The fans on our board have been pretty quiet as no one really knows what to expect for this coming game. We are very encouraged by the preformance of the team to date but at the same time we know we haven't played anyone yet.
From the few Toledo fans that have stopped by I have gotten the impression that you guys feel much the same about your team this year. Although I have to admit that your fans seem more excited.
I was wondering what you all expect for the game this Saturday? I think it will be close and I do not expect to see a repeat of the A$$ kicking you guys gave us last year at your place.
I think this game will be very close and could go either way. I feel that we have more depth at running back and wide receiver, but are very young.
I think for UT win they have to not make any mistakes and get a few turnovers. The game will be close and I hope it is a good one since I am driving so far. UT win with a score of 31-28 would be fine with me.
It does seem like you guys have 4 very talented backs but I wouldn't rate your depth much higher than ours at that position.
We have 3 quality backs and all have seen some pretty significant game action. Thomas Tapeh and Marion Barber III are the clear cut starters but Terry Jackson is good enough to start and has seen significant action.
The only question about those guys right now is that Tapeh and Barber both have minor injuries. But all reports are that they will be fine for Saturday. Tapeh is a big back who punishes people. Barber is more of a speed guy but he also carried defenders into the endzone a couple times last year. Jackson is also a finese back.
Our Defense is young but showing some great signs of improvement and we are very deep at LB and DB. The Line is a little undersized but have done well to date. Your big line could present problems and it will be interesting to see how our guys fair.
Our offense looks very good with Asad having lots of options as far as receivers are concerned. We also have perhaps the best TE in the country in Ben Utecht. He has already caught 4 TD's and he could easily have more if we hadn't called in the dogs against SWTS.
Check the ypc for all of our backs.
7+ yards a carry is great but it doesn't mean much when the opposition is Cal Poly and Eastern Michigan. If you guys are all averaging 7 yards per carry after Saturday's game then it means we got our butts kicked again.
I wasn't trying to say you guys don't have good backs because it looks like you do. I was just pointing out that we are not exactly slim at the RB position either. It looks like we will be redshirting Greg Pruitts kid because frankly there just wouldn't be enough opportunities to get him the ball.
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Jake 01:
I wasn't trying to say you guys don't have good backs because it looks like you do. I was just pointing out that we are not exactly slim at the RB position either. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree. Just think how good your RB situation would be if Tellis Redmon was still there this year?
If Tellis was still here he would probably be a WR before the season was over. But it would be nice to have him right now with some minor injuries floating around.
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Jake 01:
7+ yards a carry is great but it doesn't mean much when the opposition is Cal Poly and Eastern Michigan. If you guys are all averaging 7 yards per carry after Saturday's game then it means we got our butts kicked again.
I wasn't trying to say you guys don't have good backs because it looks like you do. I was just pointing out that we are not exactly slim at the RB position either. It looks like we will be redshirting Greg Pruitts kid because frankly there just wouldn't be enough opportunities to get him the ball.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But, you were comparing your RB's favorably with ours. You haven't played anyone, either. I would submit that our's appear to better at this point. But, the game ain't played on paper and I expect a major battle. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
Last year Barber had 118 ATT 742 YRDS 6.3 AVG and 7 TD's as the backup to Tellis, Tapeh averaged 5.0 yards a carry as a fullback and Jackson looked good in spot duty as a redshirt freshman.
I am evaluating our talent off of how they have looked this year and also off of what we saw last season. You are evaluating true freshman who have yet to go up against a good defense.
Again they may turn out to be great backs. But they may not. Barber has shown what he can do against the Big Ten so I feel pretty comfortable in trumpeting his abilities.
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Jake 01:
Last year Barber had 118 ATT 742 YRDS 6.3 AVG and 7 TD's as the backup to Tellis, Tapeh averaged 5.0 yards a carry as a fullback and Jackson looked good in spot duty as a redshirt freshman.
I am evaluating our talent off of how they have looked this year and also off of what we saw last season. You are evaluating true freshman who have yet to go up against a good defense.
Again they may turn out to be great backs. But they may not. Barber has shown what he can do against the Big Ten so I feel pretty comfortable in trumpeting his abilities.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Don't forget that Tellis and Marion played against us last year and didn't do very well. You never know what will happen.
Barber only had 2 carries for 3 yards. He hadn't worked his way into the rotation at that point. I don't think he would have changed anything had he been in there but he didn't really play.
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Jake 01:
The fans on our board have been pretty quiet as no one really knows what to expect for this coming game. We are very encouraged by the preformance of the team to date but at the same time we know we haven't played anyone yet.
From the few Toledo fans that have stopped by I have gotten the impression that you guys feel much the same about your team this year. Although I have to admit that your fans seem more excited.
I was wondering what you all expect for the game this Saturday? I think it will be close and I do not expect to see a repeat of the A$$ kicking you guys gave us last year at your place.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Should be a close game. The winner of this game will have a big boost for the rest of their season.