All Smiles around the household this weekend. Salisbury was able to run away with the victory against a good W&L squad that returned 80% of their starters from prior year. I was very enthused to see some familiar names that were not available last year due to injuries and such. I enjoyed how the offense clicked for the opening game, the QB looked poised for the majority of the game with the exception of the interception. When running the Spread (Triple) Option, not having a loss fumble is always great and to tope it off, the line protected well on passing situations and the QB made some good throws to allow the WR/Slot Receivers to make plays. Defensively, they started off great, but would love for them to finish and get off the field (W&L went 5 for 5 on 4th down conversions). Would love for better short yardage defense. Nevertheless, 3 turnovers (easily should of been 4) is great for a defense that plays a bend don't break style. Looking forward to them making some key adjustments to limit big plays and LBs to fill gaps and lanes. Special teams was okay, there was block fg, which is very correctible. I loved the kickoffs through the endzone. Overall, I'd give the team B, as there are somethings that correctible from both coaching and player development that can be fixed with film review. Looking forward to a big matchup against at home against a great organization in Muhlenberg. Last year matchup was surprisingly close if one would look at records. Muhlenberg had a big 2nd quarter in last year's matchup. Both teams are very familiar with each other, there will be no surprises. For Salisbury to be successful, it'll come down to player execution, making the big play when the opportunity presents itself, getting off the field and limiting big play (Muhlenberg had td drives of 9, 16,9, and 1 (99 yard bomb)). As far as coaching, Salisbury has to adjust very quickly as an offense as Muhlenberg tends to change personnel around  and change traditional defensive assignments to confuse lineman. On the defensive side, be discipline and have good anticipation. Historically Muhlenberg just takes what the defensive gives them and occasionally lulls you in and then boom a trick play (throwback to tackle/H-back), or random PA. 

CNU loses 14-3 to #7 John's Hopkins.

The good, bad and ugly,

Good. Actually superb.
Defense. CNU held Hopkins to 180 total yards of offense. 120 passing. 60 rushing. 6 sacks. Allowed only 1.5 yards per rush. You should win games when that happens.  Based on this performance, CNU has to have one of the best defenses in the nation. Top 10.

Bad
Offense. 144 total yards. 70 in the air and 74 rushing. Ha- balanced at least. QB gets knicked up and had to leave. 2nd QB comes in and is also injured. . Third string comes in and played hard but Hopkins D is relentless. Lost his helmet twice and when he had to come out, the 1st stringer went back in for a play. So I'm thinking starter is just banged up a little and coach wants him healthy for the season. Third string guy made a mistake and threw an INT deep in CNU territory that eventually led to Hopkins second TD. Gotta throw that ball away. He was trying. Just made a sophomore mistake.

Ugly
Cramps. At least 6 guys cramped up and needed help off the field. None for Hopkins. That's a problem.

Uglier
Punting. Punter wasn't taking in to account a strong crosswind and also had some really bad punts. The result ....first punt was 6 yards. Second punt 23 yards. For the game, 5 punts for an average of 26.8 yards. You can't do that and expect to win against a team like Hopkins.

Observation. The umpire had issues spotting the ball. He was making stuff up as he went along. The rest of the crew corrected him and the ball was spotted correctly. So, it didn't impact the game. But he was having issues finding his teammates on the side who were marking the ball for him. He just went rogue. It was comical.

Good win for Hopkins. That was a tough game all around and they struggled but came away with the W. That's what good teams do. Oh...their defensive coordinator is a CNU guy. So is another assistant coach.

On to Gettysburg. Congrats to John's Hopkins.

I see that Salisbury racked up another 600+ yards.. This time against a ranked team. They're looking very scary.

Another solid weekend of Football for the NJAC!

Big wins for TCNJ, Salisbury and Montclair. Got to believe Salisbury hops into the top 25 this week.

Rowan had a nice win!  Played a better first half then the second.  Always some stuff to clean up but strong showing. Will need a complete game to beat Ursinus!

Another big weekend coming up, Salisbury Hopkins should be a battle

I'm a HUGE Seagulls fan this weekend. Hoping they run absolutely rampant on what is always a very talented Hopkins team. This would be a very big win for Salisbury, very big.

Quote from: Ice Bear on September 20, 2024, 01:34:41 PMI'm a HUGE Seagulls fan this weekend. Hoping they run absolutely rampant on what is always a very talented Hopkins team. This would be a very big win for Salisbury, very big.

Thumbs up to this

Big time congrats to Salisbury for taking it to Johns Hopkins.  Well done!

-Ski

That is a HUGE win for the Gulls. They are officially back on the national scene and looked great today. Tight first half and then the Gulls took control and looked EXCELLENT in the second half. Congrats on the W that included a couple very nice passes to go along with that tough ground game.

Wow. The Gulls took care of business today! Congrats.

CNU rolled in the first half, 40-7 on 393 total offensive yards. Backup QB Connor Barry was 12-15 for 260 yards and 2 TDs before halftime.

Then CNU pulled starters on both sides of the ball. Final score was 54-37. The score listed on the d3football.com scoreboard is currently incorrect. It's showing the score as 47-15

Sophomore QB Johnson was 7-11 for 102 yards. A freshman QB finished the game.

WR Colin Hart returned after missing a game due to injury and caught 3 passes for 144 yards and 2TDs. Trey Hayes caught 7 passes for 95 yards.

Final team tally was 595 total yards. 362 in the air and 233 on the ground.

Rowan loses to Ursinus by 44 and gives up 600 total yards while only gaining 100 themselves? I've been following the NJAC a longgg time and I can't remember Rowan ever getting handled like this outside of their playoff loss against MHB in 2013.

Looks like Rowan got smoked. I was in South Bend with my son fulfilling one of my Dad's bucket list items. Dad wanted to see Notre Dame in South Bend, but apparently Agent Orange has late stage effects... ie affecting older vets... he never made it to South Bend. My Dad thought he escaped Vietnam relatively unscathed. Most of his Pennsylvania Military (Widener) class of 1965 who made it home from Vietnam died from Agent Orange related illnesses before age 50. So around 2015, he started getting nueropathy in his feet and legs.

Dad had Parkinsons and Lewy Body dementia and passed in January 2022. I wore his boonie hat from 1967-68 to the game against Miami of Ohio. It's about a 4 hour trip from where we live now. We had good seats near the player tunnel. Austin was wide eyed at his first big college game. He wondered how much the little guy in the green suit was paid... I told him that he's a college student and does it for free. Austin (almost 9) said that's cool... but I'm just as tall as he is. I said, I guess you'll never be a Leprechaun. He had a blast, and some tailgaters said a prayer for my Dad, so it was a really good time. The breaking of bread and sharing food was great. I brought a few smoked briskets which I lightly reheated and some good bread, and au jus for sandwiches.

I watched part of the Ursinus replay. Their D was very good... great penetration. They had this small RB, very quick, with thick legs... like trying to tackle a bowling ball. It made play action work so well. There's talent at Rowan... still don't know if they've got that game breaker QB of the 90's and early 00's, it will be interesting to see how the conference schedule plays out and how well Ursinus does.

Great post JT2 and I am sorry for the loss of your father. He's a hero in my book. Also so glad you and your son had a great experience together in South Bend.

I was really hoping Rowan was going to make a splash this year and hopefully they still will. I think they were taken to the woodshed on Saturday but hopefully they will respond. I have always been a closet supporter of the Profs. Thanks again for the great post.

Tough loss for the Profs.  I noticed a few key players were missing from the line-up, would it have impacted the final outcome, likely not, the Bears were a force on their home field.

A wise man said, Gotta take the good with the bad. 

Profs will have a week off before they face Hopkins in Baltimore.

Big game against our "New" Route 13 rival. Looking forward to some redemption from last year loss. With both teams coming off byes, this will be an interesting game. CNU is coming off a high scoring game against Gettysburg. Gettysburg appeared to score points late in the game, but this was well after CNU had taken a 40-7 lead. On the other-side, Salisbury had a huge win against Hopkins, which similar to CNU, held them to two scores or less. Salisbury played phenomenal game, especially second half and well into the 4th. This Salisbury team is night and day from what it was last year, you can see the leadership and character from the players. When the game was close and calls weren't going their way, there was no flinch, the players trusted the coaches and the coaches respected players input and executed the game plan and adjusted well. Looking into this weekend match against CNU, this will be Championship type of affair, both teams still have lots to prove and with both teams being well rested and having two weeks of practice, I expect this game will come down to execution. However, I wouldn't be surprise if either team tries to throw a wrinkle in there. Looking forward to a well coached game from both teams.

Yep. I love the rivalry. SU is playing lights out this year. Hopefully this is a fun and close game!
I wish I could make the trip up the Eastern Shore.