FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WAF78]

As I tend to see the glass half empty...and tend to think that Chicken Little was right...it's so nice to have guys like bash and wally around to help change my perspective. Because I played defense, I tend to be a bit more attentive to defensive schemes, defensive adjustments or non adjustments and other things that are defensive in nature (as opposed to offensive in nature). True, the Wabash D HAS been consistent this year...giving up lots of yards but rising to the occasion when it counts (always the sign of a Wabash man)...keeping teams out of the endzone and off the scoreboard.

[wally_wabash]

I'm not saying it was Wabash's finest defensive performance of the year.  It was definitely the worst I've seen Wabash keep a quarterback contained this year (and this would include OWU who runs with their qb a ton).  It didn't help that Gangloff was out (he's a good run stuffer).  And we'd be remiss if we didn't credit Wooster for just playing a whale of a game...their scheme was effective, but turnovers killed them. 

I also think that the offense's so-so day helped keep Wooster's game plan intact.  If Wabash can finish off just one more drive and get more than 14 points ahead, I think Wooster has to rethink their plan and start throwing the ball more which would have been bad news.  As a quarterback, Holter is a really good runner....if you catch my drift.  Forcing Wooster to throw probably would have resulted in bad things for the Scots and I believe the score would have gotten out of hand.  But because Wooster stayed close to Wabash, they were able to take the air out of the ball and run 47 times (compared to just 21 passes). 

[ScotLass]

If the drift is that Holter isn't a very good passer, I would beg to differ, having seen every game this year. Overall, he's consistently improved as far as distance and accuracy no matter what stats may say. There is a receiver on the other end....and many times, it's been the receiver, not Holter who failed to execute, as happened on Saturday. Yes, there were two interceptions, one at the very beginning resulting in a Bash score, and one at the end resulting in the end of any opportunity for Woo to win. The Bash D also managed to hold Woo to 2/4 in the red zone, which kept the game from being much closer long before that final series. This was a similar difference in the Allegheny game. While it's several days later and easier to put some spin on this, during the game, Woo was certainly in the game until the end and I am pretty sure Bash fans were sweating a few bullets until then.

I would expect Wabash to perform better this week and also at DePauw. They will have to in order to win out or go very far in the playoffs. The Wabash I saw this past Saturday is certainly not the team I expected to see, a team ranked in the top 10. As has been mentioned many times on this board, stats just don't adequately tell the story and they can be manipulated to paint a variety of pictures. Looking at stats and polls and history are only a piece of the pie. As has also been mentioned, it's what happens on game day, on the field that matters. While Woo rose to the occasion better than even I expected, Wabash just plain looked flat, no matter how you spin it. They didn't seem to have much of a running game on Saturday. Maybe because Woo has struggled some this season to move forward in a consistently positive direction, I tend not to count my chickens before the end of the final 2 games......I think Woo learned that lesson having maybe counted their chickens before they kicked off to Hiram, which resulted in a closer score then was comfy.

GO SCOTS!!!!!

[aueagle]

 I've given up on what the name is for the Bishop "O"....I saw wing, Pro. and a host of other formations....
The Bishop I spoke of is the same on the baseball helmet, if I recall...Bishop leaning on the W......OWU had it on the helmet years ago...a great look...it's the logo for cryin' out loud!
Gotta throw in this in the tuition chat....
Duke -$45,296
UNC Chapel Hill - $15,000 (est)
Ohio State - $16,200
Ashland University - $15,600
Ohio Wesleyan - $38,080
Yale - $43,050
Harvard - $45,620
I hope the Bishops don't look past the Puppies and think about CWRU...I can see it now in Hiram..."Fear The Bite"  or   "Dog Bites Bishop"......

[ScotLass]

Or "Bishops Forget Their Scoopers".....

[wally_wabash]

I don't put the second INT on Holter at all...I thought the pass was pretty good, but the coverage by Roomes was also good and then Adi made a good play on the ball.  The first INT was all sorts of bad.  It's also fair to point out that there were some drops...notably on a deep post in the second half (to McCann I think) that definitely should have been caught and very possibly taken to the house.  I had the same criticism of Huffman after seeing him...the accuracy isn't bad, but it's not that great.  Holter was missing on some easier passes...and maybe I'm spoiled.  Over the last almost four seasons now I've watched Wabash starting qb's complete 67% of their passes which is outstanding, so maybe the baseline by which I'm measuring other qb's in the league isn't totally fair. 

Sweating bullets?  It was too chilly for sweating, but I was certainly not thrilled that Wabash was having to defend the goal line with 2 minutes left to save the game.  If I had my way, Adi would have been on the sideline with 2 minutes left wearing a championship t-shirt and cap (I'm not sure if this actually happens or not in D-III...it should). 

And I don't disagree at all with your observation that Wabash was flat.  It was not a good 60 minutes of football for the LGs.  In fact, it was probably the worst 60 minutes of football they've played this year (this distinction would have been saved for the OWU game, but Hudson came in and saved the second half of that one).  But Wabash answered the bell every time they had to.....they turned the opening INT into a quick 7 points...Wooster busts a big play on the Sheppard run, flips the field, and gets some momentum but Wabash forces a quick punt and then painstakingly drives 92 yards to squash all of that momentum....Wooster gets to within 4 points and immediately picks off Hudson (this is the point at which I was most concerned about the game), but Wabash responds by forcing Holter to fumble and then turning that fumble into a TD....and finally, with Wooster full of confidence and driving to give themselves a chance to win, Adi makes the big pick in the endzone.  Every time Wabash had to make a play, they did and that's what champions do.  They find a way to win even when they aren't 100% on top of their game.  Wheaton is doing it, Central is doing it, St. John's has had to do it at times this year...it isn't uncommon.

But again...I don't want to take anything away from Wooster.  I said it earlier but it bears repeating that Wooster outplayed Wabash on Saturday and if the experience/talent factors were a little more even Wooster would have handed Wabash their lunch.  Those Scots were not the Scots that I've been reading about on this board all year...which is a good thing.   

[wally_wabash]

In Pool C news, Capital's at-large resume takes a little ding today as ONU dropped out of the regional rankings in favor of North Central.  This may be temporary, particularly if IWU loses to Wheaton which would almost certainly knock IWU out and put ONU back into the regional top 10. 

[ScotLass]

Indeed Woo is a much better team over the last couple of games than earlier in the season. No doubt Wabash has made plays when they had to and when Woo gave them an opportunity.....like the initial interception and the fumble which gave Wabash the opportunity to score. Kudos to them for taking advantage of that. Hopefully the positive trend continues for Woo at Earlham and finally with Kenyon. Gives Woo momentum moving forward and will produce a pretty competitive team in a relatively short period of time post significant graduation losses. Wasn't pretty to watch in the beginning...downright painful was more the feel 

[smedindy]

Wash U is in the south region, but in order to save on plane fare the NCAA would probably move teams around. They've done it before.

You think the NCAA is worried about airfare?? 8)

Yes they do worry about airfare.  They have demonstrated that in the past.  Except of course when they sent Wittenberg to Hadin-Simmons in I believe '01.

So you are saying they will seed people so that no one has to fly? 

Well, they arrange first round matchups that way. Look at the South the last few years. Go ahead, as anyone from Trinity or Mary Hardin-Baylor.

[DadofBashWarrior..]

Second NCAA regional rankings
Posted by Pat Coleman, Permanent link

31
Oct
2007 The NCAA released their second 2007 regional rankings today.

Teams are listed with their regional record first, followed by their overall record. For more information about the playoff format and how participants are determined, check out our FAQ.

East Region
No. Name In-Region Overall
1. RPI 7-0 7-0
2. New Jersey 7-1 7-1
3. Curry 9-0 9-0
4. St. John Fisher 8-1 8-1
5. Albright 7-1 7-1
6. Alfred 7-1 7-1
7. Hobart 6-2 6-2
8. Union 5-2 5-2
9. Cortland State 5-2 6-2
10. Widener 5-2 6-2

North Region
No. Name In-Region Overall
1. Mount Union 8-0 8-0
2. Wheaton (Ill.) 8-0 8-0
3. Wabash 8-0 8-0
4. Case Western Reserve 6-0 8-0
5. Franklin 7-1 7-1
6. Mount St. Joseph 7-1 7-1
7. Capital 6-2 6-2
8. Wittenberg 6-2 6-2
9. Illinois Wesleyan 6-2 6-2
10. North Central 6-2 6-2

South Region
No. Name In-Region Overall
1. Washington and Jefferson 5-0 8-0
2. Wesley 6-1 8-1
3. Mary Hardin-Baylor 7-1 7-1
4. Muhlenberg 8-0 8-0
5. Salisbury 4-1 8-1
6. Waynesburg 6-1 7-1
7. Trinity (Texas) 6-1 7-1
8. Randolph-Macon 7-1 7-1
9. Ursinus 6-1 7-1
10. Hampden-Sydney 5-2 6-2

West Region
No. Name In-Region Overall
1. UW-Whitewater 7-0 7-1
2. St. John's 8-0 9-0
3. Central 8-0 9-0
4. St. Norbert 8-0 9-0
5. Bethel 7-1 7-1
6. Wartburg 8-1 8-1
7. Linfield 4-1 5-2
8. Occidental 6-1 6-1
9. Redlands 6-1 7-1
10. Whitworth 6-1 6-2

[ADL70]

Over on the Pool C board is discussion which gives further use of the regions in the Pool C selection process.  According to Pat, after the As and Bs are eliminated from the regional rankings, the highest ranked remaining team in each region is evaluated against the others using the NCAA criteria.  The team below the team selected in its region moves up and the top four are compared again, until the 7 Cs are selected.

[ScotLass]

Kind of like musical chairs  and here I was reading all that lengthy criteria 

[cave2bens]

Kind of like musical chairs  and here I was reading all that lengthy criteria 

So... we see if all committee members are interpreting the same tune?  

[uknowme22]

So you are saying they will seed people so that no one has to fly? 

I'm not saying they won't fly anyone, but I do believe they try as hard as they can to keep it from happening.

[WAF78]

So...Wally, BB, bashbro and any Denison posters...what about Denison? I haven't seen a lot of talk about the game this week as the playoff chatter has dominated....which is cool since we're going to the playoffs no matter if we tank the last two games or not. I don't believe we will...but CC has his hands full in trying to get his team to focus and get motivated for this week. As he said in one of the interviews, he felt his team had an emotional let down after the first series and was unable to regain the emotion. They've played a couple of good teams early in the season and were soundly defeated...but they beat Kenyon last week.
Will anyone be at the game in C'ville this weekend?
Also, I guess it's surprising to me that DPU has sold out their tickets but we have not...I'm sure that will come soon.