SoCon 2022 Predictions and Power Rankings - Weeks 0 & 1

[FUBeAR]

Might as well get a jump on this. Mercer kicks off in 25 days & the others soon follow, including a Projected Bottom vs. Projected Top intra-SoCon matchup that could set the tone for another wild & wooly season in the toughest, most underrated, and (currently) most disrespected Conference in FCS Football.


Week 0 & Week 1 SoCon Teams Schedule



Saturday, August 27, 2022




Away
Home
Time


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
7:00 P.M.




Thursday, September 1, 2022




Away
Home
Time


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
6:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/north-greenville.png?width=30North Greenville (http://ngcrusaders.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
7:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
7:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/WakeForest100419.png?width=30Wake Forest (http://www.godeacs.com/)
7:30 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Mars-Hill.png?width=30Mars Hill (http://marshilllions.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
7:30 P.M.




Saturday, September 3, 2022




Away
Home
Time


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Charleston_Southern.png?width=30Charleston Southern (http://www.csusports.com/)
12:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wofford.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
6:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/auburn_logo.png?width=30Auburn (http://www.auburntigers.com/)
7:00 P.M.



SoCon Coaches Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (5) 60
2. ETSU (2) 54
3. Mercer (1) 53
4. Furman (1) 43
5. Western Carolina 38
6. Samford 26
7. VMI 23
8. The Citadel 14
9. Wofford 13

SoCon Media Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (18) 256
t2. ETSU (7) 226
t2. Mercer (5) 226
4. Furman 175
5. Western Carolina 125
6. VMI 119
7. Samford 106
8. Wofford 60
9. The Citadel 57


FUBeAR will post HIS CORRECT Predictions and Power Rankings in a few days, but feel free to go ahead and post your feeble, incorrect attempts at prognosticatin’ whenever your spirit is moved to embarrass yourselves thusly.

[Mocs123]

Are we not picking the games on 8.3 too? I know Chattanooga and Wofford play - I imagine there are others.

[FUBeAR]

Are we not picking the games on 8.3 too? I know Chattanooga and Wofford play - I imagine there are others.
Congratulations! You passed FUBeAR’s 1st test to see who was paying attention. But we all know the Mocs have a history of starting strong and packing up their tents down the stretch. Stay strong. 9/3 (not 8/3…so you only get partial credit) games have been added and that “FUBeAR Challenge” has been closed out with a partial credit chip going to Mocs123

[Mocs123]

Morehead State 13
Mercer 28 - Bears fans get even more excited about the season with a season opening win at home.

North Greenville 10
Furman 34- I guess it makes sense to play North Greenville as they are right there, but I'd like to see one of the premier SoCon teams such as the Paladins play a quality FCS foe here. After starting slow, Furman pulls away in the second half.

Kennesaw State 31 ( I really hope I am wrong on this one) I really want the Bulldogs wo win this, but I think the Owls will keep Samford's offense on the sideline for too much of the game. Nice OOC game though. Both teams have been accused of scheduling soft OOC opponents in the past.
Samford 24

VMI - 17
Wake Forest 38 - VMI comes home with a big check to start the season.

Mars Hill 7
ETSU 31 - Again, I wish the Bucs would play a quality FCS foe here, but at least they start the Quarrels era off with a win.

Western Carolina 27 - This just edged Samford-KSU and Wofford-UTC for game of the week. Change for Bell to get a decent OOC win for the Cats and the SoCon.
Charleston Southern 24

The Citadel 24 - The beach Bulldogs have a lot of new players, but I think they can still get an OOC win for the SoCon against a pretty decent Campbell team.
Campbell 21

Wofford 10
Chattanooga 17 - I hate playing a SoCon game right off the bat. I'm not sure what to expect from the Terriers, but I think the Mocs should take care of business at home.

Mercer 7
Auburn 41 - I'd be all for an upset here, but I don't think there's any way it happens. The Bears collect a check and head back to Macon.

Power Rankings – Rankings are a real crap shoot this early in the season, especially having as much churn as we’ve seen for example WCU is practically a new team. I really see three groups currently with Chattanooga, ETSU, and Mercer at the top, a middle group with Furman, VMI, WCU, and Samford, and The Citadel and Wofford bringing up the rear. I never thought I’d have a Wofford team picked last in the SoCon, but as of now that is where I have them. I really think top to bottom the SoCon is pretty good though, and anyone can pull an upset on any given day.



Chattanooga
ETSU
Mercer



Furman
VMI
Western Carolina
Samford



The Citadel
Wofford

[FUBeAR]

Morehead State 13
Mercer 28

Mercer 7
Auburn 41
Oooooh. Such little respect for the Mercer Bears Team that has ended your Mocs last 2 seasons on such a sour note?

Projectin’ a close win at home over a non-schollie and a complete blowout by an SEC that was far better when a far lesser Mercer Team dang near scalped ‘em the last time they played in 2017.

Not sure if that’s disrespect, sour grapes, wishful thinking, or some combination of the 3.



* Your Nooga Woffy score is also surprising. Sandbagging, FUBeAR suspects.

[Mocs123]

A win is a win isn't it? Perhaps the pollsters care if Mercer wins by 15 or 50, but I think the important part is getting the win. You're right I may be not giving the Bears enough credit, as Morehead got beat by 24 points by Austin Peay last year. Mercer is breaking in some new players and it's the first game of the year, but I'll be perfectly happy if Mercer wins this one by 50. I pull for all SoCon teams in OOC play. And I'm painfully aware that we're 0-2 our last two "years" vs. the Bears. I thought our backups played pretty well against the Bears in the spring, but as I mentioned earlier a win is a win - or in this case a loss is a loss. In the fall, I believe we'd have clinched a playoff birth if we'd won so it's particularly painful. I had flashbacks of 2015? when the #3 ranked Mocs came to Macon and got upset.

As for the Wofford - Chattanooga score, I'm honestly not sure what to expect out of Wofford. I feel like the Mocs defense will be good, and the offense "should" be pretty good, but we do have 3 - O-linemen to replace (and you know how crucial line play is to a teams success) , and as the fall loss to Mercer can attest, our QB play needs to improve. While a starter at QB hasn't been named (or decided as far as I am aware) I wouldn't be surprised to see a QB getting their first start as a Moc on September 3rd. Those points, along with the fact that we are typically a lower scoring team, make me pick the Mocs winning a low scoring affair. Again, I'd be thrilled if the Mocs won by 50.

[bonarae]

Mercer
Furman
Kennesaw State
Sleep Forest
ETSU
WCU
Campbell
UTC
Auburn

[FUBeAR]

I thought our backups played pretty well against the Bears in the springThe Players who started the game and played for Chattanooga against Mercer season before last were Chattanooga’s Starters and Players that day. Why you Chatt fans want to continue imagining your Starters were “backups” is beyond FUBeAR’s comprehension.

If you have Players that quit/refuse to play and/or Coaches who decide not to start/play certain Players, those Players are not your “Starters” and they may not be your “Players.” The Players who started and played that day were Chattanooga’s Starters & Players. They were the best Starters and Players that Chattanooga had (or decided to make) available to play that game…and they lost. It was right there on the scoreboard when the clock showed 0:00…just the same as it was in Macon last season, yet FUBeAR has continued to read/hear about the imaginary win the Mocs had that day too.

These are facts…


Season
Location
Score


2021
Macon, Ga.
Mercer 10 - Chattanooga 6


2020
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Mercer 35 - Chattanooga 28


Anything else is just gum-flappin’ excuse-makin’

[ElCid]

FUBeAR, might I suggest that when you put tables in, that they display properly in the mobile mode. Especially when you put the game listings like in your first post of the thread. Seriously annoying. You can't even see all the teams unless you change to full site mode. Just FYI.

Also, I'm fairly sure our game is on Thurs, 1 Sept at Campbell.

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR, might I suggest that when you put tables in, that they display properly in the mobile mode. Especially when you put the game listings like in your first post of the thread. Seriously annoying. You can't even see all the teams unless you change to full site mode. Just FYI.

Also, I'm fairly sure our game is on Thurs, 1 Sept at Campbell.
1) FUBeAR always uses full site mode on his mobile devices, so the tables for the game schedules look great to FUBeAR with cool logos and everythang…and he just copies/pastes each week from the SoCon composite schedule on the SoCon website. No muss. No fuss. Gives FUBeAR more time to think about bellhop barbs. Anyone else hatin’ the ‘tabled’ schedule for this weekly thread or just ElCid being a cantankerous old retired bellhop beeyatchin’ ‘bout the way other people do work?

2) If the bellhops are gonna de-hump the camels on Thursday 9/1 in Buies Creek, they should prolly let the SoCon know that. Since CIT and Campbell’s websites both show 9/1, FUBeAR will move it in the tables…but it may make them not look quite as cool as they do now.

[ElCid]

1) FUBeAR always uses full site mode on his mobile devices, so the tables for the game schedules look great to FUBeAR with cool logos and everythang…and he just copies/pastes each week from the SoCon composite schedule on the SoCon website. No muss. No fuss. Gives FUBeAR more time to think about bellhop barbs. Anyone else hatin’ the ‘tabled’ schedule for this weekly thread or just ElCid being a cantankerous old retired bellhop beeyatchin’ ‘bout the way other people do work?

2) If the bellhops are gonna de-hump the camels on Thursday 9/1 in Buies Creek, they should prolly let the SoCon know that. Since CIT and Campbell’s websites both show 9/1, FUBeAR will move it in the tables…but it may make them not look quite as cool as they do now.

It was just a critique. Don't get your panties in a wad. And I'm sure the SOCON knows our game day move and some slacker that was supposed to change it is asleep at the wheel.

[FUBeAR]

Here’s one SERIOUS analyst’s SoCon PowerRankings. FUBeAR may just go with this for his.

Looks like a lot of time, effort, and meaningful analytics went into this work. Also, the narratives (though not perfect) that go along with this seem to have some sense of nuance and understanding of the game beyond the stats. Not sure if/how much of that can be programmed into the analytics though.

Anyway…see below for … (possibly) FUBeAR’s Weeks 0 & 1 SoCon Power Rankings (subject to later & last minute revisions)

https://twitter.com/21_cfb/status/1554993934677450755

[Milktruck74]

Mercer 41
Morehead 10

Citadel 21
Campbell 20

NGU21
Furple 35

KSU 35
SAMMY 31

VMI 13
WF 38

ETSU 45
MHU 7

WCU 28
CSU 27

WOFFY 20
UTC 21

Mercer 10
Auburn 41

[FUBeAR]

Mercer 41
Morehead 10

Citadel 21
Campbell 20

NGU21
Furple 35

KSU 35
SAMMY 31

VMI 13
WF 38

ETSU 45
MHU 7

WCU 28
CSU 27

WOFFY 20
UTC 21

Mercer 10
Auburn 41nice partial symmetry in your projections

…but FUBeAR doesn’t believe that you believe the score you ‘projected’ for Woffy@Chatt

[The Cats]

Morehead State at Mercer
N. Greenville at Furman
Kennesaw St. at Samford
VMI at Wake Forest
Mars Hill at ETSU
WCU at CCU
The Citadel at Campbell
Wofford at Chattanooga
Mercer at Auburn


Power ranking
ETSU
Chattanooga
Mercer
WCU
Furman
Samford
The Citadel
VMI
Wofford

[kdinva]

Only way VMI's 2.8% will be accurate is if 14 starters quit in mid-September.



Here’s one SERIOUS analyst’s SoCon PowerRankings. FUBeAR may just go with this for his.

Looks like a lot of time, effort, and meaningful analytics went into this work. Also, the narratives (though not perfect) that go along with this seem to have some sense of nuance and understanding of the game beyond the stats. Not sure if/how much of that can be programmed into the analytics though.

Anyway…see below for … (possibly) FUBeAR’s Weeks 0 & 1 SoCon Power Rankings (subject to later & last minute revisions)

https://twitter.com/21_cfb/status/1554993934677450755

[ElCid]

Here’s one SERIOUS analyst’s SoCon PowerRankings. FUBeAR may just go with this for his.

Looks like a lot of time, effort, and meaningful analytics went into this work. Also, the narratives (though not perfect) that go along with this seem to have some sense of nuance and understanding of the game beyond the stats. Not sure if/how much of that can be programmed into the analytics though.

Anyway…see below for … (possibly) FUBeAR’s Weeks 0 & 1 SoCon Power Rankings (subject to later & last minute revisions)

https://twitter.com/21_cfb/status/1554993934677450755

This is entirely wrong. Everyone knows that this is the correct percentage.


@ETSUFootball: 11.1%
@MercerFootball: 11.1%
@GoMocsFB: 11.1%
@PaladinFootball: 11.1%
@SamfordFootball: 11.1%
@CatamountsFB: 11.1%
@VMI_Football: 11.1%
@CitadelFootball: 11.2%
@Wofford_FB: 11.1%

[caribbeanhen]

Samford raided the CAA, so many transfers

[FUBeAR]

Only way VMI's 2.8% will be accurate is if 14 starters quit in mid-September.
Do you understand the math behind these %’s and/or what “co-titles” means? FUBeAR does not.

Also, within the threads, FUBeAR doesn’t get where the “percentile” is coming from in the year-to-year / by Head Coach Performance Charts. Do you?

Like the work; just don’t understand the methodology.

[FUBeAR]

Samford raided the CAA, so many transfers
How many Payton Award Watch List Players did they (or any other SoCon Team) acquire from the CAA? FUBeAR knows 2 of the 3 CAA’s Payton Watch List Players have only ever played FCS Football games wearing a big SoCon patch on their jerseys.

[FUBeAR]

This is entirely wrong. Everyone knows that this is the correct percentage.


@ETSUFootball: 11.1%
@MercerFootball: 11.1%
@GoMocsFB: 11.1%
@PaladinFootball: 11.1%
@SamfordFootball: 11.1%
@CatamountsFB: 11.1%
@VMI_Football: 11.1%
@CitadelFootball: 11.2%
@Wofford_FB: 11.1%
Well…the math makes more sense, at least.

[caribbeanhen]

How many Payton Award Watch List Players did they (or any other SoCon Team) acquire from the CAA? FUBeAR knows 2 of the 3 CAA’s Payton Watch List Players have only ever played FCS Football games wearing a big SoCon patch on their jerseys.


Ok the 2 Rchmond ones and who is the third Payton Watchlist guy? Tell me it’s Micheal Jackson

[FUBeAR]

Ok the 2 Rchmond ones and who is the third Payton Watchlist guy? Tell me it’s Micheal Jackson
Someone from Monmouth - so exactly 0 of the CAA Watchlist Players have ever played a down of CAA Football

[caribbeanhen]

Someone from Monmouth - so exactly 0 of the CAA Watchlist Players have ever played a down of CAA Football

Is VMI gonna handle the Weill Cornell this year?

Elon at Wofford ... big game

Kennesaw vs Samford.... Samford should handle Hootys Owls right?

[FUBeAR]

Is VMI gonna handle the Weill Cornell this year?

Elon at Wofford ... big game

Kennesaw vs Samford.... Samford should handle Hootys Owls right?Yes. All easy SoCon wins by bottom tier SoCon Teams over top tier Teams from other Conferences

[caribbeanhen]

Yes. All easy SoCon wins by bottom tier SoCon Teams over top tier Teams from other Conferences

Top tier 😂

Bucknell beat Cornell last year

[kdinva]

Is VMI gonna handle the Weill Cornell this year?


VMI has both Bucknell and Cornell in September, at home, Keydets should be 2-1 going into SoCon play..

[FUBeAR]

Feel free to adjust / edit your Mercer @ Auburn picks accordingly…

https://twitter.com/ssn_alabama/status/1555265384886009857

[MR. CHICKEN]

VMI has both Bucknell and Cornell in September, at home, Keydets should be 2-1 going into SoCon play..

................WHOA NELLIE!.....:D......BRAWK!

[ElCid]

Feel free to adjust / edit your Mercer @ Auburn picks accordingly…

https://twitter.com/ssn_alabama/status/1555265384886009857

Eh, won't make a difference. Ok maybe it's 35-14 instead of 42-10. Auburn has been having a tough time lately.

[bonarae]

Scalp or no scalp, I'll take the spread for Mercer... xcoffeex

[OrangeAndBlack]

Scalp or no scalp, I'll take the spread for Mercer... xcoffeex

That's what I want as well!

[FUBeAR]

So, 2 Chatt fans here picked Chatt to barely squeak by Woffy; one by 1 point & the other by only 1 score…

But…Chatt’s HC says he’s not really worried at all about Wofford (3:38)…

https://www.local3news.com/local-news/utc-football-coach-rusty-wright-visits-local-3-news-studio/video_644070bf-3484-51c9-b2c2-99629dc5c1ab.html (https://www.local3news.com/local-news/utc-football-coach-rusty-wright-visits-local-3-news-studio/video_644070bf-3484-51c9-b2c2-99629dc5c1ab.html)

Guess he’s focused on Eastern Illinois in week 2 instead. Understandable, with the way Woffy looked last year and the YardYappers are picked to finish last in the SoCon. Guessing Chatt may look to save their Starters legs for the Playoffs, so really wouldn’t expect to see many of their stars play…probably treat it like an NFL Pre-season game.

[Milktruck74]

I guess I subscribe to the Joe Pa school of thought... I'd rather win by 3 and keep the next one guessing than win by 53 and show all my cards!

[Mocs123]

But…Chatt’s HC says he’s not really worried at all about Wofford (3:38)…

https://www.local3news.com/local-news/utc-football-coach-rusty-wright-visits-local-3-news-studio/video_644070bf-3484-51c9-b2c2-99629dc5c1ab.html (https://www.local3news.com/local-news/utc-football-coach-rusty-wright-visits-local-3-news-studio/video_644070bf-3484-51c9-b2c2-99629dc5c1ab.html)

Guess he’s focused on Eastern Illinois in week 2 instead. Understandable, with the way Woffy looked last year and the YardYappers are picked to finish last in the SoCon. Guessing Chatt may look to save their Starters legs for the Playoffs, so really wouldn’t expect to see many of their stars play…probably treat it like an NFL Pre-season game.

Please, quit trying to stir the pot. I think Coach Wright's quote was (when asked about preparing for Wofford) "I'm not really worried about Wofford right now, I have enough to worry about with Chattanooga now" meaning that you're not game planning on scheming for your first opponent at this point (filmed BEFORE our first practice), but instead are focused on fundamentals, getting ourselves better, nailing down some rotations, etc. As with any year or opponent, we won't start really game planning for our first opponent (getting a scout team to start running their stuff, etc) until the week before.

Having been involved in football your entire life, you know better than anyone the cadence of summer camp, and preparation. And I'm sure you didn't really listen to that interview and get the impression that Coach Wright didn't think the Terriers were a worthy opponent, but you did think I can take this one sound bite, completely out of context and post it to get people stirred up. Perhaps FuBEAR has a future in politics, or even better creating political ads.

Anyone who thinks they are going to coast through ANY game in the SoCon this year is in trouble, because unlike a lot of conferences, there are no easy games currently.



As for my pick for a close game vs. Wofford. I know Wofford will probably focus on stopping our running game (at least that's what I would do). We have a great stable of running backs, but do have three new offensive linemen and as you would know better than most - it can take some time for a line to gel and become a cohesive unit - even if the individual players are talented. Perhaps the coaches know, but I'm still not sure who starts in a couple of those cases.

If the Terriers go all in on stopping our running game, we need to beat them with the passing game on offense. Does anyone even know who our QB is going to be? I don't. I'm pretty sure it will be either Preston Hutchinson or Cole Copeland, but that's about it. Hutchinson would be playing his first game for the Mocs and Cole played fair last year, but wasn't exactly Joe Montana. I think our wide receiver room is really talented and will be really good - but they are young and thinking it may take some time to build chemistry between the wideouts and the QB could take some time.

If Conklin doubles down against our running game as I expect, it's certainly not a stretch to think that our offense might start slow and not score a ton of points.


As for Wofford's score, I do think our defense will be really good, particularly the front seven. We do have to replace three starters in the secondary, and while I know we have some pretty good players "waiting in the wings" there, they are still young and there will be a learning curve. And lastly, while I agree the Terriers record has been really bad the past two years and Coach Conklin is probably smart to check his brake lines every time he gets in his car, the Terriers are not devoid of talent, and being that the Mocs were picked first in the pre season polls, I think they will go all out to knock the big target off.

[FUBeAR]

Please, quit trying to stir the pot. I think Coach Wright's quote was (when asked about preparing for Wofford) "I'm not really worried about Wofford…

you…think…take this…and post it to get people stirred up. Perhaps FuBEAR has a future in politics, or even better creating political ads.
Jeez…FUBeAR gets criticized for taking a man for his word.

He said he’s not worried about Wofford. FUBeAR takes that to mean he’s not worried about Wofford, his Team’s next opponent on their schedule.

FUBeAR took him at his word when he said he decided to shut down the Mocs & quit the 2020/2021 Season. Well…he also said that the Mocs Players were the ones who decided to quit and shut down the season. But either way, FUBeAR took him at his word that the reason for quitting was because in 2021 the Mocs were going to have a very special Team that would be competing for a National (implied) Championship beyond their certain (implied) SoCon Championship and they quit 2020/2021 to focus on their 2021 FCS National Championship. Obviously, the Mocs stay focused on their futures - from the Head Man down to the Players.

That’s why FUBeAR assumes he meant he was focused on Eastern Illinois. Do you think he meant further ahead? Maybe even past North Alabama to Illinois and (really) getting that P5 scalp that Mocs fans have imagined they did get from Kentucky in 2021?

Hey, FUBeAR appreciates a visionary who is always looking ahead!

…just as Woffy’s Coach Conklin was looking ahead to his next job the same day they replaced Mike Ayers name with his on the Head Coach’s door in the Tearyer Football Office.

Forward-looking Coaches, the kinds who are always looking ahead, as Coach Wright & Coach Conklin seem to be, are the kinds of leaders FUBeAR wants to see heading up at least 7 of the 9 SoCon programs.

[Milktruck74]

Coach Wright & Coach Conklin seem to be, are the kinds of leaders FUBeAR wants to see heading up at least 7 of the 9 SoCon programs.

May be forward looking, but a peak back at his winning percentage shows his winning percentage is higher than both of your teams over the last three years...but keep straddling the fence, you may fall into a winner, or may get unintentionally castrated....

[FUBeAR]

May be forward looking, but a peak back at his winning percentage shows his winning percentage is higher than both of your teams over the last three years...but keep straddling the fence, you may fall into a winner, or may get unintentionally castrated....
Huh? Unlike the NCAA & the SoCon, but like America (well…what once was America), FUBeAR counts quitting as losing, so he looking at the SoCon WINNING %’s of 4 Head Coaches in question, he gets…

Hendrix 31-23 (includes 0 quits) .574
Cronic 12-9 (includes 0 quits) .571
Wright 15-17 (includes 4 quits) .469
Conklin 19-26 (includes 3 quits) .422

Surely, an ex-athlete, an OLman of your stature & status is not gonna succumb to the current namby-pamby-ness of our current society and treat quitting as if it’s not losing. Please don’t shatter the high esteem which FUBeAR currently holds for you by choosing the Everybody Gets a Trophy Team!

[Milktruck74]

There are liars, Damn Liars, and then there are STATISTITIONS!!! I had a stats prof once tell me if you torture the data long enough it'll tell you exactly what you want to hear...so keep torturing it!!!!

[FUBeAR]

There are liars, Damn Liars, and then there are STATISTITIONS!!! I had a stats prof once tell me if you torture the data long enough it'll tell you exactly what you want to hear...so keep torturing it!!!!
LOL - That why you brought some arcane statistic in response to FUBeAR complimenting the Head Coaches of the Mocks and the Tearyers (hmmm….the 2 quittin’ Teams) on their seemingly relentless capacity to ignore the ‘now,’ and, instead, keep themselves and their Teams focused on the greatness that their futures will always, undoubtedly, hold for them?

[FUBeAR]

Keydets won’t face Heisman Candidate QB @ Wake Forest. Still time to change your pick / score projection…

https://twitter.com/adambreneman81/status/1557340821199790080

[Reign of Terrier]

Mercer beats Morehead easily

Campbell and the Citadel is a push - I'm inclined to think people will favor Campbell in that game because they've gotten a lot of press on how great their recruiting has been. But, the good ole boys on this forum (anyone who has been on here for a decade plus) knows that those recruiting ratings are usually...suspect. Wouldn't surprise me if Citadel "over-performs" and gives them a game.

Of course Furman beats North Greenville

Kennesaw State beats Samford: KSU gets a lot of press for their triple option offense, but their strength is their defense. Unlike Wofford or the Citadel in recent years who have run the TO and ran a defense limited by scheme (Wofford) or recruiting (Cit), KSU is limited by neither. And KSU has also tried intently to evolve their offense over the last couple years to pass more so when they need to, they can. They've had more reps than other option teams have had because of the big margin of error that comes from playing awful Big Sky teams. Samford's struggles are no secret. They don't play defense. It doesn't look like they've reloaded at QB in the same way they've done recently (but I'm not following intently), and they play their worst ball historically at the beginning of the season. I think KSU wins this one going away.

Wake beats VMI: VMI is not the VMI of yesteryear, but Wake is still very very good by FBS standards and VMI struggled at times last year.

Of course ETSU beats Mars Hill

I like Western Carolina to beat Charleston Southern because WCU's Coach knows what he's doing, but don't underestimate the Bucs here. Yes, they were 4-6 last year. But they were 4-4 against FCS and lost 3 games by a touchdown or less (including against ECU!). They won't be a pushover. I wouldn't be surprised if they won either.

Of course Auburn will beat Mercer - but Mercer is a great team so I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the neighborhood of like 24-10 or some other score to piss off War Eagle fans

Wofford and Chattanooga: I have aired my grievances about Conklin and others in other threads so I'll be succinct-ish here. I think Wofford will be better this year. I think we were bad on both sides of the ball last year, but on defense the fact that our offense was bad made them look statistically worse than they were (still bad though). We have new coordinator leadership (kinda) and I like the accolades of those coaches. Still, you don't turn around an 0-8 in socon play in a single year. You'd expect more 3-5, no more than 4-4. If you're Wofford on that trajectory, this is the kind of game you lose. I obviously don't follow Chattanooga as closely, but they're a good team that runs the ball well and plays good defense. I'm not sure if they have a good QB yet (again, haven't followed). I think this is a game Wofford keeps close for like 3 quarters and then Chattanooga pulls away. I'm think Chattanooga 35 Wofford 16.

[ElCid]

8/27
Morehead State at Mercer – Mercer tries to make an early impression – 45-10


9/1
Kennesaw State at Samford – Got to expect KSU to start slow in getting their timing down; and you got to expect Samford to fall asleep at some point, kind of like they always do; going to be close – 31-28


North Greenville at Furman – only about 10 miles away from each other; Furman is a mystery right now, but should win easy - 42-13


The Citadel at Campbell – It’s still all hype and talk about Campbell to date; sure they got some good players recruited, but results to date have not been great: good, at times, but nothing definitive yet; I have little doubt that they are on an upward trajectory; Dogs got a new qb (maybe better) and lost lost a couple other good players; a close one – 24-20

VMI at Wake Forest - VMI lost a few key players, WF apparently lost their key player already in camp; still WF has been decent lately in ACC play and VMI will be overmatched - 41-10


Mars Hill at ETSU – Only 45 miles from each other over the mountain; Bucs big – 48-7


9/3
Western Carolina at Charleston Southern – Both these team were all over the place last year; Cats came on strong in the second half last season so I will think they carry that forward – 41-35


Wofford at Chattanooga – Wofford seems to be coming apart at the seams, but who knows if the Mocs execute right out of the gate – 38-14


Mercer at Auburn – Only about 130 miles from each other; I'm sure Mercer can keep it close early, but Auburn needing some mojo after a lackluster record last season, so they will pour it on if Mercer buckles – 42-13


Power Rankings – Somewhat of a guess until we see the teams on the field; it really is a crap shoot. Some teams have apparent great talent, then fall apart in execution, and others have ok talent, but execute above it. FYI, the longest active winless streaks are Wofford vs Samford at 0-7 for Wofford and WCU vs Mercer at 0-6 for WCU. Interesting to see if either streak falls.




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

[FUBeAR]

8/27
Morehead State at Mercer – Mercer tries to make an early impression – 45-10


9/1
Kennesaw State at Samford – Got to expect KSU to start slow in getting their timing down; and you got to expect Samford to fall asleep at some point, kind of like they always do; going to be close – 31-28


North Greenville at Furman – only about 10 miles away from each other; Furman is a mystery right now, but should win easy - 42-13


The Citadel at Campbell – It’s still all hype and talk about Campbell to date; sure they got some good players recruited, but results to date have not been great: good, at times, but nothing definitive yet; I have little doubt that they are on an upward trajectory; Dogs got a new qb (maybe better) and lost lost a couple other good players; a close one – 24-20

VMI at Wake Forest - VMI lost a few key players, WF apparently lost their key player already in camp; still WF has been decent lately in ACC play and VMI will be overmatched - 41-10


Mars Hill at ETSU – Only 45 miles from each other over the mountain; Bucs big – 48-7


9/3
Western Carolina at Charleston Southern – Both these team were all over the place last year; Cats came on strong in the second half last season so I will think they carry that forward – 41-35


Wofford at Chattanooga – Wofford seems to be coming apart at the seams, but who knows if the Mocs execute right out of the gate – 38-14


Mercer at Auburn – Only about 130 miles from each other; I'm sure Mercer can keep it close early, but Auburn needing some mojo after a lackluster record last season, so they will pour it on if Mercer buckles – 42-13


Power Rankings – Somewhat of a guess until we see the teams on the field; it really is a crap shoot. Some teams have apparent great talent, then fall apart in execution, and others have ok talent, but execute above it. FYI, the longest active winless streaks are Wofford vs Samford at 0-7 for Wofford and WCU vs Mercer at 0-6 for WCU. Interesting to see if either streak falls.




1. Chattanooga
2. Mercer
3. ETSU
4. Furman
5. Samford
6. VMI
7. Western Carolina
8. The Citadel
9. Wofford
All of this is quite sane and extremely well-reasoned. You sure you’re a bellhop?

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR’s PICKS

Only gonna pick Mercer game now. Will return with other picks at a later date, perhaps in 2 editions - 1 for 9/1 games & 1 for 9/3 games.


Week 0 & Week 1 SoCon Teams Schedule



Saturday, August 27, 2022




Away
Home
FUBeAR’s Projection


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
Morehead State played some really good PFL Football last Fall.

But their STAR QB is now playing Pro Ball in Sweden and all of their 2021 top rushers / top receivers are no longer suiting up for the Eagles. Their D was middle-to-bottom-of-the-pack in the PFL. These things do not bode well for the Eagles’ chances this coming Saturday night.

Mercer, celebrating their 10 year Football ReBirthday and honoring those young men (known as “The Day1’s”) who started the program off with a 10 win season, will be looking to show out in front of what should be a large & loud Maconga crowd!

FUBeAR expects to see a lot of QB Fred Payton AND of QB Carter Peevy Saturday night. FUBeAR has an inkling we might see Mercer using both of them as more of a 2-Headed Monster this year…and with them both being legitimate DualThreat QB’s, that makes it more of a QuadMonster. Expect to see them rolling out or running a lot of the boot game they scorched ETSU with last Fall. Kinda old-school RPO’s on those edges and the Bears have a slew of new and improved targets at WR & RB/Joker for those guys to target. But, as we know, Coach Cronic and the Bears are gonna run the ball…A LOT. Expect to see Al Wooten stepping into the the #1 role with JMU Transfer Austin Douglas running #1.1. Would not be surprised to see 240 LB True FR RB, CJ Miller, get a lot of work and be impressive in his debut.

FUBeAR expects Mercer’s now-experienced Defense will have a dominating performance and will create 3+ turnovers.

Mercer goes up early, continues to distance themselves thru 3 quarters, then calls off the dogs. Eagles score a late TD against Mercer’s deep reserves.

Final Score - Mercer 56 - Morehead State 7


PS - The important thing will be to see if Morehead State can take lessons learned, apply them, and go into Bozeman and upset Montana State in a couple of weeks. The question, if that happens, will be…Would Montana State drop more slots with the loss or would Mercer, and the rest of the SoCon Teams that are so underranked, move up more? Well, it’ll probably be kinda moot by then because Mercer will have beaten Auburn and Furman will have beaten Clemson, launching them both into the Top 5 in FCS…of course.




Thursday, September 1, 2022




Away
Home
Time


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
6:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/north-greenville.png?width=30North Greenville (http://ngcrusaders.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
7:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
7:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/WakeForest100419.png?width=30Wake Forest (http://www.godeacs.com/)
7:30 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Mars-Hill.png?width=30Mars Hill (http://marshilllions.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
7:30 P.M.




Saturday, September 3, 2022




Away
Home
Time


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Charleston_Southern.png?width=30Charleston Southern (http://www.csusports.com/)
12:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wofford.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
6:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/auburn_logo.png?width=30Auburn (http://www.auburntigers.com/)
7:00 P.M.



FUBeAR’s POWER RANKINGS

1T. Furman
1T. Mercer
3. ETSU
4T. Chattanooga
4T. VMI
6T. Samford
6T. WCU
8T. CIT
8T. Wofford


SoCon Coaches Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (5) 60
2. ETSU (2) 54
3. Mercer (1) 53
4. Furman (1) 43
5. Western Carolina 38
6. Samford 26
7. VMI 23
8. The Citadel 14
9. Wofford 13

SoCon Media Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (18) 256
t2. ETSU (7) 226
t2. Mercer (5) 226
4. Furman 175
5. Western Carolina 125
6. VMI 119
7. Samford 106
8. Wofford 60
9. The Citadel 57

[Reign of Terrier]

I don't mean this as a dunk on Samford, but I don't see anything they've done since, I dunno, Duck Hodges' junior year to today to suggest they've gotten better (or even maintained quality) while KSU has steadily gotten better over that time, to suggest that game will be close.

Like even if you're a Samford fan you have to be skeptical right?

[FUBeAR]

Still time to get your picks in / change your existing picks/score projections
https://twitter.com/craighaley/status/1562110791230394375
Based on this and his pick, FUBeAR would bet the over and the Bears, laying the 24 points

[FUBeAR]

Morehead State’s Game Notes - https://s3.amazonaws.com/msueagles.com/documents/2022/8/24/Game1-Mercer.pdf

None from Mercer yet.

6’3.5” 298 Avg on Eagles O-Line - not small

About 30 JUCO and other transfers on the MSU roster - several from FCS and even 3 or 4 from FBS

https://twitter.com/msueagles/status/1562902656074412034

Coach sounds like he’s been watching tapes of CIT’s O instead of Mercer’s.

Mercer’s ToP Difference from their opponents last season was -00:07.
The Bears were also about 65/35 Run/Pass.

He compared Mercer’s O to Davidson’s.
Davidson was +07:01 ToP and was 82/18 Run/Pass.

Guess when your Team is 39/61 Run/Pass (Samford is 42/58), any Team that runs the ball looks like Oklahoma’s 1971 Wishbone to you.

HOT TAKE: Mercer throws for over 300 yards and > or = 3 TD’s

[FUBeAR]

[Morehead’s] Coach sounds like he’s been watching tapes of CIT’s O instead of Mercer’s.

Mercer’s ToP Difference from their opponents last season was -00:07.
The Bears were also about 65/35 Run/Pass.

He compared Mercer’s O to Davidson’s.
Davidson was +07:01 ToP and was 82/18 Run/Pass.

Guess when your Team is 39/61 Run/Pass (Samford is 42/58), any Team that runs the ball looks like Oklahoma’s 1971 Wishbone to you.

HOT TAKE: Mercer throws for over 300 yards and > or = 3 TD’s
Welp…Mercer made FUBeAR a liar. They only threw for 266 yards, but 5 TD passes maybe balances out FUBeAR’s hyperbole with the passing yards take.

Maybe the Bears got a little more run-heavy (76%R/24%P) than normal due to the score being out of hand very early.

Morehead, despite the Coach’s pre-game concerns did win the ToP battle by quite a bit. The Eagles possessed the ball 10:24 more than Mercer did. Perhaps that was their #1 goal as they did alter their typical run/pass mix to 54%R/46%P.

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR’s UPDATED PICKS

Dang - really missed on that Mercer pick - FUBeAR knew he shoulda picked the Bears by 50, instead of the ridiculously low 49 point difference he prediculated.

Something to consider…Mercer beat Morehead by a similar score as HIGHLY-ranked JMU did in prior years. Mercer jumped 21 spots in Massey with their win last night. So, perhaps they should get a similar boost in the polls…going from #23 to #2…which is about where JMU was after beating Morehead about the same way Mercer did. Nah…way too much logic in that, so it surely won’t happen. Would expect Mercer, in the polls, to move up 1 or 2 slots at the most and then fall back 3-5 if they should slip up and lose a close anyone’s-game late in the 4th quarter…just like it was the last time Mercer played @ Auburn. Guess they’ll have to beat Auburn on 9/3 to ensure they stay ranked in the Top 25. Will be interesting to see how the Morehead @ Montana State game goes on 9/10.

On to more picks…see below for Thursday’s picks.


Week 0 & Week 1 SoCon Teams Schedule



Sat, Aug 27, 2022




Away
Home
FUBeAR’s Prediculation


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
Morehead State played some really good PFL Football last Fall.

But their STAR QB is now playing Pro Ball in Sweden and all of their 2021 top rushers / top receivers are no longer suiting up for the Eagles. Their D was middle-to-bottom-of-the-pack in the PFL. These things do not bode well for the Eagles’ chances this coming Saturday night.

Mercer, celebrating their 10 year Football ReBirthday and honoring those young men (known as “The Day1’s”) who started the program off with a 10 win season, will be looking to show out in front of what should be a large & loud Maconga crowd!

FUBeAR expects to see a lot of QB Fred Payton AND of QB Carter Peevy Saturday night. FUBeAR has an inkling we might see Mercer using both of them as more of a 2-Headed Monster this year…and with them both being legitimate DualThreat QB’s, that makes it more of a QuadMonster. Expect to see them rolling out or running a lot of the boot game they scorched ETSU with last Fall. Kinda old-school RPO’s on those edges and the Bears have a slew of new and improved targets at WR & RB/Joker for those guys to target. But, as we know, Coach Cronic and the Bears are gonna run the ball…A LOT. Expect to see Al Wooten stepping into the the #1 role with JMU Transfer Austin Douglas running #1.1. Would not be surprised to see 240 LB True FR RB, CJ Miller, get a lot of work and be impressive in his debut.

FUBeAR expects Mercer’s now-experienced Defense will have a dominating performance and will create 3+ turnovers.

Mercer goes up early, continues to distance themselves thru 3 quarters, then calls off the dogs. Eagles score a late TD against Mercer’s deep reserves.

Final Score - Mercer 56 - Morehead State 7 [ACTUAL: MERCER 63 - MOREHEAD STATE 13]

PS - The important thing will be to see if Morehead State can take lessons learned, apply them, and go into Bozeman and upset Montana State in a couple of weeks. The question, if that happens, will be…Would Montana State drop more slots with the loss or would Mercer, and the rest of the SoCon Teams that are so underranked, move up more? Well, it’ll probably be kinda moot by then because Mercer will have beaten Auburn and Furman will have beaten Clemson, launching them both into the Top 5 in FCS…of course.




Thu, Sept 1, 2022




Away
Home
FUBeAR’s Prediculations


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
bellhops wade into Buies Creek, get a taste of that Eastern NC BBQ and realize they’ve finally found something they are willing to fight for.

Mike Minter and the Harnett County Hype Machine have been playing their tunes on full volume after their ‘amazing near-championship’ 3-8 season last year (hmmm….they might make good Chattanooga fans) which included HUGE wins over a non-schollie Team and 2 other also-rans. This followed a winless season, which followed a barely over .500 season (but only because they beat a non-schollie), which matched their ‘best-ever’ season record since they started Football in 2008. No wonder the CAA wanted the Camels so bad. They are clearly a higher quality Team than Elon (the 2nd best returning CAA Team that cannot beat the worst Team in the SoCon). But…FUBeAR digresses.

Former Woffy QB leads CIT to a ‘miraculous upset’ of the only Team with a better imagination than Chattanooga. Celebratory ‘Camel-hump’ Pickin’ (it’s really a pig - camel meat is too watery) after the game

Final Score - A Citadel 24 - Campbell 17


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/north-greenville.png?width=30North Greenville (http://ngcrusaders.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
Furman Football has a lot of respect for North Greenville Football. This will not be in evidence (mostly not) Thursday night. Furman is going to surprise the SoCon, perhaps the nation, this season. They are talented in a lot of places with depth as well. Look for 2 QB’s to split time and both to look very good. Expect to see FU’s starting D shut down NGU’s O…just as the Paladins’ D shut down NC A&T and TennTech early last season…but more so. This one’s over early, but the Furman Fans have a great time at a Thursday night game.

Final Score - Furman 56 - North Greenville 7


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
When you’re opening up at home against a highly ranked (fwiw) Team, Coaching for your job in the last year of your contract, you have an all-new Defensive Coaching Staff…and you brought in about 40 transfers since last season, FUBeAR thinks you might have a few tricks up your sleeve…and if you can get up a few scores early AND play 4 quarters of Defense (something sorely missing last season) against a possession Offense that now imagines (maybe there’s a hallucination-causing virus going around?) they can throw the ball effectively, ANYTHING can happen…and it does!

Bulldogs drive 48 yards in 51 seconds & complete a 4 yard TD pass to RB Stanton to pull within one with just :35 to play, then they complete a 2-pt conversion pass to their TE to take lead, and hang on to win the game!

Final Score - Samford 32 - Kennesaw 31


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/WakeForest100419.png?width=30Wake Forest (http://www.godeacs.com/)
VMI takes advantage of WFU’s misfortune with their Heisman-candidate QB on the sidelines. If only VMI had the 2 Payton Award-candidates who traded in their kangaroo suits to now identify as Arachnids, then there would be no doubt about the Keydets bringing home this scalp. As it is, FUBeAR saw the best of the Keydets last year in their games vs. Mercer, Furman, Chattanooga, and ETSU. They are right there with top-tier SoCon Teams and a Top-Tier SoCon Team always has a shot against a Top-Tier ACC Team. Keydets SHOCK THE WORLD!!

Final Score - VMI 32 - Wake Forest 31


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Mars-Hill.png?width=30Mars Hill (http://marshilllions.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
MountainMarauders board Alien vessel, deflect anal probes, and evade memory erasures. Little green men drawn & quartered.

Final Score - ETSU 56 - Mars Hill 7




Saturday, September 3, 2022




Away
Home
Time


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Charleston_Southern.png?width=30Charleston Southern (http://www.csusports.com/)
12:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wofford.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
6:00 P.M.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/auburn_logo.png?width=30Auburn (http://www.auburntigers.com/)
7:00 P.M.



FUBeAR’s POWER RANKINGS

1T. Furman
1T. Mercer
3. ETSU
4T. Chattanooga
4T. VMI
6T. Samford
6T. WCU
8T. CIT
8T. Wofford


SoCon Coaches Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (5) 60
2. ETSU (2) 54
3. Mercer (1) 53
4. Furman (1) 43
5. Western Carolina 38
6. Samford 26
7. VMI 23
8. The Citadel 14
9. Wofford 13

SoCon Media Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (18) 256
t2. ETSU (7) 226
t2. Mercer (5) 226
4. Furman 175
5. Western Carolina 125
6. VMI 119
7. Samford 106
8. Wofford 60
9. The Citadel 57[/QUOTE]

[caribbeanhen]

Mercer looked great but Morehead looked like a JUCO team

Ill be bumping Mercer up in the poll nicely

I don’t know exactly what it was though, but I felt I was seeing some weakness on D in the trenches. They would need to get better as the season progresses to have a shot at SoCo Championship

[FUBeAR]

Mercer looked great but Morehead looked like a JUCO team
2021 - #2 JMU vs. Morehead State - halftime score … JMU 17 Morehead 3 … +14
2022 - #23 Mercer vs. Morehead State - halftime score … Mercer 42 Morehead 10 … +32
= 2022 Mercer +18 > 2021 JMU.

Halftime score is more telling in games like these than the Final, although both final scores were similar.

Maybe what you saw, instead of what you indicated above, was Mercer looking like they should be ranked #2, as JMU was, instead of #23.

Take another look…be sure to look for #2 in the Purple AND in the Orange (same guy) :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB_H5eQbkoY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y6FQram1JE

[caribbeanhen]

Mercer did remind me of JMU on offense ( how about the transfer a running back )

need to see some more of the Defense, JMU always had a set of Rooks on the ends

[Mocs123]

Cronic is a good coach and the administration REALLY seems to want to win at Mercer, so I think they will be a player in the SoCon and beyond for a long time. I'm not saying they're going to win the NC this year (or even the SoCon) but they are an under-rated program nationally for sure. I think the SoCon is stronger than most people think this year.

[Smitty]

Bah I should have paid more attention to the schedule with WCU at CSU. Could have been the first game I've seen western play in almost 12 years but I'm out of town...

[wcugrad95]

As others have mentioned, hard to have a power ranking at this point. Mercer winning by 50 would seem to indicate they should be at the top, but it was against Morehead and we haven't seen what anybody else has. I am not that up on all of the other SoCon team's OOC slate. Obviously Samford is playing a highly-ranked team this week. Most if not all the teams have a money game. What are the other best OOC games for the SoCon to try and get some respect this season? WCU has Charleston Southern (pre-season 3rd ranked Big South team), Georgia Tech for the money game, and Presbyterian in a game that at least "counts" toward playoff consideration. Not sure any of those other than beating GT would move the needle.

UTC vs Wofford and Samford vs Kennesaw will tell us something, but I'd still say we need about 3 or 4 games to know what teams really are. With that being said, I take a similar cop-out mode and tier the teams to start with:

Tier1: ETSU, UTC, Mercer
Tier2: Furman, WCU, VMI, Samford
Tier3: Wofford, Citadel

But I am not going to be surprised to see what happened last year play out similarly and we have a bunch of teams lose 2-4 conference games.

[kdinva]

The Citadel 28, Campbell 27
Furman 42; N. Greenville 22
Kenny St. 35; Samford 28
ETSU 56; Mars Hill 13
Wake 42; VMI 24
WCU 38, Chuck South 27
UTC 38; Wofford 17
Auburn 48; Mercer 24

[Sir William]

Citadel by 7
Furman by 35
Kennesaw by 10
Wake by 28
ETSU by 42
W Carolina by 17
UTC by 17
Auburn by 24

[FUBeAR]

Someone told FUBeAR the betting lines favoring Campbell and Kenny Saw are gettin’ rather large … like Camels -9.5 and owlets -13.5.

If FUBeAR was a bettin’ man and a real person, he might have to put some large down on their SoCon opponents - CIT and Samford respectively.

Thoughts?

[Sir William]

Someone told FUBeAR the betting lines favoring Campbell and Kenny Saw are gettin’ rather large … like Camels -9.5 and owlets -13.5.

If FUBeAR was a bettin’ man and a real person, he might have to put some large down on their SoCon opponents - CIT and Samford respectively.

Thoughts?

Yeah, especially that Campbell spread.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Sorry I was late to the party. I found out earlier last month my dad was NFL and spent a week or so in TN to see my family. My father passed away two weeks and change ago.

Week 0
Morehead State @ Mercer - Had the Bears winning this one but did not think it would devolve into a burnination.

Week 1
Mars Hill @ ETSU (Burnination of the Week part 1) - Bucs lay waste to a team that had not seen action since 2019
A Citadel @ Campbell - Bulldogs walk a few hundred miles to get smoked by the Camels
North Greenville @ Furman (Burnination of the Week part 2) - Paladins make short work of North Greenville
Kennesaw State @ Samford - HootyHoo crows with glee that his team scored a win against a SoCon team
VMI @ Wake Forest - Demon Deacons send the crowd home happy as a bunch of larks
Western Carolina @ Charleston Southern - Catamounts open up a can of whoop on the other Bucs
Wofford @ Chattanooga - Mocs win the COVID Coward Bowl
And the Upset Special of the Week powered by FireBryanHarsin.com
Mercer @ Auburn - Bears score the SoCon's second SEC scalp in as many years as Harsin's House of Cards collapses in epic fashion.

My rankings are as follows:
MOST LIKELY TO MAKE PLAYOFFS
Chattanooga - Mocs look the part but can they act the part
ETSU - Bucs acted the part last season but can Quarles take them to the next level
Mercer - Bears look the part too but can they make the playoffs

CAN GET THERE IF THEY PLAY THEIR CARDS RIGHT
Furmqn - Paladins have an outside chance but can the new coaches gel together
Western Carolina - Catamounts looked sharp at times but can they put together a solid season
VMI- Keydets fell off from their title season but can they recover

NOT LIKELY TO MAKE PLAYOFFS
A Citadel - Chuckydogs was in the cellar but can they get out
Samford - Bammerdogs had a decent season but are they in for a downturn
Wofford - Terriers had an epic collapse the last two seasons but can Con Man Conklin do enough to save his job

[Reign of Terrier]

Unless Samford chokes in the next 5 minutes or so, up 10, I want to extend my apologies to the Samford faithful. Y'all are playing well today and are better than I thought. As a socon fan, I want Samford to be successful, but we've burned so much so far by Samford choking at the wrong time.

[kdinva]

Wake handles VMI, 44-10, was hoping for more offense. only 222 yards.

[SU DOG]

Unless Samford chokes in the next 5 minutes or so, up 10, I want to extend my apologies to the Samford faithful. Y'all are playing well today and are better than I thought. As a socon fan, I want Samford to be successful, but we've burned so much so far by Samford choking at the wrong time.

No apology needed, as I fully understand the doubts, and had then myself. I can tell you this, however, Samford looked really strong tonight, and may have been the freshest team at the end of the game. Now that is saying quite a lot considering the physicality that the Owls are known for. Great win for Samford and the SoCon.

[gofurman]

No apology needed, as I fully understand the doubts, and had then myself. I can tell you this, however, Samford looked really strong tonight, and may have been the freshest team at the end of the game. Now that is saying quite a lot considering the physicality that the Owls are known for. Great win for Samford and the SoCon.

You all did look very strong at the end. 8 yard runs and KSU just couldn't stop it !

[gofurman]

The Citadel 28, Campbell 27
Furman 42; N. Greenville 22
Kenny St. 35; Samford 28
ETSU 56; Mars Hill 13
Wake 42; VMI 24
WCU 38, Chuck South 27
UTC 38; Wofford 17
Auburn 48; Mercer 24

BIG WIN - Samford !
slight overachievers - Furman 52-0 !
BIG underachiever - Citadel by lsing big to Campbell 29-10. C'mon Cit..... Congrats to Campbell

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR just scrolled through the 60+ posts in this thread and he realized only 1 poster picked Samford to beat Kennesaw. Yep - just one - ol’ FUBeAR.

What is wrong with you people? SoCon is really, really good. The 8th best Team in FCS just got whipped by the 6th best Team in the SoCon. What does that tell y’all?

It tells FUBeAR any SoCon Team with a 6-5 record or better this season should be in the Playoffs. Anything less is just legacy thinking proliferated by BS computers using circular logic algorithms and biased ‘pundits’ with agendas.

[Reign of Terrier]

FUBeAR just scrolled through the 60+ posts in this thread and he realized only 1 poster picked Samford to beat Kennesaw. Yep - just one - ol’ FUBeAR.

What is wrong with you people? SoCon is really, really good. The 8th best Team in FCS just got whipped by the 6th best Team in the SoCon. What does that tell y’all?

It tells FUBeAR any SoCon Team with a 6-5 record or better this season should be in the Playoffs. Anything less is just legacy thinking proliferated by BS computers using circular logic algorithms and biased ‘pundits’ with agendas.

I for one can't wait for Wofford to make you look bad lol

[FUBeAR]

I for one can't wait for Wofford to make you look bad lol
#BeatElon

[ElCid]

FUBeAR just scrolled through the 60+ posts in this thread and he realized only 1 poster picked Samford to beat Kennesaw. Yep - just one - ol’ FUBeAR.


You also picked VMI to win. What is it they say? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut even once in a while....xrotatehx

[Mocs123]

Congrats to Samford on a BIG win for the SoCon!

[The Cats]

Congrats to the Samford Bulldogs!!!! Hell'va win for them and the SoCon...

[Milktruck74]

I expected a better showing by Citadel. I picked them, but knew it wasn't guaranteed. I expected a tight win, but a win none the less...I do think Citadel has better football ahead of them.

Sammy - What a win for Sammy and the Conference. Is sammy that good or is KSU overrated? Maybe a bit of both, I think Sammy is probably better than we thought and KSU shouldn't have been #8. And when is the last time you saw a Hatcher team with 32 rushing attempts and only 24 passing attempts? Maybe he is starting to realize something there...or maybe he is realizing Montrell is now in Denver.

ETSUx - When one looks at the score of the game they may not dig down to see that the OL (with 3 pre-season All SoCon selections) let a mediocre D2 team sack Carrot Top 4 times!!! GQ better get that fixed fast, or Citadel will destroy him. And DMax might set the SoCon Single season sack record in that one game!!!

[PaladinNation]

I can understand Furman's 52 point win over NGU - gets a so what?
Furman had almost 500 yards in the first half and that included - benching Huff with 7 minutes left in the second quarter and basically just running the ball.

I have to give FuBear a big shout out - he called it - Tyler Huff is the real deal. Huff has some moxy and his touch on the ball is impressive.
And defenses can't rest on his running ability - Huff is a very deceptive runner.
This Furman team will make some noise-barring injuries to the o-line. Our o-line depth has been hit hard by injuries and a couple of players transferring out.
Our first eight is really good, fingers crossed we stay healthy and a couple of other lineman step up.

A couple of Tyler Huff highlights…

https://twitter.com/PaladinFootball/status/1565485142956711939
https://twitter.com/PaladinFootball/status/1565483145557934084

[caribbeanhen]

Congratulations to Samford on the big win!

Checking in on this thread periodically leading up to the season, I just assumed you guys were right and Sanford was bad

I did catch that late touchdown (well actually it wasn’t me ) for Samford where the wide receiver basically waltzed into the end zone .... Look pretty fast ... what is his name?

[ElCid]

I expected a better showing by Citadel. I picked them, but knew it wasn't guaranteed. I expected a tight win, but a win none the less...I do think Citadel has better football ahead of them.



I'm glad someone does. We looked slow, unmotivated, unoriginal in play calling. Pretty sure there is going to be genuine growing scrutiny of the HC. The Wofford grad transfer QB did ok. Good decision making mostly.

The new blocking rules are seriously stupid as well. How long before they outlaw tackling itself? Maybe they should just go to touch football.

[SU DOG]

Congratulations to Samford on the big win!

Checking in on this thread periodically leading up to the season, I just assumed you guys were right and Sanford was bad

I did catch that late touchdown (well actually it wasn’t me ) for Samford where the wide receiver basically waltzed into the end zone .... Look pretty fast ... what is his name?

I think the last TD was caught by Chandler Smith who also caught an earlier one. He does have good speed, but his route running is what largely attributes to his success. Our replacement for Montrell Washington, however, seems to be speedy Kendall Watson. While not Washington, he has terrific speed and great hands. Last night he had 9 receptions for 187 yards and 2 TDs. Watson will be a nightmare for DBs to cover this year. Story has it that he had no D-1 offers coming out of McCallie HS in Chattanooga and was actually a walk-on at Samford.

[FUBeAR]

I think the last TD was caught by Chandler Smith who also caught an earlier one. He does have good speed, but his route running is what largely attributes to his success. Our replacement for Montrell Washington, however, seems to be speedy Kendall Watson. While not Washington, he has terrific speed and great hands. Last night he had 9 receptions for 187 yards and 2 TDs. Watson will be a nightmare for DBs to cover this year. Story has it that he had no D-1 offers coming out of McCallie HS in Chattanooga and was actually a walk-on at Samford.
Pretty sure Chandler Smith came out of Walton HS - just down the road from FUBeAR’s den in North Metro ATL - as a walk-on @ Samford also.

[SU DOG]

A few things from last night's big win for Samford: KSU averaged 3.1 yards/carry while Samford averaged 3.5. That stat alone is just inconceivable. The Owls had 193 net yards for the game. I don't know how this compares with other games, but I bet they generally have many more. This Samford defense looks so much different than last year's, and I think the New DC has done well. The Samford offense also didn't go into a shell with the late lead, so the new OC might deserve some credit also. Over 400 yds of offense and only 3 penalties with good clock management. Don't wake me if I'm dreaming.

I'm not wanting to beat the drum too loudly right now and proclaim any championships. KSU might have been grossly overrated, who knows? I have been critical of Hatcher for some time now. But has he finally put together a team that has physicality, a running game and defense to go along with an outstanding passing game? If so, these Dogs will be very formidable in the SoCon. Last night sure gives me reason for hope.

[FUBeAR]

A few things from last night's big win for Samford: KSU averaged 3.1 yards/carry while Samford averaged 3.5. That stat alone is just inconceivable. The Owls had 193 net yards for the game. I don't know how this compares with other games, but I bet they generally have many more. This Samford defense looks so much different than last year's, and I think the New DC has done well. The Samford offense also didn't go into a shell with the late lead, so the new OC might deserve some credit also. Over 400 yds of offense and only 3 penalties with good clock management. Don't wake me if I'm dreaming.

I'm not wanting to beat the drum too loudly right now and proclaim any championships. KSU might have been grossly overrated, who knows? I have been critical of Hatcher for some time now. But has he finally put together a team that has physicality, a running game and defense to go along with an outstanding passing game? If so, these Dogs will be very formidable in the SoCon. Last night sure gives me reason for hope.Samford is, as FUBeAR has been saying, one of (at least) 7 Teams that will compete tooth & nail for the SoCon Championship.

The ultimate AQ from the SoCon could have 3 Conference losses and win the AQ only by a series of tiebreakers. And because most SoCon Teams play Top-Tier SEC/ACC Teams OOC (Georgia, Clemson, and Auburn are the next opponents for 3 SoCon Teams), their records will be no better than 7-4 with some Playoff-worthy SoCon Teams even slipping to 6-5 - like Chatt last year - shoulda beat (and looked like a better Team than) SEC Kentucky, but can’t get an At-Large over FAMU, SELA, or SFA, et al. A travesty!

If there aren’t at least 3 (and it really should be 4 or 5) SoCon Teams in this year’s Playoffs, the SoCon should secede from the FCS. We can let 1 of the bellhops (since they can’t seem to win an OOC game for us) fire the 1st shot at NCAA HQ in Indy to let them know we are seceding.

[Reign of Terrier]

My perspective of KSU is typically this: they're much better than their critics think they are, and not as good as what their strongest fans say they are (I don't think they're national title worthy - though they are very good!).

In the context of what happened last night, I only caught the last 20 minutes or so (with a huge buzz lol), but as pointed out earlier, Samford out-ran KSU. This is weird. Contrary to popular perception, Hatcher doesn't hate running the ball, he's just typically bad at choosing the right time to do it and or good teams shut it down.

What do we think the choice to run more had to do with relative low confidence in the starting QB? I mean, obviously the starter played great on the stat line, and we all know Samford will eventually produce a good QB over the course of the season, but whoever started was going to be a step down from Welch.

I'd like to think Samford's win was a combination of pivoting somewhat to the run game (in preseason and in the game) in anticipation of QB play not *yet* being where it needs to be. On top of KSU being the first game of the season (and all the prep that comes with shutting down the flexbone) prepared Samford for the physicality needed to win.

On the other side of things, this sort of game is one of the reasons why, in spite of all of Wofford's struggles of the last couple of seasons, I'm glad we abandoned the flexbone. Kennesaw's option is more refined than any other at the FCS level of the last few years, and you can tell at times Bohannan is trying to make it more balanced. But at the end of the day, the things that made the option innovative in the 90s to early 2000s (deception, finding ways to get players in space, spreading things) are so mainstream now that it's a smarter bet to just look at this offense as uncreative, not creative. What defines the TO nowadays isn't deception or players in space or the spread, it's choosing *not* to pass the ball enough (and when you do, always play action boot legs) and in KSU'S case not being in shotgun enough.

Put another way, the flexbone used to open things up with creative sets, but now it closes things off because everyone uses all of those sets now and more plays out of them (like passing). That's not to say KSU is bad or can't rebound and or get to the quarterfinals or better every year. Their defense and run game are sufficiently great to beat 95% of the teams in the FCS. But this game sort of illustrates how thin a line they walk with their strategy in 2022.

Because Samford definitely had it within them to beat them (my haterade not withstanding). We all know Samford is talented. We all know Hatcher can coach a QB. And we all know that (paradoxically) Samford's success hinges on the run game being at least average. But what's always a question mark or known to not be the case is that their defense just fades as the season progresses or they don't show up. Maybe things are different this year. I think we learned a lot more about KSU than we did about Samford, but the bulldog faithful and the Socon will take the W.

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR’s FURTHER UPDATED PICKS

——————————————————
Dang - really missed on that Mercer pick - FUBeAR knew he shoulda picked the Bears by 50, instead of the ridiculously low 49 point difference he prediculated.

Something to consider…Mercer beat Morehead by a similar score as HIGHLY-ranked JMU did in prior years. Mercer jumped 21 spots in Massey with their win last night. So, perhaps they should get a similar boost in the polls…going from #23 to #2…which is about where JMU was after beating Morehead about the same way Mercer did. Nah…way too much logic in that, so it surely won’t happen. Would expect Mercer, in the polls, to move up 1 or 2 slots at the most and then fall back 3-5 if they should slip up and lose a close anyone’s-game late in the 4th quarter…just like it was the last time Mercer played @ Auburn. Guess they’ll have to beat Auburn on 9/3 to ensure they stay ranked in the Top 25. Will be interesting to see how the Morehead @ Montana State game goes on 9/10.
———————————————————
* Proud to be the ONLY Poster who picked Samford to pluck the owlets. SoCon Teams are just better. Wofford is gonna get them some of that owl meat soon!
* Pretty dang close on FU & ETSU’s wins and proud to have been “Team Huff” 18 months before he dazzled as FU’s Starting QB
* There are rumors that the US Military has exp’d significant decline in recent months…shoulda factored that into FUBeAR’s picks. Both VMI & CIT could have performed better, but the moment seemed too big for them, so they wet their legs. Reckon how many guys named Davis they each have on their Teams https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1559226516747087872/pu/img/rAdmdFCaRg7f5sit.jpg(IYKYK)?

On to more picks…see way below for Saturday’s picks.


Week 0 & Week 1 SoCon Teams Schedule



Sat, Aug 27, 2022




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https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
Morehead State played some really good PFL Football last Fall.

But their STAR QB is now playing Pro Ball in Sweden and all of their 2021 top rushers / top receivers are no longer suiting up for the Eagles. Their D was middle-to-bottom-of-the-pack in the PFL. These things do not bode well for the Eagles’ chances this coming Saturday night.

Mercer, celebrating their 10 year Football ReBirthday and honoring those young men (known as “The Day1’s”) who started the program off with a 10 win season, will be looking to show out in front of what should be a large & loud Maconga crowd!

FUBeAR expects to see a lot of QB Fred Payton AND of QB Carter Peevy Saturday night. FUBeAR has an inkling we might see Mercer using both of them as more of a 2-Headed Monster this year…and with them both being legitimate DualThreat QB’s, that makes it more of a QuadMonster. Expect to see them rolling out or running a lot of the boot game they scorched ETSU with last Fall. Kinda old-school RPO’s on those edges and the Bears have a slew of new and improved targets at WR & RB/Joker for those guys to target. But, as we know, Coach Cronic and the Bears are gonna run the ball…A LOT. Expect to see Al Wooten stepping into the the #1 role with JMU Transfer Austin Douglas running #1.1. Would not be surprised to see 240 LB True FR RB, CJ Miller, get a lot of work and be impressive in his debut.

FUBeAR expects Mercer’s now-experienced Defense will have a dominating performance and will create 3+ turnovers.

Mercer goes up early, continues to distance themselves thru 3 quarters, then calls off the dogs. Eagles score a late TD against Mercer’s deep reserves.

Final Score - Mercer 56 - Morehead State 7 [ACTUAL: MERCER 63 - MOREHEAD STATE 13]

PS - The important thing will be to see if Morehead State can take lessons learned, apply them, and go into Bozeman and upset Montana State in a couple of weeks. The question, if that happens, will be…Would Montana State drop more slots with the loss or would Mercer, and the rest of the SoCon Teams that are so underranked, move up more? Well, it’ll probably be kinda moot by then because Mercer will have beaten Auburn and Furman will have beaten Clemson, launching them both into the Top 5 in FCS…of course.




Thu, Sept 1, 2022




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https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
bellhops wade into Buies Creek, get a taste of that Eastern NC BBQ and realize they’ve finally found something they are willing to fight for.

Mike Minter and the Harnett County Hype Machine have been playing their tunes on full volume after their ‘amazing near-championship’ 3-8 season last year (hmmm….they might make good Chattanooga fans) which included HUGE wins over a non-schollie Team and 2 other also-rans. This followed a winless season, which followed a barely over .500 season (but only because they beat a non-schollie), which matched their ‘best-ever’ season record since they started Football in 2008. No wonder the CAA wanted the Camels so bad. They are clearly a higher quality Team than Elon (the 2nd best returning CAA Team that cannot beat the worst Team in the SoCon). But…FUBeAR digresses.

Former Woffy QB leads CIT to a ‘miraculous upset’ of the only Team with a better imagination than Chattanooga. Celebratory ‘Camel-hump’ Pickin’ (it’s really a pig - camel meat is too watery) after the game

Final Score - A Citadel 24 - Campbell 17


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/north-greenville.png?width=30North Greenville (http://ngcrusaders.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
Furman Football has a lot of respect for North Greenville Football. This will not be in evidence (mostly not) Thursday night. Furman is going to surprise the SoCon, perhaps the nation, this season. They are talented in a lot of places with depth as well. Look for 2 QB’s to split time and both to look very good. Expect to see FU’s starting D shut down NGU’s O…just as the Paladins’ D shut down NC A&T and TennTech early last season…but more so. This one’s over early, but the Furman Fans have a great time at a Thursday night game.

Final Score - Furman 56 - North Greenville 7


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
When you’re opening up at home against a highly ranked (fwiw) Team, Coaching for your job in the last year of your contract, you have an all-new Defensive Coaching Staff…and you brought in about 40 transfers since last season, FUBeAR thinks you might have a few tricks up your sleeve…and if you can get up a few scores early AND play 4 quarters of Defense (something sorely missing last season) against a possession Offense that now imagines (maybe there’s a hallucination-causing virus going around?) they can throw the ball effectively, ANYTHING can happen…and it does!

Bulldogs drive 48 yards in 51 seconds & complete a 4 yard TD pass to RB Stanton to pull within one with just :35 to play, then they complete a 2-pt conversion pass to their TE to take lead, and hang on to win the game!

Final Score - Samford 32 - Kennesaw 31


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/WakeForest100419.png?width=30Wake Forest (http://www.godeacs.com/)
VMI takes advantage of WFU’s misfortune with their Heisman-candidate QB on the sidelines. If only VMI had the 2 Payton Award-candidates who traded in their kangaroo suits to now identify as Arachnids, then there would be no doubt about the Keydets bringing home this scalp. As it is, FUBeAR saw the best of the Keydets last year in their games vs. Mercer, Furman, Chattanooga, and ETSU. They are right there with top-tier SoCon Teams and a Top-Tier SoCon Team always has a shot against a Top-Tier ACC Team. Keydets SHOCK THE WORLD!!

Final Score - VMI 32 - Wake Forest 31


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Mars-Hill.png?width=30Mars Hill (http://marshilllions.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
MountainMarauders board Alien vessel, deflect anal probes, and evade memory erasures. Little green men drawn & quartered.

Final Score - ETSU 56 - Mars Hill 7




Sat, Sept 3, 2022




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https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Charleston_Southern.png?width=30Charleston Southern (http://www.csusports.com/)
Catamounts, after 4 weeks of camp, have finally been able to take the “Hello. My Name is…” tags off of their 70 or so new Players. There is some talent among those many new names & some among the 30 or returnees. Speed kills and these Closer-to-Water Pirates are going to watch White/Purple/Gold flashes sail by them all afternoon. WCU’s D still a work in progress though.

Final Score - WCU 56 - Charleston Southern 7 (+24) so…actually 31


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wofford.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
SoCon Opener - LOVED seeing this tagged as the “Covid Coward Quitters Kickoff Classic” - perhaps it should become a thing - with a bronze mask as the annual trophy. Natural sponsorships from Pfizer or Moderna. Could riff on this for a while, but don’t wanna take away from the prediculation too much…

It’s gonna rain. Special Teams struggle in the rain. Chatt’s “Special” Teams struggle in 75 degrees, no humidity, and no wind. This will be a factor. Wofford is going to be better than we think. Chatt’s Team could never be better than they (and their fans) think. Roll this all up and the Mocs pull off a fortunate narrow win.

Final Score - Chatt 32 - Wofford 31


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/auburn_logo.png?width=30Auburn (http://www.auburntigers.com/)
The last time Mercer went to the Plains in 2017, they were not a very good Football Team. The decline to 2019’s 4-8 had already begun. The Auburn Team they faced played in the SEC Championship Game and finished ranked in the Top 10. Mercer came very close to getting a scalp. It was a 1 score game with under 5 minutes to play.

This 2022 Mercer Football Team is talented, motivated, and good. This Auburn Team is on a 5 game losing streak, went through an off-season of turmoil and scandal. They are unranked.

Bears get the scalp!

Final Score - Mercer 32 - Auburn 31



FUBeAR’s POWER RANKINGS (will update after Saturday’s games)

1T. Furman
1T. Mercer
3. ETSU
4T. Chattanooga
4T. VMI
6T. Samford
6T. WCU
8T. CIT
8T. Wofford


SoCon Coaches Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (5) 60
2. ETSU (2) 54
3. Mercer (1) 53
4. Furman (1) 43
5. Western Carolina 38
6. Samford 26
7. VMI 23
8. The Citadel 14
9. Wofford 13

SoCon Media Power Rankings
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (18) 256
t2. ETSU (7) 226
t2. Mercer (5) 226
4. Furman 175
5. Western Carolina 125
6. VMI 119
7. Samford 106
8. Wofford 60
9. The Citadel 57[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

[caribbeanhen]

Samford raided the CAA, so many transfers

You scallywags were all warned

[MR. CHICKEN]

.....SAMFO'........OWN-LAH HAD 3+ WEEKS TA GET READY...FO'...HOOTER'S....OFFENSE....GIVE DUH....."RUSTY BUCKET".....OR......"OL' WOODEN TOILET LID"......TA D-CO......HE TAUGHT DAWGS GOOD......DEY PLAY IN MIDDLE UH SEASON.....AN' OWLS RUN OVERAH 'EM....LIKE UH JEEP WRANGLER.......UP MOUNT KENNESAW......OH......AN' DUH LOOKIN' AHEAD.....TA CINCINNATI & COE'S TOES......DIDN'T HELP......DUH HOOOTY BOYS CAUSE.......MUCH EITHER........BRAWK!

[wcugrad95]

The really surprising thing for me was how good Samford's D looked. I mean Xavier Shepherd had 35 carries for 64 yards (that is 1.8 YPC by the way). We expect Samford to be good to great on offense, but if they have a serious D and can run the football they may be a whole lot better than most people thought. Then you switch to Citadel. Their D in the first couple of drives reminded me a whole lot of WCU's the last few years. Gashed on the run, can't tackle an elusive RB/QB, can't get off the field on 3rd down. They settled down, but still looked like a bottom-tier team. Furman and ETSU did what we all hoped they would do.

Maybe Campbell is way under-rated and KSU is way over-rated. Maybe ETSU, Mercer, and Furman are the 3-best teams in all of FCS. The cool thing about FCS is we will actually find out on the field (even though I expect at least 1 or more SoCon teams to be left out).

[Reign of Terrier]

I think Campbell is going to be good this year. They recruit well (even though recruiting is kind of a crap shoot at this level). This is a lukewarm take of sorts, but Kennesaw State runs the option/flexbone better than the Citadel, and Campbell used to play them every year (and quite well)

[caribbeanhen]

A few things from last night's big win for Samford: KSU averaged 3.1 yards/carry while Samford averaged 3.5. That stat alone is just inconceivable. The Owls had 193 net yards for the game. I don't know how this compares with other games, but I bet they generally have many more. This Samford defense looks so much different than last year's, and I think the New DC has done well. The Samford offense also didn't go into a shell with the late lead, so the new OC might deserve some credit also. Over 400 yds of offense and only 3 penalties with good clock management. Don't wake me if I'm dreaming.

I'm not wanting to beat the drum too loudly right now and proclaim any championships. KSU might have been grossly overrated, who knows? I have been critical of Hatcher for some time now. But has he finally put together a team that has physicality, a running game and defense to go along with an outstanding passing game? If so, these Dogs will be very formidable in the SoCon. Last night sure gives me reason for hope.

Beat it

No one wants to be defeated

It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right

just beat it

[caribbeanhen]

I think the last TD was caught by Chandler Smith who also caught an earlier one. He does have good speed, but his route running is what largely attributes to his success. Our replacement for Montrell Washington, however, seems to be speedy Kendall Watson. While not Washington, he has terrific speed and great hands. Last night he had 9 receptions for 187 yards and 2 TDs. Watson will be a nightmare for DBs to cover this year. Story has it that he had no D-1 offers coming out of McCallie HS in Chattanooga and was actually a walk-on at Samford.

Thank you SUdog

It was indeed Chandler Otto Smith, I went back and looked him up

Great game to watch last night, I enjoyed the game and congratulations on the win!

[ElCid]

Samford didn't surprise me a lot. With there asst coaching changes they had to do better. As I mentioned in my prediction, I knew KSU would have a slow start. Didn't think Samford could pull it out, but for once they didn't implode late.

Not at all impressed with anything I saw with my Bulldogs. I'm sure we may catch a SOCON team or two napping, but unless things change, we will have a long season. The faithful must be screaming bad...they even took our board down. Might be technical, but I can see some other reason.... We are slow, our Online is getting pushed around, tackling was poor. I will say, I was at least a little impressed with the QB. He made good decisions and as a grad transfer, he has a lot of confidence. I have been patient with the coach, given him the benefit of the doubt, but I think he has some shortcomings that are starting to show big time. I suppose the recruiting and retention issues can be blamed "in part" on the virus, but we have gone downhill for longer than the virus. I think my patience is at an end. His recruiting 12 grad transfers this year might clearly show his desperation at the situation. We will see how things unfold.

[Reign of Terrier]

Yeah, I just watched a couple highlights of the Citadel-Campbell game and the Citadel is lucky it wasn't worse. They turned the ball over 4 times (multiple times in their own territory) that Campbell couldn't convert into points. And Campbell themselves turned the ball over 5 times. Very sloppy. Campbell is kind of like Mercer (pre-2021) in that they're kind of an enigma. They have a lot of good things going for them on paper but weirdness keeps them from being successful. They started 3-2 last year and dropped 6 straight games.

So yeah, Citadel doesn't look to great. Derrick came from Wofford and I honestly don't think he's a good fit for the Citadel offense. Brent Thompson gave them a magical season in 2016, but it's time for a change of direction. I know he loves his job and the Citadel and is very likely a very good guy (from all indication), but they need to change direction in Charleston.

[BearDownMU]

Campbell is kind of like Mercer in that they're kind of an enigma. They have a lot of good things going for them on paper but weirdness keeps them from being successful.

Really interested in further explanation on this one...

[Reign of Terrier]

Really interested in further explanation on this one...

*Before last season

Mercer is good and they have the pieces falling in place now. But as of like 2019 or so, they definitely had good administrative support, not-bad recruiting (which is all you can ask for at this level) and a decent home field vibe, but they just couldn't put it together. I see Campbell like that now.

[wcugrad95]

WCU may score 60, and of course we will probably need every point to win. Tell me if you have heard this before - lots of O and a D that looks worse (and plenty of mistakes/stupid penalties) as the game goes on. We actually looked good early on from both sides, but now it appears we will need to outscore everybody this season to stay in games.

[Libertine]

now it appears we will need to outscore everybody this season to stay in games.

That's not the worst thing. CSU isn't the best barometer obviously but it looks like outscoring people could be at least an option for Western this year.

[Reign of Terrier]

Western looked very good for the first 40 minutes or so, but the last 20 minutes was rough to watch. They will challenge everyone in the league, but defense will be an Achilles heal

[FUBeAR]

Does Conklin stay employed after halftime?

[Reign of Terrier]

On one hand, it's only the first half of the first game. There's lots of time to improve and grow.

On another, we look worse than last year, and at a certain point I have to wonder how much the athletic administration hates its fans and players to subject us to this mediocrity.

[Reign of Terrier]

Fire Conklin

[The Cats]

Catamounts pick up a 52-38 road win at Charleston Southern for the opening "W" of the 2022 season. QB Carlos Davis 28 of 36 for 433 yds. and 6 TDs while the Catamount defense notches 6 sacks in the game.

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[walliver]

Does Conklin stay employed after halftime?

Of course he does. This is a guy who applied for the Head Coaching job at South Carolina promising a dynamic exciting offense. This guy is SEC material. It is simply amazing Billy Napier beat him out for the Florida job. Why does everybody feels like he has to run a fancy smancy type offense? Running the ball up the middle against a pile of bodies worked well for Woody Hayes.

I am but an ignorant fan who hasn't played football since I played for Jerry Richardson in sixth grade, so my impression that this new offense looks just like the two previous ineffective new offenses is probably inaccurate. I am sure our AD can see the marked improvement. Conklin won the first game in each of the last 2 seasons and went winless after that. By losing the first game this year, that guarantees we will run the table this year and finish 14-1 with a win in Frisco. By the season's end, both Furman and Mercer will be in a bidding war to hire him.

Unfortunately, our AD has a stubborn streak when his new hires don't work out and is loath to fire them. Conklin will finish the year and then start applying for FBS position coach jobs.

[FUBeAR]

Quick review before FUBeAR is moving on to next week…

1T. Furman - just as good as FUBeAR expected. Surprise coming in TigerTown on Saturday?

1T. Mercer - some good, some bad. Physically competed with very big, very strong, very fast SEC Team. Lost more battles than they won (obviously), but not by much & there was no back-down and no quit in these Bears. Special Teams were better than expected - other than bad punt snap…which Mercer, miraculously, turned into a 1st down. BUT - at several parts of the game, Mercer’s O looked like they have against VMI the past 2 years. Can’t ID what starts them into that ‘series of mental mistakes’ direction for a few plays or series and then what snaps them out of it, but they need to ID what the catalyst of it is and fix it. If they do, this is a clear contender for the SoCon Championship and a definite Playoff Team

3. ETSU - didn’t watch much. Looked OK in what FUBeAR did see. Will know more after they beat, I mean, face the bellhops

4T. Chattanooga - new QB helps their O. Not much of a test against a SoCon Team that hasn’t won a SoCon game in the equivalent of 2 full seasons - no wins for the Tearyers in their last 16 scheduled SoCon games.

4T. VMI - didn’t get to watch much. What FUBeAR saw didn’t look too good. Lots of mistakes, misfires on O.

6T. Samford - Impressed. QB did not play nearly as well as previous QB’s have played, but Team played much better overall. Maybe they’ve, mentally, been too QB-reliant. Will be interesting to see if D can hold up as season progresses. Also…wonder how much new blocking rules did/will compromise KSU’s O. With their schedule, we probably won’t have a feel for that until Mid-October or so. Samford will challenge for SoCon Championship. Looked like a definite Playoff Team against the #6 Team in FCS.

6T. WCU - QB looked better than last year’s QB. Really like him. Tons of speed on O. Look a lot like Samford’s best teams. OLine looked better. D started well, but seemed to lose discipline as game progressed. WCU will challenge to move into SoCon top-tier this season IF discipline on D can be improved. If so, most likely a Playoff Team.

8T. CIT - FUBeAR liked what he saw of their O early and then they seemed to lose confidence in the Woffy Xfer QB and dumbed everything down….and didn’t throw. Didn’t he throw for 5 TD passes against the bellhops last season? D was rough at start, but seemed to buckle down for a while & then buckled. Thought they could get it together, but just seems like a Team that doesn’t believe it can win, doesn’t believe in itself, and doesn’t really know how to win.

8T. Wofford - Is Conklin still their Head Coach? He is? 0 for his last 16 scheduled SoCon games. Nothing else to add.



oh….and all of FUBeAR’s picks were MONEY! Sometimes the Players and/or Coaches failed to execute properly, but FUBeAR’s picks were still 100% accurate!!

[ElCid]

Quick review before FUBeAR is moving on to next week…


oh….and all of FUBeAR’s picks were MONEY! Sometimes the Players and/or Coaches failed to execute properly, but FUBeAR’s picks were still 100% accurate!!

Well, if you were money, I was gold. You went 6-3 in picks and had a point delta of 184. I went 7-2 and had a point delta of 129. Hmmm.xeyebrowx

[FUBeAR]

Well, if you were money, I was gold. You went 6-3 in picks and had a point delta of 184. I went 7-2 and had a point delta of 129. Hmmm.xeyebrowx
FUBeAR cannot be held responsible for the decline of the United States Military. The guy in charge of that outfit is to blame.

[The Cats]

Catamount Football Weekly in at Innovation Cullowhee - TONIGHT – next to Chili’s at 6 p.m.!

Coach Bell will discuss Saturday's victory against Charleston Southern and preview what's ahead as Western Carolina Football travels to Georgia Tech next!

Watch on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/catamountsports

(https://www.facebook.com/catamountsports)
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