Playoff Preview Round 1: Newberry College
2021 Season Overview
Record/Conference Finish/AFCA Rank: 9-2 (7-1) / 2021 SAC Champions / Receiving Votes
Wins: Barton (31-7), Lenoir-Rhyne (28-21), Tusculum (24-19), UVA Wise (37-14), Catawba (14-7), Carson-Newman (34-3), Erskine (48-10), Wingate (41-35 2 OT), Limestone (42-7)
Losses: North Greenville (14-24), Mars Hill (22-28 2 OT)
Newberry had a bit of a breakout season in 2021, finishing with 9 wins and only losing once in SAC play, a double OT nail biter against Mars Hill. The Wolves came into the season riding three straight 5-6 seasons, sandwiched by playoff appearances in 2016 (10-2, 1st round loss to Tuskegee) and now 2021. The Wolves are lead by long time Head Coach Todd Knight, the winningest coach in Newberry program history (77-59) and top 10 all time in wins in SAC history. This year marks his second SAC championship in his 13 years with the program, and the fourth appearance in the playoffs (2013, 2015, 2016, 2021).
This season the SAC had four 8+ win teams, Newberry, Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill, and Wingate, and Newberry went 2-1 in those games, though all three were tight contests with two ending up in double overtime. The Wolves had three out of conference games, although two came against teams that are in the process of joining the SAC, Barton and Erskine, and hosted their only true non-conference game against a familiar foe, North Greenville. Their win in week 3 against Lenoir-Rhyne ended up having huge playoff implications, since LR went on to win their last six games of the season and snuck in the final SR2 rankings. The 28-21 victory for the Wolves probably marked the difference between them making the playoffs and not, as Mars Hill or Savannah State were also right in the mix for SR2. Their lone conference loss came to that same Mars Hill team in a game where Newberry was held to just 7 points in the first 58 minutes of the game, but the Wolves scored with 1:42 left in the game, went for 2 and converted, attempted an onside kick and failed, then forced a fumble and recovered with less than a minute left in the game. NC would go on to score three plays later, tying the game 22-22 with 9 seconds left. After no scores in the first OT, Mars Hill was able to turnover Wolves QB Dre Harris and scored on their second OT possession.
Newberry went on to play their best football after that loss, reeling off six straight, averaging a 23 point margin of victory, and only played two more close games (Catawba and Wingate). Part of this run had to do with scheduling, the Wolves played two one-win teams in Limestone and Carson-Newman, and only played one team over 0.500 (Wingate) in their final six contests. Part of it was excellent play by the Wolves, who averaged 463 yards per game in the stretch and allowed only 13 points per game, with just one team scoring more than 14 points. The Wolves were particularly good against the pass in the final stretch of the season, giving up a high of 198 and holding three teams below 100 yards passing.
The only common opponent between UWF and NC was North Greenville, who beat the Wolves 24-14 way back in week 2. NGU QB Kaelen Riley had his best game of the season, finishing 26-38 295 yards 3 TD 1 INT and adding 46 yards rushing, with his primary target being RB Dre’ Williams who had over 150 yards receiving out of the backfield. The Crusaders outgained the Wolves 415-312 and held Newberry to 4 of 15 on 3rd down. Four weeks later the Argonauts, in one of their most lopsided wins of the season, traveled to Tigerville and dismantled NGU 52-10. Austin Reed threw 4 TD against 0 INT and Shomari Mason had his first of three 100 yard rushing games this season. The Argos picked off Riley twice and sacked him three times, and didn’t allow a score after 5:05 left in the 1st quarter.
Offensive Leaders, Notes, and Observations
Passing: Dre Harris 140-219 (63.9%) 2090 yards (9.5 YPA, 190 YPG) 17 TD 7 INT (2.4:1)
Rushing: Mario Anderson 195 carries 1110 yards (5.7 YPC, 100.9 YPG) 9 TD
Receiving: 53 catches 762 yards (14.4 YPC, 69.3 YPG) 8 TD
The Wolves bring a really balanced offensive attack to the table, averaging over 200 yards per game both through the air (204.9 YPG) and on the ground (214.4 YPG). Dre Harris is the offensive engine of this team, averaging a combined 221 yards of offense (190 passing 31 rushing), and facilitating a kind of quirky offense that relies a lot on pre-snap motion and misdirection. They aren’t going to line up and try to run power down your throat, instead the offense gives you a lot to look at and then exploits the gaps. A majority of offensive plays against Wingate involved pre-snap motion from a WR or a TE. Some of that served as misdirection, making the defense key a potential jet sweep or some other kind of WR run, while Harris or Anderson ended up running the ball. However, the Wolves also have 4 WR who have a rushing TD this season and two WR who have over 100 yards rushing on the year (Kitchings and Irby). Against Wingate, their first scored was a end around for Kitchings, that he took 31 yards for a TD. WRs would score on two more runs in that contest, a 28 yard run from McCurry as the holder on a fake PAT just before halftime and a 10 yard run from Irby in the middle of the third quarter. You’d call them gimmicky, but it is all built into their normal offense it is just a creative way to use as much of the field as possible. The wolves are not afraid of calling reverses. double passes, and all manner of misdirection on any down.
The Wolves passing game is highly efficient, and mostly involves the connection between QB Harris and WRs Bryson Woodruff and Bobby Irby. Woodruff was a 1st Team All-SAC selection, finishing the season with a team high 53 receptions for 762 yards and 8 TD, his partner Irby was second with 39 receptions 672 yards and 7 TD plus another 102 yards and 1 TD on the ground. The workhorse of this team, and the focal point of the offense is Mario Anderson. At 5-8 203 he is a powerful back and they use him a ton, he accounts for 206 touches out of 705 total offensive snaps this year (29%) and 26% of their total yards (1192/4612). A lot of that window dressing the Wolves will employ is to open up lanes for Anderson and Harris to pick up reliable yards. When they throw it is mostly play action/RPO and Harris will scramble and buy time with his legs. He is an accurate passer (63.9%), he throws pretty well on the move and can also take off if there is space to run. I don’t think he has the same zip on the ball as some of the QBs the Argos have faced this year, but they keep his throw count low and manageable and put him in positions to be successful rather than forcing him to stand in the pocket. I don’t think he is as elusive as Ivory Durham, but again he is effective and will make you pay if you don’t account for him.
The Wolves placed five offensive starters on the All-SAC team this year. RB Mario Anderson, WR Bryson Woodruff, and C Alec Blackmon all made the first team, while QB Dre Harris and LT Cam Williams made the second team.
Defensive Leaders, Notes, and Observations
Tackles: Tyran Dixon 51 tackles (17 solo) and AJ Valentine 51 tackles (29 solo)
TFL: Tyran Dixon 10.0 TFL
Sacks: Tyran Dixon, AJ Valentine, and Josh Edwards 2.0 sacks
INT: Anthony Blue 4 INT 12 PBU
The strength of this Newberry team is on the defensive side of the ball. The Wolves’ defense allowed just 15.9 ppg this season, and held 7 of 11 opponents under 20 points. On that side of the ball the secondary has a few big time playmakers, that have been among the better Defensive Backs in the SAC. Four of the Wolves’ nine INT have come from arguably the best player on the team, Anthony Blue. He is tied for the lead in PBU (12) in addition to his 4 INT, which is tied for 3rd in the conference. A true cover corner who is willing to lay out to disrupt passing lanes. He is partnered with another very disruptive Corner in David Vereen, who is tied for 2nd in the conference with 10 PBU. They pretty much let their Corners man up the outside WRs, but will roll them back into the deep secondary sometimes as well.
Against Wingate they played mostly a four man front with two stacked linebackers and a Rover/Outside Linebacker, the Corners #7 Vereen and 8 Blue, are both athletic and disruptive with their hands. Dixon is the rock in the middle and with Ty Kelly and Devante Gambrell make up a solid threesome of Linemen, totaling 19.5 TFL as a group, 15 hurries, and 2.5 sacks. The Wolves didn’t really get sacks on the passer much in 2021 (14.5), despite their low numbers on pass defense (163.9 yards per game allowed, 6.01 yards per attempt allowed), but got a ton of pressure averaging a QB hurry about one out of every 10 drop backs defended. This isn’t an exotic or complicated defense, they mostly man you up and bring 4 and 5 man pressures up front. There isn’t a ton of pre-snap movement, not a lot of defensive line movement, you’re not seeing 7 man pass rushes or bringing pressure from the secondary. I imagine there will be more of that against UWF, since everyone tends to dig deep into the bag against the defending Champs, but their base is somewhere between a 4-3 and a 4-2-5 and they’ll use the OLB to cover the slot or the flats, along with some pass rush and bringing him in stacked like a traditional SAM if the look indicates it.
The Wolves placed seven defensive starters on the All-SAC team this year. DL Tyran Dixon, LB Nick Yearwood, and CB Anthony Blue all made the first team, while DL Ty Kelly, LB AJ Valentine, CB David Vereen, and S Marcus Morgan made the second team.
Three Players to Watch
Grad Tyran Dixon, Defensive Tackle 6-3 310
2021 Stats: 51 tackles (17 solo) 10.0 TFL 2.0 sacks 4 hurries 1 PBU
A 1st Team All-SAC Defensive Lineman, Dixon lead the team and he was tied for 10th in the SAC in TFL. He also was tied for the team lead in sacks with 2.0. Dixon is the guy the Argos are going to have to ID in the run game, but he can really pressure the QB from the interior as well. They don’t do a lot of funky stuff up front to try and win, they tend to just line up and play straight forward man-beat-man football, which means for the Argos to expect a lot of stunts and twists and exotic blitzes, as every team seems to dig deep into their bags to try and throw off this team.
The Argos not only have one of the best Offensive Lines in the GSC, but in the nation. The interior is really a strength with Dilla and Simpler (1st Team All-GSC) and Juac Angoi playing pretty solid ball this season. This will be another test, but Dixon shouldn’t intimidate this Line after the gauntlet of good Defensive Linemen they’ve faced this season.
Grad Anthony Blue, Cornerback 5-11 175
2021 Stats: 43 tackles (34 solo) 1.5 TFL 4 INT 12 PBU
This might be the best player on the team for the Wolves. Blue is a lockdown Corner who does an excellent job of disrupting passing lanes and jumping routes. His 4 INT leads the team and is tied for 3rd in the SAC, and the 12 PBU is best in conference. At 5-11 he has the length to challenge taller WRs, and is a big part of the reason that Newberry has only allowed 7 TD catches to WRs (8 of 15 TDs have come against TEs and RBs).
I’ll get into this more in the Matchup of the Week, but since Blue mostly lines up outside this is going to be a task to overcome for Austin Reed and the combo of Ka’Ron Ashley and Rod Coates. I think stretching the field against the Wolves, a strength of this offense already, is going to be key in beating Blue because the threat of deep balls is going to make him hesitant to jump on short and intermediate routes.
RS Senior Dre Harris, QB 6-1 180
2021 Stats: 140-219 (63.9%) 2090 yards (9.5 YPA, 190 YPG) 17 TD 7 INT (2.4:1) 83 carries 406 yards (4.9 YPC) 6 TD
A similar style of QB two weeks in a row. Harris is less of a natural runner than Durham but they’re both on the shorter side with less natural deliveries, both guys who operate most comfortably on the run with space to operate. What Harris hasn’t been asked to do a lot is to do a lot. He only has five games this season with more than 20 pass attempts, and the one game where he was really required to carry a big load was against Mars Hill which they lost. He had a productive night 28 of 45 350 yards 3 TD, but he also threw 3 INT and was sacked twice.
UWF’s best defense against Harris may be to force him to beat them. Those 5 games with 20 pass attempts or more accounted for six of his seven INTs this year and he has thrown an INT in each one except vs UVA Wise. If Austin Reed and Shomari Mason get cooking, and Harris has to throw the ball a ton, he is bound to make some mistakes for the defense to capitalize on.
Matchup of the Week
WRs Ka’Ron Ashley and Rodney Coates vs Corners Anthony Blue and David Vereen
UWF wants to Air it out and that is Newberry’s best defensive attribute. Newberry finished 1st in the SAC in passing yards allowed and pulled in nine interceptions, lead by Blue’s 4. Age is an interesting story line in this matchup. All four of these players are extremely experienced, Coates and Ashley have famously been with the team since the 2016 inaugural season, while Blue and Vereen are both listed as Grad students. Vereen played in 19 games in 2017 and 2018 before missing 2019 to injury, garnering 2nd Team All-SAC in 2018. Anthony Blue had 20 appearances between 2018 and 2019. There won’t be any tricks or surprises that any of these players haven’t seen before.
The Wolves are only allowing 6.0 yards per attempt throwing the ball and just over 10 per completion, compare that to what Austin Reed has been doing (9.5 yards per attempt, 16.8 yards per completion) and you’ll better see why this matchup is so critical. This is a pass defense that just isn’t giving up yards, especially big plays, allowing just 19 passes of 15 yards or more in the last 6 games (153 attempts). As mentioned above, they’ve been particularly good at shutting down opposing Wide Receivers, less than half of their 15 passing TDs (7) have come from players listed at WR. The only player to surpass 100 yard receiving against the Wolves this year was Dre Williams, the Running Back from NGU, who had 155 yards.
Can these corners, who haven’t allowed 100 yard to a WR this season, stop these two dominant outside WRs, who have combined for 1306 yards and 16 TDs this season along with four 100 yard receiving games? They have given up just 15 passing TDs this season as a defense and these two are a big part of the reason why, but Ashley and Coates have been dicing up GSC DBs for four years now and I think they’re going to get the better of these exchanges as the game wears on. UWF could be particularly successful implementing some double moves, with as aggressive as these guys can be trying to jump routes.
Prediction
Newberry had a great season and they played well through their conference schedule, but the SAC has a lot of chaff at the bottom and those were the only teams that the Wolves really dominated. They played one score games against each of the other three winning teams in the league, and lost at home to a team that UWF picked apart on the road. I think this one will be well fought for a quarter and a half but when the bag is empty and NC has to line up and play football the Argos firepower is going to allow them to pull away. West Florida is just going to be a completely different beast than they have played all season on offense with their size and speed across the b0ard, plus the incredible pace that Reed and Mason have been playing at lately. I’ll take the Argos 42-14, Reed has a big day and gets some rest in the second half. Size is going to make a huge difference in this game on the lines, Tyran Dixon is the only Wolves defender listed over 300 pounds at 310, while the starting interior OL for the Argonauts go 335-310-310. Meanwhile UWF has a myriad of 300 pound defenders, nine in total, and none of NC’s starting Offensive Linemen are listed at more than 290. The winner this week will take on the winner of the Bowie State vs Lenoir-Rhyne game next Saturday.
