AGS Game Of The Week, 2024 Week 5

[Chalupa Batman]

Conference opening weekend for most teams presents us with a good number of juicy matchups to choose from.


#11 Mercer @ #22 Wofford Who else had this as a big early season conference showdown? The Bears look to keep their momentum going into their bye week, while the Terriers look to build momentum having just come off their bye week.

#15 Southern Illinois @ #5 South Dakota Tough conference opener for the Salukis as they try to stay afloat without DJ Williams, and a tough conference opener as well for the Coyotes as Drake was their only FCS opponent in the non-conference and this figures to be quite the step up.

#4 North Dakota State @ #17 Illinois State MVFC providing another big matchup on conference opening weekend. Can the Redbirds find a way to exploit NDSU’s rushing defense for a 3rd straight week? This could be the best defense NDSU has faced so far, can the offense continue the elite play they’ve shown through 4 weeks?

#26 Lamar @ #9 Central Arkansas Depending on where these teams end up, this is one of those games that could be scrutinized very closely by the selection committee come November.

Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling (at Dallas, TX) The Tigers and Panthers meet for the 38th time in the State Fair Classic, but for the first time with the State Fair Championship Belt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF9Gv5Zz5eI) on the line.

McNeese @ #34 Weber State After a 2nd half rally came up short against Tarleton in week 0, McNeese has quietly won their 3 FCS games since. A win against the Wildcats should see them start to receive votes. This game is almost a must-win for the Wildcats.

#3 Idaho @ #12 UC Davis Yet another tough game awaits the Vandals after playing 2 FBS teams and 2 ranked teams in the OOC, can they continue to win these games with Jack Wagner at QB? The Aggies can vault themselves into the Big Sky (and possibly national) championship picture with a win.

[Outsider1]

Gotta go with Idaho again. What's UC Davis got?

[FU_Paladin08]

Yep. Second week in a row I’m voting Idaho.

[Reign of Terrier]

This is a **** post but I'm going all in:

For Wofford, this game is not about building momentum.

We didn't need momentum to beat Citadel or Furman last year. What are the stakes? We possibly lose a game? <Mike Ayers impression from 2017> "pffff that's old hat."

I'm only slightly joking when I say Wofford's like that turbo World of Warcraft player in South Park who is that unseemly high level because he doesn't have a life and plays all day - "How do you kill one without a life?"

How do you demoralize a team that knew no morale for any of the last 3 years? That has won 7 games in 4 year and is coming off a 2-1 start to a perhaps top 5 OOC FCS schedule? That only scored 20 points against full scholarshipped teams once last year...and did it 3 times already?

From 2021-2023 you couldn't buy hope for the Wofford Terriers with all the money in Jerry Richardson's fortune. Now it's everywhere. Not hope for a national championship, or even a socon championship, or even a winning record. There's hope that we can do something on the next play. And when you have that kind of hope, there's something special about the game of football, that you won't appreciate it unless you've been in the gutter for a long time and lost that basic feeling.

It's the kind of hope that sees Gibbs stadium louder and with more students in attendance than when we had Breitenstein or the three peat (I'm serious!). It's a hungry hope. We're a hungry team. And if we don't eat one week, or one play, it's the next one up.

There's something brewing in Spartanburg. A loss doesn't do anything bad for Wofford. We have a lot of time to get a lot better. We've made the playoffs plenty of years with a 2-2 record through 4 games. But do you want a random stat that means nothing but has vibe to it? Since Wofford went division one, we've started 3-1 multiple times. Never under a 22+ team playoff format have we not made the playoffs with that starting record. If there was a 22-24 team field in 2002 or 2004, Wofford would have made the playoffs and you could say they always have with a 3-1 start.

So no, this game isn't about momentum. It's about Restoration. Reclamation. Resurrection. Or more apt, Reincarnation. The Wofford of Mike Ayers - the option and running 70% of the time - died in 2022. It was weakened by COVID and put down by Josh Conklin. This Wofford team was rebuilt by Shawn Watson. 50-50 split playcalling. West Coast passing, committed zone running. A defense that is nasty. If he can make the playoffs this season, he's an Eddie Robinson candidate, if no the frontrunner.

If Wofford wins this week, Wofford's back.

[wcugrad95]

I am going Wofford vs Mercer because it is a big game early in the SOCON season to determine if Mercer is really that far out in front. Win and the Bears will already be 3-0 in league play and might be looking to move towards the top-5. Lose and it doesn't so much mean Mercer isn't a top team but it means Wofford is more for real than many voters might think. Of course I could say the same with the Idaho and UC Davis game. A win probably gets the Vandals some more first place votes. A loss and UC Davis is top-10. So that one might make more sense.

But I am a homer :)

[FUBeAR]

It's about Restoration. Reclamation. Resurrection. Or more apt, Reincarnation.
You omitted REDEMPTION.

Woffy has been paying for the SIN of their last Coaching hire, which, BTW, FUBeAR rebuked the day it was announced in 2018.

They began their route on the road to redemption when they convicted themselves, finally, for their SIN. The fortuitous win over Furman last season showed the PursePuppies that the road was not, necessarily, endless; and the schedule / results this year indicate there may be, as you note, HOPE for another R … RECOVERY.

Just don’t forget … PRIDE comes before the FALL.

And…FALL just arrived this week.

[ElCid]

I am going Wofford vs Mercer because it is a big game early in the SOCON season to determine if Mercer is really that far out in front. Win and the Bears will already be 3-0 in league play and might be looking to move towards the top-5. Lose and it doesn't so much mean Mercer isn't a top team but it means Wofford is more for real than many voters might think. Of course I could say the same with the Idaho and UC Davis game. A win probably gets the Vandals some more first place votes. A loss and UC Davis is top-10. So that one might make more sense.

But I am a homer :)

Yeah, but, considering the way each conference schedule is done, it's just a bit harder in the SOCON since you gotta play everyone. A Big Sky team doesn't usually ever face all the top dogs. While that Sac St game is big, it may or may not be a back breaker. So there is that in addition to being a homer.

[Reign of Terrier]

Also, the winner of the Mercer-Wofford game is probably the favorite (don't look at what the computers say). At the moment, I like Mercer and Wofford to be a clear (i.e one score at least) favorite against everyone but maybe ETSU (who to me is a wild card) and in Wofford's case, UTC. Everyone else in the socon has shown a weakness that plays into their strengths.

It's not a given that the winner of this game (or either team) wins the socon or even in the top 3, but you like your chances. You'd rather be one of them vs the field.

[KPSUL]

I went with Mercer @ Wofford as well. I'm very interested to see if the Wofford "Come back" is for real and winning can be sustained. Also I'd like to see if Mercer is going to finally live up to the lofty expectations many have had for them for several years. With only a few conference games played through week 4 it is hard to say that this game has major SoCon championship and playoff implications; but, it will give one of the teams the current bragging rights and the inside track.

[MSUBobcat]

I went with Idaho @ Davis due to being curious if the r-Fr can continue his impressive play against tough competition and also if Davis is for real or not. Their wins haven't been fantastic - beat Commerce by 14 at home (Sac beat them 34-0 in TX), beat SUU on the road by 3 (ISU-o beat SUU by 10 in Pocatello), beat UTU by its smallest margin of defeat, at home no less.

Honorable mention to Wofford-Mercer for the significance so early in the SoCon race and McNeese @ Weber St. It's nice to see McNeese find some success, and a win would go a long way toward a playoff berth assuming they take care of business outside of the @UIW and @Nicholls games. I'm just not sure I see it happening this weekend.

SIU @ USD - If USD is truly a top-8 (1st round bye) team, playing SIU without their starting QB at home shouldn't be an issue to get the W. This is not to be read that it will be an easy game, but I would be pretty shocked if the Yotes lost.
NDSU @ ISU-r - I just haven't been very impressed by the Ill State wins. 7pts over winless tUNA (probably better than their 0-5 record but still...), winless WIU hung around for 2.5 quarters, 1-win EIU whose only W is typically cellar-dwellar in ISU-b (margin of victory was significant, I admit).
Lamar @ UCA - UCA is a screw-job away from 4-0 with an FBS. Lamar was close to a scalp, but then was BBQ-having-a-kicker away from losing to Weber State (a blocked 44yd FG, a missed 40yd FG and a missed PAT)
PVAMU-Grambling - I can't get excited for games that have no playoff implications. Same applies to Ivy League. Hate me for it if you need.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I went with Lamar @ Central Arkansas: The Cardinals seem to be a bit of a Jekyll & Hyde squad through four games; played well against Texas State and Weber State/slept walked against Miss Valley State and Texas Southern. Central Arkansas has been completely out of the limelight since getting screwed in Jonesboro. This is a huge game for both teams...

Some other good/meaningful/under the radar games: Bucknell @ Lehigh, Richmond @ Elon, Sacramento State @ Northern Arizona & Hampton @ William & Mary

[BlueGoldAg]

I went with Idaho @ Davis due to being curious if the r-Fr can continue his impressive play against tough competition and also if Davis is for real or not. Their wins haven't been fantastic - beat Commerce by 14 at home (Sac beat them 34-0 in TX), beat SUU on the road by 3 (ISU-o beat SUU by 10 in Pocatello), beat UTU by its smallest margin of defeat, at home no less.

The UC Davis defense has been riddled with injuries and the offense has struggled to score TD's inside the red zone. This one could get ugly for the Aggies if we don't get some of the defensive players players back this week and the offense makes a remarkable turnaround and is able to score TD's instead of FG's in the red zone.