The Bulldog Insiders take a look at how the Bulldogs will line up for the 2021 Fall Season.
Ok. Let's do this...again. The preview for the first fall season of Bulldog football in 71 years.
After the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled the highly anticipated return of football to the Barton College campus since it was known as Atlantic Christian College, a lot of air was let out of the room. I was right there with you Bulldog Nation. Not only was I trying to make sense of the changing world around me, but also feeling bummed about not seeing the team take the field in the fall. Then it was announced that there would be an abbreviated spring season in 2021. The football angels were blessing us...
The 2021 spring season was just enough to light the fire for a lot of folks in the Barton College community, Wilson, and alumni everywhere. Most importantly, our players got to see how the game plans, the workouts & conditioning sessions, film sessions, how everything they have worked on for the previous year to year and a half would come together and play out against another team. If the shortened four game season (one game cancelled by Catawba due to Covid and one counting as a scrimmage) was a preview of what was to come, I think it's safe to say fans were impressed by what they saw. I know for a fact that players themselves were as well.
So now the players have gone through the shortened spring season, directly into a summer of individual, limited organized workouts, and right back into fall camp. They have seen what it will take to get prepared after game action, dealing with injuries, resting their bodies, and so on. But they have also picked up on the cadence of college football.
Head Coach Chip Hester eluded to this in a recent interview with The Bulldog Insiders:
"We've kind of talked about having a sense of urgency, and I think having gone through the five games our guys understand the level of competition that they're playing. I think that might be the most valuable piece of information cause the year before we scrimmaged against each other, but [we] haven't seen what a fourth year senior looks like or a third year junior looks like and the speed of the game. So I think that has probably solidified in their heads how hard they needed to work this summer and that's been valuable to us and we've been able to pick up where we left off. Instead of having to go back and start from a day one install, offensively we put in our whole offense in four days. Now, some of those true freshmen that just came here, their heads are still swimming still a little bit, and that's part of it. But we wanted to see how our guys responded to that and could they handle it and they have. Hopefully that puts us in a better position to build on what we did last year and as a coaching staff, we were able to evaluate what are we good at, what are we not so good at, what do we need to focus on, and just the talent of each of our guys against really good competition. I think hopefully we've grown from it as coaches and as players and I'm excited to see how we respond."
How will the Bulldogs line up when they kick the season off against Newberry? Let's look at the Bulldog Offense. The offense is led by Offensive Coordinator Will Orbin and Quarterbacks and Passing Game Coordinator Matt Goggans.
Quarterbacks: Barton has the luxury of returning two quarterbacks with playing time, even if it was limited in the shortened spring season. Jaquan Lynch comes into the 2021 fall season with a 103.08 QB rating and a 393 yds / 3 TD / 5 INT line. Lynch also added 178 rushing yards on 35 attempts and added TD on the ground as well. Tyler Flippen also registered a few starts and brings a 100.29 QB rating with a 188 yds / 1 TD / 1 INT line. Flippen also added 76 rushing yards on 24 attempts and 1 TD (see the looped video on our homepage). One other notable passer for the Bulldogs was the memorable trick play ran as the first play in over 70 years when WR Kameron Johnson took an end around and tossed a 58 yard strike to Tyler Flippen for a TD. That magic spin of the pigskin puts "J Johnson" with a QB rating of 917.20. That has to be a Jeopardy! question or Sportscenter "Did You Know" tidbit. Time will tell.
Both Lynch and Flippen present problems for opposing defenses. Both can run with confidence and finish runs effectively and hard for even being quarterbacks. Flippen also throws another wrinkle in as he will line up on 4th downs and show that he is going to go for the 1st down when he actually drops the tip down and will punt the ball to an unprepared defense. There will be a time when Flippen is going to do something else with the ball in those situations, but it will be up to opposing teams to be prepared for anything.
Look for Lynch to line up under center to start the season off. He has demonstrated a command of the huddle and has proven he is a leader both on and off the field. Don't be surprised though when Flippen shuffles in from time to time.
Running Backs: This group is led by workhorse Jordan Terrell. Terrell is a strong runner will show one cut and hit the gap. He is agile when needed working to the outside, he can also be a one cut type of back and go north-south running the ball. One big trait is he seems to get stronger as the game progresses. We saw defenders get dejected when the 3rd & 4th quarters come around and Terrell is still running guys over (thoughts and prayers to the few that are in my mind now at Lenoir-Rhyne). Terrell gained 305 yards on 72 attempts while scoring three times. Gage Taylor, Laquan Brown, and few others saw action this past spring as well. Barton adds four true freshman and one transfer to the stable as well.
Wide Receivers / Tight Ends: The wide receivers are the group that I am most excited about on offense (sorry OL, I still love you you big teddy bears). There is obvious talent in the WR room as we saw several spectacular catches this past spring. Four players stand out in Nate Byers (7 rec / 99 yds / 1 TD), Jackson Perrell (4 rec / 176 yds / 1 TD), Kameron Johnson (10 rec / 80 yds), and Anton Popov (6 rec / 61 yds). While the stat lines are not that deep, the overall play of this group was promising. Throw Jacquez Durham and DaVon Adams into the mix and you have a great rotation of talent seeing action. I anticipate Bulldog receivers "Mossing Up" defenders often this fall.
The Tight Ends figured more into the blocking game to open up plays to the outside or to help chip in on sealing the edge of the line from rushers. I'm certain this group will see some passes coming their way this season regardless of the limited action seen this past spring. One name I've heard who has had a solid fall camp is Jack White so I would not be surprised to see him running with the starters. Jawan Riddick and Gyasi Edwards could be the leaders for early action as well.
Offensive Line: Here's every big guy's favorite group and I'm a big guy so get ready. While quarterbacks have to know where all of their skill players are at any given time on a play, wide receivers and running backs have to worry about getting open and timing with the quarterback, the offensive line is the glue that gives everyone time to do their work. They are the metronome of the offense in a way because they work to keep the pocket open, open lanes for backs, etc. The biggest challenge that a young team will face from an offensive line perspective is player size and development. We briefly covered this in our post season wrap up and I believe some things were misunderstood. There were definitely some errors here and there in the spring, but the overall play was strong. There were clear instances where Barton's players were holding their own versus established and seasoned opponents. Coach Will Orbin serves as both the offensive coordinator as well as the offensive line coach. This works out to Barton's favor as he can be a single voice to help explain what pace the OL will need to set in certain formations and such. This is a very basic explanation of OL play but I don't want to get into the weeds but so deep.
For the upcoming 2021 fall season, look for a leaner unit compared to last year. The total average weight for each player in the 2020-2021 group was 301 LBS. The 2021 version is showing a 9 LB reduction for a average player weight of 292 LBS. This is a positive. While you want lineman to have that bulk you also want players to have flexibility. Leaner players show more agility in general and it should show on the field.
Ray Miller, the lone senior from the 2020-2021 academic year, has left a big hole to replace. The Bulldogs still have returning players in Alex Buschow, Gage Redmond, Xavier McCreary, Trent Jones, and brothers Connor and Hunter Sauls. There is also an impressive group of freshmen jumping in the trenches. With the offensive line still young, expect there to be a good amount of shuffling to continue keeping players fresh and to give as many players as many snaps as possible to build up experience.
And now...it's time to take a look at the Bulldog Defense. They are led Defensive Coordinator Treiston Burnette, Defensive Line Coach Eric Morris, and Linebackers Coach Kim Brown.
Defensive Line: The Bulldogs have some muscle up front to work to contain the gaps for opposing offenses. Barton has a good mix of size and agility from both the inside defensive tackles to the defensive ends. Dionte Osbey started the season off with a BANG versus Erskine tallying 10 total tackles, four of those for loss including three (!!!) sacks. He followed up with a sack versus Wingate. Alex Gowda, Brandon Jackson, Noah Johnson, and Tyshek Wilson all figure into the rotation for plug holes and make running impossible for opposing teams. Tim Montague also added a sack in a good outing vs Erskine.
Linebackers: The linebacker corps is led by playmakers Shane Perry and James McIntyre who saw a lot of action in the five games played. Both play sideline to sideline and are quick to come up to the line of scrimmage to assist in containment. I anticipate the same level of effort and play from this squad in 2021.
Defensive Backs: The defensive backs room is one of the strongest on this young Bulldog team. Things start with corner back Mike Webb who led the defense in the spring season with three pass breakups. Jordan White played good coverage in each matchup. Franklin Wheeler added an interception vs Newberry. Webb and Kendarius Jenkins both had interceptions that were returned for touchdowns vs Louisburg although those statistics do not officially count towards the season totals since it was technically a scrimmage. An unexpected contributor was Connor Stanley, a walk-on freshman who made a forced fumble and recovery vs Newberry as well as big "unofficial" plays vs Louisburg. Markell Gibbs and Quayon Gilbert also showed flashes in coverage and attacking the ball. A healthy rotation will keep fresh legs on the field and a "no fly zone" in effect at Truist Stadium.
Special Teams: This group is led by Specialists Coach Charlie Mauzé. This area was up and down for the Bulldogs. While the Barton defensive side of special teams produced a few blocked kicks, the protection for field goal attempts broke down and allowed some blocks. Bear Huggins led the way with one field goal on the season from 32 yards out. Huggins also shared punting duties with Jayden Lewis, Tyquan Patterson, and the before mentioned Tyler Flippen when the offense set up the "pooch kick".
Lewis had a few beautiful punts and led the team with an average of 48.5 yards with a long of 55 yards. Flippen had one blast of 48 yards respectively. Look for continued improvement coming into "season two" for the Bulldogs from all phases of their special teams units.
Overall Thoughts: I'm not going to get into who I think will win and lose each game. I don't believe that is the right thing to do with a young program like Barton's. What I will do is highlight the improvements from game to game and season to season until we have a true program foundation in place. I wholeheartedly believe the right coaching staff is leading the right players and the right college at the right time. While it was technically a scrimmage vs Louisburg, we witnessed a very young team play respectable talent and really flex on them. That experience is going to pay off for the Bulldogs. I'm just glad that I will be here to witness everything I know is coming for this special program. This team WILL win games sooner rather than later.
To our players, coaches, training staff, and support staff...let's commit to making our 2021 fall season be a display of what makes us all Barton Bold. Your dedication and hard work is going to be on full display for everyone to witness. I know it will make us all very proud.
To Bulldog Nation...let's commit to supporting our players and coaches. Let's not only support the team at games but also in the community with promotion of our program and the college itself. Let's give back to the college and the Bulldog Club if you can. We are going the be the wind in the sails of not only our football program but also the rest of our Athletics Department. It's time to step up and make special things happen.
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