The team went 6-7 last season, its final defeat coming to San Jose State in its first bowl game, the Cure Bowl in Orlando.

Coach Trent Miles’ squad returns nine starters on defense, six or seven on offense and has a depth that it hasn’t since he took over three seasons ago.

Continuing the position group breakdown.

Secondary

Who is competing? There are so many players at defensive back and safety I'm not going to list them all. I will, however, list those that I think have the best chance to play. That group includes junior Chandon Sullivan and sophomore Jerome Smith, the returning starters at cornerback, safety Bobby Baker, also a returning starter, seniors Bryan Williams, Clove Campbell, Trent Hill and Robert Dowling, juniors B.J. Clay and Antreal Allen.

Key stat: Led by Baker's three, the returning players in the secondary had eight interceptions last season. The Panthers had 15 as a team. Opponents averaged 224.5 passing yards and completed 58.9 percent of their passes.

Who has the edge? Sullivan, Smith and Baker will almost certainly start. It seems that Williams has the nod at the other safety. Competition at nickelback and in the dime packages will be interesting because of the depth. Sullivan and Smith really came into their own as a tandem last season at cornerback. Of course, that's when Smith would avoid personal foul penalties. He said he is working on maintaining his composure this season. I was mildly surprised that Sullivan was named preseason all-conference. Baker was.

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