That really wasn't the point. Afterall, LA Tech has played one (1) team ranked better than #100 (Texas) this year. USM has played 4, and just demolished preseason CUSA favorite, UNT. The simple point is, by any measure USM does have a high powered offense that scores a lot. How are we going to stop 'em?
IMO, if our defense doesn't put enormous pressure on USM QB Jack Abraham and force him to make bad throws, we'll get demolished. But, play USM the same way we played against Hawaii last year (and SMU the year before) , and we'll have a good chance to win. It's all about getting pressure on the QB. If we don't get pressure on the USM QB, Abraham will pick us apart with a 90% completion rate.
Its aggressive. Just not bold, or risky. Because we were having our way.
Well, I think we all will agree that this is the game that should decide the West Champion in CUSA. You have a very impressive team this year. I fear that USM's string of recent wins makes me feel this is your Dogs year to bring home the W in this game. USM's team strength is our qb and a very talented group of receivers. Our oline is our weakness on offense. If the oline can protect Abraham and open some holes for the running game, then we have a chance. This USM defense is far from a Nasty Bunch defense. Our really weak link on defense is our secondary. Our new secondary coach seems to be a questionable hire. Our linebacker group is also weaker this year. Our dline was highly touted, but in my opinion hasn't backed up the hype. They do have a chance this week to back up the hype.
I predict a good game, but I feel the home field advantage could be the difference this year. I expect a large crowd of Bulldog supporters and they will be a factor. I would love a W, but I would feel better if this game was in Hattiesburg. Anyway, lets hope it is a great game with no injuries and may the best team win.
Line is Tech -1.5. Line will definitely move, but by how much?
Current line looks like Tech -2.0 or -1.5. That is a move from USM -1.5. As they predominately are, I hope Vegas is right on this one!
Watched USM twice this year. Their offense is gonna stay on the field against our our flex defense so we better make the most of our offensive possessions. However, unlike Rice, BG and UMass they will turn tons of yardage in to points. We MUST have our best defensive game of the year and we best score north of 35 pts on offense to keep this one in range. If JMar does the usual and misses most of his downfield throws then our point production will not be enough to keep up. He needs to have his best game of the year for us to win. I simply dont think our defense is good enough to keep us close if our offense isnt really clicking.
Just this...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kv-kPU4-G-Q
To be successful on defense, we need 4 down lineman on every snap. No prevent ever.
That gets me pumped every time I hear it. Someone should tell our video operations to play that or just turn it off.