FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[bashgiant]

This may be an ignorant question but could Franklin move up in the top 25 because they played Mount Union close?

Yes. I'd not be surprised to see Franklin gain a few spots today.

So The Bash did not play yesterday and some top 25 teams lost, will The Bash move up or will they move teams that won sitting just outside the top 25 that played? Are the rankings picked by coaches and a computer or just the coaches? I'm new to the D3 scene.

The poll conducted here is done by SIDs, coaches, and media types...25 in total.  This group tends not go just move people around based on strict winning and losing.  The other poll done by coaches only tends to be context free and sometimes borderline laughable. Should be a new poll here sometime tonight.

My guess for Wabash is that will stay where they are give of take one or two spots.

Thank you!

[sigma one]

Here's one.  the Sewanee victory over DePauw, 10-7, and 17 total points, ties them with Chicago/Beloit (Chicago won 17-0) for the fewest point total by both teams in a game for DivisionIII over the weekend.  This in a weekend when 18 teams scored more than 50 points and Maranatha Baptist marched by Martin Luther 56-54, Willamette sent home Hardin-Simmons 64-34, Gettysburg got by Misericordai 62-40, Birmigham-Southern outlasted LaGrange 59-38, Springfield rushed by Western New England 49-40,  Greenville trounced Millikan 48-47, and in its first DIII game Hendrix had enough to get by Westminster (Mo) 46-40.  No overtimes.  The overtime game this week, the only one I believe, was 24-21 Rhodes over Austin.  Don't ya just love it that the season has started.

[BashDad]

Depauw is the new Anderson.

[wabashcpa]

Franklin jumps 6 spots and Wabash jumps 5.  Not a bad weekend at the polls - wins are clearly overrated!  LOL

[waf56]

Indeed UWW won and they dropped 5, makes sense as they barely squeaked by against Wash U though.

[wally_wabash]

Some other poll notes...Witt slipped six spots and lost about 80 points.  OWU lost 14 of their 22 preseason points as well.  Also interesting is that W&J hangs 59 on Wooster in Wooster's house and lost points.  that'll give you some indication of what kind of juice the voters think Wooster has. 

Some thoughts from the first week...

- I think the top of the page  headline this week is Kenyon.  I watched most of that game and Kenyon played with extreme confidence.  Totally imposed themselves on Allegheny from start to finish.  I'm not ready to say Kenyon is challenging for the league title again this year (after all, they did not play Witt or Wabash and lost to OWU in 2012), but there's a whole new attitude with that team.  It's not really that hard to see Kenyon coming to C'ville with a 5-1 record if they can keep that business up. 

- The other side of that coin was Allegheny.  I'm shocked at how bad they looked.  They were lost and inept on offense.  Seems they got something straightened out on defense in the second half, but for the first 30 minutes they couldn't stop Kenyon at all.  That's really as poor as I've ever seen an Allegheny football team play. 

- Caught some of the Wooster game...they are going fast on offense.  But it's not going to matter how fast that offense goes and if they ever get efficient on offense as the season goes on if they can't stop anybody on defense. 

- Nice little win for Hiram there.  Maybe they've got a quarterback up there and maybe they are a threat to string some drives together for the first time in a few years.  It'll be fun to monitor their progress this fall. 

- Not totally sure what to make of OWU.  The yardage was a little more balanced run/pass than it has been, but you still have 47 pass attempts there.  Unfortunately I think the late Beaver score to make that a 37-20 game made that thing look a little worse for OWU than it really was. 

- I know Witt got a few scores in the second half, but holy moly.  They got blown away in that first half.  Just totally overwhelmed.  They had trouble with pass protection and pretty much all over on defense.  Maybe this is indicative of the talent gap between Witt and Butler, maybe it's indicative that Witt has some OL and defense issues.  Hard to tell for sure.  They're got two weeks to figure out how they're going to take it out on DePauw.  So good luck with all that, DPU. 

-Reserving judgement on Denison because I don't think you learn a whole lot about anything in a home game with Earlham. 

- DePauw was driving for a winning score on Sewanee when Murray threw over the middle deep into multi-coverage.  Got picked and effectively ended the game.  I think getting ready for Sewanee in Week 1, with no game film to go on, is probably a challenge so I will give some credit to their defense which appeared to have a respectable afternoon. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Indeed UWW won and they dropped 5, makes sense as they barely squeaked by against Wash U though.

I think this is sort of a "cumulative" ding, meaning that it's not JUST about the Week 1 scare vs WashU (who led for three quarters of that game). Rather, some voters probably gave UWW the benefit of the doubt that last year was an aberration and ranked them a few slots higher than they would rank any other team with the same profile (ie suppose UW-River Falls was coming off a 7-3 season with a home loss to Buff State and two WIAC losses; they probably wouldn't even be ranked). Then that realization PLUS the close shave with WashU on opening week may have been enough to convince some pollsters that the dominant seven-time-Stagg-Bowl team is really gone.

For the record, I think Whitewater should be ranked in the 20's right now if at all, but I do think WashU deserves some credit. I don't think the Bears play any NCAC schools this year but I would have enjoyed seeing this team play Witt or Wabash because their defense is REALLY good. Playoff caliber defense, but they don't quite have an offense to match.

[BashBacker#16]

Congrats to the 2013 Wabash team captains:

Nate Scola, Senior MLB - Apache Junction H.S. (AZ)
Mark Riffle, Senior OL - Center Grove H.S.
Tyler Holmes, Senior RB - Blufton H.S.
AJ Akinribade, Junior OLB - Brownsburg H.S.

Well deserved!  WAF!

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Some other poll notes...Witt slipped six spots and lost about 80 points.  OWU lost 14 of their 22 preseason points as well.  Also interesting is that W&J hangs 59 on Wooster in Wooster's house and lost points.  that'll give you some indication of what kind of juice the voters think Wooster has. 

Some thoughts from the first week...

- I think the top of the page  headline this week is Kenyon.  I watched most of that game and Kenyon played with extreme confidence.  Totally imposed themselves on Allegheny from start to finish.  I'm not ready to say Kenyon is challenging for the league title again this year (after all, they did not play Witt or Wabash and lost to OWU in 2012), but there's a whole new attitude with that team.  It's not really that hard to see Kenyon coming to C'ville with a 5-1 record if they can keep that business up. 

- The other side of that coin was Allegheny.  I'm shocked at how bad they looked.  They were lost and inept on offense.  Seems they got something straightened out on defense in the second half, but for the first 30 minutes they couldn't stop Kenyon at all.  That's really as poor as I've ever seen an Allegheny football team play. 

- Caught some of the Wooster game...they are going fast on offense.  But it's not going to matter how fast that offense goes and if they ever get efficient on offense as the season goes on if they can't stop anybody on defense. 

- Nice little win for Hiram there.  Maybe they've got a quarterback up there and maybe they are a threat to string some drives together for the first time in a few years.  It'll be fun to monitor their progress this fall. 

- Not totally sure what to make of OWU.  The yardage was a little more balanced run/pass than it has been, but you still have 47 pass attempts there.  Unfortunately I think the late Beaver score to make that a 37-20 game made that thing look a little worse for OWU than it really was. 

- I know Witt got a few scores in the second half, but holy moly.  They got blown away in that first half.  Just totally overwhelmed.  They had trouble with pass protection and pretty much all over on defense.  Maybe this is indicative of the talent gap between Witt and Butler, maybe it's indicative that Witt has some OL and defense issues.  Hard to tell for sure.  They're got two weeks to figure out how they're going to take it out on DePauw.  So good luck with all that, DPU. 

-Reserving judgement on Denison because I don't think you learn a whole lot about anything in a home game with Earlham. 

- DePauw was driving for a winning score on Sewanee when Murray threw over the middle deep into multi-coverage.  Got picked and effectively ended the game.  I think getting ready for Sewanee in Week 1, with no game film to go on, is probably a challenge so I will give some credit to their defense which appeared to have a respectable afternoon.

I watched this game. Bluffton was running a hurry up offense and had the Bishops Defense winded and on their heels in the first quarter. The defense gave up 10 points. Looked like it was gong to be a long night. Good news is Pat Delaney, Defensive Coordinator,  made adjustments. Bluffton was not running the ball and relying on short passes. OWU moved to a 3-5 defense, and after that Bluffton had issues moving the ball. That is until the fourth quarter when they scored another 7. Bluffton still had their fist string against OWU's 2nd string and freshmen. We got a chance to see freshman QB Cheyne Lacanaria, from Michigan. So the final 7 in the 4th quarter was really garbage time.

The first quarter is what hurt them. But they adjusted and buckled down. I mentioned this once already but the announcing was much better this year than last, on the internet.

[wally_wabash]

BLD-

Also have to wonder how Bluffton was affected by their special teams player that was injured on a kickoff and left in the ambulance.  You had a 16-10 ballgame at that point and then things kind of got away from Bluffton a little bit.  You don't know what impact, if any, that injury had on the team but it's probably worth noting for context. 

[Bishopleftiesdad]

BLD-

Also have to wonder how Bluffton was affected by their special teams player that was injured on a kickoff and left in the ambulance.  You had a 16-10 ballgame at that point and then things kind of got away from Bluffton a little bit.  You don't know what impact, if any, that injury had on the team but it's probably worth noting for context.

Your right Wally, things could have gone either way for a team. After he was taken away, they preformed pretty well on their next offensive series until they got into the red zone and had to settle for a field goal. I think if they would have scored there instead, it would have been a different ball game. The combination of losing the player and not scoring a touch down may have took the wind out of their sales.

[wally_wabash]

When was the last time Wabash had a two-deep release as anticpated as the one coming this week?  Probably not since the week after Hudson's lung issue in 2009 I would think. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

When was the last time Wabash had a two-deep release as anticpated as the one coming this week?  Probably not since the week after Hudson's lung issue in 2009 I would think.

As you've previously alluded...when a QB spot is up for grabs...sometimes the first guy to win the job isn't the final guy that matters at the end of the season.  It will be exciting, of course, but nonetheless recognize that the first snap isn't necessarily going to the guy for the next four years.  Although that'd be nice.

[bashbrother]

On that note -

I hope that Wabash goes with the signal caller that consistently has shown in camp that he has the best decision making ability......   In looking at the team this year,  specifically the defense,  we are going to be very difficult to score on.   A QB that will manage the offense doesn't force anything is what I believe we need.    We have a strong running game returning, maybe the best in years,  and an offensive line that could be pretty special, if everything falls into place and they can stay healthy.   

Watching about 12 or so college games last week,   I saw numerous young QB's at every level trying to force things and be superman for their teams.   Don't think I have seen so many interceptions or near interceptions ..ever.

Wabash will field talent at that position I am sure.   There will be some bumps in the road,  but I think we will be just fine.

WAF!

[wally_wabash]

On that note -

I hope that Wabash goes with the signal caller that consistently has shown in camp that he has the best decision making ability......   In looking at the team this year,  specifically the defense,  we are going to be very difficult to score on.   A QB that will manage the offense doesn't force anything is what I believe we need.    We have a strong running game returning, maybe the best in years,  and an offensive line that could be pretty special, if everything falls into place and they can stay healthy.   

Watching about 12 or so college games last week,   I saw numerous young QB's at every level trying to force things and be superman for their teams.   Don't think I have seen so many interceptions or near interceptions ..ever.

Wabash will field talent at that position I am sure.   There will be some bumps in the road,  but I think we will be just fine.

WAF!

Turnovers are a thing that probably won't be tolerated...at least the kind that happen from being inaccurate or fubmly or making bad choices.  One thing that people smarter than me have pointed out is that Wabash's QBs don't operate with a lot of independence.  From Day 1 of the Raeburn era here, Wabash's offense lines up, checks with the sideline for adjustments, and then runs the play.  The coaches are the ones reading the pre-snap situation and making those adjustments.  It's a lot different than what we saw during the senior years of Knott and Harbaugh.  I think the guy who wins the job is the guy who is accurate and can make explosive running plays when the pass read isn't open or when ER wants to bust out some option.  But mostly the guy who has the discipline to not turn it over. 

How 'bout those Cougs, bashbro?  Pirate style!