Early USD Football Predictions

[14lbenson]

I understand. I am about 2 months early with these..but there is never enough pointless predicting. I thought why no give it a shot at predicting the 2013-2014 football season. So here I go.

UC Davis Aggies- Last year UC Davis ended the season 4-7 in the Big Sky. The only good win they had was v.s. SAC ST and they were barely a .500 team. Other than that they basically beat everyone lower in the standings than them. Truthfull I see USD get off on the right foot especially at home and win it.

Record: 1-0 (0-0)

Kansas Jayhawks- We all know Kansas football is not a powerhouse, even though they are competing in a powerhouse conference. The Jayhawks lone win came against out good neighbors to the north SDSU. (sarcasm). The Jayhawks did keep it close v.s. some good teams though in TTU, OKST, NIU, and RICE. I think Kansas will be a bit better than last year and end up winning this one. But if USD can get on their defense and pass it like crazy they should have a chance.

Record: 1-1 (0-0)

Northern Arizona- NAU was VERY good last year and actually finished up 4th in the conference and ranked 20th in the country. They had plenty of key wins v.s. UNLV, #14 Montana, and a narrow loss to #17 CAL Poly. NAU will probably be good again and be ranked to start the season. I see another USD loss but this one could be too hard to tell.

Western Illinois- Western Illinois was not much better than USD last season. Only tallying three wins also and only 1 conference win created a pretty equal matchup. The game did turn out once again pretty equal with USD only losing by a TD. I see WIU being a lot better this year, but I think USD will win this one closely.

Record: 2-2 (1-0)



Missouri State- Missouri State was pretty bad last year. Finishing with 3 wins and 3rd to last in the conference. USD was also very bad. USD was one of MSU's three wins but it did not come easy. USD lost by 3 points in that game. Since I think USD is going to be a lot better this season and MSU not so much I see a 2-0 conference start here.

Record: 3-2 (2-0)

Indiana State had a faily successful season tallying 7 wins total last year, and a blowout win v.s. USD. I don't see as much of a blowout this year, but ISU should win this by 10+.

Record: 3-3 (2-1)

Northern Iowa- I will never forget watching UNI almost take down #12FBS Wisconsin, but the season got worse from the on out. UNI finished with 5 wins and barely beat USD. I will be attending this game and I am pretty pumped. I really think USD will take them down this year and it will be in overtime.

Record: 4-3 (3-1)

Illinois State- ISU had a season to remember last year. 9 wins and record after record being broken for their football program. Once again USD played them close and only lost by 3. I think the biggest improvement of USD this year will be closing out games. I think USD will take another close game and really start impressing people.

Record: 5-3 (4-1)

Youngstown State- YSU has a pretty decent year also gaining 7 wins. Once again USD lost by 3. I think YSU will be worse but no by much. USD will capitalize and win it late again. I know this seems crazy but I believe USD will win tons of close, heart attack games this year.

Record: 6-3 (5-1)

Montana- Considering the stories program at Montana, 5 wins was a HUGE disappointment last season. Last year the home opener was against us and they only won by 11. Considering how good of a staff and player group they have up there I think MU will win the game by 10 or more.

Record: 6-4 (5-1)

South Dakota State- These last two games are gonna be tough. SDSU had an amazing year last year going 9-4 and making it to the FCS playoffs. They would then lose to NDSU in the first round. Last yyear the Jacks handled us 31-8 and I think it will be much closer this year. A win? no.

Record: 6-5 (5-2)

North Dakota State- Every year the Bison seem to suprise...coming off a repeat as National Champs I can tell you one thing. NDSU want their third straight. Let's just say 54-0 was last years score. Do I think it will be that bad this year? Heck no. Can USD upset? Probably not in the Fargo Dome. USD loss.

Record: 6-6 (5-3)

I believe that a .500 record would be an amazing jump in the right direction. I think USD has the possibility of upsetting either SDSU or NDSU but we will have to wait for the season to find out.

Remember the season opener is a 2.5 months away.

Lord help us.

[canislatrans]

We were posting about Men's BB rosters recently, so it's definitely not too early to discuss 2013 Yotes FB.

It is difficult for me to predict how much improvement we will see in 2013, given one of the important variables is our large recruiting class. It sounds like there will be a lot of red shirts, but those that get on the field and at which key positions, could make a huge difference in our success this year.

It was hard to tell from Spring football how much improvement we will see in the OL, but the coaches seemed to talk highly of the progress. If the OL is improved, I think the Yotes will be vastly improved. Our QB would likely move from "athletic" but inconsistent, to one of the better QBs in the league. Additionally, with a better OL, and Sanders and the RS Frosh "bruise brothers" our running game could become a huge weapon.

I can't predict W-L because we have a tough schedule (MVFC being what it is). We play 6 games against teams ranked in the top 17 in the Sporting News preseason top 25 poll (4 from MVFC, NDSU, Illinois St., UNI, and 1 other I don't remember + Montana & Northern Ariz.) Coyote football has been known to take down higher ranked teams, so I think it's likely we'll take down a couple of these, if not more.

And we have the State game in the Dome, that's a winner. Just because we live inside their head, rent-free.....and it's vewwy vewwy quiet in there!

[91jack]

I agree up until the Northern Iowa game. I don't see you winning both @uin and @illinois State. I might almost take you over Indiana State @ home before either of those games on the road. There is a chance that USD could beat SDSU(look at basketball) but NDSU should win it all again. They lost around 4 starters and took you fairly solidly in SF. Now you go to their place, play about the same team and you might either be on a high (if you beat SDSU) or feeling down for losing at home to them.
SDSU is the better team and this isn't MBB but USD really brings their best against them most of the time.
This is just my opinion but I don't know a ton about USD's team next year.

[Yotes]

I agree that wins at Illinois State and UNI might be a bit of a stretch. Maybe one of them, but not both. Plus having State at home, I bet we win. Two of our worst basketball teams ever beat their two best ever, you can't tell me the home field advantage won't make it at least a really close game.

I'd say a 4-4 record in conference play is not impossible, but perhaps even favorable. We lost at least 4 conference games by a single score, and I feel we are going to be much improved, so I'd bank on the .500 mark in conference play. A great step in the right direction.

The Missouri Valley has no real world-beaters aside from NDSU, it's just a very well rounded conference, so I feel we'll have no real trouble climbing the ladder here in the next couple seasons and start possibly becoming a mainstay in the top half of the standings.

[Coyote Fan]

Here comes the predicted black cloud. Nothing much has changed from last year to this year other than a little more seasoning.

vs UC-Davis: I call this a 50-50 game because of home field. Gotta give the Aggies this one.

at Kansas: Definate loss

at Northern Arizona: a close loss

at Western Illinois: temping to pick a win, but I will pick a loss

Missouri State: I think the team will have extra motivation and win this one by 2 touchdowns

Indiana State: The Sycamores are just too tough. Loss

at Northern Iowa: A near certain loss

at Illinois State: A close loss

at Youngstown State: A loss

Montana: Another loss

South Dakota State: A win because of a charged up dome.

at North Dakota State: A blowout loss.

So this is a 2-10 record with 2-6 in the MVFC which is actually a slight improvement. I just don't see much reason for optimism due to the key things are still in place for a very poor football team from a year ago. Realism can be a swift kick to the gut.

[yoteforever]

As much as I would love to come out and say this could be a 8 win season, in my estimation it won't be. That doesn't mean positive things aren't happening. We are led to believe our recruiting is much better, so I'll drink the kook aid till I see different. But to lay expectations of winning 6-8 games on redshirt freshmen isn't fair, or appropriate.

All that being said, I think the Coyotes can get 4 wins. I do believe we will get Davis in the opener. I'm not counting on a win in Flaggstaff, but if it happens, you can mark it down as fact that we have vastly improved. The problem as I see it right now is getting more than 2 wins in the Valley. Missouri State could be one, ISU blue at home is possible, and who knows, but maybe a win against an improved SDSU team is possible.

I don't see UNI, NDSU, ISU red as possible. I do believe we are on the right path. However, if we go 1-11 again, Herbster has a tough call to make. I believe in joe Glenn, o I will predict a 4-8 year, more competitive in losses, and that would tell me we are heading the right direction.

[canislatrans]

We had competitive losses last year (5 of them in MVFC), I think our goals and results will be higher than that.

Wins will be tough to come by, no doubt, but even though I think 4-8 is a reasonable projection, I do believe it is on the lower end of possible outcomes. I think it is highly unlikely we'll see 1-11 again, and even more unlikely that Coach Glenn will not be here for the next 3 years unless, of course, it is of his own choosing.

NDSU may be in the realm of impossible, but UNI and ISU red were winnable games last year. I know it's on the road (and I think ISU red has a number of FBS transfers), but I'm not willing to call both of those games losses.

As the thread states, these are early predictions, and a lot of work will be done before that opening kickoff in The Dome.

[Yote 53]

I think everyone needs to understand this program is in complete overhaul mode right now. Given this is the first year of full recruiting done by the Glenn regime consider this year 1, last season was about like season .5 or what I would call the "lost season". That said I do expect improvement from just 1 win last season, I'm thinking 4 wins would be a reasonable expectation but it wouldn't shock me if the Yotes overachieved and ended up with 6 wins this coming season, regressing to 5 wins in the next, before breaking through with a 9+ win season in what I would consider year 3.

Those type of results are typical of program building done the right way when you look at the history of college football. It takes a while to get your players in, mold them into your program/system, and give them time to mature. The real problem we have is not that I don't believe Coach Glenn can succeed, I believe he can, it's that once he has rebuilt the program he'll most likely be looking at retirement. So I look at this as a sustainability issue, unless Wes is being groomed to take over and there is a seamless transition, or maybe Coach Glenn is the South Dakota version of KSU's Bill Snyder.

[azsod73]

Jun 10, 2013 8:47:14 GMT -6 Yote 53 said:

I think everyone needs to understand this program is in complete overhaul mode right now. Given this is the first year of full recruiting done by the Glenn regime consider this year 1, last season was about like season .5 or what I would call the "lost season". That said I do expect improvement from just 1 win last season, I'm thinking 4 wins would be a reasonable expectation but it wouldn't shock me if the Yotes overachieved and ended up with 6 wins this coming season, regressing to 5 wins in the next, before breaking through with a 9+ win season in what I would consider year 3.

Those type of results are typical of program building done the right way when you look at the history of college football. It takes a while to get your players in, mold them into your program/system, and give them time to mature. The real problem we have is not that I don't believe Coach Glenn can succeed, I believe he can, it's that once he has rebuilt the program he'll most likely be looking at retirement. So I look at this as a sustainability issue, unless Wes is being groomed to take over and there is a seamless transition, or maybe Coach Glenn is the South Dakota version of KSU's Bill Snyder.

You are nailin' it today......!

[wylie]

Honestly, as I read the predictions, I read a lot of "if things go right" and "with continued improvement", etc. etc. It is good to be optimistic in June! The realist in me says 3-9 or at best 4-8. Sorry to burst the bubble.

[canislatrans]

I didn't really see any overly optimistic predictions in this thread. One or two references to 6-5, otherwise everyone is projecting a losing season.
It takes as much reliance on "if this happens" to project 1-3 wins as it does to project 4-6.

I think Yote53 makes a clear description of the overhaul that is in progress. I have thought, and posted so, that talk of Joe Glenn's job being on the line prior to him recruiting and building his own system was silly talk. I can patiently wait for Joe Glenn to build his program, his way.
But I'm also excited by progress underway, and can see hope for improvement in the near future also.

[Cousin Eddie]

I need to see 3-4 wins to be confident in the progress of the program. I believe this is reasonable and attainable.

[gorabbits]

In the "for what it's worth" department, Lindy's Annual College Football magazine has the following prediction for the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They pick the MVFC to again be the best FCS conference in the country with 5 of its teams in the top 25. The numbers after the schools is their prediction of the national rankings.

1 NDSU (1)
2 SDSU (4)
3 UNI (13)
4 YSU (19)
5 Illinois State (22)
6 Indiana State
7 SIU
8 MSU
9 WIU
10 USD

You never know how informed the national writers are on changes in the FCS conferences or if they are just looking at last year. I think SDSU is probably overrated at #4 nationally. Athlon, I believe ranked us #10. USD is perhaps probably under rated at last in the conference.

USD has an extremely tough schedule with nonconference games agains Montana and Northern Arizona who Lindy's picks to finish 23nd and 16th nationally along with UCDavis and Kansas.

[14lbenson]

So...last night I had a dream that we beat Kansas.

Does that mean it's gonna happen?

lol.

[yoteforever]

Jun 18, 2013 10:17:29 GMT -6 14lbenson said:

So...last night I had a dream that we beat Kansas.

Does that mean it's gonna happen?

lol.

Unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility