FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[DPU3619]

Halftime score:  UW-W 10, Wabash 7.

Yeah, but then what happened? That matters, too.

[wally_wabash]

Halftime score:  UW-W 10, Wabash 7.

Yeah, but then what happened? That matters, too.

We got Kumerow-ed.   

[USTBench]

I liked the dude that thought the web feed would be "just fine" this week comparing it to last week vs St Johns.  #noclue  Because we may have 35 dudes watching it...

I'm hoping by halftime the Tommies might be a little more interested in the game and the guys wearing white.  Or, perhaps they will all be attending a referee conference discussing late hits and personal foul penalties.  That is a conservative statement too.  Last year against Wisconsin Whitewater...  Halftime score:  UW-W 10, Wabash 7.

I wonder if Zurek would letter on UST's team.  I bet McCullen could play on their Punt team.  Ludwig could be a safety on their kickoff team.  Tutsie could hold on PAT's.  Wes Hunt could possibly also be on their PAT team.  Buresh could back somebody up somewhere - maybe.

USTBench - I have seen very little insight on your team with the exception of the size of the O-line, you have a stud back in Roberts who ran for 100 yards vs #1 ranked North Dakota State (also on his bio), you have a good TE that the coaches have done a kick ass job putting in the right position and he leads the team in yards and averages over 22 ypc, your QB and receivers aren't flashy but really good, and lastly, my favorite, if #75 had a quicker first step, he would be playing in the SEC.

Great info.

You forgot the emoticon of the eye-rolling at the end, or is my sarcasm detector malfunctioning?

I think you're coming in a little hot with the underdog card. I know the MIAC board is full of people debating the interpretation of 'late hit" but this is what typically happens after SJU loses. They hijack the board and complain about officiating, or a team being "classless," or a team photo, and address everything that bothered them about the loss except having inferior players and coaching on that particular day. This is meant as no disrespect to Wabash or meant as an assumption that Saturday is a forgone conclusion. I am genuinely interested in Wabash's football program. Any perceived slight is in your mind.

Also, I absolutely believe that David Simmet would be/should be playing FBS football (yes even in the B1G or SEC) and my guess is he was probably recruited as a PWO or scholarship player at a few D1 schools, be they FBS or FCS. Sometimes it's personal preference to play DIII, sometimes a guy just slips through the cracks. But, he's up for the Gagliardi Trophy as a Right Tackle. You don't see too many o-linemen up for national player of the year awards at any level. All I was trying to do was tell you about UST football, not say UST is going to destroy your football team. I typically do that on the opposition's board before playoff games because I'm not familiar with the opponent and would like to have someone return the favor.

[sigma one]

Can anyone say Ali Marpet?  It happens.

[wally_wabash]

I've got you, Bench.  Tonight or tomorrow (there's some important hoops that will have my attention for a bit tonight) I'll hammer out a quasi-rambling post about Saturday's game from my Wabash perspective. 

In the meantime, Turer put up a pretty good piece on Wabash in the aftermath of Saturday's game.  It's a good read for anybody looking to get a feel for Wabash football. 

[DPU3619]

Have watched the first half of UST/Augie. Here comes the certified OPW scouting report:

UST OL is as advertised. The RT, #75 Simmet, is frightening. I feel pretty comfortable saying that he's the best D3 OL I've ever seen.  They run it much better to his side than they do away. They do run mostly to his side, because, uh, why wouldn't you. The RG, #70 Brennan, can really play, too. That right side is no joke. They run left enough to keep you honest, but #75 is the dude that keeps the OC's paycheck coming in.

Only saw a couple different personnel groups. Mostly 11 personnel (1 back, 1 TE). They were in some 2 back, 2 tight, too. Mostly inside zone in the run game. It's more a mid zone, to be honest. They run it off the playside guard, which, when you've got a great blocking TE like they do, gives you 4 large men at the point of attack. Also forces the D to fill an extra gap. Back's aiming point is at the frontside guard and then he can make a cut accordingly. The center does a really good job cleaning up the backside stuff, so this thing hits in the frontside A gap quite a bit.

When they got in 2 back, 2 TE, it was iso left, iso right, and then iso left and a first down. Playaction from that look was pretty stock. Trying to leak backs & TEs out. They didn't throw it a ton from their base. Mostly curls & hitches and they sprinted out to double outs. They screen really, really well, as most teams with good OL do.

I saw only 1 play of gap stuff. They ran a frontside kickout on the goal line. (I talked about this play, a Wabash staple, after the Bell game.) No power, no counter, no trap. Just IZ and iso. The back #23 Roberts, is a pretty nice player. Good downhill runner for his size. Not a ton of straight line speed, but they don't need that from him.

Very, very impressed with their offense. QB isn't going to make any mistakes. That's mostly because they don't put him in positions to make mistakes. Lot of 2 route combos. Simple reads and easy throws. However, he does pull the ejection handle pretty early vs pressure. Doesn't step up well. Tries to roll out against pressure and string stuff out. Blitz him heavy and he will run away. But, you also have to be smart to not blitz into a screen.

Augie moved it fairly well on their first drive. Two fumbles (one was mesh related, a second was a dropped snap) around midfield killed the drive. On the second drive, they threw a pick 6 from their own 2 on a screen. It was curtains after that. UST is a multiple front defense. They played about half even/odd. Apparently to be more even front stuff on first and second down. More odd in blitz situations. Augie has a somewhat similar offense to Wabash in terms of scheme. They run it with the QB more than Wabash. DL is pretty good. I was fairly impressed with Augie's OL, but I think Wabash's is obviously better. Thought Augie's OL blocked them fairly well.

In the even front, UST walked LBs up a lot from the outside and played a 6 man front, but Augie is more of an outside run team, so I don't expect much of that Saturday. They'd stick backers in the C gaps and blitz them off the edge. If you walk backers up against the LGs, you've nobody for Zurek except tiny guys, which I would not recommend.

As long as Wabash stays on schedule, they should be able to stay on the field. Again, I don't know if they get to 24+ on their own accord. They'll need turnovers to do anything more than that, I think. Question is how well the Wabash front 7 handles the UST hogs. Gonna have to win from the offense's left, because you won't get many wins on the right.

Think UST is much, much better on O than D. Think Wabash is much, much better on D than O. So it should be a fun one Saturday.

[bashbrother]

Well done Wes,   Great stuff!

[USee]

From the analysis and what I can see on my own it appears both teams have a similar style and, likely, similar game plan on Saturday.

Run the ball, throw a little, play defense.

If one team or the other can execute better than the other on that game plan, we all know what happens. My question is, if neither team can establish the run effectively, what happens? Who blinks?

[smedindy]

Don't mind some of us Bench. We're used to fans of other Purple's coming in here and saying that our entire team would be third string on their squad... 

[BashBacker#16]

Wes,

I hope you're sitting down...  GREAT post.   

Thanks for the analysis.

BB16

[Mr. Ypsi]

From the analysis and what I can see on my own it appears both teams have a similar style and, likely, similar game plan on Saturday.

Run the ball, throw a little, play defense.

If one team or the other can execute better than the other on that game plan, we all know what happens. My question is, if neither team can establish the run effectively, what happens? Who blinks?

Well, I've heard rumors that Wabash Always Fights - does that include not blinking?

[AO]

I liked the dude that thought the web feed would be "just fine" this week comparing it to last week vs St Johns.  #noclue  Because we may have 35 dudes watching it...

My mistake.  I was basing my webcast estimates on the actual attendance at the 2nd round games.  11,000 online viewers for the Thomas More game is amazing considering enrollment is only 900.  Let's just say I'm hopeful that the webcast will be fine.  It worked flawlessly for other games this season.   

[Mr.MIAC]

I've made my way over here to the NCAC forum, figuring it might be good to banter with folks from "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College." Just for your information, UST is coeducational so you might want to schedule a cool down period upon arrival to get over the shock.

[Schwami]

I've made my way over here to the NCAC forum, figuring it might be good to banter with folks from "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College." Just for your information, UST is coeducational so you might want to schedule a cool down period upon arrival to get over the shock.

Is it true that the Northern girls, with the way they kiss, they keep their boyfriends warm at night 

[Mr.MIAC]

I've made my way over here to the NCAC forum, figuring it might be good to banter with folks from "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College." Just for your information, UST is coeducational so you might want to schedule a cool down period upon arrival to get over the shock.

Is it true that the Northern girls, with the way they kiss, they keep their boyfriends warm at night 

God only knows...