Bridgewater at R-MC is the premiere game of the weekend.

However, I'm interested in the W&L/Ferrum game. Until last week I had the ODAC pegged as two tiers:

R-MC, Shenandoah, Bridgewater, W&L and H-SC

Ferrum, Averett, Guilford

But I think maybe it's 3 tiers:

R-MC, Shenandoah, Bridgewater

W&L, H-SC, Ferrum

Averett, Guilford

Hoping not for W&L's sake, but Ferrum didn't hold up well against Shenandoah and Bridgewater but outplayed an H-SC team that I had thought was pretty good. The win against Centre and the down-to-the-wire game at W&L I thought were solid results. But other than Ferrum doing really well on 3rd and 4th down, 10/18 and 4/4, I don't see anything that stands out in that game. So it will be interesting to see how it goes this weekend.

Ferrum and W&L are both running teams, so this will be strength on strength. I expect it'll be a pretty quick game as well.

Out of curiosity I decided to check on Roanoke's fledgling football program. They are 4-0 with wins over JV teams from H-SC, Shenandoah, and Bridgewater, plus a win over Fork Union Military Academy. Their fifth and final game is next Saturday (11/3) against a club team from George Mason Universi5y.

The reinstatement of Football could not have gone better. Coach Stinespring put together a tremendous staff and recruited 61 young men (54) freshmen that have laid a solid foundation for the future. The first game packed Salem Stadium with 9,100 fans, and the second vs. Fork Union's post-grad team drew 5,500..... with our students on fall break. It is an understatement to say that the local Community has embraced the Program. Next year the competition will be much different, as Roanoke will have freshmen and sophomores against juniors and seniors in a very strong ODAC. But we are excited about the future and great fall Saturdays in Salem. We definitely have the right coaches and support staff in place. Lots of good photos on various social media sites, and here is a link to a great picture from game one.  https://www.roanoke.edu/

^^^Those are impressive attendance figures, and that's a great photo. Would be great if that kind of support continues in the coming years and if Maroon fans will travel to away games.

Calvin University in Michigan is playing it's first season of D3 football this fall. They are 2-5 and have only experienced one blowout loss, otherwise they appear to be competing well.

No idea how H-SC lost to Ferrum. This is not a good team.

RMC dominates the first half, 35-3, including two interception returns (69 yds and 32 yds) for TDs and cruises to a 49-16 win over Bridgewater.

As expected, Shenandoah easily downs Guilford 42-10.

H-SC trailed Averett 14-13 at halftime, but took over in the final 30 minutes to win 42-21.

W&L shuts out Ferrum 34-0.

Quote from: jknezek on October 26, 2024, 04:18:19 PMNo idea how H-SC lost to Ferrum. This is not a good team.

Maybe there really are only two tiers in the ODAC:

1) RMC, Bridgewater, Shenandoah, W&L
2) H-SC, Ferrum, Averett, Guilford

Quote from: y_jack_lok on October 26, 2024, 07:42:37 PM

Quote from: jknezek on October 26, 2024, 04:18:19 PMNo idea how H-SC lost to Ferrum. This is not a good team.

Maybe there really are only two tiers in the ODAC:

1) RMC, Bridgewater, Shenandoah, W&L
2) H-SC, Ferrum, Averett, Guilford

Maybe. But H-SC is way better than Averett and Guilford. And from what I saw today vs a couple weeks ago, they should have been way better than Ferrum. I suspect they just had a really bad week after losing the heartbreaker to W&L

^^^So a modification of your three tiers?

1) RMC, Bridgewater, Shenandoah
2) W&L, H-SC
3) Ferrum, Averett, Guilford

Maybe. W&L has all 3 of the top tier left. Suspect they will get at least one of them.

Quote from: jknezek on October 26, 2024, 08:53:27 PMMaybe. W&L has all 3 of the top tier left. Suspect they will get at least one of them.

  H-SC the same, but only Macon at home (which probably won't make any difference). I'll be happy if they get one of the three, ecstatic if they manage two.

Quote from: jknezek on October 26, 2024, 04:18:19 PMNo idea how H-SC lost to Ferrum. This is not a good team.

Not only lost but gave up 40+ to a team averaging 17.6 in all games outside of the H-SC one. Just a truly pathetic performance on defense in that game.

Quote from: thescottharris on October 31, 2024, 03:40:27 PM

Quote from: jknezek on October 26, 2024, 04:18:19 PMNo idea how H-SC lost to Ferrum. This is not a good team.

Not only lost but gave up 40+ to a team averaging 17.6 in all games outside of the H-SC one. Just a truly pathetic performance on defense in that game.

And you don't see much in the stats that tells a story until you look at 3rd and 4th downs. Ferrum went 10/18 on 3rd and 4/4 on 4th. 14/22 is pretty bad for the defense, and when you think about trying to end drives, letting them get it on 4th kills the few 3rd down stops they actually had, so really it's 14/18. The Tigers just couldn't get off the field when it mattered and that shows in the TOP. But you look at y/carry and y/catch for Ferrum and it just doesn't seem like the game should have gone that way.

Chalk that up to a bad game or a letdown after W&L pipped them.

I would not argue with putting HSC into the second tier. They are most likely the youngest team in the ODAC. In today's win against Bridgewater, HSC started 3 freshmen on offense and 3 more on defense. There are 11 freshmen listed in the 2 deep. That's 17 guys with very little experience and all of which are playing key roles on a 5-3 team. Bridgewater by comparison has not a single freshman listed in their 2 deep. Ferrum was a butt whopping but I chalk it up to young players learning how to play college football. My guess is they will be considered an upper tier team in the very near future.

All the visiting teams prevail in the ODAC today.

In a tense one at W&L, RMC wins 20-7. The Jackets created and recovered a couple of Generals fumbles and their four scoring drives chewed up a total of 38+ minutes. The RMC defense mostly did it's job, except on W&L's 63 yard catch and run for a TD. In a different RMC @ W&L futbol score, the Generals prevail in the ODAC tournament 1-0, the goal coming on a PK.

H-SC's win at Bridgewater was aided by a couple of first half Eagles turnovers, both of which led to Tigers TDs. Not sure what happened in the 2nd half as I switched to the RMC game. I'm a bit surprised at this result, but HSCTiger fan's analysis helps put it in perspective.

Ferrum wins at Guilford 20-7.

Shenandoah has no trouble at Averett, winning 41-14.