WOO: Nice finish winning their last two games. Both the D + O lines improved as the year went on, that is a good sign for next season. Wide-outs again were not as productive as the tight ends, with Miska and Schrock both graduating, it will be interesting to see how the passing game looks next year. Shep will be solid as long as the O-line continues to improve and add that to QBs mobility and the O should be competitive. With Geffert graduating, the D-backs will be pressed to improve next year.     

WOW - Woo put a great effort against Bash, shocked me. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel after all. Rushing game was impresive, with Shep being a senior next year who is waiting in the wings to carry on when he is gone?

WAF78 - Stats don't mean anything when you win, but if you notice, Woo hasn't enjoyed a lot of winning this year, ( the 2 teams they beat have 2 wins combined although OW has played some competative football) When you are loosing, stats can be a roadmap to problems.

Scotlass - I do agree that the D and O lines have not done their part, but what bothers me with the D-bakfield (and that inludes the linebackers) is the seperation that opposing receivers are getting early in their routes. Also, the fact that receivers are getting behind our coverage and our covers not playing the ball. When you are 3 or 4 seconds into a play and your man is looking back, turn and contest the ball. I hope that you are right about good things for the future. GO SCOTS!

WOO Reality! If Woo gets within 3 touchdowns of Wabash, I will be surpised. They did show improvement offensively against Allegheny, as the Scots had a total of 311 yards of offense. That is close to 50 yards better than their average. They should be able to put some points on the board against Wabash, but the D will have it's problems, especially in the passing game. Wabash is averaging near 300 yards a game in the air compared to less than 100 yards per game on the ground. The Woo D backfield has been suspect so far,  giving up an average of 243 yards per game. They gave up 262 yards to Allegeheny last Saturday. My guess is that Wabash will be looking to air it out against Woo. If the Woo D-backs can upgrade their performance, it could get interesting against Wabash. But that's a big IF. 

WOO WINS - By a hair! Wow, what a change in atmosphere without the band.
Hiram gave Woo all they could handle. They played hard for the most part and seemed more willing to hit people than in the past. They still had a couple of guys who seemed to work harder to avoid hitting someone than it would of took to just get in there. Their D was pretty solid and the D backfield played well although they still have a week spot there. I was impressed by their freshman wideout, he has good size and soft hands. It is good to see Hiram showing improvement, as improvement of the traditionaly weaker teams can only help the conference as a whole.
As far as Woo goes, they need to work harder if they plan to add any more wins this season. The O line has to make some consisitent holes for Shep. QB's have to work on their ability to throw down field. There are no standout players right now, those that were predicted to be standouts, better stand up and get it done.

WOO - In this weeks updates on Woo's homepage, it mentions the fantastic finishes that have happened at Papp stadium over the last few years. My favorite is the Allegheny game of last year. Any others that stand out?

Swearingen caught a 43-yard touchdown on a Hail Mary pass as time expired, giving Wooster a thrilling 27-21 victory over Allegheny. The win keeps the Fighting Scots in the hunt for the NCAC title. Swearingen had also given Wooster a 14-13 lead on a touchdown reception early in the third quarter and ended up with a team-high 69 receiving yards. 

WOO - As far as Woo's secondary goes, Geffert and the boys have a lot of work to do. It remains to be seen if they can live up to all the hype. It's a big change for them, having to play without all of the support they had last year. Graduation has left many returning Scots wondering what happened.

Hiram should be a breather for the Scots. There secondary can be porous, good time for the Scot wideouts to try and stretch the field. I am familiar with a few of the Hiram freshman, they were very successful in high school. They were two way players in high school, Hiram might have them positioned on the wrong side of the ball at the moment, as their D needs a lot of help. Hiram has some good young talent, it will be interesting to see if they are utilized poperly.

A WOO WIN!
Woo finally found a way to put a 1 in their win column. Saturday saw two evenly matched teams fight it out. At times it was a fun game to watch and at other times it would put you to sleep. It was good to see so many players from the past there to cheer on their Scots. I was a little troubled at the march to the field by the Scots, as it didn't have the same WOW factor as in the past. The Pipers were hard to here and the overall timing of it was off, but OWU still waited in the wings till it was over. The band, overall, seemed to lack some of the energy that they always displayed in the past.
I am still concerned about the play of the wideouts, it would be nice to see the Scots be able to use them to stretch the field a little bit.   

WOW WOO!  The class of 07 is looking better all of the time.
Everyone is pounding pretty hard on Schmitz. I guess rightfully so, but the reality is great players make for a great team. There are very few coaches that can produce wins if the talent isn't there. Right now Woo is in shock mode after loosing so much talent to the 07 graduations and their future nucleus is very young.  They tout this year's freshman class as being very good, but that remains to be seen. 

As far as Schmitz goes, he is a good coach. He cares about his kids and works hard. But, like most coaches, he leaves you pondering some of his decisions quite often. The one that haunts me the most was his decision to use Sutton as a blocking back on the last two possessions of the Carthage game. Sutton was one of the most talented playmakers in all of D3 football. This was a playoff game, a dream for many teams.  A win meant a shot at Mount and they were beatable. I believe that when your back is against the wall you should go to your best, putt Sutton under center if you have to, but get Sutton the ball.

As far as Woo's future goes, that depends on Woo spending some money to improve their athletic facilities, as many of today's athletes want all of the shiny new toys. Without that investment combined with a few loosing seasons and Woo becomes a very hard sell to future recruits.

WOOSTER is struggling to say the least. A big part of the problem is the lack of a go to wide out. This has been a problem since 04. 04 saw Mcnally and Slovensky with more receptions than the top wideout of 05 and 06. Since 04, Woo has had little luck at stretching the field with their wideouts. The game at Case was a case in point, as Woo's wideouts had trouble getting seperation. It seems obvious that Woo's staff is hell bent on putting the ball in the air, so it will be interesting to see if the wideouts can improve and take advantage of the situation. 

SEINFELD - OOOOOPS, MY BAD

I meant the classes of 07 and 05. 

Wooster a big question mark!

Woo is advertising a strong Freshman class. But, reality leans toward the fact that they will be hard pressed to reach the levels achieved by the classes of 07 and 05 and even harder pressed to reach the goal they achieved together. That is a conference championship.   

Great news for the Scots, Drushal a Brown! Rick was a major player for the Scots and an important factor to the success achieved by the class of 07. The 07 class had a great run, tying the most wins by any class. But it was a combination of classes that has the Scots wearing a championship ring. The conference championship won by Woo in 04 was a combination of talent with the class of 05 as the backbone and the class of 07 supplying the missing pieces. That group combined to create the most memorable season that the Scots have had in a long time. Neither the class of 05 or the class of 07, both very strong, were able to achieve championship level football on their own. That 04 season, crowned by the gutsy win at Ohio Weslyan will go down as one of the greatest in Woo history.   

MOUNTS SUCCESS!    Everything they have, they earned.  They weren't always a D3 powerhouse. They developed the program they now enjoy. A program that is as high profile as D3 gets. A program that is well supported by the College, by the fans and by the community. This whole program and its tremendous package of support, enables Mount to bring in large numbers of talented recruits. Great numbers, very good coaching and strong support add up to a team that will be near the top, year after year.

An adavntage is just that, it still takes planning, organization, leadership and commitment to be a winning program.  Mount has all of the above, congratulations to Mount. Other schools just have to make the most of their situation, which adds up to working harder than the rest.

WOO'S WOES: Once the change in post game meals was announced, one of the parents started a fund raiser for the kids. This fund raiser provided funds for post game pizzas for the remainder of the ear. As far as ear marking any donations for athletics, that's a no-no at Wooster. It all goes in to the general fund or building program that is being solicited.

If you think that having a lower admission standard isn't an advantage, than why do so many refer to athletes as Dumb Jocks? I, for one, don,t agree with that label, but you must admit that it is a well used tag.