OVC Week 1

[eiu1999]

WIU@EIU
Wofford@Tenn Tech
North Alabama@Jacksonville St
UT Martin@Cincinnati
EKU@Purdue
Murray St@Illinois
Austin P@Troy
SEMO@Memphis

[smilo]

WIU by 3
Wofford by 10
JSU by 20
Cinci by 38
EKU by 3
Illinois by 45
Troy by 59
Memphis by 35

[ASU33]

WIU@EIU-Western by 3
Wofford@Tenn Tech- Wofford by 6
North Alabama@Jacksonville St-Jax State by 10
UT Martin@Cincinnati-Concy by 28
EKU@Purdue-Purdue by 13
Murray St@Illinois-Illinois by 17
Austin P@Troy-Troy by 30+
SEMO@Memphis -Memphis by 21

[JSUSoutherner]

EIU
TTU
UNA
Cincy
Purdue
Illinois
Pike County Remedial School
Memphis

[Thumper 76]

WIU@EIU
Wofford@Tenn Tech
North Alabama@Jacksonville St
UT Martin@Cincinnati
EKU@Purdue
Murray St@Illinois
Austin P@Troy
SEMO@Memphis

WIU
Wofford
JSU
Cincy
Purdont
Illinois
Troy
Memphis

[Big_Fan]

EIU
TTU
UNA
Cincy
Purdue
Illinois
Pike County Remedial School
Memphis


Picking Tuna for the upset? You serious, Clark?

EIU in a barn burner
Wally closer than expected
JSU by a wider margin than expected
Cincy blowout in a shoot-out
Purdue (VERY Tempted to pick EKU for the upset, but first games with new HC's can be dicey)
IU probably by a lot
Troy (I hope not)
Memphis (SEMO might make this interesting for a half...dunno what Memphis lost from last year)

[TTUEagles]

W Illinois @ Eastern Ill
Wofford @ Tennessee TECH
U N A @ Jacksonville St
Tennessee - Martin @ Cincinnati
EKU @ Purdue
Murray State @ Illinois
APSUx @ Troy
South East Missouri @ Memphis
TSU also plays Arkansas Pine-Bluff, right? Sept. 3?

[JSUSoutherner]

W Illinois @ Eastern Ill
Wofford @ Tennessee TECH
U N A @ Jacksonville St
Tennessee - Martin @ Cincinnati
EKU @ Purdue
Murray State @ Illinois
APSUx @ Troy
South East Missouri @ Memphis
TSU also plays Arkansas Pine-Bluff, right? Sept. 3?

Ok, I picked UNA cause I'm a sarcastic A-hole. Why did you?

[Bam]

WIU by 3
Wofford by 10
JSU by 20
Cinci by 38
EKU by 3 xnodx
Illinois by 45
Troy by 59
Memphis by 35

I see ya workin!!!!

[ASU33]

WIU@EIU
Wofford@Tenn Tech
North Alabama@Jacksonville St
UT Martin@Cincinnati
EKU@Purdue
Murray St@Illinois
Austin P@Troy
SEMO@Memphis


No TSU?xdontknowx

[chattanoogamocs]

For those picking Wofford, they lost the senior starting QB for the season.

[TTUEagles]

Ok, I picked UNA cause I'm a sarcastic A-hole. Why did you?
1/2 same reason as you and 1/2 I grew up :30 from UNA and I am a fan... Sorry!

[Big_Fan]

1/2 same reason as you and 1/2 I grew up :30 from UNA and I am a fan... Sorry!

I would be less surprised if we win that game by 40+. TUNA is a powerhouse D2 team... that said, people are putting too much stock in what we lost, and not enough in what we have coming back. Our defense has questions to answer, but I don't see TUNA slowing down our offense. With Eli and Barge back, Dunn (along with a stacked receiving corp), Lee, Johnson, and Samuels back on the OL, and a ton of quality depth at RB, the only way they beat is if they outscore us... and I think we will be somewhere around half-a-hundred.

I worry a little about the Lion's run game and our (somewhat) retooled defensive line. We have quality depth on the DL, but it is untested. The Lions have a couple of big'uns on the OL, and there is talk out of Florence that they may be running the QB more this year. It will be interesting to see how we play them when their offense is on the field. If videos from summer camp are any indication, our defense is faster than last year, and lays the lumber.

The bottom line is, this is not the JSU team with a first year head coach and freshman QB with a broken thumb that TUNA almost beat in 2013, and that TUNA team was probably the 3rd best D2 team in the country in 2013, losing to national runner-up Lenoir Rhyne by 3 points in the quarterfinals. If TUNA manages the upset, they should waltz to the D2 title.

I am excited about this season... I think a lot of people are writing us off, and I think we will be improved from last year.

[TTUEagles]

I would be less surprised if we win that game by 40+. TUNA is a powerhouse D2 team... that said, people are putting too much stock in what we lost, and not enough in what we have coming back. Our defense has questions to answer, but I don't see TUNA slowing down our offense. With Eli and Barge back, Dunn (along with a stacked receiving corp), Lee, Johnson, and Samuels back on the OL, and a ton of quality depth at RB, the only way they beat is if they outscore us... and I think we will be somewhere around half-a-hundred.

I worry a little about the Lion's run game and our (somewhat) retooled defensive line. We have quality depth on the DL, but it is untested. The Lions have a couple of big'uns on the OL, and there is talk out of Florence that they may be running the QB more this year. It will be interesting to see how we play them when their offense is on the field. If videos from summer camp are any indication, our defense is faster than last year, and lays the lumber.

The bottom line is, this is not the JSU team with a first year head coach and freshman QB with a broken thumb that TUNA almost beat in 2013, and that TUNA team was probably the 3rd best D2 team in the country in 2013, losing to national runner-up Lenoir Rhyne by 3 points in the quarterfinals. If TUNA manages the upset, they should waltz to the D2 title.

I am excited about this season... I think a lot of people are writing us off, and I think we will be improved from last year.
Big_Fan , I'm half kidding with that [prediction]. I still cannot, for the life of me, understand why people get all worked up (not saying you are) over people's predictions. Who cares? Who knows? I grew up going to UNA games when Troy and JSU were big rivals and I still like UNA but chose TTU over them to play... (would've had 3 championship rings if I did, but I don't regret it! I thought I-AA trumped D II)
I wouldn't bet a dime on UNA, just 'predicting' with my heart, not taking this seriously.
Side note: I haven't been this excited for TTU football since 2011 and maybe more than that, glad you are excited about JSU - sounds like you have every right to be...

[Big_Fan]

Big_Fan , I'm half kidding with that [prediction]. I still cannot, for the life of me, understand why people get all worked up (not saying you are) over people's predictions. Who cares? Who knows? I grew up going to UNA games when Troy and JSU were big rivals and I still like UNA but chose TTU over them to play... (would've had 3 championship rings if I did, but I don't regret it! I thought I-AA trumped D II)
I wouldn't bet a dime on UNA, just 'predicting' with my heart, not taking this seriously.
Side note: I haven't been this excited for TTU football since 2011 and maybe more than that, glad you are excited about JSU - sounds like you have every right to be...

You are right that I was not worked up... just analyzing.

TUNA has some talent, but they don't have the depth, and there are mismatches all over the place. The TUNA secondary is deep, but our receiving corp is on another level... and with 4 starters back on the OL, I don't see them getting a ton of pressure on Eli. I really think it will be a long day for the TUNA defense. They may gain some yards running between the tackles, but I think we score early and often.

I would love to see TTU improve... not enough to beat us, but to be competitive. Heck, JSU desperately NEEDS the entire conference to improve. It is tough to hit the playoffs after a season of feasting on terrible conference opponents. We addressed that this season with our out of conference schedule... it isn't MVFC, but having Liberty and Coastal in the front half of the schedule helps.

The most miserable I have ever been at a game was the 2010 game at TTU. Jack Crowe was at his finest that day. We beat Ole Miss in the grove to start the season, and then finished out the regular season by giving away a game we were dominating, to a very pedestrian TTU team. All we had to do was beat you guys and we would have won the OVC. Crowe kept his job after that, and I was surprised... then he pulled an almost perfect repeat of that game against EKU in 2011, and I was shocked when he wasn't fired. For all of Watson Brown's faults, he was no Jack Crowe in the area of game day coaching. Jack Crowe couldn't spell defense, much less field one. While our offense under Grass is fantastic, the real difference since Bill Clark's one and done season has been the development of our defense. In our D2 days we played lights out defense. We were known for ball control and defense... for Gamecock fans, having a team that plays defense is like going back to the glory days of the late 80's and early 90's.

[Bam]

You are right that I was not worked up... just analyzing.

TUNA has some talent, but they don't have the depth, and there are mismatches all over the place. The TUNA secondary is deep, but our receiving corp is on another level... and with 4 starters back on the OL, I don't see them getting a ton of pressure on Eli. I really think it will be a long day for the TUNA defense. They may gain some yards running between the tackles, but I think we score early and often.

I would love to see TTU improve... not enough to beat us, but to be competitive. Heck, JSU desperately NEEDS the entire conference to improve. It is tough to hit the playoffs after a season of feasting on terrible conference opponents. We addressed that this season with our out of conference schedule... it isn't MVFC, but having Liberty and Coastal in the front half of the schedule helps.

The most miserable I have ever been at a game was the 2010 game at TTU. Jack Crowe was at his finest that day. We beat Ole Miss in the grove to start the season, and then finished out the regular season by giving away a game we were dominating, to a very pedestrian TTU team. All we had to do was beat you guys and we would have won the OVC. Crowe kept his job after that, and I was surprised... then he pulled an almost perfect repeat of that game against EKU in 2011, and I was shocked when he wasn't fired. For all of Watson Brown's faults, he was no Jack Crowe in the area of game day coaching. Jack Crowe couldn't spell defense, much less field one. While our offense under Grass is fantastic, the real difference since Bill Clark's one and done season has been the development of our defense. In our D2 days we played lights out defense. We were known for ball control and defense... for Gamecock fans, having a team that plays defense is like going back to the glory days of the late 80's and early 90's.


Not all OVC teams are terrible, but the conference definetly needs to step up. I think EKU is on the right track with the new regime!

[eiu1999]

EIU Strengths:
Running game
O Line

Weaknesses:
Defense-all of it, line, linebackers and db's
Kicking game
WR-who will step up.
QB- Unproven options

[eiupantherfan94]

WIU @ EIU
Wofford @ Tenn Tech
North Alabama @ Jacksonville St
UT Martin @ Cincinnati
EKU @ Purdue
Murray St @ Illinois
Austin Peay @ Troy
SEMO @ Memphis
Arkansas Pine-Bluff @ TSU

[eiu1999]

WIU @ EIU
Wofford @ Tenn Tech
North Alabama @ Jacksonville St
UT Martin @ Cincinnati
EKU @ Purdue
Murray St @ Illinois
Austin Peay @ Troy
SEMO @ Memphis
Arkansas Pine-Bluff @ TSU

Have you seen any practices?

[eiupantherfan94]

Have you seen any practices?

I have not, unfortunately. I just made a homer pick. :D That being said, according to OVC Ball the QB competition is between Redshirt JR. Austin Green and Mattoon native Jared Pilson. If either of them can make the throws that Whitlow couldn't complete last season, the team should be a playoff contender once again.

[ASU33]

WIU@EIU-Western by 3
Wofford@Tenn Tech- Wofford by 6
North Alabama@Jacksonville St-Jax State by 10
UT Martin@Cincinnati-Concy by 28
EKU@Purdue-Purdue by 13
Murray St@Illinois-Illinois by 17
Austin P@Troy-Troy by 30+
SEMO@Memphis -Memphis by 21


Also Tennessee State over Arkansas Pine-Bluff by 20+

[MR. CHICKEN]

WESTERN ILLINOIS
WOFFORD
JACKSONVILLE STATE
CINCINNATI
PURDUE
ILLINOIS
TROY
MEMPHIS

[jayhawkdaddy]

WIU@EIU
Wofford@Tenn Tech
North Alabama@Jacksonville St
UT Martin@Cincinnati
EKU@Purdue
Murray St@Illinois
Austin P@Troy
SEMO@Memphis

[Katfan]

WIU@EIU
Wofford@Tenn Tech
North Alabama@Jacksonville St
UT Martin@Cincinnati
EKU@Purdue
Murray St@Illinois
Austin P@Troy
SEMO@Memphis

WIU
JSU
Cinncinnati
Prudue
Illinois
Troy
Memphis

[The Yo Show]

Ok, I picked UNA cause I'm a sarcastic A-hole. Why did you?

I was looking at this, and until reading further down in the thread, I was like why the hell are people picking D2 UNA over JSU???

[The Yo Show]

WIU
Wofford
JSU
Cincy
EKU
Illinois
Troy
Memphis

[JSUSoutherner]

I was looking at this, and until reading further down in the thread, I was like why the hell are people picking D2 UNA over JSU???
UNA is going to beat us into the dirt. They will score more on us than LSU.