The Spiders got their 2023 schedule last week and you would’ve thought we left the CAA. Plenty of unfamiliar conference foes and three trips up north were very surprising to see, but should allow this group a great chance for a 2nd straight playoff appearance.

The schedule

Initial reaction

Cakewalk? It’s January, so we don’t play real football for another eight months, but it’s hard not to look at that schedule and feel like we got and incredibly simple draw.

Rather than who we play and when, the focus on this year’s schedule is who we DON’T play. No Delaware, no Villanova, no New Hampshire, no Albany – four of the top six teams (excluding UR) aren’t on our 11-game schedule, as we skip a majority of the talent in the league. This feels more like a Big South schedule and we must take advantage of that.

Great to have Morgan St before Michigan St, as it will be a lot easier on Wickersham to make his first start against the Bears before facing a Big-10 school. Following Sparty with Delaware St is also nice as we’ll have two tune-up games under our belt before CAA play gets going. There are plenty of Week 1 or Week 2 CAA games this year but a new QB isn’t the time to be part of that

Breakdown

September [5 games – 3 non-conference, 2 CAA]

Realistic scenario: 4-1

Barring something crazy happening at Stony Brook or Hampton there’s really no reason we shouldn’t enter October at 4-1. There’s a reason we scheduled Morgan St & Delaware St (to win) and there’s a reason we scheduled Michigan St (to get paid). 2-1 in the non-con and two wins over below average CAA teams should help us ease into the 2023 season.

October [4 games – 4 CAA]

Realistic scenario: 3-1

If we’re 90% as good as we all think we’ll be going 4-0 here isn’t absurd, but October offers some sneaky good games. Maine still isn’t back to their 2018 playoff days so that one at home should be the easiest of the four, however the next three aren’t pushovers. Rhody loses a fair amount but that roster is must deeper than it was five years ago. With an experienced dynamic QB, that is by no means an easy road game in Kingston. A&T and Campbell are new to the CAA but gave Gardner-Webb (who picked up a playoff win) a good battle down the stretch for the Big South title in 2022. Again, these aren’t 50/50 toss-up games but playing B- football will get you beat against those guys. Thankful that those are weeks 7-9 and not 3-5.

November [2 games – 2 CAA]

Realistic scenario: 1-1

Elon loses QB Matthew McKay to the NFL and some key pieces on defense but still has a solid core – getting them at home off the bye week should be very beneficial. William & Mary on the other hand did not lose a lot, so after what they did a few months ago I’d be naive to put that down as a win. We weren’t far off but clearly a step behind the CAA champs. I’m expecting the Tribe to start 2023 in the FCS Top-5.

Home/Away

What stands out most, besides who we don’t play, is the home/away splits. Truthfully we should probably go 6-0 at home this year. I think Campbell may be our toughest home game, with Elon a close second. In the end if we take care of business at home we can go 2-2 on the road in the CAA and still comfortably make the playoffs at 8-3. URI and W&M will be tough tests so ensuring we beat Stony Brook early on to stay on schedule will go a long way. We got gifted a very calm home slate so no matter what question marks we have entering August this team should be ready to go when the real tests arrive in October.