FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[nike]

Really curious now. If Hymes played at Witt and I know this is his third season playing at OWU then how can Hollway say he might be back for another year? He said that at the NCAC kickoff at Denison.  I actually saw it on Northcoast website.
Could Hymes have gotten hurt at Witt and gotten a medical redshirt? Even if he played in a game or two that year at Witt?   Can you do that in d3? That would be good for OWU next year.

[Li'l Giant]

What's unfortunate is that in the couple of weeks since that game, App St. has become a total cliché for any and all "shock the world" kinds of discussions.  It's too bad because it really undermines the accomplishment.

My other problem with the aftermath is it's not like these guys were some first year program. They won the last two I-AA championships. They could probably win the Sun Belt and compete for a title in C-USA.

[smedindy]

Last year, Appy State's Sagarin rating was 53.

The company they kept:

  51  Iowa                 
  52  Southern Miss       
  53  Appalachian State   
  54  Houston             
  55  Alabama             

They could reasonably compete and not be embarrassed in almost every conference.

[INQBScout]

When Michigan goes 1-11 or 2-10 or 3-9 or 4-8, the accomplishment will  have been proved to be not very much.

Could not disagree more. While the win would certainly be higher on the "shock the world" chart should UM win the Big 10...in any scenario this was an upset of historic proportions at the DI level. While Appy State has legitimate talent, top to bottom they are absolutely no match (in terms of size, speed, talent) for Michigan, period. And to top it off they pulled it off in front of 100,000 plus fans at the Big House...amazing...

[INQBScout]

Last year, Appy State's Sagarin rating was 53.

The company they kept:

  51  Iowa                 
  52  Southern Miss       
  53  Appalachian State   
  54  Houston             
  55  Alabama             

They could reasonably compete and not be embarrassed in almost every conference.

Some good knowledge...BUT, my guess would be Appy State would not nearly have the depth to compete, week in and week out, in big time conferences like the SEC and Big 10...while they could compete with teams in those conferences, my guess is they would have the juice to withstand the physical challenges...

[INQBScout]

...previous post should have said they would NOT have the juice to withstand physical demands...

[aueagle]

...Can we please refrain from any mention of "Juice"..."Orange Juice"...or "OJ" for the rest of the grid season....Thank You....

[INQBScout]

...Can we please refrain from any mention of "Juice"..."Orange Juice"...or "OJ" for the rest of the grid season....Thank You....

...good point 

[smedindy]

I don't know. In the B10 - I am sure they could compete with Indiana, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan State and Minnesota regularly. I think they'd only struggle against the premier teams like Ohio State. It would be interesting to see how they would do against Purdue - speed vs. speed.

And even then, I don't think Appy State vs. Ohio State would be like Hiram vs. Wittenberg.

(See how I deftly tied that back into the NCAC... 8) )

[ScotsFan]

When Michigan goes 1-11 or 2-10 or 3-9 or 4-8, the accomplishment will  have been proved to be not very much.

Could not disagree more. While the win would certainly be higher on the "shock the world" chart should UM win the Big 10...in any scenario this was an upset of historic proportions at the DI level. While Appy State has legitimate talent, top to bottom they are absolutely no match (in terms of size, speed, talent) for Michigan, period. And to top it off they pulled it off in front of 100,000 plus fans at the Big House...amazing...

I don't know if I agree with that game being an, "...upstet of historic proportions at the DI level."   While I can see your point about App St. not having the depth to compete over the course of a season at the DI level, they definately have the talent to knock off any given team at the DI level as proven by their win over Michigan.  The thing that makes App St more dangerous in terms of being capable of beating teams like Michigan is that they have a winning mentality instilled in their program.  They have won 2 straight I-AA Championships and they are a unanimous choice to get a 3rd this year.  Compare that to playing bottom feeding DI programs like Florida Int., Buffalo and Temple that don't know how to win at all.  A loss to one of those sad programs would be an upset to talk about.   Also, take Duke who had lost 23 in a row (before beating Northwestern).  If they would have come into the Big House and beaten Michigan, I would have looked at that as a worse loss than Michigan's loss to App. St. 

All in all, I don't think that people are giving App. St. credit enough for just how good of football team they really are.  They just can't look past the I-AA thing.  Was it an upset?  Absolutely.  Was it one of the biggest upsets in college football history?  I wouldn't go as far as to say that.  And by saying that, I think you are discrediting App. St. and how good of a football team and program they have.

[wally_wabash]

Solid digression, gang.  Back to the bidness at hand...

We've had a lot of chatter about Wabash/OWU, but what about some of the other games this weekend?

- Last year Tristan Murray pretty much single handedly carried Witt to a win over Alma.  Gone is Murray and the Witt offense hasn't been impressive thus far.  Also gone is Gagliardi winner Josh Brehm who pulled the trigger on Alma's Scotgun offense.  Both teams are replacing all-time program players...who's got the edge?

- Baird Bros. game...is this a make or break game for Wooster?  I tend to think it is.

- Allegheny faces Carnegie Mellon, a 2006 final 16 team.  The Gators have been wholly unimpressive thus far...can they slow the Tartan running game and make a respectable showing? 

[smedindy]

Witt needs a win over Alma otherwise the NCAC will have NO street cred at all.

Wooster is in a must win for their confidence.

Let's hope 'Gheny does well. As much as the OAC piles on the NCAC, I would hate for the UAA to come out undefeated against the NCAC.

BTW - I'm headed to Collegeville this weekend. They start tailgating at 10 CDT. The game starts at 2 CDT. Should be fun!

[wally_wabash]

The NCAC's street cred is microscopic right now.  Heaven help us if Denison loses to Gallaudet on Saturday...that result, along with a lot of the other results we've seen so far, would pretty much be rock bottom for the NCAC as far as rep goes.  Let's hope it doesn't quite come to that. 

[reality check]

Witt needs a win over Alma otherwise the NCAC will have NO street cred at all.

First you lose kcreds now you might lose street creds.  Better buck the trend and quick!

[wally_wabash]

First you lose kcreds now you might lose street creds.  Better buck the trend and quick!

Nice.