FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Wally,

Scola's been out as well. It's probably both guys and not just Hodges. Scola got hurt in the Wash U. game.

[smedindy]

Most of our talk will be on the Wabash / Witt game, but here are the other games in NCAC / DPU land. Denison has the week off.

Hiram (1-3, 1-7) @ Allegheny (2-2, 4-4) - The Gators showed a great deal against Wabash Saturday, and have incentive to finish strong. A mark of 4-2, 6-4 would mean at least a tie for third and an excellent springboard into 2012. The Terriers haven't put much of a fight up in recent weeks, and that trend should continue.

Wooster (2-2, 3-5) @ Kenyon (0-4, 0-8) - Thanks to the Scots posters that have been chiming in. Despite all of the issues and injuries, Wooster can still finish 4-2 in the conference (if they beat Wittenberg). This should be a good tune-up for that match-up, as the Lords aren't in the same league as Wooster. Kenyon has been scoring points, though, so the Scots' defense can't just sit back and rest.

Oberlin (1-3, 2-6) @ Ohio Wesleyan (1-3, 2-6) - The Zombie Yeomen refuse to stay dead in each game until the very end, but all of that effort has resulted in just two wins. The Bishops fans, as you can tell, are quite frustrated, but there was a great glimmer of hope against the Lords Saturday with Espinosa's performance. The Bishops probably have the most talent, but it's a 60-minute game, as Oberlin has demonstrated time and again.

Albion (5-3) @ DePauw (3-4) - The Britons will be a stern test for the Tigers. They've won five in a row after a tough opening slate (Butler, Wheaton, UW-SP), and are coming off of a huge win against Adrian. DePauw has a two game streak and is motivated to keep the momentum up for Bell Week. The issue is two-fold. One, this game falls in between two huge MIAC games for Albion. If they beat Trine next week, they're in the playoffs, they've got a better seed for the playoffs. Motivation against the Tigers could be an issue. Two, DPU is on their fourth QB of the season. Can the Tigers keep a QB upright?

[wally_wabash]

Wally,

Scola's been out as well. It's probably both guys and not just Hodges. Scola got hurt in the Wash U. game.

Yes.  And I don't want to downplay Scola being out, but I think Wabash is deeper at LB and it's a little easier to plug and play at that spot.  HH was huge impact from the very first series of the season.  Having a corner like that frees up a defense to do a lot of things they might not otherwise be able to do if they need to help a corner.  I'm starting to get a little bit over my skis with the x's and o's here, but that's how I'm seeing it. 

[wally_wabash]

I believe Albion has already punched their ticket to the tournament.  The Britons are 5-0 in MIAA play with one game left and they've already defeated Adrian and Hope.  Trine has two losses so they're out. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

That is correct - Albion has already clinched the AQ.

[smedindy]

I didn't see it listed on the D3 recap that Albion had clinched. Playoff seeding may have its motivation, then. They're 5-3 with only one regional loss. A 7-1 regional record means a much better seed for them and avoiding one of the Purples (depending on if someone gets moved or UMU stays put) first thing.

My preview has been duly corrected.

[smedindy]

Wally,

Scola's been out as well. It's probably both guys and not just Hodges. Scola got hurt in the Wash U. game.

Yes.  And I don't want to downplay Scola being out, but I think Wabash is deeper at LB and it's a little easier to plug and play at that spot.  HH was huge impact from the very first series of the season.  Having a corner like that frees up a defense to do a lot of things they might not otherwise be able to do if they need to help a corner.  I'm starting to get a little bit over my skis with the x's and o's here, but that's how I'm seeing it.

Having to fill two key positions on defense, though, is tough. The 'next man up' has done pretty well, but getting Hodges back would be a great plus.

[Li'l Giant]

This weekend's game against Witt will be broadcast by WabashTelevision! Wabash is taking all TV production in-house next season and this is their tune-up game to provide high quality broadcasts.

And our network didn't kill the conference. I think we'll end up with more viewers than the Longhorn Network has anyway. 

[wally_wabash]

Maybe an interesting sidebar to Saturday's game....we might be settling a tight race for the Mike Gregory Award.  In case you haven't noticed, even though he doesn't have the yardage figures Zoeller has, Chase Belton has tossed more touchdowns than his Wittenberg counterpart (17 to 16).  Chase also leads the conference in rushing touchdowns.  I don't think we've seriously considered Chase as part of the player of the year race, but he's piling up a pretty sweet season statistically, particularly when it comes to getting the ball in the end zone which is really the entire point of the game.  A nice game (and a win) on Saturday might put him over the top. 

[aueagle]

I can see red t-shirts with white lettering...
LG TV

[Duster72]

I think Wabash's injury situation might be being underplayed a little.  Seems like a lot of guys are playing hurt or at much less than 100%.  Just because a guy's out there doesn't mean he is healthy.  I know everyone is beat up in week 10, but it's a huge disadvantage not to have a bye week to let some guys heal.

On a lighter note, I really hope WabashTV goes well, but that seems like an iffy proposition.  I have tried to listen to some games this year, even going so far as downloading a realplayer app on my phone to try to listen and it just never seems to work.  And we still have never gotten a reprint of last year's Monon Bell DVDs even though they sold out really quickly.  Maybe we'll get some good basketball coverage out of WABTV.  That would be nice.

[smedindy]

I have faith. They wouldn't mess around with the Witt game.

[1837Tigers]

And we still have never gotten a reprint of last year's Monon Bell DVDs even though they sold out really quickly. 

Still available here:

https://www.depauw.edu/e/fi/cc/dvdmononbell/cc_form.asp

[Li'l Giant]

I think Wabash's injury situation might be being underplayed a little.  Seems like a lot of guys are playing hurt or at much less than 100%.  Just because a guy's out there doesn't mean he is healthy.  I know everyone is beat up in week 10, but it's a huge disadvantage not to have a bye week to let some guys heal.

Yet another reason why I hate the Week 1 bye. Yeah, I know the horse is dead. Just sayin'.

On a lighter note, I really hope WabashTV goes well, but that seems like an iffy proposition.  I have tried to listen to some games this year, even going so far as downloading a realplayer app on my phone to try to listen and it just never seems to work.  And we still have never gotten a reprint of last year's Monon Bell DVDs even though they sold out really quickly.  Maybe we'll get some good basketball coverage out of WABTV.  That would be nice.

There were a number of the in-house produced hoops and baseball games last year. I thought they were high quality and enjoyed them. I didn't know there were plans to extend them to football. I think it's going to be good.

[nike]

Hey OWU---Your QB is Player of the Week----at least get a picture of him to the North Coast website to be posted!!!!!!!!!!