Vargas was a Nevada commit, who de-committed there in December after Nevada made a coaching change. So Vargas was a legitimate FBS prospect. I’m not concerned about Fishers size, he’s 180 lb now. He shown he can run inside. He is only one inch shorter and five pounds lighter than Gilliam was as a sophomore.

The Bluebloods podcast made some interesting points. Mercer played more man coverage in the second half, which disrupts the timing on plays and Davis receivers were having a hard time getting separation and also that Davis scripts out their plays and practices those plays, when they get later in the game they need to make adjustments and run plays they haven’t practiced as much.

Mercer coach felt they got a hand on the missed field goal in addition to the block.
Davis has new special team coordinator this year. On the plus side they blocked a punt.

I like them too.

Mercer press conference,
Mercer defensive lineman Swain
“Pinnick is a great player”… “ I was talking with my Pops the other day and we were raving about him”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Rb55k2r74

With all the talk of five O line starters back, the right side of the line was affected by Main still not back from surgery, although he apparently practices. They moved Nava to guard, and Porotasano at tackle. Porotasano had only played in a few games as a redshirt last year. Point being that we didn’t have the all veteran experienced unit advertised. Played a lot of two tight ends, and tried to play power football with mixed results. There were more than a few tackles for losses on running plays, but often with our 205 lb back.

Re They have apparently removed the game from ESPN. The game is still viewable, it just didn’t show the game when I selected resume, but works on restart.

This was the last year of year for FCS “week 0” games, from now on everyone starts the same week.

Starters memorialized.
After all the commentary about five returning OL starters, the right side of the line had a redshirt freshman playing tackle and the returning starter at tackle moving to guard. Played a lot of two tight end. The run blocking was not consistent.

On defense started a true freshman, the transfer from D3 Tufts, a redshirt freshman DT.. The defense was great except the big plays which was probably expected as it had so many new players and players in new roles.
The transfer from Dartmouth didn’t start but played quite a bit.

TE 0 SIMPSON,I
WR 7 DOBBINS,S
WR 8 GBATU, JR.,S
QB 12 PINNICK,C
RB 20 FISHER,J
TE 23 WILLIAMS,W
OL 52 COLLIER,Z
OL 64 RODRIGUEZ,J
OL 65 POROTESANO,D
OL 70 SIMONSON,E
OL 79 NAVA,E

DB 1 RIDDICK,K
DB 3 RICHARDSON,T
DB 4 CONNORS,R
LB 8 RUTCHENA,N
DB 10 STANLEY,J
DB 11 COFIELD,D
LB 31 GOLIGOSKI,S
LB 39 CONNORS,P
DL 90 CARRADE,T
DL 92 MAYO JR.,R
DL 94 PSYK,J

I think the last FCS kickoff that Mercer was in had a lightning delay
Rainy conditions forecast until 1AM local time Moderate intensity

The delay is fortuitous for Davis as they were getting whipped. Offense has no plays that they can rely on.
Defense was also either gassed or making mistakes. So a time out is a good thing.

Anyone find game notes or depth chart for Mercer?

Now guess whether he starts tomorrow’s game,

A current Aggie was the leading tackler for his team in last year’s FCS kickoff in the Cramton Bowl. Guess who.

I understand the point.

As a streaming only customer, upgrading was easy. I had disney+ hulu, and I just changed my subscription to a new bundle of ESPN unlimited in the Disney+ app. Cost me 35.99 a month, they prorated the service until my billing date. The ESPN app looks different after upgrade. I had to watch a little Montana women’s soccer to be sure I hadn’t lost ESPN+.

The author loves Ty Richardson, mentions him every time he talks about Davis.
Davis had lots of guys on defense that are interesting, but only Richardson and Connors made his list.
Rutchena, Psyk, and Porter Connors honorable mention.

I’m sure you are right but the defense has 3 lineman, 3 linebackers and 5 defensive backs.
I take your word for that not being a 3-3-5.

The depth chart is laid out for 3-3-5, their base defense.

Regarding “It is a little odd that Psyk isn't on top”
I belatedly figured out how the depth chart order works.
When they say OR, they list the players they are ORing alphabetically.
So the positions like defensive tackle and end everyone is tied for first, but listed alphabetically.
When players are not separated by an OR the order means ranking. This may seem obvious but i didn’t parse it.