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Moving to the third part of our position previews on the offensive side of the ball, we look at the guys catching passes from the QBs:


Charleston Southern

Larry Jones III 21 Catches 431 Yards 4 TDs (2012 Big South All Conference Second Team)
Nathan Perera 11 Catches 149 Yards 1 TD
Kevin Glears 2 Catches 32 Yards 0 TD

Jones mad a huge splash in 2012, taking over as the #1 receiver with Perera going down, going on to finish 9th in the conference in receiving yards per game and 8th in total receiving yards on the way to second team all conference honors. Perera was not able to build on a career year in 2011, as his season was cut short by injury. He is back and looks to be healthy which should give Jones some space to operate. Chris Theodore earned the Most Improved Receiver award coming out of spring practice so he along with Glears will give Senior QB Malcolm Dixon plenty of options in the passing game.

Coastal Carolina

Matt Hazel 61 Catches 799 Yards 8 TDs (2012 Big South All Conference First Team)
Niccolo Mastromatteo 47 Catches 571 Yards 3 TDs
DeMario Bennett 43 Catches 599 Yards 7 TDs

Coastal brings back its top 3 receivers, all seniors, and they will be looked to as leaders on an otherwise young receiving corps. Hazel, who exploded onto the scene in 2010 in the Chants' upset win over Liberty in Conway, will lead the bunch, with Wes Welker clone Mastromatteo as the slot option. Bennett, a transfer from FBS South Carolina last season, paid immediate dividends in Conway, finishing third on the team in catches and second in total yards and TDs.

Gardner-Webb

Kenny Cook 48 Catches 666 Yards (please no religious jokes) 7 TDs (2012 Big South All Conference Second Team)
Deonte Swinton 41 Catches 467 Yards 0 TDs
DeMarcus White 10 Catches 195 Yards 2 TDs

The Runnin Bulldogs became the Flying Bulldogs in 2012 with Lucas Beatty passing for 300+ yards 3 times, including a career best 383 yards against Liberty, and he spread the ball around quite a bit, and three receivers finished with better than 400 yards on the season, led by Cook and Swinton. The Bulldogs do lose Carlton Heard for 2013 (any idea as to why G-W fans?) but White comes in as next man up and will be looked to as another vertical threat with what is for the most part a young group of receivers (except senior Richard Jules).

Liberty

Jaquan Glover 7 Catches 70 Yards 0 TDs
Gabe Henderson 5 Carches 54 Yards 0 TDs
Darrin Peterson 4 Catches 60 Yards 1 TD

Probably the biggest question mark outside of RB on the Liberty roster. For the first time in quite a while, the Flames dont return a receiver with at least 20 catches from the previous season. Peterson showed flashes (including his 41 yard TD catch in a win over D2 Concord) last year and will get a chance to be "the man" along with Glover. Dante Shells, who missed all of last season due to injury, will also be looked to for leadership. Henderson, the converted QB, will hopefully have the kind of sucess another converted QB at Liberty, Mike Brown, had in his one season (although Brown converted back to the starting QB the next year and lit up defenses all over the conference).

Presbyterian

Arthur Williams 33 Catches 359 Yards 2 TDs
Jeremiah McKie 22 Catches 241 Yards 1 TD
Tobi Antigha 9 Catches 119 Yards 1 TD

The Blue Hose passing game struggled last year, with two QBs, Tamyn Garrick and Kaleb Griffin splitting snaps much of the year, although having QBs sacked a combined 22 times goes to show that the offensive line needs to work some things out as well. Williams and/or McKie will be tasked with taking over for Anderico Bailey and Michael Ruff, who graduated after last season. Antigha, another junior who had his 2012 season cut short, should be healthy and ready to contribute as well.

VMI

James Rogers 32 Catches 320 Yards 1 TD
Deon Watts 9 Catches 115 Yards 0 TD
Samuel Patterson 6 Catches 61 Yards 0 TD

VMI lost a ton from last year's receiving corps, including outstanding sophomore Dexter Bridge (kd, any word on what happened to him?), so redshirt junior James Rogers along with Watts, Patterson and Brookville High School product Alec Thompson will have to take the lead in a group that includes three incoming freshmen, two true sophomores, a redshirt freshman and a redshirt sophomore.


Rankings

Team

1. Coastal Carolina
2. Gardner-Webb
3. Charleston Southern
4. Liberty
5. Presbyterian
6. VMI

Individual

1. Matt Hazel, Coastal Carolina
2. Larry Jones III, Charleston Southern
3. Kenny Cook, Gardner-Webb
4. DeMario Bennett, Coastal Carolina
5. Arthur Williams, Presbyterian
6. Niccolo Mastromatteo, Coastal Carolina
7. Jaquan Glover, Liberty
8. James Rogers, VMI
9. Deonte Swinton, Gardner-Webb
10. Jeremiah McKie, Presbyterian

Great summary, thanks. I think Antigha is poised for a breakout season for PC. Couple sophomores did very well in the spring including a 6'6 WR who could be a hidden gem. As you pointed out though, alot will depend on our QB play.

He will be one to watch, but as Chris Summers can tell you, just because youre tall doesnt automatically make you an all conference player and potential All-American. He didnt really break out until his second year and really it wasn't until his third year that he became an elite wideout and potential pro prospect (and he still ended up breaking just about every LU receiving record)

Stickman wrote:Great summary, thanks. I think Antigha is poised for a breakout season for PC. Couple sophomores did very well in the spring including a 6'6 WR who could be a hidden gem. As you pointed out though, alot will depend on our QB play.

This hidden gem who is he??

Jordan Bianchi. he is a redshirt sophomore but he didnt catch any passes last year as a redshirt freshman so to me he is an unproven quantity when it comes to in-game play. As I said though, if Griffin and Garrick (whoever is the starter come the opener) can't stay upright it won't really matter much.

bjtheflamesfan wrote:Jordan Bianchi. he is a redshirt sophomore but he didnt catch any passes last year as a redshirt freshman so to me he is an unproven quantity when it comes to in-game play. As I said though, if Griffin and Garrick (whoever is the starter come the opener) can't stay upright it won't really matter much.

Agreed but then that goes for any QB-WR combo.Gene Upshaw said it best the "heartbeat of every offense is the o-line".

bjtheflamesfan wrote:Moving to the third part of our position previews on the offensive side of the ball, we look at the guys catching passes from the QBs:


VMI

James Rogers 32 Catches 320 Yards 1 TD
Deon Watts 9 Catches 115 Yards 0 TD
Samuel Patterson 6 Catches 61 Yards 0 TD

VMI lost a ton from last year's receiving corps, including outstanding sophomore Dexter Bridge (kd, any word on what happened to him?), so redshirt junior James Rogers along with Watts, Patterson and Brookville High School product Alec Thompson will have to take the lead in a group that includes three incoming freshmen, two true sophomores, a redshirt freshman and a redshirt sophomore.

Bridge had "issues in barracks", and was suspended for 2 semesters. A slight chance he'll come back in 2014. two of the signees (Nicholson & Sanders) have a lot of upside, and Stout will get reps returning kickoffs.

Thanks for the update kdinva...will be interesting to see if he can keep his nose clean once he returns and how he contributes in 2014.

bjtheflamesfan wrote:Thanks for the update kdinva...will be interesting to see if he can keep his nose clean once he returns and how he contributes in 2014.

edit

From Gardner-Webb. Carlton Heard, now known as Carlton Rodriguez, has decided to walk his talents onto the University of South Carolina Fighting Gamecocks football team. GWU will certainly miss his abilities.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

Good luck to Mr Heard/Rodriguez. He certainly had an opportunity to build on 2012 (He had a very good game against Liberty starting with that TD on GWU's first play of the game.