Our look around Week 2

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Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman discuss Week 2 in Division III, from the mild surprise out West, to the Springfield offense, to the extreme one-week swing for Christopher Newport. Also discussed: St. John’s, Wesley, Delaware Valley, Albright, Wabash, Linfield, Hardin-Simmons and Salisbury, among others.

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9 thoughts on “Our look around Week 2

  1. Nice job, guys.

    My one bone of contention — it’s tough to say Delaware Valley’s defense let down the team by giving up 17 points in the fourth. Ten of those 17 points came after Del Val gave up the ball at midfield and its own 22 leaving Wesley with great field possession. The offense gained 43 yards (two first downs) on seven second half possessions. The only second-half scoring drive was set up by the defense forcing a turnover inside Wesley’s 10. I’m not sure how much more can be expected from the Del Val defense.

  2. Gordon – I just got back from the Eagles game in Green Bay (nice job Andy Reid!!) and have a few questions for you. Did you prematurely bury the MAC last week? Albright squashes Kean, Widener beats NC Wesleyan (who almost beat Wesley) and Del-Val, without leading rusher Jake Sheffield, almost (and looks like should of) beat Wesley. I thought that with Wesley’s experience and speed on that track, they would have blown out a young Del-Val team. I guess you’d have to go Widener, Albright, Del-Val and Wilkes in that order right now?

    It’s a shame that Sheffield has been out. I wonder if he would have made a difference in the first two games. Your thoughts?

    Duke

  3. Duke:

    Thanks for the questions.

    Yeah, I probably overreacted to the MAC’s 0-6 start in Week 1. I didn’t see the Albright win coming, though I originally predicted victories for FDU, Widener and Leb Val going back to the Kickoff special. The real lesson is probably don’t overreact based on one week’s results. I “learn” that lesson every year but never really learn it.

    On Del Val, I underestimated how good this defense would be in my Wesley prediction. I thought there was no way the team could lose six key seniors without taking a step back but the unit is outstanding again.

    While the Aggies’ offense has sputtered, I’m not sure how much of that is attributable to Sheffield’s absence. A few people around the program told me that Iona’s run defense was so good it wouldn’t have mattered who had the ball. And Matt Cook nearly had 100 yards against Wesley (92 yards, 22 carries, 2 TDs). The bigger problems have been protecting Isgro and converting on third downs (21.9% this season). The lowest conversion rate in the MAC last year was 26.3% (Susquehanna).

    As for MAC predictions, Albright’s stock has certainly risen and Wilkes’ has dropped. I really like Tanner Kelly but I don’t want to go nuts on Albright yet. They did give up 42 points to Salisbury (who I also like) in week one. If Widener can establish a running game to balance their passing attack, they are certainly the favorites now. I’m looking forward to seeing how they compare with Wesley.

  4. Chris Sharpe was something on Saturday night at Union. What was interesting to me was that he seemed to blend in with that triple option so well. Meaning he didn’t stand out as obviously as you would think he would. To me that means he is very very dangerous, maybe even more so than his numbers suggest (and his numbers suggest a lot!). I wonder though can that defense hold up for Springfield against top rated opponents. I thought Union looked great for reloading the way they have. Civetti looked great for his first game. His two picks were clearly him forcing the ball which I think will change with experience. One thing about Marotti last year as good as he was his recievers made him look great and were a huge part of his numbers. he tended to make a lot of mistakes and poor throws during each game (he still was a really good QB). I think this Civetti kid has the potential to help the Dutch reload and could surprise a few people this year and help build a solid foundation for the next. I also was very impressed with the Union D. They seemed very collective and I felt they made Springfield work hard for most of the yards they got. I don’t know how many fourth downs Springfield had but it was more than a few. Anyway can Springfield beat top notch teams this year? I don’t know but I do know it is fasinating to watch an offense in which you know exactly what they are going to do but you still cannot stop them.

  5. I would recommend just subscribing and having iTunes check subscriptions every day so when you open iTunes it looks, finds the podcast and downloads it for you.

  6. ryancoleman – I’m subscribed, but for a while there, only Week 1 was showing up on the iTunes page.

    Pat & Co. – Week 2 is showing up (and downloading) now. Thanks!

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