FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[bashbrother]

Who have you faced that is better this year?

1. Reed Florence
2. Rob Kalkstein

I even think Max Paulus might be better, if we're talking only in terms of talent and not statistical success. The truth is, I think Espinosa looks fairly mediocre. His release is ugly as all hell, he's big and slow, but hey-- he's got a pretty good arm that gets to throw lots and lots of passes. That's what I think he is.

Trivia Question:   Who is leading all of Div III in Pass Efficiency rating:   Answer:  Rob Kalkstein

[nike]

Some of you guys don't want to give the Bishops and Espinosa any credit at all for their season so far. No props at all. Wow!

[BashDad]

Some of you guys don't want to give the Bishops and Espinosa any credit at all for their season so far. No props at all. Wow!

i give them a single prop for beating CMU. Them's the breaks.

[wally_wabash]

Nike- "I would remind us all regarding Espinosa, that the 400+ yards he threw for against CM this past Saturday would be a lot of yardage "even in a scrimmage".   

I think the 6,745 yards he has thrown for in almost three seasons probably doesn't count much either because only two of those games came against the  Lil Giants. We all KNOW the other teams are far inferior pass defenses to what they bring to the table. I mean with the two game average of 226 yards per game against the Lil Giants, spread over three seasons, he would only throw for 6,780 over three seasons if he averaged that. Significantly less than he has right now!

Right. Those of us who watch Wabash football on the regular aren't qualified to spot good quarterback play.  Seriously.

So where do you rank him in the NCAC this year leading up to the Wabash game?  Who have you faced that is better this year?

I'll echo Bashdad here and say that Florence and Kalkstein are better.  I think Barnes is also more difficult to defend against just because he can make something out of nothing, which he often has to do given the single ply offensive line that he's got to play behind.  Espinosa may be the best "passer" that Wabash has seen so far, but I don't think  he's the most difficult for Wabash to defend for reasons that have been brought up several times in the last couple of days. 

Again, I think the game comes down to how well OWU deals with Wabash's blitz pressure.  Maybe OWU tries to establish some kind of run game.  And maybe they find some success with it.  Unless it is crippling to Wabash, I would bet a dollar that Hammer doesn't pull back on the blitz.  Why?  Because I don't think OWU will stray too far away from their formula of 2:1 pass:run play selection even if they find some success running, they just won't be able to take the ball out of Espinosa's hands.  So Wabash will keep blitzing away, and they will get home often enough to create major game-changing problems for OWU. 

[cave2bens]

Who have you faced that is better this year?

1. Reed Florence
2. Rob Kalkstein

I even think Max Paulus might be better, if we're talking only in terms of talent and not statistical success. The truth is, I think Espinosa looks fairly mediocre. His release is ugly as all hell, he's big and slow, but hey-- he's got a pretty good arm that gets to throw lots and lots of passes. That's what I think he is.

Trivia Question:   Who is leading all of Div III in Pass Efficiency rating:   Answer:  Rob Kalkstein

Hmmm, and Reed Florence at #24 and Chase Belton at #37 to represent the NCAC in the top 50.  As numbers seem to be the flavor of the day, here's another to consider when harping about the passing yardage surrendered - #13 in pass defense efficiency is uh, Wabash, even after facing Kalkstein and Florence.  Old Tigers next at 38, and Yeomen at 39.  OWU is in the midst of a terrific season - no denial of that fact, nor is there any denial that Saturday will be "Missouri Time" for the Bishops.  Like Otterbein and Heidelberg, the OWU schedule has been "back-loaded," and the rubber meets the road over the next few weeks, starting now.

The walls are getting covered with starchy water, and the floor slick with pasta, Fellas (and ScotsLass if she's lurking).   

[smedindy]

Some of you guys don't want to give the Bishops and Espinosa any credit at all for their season so far. No props at all. Wow!

Not saying that he and OWU deserves unbridled and unquestioned admiration is not congruent to no props. Settle down a bit.

[Pat Coleman]

Some of you guys don't want to give the Bishops and Espinosa any credit at all for their season so far. No props at all. Wow!

Not saying that he and OWU deserves unbridled and unquestioned admiration is not congruent to no props. Settle down a bit.

Actually, I think BashDad falls into that category. I've been amazed for a week now at his utter refusal to be happy that someone in the league might actually be getting better and can raise the profile of the NCAC.

[smedindy]

I also agree the Florence and Kalkstein are up there ahead of Espinosa. It's not a chasm but Florence has Belton-esque qualities in his running and Kalkstein is just darn good.

Espinosa may be more of a 'system' QB - a pretty good QB that looks really good in his system.

I'd say Espinosa is perhaps better than Barnes, Mandel and Paulus. The issue is the latter three don't have much of a supporting cast (Paulus does have Fiorioni, but they have no defense and thus that limits Fiorioni's effectiveness if you have to be pass-happy all of the time). People forgot about Mandel because he was hurt.

Certainly, though the NCAC has some pretty decent QBs on six of their ten teams and Murray and Seaman at DPU could be decent if they didn't have the New Tiger cluster-flop surrounding them. I haven't seen Shannon play but he's not bad on the numbers when they're doing OK. Person's a game manager on the best days and really, Hiram's QBs could be decent but they run for his life all the time and they're always checking down.

I'd rank the starters:

1. Belton
2. Florence
3. Espinosa
4. Paulus
5. Mandel
6. Barnes
7. Seaman / Murray
8. Shannon
9. Person
10. Rehor

You could change 4-6 around and I wouldn't object.

[NCAC4Life]

Is Kalkstein the guy OWU pounded on Saturday?

[smedindy]

That was his worst game, by far, and hampered again by the loss of Blanks. He had a mediocre game against OWU and he's STILL #1 in the country in efficiency.

He has as many TD passes as Espinosa and has only thrown the ball 123 times all year.

[nike]

I also agree the Florence and Kalkstein are up there ahead of Espinosa. It's not a chasm but Florence has Belton-esque qualities in his running and Kalkstein is just darn good.

Espinosa may be more of a 'system' QB - a pretty good QB that looks really good in his system.

I'd say Espinosa is perhaps better than Barnes, Mandel and Paulus. The issue is the latter three don't have much of a supporting cast (Paulus does have Fiorioni, but they have no defense and thus that limits Fiorioni's effectiveness if you have to be pass-happy all of the time). People forgot about Mandel because he was hurt.

Certainly, though the NCAC has some pretty decent QBs on six of their ten teams and Murray and Seaman at DPU could be decent if they didn't have the New Tiger cluster-flop surrounding them. I haven't seen Shannon play but he's not bad on the numbers when they're doing OK. Person's a game manager on the best days and really, Hiram's QBs could be decent but they run for his life all the time and they're always checking down.

I'd rank the starters:

1. Belton
2. Florence
3. Espinosa
4. Paulus
5. Mandel
6. Barnes
7. Seaman / Murray
8. Shannon
9. Person
10. Rehor

You could change 4-6 around and I wouldn't object.

Espinoza is the system!!!!!

[smedindy]

You can devise a system around a player, you know. Again, that's not a total dis on Espinosa - in fact that's a compliment to the OWU staff to devise their offense around the strength of their best player.

[NCAC4Life]

Excuse 514 from the lil giants  side! I give up! His worst game because the OWU defense knocked Blanks out of the game! The great WC Defense gave Blanks twice his per game average! No wonder you think he is so good! Good luck to both sides and may everyone stay healthy.

[wally_wabash]

Excuse 514 from the lil giants  side! I give up! His worst game because the OWU defense knocked Blanks out of the game! The great WC Defense gave Blanks twice his per game average! No wonder you think he is so good! Good luck to both sides and may everyone stay healthy.

I think Blanks is so good because I watched him play and he IS so good.  OWU caught a serious break with him not playing.  Maybe it affects the outcome, maybe not.  Nobody can say for sure.  Him not playing matters though.  To pretend that it doesn't is naive. 

[smedindy]

Excuse 514 from the lil giants  side! I give up! His worst game because the OWU defense knocked Blanks out of the game! The great WC Defense gave Blanks twice his per game average! No wonder you think he is so good! Good luck to both sides and may everyone stay healthy.

CMU losing Erra-Hernandez against Wabash hurt them. Blanks was now the workhorse but wore down in the 4th. OWU no doubt had a good scheme against CMU (and having been a Wing-T team in their recent past probably didn't hurt) but he's a darn good player.