catdaddyp

Regardless of their perceived standing this year, neither Rutgers or South Carolina have lost to a G5 team under their current head coaches. Yes, there have been some close games, but no losses. Keep in mind, the same “mid-tier” South Carolina program walloped #5 Tennessee just two years ago. That was the same year Tennessee beat us 63-6. Like I’ve said before, losing creates apathy. To some the “eyeball test” is important and we clearly have not met the eyeball test for a full 4 quarters against anyone on our schedule this year. It’s interesting that some are quick to point to close losses by other teams and infer they are competitive, yet when this program loses 10 one score games in two years, it’s nothing more than losses and the program isn’t competitive. Perhaps this team doesn’t win much more, or maybe, they come out and surprise everyone in conference play? I don’t know, but we won’t find out until the games are played. We’re 1-3, which is right where this team should be regardless of the eyeball test. We’ll find out Saturday if the winds have finally turned.

Which teams were we supposed to beat to not have this thread pop up 4 games in?

Bump for update. Forgot to update last week.

QB - Finley was a different player after being hit by #17 & #44. I don’t think he completed more than two passes after that. His immediate two throws after the hit were badly off. At one point, Finley came off the field and it looked like Moorhead said “what the **** was that?” RB - Simmons and Kellom did fine with their opportunities. Not much to say here. WR - Norton was really the only one that did much. Our receivers had a really tough time blocking Carolina’s DBs. TE - Newell again collected all the meaningful snaps. Cravaack caught two passes for a handful of yards. OL - Moorhead tried to limit Carolina’s pass rush with a number of quick passes and screens. For the most part it worked, but that’s no way to sustain a meaningful drive. James actually played well. In my opinion, RT should be his spot to lose at this point. Morris once again came off the bench and played really well. Blanchard and Seymore were fine at LT and LG, respectively. DL - We didn’t get much of a pass rush from our DTs this week, which is not surprising considering the strength of Carolina’s OL is on the interior. However, our DEs won their fair share of battles against Carolina’s OTs. Kapongo had his best game..again. Nunnally and Adler had sacks. Richards, Cheatom, and Dall were all very active. LB - There were alot of missed tackles from the LBs and the secondary. Fish and McCoy battled, but despite the high amount of tackles they collected, there were still plenty left out there. Benenge and Spriggs played significant snaps and were in by the 2nd quarter. CB - Carolina’s speed at WR hurt us and so did all the misdirection. Some of the players with a lesser amount of experience like Reed and R. Hunter (S) got fooled on some of the misdirection “eye candy.” S - Anderson got the start after not playing last week. I thought he did enough to deserve another shot at starting next week. R. Hunter also saw significant snaps. That said, defensive back play, in general, was not up to par. There were coverage busts along with poor angles when coming up to tackle. ST - Overall, special teams continued to play well. Coaching - We weren’t aggressive offensively and there were too many players that looked lost on defense. This almost looked like an OOC game where the staff just wanted to see what we have. There was a point in the 2nd quarter where Cheatom, Richards, Benenge, White, R. Hunter, and D. Jonson were all in together. Of course, Carolina ended up scoring. I honestly don’t have an issue with that if the goal was to get as many players as much significant experience as possible. Except, I don’t know if that was actually the goal. Thankfully, all the pay day games are over. Just so happens the P4s we played are probably the best teams each school has had under their current coaches. Now we head to conference play and finally get to see how this team fares against a similar talent level. For those that missed it, UK beat Ohio 41-6. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom WR: Norton Campbell WR: Polk P. Davis WR: Golden Walker Rush TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Seymore Morris George C T. Williams Morris RG: Davis Burrell RT: James Thomas DE: Nunnally Cheatom Richards DT: Kapongo Murphy DT: Lavea Moore Proffitt DE: Adler Ball LB: McCoy Spriggs LB: Fish Benenge Summers NB: D. Lewis Greenwood CB: Hunter White DeWalt CB: Golden-Nelson Reed Jarmon S: P. Lewis R. Hunter S: Anderson D. Johnson Roach Top Offensive Players (25 or more snaps) WR - Norton RT - James TE - Newell OG - Morris RB - Kellom Top Defensive Players (25 or more snaps) DT - Kapongo DE - Adler CB - Golden-Nelson DE - Nunnally DE - Richards Special Teams TBA

True to form, NIU followed up its biggest win in school history with a loss to an inferior opponent. Gotta give credit to Lembo though, he’s getting the most out of what he has.

USA certainly looks good tonight. Ohio may have been fortunate to catch USA sans the starting QB.

Some Gamecock info and players to watch: OFFENSE: Carolina has struggled to consistently pass the ball in 2024. Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers has a canon for an arm, but is still working on accuracy. However, he is a dynamic runner and was clocked at 20 mph this past weekend. Sellers has been dealing with an ankle injury, so his availability may be limited. Rocket Sanders is currently 4th in the SEC in rushing yards and was clocked at 21 mph against LSU. Carolina wants to run the ball. WR Nyck Harbor has created some buzz thanks to the NCAA video game, although do not expect video game like numbers from him as he still has plenty of developing to do. The TEs are heavily utilized and are a threat in the passing game. The OL is solid on the interior and still developing at the tackle spots. DEFENSE: The Gamecocks have one of the best (if not the best) pass rushing defensive fronts in the SEC. DE Kyle Kennard is tied #1 nationally in sacks. On the opposite end is one of the most impressive freshmen edge rushers I’ve seen in former 5 star Dylan Stewart. Carolina is deep at DT as well. The linebackers are fast and explosive. That said, they had some unusual tackling issues against LSU. The secondary has a ton of length and are excellent in run support. The safeties tend to struggle against receiving corps that have a lot of speed. This is a very physical defense. SPECIAL TEAMS: Beamer ball. The Gamecocks have not missed a beat without Pete Lembo. They’ve blocked more punts in Beamer’s tenure than any other program during that span.

I think @LZIp meant average this season? Most Ohio fans would say 6-7 wins would be a good season in 2024. I don’t know if anyone knows what Ohio or EMU are just yet. Ohio did beat USA and FCS Morgan State. But how good are either of those wins? USA lost to North Texas and Ohio. They then beat a terrible Northwestern State team. Morgan State looks a lot like the Morgan State from last year with two close games against other FCS opponents. So the Syracuse game in Week 1, when everyone is figuring out what that they have, is probably their best showing so far. EMU beat an 0-3 UMASS and an 0-3 Jax State in OT. Depending on the point of view it could be said they performed well against Washington in that loss. What does that tell us? I don’t know. I think at this point it’s anyone’s guess what most MAC teams are outside of the top tier. At least the MAC is winning their fair share of OOC games.

WEEK 3 Starters for new team: WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = 48 snaps. 8 receptions for 89 yards. RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = 48 snaps. RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = 76 snaps. RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 69 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = 49 snaps. 2 Tackles. LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = TBA. CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = 52 snaps. 2 Tackles. S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = 78 snaps. 2 Tackles and 1 Pass Defended. S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 83 snaps. 9 Tackles. 1 Pass Defended. Backups for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 33 snaps. 1 reception for 15 yards. WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = TBA TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = TBA RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = 40 snaps. RT - Ronan Chambers (Auburn) = 9 snaps. DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = 37 snaps. 4 Tackles and a Sack. LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State) = TBA S - KJ Martin (NC State) = 2 snaps. 1 Tackle. DNP: QB - Ryan Jankowski (UMASS) QB - Dijon Jennings (Weber State) QB - Steele Wasel (Oklahoma) RB - CJ Price (Jackson State) OL - Ka’Marii Landers (Baylor) OL - Alex Robarge (Southern Illinois) LB - Andrew Behm (Southern Illinois) DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky)

I’ll try to update this on a weekly basis. Minimum 50% of season snaps. QB - Finley 9th by PFF 4th total passing yards 5th most touchdowns WR - Norton 23rd by PFF (WR only) 4th total receiving yards (all positions) WR - Golden 34th by PFF (WR only) 15th total receiving yards (all positions) TE - Newell 8th by PFF (TE only) 6th total receiving yards (TE only) 35th total receiving yards (all positions) OT - Blanchard 18th by PFF (OT only) 6th by PFF Pass Block (OT only) 20th by PFF Run Block (OT only) OT - James 12th by PFF (OT only) 11th by PFF Pass Block (OT only) 10th by PFF Run Block (OT only) DE - Nunnally 19th by PFF (DE only) 7th by PFF Pass Rush (DE only) 20th by PFF Run Defense (DE only) 17th sacks (all positions) 4th total tackles (DE only) DE - Adler 16th by PFF (DE only) 14th by PFF Pass Rush (DE only) 12th by PFF Run Defense (DE only) 27th sacks (all positions) 15th total tackles (DE only) DT - Moore 15th by PFF (DT only) 19th by PFF Pass Rush (DT only) 17th by PFF Run Defense (DT only) 7th total tackles (DT only) DT - Kapongo 20th by PFF (DT only) 23rd by PFF Pass Rush (DT only) 12th by PFF Run Defense (DT only) 3rd total tackles (DT only) LB - McCoy 20th by PFF (LB only) 22nd by PFF Tackling (LB only) 3rd total tackles (all positions) LB - Fish 25th by PFF (LB only) 26th by PFF Tackling (LB only) 23rd total tackles (all positions) S - P. Lewis 19th by PFF (S only) 16th total tackles (all positions) 6th total tackles (S only) 14th passes defended (all positions) S (NB) - D. Lewis 16th by PFF (S only) 12th total tackles (all positions) 5th total tackles (S only) 10th passes defended (all positions) 17th interceptions (all positions) P - Book 1st average per punt

No idea. I’m guessing we’ve only been favored 4 times in the Moorhead era. The 3 FCS opponents and versus Kent last year.

I would like to see a little more stubbornness in running the football. We wasted Lingard for portions of last year. The defense gave up the 25 yarder to the QB, but outside of that stuffed Colgate. The next longest run was 5 yards and we held them under 85 yards rushing total. That’s pretty good. The three P4 teams we play this year are built to run the football. Im also concerned for Finley…and the rest of our offense against South Carolina. Some of those guys come downhill looking to de-cleat players. Good to hear about the experience and your granddaughter having a great time. I’m looking forward to attending a game in a few weeks.

QB - Finley displayed how effective he can be when given time. Even though Finley did miss a few throws and was quick to scramble on a few others (I don’t blame him) he finally had the opportunity to exhibit how this offense can operate. Finley finished with a 65% completion rate, 358 yards, and 4 touchdowns vs 1 interception. For comparison, those are similar numbers that DJI had during his All-MAC year in 2022. RB - The offense was lopsided in this area. The backs averaged nearly 4 yards per attempt, but only carried the ball 20 times. We threw the ball 44 times and Finley scrambled (sacked twice) 11 other times. One of the sacks given up was a direct result of one of the RBs (I think Simmons) getting beat again. Simmons and Kellom are effective options with the ball in their hands, but pass protection continues to be an issue. WR - Norton is a star in the making. His play from last week carried over, which was good to see. Golden also continues to make plays when the ball comes his way. Kellom was a reliable receiving option out of the backfield and created a touchdown. TE - Newell collected nearly every snap at tight end and had his best performance of the season. OL - While the OL was definitely better against Colgate than the first two matchups, I hoped for more. Seymore was excellent at LG and looked the part of a former P5 lineman playing against lesser competition. Williams was solid at center. That’s about where it stopped as far as what an FBS OL should consistently look like. Blanchard and Shor at LT, James and Thomas at RT, Davis and Burrell at RG, all had their moments but the consistency must improve. There were too many times when 4 of the linemen would do their part and 1 lineman got beat. I’ve mentioned Delvin Morris in the past and he’s a guy to monitor. He split time at C and LG and did well. I expect he will continue to receive more snaps. DL - The DL overwhelmed Colgate for much of the contest, holding the Raiders to only 84 rushing and 159 passing yards. Nunnally was a menace the entire game and finally got his first sack of the season. Lavea and Moore were effective despite seeing double teams for much of the game. Kapongo had his best game to date. The concern I have is outside of Nunnally, Lavea, and Moore, we struggled to create pressure, even on blitzes. LB - McCoy and Fish played almost every significant snap with Cooper out. The duo was strong as usual, although Fish did miss a few tackles he normally makes. I was surprised Spriggs and Benenge did not receive more snaps. CB - A number of different cornerbacks got work and not just in “garbage time.” Jarmon and DeWalt saw significant action. Kentucky transfer Elijah Reed got his first work of the season and looks like he could eventually be a difference maker judging by his length and the way he moves. White got the start, but didn’t have his best showing. Golden-Nelson and Hunter performed well. S - P. Lewis was excellent. The former Cornell transfer was all over the field and bringing it on tackles. D. Lewis started at the opposite safety spot in David’s absence and played well. When Roach came on the field, D. Lewis slid back to Nickel. I was surprised Anderson did not see more time at safety after his performance last week. ST - Definitely not their best showing this week. The poor decision on a punt return and shanked punt gave Colgate scoring opportunities. Credit Colgate for taking advantage of the early mistakes that were made. Those mistakes against good teams will result in losses. I wanted to see the OL be dominant. It was by far their best showing this season, yet still was not overly impressive. We have a solid duo on the interior with Seymore and Williams. Blanchard is usually solid at LT as well. We need someone to step up at the right guard and right tackle spots soon. Next week, this team will be overmatched (again) and go against one of the better pass rushing units in the SEC. I’m not expecting much. Just get out of the game healthy, wipe the final score from memory, and focus on conference play. Playing this out-of-conference schedule did us no favors from a competitive and health standpoint. We’ll be right at 1-3, where almost every one thought we would be. In my opinion, the true measure of this year’s team starts against Ohio. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom WR: Norton Davis WR: Golden Rush WR: Polk Granger TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Seymore Morris George C Williams Morris RG: Davis Burrell RT: James Thomas DE: Nunnally Cheatom DT: Lavea Murphy DT: Kapongo Moore DE: Adler Ball Richards LB: Fish Benenge LB: McCoy Spriggs NB: Greenwood D. Lewis CB: Golden-Nelson DeWalt Reed CB: White Hunter Jarmon S: P.Lewis Anderson S: D. Lewis Roach Top Offensive Players (25 or more snaps) WR - Golden (was Seymore) RB - Kellom (was Golden) LG - Seymore (was Newell) WR - Norton RB - Simmons (was James) Top Defensive Players (25 or more snaps) DE - Nunnally S - P. Lewis S - D. Lewis CB - Golden-Nelson DT - Lavea (was Kapongo) Top Special Teams (10 snaps or more) CB - DeWalt RB - Castleberry S - R. Hunter S - Conroy S - T. Thomas

3 Players out today: WR - Walker LB - Cooper S - David Cooper and David looked pretty banged up after Rutgers, so no surprise there.

Colgate Players to Watch: OFFENSE: QB #5 Michael Brescia - 56% completion rate, 314 yards passing, 0 TDs and 1 INT. 27 rushes for 118 yards and 1 TD. WR #9 Treyvhon Saunders - 9 receptions for 86 yards. WR #2 Winston Moore - 4 receptions for 74 yards. C #77 Bardhyl Gashi - 2 starts and 130 snaps. WR #14 Brady Hutchinson - 8 receptions for 91 yards. DEFENSE: DT #93 Andrew Taddeo (usually lined up between C and LG) - 5 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. S #7 Asauni Allen - 14 total tackles and 1 pass defended. LB #43 Cole Kozlowski - 21 total tackles. CB #8 Kaleb Alexander - 2 total tackles and 1 pass defended. LB #33 Brody Hock - 8 total tackles.

Yes, they update throughout the week. They are usually similar by the end of the week but some players do get substantial adjustments, like Lavea.

PFF Special Teams have finally been added for the Rutgers game. Offensive updates were mostly the same except PFF thought Finley played a little better than T. Williams. Defensive updates saw Lavea shoot to the top. Like I mentioned before, I thought he played his best game as a Zip. D. Lewis was also bumped up.

They have until 2026 to meet all the guidelines to become a Power conference again. I’m not sure what all those are except a minimum of 8 teams.

You’re probably right. I’m guessing as all the realignment is fleshed out, we eventually see the G5 conferences become more centralized like they used to be.

And the great divide between the “have” and “have nots” continues to grow at the FBS level….

They still have to get to 8 by 2026 to be considered a Power conference. 2026 is when their probationary period ends. Even though they aren’t much better (or better at all) than some of the G5 conferences, they will be given an auto-bid to the playoffs.

Anything can happen, but the likelihood of losing to this Colgate squad is extremely low. 2022 St. Francis turned out to be a better FCS team than anyone expected (9-3). And as it turns out, the 2023 Morgan State team had a strong defense and had opportunities to win all their games except for one. This is not meant to take a shot at Colgate, but they are likely the worst FCS team we’ve played in the Moorhead era. Outside of a mobile QB and a well coached defense, they just don’t have a lot this year.