Game 9 of the Night - Season 140
Previous GotN Prediction: North Alabama 38 - Central Arkansas 17
Result: North Alabama 65 - Central Arkansas 10
Intro/comments/match-up: Man, is it hard to get a competitive game or even one that stays within the predicted points differential. North Alabama with coach Fazbear05 is making its claim that they need to be consider one of the favorites for this season's title. North Alabama jumped out to a 20-0 lead at the end of the first quarter before slowing down to just a 30-3 halftime lead. Then to prove it wasn't a fluke, North Alabama scored another 28 points in the third quarter. The fourth quarter ended up being pretty quiet as North Alabama scored the only points in the quarter with a touchdown. WIS rewarded their impressive win and bumped in strength of schedule to move them into the top ranking. Will the Rockne Top Ten do the same?
Tonight, the "smart dog" is changing his focus and hopefully find a game worthy of being spotlighted on the Game of the Night. There were two games that featured top-12 teams tonight, but doubts of the closeness of those games made the "smart dog" look elsewhere. One of those games involved #1 North Alabama challenging #7 Valdosta State for the Gulf South Conference South title. Concerns about VSU young defense eliminated this choice. Then there was #12 Long Island taking on #3 Southern Connecticut. From featuring both teams previously, the "smart dog" felt this has the making of a dominating win by Long Island. So instead, there is another game that will determine a division title. These two teams are long time friendly rivals and have battled many times for the SAC East division title. It's time for Tusculum versus Presbyterian.
Team: Tusculum
Coach: Clememp # of Seasons: 60
Roster Breakdown:
Seniors: 15
Juniors: 14
Sophomores: 14
Freshmen: 7
Offensive Formations: I, Trips
Defensive Formations: 4-3, Nickel
Key Wins: N/A
Losses: 13-58 to #1 North Alabama
Comments: Coach Clememp can take another step by winning the division for the third straight season and taking another shot at winning the conference championship for the first time in seven seasons. Additionally, by winning this game Tusculum would finish the regular season with a 12-1 record and a sure bet to be in the playoffs again. Offense is well balanced with 359 passing attempts against 338 rushing attempts. Although the offensive side has seven seniors, six of them are found on the offensive line and the last one is at tight end. The skill positions are all manned by red-shirt juniors. Defense is well represented at all three levels with a total of eight seniors and seven juniors.
Team: Presbyterian
Coach: Rposborne # of Seasons: 29
Roster Breakdown:
Seniors: 13
Juniors: 14
Sophomores: 10
Freshmen: 13
Offensive Formations: Notre Dame, Pro-set
Defensive Formations: Nickel
Key Wins: N/A
Comments: After winning four consecutive conference titles and four top-10 finishes, the team has dipped quite a bit. Currently Presbyterian is ranked #35 and probably will need this win to have a possibility at the playoffs. With four remaining games against SIMs, they probably won't be able to improve their strength of schedule enough to get in the top 32. Their offense is even more balanced than Tusculum with just two more rushing attempts (325) than passing attempts. Offense is loaded with seniors but has a problem on the offensive line with having to start a freshman and the backups being all freshmen. Defense has five seniors, five juniors, and one red-shirt sophomore as starters.
Tonight's Prediction: Even though it doesn't have the teams as high up in the rankings as many of us are used to seeing, this game is highly competitive and shouldn't be decided until late in the fourth quarter. At that point Tusculum will take the lead and pull out a 27-24 win.