Countdown to Kickoff – Week 3

Hello football fans! The season is now less than 100 days away and SportsNet has plans to make sure you’re ready for the upcoming season. For the next 11 weeks, we will preview the 2010 opponents for LSU, Nicholls State and the New Orleans Saints.

On the 12th week, we will preview the teams we love – the Tigers, Colonels and the defending Super Bowl Champions.

Today’s version of the series begins with previews of our teams’ Week 2 opponents, Vanderbilt (LSU), Western Michigan (Nicholls) and the 49ers (Saints).

Here’s to football!

Excitement surrounds Mullen’s second season at Mississippi St.

Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen knows what it takes to win big in the Southeastern Conference.

Serving as an offensive coordinator under Florida coach Urban Meyer, Mullen called the plays for two separate national championship teams – success that enabled him to land the Bulldogs’ gig.

So with one full season under his belt, Mullen is ready to introduce his winning tradition to the Bulldog nation – a program starved for success that hasn’t had an SEC title since 1941 and has never won a national championship.

“This program is on the rise,” Mullen told reporters at the end of last season. “To the contrary of what other people are saying in this state, I know one program that is on the rise, and it is right here in Starkville.”

The Bulldogs won just five games in their new coach’s inaugural season, and finished with a 3-5 SEC record.

But Mississippi State played up to its competition all season, losing in the final seconds against LSU, while also losing competitive games to nationally-ranked opponents Georgia Tech, Houston and Florida. The Bulldogs finally put it all together in the final game of the 2009 season, and crushed archrival Ole Miss, 41-27, to win the annual Egg Bowl.

A record crowd turned out for the victory, and Mullen thanked the fans following the game, and called the moment a “collective exhale” for the Bulldogs’ program.

But after the good ending to 2009, it will be back to reality in 2010, because Mississippi State has plenty of holes to fill to continue their progression.

But most of the holes are closer to being patched up after what players and coaches describe as a very good spring practice session.

“It was a fun spring overall,” said offensive lineman Derek Sherrod. “We worked hard for four-straight weeks and made plenty progress. We’re just ready to take a break and keep going over the summer.”

The team lost two-time All-SEC halfback Anthony Dixon to the NFL, and will also have to replace their top tackler, Jamar Chaney, and top defensive back, Marcus Washington, who are also playing at the next level.

Dixon was the face of the program during his time in Starkville, and rushed for 3,994 yards and 42 touchdowns in his four collegiate seasons.

Replacing him will be less-experienced backs Robert Elliott and Vick Ballard, who will have four returning offensive linemen at their disposal.

The team hopes to be able to get a more steady passing attack to complement its ground game this year.

Last year’s starter Tyson Lee had 14 interceptions to just four touchdowns, but 2009 backup and this year’s likely starter Chris Relf was a change of pace with five touchdowns to three picks, while also rushing for more than 500 yards. Relf showed some of that promise in the spring game when he passed for nearly 200 yards.

But even after the strong spring season, Mullen said he’s not ready to name Relf the team’s starting quarterback just yet – and he added the best player would play in the fall.

“It’s still so long before we play,” he said. “Whoever deserves playing time is going to play. It’s as simple as that. If it’s one, it’s one. If it’s two, it’s two … Whoever gives us the best chance to win.”

Winning is still an idea foreign to the Bulldog Nation – but for how much longer remains to be seen.

South Alabama looking to build on solid opening year

There were many firsts for the South Alabama football program last season.

First game – it was its inaugural season.

First touchdown.

First win.

But there was one first the team avoided – first loss.

In its first season with an NCAA-sponsored football program, the Jaguars went 7-0, and dominated opponents with a stifling defense that allowed less than six points per game.

With a bigger, 10-game schedule, Jaguars’ coach Joey Jones hopes his team can build on its dominant first season and have more success this time around with an offseason under its belt.

“Last year, we were starting from scratch. Nobody knew terminology or each other, but now we’ve started to build a team,” Jones said. “We’ve gone through a summer program, a year and an offseason, so our kids know each other and what to expect from us as coaches. We should be able to pick up from where we were at the end of the season and progress from there.”

South Alabama is currently in the beginning stages of football, and is moving toward becoming a Division I performer.

The team is going to accelerate its schedule each year before officially joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. Along the way, the team will play two “transitional years” in the Football Championship Subdivision.

The team is not currently in a championship division, but is allotted 70-80 football scholarships.

That is up from the almost 40 scholarships the team had last season. The increased number is something that Jones said has helped the team this spring.

“It went well, we were much sharper than last year,” Jones said in a release issued by the Jaguars’ athletic department. “It’s not even in the same hemisphere. Obviously, that’s because the kids know what they are doing and they know what is expected of them. The coaches have done a good job of teaching over the last year, I am really happy with how we have progressed.”

With any up-start program, returning players usually aren’t hard to find.

That is exactly the case with the Jaguars in the coming years.

The Jaguars have a roster full of freshmen and sophomores and will not have a single senior on their team.

Notable returnees will be quarterbacks Myles Gibbon, and Brennan Sim, who combined to go 60-for-95 with nine touchdowns and just three interceptions while splitting time last year.

On defense, the team will return linebackers Justin Dunn and Clifton Crews, who combined to make 14 tackles for a loss last season on a defensive unit that allowed just 233 yards per game.

Defensive back Ken Barefield also is figuring to pace the unit, and recorded a dozen stops in a spring scrimmage.

“When the ball is snapped, whether it’s the first play or last play, we are trying to just dominate,” Barefield said. “If we don’t do that, we’ve lost – that’s the way we look at it.”

So with their goal of Division I status still three seasons away, the focus for the Jaguars will again be the same this year: progress and improvement.

“Our goal is to get better every day, and I think we are doing that as a team,” said linebacker Enrique Williams.

Jones agreed and said following the spring he is excited to see how his team looks in its second season of action.

“The bottom line is that I’m real proud of the team, we’ve had a great spring,” he said. “We have achieved our goals.”

Falcons look to improve upon last season’s 9-7 record

After opening up with the Vikings and the 49ers, the defending Super Bowl champs will get their first taste of a traditional NFC South rivalry when they host the Atlanta Falcons Week 3.

Atlanta enters 2010 with a chip on its shoulder after a disappointing 9-7 record, which caused the team to miss the playoffs.

Take a glance around the league, and most NFL teams would be happy with a 9-7 record – especially an Atlanta team that strung together consecutive winning seasons for the first time in its history last year.

But Falcon expectations shot through the roof after the Dirty Birds earned a playoff berth in 2009 and looked to be a young team on the rise.

Add the acquisition of all-world tight end Tony Gonzalez from the Chiefs last offseason, and most Falcon fans will tell you they were disappointed by the team’s 9-7 finish.

But with six touchdowns and 83 receptions in his first year with the club, Gonzalez knows his team isn’t that far away.

“It was really hard in Kansas City those last couple of years, because we weren’t winning games,” Gonzalez told reporters after a recent practice. “But here we have a great group of talent. On paper right now, this is probably the best team I’ve ever been on.”

A difficult schedule doomed the Falcons last season, with five of their seven losses coming against playoff teams.

Things may not get easier for the Falcons with seven games against 2009 playoff teams this year, but Gonzalez said a slew of players in their third year with the club should allow them to click – including third-year quarterback Matt Ryan.

“With Matt, it’s not if, it’s when, and it’s up to him and us around him to make sure that that learning curve is accelerated,” said Gonzalez. “He has all the talent in the world…I’ve got big plans for Matt this year, and I think he’s going to have a good year.”

Ryan exploded onto the scene in 2008 leading the Falcons to an 11-5 record with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions – including a 62-yard touchdown strike on his first NFL pass.

But in 2009, Ryan missed two games due to injury – losses to the Eagles and Saints – and increased his interception total to 14.

“I’ve been through everything, and so now it’s about going out there and being more consistent, and I think I can do that,” said Ryan to reporters after a recent practice. “So my mindset going into it is keep preparing the best I can.”

Everyone else on the offensive side of the ball will return to support Ryan, and 10 of 11 starters return on defense with the only exception being cornerback Tye Hill who signed with Tennessee.

Fortunately for Falcons fans, the club signed Dunta Robinson to a six-year $57 million contract to replace Hill on the edge.

The Georgia native amassed 13 interceptions in five seasons for the Houston Texans before becoming a free agent.

Entering the fold for the 2010 season will be Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon who the Falcons drafted with the No. 19 pick in the first round.

Weatherspoon will push hard for a starting outside linebacker spot, rounding out a potentially very good corps with Curtis Lofton and Mike Peterson at the other positions.

“It’s exciting to know we can go out there and accomplish some big things this year. When I say that I’m thinking super bowl, and why would I think any other way?” said Gonzalez. “At this point in my career with the talent we have on this team, we can go far if we want to – if we work the right way.”

After the Saints meet the Falcons in Week 3, it will not be until Week 16 that the teams are slated to have their annual rematch.