Kickoff Zone College Football Blog

Southern Methodist University has announced that June Jones has extended his contract for two years after a seven win improvement in his second year at the helm.

Coming off an 8-5 season and SMU’s first bowl appearance in 25 years, Head Coach June Jones signed a two-year contract extension Friday that will keep him on the Hilltop through the 2014 season.

In 2009, The Sporting News named Jones Conference USA Coach of the Year.

Jones committed to an additional two years after successfully completing only two years of the five-year, $2 million-a-year contract he signed in 2008.

“Coach Jones has brought a winning culture to our football program, and under his leadership, I know he will soon exceed my goal for the football program here at SMU – and that is to be a perennial Top-25 team,” SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said in a press release.

Jones took over SMU’s football program in 2008 after nine years as head coach for the University of Hawaii. He was 1-11 in his first season at SMU, but rebounded with an NCAA best turnaround last season (plus seven wins).

“I am very excited about the direction of the program and the University, and I’m happy to sign this extension,” Jones said.

Jones is known in the football world as an offensive genius. Prior to coming to SMU, Jones received three National Coach of the Year awards.

Wherever June Jones goes, he wins, and SMU is very lucky to have a coach like him running their program.  It’s only a matter of time before he has them back in the national picture.  Maybe not in the hunt for the BCS title (considering that they are a midmajor), but there’s no reason to believe that he won’t build them up to  the level of a Boise State or TCU.

Tags: Conference USA, June Jones, NCAA, Preseason Prognostications, Southern Methodist University, rumor mill by Tommy
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As I alluded to in my previous post, the polls are starting to be released.  Here is roughly 1/3 of the BCS Forumula, otherwise known as the USA Today/Coaches Poll for the 2010 preseason:

2010 preseason poll August 6:

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Florida

4. Texas

5. Boise State

6. Virginia Tech

7. TCU

8. Oklahoma

9. Nebraska

10. Iowa

11. Oregon

12. Wisconsin

13. Miami (FL)

14. Penn State

15. Pittsburgh

16. LSU

17. Georgia Tech

18. North Carolina

19. Arkansas

20. Florida State

21. Georgia

22. Oregon State

23. Auburn

24 (tie). Utah

24 (tie). West Virginia

Others receiving votesCincinnati (12-1) 135; Houston (10-4) 76; Brigham Young (11-2) 66; Arizona (8-5) 65; Mississippi (9-4) 48; Clemson (9-5) 44; Stanford (8-5) 41; Connecticut (8-5) 40; Notre Dame (6-6) 38; South Carolina (7-6) 38; Washington (5-7) 26; Missouri (8-5) 23; Navy (10-4) 12; Oklahoma State (9-4) 11; Boston College (8-5) 10; Michigan State (6-7) 10; Arizona State (4-8) 6; California (8-5) 6; Texas Tech (9-4) 5; South Florida (8-5) 4; Texas A&M (6-7) 3; Northwestern (8-5) 2; Temple (9-4) 2; Central Michigan (12-2) 1; Mississippi State (5-7) 1; Nevada (8-5) 1; Northern Illinois (7-6) 1; Southern Methodist (8-5) 1.

The USA TODAY Board of Coaches is made up of 59 head coaches at Division I-A institutions. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2010 season: Robb Akey, Idaho; David Bailiff, Rice; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Tim Beckman, Toledo; Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe; Bret Bielema, Wisconsin; Art Briles, Baylor; Dave Christensen, Wyoming; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Todd Dodge, North Texas; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech; Dan Enos, Central Michigan; Steve Fairchild, Colorado State; Larry Fedora, Southern Miss; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State; Al Golden, Temple; Jim Grobe, Wake Forest; Jim Harbaugh, Stanford; Mike Haywood, Miami (Ohio); Butch Jones, Cincinnati; Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois; Mike Locksley, New Mexico; Mike London, Virginia; Bill Lynch, Indiana; Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State; Doug Marrone, Syracuse; Urban Meyer, Florida; Dan Mullen, Mississippi State; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Tom O’Brien, North Carolina State; George O’Leary, Central Florida; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Boise State; Bobby Petrino, Arkansas; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Larry Porter, Memphis; Jeff Quinn, Buffalo; Paul Rhoads, Iowa State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Rich Rodriguez, Michigan; Nick Saban, Alabama; Steve Sarkisian, Washington; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic; Mike Sherman, Texas A&M; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Mike Stoops, Arizona; Charlie Strong, Louisville; Kevin Sumlin, Houston; Bob Toledo, Tulane; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Paul Wulff, Washington State; Ron Zook, Illinois.

Because it is serving an NCAA-imposed bowl ban, Southern California is not eligible to receive votes this season under AFCA policy.

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10 Conference, Big XII Conference, College Football, College Football Picks, College Football Power Rankings, Conference USA, Mountain West Conference, NCAA, Preseason College Football Rankings, Preseason Prognostications, Schedule, Southeastern Conference, Top 25, bcs, big east, odds, pac 10 by Tommy
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Continuing with our countdown of the Heisman Trophy Contenders, we have now reached the Top 3…

2010 Heisman Trophy Contender #3:

Case Keenum- QB, Houston University

2009 Statistics: 492-700, 5671 yards, 70.3%, 44 TD, 15 Int, 405 yards per game

Career Statistics: 1076-1562. 12,950 yards, 68.9%, 102 TD, 36 Int

All one really needs to know about Case Keenum’s status as a Heisman Trophy contender is to look at his rapsheet:

• 2010 All-America Candidate
• 2010 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List
• 2010 College Football Performance Awards National Quarterback Trophy Favorite
• 2010 College Football Performance Awards National Performer of the Year Award Favorite

• 2009 College Football Performance Awards National Quarterback Trophy recipient
• 2009 CollegeFootballNews.com All-America First Team
• 2009 Walter Camp All-America Second Team
• 2009 Phil Steele Publications All-America Second Team
• 2009 Rivals.com All-America Second Team
• 2009 CBSSports.com All-America Second Team
• 2009 SI.com All-America Honorable Mention
• 2009 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Finalist
• 2009 Manning Award Finalist
• Walter Camp Football Foundation 2009 Player of the Year Award Finalist
• 2009 Conference USA Most Valuable Player
• 2008 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year
• 2009 All-Conference USA First Team
• 2008 All-Conference USA Second Team
• 2007 All-Conference USA Honorable Mention (Coaches)
• 2007 CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America Honorable Mention
• 2007 The Sporting News Freshman All-America Honorable Mention
• 2007 C-USA Freshman of the Year (Coaches)
• 2007 C-USA Freshman of the Year (Media)
• 2007 C-USA All-Freshmen Team (Coaches)
• 2007 C-USA All-Freshmen Team (Media)
• Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 13, 2009)
• Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 16, 2008)
• O’Brien Quarterback Award’s Quarterback of the Week (Sept. 28, 2009)
• CollegeSportsReport.com FBS National Performer of the Week (Sept. 24, 2007)
• Nine-time C-USA Offensive Player of the Week
• 2009 Conference USA Spirit of Service Award
• 2008 Conference USA All-Academic Team
• Four-time Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll member

Impressive enough?  That’s what I thought.  Though he does not play for a BCS team, Keenum has a much better chance of being a true contender than other recent non-BCS quarterbacks.  He’s only the second player in NCAA history to have 5,000 passing yards in more than one season (Grant Harrell is the other).  In 2009, Keenum led the nation in both passing yards and total yards per game, throwing for 5,671 yards with a astronomical 58 TD passes.  He also completed 70% of 700 attempts.  Mindblowing numbers.

If he keeps up his current pace, Keenum will have the opportunity to break many of the all time NCAA passing marks.  He needs 4122 passing yards to catch Timmy Chang (University of Hawaii 2000-04), and 32 touchdown passes to catch Colt Brennan’s (University of Hawaii 2005-07) mark of 134.  Considering that Keenum has averaged over 5,000 yards passing and 44 TDs the last two seasons, those numbers should be well within his reach as long as he avoids injury.  Considering those yearly averages, Keenum also has the potential to surpass many of the single season marks as well.  The record for most passing yards in a single season is 5833, which was set by B.J Symons of Texas Tech in 2003.  Last year, Keenum was only 162 yards off that mark.

While Houston does play in the C-USA, it does have a high enough profile to propel Keenum into the Heisman race.  The question is whether or not he can ultimately win the award.  He will also have to overcome the “system qb” label that will ultimately be placed upon him, which worked against prolific quarterbacks in the past, like Chang, Colt Brennan, and Graham Harrell.

Tags: Case Keenum, College Football, College Football Picks, Conference USA, Heisman Watch, NCAA, Preseason College Football Rankings, Preseason Prognostications, Top 25, University of Houston by Tommy
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