(11-20-2022 06:26 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote: 59 on the roster couldnt Redshirt, we redshirted 18
Not sure but we only used 70 schollies this year.
Have 11 seniors.
Many of the "extra scholarships" Jax State had this year went toward replacing a huge amount of Portal losses due to the coaching change, while others were used to raise some of the players on partial scholarships up to full scholarships.
FCS teams can divide their 65 scholarships among up to 85 players, so some players may only have 1/2 tuition scholarships. At the FBS level, all 85 scholarships have to be full tuition. As Gem said, we only used 70 total this year, so we're definitely reserving some for our first season as an FBS member.
As for our 9-2 finish...
Thanks to COVID and a medical redshirt year, we lucked into having a 6th year senior at QB this year whose physical skills were nearly perfect for the Hot Rod offense. That eased the transition to a new offensive staff.
Our strength & conditioning program was much improved -- this was huge -- and our OL and defensive coaching was far better than in recent years.
On special teams, we had a reliable punter to flip the field and a great placekicker to limit kickoff returns.
Those two losses, one to FBS Tulsa and one to FCS SELA (currently ranked #17 in FCS), prove that Jax State isn't quite "there" yet. We've got a lot of holes to fill and weaknesses to overcome. But we should come in competitive. I believe SHSU will do the same.
And as much as I hate those fowl bastiges, KSU won't be down for long, either. They were kneecapped by the NCAA's new rules on blocking, so they have to overcome that. But once they do, they'll come in looking to win as well.
We should be in really good shape as a conference, once everyone's completed their transitions.