FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

I watched the game, Jagran! You don't have to tell me that! Yeesh.

[wally_wabash]

So, yeah, it was what it was in Crawfordsville today.  I think we got what we expected...maybe not the number of home run plays Wabash hit on, but we expected one sided and we got it.  I won't gush too much about the ridiculous half Belton had.  It all has to be tempered a bit here because the opponent was really overwhelmed.  There's a stronger test coming next week and that will be a better barometer.  Not sure there's much to break down about this one.  HH's INT return was ridiculous.  HH's forced fumble was also ridiculous.  I'm a big fan of HH. 

[DagarmanSpartan]

Next week's matchup with Oberlin could prove interesting.

Case has a 26 game winning streak against the Yeoman (are there any longer series winning streaks in Division III?), and ordinarily, playing them at home wouldn't cause me much concern.

HOWEVER, with two wins, Oberlin appears to be a little bit tougher this year than usual.

Could this be the year that Oberlin upsets its geographical (only about 1.5 hours away) rival?

[BashBacker#16]

How good is Houston Hodges?  He's the best corner we have had since Dustin Deno (part of the Knott/Boulais '02 Elite 8 team).  He is really fun to watch.

A comment on Chase Belton yesterday...I thought when he ran the ball today, he ran with authority and decisiveness that I haven't seen - he got chunks in a hurry.  If he can continue to do that, he will be a beast for opposing D's.

Looks like Witt's Cooper went down in the 1st half with a knee injury (carted off) but returned in the 2nd half.

DePauw's QB Schweir is out of the season from what I have heard.

Over 5,100 in attendance at Wabash yesterday.

[bashbrother]

With #5, #7, #13, & #14 from the D3Football Top 25,  losing,   Look for #15 Wabash & #16 Witt to move up a couple of spots.

One general observation from yesterday:

Obviously we dominated in all aspects,  but from the "Room for Improvement" Category,  I hope this developing Wabash Defense can find a way to start to get more pressure on opposing QB's.   Kenyon's Dan Shannon was a pretty efficient passer in the first half and he seemed to have plenty of time and room to throw the ball...  Outside of the Chicago game where the LG's had 6 sacks,  we have a total of 3 sacks in the 3 other games this season.  (0 sacks yesterday) Does anyone have an info on CJ Gum? 

Now,  I will say that we have seen a ton of 3 step drop quick passing or they have been starting in the shotgun and throwing to short and quick routes,  which makes getting pressure tough.

On a very positive note:   This defense may give up a few yards, but it has done a tremendous job this year of keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard.   Thru 4 games this year,  Wabash has allowed 21 pts.  (5.25 pts/game avg.)  after the same first four games last year,  the LG's had given up 55 pts (13.25 pts/game avg.)

Again, there are a ton of bright spots on this defense.

WAF!

[BashBacker#16]

Bashbro,

I talked to CJ after the game and he'll be fine, should be back this week.  He's not concerned but anxious to come back.

I think when we want to get pressure, we do and bring a variety of blitzes.

BB16

[ADL70]

139 yards worth of penalties for Case vs. only 10 on ONE call for Gheny (can you say HOME TOWN JOB???) kept Gheny in the game.

I didn't recall that great a discrepancy, so I checked the play-by-play.  It was a scorekeeper error on the delay of game before the two-point try.  The penalty was scored back to the Case 8, not the Allegheny 8.  So it was counted as 89 yards not 5.

[bashbrother]

Great News 16,   Thanks!

[wally_wabash]

How good is Houston Hodges? 

Very.  I can't believe he's been playing college football for a month.  How good is he going to be when he has 25-30 games behind him? 

A comment on Chase Belton yesterday...I thought when he ran the ball today, he ran with authority and decisiveness that I haven't seen - he got chunks in a hurry.  If he can continue to do that, he will be a beast for opposing D's.

I'll be interested to see if he can blast through the middle of defenses other than Kenyon's.  Seems like the option worked well every time they ran it.  It's amazing how that play opens up when the defense can't just forget about the RB.  Chase was awesome yesterday though.  That's about as good a half of football you can play, regardless of opponent. 

With #5, #7, #13, & #14 from the D3Football Top 25,  losing,   Look for #15 Wabash & #16 Witt to move up a couple of spots.

One general observation from yesterday:

Obviously we dominated in all aspects,  but from the "Room for Improvement" Category,  I hope this developing Wabash Defense can find a way to start to get more pressure on opposing QB's.   Kenyon's Dan Shannon was a pretty efficient passer in the first half and he seemed to have plenty of time and room to throw the ball...  Outside of the Chicago game where the LG's had 6 sacks,  we have a total of 3 sacks in the 3 other games this season.  (0 sacks yesterday) Does anyone have an info on CJ Gum?

Now,  I will say that we have seen a ton of 3 step drop quick passing or they have been starting in the shotgun and throwing to short and quick routes,  which makes getting pressure tough. 

QB pressure isn't always manifested in the sack number.  They didn't sack Shannon yesterday, but they put some hits on him.  They also hounded Barnes in the opener at Wooster, and Espinosa took a ton of shots.  If Wabash is reducing offenses to quick dink and dunk stuff, then Wabash is doing well.  No big plays and then eventually HH gets tired of that nonsense and takes the ball away from some poor receiver.  The defense has given up three scores in four games.  They've forced 16 turnovers in four games.  Teams are just 2-8 in the red zone against this defense...which means they don't get deep on Wabash's half of the field often and when they do, they still don't score.  Whatever Coach Hammer and these players are doing, it is all correct. 

[smedindy]

It would help if some schools recorded the QB Hurry stat, like Wabash does.

[bashbrother]

Seriously, was there a quarterback on the planet that had a better first half then the one Mr. Chase Belton put up yesterday?

I hope he gets some press for the effort.

Amazing to watch, probably was great to see in person.

[bashbrother]

Seems groundskeepers in Jacksonville got a little confused today

[wally_wabash]

Seems groundskeepers in Jacksonville got a little confused today

Scotty Hansen pointed that out to me earlier on the Red Zone.  How the heck does that happen?

[bashbrother]

Wally...  I don't know how that happens either...but will only say:

http://youtu.be/VCDnR6Px-co

[DPU3619]

Seems groundskeepers in Jacksonville got a little confused today

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY