It’s easy to pick the big-boys out of the bunch: Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Clemson – blah, blah, blah. The sport of college football needs those consistent power houses. Although, they maintain a level for which others should strive to attain – the intrigue of a season is mostly determined by teams we never saw coming.
The term “sleeper” is tough to define. It could be a traditionally weaker school out of a big conference, or a non-BCS conference team that threatens to move up the National Top 25. Here are three teams that people should expect some noise from in the upcoming season.
Boston College. . . Last Season 3-9 record (0-8 in ACC)
Last season, the lack of an offense really derailed the Eagles. B.C. lost five games by three or less points. One of those losses was to a lowly Wake Forest team in a hard-to-watch 0-3 loss. Anything resembling an offense could have (may have) changed the fortunes of this team but they had a pitiful pass attack which led defenses to stack the line against them routinely. Boston College hopes things will be different with Kentucky graduate-transfer Patrick Towles at the quarterback position. Patrick Towles is in no way the re-birth of Matt Ryan under center for the Eagles, but he is a quarterback who played in the SEC and has seen some of the faster defenses in recent history. Aside from tough defensive assignments like Florida State, Clemson and Louisville – the schedule isn’t too harsh. Even then, they lost to Florida State 14-0 and Louisville 17-14 last season so it wouldn’t be far fetched to say they can overcome those obstacles this year. Running back John Hillman will be at full strength this season and he showed a lot of potential in 2014 running for over 800 yards and 13 touchdowns. The defense has 8 returning starters which is good news for head coach Steve Addazio who needs a huge turn-around to keep his job this year. It wouldn’t be shocking to see this team make some noise and come away with a big upset or two during the year.
Bowling Green. . . Last Season 10-4 record (7-1 in the MAC)
How is a 10 win team considered a “sleeper” team? Easy: they lost their stud quarterback Matt Johnson to the NFL. With him, Johnson takes his forty-six touchdown passes and sixty-seven percent completion percentage. Also, Bowling Green comes out of the MAC conference, and let’s be honest, the only time folks look out for MAC conference is when they are the only thing to watch on Thursday nights and you’re trying to win some easy money against your bookie. The MAC has a few high powered offenses (because very few of these teams play defense) and folks are counting Bowling Green out because of the absence of Matt Johnson – pump your breaks on that. New head coach Mike Jinks comes out of the high-octane Texas Tech Red Raiders offense. Under Jinks the team had their first 1,000 yard rusher since 1998 (jeez fellas. . .) and he has an experienced quarterback at his disposal in Jame Knapke. Knapke got significant playing time in 2014 and filled in admirably. At times he’s a bit of a hot head and gets ahead of himself, but now more mature and in an offense that’s all his own, all is not lost. Also in front of Knapke are four returning offensive linemen in front of him so the protection should not be a problem. They have an opening game at Ohio State where they will lose by eighty-five points, but after that it’s all fair game in the MAC for Bowling Green and James Knapke.
Air Force Falcons. . . Last Season 8-6 (6-2 record in Mountain West)
Last season Air Force had a one dimensional offense but nobody could really stop it, so they kept on doing what they do best: run the ball. The Falcons’ ground game rushed for 4187 yards at a 5.5 yard clip. They ran the ball 764 times – which was by far the most in the nation and this year they return with a two back set that is set to wreck havoc. Timothy McVey (yes, that name makes me uncomfortable too) and Jacobi Owens will be a handful for the defenses on their schedule. Oh, and their schedule – should pretty much be a breeze. Navy isn’t as strong as last year, Boise isn’t what they used to be and they don’t play San Diego State (the team that beat them by three points in the Mountain West Championship game last year). The Air Force defense has nine returning starters and they pretty much set up a different blitz package every time they lined up last season. Now with a little more experience and bad competition this defense is set to have a huge impact. Air Force is a team that could very well find themselves in the Top 25 when it’s all said and done – that is, if folks look passed their weak schedule. . .
If it wasn’t for their schedule Syracuse would’ve been a fourth team to keep an eye out for. Quarterback Eric Dungey is an exciting player to watch and as stated in Lindy’s Sports “The hurry up spread is coming to Syracuse” which would fit Dungey’s skill set perfectly. The only issue is, Notre Dame, Clemson, Boston College, Florida State, Louisville – you get the picture. . .
G.W. Gras
Twitter @GeeSteelio
