SoCon Week #2 Pick 'em and Power Poll

[ElCid]

It wasn't a great week for the SOCON, but there is a lot of football yet to be played.

Predictions


WCU at NC State – Wolfpack are too much for the demoralized Cats - 52-13
Mars Hill at VMI – VMI gets a W – 37-26
The Citadel at Elon – Uhg. Both the Dogs and Elon have a bad taste in their mouths after close loses. But they are at home. I am not sure they can stop our run game any better than Towson did. But we can stop ourselves..... While their QB is pretty good, he is not near as good as Towson’s is. If we hold on to the ball and keep their O off the field with some good long, successful drives, we can win. Elon only totaled 221 yards of offense (202 passing) against NCA&T while having the ball about 28 minutes. If our secondary and pass rush improves we can win it. I will have faith, Dogs take it – 31-23
Furman at Georgia State – GA St surprised everyone with their victory over the Vols. The Paladins might make it interesting for a while but come up short against an obviously improving Ga State team – 34-24
Chattanooga at JSU – JSU is smarting and at home. UTC can win this, but their O looks lackluster still, another close lose for the Mocs – 23-20
Shorter at ETSU – ETSU will roll – 52-6



Mercer at PC – So much for a rest; Mercer still gets to rest - 49-3

Wofford at Bye – Wofford throws 4 interceptions against Bye as part of their new fangled offensive scheme.
Samford at Bye – The Bulldogs go ahead 49-0 against Bye and lose it in the fourth when they give up 50 points.



Week 1 Power Ranking
1. Furman – looking good
2. Mercer – got an early SOCON victory without too much drama
3. Chattanooga – should be better as the season goes on
4. The Citadel – looked pretty good and could have won, should have won if they could have kept the fumblitis under control; secondary needs some work as well.
5. ETSU – might be good
6. Wofford – they picked a bad week to try something new; what will they do?
7. WCU – didn’t give up, but still, got their arses handed to them
8. VMI – at least they lost honestly
9. Samford – they are here, because anyone who gives up a 41-22 lead in the fourth, and loses, deserves to be here…especially if it’s Tenn Tech. They have all sorts of talent and crappy coaches. I have no doubt they will rebound, but they are in the dog house.

[JSUSoutherner]

It wasn't a great week for the SOCON, but there is a lot of football yet to be played.

Predictions


WCU at NC State – Wolfpack are too much for the demoralized Cats - 52-13
Mars Hill at VMI – VMI gets a W – 37-26
The Citadel at Elon – Uhg. Both the Dogs and Elon have a bad taste in their mouths after close loses. But they are at home. I am not sure they can stop our run game any better than Towson did. But we can stop ourselves..... While their QB is pretty good, he is not near as good as Towson’s is. If we hold on to the ball and keep their O off the field with some good long, successful drives, we can win. Elon only totaled 221 yards of offense (202 passing) against NCA&T while having the ball about 28 minutes. If our secondary and pass rush improves we can win it. I will have faith, Dogs take it – 31-23
Furman at Georgia State – GA St surprised everyone with their victory over the Vols. The Paladins might make it interesting for a while but come up short against an obviously improving Ga State team – 34-24
Chattanooga at JSU – JSU is smarting and at home. UTC can win this, but their O looks lackluster still, another close lose for the Mocs – 23-20
Shorter at ETSU – ETSU will roll – 52-6




Wofford at Bye – Wofford throws 4 interceptions against Bye as part of their new fangled offensive scheme.
Samford at Bye – The Bulldogs go ahead 49-0 against Bye and lose it in the fourth when they give up 50 points.
Mercer – Sitting pretty at home at 1-0



Week 1 Power Ranking
1. Furman – looking good
2. Mercer – got an early SOCON victory without too much drama
3. Chattanooga – should be better as the season goes on
4. The Citadel – looked pretty good and could have won, should have won if they could have kept the fumblitis under control; secondary needs some work as well.
5. ETSU – might be good
6. Wofford – they picked a bad week to try something new; what will they do?
7. WCU – didn’t give up, but still, got their arses handed to them
8. VMI – at least they lost honestly
9. Samford – they are here, because anyone who gives up a 41-22 lead in the fourth, and loses, deserves to be here…especially if it’s Tenn Tech. They have all sorts of talent and crappy coaches. I have no doubt they will rebound, but they are in the dog house.

To be fair to Samford, the Tennessee Tech I saw yesterday and the Tennessee Tech of yesteryear aren't even comparable. If TTU can learn to play some defense they could make some noise in the conference this year.

[ElCid]

To be fair to Samford, the Tennessee Tech I saw yesterday and the Tennessee Tech of yesteryear aren't even comparable. If TTU can learn to play some defense they could make some noise in the conference this year.

If this was the first time Samford has allowed something like this then maybe. It wasn't. They are the kings of blowing leads. I didn't watch the game, but I went and perused the play by play and there is still no excuse against even a modestly improving, perennial bottom half dweller.

[bonarae]

NC State
VMI
Elon
Georgia State
Jacksonville State
ETSU

[FUGameBreaker]

https://twitter.com/CoachLamendola/status/1167902692229779457

[JSUSoutherner]

If this was the first time Samford has allowed something like this then maybe. It wasn't. They are the kings of blowing leads. I didn't watch the game, but I went and perused the play by play and there is still no excuse against even a modestly improving, perennial bottom half dweller.

Blowing leads is one thing, being considered worse than VMI is another.

[ElCid]

Blowing leads is one thing, being considered worse than VMI is another.

But VMI doesn't blow leads. They never get leads to blow, but that is a different story 😄

[PaladinFan]

https://www.goupstate.com/sports/20190901/woffords-early-bye-week-now-seems-needed


“Maybe we’re asking the quarterbacks to do too much,” Conklin said. “We have to take a look at it. Obviously, we have to go back and look at what our guys do well. Let’s focus on that. (Moving away from the triple-option is) not was he was recruited to do. On that last drive when we scored, that’s us. That’s who we are.”

Wierd comment from the Head Coach.

It was reported in the preseason that Wofford's offense looked awful in a preseason scrimmage. They appear to be trying to roll out a new offense (without a new OC or new personnel) and it was a flop. Now it seems he's apparently pivoting to abandoning what they want to do in favor of the old standby. No matter how you slice this, it's not a great look for the staff.

Both Samford and Wofford have a week 2 bye week. I imagine both teams will be gearing up for throwing everything they've got into that game.

[ElCid]

https://www.goupstate.com/sports/20190901/woffords-early-bye-week-now-seems-needed



Wierd comment from the Head Coach.

It was reported in the preseason that Wofford's offense looked awful in a preseason scrimmage. They appear to be trying to roll out a new offense (without a new OC or new personnel) and it was a flop. Now it seems he's apparently pivoting to abandoning what they want to do in favor of the old standby. No matter how you slice this, it's not a great look for the staff.

Both Samford and Wofford have a week 2 bye week. I imagine both teams will be gearing up for throwing everything they've got into that game.

The Wofford O was not ready for prime time. Wonder how the coaches booboo will affect the players down the road. I can see it go either way.

[PaladinFan]

The Wofford O was not ready for prime time. Wonder how the coaches booboo will affect the players down the road. I can see it go either way.

Hard to know. It isn't something you see every day.

Even under best circumstances, Wofford looks like they are going to scuttle something the spent a lot of time in the preseason working on. By contrast, if they were busy installing a new offense, they were not spending much time knocking the dust off the old offense. The good news for the Terriers here is that they still have option personnel on the roster, but it would seem like you would set yourself back a few weeks in terms of preparation.

At worst, the head coach seems to suggest he doesn't know what he's doing. If you want to move offenses, why retain Lang? Why not recruit a QB in the spring? Why change things after week 1 if that's the team you want to be?

Joe Newman's great, but he now has 10 INTs to 8 TDs in his career. He isn't a passer. He's never been a passer. Most times Newman drops back to throw, you are doing the defense a favor.

[Mocs123]

Didn't Wofford have their entire offense coming back this year? I can get wanting to change you offense, but not THIS year with everyone coming back. I have to question the coaching decision there. Wofford could have kept the status quo on offense and probably won the conference or at least got a playoff spot. I'm not saying they can't recover, but the option was Wofford's identity.

Samford isn't playing well either, they can still turn it around too, but not a good start for sure.

Furman looks like the top of the SoCon class at the moment.

Mercer impressed too. I wasn't surprised by them scoring 49 points, but I didn't expect them to Western to less than 30. I'm not sure if that says more about Mercer's defense being improved or Western's offense not being as good as I thought. My guess is Mercer's D is improved, which could mean they are ready to take the next step.

[PaladinFan]

Side note on Georgia State.

GSU's Offensive Coordinator is Brad Glenn, who spent the last 7 seasons as OC at Western Carolina. Josh Stepp, a former Furman WR, is on GSU's staff as well.

GSU's Defensive Coordinator is Nate Fuqua, who was a longtime assistant of Mike Ayers at Wofford. Sheil Wood is the linebackers coach who, of course, was also a DC at Wofford under Ayers.

As I watch GSU play UT, I was reminded that a lot of what the Panthers are doing looks familiar. While the Paladins and Panthers have no history, there's a lot of familiarity with their coaching staff. The offense, in particular, looks a spot on match to WCU's and the defense heavily resembles Wofford's.

[SU DOG]

It probably won't matter in getting wins as porous as our defense is, but Samford's Chris Oladokun could turn out to be the best QB in the SoCon this year. The guy is a terrific passer and very good runner. I know the sample is small as of now, and if you didn't see the games you will not believe me, but I'm being truthful. With just an average defense and with this guy at QB, we could be a pretty good team. Not very optimistic that will happen, but keep this warning about Oladokun in mind - you will see what I mean.

[chattownmocs]

Well after a couple years of Arth talking like everything was great, youd think Rusty Wright coached the Vols this weekend. He literally couldnt find a positive. I guess thats a good thing. This week is setting up for us to get blown out by a desperate JSU team anyway, last thing we need is for anyone to start feeling good about that win. Hopefully our guys can finally steal one against them. Its been a long time comin.'

[blueGOldMOCS]

The first part of the game, Chattanooga’s offense was almost like a deja vu of last year. One thing that is for sure, we have found a legitimate running back that can run up the middle. This young man is a also a class act. While other players were decommitting while we were in search of a coach, he was truly committed to the university. But after the slow start, I think we had 33 yards of total offense into the second quarter, we did end up with 350 on the night.

Defensively, JSU’s passing game is what concerns me about the game. Hopefully they can get that fixed by Saturday.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ElCid]

With mandatory evacs planned for Chucktown, it looks like we will have to practice somewhere else. Visions of 2016. I may now have to rethink our chances against Elon if our team become vagabonds this week. We will have to find somewhere to practice in the upstate. It is what it is, but I don't like it.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I was 5-4 over the course of Week 0/1. Samford laid a couple of eggs along with Wofford and Western Carolina. Since it is too early for me to have a power rankings after Week 1, I have split the teams into groups of three. This is what I have:

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
Mercer - look at you opening up a can of whoop
Furman - look at you also opening up a can of whoop
Chattanooga - Got their head coach his first win against a sub-500 team from last year

THEY WERE WHO I THOUGHT THEY WERE
The Citadel - had nothing to be ashamed of
East Tennessee State - they lost to potential FBS Top 25 team, what did you expect
VMI - lost bigly to a former conference mate

WOW, JUST WOW
Wofford - nobody in the SoCon is supposed to lose a game in the matter they did
Western Carolina - appeared to be all hat, no cattle
Samford - it's one thing to lose to Youngstown State, losing to the OVC equivalent of VMI is a wholly different matter

Week 2 Games
Western Carolina @ NC State - Wolfpack maul the Catamounts.
Mars Hill @ VMI - Please don't screw this up VMI.
The Citadel @ Elon (Game of the Week) - Phoenix take care of business against their former conference rivals.
Chattanooga @ Jacksonville State - Gamecocks defend this house.
Furman @ Georgia State - Resurgent Panthers crush the Paladins.
Shorter @ ETSU (Beatdown of the Week) - Bucs kick off home slate with a good old fashioned East Tennessee butt whooping.
Mercer @ Presbyterian (Beatdown of the Week) - Bears destroy the Blue Hose.

[SU DOG]

I know the opponent was CSU, but I was surprised at how poised and good Darren Grainger was. I didn't see al of the 2nd half, but looks like the QB situation at Furman is in good hands.

[PaladinFan]

I know the opponent was CSU, but I was surprised at how poised and good Darren Grainger was. I didn't see al of the 2nd half, but looks like the QB situation at Furman is in good hands.

Grainger was a pleasant surprise. I expected a young, jittery QB, but that is not at all what I saw. He was composed the entire game.

He might have one of the strongest arms I can remember for a Furman QB. The ball comes out hot. What is perhaps most impressive is that none of his throws seemed ill-placed. Virtually every toss was either placed where a Furman WR could catch it, or no one could.

[FUBeAR]

https://twitter.com/mercerfootball/status/1168567339903836162

Y’all got another game to pick...

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Side note on Georgia State.

GSU's Offensive Coordinator is Brad Glenn, who spent the last 7 seasons as OC at Western Carolina. Josh Stepp, a former Furman WR, is on GSU's staff as well.

GSU's Defensive Coordinator is Nate Fuqua, who was a longtime assistant of Mike Ayers at Wofford. Sheil Wood is the linebackers coach who, of course, was also a DC at Wofford under Ayers.

As I watch GSU play UT, I was reminded that a lot of what the Panthers are doing looks familiar. While the Paladins and Panthers have no history, there's a lot of familiarity with their coaching staff. The offense, in particular, looks a spot on match to WCU's and the defense heavily resembles Wofford's.

Let me add to that, Georgia State's head coach is Shawn Elliott. You remember him as the OL coach at App State before heading off to South Carolina. When Spurrier retired, Elliott became the interim head coach. I saw the highlights from the Tennessee-USC game that year and really thought USC should remove the interim tag from Shawn Elliott but then The Citadel happened. I felt Elliott had all the makings of a head coach and that he will be one soon enough at that time.

USC went on to hire Will Muschamp (formerly of Florida) who was best known for the comedy of errors when they played Georgia Southern. Muschamp started Skyler Morninwheg (Florida's version of Jarrett Guarantano). It was THIS GUY right here on this very board who called the shot that Georgia Southern was going to take down the Gators and take down the Gators they did. Georgia Southern's head coach at the time was Jeff Monken, who parlayed that success at Army, currently a potential FBS Top 25 team.

[PaladinFan]

Let me add to that, Georgia State's head coach is Shawn Elliott. You remember him as the OL coach at App State before heading off to South Carolina. When Spurrier retired, Elliott became the interim head coach. I saw the highlights from the Tennessee-USC game that year and really thought USC should remove the interim tag from Shawn Elliott but then The Citadel happened. I felt Elliott had all the makings of a head coach and that he will be one soon enough at that time.

USC went on to hire Will Muschamp (formerly of Florida) who was best known for the comedy of errors when they played Georgia Southern. Muschamp started Skyler Morninwheg (Florida's version of Jarrett Guarantano). It was THIS GUY right here on this very board who called the shot that Georgia Southern was going to take down the Gators and take down the Gators they did. Georgia Southern's head coach at the time was Jeff Monken, who parlayed that success at Army, currently a potential FBS Top 25 team.

That same Georgia Southern team finished 4-4 in the SoCon and had two wins vacated for playing academically ineligible players.

[Scrappy94]

1. Furman
2. Mercer
3. Chattanooga
4. The Citadel
5. Wofford
6. ETSU
7. Western Carolina
8. Samford
9. VMI

Western Carolina @ NC State
Mars Hill @ VMI
Elon @ The Citadel
Mercer @ Presbyterian
Furman @ Georgia State
Chattanooga @ Jacksonville State
Shorter @ ETSU

[PaladinFan]

https://twitter.com/mercerfootball/status/1168567339903836162

Y’all got another game to pick...

Looks like PC had to cancel their game against Stetson due to the hurricane. Mercer will travel to PC.

I'd be interested to know the thought process behind this. I guess Mercer sees a chance to pick up a win against a beatable FCS opponent.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

That same Georgia Southern team finished 4-4 in the SoCon and had two wins vacated for playing academically ineligible players.

Really, I did not know that. I hope one of those vacated wins was not Florida.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Really, I did not know that. I hope one of those vacated wins was not Florida.

No. It was Savannah State and St. Francis. The player in question was a grad transfer and was suspended after the issue came to light and didn't play any more the entire season.

BTW, very interested to see how Furman plays Georgia State. I don't think Furman will look like they didn't even bother to look at any game film of Brad Glenn's offense. If they can be as efficient throwing the ball as last year it'll be close. Nate Fuqua is going to use the safeties to defend the option game and make you try and beat them throwing the ball.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Let me add to that, Georgia State's head coach is Shawn Elliott. You remember him as the OL coach at App State before heading off to South Carolina. When Spurrier retired, Elliott became the interim head coach. I saw the highlights from the Tennessee-USC game that year and really thought USC should remove the interim tag from Shawn Elliott but then The Citadel happened. I felt Elliott had all the makings of a head coach and that he will be one soon enough at that time.

USC went on to hire Will Muschamp (formerly of Florida) who was best known for the comedy of errors when they played Georgia Southern. Muschamp started Skyler Morninwheg (Florida's version of Jarrett Guarantano). It was THIS GUY right here on this very board who called the shot that Georgia Southern was going to take down the Gators and take down the Gators they did. Georgia Southern's head coach at the time was Jeff Monken, who parlayed that success at Army, currently a potential FBS Top 25 team.

Plot twist: It was I and catamount man (may he RIP) that called the shot that The Citadel was going to take down USC and take them down they did.

Plot twist #2: My cousin's son signed with Army who wrapped up Cadet Basic Training a few weeks ago.

[PaladinFan]

No. It was Savannah State and St. Francis. The player in question was a grad transfer and was suspended after the issue came to light and didn't play any more the entire season.

BTW, very interested to see how Furman plays Georgia State. I don't think Furman will look like they didn't even bother to look at any game film of Brad Glenn's offense. If they can be as efficient throwing the ball as last year it'll be close. Nate Fuqua is going to use the safeties to defend the option game and make you try and beat them throwing the ball.

I expect Furman will be far more familiar with Ga. State's offense and defense than Tennessee was. Coach Hendrix noted as much during the presser this morning, highlighting the familiarity they have with the Panther coaching staff.

Hendrix noted that GSU is going to do a lot of what Charleston Southern tried to do, but will be better at doing it.

On the other hand, Hendrix also stated that they were able to keep the playbook pretty basic against CSU. He's noted a few times this offseason that the Paladins now have the depth and talent to do some things they wanted to do the last two years, but haven't been able to.

[The Cats]

Predictions
WCU at NC State
Mars Hill at VMI
The Citadel at Elon
Furman at Georgia State
Chattanooga at JSU
Shorter at ETSU
Mercer at PCWofford at Bye
Samford at Bye


Week 1 Power Ranking
1. Furman
2. Mercer
3. Chattanooga
4. The Citadel
5. Wofford
6. ETSU
7. WCU
8. VMI
9. Samford

[kdinva]

Western Carolina 13 @ NC State 49
Mars Hill 17 @ VMI 45
The Citadel 24 @ Elon 30
Chattanooga 27 @ Jacksonville State 24
Furman 27 @ Georgia State 34
Shorter 6 @ ETSU 58
Mercer 48 @ Presby. 13

[SU DOG]

According to SoCon John:
https://medium.com/@SoConJohn22/socon-football-2019-week-1-power-rankings-power-rankings-and-players-of-the-week-50d649d9b55a

OUCH!!! That Power Ranking has GOT to change. Sadly for now, however, I have no argument.

[BearDownMU]

According to SoCon John:
https://medium.com/@SoConJohn22/socon-football-2019-week-1-power-rankings-power-rankings-and-players-of-the-week-50d649d9b55a

OUCH!!! That Power Ranking has GOT to change. Sadly for now, however, I have no argument.

I didn't think Oladokun started? I thought the other guy started and was quickly lifted.

[SU DOG]

I didn't think Oladokun started? I thought the other guy started and was quickly lifted.

You are right. It was 12-0(TD, FG, Safety) TTU in the first quarter before the change was made.

[FUBeAR]

Wow - just watched Woffy get manhandled by SCSU. I don’t care if they ran anything from the Air Raid to the Single Wang or the Notre Dame Box, there’s no way the porchyappers win that football game with the way they were whipped up front on both sides of the ball. Their performance reminded me of what I saw when they played at FU last year, but without any emotion at all on Sat. Night in Orangeburg. They at least seemed to care when Furman was dumptrucking them last year.

Look, regardless of what has been said by others post-game, I didn’t see any, “OMG, we must ditch this experiment and return to Woffy football” moment in that game. They came out running a combination of Spread Zone Read, 1 & 2 Back Pro Set, and some ‘old school’ WoffyO. They had some success with each ‘type’ of alignment/play, but for the most part were stuffed / blown up by SCSU’s Front 7. Later they ran a little more ‘old school’ WoffyO and some of that worked on occasion, but much of it was also stuffed. They really only had any success with it when the game was, essentially, over. ALL of it was very sloppy - especially the WoffyO. They actually looked more comfortable running the Spread Zone Read than anything else...and had some success throwing out of it the few times the QB could put the ball in the (good-looking) WR’s zip codes. They got pushed around upfront on D, their DB’s were often out of position, and the refs called them a couple of times on their overly ‘grabby’ play on passes into the end zone that they usually get away with in SoCon games.

What I saw was somewhat what I expected to see from the anklebiters last year with their (then) inexperienced OL & new (and rather inexperienced) Coaching Staff. Maybe it’s taken a year for the AyersEffect to wear off of them, but based on what I just watched, there is A LOT of work to do up in SparkleCity if the yardyappers are going to be competitive this season. Talent is the same as it has been, but anything resembling crisp execution & fiery emotion were absolutely not in evidence.

[FUBeAR]

I didn't think Oladokun started? I thought the other guy started and was quickly lifted.


You are right. It was 12-0(TD, FG, Safety) TTU in the first quarter before the change was made.

So...not quite quick enough, huh?

BTW - As Oladokun seems to be quite a ‘free-runner’ and, thus, subject to taking some shots / possible injuries, the importance of the role of backup QB can never be underestimated. With the far-less-than-positive results seen from the Games 1 & 2 Starter, is he the backup now or will another QB on the roster be elevated to that back-up role; just 1 unfortunate play away from being ‘the guy’ for the Bulldogs?

[PaladinFan]

Wow - just watched Woffy get manhandled by SCSU. I don’t care if they ran anything from the Air Raid to the Single Wang or the Notre Dame Box, there’s no way the porchyappers win that football game with the way they were whipped up front on both sides of the ball. Their performance reminded me of what I saw when they played at FU last year, but without any emotion at all on Sat. Night in Orangeburg. They at least seemed to care when Furman was dumptrucking them last year.

Look, regardless of what has been said by others post-game, I didn’t see any, “OMG, we must ditch this experiment and return to Woffy football” moment in that game. They came out running a combination of Spread Zone Read, 1 & 2 Back Pro Set, and some ‘old school’ WoffyO. They had some success with each ‘type’ of alignment/play, but for the most part were stuffed / blown up by SCSU’s Front 7. Later they ran a little more ‘old school’ WoffyO and some of that worked on occasion, but much of it was also stuffed. They really only had any success with it when the game was, essentially, over. ALL of it was very sloppy - especially the WoffyO. They actually looked more comfortable running the Spread Zone Read than anything else...and had some success throwing out of it the few times the QB could put the ball in the (good-looking) WR’s zip codes. They got pushed around upfront on D, their DB’s were often out of position, and the refs called them a couple of times on their overly ‘grabby’ play on passes into the end zone that they usually get away with in SoCon games.

What I saw was somewhat what I expected to see from the anklebiters last year with their (then) inexperienced OL & new (and rather inexperienced) Coaching Staff. Maybe it’s taken a year for the AyersEffect to wear off of them, but based on what I just watched, there is A LOT of work to do up in SparkleCity if the yardyappers are going to be competitive this season. Talent is the same as it has been, but anything resembling crisp execution & fiery emotion were absolutely not in evidence.

I am seeing similarities right now with Wofford to what I saw with Furman under Bruce Fowler. Fowler, of course, did not inherit the quality team that Conklin did.

During the Fowler years, there were a few games a year where Furman just wouldn't show up (2016 KSU, 2015 WCU, 2015 Samford, 2014 PC etc.). It didn't, in my opinion, have anything to do with scheme or talent, but "want to." It was arresting as a Furman fan. I had seen the team lose plenty to times, but I had never seen Furman teams play like they had somewhere better to be that afternoon.

Wofford is showing similar alarming signs under Conklin. He hasn't been there long and there have been a few games where the Terriers just didn't show up to play football. The fan in you wants to believe that this is fixable with tinkering with the offense or defense. It isn't. Conklin has been in charge of 14 games at Wofford, and this is the second time his team (both times the deeper and experienced team) got trucked. I think it will only get worse for them as their talent gap dissipates as Ayers' players graduate.

If Wofford has another game this season where the team does not bother to get off the bus, I would suggest hitting the panic button in Spartanburg. If recruiting takes a small step back and the team doesn't show up a couple times a year, the Terriers will be looking at 3-8 seasons just like Furman had to endure.

[Mocs123]

Looks like PC had to cancel their game against Stetson due to the hurricane. Mercer will travel to PC.

I'd be interested to know the thought process behind this. I guess Mercer sees a chance to pick up a win against a beatable FCS opponent.

Absolutely a great decision by Mercer, they should get an easy win against an FBS opponent and it could be the difference between making the playoffs and not. A 7 win Mercer team could have been left at home watching the playoffs on TV, but a 8 win Mercer team would be almost guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.

[wcugrad95]

Cue FUBeAR’s comments that this will be the difference in 10 and 11 wins and will mean Mercer gets a higher seed 😀

[ElCid]

Cue FUBeAR’s comments that this will be the difference in 10 and 11 wins and will mean Mercer gets a higher seed 😀

I think beating PC will make only a marginal difference. They must be in disarray with their future looking bleak. They should have never moved up.

[PaladinFan]

I think beating PC will make only a marginal difference. They must be in disarray with their future looking bleak. They should have never moved up.

I don't think the playoff committee cares much about strength of schedule.

The only thing you can't do is lose the game.

[Mocs123]

The playoff committee favors SOS some for the conference (MVFC seems to get any team in with a winning record in) but not much for the individual program - not such a good thing for Chattanooga this year, but (as long as they win the game) they have nothing to lose. In my version above they would either be 7-4 or 8-4. In a 12 game year, a seven win team may be on the bubble, espcecially if the SoCon isn't stron OOC this year and we haven't started so hot. A team with 8 D-1 wins is almost garanteed to get in, even if their OOC was against Campbell and Presbyterian.

I am not condoning scheduling crappy OOC opponents, and this game does nothing for the SoCon as a whole, but I do think it helps Mercer this year, since they weren't playing a 12th game anyways. Of course while it should be a blowout win for the Bears, if they were to somehow lose to the Blue Hose, it would be akin to UTK paying Ga State $1M to beat them.

Overall, I think it was a great move for Mercer, and if I was a Mercer fan I would be ecstatic about it.

[PaladinFan]

The playoff committee favors SOS some for the conference (MVFC seems to get any team in with a winning record in) but not much for the individual program - not such a good thing for Chattanooga this year, but (as long as they win the game) they have nothing to lose. In my version above they would either be 7-4 or 8-4. In a 12 game year, a seven win team may be on the bubble, espcecially if the SoCon isn't stron OOC this year and we haven't started so hot. A team with 8 D-1 wins is almost garanteed to get in, even if their OOC was against Campbell and Presbyterian.

I am not condoning scheduling crappy OOC opponents, and this game does nothing for the SoCon as a whole, but I do think it helps Mercer this year, since they weren't playing a 12th game anyways. Of course while it should be a blowout win for the Bears, if they were to somehow lose to the Blue Hose, it would be akin to UTK paying Ga State $1M to beat them.

Overall, I think it was a great move for Mercer, and if I was a Mercer fan I would be ecstatic about it.

Mercer still has the contest against Austin Peay, which would be a notable FCS win.

I think it's a good move, especially with a Mercer team in "win now" mode. There is some risk (in my opinion) scheduling a road game at the last minute, but they are obviously aware of that.

[Mocs123]

Western Carolina 10
NC State 49 – NC State is too much for the Catamounts

Mars Hill 24
VMI 41 – VMI gets the win, just not a D1 win.

The Citadel 24 (Upset of the Week) – Once again, I’m picking the Bulldogs to upset a CAA school. Hopefully I have better intuition than I did last week.
Elon 21

Chattanooga 20 – The Mocs break the curse and leave Jacksonville with a W.
Jacksonville Sate 17

Furman 30
Georgia State 35 – Furman almost beats GSU, and I hope they do, but I think they pull it out in the 4th.

Shorter 0
ETSU 49 – (Beatdown of the Week) – ETSU criminally beats up on Shorter.

Mercer 41 – The Bears pick up a 12th game and come away with an easy win.
Presbyterian 7

Power Rankings
1. Furman – The Paladins looked strong as expected against CSU
2. Mercer – #2 may be a stretch, but they surprised me against WCU
3. Chattanooga – Almost ranked #3, but we didn’t play that great in the Win.
4. The Citadel - Hung with Towson. Could be a good year in Charleston
5. Wofford – Stunk it up against SC State, but the Terriers have time to regroup.
6. ETSU – Still don’t know a ton about the Bucs, we won’t know this week either.
7. Western Carolina – The Catamounts aren’t playing good football, but Tyrie Adams puts them above Samford.
8. Samford – Samford is also not playing good football, but they have talent to turn it around.
9. VMI - Improving

[PaladinNation]

Things I'm curious about related to the FU/GSU matchup.
Furman played vanilla against the Bucs, on offense and defense, I'm interested in what CCH means that Furman now has the players to do some things they've wanted to do but couldn't in his first two seasons??? Clay is not a flashy guy - him saying this got my attention.

From the mid third quarter on - Furman pushed CSU around - and that was with a mix of second and third team players. I don't think depth is going to be an issue against GSU or VaTech. Also Furman appears to be very well conditioned, Devin Wynn brought this up during the post game. Now both teams could just out athlete and win the matchups - I don't see Furman running out of steam as the reason for a loss.

Intangibles — Furman has one of the top kickers in any division if the game is close towards the end Atkins can kick from 50-60 with accuracy.
Furman has 21 players from metro Atlanta, 34 players from Georgia on the roster - Furman has a large Atlanta alumni base - should be a lot of purple in the stands.

[PaladinFan]

I think Grayson Atkins is criminally overlooked.

He wins special team award honors this week: http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=21895&SPID=1781&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211810650&DB_OEM_ID=4000

His 39 yard field goal was his 12th straight make. We've all seen that he can hit easily from just about anywhere in plus territory. He also averaged 45 yards a punt Saturday, dropped two inside the 10, and booted two over 50. That also went with 6 touchbacks on kickoffs.

[Mocs123]

Furman generally has good kickers and punters, even when your team wasn't top tier. And I agree that Atkins is a weapon that is often overlooked.

[ElCid]

Western Carolina 10
NC State 49 – NC State is too much for the Catamounts

Mars Hill 24
VMI 41 – VMI gets the win, just not a D1 win.

The Citadel 24 (Upset of the Week) – Once again, I’m picking the Bulldogs to upset a CAA school. Hopefully I have better intuition than I did last week.
Elon 21

Chattanooga 20 – The Mocs break the curse and leave Jacksonville with a W.
Jacksonville Sate 17

Furman 30
Georgia State 35 – Furman almost beats GSU, and I hope they do, but I think they pull it out in the 4th.

Shorter 0
ETSU 49 – (Beatdown of the Week) – ETSU criminally beats up on Shorter.

Mercer 41 – The Bears pick up a 12th game and come away with an easy win.
Presbyterian 7

Power Rankings
1. Furman – The Paladins looked strong as expected against CSU
2. Mercer – #2 may be a stretch, but they surprised me against WCU
3. Chattanooga – Almost ranked #3, but we didn’t play that great in the Win.
4. Wofford – Stunk it up against SC State, but the Terriers have time to regroup.
5. ETSU – Still don’t know a ton about the Bucs, we won’t know this week either.
6. Western Carolina – The Catamounts aren’t playing good football, but Tyrie Adams puts them above Samford.
7. Samford – Samford is also not playing good football, but they have talent to turn it around.
8. VMI - Improving

Wow, we aren't even good enough to be ranked in your poll?😱

We should have won our game last week. Our D had to make 1 stop and couldn't. Add in the three fumbles and we just blew it.

[Mocs123]

Fixed the glitch.

[SUPharmacist]

NC State
VMI
Citadel
Georgia State
JSU
ETSU
Mercer

[PaladinFan]

https://www.ajc.com/blog/further-review/georgia-state-looks-build-upon-monumental-win-over-tennessee/kMkor6DMUmlnyohzaRj0kI/#


“I think (Furman) will give us a tougher battle than we faced Saturday, if you want to be honest,” Lazarus said.

[ElCid]

Dogs hit the road for practice. They are at the bottom of the mountain about 12 miles from my place. It isn't in Travelers Rest, but about 12 miles north of there. Looks like North Greenville and Furman will give some support. Good on them.

https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/hurricane-forces-citadel-on-the-road-ex-bulldog-makes-nfl/article_56f9d478-cdc2-11e9-a651-8b79c12a10ae.html


By now, The Citadel football team has the hurricane drill down pat.


Bulldog equipment managers packed up the trucks Monday morning, and the team hit the road in advance of Hurricane Dorian.


For the third time in four years, the football team will stay at Lookup Lodge in Travelers Rest, near Greenville, to avoid a hurricane and practice for a weekend game. The Bulldogs (0-1) are scheduled to play Saturday at Elon in North Carolina....

[SCPALADIN]

Dogs hit the road for practice. They are at the bottom of the mountain about 12 miles from my place. It isn't in Travelers Rest, but about 12 miles north of there. Looks like North Greenville and Furman will give some support. Good on them.

https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/hurricane-forces-citadel-on-the-road-ex-bulldog-makes-nfl/article_56f9d478-cdc2-11e9-a651-8b79c12a10ae.html

Good to hear that they're out of harms way and able to use some pretty good facilities.

[jayhawkdaddy]

NC State
VMI
Elon
Georgia State
UTC
ETSU
Mercer



Week 1 Power Ranking
1. Furman
2. Mercer
3. Chattanooga
4. The Citadel
5. Wofford
6. ETSU
7. WCU
8. Samford
9. VMI

[blueGOldMOCS]

Good to hear that they're out of harms way and able to use some pretty good facilities.

I like hearing other schools helping out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FUBeAR]

I like hearing other schools helping out.


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkMe too. I hope Furman is feeding the bellhops 56 year old horse meat.

[blueGOldMOCS]

[emoji56]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gofurman]

Dogs hit the road for practice. They are at the bottom of the mountain about 12 miles from my place. It isn't in Travelers Rest, but about 12 miles north of there. Looks like North Greenville and Furman will give some support. Good on them.

https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/hurricane-forces-citadel-on-the-road-ex-bulldog-makes-nfl/article_56f9d478-cdc2-11e9-a651-8b79c12a10ae.html

agree! we all wanna win but safety is first for all. stay safe and I hope you guys get a win over CAA.. a small shame you lose the home field. but its obviously the right thing to do

[Mocs123]

Yeah, we are all pulling for you to beat Elon and get a nice OOC win for the SoCon.

[mvfcfan]

Just saw on the news where a GA St player said that he thinks their FCS opponent (Furman) will a tougher game than Tennessee.

[PaladinFan]

Just saw on the news where a GA St player said that he thinks their FCS opponent (Furman) will a tougher game than Tennessee.

I posted the link above to the story in the AJC.

Georgia State has a lot of guys with SoCon ties on their coaching staff. They know not to overlook Furman.

It's an exaggeration, but if you go back and watch some of that GSU/UT game you can see that UT had the physically bigger players, but GSU's players were better coached, better conditioned, and made a lot fewer mistakes.

Personally, if you are a fan of good run-and-hit football, I think the GSU/Furman game will be a fun one to watch. GSU will be favored, but I think the Paladins will make it a four quarter game.

[FUGameBreaker]

Just saw on the news where a GA St player said that he thinks their FCS opponent (Furman) will a tougher game than Tennessee.


https://twitter.com/GreenvilleNews/status/1169618689781641216

[FUGameBreaker]

What happened to all the Wofford fans xlmaoxxlmaoxxlmaox

[PaladinFan]

What happened to all the Wofford fans xlmaoxxlmaoxxlmaox

Oh, they're here lurking.

[Mocs123]

They are all here:

31083

[gofurman]

What happened to all the Wofford fans xlmaoxxlmaoxxlmaox

Be careful. With that many seniors it will be easy to install the option quickly. Let’s see what they do v Samford etc. never as good or bad as you think you are.

As as others know, Woff has a ton of senior starters this year so that may bail them. They have been running that o every year those guys have been there. Next year they get younger and have less Ayers players but this year they have 14 senior starters who know the option like the back of their hand

[FUGameBreaker]

Be careful. With that many seniors it will be easy to install the option quickly. Let’s see what they do v Samford etc. never as good or bad as you think you are.

As as others know, Woff has a ton of senior starters this year so that may bail them. They have been running that o every year those guys have been there. Next year they get younger and have less Ayers players but this year they have 14 senior starters who know the option like the back of their hand



My reference is to not 1 single Woff post this week xcoffeex

[FUBeAR]

My reference is to not 1 single Woff post this week xcoffeexRoT said he quit AGS because the people who post here are bad football analysts...


I went through South Carolina State's per-possession stats last year and it was very unimpressive.

On one hand, they kept teams out of the endzone 70% of the time against MEAC teams. On another, they only scored themselves at roughly the same rate. My intuition is that the MEAC is very bad...

Again, y'all can think I'm just being over confident, but I'll be *very* surprised if Wofford doesn't run away from this one. I will be surprised if 1 of these 3 doesn't happen: Wofford scores 40, Wofford wins by 25, SC State scores less than 17.

My intuition is that this one will be in the 45-10 to 45-24 range.



I revise my prediction for Wofford-SC State. No way they score 20 on us, unless we gift wrap them points or if we score 50-60.


...um...yeah, ‘they’ sure are. xlolx

[FUBeAR]

Picks


WCU at NC State – We’ed all like to see the Cats smoke the Pack, but they get stoned in Raleigh - 420-0
Mars Hill at VMI – The military whipped the aliens in Roswell (probably), but the ET’s have given ETSU, WCU, and Chatt kinda competitive games in recent memory (I think...in FUBeAR’s memory, FWIW)...even so we’ll fly, or maybe hover, with the roos, 31-28
The Citadel at Elon – FUBeAR was not particularly impressed with Towson last week and a bit less impressed with the RaineyRunRightRaineyRunLefts. Also, not impressed with the E*Loan crowd I saw play against the anklebiters last year. Runnin’Rainey’s get the nod, but only because they ate at Tommy’s Ham House in GreenVegas this week, 21-20
Furman at Georgia State – Paladins have their sights set on winning the SEC East. Dins by 2 scores, 39-30
Chattanooga at JSU – Dang I hate to pick this one, but I think EIU’s secondary was just awful & Tiano is still being asked to do things that are not his best skills. Mocs play hard, and JaxSt plays sloppy, but the Cocks outathlete the Mocs, have at least 1 Pick6, and win the game, 24-14 (Hope I’m wrong!)
Shorter at ETSU – ETSU is furiously trying to figure out how they can win this game by 1 point in 4 OT’s, but they fail. JackSparrows win 100-0
Mercer at PC – This would have been a fun game in 2013. It’s 2019. Bears win 100-0
Wofford at Bye – Clearly more inspired, Bye whips the littlepups upfront on both sides of the ball. SCState gets 3 more picks, and the Butcher Shop @ Piggly Wiggly on Pine Street in SparkleBurg completely sold out of fresh crow this week. Final score is your option
Samford at Bye x 2 – 2?...because...Bye’s Head Coach beats you with his, then he takes yours & beats his with yours. Bye runs the ball. Bye controls the clock. Bye plays tough D (all 4 Quarters). Bye doesn’t wear QB-ability blinders. Bye sends the bullpups to 0-4, 7-6 & 56-3.


Week 2 Power Ranking
1. Furman
2. Mercer
3. Chattanooga
4. Citadel
5. ETSU
6. Samford
7. VMI
8. WCU
9. Wofford / 7. (MEAC Power Ranking)

[ElCid]

The Citadel at Elon – FUBeAR was not particularly impressed with Towson last week and a bit less impressed with the RaineyRunRightRaineyRunLefts.


RaineyRunRight and RaineyRunLeft for ... 169 yards. From what I saw they had the middle plugged pretty good and the pitch most times. He kept it a lot. A couple bad reads, but mostly good. He also kept it a lot on third and fourth and short and they had no answer for his step back and run behind the right guard and pick 3-5 yards. I think they were playing to just not give up the big runs on D. I was a bit unimpressed with our D. O is just fine...minus the occasional fumble.

[The Cats]

Picks


WCU at NC State – We’ed all like to see the Cats smoke the Pack, but they get stoned in Raleigh - 420-0


That hurt...... I guess you've read the rumor?

[FUBeAR]

RaineyRunRight and RaineyRunLeft for ... 169 yards. From what I saw they had the middle plugged pretty good and the pitch most times. He kept it a lot. A couple bad reads, but mostly good. He also kept it a lot on third and fourth and short and they had no answer for his step back and run behind the right guard and pick 3-5 yards. I think they were playing to just not give up the big runs on D. I was a bit unimpressed with our D. O is just fine...minus the occasional fumble.OK...if you think so, I’m good with it too.

[walliver]

Predictions:
WCU at NC State: Wolfpack are just too strong and win 35-24
Mars Hill at VMI - VMI can't overlook anybody and pulls out a 28-10 win
The Citadel at Elon - Should be a good game. Both teams will move the ball, but the bullpups pull out a 31-28 win
Furman at Georgia State - last week I would have picked a Paladin victory by 14. After last week, I think Furman still has a chance, but predict a GSU 35-31 win
Chatty at JSU - Mocs pick up a 17-14 win
Shorter at ETSU - ETSU by as many as they want
Mercer at PC - Bears by 35
Wofford vs BYE - The Terriers come out wih the single wing and oull of a 35-0 win
Samford vs BYE - Both teams wear themselves out running up and down the field and call the game at halftime

Power rankings:
1) Furman
2) Mercer
3) Chattanooga

everybody else is bunched together.

I obviously am not a fan of the new Wofford Van Gorder offense. I was excited when I heard the offense was being updated and extended. We previously ran mostly shotgun or pistol based option with wide receivers spread out, and it would be very easy to add passing to such an offense. I was quite upset when it became apparent it was being replaced. Joe Newman will run circles around defenders in the open field, but is not going to beat many teams with his arm.

[The Cats]

Tyrie Adams and 3 other WCU players suspended for today's game with NC State. They did not travel to Raleigh with the team.

[walliver]

My reference is to not 1 single Woff post this week xcoffeex

I've been on vacation with limited internet access (and watching the weather channel to see if my house was going to get hit by the hurricane. I thought about trying to access AGS, but everytime I tried to find something to post, I realized I was sounding way too much like Georgia Southern fans who continuously trash their coaches and players, so I held off.

Usually I can find a silver lining of some sort with every loss, but last week's game had none (well maybe I can be thankful the receivers could catch the balls that reached them). I still have confidence in Josh Conklin long-term, but if we are going to be competitive in the post-season, we need to update (not replace) the offense, and I don't think our OC can do that effectively. On the other hand, if the offensive line doesn't perform well, no offensive scheme is going to be effective

[walliver]

Tyrie Adams and 3 other WCU players suspended for today's game with NC State. They did not travel to Raleigh with the team.

Was this something that happened this week, or were they conveniently disciplined for a game that doesn't matter much? I suspect the former, but there are a few programs that do the latter.

[FUBeAR]

Tyrie Adams and 3 other WCU players suspended for today's game with NC State. They did not travel to Raleigh with the team.
Starting QB, Starting OLman, Starting DLman, Reserve DLman - still time to adjust your WCU picks. FUBeAR’s pick will stand.

[Milktruck74]

???? No inside knowledge, but in my opinion, "Violation of teams rules" equates to "Really likes Weed" about 80% of the time.

[The Cats]

Was this something that happened this week, or were they conveniently disciplined for a game that doesn't matter much? I suspect the former, but there are a few programs that do the latter.

I'm hearing they are indefinite suspensions. Nothing out of the school yet, nothing on the broadcasts except 4 players were suspended.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I'm hearing they are indefinite suspensions. Nothing out of the school yet, nothing on the broadcasts except 4 players were suspended.

If true, there goes your season.