The Preview from a FAN

I was looking at the Scarlet Knights depth chart a couple days ago. I might be baised, but I do think they have a legitimate chance to win their first Big East title.

I'm not saying they're going to be dominant. But I do think they'll win games...most games. The Scarlet Knights feature a solid offense, with Savage, Sanu, and Martinek at the skill positions, and their offensive line, though younger and a little weaker, remains somewhat strong. The defense is the strong spot, with a strong front seven and an agile backfield.

They open with Norfolk State, a somewhat simple opener, especially compared to that of last year, when they opened up with Cincinnati. A win. An easy win. We get things going strong. Next is a road game, a test against a weak, but surprising Florida International team. Maybe not the simplest of wins, but we get the job done. We're undefeated. A good start. Next is North Carolina. The biggest test of the offseason. How we play that day determines how our season turns out. It's close, and we win. Yes, I might be baised on this one. But, I need to have something to think about. Tulane comes to New Brunswick next, but leaves in disgust. The Green Wave has a solid year, and is solid to this point, but we're hot and we win pretty easily.

The Big East season opens a week later with a Friday night victory over UConn. It's a home game, and the stadium will be packed and loud, especially with us creeping up at 5-0. UConn can't handle it. Rutgers improves to 5-0. Army follows the Huskies. Rutgers handles Army, but not without a fight. A little too close, but a win nonetheless. At 6-0, we travel to Pittsburgh, where the pre-season favorites to win the Big East stand in our way. An exciting game, Heinz Field turns into hysteria, and we somehow win. Our next game is in Tampa, where South Florida stuns us on their field. Feeling cocky, we come into this game and lose badly, embarrassingly. We slip by Syracuse and squeeze past Cincinnati to move to 9-1. We lead the Big East right now, and looking strong again. The following Friday night, Louisville gives us a scare, but we hold on. At 10-1, we go into our final game with West Virginia with our heads held high. It's close. It goes back-and-forth, but we lose. We lose another tight one to the hands of the Mountaineers. Bummer. But tie-breakers are tie-breakers. And, at 5-2 in the conference we sneak into a BCS game, past Pittsburgh.

I don't know the rest, but as a fan, I believe we'll win the bowl game too, making it five-straight bowl victories.

A 10-2 finish isn't bad, in fact it is pretty fantastic. But 10 wins isn't the limit, the sky is the ceiling for this crew. I say perfection isn't out of reach, but then again, in a stacked conference, neither is .500.