I don't think anyone knows for sure how good our teams are. But it sure does look like the bottom of the league has really improved. Texas State actually has an offense, South Alabama is going to be competitive every week and Coastal has played good football.

Unfortunately for them ULM has taken a step back and I"m afraid it's going to be a long year for them.

Is Troy that much better? Or is MTSU just really bad this year?

App State lost a football game Saturday. It would be a mistake to suggest they are on the downslide. They are the gold standard until someone proves otherwise.

Is Arkansas State even going to play another game this year? If they do, they'll be good...as always.

Georgia State is pretty much who I thought they were. The guys up front on offense will make them competitive every week. They kept the pass rush off Quad and the QB didn't lose his poise a whole lot. He needs to want to run more. The WRs looked just average to me. The front seven is good defensively, but got worn down as the Cajun running game kept pounding until they had success.

We know nothing about Georgia Southern 2020. They played with half their team on the sidelines in their first game. Eagles +15 is the lock of the century. GS has never committed a turnover against the Cajuns in the brief history. Louisiana did a good job last year against the GS offense, but Werts wasn't 100% and Kennedy didn't play. Cajuns' errors on special teams kept GS in the game otherwise it would have been a rout. I expect this will be a much more difficult game than last year was. Those of you predicting a blowout need to go to the doctor cuz you're running fever.

Cajuns do miss those two big uglies that are playing in the NFL now. Dotson really covered up other sins on the OL and he's not there any more. And, the Cajuns have nothing but puppies in their WR corps. They lost two good ones and four of their next six on the depth chart are out for the year. They'll probably play as many as four natural freshmen this Saturday.

And, of course, both teams still have to do COVID testing. Cajuns had ten out last week, but only four in the two deep.

I think I’m the end we may know better how good our teams are compared to the B1G or even the SEC. With them not playing OOC games, there will be no reference point. That won’t hold them back, but we will have a larger sample size.

ND/Wake have been postponed this weekend, and that will be the story of the season. Who’s games get postponed or even canceled before the season is over. Who has a couple players out for a game and loses the game. I don’t think this season will be a good representative of where we might all be.

The SEC has set standards for their games. When COVID hits your team, there is a minimum you can participate with. 53 scholarship players, 7 offensive linemen and a QB. I think that’s the numbers I heard.

Hopes are pretty high on the Troy board. Players are saying the team is closer (think "family") than they have been since 2017. They are playing for each other more so than last season. Last season Troy had a ton of injuries even before the season started. This season we are 100% healthy, and covid free (for now). We also ****-canned our Strength and Conditioning Coach, citing a lack of discipline from the coach. Culture in the weight room was bad. Troy replaced him with one of the best in the biz, Rusty Whitt, former special forces. The defense is playing with an intensity we never saw last season, even in blowout wins. Several really good players are now eligible due to transfer rules and academic issues that were sorted out over the summer. We also added several JUCO players in the secondary this offseason that are adding depth we did not have last year at all.

On paper, the difference is night and day, and the Trojans just blew out a team 44-7 (MT scored a garbage TD late to make it 14) where they were only favored by 1.5. I know better than to assume we have turned a corner though. They have passed the eye test so far, but this week against a ranked opponent that deserves to be ranked will be a real test for Troy.

(09-22-2020 05:09 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Hopes are pretty high on the Troy board. Players are saying the team is closer (think "family") than they have been since 2017. They are playing for each-other more so than last season. Last season Troy had a ton of injuries even before the season started. This season we are 100% healthy, and covid free (for now). We also ****-canned our Strength and Conditioning Coach, citing a lack of discipline from the coach. Culture in the weight room was bad. Troy replaced him with one of the best in the biz, Rusty Whitt, former special forces. The defense is playing with an intensity we never saw last season, even in blowout wins. Several really good players are now eligible due to transfer rules and academic issues that were sorted out over the summer. We also added several JUCO players in the secondary this offseason that are adding depth we did not have last year at all.

On paper, the difference is night and day, and the Trojans just blew out a team 44-7 (MT scored a garbage TD late to make it 14) where they were only favored by 1.5. I know better than to assume we have turned a corner though. They have passed the eye test so far, but this week against a ranked opponent that deserves to be ranked will be a real test for Troy.

If your HC lets Rusty run S&C without getting in his way, Troy will be both mentally and physically tough, not just strong.

I agree about our team. Not sure what you can take from the Campbell game. Somehow we won playing very short handed. I think Louisiana is the better team but if we are close to having everyone back it should be a good game.Some of our fans are predicting a 3-4 touchdown loss. I ll be surprised if that happens. I see the Cajuns winning by 6-10. Last year we could not stop Louisiana running it down out throat. We will have to do much better to have a chance in this one

(09-22-2020 03:57 PM)BirdofParadise Wrote:  I don't think anyone knows for sure how good our teams are. But it sure does look like the bottom of the league has really improved. Texas State actually has an offense, South Alabama is going to be competitive every week and Coastal has played good football.

Unfortunately for them ULM has taken a step back and I"m afraid it's going to be a long year for them.

Is Troy that much better? Or is MTSU just really bad this year?

App State lost a football game Saturday. It would be a mistake to suggest they are on the downslide. They are the gold standard until someone proves otherwise.

Is Arkansas State even going to play another game this year? If they do, they'll be good...as always.

Georgia State is pretty much who I thought they were. The guys up front on offense will make them competitive every week. They kept the pass rush off Quad and the QB didn't lose his poise a whole lot. He needs to want to run more. The WRs looked just average to me. The front seven is good defensively, but got worn down as the Cajun running game kept pounding until they had success.

We know nothing about Georgia Southern 2020. They played with half their team on the sidelines in their first game. Eagles +15 is the lock of the century. GS has never committed a turnover against the Cajuns in the brief history. Louisiana did a good job last year against the GS offense, but Werts wasn't 100% and Kennedy didn't play. Cajuns' errors on special teams kept GS in the game otherwise it would have been a rout. I expect this will be a much more difficult game than last year was. Those of you predicting a blowout need to go to the doctor cuz you're running fever.

Cajuns do miss those two big uglies that are playing in the NFL now. Dotson really covered up other sins on the OL and he's not there any more. And, the Cajuns have nothing but puppies in their WR corps. They lost two good ones and four of their next six on the depth chart are out for the year. They'll probably play as many as four natural freshmen this Saturday.

And, of course, both teams still have to do COVID testing. Cajuns had ten out last week, but only four in the two deep.

Come to think of it...we play Saturday. Our outbreak appears to be slowing down.