CU faces high-powered Bethel offense

Oct. 21—On paper, Bethel has an explosive offense which leads the Mid-South Conference in scoring and average yards per game and is near the top in passing and rushing.

But Cumberland coach Tim Mathis thinks his 3-3 (1-2 MSC) Phoenix match up well with the No. 10 Wildcats, who are 6-1, 1-1 going into today's 1 p.m. kickoff in McKenzie.

It has to do with the Phoenix's league-leading rushing attack against a Bethel defense which appears geared toward attacking opposing passing attacks, particularly the deep ball, which isn't a major part of Cumberland's identity.

"It's kind of a new-age defense," Mathis said. "They play with three safeties... It's three down linemen, like a 3-3-5. They're going to more or less rush the passer with three and just play eight deep. I don't think you can really hit them over the top for a long pass because they're going to play deep to keep everything in front of them. It's the same defense they ran against us last year and they're missing a lot of those guys they had up front."

With Treylon Sheppard averaging 102.2 rushing yards per game and quarterback Luke Holloway 71.2, both in the top five in the conference, Cumberland prefers to move the ball on the ground.

"We still feel like we can move the ball offensively on them just because of the way they line up," Mathis said. "They don't crowd the ball, unless they do something different. And they didn't crowd the ball against Georgetown (which handed the Wildcats their only loss 52-24, which is the same margin only with a higher score than Cumberland's 42-14 loss to the Tigers last week). And Georgetown's a really good running team.

"They try to keep it in front of you and hope you make a mistake... I'm not saying it's a bad defense. It's working for them. It's a bend-but-don't-break. The closer you get to the end zone you can match up a whole lot and put more people in the box because you don't have to defend as much ground. They just don't want to give up the big play.

"We've got to limit mistakes and turnovers. If we do that, we got a good shot at being in the game with them."

On the flip side is Bethel's high-powered offense which averages 47 points per game and has scored 329 points, both tops in the MSC.

Quarterback Joaquin Collazo III, this week's MSC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 23 of 35 passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats' 44-7 rout of Roosevelt last Saturday , leads the league in completion percentage with 66.3 and pass efficiency at 176.2. He's hit 126 of 190 throws for 1,976 yards and 16 touchdowns with five interceptions.

The league's top two receivers and three of the top five are his, including former Phoenix Jaylen Taylor (who has his degree from CU and is a graduate student at BU). J.D. Dixon leads the MSC in catches, yards, yards per game, yards per catch and touchdowns.

"If I were to say what their strength is, I'd probably say their receiving corps and their quarterback," Mathis said.

Martize Smith leads Bethel's rushing attack with 439 yards and four scores on 67 carries. Freshman Mitchell Faulkner is the short-yardage specialist with seven scores, though he has just 173 yards overall.

Cumberland is coming off the lopsided loss at Georgetown last week. Mathis said the final score isn't necessarily indicative of how the game was played.

"What our defense thrives on is rushing the passer, to make the quarterback make mistakes," Mathis said. "Our defensive linemen couldn't get to the quarterback. Georgetown's got a really good offensive line and that was the difference in the ballgame. We couldn't force them to make mistakes.

"We really didn't make big mistakes. You got to be perfect when you play one of those teams. I think Bethel is a better matchup for us."

This game at Wildcat Stadium is between the only two NAIA football schools in Tennessee. Kentucky's Lindsey Wilson and Campbellsville are closer to Lebanon. But Bethel vs. Cumberland is for Volunteer State bragging rights and talking points in recruiting. In addition, fifth-year Wildcat coach Michael Jasper is a graduate of Mt. Juliet High School.

"We recruit a lot of the same people," Mathis said. "So a lot of our kids know our kids and their kids know our kids. It's a big rivalry game because a lot of them played with each other or played against each other in high school."

MID-SOUTH CONFERENCE standings

|MSC|Overall

Lindsey Wilson|2-0|5-1

Georgetown|2-0|4-1

Campbellsville|2-1|4-3

Bethel|1-1|6-1

Cumberlands|1-2|5-2

CUMBERLAND|1-2|3-3

Faulkner|0-3|1-5

Last week's scores

Georgetown 42, CUMBERLAND 14

Bethel 44, Roosevelt 7

Lindsey Wilson 35, Campbellsville 14

Cumberlands 37, Faulkner 7

Today's games

CUMBERLAND at Bethel

Georgetown at Faulkner

Cumberlands at Lindsey Wilson