This week, I will preview the upcoming season of the California Golden Bears. Cal will lose quarterback Jared Goff, running back Daniel Lasco, safety Stefan McClure, and wide receivers Bryce Treggs, Darius Powe, Kenny Lawler and Trevor Davis. Cornerback Darius Allensworth and running backs Vic Enwere and Tre Watson will return for the Golden Bears. The starting quarterback position will be difficult to replace, since Goff is leaving the team. Backup QB Cole Webb will also graduate and there are three other quarterback, all going into their sophomore year. I think that Chase Forrest will assume the job at quarterback since he played in Cal's season opener, unlike the other quarterbacks.
Cal will play in the first game of the 2016 season against Hawai'i in Australia. This game will be played on August 27, a week before the rest of College Football begins the season. This will be an easy win for the pounding Cal offense, 63-21. After a bye week, the Golden Bears will travel to San Diego to take on the San Diego State Aztecs, who won the Mountain West Conference last season. Cal beat up SDSU 35-7 last year, and will probably beat them again 45-23. The Golden Bears' home opener comes against the Texas Longhorns, who botched a point after touchdown against Cal last year to lose 45-44. Texas did beat Oklahoma, a team that went to the Playoff, last year. Cal's offense will fall short in this close game 38-35.
Arizona State opens up Cal's conference schedule in Tempe, Arizona. The Golden Bears will pull off the 31-17 victory to advance to 3-1. The Bears come back home to take on the Utah Utes, in which I've got Cal winning 38-30. They will coast past Oregon State 49-24, but fall short to Oregon 56-48. The Golden Bears travel to USC after this. I've got the Bears winning their first against USC since 2003, 31-27. Washington will then defeat Cal 27-24. The final three games of the season will all be tough for Cal. Washington State will give Cal their fourth loss of the season by a score of 45-35. Stanford will defeat Cal 49-31 and UCLA will defeat the Golden Bears 42-28.
Cal will finish the season 6-6, just like Arizona State. The Bears went 8-5 in last season's rebuilding year. This season might just be short of a repeat of last season for the Bears. However, this season will test how dependent the Golden Bears were on Jared Goff, who is projected to be one of the top 10 picks in the upcoming NFL draft. Stay tuned next week, as I will preview the Colorado Buffaloes.
P.S. Sorry about the extra week's delay. It was Spring Break and I forgot to publish this post. So I decided to just make it this week's post.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Monday, March 14, 2016
2016-2017 Pac-12 Football Team Previews and Record Predictions: Arizona State Sun Devils
The next Pac-12 team I will preview is the Arizona State Sun Devils. ASU will be losing quarterback Mike Bercovici and wide receivers DJ Foster and Devin Lucien, a graduat transfer from UCLA. On the defense, the Sun Devils will lose cornerback Lloyd Carrington and defensive back Jordan Simone. Running backs Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage will return for the Sun Devils. Their starting quarterback for this season may be Bryce Perkins, the younger brother of UCLA running back Paul Perkins.
Arizona State opens the season with FCS Northern Arizona. This will be an easy win for ASU, 49-7. They will receive their first true test against the pass-heavy Texas Tech Red Raiders. Tech's defense is really bad though. With that, ASU will pull away with a last-second field goal 37-34. UTSA is next for ASU in San Antonio. the Sun Devils will win this one easily, 52-27.
After an easy non-conference slate, the Sun Devils will probably be 3-0. First on the conference schedule is Cal, who beat ASU 48-46 on a last-second field goal last season. Cal is losing many of their star players, but that won't be enough to help Arizona State win. They will lose 31-17. Next up is USC. Arizona State could beat USC on a last-second touchdown, just like they did 2 seasons ago. This time, the score will be 41-38. The Sun Devils will be celebrating, but it won't help them against UCLA the next week. I'm picking UCLA to win 28-17. Now at 4-2, ASU will cruise to an easy 5th win against Colorado 38-14. By now, Arizona State should be in the rankings, but will lose to Washington State 52-48 in a high-scoring affair. Oregon will load up another high-scoring game against the Sun Devils, who will be forced to their fourth loss after falling 62-55, a similar score to last season's 61-55 Oregon victory. Arizona State will fall to 5-5 after losing to Utah on a late touchdown, 24-21. They will reach bowl eligibility by defeating Washington 31-24. Finally, Arizona will defeat ASU 35-17 in the Territorial Cup rivalry game.
This season will be another disappointment for Arizona State, who went 10-3 two seasons ago. They will make another low-tier bowl appearance at 6-6. Sorry, ASU fans, but the Sun Devils won't be a 10-win team this coming season. Next week, I will preview the California Golden Bears' next season. Please stay tuned for next week!
Arizona State opens the season with FCS Northern Arizona. This will be an easy win for ASU, 49-7. They will receive their first true test against the pass-heavy Texas Tech Red Raiders. Tech's defense is really bad though. With that, ASU will pull away with a last-second field goal 37-34. UTSA is next for ASU in San Antonio. the Sun Devils will win this one easily, 52-27.
After an easy non-conference slate, the Sun Devils will probably be 3-0. First on the conference schedule is Cal, who beat ASU 48-46 on a last-second field goal last season. Cal is losing many of their star players, but that won't be enough to help Arizona State win. They will lose 31-17. Next up is USC. Arizona State could beat USC on a last-second touchdown, just like they did 2 seasons ago. This time, the score will be 41-38. The Sun Devils will be celebrating, but it won't help them against UCLA the next week. I'm picking UCLA to win 28-17. Now at 4-2, ASU will cruise to an easy 5th win against Colorado 38-14. By now, Arizona State should be in the rankings, but will lose to Washington State 52-48 in a high-scoring affair. Oregon will load up another high-scoring game against the Sun Devils, who will be forced to their fourth loss after falling 62-55, a similar score to last season's 61-55 Oregon victory. Arizona State will fall to 5-5 after losing to Utah on a late touchdown, 24-21. They will reach bowl eligibility by defeating Washington 31-24. Finally, Arizona will defeat ASU 35-17 in the Territorial Cup rivalry game.
This season will be another disappointment for Arizona State, who went 10-3 two seasons ago. They will make another low-tier bowl appearance at 6-6. Sorry, ASU fans, but the Sun Devils won't be a 10-win team this coming season. Next week, I will preview the California Golden Bears' next season. Please stay tuned for next week!
Monday, March 7, 2016
2016-2017 Pac-12 Football Team Previews and Record Predictions: Arizona Wildcats
Many football conferences have already announced the schedules for each of their teams. The Pacific-12 Conference (known as the Pac-12) is one of these conferences. In my previous four posts, I have given a preview of UCLA's 2016-2017 football schedule, showing each team's final schedule from last season and key returning and leaving players. I will list each team's returning and leaving players as well as go over each schedule. Finally, I will predict each team's final record of the next regular season based on the team's average performance.
This week, I will preview the 2016-2017 football schedule for the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats will be losing All-American linebacker Scooby Wright III, safety Jamar Allah, and wide receivers David Richards and Cayleb Jones. Quarterback Anu Solomon, running back Nick Wilson, cornerback Cam Denson and wide receivers Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips will return for the Wildcats.
U of A's season opener will be played at Phoenix Stadium (home of the NFL team, the Arizona Cardinals) against BYU. Even though the Cougars will lose many key players and have a different head coach, they will make it a tough season opener. I predict that Arizona will lose this game 35-31. Arizona's next game is against the Grambling State Tigers of the FCS. This should be an easy win for Arizona, who will pull away with a 66-10 win. Another cupcake game awaits for the Wildcats the following week. This time, the opponent will be Hawai'i, a team that really, truly sucks. Arizona will probably win this one 52-17.
Now that we've gone through the Wildcats' non-conference schedule, the next 9 games will be played against Pac-12 foes. So far, I predict Arizona to go 2-1 during their non-conference slate. Washington is next for U of A. Last season, Washington crushed Arizona 49-3. But this year, I will pick Arizona to beat Washington 27-21. After this is a trip to the Rose Bowl against UCLA. In this contest, I predict that UCLA will beat Arizona once again, this time by a score of 35-20. Utah comes after UCLA for the Wildcats in Salt Lake City. Knowing that Utah's big players are leaving, I've got Arizona beating the Utes 31-21. Arizona will play against USC right before their bye week. This game will probably end up being a close one, but I've got Arizona pulling away in overtime 44-41.
Arizona will go into their bye week with a 5-2 record. They have a well-timed bye week, because right afterwards, they will host the Stanford Cardinal, who I think will be #1 in the nation at this point. Stanford will probably breeze past Arizona again, this time by a score of 48-27. Up next is a trip to Pullman, Washington for a battle with the Washington State Cougars. WSU's passing consistency will probably push the Cougars past Arizona 34-21. Hanging just above .500 winning percentage, they will play against the Colorado Buffaloes. Arizona will win that game 45-14. There are only two more games after this. After Colorado, the Wildcats will travel to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon State finished last in the Pac-12 last season, and it won't get any better. Arizona will win 59-20. Finally, Arizona will host Arizona State in the Territorial Cup rivalry. Arizona State is losing many of their star players, so I've got Arizona winning this game 35-17.
In conclusion, I predict that Arizona will finish next regular season with 8 victories and 4 defeats. Arizona went 7-6 last season with a bowl win against New Mexico. Seven wins is where Arizona usually ends up each regular season. All in all, I predict that Arizona will have an average season. Stay tuned for my preview on the Arizona State Sun Devils next week!
This week, I will preview the 2016-2017 football schedule for the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats will be losing All-American linebacker Scooby Wright III, safety Jamar Allah, and wide receivers David Richards and Cayleb Jones. Quarterback Anu Solomon, running back Nick Wilson, cornerback Cam Denson and wide receivers Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips will return for the Wildcats.
U of A's season opener will be played at Phoenix Stadium (home of the NFL team, the Arizona Cardinals) against BYU. Even though the Cougars will lose many key players and have a different head coach, they will make it a tough season opener. I predict that Arizona will lose this game 35-31. Arizona's next game is against the Grambling State Tigers of the FCS. This should be an easy win for Arizona, who will pull away with a 66-10 win. Another cupcake game awaits for the Wildcats the following week. This time, the opponent will be Hawai'i, a team that really, truly sucks. Arizona will probably win this one 52-17.
Now that we've gone through the Wildcats' non-conference schedule, the next 9 games will be played against Pac-12 foes. So far, I predict Arizona to go 2-1 during their non-conference slate. Washington is next for U of A. Last season, Washington crushed Arizona 49-3. But this year, I will pick Arizona to beat Washington 27-21. After this is a trip to the Rose Bowl against UCLA. In this contest, I predict that UCLA will beat Arizona once again, this time by a score of 35-20. Utah comes after UCLA for the Wildcats in Salt Lake City. Knowing that Utah's big players are leaving, I've got Arizona beating the Utes 31-21. Arizona will play against USC right before their bye week. This game will probably end up being a close one, but I've got Arizona pulling away in overtime 44-41.
Arizona will go into their bye week with a 5-2 record. They have a well-timed bye week, because right afterwards, they will host the Stanford Cardinal, who I think will be #1 in the nation at this point. Stanford will probably breeze past Arizona again, this time by a score of 48-27. Up next is a trip to Pullman, Washington for a battle with the Washington State Cougars. WSU's passing consistency will probably push the Cougars past Arizona 34-21. Hanging just above .500 winning percentage, they will play against the Colorado Buffaloes. Arizona will win that game 45-14. There are only two more games after this. After Colorado, the Wildcats will travel to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon State finished last in the Pac-12 last season, and it won't get any better. Arizona will win 59-20. Finally, Arizona will host Arizona State in the Territorial Cup rivalry. Arizona State is losing many of their star players, so I've got Arizona winning this game 35-17.
In conclusion, I predict that Arizona will finish next regular season with 8 victories and 4 defeats. Arizona went 7-6 last season with a bowl win against New Mexico. Seven wins is where Arizona usually ends up each regular season. All in all, I predict that Arizona will have an average season. Stay tuned for my preview on the Arizona State Sun Devils next week!
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