FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

47 points from Denison?

13 were in OT

Those points still count, ya know. Are you still salty about being 19-2'd by Oberlin? 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Wow! Denison wins! Is Wabash that good?

Yes.

But seriously...Denison has some guys. They didn't take a step back this year like I thought they would trying to replace Paulus/Fioroni/Layer. That's a program on the come.

A little bit of "yes, Wabash is that good."

A little bit of "yes, Denison has some good players and is improving."

And a whole lot of something I've been trying to say for four weeks now: OWU is good but last year's 9-1 was a bit of a mirage created by a weak schedule and getting the bounces in close games. That was a 6 or 7 win team cloaked as a 9-win team.  I think some of y'all collectively overreacted to that 9-1, and now with the bottom-middle of the league looking somewhat better than last year we see that OWU really still belongs in the league's middle class with Denison, Kenyon, Wooster, and DePauw; which really shouldn't be that surprising, considering that last year's 9-1 team best Denison by 3 and DePauw by 4.

[ADL70]

47 points from Denison?

13 were in OT

Those points still count, ya know. Are you still salty about being 19-2'd by Oberlin? 

Cheap shot even with the smiley.

What does CWRU-Oberlin have to do with this?

Pts in OT are from a short field and you get more plays than in a regulation game.

I've long thought those points shouldn't count, similar to shoot-out goals not counting in the score of an NHL game.

[aueagle]

A great one to watch at Selby....almost 5000.
GO BISHOPS

[aueagle]

Espo...29/46...473 yds...another OWU record

[sigma one]

The wonders of technology.  I watched the OWU/Denison game while riding back to Indiana.  Not driving, riding. Two  points:
          I was shocked at Allegheny's troubles.  They have no workable QB at this point.  That is only the most glaring of their problems.  Wabash overwhelmed them.  And their defense never showed a glimpse of being able to defend the run.  To me, they also looked undersized.
          OWU/Denison was amazing.  I doubt there will be a better game to watch in the NCAC this year.  And speaking of defending the run:  Denison repeatedly tore apart the OWU defense, including in  OT.  In the 2nd OT instead of taking the chance of missing their FG after OWU missed theirs, they pounded the defense without thinking that they could be stopped, it seems, finally scoring on a run around the right side. 
          On the OWU side, they surely thought they could exploit Denison's secondary down field--and they did.  Many of Espinosa's throws were 15 or more yards past the line of scrimmage, and he was accurate.  Receivers mostly ran wide open.   They had better success in the red zone-----until the 2nd OT.  Espinosa showed great accuracy.
          A great win for Denison.  Lots of fight in that Big Red dog.  Are they a team that might finish third in the confeence?

[bashbrother]

It was a great game and a super win for Denison.....  but I can't help but ask,  How has OWU gone backwards from last year with all they returned?    Puzzling. 

The valley between the top two in the NCAC and the rest,  just proved to be much deeper than we had originally thought coming into the season.

[ExTartanPlayer]

It was a great game and a super win for Denison.....  but I can't help but ask,  How has OWU gone backwards from last year with all they returned?    Puzzling. 

The valley between the top two in the NCAC and the rest,  just proved to be much deeper than we had originally thought coming into the season.

Please read my post above - OWU hasn't really gone backwards! They're basically the same team! They were a "good but not great" team that took advantage of a weak schedule and won their close games to finish 9-1 and somehow mind-trick you guys into thinking they were up there with Wabash and Witt. They only beat Denison by 3 last year, for example; the gap between those two teams was not nearly as large as their records would indicate.

[wally_wabash]

A couple of things from last night's business in Delaware. First, Miles Mackenzie missed three field goals and an extra point. Any of those kicks wins the game.  He's supposed to be money and he's not been money so far this year.

Second, I was impressed with OWU getting the ball down the field. Really the first time I've seen them try to get deep on any kind of regular basis. And it worked.

Third, OWU can't run at all. Your TE can't be your go to guy when you want to run.

sigma one told us in august that one of the he too three here would lose to somebody not in the top three.  Spot on.

ETP also told us that OWU wasn't as great as we thought. And I'm ready to say that he's right. I thought OWU would have another gear in that offense this year, and they just don't seem to have it. Coupled with a defense that isn't as stout as last year, and OWU is basically what ETP thought they were. Also spot on.

[nike]

5000 at Selby! Wow. That is great.  Winning will do that.  Victory or no, 5000 is a tremendous feat.

[sigma one]

I'd like to take a bow on the prediction of a loss by one of the Three.  But if you think about it that prediction wasn't so bold.  I really thought it might be OWU, but pre-season Wabash looked vulnerable with a new QB.  And Wittenberg, that's a tougher call, but it has happened from time to time.  Now, is there Another Loss out there?  Not sure about that; would not predict it, but would not be surprised either.
     I'll have more later on Wabash's defense and OWU/Denison     

[BashDad]

It was a great game and a super win for Denison.....  but I can't help but ask,  How has OWU gone backwards from last year with all they returned?

They haven't.

[BashDad]

Let's start a QB controversy. Let's just do it. I wanna see more Connor Rice.

[BashBacker#16]

http://m.meadvilletribune.com/meadville/db_291223/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=4oMITSQK

Interesting remarks from Matlak...

[HCAlum86]

So, after my Ohio State tickets fell through I decided to make the trip to Hiram for the homecoming game against Wooster. My 13 year old had a bye week for his middle school team, so we packed up the Denali and headed to HC.

My first note would be that Wooster is vastly improved, and as my son put it "Barnes is just a ball player". He was able to take control of the game from the outset, and Wooster's offensive line was more than accommodating in giving him space. Wooster's defense was also improved and fast. I think the Scots will be the team to beat outside of this year's big three.

It was a tough loss to see as I walked into the game with high hopes. However, I still believe my Terriers will play in a number of close games this year and manage to get to four or five wins. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see them fighting on into the fourth quarter when the game was already all but decided; this team will not roll over for anyone. Which I admire greatly.

My notes going into the Wittenberg game for the Terriers would definitely be to do a better job containing reads, especially against a team as talented as Witt, who will more than likely turn those zone reads into play action passes. I'll be on hand again this week because my daughter has expressed interest in Hiram's new nursing program (so I'm going to do everything I can to keep HC in the family), and I believe this game will be a lot closer than most would assume. It's Sunday and I am still proud to be a Terrier. Go dawgs!