BS50
September 5th, 2023, 08:56 AM
I'll be heading down to Cape this Saturday for my first LU road trip since our 2019 first round playoff game.
Tough to really tell what the 2023 version of each team is going to look like from their first game. LU played a bad team even by D3 standards and did what they were expected to do, while SEMO played against one of the better teams in FBS. From a game speed preparation perspective, I expect LU will need to adjust significantly which might leave the door open for the redhawks to get ahead early.
Will say that I was surprised that SEMO's run game was literally deleted. Geno Hess is a stud, and he'll be fine. But I figured he and the OL could get a little bit of something going. Paxton DeLaurent looked solid despite the lack of running game support. I expect he might have a big year.
LU looked bigger, especially on the defensive side. Will that equate to more physicality and better run defense? That waits to be seen; you can't take a whole lot from the UWSP game. Offensively I'm excited to see the young group of skill players that have been waiting in the wings for the past couple of years. Jeff Caldwell could be a force by the end of the season, and I think Cole Dugger is going to do well in writing his own LU story and get out of the shadow of Cade Brister by the season's end.
I can't say that I expect the Lions to win this game, I think they're still a year or two away from competing with ranked teams in the FCS. I'm hoping LU's bigger defense will prevent the RedHawks from scoring on the ground at will like they did last year.
LU- 27
SEMO- 38
Tough to really tell what the 2023 version of each team is going to look like from their first game. LU played a bad team even by D3 standards and did what they were expected to do, while SEMO played against one of the better teams in FBS. From a game speed preparation perspective, I expect LU will need to adjust significantly which might leave the door open for the redhawks to get ahead early.
Will say that I was surprised that SEMO's run game was literally deleted. Geno Hess is a stud, and he'll be fine. But I figured he and the OL could get a little bit of something going. Paxton DeLaurent looked solid despite the lack of running game support. I expect he might have a big year.
LU looked bigger, especially on the defensive side. Will that equate to more physicality and better run defense? That waits to be seen; you can't take a whole lot from the UWSP game. Offensively I'm excited to see the young group of skill players that have been waiting in the wings for the past couple of years. Jeff Caldwell could be a force by the end of the season, and I think Cole Dugger is going to do well in writing his own LU story and get out of the shadow of Cade Brister by the season's end.
I can't say that I expect the Lions to win this game, I think they're still a year or two away from competing with ranked teams in the FCS. I'm hoping LU's bigger defense will prevent the RedHawks from scoring on the ground at will like they did last year.
LU- 27
SEMO- 38