Labor Day Plays

[HoosierDaddy]

0-1 yesterday and 4-6 overall to start the season. I usually do not start this poorly.


Today:

East Carolina (+8)
UC only has 10 starters back. They have a good quarterback and not a lot of guys around him. They led the conference in passing LY, but I don't see that this year.

UC also has a lot of questions on defense and special teams. They only have 4 starters back on defense. Plus, they were near the bottom of every special teams category in terms of the conference ratings.

ECU is breaking in a new QB (Desmond Robinson) and lost their RB (Art Brown) last month. However, they should be able to run the ball behind 4 returning starters on the OL, plus they have a QB that can run and a guy who was a part-time starter last year (Marvin Townes).

Even though ECU returns only 4 starters on "D", I think they will be better just with the presence of new HC John Thompson. Thompson was the DC for pretty good defenses at Florida and Arkansas. I expect ECU to force 2 or 3 turnivers today at least.

Plus, ECU will be disciplined. They were one of the nation's least penalized teams. They had only 56 all last year.

ECU is 4-1 the last 5 against Cincy.

I see a close one here.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Looks like ECU is dead, so I am going for a .500 mark today.


TCU (-5')
TCU has one of the best defenses in the country. They have 7 starters back and put a ton of pressure on opposing QB's. In fact, they have the third most sacks in the nation since 2000 (117). They also have 4 seniors on the D-Line.

TCU was ranked #1 in total defense and allowed an average of 240.25 per game. They only allowed over 300 yards once all year (the season opener at Cincinnati). They were also #1 in rushing defense (allowed only 64.83 per game on the ground -- 1.98 yards per carry).

On offense, they are 4-deep at RB and return QB Tye Gunn. They were 4-0 with Gunn as the starter before he was injured. He is a very accurate passer (62.6% completions).

Meanwhile, Tulane is 3-8 ATS in home openers the last 15 years. Even though Tulane has a lot of weapons on offense, their defense really worries me. They have to replace their entire starting front 4 from last year. They graduated their 2 top all-time sack leaders (Blackmon and Dorsey).

In addition, they must replace their Groza Award winning Kicker/punter Seth Marler. They now have a freshman kicker and a redshirt freshman punter. Look for some special teams miscues tonight.

TCU wins this by 10-14 points.


P.S. With that being said, you may want to fade me b/c I am 2-6 since a 2-0 start on Thurs.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I can't catch a f'n break. I swear to God I am not this bad of a capper. Please don't think any less of me. I am feeling really low right now.

 

[ClayHenry]

don't worry Hoosier, starting 4-8 isn't the end of the world, the season has just begun and who's to say you won't turn it around and run off 10 in a row.

Keep plugging away brother