Football Outlook, Part 1

The football team opens up the season at home Saturday with a 6 o'clock matchup against Syracuse. I sat down to preview the game, but realized I really haven't looked at this year's team yet. Rather than spew all of the information out and try to piece together everything that I'm thinking in one night, I am going to cover two positions each day (one offensive position and one defensive position), leading up to Saturday's game.

Today I am taking a look at the offensive line and defensive backs.

Offensive Line:

Three starters return, including tackles Corey Woods (senior) and Jake Anderson (junior). Paul Sekinger is expected to take over at Center, and Zac Kasparek (who saw playing time last season) will most likely be taking over the opening guard slot. Overall, the line doesn't look to be in bad shape. Both Kasparek and Sekinger are juniors, so experience is not an issue.

Secondary:

This is a sore spot for the defense this year. Manly Waller, who had three interceptions last year, is the only returning starter. The rest of the expected starters (Diamond Weaver at cornerback, Dough Richardson and Kevin Davis at safety) are all seniors, but with a new defensive scheme and a new coaching staff, opposing offenses are probably looking forward to playing us.