It's July, and I'm still not in football mode,

What is wrong with me? Usually, at this point of summer I'm begging for the start of football season. I am usually arguing with my Mississippi buddies on how we will get them in the Egg Bowl this year. Usually talking about which top recruits are going to make an impact this season. I ponder on which game will be our big upset. I'm working with numbers in my head to figure out which combination of wins and losses will get us to bowl eligibility. I am usually wondering how bad LSU will beat us this year. None of that is going through my head this July. Honestly, I'm just ready for November. Not for the Egg Bowl, not for Bowl eligibility, not for a big upset over the Tide. Simply put, I'm ready for basketball.

Not that I'm totally against the start of football season. I do hold hope like most fans. Something I wouldn't have if we had the same man pacing the sidelines as we did last year. Coach Mullen does give me a little optimism for years to come. Just not this year. Not with this schedule. Not with this offensive line. Not with the same ole 5 and a half foot quarterback. I'm a realist folks. I know that we simply don't have the talent to match up week in and week out in a conference the Detroit Lions would struggle with week in and week out.

I do think that we will see vast improvement in all three phases of the game. Offensively we should put up more yards and points. We should have more entertaining games than the 3-2 shootouts of our last coaching regime. The spread offense CDM has put in will help our weak offensive line. It will keep the defense on its toes. And, hopefully, we will be able to put a good enough product on the field to let Mr. Russell redshirt, saving him for some good years down the road. Defensively we should have a much improved in pass rush and better core group of linebackers. Our secondary definitely took a hit with the loss of Pegues, Fitz, Glanton, O'Quinn, etc. Our defensive line will surprise some folks, though. We will have to rely on that to help our inexperienced secondary out against the more pass heavy teams. On special teams we will see the most improvement. (Poor Croom just had no idea here. All fingers point to the Keith Andrews/Adam Carlson debacle here. Along with the 4th and 4 from the Georgia 27 with 2 minutes to go and down 3 points, "let's punt".) We finally have a consistent place kicker and an all-american punter. Hell, if we had had that last year we would have gone bowling.

Even with some positives, we have to look at the whole big picture. Yes, we will be better because we now have a coach with a higher football IQ than my girlfriend. But, everyone else around us will be better, too. Our schedule is not easy. Arkansas will be better, LSU will find a QB, Auburn has plenty of talent, we go to a strong Vandy team, we go travel to Commonwealth to play a decent UK team. Who does that leave? Oh yeah, 3 home games. Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Well, there's some good news. More on that in a minute.

To the games I think we should win. Jackson State- We should win this game by 5 or more touchdowns. Anything less than that is a loss. For no reason should a Div. 1AA SWAC school come in and beat us. Especially one just 2 years removed from a loss to Delta State. Houston- I don't care that they beat us by 70 points once. I don't care that they beat us every time we've played them this decade. They're still a C-USA team and if we're ever going to compete on a national level we have to beat these teams on a consistent basis. While I think we should win this game, I don't know that we will. That's what the Croom years did to my confidence. More of the same goes for the game at Middle Tennessee State. Do not even get me started on why we are traveling up to Murphreesboro for a football game. Some of Larry Templeton's dumbass moves are still haunting us. This is a trap game. We did not totally dominate them last year. We will be the biggest home game in the history of their football program, much like La Tech last year. The Blue Raiders will be up for this one. Still though, we should win. However, like I previously stated, I don't have any confidence when I say that. We might lose.

That leaves Georgia Tech as the only opponent not mentioned thus far. I expect them to come to Scott Field and totally dominate us much like they did last year. They have one of the best coaches in college football with Paul Johnson. They use a run-heavy offense that torched us for nearly 500 rushing yards last year. Mark it down. We won't even be in this game at half-time. Be ready for an early exit to the Junction for some happy times with Jack, Jim, and Crown.

I expect us to win 4 games this year. Too much newness and not enough talent to break through like the rebels did last year. I expect a year much like Arkansas had last season. Lots of ups and downs, maybe an upset win over a big opponent. In fact, that is my prediction. 4-8 with wins over J-State, Middle Tennessee, Kentucky, and.... wait for it.... LSU. We will finally get over the hump and beat the Bayou Bengals for the first time since our magical 1999 campaign.

While this seems very pessimistic, I'll admit that it is. That's the way I am about football right now. Glass half empty. I can't be any other way. All of that centers around my hatred for Mississippi. I can't get up for our football season because I know how good theirs is going to be. The rebels are gonna be good folks, really good. This is their year. All the stars have aligned for them. I am drinking the red and blue kool-aid much like all the national sports media. They have the quarterback. They have the coach. They have the schedule. They need only win 2 tough home games against LSU and Bama and they're packed for Atlanta. At which point their run should end against Tebow and the Gators, but who knows? Strange things happen in championship games. Nonetheless, this is the year of the rebel. The year they have been waiting for since 1963. Mark this down too. The rebels will win the West and go to Atlanta. I don't know what will happen from there. I expect the rebels to play in the Sugar Bowl, no less. With some luck in early December, they might play for it all. I hope and pray that I eat my words for this, but I just don't see it happening. I'll elaborate more on that later.

When I get around to it I'll go through my full predictions for each game this season. Hopefully, I'll be more optimistic by then, probably not though seeing as how good TSUN is going to be this year.