The Wiz of Odds

Southern Mississippi

Larry Fedora has plenty to work with as he begins his second season as coach of the Golden Eagles Sixteen starters return, eight on each side of the ball. Quarterback Austin Davis will try to build on his freshman season, when he passed for 23 touchdowns and rushed for nine more. Receiver DeAndre Brown had a spectacular freshman season, catching 67 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns. But Brown suffered a gruesome injury to his right leg in the New Orleans Bowl and has not been cleared to participate in contract drills. Thanks to Kirstin and Nicole! Poster designed by Old Hat Creative.

Utah

You know the story. One of only six Division I-A teams to have completed an undefeated season since 2004. Winners of 14 in a row and 21 of 22. Utah 31, Alabama 17. ... What do the Utes have to show for all this winning? Because they play in a non-Bowl Championship Series Conference, not much, but we shall crown them The People's Champion and urge Orrin Hatch and Mark Shurtleff to continue to fight the good fight. Here's the bigger question: Can they go undefeated again? It's not out of the question. The Sept. 19 game at Oregon could be tricky, as could the Nov. 14 game at Texas Christian. Then there is the Nov. 28 Holy War against Brigham Young, the last team to beat Utah way back in 2007. Thanks to Ann and Adam!

Spring Reports

Our sixth and final look at spring scrimmages across the country. If you missed our previous reports, click here, here, here, here and here.

Kansas State: Quarterback Carson Coffman had his 15 minutes of fame — the third quarter. Coach Bill Snyder wants him to remember the other 45 minutes and work on his consistency. Snyder on the team's mistakes: "We made them, and that makes us not a very good football team at this particular point in time. This is a team that needs to learn how to stop losing. That's an old adage, but there's a great deal of truth to it." The Wildcats also unveiled a 4-2-5 defense.

Oregon: Quarterbacks Jeremiah Masoli and Justin Roper combined to complete 37 of 56 passes for 516 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. But the running game was nondescript and errant snaps were an issue. The kicking was atrocious, with three misses and three blocks in six attempts. Before the scrimmage, coach Chip Kelly gave his team this record for the spring: "We're probably 11-2 right now." Attendance: 12,400.

Spring Reports

Our fifth look at spring scrimmages across the country. Ohio State set a new record for a spring scrimmage, with an announced crowd of 95,722. If you missed our previous reports, click here, here, here and here.

Atlantic Coast

Boston College: A sluggish effort for the offense. Clearly, the Eagles haven't gotten to know the schemes of new offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill. "We need a lot of work," first-year coach Frank Spaziani said.

Maryland: No Darius Heyward-Bey? No problem. Sophomore Quintin McCree caught three touchdown passes and junior Adrian Cannon had two touchdown receptions as the Terrapins showed why receiver will be among the team's deepest positions.

Big East

Cincinnati: Coach Brian Kelly kept his new 3-4 alignment under wraps, often staying with last season's 4-3. "We didn’t want to show too much," he said. "I'm really pleased with [our defense]. We got our defensive coordinator [Bob Diaco] in place. We got our system in place. We made some changes and moved some personnel around that helped us."

Spring Reports

Our fourth look at spring scrimmages across the country. If you missed our previous reports, click here, here and here.

Atlantic Coast

Duke: The offense, which ranked 102nd nationally in yardage and 101st in scoring last season, showed it has made big strides. David Cutcliffe's goal is to have his team play in a bowl game. "We're certainly not a great football team, but we're a good football team," he said.

North Carolina State: Quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 195 yards in a half, then started at second base against Florida State in the evening. The offensive line remains a concern.

Virginia: Five quarterbacks combined to completed 35 of 53 passes for 337 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions out of the new no-huddle spread offense.

Wake Forest: Riley Skinner, who will be entering his fourth season as a starting quarterback, completed 15 of 23 passes for 272 yards. The Demon Deacons are 26-11 with Skinner starting at quarterback.

Spring Reports

Our third look at spring scrimmages across the country. If you missed our previous reports, click here and here.

Alabama Birmingham: Not many three-and-outs on this day, with the offenses totaling 755 passing yards and 246 rushing yards.

Army: Former offensive tackle Ali Villanueva is making an impact at receiver. Villanueva, who is 6 foot 10 and 283 pounds, caught a 38-yard touchdown pass and hauled in another pass for a 22-yard gain.

Brigham Young: No spring game, but Bronco Mendenhall was pleased with the development of the offensive line, which lost four starters.

Central Florida: The Knights were 119th in total offense last season, but that is likely to change with the introduction of a passing game that will try to stretch the defense by throwing the deep ball.

Clemson: A record 24,000 turned out to watch Kyle Parker take the lead in the quarterback race over Willy Korn.