SAC Week 2 Preview

September 11th, 2024 2:00pm

Everybody has a game under their belts now, but we still don't know much about some of the SAC schools here in 2024. It's also nearly impossible to know how good a team is going to be two weeks into the season....well....unless you've watched defending national champion Harding already. My goodness. It's the last week of the non-conference schedule, and 10 of the 12 programs hit the gridiron one last time before league play. Mars Hill and Tusculum are idle this week, but there are some outstanding games starting on Thursday night, as Ashley Ingram and the Carson-Newman Eagles head to West Virginia State. The way both teams run the ball, that game may be over in less than two hours. Tiffin vs. Lenoir-Rhyne, Limestone vs. West Alabama, and even NAIA power Keiser vs. Newberry are all tasty ball games highlighting the menu this weekend. My game of the week, is nationally ranked Delta State heading to Wingate.  

Players of the Week

Offense: Dustin Noller (Limestone): 14 of 22, 292 yards, 4 TD’s

Defense: Andre Jefferson (Lenoir-Rhyne): 7 tackles, 2 TFL’s, 1 sack, blocked kick

Special Teams: Ross Burnette (Anderson): 3 for 3 field goals, 6 for 6 extra points

SAC Power Rankings (Reminder, these fluctuate a lot early in the season)

1. Lenoir-Rhyne
2. Wingate
3. Limestone
4. Carson-Newman
5. Mars Hill
6. Newberry
7. Emory & Henry
8. Tusculum
9. Barton
10. Catawba
11. Anderson
12. UVA Wise

Last Week: 6-2

Season: 10-2

Friday’s Games* (This game was moved after the tragic passing of current WVSU/former C-N linebacker Jyilek Harrington)

Carson-Newman at West Virginia State

Location: Institute, WV / 12 PM

Line: Carson-Newman -7.5

Series: First Ever Meeting

Carson-Newman was off last week and is looking to keep things going in week 2 on the road while getting some starters back on offense. The Eagles started four freshman offensive linemen in week 0 and got two guys back from suspension. The Eagles will also start with a new man under center: Teddy Gleaton, a transfer from Navy. Carson-Newman looked excellent in their week 0 win against NAIA-perennial playoff team Reinhardt, running away (literally) 50-7.

The Yellow Jackets stung me in my predictions last week, taking care of business on the road against Barton, 27-24. Barton got back into the game late with a blocked punt and scored, but the defense made just enough plays and held strong. Coach Pennington’s crew had a tremendous day running the ball (252 yards), led by Joel Felder averaging 8.1 yards per carry. He is an outstanding player.

Prediction: Carson-Newman wins. The Eagles have had some time to rest up and get some more practice with the new offense. If they can at least slow down Felder, forcing WVSU to try to throw the ball, that gives them a tremendous shot to win. The Eagles matchup better with the Yellow Jackets than Barton and have a better defense.

Saturday’s Games

Bluefield State at Emory & Henry

Location: Emory, VA / 1 PM

Line: Emory & Henry -21.5

Series: Emory & Henry leads 1-0 (Emory & Henry won only meeting, 37-14 in 2023)

Bluefield State bounced back after a week 0 thumping, defeating in-state rival Concord 22-13 last weekend. The Big Blues led for most of the game, captained by freshman quarterback Christian Solino. Solino completed 21 of 26 passes for 282 yards and a score, rebounding from a forgettable performance against Winston-Salem in the opening game.

Five turnovers and some bad weather in Southwest Virginia caused the Emory & Henry vs. Glenville State game to be shortened due to weather, but a 4^th quarter likely wouldn’t have made any difference. The Wasps defense was all over the GSU offense, and even though the Wasps offense wasn’t anything spectacular, they did enough to get the job done. Jordan Jackson, Charles Mutter III and Cam Peoples led the way on offense, and Ean Rhea had a fantastic pick-six for the defense. Coach Hunter certainly had to be pleased with his teams performance.

Prediction: Emory & Henry start 2-0. Last year Bluefield led early, then got blown out. I feel like this game may be similar. I trust the Wasps defense much more than the Big Blues and the secondary will need to make some big plays to give the offense some breathing room. Emory & Henry has some players I like on offense, but even in the win against Glenville State, I didn’t see enough to wane me from thinking it’s like last year’s team.

Tiffin (1-0) at #13 Lenoir-Rhyne (1-0)

Location: Hickory, NC / 1 PM

Line: Lenoir-Rhyne -6.5

Series: First Ever Meeting

There were a lot of questions about Tiffin going into the season. New staff, lots of players entered the portal. The doubts were fair of the defending 1 seed in the Super Region 1 playoffs. The Dragons took care of business against a former conference rival, beating Wayne State (MI) 31-17 and it wasn’t that close. The Dragons defense smothered the Wayne offense for just 176 yards of offense, 109 of that coming on the last two drives of the fourth quarter. The offense was humming as well. Quarterback Alex Johnson was outstanding, going 20 for 27 for 229 yards and four touchdowns. He will have to have another excellent day for the Dragons to pull the upset.

Game one of the Doug Socha era went rather well in Hickory. The Bears dominated Bowie State until the backups came in, and Bowie got some momentum. Zavion Turner-Knox had a monster of a day, rushing for well over 200 yards and proving he can be a feature back. The defense was stellar, led by one of my favorite players I’ve ever seen on the defensive line in the SAC, Andre Jefferson. Jefferson was awarded defensive player of the week for his performance. The competition takes a jump this week, and they should be ready in Bear Country.

Prediction: Lenoir-Rhyne goes to 2-0. If this game was at Tiffin, I would be tempted, tempted mind you, to call for the upset. But as the guys said on the show Sunday night, winning between the bricks is a tall task. Even before the program shot up in 2013, it was a tough play to win. The only question mark I have after one week is the Bears depth, and how each school will react to facing stiffer competition than they did last week. If the Bears offense can establish the run and keep the Dragons on their toes, Jalen Ferguson can have a day. This comes down to who makes fewer mistakes but give me the Bears by 10ish.

UVA Wise (0-1) at Concord

Location: Athens, WV / 2 PM

Line: UVA Wise -4.5

Series: Concord leads series 6-4. (UVA Wise won last meeting, 35-20, in 2018)

It was a forgetful night in Johnson City for Coach Bass and his new ball club. The Cavaliers were outmatched in every phase of the game, unfortunately as expected, playing against FCS East Tennessee State. I’m not sure how much folks ever really learn about their team in games like this, when one team is clearly outmanned, but this may serve as a good get-right game for the team before beginning league play.

Concord started off on the wrong side of the tracks, losing their opener at home to in-state rival Bluefield State, 22-13. The Mountain Lions found some success running the ball with T.J. Finney (28-137), but Blayne Ferguson’s 3 INT’s made things challenging for the club. Concord went 9-2 in 2022 and was a hot choice to contend for the MEC in 2023. However, that ended almost 1 week in, and they ended up going 1-10. Brian Ferguson’s ball club did show some life last week and will look to carry that on.

Prediction: Concord moves to 1-1. This was a hard game to pick, and if it was in Wise, I’d go with the Cavaliers. The problem is we don’t know still what to expect since they played ETSU last week. We know that Concord can throw the ball some and can run the ball some. Can UVA Wise attack the poor Mountain Lions pass defense? I’m just not sure yet until I see it. Give me Concord, by 3-7 points.

#12 Delta State at Wingate

Location: Wingate, NC / 3 PM

Line: Delta State -13.5

Series: First Ever Meeting

Delta State is off to a 2-0 start, and the Statesmen haven’t appeared to miss a beat with Patrick Shegog’s graduation. After blasting Mars Hill in week 0, they beat the brakes off Missouri S&T last week, 55-18. Through two games they are averaging 51 points and giving up just 17. Quarterback Cole Kirk has been sensational in the air and on the ground, and his favorite target thus far has been Jaylen Green. The 12^th ranked Statesmen are making another long road trip to North Carolina though and facing a much tougher opponent.

Wingate was off last week, after surviving a low scoring defensive brawl with in-state rival UNC Pembroke in week 0. This time off gave Coach Jordan’s crew some time to rest and hopefully get healthy, while preparing for one of the toughest games of the season against a fellow playoff level team. The Bulldogs defense is hungry for the challenge, but I believe it will come down to the Bulldogs offense making some plays.

Prediction: Delta State improves to 3-0. If I had a wee bit more faith in the Wingate offense, I would take them in an upset over a ranked team. Brooks Bentley made some plays with his legs against UNC Pembroke, but they will need some other guys to have massive days in order to keep up with the high-flying offense Coach Cooley is bringing up to the Tar Heel State. Wingate’s defense is the best Delta State has seen thus far, but I worry that they may spend a ton of time on the field if the offense can’t get it going and eventually wear down. Give me Delta State by 14.

Barton at Chowan

Location: Murfreesboro, NC / 6 PM

Line: Barton -3.5

Series: Barton leads series 2-0. (Barton won last meeting, 41-0, in 2023)

Barton had a lot of questions heading into the season opener, and there still are some. QB Trevor Nored and WR Jayden Flood-Brown were excellent. All-SAC linebacker Matt Smith had 15 tackles, but it felt like 30 with how often his name was called. Unfortunately for Coach Hester’s crew, they never were able to run the ball with success, something drastically different from past Bulldog teams, and got absolutely gashed against the run on defense. A late blocked punt got them back into the game, but they eventually fell to West Virginia State by a field goal.

Chowan is in year 2 in the GSC, and it couldn’t go much worse than it did last year. An opening week loss to former CIAA rival Elizabeth City doesn’t exactly quell the sour feelings in the Hawks stomachs. It was a game filled with offensive fireworks, as the Vikings won 12-9. Both teams failed to reach 180 yards of total offense, though the Hawks did rush for 101 yards on 28 carries as a team. It may be another long year in Murfreesboro.

Prediction: Barton goes to 1-1 in a blowout. These two play in Conference Carolinas for all other sports and will be together in football when the league kicks off in 2025. Despite the issues they had in game 1, I expect the Bulldogs to be able to work on improving the run game and run defense in this one. Chowan is still suffering the effects from losing Mark Hall to UNC Pembroke along with a ton of talented players who helped them appear in the CIAA title game in 2022. Bulldogs roll in this one by 20-25 points.

LaGrange at Anderson

Location: Anderson, SC / 6 PM

Line: Anderson -31.5

Series: First Ever Meeting

D3 LaGrange (3-26 post-COVID) is coming off just an outright beating at the hands of fellow D3 East Texas Baptist, 57-12. The Panthers gave up 687 yards of total offense and an insane nearly 10 yards per play defensively and are looking to pull an upset against a higher division foe.

It was a remarkable day for Anderson University and their new football program last week. Over 6,300 fans poured into the stadium to watch the first ever football game in the school's history and enjoyed some gorgeous weather as well. Coach Lamb’s club took care of NAIA St. Andrews, 51-14. The Trojans had a balanced attack with almost 50-50 split in rushing and passing yards, and nearly did the same on defense shutting down the Knights. Ross Burnette, SAC special teamer of the week, was spectacular, and QB Tyler Wesley also looked very good in his time under center.

Prediction: Anderson rolls to a 2-0 start. With no disrespect to LaGrange, or to Saint Andrew’s, these games are slightly above exhibitions. St. Andrew’s is one of the bottom programs currently in NAIA, and LaGrange has won 3 games in 3 years. I imagine this week will be a lot like last, where the Trojans will play a ton of players and get a lot of in game reps needed for the upcoming SAC Season. Trojans win somewhere between 35-40 points.

Limestone at West Alabama

Location: Livingston, AL / 6 PM

Line: West Alabama -6.5

Series: West Alabama leads 4-0. (West Alabama won the last meeting, 27-13, in 2023)

Limestone traveled up to West Liberty and blew the doors off the Hilltoppers. It was 35-6 at the half and finished up 48-13. Dustin Noller, SAC Offensive Player of the Week, had another outstanding day. Kevin Lalin rushed for 123 yards and 2 scores, and the wide out crew was led by big days by Jalen Jones (4-108-1) and DJ Black (3-92-1). The Saints defense played exceptionally well early to put the game out of reach, led by Luke Janack’s 11 tackles. The task just got a little bit bigger though.

West Alabama survived a scare from Miles in week zero, then blew out Tusculum last week, 45-9. It was a 14-9 game at the half, before Spencer Arceneaux and the rest of the Tigers opened a can in the 2^nd half, outscoring the Pioneers 31-0. Arceneaux threw for 249 and 2 scores, while rushing for 74 more and a score. The Tigers got rushing touchdowns from four different players, and the always stout defense was lights out in the 2^nd half (1 drive of 15+ yards).

Prediction: Limestone falls to 1-1 on the season. The Tigers defense creates a lot of issues for Noller and the Saints offense, and the Saints defense doesn’t make enough stops. As my colleague in the GSC Cory said, it’s early to tell if the Tigers offense finally compliments their defense, but thus far it’s looked the part. If Noller and the Saints can get some early scoring and put pressure on the Tigers to try and keep up, it could work in the Saints favor. I also think the jump in competition could be a slight issue for Limestone, as West Liberty is in a lower weight class. Give me the Tigers by double digits.

Catawba at Shaw

Location: Raleigh, NC

Line: Shaw -0.5

Series: Catawba leads series 1-0. (Catawba won only meeting, 32-21, in 2010)

Catawba had a rough night against Davidson of the FCS. The Wildcats ran the ball all over the Indians defense and kept the Indians from getting into scoring range most of the evening. A 21-7 halftime deficit was 35-7 by the end of the 3^rd. Preston Brown played well, completing 22 of 33 for 181 yards and 2 scores. LJ Turner led the rushing attack, mostly due to a 40-yard scamper. Bo Pryor only had 3 grabs for 13 yards. If the Indians are going to right the ship, the passing game must take advantage of the Shaw secondary, which in turn will open the run lanes.

For the first time since 2013, the Shaw Bears are off to a 2-0 start and have won using two different styles of games. A low scoring nailbiter against CIAA rival Elizabeth City (17-13), and then a high scoring barnburner against SIAC traditional power Albany State (43-40). QB Christian Peters anchors the offense, throwing for 474 and 6 scores through two games. Travon Tensley is the leading rusher at 94.0 YPG. 7^th year head coach Adrian Jones seems to have the Bears heading back to the top of the CIAA.

Prediction: Catawba moves to 1-1. Catawba’s offense and defense bounce back after playing up a division. The Indians offense is better than what Shaw has faced thus far, and I have a hard time seeing Bo Pryor not having a monster get-right game. If they can avoid mistakes! A key for Shaw to possibly move to a 3-0 start is to not only limit turnovers, but to keep the Catawba defense on the field and keep the ball out of the hands of their offense. Shaw has done well against the run early and will be tested by the stable of good backs and has been very balanced on offense. I like Catawba in this one, somewhere between 7-14 points.

Keiser at Newberry

Location: Newberry, SC / 7 PM

Line: Keiser -2.5

Series: First Ever Meeting

The defending NAIA national champions went into Tigerville last week and knocked off North Greenville in overtime, 23-20. This week, they take another trip deep into the Palmetto State. Kicker Nico Cavanillas was the man of the day, nailing three field goals including the winner which gave Keiser it’s first win over a D2 program. He also was NAIA national special teams player of the week. North Greenville had more yards than the Seahawks but had two costly turnovers, which helped lead to the upset.

Newberry trailed nationally ranked Valdosta State 17-7 at half, and never really got any closer. The final score was 27-14 in favor of the Blazers, but there were some positives in the loss for Coach Knight’s Indians. Sammy Edwards was efficient for Valdosta, but he and the offense didn’t score at will like some thought they would. The Wolves also ran the ball fairly well, rushing for 166 yards. The problem was they had absolutely no semblance of a passing game (50 yards) and the defense gave up nearly 200 yards rushing.

Prediction: Newberry bounces back and improves to 1-1. Don’t get me wrong, I think Keiser is a better football team as of today. I’m not in love with this pick, just believe two long road trips in back-to-back weeks against solid D2 competition is going to be a big challenge. If Newberry can throw the ball well enough to keep the Seahawks honest, it will give them a better chance to win. That also means Dwayne Wright and Trakell Murray get more touches and Izayah Whiteside has a big day. But if they can’t and Keiser throws 8 or 9 guys in the box, it may be a long evening. If I was a gambling man, I wouldn’t bet my own money on this game. Newberry by one score.

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