FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[bashgiant]

Big Red is winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.   Sacking the Witt QB a number of times.

The kickoff return is the only reason Witt leads at half....

Watching second half. You are 100% right about that.

[bashgiant]

Big Red is winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.   Sacking the Witt QB a number of times.

The kickoff return is the only reason Witt leads at half....

Watching second half. You are 100% right about that.

Guess we spoke to soon or jinxed Dennison.

[Schwami]

Big Red closes to within 7!

Witt  30
Denison  23

3:51 to go

Can't recover the onside kick however.  Need a quick stop here!

3 and out for Witt, Denison will get the ball back with about 0:45 left.

Bizarre PF call against Denison allows Witt to keep the ball, and they take the knee for the win.

[bashgiant]

Dennison gave Witt a game.

[bashbrother]

Gutsy effort for the Big Red tonight.

Witt struggled.  First Witt game I have watched this year.

WAF!

[Schwami]

I nominate the Denison - Hiram game as the most surprising result in the NCAC this year (so far, at least).

How weird is it that Denison turned the ball over 8 times against Hiram in a 37-26 loss, and then did not make any the following week against Wabash?

Denison now has a bye week before hosting Wooster for another game under the lights on 10/25.  Then their meat-grinder of a schedule settles down a bit as they finish with Oberlin, Allegheny and Kenyon.  So the opportunity is there to finish strong after a tough 2-4 start.

[HCAlum86]

OWU Hiram. Going to be a good one! Haven't said that in a while.

[Pat Coleman]

My only comment was that I compare UMHB to Rowan yada yada yada. Didn't say anything about a bad rep or whatever.

Sprained my eyes from rolling them so hard there.

Roll them all you want Pat but I said nothing of a 'bad reputation'. My exact statement was: "I compare The Cru to Rowan in the days a Keeler  . Good teams with a ton of transfers from DII, FBS, JuCo, etc."

That would make you the first Mount Union poster to mention Keeler and not do so disparagingly. Guess I'm not convinced.

[Dr. Acula]

Gutsy effort for the Big Red tonight.

Witt struggled.  First Witt game I have watched this year.

WAF!

Denison looked very solid tonight for the most part.  Witt, on the other hand, didn't look like a top 25 team tonight IMO let alone a top 15 team.  As an outside observer Wabash looked clearly superior when I've watched them, especially defensively.  I'd be shocked to see a repeat of 2013.  I don't think Witt has the horses to take down the LGs this year.

[aueagle]

The Big Red has been building (stated last year), they had a very good recruiting class the last 2 yrs...
AD Nan Carney-DeBord (X-OWU B-ball coach) has vision and backing to create championships for all
the sports....football is still building...watch-out. (of course I said that about the Gators).
Hiram...I love it...The QB and the kid with all the grabs could be Co-Players of the week...
Witt...What goes on in Springfield? Can't figure them out sometimew...Over-rated? Just cruising?
Battling Bishops... Saturday just shows how much of a climb the program has to go...
GO BISHOPS

[ohiofan1954]

good game tonight, Denison played well. A kickoff return away from a tie game. Didn't give up late either. Wittenberg didn't impress at all. Good thing Wabash is a home game. Oh loved the halftime show. Great to see more High School bands going to The Ohio University model.

[bashgiant]

good game tonight, Denison played well. A kickoff return away from a tie game. Didn't give up late either. Wittenberg didn't impress at all. Good thing Wabash is a home game. Oh loved the halftime show. Great to see more High School bands going to The Ohio University model.

In my opinion LG's are a better team on the road than at home for whatever reason.

[BashBacker#16]

I didn't realize Denison cut it to 7 late in the half.  Impressive game for the Big Red.  Shocked with Witt's struggles to run the ball.

Here's the article from the Springfield paper.  Note the "slam" on the Denison press box and the landscaping around the stadium.  That struck me as bazaar!  http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/sports/college-football/wittenberg-hangs-on-to-beat-denison-for-fourth-str/nhg5s/

A few other randoms:

- the OWU announcers didn't seem to realize Wabash has a 2-headed rushing attack with Holmes and Zurek.  Those 2 guys are really big backs.  When you see them in-person you realize how big.
- Putco had over 70 yards rushing
- It was good seeing Connor Rice get some series.  He made some very nice throws.
- congrats to Hiram on another win.  When was the last time we had so many "in-game" posts on a Hiram game?
- Wabash held OWU to 22 yards rushing
- Wabash rolled 511 yards of total offense

Wabash Always Fights!

[nike]

Could Hiram QB be the best in the NCAC?  I know  Wabash guy is good, but he has a bit more help. Partridge or Barnes. Have seen the Wabash QB but not any of the others.
Very happy for Hiram. Hope game attendance is up.

[sigma one]

This appears to be a solid year for NCAC QBs.  Sklenar at Denison, Hunt at DePauw, Partridge at Hiram, Orsini at OWU, Putko at Wabash (who leads the NCAC in completion %age in a run first offense), Jenkins at Wittenberg, and Barnes at Wooster, with the exception of Putko--who is second in the conference in TD passes--have all put up big numbers.  It's hard to evaluate completely because so far the Wabash defense has muted the otherwise impressive stats of several of these.  The others, Nigro at Allegheny, Bates at Kenyon (who also has a high completion %age in difficult circumstances), Pogialli at Oberlin are capable, though on inferior teams. 
     From what I have seen so far, I really like Sklenar.  I appreciate the talent of Barnes, but he was held in check by Wabash, except for one long run, and ended up 6 of 22 passing (admittedly in very windy conditions).  Orsini was under duress last Saturday v. the Bash defense, but he's mobile.  He was replaced in the second half after a second interception; I hope he is OK physically; he took some big hits. 
     Partridge has certainly elevated Hiram, as have several WRs and  a freshman RB who did not play last weekend, it seems.
     
     The all-conference vote at the end of the year will be interesting.