FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Wabash Hokie -  They are now under "Athletic Dept" tab... at the bottom - "Sports Releases".

Wally - "no real "starter" per se"  - In my honest assessment,  if there has been a weakness in our team over the years, this has been been it.   Not that we haven't gotten by or even had some bright spots in that area, we have...but.

I think the trend around football is to have several backs that complement or supplement each other so someone is fresh at all times and can give the "D" different looks. If you have an absolute horse, you use him, but if you have several good backs, use them all.

While the multi-back thing has become more and more prevalent, the trend in D-III, unquestionably, has been that they with the superior workhorse back wins in Salem.  There are other factors for sure, but aside from Linfield in 2004 and maybe SJU in 2003 (Blake Elliott was technically a WR, but he ran for a bunch of yards in that Stagg Bowl), having a ridiculously talented RB to ride in December has been pretty much constant in the D3football.com era. 

But Kmics and Moores and Pughs and Coppages and Beavers don't show up every year at every school, so the rest of us have to figure out how to win this thing with the good players that we are fortunate to have.   

[BashBacker#16]

Sigma One,

Good stuff man, dig it.

Here's some more:
- Not sure we land Woods nor McCullen if they hadn't gotten hurt and missed most of their senior years.  Jacked that we did though and will be fun to watch.
- Can you imagine McCullen coming off of the edge?  When Jorge gets back, just think if they are both coming, that is 6'6" and 6'5" and both guys have long wingspans
- Tre Taylor (Center) was also a very good heavyweight wrestler for Ben Davis - team MVP.  I also read something about Ben Davis' loss in the playoffs last year against Carmel - I guess he got injured in the game and when he came out it really hurt the BD offense
- Isn't Campbell the dude that benches something like 440??
- The receiver from Ritter's name is pronounced "Shmay-hill" I believe.  He was an Indiana North/South All Star and I think he is the youngest of 10 kids!
- Not really surprised by the starting O-line but I bet ER will still play some of those guys until he decides on the right combo
- Interesting Houston Hodges is listed as a returner - that could be scary
- Love the fact Laird is wearing #7 - just a cool number in my opinion.  I haven't seen the kid play yet but he is definitely built like the McKee kid from Witt
- the QB from Arizona, the frosh, is supposed to be really good (Michael Putco - played at a huge AZ high school and he led them to the state finals)
- I loved watching Myers run last year - I remember he would come in late and just run over guys.  Our stable of backs definitely features varying styles...Holmes 215 bruiser, Hunt quick and shifty, Rowe burst and shifty, Myers bruiser with size

Ready for Saturday!  WAF!!

[smedindy]

Wabash Hokie -  They are now under "Athletic Dept" tab... at the bottom - "Sports Releases".

Wally - "no real "starter" per se"  - In my honest assessment,  if there has been a weakness in our team over the years, this has been been it.   Not that we haven't gotten by or even had some bright spots in that area, we have...but.

I think the trend around football is to have several backs that complement or supplement each other so someone is fresh at all times and can give the "D" different looks. If you have an absolute horse, you use him, but if you have several good backs, use them all.

While the multi-back thing has become more and more prevalent, the trend in D-III, unquestionably, has been that they with the superior workhorse back wins in Salem.  There are other factors for sure, but aside from Linfield in 2004 and maybe SJU in 2003 (Blake Elliott was technically a WR, but he ran for a bunch of yards in that Stagg Bowl), having a ridiculously talented RB to ride in December has been pretty much constant in the D3football.com era. 

But Kmics and Moores and Pughs and Coppages and Beavers don't show up every year at every school, so the rest of us have to figure out how to win this thing with the good players that we are fortunate to have.   

Those guys from UWW and Mt. Union don't usually have to play four quarters during the regular season, either! So they're fresh at playoff time.

[sigma one]

By the way, those 9 freshmen on the Wabash 2-Deep this week for Hanover don't exactly walk into a line up where the cupboard is empty.  On the whole, lack of experience is generally seen as a negative; it'll be interesting to see how they play.  Must be some reason they are listed as early as the opening game.

[gofor7pitt]

By the way, those 9 freshmen on the Wabash 2-Deep this week for Hanover don't exactly walk into a line up where the cupboard is empty.  On the whole, lack of experience is generally seen as a negative; it'll be interesting to see how they play.  Must be some reason they are listed as early as the opening game.

In last weeks Mount Union vs Franklin game, Mount had 3 FR listed on their 2-Deep while Franklin had 6 FR. All saw action for Franklin.

On Monday afternoon, Franklin took their Freshman over to Hanover for a game. It was 34-0 Griz before Hanover knew what what hit them. Hopefully Hanover can improve on recruiting. Little Giants should Have no problem this Saturday.  Pass, the great WR will get his though.

[TitanPride]

In last weeks Mount Union vs Franklin game, Mount had 3 FR listed on their 2-Deep while Franklin had 6 FR. All saw action for Franklin.

On Monday afternoon, Franklin took their Freshman over to Hanover for a game. It was 34-0 Griz before Hanover knew what what hit them. Hopefully Hanover can improve on recruiting. Little Giants should Have no problem this Saturday.  Pass, the great WR will get his though.

I wasn't very impressed with Passifume last week against Illinois College.  To be fair, it was his first game back in over a year and he did have 10 catches for 67 yards and a TD, which is a solid day for most WRs.  However, I was expecting more from a d3football.com Preseason All-American going against, in previous years, a below average pass defense.  Last Saturday, he was much more of a 5 yards and down type of WR than a big play threat. 

After seeing Wabash's defense in the playoffs last year, I would expect them to key on and lock him down almost entirely.  They should have quick enough DBs and a solid pass rush to limit his touches and YAC.

[BashBacker#16]

That should be a great challenge for the Hodges brothers against Passifume.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Houston Hodges locked in most of the day.  I also think the Bash D will bring some serious heat to keep the Hanover QB uncomfortable.  I didn't realize Passifume was a pre-season AA.

[BashDad]

I can't wait to see Putko kneeling in the endzone after running over a Witt linebacker---and Putko'ing (which is like Tebowing, only the crowd hisses like a Cactus Cobra, whatever that is).

Wild. Cat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERHtv2kRtAM&noredirect=1

Really excited to see the team on Saturday. Hope the Hanover feed holds on.

[wally_wabash]

I also think the Bash D will bring some serious heat to keep the Hanover QB uncomfortable. 

Completely agree here.  Coach Hammer isn't going to let Dexter Britt take shotgun snaps, stand in the pocket all day, and play catch with his A-A wideout.  Ask Ben Zoeller.  He knows.  The white shirts will be crashing the backfield pretty relentlessly on Saturday. 

[wabashsid]

Just a quick reminder for everyone. Wabash Coach Erik Raeburn will take live questions during the College's First Friday Live program Friday (9/8) from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. (EDT). Questions can be sent to Coach Raeburn via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WabashCollegeNews) or Twitter (@wabnews). You can also email your questions to harrisb@wabash.edu. You can view the program at http://www.wabash.edu/live.

[bashbrother]

We are close.... very close...

http://youtu.be/yzPPT-_hf60

WAF!

[Wabash Hokie]

Since no Dannies have posted anything about their upcoming home opener, here are the game notes from DPU:

http://www.depauw.edu/ath/football/2012/stolaf.pdf

Looks like both Wabash and Depauw will be starting a rookie at center;  overall, the DPU two-deep has 8 freshmen.  I was expecting this to be a little higher given what I have read about their incoming class.  It will be interesting to see what their two-deep looks like by Bell time.  With six QBs on the roster and five of them being freshmen, it will be interesting to see how quickly Seaman will be pulled if he struggles.  Does anyone know anything about their incoming QBs?

[BashDad]

We don't need all those QB's when we have Jake "The Snake" Hester.

http://www.depauw.edu/news-media/latest-news/details/28825/
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/aug/11/30pt-hed1-15-inches-of-story/?partner=yahoo_feeds

"I might get a chance to start my freshman season and they have a solid program. They've been in the Division III playoffs two of the last three years."

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/feb/24/30pt-hed3-10-hed3-10-inches-p/

If he's any good they may as well start him, though a frosh QB ain't your cure-all. Also, I love the contradiction in his first quoted sentence.

Hey Depauw, what happened to Hester?! Depauw! Why are you letting the best recruit of the year leave?! Hey Depauw! DEPAUW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP BEING TERRIBLE!

Seriously, what happened? Dude's not on the roster.

[smedindy]

Yeah, Hester's gone.

He's gone, DPU, forget it, he's gone.

[BashBacker#16]

Jake the Snake is already gone???  What gives?  They blow through QB's like crazy.

Nice article on Wabash receiver Andrew Gibson:  http://sports.wabash.edu/news/2012/9/6/FB_0906124508.aspx?path=football