re: Acadiana at STM...

I heard they're bringing in extra bleachers and shite and I do have to go to the STM area tomorrow so I may see if they have tickets. They probably won't be open around 5 though.

yeah

you related to all the other salooms?

yeah the saloom clan is quite large

good stock

i am good friends with members of both families

Cool, you also know the Picciones? One of them opened that new electronic gaming place. Not relatives but i know they went to STM too.

You a senior? Idk many people that young, but i think the dude who's mom owns Mel's diner is class of 10 i've met him a couple of times.

(no message)

This game is obviously an outdoor venue so there is no such thing as a "sell out." I am not aware of any cap on ticket sales. They will just let people in until the crowd at the gate to enter is gone. It just depends on how far back you want to stand on the track.

They will be opening a second gate on the visitor's side to allow people to come in through two gates instead of one. Which will help manage the crowd entering the stadium a lot better than in years past.

The biggest problem fans will face is the parking situation. There is no shortage of empty fields to park in, but the later someone gets there the farther they will have to walk.

To the guy that said Ted Davidson is the best offenseive coach in the state, I have to ask which Ted Davidson are you talking about? Ted Davidson, the Acadiana HC has a very basic play book, he will add a few wrinkles for a specific game but for the most part they will run their base offense until they fall behind. If they get the lead, they will grind and grind and grind on you until you give up a big play.

The two kids that worry me most of all are the Acadiana QB and Bakari Hollier, their scat back/WR. In the first meeting Micah Eugene had 225 yards and two TDs, but by and large they werent able to capitalize on his success because they fell behind. Acadiana's QB has hurt STM in the past with the fake dive, QB keeper over the tackle and Hollier is a speed guy that was a complete non-factor in Week 5. I expect that to change this week.

Acadiana is turnover prone. They had a crucial fumble, a INT and a blocked kick in the week 5 loss that took them completely out of their game. Last week against St Paul's they put the ball on the ground 9 times and lost 6 of them. However St Paul's didnt have the offense to capitalize on the AHS turnovers.

Acadiana's defense is much better with Eugene playing safety. He is a ball hawk and he can run anyone down from behind. He can get tired out going both ways however and that effects his offensive production. The problem they face is they don't have a passing offense to speak of and so it is very difficult to mirror what STM does on offense in practice. STM killed Acadiana with the passing game last time. This opened up the running lanes for STM QB Flores and RB Laprairie.

STM has a 6'6 TE and a 6'3 TE that both catch the ball very well. They also have a nice possesion receiver combo in Monrose and Stevenson. They do not have a lot of speed at WR unless they line up Flores in the slot which they do quite often. If you play man coverage and blitz them, they will keep two TEs in max protect and hurt you with come back routes and slants from the WRs. If you play zone (which Acadiana traditionally does) they will release the TEs and hurt you with seam routes and out routes.

STM's bread and butter all year has been the wildcat with Flores at QB and Laprairie but they have a QB (soph Brandon Bergeron) that can throw it very well which they have not had recently.

Acadiana's offense versus STM's defense is also a tough matchup for the Rams. STM plays a lot of DL and they are all very good at reading the Rams OL keys. STM plays a 4-2-5 with a lot of speed and flow to the football and they will sell out to stop Eugene on the dive. STM had a lot of success thwarting Eugene, despite his 225 yards, because Eugene had about 150 of it on two long runs. The rest of it was Eugene slamming into the STM front for 2 or 3 yards. Acadiana gets in 3rd and long and had an ineffective passing game. So Acadiana punted a lot more than they are accustomed to. it was a bad snap and a blocked punt that STM converted to a TD that broke the game open the first time they played.

Special teams are an STM strength. They have a D-1 caliber kicker in Jr PK Don Oliver, they love to block kicks and they have a history of breaking long returns against poor punt coverage teams. Oliver routinely kicks it into the endzone so STM hasnt had to cover many kickoffs this season.

I expect Acadiana to try to get TE Stryker Trahan involved in the pasing game early to soften STM up. I also expect them to try to go over the top to Eugene or Hollier to stretch STM out vertically. If they find success throwing the ball, then Eugen will have a big night and Acadiana will win.

If STM hurts Acadiana with the zone read, or if Bergeron has success throwing the football then i expect STM to win. The dirty little secret of STM's success this year is they are behind in the turnover margin for the year, so that could hurt them Friday night.

I say STM 24 Acadiana 21. Whichever team loses the turnover battle loses the game. Even though STM is the 2 seed and Acadiana is the 27 seed, I feel like the pressure is really on Acadiana. They have a ton of expectations, they are sky high emotionally and they have the most to lose by getting beat by STM because most people think Acadiana is unbeatable right now. Throw a pick, lose a fumble and those sky high emotions come come crashing down with the quickness, which is what happened in Week 5.

STM on the other hand just shows up, clocks in and goes to work. They don't get too high, they don't get too low and they don't get rattled easily. marching down the field under two minutes down 27-24 at St Aug and getting the winning TD with 35 seconds left told me a lot about this STM team. They may lose on Friday but I don't expect them to "choke."

Good luck to both teams and may the best man win.

Acadiana -34
STM-21

Book that shite