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 We'd call them guarantees, but ... 25 college football near-certainties coming out of spring
Posted: Thursday July 15, 1999 11:39 AM
By Stewart Mandel, CNN/SI In March, CNN/SI set up fans for spring football by offering 25 questions at campuses around the country. Now, as teams enter the long summer wait before the season, we take a stab at 25 near certainties coming out of spring camps: 1) Nebraska, which loses four games as often as Haley's Comet does fly-bys, will get back to normal behind a heavily fortified defense and the return to health of QB Bobby Newcombe and RB DeAngelo Evans. 2) Penn State fans will form an angry mob and storm Happy Valley if JoePa doesn't see fit to replace incumbent QB Kevin Thompson with junior Rashard Casey after his superior performance in the spring game. 3) The next wave of superstars at Florida's skill positions -- redshirt freshman RB Earnest Graham and junior receivers Travis Taylor and Darrell Jackson -- will more than compensate for the Gators' back-to-the-drawing board defense. 4) Despite losing star receiver Torry Holt, N.C. State will hardly miss a beat thanks to redshirt freshman WR Koren Robinson, fresh off a dazzling spring, and QB Jamie Barnette still launching bombs from the pocket. 5) The folks in Blacksburg, Va., infatuated with hot-shot freshman QB Michael Vick, will spend the entire summer building up expectations of a Virginia Tech title run -- and trying not to forge any checks for a couple months. 6) Arizona State running back/kick returner J.R. Redmond, perhaps forgotten a bit in the Sun Devils' disappointing 5-6 season, will enter '99 as the most talented player in America and a serious nuisance to those ever-sturdy Pac-10 defenses. 7) Florida State, has found its next great defensive lineman in junior Jamal Reynolds, meaning Seminoles fans can rest assured that the nation's No. 1 defense will improve on that ghastly 215 yards a game last year. 8) Gary Barnett will gain instant popularity in Boulder by taking the talented Colorado team he inherited back to a major bowl game -- and by not being Rick Neuheisel. 9) Wisconsin Badgers fans will spend a whole lot of time debating whether Scott Kavanagh or Brooks Bollinger should start at quarterback only to see RB Ron Dayne get the ball, pretty much every first, second and third down. 10) Dusty Bonner, who stood out from several competitors throughout the spring, will fend off incoming freshman Jared Lorenzen in the fall to replace Tim Couch as sergeant of Hal Mumme's air attack at Kentucky. 11) Duke will field its most competitive team in years, as QB Spencer Romine and 18 other returning starters -- hey, that's 16 more than the basketball team -- take to ex-Florida assistant Carl Franks' Gator-like attack style. 12) The BCS computer will emit much love to Notre Dame for a schedule that includes road games at Michigan, Purdue and Tennessee and home dates with Michigan State, Arizona State and USC. 13) Sporting an untraditional shotgun offense led by QB Kevin Feterik, LaVell Edwards' BYU Cougars will be the first kings of the Mountain -- or at least the new Mountain West conference. 14) An otherwise loaded Arkansas offense (QB Clint Stoerner, WR Anthony Lucas and RB Chrys Chukwuma return) will be slowed by a piecemeal line that got even weaker when sophomore Gary Hobbs was lost until 2000 with academic troubles. 15) Texas Tech will pose a dangerous running tandem of star tailback Ricky Williams and senior fullback Sammy Morris -- remember Sammy Morris? -- returning for the first time since a memorable 1996 season. 16) For the first time since 1990, USC will knock off its favorite cross-town rival behind a team loaded with speed --- in fact, call them the "Sultans of Speed" in honor of junior LB Sultan Abdul-Malik and redshirt freshman RB Sultan McCullough. 17) Indiana coach Cam Cameron will be the envy of colleagues far and wide when he successfully mixes impressive redshirt freshman QB Tommy Jones and returning star Antwaan Randle El -- possibly by utilizing the latter at multiple positions .... good lord! 18) New coach Tommy Bowden and his newfangled pass offense will be the most exciting arrivals to hit Clemson , S.C., since indoor plumbing. 19) Texas A&M, despite going 10-3 last season, will enter '99 as a "sleeper" that proceeds to score a whole lot of points behind returnees Randy McCown (QB), Chris Cole (SE) and Dante Hall and Ja'Mar Toombs (RB). 20) The return to dominance of the Miami Hurricanes will become complete in fitting fashion -- on the wings of a dominating QB, Vinny Tes ... sorry, Gino Torr ... sorry, Kenny Kelly, a much-hyped sophomore. 21) Michigan should be solid whether Tom Brady or Drew Henson takes the reins at quarterback -- because RB Anthony Thomas has 1,500 yards written all over him. 22) The Missouri Tigers will find their two-year break from historic mediocrity went the way of Corby Jones, Devin West and most of their defense. 23) Sensational QB Chris Redman will lead Louisville to regular 50- and 60-point outpourings against the likes of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Eastern Michigan, and pretty much the entire Conference USA. 24) Washington State, which went from the Rose Bowl in '97 to the toilet bowl in '98, should produce the next Ryan Leaf from among QBs Paul Mencke, Steve Birnbaum and Jason Gesser -- preferably minus the temper tantrums and meeting-room naps. 25) With running backs Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, Travis Stephens and Kurston Biggers all capable of starting for defending national champion Tennessee, coach Phil Fulmer will make life easier and just tell QB Tee Martin to air it out ... uncertain, yes, but probably no more so than the other 24. Have a good summer, gridiron fans. See you Aug. 28.
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