FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Does anyone have word on progression for Allegheny? It was confusing seeing a school like Allegheny drop all of its games last year. Hopefully they turn things around as the conference is typically better off when theyre at their best.

Also, pardon my ignorance, but who will be replacing Espinosa this year at OWU; will it still be a past first offense??

My guess is that Orsini will be the new OWU QB, but that's one of several position competitions around the league that we'll get some clarity on when game notes and two-deeps start to trickle out over the next couple of days. 

No such question in Springfield as the Springfield News Sun reports that junior Zach Jenkins is the guy at Wittenberg. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Is Cameron Belton not at Wabash any more?

Interesting observation, Nike.  Went back and compared the pre-camp QB numbers (6 or 7 inc. four rhynies) versus the current roster with 3.  Any input from those nearer C'ville - injuries or just anticipated attrition due to lack of PT?

Hard to say for sure.  I know that only one guy can play quarterback at a time, which probably makes it tough for competitive guys who want to play to have the patience to grind it out for 2-3 years trying to win a backup job.

It's pretty typical for a team to start with a lot more QB's than they'll have by the season-opener.  Some will change positions, some will leave the team but remain in school, some will transfer in search of a place where they might have a better shot to play QB (all depending on personal priorities).  Gotta be tough because backup WR's, RB's, LB's, DB's generally all will still have a chance to contribute and play in many games, but as backup QB it's a very fickle job.

[firstdown]

Weather forecast for Crawfordsville on Saturday - 40% chance of showers in the morning then clearing.  The temperatures are forecasted to be in the 70's by game time. It should be good football weather for early September. Let's hope that it will also be good tailgating weather before the game as well.

[bashbrother]

Game week is finally here.

I will try to communicate my keys for this weeks game without causing any Tiger faithful to cancel their trip. 

From my vantage point,  here are the keys to the game.

#1 -  Wabash Rushing Yards -    If they go over 200+  total yards rushing,  they will be in good shape.    This will mean that Wabash is eating up clock, keeping Nance on the sidelines and winning the battle of field position.   HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents.   Long sustained drives that end with Wabash points,  will help us to victory.  IF,  we have too many 3 and outs early and we give Nance too many possessions....   it could turn into the 2013 Witt game.

#2 -  Pressure on Nance and not giving up the big play early.    If you look at the Play by Play from their Linfield Playoff Game,  Nance came out firing... and it seemed to catch Linfield off guard.  (291 of his 388 yards passing were in the first half)   Linfield's D finally got a handle on it and began shutting Nance down,  but only after they found themselves down on the scoreboard.   Wabash's ability to force some early 3 and out's or short possessions,  will go along way.   Nance threw plenty of short passes in this game,  but did hook up on passes of 70, 47, 42 & 27 in the 1st half.  (His longest completion in the 2nd half was 19 yards.)

#3 -  Turnovers.   Wabash needs to continue the dominance they had in this area last year.    I believe HSC needs to win this battle to come away with a win in C-Ville.

[Li'l Giant]

     Last night, WLFI TV out of Lafayette/West Lafayette featured Ian in its segment on Purdue football.  Over several minutes, they told Ian's story and showed clips of him kicking for both Wabash and Purdue, including a short view of his FG  v. DePauw last November.  They also interviewed Ian on camera, and he told some of the story about himself.   Some Little Giant. 
     Good on ya, Ian.

Anyone aware of a link to this story? I tried looking on WLFI's site but had no luck.

[BashDad]

Game week is finally here.

I will try to communicate my keys for this weeks game without causing any Tiger faithful to cancel their trip. 

From my vantage point,  here are the keys to the game.

#1 -  Wabash Rushing Yards -    If they go over 200+  total yards rushing,  they will be in good shape.    This will mean that Wabash is eating up clock, keeping Nance on the sidelines and winning the battle of field position.   HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents.   Long sustained drives that end with Wabash points,  will help us to victory.  IF,  we have too many 3 and outs early and we give Nance too many possessions....   it could turn into the 2013 Witt game.

#2 -  Pressure on Nance and not giving up the big play early.    If you look at the Play by Play from their Linfield Playoff Game,  Nance came out firing... and it seemed to catch Linfield off guard.  (291 of his 388 yards passing were in the first half)   Linfield's D finally got a handle on it and began shutting Nance down,  but only after they found themselves down on the scoreboard.   Wabash's ability to force some early 3 and out's or short possessions,  will go along way.   Nance threw plenty of short passes in this game,  but did hook up on passes of 70, 47, 42 & 27 in the 1st half.  (His longest completion in the 2nd half was 19 yards.)

#3 -  Turnovers.   Wabash needs to continue the dominance they had in this area last year.    I believe HSC needs to win this battle to come away with a win in C-Ville.

These are great. I endorse!

Some over/unders:

Sacks on NN: 4.5
Pass attempts by Putko: 15.5
Pass attempts by NN: 34.5
Rush Yards by HSC: 100
Rush Yards by WC: 200
Pass Yards by HSC: 300
Pass Yards by WC: 150
Plays 50+ yards: 1.5
Combined points: 42.5

[HSCTiger fan]

Game week is finally here.

I will try to communicate my keys for this weeks game without causing any Tiger faithful to cancel their trip. 

From my vantage point,  here are the keys to the game.

#1 -  Wabash Rushing Yards -    If they go over 200+  total yards rushing,  they will be in good shape.    This will mean that Wabash is eating up clock, keeping Nance on the sidelines and winning the battle of field position.   HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents.   Long sustained drives that end with Wabash points,  will help us to victory.  IF,  we have too many 3 and outs early and we give Nance too many possessions....   it could turn into the 2013 Witt game.

#2 -  Pressure on Nance and not giving up the big play early.    If you look at the Play by Play from their Linfield Playoff Game,  Nance came out firing... and it seemed to catch Linfield off guard.  (291 of his 388 yards passing were in the first half)   Linfield's D finally got a handle on it and began shutting Nance down,  but only after they found themselves down on the scoreboard.   Wabash's ability to force some early 3 and out's or short possessions,  will go along way.   Nance threw plenty of short passes in this game,  but did hook up on passes of 70, 47, 42 & 27 in the 1st half.  (His longest completion in the 2nd half was 19 yards.)

#3 -  Turnovers.   Wabash needs to continue the dominance they had in this area last year.    I believe HSC needs to win this battle to come away with a win in C-Ville.

Bash which season did you review to determine - "HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents".

Only 3 teams had over 400 yards offense against HSC's defense last year. HSC lost one - Shenandoah, won one by 13 - W&L,  and beat Maryville by 8. Maryville comes closest to your assessment (42-34) but even in that game both teams only scored once in the 2nd half.

Rushing the ball well is certainly a critical component to success. But against HSC it does not necessarily translate to success. HSC went 3-1 against teams that rushed for 200+ yards in 2013.  They lost to Shenandoah. The 3 other teams were - W&L who was second in the nation in rushing averaging 347 per game.  Maryville who was 8th averaging just over 300 and Randolph Macon who had All-American and All-time leading rusher in ODAC history Will McGhee (1676 yards last season). These 3 teams all had over 200 + yards rushing, all 3 had more time of possession, 2 of 3 had fewer turnovers, all 3 were held below their season rushing averages and ALL THREE LOST.

[wally_wabash]

Some over/unders:

Sacks on NN: 4.5
Pass attempts by Putko: 15.5
Pass attempts by NN: 34.5
Rush Yards by HSC: 100
Rush Yards by WC: 200
Pass Yards by HSC: 300
Pass Yards by WC: 150
Plays 50+ yards: 1.5
Combined points: 42.5

I love these...and you are really good at making this tough.  I'll take a stab:

Sacks on NN: 4.5 - UNDER.  Barring a complete OL meltdown by H-SC, I think Nance is nimble enough to avoid a lot of sacks.  Probably a lot of throwaways though. 
Pass attempts by Putko: 15.5 - OVER.  There will be a heaping helping of Holmes/Zurek, but I think Wabash will have to show a little bit of balance to keep things open for the big backs.  I think around 20 attempts is good.  If it gets to be above 25 or so, then Wabash is probably trying to chase down a multiple score deficit in the second half. 
Pass attempts by NN: 34.5 - OVER.  This kind of a game against this caliber of opponent, I can't imagine H-SC is going to walk out of Hollett without having played their ace.  Repeatedly. 
Rush Yards by HSC: 100 - UNDER.  That's a tough group to run against.  Also, see above.  You have an All-American QB.  Use him. 
Rush Yards by WC: 200 - UNDER.  They have a good defense there.  Wabash will get their yards; I expect them to be tough yards and ER will hammer away and accumulate yardage, but I think just short of 200. 
Pass Yards by HSC: 300 - OVER.  This is a volume play.  They are going to throw.  A bunch.  Lots of passes and lots of yards don't always equal points though (see Espinosa, Mason: 2012, 2013). 
Pass Yards by WC: 150 - OVER.  I think there going to be a couple of big plays available in the pass game.  Think play action here. 
Plays 50+ yards: 1.5 - OVER.  I'm thinking one really big play on both sides. 
Combined points: 42.5 - UNDER.  Two good defenses, two teams breaking in some new offensive linemen...I think the points are going to lower than many might expect.  Or this thing could turn into Wabash/Franklin 2007. 

[bashbrother]

Ok... I guess I will play along... 

Bash which season did you review to determine - "HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents".

They gave up 20 + points to 6 opponents -  They gave up 30+ points to 3 opponents.  My point.   They had to score a bunch to win... a good percentage of their games

Only 3 teams had over 400 yards offense against HSC's defense last year. HSC lost one - Shenandoah, won one by 13 - W&L,  and beat Maryville by 8. Maryville comes closest to your assessment (42-34) but even in that game both teams only scored once in the 2nd half.

Rushing the ball well is certainly a critical component to success. But against HSC it does not necessarily translate to success. HSC went 3-1 against teams that rushed for 200+ yards in 2013.  They lost to Shenandoah. The 3 other teams were - W&L who was second in the nation in rushing averaging 347 per game.  Maryville who was 8th averaging just over 300 and Randolph Macon who had All-American and All-time leading rusher in ODAC history Will McGhee (1676 yards last season). These 3 teams all had over 200 + yards rushing, all 3 had more time of possession, 2 of 3 had fewer turnovers, all 3 were held below their season rushing averages and ALL THREE LOST.

I contend that None of these teams had the Defense you will face on Saturday. 

Wabash gave up 20 pts or more to (2) opponents. (Went 1 and 1)   When HSC scored 25 or less pts in 2013..  they lost both games.  The 5 Int's to CNU probably didn't help the scoring in that game much... Let's hope Nash is throwing a few on Saturday, we will gladly catch everyone he wants to throw our way.

[Li'l Giant]

     Last night, WLFI TV out of Lafayette/West Lafayette featured Ian in its segment on Purdue football.  Over several minutes, they told Ian's story and showed clips of him kicking for both Wabash and Purdue, including a short view of his FG  v. DePauw last November.  They also interviewed Ian on camera, and he told some of the story about himself.   Some Little Giant. 
     Good on ya, Ian.

Anyone aware of a link to this story? I tried looking on WLFI's site but had no luck.

I hate quoting myself (masturpost?) but here's a LINK to the MacDougall feature.

[HSCTiger fan]

Ok... I guess I will play along... 

Bash which season did you review to determine - "HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents".

They gave up 20 + points to 6 opponents -  They gave up 30+ points to 3 opponents.  My point.   They had to score a bunch to win... a good percentage of their games

Only 3 teams had over 400 yards offense against HSC's defense last year. HSC lost one - Shenandoah, won one by 13 - W&L,  and beat Maryville by 8. Maryville comes closest to your assessment (42-34) but even in that game both teams only scored once in the 2nd half.

Rushing the ball well is certainly a critical component to success. But against HSC it does not necessarily translate to success. HSC went 3-1 against teams that rushed for 200+ yards in 2013.  They lost to Shenandoah. The 3 other teams were - W&L who was second in the nation in rushing averaging 347 per game.  Maryville who was 8th averaging just over 300 and Randolph Macon who had All-American and All-time leading rusher in ODAC history Will McGhee (1676 yards last season). These 3 teams all had over 200 + yards rushing, all 3 had more time of possession, 2 of 3 had fewer turnovers, all 3 were held below their season rushing averages and ALL THREE LOST.

I contend that None of these teams had the Defense you will face on Saturday. 

Wabash gave up 20 pts or more to (2) opponents.   When HSC scored 25 or less pts in 2013..  they lost both games.  The 5 Int's to CNU probably didn't help the scoring in that game much... Let's hope Nash is throwing a few on Saturday, we will gladly catch everyone he wants to throw our way.

You made it sound like they won in shootouts. They didn't.  Last time I checked every football game in the history of football was won by "simply out scoring opponents." 

My points are as valid as yours.  When Wabash gave up more than 25 the lost too. Had you said first team to 25 wins I might agree. 

A few Wildcats from Oregon might argue differently about your contention that "None of these teams had the Defense you will face on Saturday."  Even if that statement is true, it's also a safe contention that last season Wabash did not face a defense as good as HSCs.

HSC is not like most teams.  They seldom win time of possession, they often get out rushed, they typically turnover the ball more than their opponents, last year thru 7 games everyone held their breath on extra points because the kicker had missed about as many as he had made, but somehow like you pointed out they simply out score their opponents.

[bashgiant]

Ok... I guess I will play along... 

Bash which season did you review to determine - "HSC won quite a few games in which they gave up plenty of yards/points... and still won by simply outscoring opponents".

They gave up 20 + points to 6 opponents -  They gave up 30+ points to 3 opponents.  My point.   They had to score a bunch to win... a good percentage of their games

Only 3 teams had over 400 yards offense against HSC's defense last year. HSC lost one - Shenandoah, won one by 13 - W&L,  and beat Maryville by 8. Maryville comes closest to your assessment (42-34) but even in that game both teams only scored once in the 2nd half.

Rushing the ball well is certainly a critical component to success. But against HSC it does not necessarily translate to success. HSC went 3-1 against teams that rushed for 200+ yards in 2013.  They lost to Shenandoah. The 3 other teams were - W&L who was second in the nation in rushing averaging 347 per game.  Maryville who was 8th averaging just over 300 and Randolph Macon who had All-American and All-time leading rusher in ODAC history Will McGhee (1676 yards last season). These 3 teams all had over 200 + yards rushing, all 3 had more time of possession, 2 of 3 had fewer turnovers, all 3 were held below their season rushing averages and ALL THREE LOST.

I contend that None of these teams had the Defense you will face on Saturday. 

Wabash gave up 20 pts or more to (2) opponents.   When HSC scored 25 or less pts in 2013..  they lost both games.  The 5 Int's to CNU probably didn't help the scoring in that game much... Let's hope Nash is throwing a few on Saturday, we will gladly catch everyone he wants to throw our way.

You made it sound like they won in shootouts. They didn't.  Last time I checked every football game in the history of football was won by "simply out scoring opponents." 

My points are as valid as yours.  When Wabash gave up more than 25 the lost too. Had you said first team to 25 wins I might agree. 

A few Wildcats from Oregon might argue differently about your contention that "None of these teams had the Defense you will face on Saturday."  Even if that statement is true, it's also a safe contention that last season Wabash did not face a defense as good as HSCs.

HSC is not like most teams.  They seldom win time of possession, they often get out rushed, they typically turnover the ball more than their opponents, last year thru 7 games everyone held their breath on extra points because the kicker had missed about as many as he had made, but somehow like you pointed out they simply out score their opponents.

Sounds like OWU of old reincarnated.

[bashbrother]

HSCTiger fan -

Read your posts and quit taking mine out of context.   Maryville, W&L &  Shenandoah were the teams you were talking about and the ones I was responding to.  Not saying that Wabash had/has a better D than Linfield's 2013 Version.

Done with this specific back and fourth.   Everything will certainly be settled on Saturday.  Not on this board.

I hope your son has a good game.

[wally_wabash]

A few Wildcats from Oregon might argue differently about your contention that "None of these teams had the Defense you will face on Saturday."  Even if that statement is true, it's also a safe contention that last season Wabash did not face a defense as good as HSCs.

This isn't really the case.  Wittenberg's 2013 defense is pretty comparable to H-SC's 2013 defense- and Witt played games against Butler and the offensive juggernaut that was Kevin Burke. 

HSC is not like most teams.  They seldom win time of possession, they often get out rushed, they typically turnover the ball more than their opponents, last year thru 7 games everyone held their breath on extra points because the kicker had missed about as many as he had made, but somehow like you pointed out they simply out score their opponents.

In today's football, TOP is a meaningless stat and we should probably start disregarding it entirely.  Additionally, most teams that have AA quarterbacks and receivers will probably get out rushed by choice.  Why run a bunch when your best players operate in the passing game?  The turnovers...now that's a real issue.  H-SC has enough offensive talent to overcome takeaways against teams that are overmatched.  Against good teams though?  You can't give those possessions away.  What was it- 8 turnovers against CNU?  And the two second half fumbles against Linfield cost the Tigers the game.  Can't do that business against good teams.  That's what makes them good teams- they'll take your mistakes and beat you horribly with them.  I've got a post coming later this week with a big ol' game breakdown but as a teaser, the whole turnover thing plays a prominent role.   

[HSCTiger fan]

HSCTiger fan -

Read your posts and quit taking mine out of context.   Maryville, W&L &  Shenandoah were the teams you were talking about and the ones I was responding to.  Not saying that Wabash had/has a better D than Linfield's 2013 Version.

Done with this specific back and fourth.   Everything will certainly be settled on Saturday.  Not on this board.

I hope your son has a good game.

Sorry I did misread that. Totally agree that everything will be settled Saturday. Looking forward to it.