any worries on offense pale in comparison to the angst surrounding the awful Owl defense. In a conference
filled with less than stellar stop units last season, respected veteran coordinator Chuck Dreisbach’s
4-2-5 scheme was the most abominable, surrendering 43 ppg on 511 ypg! While Rice put at least 31 points
on the board in seven of its final eight games during 2007, it allowed fewer than 34 only once after the
opener. The biggest problem was the very young secondary, which was scorched for a nation’s-worst 312
ypg & 37 TDs in the air. On the bright side for the Owls this year—soph DE Scott Solomon (4½ sacks as a
true frosh) looks ready to blossom into a top-notch pass rusher, injury-prone sr. LB Brian Raines is a pretty
good playmaker when healthy, and the bullet-riddled DBs can’t get any worse (can they?).
Summary...It’s definitely true that earning a post-season bid doesn’t mean nearly as much as it once
did. Still, Graham proved that even a tiny science and engineering school such as Rice can grab a little
slice of the burgeoning bowl pie...once in a while. (Recruiting well enough to have any sustained success
seems almost impossible due to the Owls’ stringent academic standards.) Clement & the offense should
be plenty virile again in 2008, but the defense has to show a little testicular fortitude if Rice hopes to climb
back toward .500. The defenseless Owls have gone “over” the total in 33 of their last 39 board games!

[jimbojpc]

SMU
Head Coach: June Jones
First Year at SMU; 76-41 overall, 9 years
Off. Coord: Dan Morrison; Def. Coord: Tom Mason
2007 Record: SUR 1-11, PSR 4-8, O-U 6-6
Field: Gerald J. Ford Stadium (32,000) FieldTurf
SMU wasn’t always a pushover on the football field. During the 1920s, legendary head coach Ray Morrison built the Mustangs into
one of the top programs in the old Southwest Conference. A 7-0 Rose Bowl loss to Stanford was the only
blemish on the record of the 1935 squad, which pitched eight shutouts during its 12-0 regular season!
Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker had SMU back among the top teams in the country in the late ‘40s,
and longtime Iowa mentor Hayden Fry actually cut his teeth with the Mustangs, winning an SWC title
in 1966. The school reached the pinnacle of its power during Ronald Reagan’s first term in the White
House, ranking among the nation’s top 15 in four straight seasons from 1981-84 (including a No. 2 finish
for the 11-0-1 1982 team). But soon after the “Pony Express” backfield of Craig James & future NFL
Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson was running wild in Dallas, it was revealed that SMU had been playing a
little fast and loose with the rules off the field. OK, very fast and loose with the rules. So much so that
the NCAA decided to raze the program, taking the unprecedented step of barring the Mustangs from any
competition during the 1987 season. SMU decided to also sit out the 1988 campaign rather than play the
NCAA-mandated schedule of seven road dates and no home games. The Mustangs have never recovered
from that draconian so-called “Death Penalty,” failing to earn even a single bowl bid since.
Those around the Metroplex area know that SMU has many well-heeled alums who are eager to
return the program to some semblance of its previous glory. So, after the administration decided during
the latter stages of last year’s 1-11 campaign that head coach Phil Bennett wouldn’t be coming back for a
seventh season, it wasn’t really a big surprise when the school’s “cigars” came up with the cash necessary
to lure June Jones away from his cushy Hawaii gig.
Jones and his record-setting “Red Gun” offense arrive in Dallas after leading the Warriors to a Sugar
Bowl berth last year following a 12-0 regular-season campaign. The new Mustang mentor’s pass-happy
attack produced 440 ypg in the air during his last two years at UH, and he inherits an experienced QB
who should be a pretty good fit for the offense. Mobile jr. Justin Willis threw for 51 TDs and nearly 5000
yards during his first two seasons at SMU, and he was reinstated to the squad in late May after being suspended
for spring due to academic problems. Willis is expected to quickly win back the starting job from
redshirt frosh Logan Turner during August camp, and the return of his favorite target jr. WR Emmanuel
Sanders (team-leading 74 catches in 2007) should help expedite the QB’s assimilation of the new offense.
And spring practice observers predict that some of the less experienced WRs—particularly sophs Aldrick
Robinson & Josh Bryant—will emerge as significant playmakers in Jones’ system.
The Mustangs’ docile defense didn’t buck much in 2007, opponents saddling the very tame stop unit
with 40 ppg on nearly 500 ypg. But insiders say Jones was actually pleasantly surprised by the talent SMU
has returning to that side of the ball, especially on a DL that had only 20 sacks while permitting 5 ypc last
season. Still, while coaches believe the first-string LBs & DBs are capable of holding their own, there is
grave concern about lack of depth in those areas, with Jones already conceding that many of his incoming
recruits will have to see immediate action in the back seven of the ‘Stang stop unit.
Summary...After mustering only one victory last season, it seems a pretty safe bet that SMU will show
substantial improvement in Jones’ first campaign, much like his debut team at Hawaii in 1999. Sure, the
offense probably won’t be clicking on all cylinders for a while. But there are enough key pieces in place
for the attack to be pretty productive right away in the defensively-challenged C-USA. If the depth-shy
defense stays relatively healthy, we won’t be shocked to see the Mustangs get back to near .500 in 2008.

[jimbojpc]

lOUIE ,
Long winded post. But they back your play up. I need all the arsenal possible to get a sharp edge. If you like?Can post similar information on the Temple/Army match-up?

[onestyles]

Louie, there is a reason this is your turf.

You know WHAT IS UP in the world of college football.

These are my games too, but I am going to have -4 and -7.5

But WE GOT THIS, lets take this one home!

[redskinsdb21]

I just hope they are your favorite animal after tonight Louie::clap:

[Louie]

I love those Owls!! Off to a great start! Thanks for the props boys!!

Jimbo,
We really don't need want any "Gold Sheet" promos in these forums. We handicapp these games ourselves. If you want to do your own writeups or post any writeups without the handicapping promotions in them, feel free. But, leave the "Gold Sheet" promos on the covers and other garbage forums.

:moneybag: 2008 College Football Season: 4-1 +1070 :moneybag:

[oakas]

Thanks Louie for talking me out of Temple. LOL .......I did have some on them.

I really loaded up on Rice tonight.

Good luck tomorrow, Louie.

[grandmaster]

Hoot!


:toast:

[Louie]

Thanks Louie for talking me out of Temple. LOL .......I did have some on them.

I really loaded up on Rice tonight.

Good luck tomorrow, Louie.I talked you out of Temple? How? You added to my confidence in my rice play! :thumbsup:

[jimbojpc]

Louie, there is a reason this is your turf.

You know WHAT IS UP in the world of college football.

These are my games too, but I am going to have -4 and -7.5

But WE GOT THIS, lets take this one home!

Louie Great Job Capping! 2-0 sweep! WOW! onestyle not sure should even address this? Louie is the man here, common knowledge . For me its a we not a I me ego plea. Instigating ? Louie sorry if the information posted caused any drama? Anyway good going later

[grandmaster]

For me its a we not a I me ego plea. Instigating ?

:enlgishplease:

[Louie]

Louie sorry if the information posted caused any drama? No problem. Just need to keep anything service related off these forums. Get it?