Post by FLCATAMOUNT on Oct 20, 2024 9:30:30 GMT -5
I was comparing Westerns record and stats against Mercer record and stats. Looking at strength of schedule (SOS) for the 2024 season, Westerns SOS is 44 and Mercers SOS is 129 and Mercers would be lower if they did not play Alabama the last game of the season. Mercer has played, Presbyterian, Bethune Cookman, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Wofford, Citadel and Samford. We have played NC State, Campbell, Elon, Montana, Wofford, The Citadel and Furman. Chattanooga and Samford are the 2 best teams that Mercer has played and their biggest win was Chattanooga at Chattanooga. They got smoked by a 2 win Samford team at Samford, but I believe that Samford matches up against Mercer better than any team in the SoCon. Mercer has not played a team the caliber of NC State or Montana, and we lost to those teams but we played toe to toe with them. One cannot compare Mercers stats to Western stats on offense or defense as Western has played stiffer competition. One stat on defense that Western excels at is red zone defense. We are number 5 in FCS even when you include the NC State and Montana in red zone defense which in my opinion is the most important defensive statistics. When you subtract the NC State and Montana games, our defense has given up 24, 17, 17, 16 and 20 points for an average of 18.8 points per game and that includes scores given up on special teams. By removing NC State and Montana games, this makes the SOS between Western and Mercer roughly the same. Mercer has given up 14.42 and that is leaving Presbyterian and Bethune Cookman in the mix which are weaker than any team we have played.
My point is when you compare defenses, we are roughly the same and Mercers defensive rankings are skewed because of a weaker SOS. Offensively we are at least as good and maybe a bit better. Mercer is a hard place to play and this game will not be easy, but if we can play well, they are beatable and we can beat them if we want it more than they do. We need to start fast and overwhelm them, but unfortunately that has not been our pattern all year.
GO CATS!!!
My point is when you compare defenses, we are roughly the same and Mercers defensive rankings are skewed because of a weaker SOS. Offensively we are at least as good and maybe a bit better. Mercer is a hard place to play and this game will not be easy, but if we can play well, they are beatable and we can beat them if we want it more than they do. We need to start fast and overwhelm them, but unfortunately that has not been our pattern all year.
GO CATS!!!
