NFL season picks and predictions

By Adam K. Ellis

The NFL season kicks off tonight with Peyton Manning and the Colts taking on Carson Palmer and the Bengals. And what better way to begin the year than with some seasonal projections from the Professor himself? These are fresh can’t-miss predictions:

AFC

AFC East: New England Patriots — Despite the absence of Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour, I can’t foresee the Pats losing more than five games this year; nor do I see the Jets winning 11. Advantage: Pats

AFC North: Baltimore Ravens — The addition of Willis McGahee and the easiest strength of schedule in their division, the Ravens outlast the scrappy Steelers for first.

AFC South: Indianapolis Colts — I can’t fathom this veteran-savvy squad having a Super Bowl hangover, but don’t count on them repeating as champs. Nonetheless, they play in a division with inferior opponents and should win this division by at least two games.

AFC West: Denver Broncos — Shanahan’s boys overcome an easy schedule and beat out the Chargers by two games

AFC Wildcards: San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC

NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles — As all the national media hype carries the Cowboys into the season, a hungry Donovan McNabb waits about to silence his critics.

NFC North: Chicago Bears — No matter how inconsistent Rex Grossman plays, this defense is still too much for an awfully weak division.

NFC South: New Orleans Saints — The scary thing is, for a team that was very good offensively last year, they got even better with the acquisitions of David Patten and Eric Johnson.

NFC West: St. Louis Rams — This is the year Marc Bulger and Stephen Jackson make the country remember who the St. Louis Rams are. For a team that dominated the early century, they have struggled in seasons past. But count on a 1,700-yard season from Jackson and 3,500 yards passing for Bulger

NFC Wildcards: Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

Super Bowl

New England Patriots over the New Orleans Saints.

Dirty Dozen

1. League MVP — Stephen Jackson’s strong second half propels him over 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns.

2. Offensive Rookie of the Year — Calvin Johnson

3. Defensive Rookie of the Year — Michael Griffin

4. Wes Welker catches more touchdown passes than Randy Moss.

5. Cedric Benson has more rushing yards than former teammate Thomas Jones.

6. My apologies to Vince Young, but the Madden Curse continues.

7. Despite an easy schedule, The New York Giants don’t win more than seven games; Strahan retires; Coughlin gets fired; Manning ripped by the New York press all year.

8. Blessed with an array of receivers, Tom Brady breaks the century mark and posts a plus 100 QB-rating.

9. Either Corey Dillon or Keyshawn Johnson return to the league before season’s end, to help a team make a playoff push.

10. The 2006 feel good story of the year, Jeff Garcia, turns into a Tampa Bay nightmare.

11. Joseph Addai will outrush Larry Johnson.

12. Daunte Culpepper partially restores his career and makes the Oakland Raiders a contender each week. Raiders win six games.

UMD drops opener; Harold’s effort goes to waste

WORCESTER, Mass. — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football team dropped their 2007 season opener to host WPI, 49-17, in a non-conference football at the Engineers’ newly-renovated Alumni Field Saturday evening.

UMass Dartmouth struck first, seizing a 7-0 first quarter advantage before the Engineers came back to score four times in the second quarter to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

The Corsairs scored on their third possession of the game, which lasted just a single play-a 91 yard run from scrimmage by junior running back J.T. Harold. Harold burst up the middle and outraced the secondary to put UMass Dartmouth ahead, 6-0, with 3:19 to play in the first quarter. Sophomore kicker George Vasiliadis converted to make it 7-0.

WPI came right back to tie the score on their next series. The Engineers drove 62 yards in 13 plays, retained possession when Craig Kennedy fumbled the ball out of bounds on fourth down and five at the UMass Dartmouth 24, and scored on Aaron Champagne’s two-yard run. Derek Pszybysz converted to tie the score.

The Engineers took advantage of a short field to take the lead. The Corsairs lost a fumble on their first play from scrimmage after receiving the kickoff, giving WPI a first down at the UMass Dartmouth 36. Quarterback Rob Pantalone’s third down pass to Mike Burger covered half the distance, and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Pantalone to Matt Butler made it 13-7. Pszybysz converted again.

Another misplay allowed the Engineers to increase their advantage. A bad snap on fourth down to punter Vasiliadis resulted in a pass to junior linebacker Dave Bombardier, who was tackled for a loss, giving the Engineers the ball at the UMD 19. Three plays later, Pantalone found Butler wide open in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 21-7.

UMD’s James Green returned the ensuing kickoff to the Corsair 47, but UMass Dartmouth was held to nine yards on three plays. One play after Vasiliadis punted to the WPI 16, Pantalone found Burger open behind the secondary for an 84 yard touchdown to make it 28-7 with five minutes left before halftime.

The Engineers were forced to punt on their first possession of the second half, but got the ball back on the UMass Dartmouth 32 after it hit a Corsair in flight and was muffed. Backup quarterback Justin Wells scored from a yard out with 10:29 to go to make it 35-7. Mike Swanton hit Orry Cummings for 78 yards and a third-quarter touchdown, and Wells passed seven yards to R.C. Grady for WPI’s final score in the fourth quarter.

Vasiliadis connected for his first field goal of the season from 24 yards out early in the fourth quarter to cut WPI’s  lead to 42-10, and junior quarterback Alex Garro connected with junior wide receiver John Henry on a play-action pass for a 44-yard touchdown with nine minutes remaining.

“We just made way too many mistakes to have a chance to win a game against a football team as good as WPI,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Mark Robichaud, who was making his collegiate and Corsair debut as a head coach.

Robichaud continued, “We had a couple of fumbles, we let the ball hit us twice on puts, and we spent the whole first half in our own end. We didn’t have good field position the whole first half. The thing that I was pleased with was that we didn’t give up. We came back and kicked a field goal and got a late score. We’ve got a young football team, we’re going to improve, and these things won’t happen every week.”

Harold finished with 15 carries for 204 yards, while Garro was 7 of 13 for 79 yards. Pantalone completed 13 of 21 passes for 242 yards in the first half, as the Engineers out gained UMass Dartmouth, 638 yards to 308, and scored three touchdowns on drives of 39 yards or less.

The Corsairs fell to 0-1 with the defeat, while the Engineers improved to 1-0, winning the first game ever between the teams. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Bridgewater State at Cressy Field Saturday afternoon, September 8. WPI will visit crosstown rival Worcester State Friday evening.

Women’s soccer downs Nichols in opener

DUDLEY, Mass. — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women’s soccer team started off their season on a good note against host Nichols in a non-conference match at the Nichols Soccer Field Saturday.

The Corsairs scored three goals in the first half and held on for a 3-1 victory against the Bison.

Freshman forward Crystal Peixoto scored the winning goal in her first game for the Corsairs. She took advantage of a misplay by the Nichols defense and scored unassisted at the 26:44 mark to give UMass Dartmouth a 2-1 advantage.

Junior forward Sarah Killingbeck gave the Corsairs a 1-0 lead at the 9:50 minute mark, converting a one-on-one opportunity in front of Nichols starting goalkeeper Sarah Levesque.

Kensey Marsland tied the score less than two minutes later, converting a pass from Chelsea Blair.

Freshman forward Allison Carver made it 3-1 at 34:01, converting a pass from freshman forward Krystal Monteiro.

“It was a great game,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Alex Silva. “We hit the bar twice, and we played well. It was an awesome opener.”

The Corsairs out shot Nichols, 21-10. Freshman goalkeeper Tanya Braga won her debut in goal for UMass Dartmouth, making six saves. Levesque and Nicole Johnson split time for the Bison, and combined for 13 saves.

The Corsairs improved to 1-0 with the victory, while the NC fell to 0-1. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Emerson Tuesday afternoon, September 4. Nichols will visit Elms on Wednesday.