Centre College’s offense rolled up 33 points and 359 yards per game last season in one of the Colonels’ best seasons ever.
But one of the key questions facing the Colonels heading into camp is who will lead this year’s offense. Quarterback Tyler Osterman and leading rusher Jonathan Pinque graduated, as did All-America tackle Ben Hume.
However, coach Andy Frye said there are still plenty of pieces in place for Centre to have another potent offense and make another run at the NCAA¿Division III playoffs, where they reached the second round last year.
“We’ve got a really good offensive line and we’ve got good wide receivers, along with a good running back and we’ve got a good kicking game,”¿Frye said. “If we stay healthy, we can be explosive four or five games into the season when our quarterback gets more comfortable with the offense.”
But who will be the one to replace all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterback Osterman, who threw for 1,854 yards and 19 touchdowns with just three interceptions?
None of the quarterbacks battling for the spot threw a pass last year. Junior Kyle Cook and sophomore Heath Haden will compete with freshmen Seth Carmichael, Blake Martin and Trent Lusk.
Frye said the competition will be good, and whoever wins the job will have earned it, just as Osterman did when he was an underclassmen.
“When Tyler came back his sophomore year (after injury), Grant Conliffe was a senior and there was competition. We felt we wanted it to be competitive and Tyler won the spot, but we wanted the competition to raise the bar,”¿Frye said. “It’s our biggest concern, but like anything I think the competition will be enough that whoever wins it will be pretty good.”
Frye acknowledges that preseason camp may not be long enough to pick a starter, though.
“How long does it take? We’re hoping by the end of preseason we know who our quarterback is.¿It could be the competition goes through a game or two before we find out who it is,” he said.
“We’ve got five quarterbacks, two with practice experience, so we’ll find out who is the best. The onus is on the staff to be able to evaluate quickly and correctly.”
Centre does return a lot of pieces to surround whoever takes over under center.
Senior running back Monte Scotton ran for 771 yards and 13 touchdowns last season after splitting time with Pinque. He also caught 15 passes for 120 yards and earned first team all-SCAC honors.
While Frye said Scotton will get the most carries, he won’t have to be a plowhorse for the offense to succeed.
“I do believe we’ve got some good running backs besides Monte,”¿he said. “Monte will certainly be the highlighted running back, but we’ve got (sophomore)¿Matthew Farrell and (junior) Harry Meisner, who I think are really good running backs as well and will take some of the pressure of Monte being the target.”
Farrell and Meisner combined to run the ball 13 times for 65 yards and a touchdown in 2011.
The Colonels also return their top two wide receivers.
Junior Rob Melillo caught 42 passes for 460 yards and four touchdowns, and senior Jason Osterman had 39 receptions for 496 yards and nine touchdowns to earn second team all-conference honors. Also, senior receiver Andrew Tuller returns after catching eight passes for 84 yards.
“We’ve got some good wideouts. If we can get them in space, they’re pretty good,”¿Frye said.
Centre’s offense depends on good tight end play, both receiving and blocking, and that’s another area where the Colonels are lacking experience. No tight end on the roster caught a pass last season.
“Our second question mark is at tight end. That’s where we may have to develop a freshman at that position,”¿Frye said. “We need a tight end, we graduated two (John Coomer and Brian Saulino).”
But what makes the Centre coach feels confident in his offense is that he returns four starters on the line — all seniors — to help ease the loss of Hume at left tackle.
Billy Douglas (6-0, 250 pounds), Robert Morris (5-10, 223), Bobby Bruggeman (6-0, 271) and Oakley Watkins (6-2, 278) all return up front.
“We’ve also got some backups that will compete,”¿Frye said. “We’re better, we’ve got guys that are young who have ability at that open left tackle position with Tim Keller (6-3, 256) and Ryan McDonald (6-4, 281).”
But one of the key questions facing the Colonels heading into camp is who will lead this year’s offense. Quarterback Tyler Osterman and leading rusher Jonathan Pinque graduated, as did All-America tackle Ben Hume.
However, coach Andy Frye said there are still plenty of pieces in place for Centre to have another potent offense and make another run at the NCAA¿Division III playoffs, where they reached the second round last year.
“We’ve got a really good offensive line and we’ve got good wide receivers, along with a good running back and we’ve got a good kicking game,”¿Frye said. “If we stay healthy, we can be explosive four or five games into the season when our quarterback gets more comfortable with the offense.”
But who will be the one to replace all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterback Osterman, who threw for 1,854 yards and 19 touchdowns with just three interceptions?
None of the quarterbacks battling for the spot threw a pass last year. Junior Kyle Cook and sophomore Heath Haden will compete with freshmen Seth Carmichael, Blake Martin and Trent Lusk.
Frye said the competition will be good, and whoever wins the job will have earned it, just as Osterman did when he was an underclassmen.
“When Tyler came back his sophomore year (after injury), Grant Conliffe was a senior and there was competition. We felt we wanted it to be competitive and Tyler won the spot, but we wanted the competition to raise the bar,”¿Frye said. “It’s our biggest concern, but like anything I think the competition will be enough that whoever wins it will be pretty good.”
Frye acknowledges that preseason camp may not be long enough to pick a starter, though.
“How long does it take? We’re hoping by the end of preseason we know who our quarterback is.¿It could be the competition goes through a game or two before we find out who it is,” he said.
“We’ve got five quarterbacks, two with practice experience, so we’ll find out who is the best. The onus is on the staff to be able to evaluate quickly and correctly.”
Centre does return a lot of pieces to surround whoever takes over under center.
Senior running back Monte Scotton ran for 771 yards and 13 touchdowns last season after splitting time with Pinque. He also caught 15 passes for 120 yards and earned first team all-SCAC honors.
While Frye said Scotton will get the most carries, he won’t have to be a plowhorse for the offense to succeed.
“I do believe we’ve got some good running backs besides Monte,”¿he said. “Monte will certainly be the highlighted running back, but we’ve got (sophomore)¿Matthew Farrell and (junior) Harry Meisner, who I think are really good running backs as well and will take some of the pressure of Monte being the target.”
Farrell and Meisner combined to run the ball 13 times for 65 yards and a touchdown in 2011.
The Colonels also return their top two wide receivers.
Junior Rob Melillo caught 42 passes for 460 yards and four touchdowns, and senior Jason Osterman had 39 receptions for 496 yards and nine touchdowns to earn second team all-conference honors. Also, senior receiver Andrew Tuller returns after catching eight passes for 84 yards.
“We’ve got some good wideouts. If we can get them in space, they’re pretty good,”¿Frye said.
Centre’s offense depends on good tight end play, both receiving and blocking, and that’s another area where the Colonels are lacking experience. No tight end on the roster caught a pass last season.
“Our second question mark is at tight end. That’s where we may have to develop a freshman at that position,”¿Frye said. “We need a tight end, we graduated two (John Coomer and Brian Saulino).”
But what makes the Centre coach feels confident in his offense is that he returns four starters on the line — all seniors — to help ease the loss of Hume at left tackle.
Billy Douglas (6-0, 250 pounds), Robert Morris (5-10, 223), Bobby Bruggeman (6-0, 271) and Oakley Watkins (6-2, 278) all return up front.
“We’ve also got some backups that will compete,”¿Frye said. “We’re better, we’ve got guys that are young who have ability at that open left tackle position with Tim Keller (6-3, 256) and Ryan McDonald (6-4, 281).”
