Richmond and NCST Previews
Posted by TTHS on November 15th, 2007
Cramming this into one, but will do full ones for basketball when football season ends.
Richmond is 8-2 and needs a win to guarantee a playoff spot, even though it is likely anyway. The Tribe will be in an uphill battle, as the Spider’s top player is running back Tim Hightower. Hightower is a Payton award candidate with 17 touchdowns, the same amount as all the Tribe running backs combined. He is averaging 5 yards per carry and 150 yards per game. The UR run defense is solid, but they can be beaten through the air.
Honestly, I don’t think the Tribe has a shot here. Can’t stop the run, and UR has the motivation factor.
UR-38
W&M-21
The Tribe faces their second top 25 opponent of the year tomorrow, heading to Raleigh, NC for North Carolina State. Sophomore 6-9 foward Brandon Costner will be the man to stop, as he can play inside and outside. He led the team last year with almost 17 points per game, and has scored 10 and 22 points in the 2 exhibition games this year. Another strong player is junior Courtney Fells, a guard from Mississippi. He has combined for 24 points in his first 2 games in limited time. Gavin Grant is the only other player to be in double figures in both games, with 10 and 14. He averaged 14.7 points per game last year and was on the ACC All-Tournament team.
I think this NCST team is very vulnerable. The Tribe has played up against tough competition, while NC State has not. The Tribe will be prepared for the tough environment, while State will be working out the kinks. I am going to go out on a limb and predict the upset.
NCST-67
W&M-69
GOOOOOOO TRIBE!