I think you can point to a few oddities about this years Wabash team.  I thought there was some questionable offensive play calls late in games.  The talent wasn't there at a couple positions, and the talent that was out there was sometimes overrated IMO.  I thought weather might have been a factor in one loss (not an excuse). 

But at the end of the day, Wabash proved they had the ability to beat GOOD teams.  When you can beat good teams and then lose to bad teams (no disrespect intended) that tells me you have a lack of concentration and/or poor leadership.  I think there were some kids on that team that wanted to win but didn't give it the amount of focus required to win consistently.

Quote from: smedindy on December 10, 2012, 07:28:00 PM
Meanwhile, back at the NCAC...

If DPU brings back Bill Lynch, are the last few seasons just a dream?

I personally am hoping they hire Lynch, because it would make for excellent Stag fodder.  I also think he's a bit of a proven loser and I think he would have a hard time recruiting based on his history with the school.  Bell seems to have the most impressive credentials.  If I were a DPU fan, that's who I would be most excited about.

My interpretation of the article was that DPU desperately needs field turf and are scared to install field turf in Blackstock because they don't want to show favoritism towards a men-only sport.  They want to install it in several locations simultaneously in a gesture of equality.

Surely with their fancy new bookstore/Starbucks and constant building around campus they could afford 1.5 mil for the turf.  It's not that much money in the grand scheme of their annual budget, is it?  Maybe they could get Dreyer & Reinbold BMW to sponsor the stadium???


I will say that I like their new helmets a lot better.  That might be the first nice thing I've ever said about DPU.  Mark it down.

My understanding is that different programs teach different footwork to offensive linemen.  I know that sometimes takes some time for a student to re-learn his fundamentals and it can look ugly until they get comfortable with the new approach.  That could be a contributing factor to the line's debut.  I also know that lines generally improve with play and communication.  Hopefully these guys are quick learners - like by October quick learners.

I also think that Hanover probably made a lot of adjustments to their D after the first week expecting Wabash to load up on the run.  I didn't spend much time studying the Hanover D - I should have paid more attention to how many guys they were putting in the box, but I was trying to watch our o-line and WRs.  It's tough to catch everything live.

Also noteworthy: Wabash and Wheaton are the cheapest private schools in the top 100.

Quote from: newcardfan on November 27, 2011, 01:41:59 PMtouche. however you wheaton guys showed that you are not true cciw "homers" by coming out and saying how "happy" you would be if nc lost. that's fine with me. however if you'r gonna dish it out be prepared to get it back. i know you guys are sick of nc winning and not being your doormat anymore-but get used to it we're not going back down any time soon. let the war continue...on the cciw page.

I would suggest getting your own thread in the general football section.  You can discuss each other's proclivities towards farm animals, co-eds of ill repute, fashion editions of student newspapers, whose underclassmen have the most European cars, and who drinks more Cosmos.  That's usually good for about 30 pages before it gets "out of hand."

The game definitely needs to be available on DVD.  Hopefully the NCAA restrictions on such practices will not prevent that from happening.  Definitely one for the ages.

Quote from: BashDad on November 22, 2011, 12:10:59 PM
Over the course of the remaining weeks, Belton got more decisive, killed Witt in the first 30 minutes, and then REALLY hasn't been asked to do anything for two weeks. So. I don't know. Here we are.

NCC wins every argument right now that centers around statistics. They just do. There's too much in their favor. But I'm not ready to concede that our strengths, even if statistically suspect with the SOS numbers, are somehow tossed to the bin of irrelevance.

You and I are on the same page on these two points 100%.

Lots of good banter on this game.  I think the factor that the stats do not illustrate is that Wabash played basically the first half of several games.  You really cannot look at things like total number of punts and consider it a meaningful statistic.  When your team is up by 21-30 points in the first half of games you get a lot of garbage time statistics.  I doubt NCC was afforded that luxury in the CCIW.

The other thing not really being discussed is that this looked like a very average Wabash team through 7 weeks.  An average Wabash team is better than most, but let's be honest, through 7 weeks this team didn't look like it would compete with some of the past Wabash playoff teams.  Since the Gator game, however, they've been great, and most of the mistakes that plagued them early in the season have been eliminated.  This season has been ER's best - the team has grown by leaps and bounds.  So, to our NCC friends, I don't think that looking at the tale of the tape is going to tell you the story of Wabash's season and who you face this week.  This team is light years better than they were even a month ago. 

Let's hope that injuries don't rear their ugly head and Wabash can put the team they have built on the field - that's my #1 concern.

Wow.  That's the second coming of the "I won't listen to you bad mouth America" speech from Animal House.  LOL.  Great post.

I think Wabash's injury situation might be being underplayed a little.  Seems like a lot of guys are playing hurt or at much less than 100%.  Just because a guy's out there doesn't mean he is healthy.  I know everyone is beat up in week 10, but it's a huge disadvantage not to have a bye week to let some guys heal.

On a lighter note, I really hope WabashTV goes well, but that seems like an iffy proposition.  I have tried to listen to some games this year, even going so far as downloading a realplayer app on my phone to try to listen and it just never seems to work.  And we still have never gotten a reprint of last year's Monon Bell DVDs even though they sold out really quickly.  Maybe we'll get some good basketball coverage out of WABTV.  That would be nice.

Quote from: smedindy on October 29, 2011, 01:11:15 PM

Quote from: BashDad on October 29, 2011, 01:09:50 PM
I wonder how much Allegheny paid Garrison Keillor to do their color. I didn't know he did that.

I thought it sounded more like Marty Funkhouser

LOL.  I signed on here just to post this exact thing. 

I wrote a letter to the Bachelor about the use of "Wabash Always Fights."  It's included in this weeks edition.  Since several readers here go to all the games, it would be great if you would take a moment to read.

http://bachelor.wabash.edu/

Serious question:

Why is the physical incarnation of Wally Wabash completely different than the Wally Wabash we have all come to know and love?  Has anyone else noticed it looks like Wally was in a back alley fight?  The new Wally is terrible.

BB16 nailed it.  Chase makes some beautiful throws and some amazingly athletic plays.  He escapes sacks that he has no business escaping.  But if he would throw the ball away instead of taking sacks he would add 50+ yards to the offense every week.  You can get away with that against the second tier opponents.  You cannot against good competition.

And I will also say that the game was never in doubt.  Wabash was rolling.  Hard to maintain intensity when you have laid the proverbial smackdown on the other team in the first quarter.  That TD before halftime was a fluke broken coverage play.  OWU had nothing for Wabash's A game.