The Other Side of the Wall 2022 Kickoff
It’s finally Game Week! The football season starts THIS SATURDAY in Oxford, and that means we need to start learning about the teams ahead of us!
Here’s the football schedule again if you need it:
This year we’ve come up with an incredibly scientific questionnaire that will help us understand our opponents better than stats or figures will provide. Today we’ll run Troy through the gauntlet, and explain the reasoning for the questions.
Describe {team} like you would a dog that’s up for adoption.
This question is meant to reflect qualities each side of the ball has. For example, aggressive and protective are adjectives that translate clearly.
In Troy’s case it would be “super protective, incredibly loyal. Previous owner didn’t know how to treat him well.”
What movie title best describes the {team} expectations coming into this season?
This should be self-explanatory. Could be positive (The Terminator) or negative (End of Watch). Troy’s is “A New Hope.
Which Hogwarts house is {team’s coach} in?
For those of you scoffing, this is a solid personality descriptor. Gryffindors are old-school football coaches (Sumrall, Blakeney), Ravenclaws are students of the game (Brown, Saban), Hufflepuffs are headstrong leaders (Swinney, Lindsey), and Slytherins are shrewd (Leach, Gundy).
What are three names on defense Troy fans should pay attention to.
Now to actual analysis. I only chose defense because you’ll hear offensive names all day long, and it should give us a good idea of how Troy’s offense stacks up.
Troy’s first two are obvious, Carlton Martial and Javon Solomon. The third could either be Will Choloh, Richard Jibunor, or Dell Pettus. A lot of places to go.
When {team} snaps the ball, what is most likely to happen?
This tackles several questions at once: what is their offensive scheme? Who are their playmakers? How can we expect Troy to react?
In Troy’s case the answer is “Most of the time, Watson snaps the ball and hands it to one of four backs. If it’s a long-distance situation, he may pass it.”
If we wake up and the underdog wins, what happened the day before?
This tells us what Troy has to do to win the game. I chose “underdog” rather than Troy because Troy may be favored in some games.
What do fans expect {team} to be doing in December?
The more specific the answer the better, but it mostly just follows up on the movie title question.
What’s the best place to get BBQ in town (even if Troy is at home)?
This one is for you guys. If you’re traveling you should know a good place to go that isn’t Zaxby’s.
Is {team} a Coke or Pepsi school?
Another important question. I’ll keep tabs on Troy’s records for this one.
What’s one question you have for us about Troy (we’ll answer in the article)?
It’s only fair.
So that’s the list. We’ll give you their Twitter handle and link each week, and publish it two days before the game.
Should we change a question? Have a better one? Give us a shout on Twitter at @TrojanWallF5.