Top 3 in the SOCON are all teams we have to get through.

I like having Wofford at home, but Samford and GA. Southern appear to be tough road games and with our recent string of injuries, what does everything think about these away games?

Discuss.

Samford and Georgia Southern will be tough, tough games. I'm very concerned about our defense and keeping turnovers to a minimum.

sixtoes9134 wrote:Top 3 in the SOCON are all teams we have to get through.

I like having Wofford at home, but Samford and GA. Southern appear to be tough road games and with our recent string of injuries, what does everything think about these away games?

Discuss.

Shootouts..........................

Based strictly upon the defense I have seen this season, we will have to score on every possession against the Ankle Biters and the Gumroots to stay in the game. I won't be at all surprised to see either, or both of them score in the upper 40s or low 50s on us. We can stay with them offensively, but we cannot spot them 31 points like we did El Cit. Samford will be no easy game either, as they appear to have a potent offense as well. I'd like to think we could be 3-0 against them, but it's just as plausible that we could be 0-3 against that group.

I'm hoping for a 2-1 record through those games. I believe we can beat Samford on the road, and get the win vs Wofford at home. GA Southern on the road will be our toughest game I think.

All 3 games are winable but the defense has to show up. You can't expect to just outscore everyone. There will have to be some serious defensive adjustments made to slow down the 2 option teams. Really need to win the Sammy game.....first things first.

I'd take it one game at a time. As far as Sammy goes, I believe we can take them. Altough they have defeated El Cid (we didn't), I don't really see anything on their resume that is that great. That is, they have really not beaten anyone (for example, west carolina - olive garden webb - west georgia, etc).

SpeedkingATL wrote:All 3 games are winable but the defense has to show up. You can't expect to just outscore everyone. There will have to be some serious defensive adjustments made to slow down the 2 option teams. Really need to win the Sammy game.....first things first.

At this point in the season and injuries mounting, we know what we have on defense based on our schedule, yes we will have to score a lot of points to win from here on out...reality.

Should we be fortunate enough to win the coin toss in any or all of these games, and the wind is not a factor, I hope we elect to receive, take the lead on our first possession, and never take our foot off the gas pedal for the remainder of the game. That should work.

CVAPP wrote:Should we be fortunate enough to win the coin toss in any or all of these games, and the wind is not a factor, I hope we elect to receive, take the lead on our first possession, and never take our foot off the gas pedal for the remainder of the game. That should work.

Nothing wrong with that, considering what we know.

sixtoes9134 wrote:Top 3 in the SOCON are all teams we have to get through.

I like having Wofford at home, but Samford and GA. Southern appear to be tough road games and with our recent string of injuries, what does everything think about these away games?

Discuss.

All three will come down to the running game.....

Can WE run the ball?

Can we contain/limit the running games of the other teams?

Go APPS!

WIn out and have home games for the playoffs.

Of these 3 games, GSU on the road should be the toughest. It's also the one game on the list which we will be the underdog. All 3 games should be close though. I like our chances against Samford because I think we should out-athlete them. Sammy game may resemble our Chattanooga game just with a little more scoring in the first 3 quarters. Wofford will be tough because their running game will attack our defensive line which is currently the weakest link to our team. However, Wofford generally does not play well in Boone. As for GSU, we generally do not play well in Gnatville. I'm actually more concerned with GSU's triple option more than Wofford's due to the road factor, speed factor and likely the heat. Anyway, I'm expecting an 8-3 finish with the likely loss to GSU.

Despite a predicted 8-3 finish, I'm not expecting a deep run in the playoffs as I think other conferences will expose our line play and defensive limitations. I was expecting less from our offense and more from our defense this year. I realize injuries have slowed our defense. However, I think the biggest factor is the play of our defensive line. We need better play up front against the run and we need more pressure on the passer in passing situations. If we improve in these areas and avoid additional key injuries, we could surprise the rest of the year and postseason.

Hoping for 3-0.
Would be happy with 2-1.
Expect 1-2.
Would not be shocked with 0-3.

Cincy App wrote:Of these 3 games, GSU on the road should be the toughest. It's also the one game on the list which we will be the underdog. All 3 games should be close though. I like our chances against Samford because I think we should out-athlete them. Sammy game may resemble our Chattanooga game just with a little more scoring in the first 3 quarters. Wofford will be tough because their running game will attack our defensive line which is currently the weakest link to our team. However, Wofford generally does not play well in Boone. As for GSU, we generally do not play well in Gnatville. I'm actually more concerned with GSU's triple option more than Wofford's due to the road factor, speed factor and likely the heat. Anyway, I'm expecting an 8-3 finish with the likely loss to GSU.

Despite a predicted 8-3 finish, I'm not expecting a deep run in the playoffs as I think other conferences will expose our line play and defensive limitations. I was expecting less from our offense and more from our defense this year. I realize injuries have slowed our defense. However, I think the biggest factor is the play of our defensive line. We need better play up front against the run and we need more pressure on the passer in passing situations. If we improve in these areas and avoid additional key injuries, we could surprise the rest of the year and postseason.

Looking at our DL, we average about a sophomore playing each position. This position is key to the sucess of any defense, look no further than our championship teams. These guys will be better next season after the experience this seaon combined with getting bigger and stronger and wiser over the spring and summer. It just isn't going to magically happen from now through November. We've had some fine DL over the years, and these guys can grow into that mold.

As these DL guys mature, who is going to replace our tackling machines Kimbrough and Grier next campaign? We've always seemed to have an AA types in the linebacking corps. They will be noticeably missing next season, imo.

Back on topic, I think are 2-1 over the next three games. Losing to the Gnat Swarm

I honestly see 1-2 with losses to Wofford and GSU. Samford we will be able to out athlete and beat with speed. Our triple option defense is a joke and will get eaten alive if the offense can't keep up the scoring and keep the defense off the field.

MountainMan wrote:Hoping for 3-0.
Would be happy with 2-1.
Expect 1-2.
Would not be shocked with 0-3.

Have to agree.And think the one of our two most-likely results, 2-1 and 1-2, that will become reality will be determined by the amount of turnovers we can get or don't get from Wofford and Ga Southern.

Don't overlook them Cantamounts either! They have got some good new coaches I hear.

87ASUgrad wrote:Don't overlook them Cantamounts either! They have got some good new coaches I hear.

True, I hear they call their plays by "Committee" and always run up the "gut" on first downs.

Im honestly worried about Western this year.. you know those coaches are going to have their players ready to beat us! Add in they have a familiarity with our systems (offense and defense), they should be well prepared...