Conference USA 2012 Preview By Freddy Wills

[Freddy Wills]

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Conference USA had some big national moments in 2011 with Houston and Southern Mississippi coming up with huge games and we were there with our and . The two teams combined to go 25-3 and give the conference a new confidence. However, this conference will look completely different next year with teams going to the Big East and others from the WAC joining Conference USA. This will be the last year for the conference in terms of the way it looks and it should be interesting especially since star QB’s and head coaches left both Houston and Southern Mississippi.


1. DE Margus Hunt, Sr. SMU
2. LB Jamie Collins, Sr. Southern Miss
3. WR Aaron Dobson, Sr. Marshall
4. S Dexter McCoil, Sr. Tulsa
5. CB D.J. Hayden, Sr. Houston

– Whenever expectations heat up head coach George O’Leary and the Knights seem to fold. They missed the post season entirely after ending 2010 ranked in the Top 25 with so much promise. The offense was hit or miss a year ago, but O’Leary brings in three high-profile transfers from Missouri, Miami and Georgia Tech.

Offense – Meet the transfers, QB Tyler Gabbert, RB Storm Johnson, and OT Phil Smith. Blake Bortles vs. Tyler Gabbert will be an interesting battle to start the year. Bortles has the strong arm and Gabbert has more accuracy. The offense will have depth and talent at running back and speed at wide receiver and O’Leary won’t accept turning the ball over. The only question marks are consistency at QB, pass protection and the ability to have that balanced attack in order to convert 3rd downs and red zone trips.

Defense – Nothing new here it is all about the speed and pursuit of the linebackers making it difficult for any team to run on them. There is however a question of overall depth, but if this team stays healthy they have little to no weaknesses when it comes to playing in Conference USA. It will be just matter of time before a legitimate pass rusher rises.

- The Golden Eagles are coming off one of their most memorable seasons with a 12 win campaign. Now they get a new head coach in Ellis Johnson (South Carolina's Assistant). They lost a ton of talented seniors including their QB Austin Davis, but they have a lot to look forward to.

Offense - This is the start of a new era with a new coaching staff and a new QB. Fortunately for them they have a dynamic trio of running backs led by senior Desmond Johnson that will pick up the slack. It does not hurt that they will be running behind an experienced offensive line. However, there is depth issues at the receiver spot so. Combine that with the fact that they will be going with an inexperienced QB and this team will have major offensive issues against a team with a good run defense.

Defense - Even with the new coaching staff in place they will still run their 4-2-5 defensive alignment that has been successful over the years. They'll return just 5 starters, but once again they will reload and have one of the top defenses in the conference led by senior Jamie Collins who is a candidate for the conference's defensive player of the year.

– This team is ready to start a completely new era after losing their head coach and their star QB. Tony Levine (Houston ST/TE/WR coach 2008-2011) will take over as the head man in their last season as part of the conference. Continue reading for the rest of our article and backed by our