BEAT EL CID

[watdog]

THIS IS ALL THAT MATTERS FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS

[watdog]

This will be the game to win the conference. El cid plays chat next week in chuck town.

[walliver]

We restarted one winning streak tonight.

Time to restart another in 2 weeks.

[youngterrier]

I'm not one to exaggerate individual games, but this one may define our season. We have to beat either Chatty or the Citadel, and though both are good our best chances are against the Citadel I think.

Biggest stat for us after 6 games: only 2 turnovers, none in FCS play. We have to continue that to have a chance against the Citadel.

The citadel is easily more "flashy" than us. They score more point and get more yardage and probably have a little bit stronger "big play" highlight tape. We, on the other hand, have made less mistakes (particularly with turnover) thus far this season.

I also think we have thus far had the harder schedule, but they'll be fresh off chatty when they play us.

It's a coin flip, but I would give them a small advantage over us right now. We have to play our best game of the season to win.

[boulder3m]

Actually that game next week will be a good one to watch. Chatty is evidently very well rounded and balanced. It is entirely possible that they are better than last year. The Bellhops are playing very well and are at home. It should be a war.
Still think we have the best three teams in the league left. Our team shows signs of erratic brilliance. Our coaching staff needs to work on doing a few things that are unexpected. It seems that whenever we deviate from what teams expect we have success. I know we thrive on fundamental football on both sides of the ball, but it is always fun to cross them up.

[gofurman]

Just throwing an objective bone out there ... I have no bias as my Furman guys are 0-6. They have quit.

But we tried vs Citadel and Chatt and I objectively think Chatt is a little better. I saw both teams play full games vs us. 19-14 Citadel. 21-14 Chatt. We led Citadel in fourth quarter. We never really were up w Chatt. Late scores and an onside kick try v Chattanooga

Obviously, all you guys care about is beating Citadel. Beat them and you are in the hunt! Good luck. I was just weighing in on some posts I saw here since my guys have played both. Granted, it's all about matchups. And we match up better w triple option Citadel than w Chatt so I may be way off base. Just .02

In one way our teams are similar. Both struggle with passing games - IE Samford

I don't see why you guys can't beat Citadel. We are 0-6 and they had to have a game winning drive in the last five minutes to finally get to,19 points to beat my guys who are playing BAD

[Ruckus]

FWIW - I am hearing the Cid D is dominant. Absolutely no drop off from last year (maybe better) when they shut us down completely. Offense is still adjusting to a young inexperienced OL and very quick, athletic young QB who is not an adept passer, at this point at least.
This game will be an absolute war. We will be rested and our season hinges on this game. They will be coming off Chatty. They are bussing the entire knob class to Spartanburg (they pick one away game a year - last year was Chatty). Expect a HUGE crowd. Fun.
Go Little Dogs. Hope we are ready. This game may come down to 2-3 plays.

[youngterrier]

To say that these two teams are mirror images of each other is an understatement.

Looking at the stats for the Chatty game, the difference in the points pretty much matches the difference in the game, scoring-wise.

Citadel only won by 8 (which is obviously not a small feat). They converted 13 of 20 on third downs, including 10 of 11 in the first half. They didn't turn the ball over. Right now us and the Citadel are sitting at the top two in rushing yards, third down conversions, and a couple other stats.

It looks like Chattanooga just got dominated at the line of scrimmage. Less than 100 yards rushing, Citadel was able to convert on third long by running the ball. In some ways that's "luck" (in the sense that that rate probability wise, is slim) but the fact that it kept happening implies good coaching. Again, I'm not trying to take away from Citadel, just trying to dissect what went down. At the end of the day, they're better than Chattanooga because of their strength in the trenches their ability to convert on third down, and their good ball control.

What does that translate for us? Well to start off, I would give Citadel a 60% chance of beating us. That's my Bayesian forecast(of course I believe we'll win it, but from a numbers and eye test standpoint you have to give Citadel the edge).

Having said that, it's going to come down to how each team executes (as usual). Turnovers are going to be key as are third down conversions. The fact that Chatt was able to force 20 third downs in itself implies that they just couldn't get off the field, whether that be because they couldn't figure out the option or if they just were physically inferior it's hard to tell, but we'll know the answer to that with this game (because we'll have the option "figured out" but if Citadel gets it done it offensively it implies their physical strength in the trenches). Still, the dynamics of our offense are going to be different from Chattanooga's. We pass the ball slightly better than the Citadel, but we're still an option, run first team. Both teams are going to have their stops, but the team that can force punts, and get off the field defensively will probably win it.

It's also worth noting that, for the most part, this year we've scored most of our points in the second half, and they in the first half. I wouldn't be surprised if they opened a lead in the first half and we close in the second, with the outcome TBD.

For an overall strategy, I'd say we need to have a lead at the half, win the turnover battle, and not hurt ourselves, to have a chance to win this game.

[gofurman]

First, congrats to you guys on being in a good position in the conference!!

That said, I don't think Citadel is all that. This is NOT a slight on Wofford. I am talking about Citadel. They beat Mercer by ONE (hung on after a great first quarter), beat my 1-6 Paladins by FIVE on a 4th Q drive and then whooped Gardner Webb by SEVEN?

Now they beat Chatt. That is impressive. I fully agree. But the sum total of their season implies they are 'good' not great. Sort of like Tennessee in FBS. They are dancing w the devil in all these close games... And we see about Tennessee now...

As I said before, Citadel got a whopping 190 on the ground vs my very bad Furman team (though good run D). And that was w us having NO OFFENSE to speak of to help our D stay fresh. We had one TD drive of length. ONE. Citadel looked inept on O. Very good in D though! Maybe they have turned a corner? I admit I expected they would lose to Chattanooga.

Just saying you guys play your game these guys are nothing you can't handle. It's yours for the taking. Not easy. But def doable. I still think Chatt and Citadel are v slightly better than the rest and you and Samford are v close. My .02

And yes. Samford may be better than several of us realized.

[boulder3m]

If the weather holds this Saturday's game could break the attendance record at Wofford. If The Citadel is busing the whole freshman class up, they will also have lots of family and fans. It's Homecoming, so we should have a large crowd as well. I hope EVERY Wofford fan will turn out for the game. It should be a Schlobberknocker!

[lawdog]

Good news: although the live Citadel-Chatt. game broadcast was blacked out from ESPN3 in this area, the game instant replay can be seen on ESPN3 for the next few days. I think I will check it out.

[walliver]

Good news: although the live Citadel-Chatt. game broadcast was blacked out from ESPN3 in this area, the game replay can be seen on ESPN3 for the next few days. I think I will check it out.

I watched the game live in some obscure Fox Sports channel. The video is up to the same poor standards as almost SoCon games (lots of shaky camerawork and horrible color balance). Basically the Citadel whooped Chatty on both sides of the line. Chatty's QB looked like a rookie panicking in the backfield.

If we win the battle of the lines and avoid turnovers, we will prevail.

[woffordgrad94]

This might be a dumb question, but any chance The Citadel will come into Spartanburg overconfident and take the Wofford Terriers lightly?

[lawdog]

From the Chatt. Cid replay, it appears to have been a well-played hard-fought game.

Both teams appear talented, physical, and well coached, and both take care of the ball and execute at a high level.

Neither passes as well as Samford, but they don't try, or need, to. Chatt. passes fairly well, and their QB is a threat to run too.

Cid has good backs, including the QB. Fun to watch the way they run the option, with a few little deviations.

We will need to execute well and minimize mistakes, but we know that is always true.

I like our chances to succeed if we do what we do well. What we really have to do is stop the run, and that is what we do best.

[drpnut]

There is a chance that El Cid will start to believe all the hype and come to our place cocky. Nevertheless, if we can smack them in the grill early I think we will have a strong chase of beating them.

I really like our chances. And the fact that most people do not feel we are relevant in the SoCon title race, which plays to our favor. A lot of Sammy posters admit that we are the real deal and they were just lucky. Many outside our camp feel that we are a better team than Sammy.

ElCid will go down in flames and we will once again rise to the top.