Nevada Football Season Preview for 2012

Hall of Fame head coach Chris Ault has done a masterful job at Nevada in 27 years with the team. He has guided the Wolf Pack to a combined 226-103-1 record in three separate stints as head coach. In the past eight years, Ault has led Nevada to seven bowl games.

The Wolf Pack had a record 7-6 last year, including a 17-24 loss Southern Miss in the Hawaii Bowl to end the season. With just 12 starters and 31 lettermen coming back, there isn't a whole lot of experience returning in 2012. But they do have some interesting talents on this roster, especially offensively.

Nfl 2012

Offense

Nevada has put up offenses that have regularly been among the best in college football year in and year out. They have averaged over 31 points and 500 yards in four consecutive seasons, including the 31.7 and 507 they put up last year. Ault is an offensive maestro, but he's handing the keys to the offense to new offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich, who was at Hawaii the past two years.

Sophomore QB Cody Fajardo earned Freshman WAC Player of the Year honors for his efforts last season.

The Wolf Pack lose their top two rushers from a year ago in Lampford Mark and Mike Ball. talented freshman Tony Knight will slide into the starting position. Junior Stefphon Jefferson will earn his fair share of carries as well.

This unit should continue to be good despite losing their leading receivers in Rashard Matthews and Shane Anderson. That's because both senior WR Brandon Wimberly and senior TE Zach Sudfeld comes back after missing almost all of last season due to injury. Coming back as well is sophomore WR Aaron Bradley and junior TE Kolby Arendse. They add JUCO transfer Nigel Westbrooks at receiver as well.

The offensive line should be just as strong coming into 2012 with three starters and 75 career starts returning. First-team All-WAC guard Chris Barker and second-team All-WAC tackle Jeff NAdy lead the way.

Defense

The defense gave up a respectable 25.2 points and 369 total yards per game last season. The Wolf Pack return six starters on this side of the ball, but lose their top two tacklers, and many of their best players.

Their biggest loss may be up front where DT Brett Roy has departed. Their only returning starter is junior DT Jack Reynoso. JUCO transfer Cortez Woods should dominate alongside Reynose at defensive tackle. Both sophomore DE's Jake Peppard and Tyler Houk are still quite raw and they may not be ready to be big contributors in 2012.

The linebacker position loses their #1 and #2 tacklers in Brandon Marshall and James-Michael-Johnson. Both players were taken in the NFL during the offseason. Former DE Albert Rosette moved to MLB in the spring. Also coming back is senior SLB Jeremiah Green, and JUCO transfer Jon McNeal's ready to start at the WLB position.

The secondary played exceptionally well last year, allowing just 48.3% completions and 222 passing yards/game to opposing quarterbacks. This unit should once again be their bread and butter on the defensive end as seven of their top eight players are back. They lost first-team All-WAC CB Isaiah Frey to the NFL, but return three starters in senior CB Khalid Wooten, senior SS Duke Williams, and senior FS Marlon Johnson.

Mountain West Prediction - 2nd Place

The Wolf Pack move from the WAC to the Mountain West this season. While the MWC used to be very strong, it appears to be down this season with the departure of TCU, and a lot of inexperience from most teams in the conference. Boise State is even expected to be down this year. The Wolf Pack certainly has the talent to compete for a conference title in their first year in the MWC. Their schedule is also quite manageable facing teams on the road that are winnable, while all their toughest games will be played at home. Their game against Boise State at home at the end of the regular season could be the deciding factor on whether or not the Wolf Pack can win the conference.

Nevada Football Season Preview for 2012

Jack Jones provides his football picks each Saturday at Betfirms.com and NCAAFootballFreePicks.com.

2012 Baylor Bears Football Season Preview

Head coach Art Briles has done a wonderful job of turning this program around in just his 4th year on the job. Baylor just completed their first 10-win season since 1980, and Briles has taken this team to two straight bowl games. Art has certainly proved himself to be a solid recruiter, now it will be up to him to take this team to the next level with the loss of a great talent in Robert Griffin III.

While the Bears return a solid 14 starters and 54 lettermen, their offense take a hit since they lose five NFL draft choices on that side of the ball alone. Baylor relied on their offense to win games last year, now they may need their defense to shoulder most of the weight in the new season.

Nfl 2012

Offense

Baylor had one of the better offenses in the country last season. They averaged a whopping 45.3 points and 587 total yards/game. They also had extremely good balance that made them extremely tough to defend. They averaged 351 yards through the air and 236 yards per game on the ground. With only six starters returning on offense, Baylor will have a very hard time putting up the same numbers it did last year.

Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III will be very difficult to replace at quarterback. He was selected as the second overall pick in the draft by the Washington Redskins and his amazing production will be sorely missed.

Senior Nick Florence takes over at quarterback, and even though he is nowhere near as talented as Griffin, at least he has some experience.

Running back Tarrance Ganaway will be missed by the Bears in many different ways as he was an extremely underrated player on the team. He was picked by the New York Jets in the 6th round of the NFL draft. Oregon transfer Lache Seastrunk will likely be the new starter in 2012.

Kendall Wright also moved on to the NFL, but the Bears can take the solace on the fact that they bring back six of their top seven receivers. The players returning include Terrance Williams, Tevin Reese, Lanear Sampson, and junior TE Jordan Najvar.

The Bears also lose great players on the line in first-team All-Big 12 Philip Blake and second-team All-Big 12 right guard Robert T. Griffin. They do bring back three starters and 77 careers starts up front, but they have lost their two best linemen.

Defense

Despite a criminally poor defense that yielded 37.2 points and 488 total yards/game, Baylor was still able to win 10 games. Whatever the cause, 2012 should be a much improved season for them on defense with eight starters returning.

The Bears gave up 197 yards per game and 5.2/carry on the ground last season. They lose two solid defensive tackles in Nicolas Jean-Baptiste and Tracy Robertson. Junior DE Terrance Lloyd and senior DE Gary Mason are two returning starters who will anchor the defensive line.

The Bears should still be solid at linebacker despite losing leading tackler Elliot Coffey to graduation. They have five of their top six returning including junior starters Ahmad Dixon and Rodney Chadwick. Sophomore Bryce Hager is expected to replace Chadwick at middle linebacker, while Eddie Lackey is expected to start right away.

The secondary may just be the strength of the team as they helped Baylor to force a lot of turnovers. They had a ridiculous 18 takeaways over the final five regular season games and with the entire 2-deep back in the defensive backfield, more of the same can be expected.

Big 12 Prediction - 9th Place

This is a rebuilding year for Baylor since it's virtually impossible to replace the players they lost to the NFL draft. A lot of their talent on the offensive side of the ball is gone and it's very hard to see them post anywhere near the same numbers as last year. While their defense will obviously be improved, their defense last year was so bad that it won't mean much. Baylor has an extremely tough schedule ahead of them and it seems as though this team can win no more than two conference games.

2012 Baylor Bears Football Season Preview

Jack Jones posts his football picks at Betfirms.com as well as FootballFreePicks.com.

2012 New York Jets Football Preview: Turbulence Ahead For Mark Sanchez and the Jets

2012 New York Jets football Preview: Turbulence Ahead For Mark Sanchez and the Jets

The New York jets followed up an 11-win season two years ago with a dismal 8-8 season in 2011. The Jets finished the season in a free-fall losing three straight games to a combined 93-50, and that trend will continue into the upcoming season.

Super Bowl 2012

Online sportsbook Just Bet has listed the Jets as 12-to-1 to win the AFC and an eye-popping 25-to-1 to win the Super bowl.

In the Super Bowl preview, the Jets did not make the cut and in the NFL Win Total Predictions for every team, the Jets were forecast to go under 8.5 wins on the season. The win totals for the Jets is currently listed at 8.5 (u+125). If that were to come true, the Jets would fall below.500 for the first time since the 2007 season.

One of the biggest problems for the Jets a year ago was team chemistry as the locker room turned on one another as the season ended. As long as players like Santonio Holmes are still on the team that is unlikely to change.

Mark Sanchez is under tremendous pressure at the quarterback spot and the Jets brass did not do him any favors by bringing in the mass-media mega machine in Tim Tebow. Rex Ryan has already announced that Tebow will play a big role in the offense and any bad play by Sanchez will turn the team, fans, and media on Sanchez. The disappointing season by the Jets could most certainly mean the end of Mark Sanchez with the Jets.

The 2012 Jets football schedule is not going to help them either. They start the season off by hosting the improved Buffalo Bills and the opening line posted by WagerWeb was unbelievable. The Jets will lose that game, yet they are still favorites? They could easily be swept by the Patriots, have tough road games against the Steelers, Buffalo, and Seattle, and brutal home games against the 49ers, Texans, and the Chargers.

In short, the New York Jets are looking for another long season without a chance of taking down the Patriots for the AFC East.

The Jets have not addressed the lack of speed on this team and if anything they have taken a step back. The Jets will finish the season at 7-9 if they are lucky and will miss the playoffs for the second season in a row.

2012 New York Jets Football Preview: Turbulence Ahead For Mark Sanchez and the Jets

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2012 TCU Horned Frogs Season Preview

The TCU Horned Frogs will be moving to the Big 12 conference from the Mountain West in 2012. Coach Gary Patterson has this team in great shape, having been a bowl contender for the last several years. A nail-biting 36-35 win against Boise State won them the Mountain West last year.

Some momentum is clearly going their way as they had an 11-2 record last year and beat Louisiana Tech 31-24 in the Poinsettia Bowl. 2011 was a good year for them as they exceeded expectations, but 2012 may be entirely different as they return only 11 starters in 2012, plus make the move to a more talented conference. Here is the team preview and the predictions on the Horned Frogs for the upcoming season.

Nfl 2012

Offense

Quarterback Casey Pachall made it a mission to prove doubters wrong when he was written off after Dalton left last season. He had an explosive year statistically and will look to improve on his junior campaign.

The Horned Frogs return a trio of running backs who combined for 2,303 yards, 6.3 per carry, and 24 touchdowns last year, making this one of the deepest RB corps in the country. Junior Waymon James, senior Ed Wesley and senior Matthew Tucker are all set to be back.

With TCU set to return its top three receivers from 2011, this makes them loaded at the skill positions. Junior Josh Boyce and senior Skye Dawson both return to starting roles. Sophomore Brandon Carter will likely be replaced by talented redshirt freshman LaDarius Brown, who has 4.47 speed.

The one big question mark for TCU is at the offensive line heading into 2012. This unit loses three starters, including a pair of All-MWC performers in left guard Kyle Dooley and left tackle Jeff Olson. Two starters are back this season, headed by first team All-MWC right guard Blaize Folts.

Defense

TCU has been one of the best defensive teams in the country over the last decade. With only five returning starters last season, however, this unit took a big step back. After giving up just 12.0 points and 228 total yards per game in 2010, the Horned Frogs yielded 21.5 points and 347 yards in 2011. With them going to a conference where they will face a lot of the top offenses, they may have another decline statistically.

The defensive line will be the strength of this unit with six of their top eight returning. That includes first-team All-MWC defensive end Stansly Maponga, who had 55 tackles and a team-high nine sacks a year ago. Also back is sophomore defensive tackle David Johnson and senior defensive end Ross Forrest.

The Frogs have had six linebackers move on the NFL in the last few years. Their lone starter coming back at linebacker is senior Kenny Cain. Cain has emerged as the leader, and he'll have some help from sophomore Deryck Goldon in their 4-2-5 scheme.

TCU's biggest loss comes in the secondary, as they part ways with corner Greg McCoy, safety Tekerrein Cuba, and free safety Johnny Fobbs. Their only returnee is junior corner Jason Verret. Inexperience could do them in as they enter the pass-happy Big 12.

Big 12 Prediction - 5th Place

The Horned Frogs definitely have talent at quarterback and skill positions to match nearly every other team in the Big 12. Their offensive line may be a bit troubling, but it's clear that their problem lies on the defensive end. Their front four can hold their own, but the secondary could be annihilated in this conference. A very soft schedule early on could have this team win big, but they can easily lose four of their last five. They'll face tough opponents with Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Texas all on the road. Plus they'll face Big 12 favorite Oklahoma at home. A predicted 4 losses will have them finish in the middle of the pack in the Big 12.

2012 TCU Horned Frogs Season Preview

Jack Jones posts his football picks at Betfirms.com as well as FootballFreePicks.com.