Game 5 of the Night
The "smart dog" is pretty bummed tonight. After starting off the season on fire, it has turned completely around with two straight losses. The only bright spot is I'm sure coach Clememp will pay me not to have Tusculum on the GotN anymore since they are 0-3 in the bright spotlight. Looking at the final score only, the game was a no-contest with North Alabama winning 45-24. The total yardage was much closer with North Alabama having only an 11 yards edge. Most of the statistics for this game was pretty similar throughout. Besides Tusculum not playing in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the only explanation I have is the newly created "smart dog curse". This curse happens only when certain teams are featured.
Now with WIS rankings available, I can use them as a guide in determining the GotN. For tonight's game, we have a fantastic game to showcase. From the NE-10 conference, we have #12 Pace going on the road to face #9 Humboldt State of the NCC.
This season Pace has a new coach in coach Frosty8311 who takes over from Jpnroos. Coach Frosty8311 rejoins the Rockne world after being away for 51 seasons. It looks like he is taking advantage of his players' formation IQ and playing I mostly while improving on Pro-Set and Trips. Defensively, it looks the same way with 4-3 and Nickel while getting his players up to speed with 3-4 and Dime. The team is off to a good start with only giving up six points in the last three games. Unfortunately, being against three SIM teams, there is a big asterisk against how good they are. Regardless of what happens tonight, Pace looks to be a favorite to win their fourth straight conference title.
Coach Jaylien1 is in his third season with Humboldt State. The team is coming off a tough 38-31 loss to Virginia State and coach Catfish Jack. Coach Jaylien1 hasn't made his reputation in Rockne...yet. For those who don't know anything about this coach, let the "smart dog" tell you this...he is definitely in my top ten list of best coaches I have faced since playing Gridiron Dynasty. With this team, he is running Pro-Set on offense and 3-4 and Dime on defense.
Tonight's game will be a good test for Pace to see how they compare to a legit top ten team. Prediction here is there is still a gap as Humboldt State runs away with the win 35-17.