F&M Week
Well, it's hard to believe the football season will be coming to a close this weekend. Here's the F&M season preview that was published in the D3Football.com Kick-off Edition:
Franklin and Marshall Diplomats
Last playoff appearance: 2005
Last year: 4-6, 4-4 CC
Last conference title: 1995
2007 NCAA ranking, total offense: 122
2007 NCAA ranking, total defense: 113
Wins increase from 06-07: Plus-1
Preseason ranking: 114 of 239
Players who started camp: 75
Head coach: John Troxell, third year, 7-13
Starters returning: 20 (nine offense, nine defense, two specialists)
Position battle to watch: Quarterback. Each one of them is either a freshman or a sophomore and none have seen significant minutes. Soph Jeff Hogan enters camp as the starter, and coach John Troxell likes Hogan's size (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) and arm strength. But he will be pushed by several freshmen, including John Harris and Mark Mellinger, who spent most of his high school career behind the highly-touted Pat Bostick, now a sophomore at Pitt.
Pressure is on: The backfield. Besides the noted inexperience at quarterback, multiple starters return at wideout and on the offensive line. Troxell linked his team's success late in 2007 to a more balanced offense. Ryan Murray ran for 100+ yards in each of those games. He'll be joined by freshmen Allan Williams and John Kaschak, both accomplished high school players. All three will need to contribute to keep F&M balanced.
Where did he come from? Nose guard Powis Forjoe is originally from Ghana's capital city, Accra, and never played football until his sophomore year, Troxell's first as head coach. A 3.8 GPA student, he picked up the game quickly. Now, the 6-foot, 270-pound senior is the favorite to be the Diplomats' starter.
Their season will be defined by: The conference opener against Dickinson for the Conestoga Wagon. Against Dickinson, which has gone 17-5 in the past two seasons, F&M will use the game as a measure of its progress.
Predicted record: 4-6, 3-5
Capsule: With several starters returning on both sides of the ball -- and about half of them seniors -- this could be the start of a season in which the Diplomats take a step forward in the Centennial. They certainly have the momentum. After losing six of their first seven games in 2007, F&M won its final three, beating McDaniel, Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg. Running back Ryan Murray will be a key cog to the offense. Though he was fourth in the league in rushing, the Diplomats were more successful through the air. But the biggest question mark on that side of the ball is who will replace Kyle Turner at quarterback. Defensively, James Gregory -- an all-conference second-teamer in 2007 -- returns to lead the linebacking crew, which returns intact. Andrew Rocks, who had five sacks a year ago, is one of two returners along the defensive line. But the Diplomats, in the middle of the pack in many statistical categories, will need to cut down on penalties: They were last in the league in that category, racking up more than 50 penalty yards per game.
Franklin and Marshall Diplomats
Last playoff appearance: 2005
Last year: 4-6, 4-4 CC
Last conference title: 1995
2007 NCAA ranking, total offense: 122
2007 NCAA ranking, total defense: 113
Wins increase from 06-07: Plus-1
Preseason ranking: 114 of 239
Players who started camp: 75
Head coach: John Troxell, third year, 7-13
Starters returning: 20 (nine offense, nine defense, two specialists)
Position battle to watch: Quarterback. Each one of them is either a freshman or a sophomore and none have seen significant minutes. Soph Jeff Hogan enters camp as the starter, and coach John Troxell likes Hogan's size (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) and arm strength. But he will be pushed by several freshmen, including John Harris and Mark Mellinger, who spent most of his high school career behind the highly-touted Pat Bostick, now a sophomore at Pitt.
Pressure is on: The backfield. Besides the noted inexperience at quarterback, multiple starters return at wideout and on the offensive line. Troxell linked his team's success late in 2007 to a more balanced offense. Ryan Murray ran for 100+ yards in each of those games. He'll be joined by freshmen Allan Williams and John Kaschak, both accomplished high school players. All three will need to contribute to keep F&M balanced.
Where did he come from? Nose guard Powis Forjoe is originally from Ghana's capital city, Accra, and never played football until his sophomore year, Troxell's first as head coach. A 3.8 GPA student, he picked up the game quickly. Now, the 6-foot, 270-pound senior is the favorite to be the Diplomats' starter.
Their season will be defined by: The conference opener against Dickinson for the Conestoga Wagon. Against Dickinson, which has gone 17-5 in the past two seasons, F&M will use the game as a measure of its progress.
Predicted record: 4-6, 3-5
Capsule: With several starters returning on both sides of the ball -- and about half of them seniors -- this could be the start of a season in which the Diplomats take a step forward in the Centennial. They certainly have the momentum. After losing six of their first seven games in 2007, F&M won its final three, beating McDaniel, Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg. Running back Ryan Murray will be a key cog to the offense. Though he was fourth in the league in rushing, the Diplomats were more successful through the air. But the biggest question mark on that side of the ball is who will replace Kyle Turner at quarterback. Defensively, James Gregory -- an all-conference second-teamer in 2007 -- returns to lead the linebacking crew, which returns intact. Andrew Rocks, who had five sacks a year ago, is one of two returners along the defensive line. But the Diplomats, in the middle of the pack in many statistical categories, will need to cut down on penalties: They were last in the league in that category, racking up more than 50 penalty yards per game.
posted by Pat McConnell | 5:19 AM
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