UTSA Roadrunners Season Preview

One year after returning the most starters in the FBS, UTSA will return just six (two offense/four defense) in 2015, which is the lowest total in the country. The Roadrunners welcome back senior OG Williams Cavanaugh and senior TE David Morgan II on offense and senior LB Drew Douglas, junior S Chase Dahlquist, senior S Mauricio Sanchez and senior CB Bennett Okotcha on defense.

UTSA’s spring two-deep depth chart features a defense that returns a combined 91 career starts, but the offense brings back just 47.

Morgan II is the Roadrunners’ lone returning All-Conference USA honoree. The Marble Falls, Texas, native is coming off a junior campaign that saw him catch 20 passes for 255 yards (12.8 avg.) and one touchdown in nine games of action (six starts). Morgan II owns career marks of 40 receptions for 538 yards (13.5 avg.) and three scores in 30 contests (10 starts).

UTSA’s non-conference schedule arguably is one of the nation’s toughest, as it will travel to Arizona (Thursday, Sept. 3) and Oklahoma State (Sept. 19) in addition to hosting Kansas State (Sept. 12) and Colorado State (Sept. 26). The quartet of 2014 bowl teams com- bined for 36 wins a year ago and Arizona (#17/#19) and Kansas State (#18) finished the season ranked in the USA Today Coaches’ and As- sociated Press Top 25 polls.

The Roadrunners signed their largest signing class, 37 players (28 high schoolers — including five 2014 greyshirts & two early enrollees — eight junior college transfers and an FBS transfer), in February and it also will welcome Russell Bellomy, who will transfer from Michigan after receiving his undergraduate degree in May

UTEP Miners Season Preview

The 2014 Miners posted the program’s first winning season since 2005 and played Utah State in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, their first bowl appearance since 2010. UTEP enters this season seeking back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 2004-05. 

Junior RB Aaron Jones became the first Miner underclassmen to lead the team in rushing in each of his first two years since John Harvey (1985-86). Jones has averaged better than 5.0 yards per carry in both seasons, while moving into 10th place on the Miners’ career rushing list with 2,132 yards. Jones ended the 2014 season with 1,321 yards, the fourth-best seasonal total in school annals. 

There are six quarterbacks on the roster for the Miners, as Coach Kugler and staff aim to find a replacement for Jameill Showers, who started all 13 games last year while compiling 1,858 yards and 12 TDs. Only two (junior Garrett Simpson and sophomore Mack Leftwich) of the six QBs have taken a snap at the collegiate level but those have been very limited. Leftwich, who redshirted in 2014, started the final four games of the 2013 season after being pulled from redshirt status. He connected on 44-of-75 passes (58.7 percent) for 458 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Simpson, meanwhile, has appeared in five total contests in two years, completing all three attempts for a total of 55 yards (in 2013). The other three signal callers on the squad are all freshmen, with two redshirt-freshmen (Hunter McEachern and Ryan Metz) and a true freshman from the high school ranks (Kavika Johnson). 

UTEP finished with 76 tackles for loss last year after posting 45 during the 2013 season. 

Southern Miss Golden Eagles Season Preview

On offense, Southern Miss lost just two skill players from last season in QB Cole Weeks and WR Markese Triplett, who both graduated. The Golden Eagles return all of their rushing yards from last season, 76.4 percent of their passing yards and 83.6 percent of their receiving yards.

Junior QB Nick Mullens tallied 263 yards passing in the season finale, marking his 14th career 200-yard passing games in 16 starts. Last season, he collected 200-yard passing games in nine of 10 starts. Mullens finished the season with 2,470 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games.

Sophomore WR Michael Thomas led the team in receiving yards (592) and touchdown receptions (five) during his freshman season. He collected at least one reception in every game, including four or more in five outings. Thomas had a string of four-straight games with a TD catch.

Southern Miss lost five of its top six tacklers from a year ago to graduation. Senior LB Brian Anderson returns as the top tackler from a season ago when he registered 65 tackles.

Southern Miss will open its 2015 campaign against in-state foe Mississippi State. It will be the Bulldogs first visit to Hattiesburg since 1989, which also marks the last time an opponent from the Southeastern Conference came to play at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

Rice Owls Season Preview

The Owls made their school-record third straight bowl appearance last season, defeating Fresno State, 30-6 in the Hawai’i Bowl. 

Rice was 8-5 in 2014, the ninth time in school history the Owls have won eight or more in a season. Head coach David Bailiff matched Jess Neely with his third season of eight or more wins. 

The Owls have posted the best win totals in two (18) and three (25) years in school history. Senior QB Driphus Jackson moved into third place on the Rice list for TD passes in a single-season (24), and into fifth for TD passes in a career (30). Jackson placed fourth on Rice’s single-season passing yards list at 2,842 - the most since Chase Clement in 2008 - and piled up 3,243 yards of total offense (4th-best in school annals). 

Junior RB Darik Dillard has compiled 16 touchdowns in two seasons (14 rushing, 2 receiving) and has a combined 76 with his brother, former All-American WR Jarett Dillard. The best total in NCAA FBS history by a pair of brothers is 81 by Jacquizz (51) and James (30) Rogers of Oregon State. 

The Owls will play just one game outside of the state of Texas all season long - Oct. 10 at Florida Atlantic. The other 11 games will take place in the Lone State State. 

North Texas Mean Green Season Preview

Head coach Dan McCarney is establishing a record of success at Apogee Stadium as North Texas has a home record of 16-7 since the stadium opened in 2011. The Mean Green went 5-1 at home in 2013, tying for the second most wins in school history. In the three seasons before 2011, the Mean Green went just 1-16 at home.

McCarney has won 22 games at North Texas, which already ranks in the top- 10 all-time as he enters the 2015 season eighth in coaching wins. McCarney reached 18 wins faster at North Texas than any coach since Rod Rust in 1967- 69 after his first three seasons.

The Mean Green rushed for more than 200-yards on three different occasions and NT has run for over 300-yards now seven times in the last four seasons. The Mean Green rushed for 21 touchdowns in 2014, which is tied for the eighth most in school history.

Senior WR Carlos Harris caught 70 passes for 863 yards last season, posting three 100-yard games. The 863 yards are the most among returning players in C-USA.

Kicker Trevor Moore turned in perhaps the best season by a placekicker in school history in 2014. Moore earned freshman All-America honors after hitting 15-of-17 field goal attempts while going a perfect 37-for-37 in PATs. Moore’s field-goal percentage of 88.2 was the best in school history and his 37-for-37 in PATs was tied for the most without a miss in a single season.

The Mean Green defensive line produced 33 sacks last season, tied for the fifth most in school history. North Texas had a school-record 10 sacks in a game and defensive end Tillman Johnson recorded a freshman school-record 3.0 sacks in a game. Johnson finished with a freshman record 5.0 sacks on the season.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Season Preview

The Bulldogs won the West Division title, played in their first C-USA Championship Game and won the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl last season, defeating Illinois, 35-18. 

Senior RB Kenneth Dixon, finished with 28 touchdowns last season (22 rushing, six receiving), the second-most in a single season in CUSA history. He broke the school record for career rushing yards after finishing the season with 1,299 rushing yards and 3,410 for his career. Additionally, Dixon’s 366 points scored in his career is a new school record, eclipsing Matt Nelson’s 360 points scored from 2009-12. The tailback has also scored 61 touchdowns in his career, topping the old school record of 57 scored by Troy Edwards from 1996-98. 

Former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel joined the LA Tech program in January and is expected to be eligible to play during the 2015 season. One of the nation’s top quarterbacks coming out of high school, Driskel spent four years at Florida where he threw for 3,411 yards, 23 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and completed 59.4 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 644 yards and nine touchdowns. 

LA Tech was among the nation’s leaders in most improved scoring based on points per game compared to the previous year. LA Tech finished the 2014 season ranked fifth in most improved scoring of- fense with a 94.8 percent improvement, going from an average of 19.2 points per game in 2013 to 37.4 points per game last season. 

The Louisiana Tech defense finished the year leading the FBS in in- terceptions (26) and turnovers forced (42). The Bulldogs scored 176 points off turnovers.