Western Carolina

[The Cats]

Of course, we will not travel like ASU or even GSU did, but I'd imagine we'll put at least a couple hundred butts in your visitor's seats.

I'd think Wofford fans would be happy with however many WCU fans attend, It means more parking fees and more paid admissions, so, more money for Wofford athletics.

You guys seem to be needlessly worried about little ole WCU coming to town.

[lawdog]

Worry no. Respect yes. WCU has a good team and we know we need to be ready.

[fgs44]

Personally I would love to see WCU fill up the Visitors side completely--Adds quite a bit to the atmosphere--When Gibbs Stadium is full, I think it helps everyone--

[crabbyterrier]

Hey Cats! Everything's cool. Welcome to you and as many of your fans that you can bring to the game. You will find a great tailgate atmosphere and game experience. The fans are very welcoming and enjoy FCS football banter. I hope you guys put thousands of "butts " in the visitors seats!!! My group will be tailgating in the Verandah Lot so if you happen to have access you are more than welcome to join us or if you want access, I can help you with that. Spot 24.

I hope we have a great and injury free game! Safe travels down to Sparkle City!

GO TERRIERS!!!

[Ruckus]

A reasonable argument exists that it is the Cats, not us, that seem rather overly concerned about this game as evidenced by the PSA.
Hope they bring the entire campus with them. Makes for a great atmosphere and will help get our guys going.
Been a while since WCU seemed to show any interest in our game. But IMO this is one of the biggest matchups in the conference for the entire season. A big game for both sides. Hope we show up.

[mudrat43]

Don't care if Catty puts 50 or 5000 in the visitor seats, what I want is for WOF to play with an intensity I know they have for this game. I want every Terrier to look across that line and say to themselves, "I'm gonna whip your a-- all the way back to Speedwell (if you don't know where Speedwell is, its a suburb of Cullowhee) on every snap of the ball". I want this team to win a SoCon championship ring so badly I can hardly stand myself. I've taken a few cheap shots at the way WOF has played on occasion this year, but I'm still proud of 'em. Take a bite out of those mangy mountain cats and don't let go till they limp out of Gibbs stadium.......go Terriers!

[The Cats]

-"A reasonable argument exists that it is the Cats, not us, that seem rather overly concerned about this game as evidenced by the PSA."

Damn right, we're very concerned about playing Wofford - thus the PSA.

WCU has never played well against the triple-option (Wofford, Citadel, or GSU to name a few). However, we now have a DC that had a little success against the TO at ASU, so we're not being cocky, but a little more hopeful, than in the past.

[youngterrier]

One interesting stat going into this game: Western averages more rush yards than we do per game.

[19TERRIER19]

YT that is an interesting stAt. I’d venture to say that will not be the case on Saturday and if it were to happen I’d think our likelihood of winning would be minimal at that point. If western outrushes us in a game then it had to mean a long game...
I don’t see that how this game plays out. But interesting note indeed

[youngterrier]

On one hand, they definitely have a formidable rushing offense.

On another, I think we're the best rush defense they'll face with the exception of *maybe* Chattanooga. The good news is that as disappointing as our offense is at times, Chattanoogas is much worse. That's relevant in this context as I think Chattanooga's defense gets gassed this year due to being the foundation of the team and their stats suffer. Admittedly, I haven't looked at their defensive stats, but that would be my guess.

[Ruckus]

Cid has the statistically best rush and overall defense in the conference so far. We are close behind in 2nd.
All stats of course are relative to whom each team has played.
You can't just go by stats; there are individual matchups and intangibles that are not mathematically quantifiable. Just football. I like our chances but if anyone thinks our D can shut them down, that is a mistake. Our O has to get points.

[WTFan]

#5 in country vs. #22 yet we are prohibitive underdog at home. I like it. The best Terrier teams usually show up as underdogs. WCU seems awfully confident. We'll see how she plays out. Go Terriers!

[youngterrier]

I think I've figured out why our offense is so frustrating to watch this year (beyond the playcalling) and why we haven't blown anyone too bad.

Let's think of a hypothetical game in which each team holds the ball for 6 minutes a possession and there are no turnovers or blocked kicks. That means that there are 10 total possessions, with each team getting the ball 5 times. The maximum amount of points a team can score in that situation is 35 points. It's not the offense's fault they can only score that much, it's a limit of the game. Even then, unless it's a really good offense that can score 100% of the time (which is unlikely for even the best offenses), it's not going to score 35 points. It's probably more likely to score 17-27.

Right now, our offense is at 45% efficiency and we average 10 possessions a game (or so). That means, at this rate, we can only hope to score on 4.5 possessions or 32ish points at maximum. Again, that's an average, not an absolute (we haven't scored that much yet on anyone). Meanwhile, our defense is more efficient, holding opposing offenses to scores on 14 of 42 possessions (30%). That means we can expect about 9-21 points by the other team defensively. All of this is without turnovers.

So it's not too surprising if we have a so-so half one half and in the same game come out firing on all cylinders (PC is a good example of us doing that offensively, Furman defensively). It's certainly not surprising, at that efficiency level, going into the fourth quarter against anyone (good, bad, ugly) that we have a maximum of 23 points and our opponents a maximum of 16 or so points (aka a close game).

So how do we remedy this? Well, the problem comes down to offensive efficiency. We need to be more efficient than that 45%. How do we do that? Obviously, score more. How do we do that? We don't turn the ball over and we have better playcalling or execution.

The first of those is random. I think the second is more of a problem than the third, because in my opinion the third often bails out the second.

If we can get our scoring efficiency up to 60% we will be unstoppable

[boulder3m]

YT, you think there is anyone within the football program who is analyzing like you? If not, I suggest you make sure some of your thoughts get to the right person. Sometimes I believe the coaches are too busy doing what they do to analyze the "why" they need to do it. Look how baseball has changed since the use of statistics has taken over. Your points are right on.
It's going to be hot and sunny. Not sure if that favors either team, but I like the one that can keep the other's defense on the field. IMO the conference needs a strong WCU for its image. The big schools need to be able to represent the league with their extensive alumni bases, and it certainly helps with the media coverage. For example, the Charlotte Observer will pay attention to Western Carolina, but not much to Wofford.

[youngterrier]

Samford, FWIW is beginning a sports analytics program. That will be something to watch in the years to come

As for the stats and coaches analyzing them, I have no idea.

I think our coaches are the best in the country when it comes to fundamentals and getting the job done (the proof is in the pudding), but I'm suspect on the strategy aspect at times. It's okay to gamble, call passes, call trick plays, not kick field goals or punt, etc and we used to do all that and more because I think the coaches thought we had to to be competitive. I think they have confidence in their players to where they do less of that and more in the playbook, but they don't really have a sense of balance of what to do given that confidence. If we played it the old fashioned way we would be fine and if we played it a new way, we'd be fine, but we're at a weird medium where we're not doing either and I think that's why our offense looks ugly at times.

I don't really blame the coaches, statistics is hard and unintuitive and not necessary for most aspects of coaching. The majority of coaches just call a game and do their job.