What concerns me most right now

Stonewall

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
206
Location
Statesboro, GA
I'm not sure GSU will even score on us at all.

this ain't the homer in me being a southern grad but the eagles will most definitely score . . . and it'll be more than once. having said that, GT should win convincingly. southern's breaking in a new O and they'll still be on the uphill climb of the learning curve early in the season. that's definitely a negative for the eagles. tech will be watching tape of willie fritz's sam houston state teams to feel out southern's new O but there's a BIG difference in the speed of southern's skill players in comparison to the athletes he had at SHSU. fritz is foaming at the mouth with the speed he has now. but, i'm not even about to make any kind of determination on this game one way or the other until i see how both teams fair the first two games. both teams have lost some key players due to attrition/bad decisions. each team is a few key injuries away from being neutered.

over the past few years, tech has proven to play down to competition they should mop the floor with and the eagles have proven to play up to the challenge of FBS teams. if tech wets the bed over and over, it could be a long day. the CPJ version of the option was birthed on the banks of "eagle creek" in statesboro. the southern D has a ton of practice versus the option with speedy, shifty QBs (jerick mckinnon, kevin ellison, ezi youyoute).

i do know one thing--win or lose, southern fans will be some of the loudest and proudest fans (not miami a-holes, mind you) that you'll see at BDS.
 

forensicbuzz

21st Century Throwback Dad
Messages
8,588
Location
North Shore, Chicago
I was not slamming Southern. I think they'll be competitive in their league, soon if not this year. The change in offenses plays into my prediction, but I doubt they see the end zone, at least in the first half. A lot can happen to change my opinion between now and then, but right now, the only way they score is fg's or a turnover.
 

Stonewall

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
206
Location
Statesboro, GA
I was not slamming Southern. I think they'll be competitive in their league, soon if not this year. The change in offenses plays into my prediction, but I doubt they see the end zone, at least in the first half. A lot can happen to change my opinion between now and then, but right now, the only way they score is fg's or a turnover.

oh, i didn't think you were. but, many football fans look at the southern record last season and dismiss them. a ton of injuries and simply a lack of anything to play for (no playoffs or NC opportunity) played a lot into the lax season. of course, there is no acceptable excuse for poor performance but it was pretty obvious the passion just wasn't there for many of the players and fans alike. it was a "lame duck" season. the only date that really seemed to matter to any southern stakeholder was november 23rd--the FL game. everyone looked at that as our "national championship" game.

you're definitely correct. the new coach/offensive system will have kinks early in the season. but, like i said, there's a lot of speed on the southern offense and a broken play or missed assignment could be a TD when the ball is in the hands of a speedster. i'll believe it when i see it when southern can nail FGs! the kickers have been horrible the past few seasons. even extra points were edge of the seat moments. flat out embarrassing. GS was spoiled for years when adrian mora was the kicker. since 2012 kicking has been atrocious. gotta change.

i think returning to the basics of the option will be the best thing that happens to the GT offense this year. if the jackets are 3rd and 2/3 every possession with little/no redzone turnovers it's gonna be tough for any D to stop them. the question is whether roof has the D making 3rd down stops? if so, it could be a special season.
 

takethepoints

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,027
Maybe he is saying that our performance against Syracuse was better than average? Not sure.
Actually, what I meant was that we looked like a Tech team taking care of business that day. The final score was immaterial to that. We could have run the same O and played as well on D and won 31 - 28. I was expecting a score like that since I figured they'd run the ball better then they did.

But last year that game and the one with UNC looked like the kind of average performance we expect. Neither was like beating Clemson in 2012, where we played so far over our heads it was like the entire squad was suddenly gifted with superpowers.
 

GTonTop88

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,013
Location
Gibson, GA
If GSU beats us the mutts will never let us live it down. We have nothin to gain in this game and everything to lose. We should beat the brakes off of them but you cant never tell. Ive already had several people wantin to bet on that game.
 
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