Southern Conference Week 5 Previews
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Game 1: Mercer (3-1, 0-1) at VMI (1-3, 0-1) Sept. 27, 2014, Lexington, VA Southern Conference Week 5 Previews Alumni Memorial Field (10,000) 1:30 p.m 2014 Week 5 Introduction: First Meeting In The Series The final Saturday in the month of Saturday will mark the first real weekend of GAME OVERVIEW: It will be a battle of 0-1 teams in the Southern Conference on Southern Conference football, with three key Saturday when Mercer travels to VMI for a key league showdown. For the Bears, it games on tap as teams begin to get into the will ark their first Southern Conference road game, while it will mark the first Southern meat of their respective schedules. Conference home game since 2003. The Bears opened Southern Conference play back on Sept. 6, with a 25-20 loss to Furman, while the Keydets opened their Southern The game most folks around the league Conference slate last weekend with a 63-21 loss at Samford. Saturday’s contest between will have their collective eyes trained upon the two Southern Conference newcomers will mark the first-ever meeting between the Saturday will be the one in the Scenic City two schools. Saturday’s matchup between the Bears and Keydets matches the league’s between Chattanooga and Samford, who along two top offenses against each other to this point in the campaign, with the Bears leading with Furman, tied for the 2013 SoCon football the league in total offense, averaging 449.8 YPG, while VMI ranks second in the league crown, and last year’s clash in Birmingham in total offense, averaging 425.0 YPG. went right down to the wire. THE COACHES: Mercer’s Bobby Lamb and VMI’s Sparky Woods are two league Samford got league play underway last Satur- coaches in their second respective stints at Southern Conference programs, with Lamb day with a 63-21 demolition of VMI in a game having served as the head coach at Furman for nine seasons (2002-2010), winning a covered by ESPN3 last Saturday. Southern Conference title in 2004 and claimed the Southern Conference Coach of the Year honor in that very same campaign. The Bulldogs showed they will once again be an offensive juggernaut in the league, and led Lamb also presided over four Paladin teams that made FCS playoff runs while at Fur- Samford Celebrates Win Over UTC in ‘13 by running back Denzel Williams, who paced man. Lamb is now in his second season as the head coach at Mercer, having compiled a the Bulldogs on the ground with 178 rushing record of 80-43 record in his 11th season as a head coach, including a 13-3 mark as the yards and a pair of scores on just 16 carries, garnering Southern Conferene Offensive head man in Macon. Player of the Week honors in last week’s win. Back in the mid-1980s, Sparky Woods was responsible for getting the ball rolling for a Chattanooga (1-2, 0-0) and Samford (2-2, 1-0 SoCon) engaged each other in one of the sleeping giant in FCS football as the head coach of Appalachian State. In 1986, Woods Southern Conference games of the year last season, with the Bulldogs posting a 17-14 led the Mountaineers to the first of what would become 12 Southern Conference crowns. win over the Mocs. The game would be decided on a missed field goal by the Mocs, which clanged against the right upright, and would eventually prove to keep the Mocs out of the In 1987, he led the Apps to an undefeated season in league play and all the way to the postseason, extending the school’s FCS playoff drought to 29 years. FCS semifinals before Marshall came to Boone and handed the Mountaineers a 24-10 loss. It would stand as the Mountaineers’ best run in the FCS postseason until matching The loss rendered UTC’s first league title since 1984 somewhat hollow, as the Mocs did that feat 13 years later, and the program which Woods helped spark, would eventually not get to enjoy the spoils of the FCS postseason, with the lone at-large team chosen for break through and win a then unprecedented three-straight national titles from 2005-07. the FCS playoffs being Samford, while Furman took the automatic bid. During his time at the helm of the Black and Gold, Woods compiled a record of 38-19-2 That could serve as a bit of extra motivation when the Mocs host the Bulldogs in what will before moving onto South Carolina to become the head coach in 1989, where he spent be the 40th meeting in what is known as the “Railway Rivalry” when the teams kick it off at five seasons, posting a 25-27-3 mark at the helm of the Gamecocks. oodsW took over 7 p.m. Saturday night at Finley Stadium. as the head coach at VMI in 2008 and has compiled a record of 16-55 at the helm in Lexington. All told, Woods is 78-98-5 at the helm of the Keydets. The Mocs are now the only team ranked in the Southern Conferene, entering the clash ranking No. 15 in the Sports Network’s poll, while Samford is not ranked. The win by the Lamb and Woods have never faced off as head coaches on the gridiron, however, Lamb Bulldogs last season snapped what was a four-game winning streak in the rivalry by the was the signal-caller against Woods’ Appalachian State teams in both 1984 and ‘85, as Mocs. the Commerce, GA native was 1-1 against Woods during his time as a signal-caller. In 1984, the sixth-ranked Paladins were upset by Woods’ Mountaineers, 21-14, in Boone on Samford hasn’t won in the Scenic City since the Bulldogs’ first year in the league in 2008, a day that the goalposts came down at Conrad Stadium and is still what many regard as as the Bulldogs took a 30-7 win over the Mocs. Chattanooga holds a resounding lead in a program definining win and one that started the dominoes falling in the right direction the overall series, holding a 26-10-3 all-time series edge. for Appalachian State. The battle of purple will take place Saturday when Western Carolina invades Furman’s In 1985, Lamb returned the favor, downing Woods’ Mountaineers, 21-7, in Greenville. Paladin Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kick. The game, which will be broadcasts by the American Lamb returned as an offensive assistant at Furman in 1986 and would face off against Sports Network, could be another enthralling contest, as both teams come in headed in Woods and the Apps three more times, with a 1-1-1 mark. opposite directions. The Paladins and Apps would tie, 17-17, in Boone in ‘86, while the Paladins dropped a Furman has lost two-straight coming into the clash, while Western Carolina has claimed a 16-8 decision to Woods’ eventual SoCon champion Mountaineers in 1987. In 1988--a pair of straight wins over Brevard and Catawba after opening the campaign with a narrow year which saw Furman claim its lone national title--the Paladins went to Boone and four-point loss at FBS South Florida. came away with a 24-9 win in a matchup between a pair of ranked FCS programs. The win ended a 20-game Southern Conference winning streak for the Black and Gold. In Mark Speir, who is now in his third season as the head coach in Cullowhee, is now finally total as a player and assistant coach, Lamb is 2-1-1 against Woods. starting to see things come together in harmony for his Catamounts, and the two wins has nearly matched the three wins in his first two seasons as the head coach at estern.W THE OFFENSES: Mercer enters Saturday’s contest continuing to utilize the pistol offense with some effectiveness. The Bears, who averaged over 270 rushing yards Meanwhile, Furman continues to struggle to find itself offensively this season, combining to per game last season to lead the Southern Conference, enter Saturday’s road clash in score just 14 points the past two weeks, and the Paladins have recorded just five offensive Lexington. The Bears come into Saturday’s league clash once again running the football TDs this season. The unit has struggled since losing starter Reese Hannon for the season well out of the Pistol offense, averaging 228.8 YPG on the ground this season to rank to a broken ankle in the opener against Gardner-Webb. 20th nationally. It should be an exciting matchup for the 3:30 p.m. matchup in Greenville on Saturday Leading the Mercer offense this season has been John Russ, who has quickly estab- afternoon, as the game will televised by the American Sports Network as a part of a lished himself as a force to be reckoned with among the SoCon’s signal-callers. This sea- double-header on Saturday. son, Russ ranks third in the SoCon in total offense behind only Western’s Troy Mitchell and VMI’s Al Cobb, as he has amassed 894 yards (761 pass yds, 133 rush yds) of total The Catamounts will be looking to snap a 22-game road losing skid, while taking their first offense through the first four weeks of the season. win in Paladin Stadium since a 35-24 in Greenville back in 1994 under the direction of the very successful Steve Hodgin.