We also have a ton of guys from FL - they'll probably welcome the heat
Regarding the 2-deep, I am happy to see Jalynn listed as the #2. I expect we see a lot of him, as we will still need to keep the Mercer defense honest with some runs, and while he doesn't have the speed of some of the other guys he is the best we have at breaking arm tackles and getting a few tough yards. Having some 2-5 yard carries on 1st and 2nd down will be important to try and keep Mercer's front-7 from just teeing off on Cole and for keeping us away from those awful 3rd and 10 type of plays where the Bears feast on other teams.
And of course I am also very happy to see AJ listed as the starter. Not only for how he is sometimes Cole's security blanket, but to also have his sure hands on punt return.
And adding on other notables. All 5 starters on the OLine seem to be back. Still no Ed Jones IV on D.
LOL - yeah, forgot about that Sunshine State Highway that runs to Cullowhee. Those boyz may feel like they’re playing in a Homecoming game in the heat of Maconga.
Watched the 1st quarter of WCU @ FU last night. It was all FUBeAR could bear to watch, and, no, he didn’t really watch the game in person. It was Homecoming. FUBeAR was too busy sharing lies with his Teammates and his former paramours. FUBeAR never returned from re-visiting the FFPA Tailgate at halftime…and staying there for the next 4 hours.
But, anyway, a few observations…
* FU’s babies in the Secondary would be pretty good … in a HS All-Star game. They are clearly not up to SoCon / D1 FCS standards…yet. They didn’t know whether to scratch their watches or wind their butts facing the amazing athletes that WCU sports at WR. It am a Horror Show! For some of them out there, the next WCU WR they cover, next season, will be the first one. The same could almost be said for their tackling of a WCU WR.
* FU’s D-Front, where they have a little bit of experience (and one excellent Player - DiMaggio) was better than the DB’s, but not nearly good enough to apply much pressure against WCU’s OL’s very solid PassPro, without sending 5 or 6, which means Cover 0 or Cover 1 on the back-end…and to see how that worked out, see the above bullet point … and WCU’s QB’s stat line.
* Gonzales best ability, besides his excellent ability to zip the ball on a rope and on-target, is his ability to rapidly look for & evaluate his 2nd and 3rd options, and then, if necessary, to hit his ‘bailout’ RB or TE with a catchable ball that either ‘throws him open,’ or hits him in full stride, or both. This is not a small skill - very Drew Brees-like. Drew Brees was a pretty good QB; even made a few dollars dealin’ footballs for quite a number of years.
* Have a few more, but FUBeAR will keep those between him and Coach Jacobs.
Because he couldn’t take any more watching that train wreck for Furman, FUBeAR queued up CIT @ WCU.
* Very different (and successful) game plans on both sides of the ball for WCU…which tells FUBeAR somebody’s doin’ some Coaching up there in Cullowhee.
* WCU seemed to focus more on running the ball, particularly to the edge, using an Outside Zone scheme. While this type of running play wasn’t particularly effective against FU’s quicker (didn’t say “better”) D-Front, the Catamounts executed it quite well vs. the bellhops slower DL & LB’s. Perhaps it was so taking-candy-from-a-bunch-of-babies easy to chunk it on FU’s DB’s that WCU didn’t need to waste time ‘establishing the run’ as WCU seemed to want to do against CIT.
* While WCU’s DB’s played almost exclusively Press Man Cover 0 or Cover 1 against FU, except on 3rd and longs, the Catamounts’ very athletic, but not ‘huge,’ DB’s didn’t press CIT’s bigger WR’s nearly as much as they did FU’s smaller ones. The D game plan seemed to be more about containing the run (not necessarily stopping it) and, while applying pressure, of course, still not being too concerned about CIT’s QB putting the ball in the air. This is a good plan against their O.
* Interesting to note is that WCU’s new DC came, this year, from Tusculum, while Coach Jacobs and most of the Mercer Staff, this year, came from Lenoir-Rhyne - both D2 SAC Teams. So, they have faced each other 5 times from ‘19-‘23. They know each other well.
Season Winner Score2023 Lenoir-Rhyne 48 - 7 (SAC Championship Game)
2022 Lenoir-Rhyne 34 - 14
2021 Lenoir-Rhyne 38 - 31
2020-21 Tusculum 23 - 28 (Spring 2021)
2019 Lenoir-Rhyne 38 - 14
Coach Odom will certainly be motivated to do something he’s never done - in a ‘normal’ season, get a win over a Team Coached by Mike Jacobs while holding a Jacobs-Coached Offense under 34 points.
Should be a fun one to observe!