JIMMY THE GREEK SAYS

[jimmythegreek]

Appalachian St -32 over UL Monroe:
The Mountaineers (3-1 1-0) look to extend their overall winning streak to 3 games after last weeks' 45-17 ambushing of Arkansas St that gave App St their first triumph in over 3 weeks between games. Zach Thomas (15/22 202 4 TD 1 INT) had one of his best games of the season that led to a 31-7 halftime lead against the Red Wolves coupled with a defense that shut down one of the Sun Belt's most potent offenses. Thomas opened the scoring midway through the first half with a 46 yard TD pass to Christian Wells (2-66 2 TD) and followed that connection up later with a 20 yard scoring strike in the 4th quarter to cap the carnage. Thomas (7-82 11.7 1 TD) also ran for a 60 yard scoring run calling his own number late in the third quarter, and was complemented by Daetrich Harrington (18-137 7.6 1 TD) 55 yard scoring run leading a ground attack that amassed 305 rushing yards overall. Despite bettering the Red Wolves' high paced offensive tempo, App St still was sloppy committing 3 turnovers including 2 lost fumbles. However their defense more than made up for it sacking Layne Hatcher (9/16 178 1 INT) and Logan Bonner (13/25 117) 7 times combined. Lincoln Pare (5-46 9.2 1 TD) and Jamal Jones (5-14 2.8 1 TD) accounted for Ark St's 2 TD's, but registered just 73 yards on the ground overall. Jonathan Adams Jr. was the lone bright spot catching 6 passes for 134 yards, but it wasn't nearly enough. The Mounties head south to Monroe to take on the winless Warhawks (0-6 0-3). UL Monroe fell to South Alabama 38-14 last week as the Jaguars raced out to a 17-0 lead and never looked back. Desmond Trottier (8/12 184 3 TD) found Kawaan Baker (6-154 3 TD) on scoring passes of 80 yards, and 5 yards twice while Devin Rockette opened the scoring with a 95 yard pick 6. Trottier (8-33 4.1 1 TD) also ran for a 5 yard score in the third quarter a USA racked up 415 total yards. Colby Suits (23/34 286 1 TD 1 INT) played from behind all game long and got little support from a running game that managed just 94 yards, 49 from Josh Jonson on 15 carries (3.3) including a one yard TD. South Alabama recorded 4 sacks and forced 3 turnovers keeping the Warhawks in search of their first win of an otherwise lost season.

Thomas (63/99 805 6 TD 3 INT) has shown resilience and poise despite an unbalanced schedule thus far in 2020. He has an extremely balanced receiving core led by Thomas Hennigan (14-287 1 TD) and Malik WIlliams (14-160 1 TD), plus is dangerous in the triple option offense calling his own number (26-129 5.0 2 TD). Harrington (77-438 5.7 7 TD) is super quick and relentless off his first step in the backfield accounting for better than half his team's TD as The Mounties have averaged nearly 280 yards on the ground in each of their first 4 games ranking 7th in the country. App St averages 35 points per contest given Shawn Clark's early attack that has propelled them to huge lead early before calling off the dogs in the second half. The Warhawks have allowed 37 points per contest and have lost by an average of 23 ppg while allowing the 13th worst rushing disparity in the nation despite a favorable pass defense which gives up only 180 yards overall. Former DC Mike Collins stepped down a week before the season started and Scott Stoker has inherited a bunch that is vulnerable to yielding big plays thus far.

Despite the amiss of a squad that has had trouble staying within arms distance of their opponents, Suits (133/216 1407 7 TD 5 INT) has been fairly efficient, given the fact he is prone to taking chances down field in a season where UL Monroe has virtually nothing to lose. He does have numerous options with the aerial attack, led by Josh Pederson (22-260), Jahquan Bloomfield (11-242 1 TD), and Javan Frett (13-230 1 TD). The achilles heel is clearly in the rushing offense as Josh Johnson (75-248 3.3 3 TD) who is accountable for all of UL's rushing scores all season. The 3-4 defense by the Mounties has generated paid dividends all around allowing just 19 points and 335 yards of total offense on average. LB Trey Cobb leads App St with 37 tackles and 3 sacks while D Marco Jackson has 3 INT's already. With the great disparity in class and leverage in the running game, UL Monroe will have their hands full in matching talent and a clean game trying to stay within arms length of the Mounties, especially if App St controls the clock and tempo in the ground game.

The Warhawks' struggles have been real on the year and definitely are not going to improve anytime soon. Thomas does not need to put any pressure on himself despite the UL Monroe pass defense providing a mild challenge. With Cobb and Jackson, Suits will be under tremendous pressure trying to elude the pass rush as UL Monroe under center has been prone to turnovers, that could lead to short fields where Harrington could dominate especially if successful drives eat up clock. I'll lay the big number here confident that the Warhawks just don't have the weapons nor talent to hang around very long if at all.

I'll have a second play for Saturday coming up later.

 

[jimmythegreek]

(11)BYU -30 over Western Kentucky:
The 11th ranked Cougars (6-0) are clicking on all cylinders right now and cruised last week over Texas St 52-14 at Lavell Edwards Stadium. This is the weekend for Zach’s as Taylor (19/25 287 4 TD) accomplished quite a bit in less than 3 quarters before Kalani Sitake took his foot off the gas. Despite BYU falling behind early, the Cougars got things going and tied the score on a 4 yard run by Lopini Katoa (8-35 4.4 1 TD) before Wilson took over. Wilson connected with his receivers 3 times in the first half for TD passes, including 33 yards to Keanu Hill (2-39 1 TD), a 3 yard scoring toss to Issac Rex (5-66 1 TD), and 45 yards to Dax Mine (4-89 1 TD). BYU tallied 579 total yards and held the Bobcats to just 267 overall. Brady McBride (17/30 150 2 TD 2 INT) was mediocre at best being held to jut short drops bby a determined Cougars defense. Despite not recording a sack, BYU recorded 3 turnovers and led 35-7 at halftime. BYU stays at home to face Western Kentucky (2-4 1-2) out of CUSA. The Hilltoppers edged Western Kentucky 13-10 last week thanks to a 4 yard passing TD with less than 90 seconds remaining from Tyrell Pigrome (4/8 73 1 TD) to Craig Burt Jr (5-22 1 TD). Pigrome replaced an ineffective Kevaris Thomas (12/17 59) . Gaej Walker rushed for 88 yards on 17 carries (5.2) despite the only other offense before the game winner were 2 32 yard field goals from Braden Narveson. The Mocs led nearly the entire way but only managed 225 total yards. Drayton Arnold (9/23 90) struggled all day in a monsoon despite accounting for the only Chattanooga TD (13-27 2.1 1 TD) on a 10 yard run early to open the scoring.

Wilson (126/162 1928 16 TD 1 INT) will certainly be in the running for Heisman Trophy winner come December, sporting a cannon for an arm when it comes to efficiency and accuracy. a huge benefactor of a solid receiving core led by Dax Milne (37-639 5 TD) and Gunner Romney (21-4156 2 TD). Tyler Allgier (75-492 6.6 6 TD) is the lone setback in the ground game while Wilson (36-115 3.5 6 TD) shares the team lead in ground scores. BYU is 6th in the country in total offense averaging 45 points overall and that includes 548 total yards and the 6th rated aerial attack in the nation. The Cougars are known for their early quick strike offense that doesn’t letup unless the game is well in hand. WKU’s glaring weakness comes against the run allowing 380 total yards overall including 190 for their ground opponents. They only allow an average of 28 ppg but haven’t seen a high octane tempo that BYU possesses. It’s been a different feel to say the least given the fact they won 9 games last season. Devon Key and Kyle Bailey seem to be the center of the action tied for the team lead with 46 tackles. However they have just 8 sacks in 6 games thus far and a secondary that has only produced 2 INT.

Pigrome (65/113 644 7 TD) has played clean thus far but is more of a conservative passer first not exactly taking big threats when it comes to the deep ball, so they will look to be in no hurry against offense starved BYU. Mitchell Tinsley (21-210 2 TD) and Xavier Lane (17-176 1 TD) are his top targets, but like in the passing game, are patient and focus more on efficiency in the running game where they also rank near the bottom in the country. Pigrome (58-215 3.7) calls his own number when running the halfback option and Walker (54-199 3.71 TD) is the main workhorse in a running game that has scored just 3 times all season. Anyone who watched the No. 11-ranked BYU football team’s on the first drive against Texas State at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday probably noticed the Bobcats weren’t employing traditional football formations. They had linemen all over the place as they tried to confuse the Cougar defenders. DC Ialisa Tulaki made sure there wasn’t a further breakdown going forward as teams don’t really have anything to lose by trying something new. Tuiaki said that chess-match aspect of football is something coaches enjoy. Isiah Kaufusi lead the Cougars with 37 tackles and shares the lead in sacks with Tyler Batty (4). Troy Warner and Kaufusi also have 2 picks this season. BYU gives up an even 14 points per game and while their gut throat frantic scoring pace is what they’re best known for, more credit needs to go to the above average defensive play as it is virtually impossible for the opposition to atay within arm’s distance deep into one sided affairs.

WKU really does have a good D, but it doesn’t get a lick of support from the offense scoring-wise. BYU won’t obliterate the punchless Hilltoppers until late, but it won’t have to sweat too much, if at all. Wilson is the Grim Reaper of all college quarterbacks, as evidenced by his slinging a freshly slain pigskin as easily as an oracle glides across a Ouija board to send unworthy souls into eternal damnation. WKU simply doesn’t match up in class nor talent, and it’s going to take a defense to be on their ‘A’ game in order to slow the game down and pressure Wilson into making mistakes and keeping BYU’s offense off the field. Doubtful to happen especially if the Cougs race out to a huge lead.

Best of luck however you play!
YTD 3-9 .250 -7.40

 

[kane]

The BYU QB is as good as any I've seen this year, if he played for a bigger school he'd be a household name and a Heisman contender

 

[WildBill]

You can gawk at all these stats as much as you want but don't forget to mention the cupcake schedule they are playing. Jeez it's a pandemic why don't they play some Community Colleges while they are at it?

 

[choslamshe]

I agree with Kane - when you watch him play there is something both tangible and intangible about him that makes me think he's the real deal. Of course BYU would get throttled by the SEC and he would likely as a result. But to me the schedule he has faced has no impact on his development and areas that are so important as a QB. Im drinkin the juice...