FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[MRMIKESMITH]

Looking forward to the N.C. Wesleyan v. Averett game. Been following both teams from afar. Hoping to see a good one.

[Wild Horse Rider]

Weekly predictions:
LaGrange beats Greensboro.
Since Maryville joined the conference in 05 the games against Methodist in Tennessee have been close with the on exception being 2017 which was a 21 point win for the home team.  2015 6 pt win for MVC, 2013 9 pt win for MVC, 2011 2 pt win for MVC, 2009 6 pt win for MVC (4 OTs), 2007 4 pt win for MU, 2005 4 pt win for MU.  I expect a close game again this season.  I would believe that Maryville can run the ball against the Monarchs.  I hope the Monarch's freshman QB takes another step forward and puts back-to-back performances together.  I'll take the visitors here.
I believe Huntingdon will take care of business against Brevard but I don't think it will come easy.  Brevard will be angry after last weeks last second loss.
NCWC goes and plays Averett under the lights in Danville.  Both teams have played LaGrange and Greensboro this season.  The offensive outputs for both teams were very similar. (NCWC scored 96 and Averett scored 103 combined against both schools).  The difference lies on the other side of the ball (NCWC allowed 42 and Averett allowed 7 combined).  Averett's defense will generate turnovers and negative plays.  The Cougars have 28 sacks and are +3 in turnover margin this season.  The Bishops have only allowed 3 sacks so far this season but are -4 in turnover margin.  NCWC will score some points but not enough.  Averett wins by double digits.

If Huntingdon and Averett both win this will set up a huge game next weekend in Alabama

[AU12345]

Hey everyone, kinda new to this Board/forum. Always loved reading these replies and just what people are talking about in the conference. The USA South doesn't get the national recognition other conferences get (especially the ODAC) so its always nice to see what others gotta say about other schools in the USAC.

I'll kinda act as the correspondent for the guys in Danville as I have a pretty good understanding of them.

When we were picked preseason #1 it caught some of us as a surprise (especially after losing our star RB last season, didn't think we'd get the respect we got). But it was great motivation for the team after talking with some of the players. 6 weeks into this season (including the bye) I'm trying to stay humble the best I can but this team is different this year, the defense has been outstanding from the jump, especially that D-Line (28 sacks in 5 games, which is also a school record for most in the season). Offensively we've been trying to get the run game going (we haven't had a RB break 100 yards in a game yet) but our passing game has been unreal with 5 receivers in the top 6 in the conference in multiple stats.

Opening up with HSC I didn't know what to expect after we beat them soundly last year, and their home environment is insane. The heartbreaking loss to RMC in the winding mins of the game was the absolute worst feeling I've had in my years watching this game, 18 points just blown because we tried to play conservative. Can't do that with a preseason top 25 team in the nation. Ferrum is our most bitter rival with our head coach formerly coaching there, always nice getting a win against them. Jumping into conference play we knew we were going to beat greensboro badly, Lagrange we thought would've been closer but our defense has been playing lights out since the Macon game trying to prove a point, leading us to a big win against a good Lagrange team.

Going into this season I knew our toughest games of the year were going to be N.C. Wesleyan, Huntington, and Maryville. But with Maryville starting 0-5 this year which is a shock to everyone in the conference and the whole south region, i feel like Brevard is going to be a tough matchup for us when we go up there to the mountains of NC in November.

These next 2-3 weeks will determine who will win the conference and I'm beyond excited to watch it. Wesleyan is very similar to us in their athletic ability but their QB has to be better with his decision making to pull out a win, especially with the best DL in the nation (statistically) coming at you. I know Huntington is glad to have Otis Porter back who is absolutely dominating right now, our secondary may have their hands full with him but again our pass rush is top notch so we'll see how the hawks OL can handle it. Moving into Maryville, even though they haven't won a conference game yet (granted they have the hardest opening conference schedule in the league) we can not take them lightly. Brevard May be a shootout, brevard is going to be a really good team in the future behind Dalton Cole, expect a championship there sooner rather than later. And then wrapping up with Methodist. We made it a game with them last year when it shouldn't have been (mainly cause after the Maryville loss last year our offense couldn't get back in stride, leading us to find a new OC who is doing TREMENDOUS this season). Methodist is another team we cannot take lightly, they can run the ball and they can do it affectively.

Have a good week everyone and good luck to your respective teams

[Hawks88]

Right now we just need to take care of our business at Brevard this week and not think ahead but with the steady improvement Averett has shown the last several years we are definitely going to need to bring our A game next week.
In other news I am happy that Huntingdon has several JV games scheduled this year, Columbus State(GA) club team last week and LaGrange in a couple of weeks. I missed last week's game but yesterday I got to watch them play a team called Community Christian out of Atlanta. If you google it there seems to be several different versions of it in different locations. I wonder if they are related to the old College of Faith/University of Faith people of a few years ago. They had some very big guys and a few good athletes so it was a good test for our young guys.
The first half was pretty even before we pulled away in the second half to win 35-20. Pretty solid execution all around with not many breakdowns on either side of the ball and great effort from everyone. Depending on how many we can retain I feel pretty good about what we can do next year with a lot these guys.
It's mainly good to see these guys get a chance to get on the field for real games to give them a chance to show what they can do and get a chance at a promotion to Saturdays. It seems like it's been a challenge the last several years to get games since Faulkner and Birmingham-Southern stopped having JV teams and Lagrange hasn't been as active.  Hopefully we can have as many or more of these opportunities going forward. It was much better for our depth a few years ago when we were able to get in 5 or 6 of these a year.

[Pat Coleman]

I'll kinda act as the correspondent for the guys in Danville as I have a pretty good understanding of them.

Welcome to the board!

[BerryCollegeFan]

I'll kinda act as the correspondent for the guys in Danville as I have a pretty good understanding of them.

Welcome to the board!

great first post AU12345

[Ralph Turner]

Welcome AU12345.

[AU12345]

Happy game-day everyone

Here are my predictions for this week:

1. NC Wesleyan @ Averett
My pick: Averett (38-10)
It's homecoming here in Danville and what better team to play then the team who beat us on our homecoming 2 years ago in the winding seconds to an illegal procedure as we were about to score. Parking has been sold out since last Saturday so it's going to be an unreal crowd tonight. Also, it's going to be extremely hard for Wesleyan's QB to be able to play mistake free football and that's what they need it they want a chance to win. Our pass defense isn't the greatest but we make plays when needed. The bishops tend to run the ball a lot against us and our defense is #1 in the conference vs the Run.

2. Huntingdon @ Brevard
My pick: Huntingdon (28-17)
This will be the most interesting game on the docket for the conference. A really good offense (primarily air attack) vs a great defense (secondary). Definitely going to be watching this one since we do not play till 6. I feel like if the Hawks can get the pass game going early it'll be a long day for the Tornado's. Setting up the "conference championship" next week as Averett goes down to Alabama.

3. Greensboro @ Lagrange
My pick: Lagrange (35-3)
We all know Greensboro isn't that good, not going to sugar coat it. Lagrange couldn't get going against Averett Last week (only managing 7 points) expect them to get back on track today.

4. Methodist @ Maryville
My Pick: Methodist (17-14)
Going to be a good game as the Scots host the Monarchs on Homecoming. Methodist's two freshman who have constantly been in the USA South Rookie of the week awards are the future of that program. Maryville needs to gain an air attack to have a chance to win, I feel like they can run the ball and win the game but that Monarch defense is stout and won't allow that for too long. With Methodist coming off that big come-from-behind win last week against undefeated Brevard, I feel like they are the team with the most momentum in this conference as of today.

Looking forward to hearing from y'all at the end of the weekend/early Monday. Good luck to your respective teams today!

[Wild Horse Rider]

If Methodist keeps up the penalties it is going to be a long game

[DGPugh]

Go Hawks
Hope we can play well against Averett next week

[Hawks88]

It was a cold, wet, miserable day in Brevard. The defensive side of the ball really played well today. We sure needed that as the offense moved the ball pretty well for the most part but three turnovers and several stalled/unfinished drives kept the Hawks score down and the game in doubt until Kobe Smith broke one for 83 yards near the end to ice it.
If we can get a similar defensive effort and the offense can finish more drives then we will have a good shot next week.

Go Hawks!

[AU12345]

Well that was a very interesting Week 7.

I was 3 for 4 with my predictions on the night, here's a little recap on each one.

1. Averett vs NC Wesleyan
We handled buisness like we were supposed to but it definitely got closer than it should have, with the fumble recovery taken back to the house as we were driving to go up 28. An unbelievable performance by sophomore WR Chase Nixon was the time setter as they could not guard him at all (167 yards and 3 TD's) and finally we had a RB break over 100 yards rushing (Tapscott with 147). Heading into the "conference championship" next weekend it's definitely going to be one to watch.

2. Huntingdon vs Brevard
One that I was kinda shocked about. The weather definitely had to have played a major impact on the game because i know the Hawks offense is more powerful than 21 points to a middle of the back team in the conference. The 80+ yard TD on 3rd down was unreal. Not sure how you play great defense all
game and give away the theoretical dagger to seal it. I was thinking that brevard was going to get another shot and score if they got that stop. One thing I noticed is that Brevard's run game was very dominate, maybe we take that route next week as we finally got our running game going against a worthy opponent.

3. Lagrange vs Greensboro
I was jumping back and forth between the Methodist game and the Huntingdon game all early afternoon. Then when a friend of mine told me that Lagrange was only up 11 at halftime I immediately switched to see what was happening. I thought, maybe, just maybe Greensboro could squeak one out as it seemed like they had momentum, but Lagrange eventually remembered who they were and finished the game beating the pride soundly.

4. Maryville vs Methodist
Well the monarchs still are searching for that win whenever they play the Scots at home. A close game throughout but an RPO on a busted coverage in the 3rd Quarter swung the momentum in Maryville's favor which they rode to win their first game of the year... still can't believe I just said that. If you told me before the season that Maryville would be winless until week 7, I'd bust out laughing with tears rolling down my face.

I want to give my predictions for next week right now, but I am going to wait till Friday, to release that. Have a good rest of your weekend and hope everyone has a great week.

[Wild Horse Rider]

I was able to watch the first half of the Maryville and Methodist game online.  It appeared to be raining most of the first half.  Methodist could not get it going on the ground and the defense really held up well.  On Maryville's only TD drive in the first half Methodist was flagged four times.  Outside of that drive Maryville had nothing sustained.  Methodist was lucky to come away with 3 points on their first drive since they lost a 20 yd and a 22 yard pass play to penalties.  Methodist was flagged 8 times before half (not all were accepted).  The second half they cleaned it up a bit with only 3 called penalties but the sacks (I believe 4) were the back breaker along with missing out on a few 1st downs by a yard.  Maryville is a tough place to play especially on homecoming. 

[Wild Horse Rider]

3 out of 4 on picks also last week.  This week I think the games are a little tougher to pick winners:

Methodist should get a win in Greensboro but hopefully they can clean up the mistakes going into homecoming next week against NCWC
Brevard has to go to Rocky Mount to play NCWC.  This is the classic battle of strength against strength.  Brevard's defense limited a potent Huntingdon offense last week but have not put up more than 24 points on offense in conference this season.  NCWC has had success offensively this year but has thrown 12 picks (Brevard's defense has 13 on the season).  I will take NCWC at home for the win but if the Tornados turn over the Bishops 3+ times watch out.
LaGrange goes to Maryville as the Panthers come off a much closer than I expected home win against Greensboro.  I think Maryville will win this game with their defense but LaGrange has been very balanced on offense this year which can cause issues.  LaGrange has not been terrible on defense either so expect a low scoring affair.
The game of the week is occurring in Alabama for the USAC.  The Cougars walk into this match up with the best defense in the conference by most statistical measures as well as the eye test.  The same can be said for the Hawks offense (but Averett is very close in most categories).  These teams likely have the best 2 QBs in the conference (both seniors and both all-conference last season).  There is a chance of rain in the forecast in Montgomery with the weather in the upper 60's low 70's.  The home field advantage along with the 8+ hour bus ride from Danville will play a factor as well.  I think the game will come down to the trenches.  Averett has 28 sacks (4.67 per game) on defense and Huntingdon has allowed 9 sacks (1.5 per game) on offense.  Also of some note from this past weekend is Huntingdon's losses on the season look better and better.  Oshkosh has one loss on the season to a ranked Sailsbury team and Birmingham-Southern just upset top ten ranked Berry.  With all that said I still think I will take the visitors but I would not bet any amount of money that mattered to me on it.

[AU12345]

I'm not sure what to do with the information about Huntingdon's loss to Birmingham Southern, yes they beat the hawks and upset Berry, but they also lost to Lagrange. What are y'all's opinions on that? There's a big skill gap between the Hawks and the Panthers, and I'd take Huntingdon everyday of the week. Was BSC taking Lagrange lightly? Or did they catch fire late this season?