Saturday Spotlight - Put Up or Shut Up
by Eric Loomis
Looking forward to the 2008 season, New Era Scouting’s Eric Loomis is taking a look at teams, players and situations to keep an eye on. This week the spotlight shines on teams who are in line for a make or break season.
Every season, there are teams with so much hype and so much expected from them that the season becomes make or break. Whether its a team that needs to rebound from a terrible season, prove they are the real deal, have highly ranked recruits produce on the field, or simply live up to the hype for once, there are always a handful of teams that have no choice but to live up to expectations. For Pitt, Missouri, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Clemson and Ole Miss and all their respective fans this season could prove to be do or die, put up or shut up.
For the Pitt Panthers, the 2008 season marks the fourth year in the tenure of head coach Dave Wanndstedt. Wannstedt came back to the Steel City and has managed to put together several highly ranked recruiting classes by keeping the local talent at home. This season its time for that talent to produce. Star tailback LeSean McCoy returns after an eye-opening freshman season and quarterback Bill Stull returns after missing all but one game of 2007 with injury. After losing four games last season by a touchdown or less and closing the season with a huge win over rival West Virginia expectations are running high and the Panthers must contend for the Big East title this season if the program is really on the right track,
The Missouri Tigers were the toast of college football a year ago. After coming from nowhere to play for a Big 12 championship and ultimately deliver a convincing win in the Cotton Bowl, expectations are running high for the Tigers in 2008. Quarterback Chase Daniel returns in 2008 with plenty of Heisman buzz surrounding him and his No. 7 ranked Tigers squad. At this point anything short of the Big 12 title would be a disapointment as the Tigers try to prove they’re the real deal.
For the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the 2007 season is one they’d rather forget. A lack of talent in the upper classes left over from the previous regime and terrible coaching decisions and strategies led to a 3-9 record and one of the worst seasons in the illustrious history of the program. In 2008, Charlie Weis’ fourth season as the head coach, the talent is a year older and the time is now for his recruits to live up to their back-to-back-to-back top 10 recruiting rankings. This season, the team must not only show improvements in the basic fundamentals of the game that led to embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss, but they must put up a record of seven or eight wins, including a bowl win, which would be the team’s first since the early 90’s, or serious questions will be surrounding the Weis regime in South Bend.
Rutgers shot to national prominence from perennial doormat to Cinderella story in 2006 with a stunning upset of Louisville on national television. Led by the charismatic Greg Schiano, Rutgers has continued to be highly thought of as a contender since that day despite not really making any noise in the relatively weak Big East a season ago. If they want to continue to be considered as a team on the rise, the Scarlet Knights must make some headway this season and contend for a Big East crown rather then taking a step back as they did a season ago or some the shine and darling status will quickly fade away
The Clemson Tigers come into the 2008 season with as much talent man for man as any other team in the country. This year, the Tigers and coach Tommy Bowden must put it all together. Sure the top-ranked recruits keep rolling in, but sooner or later the results have to come on the field. For the Tigers this season, anything short of a BCS game will be considered a disappointment, and some national championship hype will follow this team if they can get by a season opening match up with Alabama.
2008 will mark a season of transition for the Ole Miss Rebels. Ed Orgeron is out and new coach Houston Nutt comes in from Arkansas with high hopes. Realistically, Nutt must make a bowl game this season for 2008 to be a success. Orgeron may not have been a winning coach, but he was a tremendous recruiter, and much of the talent he brought in during his tenure is still on campus. Nutt needs to mold that talent into a winning team and do it quickly to silence the critics.