Greenville Season Preview

Greenville enters the 2013 football season riding what is likely the longest winning streak in Division III football next to that of Mount Union. The Panthers won their last seven conference games in addition to the NCCAA Victory Bowl versus Northwestern College (now known as the University of Northwestern - St. Paul). The Panthers started the 2012 season slowly with two huge losses to Millikin University (50-17) and to St. Scholastica (45-3). Despite those two losses, the Panthers, led by UMAC Central's 2012 Outstanding Offensive POY, QB Brendan Chambers, went on to win their next seven conference games while averaging an astounding 40 points and 470 yards of offense in each of those games. However, even though they finished the year as the hottest team in the UMAC, they lost out on the chance to receive the UMAC's automatic qualifier bid for the Division III playoffs due to an unfortunate tie-breaking system. As a consolation prize, they were able to host Northwestern College for the NCCAA Victory Bowl, which was a thriller of a game decided by the slimmest of margins with Greenville winning the game in overtime, 28-27. This season, if Greenville can get their offensive engine running right away, look for them to be a dominant force in the UMAC capable of winning the UMAC Championship outright with a bid to the NCCA Division III playoffs.

Big Losses

The biggest players lost to graduation for the Panthers, also happen to be two of their physically biggest players in LT Trendon Amuzie and RG Jeremy Burrows who were the senior leaders of an offensive line who led the Panther's rushing attack to 313.4 yards per game, good enough for 4th in all of Division III football. Amuzie and Burrows were selected to the UMAC All-Conference 1st team, while Burrows was also selected to UMAC Central's 2012 Outstanding Team of the Year. The team also lost starting WR Cody Hutchin, LB Anthony Osuna, and DT Kevin Gilbert - all of whom contributed on the field.

Although very few of the Panthers' starters from 2012 graduated, the Panthers team lost two other major pieces of their team this summer. First off, former Head Coach Ordell Walker has left the Panthers to become the head coach at Bluefield College in Virginia, where he also brought in former Panther's O-Line coach Aaron Mingo to serve as offensive coordinator. Former OC Robbie Schomaker has been promoted to Interim Head Coach for the time being. Also this summer, junior RB Immanuel Gamble had a health incident and will likely not be able to participate on the field for Greenville this season. Gamble, who was the UMAC's Offensive Player of the Year as well as UMAC Central's Outstanding RB of the year, will be a huge loss to the Panther's who will likely look to sophomore RB Steven Glover or junior RB Justin Honeycutt to fill Gamble's shoes. We wish the best to Gamble and hope he has a full recovery so we can see him competing on the field again.

Key Returners

On the positive side for the Panthers, they will be returning seven starters from their explosive offensive. As mentioned earlier, QB Brendan Chambers will be returning to lead the Panthers offense in his senior season. The Panthers also return three starting offensive lineman in C Nicholas Cisernos, LG Hunter Rone, and RT Ethan White who were part of the 4th best rushing attack in Division III football as well as only allowing seven sacks in 2012. Cisernos earned 2nd Team All-Conference honors last season as a freshman so look for him to continue to be a strong force on this offensive line for several more years. On the defensive side of the ball, EMAP Nation returns eight young starters from a defense who will likely see a major improvement in their play due to last season's experience. Returning at defensive back are senior Bryce Wright, who was named to the UMAC All-Conference 2nd team, and senior Anthony Moore, whose 13 pass breakups were good enough for third in the UMAC last season. Sophomore linebacker Robert Deering, who led the team in tackles last season with 76 including 5 tackles for a loss, will also be returning.

Key to 2013

If Greenville is going to win the conference this year, they will need to pick up right where they left off last season and come out strong right away in their first game of the season. They need to avoid a slow start like they've had the past three season where 8 of their 9 losses have come in the first four weeks. One key to doing that will be integrating their new starters on the offense line into the system as soon as possible, which is made more difficult with the loss of last season's offensive line coach. Secondly, they will need to figure out their running back situation quickly to replace RB Immanuel Gamble's production. And finally, the defense, which was in the bottom half of the conference last season as a young squad and especially struggled with the passing game, will need to utilize their experience and step it up this year if the Panthers expect to win every conference game (which may very well be what is necessary to win the conference).

Prediction

After overcoming their slow start last year, the Panthers were nearly unstoppable while running over most teams for the last seven conference games of the season. If Greenville can reload their offensive line, as they have a history of doing, and overcome the loss of RB Immanuel Gamble, the Panthers should be able to continue their blazing pace from last year. Their offense should look very similar under current Interim Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, Robbie Schomaker who ran the offense for the past two years. One aspect that should help the Panthers get off to a good start will be their conference schedule. They open up UMAC play against the UMM Cougars followed by the Eureka Red Devils, both teams who finished in the middle of the pack last year and are now dealing with replacing their starting quarterback(s) from last season. Also, the UNW Eagles will have to make the trek down to Illinois to play at the Greenville College field, where the Eagles have struggled to close out games in the past. The UMAC championship will likely come down to the final week as the Panthers play host to the St. Scholastica Saints on November 9th. If our predictions stand true, as we expect they will, Greenville should hold the upper hand with an offense running on all cylinders by the final game of the year to lead to a defeat of the Saints, a 9-0 conference record, and the first trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the Panthers team.