FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Kelly Boggs]

I just wanted to say it was a pleasure to meet ADL70. The man knows D3 football.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

He knows baseball as well.

[Schwami]

Looks like Denison has found a more than capable replacement for Brandon Sklenar --- Tommy Iammarino is the NCAC OPOW after completing 17 of 23 passes for 316 yards and 3 TDs.  Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that he has DuShawn Brown as a primary target!

Also kudos to Austin Brown, named the NCAC DPOW for his performance against HSC --- 7 tackles (5 solo), 1 TFL, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery.

[wally_wabash]

Looks like Denison has found a more than capable replacement for Brandon Sklenar --- Tommy Iammarino is the NCAC OPOW after completing 17 of 23 passes for 316 yards and 3 TDs.  Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that he has DuShawn Brown as a primary target!

Also kudos to Austin Brown, named the NCAC DPOW for his performance against HSC --- 7 tackles (5 solo), 1 TFL, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery.

If that QB performance is an indicator of things to come, Denison is going to give teams trouble.  If you look over the last couple of seasons, they've pretty much handled the teams you expect average-to-above-average teams to handle and they played well vs Witt last year. They've got a veteran defense that is sneaky good. Keep an eye on the Big Red.

I read a comment elsewhere that Marietta getting thumped by Denison wasn't a great moment for the OAC in week 1 (combined with the Heidelberg loss and kind of a meh result from JCU). I kind of think Denison was supposed to thump on Marietta.  I think they've got the chops to beat OWU and maybe even DPU. Not favorites there, but a Denison win in either game wouldn't be a huge shock to me. Those should be good, competitive games.

[Pat Coleman]

Looks like Denison has found a more than capable replacement for Brandon Sklenar --- Tommy Iammarino is the NCAC OPOW after completing 17 of 23 passes for 316 yards and 3 TDs.  Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that he has DuShawn Brown as a primary target!

Also kudos to Austin Brown, named the NCAC DPOW for his performance against HSC --- 7 tackles (5 solo), 1 TFL, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery.

If that QB performance is an indicator of things to come, Denison is going to give teams trouble.  If you look over the last couple of seasons, they've pretty much handled the teams you expect average-to-above-average teams to handle and they played well vs Witt last year. They've got a veteran defense that is sneaky good. Keep an eye on the Big Red.

I read a comment elsewhere that Marietta getting thumped by Denison wasn't a great moment for the OAC in week 1 (combined with the Heidelberg loss and kind of a meh result from JCU). I kind of think Denison was supposed to thump on Marietta.  I think they've got the chops to beat OWU and maybe even DPU. Not favorites there, but a Denison win in either game wouldn't be a huge shock to me. Those should be good, competitive games.

I said that, maybe others did. Not surprised Marietta lost but I think it's a bad result because of the margin. Embarrassing for Marietta, I'd say.

[ADL70]

Thank you Kelly and BLD for the kind words.  It helps that I've been around since before the beginning of D3.  It has been my privilege to make the acquaintance of each of you.

[wally_wabash]

Looks like Denison has found a more than capable replacement for Brandon Sklenar --- Tommy Iammarino is the NCAC OPOW after completing 17 of 23 passes for 316 yards and 3 TDs.  Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that he has DuShawn Brown as a primary target!

Also kudos to Austin Brown, named the NCAC DPOW for his performance against HSC --- 7 tackles (5 solo), 1 TFL, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery.

If that QB performance is an indicator of things to come, Denison is going to give teams trouble.  If you look over the last couple of seasons, they've pretty much handled the teams you expect average-to-above-average teams to handle and they played well vs Witt last year. They've got a veteran defense that is sneaky good. Keep an eye on the Big Red.

I read a comment elsewhere that Marietta getting thumped by Denison wasn't a great moment for the OAC in week 1 (combined with the Heidelberg loss and kind of a meh result from JCU). I kind of think Denison was supposed to thump on Marietta.  I think they've got the chops to beat OWU and maybe even DPU. Not favorites there, but a Denison win in either game wouldn't be a huge shock to me. Those should be good, competitive games.

I said that, maybe others did. Not surprised Marietta lost but I think it's a bad result because of the margin. Embarrassing for Marietta, I'd say.

Yeah, I can see that from a Marietta perspective and trying to find some benchmarks for progress there.  Probably not the start they would have liked to get off to. 

Another thing that's interesting (to me at least) this week is DePauw/Earlham.  Not because that game is going to be fun to watch (it won't be), but because it's an interesting retrospective to an important moment in time for the NCAC.  Four years ago we basically traded Earlham for DePauw.  This game is going to provide a snapshot of just how massive an improvement for the conference this was (saying nothing of all of the other varsity sports).  Earlham has 38 players on their roster and just gave up 74 points to Olivet.  DePauw, I think, has the chance to be playing for a league championship in Week 11.  It's a huge, huge difference and should help a bit with the league's reputation (that, and people coming around on Denison  ). 

[bashbrother]

Earlham has 38 players on their roster

Say what what?      How is that sustainable?   I knew it was bad.... but not that bad.

Coming very close to:  "I know you're a QB son,  but we need you to play Offensive Tackle"

[Bombers798891]

Earlham has 38 players on their roster

Say what what?      How is that sustainable?   I knew it was bad.... but not that bad.

Coming very close to:  "I know your a QB son,  but we need you to play Offensive Tackle"

Seriously. According to the roster, Earlham has six offensive linemen on the roster. I wish them luck, but that's a tough hill to climb

[badgerwarhawk]

That's roughly the number UW-Superior had when they discontinued their program in 1992. 

[formerd3db]

That's roughly the number UW-Superior had when they discontinued their program in 1992. 

Earlham has 38 players on their roster

Say what what?      How is that sustainable?   I knew it was bad.... but not that bad.

Coming very close to:  "I know your a QB son,  but we need you to play Offensive Tackle"

Seriously. According to the roster, Earlham has six offensive linemen on the roster. I wish them luck, but that's a tough hill to climb

Indeed, it is, however, not impossible.  Oberlin faced the same problem back in 1977 and more recently, late 1999 Olivet and in the mid-2000s, Kalamazoo, all three schools having only numbers in the 40's.  Nonetheless, a few key injuries and it could spell doom for the program for this particular year.  I would also hope that the coaching staff at Earlham would adopt the Gagliardi philosophy of having no tackling during practice.  While that was controversial to some, it worked for St. Johns.  I wish Earlham's players and coaches well this season.

[bashbrother]

I just reviewed Earlham's  roster and was a little shocked to see that only 6 of 38 players listed were from Indiana.    One would think that needing to recruit out of state as your primary recruiting strategy is a tough road to keep player numbers up.

Have they given up on recruiting Indiana?  Is the Indiana D3 recruiting landscape too cluttered?  Are Cost/Admissions etc. a major factor?

Sigma or anyone with more visibility on this issue than I,  do you have any thoughts?

[Li'l Giant]

I just reviewed Earlham's  roster and was a little shocked to see that only 6 of 38 players listed were from Indiana.    One would think that needing to recruit out of state as your primary recruiting strategy is a tough road to keep player numbers up.

Have they given up on recruiting Indiana?  Is the Indiana D3 recruiting landscape too cluttered?  Are Cost/Admissions etc. a major factor?

Sigma or anyone with more visibility on this issue than I,  do you have any thoughts?

I can't speak for other parts of the country but down here in Texas Earlham College is a known quantity as an academic institution. I think this is an example of what happens when a program has a national presence but not a backyard. They can come into a high school in Texas and say "hey, we're a great liberal arts college where you can play football" and offer better (known) academics than other D3 schools locally but they have no shot a solid D3 player in Indiana who is likely to look at Franklin, Wabash, and even Witt before they think about Earlham.

It's like the saying about familiarity breeding contempt. HS kids in other parts of the country are unfamiliar enough to not know how bad that program really is.

[sigma one]

What L'il Giant says about the Earlham roster and national rep as a liberal arts college.  I just looked at the Oberlin roster.  Of the 53 players listed (a healthier number than in many past years), only six are from Ohio.  Both Earlham and Oberlin think of themselves as national liberal arts colleges that want, and attract, a geographically diverse student body.  This commitment is naturally reflected on their athletic rosters.
     With recent upgrades in athletic facilities, it appears that Oberlin is attempting to upgrade its performance in many sports.
A few weeks ago I commented on the size of Wooster's football roster:  60 players.  When DePauw replaced Earlham in the NCAC, we all agreed that the general profile of athletics in the NCAC would improve markedly.   That has happened.  DPU had a couple of down football years with its revolving door of head coaches.  Now they are positioned to play every opponent tough.  On the downside, I scratch my head about Wooster and what, at least for the moment, is happening there.  Let's hope they soon reverse their recent downward trend. 

[aueagle]

Bishops rest-up for Tigers...
Need to "finish"...4th quarter legs
Lots of good football this weekend
Hope to catch as much as I can on TV & stream
Tommy Iammarino played for his Dad in HS and
grew up on the game...he has a mental lock on how to play
Could be a solid 4 yrs for the Big Red with TL..
Good luck to the NCAC