I just watched the video, it was a blatant hold and a good call. B!tch all you want about the timing of the call, the hold was obvious and that should be called, hard stop.

That said, it was a pretty atrocious defensive call and play on the field on that down. Hail Mary's happen, but they shouldn't happen with a guy wide open in the front corner of the endzone with 8 guys playing deep.

If that one bro didn't chuck his helmet after the play, maybe they could've had another decent shot a second time around.

Quote from: Ice Bear on December 14, 2024, 02:52:50 PMBethel down 3 with 5 seconds left, they throw it to the end zone, and score to win the game on the very last play...only to be erased by a ****ing holding call at the LOS. What a ****ing Homer call if I'VE EVER SEEN ONE. Let the players decide the game. Bethel players did, Susquehanna players gave up a TD on the last play of the game and were completely bailed out by the officials.

Well...was it a hold?

Sorry Bartman, I just realized I  called Hobart's offense 'mediocre'. No offense intended. 😬

Quote from: hazzben on December 12, 2024, 03:15:04 PMWell, Landmark Conference boards are a graveyard, so I thought I'd come get my fix from Ice Bear and the LL folks. You've likely got a decent scouting report on Sus from within your region. Here's what I threw out on the MIAC Board earlier.

Quote from: hazzben on December 12, 2024, 03:06:45 PMFound this analysis and breakdown of the Bethel v Sus game from Logan Hansen interesting.

This will be by far the most balanced offense we've faced all year. Coe/Wartburg were very good running teams, SJU/Syverson could throw it all over, but this is a unique combo. It'll be really interesting to see if we can take away the run to make them one dimensional and let our pass rush loose. We seem to be relatively healthy, and having Devon Williams playing to form was huge last week. Loved the way we stuck with the run, even though we weren't getting huge gains, need more of that this week. Also feel like Kidder is due for a breakout game, but we'll see. Sus will definitely have plenty to say about all of this!

The Elrich, La Mons, and Howes all appear to be absolute dudes. Our D has been cooking and has some really elite pieces in Jung, De Wall, and Williams but this will be a massive test. At first blush it looks like we've got a slight edge on O, but SJU felt the same way and the edge proved to be insufficient. What's the dirt!! (hook a brother up Ice Bear  )

Susquehanna D got kind of shredded by a mediocre Hobart Offense. Don't know a ton about Bethel other than comparing scores against SJU between the 2. I think if it's a shootout, Susquehanna has the edge, but if Bethel's D can manage to stop Sasquatch on Offense a few times, Bethel wins.

Kind of got the vibe right from the jump Saturday that Springfield had brought their A-game. They also confirmed that Cortland just wasn't the same team as last year, which I think everyone kind of felt all season long. Reality though is while Cortland might not be as strong, they are still top tier looking at what Susquehanna is doing. Puts Hobart in a pretty good light as well IMO, even with a loss. I think Cortland's defense and special teams just put them in a tough spot to where they have seemingly been needing to come back more than they had hoped several times this year.

Springfield can always beat anyone if they get out to the lead. I feel like it's always been that way, but they are definitely a little more dynamic and less one-dimensional this year as well. We all know NCC is phenomenal, but Springfield impressed me and if they aren't overly intimidated, they could definitely hold their own next week. If they start poorly, it's also possible they lose by 4+ TDs.

I think Sasquatch has a really good shot at getting to the next round seeing Bethel got beat up by St. John's twice.

I think Salisbury knocks off Mt. Union. Though I also hope they do it gracefully compared to what I've seen them do in past seasons.

Mary Hardin-Baylor kind of snuck up on everyone, and I think they are definitely a dark horse to win the entire thing again, but Johnny Hopkins is hitting their stride(again adding to the LL wasn't THAT down conversation).

It's a fun final 8. Would love to see 2-3 'regulars' get knocked off next week.

Quote from: Jonny Utah on December 05, 2024, 12:35:19 PM

Quote from: Bartman on December 05, 2024, 12:23:48 PMWas 2024 a down year for the LL? On balance, the answer is yes , but some of that is the best teams just did not get it done against a more difficult OOC schedule.  LL was 24-10 last year against a lighter OOC schedule, but having a 14-15 result in 2024 was not good. Last year we had 2 teams in the playoffs but only had our automatic this year. Ithaca and Union were rewarded with top 25 rankings by both going 1-1 in the NCAA playoffs last year.  Unfortunately, Hobart will unlikely crack the Top 25 in the D3.com poll. Perhaps the NPI rankings were more accurate where Hobart was #20. Quick team review:

Hobart(+), improved over 2023 but couldn't beat 2 strong OOC teams
Ithaca(NC), looked about the same as last year except for the loss to a stronger Hobart team
Union(--), dropped from an NCAA playoff team to a losing record
RPI(-), was slightly down compared to a bowl win last year , lost to Rochester
Rochester(+), improved considerably but lacked the depth to finish well
St Lawrence(NC) , St.Lawrence, beating a down Union team not enough to show improvement
Buffalo State(+), slight improvement over last years performance, beating Uof R

So 3 teams improved( Hobart, UofR and Buffalo), 2 teams were unchanged(Ithaca and SLU) and two of the traditionally "top 4 " had down years, with Union having the biggest drop off.This is , my opinion only, but based on performance in the post season, I think Hobart rallying in a 42-35 loss to #6 SU was a better look for the league than Ithaca getting crushed 42-0 by #7 Randolph Macon in the 2023 playoff. Bottom line, yes it was a down year for the LL overall and will be reflected in the D3.com league rankings when the dust settles.

I think as Oline89 has pointed out the QB situation is the biggest issue this year.  I also don't think Ithaca is the same as they were last year although they did figure out their QB situation as the season progressed.  But Wingfield made IC a different team than IC was after they got hurt.  Not sure what happened to the RPI QB but he dropped a notch as did the RPI QB.  I only saw the Hobart QB once and he was not impressive (compared to a Boyes type player).  But that is how football generally goes.  You need that QB to separate yourself from the rest of the pack.

Jonny Utah's posts have dropped a notch, as did Jonny Utah's posts.

Quote from: ICAlum16 on December 03, 2024, 08:55:06 AMA bit of a discussion question for the group, would you all consider this a down year for the LL? Ithaca, RPI and Union all having relative down years and Hobart being bounced in the first round. Curious to hear everyone's thoughts!

I think overall it's a slightly 'down' year, but nothing like the year 5-5 St. Lawrence went to the postseason. The LL was a tiny notch below some beasts this year, they just couldn't win the big games. But I don't think the talent level and competitiveness took a major hit.

Ithaca/RPI were as good as Endicott. Endicott narrowly lost to Hardin-Simmons and Cortland. Ithaca narrowly lost to Johns Hopkins and had a shot against Cortland. Hobart lost in OT to Randolph-Macon and just lost by 7 to Susquehanna. I feel like our teams were right there, they just couldn't win the big ones when it mattered. Having Union be down again didn't help. Rochester was a bit of a paper lion where they were actually pretty good most of the year, but 1 injury decimated them and they just weren't super competitive after that.

I think we will look at it as a down year when all the dust settles, but I think there's reason to be optimistic. If Cortland/Endicott etc are considered top tier these days, we aren't far behind and might see 1 or more top 10 teams in the next few years. I feel like the 'gap' in D3 has closed considerably.

Quote from: Ice Bear on November 30, 2024, 02:09:56 PMGlad to see they are fighting though. 28-7 just wasn't what I expected to see.

I'm a mess. I flipped over to live stats and it showed no time left. But it's still the 4th. Disregard anything I type.

lol. The Cortland game finally came one and I didn't realize the game was over. Haha.

Quote from: Ice Bear on November 30, 2024, 01:44:37 PMI feel badly for Hobart. I was confident this would be a much closer game. Either way great season for the Pumpkins. LL's got some work to do.

Giving up so soon?

I sure am glad I paid $11.99 to watch the Cortland/Endicott 'Technical Difficulties' screen.

Happy Thanksgiving! On the coaching tree conversation, maybe I'm a little partial, but the 3 below came up under Coach King at RPI:

Brian Surace - Line Coach and OC for RPI from 1999-2004 under Coach King. HC at FDU-Florham for almost 2 decades now.

Paul Lapolice - QB/receivers and OC under Coach King from 1997-1999. Went to the CFL in 2000 where he's had 2 HC stints and has won 2 Grey Cups.

Matt Patricia - played for Coach King and started his coaching career at RPI. Went on to win 3 Super Bowls with the Patriots and was the HC for the Lions.

Pretty impressive group right there.

Alrighty, it's just about time to start prepping for Thanksgiving, but I'll throw in some quick picks:

Mach's Thanksgiving Eve Playoff Predictions

Endicott - 24
Cortland - 42
I think Endicott keeps this close in the first half and Cortland runs away with it in the last 2 quarters. While last year's game was really close, I don't think Endicott is as good(nor is Cortland), but Cortland has a knack of winning and will keep it rolling until they get to North Central.


Hobart - 21
Susquehanna - 31
I'll be pulling hard for Hobart. If I were betting on the game, I'd take Sasquatch. Though I think it has the makings to be a really good one. My heart says pumpkins, but my brain leans 'Squatch.

UMass-Dartmouth - 35
Springfield - 42
UMD looks like they might have a pretty high-powered offense. Everyone has known for decades, to beat Springfield, you have to stop the run and drain the clock. I don't think UMD will be able to do that. They gave up 42 to Plymouth State. I think it's a scorefest and Springfield hangs on after having a 3 TD lead.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!

Weekend went pretty much as anticipated outside of Alfred getting throttled by WesConn. That was a little surprising and sucky for the E8. Looks like Rochester came out swinging or Brockport came out limping, but 35 points for Brockport in the 2nd half is pretty wild. I looked in the 3rd and Brockport looked to be coming back, then it felt like 10 minutes later it was out of hand. Overall decent showing by Rochester, at least for a half.

Endicott looks to have also started out really slow. Wonder if they were playing it safe or were just flat, but the final was in-line with what we all expected. That said, I have a feeling Cortland puts a hurting on them now.

Look forward to the Hobart game. Go get 'em pumpkin heads!

Quote from: Bartman on November 22, 2024, 11:24:47 AM

Quote from: Machiavelli on November 22, 2024, 09:24:54 AMTrolls get muted. You've joined the ranks of Frank Rossi. It's been fun. Enjoy celebrating mediocrity.

Thanks Mach , I was having a good day, now you've triggered me with the Frank Rossi reference. Give JacketPride a chance to adjust...and no more Rossi references....pretty please

I actually thought I had been relatively easy going for the most part, trying to make a funny here or there and move on, but the dude just keeps coming at me. <Muted> And sorry about the FR reference. Won't happen again.