Keith and I have been on the ground for a few hours, anyway, in Oregon, and since it’s 4 a.m. ET I can safely say we’re pretty beat. Former Linfield defensive lineman Ryan Carlson and his wife have opened their spare rooms to us, thankfully, and I’m fairly sure we need to sleep in in the morning so we can be fresh for the game.
Fairly certain we’re both looking forward to seeing what McMinnville and Linfield’s game day atmosphere is all about, as well as the game between Linfield and Hardin-Simmons.
We’ll have a new gameday blog post tomorrow (hint to Gordon or John — hopefully one of you can get us started) and get you tracking the other games.
Aside from our game Saturday, here’s a few quick thoughts on some other games going on:
Salisbury at No. 20 Christopher Newport: Remember that Salisbury has always been able to run the ball. Now they can throw a little bit, too. This could be a big breakout game for the Sea Gulls. Christopher Newport has to bounce back after getting pounded by Mary Hardin-Baylor last week.
No. 21 Rowan at Wilkes: Two winless teams meet in a rematch of last year’s second-round playoff game. Wilkes could go 0-3 against the NJAC if it can’t win this one, while Rowan has had a week off to get its offense together.
Rhodes at Birmingham-Southern: The Panthers play their first varsity game since 1939 in hosting their new SCAC rival. Last week’s game against the Mississippi College JV was a good warmup, but this one counts.
Wittenberg at Olivet: The Comets are 0-3 against Wittenberg lifetime and haven’t scored either.
I would have to be awake to throw out more nuggets. Talk amongst yourselves. 🙂
I too hope Gordon or John will get a “live from…” blog post going, as I’m about to head to Sherman, TX where it’s going to be a perfect day for football (sunny, high of 82). This will be my first chance to see Millsaps in person as the Majors take on the improving Austin College ‘Roos.
Ask and you shall receive…sometimes. 🙂
We’re working on it right now.
(written last night, shortly after the initial post, before I lost the wireless signal. Probably not that useful now, but thought I’d post anyway)
Yeah,
with this West Coast time, we can sleep in, get to the stadium about the time we normally would (given our East Coast body clocks) to catch the start of the 1 p.m. Eastern games, and it’ll still only be 10 a.m. … just in time for the full Linfield experience.
There are plenty of places to be tomorrow, wherever you are, enjoy. Rochester, N.Y. will be cool, with Cortland-Brockport in the morning and St. John Fisher-Rochester in the evening. Rowan-Wilkes should still be good even though the teams are winless. After Wesley’s win over Widener, there may be matters of conference pride on the line tomorrow, as the MAC, like many conferences, are still playing mostly non-conference games. For MAC teams, it’s new, as the former 11-team league rarely had to schedule more than one non-conference game, and it’s been and up-and-down experience so far. A pair of MAC teams (Lycoming, Lebanon Valley) meet former conference mates (Susquehanna, Moravian)
The ODAC tries to keep its early success going with games against teams from the USAC, CC and ACFC. The IIAC’s also been off to a good start, and gets underway playing against itself this week.
A couple odd road trips to watch: Pacific Lutheran at UW-River Falls and Carthage at Whittier.
Anyway, check the front for the top games, and stay with us all day Saturday for live updates on the scoreboard and message boards, and here on the Daily Dose.
The West Coast rules (throws up the W)
Brunch over early D3 scores. Seriously.
So early thoughts from each teams’ first series out here in Oregon …
Hardin-Simmons scored quickly, took the crowd out of it a little. Linfield completed a pass on its first offensive play, then punted to bury HSU on its 1-yard line just now (10:37 and counting) to get their crowd back into it.
HSU looks much bigger and badder than Linfield on first glance. Their middle linebacker, Eric Daniels, is an imposing 6-2, 232. Split end Travis Watson (two catches so far, including one to get them off the goal line) is listed at 6-3, 215. Their other receiver is 6-2, 187.
Big boys for D3. Plus they’ve got tatts, scowls and a generally meaner look.
Not that that means anything once you start playing, but if it turns out Hardin-Simmons is more physical than Linfield today, we have to wonder how much more physical UW-La Crosse is. The Eagles beat HSU two weeks ago 47-21.
Both of these teams are ranked but 0-1.
Justin Fester (pron feast-er) is settling in here at QB for HSU. Bought himself some time, and not making decisions super-quickly, but getting the ball off well when he does.
HSU just punted to Linfield on its second series, but bought about 40 yards to change the field position.
The first HSU score was set up with a inside draw/outside QB keeper run with Fester on the first drive. Not long after that play, HSU came back with what looked like a shovel pass (I was on field level though, it could’ve been some sort of trap with a forward pitch) for the score. Unofficially, about a 45-yard play right up the gut.
The crowd is pretty big for a D3 game and had good enthusiasm early, I thought that score might take them out of it.
Linfield just ground out a first down though and sounds like they’re back in.
Followed that with a 30-yard hookup (approx.) from Trevor Scharer to … oops, looks like a penalty is bringing it back.
Will report back later.
Linfield settling in on defense, actually both teams are.
Neither team making much of an effort to run it. Most of HSU’s carries have come from Fester, not Quinton Jones.
And just for the record, HSU uses 3 receivers and TE in most sets, Carrillo is the other one. He’s 6-2, 212. Point being. Hardin-Simmons is pretty big for a D3, where you see a lot of small, shifty listed-at-5’10” guys at receiver. Especially in the slot, where Carrillo is.
Linfield just fumbled on first down, after a shanked HSU punt. HSU recovers on Linfield’s 48 … 2:14 1st.
HSU going for it on 4th-and-1 on the Linfield 39 … Fester throws an out to Carrillo for a first down just across the 35. The crowd here was really angling for a stop.
Wondering if these teams are playing for their playoff lives here today.
HSU, if they fall to 0-2 and don’t win the ASC — and UMHB didn’t look to have much trouble with Sul Ross today — could be in a precarious position, despite playing a schedule that might prove their playoff worthiness even with losses.
Linfield, the D2 result doesn’t really hurt them, but with no automatic bid to play for (NWC’s kicks in next season), they need everything they can get, even though a NWC championship is very likely worth a playoff spot in Pool B.
As I write this, Linfield hits Drew Ragan on a screen along the far (visitor’s) sideline, which he turns into a TD. Tied at 7.
HSU starts the next series with Clint Bricker at QB. He badly underthrows an open receiver deep on his first pass, but shows grit by scrambling for about 20 yards to midfield on the next play (and by getting up after getting drilled).
HSU is sorting out its post-Jordan Neal QB situation much the way Linfield did its post-Brett Elliott situtation in the early games last year.
Scharer is starting to pick Hardin-Simmons apart. Quick rollout, short completion and some YAC on one play, then a pass to the flag (deep corner) the next, and quickly follows with a short scoring toss to Josh Vierra.
It didn’t look good at first, but Linfield remained calm and took control of this thing.
PAT blocked though. Only 13-7.
Here’s the difference between experience and youthful exuberance at QB.
HSU’s Bricker makes an ill-advised throw from about the far hash to the home sideline, which is picked off at the 39 by Linfield’s Jaymin Jackson and run back seemingly for a TD (in truth, he stepped out the at the 6, where Linfield is taking over … nice second-effort run by Ragan as a write that. Looked to be stuffed and scoots through for a score, flag comes out late and is met by boos)
Anyway, my point about Bricker’s throw … he’s probably a strong-armed kid with a lot of confidence in himself. It’s easy for me to sit here and say you never make that throw. It’s low percentage, esp. against a fast team. He’ll probably agree with me when he sees the film.
But when you aren’t out there trying to do something to win the job, as well as lead the team, and when you have the experience to know when not to allow your confidence in your ability to overtake what’s smart, you probably don’t make that throw. Especially on the road, with your team trailing.
That’s not the only reason HSU is losing of course, but it certainly didn’t help.
Linfield’s TD stood, and HSU has gone from really looking sharp early to trailing 20-6.
Fester back at QB for HSU. They maybe should have stuck with him the whole time, I didn’t think he was that bad the first time around (not that Bricker, who is bigger and looks stronger, didn’t deserve a chance) … but the QB flip-flopping is equaling no offensive rhythm for HSU and has potential to become a real disaster.
Doesn’t help that HSU doesn’t bother to run at Linfield, when they have two brand-new LBs while their 5-man secondary is a strength. But that’s not who HSU is …
Linfield is marching down the field.
Suddenly it’s becoming clear what Hardin-Simmons’ problem is. They can’t tackle, and they ain’t so hot at covering either.
The HSU offense has put the D in a couple bad positions, but this drive is all Linfield.
OK, Linfield scored there and missed the conversion. Scharer threw a bullet threw the hands of (I forget who) in the back of the end zone. 26-7.
HSU takes over with 2:39, Fester in at QB … and goes the length of the field in chunks to score with 43 seconds left. No one big play I can think of, just a lot of forward progress in 7- and 14-yard bites.
Two things:
1) HSU needs to stick with Fester. His scrambling gets them out of a lot of dead plays and keeps the offense moving forward. He seems a little quick to tuck it, but he’s always gaining yards (although some of the HSU QB runs are designed)
2) HSU can run the ball on Linfield, and they’re better when they do. Gaps are up the middle … the play I was talking about earlier was more of a wingback counter than a shovel pass. But they’ve run it 3 or 4 times with good success twice.
I’m moving the blogging over to the game day blog for today. Meet us there. 🙂