Around the SoCon

[boulder3m]

Three of the top teams in the league have already played, with two wins and a loss. Any thoughts on what Chatty, Mercer and Samford have done? I think Samford was delayed and didn't finish until early morning, coming back from what must have been a terrible beginning.

[mudrat43]

Samford won vs Kennesaw State 28 - 23. Chatty lost earlier to Jacksonville State, and Mercer thumped Jacksonville University pretty handily. The Terriers absolutely must get a win tomorrow vs FU! Anyone want to predict a score??? Heck, I'll jump out there and go WOF 28 FU 17!

[Retiredterrier]

Chatty
Of the three teams Chatty is the only team whose game I have watched. So I can make more accurate comments about them than Sammy or Mercer. Granted that Chatty was playing the highly regarded JSU Gamecocks I am still of the opinion that Chatty is not as good as they have been. For different reasons and not just from watching the game. First they lost key players from last year particularly on the OL. Second they have an almost completely new coaching staff. If I remember correctly only one coach remains from last year's staff. Third their D is playing a new scheme and their O has changed but not sure to what degree. However on the bright side their D played fairly well against JSU and kept them in it for a while. And Tiano - considering that he had not played in a game in quite some time and must have been very rusty - played fairly well. No telling if Bennefield would have been able to turn it around enough to win or even make it closer. I doubt if he could have though. Bottom line : Chatty has to improve their O. However it is only one game and it could be a wake up call for them.
A
Mercer
Jacksonville was able to move the ball against Mercer but just could not get into the end zone. And their defense was like a sieve. They were unable to stop the run or pass as Mercer seemed to move the ball easily. Mercer did win in a landslide but against a weak team.

Sammy
Sammy dodged a bullet IMHO. KSU on their first drive were on the 3 yd line and came away with nothing. KSU had more first downs and more total yards than Sammy.

[BearDownMU]

Jacksonville was able to move the ball against Mercer? Were we watching the same game?

Chatt's offense looked absolutely awful. Their D was the only thing that kept that one from getting out of hand.

Sammy got run over by a truck in the first half. My opinion is that 3 hour delay saved their rear ends. They came back out after the delay and did what they needed to do, but that was just about the best thing that could have happened for Sammy.

[boulder3m]

Not in the SoCon, but does anyone know why Marvin didn't play for Georgia?

[Eyes of Old Main]

Not in the SoCon, but does anyone know why Marvin didn't play for Georgia?

I thought I'd read that he was projected as a kickoff specialist, but I can't tell if he covered that and just didn't handle the placekicking from the box score on ESPN.

[Retiredterrier]

Two games that have already started

Cit leading PC 35 - 7 at the half
Elon leading FU 14 - 0 FU just fumbled for the second time. This time inside their own 25
Elon leading 21 - 0 and still in the 1st qtr


Update
Cit 48 - 7 Final
Believe it or not FU now leads Elon 24 - 21. What a turnaround !!

[boulder3m]

Other than the Furman debacle not much news in the conference. We are sitting at 2-0 while no one else has played a conference game except Furman and Mercer. Great place to be in week 3.

[youngterrier]

VMI lost to Catawba, ETSU got pulverized by JMU, Western demolished Davidson, LSU smacked Chatt, Citadel whipped PC, and Furman lost a heartbreaker to the fElons

not a good outting for the Socon. If we are a playoff team or a bubble team, we'll win at least the next two. I'd also imagine we'd beat ETSU or VMI At this juncture (nothing is a given of course).

I'd be surprised if we won less than 6 games, but I think we'll win at least 7, based upon how we've played so far. We're not playing like the best team in the Socon yet.

I give our playoff chances at this juncture 70%. If we start 5-0 (beating Western Carolina) it shoots up to 80% and if we beat the Citadel too, almost certain.

Basically, we're playing a full D1 schedule this year. A 7-4 Socon team will make the playoffs if the conference is strong. As I said, right now we "should" win at least 6, so we'll need at least 1-2 "big wins" (Chatt, Citadel, Samford). Western is a toss up game that I think we can win. Though they played well against Davidson and Hawaii our defense will not allow 450 yards rushing

[boulder3m]

Actually I was disappointed that Furman would schedule Elon-and now I am sure they feel the same way! Elon stabbed a number of SoCon folks in the back and left for the CAA where they have been a complete debacle. To justify them in any way by scheduling them in football or any other sport is weak, IMO. Therefore I have no sympathy for Furman, but it sure makes the SoCon look weak for Elon to go to Furman and beat them. VMI's loss to Catawba is also pretty embarrassing. I suppose our question after two wins is "are we and/or the league any good?"

[walliver]

Actually I was disappointed that Furman would schedule Elon-and now I am sure they feel the same way! Elon stabbed a number of SoCon folks in the back and left for the CAA where they have been a complete debacle. To justify them in any way by scheduling them in football or any other sport is weak, IMO. Therefore I have no sympathy for Furman, but it sure makes the SoCon look weak for Elon to go to Furman and beat them. VMI's loss to Catawba is also pretty embarrassing. I suppose our question after two wins is "are we and/or the league any good?"

FU has always seemed to be closer to Elon than any other SoCon team. FU was the only team to electively schedule Elon before the Phoenix joined the league (we actually played them once, but that was a schedule change related to 9/11 disruptions).
I never felt stabbed in the back by Elon because they really added nothing. Other than the Scott Riddle years, they contributed little to football, although they had decent basketball and baseball. I haven't missed them, and Mercer is a much better fit. (ETSU and VMI were less better replacements for ASU and GSU)

Speaking of GSU, after their double digit loss last night to UNH in front of 2500 fans in Birmingham, they'd be lucky to win more than 2 SoCon games this year.

[boulder3m]

Before Elon hired a President from the NE who decided to make them a Southern outpost and alternative to students who couldn't get into Duke it was considered an up and coming fine small Southern College/University. Now, like High Point U here in the Triad, their real emphasis seems to be to bring in students from the Northeast who can afford their relatively high cost. It has been somewhat of a mystery as to why they have not been more competitive in sports. Forty years ago we saw the transition of Duke from one of the finest Southern Universities to "the University of New Jersey at Durham." In fact they had to deliberately try to attract regional students in order to maintain some balance. Davidson did the same to some extent. They were the finest Southern small college fifty years ago, but then began to creep toward less and less regional students. It can happen to any school, and Wofford is not immune if they are not aware.
I am disappointed that Elon became what they are because I enjoyed the media and having a school so close by that plays us in football. However, it appears they have crested the wave and gone over the cliff, never to return. Agreed-Mercer is a very good replacement for many reasons. It is just a LONG way away. Who will be next for the SoCon? We have SC, GA and Ala covered pretty well.
On that one other note- really interesting what is going on at GSU. I wonder how they are faring financially after the transition. ASU acts as if they are loving it, but in truth they are just a "super FCS" football team in the limbo of the NCAA. They are barely competitive outside football.

[Ruckus]

FU = Elon
2 yankee schools in the south.

[walliver]

Don't forget we have a non-Southern president and are actively recruiting students from the north. We haven't gone over the edge yet, but the risk is there.

[youngterrier]

To quote Lee Corso: Not So Fast My Friend

As a someone who graduated from Wofford in the last 2 years, I can say that the risk of us becoming a yankee haven ala Furman or Elon are far overblown. I could count on one hand how many students I knew from above the Mason Dixon line. To add more substance (the plural of anecdote isn't data), according to this site based upon one freshmen class year's of enrollment: https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges ... Geographic

>51% of our students come from South Carolina
>66% come from NC+SC+GA
>~75% come from former states of the confederacy
>only about 3% of students came from the Northeast (and that's if you're loose in your interpretation of "northeast" and include Illinois and Ohio in there too)

It's likely that this demographic sample (from one year) is representative of the student population given similar numbers here for the overall student population, if not the trend is toward *more* southern with Wofford listing about 45% of its students in fall 2016 as out of state here http://www.wofford.edu/about/fastfacts/

There's a lot of misinformation about what goes on with admissions and administration. Students like to play it up at times to scare alumni into not donating to leverage demands out of the administration for Greek Life things (that the administration either legally can't concede or would concede if they just asked).

Though Furman and Elon may be cesspools for yankee debauchary, Wofford is still Wofford and does not look to change much in the future. I graduated in 2016 and didn't know anyone from the "yankee states" (it's not crazy to assume that many to all of those students are athletes either)