Game 4 of the Night
And with the completion of the third game of the season, the "smart dog" is no longer undefeated. In a low scoring, minimal offense affair, North Dakota used a pair of first half touchdowns to hold off Central Arkansas 14-6 and improve its record to 3-0
There were three match-ups that each deserve the opportunity to be the GotN. Virginia State versus Humboldt State definitely deserves the game, but lost out due to Virginia State being featured just a few days ago. Tarleton State against Ferris State was also a strong consideration. Then there was this third game that became the clear pick for GotN: North Alabama at Tusculum.
North Alabama still has coach Fazbear05 at their helm. He is in his 4th season. After a wonderful season two seasons ago where North Alabama advanced to the third round. Last season, they finished 10-3 and was eliminated in the first round. The team shows they run Pro-Set, Notre Dame, and Trips on offense, the game I reviewed showed all Pro-Set. On defense it is 4-3 only. Coach Fazbear05 has a very experienced defense with ten seniors, 1 red-shirt junior. and 3 juniors. Offense looks good except for the OL where 1 senior, 1 junior, 2 sophomores, and 1 red-shirt freshman are backed up by 3 freshmen.
At Tusculum, coach Clememp is still there for his 57th season. His team is coming off three straight first round losses; so he is definitely looking to turn it around. He now runs I and Trips on offense and 4-3 and Nickel on defense. His offense is in excellent shape with red-shirt seniors at QB, RB, and WR. The worry spot is the offensive line will all five backups being freshmen. Defense is pretty stout with seven seniors and seven juniors. Tusculum started the season with three games against SIMs so this game will definitely tell us more about them.
In the last ten minutes in trying to decide the pick, I have went back and forth twice. Both offensive lines are worrisome and could be a big problem when the playoffs start. Both defenses look like they can dominate the game. In the narrowest of reasons, the pick is Tusculum 20-15 due to their top RB and WR are both red-shirt seniors.