FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[MRMIKESMITH]

Huntingdon is within 600 miles of Mount St. Joseph (HCAC favorite), Greenville (UMAC favorite), and DePauw (defending NCAC champion).

Based upon the national committee chair responses last year, he mentioned that there were various teams that were within 600 miles of each other that they chose not to have play each other, because they wanted the teams to have a great playoff experience.  As such, there were a few matchups that in my honest opinion, coming out of Covid that they went with day trips as oppose to having overnight trips.

[Etchglow]

I'm feeling inadequate now that yall's thread is pinned to the top lol!

[Hawks88]

Apparently we're special.

[Wild Horse Rider]

I was curious so I took a look at both Belhaven and Huntingdon and their season's so far.  Here are my takeaways and what I think we will see this Saturday in Alabama.

Belhaven- Their offense is led by their front and the stable of RB's behind them.  The backs seasons thus far look like this:

Blunt- 121 YPG - 2 TD - long run of 73
Gallashaw- 92 YPG - 2 TD - long run of 65
Daniels- 65 YPG - 2 TD - long run of 86

The QB does not appear to run very much and when he throws it he is looking for Tullo to the tune of 70 YPG.

The defense is anchored by the DL Brown who has 4 sacks and 6.5 TFL on the season.

Huntingdon- The offense is a little more diverse.  They are led by the QB and RB duo

RB McRenyolds- 210 All Purpose YPG - 4 TD
QB Cotney- 292 Total YPG - 10 total TD
WR England - 87 YPG - 3 TD
WR Bradford - 76 YPG - 3 TD - long catch 82

On defense the LB Peppers needs to continue the production he has had so far this season (4.5 sacks and 7 TFL)

I see the game boiling down to a few key points (which in all honesty most games do).

For Belhaven to win-
1. Continue the early success this season offensively with the big plays
2. Force the Hawks into turnovers (Huntingdon has 10 already on the season)
3. Find a way to limit Huntingdon's LB Peppers
4. This is the Blazers first test of the season and there will be adversity.  They need to find a way to weather the storm

For Huntingdon to win -
1. Cotney will need to rely on his legs for a few big plays.  This doesn't have to come with big yardage but a few key third downs will go a long way
2. Limit Belhaven's big plays
3. Protect the ball and limit turnovers
4. Find a way to limit Belhaven's DL Brown

At the end of the day I would expect a game in the high 20's- low 30's as far as scoring goes.  I'm not sure if Vegas has a line on the game but I would say the Hawks would get the 3 PT homefield advantage.  I refuse to pick a winner but I will be tuning in as soon as I get home from my son's flag football game.

[crufootball]

I was curious so I took a look at both Belhaven and Huntingdon and their season's so far.  Here are my takeaways and what I think we will see this Saturday in Alabama.

Belhaven- Their offense is led by their front and the stable of RB's behind them.  The backs seasons thus far look like this:

Blunt- 121 YPG - 2 TD - long run of 73
Gallashaw- 92 YPG - 2 TD - long run of 65
Daniels- 65 YPG - 2 TD - long run of 86

The QB does not appear to run very much and when he throws it he is looking for Tullo to the tune of 70 YPG.

The defense is anchored by the DL Brown who has 4 sacks and 6.5 TFL on the season.

Huntingdon- The offense is a little more diverse.  They are led by the QB and RB duo

RB McRenyolds- 210 All Purpose YPG - 4 TD
QB Cotney- 292 Total YPG - 10 total TD
WR England - 87 YPG - 3 TD
WR Bradford - 76 YPG - 3 TD - long catch 82

On defense the LB Peppers needs to continue the production he has had so far this season (4.5 sacks and 7 TFL)

I see the game boiling down to a few key points (which in all honesty most games do).

For Belhaven to win-
1. Continue the early success this season offensively with the big plays
2. Force the Hawks into turnovers (Huntingdon has 10 already on the season)
3. Find a way to limit Huntingdon's LB Peppers
4. This is the Blazers first test of the season and there will be adversity.  They need to find a way to weather the storm

For Huntingdon to win -
1. Cotney will need to rely on his legs for a few big plays.  This doesn't have to come with big yardage but a few key third downs will go a long way
2. Limit Belhaven's big plays
3. Protect the ball and limit turnovers
4. Find a way to limit Belhaven's DL Brown

At the end of the day I would expect a game in the high 20's- low 30's as far as scoring goes.  I'm not sure if Vegas has a line on the game but I would say the Hawks would get the 3 PT homefield advantage.  I refuse to pick a winner but I will be tuning in as soon as I get home from my son's flag football game.

Great analysis, definitely a game to keep a close eye on. Kind of crazy that Belhaven's first actually game in the USAC could have a huge factor in who wins the conference. 

[Hawks88]

The game in Montgomery was as advertised. Two good, evenly matched teams trading blows with the Hawks coming out on top.
I knew Casey Peppers' name was being called an awful lot. The guy had a day. 10 solo tackles, 13 assists and 3 TFL's for 15 yds.

Celebrate tonight then back to work to get ready for a trip to Maryville. I'm expecting that to be another tough one. I know coach Fox will have them ready.

Go Hawks!

[Ralph Turner]

Congrats Hawks. Run the table.

[Wild Horse Rider]

Go Hawks!  First d3football ranking since week 11 of 2016 for Huntingdon and any USAC team for that matter.  As far as Saturday's game goes:
No turnovers in the game by either team, limited Belhaven's big plays (25 YD pass play longest), and the Hawks added in at least 6 plays of over 30 yards including a 72 YD punt return for a TD.  Belhaven's Brown had a bunch of tackled for a DL but only one TFL and on the other side Huntingdon's Peppers was credited for 18 tackles and 3.5 TFLs.  Unless I am incorrect the Hawks next two of three games are the only ones where I would give the opponent a punchers chance (both on the road). 

Up first is a trip to Tennessee to play Maryville this weekend.  The Scotts look to have found a QB this year who has 8 passing and 3 rushing TDs on the season.  They have one of the better defenses in the conference based on the stats.  Then the Hawks get a Bye before hosting Brevard which should be a win.  The only other game I see is potentially Methodist on the road on October 22nd.  This weekend Methodist plays host to Belhaven so we will see if there is a realistic shot of this or not.  October 22nd will be homecoming week for the Monarchs and since the Hawks have joined the conference the record between these 2 teams in Fayetteville is 2-2.  After those games I believe the Hawks coast through the last three opponents. 

[Hawks88]

There must have been an adjustment to the box-score since Saturday night when it had 23 tackles for Peppers. 18 is still a heck of a game though.
I guess #24 is the highest we've been ranked? We were #25 in the week 11 rankings in '16 and in the final poll of '15. I was thinking we made it higher at some point don't find it so I'm not sure what I'm remembering unless it was in the AFCA poll.

[BSCpanthers]

There must have been an adjustment to the box-score since Saturday night when it had 23 tackles for Peppers. 18 is still a heck of a game though.
I guess #24 is the highest we've been ranked? We were #25 in the week 11 rankings in '16 and in the final poll of '15. I was thinking we made it higher at some point don't find it so I'm not sure what I'm remembering unless it was in the AFCA poll.

What was your final ranking after the season you guys beat Berry in the 1st round? 

[Hawks88]

There must have been an adjustment to the box-score since Saturday night when it had 23 tackles for Peppers. 18 is still a heck of a game though.
I guess #24 is the highest we've been ranked? We were #25 in the week 11 rankings in '16 and in the final poll of '15. I was thinking we made it higher at some point don't find it so I'm not sure what I'm remembering unless it was in the AFCA poll.

What was your final ranking after the season you guys beat Berry in the 1st round?

We finished 8-4 so we were never ranked that year. Looks like we got 4 votes in the final poll.

[BSCpanthers]

Do you understand how terrible it is to be rooting for Huntingdon to sweep conference play so our loss looks as good as possible.  Not sure we have the team to win the conference this season, but if our 2 losses are to two top 15 tea,s in Huntingdon and Trinity, I still like our chances of a possible Group C bid.  But our offense has to get more consistent first. 

[Wild Horse Rider]

I could be wrong about this one but I took a quick look at the top 25 rankings on d3football's site which go back to 2003.  The highest any USAC team was ever ranked was CNU in week 10 of 2003 and that was #11.  The conference at that time had Ferrum and Shenandoah at that point who were solid teams.  That was CNUs third season with football and their team was loaded with transfer talent if my memory serves.  They also played very solid OOC games for most of their time in the USAC which helped their resume when it came time to vote for poles.  I don't know if it shakes out where Huntingdon can climb that high but with a 9-1 regular season finish and teams in front of the Hawks losing there is plenty of time to climb higher in the rankings by season's end.  A win or two in the playoffs and is it possible to overtake the Captains ranking?  Linfield winning out and BSU contending for the SAA title will go a long way also.

[Pat Coleman]

I think it'll take playoff wins, for sure.

CNU that year also defeated Bridgewater and that was a big deal. Only loss at that point was Rowan.

[Hawks88]

Looks to be a wet Saturday for all four conference games this week. Hope everyone has safe travels and the games are able to be completed.