gtpdd’s Southern Miss Recap

Post Game Reactions

Nathan: This was not a good weekend for Tech sports. With the Hoops loss to LSU the night before, dropping the (albeit meaningless) game to USM just felt like adding injury to more injury.

Evan: Man, I don’t really know how to explain how we lost this game. Our offense looked better than it has in a long while. The defense was stout enough to get the job done. If J’Mar and Toussant connect on one of those long balls; we win. If we get a touchdown in any scenario that we attempted a field goal; we win. If Ferguson doesn’t sorta fling the USM guy out of bounds; we (probably) win. If Hale doesn’t miss that short field goal after Tech methodically moved down the field; we win. They say “what if” is an exercise in futility, so I’ll just lean into futility here. Damn, I hate Southern Miss.

Josh: I’m not even sure what to say, but I’m getting incredibly annoyed that we keep losing to Southern Miss every year. It doesn’t matter if we’re good, it doesn’t matter if we’re bad. We just lose. For the dumbest reasons, too.

Did Tech Die?

Nathan: Yes, and if I wasn’t so sad, I’d make a joke about dying the old fashioned way: by one point.

Evan: 2017 called. It wants its crippling depression back.

Josh: Yes.

Player of the Game

Nathan: J’Mar Smith. He wasn’t perfect, but he played like the QB we were hoping to see this year.

Evan: Tre’Quan Smith. Oh wait, I guess the Saints game yesterday temporarily assuaged my pain. I’ll give Tech player of the game to Willie Baker, who looks really, really good when he sees action. Hopefully that means there won’t be much of a drop off next season after Ferg is a first-round draft pick.

Josh: ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Tech Record Predictor

Contest Recap

This week was Contest #11 and the first ever Contest Playoffs Semifinals. Let’s see how the playoff matches turned out first, shall we?

First up, we had JC vs. Dom Brown, the 1 vs 4 matchup. Each player had to answer five questions. Whoever got closer to being correct scored a point. Let’s see how they did:

• Question 1: What will USM’s Yards Per Play be in the first half?
  • Correct: 4.63
  • JC: 4.3 ✅
  • Dom: 5.2
• Question 2: How many accepted penalties will occur in the game?
  • Correct: 7
  • JC: 12
  • Dom: 11 ✅
• Question 3: How far is the first player to score in the game’s hometown from Hattiesburg?
  • Correct: USM’s Anderson is from Live Oak, FL, 383 miles from Hattiesburg as the crow flies.
  • JC: 580
  • Dom: 300✅
• Question 4: How many incompletions will Tech QBs throw in the game?
  • Correct: 16
  • JC: 1 (he apparently thought the question said “interceptions”. It didn’t.)
  • Dom: 13✅
• Question 5:How many total yards of offense will there be per person in attendance at the game?
  • Correct: 591 yards/19,142 people= .0308 yards per person
  • JC: .027✅
  • Dom: .0231

So there you have it! Dom Brown scores the upset and beats #1 overall seed JC, 3-2. He’ll move on to the Playoff Title game next week against….

Matchup 2: SteveyTI vs. Daniel Adams

• Question 1: What will Tech’s average yards per play be in the second half?
  • Correct: 4.73 yards
  • SteveyTI: 4.9✅
  • Daniel: 5.4
• Question 2: How many tackles will occur in the game?
  • Correct: 126
  • SteveyTI: 97
  • Daniel: 138✅
• Question 3: How far is the last player to score in the game’s hometown from Ruston?
  • Correct: USM kicker Briggs Bourgeois is from St. Amant, LA, 189 miles from Ruston.
  • SteveyTI: 243
  • Daniel: 180✅
• Question 4: Predict the yardage of the first true punt or kick return in the game.
  • Correct: Quez Watkins returned a Tech punt 5 yards.
  • SteveyTI: 22
  • Daniel: 17✅
• Question 5: How many rushing yards will the winning team have?
  • Correct: USM had 54 rushing yards
  • SteveyTI: 143✅
  • Daniel: 148

So Daniel wins Matchup #2, 3-2.

Next week, Daniel and Dom will play head-to-head to determine the Playoff Champion of this year’s (and maybe the only….?) gtpdd Contest playoffs!

Of course, no college football related championship would be worth it’s salt if there wasn’t some controversy. So let’s keep the regular season going and see who we can crown champion of that!

The Week 11 Contest’s winner was Nathan, who scored a season-low 10 points for a winner. This week was very rough. Lots of low scores. The top five remains unchanged at the top of the leaderboard. Here it is:

These five are really in contention for the overall championship. Whoever ends up with the most points after Tech’s bowl game will win a prize so magnificent that I’m not ready to talk about it yet. Stay tuned on that one! Let’s look at the questions:

Questions 1 & 2: Who will win, and by how much?

Answer: USM won by 1, because of course they did. Two players (BOOOO) picked the Buzzards to win: #8 Reece Aultman (BOOOOOO) and #38 Ricky Albritton (BOOOOOOOOOO). Only Ricky guessed a close enough margin to score 1 point.

Question 3: Predict the yardage of the average punt in the game.

Answer: The average punt was 37.8 yards. 21 of 22 players scored at least something here. Only two came within one yard and scored full points: #4 Dom Brown and #12 GeauxDawgsGeaux.

Question 4: How many passing yards will occur in the game?

Answer: There were 469 passing yards between Abraham, J’Mar, and whatever USM’s other QB’s name is–let’s call him “Guy Who Gets Flung Out of Bounds”. Most people way undershot this one. 9 players scored points, with #6 Hayden Hicks getting the closest at 445 yards.

Question 5: Which team will have the longest drive by yardage gained on the drive?

Answer: USM had an 85 yard drive. 8 of 22 players got this right.

Question 6: Which of the following will be true?

• Tech will intercept a pass: FALSE
• The fourteenth play of the game will be a pass: FALSE
• Tech’s top two tacklers will be linebackers: TRUE
• There will be a 50+ yard play: FALSE (USM had a 49 yarder, though)

No one got all of these right, but two players got three: #5 Nathan, and #25 Logan.

Bonus: Which team will have enough offensive yardage to make it to the top of the highest point in Mississippi first? (Woodall Mountain is 806 feet tall)

Answer: Tech reached 269 yards first. 15 of 22 players got this right.

Be sure to check the Standings page to see where you fall! You’ll want to win the overall prize, TRUST ME.