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The ODU lover is back

Dollaz

Well-Known Member
Its been awhile. Things been crazy busy with work. I thought about posting my typical OdU preview before the season but honestly had no idea with the year off and new staff. So Ive been waiting and watching.

I think the ODU spread is off. Yes, they are 1-5 but I believe they are much better than their record. They hd to learn how to be competitive, now its time they learn how to win.

This was a very young roster coming in and i thought it was a team that might improve over the course of the season. I think thats coming to fruition.

Wake has turned out to be pretty good and had a lot of returners. The first game didnt surprise me except for the ODU defense, especially the secondary playing well.

They stomped Hampton

They got stomped by Liberty, no excuses there. Thats the one game the secondary looked really bad.

I was at Buffalo. That first half had everything fall Buffalos way. Blocked short FG bounced up to a Buff player who housed it 90 yards. A fumble bounced into a players arms and housed it 75 yards. ODU thoroughly outplayed them. Thats a game they could have won by 2 touchdowns if played again.

ODU played a 5-1 UTEP team 10,000 miles away pretty well. Competitive game against a non terrible CUSA team.

ODU/Marshall was another heartbreaker. ODU controlled most of the game on the road before breaking down in the last minute.

That brings us to the hime game today. This team has been so close over the past 3 very competitive games. Eventually, they are going to learn how to close.

WKY is 1-4 vs a moderately difficult schedule. They come in with a great offense. They are going to score points. ODUs defense has shown that they are no pushover. If ODU can control the ball early and not get forced to play catch up, I think the defense can hang in. They will give up some big plays and have to move on from that but its a defense that creates havoc and should make some plays as well. I think the ODU defense can slow down the run and create at least tougher chances for WKY.

ODU special teams is pretty good outside of punting. They have made tons of plays. I think 3 blocked punts and a very good kicker

This game comes down to ODUs offense. They should run the ball very well vs WKY. WKY is gonna have to sell out to stop the run and in doing so ODU will have to hit some big plays. I think they have the talent to do so but just havent connected on some open shots so far. I think the QB is better than the numbers show, they had insane drops in the first 4 games that are slowly correcting (hopefully). The ODU OL is really good at run blocking, kinda bad at pass blocking.

If WKY comes out early and scores and gets 2-3 TDs up, its simply over in my mind. That is certainly a possible outcome. A step down in competition for them but it is on the road.

But I think ODU runs all over them and keeps the defense off the field to a certain degree. I think they get after the QB and make him uncomfortable.

ODU 38-WKy -35.

I took ODU +14 (bought a half)
oDU +395 (I think)
ODU tt o 27.5
game total over 66.5
 
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Your ears must have been burning because I just wondered where you have been the other day.

Worth a tail, leggo.
 
I just don’t think anyone can stop wku from scoring 31+, you can stop them at times but once that offense gets a rhythm it A runaway train! None the power 5s been able to do if, I think Hoosiers have a pretty good pass d and again they couldn’t stop these guys at all, they limited them to only 3-4 possessions in 1st half which I think the key, your offense has to be your defense. Unfortunately wku needs very little possession or time to get it going! I thought smartest thing Hoosiers did was start to use their time outs when wku got into scoring range to give defense a breather, that was effective. After that Hoosiers started having mysterious injuries after every wku 1st down! Lol, it was very blatant what they were doing!!

The good news is wku defense is bad, their tackling is very bad. You just have to be efficient on offense. I’ve watched all their games cause love watching them so feel like I have a real good feel for them. On the other hand I have no clue bout odu which makes it tough to cap! Good to read your thoughts on them!

Totally agree it comes down to odu offense, as I said the best defense vs Wku is keeping it away from them!! Think I’m with you they should be able to run the ball, they just have to be efficient and score td’s not Fgs which is how Hoosiers almost (and should have gotten beat!), too much settling. Utsa and sparty showed what happened if you efficient vs wku! What worries me is it appears odu bad in red zone efficiency and run d is odu strength which means next to nothing vs these guys! Doesn’t look like odu gets much pressure? But it really does all come down to what we expect odu to score cause just don’t think they holding wku to less than 31-34! Looks like odu been in the 20s (or more) in half their games, Gotta get there today. Wku has allowed every fbs school to score 33 or more!! Kinda feel like under 66.5 might correlate with a odu ats play? Keep away the name the game, wku has a lot of trouble getting off the field on 3rd down so keep running and getting into 3rd and manageable much like Hoosiers did and odu can limit the possessions! seeing how I’ve played pretty much all wku overs I don’t have the guts to play under! Lol.
 
I didn’t notice your plays at bottom your post, lol. 38-35 certainly sounds reasonable. I feel like wku pulls out that kind of game tho, think ya’ll need it to be a bit lower scoring to get the win. Odu has to be efficient in red zone, i really think that the key to whether they can pull the upset or not? If they settle for fg more than once I think they lose.
 
Yeah WKY reminds me of the old Heinicke ODU teams. That can and will score. But if the opposition has just enough defense to slow them down a handul fo times per game, maybe create a turnover, the lack of defense comes into play. Its just hard on a team to give up a 5-6 minute TD drive, score quickly, and bring that defense back out. It outs so much pressure on the offense to score every possession. ODU has the running game to control the clock.

The big issue is if the offense isnt clicking early and they get down a couple scores. If ODU is forced to throw, it goes from a close game to blowout.

If you cant stop the run, you wont stop teams in the red zone.

I also would nott be surprised by a QB change by ODU. And it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing but would improve the drop back passing game.

Edit: I know Underdog and under is the correlation but I just have no faith in the WKy defense, even vs a very mediocre offense.
 
Yeah WKY reminds me of the old Heinicke ODU teams. That can and will score. But if the opposition has just enough defense to slow them down a handul fo times per game, maybe create a turnover, the lack of defense comes into play. Its just hard on a team to give up a 5-6 minute TD drive, score quickly, and bring that defense back out. It outs so much pressure on the offense to score every possession. ODU has the running game to control the clock.

The big issue is if the offense isnt clicking early and they get down a couple scores. If ODU is forced to throw, it goes from a close game to blowout.

If you cant stop the run, you wont stop teams in the red zone.

I also would nott be surprised by a QB change by ODU. And it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing but would improve the drop back passing game.

Edit: I know Underdog and under is the correlation but I just have no faith in the WKy defense, even vs a very mediocre offense.

I totally get it, I certainly don’t have the balls to play a wku under, just think it serve your squad well to keep it a bit lower.

I’m with ya teams should def score tds with way they run on wku, hoosiers had a hard time finishing, made some mistakes when they got into scoring range. That really the way I’ve seen any team settle vs wku was self inflicted penalties that took run option away.

Amd yes the offense makes life very hard on wku defense, I have no doubt some their tackling issues are simply cause they tired! Wku takes no time when they don’t score, and usually no more than 2-3 minutes when they do! I’ve seen very few wku drives where they get a 1st down or 2 and don’t end up in scoring range, when they get a 1st down watch out. The defense doesn’t have time to even catch their breath tho!

That the other thing bout wku, they can get down and it no big deal, they kinda like the chiefs In that regard, points come in bunches so playing from behind doesn’t bother them. If odu would fall behind I think the thing would be they just have to stick to the run and not get away from it. Ideally they get a nice long scoring drive to start the game. Pretty much everyone has gotten out to lead on them cause seems like it takes the offense little time to get going.
 
Dang, sorry guys! I was concern eden about a possible QB change as you could read but I didnt think this week was the one to do it.

I thought they would go ball control, run the ball and they came out and threw the ball. I would have never taken ODU if I knew that. Best of luck
 
I guess Im going to be a homer but I still feel this team is undervalued going forward. The WKY was clearly a bad read but I think there were a couple of factors that lead to the miss read. The WKY defense is better than I gave credit for, but in particular because they do have an ok pass rush. I thought they would have trouble stopping ODUs run game, which would run clock and ODU would be able to be efficient in the red zone. What happened was they surprised everyone and made the QB switch to a pocket passer and went with a passing attack. The ODUs offense is more suited to a ground attack, IMO, as the OL is much better in run blocking and we have a mobile QB that is a threat to run in the red zone. I don't think the right move was made last week. So, here we are.

At the risk of being a huge homer :), Im going to the well again. Hopefully the week off helps the team adjust to the new QB/new style of offense.

While LT throws the ball about 50% of the time, they are by far more successful through the air than they are on the ground. They average 3.5 yards per carry. They complete 62% of their passes for 7.9 yards per attempt. But, after facing WKY and Marshall, ODU should feel fairly decent that the secondary can play well against LT, who does not have the passing game of those 2 schools. ODUs pass defense allows 64% completions but does so only 7.2 yards per attempt despite facing WKY, Marshall, Liberty, and Wake..and to a lesser degree UTEP (who averages 9.5 yards per attempt.) The run defense allows 3.4 yards per rush, which is similar to what LT gains on the ground (3.5 ypa). The defense has been a somewhat suprising relevation so far this year. I expect a decent performance by the defense.

The offense still stinks averaging only 4.8 ypp, but with a respectable 4.1 ypc. They are facing a LT defense that gives up 450 yards per game. The run defense allows 4.3 ypc. The LT defense allows 68% completions (!) and 7.5 yards per attempt. This is a different offense than what ODU has had over the course of the season as last game they transitioned from a run based mobile QB to a pocket passing attack. Time will tell if they will still be able to run the ball effectively. Much will depend on how well they pass block, a weak spot on the season. Pressure appears to be an issue with LT as they average only 1.4 sacks per game.

The WKY defense is not great but they have a better pass rush than what LT brings. And outside of self inflicted mistakes, I think the biggest difference in the ODU/WKY game was the inability to block the WKY front 4 (in particular whoever there right defensive end was)

The ODU defense is facing a stepdown in competition.

F +/- (Offense)
Wake- 22
Liberty-40
Marshall- 69
WKY- 72
Buffalo- 85
UTEP- 119
LT- 94

Outside of Hampton, the only offense that is worse than LT is UTEP. UTEP had 333 yards and 17 first downs. Buffalo, a slighly better offense had 17 first downs and 297 yards.

In terms of defenses faced:
Wake- 57
Liberty- 56
Marshall- 54
WKY- 79
Buffalo- 106
UTEP- 87
LT- 92

In terms of defenses faced, only Buffalo has a worse defense than LT. In the Buffalo game, ODU had 27 first downs and 433 yards. Utep is also in that range and ODU did only have 19 first downs and 282 yards (67 plays).

Now, LT has had a tough schedule so that does have to be considered:

F+/- offense/defense

Miss State 56/22
SMU 26/78
North Texas 121/111
NC State 55/18
UTEP 119/87
UTSA 75/55

LT only lost by 1 to Miss State but only had 14 first downs and 369 yards. SMU has a good offense and put up 31 1D and 578 yards. SMUs defense isn't terrible and LT had a good offensive performance with 24 1D and 483 yards. They threw the ball really well this game. North Texas is awful and beat LT on the road. They also did so with a 4 1D advantage and gained 50 more yards. NT did so gaining 241 yards on the ground. LT had their best offensive performance against a good NC State defense putting up 26 1D and 480 yards. That is a very impressive performance. UTEP beat LT at home having a 4 1D advantage and outained LT by 100 yards. UTSA beat LT but the yardage and 1Ds were faily similar.

Maybe LT is just a dr jeckyl and mr hyde team but in aggregate, they stink. This game comes down to how the ODU offensive line pass blocks. LT has 10 sacks on the season. They have 2 players with 3 and 1 player with 2. Opponets are average 39 passing attempts on the season. If ODU can pass block well and LT continues to not be able to get after the passer, I think they can win fairly comfortable.
 
LT for whatever reason only seems to play well against the better teams they play, i dunno if they get up for those games, the other team takes them lightly, or something in between? i know ncst was just off beating clemson so im sure there was a letdown aspect there. pretty sure LT beat north texas, didnt cover tho, also think LT was without their qb in that game which might explain some the numbers in that one.. utsa was really the only game i can remember LT being dogs and not staying within the number, but as favs i dont think they have covered and lost outright to utep laying a similar number as this one.. i would think ya'll have a fighting chance here. gl
 
The La Tech game at UTEP is completely inexcusable. UTEP is nice team, does some things well and solid. But LT was totally lost in that game. I mean I had UTEP, I'm not mad, but it was just shocking how bad LT was in that game.

I think they truly are a Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde team.

I know little about ODU, only been involved in two of their 2nd Hs as my total exposure. Not sure I can name more than one player on their team and it sounds like he isn't your starting QB anymore. But I like the read and the possibilities here.
 
I do not have a strong opinion on the total of the game. Im confident ODU gets some points on that defense though. I think ODUs defense is a bit undervalued.....but LT has shown the ability to play really well or really bad on defense.

I think this line should be closer to pk em. What has LT done to deserve to be a 5.5 point road favorite? They've played decent and lost to some good teams and played badly and lost to some not so good teams.
 
Yeah, I looked into it, posted some thoughts in Tahoe's thread. There really isn't anything to like from La Tech - they aren't good. I am going to take ODU today myself.
 
Yeah, I looked into it, posted some thoughts in Tahoe's thread. There really isn't anything to like from La Tech - they aren't good. I am going to take ODU today myself.

I read through…good thoughts. If Im wrong, Im wrong but I dont see the justification for LT being a favorite, much less 4-5 point favorite.

What do they do semi- well? Pass? Yeah, they have a legit WR and have thrown the ball well at times but I like what Ive seen from ODU vs Marshall, Wake, and Western (all throw better than LT). The cavest was a bad one vs Liberty but that may be the minority now.

Turnovers and slow starts have hurt ODU. They just havent been able to put 4Qs together but they have looked like a fantastic team for 2-3 quarters in each of the last few games. All these freshman (68) have a half of a season under their belt and now a bye week to recharge the batteries and adjust to the QB change.

There are 3 opportunities that LT pulls this out:

1) turnovers. Hard to predict either way and I never try

2)Throw all over the field. Based in past few games, I think ODU does fine

3) LT pass rush. This is a weakness for ODU but also for LT.

I think ODU is heading in the right direction. Sometimes its hard to see but the competition has been sneaky tough so far and I think they can compete with LT.
 
Monday is typically my research heavy day.

FIU....sucks. They may be the worst team in FBS. I think Butch Davis refused to speak after the past game. They are pretty inept on offense and on defense.

The last ODU game was a trainwreck. ODU was able to overcome 2 bad turnovers and some shotty offense to sneak out with a 23-20 win. The special teams bailed them out with a 100 yard run and the pun return team also had a pretty good run to setup a score. The offense was worse than I expected vs. a bad LT team. LT had 1 sack and they didn't get a ton of pressure but it was enough to impact the passing game to a certain degree. And they stacked the box to somewhat slow down the ODU run game (outside of 3-4 long runs). On defense, ODU played really well but there were a few missed passes from the LT QB. on offense, LT couldn't run which was one of the reasons I sided with the home team.

FIU got stomped by Marshall. They put up 288 yards vs. 456 for Marshall. Nothing really to say about the game but FIU was dominated.

ODU Offense/FIU Defense:

ODU averages 4.7 ypp with 4.1 on the ground and 5.5 in the air. Despite the switch to more of a passer at QB, they are still unable to get things going through the air. The OL holds them back in passing situations and they are still very young at WR. Kuntz causes a matchup problem for any defense if you struggle to cover the TE though. The FIU defense gives up 6.4 ypp with 4.8 yards per rush on the ground and 8.3 yards per attempt. They give up 189 yards overall on the ground and 295 through the air. They allow 70% completions! It does not look like they get much pressure with 1.5 sacks per game. As bad as ODUs offense is, they should be able to move the ball.

FIU Offense/ODU Defense:

FIU puts up 398 yards per game on 6.2 yards per play. They dont run very well gaining 3.4 yards per attempt and only 105 yards rushing per game. They throw the ball a lot averaging 294 yards per game at 8.8 yards per attempt. This is not a terrible passing team and they make it will huge plays on offense averaging 16 yards per completion. THey have a low completion percentage but push the ball downfield. The ODUs defense is a fairly stout G5 defense averaging 5.2 yards per play. They still have done really well stopping the run at 3.4 yards per carry. On defense, they do allow 64% passing but only 7.1 yards per attempt. It will be interesting to see how the mismatch in styles works bc ODU will usually allow the short stuff.

This is kinda like the LT game to me. I think FIUs passing attack is ok..but its not to the level of some of the other teams they've faced. Its interesting that in all but 2 games, they've had a completion for over 50 yards.

Based on intial research, I think ODU wins but Im not sure I can lay points with this team on the road. Im gonna try to watch a couple FIU games this week. If I'm on anything, I will post it here.
 
The FIU O is very up and down hot/cold. I've been involved in some of their games. I had very very very low expectations for Bortenschlager, but he has had a couple games this year that were actually and surprisingly very good and then others that were not. If I was OC of that team I would get D'Vonte Price the ball 30 or more times a game, but they don't.
 
Its all big plays though.

Outside of the FCS game, he's completed: 50%, 44%, 53%, 43%, 63%, 47%, and 50% of his passes. Looks like sacks have been an issue (7 vs. WKy and 5 vs. CHarlotte). He looks to be a statue at QB. Looks like he may struggle to move the ball but hit on a couple big plays pwer game. Its tough to read too much, they look like they are way behind every game.

Im wondering if I may get involved in the toal.
 
At Central Michigan was probably their best game. Should've/could've won but I forget all the variables.
 
Looks like they wereoutplayed but somehow kept it close. CMU had 600 yards on offense to 437 for FIU. ...ahhh.. blocked punt TD for FIU.

I just watched the highlights on ESPN. The last CMU td might be the worst defense I've every seen :) Like if you told me the defense was on the take, I would believe it :)
 
Monday is typically my research heavy day.

FIU....sucks. They may be the worst team in FBS. I think Butch Davis refused to speak after the past game. They are pretty inept on offense and on defense.

The last ODU game was a trainwreck. ODU was able to overcome 2 bad turnovers and some shotty offense to sneak out with a 23-20 win. The special teams bailed them out with a 100 yard run and the pun return team also had a pretty good run to setup a score. The offense was worse than I expected vs. a bad LT team. LT had 1 sack and they didn't get a ton of pressure but it was enough to impact the passing game to a certain degree. And they stacked the box to somewhat slow down the ODU run game (outside of 3-4 long runs). On defense, ODU played really well but there were a few missed passes from the LT QB. on offense, LT couldn't run which was one of the reasons I sided with the home team.

FIU got stomped by Marshall. They put up 288 yards vs. 456 for Marshall. Nothing really to say about the game but FIU was dominated.

ODU Offense/FIU Defense:

ODU averages 4.7 ypp with 4.1 on the ground and 5.5 in the air. Despite the switch to more of a passer at QB, they are still unable to get things going through the air. The OL holds them back in passing situations and they are still very young at WR. Kuntz causes a matchup problem for any defense if you struggle to cover the TE though. The FIU defense gives up 6.4 ypp with 4.8 yards per rush on the ground and 8.3 yards per attempt. They give up 189 yards overall on the ground and 295 through the air. They allow 70% completions! It does not look like they get much pressure with 1.5 sacks per game. As bad as ODUs offense is, they should be able to move the ball.

FIU Offense/ODU Defense:

FIU puts up 398 yards per game on 6.2 yards per play. They dont run very well gaining 3.4 yards per attempt and only 105 yards rushing per game. They throw the ball a lot averaging 294 yards per game at 8.8 yards per attempt. This is not a terrible passing team and they make it will huge plays on offense averaging 16 yards per completion. THey have a low completion percentage but push the ball downfield. The ODUs defense is a fairly stout G5 defense averaging 5.2 yards per play. They still have done really well stopping the run at 3.4 yards per carry. On defense, they do allow 64% passing but only 7.1 yards per attempt. It will be interesting to see how the mismatch in styles works bc ODU will usually allow the short stuff.

This is kinda like the LT game to me. I think FIUs passing attack is ok..but its not to the level of some of the other teams they've faced. Its interesting that in all but 2 games, they've had a completion for over 50 yards.

Based on intial research, I think ODU wins but Im not sure I can lay points with this team on the road. Im gonna try to watch a couple FIU games this week. If I'm on anything, I will post it here.

very tough to lay points on the road with teams like this. maybe the fact they favs is saying something? could just be saying fiu is really that bad, lol.
 
FIU/ODU U51 looks intriguing. I dont think either team can expect to score more than 24.....can they?
Im actually leaning on the other side. FIU can't stop the run or the pass and I think ODU may get the ground game going this weekend leading to points. While, I like the ODU defense, I do think there style is suceptible to big plays and FIU could hit a couple big ones. I don't expect them to consistently move the ball but with a total of 52 in college football, a couple big plays could force the total over.

I havne't played anything but Im really considering the over.
 
On to FAU.....

This might be the most difficult team to scout on the schedule. Overall, they are ranked 80th in F+/- with 82 on offense and 67 on defense. At times, they look like they have the makings of a very good team and at times, they look awful. The stats against Marshall were fairly similar but Marshall cruised to a fairly easy win. FAU could not stop the Marshall passing attack. But FAU ran for 243 yars on 5.2 ypc. They threw for another 200. They only turned the ball over 1 and only had 3 penalties. I backed Marshall so Im not upset, but WTF?

The week before FAU had a deficit of 279 yards to 436 against....UTEP....at home? FAU had 12 first downs and 279 total yards. In the first half FAU had a 14-10 lead with the following drives:

3 plays 1 yard
3 plays 7 yards
2 plays 55 yards
3 plays 9 yards
3 plays 5 yards
4 plays 2 yards
10 plays, 75 yards

Second half:
5 plays 6 yards
7 play, 13 yard TD
3 plays 0 yards.

THe week before they beat Charlotte 38-9. They only had 16 first downs but 427 yards. Vs. UAB they had 18 first downs and 284 yards. Vs. Florida they had 23 first downs and 353 yards.

I cannot get a read on their offense. It looks like they have a solid running game and a passing game that will struggle if they do not hit big plays, which has at times been a problem for ODU (especially vs. FIU, yuck).

ODU whipped FIU pretty good and it could have been worse with better clock management. 29 first downs and 565 yards. Still, the passing offense is a huge work in progress.

The two areas ODU is weak is giving up big plays in the passing game and pass blocking in straight pass situations. Im not sure FAU has a great pass rush but they have shown at times the ability to hit the big plays.

I feel like the teams are heading in opposite directions. FAU has played poorly overall over the past few weeks. Outside of the WKY, ODU lost by 1 to Buff, 7 at UTEP, 7 at Marshall, won by 3 vs. LT, and won by 23 vs. FIU. The wins were vs bad teams abut the losses were vs. faily competitive teams.

The line being 7 doesn't surprise me but I do think its a bit inflated. I think the teams are fairly similar. I think the defenses are both pretty similar with the ODU defense better vs. the run and FAU better vs. the pass. FAUs inability to stop the run might hurt them in this game. FAU has had a bit of a favorable schedule. GASO is awful. FCS school (fordham), lost @ AF...but in conference they have been home to FIU, UTEP, and Marshall, and at Chartlotte and UAB.

I don't have a strong opinion at the moment but I do think the line is a bit inflated. The under might be a good play.
 
I agree that FAU is a tough team to get a handle on.

For this game, it reminds me of how I thought about FAU traveling to Charlotte. Didn't think FAU was that strong of a team and had some areas where Charlotte could have success. The 1st H was pretty even, felt pretty good with a Charlotte play. Then the 2nd H was just dominant FAU D and FAU O finding plenty of holes in the secondary for a blow out win.

Hopefully for your sake, the ODU game goes differently.
 
Agree- tough game to figure. No play for me but I hope you win outright. That’s my lean
 
I agree that FAU is a tough team to get a handle on.

For this game, it reminds me of how I thought about FAU traveling to Charlotte. Didn't think FAU was that strong of a team and had some areas where Charlotte could have success. The 1st H was pretty even, felt pretty good with a Charlotte play. Then the 2nd H was just dominant FAU D and FAU O finding plenty of holes in the secondary for a blow out win.

Hopefully for your sake, the ODU game goes differently.

I did compare lines. I think ODU is better than Charlotte at this point.

Ive seen glimpses from this team and they even left a bunch on the table vs FIU. If I had any faith in our passing attack, this would be a full play.
 
Shorter writeup today probably. Im riding the red hot Monarchs again catching 3.5. My biggest concern is the MTSU pass rush....that could be a game changing unit.

I look at MTSU and they are down to their 3rd QB and have really feasted on bad teams (FIU, USM, UCOnn, Monmouth) and 1 good team in Marshall. They've lost big to VT, Liberty, UTASA, WKY. The Marshall game gave my some grief until I looked back and ssaw that Marshall had a 28-16 first down advantage and outgained them by 200 yards almost. Marshall lost 4 fumbles in that game and threw 2 picks. Outside of that, they haven't beaten or lost to anyone they should have.

They are a team that has some head scratching games as well. I think MTSU has a solid defense, how do they give up 572 yards to Charlotte?

There defensive stats are decent but appears to be a function of really doing well vs. FIU, USM, UConn. The offense is sporatic and seems to more benefit from turnovers more than anything.

I think this will be a pretty low scoring, competitive game. ODU finally put it together on both sides and the passing game showed up vs. a good FAU defense. However, FAU had no pass rush where I think MTSU will bring some pressure. If ODU can handle the pressure, they have a great shot outright. I think they win a close one.
 
Vattiato would actually be MTSU's 4th QB to play this year since when Cunningham got hurt DiLiello replaced him and he was playing some spot duty. They gave Vattiato the start vs WKU and again last week still bringing DiLiello in to run. Looks like they don't think DiLiello is good enough to start. Vattiato is a true freshman. I faded him and MTSU off the 5 INT game, he was quite a bit better vs FIU. FIU is garbage, I should've stayed off that game, I thought they'd have some skill players to exploit an MTSU D who doesn't see many talented receivers vs the teams they typically beat (like UConn and USM).
 
Yeah, FIU quit several weeks ago. I almost fell into that trap as well. I haven't seen the game but completing 20 passes for 147 yards tells me they are either dumping everything off or throwing screens. I think stopping the run game will be the biggest concern, there exotic blitzes may rattle the true freshman if they can get in 3rd and long.

Figuring out this MTSU defense is harder. I know Reed Blankenship is an NFL player and he had a 100 yard INT return against us a few years ago.
 
Im not gonna have a long writeup this week. I rode them through the weak part of the schedule and very excited for Saturday. However, Im not laying 10 points with them and Im not going to fade them either.

Im gonna take a look at the team totals and may get involved there. Charlotte has a decent offense and they will score some points. They have a chance at a bowl game as well. Charlottes defense is reallly bad though.
 
really curious bout your thoughts on this one, it kinda tough for me to put a lot of respect on odu 5 game win streak considering the comp level. i do think they outta be the more motivated team and their run d been pretty solid which i think a big key here. wanna say taking the points the way to go but not real confident.
 
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