So, the Wofford game obviously wasn’t what I wanted. However, I don’t think it was as bad as it appeared. Yeah, I know, it was 24-19 at one point in the 4th quarter. First, I’d point out that we should wait and see if Wofford is pretty good at the FCS level. In the past 3 years, they have lost 35-27 to a Clemson team that won 10 games, and then 24-7 to a South Carolina team that won 11. Their yardage stats in both were better for Wofford than in the game Saturday as well.
Those Wofford teams were FCS playoff contenders, and this one isn’t supposed to be, but still, let’s see how good this one is.
Secondly, with two teams running option, it was a weird game. A short game. Only 9 possessions for us. Offensively, I’m ok with 38 points on 9 possession (with a missed FG). Thats not incredibly good offense against an FCS team, but not awful and could easily be indicative of normal first game sloppiness.
The defense wasn’t good but at the same time, but for 1 busted assignment (the 92 yard TD run) it really wasn’t that bad. Stop that one play, and its only 12 points. Make the tackle on 4th and 6 and they score only 6 points. And if Butker made his kick, it would have been 27-12 instead of 24-19, before becoming 34-12.
I know thats a lot of “ifs” but it just shows the effect of such a short game. Both teams ran the ball well and that leads to a lot of clock running. Both teams ran only about 60 plays. If we ran an offense like Oregon or Auburn, 24-19 may have happened in the 2nd quarter and maybe we win the game 63-26 and nobody really bats an eye.
In true CPJ diction - “it is what it is”.
I’m not too worried. I still expect us to beat Tulane, although we’ll need to play at least average. A bad game here and we could get beat. Still don’t know too much of what to expect from them. They should be a decent offense. Obviously they’ll pass more, and better, than Wofford. But Roof defenses are generally pretty good against the run - at least “regular” rushing offenses (ie not the option). Hopefully we can stuff the run and make them one dimensional.
Tulane’s defense is probably a bigger question mark. They were pretty good last year, and particularly undersized and fast. However, they lost over half their starters. And in any case they didn’t play a terribly difficult schedule last year, to compile the defensive numbers they did. So its hard to say. I would expect, if we execute, we’d be able to score.
Being on the road, especially opening a brand new stadium, makes things interesting. I wonder if the crowd is going to be packed, with a loud and crazy crowd.
Basically there are a lot of factors that are unknown, but bottom line, we have more talent and if we play like we should, we ought to win this game by at least 10-14 points.
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