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D2Football.com Columnists Gulf South Conference

Gulf South Conference

November 17th, 2009

Last week Arkansas Tech and West Alabama capitalized on their playoff opportunities with big wins over UNC Pembroke and Albany State respectively. Unfortunately they have been rewarded with two of the toughest draws anyone in the Division II world has this week in round 2. Carson Newman may have been the hottest team in the country heading into the playoffs and North Alabama is the most talented team in the nation.

Last week Arkansas Tech put it on a young UNC Pembroke squad. The Wonderboys gained 554 yards of total offense in their 41-13 win as Harlon Hill finalist Nick Graziano went 33-for-54 passing for a school-record 465 yards and four touchdowns. The ATU performance against UNC Pembroke was probably the perfect outing before facing North Alabama. The Wonderboys have to be riding a high heading into this week 5 rematch in which UNA won 42-17 and if they have a chance at staying with the Lions; they'll need to stay high.

Just as they controversially got into the playoffs, West Alabama used a little drama to get to the second round of the NCAA playoffs for the second time in school history. The Tigers blocked two field goals and received some assistance, as Albany State missed a game winner with 16 seconds left in their opening contest. Deon Williams threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns proving that when he is healthy and in the lineup, West Alabama is no slouch offensively.

Even if their seasons end this week, both Arkansas Tech and West Alabama have more than pleased their fan bases. They broke up the "Big Three", made the playoffs and most importantly won a game; that is a huge step for any program and makes things scary in the Gulf South Conference in the future.

Saturday 1 pm West Alabama at Carson-Newman

West Alabama heads to Jefferson City, Tennessee to face off with what has been one the country's most inspired football teams the last couple seasons. After getting being held out of the 2007 playoffs Carson-Newman has proven to be a legitimate national power.

Experience is just one of many edges the Eagles carry heading into this matchup, but the most important one in my eyes. Alex Good gets lost in the shuffle because of his fellow senior Buck Wakefield's success, but watching Good run the option attack for C-N is near artwork.

Good gains almost six yards a carry and 93 a game while tossing the ball around for 132 a game. What the Eagles do best is bait people. They'll run the ball down your throat and wait for you to expose a week man to man coverage and usually are able to exploit it for a big play. Good has completed 74 passes for 1452 yards, when he throws it he makes it count averaging 19 yards a completion; not your typical option quarterback. The guy he will go to is usually senior wide receiver Reggie Hubbard who has break away speed, just say bye-bye if the ball is in the air and he's streaking in single coverage.

Of course like any good business or organization everything must be funded by somebody. There must be something that establishes capital, think of Buck Wakefield as that capital. The reason Good can do what he does on the ground and he and Hubbard can connect on big plays is because of Wakefield's ground game. Wakefield averages just under 9 yards a carry and around 140 yards a game leading the nation's top ground game.

Defending an option attack is assignment football, that statement has been used over and over again. West Alabama's defense has some high caliber athletes, we have seen that. Jeremy May has been dominant in the back field and the secondary has been able to make big plays in big games showing off their athleticism. But when it comes to defending a rushing attack like Carson-Newman has it's as much about your head as it is the rest of your body.

Obviously never having interviewed the athletes on the Tigers squad I am purely speculating in my next statement, but they have seven junior college transfers on the defensive side of the ball. Junior college transfers tend to not be as headsy as other players. If they had graduated from JUCO most would be playing Division I football, those that don't have to go the Division II route. I have no information regarding these guys and they very well could be smart players but I am just making an observation based on a tendency I have found in Division II. Playing their assignments and relying on the mental breakdown of a play could play a huge role in this game.

Deon Williams has his work cutout for him facing an athletic secondary. Carson-Newman's defense is as fast as most of the GSC's teams. Williams will be forced to make a lot of plays himself and will need to avoid a slew of Eagle defenders that get into the backfield routinely. Sophomore defensive end Zeke Andrews leads the C-N defense with 6.5 sacks on the season and he forces quarterbacks to heave up ill advised passes that PJ Woods and Mario Russell take advantage of. Woods has 4 interceptions this year will Russell leads the team in tackles with 84, 15 pass breakups and 6 forced fumbles; those sound like All American type numbers to me. I don't know if Williams has the offensive help to neutralize that defense.

Williams' is going to have to continue playing "his" game, keep his passes the "Piano Man" route, short, sweet and complete, avoiding high risk plays. If he does this UWA will stay in this game, the second he goes away from what he does best C-N will run away with it.

Carson-Newman 33-17

Saturday 1 pm Arkansas Tech at North Alabama

The 2009 North Alabama Lions were assembled for one reason; to win a championship. They understand what is at hand Saturday as a hot Arkansas Tech team heads to Florence, Ala. What the Lions have that The Wonderboys don't is a group of 20 plus guys that left the flash and glamour of Division I football for whatever reasons and humbled themselves to play and truly be a part of a championship run.

For a lot of the Lions, this is the first year they have had a chance to play. Sure you have the Brandon Fanneys, Quinton Andrews and Preston Parkers of the world there, but most of the guys that transferred to UNA were not playing where they were at and could have stayed there and reaped the benefits. They could have sat on the bench, practiced, not played and received all the free gear, a ring for winning a bowl game or just the status that goes with being on a big team in a big college town.

Instead most of those guys decided it was time to play and be a part of a championship that's why they are there and that's why they have coined the acronym "WWCD". "What Would a Champion Do", that has been the Lion mantra this year and they have never lost sight of it. Sure there was the slip up against West Alabama, but having locked up the conference title and the top seed out of Super Region 2 played a huge role in that contest.

UNA took care of Arkansas Tech handily in the regular season and as much as I have believed in The Wonderboys this year, I see it being the same again. While Nick Graziano has come into his own this season and is coming off a monster performance, UNA is capable of slowing him down enough to let their offense outscore the Harlon Hill finalist.

Graziano will most likely have a good game but when he does make a mistake the Lions will pounce. They're too deep and fast for ATU to hang all game with them. I can see this game taking a turn in the late second quarter or early third and UNA going to Tim Hicks to run out the clock.

North Alabama's Harlon Hill finalist Harrison Beck will be given more opportunities to score than any team has had against Graziano this year. There is just too much depth on both sides of the ball for ATU to handle this weekend. Graziano has had his way with most Division II defenses this year but this is a Division I defense he has to face this week and they will force him into mistakes.

On the other side, The Wonderboys just don't have the thoroughbreds to run with UNA's offense. Beck will not have an easy day but will find the end zone enough. Beck is going to be able to go deep on ATU when he has to and even if Preston Parker doesn't play, he has plenty of weapons to utilize.

I see UNA continuing on their path towards a National Championship. This is just another step along the way and I see it being business as usual for the Lions.

North Alabama 42-23

 

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