Post by King_Gamecock on May 26, 2020 21:41:13 GMT -6
Obviously we don't yet know what football season will look like coming through the pandemic. There are a lot of variables... and then there is the possibility of a second wave.
As it stands this is our schedule:
9/3 @ Florida International
FIU is one of those games that I would normally be salivating over... a game against a lower level FBS opponent that we could potentially win. FIU is coming off of a solid season by their standards, with 6-6 regular season before dropping below .500 with their Camellia bowl loss to Arkansas State 26-34. Along the way they collected the scalp of the Miami Hurricanes. While they lost 7 games, 3 of them were by a TD or less, and 6 of them were road or neutral site games. Why I am not excited about our prospects in this game is two-fold. (1) It is a home game for them. (2) Butch Davis is their coach. I don't like the match-up of Grass v/s Butch Davis.
Offensively the Panthers are pretty balanced, but they will be replacing their starting QB and there is very little experience. The backup from last season has only 27 career attempts. Their top 2 running backs are also gone. They have FBS talent and good coaching. We will have our hands full.
9/12 @ North Alabama
UNA Started out last season by shocking WIU out of the Missouri Valley. Everyone was stunned... and then WIU went 1-11 with their lone win coming over USD. TUNA came back down to earth the following week when they traveled to Montana and were mauled by the Griz 61-17. TUNA actually kept it close for a time and led 17-16 at the half. That letdown followed them the next week with they dropped a home game to AAMU 31-24, and we beat them by 18, 30-12. TUNA finished the season 4-7, but they were 3-2 at home. TUNA is an old rival and they will play us hard. I still think we win this one, perhaps handily.
9/19 vs SE Louisiana
The 2019 SELA game ranks up there with some of the most painful losses I have experienced as a Gamecock fan. We were expected to be a dominant team in 2019, and SELA was expected to be mediocre. SELA finished the season at 8-5, so they kept up their end of the deal and finished ranked 19th while Coach Frank Scelfo was voted Southland Coach of the Year. Montana hung 73 on them in the second round of the playoffs while we sat at home at 6-6. Chason Virgil and Cole Kelly are both back at QB in 2020, but they do lose some players... but they also played a lot of young players in 2019. We have them at home and there is a revenge factor for the 2019 embarrassment. That used to mean something (see SHSU), but KSU broke that trend.
9/26 @ Tennessee State
The Tigers were 3-9 last season, and we beat them by 8 at home. It was arguably our 2nd worst worst played game of the season. How TSU beat APSU last season... I have no idea. We play at TSU... I really hope we will play in the Pro stadium, and not in that pit they call home. It is arguably the worst field I have ever seen.
10/3 vs Tennessee Tech
TTU was much improved last season (opening day win over Samford), but they still weren't very good... and we lost to them. We were their homecoming opponent last season.
10/10 @ UT Martin
It is almost cliche' to say UTM is always dangerous... for us they seem to be, but the reality is they were a 7-5 team last season. Sure, they lost to Florida... but they also lost to SIU. The Salukis were an improved team last year, but they were still 7-5 (5-3).
10/17 vs Austin Peay
Remember when I said TSU was arguably our 2nd worst played game of the season? There is no competition for worst played. APSU thrashed us from pillar to post, and while we tried to make it a shootout late, we only made the margin smaller. It. Was. Ugly. It kind of reminded me of EIU 2013. It had that kind of feel to it. Mark Hudspeth is back. APSU will be as well. APSU finished the regular season by thrashing MSU and EIU, then surprised a lot of people with playoff wins over Furman and Sac State before dropping out at the hands of MT State... It is a home game for us this season, but Grass better have his big boy panties on.
10/23 @ Eastern Illinois
Whoever said Any win is a good win didn't see our game against the 0-7 Panthers last year. They missed a PAT in the 4th quarter that would have tied the game at 21 before giving up a 4 play, 67 yard drive that allowed us to take an 8 point lead. They moved the ball inside our 20 with under 2 minutes remaining but turned it over on downs. This was arguably our second worst played game of the season even though we won.
We have them at home this year and should blow them out.
10/31 vs Eastern Kentucky
West Irvine State travels to our place this season for the second straight year. Last season the Privates finished the season 7-5. They had an OOC loss to the ISU Sycamores, and lost in OT to APSU. They weren't blow out by anyone other than Louisville...but we lost to them by 6. At home. We couldn't run the ball and we gave up 5 first downs via penalty in one of our lowest penalized games of the season. It was a game we could have and should have won. We will this season.
11/14 @ Murray State
The MSU game last year really showed how bad our problems were. We won that game 14-12. In past seasons when we struggled it wasn't because our offense was outright bad... they might have an off game or face a good or great defense. Murray was neither of those, yet we couldn't find the end zone with a map. We had 327 yards of total offense against a team that gave up 500 yards to UT-Martin. We should always destroy Murray State.
11/21 vs Southeast Missouri State
I really don't like SEMO.
I don't like their coaches, their stadium, or their fans... not in the way I don't like West Irvine State. I respect WIS, even if I make fun of them... they have tradition and a neat stadium. SEMO is an abscess of the boot heel. Losing to them hurt. Thy always seem to play really physical though, and that is an Achilles for Grass. He is finesse. If his game plan is good and our defense is hot, we can demolish teams like SEMO (See SHSU). Last season they kind of just ground us down. We needed a stop in the 4th quarter to possibly go ahead... and we could have kicked deep and played defense with 2 minutes+ and 2 timeouts left. Instead we kicked onside and gave them the ball on our 40. They scored. It was ugly. We still got the ball back and scored again... but with seconds left there was no miracle comeback. We gotta smash those guys this year.
As it stands this is our schedule:
9/3 @ Florida International
FIU is one of those games that I would normally be salivating over... a game against a lower level FBS opponent that we could potentially win. FIU is coming off of a solid season by their standards, with 6-6 regular season before dropping below .500 with their Camellia bowl loss to Arkansas State 26-34. Along the way they collected the scalp of the Miami Hurricanes. While they lost 7 games, 3 of them were by a TD or less, and 6 of them were road or neutral site games. Why I am not excited about our prospects in this game is two-fold. (1) It is a home game for them. (2) Butch Davis is their coach. I don't like the match-up of Grass v/s Butch Davis.
Offensively the Panthers are pretty balanced, but they will be replacing their starting QB and there is very little experience. The backup from last season has only 27 career attempts. Their top 2 running backs are also gone. They have FBS talent and good coaching. We will have our hands full.
9/12 @ North Alabama
UNA Started out last season by shocking WIU out of the Missouri Valley. Everyone was stunned... and then WIU went 1-11 with their lone win coming over USD. TUNA came back down to earth the following week when they traveled to Montana and were mauled by the Griz 61-17. TUNA actually kept it close for a time and led 17-16 at the half. That letdown followed them the next week with they dropped a home game to AAMU 31-24, and we beat them by 18, 30-12. TUNA finished the season 4-7, but they were 3-2 at home. TUNA is an old rival and they will play us hard. I still think we win this one, perhaps handily.
9/19 vs SE Louisiana
The 2019 SELA game ranks up there with some of the most painful losses I have experienced as a Gamecock fan. We were expected to be a dominant team in 2019, and SELA was expected to be mediocre. SELA finished the season at 8-5, so they kept up their end of the deal and finished ranked 19th while Coach Frank Scelfo was voted Southland Coach of the Year. Montana hung 73 on them in the second round of the playoffs while we sat at home at 6-6. Chason Virgil and Cole Kelly are both back at QB in 2020, but they do lose some players... but they also played a lot of young players in 2019. We have them at home and there is a revenge factor for the 2019 embarrassment. That used to mean something (see SHSU), but KSU broke that trend.
9/26 @ Tennessee State
The Tigers were 3-9 last season, and we beat them by 8 at home. It was arguably our 2nd worst worst played game of the season. How TSU beat APSU last season... I have no idea. We play at TSU... I really hope we will play in the Pro stadium, and not in that pit they call home. It is arguably the worst field I have ever seen.
10/3 vs Tennessee Tech
TTU was much improved last season (opening day win over Samford), but they still weren't very good... and we lost to them. We were their homecoming opponent last season.
10/10 @ UT Martin
It is almost cliche' to say UTM is always dangerous... for us they seem to be, but the reality is they were a 7-5 team last season. Sure, they lost to Florida... but they also lost to SIU. The Salukis were an improved team last year, but they were still 7-5 (5-3).
10/17 vs Austin Peay
Remember when I said TSU was arguably our 2nd worst played game of the season? There is no competition for worst played. APSU thrashed us from pillar to post, and while we tried to make it a shootout late, we only made the margin smaller. It. Was. Ugly. It kind of reminded me of EIU 2013. It had that kind of feel to it. Mark Hudspeth is back. APSU will be as well. APSU finished the regular season by thrashing MSU and EIU, then surprised a lot of people with playoff wins over Furman and Sac State before dropping out at the hands of MT State... It is a home game for us this season, but Grass better have his big boy panties on.
10/23 @ Eastern Illinois
Whoever said Any win is a good win didn't see our game against the 0-7 Panthers last year. They missed a PAT in the 4th quarter that would have tied the game at 21 before giving up a 4 play, 67 yard drive that allowed us to take an 8 point lead. They moved the ball inside our 20 with under 2 minutes remaining but turned it over on downs. This was arguably our second worst played game of the season even though we won.
We have them at home this year and should blow them out.
10/31 vs Eastern Kentucky
West Irvine State travels to our place this season for the second straight year. Last season the Privates finished the season 7-5. They had an OOC loss to the ISU Sycamores, and lost in OT to APSU. They weren't blow out by anyone other than Louisville...but we lost to them by 6. At home. We couldn't run the ball and we gave up 5 first downs via penalty in one of our lowest penalized games of the season. It was a game we could have and should have won. We will this season.
11/14 @ Murray State
The MSU game last year really showed how bad our problems were. We won that game 14-12. In past seasons when we struggled it wasn't because our offense was outright bad... they might have an off game or face a good or great defense. Murray was neither of those, yet we couldn't find the end zone with a map. We had 327 yards of total offense against a team that gave up 500 yards to UT-Martin. We should always destroy Murray State.
11/21 vs Southeast Missouri State
I really don't like SEMO.
I don't like their coaches, their stadium, or their fans... not in the way I don't like West Irvine State. I respect WIS, even if I make fun of them... they have tradition and a neat stadium. SEMO is an abscess of the boot heel. Losing to them hurt. Thy always seem to play really physical though, and that is an Achilles for Grass. He is finesse. If his game plan is good and our defense is hot, we can demolish teams like SEMO (See SHSU). Last season they kind of just ground us down. We needed a stop in the 4th quarter to possibly go ahead... and we could have kicked deep and played defense with 2 minutes+ and 2 timeouts left. Instead we kicked onside and gave them the ball on our 40. They scored. It was ugly. We still got the ball back and scored again... but with seconds left there was no miracle comeback. We gotta smash those guys this year.