FOOTBALL 2022 Season Staff Predictions
- Thread starter Matt Dossett
- Start date
The problem really is the schedule. It is deceptively difficult. James Madison and Colorado State are not world beaters, but playing them on the road in Weeks 1 and 2 with a new offensive coordinator and replacing many great players makes the games very difficult because even though they are just mediocre teams, winning on the road isn't easy and especially when replacing many key players. Then you get Miami on the road and come home to open with the top 4 teams in the conference (UAB, UTSA, WKU, UTEP) with two of those games on the road. We will be underdogs in every game we play weeks 1-9 except for Tennessee State @ home. That is brutal.
I think we will have a decent to good team but we could easily be 1-7 or 2-6 going into our 9th game because of the way the schedule sets up. Could make for a long, very frustrating season.
I really think the first two weeks are everything and will give us an idea of what this team can or can't do. Starting 0-2 tells me this team cannot win on the road against mediocre competition and isn't ready to play for anything meaningful this season. Starting 1-1 tells me we can at least play some meaningful football and compete with decent teams.
I think we will have a decent to good team but we could easily be 1-7 or 2-6 going into our 9th game because of the way the schedule sets up. Could make for a long, very frustrating season.
I really think the first two weeks are everything and will give us an idea of what this team can or can't do. Starting 0-2 tells me this team cannot win on the road against mediocre competition and isn't ready to play for anything meaningful this season. Starting 1-1 tells me we can at least play some meaningful football and compete with decent teams.
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With regards to Colorado St, it's not an easy place to play, it's a little hike for us to get there, and we are not some powerhouse G5 squad. We will be playing at elevation which our team will not be used to, so conditioning could definitely be a problem. Colorado State just hired Jay Norvell who is a great coach in my opinion so expectations will be high and the Rams will be ready to play.
Spread will probably be less than a TD (assuming we don't $hit the bed at James Madison) so we will have a decent chance to take it....but it will definitely be an upset if we win. I'll be quite surprised if we beat the Rams....I'm thinking we might actually get ran off the field there. Our best chance to split the two key opening games is winning @ James Madison in my opinion.
8-4 prediction seems very bold. It's possible if this team catches lightning in a bottle. The defense and special teams are good enough to win 8+ games in my opinion, but the offense is such a big question mark. New OL, new OC, mostly new RB's. Only stable part of the offense is the WR position, though we still lost some pretty good players there in Jimmy Marshall and Windham.
Nevada worked out well for Norvell. CSU is a build up from the ground deal. Vandy beat CSU at CSU last year. Vandy who was horrible.
That’s also the same Vandy team that got blasted 23-3 the week before by ETSU.
Here's another fun CSU fact. All 4 QB's on the roster are Freshman with only one taking 2 snaps last year. I like that. 2 are 6'5 1 is 6'3 and the other is 6'1. If the D and penetrate the line at all, those QB's are going to make mistakes. I like that a lot.
It's a winnable game no doubt but MWC athletes are better than CUSA generally speaking and playing at elevation when you are not used to it can be taxing on the body. Fort Collins is a little more than 5,000 feet above sea level while Murfreesboro is 600 feet above sea level. Air is thinner up there and so if you're not used to training at elevation your body can gas out more quickly. So it'll be advantage to Colorado State getting us at home in a Week 2 game. The second half will be interesting and will tell us a lot about our strength and conditioning.
If the game was in Murfreesboro I would feel much better about it. Rick Stockstill teams have been terrible on the road in early season games which is why I don't think we will win but the team is welcome to prove me wrong. I don't imagine we will be more than a TD dog so it's certainly winnable but it won't be easy.
If the game was in Murfreesboro I would feel much better about it. Rick Stockstill teams have been terrible on the road in early season games which is why I don't think we will win but the team is welcome to prove me wrong. I don't imagine we will be more than a TD dog so it's certainly winnable but it won't be easy.
In order to win the first two games, both on the road, the team has to be hitting on all cylinders, and that has never been the case for Stockstill coached teams. I'm having a hard time answering the question "when was the last time one of Stockstill coached teams started the season 2-0?
MWC athletes are if they are Boise, Utah State, or San Diego St. Not CSU.
In 2018, We were waxed by Vandy 35-7. Nevada played them the week after and lost 44-10. I just don't see a major separation in talent from a 3-9 team vs. a team that went to and won their bowl game. Especially with 4 brand new QB's. I'm not saying we won't find a way to screw it up but we have plenty of talent to beat them. I'm way more worried about UTSA, WKU, and UAB than I am CSU. Just being real. If we crap the bed vs. them, we won't win 3 games.
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