DALTON CATAMOUNTS
Head coach: Matt Land (65-28 in eight seasons here and overall)
Returning starters: 4 offensive, 3 defensive
Key players: OL Osbaldo Beltran (6-8, 308), WR Yendry Cruz (5-11, 187), ATH Jahmyr Gibbs (5-10, 182), WR/DB Bryce Houghton (5-9, 175), OL Manny Vega (6-1, 305).
Team strengths: The offense's skill positions, led by Gibbs and sticky-fingered receiver Cruz, are deep and talented. Special teams, anchored by Wake Forest-committed kicker/punter Ivan Mora, again will be a strength.
Team concerns: Depth along the lines of scrimmage is thin. With 14 new starters, the lack of experience may show early during a tough nonregion schedule.
Newcomers to watch: Junior quarterback Landon Allen (6-3, 187) steps right in after transferring from Notre Dame and gives the pro-style offense the passer it needs. Senior wrestler Ethan Arnold joins the team and should help shore up the defensive line.
Season outlook: Land begins the 2018 season expecting two things: The inexperienced Catamounts likely will be in several close games, and he likes their chances for a couple of reasons.
"One of the things I'm most excited about this year is what Ivan Mora brings to the table," Land said of the senior Under Armour All-American. "Unless you've had a kicker like that, you really can't appreciate how much of a game-changer he is, whether it's field goals, touchbacks, 60-yard punts. He will affect field position more than any other player on our team."
It also doesn't hurt in close games to have a strong run game, something the Catamounts expect to feature with dynamic junior running back Gibbs (897 yards, 10 touchdowns last season) and a large, though inexperienced, front line.
"Jahmyr Gibbs is going to be really, really special," Land said. "He's either really good and carries us or he's so good that everybody tries to stop him, and the rest of your team gets better. Either way he helps us, and if he can stay healthy, he will have a very, very big year."
The running game and controlling field position should help overcome any deficiencies in a young defensive group that lost most of its leading tacklers from a year ago. Mora, for one, sees a team ready to surprise.
"The guys are very excited, as well as I am, that this season will be a special one," he said. "People are questioning us because two years ago we had a bunch of guys going D-I and we earned a big spotlight, and this year we don't have those guys. This team has a bunch of players who play with their hearts, and those are the teams that accomplish great things."