Crown Season Preview

Coming off two seasons in which you have amassed a total of 2 victories does not typically inspire hope in a football program. However, moving into 2013 Crown College actually has a lot to be excited about.  A brand new stadium and a recruiting class of 48 have given this program the first glimmer of hope they have seen in nearly three years. Before looking ahead, however, let’s recap the past couple seasons for the Storm. 2011 saw a Storm team that went 0-10 (that is correct – 0 wins and 10 losses) including a loss to a program in its first year of existence in the Presentation College Saints. 2012 was better, but not by much. In 2012  the Storm amassed a grand total of 2 wins – one over MacMurray and one over Presentation. There is really no need to go into detail with this team. They have been bad, very bad, over the past two years. I am not going to waste time attempting to explain why they have been so bad. Suffice it to say, they have been young, far less talented that their competition, and bad on offense, defense, and special teams. But with every new season comes renewed optimism and Crown College has as much reason for optimism as anyone.

Big Losses

Not a whole lot, really. With the exception of a few holes on the offensive line and receiving corps, the Storm do not have to fill a whole lot of positions. The one good thing about having been such a bad team the past few years is that Crown got to play a whole lot of young players and throw them into the fire and watched them develop. Maybe 2013 is the year where all that experience finally pays off. Of course, experience only overcomes so much – there is a degree of talent required to be successful.

Key Returners

It’s sort of difficult for me to list any players on a 2-8 team as a “Key Returner” but I will try. Amos Schmidt is definitely the most important returning player on Crown’s roster. As a junior last season, Schmidt rushed his way to 854 yards, 9 TDs, and second-team All-UMAC honors. I guess Wes Safford also qualifies as a key returner since he will be in his third season as the starting QB, but his performances the past two seasons have left a lot to be desired. A 48% completion rate and 9 TDs to 10 INTs is a good way to lead your team to a 2-8 record. Defensive end Zach Jusczak and linebacker Jordan Pardee will anchor the defense after recording 69 and 60 tackles, respectively, last season. That is it. I refuse to name any more players as key returners and I am not even sure those four earned that designation.

Keys to 2013

1.  Quarterback play – Everything begins and ends with the quarterback in football. Wes Safford has not been good throughout his career as of yet. But we have seen quarterbacks develop in the UMAC before. We saw Josh Balzer go from throwing more INTs than TDs in his sophomore year at Northwestern to a really good QB in his Junior and Senior seasons. Does Safford have the talent to do that? Time will tell. The bottom line is this is his make-or-break season and the success of the 2013 Crown football team will rest heavily on the shoulders of the senior QB.

2. Fresh Faces – A quick look up and down Crown’s roster shows that this team has looked far and wide across the country to find some players that can help their football team. Roster spots are filled by players hailing from states such as Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Arizona, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida. What does this all mean, though? A recruiting class near 50 is impressive but I will withhold judgment until I see them on the field. There could be very well be some really talented players on this year’s squad. But freshmen are 18 years old and make freshmen mistakes. How will the new, talented players mesh with the experienced (and quite possibly less talented) veterans. The coaching staff may have some tough decisions on their hands when it becomes apparent a freshman is better than the 3-year starter in his senior year. How the Crown coaching staff integrates the new faces into the program will be a critical part of the team’s success this season.

Prediction

2013 will be a good season for the future of the Crown football program. They are going to make some big strides this season. However, they are not there yet. Amos Schmidt will be good again, Wes Safford will be better than in years past, and the defense will be vastly improved. All of that will not be nearly enough to compete with the top half of the conference, however. Crown has a tough schedule to start the year and could very well begin the season 0-5 if they do not pull out a victory over Macalester or Westminster – both winnable games but ones in which the Storm will be the underdog. They face the 3 teams that tied for first in the UMAC last season in a row weeks 3-5. If Crown can retain some confidence and perspective coming out of the first half of the season, they could be set for a strong finish. Put Crown down for wins over the bottom couple teams of the conference and possibly even a victory over a Westminster or a Morris. Put all that together and you get a 3-7 record and an 8^th place finish.