Without a Saints game today I've been going through both my DVRs at home and ESPN3 to see what I missed yesterday while in Ruston. Here are a few observations:
Ohio State - Oklahoma
Baker Mayfield plants the flag into the "O" as his teammates celebrate with him. Nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VX1yCzagL0
UTSA - Baylor
UTSA won the line of scrimmage, had more big plays, and they look like a more fundamentally sound football team than a year ago. Dalton Sturm is back at QB for UTSA to run the vaunted Scelfo express ball control offense. That said, Baylor is a shell of what is was a year ago at this time. It was almost shocking to watch their offense look like something out of the lower half of a bad G5 league.
UTSA is better. Hard to tell how much better. Their biggest weakness a year ago was the fact they had trouble with offenses that could put points on the board in bunches. They just couldn't keep up. But this year how many teams with that profile will they face?
Army - Buffalo
I like taking a look at any game at Mikey Stadium. All the respect in the world to the Black Knights. When Tech played at West Point in 2008 I told my wife that there was a good chance someone on that Army roster was going to lose his life overseas in the years ahead. At the game, Army honored the family and surviving spouse of Chase Prasnicki, who was mortally wounded by an IED while serving in Afghanistan in 2012. He was on the Army roster in 2008. Several other members of that team have been wounded, as well.
In the game, Army QB Ahmad Bradshaw missed several open receivers for wide open touchdowns in the first half. Down by 10 Army stayed in the game and eventually scored two second half touchdowns. The Knights put it away with a fake punt called by the punter with a couple of minutes left in the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9-wz1ih4xI
MTSU - Syracuse
The game was billed in the Syracuse media as the return of former Cuse head coach Scott Shafer to the Carrier Dome as MTSU's defensive coordinator. Shafer actually told his defense that they would "have a friend for life in him if they were to win the game". MTSU's offense struggled in the first half, but their line did a better job of protection in the second half and Stockstill got into a rhythm.
Through 2 games this Middle team doesn't look like their team of a year ago. They started the season 0-20 in third down conversions. Their first was midway through the third quarter in Syracuse. But they were good enough to overcome the Orange. To put this into perspective this Syracuse team may not win 3 games. And they're probably worse than Baylor.
This video came up during the telecast. This is the downside of a student production where a former player talks trash. Go to the 7:30 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4ER8K3Po8
Post-game story about Shafer:
http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootba...ory_cigar.html
UAB - Ball State
UAB is better on offense than I expected. They stayed with Ball State for a half. They're running a power formation out of the pistol with the intention of trying to shorten games and keep their defense off the field. The defense is terrible. That was completely expected. Again, better than expected on offense. They could probably keep up with Rice and UTEP and be very competitive with Charlotte.
Oklahoma State - South Alabama
After South Alabama played Ole Miss to a 13-10 game through 2 quarters in Oxford last week, which included a 19-play Jaguar drive, I thought the Jags could keep up with OSU for a quarter or two. That didn't happen. Oklahoma State went on the road and dominated from start to finish. The Cowboys have the look and feel of a P5 conference championship team with future NFL players on its roster. They look the part.
UL-Lafayette - Tulsa
I thought Tulsa would be a point a minute team in this game. And they were. I didn't expect the Cajuns to keep up with them deep into the second half. The Cajuns have gotten multiple strong performances out of QB Jordan Davis. Where has this guy been? The Golden Hurricane were set to put some distance between themselves and the Cajuns early in the game. After scoring a touchdown Tulsa RB D'Angelo Brewer handed the football to a fan over the wall in the back of the endzone. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave the Cajuns good field position on the ensuing drive and set up a Cajun touchdown. The Cajuns have a Texas A&M team this week that's reeling on offense and nearly dropped a game to Nichols. Could be interesting.
Georgia Southern - New Hampshire
GSU coach Tyson Summers may be the first to lose his job this season, only his second in Statesboro. His team was dominated by an FCS school that isn't exactly known as being a power at that level. This after all kinds of problems on and off the field in the past year. That's a proud program. How much longer do the individuals closest to it let this go on? This was the Sun Belt's second FCS loss this season after Georgia State dropped a game to Tennessee State.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...-tyson-summers
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Originally Posted by HogDawg
