So, I thought I'd post a thread dedicated to everyones first impressions of not only their own team but every other team in the conference. Some of the things I saw week 1 were shockers, others not so much. With that, here we go.

The "What I Expected"

UNT - Lets start here, they were in a perfect example of a situation where they just happened to run into one of the top 5 teams in the country who also just happens to be playing with a chip on their shoulder because of the loss of Tyrann Matthieu right before the season. I will say, from what I've read and seen, the defense gave a little more of a fight than the final score would show and even knocked out Zach Mettenberg. The offense is still a question mark though, I know 14 points doesnt seem like much, but LSU has a vaunted defense, so its as likely that they have a bad offense at this point as they do having a prolific one. Regardless, I saw mostly what I expected in this game, no real surprises.

UL - Yea, at the end of the day, everyone is putting them atop the league in this weeks rankings, and thats great and fine by me (As a UL fan I wouldn't have it any other way), but we did play against Lamar who is in their 3rd year of football. I saw positives with us on defense, it SEEMS like we are further along than you would think for a unit with so much turnover but its hard to tell by playing a team clearly outmatched. This game was expected to be and was a blowout in every sense of the word.

stAte - I do admit that I had/have them as one of the top teams in the conference, but much like UNT, they played a team that just clearly outclassed them. They showed some fight in the second half, but at the end of the day a loss is a loss whether its by 60 or 6. It looked like the team was learning how to play as a unit and Defensively they will need a while to gel. I still think they are an upper echelon team this season, but last night was not a good night to showcase their abilities.

USA - I was a little dissapointed in the outcome of this game, I thought USA would pull this one off, but it wasn't meant to be. We all have to keep reminding ourselves that they have only been playing football for a few seasons. They will get there, but bumps and bruises will happen. I still think they can hang with Nicholls and I'm hoping they pull off a victory in that game.

Troy - Sorry Trojans, I'm retarded and didn't think while posting. Anyway, I thought that Troy would win this game, and this was a very important game for the Trojans. It isn't often that people think of the first game of the season is one of the most important (and a non conference game to boot), but a win was desperately needed to get some confidence in Troy. What I saw showed me a stronger front defensive front 7, I think the DB's need some time to gel, but still it won't be as easy to run up the gut against the Trojans this year. Offensively, I expected to see huge numbers out of the passing game, instead I saw that Southward took control, which ultimately the best thing that could happen for a team worried about defense, because if a RB takes over the game, that means less time for the defense to be on the field. Next week against the Cajuns will give a real indication of if they are gonna compete for a conference title, but as of right now, I'm optimistic enough to say I think they will be atleast in the hunt for bowl eligibility and with a conference tie in right down the road in mobile, things look positive for them.

The Bad

MT - Um...Yea...so the run defense needs work, the offense was unstable and settled for field goals, and frankly I wasn't much impressed by the coaching decisions. I do think Mcneese has the team that could shock and upset any of the lower half of SBC teams, but man, to open the season like that is a death nail to attendance. I didn't think Kilgore looked sharp, but it also could have been that it looked like the O-line was getting worked. Most importantly, that defensive unit looked bad...circus bad...800 ton marshmellow man plowing through downtown manhattan and me without a proton pack bad. If that side of the ball doesn't improve, Stock will be searching for a job in the offseason.

FAU - Yep, you won...by 4...against a team with 35 scholarships. I know Wilbert came in and looked great in the second half, but honestly, that is the kind of team you build confidence beating by a billion points. Defensively you looked alright, but again, you have to consider the quality of competition. Mcneese would have beat that team by 4 TDs At Wagner. The thing that keeps me hopeful for FAU right now is Carl Pelinis comments pregame saying that the new offensive game plan could either be a home run or a strike out, it looks like it struck out, but thankfully now they have a week to find all the flaws they had and correct them. Week 2 against MT will be very VERY interesting.


The "What the Hell Was That?"

FIU - Newsflash to the Golden Panthers, just because you've been invited to CUSA doesn't mean you get to stop playing football now. And if as an FIU fan you are upset at anyone calling the team out for dropping an egg while playing (most likely) the most winnable AQ game the conference will play this season, then you need to grow up and realize that not everyone here is out to get you or your program. Duke will be and is improved this season, and I thought FIU would drop off a little, regardless, I thought of the loss to Duke last season as a fluke rather than more of an indication of 1 team being better than the other. I think I may have been wrong though. That defense which I thought was the strength of the team got utterly thrashed. I did see some good things on offense, like I thought, Medlock is gonna be a great QB for FIU, Rhodes was pretty good, but that defense and special teams was not good at all

WKU - Like I was for FIU going into the season, I was sceptical about WKU, and while I thought they would win this game, they dominated. I think they showed me more than I thought they would. Remember, we're not even a year removed from WKU losing in blowout fashion to Illinois State. I was sceptical about them being upper echelon SBC, but I think they have the talent, their biggest obstacle I believe they have now is the schedule. getting the teams they do on the road in conference will not be easy, but I think they will push and be quite a handful for anyone in conference, and likely pushing for a bowl bid this season.

The "Just wanted to throw them in there"

TxSt - Great job, its nice to see yall beating up on Houston. I still haven't read much about the game, but hopefully this is a springboard and yall really become a rounded great program for the SBC soon. Looks like Dennis Franchione has yall right on pace in his 4th season. If the box score is any indication, you won going away, and that is a good sign as Houston was predicted by atleast 1 preseason magazine to win the CUSA West. Nothing would make me smile more than if a little ole SBC team would win the WAC in a season where it's La Techs for the taking. This was the brightest spot of the weekend for the future SBC.

Where's Troy?

(09-02-2012 08:22 PM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  Where's Troy?

Alabama?

(09-02-2012 08:22 PM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  Where's Troy?

It's easier to say I'm stupid, brain fart, I had my thoughts already about them planned then missed them when typing this, I'm updating/adding right now, but they will be in the what I expected catagory. I will explain

Edit=Done

(09-02-2012 08:16 PM)Tuffguy21 Wrote:  So, I thought I'd post a thread dedicated to everyones first impressions of not only their own team but every other team in the conference. Some of the things I saw week 1 were shockers, others not so much. With that, here we go.

The "What I Expected"

UNT - Lets start here, they were in a perfect example of a situation where they just happened to run into one of the top 5 teams in the country who also just happens to be playing with a chip on their shoulder because of the loss of Tyrann Matthieu right before the season. I will say, from what I've read and seen, the defense gave a little more of a fight than the final score would show and even knocked out Zach Mettenberg. The offense is still a question mark though, I know 14 points doesnt seem like much, but LSU has a vaunted defense, so its as likely that they have a bad offense at this point as they do having a prolific one. Regardless, I saw mostly what I expected in this game, no real surprises.

UL - Yea, at the end of the day, everyone is putting them atop the league in this weeks rankings, and thats great and fine by me (As a UL fan I wouldn't have it any other way), but we did play against Lamar who is in their 3rd year of football. I saw positives with us on defense, it SEEMS like we are further along than you would think for a unit with so much turnover but its hard to tell by playing a team clearly outmatched. This game was expected to be and was a blowout in every sense of the word.

stAte - I do admit that I had/have them as one of the top teams in the conference, but much like UNT, they played a team that just clearly outclassed them. They showed some fight in the second half, but at the end of the day a loss is a loss whether its by 60 or 6. It looked like the team was learning how to play as a unit and Defensively they will need a while to gel. I still think they are an upper echelon team this season, but last night was not a good night to showcase their abilities.

USA - I was a little dissapointed in the outcome of this game, I thought USA would pull this one off, but it wasn't meant to be. We all have to keep reminding ourselves that they have only been playing football for a few seasons. They will get there, but bumps and bruises will happen. I still think they can hang with Nicholls and I'm hoping they pull off a victory in that game.

Troy - Sorry Trojans, I'm retarded and didn't think while posting. Anyway, I thought that Troy would win this game, and this was a very important game for the Trojans. It isn't often that people think of the first game of the season is one of the most important (and a non conference game to boot), but a win was desperately needed to get some confidence in Troy. What I saw showed me a stronger front defensive front 7, I think the DB's need some time to gel, but still it won't be as easy to run up the gut against the Trojans this year. Offensively, I expected to see huge numbers out of the passing game, instead I saw that Southward took control, which ultimately the best thing that could happen for a team worried about defense, because if a RB takes over the game, that means less time for the defense to be on the field. Next week against the Cajuns will give a real indication of if they are gonna compete for a conference title, but as of right now, I'm optimistic enough to say I think they will be atleast in the hunt for bowl eligibility and with a conference tie in right down the road in mobile, things look positive for them.

The Bad

MT - Um...Yea...so the run defense needs work, the offense was unstable and settled for field goals, and frankly I wasn't much impressed by the coaching decisions. I do think Mcneese has the team that could shock and upset any of the lower half of SBC teams, but man, to open the season like that is a death nail to attendance. I didn't think Kilgore looked sharp, but it also could have been that it looked like the O-line was getting worked. Most importantly, that defensive unit looked bad...circus bad...800 ton marshmellow man plowing through downtown manhattan and me without a proton pack bad. If that side of the ball doesn't improve, Stock will be searching for a job in the offseason.

FAU - Yep, you won...by 4...against a team with 35 scholarships. I know Wilbert came in and looked great in the second half, but honestly, that is the kind of team you build confidence beating by a billion points. Defensively you looked alright, but again, you have to consider the quality of competition. Mcneese would have beat that team by 4 TDs At Wagner. The thing that keeps me hopeful for FAU right now is Carl Pelinis comments pregame saying that the new offensive game plan could either be a home run or a strike out, it looks like it struck out, but thankfully now they have a week to find all the flaws they had and correct them. Week 2 against MT will be very VERY interesting.


The "What the Hell Was That?"

FIU - Newsflash to the Golden Panthers, just because you've been invited to CUSA doesn't mean you get to stop playing football now. And if as an FIU fan you are upset at anyone calling the team out for dropping an egg while playing (most likely) the most winnable AQ game the conference will play this season, then you need to grow up and realize that not everyone here is out to get you or your program. Duke will be and is improved this season, and I thought FIU would drop off a little, regardless, I thought of the loss to Duke last season as a fluke rather than more of an indication of 1 team being better than the other. I think I may have been wrong though. That defense which I thought was the strength of the team got utterly thrashed. I did see some good things on offense, like I thought, Medlock is gonna be a great QB for FIU, Rhodes was pretty good, but that defense and special teams was not good at all

WKU - Like I was for FIU going into the season, I was sceptical about WKU, and while I thought they would win this game, they dominated. I think they showed me more than I thought they would. Remember, we're not even a year removed from WKU losing in blowout fashion to Illinois State. I was sceptical about them being upper echelon SBC, but I think they have the talent, their biggest obstacle I believe they have now is the schedule. getting the teams they do on the road in conference will not be easy, but I think they will push and be quite a handful for anyone in conference, and likely pushing for a bowl bid this season.

The "Just wanted to throw them in there"

TxSt - Great job, its nice to see yall beating up on Houston. I still haven't read much about the game, but hopefully this is a springboard and yall really become a rounded great program for the SBC soon. Looks like Dennis Franchione has yall right on pace in his 4th season. If the box score is any indication, you won going away, and that is a good sign as Houston was predicted by atleast 1 preseason magazine to win the CUSA West. Nothing would make me smile more than if a little ole SBC team would win the WAC in a season where it's La Techs for the taking. This was the brightest spot of the weekend for the future SBC.

Agree with everything but astAte.. Using that game and lsu-nt, NT much better performance against #3 than stAte against #5, Otherwise that would tell me Oregon will win BCS going away. That said, I think astAte will redeem vs. toothless tigers.

(09-02-2012 09:24 PM)garmen Wrote:  Agree with everything but astAte.. Using that game and lsu-nt, NT much better performance against #3 than stAte against #5, Otherwise that would tell me Oregon will win BCS going away. That said, I think astAte will redeem vs. toothless tigers.

The thing is, you'll have to try and compare LSU and Oregon, which is difficult. Oregon is an offensive based squad, while LSU is defensive based. It makes sense for Oregon to score 57 on ASU, because they score a ton on everyone, just like it makes sense for LSU to hold UNT to 14 points, because they do that to everyone as well.

I dont think you can gain anything out of either game.

Oregon went 12-2 last year averaging 46 points per game with an average margin of victory of 22 points. The year before they averaged 47 points per game with an average margin of victory of 29.

Arkansas State's result wasn't much out of line for a typical Oregon game and those numbers aren't adjusted to take out Duck road or neutral site games.

Oregon knocked ASU out early but they had help. ASU committed 6 penalties in the game. All in the first quarter. ASU turned the ball over three times, two in the first 18 minutes.

Despite the mess of it all ASU had over 500 yards offense, nearly 40% against 1st team or mostly 1st teamers from Oregon despite the penalties and turnovers.

(09-02-2012 09:24 PM)garmen Wrote:  

(09-02-2012 08:16 PM)Tuffguy21 Wrote:  So, I thought I'd post a thread dedicated to everyones first impressions of not only their own team but every other team in the conference. Some of the things I saw week 1 were shockers, others not so much. With that, here we go.

The "What I Expected"

UNT - Lets start here, they were in a perfect example of a situation where they just happened to run into one of the top 5 teams in the country who also just happens to be playing with a chip on their shoulder because of the loss of Tyrann Matthieu right before the season. I will say, from what I've read and seen, the defense gave a little more of a fight than the final score would show and even knocked out Zach Mettenberg. The offense is still a question mark though, I know 14 points doesnt seem like much, but LSU has a vaunted defense, so its as likely that they have a bad offense at this point as they do having a prolific one. Regardless, I saw mostly what I expected in this game, no real surprises.

UL - Yea, at the end of the day, everyone is putting them atop the league in this weeks rankings, and thats great and fine by me (As a UL fan I wouldn't have it any other way), but we did play against Lamar who is in their 3rd year of football. I saw positives with us on defense, it SEEMS like we are further along than you would think for a unit with so much turnover but its hard to tell by playing a team clearly outmatched. This game was expected to be and was a blowout in every sense of the word.

stAte - I do admit that I had/have them as one of the top teams in the conference, but much like UNT, they played a team that just clearly outclassed them. They showed some fight in the second half, but at the end of the day a loss is a loss whether its by 60 or 6. It looked like the team was learning how to play as a unit and Defensively they will need a while to gel. I still think they are an upper echelon team this season, but last night was not a good night to showcase their abilities.

USA - I was a little dissapointed in the outcome of this game, I thought USA would pull this one off, but it wasn't meant to be. We all have to keep reminding ourselves that they have only been playing football for a few seasons. They will get there, but bumps and bruises will happen. I still think they can hang with Nicholls and I'm hoping they pull off a victory in that game.

Troy - Sorry Trojans, I'm retarded and didn't think while posting. Anyway, I thought that Troy would win this game, and this was a very important game for the Trojans. It isn't often that people think of the first game of the season is one of the most important (and a non conference game to boot), but a win was desperately needed to get some confidence in Troy. What I saw showed me a stronger front defensive front 7, I think the DB's need some time to gel, but still it won't be as easy to run up the gut against the Trojans this year. Offensively, I expected to see huge numbers out of the passing game, instead I saw that Southward took control, which ultimately the best thing that could happen for a team worried about defense, because if a RB takes over the game, that means less time for the defense to be on the field. Next week against the Cajuns will give a real indication of if they are gonna compete for a conference title, but as of right now, I'm optimistic enough to say I think they will be atleast in the hunt for bowl eligibility and with a conference tie in right down the road in mobile, things look positive for them.

The Bad

MT - Um...Yea...so the run defense needs work, the offense was unstable and settled for field goals, and frankly I wasn't much impressed by the coaching decisions. I do think Mcneese has the team that could shock and upset any of the lower half of SBC teams, but man, to open the season like that is a death nail to attendance. I didn't think Kilgore looked sharp, but it also could have been that it looked like the O-line was getting worked. Most importantly, that defensive unit looked bad...circus bad...800 ton marshmellow man plowing through downtown manhattan and me without a proton pack bad. If that side of the ball doesn't improve, Stock will be searching for a job in the offseason.

FAU - Yep, you won...by 4...against a team with 35 scholarships. I know Wilbert came in and looked great in the second half, but honestly, that is the kind of team you build confidence beating by a billion points. Defensively you looked alright, but again, you have to consider the quality of competition. Mcneese would have beat that team by 4 TDs At Wagner. The thing that keeps me hopeful for FAU right now is Carl Pelinis comments pregame saying that the new offensive game plan could either be a home run or a strike out, it looks like it struck out, but thankfully now they have a week to find all the flaws they had and correct them. Week 2 against MT will be very VERY interesting.


The "What the Hell Was That?"

FIU - Newsflash to the Golden Panthers, just because you've been invited to CUSA doesn't mean you get to stop playing football now. And if as an FIU fan you are upset at anyone calling the team out for dropping an egg while playing (most likely) the most winnable AQ game the conference will play this season, then you need to grow up and realize that not everyone here is out to get you or your program. Duke will be and is improved this season, and I thought FIU would drop off a little, regardless, I thought of the loss to Duke last season as a fluke rather than more of an indication of 1 team being better than the other. I think I may have been wrong though. That defense which I thought was the strength of the team got utterly thrashed. I did see some good things on offense, like I thought, Medlock is gonna be a great QB for FIU, Rhodes was pretty good, but that defense and special teams was not good at all

WKU - Like I was for FIU going into the season, I was sceptical about WKU, and while I thought they would win this game, they dominated. I think they showed me more than I thought they would. Remember, we're not even a year removed from WKU losing in blowout fashion to Illinois State. I was sceptical about them being upper echelon SBC, but I think they have the talent, their biggest obstacle I believe they have now is the schedule. getting the teams they do on the road in conference will not be easy, but I think they will push and be quite a handful for anyone in conference, and likely pushing for a bowl bid this season.

The "Just wanted to throw them in there"

TxSt - Great job, its nice to see yall beating up on Houston. I still haven't read much about the game, but hopefully this is a springboard and yall really become a rounded great program for the SBC soon. Looks like Dennis Franchione has yall right on pace in his 4th season. If the box score is any indication, you won going away, and that is a good sign as Houston was predicted by atleast 1 preseason magazine to win the CUSA West. Nothing would make me smile more than if a little ole SBC team would win the WAC in a season where it's La Techs for the taking. This was the brightest spot of the weekend for the future SBC.

Agree with everything but astAte.. Using that game and lsu-nt, NT much better performance against #3 than stAte against #5, Otherwise that would tell me Oregon will win BCS going away. That said, I think astAte will redeem vs. toothless tigers.

Honestly, I don't think that Oregon or LSU will be in the title. Bama is the best team in the SEC right now, they just skull drug the #8 team in the nation. There is a point to be made about the offensive strength of Oregon, it's very much like our game against Oklahoma State last season. Its weird to think of stAte that way just because they are coming off the conference championship and have such a highly touted new coach, but they do still have a brand new coaching staff. I didn't like what I saw early from them, but they showed me a little something in the second half, even if it was against Oregons second teamers. In the end, what I saw in the 2nd half kept me from putting them in the bad category. I do agree, they will obliterate Memphis this weekend.

(09-02-2012 10:57 PM)Tuffguy21 Wrote:  Honestly, I don't think that Oregon or LSU will be in the title. Bama is the best team in the SEC right now, they just skull drug the #8 team in the nation.

No matter how good Bama is, unless they change the BCS rules they have to play someone in the title game rather than play red-white game.

Assuming Bama makes it past WKU & FAU they still have to play at LSU and at Arkansas. Bama is amazingly good but a slip up at LSU or Arkansas could leave them short of the title game. Likewise Oregon has to travel to USC. If Oregon loses they likely have to go back to LA to face USC again in the PAC-12 title game.

(09-03-2012 12:07 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(09-02-2012 10:57 PM)Tuffguy21 Wrote:  Honestly, I don't think that Oregon or LSU will be in the title. Bama is the best team in the SEC right now, they just skull drug the #8 team in the nation.

No matter how good Bama is, unless they change the BCS rules they have to play someone in the title game rather than play red-white game.

Assuming Bama makes it past WKU & FAU they still have to play at LSU and at Arkansas. Bama is amazingly good but a slip up at LSU or Arkansas could leave them short of the title game. Likewise Oregon has to travel to USC. If Oregon loses they likely have to go back to LA to face USC again in the PAC-12 title game.

True, my point is, I think that USC and Bama are in line for a matchup, I don't think LSU will beat them. Honestly, I think both are top 10 teams, but I don't believe either will be in the national championship game. I think the championship will be Bama vs a surprise team, if Oklahoma gets its act together maybe them, heck, maybe even a surprise ACC team, I'm looken at Florida State as a potential. Thats my opinion though.