Prediction Time - GT vs Samford

Ok, it's time to put up or shut up. Game 1 of the season. GT / Samford. Div 1-AA. Our official cupcake of the season. What do we have:

Samford: A good quality QB with a bigtime WR. The kid caught 9 passes for 209 yards in week 1. Yes the competition was lower, but he is the real deal. The QB was 21-34 with 5 TD's and 321 yards. However, with a pass-happy offense, their rushing game only averaged less than 3 yards per carry. The defense allowed 182 yards rushing but did shut down the opponent's passing game. I fully expect GT to be able to stuff their offense, pressure the QB and keep their star WR in check.

Key to the game: Time
This is one of those deals where Samford could hang around for awhile while we find ourselves on offense. I expect our D to keep the scoring low. But eventually we will break lose and put the points on the board. I fully expect PJ Daniels to start the year off with a bang with about 140 yards rushing. However, I think Woods and Grant will get carries towards the end of the game. We should rack up over 200 yards rushing. Eventually our size, strength and speed will exert themselves..... Also I expect turnovers to play a role, as we should force at least 2-3 TO's out of them. That should lead to easy points.

Things to watch: the kicking game
It is hard to learn a lot about the caliber of our team against a I-AA opponent. But the kicking game will tell us something. We have a first time place-kicker, punter and field goal kicker. So expect them all them to get a chance to prove themselves in a lower pressure game........ It will be fun to watch the new WR core and see what Calvin Johnson can do, but it will probably not tell us a lot about how he will play against the stronger competition.

Prediction: GT 31, Samford 7.
Samford has not scored on GT in our match-up history (170-0). I think that will come to an end. Maybe a TD or FG, but not much else. GT takes the easy W, celebrates for about 10 minutes and begins preparations for revenge against Clemson.