58 thoughts on “Immediate thoughts on Week 5”

1. Note to self: Three and a half hours up and three and a half hours back is about as far as one should go in a day. Go up the night before next time.

   Does this apply for your other staffers, too? Just kidding.

   Both games I saw were total blowouts. Oh you mentioned those.

   I heard the River Falls radio guys mention (they left their door open) that there’s talk or fundraising for a new or upgraded stadium at River Falls. Badly needed. They had their first night game since I was figuring out that things were hot and shouldn’t be touched and crying was the best way to get my mother’s attention (for those of you keeping score that would be the 1981 football season — the years since the previous night game at UWRF and my age are the same).

   So the total Winners-Losers scoring is now up to… wait for it… 237-33. Ouch. Ignore the UW-Stout/Whitworth game last week and that’s 223-20.

   Thank goodness I am seeing top teams play each other the next three weeks. And there’s… Well, that’s not for here.

   Check out last week’s Weekly Phlogging and we’ll have more Phlogging for you in a couple of days! We had four photographers at eight games this weekend.
   And my favorite shot so far of the weekend, from mine, is Whitewater’s quarterback Brian Ryczkowski’s tackle of Eau Claire’s Zach Paul’s (No. 6) fumble recovery. Way to put yourself on the line Brian!

2. Dang Pat,
   You took like four of my notes for ATN. I noticed the 19-18 thing, I noticed Kenyon beating OWU 44-42, and I guess we talked about the early scores changing and the Sul Ross-Howard Payne thing, but still … 🙂

   Note to self: Next time you have Friday night urge to drive up to Western Conn. at Rowan, get up and go.

   Although to be honest, catching radio of Wartburg-Central, Trinity-Williams, Ithaca-Brockport State, Cortland State-WPU and a snippet of Hardin-Simmons/Miss. Coll. wasn’t all bad.

   Gotta stay home and listen in every once in a while.

3. Got to listen to some really bad radio driving to and from the Cortland game. The IC-Brockport pregame show was rough to say the least. Neither prognosticator seemed the least bit informed on Brockport, or IC for that matter. Surprising because their pregame show is generally very good.

   On the way home from the Cortland game, I flipped on the Cortland radio post game just in time to hear an announcement that West Conn was apparently going to beat Rowan. (They didn’t) The play-by-play person basically awarded Cortland the NJAC championship, as the color commentator tried to reel him in a bit. Forget that Rowan actually came back to win, and that Cortland has to travel to West Conn, Montclair, and Rowan to get this done. Oh yeah and Kean is playing well coming to town next week. Not a mistake our own Jonny Mac would have made.

   Score wise – I agree with Pat. Hobart’s 4 wins are uninspiring and one has to wonder if the LL is down this season? I still think Union beats them in the end, and Rochester is capable of upsetting Hobart too.

   Congratulations to Morrisville on their first victory.

   The West Conn close loss gave hope to the rest of the NJAC. But Rowan still won and until someone in the east can beat them, they are still the team everyone has to go through.

   The Ithaca win over Brockport looks good for the E8, and not so good for Cortland’s perceived strength of schedule. Apparently Garret Lynch did not play for Brockport? Anybody know what is up with that? Ithaca put themselves right back into the playoff race. Now they need to run the table, or hope for Springfield to beat Fisher and create a log jam tie-breaker type finish.

4. OOOOH Baby….gotta get after Brockport this week….big game.

5. For those somewhat long of tooth, memories of the ancient Union/Williams rivalry leaves one very nostalgic. For better or worse Union is no longer a NESCAC member. That Williams is “good enough to get talked about with the top teams in the Liberty League right now” will leave alot of Ephs remembering how they usually had their way with Union in the old days!

   But it is 2006 and we know that Union, in its third decade of playing .750 ball, finds ways to win. Against a very gritty Merchant Marine team, the Dutchmen put up 28 points. But for two big plays by Union and a near pick by the Mariners, the score could easily have been quite different.

   With Hobart just getting by WPI, one might concede that there is probably more parity in the Liberty League this year than ever before. If Union can arrive at Hobart unscathed in the LL, they will have been very fortunate. Marotti’s numbers yesterday might leave the Union faithful shuddering, but Union is a winner.

6. CortlandFootball: There are definitely a lot of homers out there in radio.

7. Wow! Kean 50 Buff St. 30

8. I would personally like to know Gordon’s take on whether the plants are real or fake… 😀

   My favorite stats thus far is a homer one: Cumulative Wheaton score, vs Opponents Scores for the first 4 games.

   First Half – 82-0
   First Three Q – 119-7

   I’m feeling pretty darn good about our defense. 🙂

9. Shoot. I’m feeling pretty darn good about your offense.

10. One team that is looking very good is Middlebury(VT). I did the play-by-play of the game for ESPN 1490, and this team really is impressive. Coach Ritter has the defense running on all cylinders, and Tiger Lyon has really matured as a quarterback. Kevin Ryan had four sacks yesterday and a fumble recovery, and Middlebury had eight sacks on the afternoon. With Trinity losing to Williams, I think this team has a very realistic shot at winning the NESCAC. It will be interesting to see how they play against Amherst on Saturday.

11. DHF, you may be feeling good about your defense. 🙂

    I am waiting for Wheaton to play a real opponent. The cumulative record of Wheaton’s four opponents is 5-12 (4-11 if you throw out the Albion Hope game which guaranteed a win). 😉

12. As I mentioned in the earlier topic, I’m really confident about Baldwin-Wallace’s playmaking recently, especially their defense. Their QB is truggling a bit, but if he an improve they’ll be back in the top 25 this season (they won’t beat Mount Union, but an ONU upset wouldn’t be put past me).

    One team we should probabyl start watching s Elmhurst? They haven’t faced anyone too hard yet, but when’s the lst time they were 4-0? they’ve ome out of nowhere to make the Elmhurst-wheaton match a sight to see once that happens.

    I know what I’m doing tonight: watchign the other two OAC games. I smell two blowouts.

13. The last time Elmhurst was 4-0 was last season. They finished 6-4.

    Date Opponent Result
    Sept. 3 at Benedictine • W 52-6
    Sept. 10 Concordia (Ill.) • W 55-14
    Sept. 17 at Chicago • W 21-17
    Oct. 1 Illinois Wesleyan • * W 20-15
    Oct. 8 at North Park • * W 28-12
    Oct. 15 Wheaton • * L 24-7
    Oct. 22 North Central • * L 28-21
    Oct. 29 at Augustana • * L 64-42
    Nov. 5 at Millikin • * W 45-35
    Nov. 12 Carthage • * L 41-20

14. Ralph: none of the teams we played are amazing, but aside from maybe Wash U, none of them are exactly “non-opponents” either.

    I bet when ONU’s first string defense got scored on twice by Millikin in the fourth quarter they thought Millikin was a real opponent. 😛 Our secondary arguably did better than ONU’s first string, since we only had 1 td scored on us. Millikin is a decent team… not a top 25 team at all, but their losses are to Wabash by 7 and Ohio Northern by 14 and us by 14… they’ve only lost to teams that are ranked or receiving votes in other words.

    Albion is in the others receiving votes category of the d3football.com poll.

    If you don’t think any of the people we’ve played thus far are opponents, we frankly aren’t going to know anything about Wheaton until the playoffs. the rest of the CCIW seems so down (aside from maybe Elmhurst, as crazy as that sounds) that I just don’t know who’s really going to be a huge challenge for us.

15. Ah, so they were 4-0 last season? I need to pay more attention before I make these claims then.
    Man, I almost went to Carnegie Mellon. The football part of me wishes I did seeing how well they’e playing.
    I like how Depauw’s been playing, but I’m still a bit disappointed that they can’t quite get over the hump against Trinity. I’m already looking forward to the Monon Bell game.

16. “The football part of me wishes I did seeing how well they’e playing.”

    I was accepted to a bunch of other final four/elite eight/deep-run playoff teams in various sports… in fact, 2-3 times I’ve been to the final four had teams I had considered going to in the final four.
    I’m still waiting for Wheaton to make it to Salem. But… You have to go to schools for reasons other than just sports! 😛

17. Wait,
    did he mean he almost enrolled, or almost went to Saturday’s game 🙂

    Had the same thought about Elmhurst after the “when was the last time … ” comment. But at least in this 4-0 start they won at Carthage. We’ll see how good they are with Augie and North Central the next two weeks.

    OK, I love to talk D3, but there’s some NFL finishes to watch right now. Bad teams, but a lot of good games.

18. ^almost enrolled
    Almost enrolled at Depauw too, which would’ve made waching the Monon Bell game every year a breeze.
    Oh well, the OAC’s got enough action to keep my happy.

19. Updated Top 25 posted.
    http://www.d3football.com/top25/

20. Carnegie mellon has put together a nice team this year after a couple years of mediocre ones. I’m a 98 alum of CMU and defensive captain of that squad. I think that they have a legit shot to run the table this year. Their defense is going to keep them in pretty much every game they play.

21. Ooooh Baby…..Fisher Cardinals

22. I think RPI needs to be considered the favorite in the LL right now. The way Hobart and Union have struggled with lesser opponents espeically this past week shows me that RPI, right now, is the best team in the LL.

23. You’re posting about RPI being the favorite but I see your post is coming from one of the other two campuses. Are you trying to create fake bulletin board material or something??

24. One does not usually think very clearly at 2:30 in the morning. With a less than disinterested point of view, rpiguy should be a bit more circumspect when boasting about a big victory over the likes of a Becker.

25. SeanGop

    I see you are at it again. Mt. Union plays nobody. They can’t help the confrence schedule. Just like UWW ( which by the way is an awsome team) Mt. Union has to play the schedule out. But, since 2000 . Mt. Union has opened the the year off with Allegheny, Albion and Whitewater with home and away games. Two of the three were past National Champions. So if you dont like the cupcake schedule Mt.Uinon plays. Then see if The AD at Whitewater wants to schedule another Home and away with Mt. Unions Ad again. Just for the record, Its Larry Kehres. I will end with D3Football is awesome. These kids leave it all because they play with their heart. Just boys who love the game and are having fun playing a game while getting an education to better their lives. SEANGOP, Just give teams the respect they truly deserve. UWW has earned the respect of Mt. Union’s coaching staff and fans. We want it to be UWW and Mt. Union again too. But, as we have found out in the past. Nothing is for sure.

26. Certainly RPI is still a contender. I would say the LL parity is roughly the same as it has been for the last few years – Union, Hobart, and RPI will win out against the rest of the league, and the games amongst each other will decide it. (Although Rochester is much more of a factor this year.)

    My prediction is that we’ll see another year where it’ll come down to tiebreakers. All three teams end up with one league loss – Union will beat Hobart, and RPI will recapture the Shoes. (Home team has won 9 of the last 10 Dutchmen Shoes games – even though the travel time is insignificant, it still makes a big difference.)

    I believe this would end up favoring Hobart, as Union would get knocked out based on their loss to Springfield, and then Hobart has the head-to-head vs. RPI. But we’ll see – there is, as they say, a lot of football left to play.

27. Hobart’s non impressive play aside, they still manage to find ways to win. That, more than anything, should keep Bart on the road back to the LL title and the AQ.

    A bye week to work on getting better on their execution and team play should do this team a lot of good.

28. Update on stats from the Middlebury/Colby game; Kevin Ryan was originally credited with four sacks, it was just changed to six which is a NESCAC record. Ryan now has seven and a half sacks on the season and is just four and a half away from setting the record for sacks in a year.

29. As far as hoabrt is conserned wins are wins. thats all that matters. and as for RPI being the class of the liberty leauge the score my not reflect it but hobart handled them prety convicibley for most of the game. so untill they lose hoabrt is at the top. Its going to a battle for the liberty league title, its going to come down to what the big three do the in the last two weekends. Union at Hobart Nov.4 and next week and Union at RPI Nov. 11. Nov. 4 being the bigger of the two. Union could really throw a monkey wrench in the mix if they could nock off hobart, and they might have to if they want to keep postseason hopes alive with RPI the following week. like it was said before there is just still way to much footbal left to be played. we will have to just wait and see.

30. Roamin’ Ump,
    Interesting stat on “the Shoes.” Tough to say who will have the jam at the end of the season. It’s probably a toss-up today. We agree that Rochester has to figure in the mix. Union seems the most vulnerable right now, but, as earlier stated, they really didn’t fire last year until their final games.

31. Don’t you have to be the defending champion to be on top? I believe Union at the very least deserves that. Hobart lost to Union last year, should have lost the year before (an awful call regarding a Union TD that was not counted) and the teams have yet to play this year. So Union is on top (whether or not they will stay there we shall see), Hobart is coming on (beating RPI and haivng not lost a game yet) and RPI…well they are really being tested playing the likes of Endicott and Becker. I feel RPI is a good team but nothing can be said for them unitl they play Union and Hobart. Oh Yeah they lost to Hobart already this year (AT HOME)! Dutchmen have a long way to go this year if they plan to recapture any of last years regular season and playoff success. This win over MMA on Sat was a dismal performance at best. I watched frustrated in the rain as Union just did not seem all together. This could be a replay of last year though. Midseason last year even with Angiletta, the dutchmen looked very shaky at times. I am just so worried about the defense. They have really not been consistant in any way so far. We shall see what becomes of the Liberty League this season.

32. I for one am impressed RPI defeated Ted Danson by such a large margin. I mean the guy used to play pro ball for the Red Sox before drinking ruined his career. Perhaps next year they will double their strength of schedule with Cliff and Norm.

    On a serious note until someone beats Union, they are by far (IMO) the team to beat in the LL.

33. “Note to self: Three and a half hours up and three and a half hours back is about as far as one should go in a day. Go up the night before next time.”

    After a five-hour trip to Canton Sept. 16 to see Alfred defeat St. Lawrence and the five-hour trip back home, all in one day, I told my AU senior elementary education major son, “Don’t let me make the trip to Springfield next week.”

    AUPepBand told the band if there were five who wished to go, AUPepBand would drive them to Springfield…thinking there probably aren’t five crazy fanatics in the band willing to sacrifice a day for the Saxons. Six of us left Alfred in a dark drizzle at 5:30 a.m., arriving in Springfield in time for the 12 noon start and, after a well-spent afternoon cheering on the Saxons in a 41-34 loss, returned to Alfred in a dark drizzle at about 10 p.m. some 750 miles later. A Springfield fan remarked, following the game, “You guys were the best band here today!” (We were the only “band”). Priceless.

    ON SAXON WARRIORS!

34. The bottom line is, right now there have only been two “quality wins” posted by LL teams: Union over Rochester and Hobart over RPI. (And they’re both internal to the league.) And Union lost its toughest match so far (Springfield).

    So if you have to pick a top team right now, it’s got to be Hobart – while their wins aren’t terribly impressive, they’re undefeated. All they’ve got to do is win out, but the last three weeks of their schedule are TOUGH – Alfred, Union, and Rochester.

    Union’s in more-or-less the same situation – if they win out, they win the league. But their last two are Hobart and RPI, and unless something bizarre happens, they need both of them.

    From my standpoint as an RPI fan, they need some help. Obviously, they HAVE to win out to get the AQ. But additionally, they need Hobart to lose to Union AND either Alfred or Rochester – by my current read, in a Hobart-Union-RPI three-way tie, Hobart wins because Union’s loss to Springfield knocks them out first.

    In any event, I’m not sure the LL gets more than their AQ this year – no one looks all that good. So there are playoff implications in nearly every game.

    From the standpoint of an RPI fan, the win over Becker was expected, and the score was irrelevant.

35. If Union does not make the playoffs because of their Springfield loss, they will be forever haunted by being on the Springfield two yard line with four minutes to go and not scoring to possibly tie the game.

36. Ferrum fans have their fingers crossed..hoping to win out and a couple huge CNU/Averett loses. Yet I am assuming Vegas would not bet on it.

37. Re: fake bulletin board material …

    Was anyone buying that RPI is the best LL team if Hobart’s already beaten them head-to-head?

38. Still not impressed by bart I know a wins a win but good teams crush weak teams and get there bench on the field.What happens when the compatiton gets tuff. Or dose it?

39. The Liberty League is historically underrated in my opinion. Last year it was strong at the top, with RPI beating Fisher in the ECAC, and Hobart and Union each winning first round NCAA games. This season though, it appears to be a down year.

    I saw Hobart against Cortland in the 2005 NCAA playoff game, and then again in their 2006 preseason scrimmage. The teams were very close last season as was evident from their playoff nail-biter. However during the scrimmage, Hobart looked a lot smaller and slower than a year ago. I give them a ton of credit however for finding ways to win every week. They are this season’s cardiac kids in upstate NY.

40. Key Match up in the OAC this week. Ohio Northern vs. Mt Union. ONU was the last team to beat Mt. Union.

41. There certainly is much speculation this week (or is it flag waving?) over who is the best team in the LL. Doubts surrounding Union abound. RPI looked miserable against Hobart, save for some fourth quarter heroics. Then they whomp Becker, whoever they are. Posts impugn Hobart’s unimpressive victories. With little sponsorship on this site, Rochester receives faint deference.

    Hobart is described above as this season’s cardiac kids. One could ascribe the same to Union this time last year. Whatever the case, the top four teams are evenly matched in a general sense. This year will be a real horse race. Anybody that follows the ponies knows that there is alot of luck involved. Weather, injuries, disciplinary actions, etc. can wreak havoc.
    Each of these teams has their strengths. It is just too soon to tell who will be #1.

42. Hobart’s inconsistent play aside, they are still undefeated and no one else is the liberty league can say that, so until they are beaten I feel they are at the top. However they still have a lot of room for improvement. Their bye week couldn’t have come at better time, just before they head into the tougher part of their schedule. As far as the liberty league being down this year, I do not feel that is true at all, Rochester, Merchant Marine and St. Lawrence all appear to be much improved this year along with a tough WPI team. And of course Union and RPI are still very good teams. I think the conference may just be more even from top to bottom. I will agree the 2005 Hobart vs. Cortland playoff game matched two very even teams but as far as this year is concerned I feel it is unfair to compare teams based on a scrimmage in late august. Leaving the liberty for a minute the OAC has a huge game this week, when Mt. Union gets their first test of the season with a very strong Ohio Northern team. This should be great game, and a good barometer in judging if Mt. Union is going to get another title. Something they might do anyway, Regardless of this week’s game. It makes you wonder how much longer they are going to stay Div.3?

43. dlippiel….I think you need to take a closer look at Union’s defense;at least from a statistical point of view. They certainly were dominated by Springfield in the opener. Since then,however,they have not been bad,especially against the run. I think Union’s problem has been the lack of consistency on offense….too many questionable plays by Marotti and the lack of a “killer instinct”.

    After giving up a net of 378 rushing yards to Springfield they have allowed a total of 156 yards net over the next 3 games. In terms of points allowed they gave up over 40% of the seasons’ total in the Springfield game.

44. I hear you dea and you are probably right. I think with Union us fans maybe set our expectations to high. I guess it is more of a gut feeling i have. I totally agree about the offensive lack of consistency which has lead to the D being on the field way to much. Believe me I hope I am wrong. I guess after watching their early season games I always picture Hobart or RPI on the O side of the ball. I am impressed with the 156 yards stat as well. I just hope the Dutchmen can do it this year.

45. How is the Liberty League historically underrated? Back that up some.

46. “It makes you wonder how much longer they are going to stay Div.3? ”

    This has been raised a million times. As far as I know, there is zero interest in Mount Union moving to another Division. Just because you have an exceptional football team doesn’t mean the rest of your athletic program can compete at a higher level or your school can afford to start handing out scholarships it currently does not provide.

47. There are plenty of Div.1 teams that are non-scholarship. Also their footbal team moving up has nothing to do with the rest of thier athletics.

48. You calling me out Keith?! 🙂

    Well I cannot statistically back that statement up, unless I go back through message board posts and tally the for’s and against’s regarding LL teams.

    I will say in my experience people who talk NY D3 football, both on the boards and in my circle of compadres, generally do not show much respect for RPI and Hobart, and only somewhat show respect for Union. In other words I was referring to popular opinion as I perceive it, and not the D3Football poll per se.

    Good God man I am a Cortland fan. What am I doing sticking up for the LL?

49. Bart –

    My point exactly. If Mount moves up to DIAA they will just as bad as all of those non-scholarship DIAA teams riding near the bottom every year.

    Also are you sure their moving up would have nothing to do with the rest of their athletics? I thought if high profile sports like football or basketball moved up, it kind of forced the hand of the entire athletic program? I’m not up to speed on this issue so if anyone can help me out with the logistics I’d appreciate it. Like when Wagner and St Johns (NY) were pushed up to D1-AA in football, from what I thought was due to their D1 basketball programs.

50. Cortland,
    That’s all I was looking for, some elaboration. I didn’t mean you had to submit a report on it with footnotes, just wondering who was doing the underrating and how.

    I have a gift for sounding defensive though, so you’ll have to excuse me.

    As far as single teams moving up, leaving the rest of the athletic program behind, I wouldn’t say it has “nothing” to do with it. For one, it’s generally not a football team moving up, it’s a smaller sports like Johns Hopkins lacrosse or RPI hockey. Second, most moves are completed with the entire athletic department in mind. Mount Union is in a conference of similarly-sized, like-minded schools, so it most certainly has to do with more than just football.

    But for just football alone, what exactly is Mount Union not getting out of Division III? How would the move benefit them? For them to go I-AA non-schloarship and compete for nothing when they compete for a championship every year makes no sense, especially if having a competitive program is a draw for Ohio students and free publicity the institution otherwise would not get. Or maybe their basketball team could join the Atlantic-10 like Dayton and then they wouldn’t have to worry about it.

    If they went I-AA scholarship alongside Youngstown State, they could join the Gateway Conference and travel to fun places like Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky and Missouri (State) … because those trips to Berea and Cleveland and Ada are way too short and inexpensive!

    The only people I’ve ever heard suggest Mount Union should move up are people who think their school might have a shot at the championship if they didn’t have to go through the Purple Raiders. Boo Hoo. You wanna be the best, beat the best.

    I can let Ric or HSCoach speak more upon the details from the Alliance point of view, and Ralph Turner or Pat may be able to kick knowledge on the division alignment tip.

    From my perspective, though, I can’t imagine why Mount Union would want to move. It certainly ain’t broke, so why and what would they be trying to fix?