OK,
So someone will post later with a fancier, more well-thought-out writeup, but until then, here are some reactions to the games in progress and early scores coming in.
St. Olaf’s not yet in St. John’s class. Period.
Same could be said of Mount Union and ONU this year, although I imagine that’s mostly a function of the Polar Bears having not much of the same team that won 21-14 in Alliance last year. Only five starters returned this fall. Still, 49-7 is a big swing. Wonder if the Purple Raiders were looking to make a statement, and I wonder if any of the three voters with UWW No. 1 will swing their vote this week.
Juniata up 27-3 over Susque in the 4th. Tri-State almost joining them on the long-losing-streak broken bandwagon, but they can’t catch a break. They fell in 2 OTs.
We got 10-7 Hardin-Simmons at the half in Texas … sounds about right.
In the Liberty, Union over WPI in a one-point squeaker, while RPI falls to St. Lawrence. Someone on the blog earlier in the week (Cortland?) said the LL didn’t look “down” so much this year as it looked more even across the board. Early results from today support that.
I’m sure there’s more to take note of, and there will be as the day rolls along, My babies just woke up from naps simultaneously, so I gotta roll anyway.
Discuss.
As we said, there are no gimme’s in the LL. Union escapes with a “W”, but question marks must abound in Schenectady.
How ’bout St. Lawrence over RPI? WHOA!!!
Wonder what it’s going to take for teams like St. Olaf to not slide into the AFCA rankings? How many years is that going to take?
Congrats to the Juniata Eagles for getting off the schneid today.
Delaware Valley wide receivers David Carmon and Don Marshall combined for 220+ yards and 4 touchdowns in three quarters.
Good win for Ursinus today in shutting down Case Western.
And eventually I’m going to stop picking Hardin-Simmons to beat UMHB…
UMHB Defeats Hardin Simmons 38-16… Sounds about Right…
Great game by the way…
28-16 My bad…
…The NJAC is no easy read either…Rowan last night with a close one with TCNJ … Montclair State with a squeaker against Buffalo State…the Cortland State game was a bit closer than it might seem too…if a trick play on a fake field goal attempt hadn’t failed them in the 4th, I’m not sure if the outcome couldn’t have been different…Kean gave the Red Dragons all they could handle….and West-Conn with a lte field goal to beat William Paterson…I’ll tell ya…it’s a great year to be a first year announcer for a team in this league.
To make clear…that trick play was Keans…not SUNY Cortland’s…tired…my bad.
Question for anybody with firsthand knowledge about the conferences in question……..what odds would you place on Rowan running the table from here and what are the chances of the MAC getting two bids to the playoffs?
TO gets his in another 20 hours and congrats to the Yankees and their $210 million payroll……..another BIG APPLE in their throats……..but A-Rod is soooooo gooooood looooooking!!! A-Rod……forget the mirror and head back to the batting cage!!!
Man, IMO, pretty much the entire Liberty League is overrated. RPI is now 3-2, Unionis just sqeezing wins out with their swiss cheese Defense, and Hobart will definitely win the division, though I just realized that they almost lost to a winless team. That’s always a scary thing if you notice it weeks after it happens.
Now for my OAC critique, which is really the only conference that I could win a debate in. (Yeah, I don’t know much about the LL). As I expected, ONU is overrated, and Mount Union is easily the #1 team in the country. Wilmington crushign Otterbein could make the race for 4th place interesting. I’m actually very disappointed in Baldwin-Wallace’s win over Heidelberg. Yeah, they won 36-10, but they played very poorly, including muffing a punt and allowing a couple 50+ yard passes (They DID stop a 70 or so yard drive with H putting up 0 points though). I’m going to love seeigng B-W play against ONU and Capital though (Mount Union not so much, lol). Capital is also very disappointing, only 17-7 after 3 quarters. I listened to this one on the radio, and it really sounded like Capital had no idea how to stop the run even though they only allowed 7 points so far. I’ll add more to that game at the end of it.
W&J back in the hunt with a solid qb, proving it can win the close ones. But PAC is much more competitive–even Bethany.
I don’t think the odds of Rowan running the table are very good. I’m not sure they’d be favored against Cortland the way they’re playing right now.
MAC two bids? If Wilkes wins and Del Val is 9-1, then yeah, probably.
My pioneers lose in the last 2:40 of 4th quarter, We are so close , but yet so far!UWL28 UWP21. Poor snake bitten Stout,losing a close game to UWO at Menominee. UW EC big homecoming win against UW RF. Large crowd of 5,000, I wonder how many were in the parking lot drinking that bought a ticket. I know , I lived in EC for 5 years. UW RF has only scored 44 points in 5 games this Year! Ouch! I think UWP can beat them this year at home. Lastly, the Warhawks pitched a shutout for 3 quarters beating UWSP 31-13. Childs getting 26 yards in 24 carries, so the Warhawks continue to be dominant defensively. Next week the big one, UWL vs UWW, at Whitewater for Homecoming/ God Bless!
Great finish in the John Carroll/Capital game.
Capital led most of the game until John Carroll intercepted Rocky Pentello and returned the pick for a touchdown, but Pentello led a scoring drive to take the lead and the defense forced a fumble at midfield to wrap it up, 24-21 Capital.
Nothing shows how far St. Olaf is from SJU than the brainiac call by Meidt in the 2nd quarter: Fourth and 1 at his own 31 — and he passes.
Eight plays later, it’s 30-7 SJU.
But speaking of class: the Oles have a 5-0 lead in personal fouls over the past two seasons.
Disappointed in the margin of victory/defeat of the MUC vs. Ohio Northern game. Aside from ONU’s win over the Purple Raiders last season, it seems there have been a number of regular season games the last few seasons where a high ranked OAC team was touted to maybe give MUC a game – only to be completely dominated.
Good point, D3forme.
Look at what the Purple Power has done against ranked teams during the regular season.
2003: W vs. No. 3 Baldwin Wallace 24-0
2003: W vs. No. 18 Capital 35-7
2004: W at No. 4 Capital 49-7
2004: W at No. 15 Baldwin Wallace 24-7
2005: W vs. No. 21 Capital 42-24
2005: L vs. No. 20 Ohio Northern 21-14
2006: W vs. No. 10 Ohio Northern 49-7
Average score: 35-9
Ferrum looked good today…from the air it is a pretty mountain scene. Oh…football, that’s another story.
Mount Union has a way of making a lot of good teams look bad.
At the other end of the spectrum, if Greenville and Benedictine play and nobody reports a score, does it count? Nothing on either team’s site, neither school posted on D3football.com, nothing on the conference site, nothing on the school’s telephone hotline …
I expected that ONU would not hold close to MUC (though I expected more like 3 TDs than 6!), but until today expected Cap would give them a stern challenge. If Cap could only beat JCU by 3, MUC MAY roll through d3 with never a game closer than last year’s Stagg. They are SCARY good!
Last year’s loss to ONU gave me hope that perhaps MUC was beginning to go the way of Augustana – still an excellent team, but no longer an ‘unbeatable’ juggernaut. Now we may have to await Larry Kehres reaching Joe Pa age!:)
Ferrum better start making corrections so there young guys can start getting experience. They have a pretty young team and if they may want to start playing them more. This season I am afraid is over.
Rowan’s play is a stunner given the numbers and quality of players back from last year. Any explanation?
Hey D3Keith……..we’re heading down to The Linc in a few minutes. My prediction……TO + stretcher = victory (we do take our professional football a little too seriously in the City of Brotherly Love!!!!!).
Oh yeah, I can’t resist one last time……..Hey A-Rod…….BOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Rowan is a little young on the oline. They need to play better together. Rowan lost its five top wideouts (production wise) from 2005, 3 to graduation, and 2 to the Marines when the players enlisted.
The other receivers look like they have potential, but right now the inexperience shows. However the Rowan D is probably better 1-11 than the 1999 defense. The Rowan O has to capitalize better on turnovers and short field opportunities.
Responding to dukefinadv: Again I admit to my first year position in the role of the Red Dragons voice and have not seen 4 teams yet. However, if game summeries and posts on this forum are any indictation, I’d say the chances of ANYONE running the table in the NJAC are slim. At one point I said on the air that the Red Dragons have a great chance at the conference title if they take care of their business…which I still believe. What I’m finding out as the conference schedule elapses is just how difficult getting it done every week is going to be…for any team. The teams that are losing games are, in most cases, playing it close to their opposition. I still believe Rowan and Cortland will decide this thing…but no game should be taken lightly by either team until they meet on 11/4, or it may be over before that game is played for someone.
JT-
I couldn’t wait to see Sakeem Wright graduate. And Phil Silva too. Those kids were in the upper 1% of all D3 receivers. I knew their graduation would have an effect, but I assumed some good talent would be coming in to take their places.
I haven’t seen Rowan on the field yet in 2006, but my guess from the stats would be Orihel doesn’t have a go-to guy this season. In particular if they don’t stretch the field teams are going to play a lot closer to the line of scrimmage and maybe stick an extra guy or two in the box. Just one or two players can make a huge difference from one season to the next.
Still nobody in D3, let alone the NJAC, has proven they can beat them this season.
We’ve seen Buff State, WP, and Kean so far in conference. Out of the 3 Kean is definitely the furthest along. Lots of talent on offense at the skill positions, lots of speed. Defense has tightened its play too from past seasons. They cannot be taken lightly as Roque finally has some help on offense. I know we all jumped on them in the offseason for firing another head coach, but so far the new staff has them headed in the right direction. Beating F&M on the road was a big win for their program.
Off topic here – anybody following the ESPN rumor which says Joe Torre will be fired today? What on earth is Steinbrenner thinking? Now I remember why I gave up on the Yankees years ago and became a hapless Devil Rays fan.
Clearly the Yankees had the best lineup in all of baseball. Maybe the best of the last 20 years. That they were shut down for 2 games means absolutely nothing. This is why Billy Beane has said for years that the post season is nothing but a crap shoot. It takes 162 games just to seperate the winners from the losers. A series of 3 or 4 games is virtually meaningless, because luck becomes the overriding factor and whomever happens to get hot is going to win it all.
Torre was one of the few things I actually still liked about the Yankees. Steinbrenner is insane.
Back on topic – I am running a D3 Football computer ratings system. Actually I’ve been running it for a few decades. It is along the lines of Massey and Sagarin. Design wise it is probably closest to the Laz Index. Anyhoooo…it is screaming at me this morning that the two best teams in the Eastern Region are (drum roll please) Fisher and Ithaca. Not Rowan, Cortland, or Hobart. It also thinks Springfield is right up there with the big boys.
Now I usually don’t get too caught up in the ratings for the first few weeks, but by weeks 5 and 6 the system usually has a pretty good handle on things.
It verifies what one poster wrote last week, and Keith echoed earlier, that the Liberty is the most balance conference this season. I’ll be shocked if someone runs the table in conference. The E8 ranks out as the most top heavy. The NJAC has improved from the bottom up quite a bit from prior seasons.
Don’t worry, Mr. Ypsi. I believe there will be a team or two that will give MUC a game this season, we just might have to wait until deep into the playoffs. Some feel UWW is returning a better team than last year (their regular season scores might be closer than MUC’s but they are usually playing against tougher teams, as well) and they played MUC close. As I mentioned, I often find myself disappointed in the results of MUC’s games vs. top ranked OAC teams (thanks for posting the scores, Gordon), but the last few seasons have shown they can be challenged, or even beaten, come playoff time.
So Keith…was the Johnnies performance dominating enough for you? I am not saying the J’s will win the west or anything like that, but let’s stop with the FOOLISH writing you put up here before week 6 got underway. Oh yea…I have a question…if LaCrosse beats Whitewater does that mean that LaCrosse will hurdle the Johnnies in the rankings? Will that type of “bias” continue, like last year?
Hey CortlandFootball…gotta pretty smart computer there…Despite their current ranking, Fisher has been flyin under the radar for 2.5 years now. Their only losses the last 27 games are on a Hail Mary against Norwich, last second loss to Del Valley in the second round on NCCA’S after dominating the game, OT to Ithaca after blowing a 14 pt 4th quarter lead, and two end of the seasons losses to Alfred and RPI (ECAC bowl game).
They need to get after Springfield and Alfred and may run the reg season at 10-0.
Go Cards!
VOJ, the only thing foolish is you beating a dead horse. I’ve never had the impression Keith has it out for the J’s. He already admitted he overlooked the Augsburg game. Give it a frickin’ rest.
I have never understood why anyone, especially an anonymous poster on an internet bulletin board, would think that insulting a columnist would make them feel more charitable towards the team said insulter supports.
Guy’s a complete newbie — signed up Oct. 6.
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?action=profile;u=15170
Wonder if he puts his “bigdickdaddy…” eamail address on his resume.
I didn’t know you needed a resume to be one of those guys that scoops the manure up at parades???
CortlandFootball says his ratings system “is screaming at me this morning that the two best teams in the Eastern Region are (drum roll please) Fisher and Ithaca. Not Rowan, Cortland, or Hobart. It also thinks Springfield is right up there with the big boys.”
So SJFF82 replies: “Hey CortlandFootball…gotta pretty smart computer there…Despite their current ranking, Fisher has been flyin under the radar for 2.5 years now” and goes on to say the Cardinals are 22-5 in their last 27 games with “two end of the seasons losses to Alfred and RPI (ECAC bowl game).”
During that same time period, Alfred has gone 21-6 and handed the Cardinals a 13-7 loss on their own turf with an NCAA playoff bid on the line. And while the Cardinals bask in their national ranking, AU continues to take care of business at 4-1 sans poll votes. The door to “post-season” is at Merrill Field in Alfred….unbeaten Hobart Oct. 28, once-beaten Ithaca Nov. 4, unbeaten Fisher Nov. 11….all at Alfred. GO SAXONS!!
AU,
Tell me again how many times have you’ve beaten Ithaca or made it to the NCAA’s in that same time period?
SJFF82:
The Cards are very good and have been for a couple years, but I don’t think they “dominated the game” against Delaware Valley two years ago.
From the game release…
“Delaware Valley finished with 614 yards in total offense on 102 plays, outgaining the Cardinals 614-288. The Aggies also had the advantage in first downs (28-13) and passing yardage (423-43).”
Not exactly the mark of domination. Both teams had chances and didn’t capitalize until late in the game. That was, though, one of the best games I’ve ever seen.
Good point Gordon…cannot argue with the stats…assuming those are correct, but I was at the game as well (definately the most exciting game I’ve seen) and Fisher was up by 11 with 2 minutes to go and woulda won but for a 3rd and 7 pass with less than a minute remaining that got picked off and returned deep to set up the game winning score. The thing is that unexplicably, Del Val had no timeouts left and Fisher coulda ran the ball, punted and Del Val would have had to drive 70 plus in 20 secs with no to’s???
Oh well, I guess that has been over for a couple years now…are those really the stats though??? Maybe Mr. Sazson doesnt remember…or care to remember that 3 weeks prior the Cards rolled into Alfred and punched their E8 and NCAA ticket. The re-run will be in a month if he missed it….ooooh baby gotta get after those Saxons
Holy crap, Mount Union is good. I hate to give them credit as an Augustana Alum, but wow.
If the football gods are listening, they will put MU in a bracket far, far away from Augie in the playoffs.
And yes, Augie will be in the playoffs.
Wizardman has divined that “Hobart will definitely win the division (LL).” We are hardpressed to see where the Statesmen are that much better than their counterparts in the LL. Yes, rhythm seems very elusive at Union. Yes, RPI has dropped apair of LL games. Yet each of these teams is more than capable of beating Hobart. St. Lawrence proved that the so called lesser teams can not be ignored either. Saturday’s upset of RPI probably will not be the last one of this season in the LL. The only thing that is certain is that there is a lot of entertainment left.
Congrats to Linfield’s Travis Masters for his second TD kickoff return on the season. Keep rollin’ Travis!
Gordon – Thanks for putting SJFF82 in his place about the Del-Val vs. Fisher game last year. Del-Val actually whipped them up and down the field and if they didn’t self destruct it could have been a blowout.
I am putting out a S.O.S……….has anybody seen Terrell Owens? He was supposedn to be in our City of Brotherly Love yesterday but he has yet to show up!!!!! D3Keith…….you missed a classic!!!!!
Speaking of missing pro athletes……..anybody seen A-Rod or the rest of the $210 million dollar pretty boys!!!!!
Dukefinadv
I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I hate the fact that we T.O. on our team. There is no doubt he’s a good athlete and one who helped the Eagles get ot a Super Bowl. I would like to see Dallas just give him his walking papers. Unlike Philly, Dallas doesn’t need TO to get to a Super Bowl ( we have been to nine )
Now, Mt. Union made a statement this past weekend and will make another when they play Capital. This week though the Game of the week has to Whitewater and Lacrosse.
And as far as the Yankees go. ALL OF US REGULAR JOES would play for the Yankees too if the chance was given to us and a huge contract. I personally hate them, but would take uncle Georges money
blackhats……my take……Ferrum did not look as good as I expected and Maryville looked like a decent football team. Take away two big plays and it was 20 to zip. Ferrum has some athletes but never quite looked in sync. Course, you have to give credit to the Maryville D. Lots of youth on both teams. We’ll see how decent the Scots are against CNU this weekend. It is HC at MC so hopefully the Scots can rise up. Especially after the Methodist HC fiasco last year. Hey…the Hightower kid is a good running back. And only a Fr. If he can stay for 4 years and remain healthy, he will put his name in the MC record book.
not to go back in time, but you’ve rekindled some vivid memories I have of that incredible ’04 DelVal – Fisher playoff game The interesting thing about the game was that Aggie placekicker Bil Miller was suspended for that game due to missing practice on Thanksgiving (or something like that) and Mangus was not going to kick any field goals or extra points. Throughout the game, DelVal moved the ball and had 2 or 3 drives stall inside the 5-yard line with no points to show. Eventually, Fisher scored to take an 8 point lead with a little over 3 minutes to go. So when DelVal scored to tie the game (of course converting a 4th down play and the 2-point conversion) with a little over a minute to go, that is why Fisher tried to move the ball. On a third down pass play, DelVal intercepted with 30 or 40 seconds left, and eventually got the ball to the 3 yard line with 7 seconds left – They did not attempt a field goal like a normal team might have … so Adam Knoblouch rushed it in for the win – do or die! And that’s the rest of the story! Too bad the Aggies can’t play exciting games like that anymore … does anyone want to hear another story?? like last weeks game against Lebanon Valley… perhaps another time.
Union puts up another W, does this tell us anything? I have no idea what to make of the dutchmen, I feel there are two clear cut possibilities. The 3 times I have seen them so far I have been less than impressed. I have yet to really feel the defense can be trusted and without Angiletta the O is as inconsistant as they have been in the past three seasons. Yet as I look back this was also the case mid-year last year (with the exception of the loss to Springfield this year). Either the dutchmen are a sleeping Giant (as we hope) or they are truly not a playoff team. Which Union will we see in the next few weeks. We know now that no game will be a gimme in the LL.
Does anyone know what is going on with the quarterback situation at Mount Union or is there not a situation?
My guess, by history alone says there is no situation. LK has used two QB’s in the past which can provide major headaches for opposing defenses. If this does not jeopardise the O performance and it gives you an advantage why not?
Jorris is a senior and Micheli is a soph so get him ready for next year and he is seeing all types of game situations garbage to crunch. Nice problem? to have in my opinion.
You speak true Raiderguy, but watching the game on Saturday, I thought that Micheli had better speed, agility, and footwork……….IMO. But we all know when you have a guy like Garcon to throw to, he can make any QB look good at times.
I agree that no game in LL will be a gimmee. This year there seems to be great balance…of all the leagues with AQs the LL has the highest percentage of teams with overall records of .500 or above (6 of 7). Except for RPI the average margin of victory is less that 7 pts. Hopefully,this years Union team will catch fire at this point in the season;as did last years’