Key Moment

If you’re not happy with Act I, be sure to stick around for Act II.

For the second straight night at home, South Carolina turned a close halftime score into a runaway as they defeated the Furman Paladins 81-57 on Monday night. The Gamecocks led 28-26 going into the locker room.

“As crazy as this sounds, I told the guys ‘good job’ at halftime,” said guard Devan Downey. “We were guarding well – we were just a little sluggish on offense.”

Furman managed to narrow the gap to 35-34, but Carolina played with a renewed intensity on defense and surged away on a 21-5 run over the next five and a half minutes to put the game out of reach.

“We played with great effort and eventually when the shots started falling, we were able to get our confidence up and get our offense going,” said Head Coach Darrin Horn. “It was very similar to the Richmond game. I didn’t feel like we played bad defensively. We just didn’t score. But we stuck with the things we need to do to be a good basketball team.”

In that five and a half minute stretch, the Gamecocks pushed their lead out to 56-39 with ten minutes to play in the game.

While the defense created the opportunities, Ramon Galloway provided some firepower to kick start the run. The freshman hit three 3-pointers during the stretch to help stretch Carolina’s lead. Galloway finished the night 4-of-7 from behind the arc and scored a career high 15 points.

“What got the run started was our defense,” Galloway said. “Once we picked up our defense, the shots started falling.”

South Carolina forced 15 second-half turnovers (24 total) and held the Paladins to 33% shooting. The Gamecocks had a season-high 16 steals.

Key Box Score

“I think without question that was Devan’s best game of the year,” said Horn. “Tonight was a night where he really made a difference on both ends of the court. He took care of the basketball and had a two-to-one assist to turnover ratio…he took good shots and distributed the ball. He had seven steals, and a lot of those were just being on the ball, being aggressive.”

While the scoring is a positive, Downey continued to emphasize the importance of defense to the team’s future success.

“If we defend, we’re going to be in every ball game,” he said. “We just have to play for forty minutes.”

Key Stats

• Gamecocks had four players finish in double figures – Downey, Muldrow (16), Jackson (15) and Galloway (15).
• Three Gamecocks finished the game with career highs in points – Jackson, Galloway and Spinella (5).
• South Carolina topped its season high for points in the second half with 53 points.
• Gamecocks tied their season high for turnovers forced with 24 and set a season record with 16 steals.
• Carolina outscored Furman 38-20 in the paint.
• The Gamecock bench contributed 30 points to the win while Furman’s bench scored 16.

Key Quote

“We’re still trying to find our way – when does it flow for us…offensively, how do we click best? I think that part of it will be a work in progress, but that’s why the defensive end and the effort is so important. If you continue to do that, you’re going to give yourself an opportunity even when shots aren’t going down.”

-Head Coach Darrin Horn

The Gamecocks host the Furman Paladins Monday night at Colonial Life Arena. Watch live on SportSouth or listen live on the Gamecock ISP Sports Network.

South Carolina (7-3) Notes

• The Gamecocks are 5-0 at home this season, averaging 85 points per game in those contests. South Carolina began the ‘08-’09 campaign on an 8-0 streak.
• South Carolina ranks third in the SEC in blocked shots per game with 8. Sam Muldrow leads the team with 3.3 blocks per game, good for second in the conference and eighth in the nation.
• Devan Downey (17.6) and Brandis Raley-Ross (12.1) average in double figures for the Gamecocks.
• South Carolina is 6-1 when they score at least 70 points in a game.
• The Gamecocks are 7-3 under Head Coach Darrin Horn in the month of December.

Furman (5-4) Notes

• The Gamecocks and the Paladins tip-off for the 124th time Monday night. South Carolina holds a 71-52 edge in the all-time series. Furman’s last victory against South Carolina came on Feb. 20, 1980.
• Furman is looking to snap a three-game skid after losses to Western Carolina, Clemson and South Carolina State. A win for the Paladins give the team six wins on the year equaling their total from last season.
• Furman ranks second in the Southern Conference in scoring, averaging 73.4 points per game.
• Junior Jordan Miller has reached double figure scoring in 12 straight games. Miller averages 16.4 per game.
• Darryl Evans, Furman’s only senior, leads the Southern Conference with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Evans has 34 assists and just 13 turnovers in nine games.

Formula prediction:
South Carolina wins by 11 points

Brett’s prediction:
South Carolina wins by 20 points

Accuracy:
89.571% at 11+ points

This one’s going to be a countdown, and since that’s not technically a Firing Squad, we’ll call it a Public Hanging.

I realized at least two of these, maybe three, were chick magnets after My Tie. For those of you not familiar with the classic/Southern approaches to courtin’, a girl chooses who she wants to go with to a dance by asking a friend of the guy to get one of his ties for her. Then, she wears that tie to the dance, and the guy finds her, and then they make sweet sweet sandwiches. Well, in South Carolina, I suppose she makes them, he eats them, and then they pray for the continuation of such a balanced relationship. But yeah, that’s the concept of My Tie. Very important for most of what’s going to come.

5) Swing dancing classes. Before My Tie happened, some organization at Furman put together some swing dancing classes. This is when I realized that Furman would only be a mildly helpful university. Clearly, any dance where the oldest kids are about twenty is going to be filled with grinding, not swing dancing, but hell, I suppose that we can pretend that young people can control (or want to control) their hormones. I swear, we should change our name from the Paladins to the Fightin’  June Cleavers. At any rate, a few of the guys on my hall decided to do the two nights of swing dancing classes. Turns out that they met a large number of girls there. I didn’t go because “swing dancing” is an anagram for “I’m going to embarrass myself and sprain my ankle besides.” The upshot of all this is that a lot of the people on my hall and our sister hall decided to go into downtown Greenville, and guess what we found? Yeah, swing dancing in the park. Chick magnetism that ends up paying off in a practical manner. In a related note, this is the first thing that a lot of these guys learned at college that had ANY practical value.

4) Bandit, the stuffed raccoon. I’m trying of something to call my friend from school. I know she’s going to show up over and over again, and calling her by her real name is just going to be boring. Fortunately for her, we aren’t dating, so names like Bill Simmons’ “Sports Gal” or my brother’s “Kate, the Long Suffering Girlfriend” (not familiar with my brother? thephrontiersman.wordpress.com puts forth some excellent sports opinions, especially if you’re interested in the Phillies, baseball or other Philadelphia teams. And I realize that if you’re reading this, you’re either one of my friends or one of those oodles of people who read Michael before reading me, but I feel obligated to return the favor.) aren’t going to work out. We’re going to go with “the Impossible Woman,” since she’s attractive, intelligent, and can quote Lord of the Rings verbatim (not to be confused with “the Impossible Girl,” who is a friend from high school who is attractive, intelligent, a rabid Phillies fan, and enjoys Deadliest Warrior). Anyway. The Impossible Woman (stop blushing. You sound like a superhero. And if you can give me a better name than “the Impossible Woman” for you that’s less generic than your actual name, please tell me. Has anyone else noticed that I’m using parantheses gratuitously? I sure have!) was kind enough to pick me up from the airport after I flew back to Furman after Thanksgiving break. Her temperamental Ford SUV, which is a redundant phrase, experienced some mild battery death at the airport, though, so we looked in her trunk for jumper cables. I didn’t find any of those. I did find a stuffed animal that I’m going to guess is a raccoon because of the eye markings. She had brought back that rather adorable little creature from home; his name is Bandit. And yes, we found someone who re-charged her battery, but not before someone made a vague sexual come-on to the Impossible Woman concerning her car trouble. The real point of this story is Bandit. Whenever I visit the Impossible Woman, it seems like Bandit is always in someone’s arms. Her roommate is vehemently opposed to anyone doing anything to Bandit besides cuddling him. In my experience and opinion, Bandit is a step down or two from a puppy or a baby when it comes to “things you can carry that instantly make you more adorable in the eyes of women.”

3) the Glade plug-in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwEPKTn4ies&feature=related This is one of my least favorite commercials of all time. Everyone involved in this commercial, including Febreze, has earned themselves a special corner of Hell. BUT HEY! AT LEAST IT’LL SMELL GOOD! HEY, BEELZEBUB, GUESS HOW CLEAN KARL’S CORNER OF HELL SMELLS! However, there is a certain truth in this commercial: if the room smells good, any girls coming into the room will notice. This has been proven by a Glade plug-in that I keep by my desk that has two scents, Caramel Apple and Sparkling Cinnamon Happiness That Will Make Your Nose More Happy And Tingly Than Anything Else Short Of That Cocaine You’re Snorting. I put the Glade plug-in…in. Good grief, that sentence is more awkward than telling people who love Milk that Sean Penn used to be wed to Madge and punch reporters. Three young ladies (including the Impossible Woman, w00t) came into my room. All three of them mentioned how good it smelled. I’m just saying. Whoever makes the stuff into a cologne first wins.

2) the Mini Cooper. My friend Spencer is a fetching young fellow who doesn’t have trouble picking up women. Or a woman, at least, judging from the rumor that he has a girlfriend. However, Spencer has one thing going for him that makes him completely irresistable to any woman that has to travel outside of walking distance: the Mini Cooper. Get ready for me to pull a Dane Cook Memorial Full Circle Joke: before My Tie (if I had screamed that loud enough, an entire generation of aptly named sophomores would have peed their leggings laughing), my hall and our sister hall went out to Fuddrucker’s, because, well, it’s Fuddrucker’s, and the noms there are wonderful and the guilt you get after eating there is at a Sophie Portnoy level in its far-reaching effects. Before we went over to our sister hall, though, one of my hallmates says, “Mini Coopers are chick magnets.” He turns out to have the kind of insight usually reserved for Hans Blix. We get there. The girls see a Mini Cooper with racing stripes, and I swear by my Glade plug-in that I heard a squeal. There is a verbal spar over who is going to get to ride in the Mini Cooper. They end up squeezing an extra girl into it so she can ride over in a Mini. I end up in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, bee tee dubs.

1) And at this point, you have to be wondering, “Wow, sounds like they almost had a Girls Gone Wild moment over the Coop. What can top that?” His name is Robert Somerville Wilkerson Given, Jr. He’s blonde, blue eyed, thin as a rail but incredibly muscular, can run a mile in close to four minutes, is from Birmingham, Alabama, has a drawl, dances, wants to be a doctor, is probably richer than Mammon, is in all likelihood descended from people who owned oodles of other people…do you see where I’m going with this. It’s Scarlett O’Hara, except less bitchy. He was missing a tie as soon as My Tie was announced. He was the first person on my hall to get a girlfriend at Furman. I don’t think he spits game at all. I think he just says his name is Wilkerson, and suddenly, knees buckle.

“Am I dying or is this my birthday?” If I witnessed Nancy Astor’s death, I probably would have thrown a party too. Just kidding. But Winston Churchill would have.

Nancy Astor:  Winston, if you were my husband, I would put poison in your coffee.

Winston Churchill: Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.

4121334626_e536214909_b.jpg (JPEG Image, 385×1024 pixels) – Scaled (54%).

Furman Magazine Fall 2009
Thanks Uniwatchblog

It has been a disappointing season for The Citadel, but it is likely that it has been an even more disappointing campaign for Georgia Southern.  The Eagles, like the Bulldogs, are 4-6, and losing seasons are definitely not the norm in Statesboro.

It will be only the third losing season for the Eagles since Erk Russell restarted the football program in 1982.  In 1996 Frank Ellwood went 4-7 in his only season in charge; Ellwood was a transitional coach following the firing of Tim Stowers.  In 2006, Brian VanGorder blew into town and left after one year, leaving with a 3-8 record.  He was replaced by the current coach, Chris Hatcher.

Hatcher had been very successful at Division II Valdosta State (winning a national title in 2004) but has not managed to lift GSU to its accustomed heights, with season records of 7-4, 6-5, and this year’s 4-6 to date.  When Ellwood completed his one season as head man in Statesboro, he was replaced by Paul Johnson, who proceeded to win 37 games and a national title over his first three years in command.  (Johnson won another I-AA crown in his fourth season, as well.)

Hatcher’s 17 wins pale in comparison, even when given the benefit of the doubt for having to pick up the pieces left by the hurricane that was VanGorder.  Stowers won 26 games in his first three seasons as the head coach; Mike Sewak won 27 in his first three years.  Even Erk Russell, starting from scratch in 1982, won 21 games over his first three seasons.  Small wonder there is some question about Hatcher’s job security.

After all, this is a school that has considered a move to FBS.  Struggling in the SoCon is not a good recipe for making a move up the football ladder.

—

The Eagles are 3-4 in the SoCon, having lost last week at home to Furman 30-22.  The Paladins jumped out to a 24-0 lead in that game and held on for the victory.  It was the third straight loss for GSU; the other two losses were a 52-16 beatdown at Appalachian State and a 31-10 loss at Samford.

GSU fans aren’t used to losing games by 30+ points, but it’s happened three times this season:  once to North Carolina (no shame in that), the aforementioned game against ASU and a 44-6 wipeout at South Dakota State earlier this season.  The Jackrabbits are ranked #21 in the FCS, but that is no consolation to Eagle fans.

Like The Citadel, Georgia Southern has allowed 28 points or more in 6 games this year.  In league play, the Eagles have struggled on pass defense, allowed 7.9 yards per pass attempt, worst in the conference, and 12 touchdowns, tied for worst with…The Citadel.

GSU’s rush defense is statistically better, although part of that is due to teams rushing fewer times against the Eagles than any other squad in the league.  The Eagles have done a good job forcing turnovers, which is why GSU is +2 in turnover margin (because the GSU offense has given the ball away quite a bit itself).

Georgia Southern likes to blitz, which can lead to big plays both ways.  Samford, nobody’s idea of a big-play team, had touchdown passes of 69 and 57 yards in its victory over the Eagles.   The Citadel will have opportunities to get its receivers in one-on-one situations.

The receiver the Bulldogs would most like to see in a one-on-one matchup, of course, is Andre Roberts.  It’s his last game for the Bulldogs; maybe he’ll have a chance to cap a memorable career in grand style.

On offense the Eagles are near the bottom in most categories in conference play, ranking seventh (out of nine teams) in scoring offense, total offense, rushing offense, pass efficiency, and third-down conversions.  Georgia Southern has, however, been efficient in the red zone.  The Eagles are also first in the league in time of possession.

The biggest problem GSU has had, statistically, is allowing sacks — 30 in league play, the most allowed by a conference team.  The Citadel needs to continue the trend of opponents putting GSU quarterbacks on the ground if the Bulldogs plan on winning this game.

Georgia Southern has committed more penalties than all but one team in league play.  However, The Citadel has had fewer penalties called against its opponents than any other school in the conference.  Something’s gotta give…

Lee Chapple started the first nine games at quarterback for the Eagles, but last week was replaced as the starter by Kyle Collins.  Chapple will probably start against The Citadel.  He has thrown 7 touchdowns this season, but has been intercepted 14 times.  GSU running back Adam Urbano is only averaging 63.3 yards per game on the ground in league play, but he’s a definite receiving threat, having caught 45 passes this season, which leads the Eagles.

—

This game will not be Homecoming at Paulson Stadium — that was last week, against Furman.  However, there will probably still be a good crowd urging GSU (including 16 Eagle seniors) on to victory.  The Citadel has historically not fared well in Statesboro, with only one victory (in 2003) in ten trips to Paulson.

However, perhaps Saturday will be different.  After all, it will be November 21, and strange and wondrous things have been known to happen on that date, most notably on November 21, 1978.

That day, The Citadel trailed Furman 18-0, but scored 35 unanswered points to defeat the Paladins 35-18.  The coach of the Bulldogs that day was Art Baker, and it was the first (and only) time Baker ever won a game in The Citadel-Furman series.  He had been 0-8 until then, losing games as head coach of both Furman and The Citadel.

He would also lose the next season, in his final game as a head coach in the series, but on November 21 he was golden.  Maybe that’s a good sign for the Bulldogs on Saturday against GSU.

Who: Furman Paladins

When: December 21st, 7 p.m.

Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC

• Furman finished the season with a 6-24 record and a 4-16 mark in the Southern Conference.
• The Paladins struggled with injuries last season with a lineup that missed 68 games due to health problems.
• 6-2 junior Jordan Miller is Furman’s leading returning scorer (13.8 ppg). Team captain Darryl Evans returns after missing last season with a torn ACL. 6-6 junior Amu Saaka, a transfer from South Florida, is expected to make a major impact as well for the Paladins.

South Carolina men’s basketball season tickets starting at just $125 are on sale now at the South Carolina Athletics Ticket Office.  Visit GamecocksOnline.com or call 800-4SC-FANS. To purchase single game tickets to South Carolina’s non-conference matchups, contact the Ticket Office.

Note:  it can be difficult to figure out what to call the athletic teams of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Recently the school began using a ‘C’ mark, for “Chattanooga”.  The university’s teams have variously been referred to over the years as “UT-Chattanooga”, “Tennessee-Chattanooga”, “UTC”, and “Chattanooga”.

The nickname/mascot history is even more tangled.  A “moccasin” used to be a snake, then a shoe, then a cartoon Cherokee Indian called ‘Chief Moccanooga’, and now a mockingbird train conductor (and “moccasin” has morphed into “moc”, for mockingbird).

There is an explanatory page on the school’s website.  The page includes a quotation from Jimmy Fallon.  As you may have guessed, the quote is not very funny.

In the post that follows, I will call the school either “UT-Chattanooga”, or “UTC”, because that’s what I’ve always called it, and I see no particular reason to change.

—

Around this time last year The Citadel played UT-Chattanooga in Charleston.  It was Homecoming for the Bulldogs, and everyone expected a big win, since the Mocs were 1-9 (and would eventually finish 1-11).  At that time I wrote about how UTC had collapsed as a program after consistently challenging for league honors in its first 10-15 years in the Southern Conference.

Well, The Citadel did win that day, but barely, letting a team playing out the string with a lame-duck coach hang around and nearly steal the victory.  The Bulldogs survived thanks to Andre Roberts’ last-minute punt return TD, but despite winning the game, it was almost as poor a showing as The Citadel had for this year’s Homecoming.

UT-Chattanooga replaced Rodney Allison with Russ Huesman, who basically has the ideal background for a UTC head coach.  Huesman played high school football at famed Moeller High School in Cincinnati for Gerry Faust, who was destined to become a much-maligned coach for Notre Dame (albeit one who never lost to Navy).  Huesman then played college football for the Mocs, with his first two years under Joe Morrison and his last two under Bill “Brother” Oliver.

Huesman was a longtime assistant at William & Mary, where he coached the secondary (Huesman was a DB himself at UTC) and was later the defensive coordinator.  Players he coached while with the Tribe include longtime NFL interception magnet Darren Sharper, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, and Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.  That’s not a bad list of guys to have as references.

He then moved to Memphis for several seasons, including a stretch as recruiting coordinator for the Tigers, before spending five seasons as the defensive coordinator for Richmond, the defending FCS champions.

That’s a nice resume for any prospective head coach at the FCS level; being an alum is an even bigger bonus.  Huesman seems to have given the program some much-needed enthusiasm.  Home attendance has increased significantly, with three of the ten biggest crowds in Finley Stadium history so far this season.  There was even a bonfire on Wednesday night.

Another thing Huesman did was bring in a transfer from Tennessee to play quarterback.  B.J. Coleman has had a solid season for the Mocs, nothing flashy stats-wise but generally getting the job done.

Coleman has thrown fourteen touchdowns against six interceptions, although he did throw three picks last week against Appalachian State.  Five of his six interceptions for the season, in fact, have come in the last three games.  Coleman is a sophomore who will have two more years of eligibility after this season.

The Vols transfer has spread the ball around, although his favorite target is definitely Blue Cooper, who has 68 receptions and could conceivably make the All-SoCon squad ahead of Andre Roberts (Elon’s Terrell Hudgins is a lock for the other first-team spot at wide receiver).

UTC suffered a blow when running back Bryan Fitzgerald was injured and lost for the season.  Freshman Chris Awuah is the leading rusher for the Mocs, but he is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry.  UTC is last in the league in rushing offense.

UTC has respectable, if not eye-popping, defensive statistics across the board, generally ranking in the upper half of the SoCon in most categories for conference-only games.  The Mocs have struggled, however, in defending 3rd-down conversions; the Mocs D is 7th in the league (The Citadel is 8th in the league, ahead of only Furman).  Another sore spot for the defense is red zone conversion rate; UTC is last in the SoCon, and has allowed 17 touchdowns in 25 opponents’ possessions inside the 20.

The Mocs are tied for the lead in interceptions in conference play with eight; free safety Jordan Tippet has five of his own.

One defensive stat that is very impressive for UTC:  sacks.  The Mocs have 24 sacks on the season; their 16 sacks in league play in second-best in the conference.  The primary sack-master is right defensive end Josh Beard, who has 10.5 of them so far this year.  His partner in crime on the other side of the line, freshman DE Joshua Williams, has 6.

Despite the mediocre 3rd-down defense numbers and lack of a rushing game, UTC leads the league in time of possession.  The Mocs don’t hurt themselves with penalties (second in the SoCon).  UTC is next-to-last in net punting, but features an outstanding placekicker in Craig Camay, who is 13-16 converting field goals this year, with a long of 52.  Camay is also a weapon for onside kicks; the Mocs have recovered four of five onside kick attempts in league action.

—

A few other odds and ends:

– I was surprised to find out that The Citadel is UT-Chattanooga’s most common opponent.  Saturday’s game will be the 43rd meeting between the two schools.  The school in second place on the Mocs most-played list?  Tennessee, which has faced UTC on 41 occasions.  The Vols are 37-2-2 in those games.

– UTC is 5-4, but if it has dreams of a winning season, it probably needs to beat The Citadel.  Next week, the Mocs play Alabama.  Yikes.

Tangent:  what is with the SEC and these late-season matchups against FCS schools?  Last week, there were four such games:  Tennessee Tech-Georgia, Furman-Auburn, Northern Arizona-Mississippi, and Eastern Kentucky-Kentucky.

Last year, of course, The Citadel closed out its season by playing Florida.  Why aren’t these games being played in the first couple of weeks of the season? I hope all of them were Homecoming games.

– UTC’s game notes reference The Citadel’s football stadium (on the same page) as “Haggod Stadium” , “Johnson Hagood Stadium”, and “Sansom Field”.

– The Citadel has never won four straight games against UT-Chattanooga.  The Bulldogs currently enjoy a three-game winning streak versus the Mocs.

—

It’s hard to say what The Citadel’s chances on Saturday are, since it’s hard to determine which Bulldog team will show up — the one that played Appalachian State and Furman, or the one that played Elon, Western Carolina, and Wofford?

It will be interesting to see who starts at quarterback.  If I had to guess (and it’s only a guess), I would say that Miguel Starks, even if just “85%”, will get the nod.  Just the thought of a gimpy Bart Blanchard sitting in the pocket as the two sack-happy UTC defensive ends converge on him is cringe-inducing…

I certainly hope that the Bulldogs are more competitive than they were last week.  This is a big game for UTC, which has a chance for a winning season.  Given that the Mocs won a total of six games in the previous three years, that would be a major accomplishment.  UT-Chattanooga will be ready to play on Saturday.  The Bulldogs better be ready as well.

In college football, there are not that many games in a season, at least when compared to other sports.  For an FCS school, there are just eleven opportunities.  It’s important to make the most of each and every one of them.

The Citadel has played nine games this season.  In three of those games, the team’s performance has been absolutely awful, and I mean awful in the “did they know there was a game today?” sense.  That’s fully one-third of the games.

In sports, every now and then you’re going to have a bad day where nothing goes right (the same is true for life in general).  Most fans can understand that.  Having it happen once every three games — well, that’s not so understandable.  Worse, all three thud-fests were conference games (Elon, Western Carolina, and now Wofford).

In past posts, I called the Elon game a debacle, and the WCU loss a disaster.  I’m not sure what adjective applies to The Citadel’s game on Saturday against the Terriers.  Perhaps I should call it “disheartening” just to stay with the D-word theme.

Speaking of D:

• On the second Wofford series, the Terriers were faced with a 3rd-and-8, and promptly converted it by completing a 23-yard pass — this from a team that rarely throws the ball (Wofford entered the contest last in the nation in passing yardage per game).  You just knew it was going to be a long day for the Bulldogs when that happened.
• That third-down conversion was one of seven the Terriers picked up in eleven tries.  Wofford had come into the game only converting 38% of its third downs.
• Of course, Wofford had 13 first downs in which it didn’t even need to convert a third down.
• Wofford had lost 13 fumbles and thrown 6 interceptions prior to Saturday’s game, but the only Terrier turnover on Saturday came deep in Bulldog territory with Wofford already leading 29-10.
• That fumble would be the only time the Terriers failed to score in the “red zone” in seven tries (four touchdowns, two field goals).

The defense’s day was probably best epitomized by a play in the second quarter.  Wofford faced a 3rd and 1 at The Citadel’s 33 yard line.  As the Terriers broke their huddle, an image of Terrence Reese in full “make some noise, get pumped up” mode appeared on the video board.  Wofford ran an inside handoff for three yards and a first down, with Reese then penalized for a late hit.  The Terriers scored four plays later.

The defensive issues weren’t particularly surprising, given the Bulldogs’ struggles on D for most of the season, and the success Wofford has had against The Citadel in recent years.  During the Kevin Higgins era, the Terriers have scored at least 28 points in every game against the Bulldogs.

However, unlike last season’s game against Wofford, on Saturday the Bulldog offense was equally disappointing.

I’m not sure what to make of the way the quarterbacks were utilized during the game.  Obviously, Bart Blanchard and Miguel Starks were both coming off injuries, and if they couldn’t play, that would be one thing.  As it happened, they both played, although whether either should have seemed debatable.

Blanchard was clearly struggling with a bad toe (and he’s had a bad ankle all year).  Never the fastest of QBs, he was no threat to run.  Any nominal “option” plays that The Citadel ran with Blanchard in the game were really just handoffs to Terrell Dallas or Van Dyke Jones, and Wofford treated them as such.  He also appeared to be a sitting duck in the pocket.

After the game, according to a story in The Post and Courier, Blanchard was wearing a walking boot in the locker room, just as he had in prior games against Furman and Samford, when he didn’t play.  I’m not sure why he played against Wofford, either.

I appreciated the effort and the determination, though.  Even with a bad wheel, he threw a really impressive pass to Kevin Hardy that would lead to a field goal; I’m not sure all of the fans in the stands appreciated how good a throw that was.  Blanchard did not get much help from his receivers, as there were several dropped passes (a recurring issue for most of the season).

Blanchard was in the game late in the first half when The Citadel got the ball on its own 6 yard line.  There were only 61 seconds left on the clock, and the Bulldogs actually had a little momentum, having scored on their previous drive to cut Wofford’s lead to seven, at 17-10.  The Terriers had just one timeout left, so the Bulldogs could have run out the clock.

However, on first down Blanchard went back to pass and was sacked, fumbling the ball.  Lincoln Kling recovered in the end zone for the Bulldogs, but the result was a safety.  Wofford returned the ensuing free kick to the Bulldog 40 and would eventually kick a field goal to take a 22-10 lead into the locker room.  It was like giving away five free points and all the momentum.  Wofford then got the ball first to open the third quarter, drove right down the field and scored.  Ballgame.

Tommy Edwards replaced Blanchard just before the end of the third quarter, moved the Bulldogs 38 yards in five plays, and then threw an interception.  On the Bulldogs’ next series (now trailing 43-10), Miguel Starks started taking the snaps.  He would lead The Citadel to the game’s final score on his second series of the game.

This I really didn’t understand.  If Starks was injured and couldn’t start, why put him in the game with 10 minutes left and the team trailing by five touchdowns?  I didn’t see the point in that.  If he had been healthy enough to play at all, he should have started over the clearly ailing Blanchard, or come into the game when the outcome was still in doubt.

Kevin Higgins noted that Edwards “doesn’t have much experience at all”, and that’s certainly true, but in retrospect I wonder if it would have been better for all concerned if Edwards had played instead of either Blanchard or Starks.

Of course, I’m just a yokel watching the game.  I don’t have any inside information on what the thinking was regarding playing Blanchard/Edwards/Starks.  It may be that Starks’ injury is the type that won’t get worse, but won’t get much better anytime soon.  If that’s the case, the coaches may have wanted to see what he was capable of doing, so they could take that into account for next week.

—

To have such a trouncing occur on Homecoming was also a bit dispiriting.  Without the TD at the end of the game, the Bulldogs would have suffered their worst Homecoming loss since 1989.  It’s not the best way to impress visiting alums, that’s for sure.

Things I may or may not have heard in and around the various reunion tents:

• “Why don’t we run the wishbone?”
• “Well, we’re a basketball school, anyway.”
• “Maybe the guys on the team would play better if we rewarded a good season by letting them stay at the beach house during second semester, instead of the barracks.”
• “How long have we been wearing navy pants?”
• “Skip the orange juice, just give me what’s left in that bottle.”

A few observations about some off the field issues:

– Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that a significant number of cadets don’t make it to the game, and I’m not the only one who has spotted this trend.  At Saturday’s game I guesstimated that at least one-third, if not more, of the corps was not in the stands during the game.  Where were they?

This is something that the school administration needs to address before next season.  I know there are some legitimate absences, but the bottom line is that at least 90% of the corps of cadets needs to be in the stands at Johnson Hagood Stadium at every game.  Right now, that’s not happening.

– I’ve said this before, but if I attend too many more games at Johnson Hagood I’m going to eventually go deaf, thanks to the sound system speakers, which, apparently inspired by Spinal Tap, are set at “11″.  At least on this particular Saturday A) the referee’s microphone worked, and B) they didn’t play the “clap your hands” riff as the Bulldogs lined up to punt.

– Video board, good:  the Randy Bresnik message intro was great.  Excellent job setting that up.  I can’t imagine going into outer space.  Of course, I’m not crazy about heights…

– Video board, unintentionally amusing:  the Anthony Maldanado speech (through no fault of his own, of course).  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

– I thought the attendance was okay (Wofford didn’t bring a lot of fans).  Plenty of alums were wandering around, taking in the sights at the almost brand-new stadium, marveling at bathroom facilities that weren’t holdovers from the 19th century.  Everyone was ready to cheer; there just wasn’t anything worth cheering about, at least on the field.

– MVPs for the day, school of business administration:  both the Class of ‘59 and the Class of ‘69 presented enormous monetary contributions to the school on Saturday.  Major, major thumbs-up for those two classes.  Outstanding.

– MVPs for the day, school of recreation and leisure:  this would go to the Class of ‘89, which had a huge throng of partiers at its reunion tent, all of whom appeared to be having a good time.  Great turnout by that group of youngsters.

—

The Citadel now has two games left on the schedule, road contests against UT-Chattanooga and Georgia Southern.  A winning season is still a possibility, but it will be a tall order to triumph against both an improved Mocs squad and the traditionally tough Eagles.  The Bulldogs will certainly have to play much, much better than they did on Saturday if they hope to win either of those games, much less both of them.

Well, we’ve been here once before this season. Think back to the Ball State game and how the predictions ran somewhere in the, “Auburn scores in the stratosphere” while Ball U barely gets going. Except the Cardinals didn’t really play along with that plan did they?

Furman enters Saturday’s homecoming beat-down game anywhere from a 28 to 40+ point underdog. The Paladins are a Southern Conference, FCS team sitting at 4 wins, 4 losses and facing Auburn for the first time since 1956. They have conference foes Georgia Southern and Wofford remaining, while Auburn looks ahead has Georgia in Athens and Serial Repeat Offenders Alabama at home after Turkey Day.

When Auburn has the ball they’ll be across the line from a defense that sits between the nations of miserable and pathetic. In their four losses they’ve averaged giving up a hair over 40 points per contest. The only FBS opponent they’ve met was Missouri who torched the Paladins for 52. A similar result last week against Appalachian State only yielded one common denominator for Tiger fans to study: massive passing yards.

The Paladin defense has been respectable if not effective against the run, but once again those figures are against what one might call ”lesser opponents.” The only team worth studying for similarities is Missouri. The Mizzou offense reeled off 6 straight touchdowns to enter halftime solidly in command at 42-0. The first TD was even a trick play, cross field lateral, receiver to receiver strike. Um yeah, Auburn has some of those as well. Of note in the Missouri game was Furman controlling the clock with an eleven minute edge in time of possession.

So Auburn should pile up  the passing yards early, rest the starters in the second half and run the ball late? We’ll see. Joe’s personal preference would be to see Ben Tate get his yardage average padded early and for Caudle to play the second half alongside Kodi Burns. How much that takes place depends on how smoothly Furman plays their part in this drama.

Auburn’s defense will face a Furman offense which likes to throw the ball and has done decent protecting their QB. Again in the Missouri game, the Paladins piled up over 300 yards in the air and rushed for under 100. It should be noted however, the bulk of the Furman offensive display came in the second half against the 2nd and 3rd string Mizzou defenders.

The player to watch for is Senior QB, Jordan Sorrells. He’s a 6′ 2″, 209 pounder from Greenville, SC who completes over 60% of his passes and has only been sacked 6 times this year. No, he isn’t the best QB Auburn has faced this year, but he is more than capable of keeping Furman in this game if Auburn’s defense is still asleep late in the game.

In keeping with a tradition that is uniquely Joe Auburn, we aren’t going to comment on the special teams play. Period. Well, okay, please, please Auburn don’t give up a punt or kick-off TD return?!

By the time the homecoming queen has been crowned and the students have filed out, Auburn should have this game well at hand, if not completely in control. Provided Auburn’s offense shows up early and often I see no reason why we shouldn’t score over 40 points while only giving up 20. Auburn’s starters get some rest, the second string gets plenty of reps (we have no 3rd string), the Paladins collect their blood money and all of us get to focus on Amen’s Corner.

Furman 23, Auburn 51

Week nine was, without a doubt, my worst week of the season.  I went 4-3 straight up and 3-4 against the spread.  How was I to know that Tennessee would come out in black jerseys and throw the “Head Ball Coach” for a loop with a “special” Halloween fashion statement.  South Carolina was expecting UT to look like they were hosting a garbage man convention but instead the Vols looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie.  Man those were some ugly uniforms and yes, I am a junior deputy in the fashion police.

On the table for this week are an assortment of games that range in interest from practically zero to, as Cecil Hurt wrote this week in the Tuscaloosa News, essentially a playoff game for the national title.  I’ll cover the “zeros” first.

Furman (4-4) @ Auburn (6-3)

Auburn bounced back last week from the midnight of despair with a huge win over a ranked Ole Miss team.  The win makes Auburn bowl eligible and will take a ton of pressure off of the program.  Look for the Tigers to play free and loose this week and win easily.

Guy’s Guess: Furman 14 – Auburn 49

Northern Arizona (5-3) @ Ole Miss (5-3)

No team has disappointed this season quite like the Ol Miss Rebels.  Their offensive line is bad and Jevan Snead has gone from a first round draft pick to being a bellow average quarterback.  Snead has had bright spots here and there but is only consistent in his inconsistency.  Turnovers are a major problem for Mississippi and have probably cost the team two of their three losses thus far.  That being said, Ole Miss will win without a problem this week.

Guy’s Guess: N. Arizona 0 – Ole Miss 52

Eastern Kentucky (5-3) @ Kentucky (4-4)

Kentucky is coming off of a loss to Mississippi State.  Losing last week was a major blow to Kentucky’s hope’s of playing in one of the “better” bowl games this postseason.  The Wildcats are running the ball well but the lack of a competent quarterback is really holding Kentucky back offensively.  This week it won’t matter much against a 1-AA team.

Guy’s Guess: E. Kentucky 10 – Kentucky 42

Tennessee Tech (5-3) – Georgia (4-4)

What has happened to Georgia?  I know that they have talented football players.  I know that Mark Richt is a good coach.  What I don’t know is how good Richt’s staff is and how much the Georgia players care at this point.  The complete lack of defense keeps the Bulldogs from having a chance of beating quality teams and the play of qb Joe Cox is at about the same level as that of Jevan Snead.  Right now, unless something changes in a hurry, Georgia may be looking at being home for the Holidays.  This may be the last win of the year for Georgia.

Guy’s Guess: TN Tech 17 – Georgia 45

Memphis (2-6) @ Tennessee (4-4)

The Line: UT by 26

Memphis is an atrocious football team.  Their offense doesn’t scare anyone and their defense gives up more than 30 points per game.  The Tigers have two guys on that football team worth watching in rb Curtis Steele and wr Duke Calhoun and thats about it.

Tennessee is a team that is improving and making a serious bowl push.  Qb Jonathon Crompton looks like someone flipped a switch and turned on a light.  He is making good throws and better decisions and mainly not losing games for the Vols.  The UT defense is a little thin at lb right now but the Vols have made pretty good adjustments and are playing well.

Memphis is going to try to throw the ball a lot but UT just has too much talent for the Tigers.

Guy’s Guess: Memphis 17 – Tennessee 35

South Carolina (6-3) @ Arkansas (4-4)

The Line: Ark by 7

South Carolina is a team that is on a down turn right now.  Over the last three games the Gamecock offense has struggled to score.  USC is having a lot of trouble running the ball and as good as qb Stephen Garcia has played this season, he, just like every other qb, needs help from the rushing game to keep defensive pressure off.  USC needs this win to help get to one of the higher profile bowl games.

Arkansas has been the ultimate Jekel and Hyde SEC team this year.  From week to week you just don’t know which Razorback team will show up.  Will you see the team that torched Auburn and played tough with Florida or will you see that couldn’t move the ball against Ole Miss and Alabama?  This game is critical for Arkansas’ postseason hopes.

This South Carolina defense is comparable to the Ole Miss defense so I will say that the Hogs will have trouble keeping up with the Gamecocks.

Guy’s Guess: USC 31 – Arkansas 27

Vanderbilt (2-7) @ #1 Florida (8-0)

Vanderbilt lost last week to Georgia Tech 56-31.  Although it was a loss, the Vandy offense played well.  It’s sad to say but losing qb Larry Smith early in the game may have been the best thing to happen to the Commodores so far this year.  Backup Mackenzi Adams came in and played well and should get the start this week against the Gators.  The loss was the wost outing for the Vanderbilt defense and I have to think that not having a bye week is catching up to the Commodores.

Florida beat the stew out of Georgia last week and it looks like the Gator’s offense may have worked out their bugs.  The stingy Gator defense will be without lb Brandon Spikes due to the eye-gouging incident against UGA but it won’t matter this week.

Guy’s Guess: Vanderbilt 13 – Florida 55

#9 LSU (7-1) @ #3 Alabama (8-0)

LSU’s offense has finally showed up.  Last week the Tigers had their way with Tulane and the previous week they man-handled Auburn.  All SEC rb Charles Scott rushed for over 100yds for the first time this season against Tulane and qb Jordan Jefferson has settled down nicely over the past couple of weeks.  The Tigers have found a real weapon in Russell Shepard who can make plays from anywhere on the field.

Alabama has been winning “ugly” if there is such a thing.  The Tide’s passing game has disappeared and Alabama hasn’t scored more than 22 points in a game since week 5 against Kentucky.  The Bama running game has been as good as ever and the Tide defense has the potential to shut out anyone that they face but the lack of production from qb Greg McElroy lately has fans and coaches concerned.

I look for Alabama to open things up this week and take some shots down the field.  LSU will call a conservative offensive game and try to keep Jordan Jefferson from losing the game.  I don’t think that LSU will be able to run the ball on Alabama and I don’t think Jefferson can beat them passing.  It’s a good matchup for Bama in the closest thing to a playoff that I hope we will ever see in Division 1 college football.

Guy’s Guess: LSU 10 – Alabama 24

The Citadel 28, Samford 16.

There are two obvious storylines from this game, from the perspective of The Citadel.  The performance of Tommy Edwards is one; the success of the Bulldog defense is the other.  First, Tommy Edwards…

Miguel Starks started the game at quarterback after an outstanding effort against Furman, and soon discovered that the Samford defense was more than ready for him.  Starks was in the game for seven offensive drives (not counting Andre Roberts’ fumbled punt), and on those seven drives The Citadel picked up only two first downs.

It was a lot like the Elon game, except that the opposition wasn’t constantly scoring following the Bulldogs’ three-and-outs.  The Citadel was lucky not to be trailing by more than ten points at halftime.  By then, Starks was out of the game, having injured his ankle — not the ankle that was already hurt, but the other one.  This has not been a good year for ankles attached to Bulldog quarterbacks.

Edwards came into the game with just 37 seconds left in the half, and I thought that The Citadel would just run out the clock.  After all, he is a “true” freshman walk-on who admitted later that his goal entering the season was just to make the travel squad.

Instead, Edwards came out throwing, completing four passes for 30 yards (and having a long pass dropped).  The Bulldogs ran out of time and had to attempt a long field goal (53 yards), which missed, but it was still the team’s most impressive drive of the half.  During that initial drive led by Edwards, The Citadel picked up two first downs, just as many as it had made in the first 29:23 of the contest (to go with just 70 yards of total offense pre-Edwards).

At first there was some suspicion that Samford might have been playing a “prevent” defense, and would have something different in store for Edwards in the second half, but the Cadets continued to improve offensively.  The Citadel started winning the field position battle (key against a grind-it-out team like Samford), and began its second possession of the third quarter on its own 45 yard line.

On first down, Edwards rolled right, then turned around and threw across the field to an open Van Dyke Jones, who slalomed his way to a touchdown.  It was an excellent play call, perfectly executed.

After that, momentum favored The Citadel.  Two possessions later, Andre Roberts returned a punt 41 yards into Samford territory and the home team was in business, eventually taking the lead early in the fourth quarter on another TD pass from Edwards, this one to Alex Sellars.

The defense took care of the rest of the game, with Cortez Allen intercepting two passes, running the second one back for a TD.  He also returned the first one for a score, but one of the officials intervened, mysteriously ruling him out of bounds on the Samford 5 yard line (oh, those wacky SoCon officials).  Terrell Dallas scored on the next play anyway.

—

For any freshman quarterback to arrive on campus in August, come off the bench in a midseason game and lead a team to victory would be impressive.  It’s even more impressive for a freshman at The Citadel to do it, given what “knob” year is like, and particularly when the QB is a walk-on.  Even more unusual, at least for The Citadel, is the fact that Edwards is a native of California.

Over the years, not a lot of football players from the Golden State have plied their trade at the military college, which I suppose isn’t that big of a surprise.  No one can say for certain how many Californians have played for The Citadel, but I would guess that less than twenty football players from California have lettered for the Bulldogs over the years.  As it is, the media guide only lists five, including Valley Village’s McDonald Love (captain of the 1935 team) and North Hollywood’s Brian Baima (an all-SoCon split end in 1971).

When Edwards threw his second TD pass on Saturday, he almost certainly set the career record for TD passes thrown by a Californian at The Citadel, breaking the mark previously held by wide receiver Scott Flanagan of Camarillo, who threw a touchdown pass against Florida last season (off a trick play).  If it is any consolation to Flanagan, he still holds the road record in the category…

—

It was a red-letter day for the defense (or perhaps I should say a navy and light blue day, given the mismatched uniform combination The Citadel wore at Johnson Hagood).  Samford is a run-first, run-second, and then pass if necessary kind of team, and the Birmingham Bulldogs were held to 35 net rushing yards (which included four sacks).  Last season bruising running back Chris Evans rushed for 174 yards against The Citadel; this season, he was held to 52.

The defense kept The Citadel in the game after some early miscues, including a bad punt and Roberts’ uncharacteristic fumble.  Holding Samford to a field goal after the Roberts bobble was critical to the eventual victory.  The Citadel recorded ten tackles for loss, including a combined six from starting defensive tackles Terrence Reese and Kyle Anderson.  Add in the two Cortez Allen interceptions, and you couldn’t ask for much more from the D.

It was easily the most complete game of the season by The Citadel’s defense, although to be honest I thought Samford had a rather unimaginative game plan.  Even a couple of trick plays seemed halfhearted.  Samford lacked dynamism (no run plays of more than 13 yards; no pass plays for more than 20) and didn’t seem to have any answers when it struggled to run the ball, especially when field position in the second half turned against it.

Samford would wind up with 46 pass attempts.  Of those 46, there was just one recorded post route (which went for Samford’s final TD), one deep in route, and one deep out (the pass Allen intercepted and returned for a touchdown).  All three of those passes came in the fourth quarter after Samford had fallen behind by two scores.

Samford actually finished the game with more first downs than The Citadel (15 to 12).  However, other than the final drive, Samford never moved the ball more than the 30 yards it gained on its opening possession.

—

All in all, it was a good day for The Citadel.  As to which quarterback starts against Wofford, who knows.  Jeff Hartsell informs us that the fourth-string quarterback is Irmo’s Brian Hill; maybe he’ll get a shot.  It doesn’t matter as long as the Bulldogs can beat Wofford, which hasn’t happened in a while.  It will also be Homecoming.  The countdown to Saturday begins.

This Saturday marks the 83rd time the Auburn Tigers have taken the field for homecoming. Auburn’s first football opponent was Clemson, who graciously lost 13-0 on Drake Field – now the scene of a very rare on-campus parking lot for the student union. As hard as it is to imagine the City of Auburn and especially the campus without Jordan-Hare rising from the center, Auburn has played homecoming games in places like the Gump and Columbus, Georgia because we lacked facilities.

That is about the extent of Joe’s Auburn homecoming factoids. Your best source for Auburn homecoming notes are at the Auburn Tigers site. For those of you in-state (Alabama or South Carolina )on Saturday, your options to watch the game are of course, live or on pay-per-view.

Joe Auburn comes to the Plains by way of the Palmetto State and has some very real roots in the upstate area where Furman locates. Our neighbor was even a fullback for the Paladins, but I don’t remember if he faced off against the Tigers in the 1946, 1955 or 1956 games. Furman was further away from our home than the University of South Carolina and about the same distance as Clemson, but you would have never known it in the revolutionary war village of Ninety-Six. Furman was THE school on our street.

Furman began in 1826, making it the oldest, largest and most selective private institution in South Carolina. They moved the campus from Edgefield to Greenville in 1850 and again underwent change in the mid 1930’s when the nearby women’s college merged. The same year as the last football meeting with the Auburn Tigers, 1956, the University moved to the present-day, 750 acre campus just north of Greenville. The campus is anchored by a 30 acre lake and Bell Tower at the center and most folks in the surrounding area refer to Furman as, “The Country Club of the South.”

All students are required to live on campus, but as a senior you may win the lottery for a shot at living off campus. Seriously. There are over 3000 students on campus, and most of them will pursue post-graduate degrees. In fact, more Furman students will go on to earn their Ph.D.’s than from any other private liberal arts college in the South.

On the football field, the Paladins have a rich history of their own. The only national championship in school history came by way of the football team in 1988. They boast the most Southern Conference championships of any team in the league with 12 and along with Colgate, Lehigh and Richmond remain the only private universities that have appeared in the I-AA Football Championship game.

You would expect a liberal arts college to have a theatre and Furman certainly represents in this area. There is also an 18 hole golf course, but beyond those choices you’ll find yourself shifting your car into drive for the trip into nearby Greenville and beyond.

Fortunately, Joe Auburn was reared by Auburn alums and fans and our escape to the Plains was complete before my hometown could completely convert me. Aside from a whiff of nostalgia, Joe plans to represent the Auburn Family without a pang of regret this Saturday at homecoming.

War Eagle!

I’ll just begin this post with some assorted trivia about Samford:

• Samford was called Howard College until 1965.  At that time, the school became a university, but in an effort to avoid being mistaken for Howard University (of Washington, DC) the name was changed to Samford.
• Samford’s law school, Cumberland, was actually purchased from Cumberland University of Tennessee in 1961, one of only two such transactions involving a law school, and the only one in which the law school moved across state lines.
• Samford played in the first football game ever contested at Legion Field, defeating Birmingham-Southern 9-0 on November 19, 1927.  Samford also played in the first night game at Legion Field (in 1928), losing 12-7 to Spring Hill.
• Samford’s football program wasn’t afraid to travel in the 1920s.  The Bulldogs (formerly the Baptist Tigers) played Duquesne in Pittsburgh (at Forbes Field), North Dakota in Grand Forks, and Havana National University (in Cuba).  Samford also played games in Mexico City against the National University of Mexico in 1954 and 1963.
• Bobby Bowden is Samford’s most famous football alum, and he also coached at the school, compiling a record of 31-6 over four seasons.  His son Terry is the winningest coach at Samford, with a record of 45-23-1, including FCS playoff appearances in 1991 and 1992.  Samford advanced to the semifinals in ’91.
• Terry Bowden had been the head coach at Salem College before getting the Samford job, and his quarterback at Salem transferred to Samford to join him.  That quarterback?  Jimbo Fisher, who would throw 34 touchdown passes in his one season at Samford as a player. 
• Fisher remained at the school as an assistant coach until Terry Bowden was hired at Auburn following the 1992 season.  He is now, of course, the “Head Coach In Waiting” at Florida State.

—

This will be the third meeting between the Birmingham Bulldogs and the shako-wearing Bulldogs.  The first matchup, in 1989, was the first game played at Johnson Hagood Stadium after Hurricane Hugo blew through Charleston; I wrote about that event when I previewed last year’s game.

That meeting last season in Birmingham did not go well for The Citadel.  Samford essentially mauled the visitors, 28-10, dominating the line of scrimmage.  Samford netted 232 yards rushing.  The Citadel?  2.  Yikes.

It was a nightmarish game all the way around, and it wasn’t even Halloween.  Samford’s first touchdown drive was helped along by three major penalties from The Citadel’s defense.  Chris Evans scored that TD and one other to go along with 174 yards rushing.  Samford had more than a 2-to-1 edge in first-half time of possession. 

Samford stuck to the ground for the most part, but occasionally threw the ball, as Dustin Taliaferro was 13-19 for 117 yards and a TD. 

The starting quarterback for The Citadel in that game was Cam Turner.  Bart Blanchard also played.  Neither of those two QBs will be taking snaps on Saturday (although Turner will continue to hold on placekicks), as Miguel Starks gets the nod again following his auspicious debut as a starter against Furman.

He will face a Samford defense that is big, physical, and which ranks among the national leaders in FCS in several defensive categories.  The Birmingham Bulldogs are fourth nationally in total defense (241.6 yards per game), sixth in rushing defense (81.6 ypg), and tenth in scoring defense (allowing less than 15 points per contest).  Junior linebacker Bryce Smith (who forced a fumble in last year’s game against The Citadel) is an outstanding player who must be accounted for at all times.

Samford has allowed only four plays of 30 yards or more in seven games and has only given up seven points in the fourth quarter all season.

On offense, Samford likes to establish the run, taking advantage of a huge offensive line.  Four of the five starters weigh more than 300 pounds, with right guard Thomas Gray checking in at 6’4”, 332.  The only non-300 lb. lineman among the starters is a “true” freshman, 6’4”, 275 lb. George Allers.  I’m guessing he’s going to get even bigger.

Much of the offense goes through running back Evans, who is averaging over 92 yards per game on the ground and also leads the team in receptions, with 26.  Evans was held to 47 yards rushing (on 14 carries) in Samford’s last game, against Furman (Samford was off last week).  In that game Samford fell behind early and had to rely on its passing attack in an effort to get back into the contest.

Taliaferro has thrown four touchdown passes this season, and has also thrown five interceptions.  Samford is averaging 5.4 yards per pass, and only 3.4 yards per rush, both numbers somewhat low (and surprisingly so, in the case of the rushing average).  Samford is generally not a big-play team (only five plays of more than 31 yards so far this season), and thus needs to sustain long drives, but Pat Sullivan’s Bulldogs are only converting 35% of their third-down opportunities.

Samford’s special teams appear to be better this season.  Freshman placekicker Cameron Yaw is 8-11 on FG attempts (one of the misses was blocked by Furman at the end of the game to preserve a two-point Paladin victory).

—

It will be interesting to see how Miguel Starks plays after his excellent performance last week.  Samford will present a different (and more difficult) challenge than did Furman.  A key will be avoiding turnovers, particularly on The Citadel’s half of the field.  Samford is not very dynamic on offense and is probably less likely to drive down the length of the field than Furman, so not giving the folks from Birmingham good field position is important. 

Punting, in this game, may not be such a bad thing.  It’s better than fumbling.

Even in last year’s loss, Andre Roberts managed to shine as usual, catching 8 passes for 100 yards and a TD.  I think Saturday’s game will be another opportunity for #5 to demonstrate (yet again) just how special a player he is. 

On defense, the Bulldogs must stop Evans from running all over them like he did last season.  Jordan Gilmore had 13 tackles in that game, one for loss.  More tackles for loss, to put Samford in second-and-long and third-and-long situations, would be helpful (of course, you could say that every week). 

Last year The Citadel sacked Taliaferro just one time and only had two official “hurries”.  The defense created no turnovers and was only credited with one pass breakup.  That was mostly due to Samford not being in a position where it had to throw the ball, just another reason why stopping the run is a must.

—

This is not likely to be a high-scoring game.  I don’t know which Bulldog team is going to show up, the one that played Appalachian State and Furman, or the one that stumbled against Elon and Western Carolina. 

The game is at Johnson Hagood Stadium, and the weather is supposed to be nice (mostly sunny, high of 82).  Attendance for the Furman game was a little better than I expected, honestly…not as good as a Parents’ Day game could be, but not too bad all things considered.  That bodes well for attendance this Saturday. 

Those in the stands to watch the battle of the Bulldogs are probably going to see a very competitive game.  I think The Citadel can win this game, but I’m worried about Samford having two weeks to prepare and possibly coming out with a revised offensive game plan.  On Halloween, you always have to worry about tricks, even while you’re dreaming of the treats.  We’ll see what Pat Sullivan and company have in store for The Citadel on Saturday.

The Citadel 38, Furman 28.  Out of the ashes…

The Bulldogs had managed to put together two of the worst performances by the football team in quite some time, so expectations were low heading into the battle with Furman.  With Bart Blanchard hobbled by a toe injury, all the quarterback snaps were taken by redshirt freshman Miguel Starks.  He proved more than ready for the challenge, much to the chagrin of a Paladin defense that never really figured out a way to stop him (other than forcing fumbles — more on that later).

Also up to the challenge this week were offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini and head coach Kevin Higgins, who deserve some praise after drawing criticism for the playcalling in some previous games (particularly the Western Carolina contest).  With Starks in the game, the run/pass ratio changed markedly.  Going into the Furman game, here were the relevant numbers for the season:

• Rush attempts — 184 (677 yards)
• Pass attempts — 181 (1020 yards)

There was balance, to be sure, but not a lot of success, as the Bulldogs were averaging just 3.68 yards per carry and only 5.64 yards per pass attempt.  Then came the Furman game:

• Rush attempts — 49 (296 yards)
• Pass attempts — 19 (183 yards)

The Bulldogs averaged 6.04 yards per rush against the Paladins and 9.63 yards per pass attempt.  You can win a lot of games averaging six yards per carry and nine yards for every pass thrown.

Starks was the headliner, but Van Dyke Jones appears to be the solution at running back, based on this game as well as the Appalachian State contest.  He looked very good teaming up with Starks on the various read-option plays.  He picks up tough yards, and he’s got the potential to break long runs (as the Mountaineers’ defense can attest).

The offensive line had its best game of the year, by far.  There was some discussion about fundamentals and correcting mistakes and such, but ultimately it seemed to me that the linemen much preferred the aggressive, run-oriented approach the Bulldogs had on Saturday to the usual pass-to-set-up-run attack.  It’s a cliché, but I think the guys liked the “hit ‘em in the mouth” strategy.  I know a lot of older alumni appreciated it.

It wasn’t just a run-run-pass scenario, either.  Nine of Starks’ nineteen pass attempts came on first down (he threw on first down a little over 25% of the time, enough to keep the Paladins honest).  On third and long, The Citadel actually ran the ball five out of seven times.  The Bulldogs were totally committed to the run on third and short/medium, rushing on all five of those occasions.  Conversely, on four second-and-short plays The Citadel threw twice.  It was a nice mix.

Starks threw six passes in each of the first three quarters (one pass in the third quarter was wiped out by a penalty).  In the fourth, with the Bulldogs protecting a double-digit lead, he would throw only three times (a flag erasing one attempt).  The drive that put the game away featured no passes, with Starks scoring the clinching TD on a 23-yard run.

The other noticeable thing about the passing game was that Starks threw exclusively short and intermediate passes in the first half, but started to go deep in the third quarter.  On consecutive pass attempts in that quarter, he threw a slant pass for 20 yards, followed by a 28-yard TD toss on a post route (both to Scott Harward), a 38-yard post would-be TD to Andre Roberts wiped out by a holding penalty, a 35-yard pass to Roberts (sensational catch by Andre), and an incomplete post pass to Alex Sellars (which would have resulted in a 45-yard TD if the connection had been made).

Starks’ touch on his passes was generally good, and his receivers helped him on the few occasions where he was off target.  There were two legitimately outstanding catches, one by Kevin Hardy (arguably the best reception Hardy has made for the Bulldogs to date) and Roberts’ scintillating effort in the third quarter, which got the Bulldogs out of a field position hole (moving the ball from the 12 to the 47).  Only one pass all day was dropped.

—

Of course, it’s easier to call plays when your team leads the entire game, as was the case on Saturday for The Citadel.  After a very impressive opening drive for a TD, the Bulldogs took advantage of an unintentional onside kick (the wind becoming a temporary 12th man) to grab a 14-0 lead before Furman could run a play on offense.

This would ultimately lead to a rather unusual situation, as despite scoring 28 points in the game Furman’s offense never had the ball with less than a 10-point deficit facing it.  In other words, at no point in the game were the Paladins within one drive of tying the game or taking the lead.  Furman would get within 3 points at 24-21 early in the third quarter, but The Citadel scored a TD on its next drive, stretching the lead back to 10, and the Paladins could draw no closer.

Furman’s failures were mostly on defense, but Paladins QB Jordan Sorrells will surely want to forget the two interceptions he threw, both in the end zone, and both with Furman trailing 31-21.

The first of the two was particularly bad, as on first-and-ten at the Bulldog 26 he threw the ball late over the deep middle of the field and into the wind, while rolling out in the opposite direction, and with three defenders in the vicinity.  Calling that pass “ill-advised” doesn’t really do it justice.  I thought he played fairly well other than that, though.  It’s hard to lead a comeback when you trail the entire game by double digits.

—

It wasn’t all great for The Citadel, though.  The defense continued to struggle with preventing long drives.  Furman converted six out of eleven third down attempts, and was 3-for-3 on 4th down tries.  The Paladins did not punt until the third quarter.  Truthfully, the defense has not had a solid game all season, and I am including the Princeton game in that analysis, despite the Bulldogs allowing just seven points, because the Tigers moved the ball fairly well for a significant portion of that game (and also because Princeton is just not a very good team this year).

Looking back, an argument could be made that the defense’s most satisfactory performance came in the season opener against North Carolina.

Against the Paladins, the Bulldogs only had one sack, although Furman is not a team prone to giving up sacks.  What the defense did do well was create some critical turnovers; in previous games those two end-zone picks weren’t happening.

It was a good thing the defense did get those turnovers and make those stops, as Starks lost two fumbles in the second half (after fumbling twice earlier without punishment).  On that issue, I was struck by some comments made by Higgins in The Post and Courier:

On the fumbles, Higgins said, “We knew the first time he stepped on campus that was going to be a challenge. We watched him as a freshman on the scout team and said, that will be a challenge. But until you actually get under fire, it takes a while to understand that.

This sounds a little like the Tiki Barber situation with the New York Giants, when he was alternating between big runs and big fumbles (sometimes on the same play).  Maybe the Bulldog staff should get Tom Coughlin on the phone…

The Citadel is going to have to live with some fumbling, it appears.  Other teams are going to make a concerted effort to try to strip Starks of the ball, which may lead to more fumbling, but which may also lead to bigger plays by Starks as players go for the ball rather than the tackle.  Starks isn’t going to go down just by being hit; he has to be wrapped up, and if other teams don’t realize this now they will realize it soon enough.

I think that with Starks at QB, Bulldog fans are going to have more than the usual number of “no no yes yes!” and “yes yes oh no” moments, at least in the near future.

—

As disappointing as the Bulldogs’ lost weekends at Elon and Cullowhee were — and those were VERY disappointing results –  it’s good to see the team (and coaches) get up off the canvas and come out fighting.  To do so against Furman makes it even better.  Now it’s time to focus on Samford, which shouldn’t be too difficult, given last year’s mauling.  It’s about time to re-buckle those chinstraps.

If you looked at the overall statistics for last year’s Bulldogs-Paladins game, you might think it had been a competitive game.  It wasn’t.  Furman led at one point by 28 points and scored on every one of its possessions in the first three quarters.

Furman alternated between delayed handoffs and intermediate pass routes, picking up first downs with ease (the Paladins had 22 first downs, only four of which came after a third-down conversion).  It was a lot like the Elon game two weeks ago, only The Citadel actually scored on its first two possessions against Furman (both field goals).

Allowing Furman those kinds of long scoring drives can’t happen on Saturday if the Bulldogs expect to win, but The Citadel’s defense has struggled to get off the field all season, allowing a third-down conversion rate of 51% and failing to create negative plays (only six sacks, and not enough turnovers).  The Bulldogs have only 24 tackles for loss so far this year; opponents have 43.

–

The Citadel desperately needs to get Andre Roberts more involved, and in a position to make big plays.  After all, he is the Bulldogs’ best player.  He did catch 9 passes against Western Carolina (for 78 yards and a TD), but in three conference games Roberts has only 16 catches for 138 total yards and that one TD.

Roberts lit it up against Presbyterian (12 catches, 184 yards, four touchdowns), but I can guarantee you Furman isn’t going to defend him like the Blue Hose did.  Just the opposite, probably.  The Paladins are well aware of how dangerous he can be; in three career games against Furman, Roberts has 28 receptions for 342 yards.

To have a chance of winning on Saturday, The Citadel needs more of the same from Roberts.  Whether the offense is capable of giving him that opportunity is open to question.

Furman’s defense, like The Citadel’s, has struggled on third downs; like the Bulldogs, the Paladins are allowing a 51% conversion rate.  Both defenses are allowing an average of right around 400 total yards per game.  Furman only has five sacks all season (but on offense, the Paladins have allowed just four).

It would seem that The Citadel might be able to move the ball on the Paladins, given those numbers.  However, with uncertainty at quarterback, a lack of a consistent ground game, and the absence of a secondary receiving threat, the Bulldogs may not be able to take advantage of that opportunity.  It’s hard to imagine the team that could only put up 10 points against Western Carolina doing much damage offensively against Furman (which defeated the Catamounts in Cullowhee 33-14).

The revolving door at running back has undoubtably resulted in some of the problems the Bulldogs have had running the ball, but the o-line hasn’t held up its end of the bargain either.  The failure of the offensive line to control the line of scrimmage in most of the games played thus far is arguably the most disappointing part of the team’s play to date.

–

One of the things that will be interesting to follow over the next three weeks is the attendance at Johnson Hagood Stadium.  The last two weeks have not exactly been helpful in terms of generating interest in the team.

Going back to last season, attendance for the Parents’ Day game against Elon was 12,582.  That was very disappointing for a Parents’ Day weekend crowd, even with the weather not being ideal.

Looking at various factors that could affect attendance on Saturday, there is a 30% chance of rain in Charleston by gametime.  Also, Clemson plays on TV at 3:30 pm ET (at Miami), and South Carolina hosts Vanderbilt (also on TV) at night.  Other than that, though, the college football slate on TV is not particularly compelling (and neither of those games is a must-see).

The last time the Bulldogs hosted Furman, it was also Parents’ Day, and 16,272 people showed up to watch one of the wilder games (if not the wildest) in the history of the series.  However, that was a winning Bulldog team playing on a day featuring good weather.

So, which direction will Saturday’s game take, attendance-wise?  I could make a pretty good guess.  What’s more, it’s the first of three consecutive football weekends at Johnson Hagood, and if the Bulldogs don’t make a good account of themselves against the Paladins, that is likely to be reflected in how many people show up to watch the Samford and Wofford games (with the latter being Homecoming).

I’ve written before about attendance, but the biggest factor when it comes to getting people to enter the stadium (as opposed to either not making the trip or just tailgating, which is another subject entirely) is winning.  The Citadel isn’t winning games right now, and attendance is likely to suffer as a result.

–

Bart Blanchard may or may not play against Furman, and Miguel Starks is not 100% healthy either.  Starks is likely to see much, if not all, of the playing time at quarterback, but if both Blanchard and Starks are unable to play, The Citadel’s quarterback will be 5′11″, 185 lb. Tommy Edwards, a freshman walkon from Los Angeles.

Edwards went to Ulysses S. Grant High School (hey, at least he didn’t go to William T. Sherman High School).  Notable alums of Grant High include Tom Selleck, Mickey Dolenz, Mitch Gaylord, Gilbert “Agent Zero” Arenas, three members of the pop/rock group Toto, TV theme kingpin Mike Post, and the late Rod Beck.  Apparently there haven’t been any notable football players to have come from Grant High, though, so Edwards has a chance to break new ground in that respect.

No offense to Edwards, but I really hope he’s not a featured player on Saturday.

–

The Citadel can beat Furman on Saturday, although the last two weeks haven’t inspired confidence in that possibility coming to pass.  The Paladins are a good team, but not without flaws.  The Citadel’s game against Appalachian State showed what the team is capable of doing on a given day, and after two lost weekends in North Carolina, playing at home will surely be beneficial to the Bulldogs.

It’s going to be a big test for the coaching staff.  Kevin Higgins and company have something to prove, too.

The team has to be ready to play from the opening kickoff.  I feel kind of dumb just writing that, but then again, I felt kind of dumb watching the Elon game.  If the Bulldogs’ energy isn’t there from the very start, it’s going to be a very long day for The Citadel.

The playcalling has to get better.  If Blanchard and Starks both play, the coaches can’t telegraph whether the play is a run or pass just by virtue of who is taking the snap from center.  Starks, in particular, has to throw the ball down the field, and he’s got to look for Roberts.

The coaches must find a way for the defense to stop the Paladins on third down (after making sure there is a third down in the first place).  Turnovers, tackles for loss, etc. are musts, not just for the yardage/field position, but to pump up the entire team, along with the crowd.

Of course, an unexpected win by the Bulldogs would really pump up the crowd…

The Citadel lost to Western Carolina last Saturday, a horrific, potentially season-tanking loss if there ever was one.  I was trying to think of the last time the Bulldogs played a game like that, and then realized it had happened just last season…only The Citadel actually managed to win that contest.

Last year for Homecoming the Bulldogs entertained a UT-Chattanooga squad with a 1-9 record and a lame-duck coach.  The Mocs seemed a good bet to mail it in, but The Citadel was unable to hold onto a 14-0 lead and with less than two minutes remaining trailed UTC 21-17.  That’s when Andre Roberts returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown to win the game.

In Saturday’s contest, Western Carolina lined up to punt with less than two minutes to play.  Roberts was ready for another potential game-winning return, but alas, the canny Catamount punter avoided punting to Roberts by kicking the ball off one of his own players, an upback trying to block for him.

Sure, that meant The Citadel got possession of the ball at the WCU 34-yard-line, but the way things were going the Bulldogs might have had a better chance of scoring a TD on special teams than on offense.  As it happened, The Citadel managed to drive to the Catamount 15 but no further.

Losing to teams you are supposed to beat is a problem, not least because for The Citadel, there aren’t too many of those types of teams on the schedule, especially in conference play.  The Bulldogs have to be ready to play 60 minutes of solid football against any opponent, because The Citadel doesn’t have the talent level to just cruise past an overmatched team.

As a former coach of The Citadel once said, “”We can lose to anybody.”  Of course, he said that after one of his (and the school’s) greatest victories, in any sport, and it was a reference to playing “loose” and without fear.  Sometimes I wonder if in games like on Saturday, or UT-Chattanooga last season, or Charleston Southern in 2006, the team plays not to lose instead of playing to win.

—

So in the last two weeks, The Citadel has played two of its worst games in the Kevin Higgins era.  Higgins was unable to attend Monday’s press luncheon, as he was attending the funeral for Bulldog DB Rod Harland’s father.  He was replaced for the day by defensive coordinator Isaac Collins and offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini.

I read Jeff Hartsell’s notes from the luncheon and listened to parts of it made available on The Citadel Sports Network.  Both Collins and Cecchini tried to explain why the Bulldogs were struggling, and each made some good points.  I have to take issue with one comment made by Collins, though:

I think Elon was unfortunate, we fell behind early. But as I tell people, for a long time, that game was 23-0. So it wasn’t out of hand until later on in the fourth quarter.

Well, the game wasn’t really 23-0 “for a long time”.  Elon kicked a field goal (after a drive that lasted more than eight minutes) to take a 23-0 lead in the second quarter.

After The Citadel went three-and-out (again), the Phoenix drove down the field again, taking almost six minutes off the clock, and eventually kicked another field goal near the end of the half.  Elon led 26-0 at intermission.  The Phoenix then scored on its opening drive of the third quarter.  In terms of game time, Elon led 23-0 for about eight minutes.

Collins probably just got the score wrong when he was talking, which is understandable, but the real issue is that it doesn’t matter if it was 23-0 or 29-0 when the Bulldogs finally forced a punt.  It’s way, way too late at that point; the game is (and was) essentially over.  I realize he was trying to look at positives for his defense, but to me there were no positives in the Elon game.  None.

There weren’t any positives against Western Carolina, either.

—

Up next is Furman, on a Parents’ Day Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium.  I’ll write about that game in another post.

(This blag has been pre-recorded.  Please do not call.)

As expected, school has taken over my life and is srsly starting to cut into my sitting around time, hence no blagging.  I’ve adopted the philosophy that if sitting down to write an entry becomes just another stressor on the list, then I simply won’t do it.  However, since I’m riding in the car with Michael, somewhere in bumfuck Kentucky on the way home from visiting Furman, and am sick to death of reading musicological articles, I’m writing a zeppelin entry to catch all my readers up.  All both of you.

As I said, Michael and I ventured back to the South this weekend for Furman’s Homecoming, and it was every bit as lovely and exhausting as I expected it to be.  I’d been wary about leaving town for the weekend, for my pile of work continues growing no matter how constantly I chip away at it, so I decided to take action.  Normally, I can’t read or write in the car because I get disgustingly nauseated.  It’s super lame, and for a girl who loves to read and went on many car trips with her family when she was younger, a gigantic thorn in my side.  Knowing that I REALLY needed to get some work done on the eight-hour treks to and fro, I took Drammamine preventatively, and you know what?  That shit works!  I was able to slag through my bebop take-home test and grading my classes’ projects on the way down, and read a dissertation and a handful of articles today.  The only downside to the medicine is that it makes me awfully drowsy, so my productivity was stalled today by a two-hour nap.  Oopies.  Oh well.  I accomplished as much as I needed to this weekend, so I consider this a win.

As for Homecoming itself, it was great.  It’s tough coming back to town and having approximately 36 hours to see everyone you want to see, but we managed to get almost everyone in.  Tons of people were on the mall Friday night, both friends and former students, I saw Bob for all of forty-five minutes (womp), and had a brief lunch with David Gross on Saturday.  Sigh.  I miss having friends.  (Note to self: when back in Bloomington, attempt to be more social, dammit.)  As a not-so-aside, it’s worth mentioning that the weather was effing MISERABLE.  We stood in a steady downpour for about two hours on Friday, and the weather during the game on Saturday was not any better—drizzly and cooooooold.  We’d been having similar weather in Bloomington, so I was really looking forward to having one nice Fall weekend before heading back to the land of parkas and snow boots, but noooooo.  Of course today, as we drive home, the weather has been beautiful everywhere.  Wreh.

Diet Pepsi or Busch Light? You be the judge.

All in all, an all-too-short trip, and much needed in terms of recharging my spirit.  With no break from school until Thanksgiving (WHY, IU?  WHYYYYY??), Michael and I had to make our own Fall Break, and though I know Monday will hit me like a sack of bricks, I’m glad we went.

On the school front, things are busy but good.  I’ve started the process to make the leap into the PhD program next year, so I am likely busier at the moment than I ordinarily would be.  I met with my German Lieder professor to ask if she’d be willing to work with me on getting the paper for the class done earlier so I can submit it for my application, and she was very supportive, as was the other prof I asked for a letter of recommendation.  I need one more letter writer, a new personal statement, and to finish this paper, and I’ll be well on my way!  As a slight aside, I’ve been reading like crazy about Schubert, Heine, and Liszt and his Schwanengesang transcription, and it’s really fascinating stuff.  I feel like I’m doing good, thorough research for the first time, and that I’ll be able to provide complete contextualization as well as draw some interesting conclusions.  Hooray for being a real academic!

On another school front, I’m growing more and more accustomed to being at IU, but I’m also realizing that with the prestige that comes with attending a big-name school like this also comes a bit more bullshit than I’m accustomed to dealing with.  Par example, I’ve already discussed the vomit-inducing attitude of the brainless singer in my Lieder class.  The problem is, she’s not the anomaly, she’s the rule.  I find that, more than any school I’ve been at so far, the air of entitlement that pervades this school is overwhelming.  Almost every single student at this school who is a performance major is gloriously gifted.  There’s no disputing that.  But because they’re students at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music* they know they’re good, and little else matters.  I find this attitude repugnant in and of itself, but it also affects me personally because it manifests itself in poor attitudes in theory class.  I’ve taught at universities, in some shape or form, for the last four years, and while I’ve always had lackluster, don’t-give-a-damn students, I’m finding (at least so far) that the percentage is higher here.  It’s insanely frustrating, because I can’t seem to get through to them that—shockingly—there is more to being a good musician than being an automaton on your instrument, but the message never sinks in.  It’s also frustrating because so many of my students are wonderfully conscientious and intent on understanding and mastering concepts.  I think it boils down to that I do not suffer dumb bitches gladly.

Since my last entry, I had a birthday.  I am now 27.  That is all I want to say about that.

Wedding plans are coming along, albeit not without sporadic minor crises.  Invitations will be completed by the end of this week and sent out at the beginning of November.  It makes me nervous that I’m not constantly working on stuff for the wedding, but at the same time, most everything is covered…at least I think so.  Talk to me in December and see how calm I am then.

As for now, that’s all the muck that’s fit to rake.  See you all again in a month or so!

*Italics denote speaking in a snooty pseudo-British accent whilst wearing a monocle and sniffing over a cup of tea.

Auburn’s game on November 7 against the Furman Paladins has been set at 12:30 pm CST. The Paladins hail from Joe’s home state of South Carolina and face Samford, The Citadel and Appalachian State before facing Auburn as our homecoming foe. The game will be available on Pay-per-view.

The Paladins - a Dungeons & Dragons creation, or real opponent?

In the 1880s a train depot was built at what would eventually become the town of Elon College (yes, the town was called “Elon College”).  By 1888 there was a post office, and once you’ve got a post office, well obviously the next thing you need is a college, so some local assemblymen from the United Church of Christ founded Elon College (the actual school, not the town) in 1889.  The first year there were 76 students enrolled.

By 1931, Elon had dramatically increased its enrollment, and had 87 students.

Okay, that’s a little unfair.  Elon’s enrollment was affected by the Great Depression, and there was also a fire in 1923 that devastated the school, but by the mid-1930s, Elon was in trouble, having briefly lost its accreditation and barely keeping its financial ship afloat.  Elon was barely hanging on, but then caught a break when Army Air Corps pilots trained on campus during World War II, which helped the school survive (shades of the relationship between the U.S. Navy and Notre Dame, with one difference being that Elon didn’t have a famous football team).  After the war, veterans and the G.I. Bill pushed enrollment past 700.

It was still a sleepy little college, geared towards local students commuting from their homes, until the early 1970s.  Its most notable graduate may well have been Doug Moe.  Since 1973, however, Elon has made an amazing transformation into a respected regional university under the leadership of two presidents.  Fred Young, who led the school for 25 years, made the decision on behalf of the institution to buy a lot of nearby land, which in hindsight was an excellent decision.  It increased the campus size threefold, and thus enabled the school to expand dramatically.

Young also appears to have been a pro when it came to fundraising, a tradition carried on by his successor, Leo Lambert, who developed a plan for Elon’s future even more ambitious than Young’s.  A list of all the buildings and programs added at the school in just the last 10 years (and it’s a long list) can be found in this article about Lambert:  Link

Elon has done a good (if not great job) of setting big goals and meeting those goals by raising a ton of money and having a coherent master plan.  The speed in which all of this has been done is truly remarkable.  How was it done so quickly?  In the linked article, Lambert says:

“Private schools can act quickly and can pursue their own destiny without having to deal with a state bureaucracy.  We can build architecturally cheaper, lovelier and more on time than any state university.”

Well, then.

Of course, there are limits, and Elon may be reaching them.  Lambert suggests the goals contained in the next strategic plan will cost at least $500 million, which is a lot of money, especially when you consider that 46% of Elon’s 24,000 living alums have graduated within the past 10 years.  The school has tapped a lot of old money already, but the new money won’t be coming in for quite a while, at least from alumni.

On the other hand, Elon can continue to raise money from other sources, as it is situated in the largest population area (50-mile radius) in the Southern Conference, a region that also has the highest average household income in the league.  It will be interesting to see how the school continues to progress.

—

Elon had two sustained periods of excellence in small-college (NAIA) football.  The first of these occurred in the 1930s, under the direction of head coach D.C. “Peahead” Walker.  In 10 seasons Walker would win four North State League championships in football, and several other titles in baseball and basketball, as he coached all three sports at the school (during the summers he played minor league baseball).

Walker was an Alabama native who was a popular speaker on the rubber chicken circuit (occasionally teaming up with his buddy Frank Howard).  He would leave Elon to coach at Wake Forest, leading that school to two bowl games (including the first Gator Bowl in 1946; the Demon Deacons defeated South Carolina 26-14).  Walker is still the alltime winningest coach at Wake Forest.  He also coached the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes.

Elon’s greatest run of success came during the 1970s and early 1980s under head coaches Shirley “Red” Wilson and Jerry Tolley.  Wilson had been a veteran North Carolina high school coach before taking the Elon job.  He would coach there for ten seasons, winning five league titles and making the NAIA playoffs in three of those years.  Wilson then left to become head coach at Duke and was replaced by Tolley, who had been his top assistant at Elon.

Tolley would only lead Elon for five seasons; he had already decided that he did not want to coach past the age of 40.  In his final two years, Elon would win consecutive NAIA national championships.  Tolley’s career record as a head coach:  49-11-2.

After winning the second title (3-0 against Pittsburg State; Elon had seven turnovers, but the Gorillas missed five field goals) Tolley walked away from coaching, but not from Elon, where he briefly became a fundraiser before taking a job at LabCorp (whose CEO was on the Elon board of trustees).

Tolley has also written several books on football drills and served two terms as mayor of Elon College (the town).  He is now the director of annual giving at the school.  One gets the sense that Tolley is one of the influential figures in Elon’s rise as an institution over the past quarter-century.

—

In 2001 Elon College (the school) became Elon University; Elon College (the town) became Elon; and the football program got a new stadium.  The year before, Elon had changed the nickname of its athletic teams from the “Fightin’ Christians” to the “Phoenix”.  (Kind of a boring nickname, if you ask me.)  Elon had completed its transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division I in 1999.

The coach who led the Phoenix into its new era of football was Al Seagraves, who had been a longtime assistant to Charlie Taaffe at The Citadel.  Seagraves would coach Elon for eight seasons, with his last year being Elon’s first as a Southern Conference school.

After that season (in which Elon was 2-10) Seagraves was replaced by Paul Hamilton, who would coach the Phoenix for two years.  After consecutive 3-8 seasons, Hamilton would be succeeded by current Elon coach Pete Lembo, who is now in his fourth year at the school.

Lembo had been the coach at Lehigh before taking the Elon job.  The previous coach at Lehigh?  Kevin Higgins.  Lembo replaced Higgins when the current head coach of The Citadel took a job as an assistant with the Detroit Lions.  Lembo had been an assistant under Higgins at Lehigh.

Elon has improved its record in each of Lembo’s three seasons, going 5-6, 7-4, and 8-4, narrowly missing the playoffs last season after losing its last two games of the year.  A 24-16 loss at Appalachian State probably didn’t hurt the Phoenix’s cause, but the season-ended 26-3 drubbing handed out by Liberty certainly did.  If Elon had won that game, it likely would have advanced to postseason play.  It wouldn’t have deserved to do so, however.

I normally want SoCon teams to succeed in out of conference play, and don’t like ceding potential playoff berths to other leagues (one of these years the selection committee will give every team in the CAA a bid), but I wasn’t too upset to see Elon fold in Lynchburg.  That’s because the Phoenix had won a game earlier in the season that it should have lost…to The Citadel.

Last year’s 27-23 Elon “victory” in Charleston was an end-to-end officiating debacle.  It featured (among other things) a timing mistake that led to an Elon field goal, a reversed call on a turnover that should not have been reversed (that led to another Phoenix field goal), and an unbelievably poor spot on a fourth down play that gave the ball (and the game) to Elon.

I hope the officials for Saturday’s game are better.  They could not be worse.

Note:  The referee for last year’s contest worked the game between Appalachian State and The Citadel last week without incident (not counting microphone follies), and has also called an Elon game already this year.  I’m assuming he won’t get the assignment for The Citadel-Elon, but this is the Southern Conference we’re talking about, so you never know.

—

Elon is 4-1 entering Saturday’s game, with wins over Davidson, Presbyterian, Georgia Southern, and Furman, and a loss to Wake Forest.

The Phoenix beat the Presbyterian 41-7 at PC, in a game in which the Blue Hose finished with just two yards net rushing.  Conversely, PC rushed for 204 yards at The Citadel two weeks ago.  Elon has held all four of its FCS opponents to 88 yards net rushing or less.

Elon needed a last-second field goal to get past Furman in Greenville, a game in which the Phoenix struggled to run the ball (49 total yards) but made up for it with passing yardage (374).  That was the 15th time in Scott Riddle’s career that he had thrown for 300+ yards in a game, a league record.

The junior had earlier established a Socon mark with 218 consecutive passes without an interception before throwing a pick against Georgia Southern.  Interestingly, Riddle is also serving as Elon’s punter this season.

Riddle has thrown for 618 yards and 5 touchdowns against The Citadel in two previous meetings.  321 of those yards and 4 of the TDs were to Terrell Hudgins (who also scored a TD against the Bulldogs the year before Riddle arrived at Elon).

Hudgins set the all-Division I record for career receptions against Furman.  He now has 330 catches after pulling in 16 of Riddle’s throws last Saturday.  He is two or three games away from breaking Jerry Rice’s FCS record for receiving yardage in a career.

Riddle and Hudgins make for a tough combo.  Last season the Phoenix also ran the ball well against The Citadel (187 yards), the kind of balance that Pete Lembo wants in his offense.  Brandon Newsome, now the third-string tailback for Elon, had 134 of those yards; he is one of three Phoenix running backs with at least one career 100-yard rushing game.

Elon’s defense has 19 sacks so far in just five games and held Georgia Southern and Furman to 14 and 12 points, respectively.  While Elon’s offense is averaging almost 460 yards total offense per game, Phoenix opponents are only averaging 216 yards per contest.  The Elon D has forced eight turnovers so far this season, with six of those being interceptions.

Elon’s defense is holding opponents to a 24% rate on third down conversions, one reason why the Phoenix have a five-minute per game time of possession advantage.

Elon placekicker Adam Shreiner is 6-8 on field goals, including the game-winner against Furman with 4 seconds to play last week.  He has missed one extra point.  The Phoenix do not have particularly impressive kick or punt return statistics so far this season.

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This game is being billed in some quarters as a matchup of Andre Roberts vs. Terrell Hudgins, but I think the key to the game will be the Bulldogs’ defensive front seven versus the Elon offensive line.  The Citadel must get pressure on Riddle, which won’t be easy (in 208 pass attempts, Elon quarterbacks have been sacked 11 times).  In last year’s game Riddle was sacked once, for a two-yard loss.

The Bulldogs also must force turnovers.  Appalachian State did not turn the ball over against The Citadel.  Just one turnover may have made the difference in that game, and the matchup with Elon will be no different.  Bulldog defenders are going to have to make plays on the ball.

If The Citadel plays as well overall as it did last Saturday against the Mountaineers, then I believe the Bulldogs will win the game (SoCon officiating caveats aside).  The question, then, is whether or not The Citadel is capable of putting together two good games in a row against quality opposition.  We’ll find out on Saturday.

I don’t know if anybody else out there actually looks at what the SEC select few schedule for themselves.  I just wanted to take a quick look at what some of the “elite” SEC teams have done in the past month and are going to do in the months ahead.  Let’s look at Florida, shall we:  First win was a doozy against the 1-AA Big South “powerhouse” Charleston-Southern with a current record of 2-3 – wow!   Then they played Troy from the Sun Belt conference (you will begin to notice a recurring theme of “Sun Belt Conference” in this post) who posts a whopping 2-2 record currently.  Next non-con opponent:  Florida International from where?  You guessed it – the Sun Belt conference who’s staggering win total reaches ZERO – yes that is correct, they are 0-4 currently.  By the way, they also only play 4 “road” games all year out of 12 scheduled games, that is 67% of the time they are in favorable conditions.  Florida – if you want to be taken seriously, go somewhere else and play big boys from other conferences west of the Mississippi River.   How about ‘Bama.  They too have a cake walk schedule – Florida International (Sun Belt 0-4), Chattanooga from 1-AA Southern Conference who at least has a winning record to date of 3-1, then later on they will play North Texas also from the Sun Belt at 1-3.  They also only go on the road 5/12 games this season.  Auburn is next.  Louisiana-Tech out of the WAC at 2-2, Ball State from the Mid-American Conference at 0-5, yes, winless Ball State, that bastion of football lore,then Furman (yes – don’t worry, I did the same thing, “Who?  Where are they?”) from the Southern Conference in the 1-AA ranks at 3-2 (at least they have more w’s than l’s currently).  LSU seems to be the only semi-respectable one in the bunch playing Louisiana-Lafayette of the, yep, Sun Belt conference at 2-2, and Tulane from Conference USA also at 2-2.  They will be playing Louisiana Tech from the WAC at 2-2 later, and to their credit they are the only one’s of the big-four to go west young man, and played a much improved University of Washington in Seattle, yet they will still only go on the road 5/12 games this season.  Why is it that when the SEC teams beat up on defenseless children (a.k.a. 1-AA teams with losing records) they can keep their position in the polls, but when a Boise State from the WAC plays one, they actually lose positions?  How does that work?  Last but not least, let’s look at what a big boy football schedule should look like.  It would have as many road games as home games (6/12).  It would schedule top-25 non-conference games from other big boy conferences like the Pac-10, Big-10, Big-12, SEC, etc.  They might even have the guts to play an independent like Notre Dame!  And they will play in a conference of champions, where the other schools in that conference are all competitive in other athletic endeavors as well, like golf.  That sounds like the kind of schedule for a team that I could get behind and root for without embarassment.  That is eerily like the schedule of . . .

The weather is cool in Atlanta today and this type of weather reminds me of the beginning of the fall semesters at Furman.  Specifically it reminds me of standing in the student section of Paladin Stadium and cheering until my throat was raw.  It is fitting that I’ll be heading back to Furman for the Elon game this weekend.  It’s a huge game for either team since it’s the first big conference game of the year.  Whomever wins this match-up will be in the driver’s seat in the SoCon.  With that being said, maybe I should stay away.  The Paladins have been playing well without me there, so maybe I’ll be some sort of jinx.  Hopefully not, but I guess we’ll see.

This will be a brief post, but I do want to link to an article that sheds light onto the great shift that has occurred in the past 10 months.  A Wall Street Journal editorial speaks about France’s President Sarkozy and his stand on Iran’s nuclear attempt.  The editorial is here.  In short, President Sarkozy’s stand is much tougher than President Obama’s attempt at appeasement (see missile shield scrapped in Poland).  I wonder what President Obama’s next apology or appeasement will be.  I’m warily awaiting the drop of the other shoe.