Gardner-Webb vs Mars Hill 58-14

[EagleDawg]

Well the Dawgs after a bit of a sluggish start poured it on and to be truthful were aided by several second half turnovers by the Lions to win in a rout. The Lions only scores were first quarter with a short field after a GWU Int. where the ball bounced off the receivers hands and a meaningless late score with under 5 minutes to go against all 2nd and 3rd teamers.

Gotta say that true freshman DT Matt Goods really stood out. Maligned GWU QB Doolittle had a nice game throwing the ball well and showing some deceptive and tough running.

All in all a great way to open, no major injuries. The Lions may have had several D1 transfers but they were no match today. Next week's game against Western Carolina in Cullowee will be interesting as the Runnin Dawgs will probably go in as underdogs but after WCU's blow out loss today at Vandy 45-0 I expect the Dawgs to win again to go 2-0.

[catamount man]

Our backs are against the wall for sure. I expect next week's game to be a barn burner. Hope the Cats can win, but right now, I don't know. xconfusedx

GO CATAMOUNTS!!!

[EagleDawg]

After a good night's sleep after a late return from the game in Boiling Springs and some reflection, here is this Runnin Dawgs the good and bad of the game.

Good

Overall good execution of the offense with 586 total yards split pretty evenly between the run and the pass

QB Doolittle, 19-27 for over 280 yds against 1 int., a ball that bounced off the receiver's hands

QB Doolittle making some nice runs when there was nothing open down field

OL play with two new starters including a true freshman I recall only gave up 1 sack and blocking for an offense that produced 586 yards

Nick Melton WR made some outstanding catches downfield

Tre Perry showing extreme toughness hanging on for a reception after taking a illegal shot to the head that was flagged for a 15 yd. personal foul penalty

Patrick Hall showing excellent burst on a couple of long runs for TD's

Defensively, the LB corp in general and Marty Patterson particularly played great. D-line got good pressure on the QB all night. Run defense giving up less than 60 yds and only 1.7 ypc.

Matt Goods, Freshman DL showing why he is gonna be a special player for the Dawgs

Bo Lindsey, true freshman punter showing a strong leg and maintaining composure after mishandling a snap but still getting the punt away

Ryan Gates, best kicker in the Big South a perfect 3 for 3 on fg's and 7 for 7 on XP

Bad

Two many major mental penalties, against a better opponent, those will come back to haunt you

A few too many dropped passes

Two Big South PreSeason All Conference Players, Ced McGowan and Josh Miller not seeing the field.

Overall Team Grade A-

[Thumper250]

Didn't get a chance to come over, but that margin was not expected. I expected maybe four TDs, which would have been a very solid margin against a D2 that some have touted as a potential playoff team at that level.

So, that said, I would think that the coaches have to be encouraged by the outcome. Hopefully nobody got banged up and some of the pups got some game experience. How'd the RBs look?

[wcucat85]

Our offense helped Vandy more than anything.We gave Vandy the ball deep in our territory 3 times on TO'S.Young young O-LINE had the look of deer with the headlights...Defense was on the field almost 40 minutes............I cant understand why we cant find 5 O-liners that can sustain a block for 3 to 5 seconds at a time.
Vandy scored 17 points the last 7 minutes of the game mainly against our folks who dont play alot.

Zack Jaynes has got to step up this week or else confindence in him will slip big time I think.

GW has got some horses as well on both sides of the ball.

I think the game is huge for Western..............It could be the difference in having a 5-6 or 6-5 versus being 1-10.I know were rebuilding but offense was our achilles heel last year and somethings got to give.

[elcid83]

Eagle,

Mrs. Cid and I enjoyed our 1st GW game very much last night. I would expand on the Int just a bit. Not only did the ball bounce off of the WR's hands, but, it also flew up into the air to make it very easy for Mars Hill to catch it. Kind of unfair to call that play an Int. I think the stats guys need to come up with another term - that was actually a fumble because the pass was right on the money. If we also applied that same terminology to dropped passes, Stan was 21 - 23 last night. I just really felt like Stan had a very nice game against a decent Mars Hill team.

I agree that Marty Patterson had a good game and he is fun to watch play. I watched him juke a blocker [the blocker whiffed on him] like a RB on one play when he got to the QB. Mario Brown looks to be well healed from his season ending injury from last year.

Looks like a lot of the new freshmen class is going to be able to redshirt based on the solid play we witnessed from the old-timers. Should make for some very interesting football in 2-3 years.

Overall, I thought last night's game should confirm for the players that the coaches have been pushing them in the right direction. They are clearly ready to play and the game against WCU will be an interesting one. I don't think it is fair for them to grade their OL play based on what they saw against Vandy as I have seen those guys up close and they are much bigger than anything else WCU will face in the Southern Conference.

See you Saturday.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[g-webb1994]

Sounds like we might have a more consistent run game, which in turn, will take the pressure off of Doolittle.

The WCU game is huge for G-W, the game could dictate the rest of the season. Would love to go to Raleigh 2-0.:D