The Sports Arsenal

Links of interest for Wednesday:

– My review of the last time The Citadel and Charleston Southern met on the gridiron, in 2019

– Game notes from The Citadel

– Brent Thompson’s Monday press conference (September 6)

– Nathan Storch “needs some help at b-back” (I think it is coming)

– Charleston Southern coach Autry Denson hopes that Johnson Hagood Stadium is “a rowdy, hostile environment” on Saturday

—

The weather forecast for Saturday afternoon in Charleston, per the National Weather Service: mostly sunny, with a high of 84°.

If there is no rain and the temperature doesn’t get above 85°…well, I think I’ll take it. I have been worried about a 2pm kickoff in Charleston in mid-September ever since the schedule was released.

Obviously, the gametime is due to the “second homecoming”, and so I completely understand it — but I’ve been to night games in September at Johnson Hagood Stadium where the humidity was oppressive, much less an afternoon kickoff that could be really tough. Perhaps we’re going to get a break with the weather. I hope so.

—

The early lines are out, and The Citadel has opened as a 6½ favorite over Charleston Southern; the over/under is 48½. This is the season opener for the Buccaneers.

Incidentally, for the 2019 matchup, The Citadel was favored by 18½ points; the over/under was 53.

Other lines of interest for this week (as of 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday, September 8):

• Coastal Carolina is a 25½-point favorite over Kansas (Friday night)
• Kent State is a 13½-point favorite over VMI
• Furman is a 10½-point favorite at Tennessee Tech
• Samford is a 7½-point favorite at UT-Martin
• Chattanooga is a 6½-point favorite at North Alabama
• Oklahoma is a 46½-point favorite over Western Carolina
• Alabama is a 53½-point favorite over Mercer
• Clemson is a 45½-point favorite over South Carolina State
• South Carolina is a 1½-point favorite at East Carolina (the line has swung wildly for this matchup)
• Wake Forest is a 43-point favorite over Norfolk State
• Charlotte is an 18½-point favorite over Gardner-Webb
• Miami (FL) is a 9-point favorite over Appalachian State
• North Carolina State is a 2½-point favorite at Mississippi State
• Georgia Tech is a 17½-point favorite over Kennesaw State
• Florida Atlantic is a 7-point favorite over Georgia Southern
• Georgia is a 24½-point favorite over UAB
• Kentucky is a 5-point favorite over Missouri
• Florida State is a 22½-point favorite over Jacksonville State
• Notre Dame is a 17-point favorite over Toledo
• Iowa State is a 4½-point favorite over Iowa
• Utah is a 7-point favorite at BYU
• Army is a 6½-point favorite over Western Kentucky
• Air Force is a 5½-point favorite at Navy

There is no available line for ETSU’s game against UVA-Wise (presumably because UVA-Wise is a D2 school). Wofford is off this week.

—

Per Bill Connelly’s SP+ system, which now include ratings for all D-1 programs, The Citadel is ranked 76th in FCS (dropping two spots from last week). Charleston Southern is 81st.

Other SoCon teams: East Tennessee State (12th), Samford (19th), VMI (26th), Furman (32nd), Chattanooga (51st), Wofford (55th), Mercer (82nd), Western Carolina (95th).

South Carolina State is 58th, while Presbyterian is 108th. The Blue Hose will have to impress against D-1 competition before moving up in most ratings systems, no matter how many points Presbyterian scores versus NAIA teams.

Connelly’s game projections for SoCon teams this week (rounded to the nearest integer):

• Furman 34, Tennessee Tech 13
• Chattanooga 30, North Alabama 21
• Samford 35, UT-Martin 21
• The Citadel 25, Charleston Southern 22

(There are no projections for FCS teams playing outside the subdivision.)

—

A couple of items related to the game on Saturday, via Twitter:

—

I’ll have a few things to add Thursday and/or Friday…

Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: Charleston Southern, SoCon, The Citadel |