I feel pretty confident that our offense is going to be so improved as to make the entire team look different.
Therefore, I want to believe we run away (a bit) with this game. A 17 point victory achieved with some points producing, clock eating balanced offense and a largely fresh defense playing on a long field does not seem like too much to ask. 31-13 Cats is the kind of result I (modestly) hope for in this one, though I'd take a 1 point victory. Seriously folks, we are playing this one at home... If we lose to USM, we have a long SEC season ahead of us, I'll say that.
We will learn a lot about our squad in Game One. Of all the scenarios playing in my head, the one thing I keep seeing is Dawson trying to get cute with our secondary, and paying for it with turnovers. IF he is determined to test our secondary, thinking they can strike quickly and demoralize our kids, I am not sure he is working with the sort of QB who can be relied upon to avoid turning the ball over against the length and speed we are now putting on the field in our secondary.
Folks say he wanted to put more air under the ball than Coach Stoops was interested in seeing. If he is given free reign to go that route against us, I think it could get ugly for him quickly, turning into a Debut Party for our secondary.