We need to come out playing strong and not allow them to build momentum. Wagner is a team that plays hard, and we do not want to give them any momentum or we will be in a dogfight. We need to control the game early and not let up.
A couple of observations of Wagner from the Wagner/Colgate game. Although, it was kind of hard to evaluate Wagner because Colgate was pretty weak.
Wagner’s offense is the zone-read option from shotgun. I don’t recall seeing the quarterback under center once. The quarterback ran 18 times for 91 yards. He is a tough dude but Colgate did not hit him hard once. Our linebackers will punish him. Their primary running back is good, has moves and is big enough to create problems. Their O Line seemed average. Big fullback that blocks well, blew out the defensive ends often. They have some size (not sure about speed) at WR. They did not need to throw to beat Colgate (only 95 yards passing) so it’s hard to evaluate the receivers or how well their QB throws. I remember the commentators saying he did not have an interception in 210 attempts so he probably makes good decisions. We need to punish the quarterback when he runs, stop the run and force him to throw the ball.
On defense their inside and outside LBs are athletic and are the strength of their D. They were in a 3-4 most of the time, but snuck the outside LB up on the line many times. They did not seem to have much of a speed rush, even when Colgate was in obvious passing situations. Their Dline seemed average, maybe not as athletic as Big Sky teams. Hard to tell how good the DBs were from a pass defense standpoint. But the corners played soft and were almost always 7 yards deep, with no press coverage. Their defense seems strong but Colgate did not put much pressure on them.
I have a feeling they have not played teams with our team speed or talent at the skill positions. I think if we control them early and keep the intensity high, we will get a win.
