What Do You Think

[Guest]

Whats up, wanted to know what everyone thought of these picks for tomorrow

Oklahoma State
Central Michigan
Mizz
San Jose State
UL Lafayette


Thanks...

[Kevin]

Id love to help but believe it or not I have NO opinions on any of those!

[Guest]

Hello friends, noob here...

More of a team preview but i'll sprinkle some match up ideas in there:

USC (-28.5) UL-La

USC will be starting red shirt freshman Smelley at QB, due to the starter's one-game suspension. He will share snaps with sophmore QB Beecher tomorrow, each auditioning for more playing time. I do not believe this will affect the outcome of the game, as both are capable of running a Spurrier offense.
At RB, Carolina has a nice one-two punch with the experienced Body and Davis. Both are play makers. I do not expect the running game to have problems against UL-La's defense. Although, the offensive line has had trouble coming together in the first game the last few years. This seems due to personel turnover and younger upgrades not used to playing as a unit.
WR crew lost Sidney Rice to the Draft. This leaves plenty of room for one of our under the radar youngsters to flurish in Spurriers offense (see Sidney Rice).

I expect the offense to sputter at times tomorrow, but strongly believe that Spurrier will be trying to make a statement with the score. He is attempting to reverse the losing culture around Columbia. This means not only the fan's attitudes, but more importantly, the players themselves. He is trying to teach this team how to finish off an opponent, and i feel this will be a large factor in the game tomorrow. With 52-7 and 45-6 wins against MiddTenn and FAU last year, he is slowly imparting a killer instinct that never existed at South Carolina.

As far as Carolina's defense, i think they are going to shine tomorrow. They are returning a slew of starters (10) and have increased depth with highly talented recruits ready to step in and play (esp. on D-Line).
Jasper Brinkley leads a stout LB corp. And the line is loaded with SEC-caliber talent, granted it is on the young side.
AFter being the strength of the defense last year, i believe the defensive backfield will be the defensive unit targeted the most in '07. That is saying something because South Carolina seems to have 1-2 DBs on the draftboard each year (look for that trend to continue with Captain Munnerlyn).

The Ragin Cajuns had the top rushing numbers in the Sun Belt last year. Their leading rusher (5.3 ypr) along with most of the O-line is returning. QB Jerry Desormeaux is a junior who relies on his feet (6.2 ypr) more so than his arm (51% comp). He also has not seen regular playing time since his freshman year when he filled for a hurt starting QB. He followed that up last year with strictly mop-up duty.

Lafayette's offense will not have the opportunity to exploit their strengths (the run) against a stout Carolina run D, and will be forced to rely on an uproved passer to move the ball. They could be potentially facing a top-5 SEC caliber defense in USC, and will not see a defense like this again until November when they play Tenn.

UL-La's D was their stronger side last year (58th ranked) and is returning 5 starters. They lost their leading tackler from last year but retain their second leading LB. Here in lies the potential for a few stalled drives for South Carolina, but not much more.

I really expect South Carolina to come out making a statement in this matchup. There are just a few factors keeping me away from this one:
1. Matchup with UGA next week could keep personel out of the game late, as well as have some players looking ahead.
2. O-Line has been slow to start last few years (not quite the disarray they had last year though)

I might take the UL-La team total under 7.5 just for fun though, lol

USC 35 UL-La 3

GL to everyone this season!!


Full Disclosure: I went to USC and still live in Columbia.

[BoilerBacker]

I usually disagree with at least 1 play when there are 5, but I have to say, I like em all.

Solid card in my opinion.

Welcome to the forum...

GL :beerbang: