|
2005 Big Ten Football Prospectus
Complete Release in PDF Format
April 14, 2005
2005 Big Ten Football Media Days and Kickoff Luncheon: The 2005 Big Ten Football Media Days and 34th annual Kickoff Luncheon will be held on Monday and Tuesday, August 1-2, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, featuring all 11 head coaches and some of the Conference's top returning players. Welcome Back: Returning to Big Ten fields in 2005 are 28 All-Conference players from last season, including 15 First Team honorees and 13 Second Team selections. The First Team returnees are comprised of eight offensive standouts, five defensive stalwarts and two punters. The Second Team picks include six players on offense and seven on defense. In addition, 32 Honorable Mention honorees from last season also return to campus. ALL-BIG TEN FIRST-TEAM RETURNEES OFFENSE Michael Hart, SO, RB, MICH Matt Lentz, SR, OL, MICH (Coaches only) Tim Massaquoi, SR, TE, MICH Adam Stenavich, SR, OL, MICH (Coaches only) Greg Eslinger, SR, OL, MINN Laurence Maroney, JR, RB, MINN Mark Setterstrom, SR, OL, MINN (Media only) DEFENSE Abdul Hodge, SR, LB, IOWA (Coaches only) Gabe Watson, SR, DT, MICH (Coaches only) Tim McGarigle, SR, LB, NU (Media only) A.J. Hawk, SR, LB, OSU SPECIAL TEAMS Brandon Fields, JR, P, MSU (Media only) Familiar Faces in Starting Lineup: Ten of the Big Ten's 11 teams return more than half of their starters from a season ago, as Purdue leads the way with an astounding 20 of its 24 starters back on the field in 2005. After replacing eight starters on the defensive side of the ball at the start of the 2004 campaign, the Boilermakers return all 11 starters on defense for the 2005 season along with seven offensive starters and their kicker and punter. Penn State ranks second with 19 starters back on campus while Ohio State brings back 18 starters. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes lead the League with nine of their 11 offensive starters returning while ranking second to Purdue with nine players back on the defensive side of the ball. Illinois and Michigan are tied for fourth with 16 starters returning. The Wolverines, along with Michigan State and Minnesota, return eight of 11 starters on the offensive side of the ball. The breakdown of starters returning and lost in the Conference and a team-by-team breakdown are available in the pdf version of the prospectus. Veteran Signal Callers: After entering the 2004 campaign with six new starting quarterbacks, the Big Ten returns a wealth of experience behind the center in 2005 as eight of the 11 programs feature a returning starter. In addition, only two of those returning starters will be seniors this season. The schools with returning starters are Iowa (Drew Tate), Michigan (Chad Henne), Michigan State (Drew Stanton), Minnesota (Bryan Cupito), Northwestern (Brett Basanez), Ohio State (Justin Zwick/Troy Smith), Penn State (Michael Robinson) and Wisconsin (John Stocco). Below is a chart listing the statistics of the Big Ten starting quarterbacks returning to the field in 2005. Breaking Down the Returning QBs: Despite the turnover last season, five of the six new quarterbacks advanced to postseason play while the final stats featured five new standouts among the top 10 in pass efficiency and total offense. Iowa's Tate, who ended the year ranked second in the League with a pass efficiency of 134.7 in all games, earned First Team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and led the Hawkeyes to a share of the Big Ten title and a victory in the Capital One Bowl. Michigan's Henne, ranked third in all games with a 132.6 pass efficiency, was an Honorable Mention All-Conference pick and became the first true freshman to start in the Rose Bowl after guiding the Wolverines to a share of the Big Ten crown. Michigan State's Stanton was also an Honorable Mention choice after rating fourth with a passer rating of 131.8 and third in total offense with 228.8 yards per contest. Minnesota's Cupito guided the Gophers to victory in the Music City Bowl and ranked sixth overall with a pass efficiency rating of 127.0. Northwestern's Basanez was an Honorable Mention selection and ranked second in the League in passing yards and total offense per contest. Ohio State rotated a pair of signal callers last season in Zwick, who led the team to a triumph in the Alamo Bowl, and Smith. Penn State's Robinson started three games last season at quarterback while also rotating at the wide receiver position. Wisconsin's Stocco led the Badgers to a berth in the Outback Bowl while producing a passer rating of 109.8, which ranked 10th in the Conference. More Returnees for 2005: In addition to the eight teams returning starting quarterbacks, the Big Ten will also return the majority of statistical leaders in rushing, receiving and tackles. On the ground, six of the top 10 rushers will be back on the field including Michigan freshman Michael Hart, who topped the League with 121.2 yards per contest and was a First Team All-League pick. Other returning rushers who received All-Conference laurels in 2004 are Illinois' Pierre Thomas (5th at 82.1 ypg) and Minnesota's Laurence Maroney (3rd at 112.3 ypg). Seven of the top 10 wideouts will also return to campus in 2005 led by Iowa's Clint Solomon and Ed Hinkel, who will be the returning statistical leaders in yards (75.4) and receptions (5.25) per contest, respectively. Other returning wide receivers to pick up 2004 All-League accolades are Michigan's Jason Avant, Minnesota's Ernie Wheelwright, Northwestern's Mark Philmore, Ohio State's Ted Ginn, Jr., and Santonio Holmes and Wisconsin's Owen Daniels and Brandon Williams. On the defensive side of the ball, eight of the top 10 tacklers will be back in 2005 including all four First Team All-Big Ten selections at linebacker in leading tackler Tim McGarigle of Northwestern (12.6 per game), Ohio State's A.J. Hawk (2nd with 11.8) and the Iowa pair of Abdul Hodge (4th with 9.7) and Chad Greenway (7th with 9.4). Strong on the Line: The Big Ten will also be strong on the offensive and defensive lines in 2005, as nine of the 11 programs return at least three starting offensive linemen and nine schools feature at least two returning defensive linemen. On the offensive side of the ball, Indiana and Penn State return their entire starting offensive line while Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State feature four returning starters. The Nittany Lions are the only Conference squad to return every starter on both the offensive and defensive line, as Purdue will also feature four returning defensive linemen, part of a Boilermakers defense that brings back all 11 starters. New Faces on the Sidelines: The Big Ten will feature a pair of new head coaches in 2005 in Illinois' Ron Zook and Indiana's Terry Hoeppner. Zook was named the 22nd head football coach in Illini history in December and comes to Champaign with 27 years of coaching experience at both the collegiate and professional level. The new Illinois mentor served as the Florida head coach from 2002-04, posting an overall mark of 23-14 and 16-8 in Southeastern Conference action while leading the Gators to three consecutive bowl appearances and a share of the 2003 SEC East Division title. Hoeppner, a native of Woodburn, Indiana, was named Indiana's 26th head football coach in December after leading Miami (Ohio) to a pair of consecutive Mid-American Conference East Division titles and bowl game appearances for the first time in 30 years. He spent 19 seasons at Miami and compiled a 48-24 overall record as the head coach over the last six years, including finishing among the top three in the MAC East each of those seasons. Carr Aims for 100th Win: With a record of 95-29 in 10 seasons in Ann Arbor, Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr will aim to become just the 11th head coach in Big Ten history and the third in school annals to compile 100 wins at a single school. Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez became the 10th member of that group last season while Carr will look to join former Wolverines Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost on the prestigious list. The complete list of coaches to win 100 games at a Big Ten institution appears in the pdf version of the prospectus. Breaking Down the 2005 Schedule: The 2005 Big Ten non-conference schedule features 13 games against 2004 bowl opponents, as nine of the 11 League programs will face at least one bowl team. Wisconsin may face the most challenging schedule, as three of their four non-conference foes played in a bowl last season -- Bowling Green (GMAC), North Carolina (Continental Tire) and Hawaii (Hawaii). Michigan and Ohio State both square off against a pair of bowl teams as the Wolverines will battle Northern Illinois (Silicon Valley Classic) and Notre Dame (Insight) while the Buckeyes will be tested by Miami (Ohio) (Independence) and Texas (Rose). Six other Big Ten squads will play one non-conference bowl opponent as Michigan State and Purdue will also take on the Fighting Irish, Illinois travels to California (Holiday), Iowa faces a road test at Iowa State (Independence), Northwestern will play at Arizona State (Sun) and Penn State hosts new Big East-member Cincinnati (Fort Worth). No Plays for 2005: Each year, two Big Ten teams do not meet. Here is the breakdown of "no-plays" for 2005: Team -- Does not play Big Ten Instant Replay Instant Replay Approved for 2005: The Big Ten will begin year two of its college football instant replay program in 2005. On February 24, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the NCAA Football Rules Committee's proposal to allow all NCAA conferences and independent institutions to experiment with the use of video replay for the 2005 season. First Year Success Story: The Big Ten used an experimental instant replay system during the 2004 season, as all 44 Big Ten games utilized the new system which was featured in 13 non-conference home games. The NCAA Football Rules Committee granted the Big Ten the right to experiment with instant replay on a one-year basis for all televised games at League stadiums in 2004 following a pilot program study conducted during the 2003 season. Visiting teams during non-conference contests needed to approve the usage of instant replay, as the four schools that did not grant their approval for use of the system were Arizona State (Sept. 11 at Northwestern), UCLA (Sept. 11 at Illinois), Iowa State (Sept. 11 at Iowa) and San Diego State (Sept. 18 at Michigan). The remaining 13 non-conference opponents consented to the use of instant replay, while the system was unavailable for the five home games not scheduled to be televised (Florida A&M and Western Michigan at Illinois; Central Michigan at Indiana; Kansas at Northwestern; Ball State at Purdue). Instant Replay By The Numbers: During the 2004 campaign, play was stopped in only 28 of 57 contests (49 percent) for a total of 43 stoppages and 21 overturned calls (49 percent of stoppages). These numbers compared favorably to the Big Ten's instant replay pilot program, as the data collected in 2003 showed that play would have been stopped in 31 of 68 games (46 percent) for a total of 45 stoppages and 23 overturned calls (51 percent of stoppages). In addition, the use of instant replay did not significantly affect game times as the length of the 57 games utilizing instant replay in 2004 was only three hours and 16 minutes, compared to three hours and 13 minutes in all 2003 contests. Less than one stoppage occurred per game in 2004, as the Big Ten's average length of review was only two minutes and 39 seconds, compared to the National Football League average of three minutes and 20 seconds for its instant replay system.
|
|
|||||||||
