Season Expectations

[fearthephoenix]

Looking at what is returning, this has to be a playoff team this year. The CAA will be decent but no Delaware, Villanova on the schedule means no excuses.

Friday, Aug. 30 – at Duke University
Saturday, Sept. 7 – at North Carolina Central University
Saturday, Sept. 14 – Western Carolina University
Saturday, Sept. 21 – East Tennessee State University
Saturday, Sept. 28 – University of Richmond (Family Weekend)
Saturday, Oct. 12 – University of New Hampshire
Saturday, Oct. 19 – at University of Albany
Saturday, Oct. 26 – at Hampton University
Saturday, Nov. 2 – Campbell University (Homecoming)
Saturday, Nov. 9 – at College of William & Mary
Saturday, Nov. 16 – University of Maine (Senior Day)
Saturday, Nov. 23 – at North Carolina A&T State University

I personally see 8-4 or 9-3 with likely wins over NCCU, ETSU, UA, HU, CU, UM, & A&T. WCU, UNH, UR, W&M are all toss ups.

[eu96]

I see us 2-2 after 4. We do have the two worst teams in the conf (Hampton and AT) on the road, so that’s good. Maine always tough. Nice to see them at Rhodes however, it seems like we are ALWAYS going up there. I like to think we can win 8 games, but who knows. FCS is a mystery because of the lack of coverage or analysis. 7-5 is I think where we land.
BTW…we should play 12 games every year. Shoot, make the extra game a cupcake against a D2 squad every year. Who cares, just make sure we get that extra home game every year. It would move the needle revenue wise.

[topher99]

You can't play 12 games every year. It all depends on the number of Saturdays between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. If there are 13, you can play 12 games.

[eu96]

I know. We don’t pick the number of games of course. What I meant to say is that we should be lobbying for a a 12th game for FCS. Especially with all the crap FCS has been been piled on these last several years. We all still D1 for Pete’s sake.

[phawkes]

I believe we'll be competitive. Lots of veterans, Downing at QB, good schedule. But I don't see any easy wins. Hampton can be surprisingly tough. A&T 2023 squad was an aberration; we've had trouble with them over the years, especially on their turf. Nonconference FCS foes are all good teams. Concerns: unproven RBs, unknown QB backups. 8-4 or 9-3 is possible, but we'll have to earn it.

Go, Phoenix!

[epx]

May 27, 2024 14:47:38 GMT -5 eu96 said:

I see us 2-2 after 4. We do have the two worst teams in the conf (Hampton and AT) on the road, so that’s good. Maine always tough. Nice to see them at Rhodes however, it seems like we are ALWAYS going up there. I like to think we can win 8 games, but who knows. FCS is a mystery because of the lack of coverage or analysis. 7-5 is I think where we land.
BTW…we should play 12 games every year. Shoot, make the extra game a cupcake against a D2 squad every year. Who cares, just make sure we get that extra home game every year. It would move the needle revenue wise.

Just curious to whom you think the other loss will be. I assume you have 1 loss to Duke.

[eu96]

Pick one..lol.
Prob Central. But Western will be a tough W though.
History tells me we prob aren’t going 3-1.

Someone needs to teach Elon about scheduling.

[eu96]

Also, I’m in no way picking us to beat Duke. But they lost everybody. And the best time to catch a Power 5 team is Game 1 of a new regime. Just saying

[epx]

I think we could be 3-1 or 1-3. I hope we can take advantage of Duke's inexperience. My guess is Elon plays tough, possibly wins the first half, but Duke plays a better 2nd half & wins the game. WCU finished the season last year ranked 23rd. They had a great early season, but didn't finish well losing to Furman, Mercer & VMI. NCC QB Davius ran all over us last year. As I remember, Downing got injured in that game & didn't finish, which may or may not have mattered because our defense was completely unprepared for this game. I'm pretty sure Davius has no eligibility left so we'll see somebody new this year. NCC, with the exceptions of UCLA, Elon, Campbell and maybe Howard, had a cupcake 2023 schedule. I still feel there was no way we should have lost that game. Hopefully we do better this season. If ETSU is twice as good as they were last year we should still win. Injuries could play a big role in our 2024 season. The OL REALLY needs to protect Downing. Looking to the start of the season! Go Phoenix!!

[fearthephoenix]

May 29, 2024 11:20:40 GMT -5 epx said:

IThe OL REALLY needs to protect Downing. Looking to the start of the season! Go Phoenix!!

This season comes down to the ability or inability for the OL and DL to win the line of scrimmage. We have solid players at the skill position but our inability to run the ball and inability to stop the run impacted us in big games last season.