Southern Comfort

ETSU chose violence. Chattanooga still hates throwing the football. Tennessee Tech continues to inconvenience me.

Conference football is officially here, and we’re finally learning some things.

ETSU stopped making football complicated and absolutely hammered Western Carolina. Chattanooga continues to run the football like the forward pass hasn’t been invented. Mercer bounced back. Furman is changing who calls the offense. Wofford nearly gave us something beautiful before Tennessee Tech escaped Spartanburg.

Also, remember the early Tech schedule creates some weirdness with the standings. Not every matchup against a SoCon team necessarily counted as a conference game, so we’re going by the official league records rather than trying to solve this ourselves.

Anyway.

Let’s rank them.

1. ETSU (3-2, 1-0 SoCon)

Beat Western Carolina, 58-31

THERE WE GO.

I’ve spent the last month asking ETSU to take control of a football game and actually put somebody away.

Apparently they heard me.

ETSU jumped out 27-0, led 34-7 at halftime and eventually made it 44-7. The Bucs finished with 542 yards, rushed for 233 and scored six touchdowns on the ground.

That’s the ETSU team I’ve been waiting to see. Physical up front, explosive offensively and, most importantly, playing from ahead instead of finding increasingly creative ways to raise my blood pressure.

Western made the final score look slightly more respectable late. It wasn’t. ETSU dominated this football game.

Now comes Chattanooga.

And honestly, this matchup is fascinating because there’s absolutely no mystery about what the Mocs want to do.

They’re going to run the football.

Then they’re going to run it again.

Then everyone inside Willie B. will know they’re running it, and they’ll probably run it again.

So this game comes down to one thing: can the Bucs’ defensive line stop the run?

If ETSU can get Chattanooga behind the chains and force them to throw, we’re entering largely unexplored territory.

William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. The Rail Rivalry. Two teams unbeaten in SoCon play.

Let’s go.

2. Chattanooga (3-2, 2-0 SoCon)

Beat The Citadel, 27-8

Chattanooga has discovered an incredible offensive strategy:

Hand somebody the football.

The Mocs ran for 241 yards against The Citadel after rushing for 310 against Wofford. That’s 551 rushing yards over the last two games, while hovering around six yards per carry.

Why throw?

At this point, passing is just an unnecessary opportunity for something bad to happen.

The scary part is everybody knows what’s coming and it hasn’t mattered. Chattanooga’s offensive line is moving people, its backs are finding holes, and eventually the defense gets tired of being hit.

Now they get ETSU.

This is easily the game of the week for me. ETSU just bullied Western Carolina at the line of scrimmage. Chattanooga has spent two straight weeks doing the same thing to everybody else.

Something has to give.

If Chattanooga runs for six yards per carry again, we’ve got problems.

If ETSU stuffs it?

Somebody may have to locate Chattanooga’s quarterbacks.

3. Furman (2-3, 1-0 SoCon)

Lost to Richmond, 13-9

Furman has three losses.

I don’t really care.

The Paladins already went into Macon and beat Mercer, then followed that with close losses against two ranked opponents. The defense continues to give them chances.

The offense, however, has become a problem.

Apparently Furman agrees, because Drew Dudzik was promoted to offensive coordinator on September 27 and will now take over the offense.

That’s a pretty significant move five games into the season.

Now Wofford comes to Greenville, and I’m very interested to see what changes. Furman doesn’t need to suddenly become 2019 LSU. Give this defense a few more points and the Paladins are going to be a pain in the rear for everybody in the conference.

Could work.

Could also be the football equivalent of unplugging the router and plugging it back in.

Either way, I’m interested.

4. Mercer (3-2, 0-1 SoCon)

Beat Abilene Christian, 34-17

Mercer needed this one.

The Bears trailed 17-7 before scoring 27 unanswered points and leaving with a comfortable road win.

That’s much more like the Mercer we’ve gotten used to seeing.

The Bears had dropped two straight, including that ugly five-turnover game against Furman, so responding on the road matters.

I still can’t put Mercer above Furman because Furman literally beat them.

That’s generally useful information when ranking two football teams.

Mercer gets VMI next, which should give the Bears an opportunity to build some momentum.

Please be gentle.

I’ve grown attached.

5. Western Carolina (2-3, 0-1 SoCon)

Lost to ETSU, 58-31

Last week I moved Western Carolina to No. 4.

ETSU responded by going up 44-7.

That’s on me.

The frustrating part for Western is how different this looked from the week before. The Catamounts had just put up 659 yards against Presbyterian and finally appeared to have things figured out.

Then they came to Johnson City and got run over.

Now we find out something about this team.

Tennessee Tech comes to Cullowhee, and Western desperately needs a response. Tech is undefeated, but Wofford just had them down 35-21 entering the fourth quarter.

Can Western bounce back at home?

I certainly hope so.

Because if Tennessee Tech goes into Cullowhee and wins, I’m going to have to spend another week hearing about this undefeated record.

Western Carolina, please handle this.

For all of us.

6. Wofford (2-3, 1-1 SoCon)

Lost to Tennessee Tech, 42-38

Wofford.

We were so close.

The Terriers led Tennessee Tech 35-21 entering the fourth quarter.

They lost 42-38.

Pain.

But weirdly, I actually feel better about Wofford after this game. One week after Chattanooga completely embarrassed them, the Terriers responded by putting up 38 points and building a two-touchdown fourth-quarter lead.

Then they completely blew it.

Tech quarterback Jax Leatherwood threw three fourth-quarter touchdowns, and Wofford watched the whole thing disappear.

Some will call it a great Tennessee Tech comeback.

This publication has chosen to focus on Wofford blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead.

They get Furman next.

I still have absolutely no idea what Wofford is.

7. Samford (1-3, 1-1 SoCon)

Beat VMI, 45-7

Oh.

Hello, Samford.

The Bulldogs apparently spent their bye week downloading a software update and returned as a functioning football team.

Samford led 28-0 at halftime and cruised to a 45-7 win. The defense even opened the scoring with a pick-six just 84 seconds into the game.

I’m not declaring Samford fixed after beating VMI.

But 45-7 is certainly preferable to 0-3.

That’s analysis.

The Bulldogs get UAB next before returning to conference play against Chattanooga.

We’ll learn more then.

8. The Citadel (1-3, 0-2 SoCon)

Lost to Chattanooga, 27-8

The Citadel actually hung around for a while.

It was only 6-0 late in the third quarter.

Then Chattanooga remembered it could hand the football to people.

The Mocs eventually pulled away, and The Citadel dropped to 0-2 in conference play.

Honestly, I still don’t know what to make of this team.

They’ve lost to Wofford, beaten Charlotte and now played a pretty respectable three quarters against Chattanooga.

The Bulldogs head to South Carolina State next.

That’s all I have.

Sometimes football simply happens.

9. VMI (0-5, 0-1 SoCon)

Lost to Samford, 45-7

Last week I called VMI-Samford our Super Bowl.

VMI lost 45-7.

I would like to apologize.

Three turnovers. Sixty-one passing yards. Pick-six less than two minutes into the game.

We’re going to pretend this never happened.

Please stop passing the ball so much.

I still love VMI. I still love the triple option. Ashley Ingram is still my guy.

We had a difficult afternoon in Birmingham.

Now Mercer is coming to Lexington.

This feels excessive.

VMI is trying its best.

Jaylen King, be kind.

10. UNCG (0-0)

Five weeks.

Still undefeated.

Still haven’t allowed a point.

No turnovers. No penalties. No injuries. No quarterback controversy.

No football team.

At this point, you have to respect the consistency.

11. Tennessee Tech (4-0, 1-0 SoCon)

Beat Wofford, 42-38

I know.

They’re 4-0.

I can read.

Tennessee Tech went into Spartanburg and trailed Wofford 35-21 entering the fourth quarter.

Then Wofford collapsed.

Yes, Jax Leatherwood played well. He threw for 427 yards and five touchdowns. The SoCon even named him Offensive Player of the Week. Congratulations to him and his family.

Moving on.

I’m considerably more interested in the fact that Wofford had this team down two touchdowns in the fourth quarter one week after Chattanooga beat Wofford 41-7.

Now Tech goes to Western Carolina.

This is actually a useful test.

Western just got embarrassed in Johnson City and should be desperate to respond. Tech is undefeated and will undoubtedly arrive with people prepared to tell me about it.

The atmosphere in the Whee should be excellent.

If Tech goes into Cullowhee and wins convincingly, I will reevaluate the available information.

That’s the nicest way I can phrase that.

Until then:

Eleventh.

UNCG still hasn’t allowed a point.

This Week

Two games have my attention.

Chattanooga at ETSU is the big one.

The matchup couldn’t be much simpler. Chattanooga wants to run the football down your throat. ETSU just dominated Western Carolina up front.

If the Bucs can stop the run and put Chattanooga in obvious passing situations, I really like where this starts heading.

Then there’s Tennessee Tech at Western Carolina.

Western needs to show that last week was a terrible afternoon and not the beginning of something bigger.

Please do.

As for the rankings:

1. ETSU
2. Chattanooga
3. Furman
4. Mercer
5. Western Carolina
6. Wofford
7. Samford
8. The Citadel
9. VMI
10. UNCG
11. Tennessee Tech

ETSU is No. 1.

UNCG is ahead of Tech.

Some traditions matter.