Spring Football '14: Florida State's Quest to Repeat

Winston celebrating 2013 national title

No team has dominated college football like last year's Florida State Seminoles. Led by Heisman winner Jameis Winston, the 'Noles went 14-0, beating four ranked teams by double-digits and winning both the ACC Championship and National Championship. With Winston coming back for his sophomore year along with a number of other key contributors, the Seminoles will start off this year with plans to repeat as national champs.

Along with Winston, who threw for 4,057 yards in his redshirt freshman year the Seminoles return a number of other stud players. Senior running back Karlos Williams ran for 730 yards last season on just 91 carries, an average of 8 yards per carry. Williams is a powerful back with a nose for the end zone and could have a breakout year in Devonta Freeman's absence. Winston by himself is fantastic, but he could not have had the 2013 year he had without the receiving options that he possessed. Kelvin Benjamin is off to the NFL and could likely be a late first-round pick because of his playmaking and NFL-caliber size. Senior tight end Nick O'Leary had a serious car accident just months before the 2013 season and still managed to haul in 557 yards and 7 touchdowns. O'Leary is very quick for a tight end, is a great route runner and has fantastic hands for his size. Senior Rashad Greene is back and is hoping for a grand finale after recording 76 receptions and 1,128 yards last season. Also back for FSU is dangerous Christian Green and sophomore speedster Kermit Whitfield, who had the huge kickoff return in the national championship to fuel Florida State's comeback. With all that back, a solid offensive line and a recruiting class that includes Miami product Dalvin Cook and lethal wide receiver Ermon Lane, Florida State's offense will once again be one of the most dangerous in the entire nation.

The Seminoles' offense received so much credit last season but the defense was also very important, holding teams to just over 12 points per game. The defense will lose nose tackle Timmy Jernigan, linebacker Christian Jones and defensive back Lamarcus Joyner but it should still be one of the nation's most stout units. Juniors Eddie Goldman and Mario Edwards will lead the defensive line, two former big name recruits who came in with Winston, they haven't seen the snaps to be stars yet. Edwards is extremely athletic and has fantastic speed coming off the edge, while Eddie Goldman will see a lot of opportunities at defensive tackle with Jernigan gone. Junior Terrance Smith should likely take over Jones' spot at middle linebacker. Smith has great lateral movement and covers the field extremely well. The secondary will rely heavily on junior cornerback Ronald Darby and hard-hitting sophomore safety Jalen Ramsey to stop the dangerous offenses that the ACC has to offer. Special teams is a very underrated aspect to most teams, and Florida State will also have a great unit in that area. Kicker Roberto Aguayo earned All-American honors as a freshman last year and is back along with junior punter Cason Beatty.

A quick peek at Florida State's 2014 schedule shows that they will have a tough non-conference slate. The Seminoles will start their season with a meeting against the high-octane offense of Oklahoma State on August 30th. They will meet old rival Notre Dame on the 18th of October, a team that could be very dangerous this year if they stay healthy and will have their annual match up with Florida to end the season, after beating the Gators by 30 in 2013. The ACC should be a lot weaker this season than last, and it wasn't great last year as Clemson, Miami nor Duke could give the Seminoles a good game. The Tigers, who will play the 'Noles on September 20th, lose Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins and their defense also took a hit. Miami will also have to deal with a large number of players gone and Louisville will struggle in a new league without their star quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater. More good news for FSU: since both Duke and UNC (the likely other top two teams inside the conference) are in the other division, meaning the only time they have a chance to see them is in the ACC Championship. Even with two tough non-conference games, Florida State still has the schedule to get through this next season without a blemish.

No college football team this next year will have the talent on both sides of the ball that Florida State will possess. They have the best quarterback in the nation in Winston, a number of offensive playmakers surrounding him and a defense that should be the best inside the ACC. Along with a favorable schedule, the Seminoles have a real shot to repeat as champs and win their fourth official national championship.

Spring Football '14: Golson Reinstated at Notre Dame

Everett Golson

At this time last season, Everett Golson was planning to enter his sophomore year and hoping to lead Notre Dame back to a national championship after performing extremely well in his first year as starter with the Fighting Irish. Then, a cheating incident hit ad Golson was dismissed from the team, leaving Notre Dame in an odd position without a quarterback just a couple months before the year. Luckily, senior Tommy Rees was experienced and managed to step in and play very well for Notre Dame. Now, Rees is graduated and Golson is back on the team making for an interesting story in South Bend. Golson was fantastic in his redshirt freshman year with Notre Dame but can he readjust to the college game after a year off and without the abundance of playmakers that he had in that championship run?

In his lone year, with the Irish Golson threw for 2,405 yards and 12 touchdowns and proved to be a superb leader, despite being very inexperienced. Youth was apparent throughout his freshman year; he had confidence issues, arm strength and had trouble recognizing defenses. Although we haven't seen a ton from Golson this spring we have seen a ton of improvement. His arm looks very strong and he looks more comfortable in the pocket, even when he is under pressure. So with improvement wouldn't the assumption be Golson should just come in and fill in for Rees? Enter Malik Zaire, a left-handed redshirt freshman with excellent mobility and the potential to be quite the star. Zaire has been impressive enough to force a heated quarterback competition between him and Golson. Spring practices can only say so much about a player and both have shown flashes of being great players. Zaire, a 6'1" prospect from Kettering, Ohio has a very high ceiling but he is still very raw at the moment. He is strong and athletic, faster than Golson, but accuracy has been an issue for so far and he still has to prove he has the understanding of the offense that Golson has. Zaire has drawn comparisons to former Clemson QB Tajh Boyd because of the athleticism he possesses, he isn't very accurate and doesn't have the arm strength of Golson but he can make fabulous throws. Although he lacks consistency, Zaire can wow you at times. The thing that could really put Golson ahead of Zaire is his experience; the sophomore has seen real live action and some of the defenses he played in 2012-2013 were fantastic, teams like Oklahoma, Stanford and Alabama in the championship game.

It was a year off from football for Golson but he should show real improvement because he worked very hard last year and last fall. Golson worked with quarterback guru George Whitfield and has shown signs of becoming a smarter and more efficient QB. He also has worked with Coach Brian Kelly and attempted to connect with his coaches, along with looking through hours of film and trying to see the field better.

Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock are in no hurry to name a quarterback in a competition that will likely go right down to Notre Dame's first game, August 30th against Rice. The spring game this Saturday will go a long way in determining who should come up on top in the competition. Golson certainly has shown loads of improvement so far this spring but he still has prove that even after a year away from live action he can still play at a high level. If he doesn't, rising freshman Zaire could overtake him and be the starter on August 30th.

View my complete 2014-2015 Notre Dame preview in my College Football Preview 2014-2015, coming out later this spring.

Spring Football 2014: Replacing McCarron in Tuscaloosa

Blake Sims

It wasn't the storybook ending it should have been. A.J. McCarron's last two games with Alabama ended with a miracle return by Auburn and Chris Davis and a blowout loss to Oklahoma in a game in which they were favored in heavily. McCarron had led the Tide to two straight national championships the prior two years and hoped to end his career with them with a third national title. Although, 'Bama was at the top spot in the polls throughout much of the year the loss to Auburn cost them a shot and the loss to Oklahoma added insult to injury. McCarron would finish his career in Tuscaloosa with 9,019 passing yards, 77 touchdown passes and a career record of 36-4 but his graduation had to run out sometime. As McCarron prepares for a future in the NFL, Alabama prepares for next season and they will hope to continue their success with someone else at the helm.

Last year at this time Florida State was in a similar predicament. The Seminoles were losing E.J. Manuel to the NFL after some great year with the 'Noles and they were looking for a replacement. They ultimately decided on redshirt freshman Jameis Winston, and the rest is history. But, Winston's main competition during the quarterback competition in Tallahassee was Jacob Coker, a 6-5 QB with a very strong arm. Coker realized he had no future with FSU anymore and after the season announced he would be transferring. He ended up heading to Alabama and gave the Tide their favorite to replace McCarron at QB. Coker is a former 3-star recruit who was redshirted his first year with FSU but has the tools to grow into a great quarterback. Not only does he have the size and a strong arm, he has shown great command of the game and fantastic mobility in the short moments we've seen him. If McCarron showed one gaping weakness it was his mobility; he could move around pretty well but was never much of a threat with his legs. Under Nick Saban, Coker could definitely grow into quite the quarterback with 'Bama.

Although Coker may be the very early favorite for the job, don't count out anybody else in the race. At Oklahoma last year junior Blake Bell looked to be the starter for the Sooners after Landry Jones graduated but, after a long competition Bob Stoops named redshirt freshman Trevor Knight the starter. Senior Blake Sims has served as McCarron's understudy the last couple years and is knows the offense better than Coker. Coker, due to eligibility, might not see significant practice time until summer and will have to learn Alabama's playbook very quickly. In relief appearances last year, Sims threw for 18 completions on 29 attempts and recorded 167 yards, much of it coming in a blowout victory over FBS newcomer Georgia State on October 5th. Sims doesn't have the size that Coker has, he stands at 6 feet and just a shade over 200 pounds. Sims has proven he also has the ability to extend plays with his legs like Coker but he is not a typical Saban passer. He doesn't sense pressure very well and when he does he will usually panic; he needs to work on being a pocket passer. He still has a whole spring to show improvement but there are a number of players behind him on the depth chart that have looked a lot better in practice.

Behind Coker and Sims, there are the rest of the players in competition to replace McCarron. These include three redshirt freshmen, Parker McLeod, Cooper Bateman and Alec Morris and then one incoming freshman, David Cornwell. Cornwell probably has the brightest upside of any QB on the Alabama roster but he is coming off a knee injury that ended his senior season of high school and thinking he could come off that and start in the brutal SEC is a little hard to imagine. He is still a player with a bright future, he is one of the biggest quarterback recruits in 'Bama history. Morris is a pro style quarterback who has a great game IQ but still lacks the ability to make accurate throws, he is pretty wild. Bateman is also a pro style QB with a great mind for the game but he also has shown his fair share of weaknesses. Bateman sees the field pretty well and has solid athleticism and moves pretty well in the pocket but he also has been underwhelming throwing the ball at times. Both obviously lack game experience along with Cornwell but it isn't like Coker and Sims have seen too much of strong SEC defenses either.

It is still around five months until Alabama will play West Virginia at the Georgia Dome on August 30th. They certainly have enough time to make the decision on who will lead the Tide, and hopefully back to another national championship. Right now, Coker appears to be the very tentative favorite over Sims but the others should be in play as well. Either way, Saban will make a smart decision and Alabama should once more be in serious competition for a SEC West crown and possibly even bigger things this 2014 season.

Spring Game: April 19th @ Bryant-Denney Stadium