FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

I can't get enough of that INT return by HH.  He's played four games and my fan-crush on him is already approaching unhealthy levels. 

[Li'l Giant]

No players of the week yet? Que pasa?

[smedindy]

Congrats to Chase Belton, the QB on the d3football.com Team of the Week!

http://www.d3football.com/awards/tow/2011/week5

[wally_wabash]

Way to go Big Red.  Now, what the heck is going on in Wooster?  I get that their #1 QB is out.  Fine.  But the Scots got shut out in the second half against Denison (the same Denison that got beat by OWU remember). 

  After week 2 I went on record as saying that I thought Wooster might rip off seven wins in a row...That assesment is clearly incorrect and now I'm not sure Wooster can beat Washington or CWRU and they don't have a chance at Witt to end the season if they can't do better than 8.8 points per game.  A month ago, Wooster was clearly the third best team in the league, now I'm not sure that Wooster can win five games this season.

I now have no idea how to rank teams #3-7 in the NCAC.  I really thought that Allegheny and Wooster were pretty clearly #'s 3 and 4 based on previous seasons and early results, and now some weird stuff happens and it's back to the drawing board.  Honestly, I don't think that ANY result between Denison/Allegheny/Wooster/Oberlin/OWU would surprise me from here on out.  Gun to my head, if I had to pick a 3rd-place team in the league, I'd probably take Allegheny, but I'd be sorely tempted to pick Denison.

I think the biggest thing I'm taking from it is that the gap between the two red W's and the rest of the league is bigger than I would have guessed at the start of the season.  If you're looking for who's going to finish third here, it probably rides on the Denison/Allegheny game in a couple of weeks.  If Denison can get out of PA with a win, they'll probably go 5-1 in league play (they don't get Witt this year).  If Allegheny wins, they're probably going to wind up 4-2 along with Denison (provided the Gators can beat Oberlin which will not be a gimme).  Either way, the third place team in the league is going to be 6-4 (at best) which is a little disappointing.  I really thought Wooster had the chops to win 7 or 8 games this year and it just isn't going to happen. 

[Duster72]

Serious question:

Why is the physical incarnation of Wally Wabash completely different than the Wally Wabash we have all come to know and love?  Has anyone else noticed it looks like Wally was in a back alley fight?  The new Wally is terrible.

[Bash-Dad #84]

Serious question:

Why is the physical incarnation of Wally Wabash completely different than the Wally Wabash we have all come to know and love?  Has anyone else noticed it looks like Wally was in a back alley fight?  The new Wally is terrible.

I thought I was the only one that didn't care for the new Wally. He looks smaller and not as jacked as the old Wally. His hair is different too!

I can't believe I am on here complaining about the mascot!

Wally Always Fights!

[ExTartanPlayer]

I think the biggest thing I'm taking from it is that the gap between the two red W's and the rest of the league is bigger than I would have guessed at the start of the season.  If you're looking for who's going to finish third here, it probably rides on the Denison/Allegheny game in a couple of weeks.  If Denison can get out of PA with a win, they'll probably go 5-1 in league play (they don't get Witt this year).  If Allegheny wins, they're probably going to wind up 4-2 along with Denison (provided the Gators can beat Oberlin which will not be a gimme).  Either way, the third place team in the league is going to be 6-4 (at best) which is a little disappointing.  I really thought Wooster had the chops to win 7 or 8 games this year and it just isn't going to happen.

I've never doubted the size of the gap between Witt/Wabash and everyone else.  I do agree with the bolded comment...even with that gap, I still thought that either Gheny or Wooster would emerge as a solid third banana.

I had thought that Allegheny was emerging as a pretty solid #3 team in the league (8-2 in '09 despite blowout losses to the W's, followed by 7-3 in '10 with VERY close losses to Witt and CWRU), and I thought they would be a pretty consistent 7-8 win team.  Now that I look at it, if you drop out their puzzling loss to Bethany in the season-opener, I think they've played about to expectations - won the games they should, loss to Witt, close loss to CWRU.  I expect they'll right the ship in the next few weeks before losing to 'Bash, then close with a couple wins to finish 6-4.

I wonder if we might be slightly overrating Denison/Oberlin a little just because of their decent performance in recent weeks (partially because of the phenomena that you described, where we WANT to see a legitimate third contender emerge).  I got a littel carried away with my "Wow, Denison beat Wooster by two TD's!" line of thought, but other than that, they've beaten two winless teams and lost to 1-4 OWU...they could easily lose the next 4 games and fade back into oblivion.

I guess, the point being, you're right...there are the two big W's, and then a BIG dropoff to a mishmash below them.  I still think 'Gheny is firmly entrenched as the third-best NCAC team, but their record won't show this year because they play both W's.  The loss to CWRU is excusable - they've played evenly over the last few years.  The only mystery is how they lost to Bethany so badly on opening day.

After Allegheny, I think that Denison/Wooster/OWU/Oberlin come next (honestly can't pick between them) and then Hiram/Kenyon bringing up the rear.

[Li'l Giant]

Serious question:

Why is the physical incarnation of Wally Wabash completely different than the Wally Wabash we have all come to know and love?  Has anyone else noticed it looks like Wally was in a back alley fight?  The new Wally is terrible.

I thought I was the only one that didn't care for the new Wally. He looks smaller and not as jacked as the old Wally. His hair is different too!

I can't believe I am on here complaining about the mascot!

Wally Always Fights!

I agree. If the head needed replacing I'm not sure why we couldn't get one that looked the same. However, I think this Wally is a lot nicer than the head that was around when *I* was a student.

[smedindy]

I still say Oberlin could go 4-2 and take third. After Wabash they close with Denison, OWU and Gheny. They played well against Witt until they got worn down in the 4th. As dominant as Witt is at home, the Yeomen were within 21-13 late in the third.

Of course, they'd be 4-2, 5-5 probably and that's not going to look good. Just don't count out Oberlin is all I am saying.

The chasm between the W's and the rest is mainly due to depth. Wabash and Witt have a roster full of young men with talent that can become part of a rotation or step up to be a starter. The rest of the league doesn't have the 2nd or 3rd string those two programs have.

[bashbrother]

The chasm between the W's and the rest is mainly due to depth. Wabash and Witt have a roster full of young men with talent that can become part of a rotation or step up to be a starter. The rest of the league doesn't have the 2nd or 3rd string those two programs have.

This is very true.  Have you ever noticed within every division of college football that many times,  underdog programs can keep it close in the first half, only to be blow away in the 3rd and 4th Qtrs...?   Their 1st teams, when fresh, can be competitive, but if they cannot substitute or give some of them a breather, as the better programs can, they simply get tired or dinged up and there is a huge drop off in their replacements.

I watch the first half of the Oberlin/Witt game, and in the 1st qtr... Oberlin was giving Witt all they could handle at home. 

[wally_wabash]

I still say Oberlin could go 4-2 and take third.

It's possible, but Oberlin's last three are at Denison, at OWU, and at Allegheny.  Going 3-0 on that stretch is a big ask. 

[smedindy]

I still say Oberlin could go 4-2 and take third.

It's possible, but Oberlin's last three are at Denison, at OWU, and at Allegheny.  Going 3-0 on that stretch is a big ask.

But those three are a bit...um...random in performances. Denison had a nice game on Saturday, but can they sustain? Allegheny didn't play well at all against CWRU but could have won (and if they held on to the ball would have won). OWU is OWU.

Lot of football between then and now, though.

[wally_wabash]

I still say Oberlin could go 4-2 and take third.

It's possible, but Oberlin's last three are at Denison, at OWU, and at Allegheny.  Going 3-0 on that stretch is a big ask.

But those three are a bit...um...random in performances. Denison had a nice game on Saturday, but can they sustain? Allegheny didn't play well at all against CWRU but could have won (and if they held on to the ball would have won). OWU is OWU.

Lot of football between then and now, though.

It's the three roadies in a row (two of which are Senior days) that gives me pause.  And with a roster as thin as Oberlin's, the longer the season goes on, the tougher it gets for them to go four quarters.  Did somebody say they had 38 players at Witt last weekend?  That's wafer thin. 

[bashbrother]

on, the tougher it gets for them to go four quarters.  Did somebody say they had 38 players at Witt last weekend?  That's wafer thin.

That is what they mentioned on the webcast.....  It was a very strange scene looking at their sideline.... 

[wally_wabash]

Finally got your PotWs posted.  Fioroni from Denison for offense and Mark Swope from Witt on the defensive side.  Feel free to discuss...or not.  I'm not even going to touch it.