Louisiana Monroe & UNLV Football 2014 Spring Wrap Ups

Louisiana Monroe Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up

Strengths & Question Marks

The biggest question mark has got to be at quarterback. After the graduation of four-year starter Kolton Browning, there are two redshirt juniors and a redshirt freshman vying for the job. There was no clear separation through the 15 practices and is still a very big unknown going into fall.

As for the strengths, the Warhawks return a good group of receivers and have some major depth at running back so that will help the offense as it tries to find its signal caller to lead everything.

On defense, the entire defensive line and two of the three linebackers also return. There is a very calm understanding of the 3-3-5 defense now and you can tell it’s running a lot smoother.

Breakout Players

Receiver Rashon Ceaser will be a junior this season and has had a lot of playing time due to some injuries at the position. He is a playmaker every time he gets the ball.

Running back Centarius Donald will be a senior and finally enjoyed an injury-free season last year and should be really to finally show what type of back he is.

Nose guard Gerrand Johnson will also be a junior and has played since his redshirt freshman season. He originally signed with Missouri and came back to Monroe after a semester and is a very strong anchor to the defense.

2014 Expectations

Improvement. The defense will be a very sound group and may keep ULM in some games until the team can figure out its quarterback situation. I’ll say that a 7-5 record is realistic.

Tabby Soignier, ULM beat writer for The News-Star provided the information for our Louisiana Monroe football 2014 spring wrap up. For more ULM football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Tabby on Twitter @soignier.

UNLV Football 2014 – Better, Worse or about the Same?

OFFENSE

UNLV’s offense will most likely be worse than last season simply because 2013 was one of the best offensive performances in program history. Behind all-time leading rusher Tim Cornett and a resurgent Caleb Herring, the Rebels set a plethora of school records on their way to a bowl game.

Both of those guys graduated, although leading receiver Devante Davis does return.

The quarterback battle will come down to junior Nick Sherry, who was the opening game starter last year, and junior college transfer Blake Decker. Sherry’s time may have already come and gone as Decker seems more capable of running the spread-based offense UNLV found success with last year.

Overall the offense returns nine starters, including the entire offensive line, so the stability at other spots could help support the quarterback transition.

UNLV WR Devante Davis

DEFENSE

The Rebels’ defense looked a lot better for stretches under first-year coordinator Tim Hauck, the older brother of coach Bobby Hauck. With a full offseason in the program and several returners, UNLV should be able to take another step forward this season. It will likely be a small one, though.

The Rebels; improvements were statistically marginal in 2013 but their league ranking increased because other teams didn’t respond as well to the increased offense.

The Mountain West’s best quarterbacks graduated so there should be an overall decrease in points and yards. We’ll see if UNLV¹s defensive numbers follow.

UNLV Football 2014 – Better, worse or about the same?

The elephant in UNLV’s locker room is the postseason ban for failing to meet the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate standards. It has already cost them a running back – senior Adonis Smith planned to transfer out – and it could affect the team’s overall motivation.

A second straight bowl game, which would be the first back-to-back trip in school history, was going to be difficult no matter what. But removing that possibility before the team even starts summer workouts is a punch in the gut. It’s unclear how the Rebels will respond to that, although the talent and cohesion is there to be close to as good as last season, I’ll predict a 5-7 season.

Taylor Bern, the UNLV beat writer for the Las Vegas Sun provided the information for our UNLV Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up. For more Running Rebel football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorBern.