I hope you enjoyed your appetizer, because the football entre is on the way. Delta State helped usher in the 2011 football season in their traditional fashion last weekend. DSU's come from behind, overtime win against Elizabeth City is exactly what I predicted.
For those of you new to me and this blog, you are going to hate when I am right because aside from it happening often, I will remind you of it multiple times. ECSU dominated the first half with running back Daronte McNeil.
But as usual, Ron Roberts was able to make the proper adjustments and limited McNeil to 89 yards on 17 carries for the contest. If the game is close late put your house on DSU. No scratch that put your house, three kids college education and next born child on the Statesmen. Since Roberts took over as the head coach in Cleveland, Mississippi his team is 15-3 in games decided by 7 points or less.
OK maybe save the gambling for something other than Division 2 football but those numbers are pretty impressive. A lot of them have come with Micah Davis leading last minute charges for Roberts. The senior quarterback shook off a couple of interceptions to come through when it mattered most last week, forcing overtime and sealing the win. His 20 of 33 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
This week the rest of the GSC begins play. All five of them at once. Don't get overwhelmed.

Thursday 7:00 pm Delta State at Northwestern State (Louisiana)

Northwestern State's up and down season and heavy offensive rotation a year ago, make it difficult to predict how they match up with cardiac kids from Cleveland.
Just because a team is an FCS school doesn't mean they'll run right over a D II school. Time and time again we have seen DSU, North Alabama, Valdosta State and others dominate teams from higher divisions. With Northwestern Louisiana, far from an FCS world beater, you would like to thing the defending national runner up could at least hang with them.
The Demons return their starting quarterback and second leading rusher Paul Harris. The junior completed 56 percent of his passes a year ago, throwing 13 touchdowns averaging 182 yards per game through the air. Harris also added 26.3 rushing yards a game and led the team with four ground touchdowns.
Also on this years roster are last years first and third leading rushers, but I'm not sure how much it says. Sterling Endsley led the ground game with 26.5 yards a game while Rumeall Morris went for 23.3 yards a game for NSU.
What it boils down to is this team is a tough to gauge. DSU will most likely make a game of it because they are rarely over powered and have always been able to play up or down to their competition. In order to to be sure of success, their most dynamic play maker Brandon Lucas will have to be the focal point of everything offensively.
In the spread offense getting play makers the ball in open space is the key. What DSU does with Lucas is right out of Tony Franklin's how-to guide. Draws, counters, screens, wheel routes, crossing patters; whatever you have to do to get a running back involved. Last week Lucas ran the ball 17 times 79 yards and a rushing touchdown, had 35 receiving yards and 68 total return yards.
If Lucas is effective the passing game is conservative, meaning less chances for Davis to turn the ball over. But most importantly it means the best player on the offense is controlling the game.
There isn't much fear of NSU's offense. On paper there is nothing special about them. The Statesmen defense should be able to limit the scoring of their offense; which is a Steve Prefontaine-like front running first and second quarter unit (scored least amount of points in third and fourth quarters last year). The key for DSU will be to avoid linebacker Derek Rose who led the Demons with 142 tackles a year ago. He headlines a defense however, that is also lackluster on paper. NSU forced just four interceptions in 2010.

Prediction: Delta State over Northwestern State 20-17

Thursday 7:30 West Alabama at South Alabama

Will Hall's head coaching career will begin with the ultimate test; beating a program that has never lost a single football game. OK so 2010 was the first year South Alabama had NCAA sanctioned football. But still, this is a program that went 10-0 against opponents West Alabama is familiar with.
Not only will the Tigers have a new head coach but a new quarterback as Gary Johnston looks to fill the shoes of Deon Williams, who was almost as important to the UWA rise as former head coach Bobby Wallace was.
Johnston will go up against a defense that pitched three shutouts and came up with big stops to beat two former GSC members. Odds are the Tigers will rely on a conservative approach in their game plan which plays to their strengths of running the football and limiting big plays on defense.
This is a fairly veteran UWA defense with one of the better line backing cores around. USA is a balanced offense that went for 234 rushing yards and 207 passing yards per game in their inaugural season.
If this game is going to be neck in neck for the two Alabama directional schools (someone from Alabama quick, tell me which are the other directions these schools could have in their names), UWA will have to make the Jaguars one dimensional. USA went for 30 plus points eight times in 2010. They have no problem scoring points, if UWA can take away some of their balance this is a winnable ball game.
Expect a heavy dose of the lightning fast T-Ray Mitchell and Don Smith, especially early on. Johnston has some experience but to ask him to come out and start throwing the rock around against an FCS school is asking too much. Will Hall will put his quarterback in a position to win by using his run to setup the pass. It's not brain surgery.

Prediction: West Alabama over South Alabama 24-20