CFB Week 8 Wednesday
- Kyle Kirms
- Oct 14
- 3 min read
DELAWARE @ JACKSONVILLE STATE - 7 PM
Well he last time we saw Delaware, we saw a heartbreaker. They lose a tough game at home to Western Kentucky. But we need to give Delaware credit. The fact that they were favored in that game... the fact that you can make the argument that they looked like the better team through most of it... with Liberty having a down year, you can make the argument that Delaware is right up there with those teams as the strongest team in the conference.
This Delaware offense is good. This is a pass-first offense, but they've been efficient on the ground as well. They also are coming off a much needed bye week to get healthier. WR Jake Thaw is back and immediately made an impact. He had 4 rec 55 yds in the WKU game. They might be getting starting LG Patrick Shupp back. He hasn't played since Week 2.
I know Jacksonville State has some decent numbers against the pass in their last two games... so you may be thinking "Kyle we can't sleep on this Jacksonville State defense". But it was against Sam Houston State, who sucks, and Southern Miss, who wants to run the ball.
The truth is... this Jacksonville State defense isn't very good. Remember, they lost LB Aidan Thompson for the year a few weeks ago. Delaware's offense... healthier.. coming off a bye week. They should have no problems moving the ball.
On the other side of the ball, we know what Jacksonville State is gonna do... run the ball. Now they did make a QB change to Caden Creel... and that definitely gives them more of a passing threat than Wimsatt did. But this is still an offense that needs to run the ball. That's excellent news for Delaware... because defending the run has been the strength of their defense.
And the thing with this Delaware defense... I think it's might better than their year long numbers show. They got lit up through the air against Colorado and UConn... but they played great defense against FIU and they played pretty well against Western Kentucky. All of those offenses are better than Jacksonville State.
Look at the numbers from their last two games... both against better offenses than Jacksonville State.
I like Delaware a lot here. I would like Delaware at this number even without the bye week advantage. I'm on DELA -2.5.
UTEP @ SAM HOUSTON - 7:30 PM
What a football game here... so in theory, we should see points. Both these teams do nothing but throw the ball... both these teams move a quick pace.
The problem is... both these offenses are absolute trash. We'll start with UTEP... looking like it's in the discussion for worst offense in the FBS. The weird angle to this... Sam Houston State's pass defense is just as bad.
We gave Sam Houston State the benefit of the doubt early in the season. It's a brand new team and they saw some really talented teams. Western Kentucky, UNLV, Texas... we gave SHSU's defense a pass here. But they can't make stops against New Mexico State? They can't make stops against Jacksonville State? UTEP's offense is terrible but so is Sam Houston State's defense. UTEP also got their WR1 back from injury last week Kenny Odom. He led the team with 53 receiving yards. Sam Houston might be missing their starting S CJ Brown (#2 tackler).
I think the QB is still Malachi Nelson... not sure. He's been benched twice. He got benched in the LA Tech game after throwing 4 INT. Skylar Locklear took over... then last game, Skyler Locklear got the start... so we were like "ok it looks like this is the new starter". But he looked so bad that they actually ended up switching back to Malachi Nelson.
Now on the other side of the ball, we've got UTEP's defense. This has been the only half-decent unit for either team in this game. They problem is, their strength has been defending the run and all Sam Houston State does is throw the ball.
And Phil Longo might have this offense finally starting to show up. They're coming off, by far, their best offensive game of the season against Jacksonville State. They finally have their RBs healthy. Elijah Green and Alton McCaskill were both banged up. Both are back.
Hunter Watson actually had efficient numbers throwing the ball. The rushing numbers look good. Now we don't want to overreact to 1 game against a bad defense like Jacksonville State... but remember, Phil Longo is a creative offensive mind. It's year one... maybe they just needed a few games to figure out the system. Remember, Hunter Watson was the QB here last year and they went 10-3 under KC Keeler. So it's not like he can't play.
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