Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview. #33 UCLA Bruins 10-2 SU; 7-5 ATS Fargos Take Dreams of a possible National Championship after an 8-0 start were burst when the Bruins were hammered at Arizona last season. Getting shellacked at USC in the regular season finale put an end to a possible berth in a major bowl but UCLA did recover with a win against Northwestern in the Sun Bowl. Now the Bruins must replace the three biggest playmakers on offense, quarterback Drew Olson, running back Maurice Drew and tight end Marcedes Lewis, as well as go about trying to fix one of the worst defenses in the country. UCLA finished 113th in total defense, 116th in rushing defense and 108th in scoring defense so being able to win 10 games showed how important the offense was. There are numerous players who will be asked to step in and contribute right away and while there is no chance the Bruins can match their win total from 2005, another bowl game is very likely. Returning Starters on Offense 4 Olson had a spectacular season with 34 touchdowns and six interceptions while throwing for close to 3,200 yards. Another Olson, Ben, will be taking over as the new signal caller and if his season is anything like his potential, he could have a very good year. He has the availability of two returning starters at receiver and the top three pass catching wideouts are all back. Replacing Lewis is impossible and that will be a huge part of the offense that will be missed. The running game should be solid as Chris Markey, who rushed for 561 yards on 5.1 ypc behind Drew, has slashing ability and could be a 1,000-yard rusher. He will benefit from three starters coming back on an offensive line that is not only big but quick. UCLA was 5th in the country in scoring offense a season ago, averaging 34.2 ppg but something along the lines of its 25.8 ppg average in 2004 is likely for this season. Returning Starters on Defense 6 The best news about the stop unit is that there is no where to go but up. DeWayne Walker, who was with the Washington Redskins, takes over as defensive coordinator and his number one priority is to put some swagger into the defense that has gotten worse in all three seasons that head coach Karl Dorrell has been in Los Angeles. There is good experience throughout but this defense is ranked 7th in the Pac Ten heading into the season. The strength will be in the secondary once again but major help in needed in the front seven. Defensive tackle Kevin Brown is back after missing all of last season and he will provide a needed boost to the undersized defensive line. The linebackers will all be new starters and the top six features only one senior and one junior. Schedule Oklahoma and San Diego St. are gone from the schedule but the replacements are Notre Dame and Utah so there is no advantage from that standpoint. A home game against Rice is the only other non-conference game on the schedule. Five of the nine conference games are at home with the only really tough test coming in the season finale against USC. The road games are difficult with Washington being the only sure win. Facing Oregon, California and Arizona St. away from home will likely result in three losses although the latter two come late in the season when the Bruins could be finding its continuity. Its possible UCLA could be 5-0 heading into that game at Oregon and a win there would mean huge momentum going into the final out of conference game at Notre Dame. You can bet on Until the Bruins can take care of cross town rival USC, every season will be considered a disappointment. UCLA has not defeated the Trojans since 1998 but this could be one of the best chances in a while since USC is going through a rebuilding season and has to travel to the Rose Bowl. The Bruins are 14-5-1 ATS since 2000 against non-conference foes and the first game against Utah will be a good test. The Utes are a preseason top 25 team but UCLA is a solid 10-2 against the number in its last 12 home openers. The Bruins went 5-1 ATS last season as a home chalk and will be favored in their first six home games this year. |
