TigerFan54

To me, the key next weekend is Betrand coming out of his mini-funk. It's not just that his scoring is off, but he's been flat-footed on defense and just looks out of it sometimes. He can be a difference maker, so the coaches need to work some magic getting him refocused.

Gibson's save of the ball going out of bounds and pass to Fobbs was a sight to behold. He also shot the three-ball well in the first half when we built our lead, and had a terrific drive through the lane for an and-one. He's built a nice freshman resume.

Odd day/time. Plus, the early date suggests it'll again be "winter football" more than "spring football."

Pass rusher is an urgent need, IMO. Also, Pigrome has put his name in the transfer portal. Any chance he'd want to play at FCS level?

It looks like we play Jeter, Murray and Mayo almost the entire game, every game. That doesn't speak well of our bench, and I worry about fatigue was the season wears on. But we'll see.

Seems to me Garoppolo was the QB of the decade (ND State's Stick is another top contender).

I'm in the same boat, 88. I've been watching games since we played them in Burdick Hall, so I know all about the highs (here and there) and lows (too many to count) of the program. Yes, we're better off than during the Kennedy years, but not by much (the league is weaker without VCU, GMU and OD, so we might actually be at about the same level once that's factored in). I will continue to pay attention, but with less and less interest unless some miraculous transformation takes place. That's sad, because men's b-ball is already fan-starved.

If we could clone Ed the stands would be filled for every game and the cheering would be off the chart. Please come back and comment, Ed -- we appreciate all you do and your input on this board.

I don't follow you, Mat -- San Diego State is one FBS team on the sked. What's the other one (or two)?

Apart from scoring, we were hoping Gibson would be our version of UNCW's Toews, who was a freshman last year. But they are light-years apart. Toews was/is a solid feeder. I haven't seen any of that from JG.

Well done, ladies. American was no slouch -- they played us tough. Let's keep it going.

RA got us to the playoffs three times -- 2011, 13, 18. Gordy never made it (though we should have gone in '93, the Crowley/Vinson juggernaut).

Great recap/analysis, Matt. As for next year's QB: I'm not much of a Stover fan; think of all the times TF eluded pressure that RS would have been no match for. I'd rather see Miller get a shot and bring Stover in on occasion (as we did sometimes the past two years) when you need a few yards for a first down. On one of the chats, there was talk of U-Md's Bernhardt perhaps transferring in. What would you say the odds of that are?

I assume the team had bused to Ithaca on Saturday, and then had to trek back home ... for nothing. If so, that's a drag. I hope we haven't gotten rusty by the time we play Morgan.

Will McDonough become our FG/PAT guy next year or is there someone else waiting in the wings? If he is, then he'll be our first punter/PK combo guy since Sean Landetta nearly 40 years ago. (We'll also need a new holder.)

God bless this group. They reached the promised land -- and saved us die-hards from Part 3 of weekend disappointment. Let's hope men's b-ball follows suit in a couple of hours.

Actually, if O'Neill makes the FG, then Elon needs a TD to win -- which I suspect they would have done. Our late-game D has been atrocious for years. Had the Delaware QB not slid early, enabling us to get a "stop," we may have lost that game too.

Yeedee had some explosive runs, but that fumble cost us big time (plus, he fumbled again on the drive where we missed the FG; we recovered but the slow whistle and loose ball made huge difference, as it was second and 11 instead of second and 4). I didn't see what Gibbs did on the personal foul call on Elon's final drive; seemed to me like the whistle was late again. But here's one of the plays that's sticking in my craw: TF completes a long pass to an uncovered Rutkowski, who falls to the ground after leaping to make the catch; the thing is, Rut slowed down instead of making the catch in stride and scoring easily. Instead, we settle for a FG. In the end, I think the offense relaxed once we went up 14-0 midway through the first quarter. We should have kept our foot on the throttle.

I suspect we'll have a first-round game against Monmouth or Central Connecticut -- and it could be on the road. Anybody else have thoughts on the subject?

Another brutal stretch to start the season -- six of the first eight amount to murderers' row. The same was true last year, but we had Woodall, Goodrich and Sunday was coming into his own (plus a surprisingly exceptional start from our goalie). Hope we've got some emerging stars ready to step up this year.

Unless we see measurable improvement before CAA play starts, I think we'll be lucky to win five conference games. Between now and the opener against NE, we have seven games. Vermont, Liberty, UMBC, Akron/Tulane look like L's. St. Joe on Sunday might be one too. That leaves Cornell and Morgan, and neither of those is a gimme at this stage. That means we likely start conference play at 4-9 -- and conference play will be brutal. (Did anyone notice that Hofstra beat UCLA?) Can we get our act together? Well, the coaches ought to start by addressing the Keystone Kops execution on in-bounds plays. Can we find someone who consistently steps up in clutch time (though two capable players is really what any good team needs)? I'm not sure we have that person(s) on the team. But one can hope.

Dartmouth has had a strong season -- don't know how much talent they'll graduate, but that could be a tough game.

My worry (re Solly redshirting) is what happens if others go down with injuries? Obviously, he was going to be restricted whether he chose surgery or not, but I'm crossing my fingers that the injury bug leaves us alone for the rest of the year. On another topic: Did anyone else notice that W&M hung with Oklahoma the entire game (in fact, they led for most of it) and that Knight was unstoppable? If he repeats that performance throughout the season he'll be the POY and the Tribe may finally get to the dance.

They've had some close games during the 20-win streak, even when recording 3-0 or 3-1 victories. I hope that the confidence that comes from outlasting teams in tightly contested matches carries the day this weekend (along with talent, of course).

In this week's video with Spiro, RA was asked about huddling recently. Rob said they instituted the huddle against Delaware because Jared would know the play signs; they've kept it because we have so many guys subbing in for injured players. Having Tom make the play call in the huddle (he has a wrist band with plays sequenced) ensures that everyone is on the same page.