College Football 2006: Independents

It only took head coach Charlie Weis one year to bring Notre Dame football back into the national limelight and make the Irish a legitimate power once again in college football circles.

Notre Dame is a one of the preseason favorites to possibly be playing for a national championship in January and QB Brady Quinn is also the early favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

But if Touchdown Jesus hopes to celebrate the Fighting Irish and its first national championship since 1988, the defense, and in particular the secondary, must improve dramatically over last season.

Also, many in Annapolis are saying that the Midshipmen may have their best team since a guy named Roger Staubach led them to the Cotton Bowl in 1963. Head coach Paul Johnson has restored the pride of Navy football after an 8-4 season and a Poinsettia Bowl berth in 2006.

Bobby Ross begins his second year at Army with a veteran squad and a positive outlook that has the Black Knights and their fans buzzing. Temple begins its first and only season as an independent before joining the MAC in 2007. Here's a look at the independents for 2006.

Independents:

1. Notre Dame - Quinn (3,919 yards, 32 TDs) is re-writing the Notre Dame record book and is back for a final year with lots of weapons to choose from. RB Darius Walker (1,196-9) and preseason All-American WR Jeff Samardzija (78-1,274-15) are his favorite weapons. Maurice Stovall is gone but Rhema McKnight, the leading receiver in 2004, returns from a season-ending knee injury last season. The offensive line is a veteran group that returns three of five starters. The defense has nine regulars back, including DE Victor Abiamiri and preseason All-American safety Tom Zbikowski. The one weakness on this squad is the secondary, which gave up 265 ypg through the air and doesn't have much speed. If Weis can find a way to shore up the defense and survive a brutal schedule, Notre Dame could be playing for the national title in January.

2. Navy - Johnson has brought back the swagger to Navy football and with eight starters returning on offense and nine on defense, many feel this could be the best team to come out of Annapolis since 1963. The key to the season will be the play of senior QB Brian Hampton and how he handles the spread option offense after replacing starter Lamar Owens. Hampton has three of his top five rushers back from a season ago and more importantly, four of five starters on the offensive line. The defense is led by linebackers Rob Caldwell (140 tackles) and Tyler Tidwell (10 sacks) and an experienced secondary. The team is seasoned and the schedule is set up for the Midshipmen to better last seasons eight win total.

3. Army - Ross made significant progress in his second year with the Black Knights and hopes for even more improvement in 2006. Army won four games last season, something that had not been done since 1997. Nine starters return on offense, including the entire offensive line and leading receiver Jeremy Trimble (41-529-4). The problem is the two starters gone are QB Zac Dahman and leading rusher Carlton Jones. Junior David Pevoto takes over the signal calling duties for Army, but is inexperienced. He has thrown only 12 passes in his career. The RB situation will be handled by a committee approach with Jamal Robinson, Tony Dace, Wesley McMahand and Ricky Lay all seeing action. The defense returns eight starters and is improving each and every season under Ross.

4. Temple - Those poor Temple Owls were kicked out of the Big East for not being competitive and now must play one season as an independent before joining the Mid-American Conference in 2007. New coach Al Golden, former defensive coordinator at Virginia, looks to try and right a Temple program that hasn't had a winning record since 1990. Unfortunately, there's not much in the cupboard right now for Golden to work with. The offense returns seven starters, but lost its quarterback and its top two rushers and receivers to graduation. The defense is in even worse shape. Only three starters return from a unit that gave up 45 ppg last season, last in the nation.


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