FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BashBacker#16]

Still super bummed about yesterday's outcome and need to shake it off.  Interesting posts.

The game was super weird.  I just read the Springfield paper and there are a couple things that reinforce the general feeling from yesterday:

- "Despite being dominated on the stat sheet, Wittenberg made a number of big plays to win"
- "The turnover ensured a second-half shutout for the Wittenberg defense. Somehow the Tigers won despite losing 348-211 in total offense and 49:02 to 23:17 in time of possession."

Witt won but anyone that saw the game knows they stole one away.  I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean they somehow got it done and got the "W."  I give them credit because they were not the better team.

I would love to see the holding penalty on the 4th and 3 late in the 4th Q.  ER went crazy.  Great point on the lack of holding penalties on Witt???  My personal opinion was the officiating was sketchy at best but that's generally an advantage for the home team.

Lastly, it's so gross that a strong, quality program like Witt doesn't have stands on the visitors side!  So gross.  It flat out sucks sitting/standing on the home side trying to cheer for your team.  As a player/recruit that would be a huge red flag for me.  Credit Fincham and staff because they still get players.

On to the Dannie's.  For twitter fans out there, @depauwswallows is pretty entertaining. 

Wabash Always Fights!

[BashDad]

Schwami wasn't beat down because of his congrats to Witt. He was called out because of an errant observation. Witt won the game, but they weren't the best team on the field, and I did offer my wish that they represent well.

And just like you chose to ignore his congratulations in his post, you chose to ignore my point. I understand how you feel but it sure sounds like sour grapes to lose the biggest game of the year and immediately claim you were a better team.

Dude. Your "disappointment" is disingenuous and gross -- I'd rather you just stick your tongue out and say "nyah-nyah." It'd be more honest.

I don't remember the last time anyone from Wabash said we were the better team after a loss. Before yesterday, I've never said it. This isn't, like, a cover up job or something. Did you watch the game? It was a really weird, frustrating game -- Witt fans, if there were any on here, would probably say the same thing. They got drilled. They also won. So, you know, c'est la vie and all that. "That's why you play the game," etc. But I'm not going to--and it doesn't seem like anyone else wants to either--congratulate Wittenberg for outplaying us. Because they didn't.

I have too much respect for most of the Wabash posters to say what I really want to. No one said to congratulate anyone for outplaying you. And it isn't just me thinking this. I am the only one who came out and called YOU out for it. Show some class ONE TIME and congratulate the winner. The other team has good players and they made some plays, apparently enough to win the game.  No Witt posters, sure, but we all know the players and many coaches all read our blather for some reason.

What's pathetic about it is I am probably one of the bigger Wabash supporters over the years not affiliated with your school. Your reaction here is a real joke.

Please. I'm not writing anything for anyone playing or coaching for any team. And I'm not attacking or belittling anyone but you and your condescending and not-so-veiled poo-poo'ing of a fan-base you've been waiting to take a crack at. If you want to talk about the game, fine. Let's do it. But a major part of my human reaction to yesterday is, guess what, a weird thing happened and the team that was dominated most of the game won. That's a valid reaction. I don't have to come on here and fulfill some vague responsibility of your prescription to be anything other than a good citizen of an internet message board. I didn't play in the game. I didn't coach in the game. I don't have to say "good game." Jesus.

[BashDad]

Also, I'd love to know what post tested your patience so thoroughly. This is ridiculous.

[Caveman # 95]

Amen!

[nike]

I also have been an admirer of Wabash, behind my support of my Wooster Scots. I root for them when they play Witt seemingly every year for the conference championship.
Here is the problem with yesterday. I saw the game as I caught up on paperwork with wife out of town. Witt did outplay Wabash. Forget the numbers.  As someone pointed out earlier, Wabash offense was responsible for one touchdown. Witt, not Wabash made the big plays and had no crucial penalties. And I would say Witt out coached Wabash. I mentioned before how I thought running your two big backs in the fourth quarter would have probably sealed it. But the pass plays hurt you.
Wabash had the more talented players, but Witt out played them. And the scoreboard reflected that.
Some of the predictions pregame were pretty much on the edge, including a blowout.
Witt held Wabash to 15 points and scored 21. Ugly maybe, but those players hung on, out played and beat a more talented team yesterday.

[smedindy]

is it the thinking that with a win vs DePauw, Wabash gets an at large bid?

Right. Wabash will have one loss, and there's not a lot of quality one-loss teams out there. The OAC runner up, the loser of Del Val / Widener, the "B" losers between Centre (who should be 10-0), Framingham and TLU.

Muhlenberg has a chance but Wabash has better criteria. Carrol may have one loss but not the criteria since they aren't RRd, and may not be since the West is just loaded. Chicago has one loss too but their SOS is kind of weak. Oshkosh may be a good test if they beat Platteville, since their losses except to Whitewater were all to scholarship programs. There's six "C" slots out there.

I think Wabash will fall to fifth in the North, and will be the second North team on the table as the the OAC runnerup will no doubt go very early.

[BashDad]

Quick observation.  From what I saw watching online, penalties and not enough of Holmes and Zureck cost Wabash the game.  In the fourth quarter, Witt looked spent on defense. Wabash's running backs were gaining chunks of yardage. Even the Witt commentators mentioned that several times. Thought Wabash running game would win the game in the forth quarter. But penalties and pass attempts interrupted a great running game today.
A very weird game to watch.
Wooster, meanwhile, looks to next year.

[ohiofan1954]

Still super bummed about yesterday's outcome and need to shake it off.  Interesting posts.

The game was super weird.  I just read the Springfield paper and there are a couple things that reinforce the general feeling from yesterday:

- "Despite being dominated on the stat sheet, Wittenberg made a number of big plays to win"
- "The turnover ensured a second-half shutout for the Wittenberg defense. Somehow the Tigers won despite losing 348-211 in total offense and 49:02 to 23:17 in time of possession."

Witt won but anyone that saw the game knows they stole one away.  I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean they somehow got it done and got the "W."  I give them credit because they were not the better team.

I would love to see the holding penalty on the 4th and 3 late in the 4th Q.  ER went crazy.  Great point on the lack of holding penalties on Witt???  My personal opinion was the officiating was sketchy at best but that's generally an advantage for the home team.

Lastly, it's so gross that a strong, quality program like Witt doesn't have stands on the visitors side!  So gross.  It flat out sucks sitting/standing on the home side trying to cheer for your team.  As a player/recruit that would be a huge red flag for me.  Credit Fincham and staff because they still get players.

On to the Dannie's.  For twitter fans out there, @depauwswallows is pretty entertaining. 

Wabash Always Fights!

Interesting points all. I don't claim to know all the rules and I'm not good at spotting the finer things that are penalties as others, however I do have this observation. The home team should never complain about officiating. Haven't heard anyone from Wittenberg complain about the officiating yesterday but if they had I wouldn't want to hear it. Another thing is that I am sure the NCAC had the #1 officiating crew working that game yesterday. Would you want the crew that worked say the Kenyon game? I thought the pass interference penalty at the end was correct, once again I am not up on the finer points of that penalty buy I have a good picture of the play and I think it is obvious. I agree about the stands but this is a problem at a lot of d3 schools. Wittenberg's stadium kind of reminds me of Capital's with the houses on the visitor's side.  At least   Case's stadium is  interesting in that it is built into a parking garage and surrounded on two other sides by dorms. Still it would be nice for fans to be able to sit behind their team and cheer them on. As a shutterbug I could get pictures from different vantage points as well. Hopefully this is something that many schools can improve on in the future.

[Pat Coleman]

- "The turnover ensured a second-half shutout for the Wittenberg defense. Somehow the Tigers won despite losing 348-211 in total offense and 49:02 to 23:17 in time of possession."

Didn't realize how long this game was!

[USee]

Schwami wasn't beat down because of his congrats to Witt. He was called out because of an errant observation. Witt won the game, but they weren't the best team on the field, and I did offer my wish that they represent well.

And just like you chose to ignore his congratulations in his post, you chose to ignore my point. I understand how you feel but it sure sounds like sour grapes to lose the biggest game of the year and immediately claim you were a better team.

Dude. Your "disappointment" is disingenuous and gross -- I'd rather you just stick your tongue out and say "nyah-nyah." It'd be more honest.

I don't remember the last time anyone from Wabash said we were the better team after a loss. Before yesterday, I've never said it. This isn't, like, a cover up job or something. Did you watch the game? It was a really weird, frustrating game -- Witt fans, if there were any on here, would probably say the same thing. They got drilled. They also won. So, you know, c'est la vie and all that. "That's why you play the game," etc. But I'm not going to--and it doesn't seem like anyone else wants to either--congratulate Wittenberg for outplaying us. Because they didn't.

I have too much respect for most of the Wabash posters to say what I really want to. No one said to congratulate anyone for outplaying you. And it isn't just me thinking this. I am the only one who came out and called YOU out for it. Show some class ONE TIME and congratulate the winner. The other team has good players and they made some plays, apparently enough to win the game.  No Witt posters, sure, but we all know the players and many coaches all read our blather for some reason.

What's pathetic about it is I am probably one of the bigger Wabash supporters over the years not affiliated with your school. Your reaction here is a real joke.

Please. I'm not writing anything for anyone playing or coaching for any team. And I'm not attacking or belittling anyone but you and your condescending and not-so-veiled poo-poo'ing of a fan-base you've been waiting to take a crack at. If you want to talk about the game, fine. Let's do it. But a major part of my human reaction to yesterday is, guess what, a weird thing happened and the team that was dominated most of the game won. That's a valid reaction. I don't have to come on here and fulfill some vague responsibility of your prescription to be anything other than a good citizen of an internet message board. I didn't play in the game. I didn't coach in the game. I don't have to say "good game." Jesus.

No, you are right. You get to say or not say whatever you want. And your reaction to my observation as well as what you have already said tells me all I need to know about you. Moving on.

[wally_wabash]

Schwami wasn't beat down because of his congrats to Witt. He was called out because of an errant observation. Witt won the game, but they weren't the best team on the field, and I did offer my wish that they represent well.

And just like you chose to ignore his congratulations in his post, you chose to ignore my point. I understand how you feel but it sure sounds like sour grapes to lose the biggest game of the year and immediately claim you were a better team.

If I didn't do so in a previous post, congratulations to Witt on their league championship.  I believe I did so on twitter after the game finished, didn't do so here, and didn't realize that I had violated The Code of Losing Football Games™ that mandates that fans of the losing team retroactively create a fantasy narrative about how the losing team is inferior in all conceivable ways. 

Generally, I think I'm pretty fair in a post game assessment and give appropriate credit to teams that beat Wabash.  Appropriate.  I've been effusive in praise of Wittenberg and their performance in last year's game...in the immediate aftermath and even into this past game week.  I was still giving them all kinds of credit.   So when we look at yesterday's game, and I was there in person, and we examine the statistics an appropriate and fair analysis tells us that Wittenberg won a game wherein the statistics and the first-person observations tell us that Wabash played a better game.   It was a weird result.  And Wittenberg deserves credit for taking advantages of those crucial errors and then holding on to that second half lead.  They do deserve credit for that.  They don't deserve this:

In the end, Witt had the best offense, the best defense, and the best special teams play today.  Period.

...because that isn't what happened.  That comment is 12 months too late.   

[BashDad]

Schwami wasn't beat down because of his congrats to Witt. He was called out because of an errant observation. Witt won the game, but they weren't the best team on the field, and I did offer my wish that they represent well.

And just like you chose to ignore his congratulations in his post, you chose to ignore my point. I understand how you feel but it sure sounds like sour grapes to lose the biggest game of the year and immediately claim you were a better team.

Dude. Your "disappointment" is disingenuous and gross -- I'd rather you just stick your tongue out and say "nyah-nyah." It'd be more honest.

I don't remember the last time anyone from Wabash said we were the better team after a loss. Before yesterday, I've never said it. This isn't, like, a cover up job or something. Did you watch the game? It was a really weird, frustrating game -- Witt fans, if there were any on here, would probably say the same thing. They got drilled. They also won. So, you know, c'est la vie and all that. "That's why you play the game," etc. But I'm not going to--and it doesn't seem like anyone else wants to either--congratulate Wittenberg for outplaying us. Because they didn't.

I have too much respect for most of the Wabash posters to say what I really want to. No one said to congratulate anyone for outplaying you. And it isn't just me thinking this. I am the only one who came out and called YOU out for it. Show some class ONE TIME and congratulate the winner. The other team has good players and they made some plays, apparently enough to win the game.  No Witt posters, sure, but we all know the players and many coaches all read our blather for some reason.

What's pathetic about it is I am probably one of the bigger Wabash supporters over the years not affiliated with your school. Your reaction here is a real joke.

Please. I'm not writing anything for anyone playing or coaching for any team. And I'm not attacking or belittling anyone but you and your condescending and not-so-veiled poo-poo'ing of a fan-base you've been waiting to take a crack at. If you want to talk about the game, fine. Let's do it. But a major part of my human reaction to yesterday is, guess what, a weird thing happened and the team that was dominated most of the game won. That's a valid reaction. I don't have to come on here and fulfill some vague responsibility of your prescription to be anything other than a good citizen of an internet message board. I didn't play in the game. I didn't coach in the game. I don't have to say "good game." Jesus.

No, you are right. You get to say or not say whatever you want. And your reaction to my observation as well as what you have already said tells me all I need to know about you. Moving on.

Right. You "know" me.

[wally_wabash]

- "The turnover ensured a second-half shutout for the Wittenberg defense. Somehow the Tigers won despite losing 348-211 in total offense and 49:02 to 23:17 in time of possession."

Didn't realize how long this game was!

Really could have used those extra couple of minutes.   

[USee]

Schwami wasn't beat down because of his congrats to Witt. He was called out because of an errant observation. Witt won the game, but they weren't the best team on the field, and I did offer my wish that they represent well.

And just like you chose to ignore his congratulations in his post, you chose to ignore my point. I understand how you feel but it sure sounds like sour grapes to lose the biggest game of the year and immediately claim you were a better team.

Dude. Your "disappointment" is disingenuous and gross -- I'd rather you just stick your tongue out and say "nyah-nyah." It'd be more honest.

I don't remember the last time anyone from Wabash said we were the better team after a loss. Before yesterday, I've never said it. This isn't, like, a cover up job or something. Did you watch the game? It was a really weird, frustrating game -- Witt fans, if there were any on here, would probably say the same thing. They got drilled. They also won. So, you know, c'est la vie and all that. "That's why you play the game," etc. But I'm not going to--and it doesn't seem like anyone else wants to either--congratulate Wittenberg for outplaying us. Because they didn't.

I have too much respect for most of the Wabash posters to say what I really want to. No one said to congratulate anyone for outplaying you. And it isn't just me thinking this. I am the only one who came out and called YOU out for it. Show some class ONE TIME and congratulate the winner. The other team has good players and they made some plays, apparently enough to win the game.  No Witt posters, sure, but we all know the players and many coaches all read our blather for some reason.

What's pathetic about it is I am probably one of the bigger Wabash supporters over the years not affiliated with your school. Your reaction here is a real joke.

Please. I'm not writing anything for anyone playing or coaching for any team. And I'm not attacking or belittling anyone but you and your condescending and not-so-veiled poo-poo'ing of a fan-base you've been waiting to take a crack at. If you want to talk about the game, fine. Let's do it. But a major part of my human reaction to yesterday is, guess what, a weird thing happened and the team that was dominated most of the game won. That's a valid reaction. I don't have to come on here and fulfill some vague responsibility of your prescription to be anything other than a good citizen of an internet message board. I didn't play in the game. I didn't coach in the game. I don't have to say "good game." Jesus.

No, you are right. You get to say or not say whatever you want. And your reaction to my observation as well as what you have already said tells me all I need to know about you. Moving on.

Right. You "know" me.

Thankfully no.

[BashDad]

Zing!