Practice Report Day 1

FAU day 1 of practice. -A. ivins

Whistles and shouts could be heard all throughout the Tom Oxley practice fields this afternoon as Florida Atlantic kicked off spring practice.

"Hey Polo.... Shut Up!" yelled new defensive back coach Dick Hopkins in regards to senior CB Tavouis Polo jawing his mouth after a play.

New to the Florida Atlantic defense is a sense of tempo and anger. Coach Hopkins and newly appointed defensive coordinator Kirk Van Vulkenburgh could be heard all across the field as they shouted orders at players.

Many players who appeared to have had a “locked” starting position for next fall found themselves working out with the second teams. It appears that no position is secure this spring.

On the offensive side of the ball, senior QB Jeff Van Camp has seemed to pick up where he has left off from last season. Van Camp connected numerous times with wideout Lestar Jean.

Head coach Howard Schnellenburger called practice a bit early after Van Camp connected with Jean for a 40-yard TD pass. Listed below are some notable practice notes;

- Sophomore QB David Kooi worked with the second team offense but struggled throughout the day. In team drills he threw an interception and also fumbled numerous snaps. He didn’t appear comfortable with the offensive line.

- Senior WR Avery Holly who is the second returning leading receiver in receptions didn’t pratice, although he was dressed out. Senior WR Grant Glover started in his place.

- The 1st team linebackers included; Michael Lockley, Alex Pattee and Malik Eugene

- Redshirt freshman FB Chris Jackson got a lot of work out of the backfield. Numerous times he was the target of screens and check downs.

- QB David Kooi has switched his number to #7, WR DeAndre Richardson is #2 and, LB David Hinds is #11.

FAU continues practice Friday at 3:30

- A. Ivins

Could this Spring be a "Rebuilding" Spring?

At 3:30 today Florida Atlantic football players will take the practice field in preparation for next season looking for some answers.

After missing a bowl for the first time in three years, Florida Atlantic finds it’s self in a position where they are looking to rebound. The question is though, has too much been lost?

Gone is almost the entire offense which was very productive last season. The defense returns a group of players that finished 112th in total defense last season giving up a school record 651 yards in one contest.

Fortunately head coach Howard Schnellenburger doesn’t have a bare cupboard. Senior QB Jeff Van Camp and Sun Belt leading rusher RB Alfred Morris both return to an offense that finished second in the conference. A new defensive staff is in place with the hiring of defensive back coach Dick Hopkins, who brings 30-years of coaching experience to the staff.

On the offensive side of the ball, the biggest question will be how well the offensive line can perform. OT Troy Niblock is the only real player bringing experience to the line. Finding another receiver to compliment senior WR Lestar Jean will also be a priority which places pressure on senior wideout Avery Holly.

Defensively, there are questions everywhere. New defensive coordinator Kirk Van Valkenburgh has to find answers for a linebacking corp. that looked lost at times last season. Look for senior LB Michael Lockley and sophomore David Hinds to battle it out for a starting position.

Young players and senior leadership will need to step up for the Owls if they hope to receive a bowl berth next Fall and there is no better time than over the next month of spring practice.

Look for 4th and Long to bring you some spring football coverage over the next month starting today.

-A. Ivins

4 Weekley Questions

Who is going to win the Final Four? West Virginia (See below). The Mountaineers have had an impressive run through the post season and are riding a 10-game win streak into their semifinal matchup with Duke. Duke, on the other hand comes in as the only number-1 seed to make the Final Four. Coach K's team likes to shoot the three, but should struggle against a tall athletic West Virginia defense that hampered Kentucky's shooting efforts last weekend. West Virginia over Butler.


What is the best week-1 College Football matchup? Many feel that the Monday night matchup of Boise State and Virginia Tech in Washington D.C. will take center stage the first week of Fall. But another game to watch out for is the North Carolina and LSU matchup that Saturday in Atlanta. Both LSU and North Carolina could make some noise in their respective conferences and both could be sleeper BCS game picks. LSU's offense welcome's back an experienced QB in Jordan Jefferson and a potential breakout athlete in Russell Sheppard. North Carolina brings in a loaded defense lead by monster DT Marvin Austin and LB Quan Sturdivant. Look for this game to make some prime time noise.

How competitive is women's College Basketball? Saturday night 1-seeded Stanford beat 5-seeded Georgia by 37 points in a Sweet 16 matchup. Sunday night 1-seeded Connecticut beat 4-seeded Iowa State by 38 points in a Sweet 17 matchup. Looking at these scores it begins to appear that there is a large gap between good and elite teams in women's basketball. Only a handful of teams can compete with each other at a high level, and that is hampering the sport. Still looking outside of the box fans need to understand that any college-level men's basketball program could win the women's tournament.

Who will have the best season as a QB in the SEC East? The only true starting quarterback returning to the SEC East is South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia, and he has plenty of questions. John Brantley takes over for Tim Tebow at Florida, Senior Logan Gray and Freshman Aaron Murray are in a race at Georgia, Larry Smith is suppose to be challenged by JUCO enrollee Jordan Rodgers at Vanderbilt, and Nick Stephens looks to be the front runner to win the job at Tennessee. At Kentucky, new head coach Joker Phillips welcomes a two-headed quarterback attack of sophomore Morgan Newton and athlete Randall Cobb, both combined could provide a versatile offense for the Wildcats. At of all of these quarterbacks, look for Stephen Garcia to have the best opportunity to have a great season. Garcia has started since he was a freshman but has played vey inconsistent since. With a loaded backfield and a talented offense around him, there should be no excuse for Garcia to struggle.

- A Ivins

Football Tidbit

-LSU appears to be using a new Nike football. The ball pictured above with LSU QB Jordan Jefferson debuted with the Tigers on there first day of spring practice. Although its just speculation, I believe it helps the receiver look in the ball.

-Many people including ESPN's Todd McShay have hampered on Tim Tebow's throwing motion and how it is to long and slow. However, Tebow might not have the slowest of them all. Spring practice kicked off for Florida two days ago, and freshman QB Trey Burton, had a throwing motion which almost looked like a shotput. This just goes to show that coach Urban Meyer isn't afraid to recruit an athlete and develop a system around him, much like he did with Tebow and former UF QB Chris Leak.

-Tennessee RB Bryce Brown, the one time uber recruit has decided to transfer from Tennessee. Brown came to the Vols in former head coach Lane Kiffin's first recruiting class instead of following his brother to Miami. Since then his brother, LB Arthur Brown, also a one time uber recruit, has decided to transfer to Kansas State. Look for Bryce Brown to end up at Kansas State or out at USC.

-A. Ivins

West Virginia to Take it All

Kentucky has it all. They have Demarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson and of course John Wall. Four players on the roster are listed as potential lottery picks in this summer's draft.

Kansas has been here before. They won a tittle two years ago and are coached by a legend in the making Bill Self. With a roster dominated of experienced upperclassmen many believe they will take another title.

However, I'm not buying into it. Ever since West Virginia's opening win in the Big East Tournament i have liked them to make a run to the NCAA's Final Four. West Virgina has the ability to close out games, create match ups and play defense; all of which are essential in tournament play.

Led by Senior Forward Da'Sean Butler, West Virgina is 7-0 on neutral courts having won the 76 Anaheim Classic and the Big East Tournament. Bob Huggins knows how to prepare his team to play in a tournament type atmosphere which is key to winning post season games.

Another factor to like about West Virginia is they don't play a normal system like other schools. Many teams in college basketball are running 3 and 4 guard lineups where as Huggins line up consists of 4 forwards.

One of those forwards, Sophomore Devin Ebanks, has the most potential out of any forward in the tournament. Ebanks is not the focal point of the Mountaineers offense, but is athletic enough to make plays when needed. Along with his scoring potential Ebanks can run the floor, block shots and make steals.

As of now, West Virginia is one of the hottest teams in the land. By not landing a number-1 seed there should be plenty of motivation for a team who has knocked of the likes of Ohio State, Villanova and Georgetown this season.

Not receiving a number 1-seed for the Mountaineers, would be the equivalent to Alabama winning the SEC Championship in football and not being called one of the top-4 teams in the nation. Many bracket analysts have overlooked West Virgina, but I'm taking them to the championship game for the first time since 1959.

Ebanks could be key to a Final Four run

A. Ivins likes:

Florida over BYU, Old Dominion over Notre Shame in "wasn't the Irish a bubble team 3 weeks ago, now there a 6-seed?" Villanova over Robert Morris, Vandy over Murray State in a close "almost" upset special, Northern Iowa over UNLV, Kansas State over North Texas's Mean Green, Baylor big over Sam Houston State, Richmond Spiders over Saint Mary's in a good mid-major battle, UTEP over Butler in Upset Special 1, Washington over Marquette in Upset Special Dos, Georgetown destroying Ohio, Kentucky over ETSU in a game that UK could win with 4 players, Kansas over Lehigh, Tennessee over San Diego State, New Mexico over Montana and Texas over Wake Forest.

A. Ivins Final Four- Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, Syracuse

A 12 seed over a 5 seed?

The most exciting two days of basketball are almost upon us, but most people are still filling out brackets (including myself).

Of course with march madness there is always luck. Hey this year St. Patty's day is the day before. Everyone knows there will be upsets when it comes to March and if you caught the NIT (Not In Tournament) last night you saw a 1-seeded host team lost to a 8 seed, which is the equivalent to Lehigh taking down Kentucky tomorrow night.

Everybody automatically likes to chose the 12 seeds upsetting the 5 seeds, but lets look at what has happened the past 3-years in the tournament.

• 7 12-seeds have upset 5-seeds


• 6 11-seeds have upset 6-seeds


• 4 13-seeds have upset 4 seeds

Taking these numbers into consideration, you should really have two 12-seeds upsetting 5-seeds, one to two 11-seeds upsetting 6-seeds and one 13 beating a 4-seed.

This morning on the radio, a cleaning lady had a Final-Four of; 10-seeded Florida, 14-seeded Ohio (yes Ohio not Ohio St.), 3-seeded Baylor and 10-seeded Missouri winning it all.

The problem with people picking upsets like mentioned above is that they get "upset" happy. Following these numbers hopefully you wont end up with a Final Four full of bubble teams who should have been playing last night.

Listed bellow is a break down of the potential "upsets"....

5. Michigan State vs 12. New Mexico State- 7:20 pm Spokane Fri.

New Mexico winners of the WAC tournament make it here with a 21-11 record with the best win against Utah State. However the Aggies have dropped games to, UCLA, New Mexico (2),Saint Mary's and UTEP. I don't really like the Aggies in this game and would suggest looking elsewhere for an upset. -A. Ivins likes Meatchicken State

5. Butler vs 12. UTEP- 4:45 San Jose Thur.

UTEP was ridding a 16-game winning streak before falling to Houston in the conference final. Butler has won 20-games in a row dominating there conference and conference tournament. However Butler has played three tournament teams at neutral sites and is 0-3 against them. -A. Ivins likes UTEP

5. Temple vs 12. Cornell- 12:20 Jacksonville Fri.

Cornell is the "sexy" pick for most. An IVY league school with a 27-4 record almost beating number 1-seeded Kansas, is appealing to most, but people don't realize what Temple has done. Temple comes out of the Atlantic-10, a very underrated conference, and has wins over 2-seeded Villanova, 6-seeded Xavier and a 1-point loss to 3-seeded Georgetown. - A. Ivins likes Temple. First off my boss is a Cornell grad, i don't like him, therefor i don't like Cornell. I see Temple as a Sweet 16 threat.

5. Texas A&M vs 12. Utah State- 4:45 Spokane Fri.

First off, i really like Texas A&M, but Utah State is a very solid team. Utah State is another 12-seeded WAC team who doesn't have a big "it" win but where ridding a 16-game win streak until being upset in the conference tournament final. -A. Ivins likes Utah State. Last year i was in Reno skiing and ran into tons of Utah State fans there for the conference tournament. They support this team and will be in force up in Spokane. Texas A&M appears to be just a year away.

In the other upsets: A. Ivins likes 11-seeded Washington over Marquette, 11-seeded Old Dominion over Notre Dame, and 13-seeded Sienna over Purdue

-A Ivins

FAU Spring Preview

Florida Atlantic enters the spring season coming off of a disappointing 5-7 record which has led to some changes that could have the Owls pointing in the right direction.

Gone is the most productive quarterback FAU has ever had in QB Rusty Smith, along with TE's Jason Harmon and Jamari Grant and FB Willie Rose. However the most interesting loss is the one of defensive coordinator Kirk Hoza.

Last season FAU's defense led by Hoza finished 7th in the Sun Belt giving up 453 yards per game. Along with that they gave up a school record 651 yards at Troy. A defensive scheme that wasn't putting pressure on quarterbacks, only 12 sacks and 5 interceptions, led Hoza to be the first coach Howard Schnellenberger has had to fire in over 40-years of coaching.

Linebackers coach Kurt Van Valkenburgh was named the new defensive coordinator and an expected shift in schemes is in the making. FAU also added defensive back coach Dick Hopkins who comes to FAU with over 30-years of coaching experience.

Listed below is a spring outlook for FAU.

Star Watch:
RB Alfred Morris- Last spring Morris was buried deep on the depth chart listed as a back-up fullback. 1-year later Morris returns as the Sun Belt leading rusher after gaining over 1,300 yards while being the workhorse of the offense. Morris, a redshirt junior could contend for almost 1,500 yards next season.

Strength:
Playmaking Ability- With the loss of the most productive quarterback in school history the next step usually would be a regression in offensive production, however FAU has the chance to strengthen its offense. Offensive Coordinator Darryl Jackson returns play makers in Morris, WR Lestar Jean, QB Jeff Van Camp, and TE Darian Williams, all of which saw extensive action last season accounting for 34 combined TDs.

Weakness:
Forcing Turnovers- Last season FAU had a turnover margin of +1. While plus one is in the positive, the defensive unit didn't generate enough "big play" turnovers down the stretch. Only 5 interceptions (1 returned for a TD) should not be good enough in a conference that is dominated by the spread offense. The key to creating these turnovers will need to come from the defensive line and creating pressure which is one of the elements Van Valkenburgh will be addressing.

Make or Break Player:
QB Jeff Van Camp- Jeff Van Camp took over last season for the injured Smith and lead the Owls to a 3-2 record as a starter. Experince isn't lacking for the redshirt senior who has played in games at hostile environments such as South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Minnesota. Van Camp will need to be able to manage games and understand that he doesn't have to win games, much like he did at the end of the season for the Owls. If he can limit turnovers and sacks while making the occasional big throw, the offense should be fine.

Players on the Spot to Watch:
1. Tavious Polo CB- Polo a senior started off his career by receiving all-freshman honors from multiple publications after picking off 7 passes and forcing a fumble. Since then Polo has recorded a total of 2 interceptions the past two seasons. Bringing speed and athletic ability, Polo has what it takes to become a "shut down" corner. Its now or never for the senior who could become a NFL prospect if he has a productive season.

2. Amos Wood WR- Woods a former 3-star prospect is a redshirt sophomore coming into spring ball and now is his time to make a statement. Last spring camp, many believed Wood was ready to play but was buried behind other productive players. Now Wood has a chance to find some time with only one starting wide receiver slot filled to WR Lestar Jean. Watch for Wood to provide some flash in the passing game and gain some playing time over the spring.

3. Jamere Johnson DT- Johnson a junior has seen some time on the defensive line the past two seasons and has recorded some production. Van Vulkenburgh is in need of a force up the middle to create pressure in the backfield and Johnson could be the man.

Season Outlook:
Right now i have the Owls at 6-6 missing out on a bowl, with Middle Tennessee State and Troy clamming the bowl spots again.

- A. Ivins

-Note: After taking a break from writing, some very inspirational things have been said to me by some admired figures so look for a LOT more content on this blog. Thanks