LU fans can thank HC Freeze for his time in Lynchburg. Although his departure left some sour grapes, he did elevate the program. As a former SEC coach, he brought attention to LU needed at the time. One could say his tenure at LU was very beneficial and successful.

When HC Chadwell was hired, there was excitement and enthusiasm to try to replicate the Freeze success. Lots of player departures and fill-ins from the portal brought caution and tempered expectations. Comments were the Coastal QB was the reason for his success and it was a lateral and upward move to LU.

So what are the position of both teams today? Chadwell has answered that it was McCall who benefited from his coaching and not McCall's play. Chadwell has brought in arguably a better staff and provided stability (going with QB Salter) with the team. Freeze always seemed to say the right coach-speak things but the resonance wasn't there.

It's easy when a team is 6-0 to find only the good points. First the good then the bad. The good include team unity. Chadwell has molded this transfer/inherited roster into a cohesive unit. One week the offense has been very strong, another week the defense wins the game. And picking Salter as the QB, and working with him to improve his mistakes is significant. The running game has been very strong against weak teams.

The bad. LU has very poor pass rush, QB hurries and sacks. Good QBs given an extra second can make the difference in a play being defended or being successful. LU has yet to have QB pressure rushing 4. LU is also playing roulette with it's kicking game. A blocked kick returned for a TD, missed extra points, missed field goals, blocked field goals all will have LU teetering against better teams.

LU was picked by most to be 2nd or 3rd in the final conference standings. The ease of schedule to date has allowed LU to cruise to wins against lower ranked teams and atop the CUSA standings. LU appears destined to a bowl game with a NY6 game with slim chance. LU fans can hope that the pass rush improves and the kicking game stabilizes with the remaining schedule. Then with a higher than Cure bowl invite, get a statement win that this year's schedule does not provide.

(10-15-2023 07:11 AM)NewTimes Wrote:  LU fans can thank HC Freeze for his time in Lynchburg. Although his departure left some sour grapes, he did elevate the program. As a former SEC coach, he brought attention to LU needed at the time. One could say his tenure at LU was very beneficial and successful.

When HC Chadwell was hired, there was excitement and enthusiasm to try to replicate the Freeze success. Lots of player departures and fill-ins from the portal brought caution and tempered expectations. Comments were the Coastal QB was the reason for his success and it was a lateral and upward move to LU.

So what are the position of both teams today? Chadwell has answered that it was McCall who benefited from his coaching and not McCall's play. Chadwell has brought in arguably a better staff and provided stability (going with QB Salter) with the team. Freeze always seemed to say the right coach-speak things but the resonance wasn't there.

It's easy when a team is 6-0 to find only the good points. First the good then the bad. The good include team unity. Chadwell has molded this transfer/inherited roster into a cohesive unit. One week the offense has been very strong, another week the defense wins the game. And picking Salter as the QB, and working with him to improve his mistakes is significant. The running game has been very strong against weak teams.

The bad. LU has very poor pass rush, QB hurries and sacks. Good QBs given an extra second can make the difference in a play being defended or being successful. LU has yet to have QB pressure rushing 4. LU is also playing roulette with it's kicking game. A blocked kick returned for a TD, missed extra points, missed field goals, blocked field goals all will have LU teetering against better teams.

LU was picked by most to be 2nd or 3rd in the final conference standings. The ease of schedule to date has allowed LU to cruise to wins against lower ranked teams and atop the CUSA standings. LU appears destined to a bowl game with a NY6 game with slim chance. LU fans can hope that the pass rush improves and the kicking game stabilizes with the remaining schedule. Then with a higher than Cure bowl invite, get a statement win that this year's schedule does not provide.

I think you’re spot on with your assessment.

One other point to add regarding the cohesion is his staff giving his team reason to celebrate each win, & give them something to look forward to if they can pull it off with those mock wrestling matches after each game.

Those 4th quarter shutouts are also huge

Some good points NewTimes. Definitely some room for improvement and reasons for optimism. I was thinking this team could reach 10 wins during the regular season. Most people were predicting a loss or two by this point in the season.

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