2024 Football Season Outcome

[FootballCoach]

Post your schedule and W & L beside it with the overall record at the bottom! Want to see what everyone thinks of their teams upcoming season!

[AUsuperfan2024]

I have no clue what to expect from AU's inaugural season but anticipation and excitement is high. I'm no football expert but watching both the Fall and the Spring Scrimmages the Defense is well ahead of the offense. I do not think that is unusual from what the experts tell me. AU has accumulated over 25 transfers so its not as if it will be all Freshmen starters on each side of the ball. I do believe the staff smartly scheduled two tune up games before SAC play. If they can win those two and then scratch and claw a couple of SAC victories then a 4 or 5 win season would be a great foundation for the program moving forward.

[FootballCoach]

AUsuperfan2024 I think you are spot on. I think Anderson wins 4 to 6 games. I would THINK they start out 2-0 as you said. I think the other winnable games are Barton, Catawba, UVA Wise, E&H and Tusculum. Not sure how CN or Mars Hill will be but I think they could also be winnable but not as likely.

[canadarican]

The non-conference weeks of the season may be the most interesting I can remember in a while. Variety of opponents from all over the place. I think right now I'm looking at 4 or 5 games I may go to.

Mars Hill and Wingate both get Delta State. Be interesting to see what the Fighting Okra look like this year.

[canadarican]

I have no clue what to expect from AU's inaugural season but anticipation and excitement is high. I'm no football expert but watching both the Fall and the Spring Scrimmages the Defense is well ahead of the offense. I do not think that is unusual from what the experts tell me. AU has accumulated over 25 transfers so its not as if it will be all Freshmen starters on each side of the ball. I do believe the staff smartly scheduled two tune up games before SAC play. If they can win those two and then scratch and claw a couple of SAC victories then a 4 or 5 win season would be a great foundation for the program moving forward.

I will say this about the Trojans...out the gate they have a contender for best looking helmet in the league. That is for certain!

[Eagle74]

AUsuperfan2024 I think you are spot on. I think Anderson wins 4 to 6 games. I would THINK they start out 2-0 as you said. I think the other winnable games are Barton, Catawba, UVA Wise, E&H and Tusculum. Not sure how CN or Mars Hill will be but I think they could also be winnable but not as likely.

I have a feeling that they will lose pretty badly to both Tusculum and Barton, and CN will also take them down, but in a closer game. 4 possible wins for the young program.

[Mule]

I see Anderson winning 4 games this fall, and maybe 5. By season 3, they’ll be contenders for the SAC title.

[BEARS]

I'll caveat this by saying that Massey has us winning every game this year by double digits. Massey bases his ratings on last years performance but so many Bears have left from last year's squad, that's obviously not going to happen. But with that being said, the schedule sets up really nicely for the Bears this season with most of the tough games at home in a much weakened conference:

LR vs Bowie State: Chance for the Bears to get comfortable with the retooled roster. May be frustrating early with some growing pains, but we'll take this one handily. Crowd is always massive for the first game. (1-0)
LR vs Tiffin: Tiffin was undefeated in the regular season last year, albeit in one of the nation's weakest conferences and got exposed in the first round of the playoffs by Slippery Rock. I have no idea who they're bringing back, so all I can do is base the prediction off Tiffin's squad last year. I'll take an early season loss in a tight one. (1-1)
LR at Mars Hill: Mars Hill lost a ton of talent, but they'll still have a good defense. I think Ferguson and crew will be rounding into form by this time and the defense plays tight, despite MH being an historically difficult place for the Bears. (2-1, 1-0)
LR vs Tusculum: TC hasn't brought their A-game against the Bears since their "conference championship" in the covid spring season. LR takes it easily at home. (3-1, 2-0)
LR at Emory & Henry: First time the Bears have faced the Wasps. E&H are a decent team but the LR offense will be rolling by this part of the season. (4-1, 3-0)
LR vs Newberry: Again, I have no idea what the Wolves will look like next year. This could be the most difficult game on the schedule, but for now all I can base my prediction off is last year's disappointing Newberry squad. (5-1, 4-0)
LR at Barton: Barton are going to take a sizeable step back without Terrell. LR wins handily in Eastern NC. (6-1, 5-0)
LR vs Limestone: Limestone lost their coach and most of their stars from last year (I think) with the exception of Noller. Limestone will be a decent team and will give the Bears some trouble, but I think we'll be fine here. (7-1, 6-0)
LR vs Wingate: The biggest game on the SAC schedule for the past decade. The Bears still have a sour taste in their mouth from last season's loss. Wingate are bringing back a good amount of players but are also dealing with a coaching change. If you are a hater (of which there are several on this board) then count this as a loss for the Bears, but I'll take this as a win. We aren't going to lose to Wingate 3 years in a row. (8-1, 7-0)
LR at Catawba: This might be a dog fight. CatU are growing a program and the fans in Salisbury get behind a good Indian team, especially when they are playing their 100+ year rival. LR takes it for now but watch out for 2025, I'm excited for the SAC's biggest rivalry to come back from hibernation. (9-1, 8-0)
LR vs Anderson: I like Anderson and they'll be something special 2 years from now. In 2024 they're a .500 team, LR beats a .500 team. (10-1, 9-0)

I have us with the 10-1 record, but I don't think we're as talented as last season's team. Again, the conference is down and we have almost all of our difficult games between the bricks. This team likely gets bounced in the first or second round of the playoffs by a GSC squad but will bring some great momentum and newly experienced players into the 2025 season.

[Mule]

BEARS, that's good analysis. I disagree with you on the Tiffin game. I think LR takes that one handily. If I remember correctly, like LR, Tiffin has a new coaching staff (I think their previous coach was hired by Gardner Webb; somebody correct if wrong). They also play in an extraordinarily weak conference (like Benedict). With game at Moretz, I think the Bears will be too much for the visitors in this one.

With that said, it's hard to see LR running the table in a rebuild year - for that matter, it's hard to see anyone running the table this season. If any team could do it this year, it would probably be LR, but somewhere along the line, they'll probably take 1-2 losses (and make the playoffs).

[canadarican]

we have almost all of our difficult games between the bricks.

just giving you a hard time my friend.......but Last time this happened the Bears lost all 3 games (2022) ;).

#ImNotTryingToJinxThem #IalreadysaidLRwillbefine

[Eagle74]

Hummmm, based on the talent / players lost from the team, evaluation of players coming in, and the access by opponents to game film from LR's last game, it really wouldn't surprise me to see a 6-5 or 7-4 season at best. Which all in all is not bad at all.

[BEARS]

BEARS, that's good analysis. I disagree with you on the Tiffin game. I think LR takes that one handily. If I remember correctly, like LR, Tiffin has a new coaching staff (I think their previous coach was hired by Gardner Webb; somebody correct if wrong). They also play in an extraordinarily weak conference (like Benedict). With game at Moretz, I think the Bears will be too much for the visitors in this one.

With that said, it's hard to see LR running the table in a rebuild year - for that matter, it's hard to see anyone running the table this season. If any team could do it this year, it would probably be LR, but somewhere along the line, they'll probably take 1-2 losses (and make the playoffs).

I agree that we'll probably drop one or two that we shouldn't have. I just couldn't find a place in the schedule where a loss seems more likely than a win (maybe Wingate).

[Eagle74]

I agree that we'll probably drop one or two that we shouldn't have. I just couldn't find a place in the schedule where a loss seems more likely than a win (maybe Wingate).

Hey, nothing wrong at all with hoping that you're team will do well and perform beyond expectations. 🏈

[Saints Tailgating]

I have no idea what Limestone is going to do. I'm just ready to get the Tailgating season underway!!

[FootballCoach]

BEARS, that's good analysis. I disagree with you on the Tiffin game. I think LR takes that one handily. If I remember correctly, like LR, Tiffin has a new coaching staff (I think their previous coach was hired by Gardner Webb; somebody correct if wrong). They also play in an extraordinarily weak conference (like Benedict). With game at Moretz, I think the Bears will be too much for the visitors in this one.

With that said, it's hard to see LR running the table in a rebuild year - for that matter, it's hard to see anyone running the table this season. If any team could do it this year, it would probably be LR, but somewhere along the line, they'll probably take 1-2 losses (and make the playoffs).

Mule, you took the words right out of my mouth. I like Bears prediction but as far as Tiffin goes, there staff left and also brought a majority of their starters down to Boiling Springs to play for the Runnin' Bulldogs. I agree with you that LR will win 9-10 games. Depending on how the playoff match ups go, I say first or second round loss.