FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[formerd3db]

Bashdad:

Hello, friend; I returned safely this evening back from C'ville with my friends; hope your trip home was safe as well.  Congrats to Wabash for a fine win today.  You should be very proud ; #3 is indeed a great athlete with excellent natural passing technique and had a great day; and his core of receivers and line were tremendous today as was the defense.  I was very impressed with Wabash.   Albion was shut down; yet I commend them for a valient effort and a good season.  They just ran out of gas today.  Overall, despite our MIAA team losing, it was a good contest. 

Moreover, it was a pleasure to meet you.  Thank you for taking the time to visit at halftime, especially when there were other people I'm sure you needed to chat with and time being short.  It was a great football Saturday, nice crowd and my return to Hollett after such a long time brought back many memories.

Good luck to Wabash in round two and beyond.  If they play like they did today, I believe they will have a very good chance for "the prize."  Again, it was great to meet you and keep in touch. 

[BashDad]

formerd3db:

Glad you got home safely.  It was a pleasure meeting you as well!  Thanks very much for your kind comments regarding the play of the L'il Giants, Albion's Wasil was also the real deal yesterday. As to the remaining playoffs--one game at a time, Capital is next.  I expect it to be a barn-burner.  Later, my friend.

[Li'l Giant]

Why did my post total go down?

[aueagle]

Great job by Wabash....keep it going. You're representing your school & the NCAC with class and great football.

[ravishingrabbi]

ohio state 25, michigan 21

michigan's 5th year seniors are 1-4 against ohio state in their careers. that makes me smile.

there's officially a new definition of "silence": the sound in michigan stadium yesterday afternoon at 4:30.

[gobash]

Why did my post total go down?

Because I deleted the Monon Bell thread. It lowered me too.  Just wanted to make room on the general topics threads, and get rid of a dated thread.  bananaphone

[wabco]

Don't know what others think ... but I believe Witt and Gheny both were better teams when Wabash played them than Albion presented on Saturday.  Same is true for DePauw.  While it may have taken Witt and Gheny time and some bumps this year ... they never quit being very good teams. 

I was very pleased with the overall strength Wabash again showed today.  This is truely a team effort.  Harbaugh gets positive attention ... as he should.  However, I also realize the quality receiving corps who catch what is thrown their way, an O line which provides the time for the pass and the blocking for the run, backs who are turely blue collar ... just getting it done without a lot of fanfare.  D which has had to respond to a variety of efforts to throw something new at them which the opponent hopes " just might work" ... so far ... it hasn't.

I can't believe Capital will provide anything different from what Wabash has experienced from the conbination of Witt, Gheny, DePauw, and now Albion.  By this comment I am not in any way talking down the quality or accomplishments of Capital ... just that Wabash should have confidence it can handle what is being offered.  And the 'Bash is at home.  If 'Bash has a day like Sat. ... victory.  I see only having an "off" day as the demon which could derail the Little Giants, not something that is externally generated.

[oldgiant]

Capital 54 - Witt 0.  It may have been early in the season, but CAP can bring it and 'Bash needs to be ready for another dog fight. 

[usee]

i for one think wabash will play well against capital. this will be the best defense you have seen this year (#3 in the nation). i saw capital play at ncc this weekend and their dbs are really good. their dline is really quick and active. they don't blitz much and play a 2 deep safety look. their corners played ncc about 12 yds off and rolled up on the snap. ncc and wabash offenses are both rated about the same and mt union is #1 offense w ONU #24. so your's will be the 4th top 25 offense cap has faced. you will likely fare somewhere between ncc and mt union v their defense. bashdad, tell your boy he better throw the ball on time and on target. if you do, you will have your chances.

on the other side, wabash d is solid and cap's offense is better than average. they turned it over 5x saturday and ncc only got 13pts off those turnovers. ncc's qb was just a little off in the first half and cap knocked down probably 5-6 passes in the first half because balls were thrown a touch late or a little off target.

i think this will be a great matchup and the little giants at home will be a big edge. tough to play two playoff games on the road. if the wabash d steps up and plays solid, giving the wabash O multiple opportunities you will have your chances. if the cap o moves the ball well v wabash d, it will be a tough road to hoe v a great cap d.

my two cents.

good luck wabash. i am pulling for you this week.

[BashBacker#16]

usee,

Good info.  I was looking at Cap's 2-deep for the NCC write up and they are not huge but expect them to have a lot of speed from what everyone has said.  I did notice one WR is 6'6" and the other one is 6'3" - they are their top 2 receivers.  What more can you share about Pentello?  I know he's a 3-year starter, is 6'1 215, and way up on the career lists for the OAC but is he a dual threat, playmaker, how would you describe his playing style?  I noticed Otterbein threw for over 300 on them in game 2.

Statistically, these 2 teams are going to stack up very well against one another.  Some characteristics that will help Bash this weekend; Bash rarely turns the ball over, Harbaugh is deadly accurate (71.2%), they are at home, and they have a ton of confidence right now.  I expect a very good game this weekend. 

Any Wally Wabash sightings lately???  It's 8:50 Sunday night after a Wabash playoff win and no posts??? 

[BashBacker#16]

BashBro,

You too, is your Internet down again?  No cell calls, nothing, what is up???  Get with the program.

Anyone have an over/under on how many times we will read about the Witt/Cap matchup in week 1 as it relates to this weekend's game?  OldGiant - c'mon, do you think any of us are taking Cap lightly?

I also hear that both Hammer brothers will be there this weekend!  Very cool.

Wabash is getting 2.5 points on the OAC pick'em page.  One more question, how many weeks will Don Hansen pick against Wabash and lose???  4, 5, 6?

[reality check]

Bashbacker

Rocky is not Mike Vick.  He will beat you with his arm, not his legs.  He is a gutty player though and is mobile enough to get himself more time to throw.  HE doesn't always have a ton of protection so he does know how to run around and buy himself a couple extra seconds.  He has been a pretty prolific passer for all three years at CAP.  Kraft and Howes are definitely great targets for Rocky.  Howes came to Capital from Principia (MO) where he caught 18 balls for 418 yards in a single game in 2002 which is a DIII record.  He also has the longest run from scrimmage for Principia and was apparently quite a punter for them.  The point is he is a gifted athlete and has a great frame.  O'Reilly is a solid back with nearly 1000 yards and Mulkey is coming off a 120 yard rushing day.

Harbaugh will need to be accurate Saturday as the defensive secondary is one of the best in DIII.  Kyle Hausler is a ballhawk (6 INT's this season and 23 for his career which makes him the all-time leader in INT's in the OAC).  Starks is also a great pass defender leading the team with 11 passes defended on the year.  The defense has been the difference maker this year for CAP.  They have been a prolific offense for a couple years now but this year, the D has been dramatically improved.  Harbaugh will need protection from his line, accurate throws and some help from his defense to be successful in C-ville this weekend. 

It looks like a great second round game.  Best of luck to both squads (but I have to root for my OAC of course.)

[oldgiant]

BB16

No worries - just need to be ready.  The Hammer Brothers will be there to cheer on the Little Giants.

[bashbrother]

BB16 -

I'm here...... and I am ready for a big test this weekend.

This is the caliber of game all of us, including the team, has been waiting for. 

Don Hansen?  Who's that?    Actually, I would ask him to please keep picking against us.

Wabash Always Fights!

[usee]

BB16-i only saw rocky p in 1 game. capital's offense couldn't have started any worse than they did. i think they were sacked 2x, fumbled 2x, and threw 1 pick in their first 6 plays on offense over 3 possessions. after pentello settled in he made a few excellent throws at key times. his 46 yd td pass into the wind was absolutely perfect. he made 3 other throws over the middle to keep drives alive that were very good and the slant he threw on 3rd and 4 w 3 min left to move the chains and keep the clock moving was a game saver. he is proficient and can definately beat you if you let him was my take. caps pass offense didn't strike me as tremendously sophisticated but their recievers are quite capable. they completed a couple simple routes that looked like broken coverages by ncc. cap does a nice job using formations and motions to try and create confusion/mismatches.

ncc's qb came in w a 62% comp avg and completed less than 50% v cap. he was a little off but cap had a lot to do with that. #21 (corner) and #4 (safety) are really fast and you ended up cringing when ncc threw to their side because they were invariably a factor on every play. when ncc got into no backs they began to move the ball predominantly throwing away from the side of #21. keep in mind ncc lost their top reciever in the first quarter. the ncc guys were open but if the ball wasn't there coming out of the break, or if it was off the recievers back shoulder, too high, etc...cap defender was there immediately. great offenses can execute against great defenses but the margin for error/execution becomes really small and the difference between being open and an int is often in small things like leading the reciever v hitting him on his back hip, etc. this is not an impenetrable defense by any stretch but it requires excellent execution consistently for success. again, all this based on 1 game but there are a lot of similarities between ncc and wabash in my opinion (having seen wabash in the scrimmage only).