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SALT LAKE CITY — Fall camps will start in less than two weeks. The college football season is less than 40 days away and the KSL.com preview articles are halfway over.
Only a few weeks of speculation left before the season comes and everyone will know what these teams can do. This week as KSL we are looking at what players could be poised for a breakout season.
Who is going to step up to make the team better? There are players who have been patiently waiting their turn to shine and now they can step up.
There are players every year that make a big leap. Graduation and injuries force players into the spotlight. Every year someone replaces the big name and just makes their presence known.
BYU has had an interesting run of players who have had break out years. Two years ago the breakout star for the Cougars was Michael Alisa. With three other backs on the teams, JJ Di Luigi, Bryan Kariya and Josh Quezada, Alisa took the big step forward and became the feature back in the offense as the season went on.
Last year was supposed to be Alisa's season to shine. Quezada transferred while Kariya and Di Luigi had graduated. However, Alisa got hurt and the season belonged to breakout star Jamaal Williams. Williams became the BYU darling and is now probably going to be the feature back in his sophomore season. Of course the up-tempo offense BYU is looking at could allow Alisa to step back in the forefront.
Remember when Cody Hoffman was supposed to be the big breakout star? Probably not, because that was supposed to be Ross Apo. In 2010 the freshman Apo was the big catch alongside Jake Heaps. Apo was going to be the other receiver with McKay Jacobsen and Luke Ashworth. Apo got hurt and Hoffman stepped up and became the man in the receiving corps, leading the team with 527 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Utah also had a big breakout star in the backfield. This one was two years ago as well after they lost Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata. The two combined for more than 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns. Moving into the Pac-12 and breaking in a new running back for the offense was going to be tricky.
Insert one John White IV and the problems went away. The transfer running back claimed the starting role and was essentially the whole offense for the Utes in 2011. He ran for 1,520 yards and scored 15 touchdowns, despite the Utes not having any real passing threat.
A different breakout star for the Utes comes in the form of a kick returner, Reggie Dunn. As bad as the offense was in 2011 it was worse in 2010. White was hampered, still ran for 1,000 yards and 8 touchdowns, and the quarterback situation was shaky at best with Jordan Wynn, Jon Hays and Travis Wilson all taking multiple games from under center.
Reggie Dunn provided a rare spark for the team. He returned four kicks for touchdowns for the Utes. Teams just stopped kicking to him. Dunn went from probably unknown to most of the football landscape to an undrafted free agent looking to make an impact with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For Utah State the big breakout star of the previous years has been Chuckie Keeton. His freshman year was good, not great, while he split time with Adam Kennedy. Kennedy would be the senior the following year and could have laid claim to the starting role, but Keeton took the next step in camps and earned the starting spot.
It paid off. Keeton's freshman year was solid for sure, throwing 11 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. Though he only threw for 1,200 yards in 10 games, and only rushed for 293. His sophomore season saw his numbers jump. Keeton ran for 619 yards and 8 touchdowns, while throwing for 3,373 yards and 27 touchdowns. He seems like a sure thing now, but last year he really make a great leap.
Much like the other two schools their running back had a breakout season as well. In 2011 Kerwynn Williams had 81 carries, mostly in garbage time. He put up gaudy numbers, but was playing behind two future NFL backs in Michael Smith and Robert Turbin. Backing up those two he averaged 6.69 yards per carry and had three touchdowns.
Williams just got better with a starting role. It is easier to put up big numbers at the end of games when teams are tired or have backups in. It is another animal to do so when you are the man. Williams stepped up to replace two players and averaged 6.94 yards per carry and 15 touchdowns with his 1,512 yards.
Exactly who is going to breakout is a bit of a crapshoot. Injuries can change the course of careers. Recent coaching changes could make or break how a players performs. This week KSL.com will take its shot on who those players are going to be. Stay tuned this week as every day we reveal our top-five choices for breakout players this year.
