Logan Continues NFL Push

Former USD Coyote football standout Stefan Logan must be doing everything right in his NFL preseason performance with the Pittsburgh Steelers, based on the amount of ink the dude has been getting.

Logan was the main punt returner for the Steelers during Saturday’s 17-0 win over Buffalo. He returned four punts for 63 yards (an average of 15.8), with a long of 27 yards. But he didn’t get a chance to return a kick-off, which I’m sure is also a bittersweet feeling for Pittsburgh — 1) Yay, we got a shutout, but 2) Crap, we wanted to see what Logan can do.

Also Saturday, Logan was the feature in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story, written by Gerry Dulac. Included were comments from USD head coach Ed Meierkort, as well as Wes Beschorner and Joe Beschorner. Although, at point, Dulac refers to Wes as “Wally.”

The Post-Gazette also ran a column by Gene Collier about the Steelers’ upcoming decisions.

Also over the weekend, the AP (via Canadian Press) had a feature story on Logan’s effort to crack the Pittsburgh roster.

With NFL rosters needing to be cut to 75 by Tuesday, the Stefan Logan Watch picks up in intensity quickly. Yeah, the Steelers may have won the Super Bowl last year, but they had one of the league’s worst return groups. If there’s an area to seek improvement, it’s in the return game. We’ll see if the coaching staff sees Logan as the answer.

TGIF Linkage 08/28

** The USD volleyball team opens its season today (Friday) at the InnTowner Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin. Tough early stretch for the Coyotes, who will face Ohio U, Duke and Wisconsin.

** Hurley-Marion’s Brad Tunge is aiming for 3,000 rushing yards this season.

** New Cal Poly head football coach Tim Walsh was just as surprised with his team’s No. 12 ranking in the preseason FCS Sporting News Top 25 Poll as I was. And for the record, Cal Poly didn’t appear in the top 25 in my ballot (which I’ll post here this weekend).

** Poor ESPN. Pardon The Interruption has reportedly overtaken SportsCenter (the network’s baby) in ad revenue and ratings.

** Forget the ridiculously large video board, here’s the oddest part about the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.

** Beano Cook of ESPN actually predicted that Florida and Notre Dame will meet in the BCS football championship game. HUH?

** Newest football team in New Orleans is made up of all homeschooled kids.

** Inside the Seinfeld reunion on Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

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TGIF Recommended Tune

So, the other day I was watching the Adam Sandler movie, The Waterboy. And I completely forgot that the following song was in the film. Enjoy the memories.

Logan Shines For Steelers

Former University of South Dakota football standout Stefan Logan sure made the most of his NFL opportunity on Saturday.

Logan, a 28-year-old Miami, Fla., native, handled the bulk of the return duties on special teams for the Pittsburgh Steelers during Saturday night’s preseason game against the Washington Redskins — a game Washington won 17-13.

Logan returned four kickoff returns for an average of 39.3 yards (including a 60-yard return that set up a Pittsburgh field goal) and averaged 12 yards on four punt returns. In all, the former USD Coyote had 208 return yards. And his performance has already garnered him significant media attention.

— Matt Pawlikowski of the Pittsburgh Examiner named Logan his player of the game.

— The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also devoted the majority of this piece to Logan’s game. Included were some telling comments from Steelers running back Willie Parker and head coach Mike Tomlin.

Said Parker: “We stand on the sideline and we take bets on when he’s going to take one to the house. And he’s going to take one to the house.”

Said Tomlin: “I think it’s pretty obvious he did a nice job. He’s an incomplete body of work and we’ll continue to evaluate him. He represented himself well as a returner.”

It’s hard to say for certain right now whether Logan will make the roster or not, but you’ve got to think with more efforts like Saturday that it’d be hard for the Steelers to ignore Logan.

TGIF Linkage 08/21

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

** And for all you Vikings fans out there, enjoy the list of Favre’s 6 Greatest Interceptions.

** The University of North Dakota increased the buyout for its contracted 2013 home football game against Montana, making it even tougher for Montana to back out of the contest in Grand Forks, N.D.

** Former USD standout A.J. Schable signed with the California Redwoods of the newly-formed UFL.

** For all you movie buffs out there, here are the Top 15 Most Anticipated New Movies yet to be released in 2009. Get excited to see Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes.

** More of an ’80’s fan? Then you’re in luck. Here are the Top 10 Bad ’80’s Movies that we love. Number 10, Strange Brew, is an awesome flick.

** Want to take a stroll down memory lane? Here are the 100 Most Iconic TV Show Intros of all time. Number 1 might surprise you a bit.

** An honest-to-god NCAA compliance regulation: No cream cheese for recruits. But bagels? No, that’s OK.

** Southern Methodist — AKA SMU — football coach June Jones is closing practice to the public starting next week. Apparently, spectators were bringing video cameras.

** Seeing videos like this makes me miss the Northern League. The good ol’ days when managers threw haymakers at each other.

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TGIF Recommended Tune

For some reason, this song —”Say Hey” — by Michael Franti & Spearhead reminds me of my two trips to Jamaica. Just a catchy beat. Doesn’t it sound like a “summer” song?

‘09 Great West Conference Football Preview

It’s only Aug. 18, and here I am, talking about football. Strange, right?

But guess what? Teams have already started fall camp, which means the season is right around the corner.

For the last week, I’ve been doing some research into each of the 5 football teams in the Great West Conference, with the end goal being this preseason glance. Originally, I didn’t plan to get this detailed into the teams, as I planned to simply reveal my own preseason poll. Yet, I figured that you might want some reason WHY I chose which school where.

Here is my look at each school, in the order of where I think they’ll finish in the 5-team league. For the record, Cal Poly was picked to win the conference title again, according to the coaches poll which was released Monday.

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1. UC Davis

2008 RECORD: 5-7 (2-1 in GWC, second place)

RETURNING STARTERS: 22 (9 on offense, 7 on defense)

ASSESSMENT: Although this pick might not be a “surprise,” it does go against the preseason coaches poll. But for me, the determining factor was experience.

Last season, the Aggies didn’t have a spectacular-looking record at 5-7, but keep in mind, three of those losses were by 5 points or less. And down the stretch, UC Davis lost 4 of 5, including a loss to eventual FCS national runner-up Montana and a loss to FBS San Jose State.

But in 2009, the Aggies return a ton of talent.

The offense will again be led by quarterback Greg Denham, who will be only a sophomore this season. As a freshman in 2008, Denham passed for 3,478 yards and 27 touchdowns, with a troubling 16 interceptions. But look for him to have a breakout year, especially considering the Aggies return 3 starters on the offensive line. Also back on offense is leading rusher Joe Trombetta (Jr.) and top receiver Chris Carter (Sr.).

On defense, UC Davis is senior-laden, especially on the line (3 seniors). The Aggies do lose the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in John Faletoese.

A look at the league schedule also favors UC Davis, in my opinion. The Aggies host defending GWC champion Cal Poly on Nov. 7, followed by a Nov. 14 home game with North Dakota. UC Davis travels to South Dakota and Southern Utah, which could potentially give them 3 (possibly) 4 league victories. But out of conference, UC Davis faces FBS foes Fresno State and Boise State.

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2. Cal Poly

2008 RECORD: 8-3 (3-0 in GWC, first place)

RETURNING STARTERS: 17 (5 on offense, 8 on defense)

ASSESSMENT: For me, there’s been too much change for Cal Poly to surpass UC Davis in 2009.

The Cal Poly Mustangs put together a season for the ages last year, with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense (in both points per game and total offense). Quarterback Jonathan Dally and monster wide receiver Ramses Barden lit up the scoreboards, leading the Mustangs into the FCS playoffs and a season-ending ranking of No. 8.

But gone are both Dally and Barden, along with coach Rich Ellerson, who left for Army. The Mustangs lose seven starters on offense, including their top 3 rushers and top 3 receivers.

Replacing Ellerson as head coach is Tim Walsh, who comes from Army. The Mustangs still have not decided on a No. 1 quarterback (in fact, they had 8 quarterbacks take snaps on Monday’s first day of practice). And on defense, Cal Poly is switching from a 3-4 format to a 4-3.

Still though, I think Cal Poly has the talent to continue to win league contests. The focus in 2009 will be on a defense that returns its entire secondary.

Looking at Cal Poly’s schedule, I still see a possibility for 6, maybe 7 wins. The Mustangs do have road contests at Ohio University, San Jose State, Montana, North Dakota, UC Davis and Weber State. Not exactly an easy stretch.

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3. South Dakota

2008 RECORD: 6-5 (1-2 in GWC, tie for third place)

RETURNING STARTERS: 15 (10 on offense, 5 on defense)

ASSESSMENT: When the preseason coaches poll came out on Monday and USD was picked third, I nodded my head. Because, to me, that makes the most sense.

Make no mistake, the Coyotes will have one of the nation’s top offenses. But it’ll be on defense where USD makes the biggest impression in 2009.

USD boasts one of the country’s top offensive weapons in quarterback Noah Shepard (Sr.). The fifth-year player passed for 2000 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, to go along with 755 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. In addition, the Coyotes return their top 4 rushers from a year ago, as well as their top 6 receivers. Former quarterback Wes Beschorner was also promoted to offensive coordinator, giving USD yet another weapon, albeit from an off-the-field influence.

On defense, USD will have a unique coaching format. There is no official defensive coordinator, but head coach Ed Meierkort and his staff will work together on the defense. The Coyotes return 5 starters, including three on the defensive line (Ko Quaye, Abe Booker IV and Wayne Curry).

The Coyotes will also play a much more competitive schedule in 2009. USD will have road games at Northern Iowa, North Dakota, Montana State, Northern Colorado and Cal Poly. At home in league play, USD will face UC Davis and Southern Utah.

In all, USD will play 10 games this season. So, I’d say a fair prediction would be six wins, which essentially means that the Coyotes will have to win 1-2 games in which they’re not favored.

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4. Southern Utah

2008 RECORD: 4-7 (1-3 in GWC, last place)

RETURNING STARTERS: 15 (7 on offense, 7 on defense)

ASSESSMENT: Here again, I’m going against the preseason coaches poll. The league coaches voted Southern Utah to finish last, but I see differently.

Last season, the Thunderbirds finished 4-7 under first-year head coach Ed Lamb. Not exactly eye-popping, right? But remember, Southern Utah was 0-11 the year before.

OK, in full disclosure, I didn’t pick SUU ahead of North Dakota because of anything special the Thunderbirds will bring in 2009, mainly because of UND’s many issues. (I’ll get into that later).

When you look at Southern Utah’s offense, there really isn’t anything special. The T-BIrds will have a new quarterback in senior transfer Cade Cooper. But they do bring back 4 starters on the offensive line, which will ease Cooper’s learning curve. Also back is junior wide receiver Tysson Poots, a first-team All-GWC and a Honorable Mention All-American from 2008.

Defense is where I think Southern Utah presents the most issues for an opponent. Senior linebacker Robert Takeno is a serious ball hawk. And in a league featuring a number of strong-armed quarterbacks, SUU was No. 2 against the pass in 2008.

Although I don’t see a winning record for the T-Birds this season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an improvement from last year. So, possibly 5 wins?

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5. North Dakota

2008 RECORD: 6-4 (1-2 in GWC, tie for third place)

RETURNING STARTERS: 9 (2 on offense, 6 on defense)

ASSESSMENT: Here’s how one ratings Web site thought of North Dakota’s 2009 season: 1-10. That’s ONE win.

Now, to be fair, the Sioux will win at least 3 games. But from there, it doesn’t look pretty in Grand Forks, at least in my opinion.

UND loses 9 starters on offense and 94 percent of its total offense from last year. In addition, the Sioux do not have any returning starters at their offensive skill positions.

Not only that, the Sioux will be without leading rusher Josh Murray (academic issues) and senior defensive lineman Nathan Wayne (injury). So, needless to say, it’ll be the defense that will have to lead the way for UND in 2009.

Plus, UND’s schedule is brutal early. The Sioux open with three straight road games, Texas Tech, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin. And then, they host South Dakota. So, the way I see it, the Sioux could possibly (POSSIBLY) be looking at a 0-4 start. However, UND does host Stony Brook, U of Sioux Falls and Southern Oregon.