CAA Picks - Week 5

[GannonFan]

Well, UD beat all 4 of those teams last year with two of them on the road so all we have to do, with a better team by far this year than last, is win 2 of those games (half of what we did last year). Doesn't seem particularly brutal.

Yeah, but the win over ODU was @ UD over "small hands", not Heineke.
UD may be by far better than last yr, but so are UR and Nova, and Talley seems to have Keelers #, winning what, 5 of the last 6?

Well, the UD win last year over ODU was also with Donnelly under center and, against a better ODU defense last year than this year, Donnelly was able to throw the ball at will against a swiss cheese defense and he couldn't throw against anyone all year. We'll see if both teams having upgrades at QB's and with ODU's defense actually being worse as to where that lands us. And there's no indication yet that nova is significantly better than last year - their OOC schedule outside of Temple was as bad as anyone else's in the CAA and they've only played Maine and URI so far and those teams are the ones Georgia St has circled as potential games they can stay within 10-15 points of. And the nova thing has gone in cycles - they win a lot in a row, then we win a lot in a row. We're on the upswing of that cycle now.

[BDKJMU]

Yeah, but the win over ODU was @ UD over "small hands", not Heineke.
UD may be by far better than last yr, but so are UR and Nova, and Talley seems to have Keelers #, winning what, 5 of the last 6?

Well, the UD win last year over ODU was also with Donnelly under center and, against a better ODU defense last year than this year, Donnelly was able to throw the ball at will against a swiss cheese defense and he couldn't throw against anyone all year. We'll see if both teams having upgrades at QB's and with ODU's defense actually being worse as to where that lands us. And there's no indication yet that nova is significantly better than last year - their OOC schedule outside of Temple was as bad as anyone else's in the CAA and they've only played Maine and URI so far and those teams are the ones Georgia St has circled as potential games they can stay within 10-15 points of. And the nova thing has gone in cycles - they win a lot in a row, then we win a lot in a row. We're on the upswing of that cycle now.

ODU fans would beg to differ.

[89Hen]

ODU fans would beg to differ.

Beg all they want. You give up 61 points in regulation, you suck.

[CAA Flagship]

Well, the UD win last year over ODU was also with Donnelly under center and, against a better ODU defense last year than this year, Donnelly was able to throw the ball at will against a swiss cheese defense and he couldn't throw against anyone all year. We'll see if both teams having upgrades at QB's and with ODU's defense actually being worse as to where that lands us. And there's no indication yet that nova is significantly better than last year - their OOC schedule outside of Temple was as bad as anyone else's in the CAA and they've only played Maine and URI so far and those teams are the ones Georgia St has circled as potential games they can stay within 10-15 points of. And the nova thing has gone in cycles - they win a lot in a row, then we win a lot in a row. We're on the upswing of that cycle now.

ODU fans would beg to differ.

Meh. We defended Delaware exactly how they should have been defended. Defend the run first against Pierce and force the new QB to beat you. We had three senior DL's to do the job and they did it well. Our DB's, on the other hand, could not stop White. But I think that game showed that the UD OL was not as good as the previous year when Pierce ran wild because that same ODU defensive front got smoked by Georgia Southern.

[BDKJMU]

Don't look that good 1st 3 games. Look great one week vs W&M, like a CAA title contender, then look horrible the next week vs UNH.

Eh, they were fine in the first 3 games (heck, the DSU game was over at the half and they held Bucknell to 3 pts in the 3rd game). And they had a bad second half against UNH. I think UNH had 69 yards of offense and no points in the first half on Saturday. Not a lot of CAA teams win 2 games, back to back, on the road against conference foes when URI or Georgia St isn't one of the games. Next three weeks the Hens have Maine, a bye, and URI. They'll be 6-1 going into Norfolk where even UD's conservative offense will score in bunches. Punchers chance to win that game and UD still has a good shot to be 9-2 or 8-3 at the worst. All is not lost because they lost on the road to UNH.

[BDKJMU]

Yeah, UD is 6-1 going into Norfolk. Last 4 games:
@ ODU
Towson
@ UR
Villanova.

Way things are looking now, that is a brutal last 4 game stretch (UR and Nova are both much improved over last yr) where UD will need to win 2 to to hit the magic 8-3/7-3 vs Div I.

Well, UD beat all 4 of those teams last year with two of them on the road so all we have to do, with a better team by far this year than last, is win 2 of those games (half of what we did last year). Doesn't seem particularly brutal.

Really???