Figured we'd kickstart this thread again with the start of the season approaching in a few weeks.
Here's the 2024 schedule at a glance:
8/31 - Towson (Home)
9/7 - Pittsburgh (Home)
9/14 - Miami Ohio (Away)
9/21 - Houston (Home)
9/28 - Texas Tech (Away)
10/12 - UCF (Away)
10/19 - Arizona State (Home)
10/26 - Colorado (Away)
11/9 - West Virginia (Home)
11/16 - Iowa State (Away)
11/23 - Kansas State (Away)
11/30 - TCU (Home)
After an abysmal 3-9 2023 season, a few areas that appear to be improved are:
-QB: IU transfer Brendan Sorsby, by all accounts, looks to be an upgrade over Emory Jones - especially with his ability to make reads and spread the ball around to different receivers.
-TE: A healthy Joe Royer (OSU transfer/Elder grad) appears to be an all-conference caliber talent as a pass catcher and could really open up the middle of the field in a way the passing game wasn't able to exploit last season
-Defensive Backfield: It was clearly the weakest position group in the program last season and has appeared to have been bolstered sufficiently through the transfer portal
-Team Culture: A number of cancerous personalities from the 2023 team have left the program and there appears to have been a strong emphasis on character/locker room fit for the new guys they brought in over the offseason.
A few areas with lingering question marks are:
-The 3-3-5 Defense... New DC Tyson Veidt brings a proven concept over from Iowa State, but it remains to be seen how this defense will suit the team's personnel in Year 1.
-Defensive Line... Two projected impact players in DE Mikah Coleman and DT Jalen Hunt are already out for the season with injuries and the status of star DT Dontay Corleone remains up in the air as well after he started receiving treatment for blood clots in his lungs in late June.
-WR: The top receiver from the 2023 team returns in Xzavier Henderson, but there's a big drop-off in returning production after him. Early reports indicate this position group is deeper and faster than last season's group, but until we see them in real games, it'll be hard to project how good these guys will be.
What are everyone's predictions for the season?