Preview Week 5: North Greenville
North Greenville University, GSC (D2)
Broadcast: 09/30 FloSports 6 PM CST/7 PM EST
When We Last Saw North Greenville
2023 Record: 2-2 (1-1 GSC)
North Greenville is coming off of their first D2 loss of the season last week, where they fell 28-3 on the road at Valdosta State. Previous to that the Crusaders were 2-1, with wins against Newberry and West Alabama, their only loss being a wild one score game to open the season against FCS Citadel (13-10). On offense this team is lead by second year starting QB Dylan Ramirez, Senior RB Corey Watkins, and when available dynamic offensive playmaker Dre’ Williams. NGU wants to spread it out and throw the ball, they’re near the bottom of the league in rushing (96.5 ypg) and have yet to score a TD on the ground this season, this is despite Watkins being one of the better backs to return in conference from 2022. They are averaging the 2nd most passing attempts per game (32) and a solid 8.0 yards per attempt, though Ramirez has been sacked 10 times and thrown 6 TD to 5 INT. Four pass catchers (Williams, Watkins, Cameron Walker, and Cole Richardson) all have at least 100 yards receiving, and Williams leads the GSC in receiving yards per game with 100. They’re looking to spread teams out and just distribute to their playmakers, and they have a few that can take it to the house every time they touch the ball. Defensively, this is a pretty strong team, they’ve only allowed 20+ points once this season, they’re allowing just 308 yards per game (3rd in GSC), and are both pretty good against the pass (192 yards per game) and the run (116 yards per game). On defense they’re lead by former Argonaut Safety Fred Billy (22 tackle 1 INT 2 PBU) and a very good LB De’levion Donald (21 tackles 3.5 TFL 1.5 sack). They also feature a couple of good pass rushers up front, DE Curtis Ryans (1.5 sacks 2 hurries) and OLB Termaine Epps (1 sack 2 hurries 1 PBU). This is an experienced defense on all three levels, but they struggled last week against the only really good offense that they have played.
Three Players to Know
Senior Corey Watkins, RB 5’8” 178
Stats: 53 carries 218 yards (4.1 per carry) 7 receptions 122 yards (17.4 per reception) 1 TD
Last year Watkins was one of the best RBs in the league, eclipsing the 1000 yard mark rushing in just 10 games. This earned him 2nd Team All-GSC honors for 2022 and a preseason 1st Team nod. He hasn’t had a great start running the ball this season, averaging just 54.5 yards per game, but he has had 90 all purpose yards in 3/4 games this season.
UWF hasn’t played against a real two-phase threat at RB yet this season, and NGU will certainly be looking to take advantage of any mismatches they can find with Watkins. The Argos are still dealing with some personnel missing at LB as well, so this could be a spot where the Crusaders think they have an edge.
Grad Fred Billy, Safety 5’10” 190
Stats: 22 tackles (12 solo) 0.5 TFL 1 INT 2 PBU
Billy, a former Argonaut, played in 3 games for UWF back in 2021 before transferring to NGU. He immediately established himself as a quality GSC safety in 2022 with 55 tackles 1 INT 2 FF and a team high 6 PBU. This year he leads the Crusaders in tackles and has one of their two INT, and is tied for 2nd on the team with 2 PBU.
UWF opened up the downfield passing game last weekend, and the returns were great. They’re going to want to keep working those shots this weekend, and Billy is the kind of Safety that can make that difficult. It’ll be interesting to see if they try to get him working on a TE to open up Jiles, Leggett, and Company.
RS Senior Curtis Ryans, Defensive End 6’6” 250
Stats: 20 tackles (9 solo) 4.5 TFL 1.5 sacks 2 hurries
This is one of the first of the real physical freak DL that UWF is going to play in the GSC this year. Ryans, a former Georgia Tech DL, was really scratching the surface last year with 2.5 sacks and 7.5 TFL, and appears to be stepping up this year. #1 on the defense is probably the most noticeable player in their front 7 on tape through the first 4 weeks of the season. Even when he doesn’t make a play, he is consistently applying pressure and is a solid run defender as well.
He isn’t the fastest off the line, but he is a physical pass rusher and plays with good motor. UWF’s starting tackles have been pretty good in pass pro this year, but did struggle with a similar type of pass rusher, FAMU’s Anthony Dunn Jr. It’ll be a good battle to watch, and another measuring stick before the Argos get into the meat of the GSC schedule.
Matchup of the Week
UWF Run Game vs NGU Front 7
The Argonauts’ have not leaned on their run game this season, and despite that they’ve had pretty good returns from the group (145 yards per game 4.6 yards per carry 8 TD). The Crusaders have held 2/4 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing so far this season, including just 44 yards on 27 attempts last weekend vs Valdosta State. The front seven on defense is where NGU has the most talent on their team, Donald, Ryans, and Epps, lead the way, but of the top 15 tacklers for the Crusdaers, 12 of them play in the front. On the other side of the ball, UWF has three RBs with at least 100 yards and all three have found the end zone, on top of that we all know Peewee is a very capable runner, and also has 111 yards and 2 TD on the ground. I think the Argos try to flex their muscle in this one a bit, and work that run game. If they can establish a rhythm on the ground, it will soften up the backend of that defense and allow for more deep shots.
Prediction
The Argos are outscoring teams 80-16 in the 1st half this season and haven’t gone into the break losing in any of their four contests. If they can maintain that level of 1st half success, I think that they’re going to put another solid notch in the win column. North Greenville is a pretty good offensive team in terms of yards gained but they’re only averaging 15.0 points per game, 2nd worst in the GSC, and haven’t scored more than 24 points this season. That doesn’t bode well going against a team that’s currently the top defense in the conference and just scored 6 offensive TDs last weekend. UWF will need to contain Corey Watkins, Dre’ Williams, who’s status is uncertain after missing last weekend’s contest against Valdosta, and Cameron Walker. All three of those guys are home run hitters, and big plays are North Greenville’s best chance to hang with a methodical UWF offense and suffocating defense. It is also a road conference game, which is always a tall task, so they’re going to have to bring it or NGU might make this one more interesting that it should be. Final score prediction UWF 42 NGU 12, running game shows up and takes some of the pressure off of Peewee and the defense is able to get to Ramirez early, forcing mistakes that the Crusaders cant punch their way back from.
