FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WLGHistorian]

Thanks MUC57

I have actually been on here in another incarnation before.  But I do not post on here very much.  But I do read through the comments on a regular basis.  As my user name indicates I have a great deal of accumulated knowledge surrounding the Wabash football program.  I saw my first game when I was 12. Became a student manager when I was 13...first game on the sideline was the 1970 Monon Bell game.  So, I spent all of the 1970's as a student manager through jr high, high school and then as a Wabash student.  My junior year at Wabash was the year we played in the Stagg Bowl. Quite a thrill for me and my family. After graduation I filmed games...the old reel to reel photography that football teams used to use...in 1981. I always kidded everyone that my films were seen by lots of NFL scouts. That was because Pete Metzelaars was being scouted by the NFL that year!    The rest of my knowledge comes my accumulated research over the years from various resources and my personal "archives."

Used to go to many road games but now just home games but follow the rest of the games on the internet

[cave2bens]

No disrespect intended but after four (4) missed conversions from Marr and Neyrig this season, who might be installed as the regular placekicker for Wabash?  Just curious...

NOTE:

Per WLGHistorian, my previous observation is in error either due to dirty bifocals or a buffering computer.  Lesson learned - listen to Brett when he calls the away games on WNDY rather than local commentators and sideline human interest stories.  Marr had his accuracy issues (2 missed PATs) in first two games (though 5/5 today) while Neyrig missed his two PAT attempts today in Gambier.

Thanks for catching my faux pax.   

[CollegeGolf18]

Wabash's special teams over the first three weeks of the season has been absolutely downright embarrassing. I count 16 points left out there so far through 11 quarters. Missing field goals and extra points are not going to beat a Wittenberg or Depauw.

[WLGHistorian]

According to the box score it was Neyrig who missed the 2 extra points and the fieldgoal try. Marr made his extra points.

[cave2bens]

According to the box score it was Neyrig who missed the 2 extra points and the fieldgoal try. Marr made his extra points.

My bad, Sir, as box score suggests and previous post is now edited accordingly.  Marr's two misses were in games 1 and 2.  Regardless, after missing only 2 PATs and 6 FGAs all of last year, these same kickers have already missed 4 PATs and 4 FGAs in the first three games?  Blocks and bad snaps are obvious to the viewer but these just seemed errant kicks to this old 'Bash fan.  My first Monon Bell game as a student was 1970 during the Urick season of threes...   

[badgerbuzz]

Hello NCAC posters:
This is Chuck Hansen, and I am the father of Evan Hansen. I have been a lurker here for a few years, because I didn't think my biased view would offer much to you guys.
But now with the events involving my son, I would like to reach out. As a starting point, I would like to direct people to the Facebook Tribute page that I created for my son. It will give you a glimpse into the life and death of Evan.
Best,
Chuck

https://www.facebook.com/evanhansentribute

[Pat Coleman]

Chuck -- thank you for letting us know. I appreciate it. Best wishes to you and your family.

[aueagle]

Blessings & prayers to the Hansen's & LG Nation.
Some comments from my day at Selby..
Bishop O line didn't impress me..got some big boys, but,
no explosion off the line, foot speed average. COW threw some
blitz's that the Bishops had trouble picking up..defense was typical
OWU..tough & steady..COW frosh qb Renteria played well, throws a decent
ball, needs to make quicker decisions...epic ponytail. Over-all, 2 mediocre teams that were evenly matched. Didn't get exciting till the end; COW had some calls against them that were questionable...loved the Wooster fan that yelled at the refs from the end zone & the stands..Bishops have a lot of work to do to break from the middle of the NCAC..Go Bishops

[Li'l Giant]

Hello NCAC posters:
This is Chuck Hansen, and I am the father of Evan Hansen. I have been a lurker here for a few years, because I didn't think my biased view would offer much to you guys.
But now with the events involving my son, I would like to reach out. As a starting point, I would like to direct people to the Facebook Tribute page that I created for my son. It will give you a glimpse into the life and death of Evan.
Best,
Chuck

https://www.facebook.com/evanhansentribute

Mr. Hansen, thank you for posting this. It's a wonderful tribute. You and your family are in our thoughts.

[sigma one]

Over on NCAC pick-ems Wally noted that Denison held Alex Victor to one catch and 19 yards.  I watched the beginning of  Denison/Allegheny and saw Victor's catch.  He was tackled low from behind and left the field limping.  Did he return later although impaired?  Whether he came back out or not, the injury explains his meager performance. 
     Against Kenyon, Wabash ran for 468 yards without Ike James.  James left the previous game in the 3rd quarter; he did not dress on Saturday.  Hoover, Wabash's third back, ran for 255 yards.  Avant, the nominal starter, carried the ball only nine X.  I don't think he was back on the field after his 98-yard TD.
     This year, then, Victor, James, and Sarley from Wittenberg have all been injured.  Sarley's injury apparently came in practice.  Last year, Victor and James were first-team all NCAC; Sarley was second team.  Sarley's injury is season ending.  Let's hope Victor and James get back soon.  They are fun to watch and really make a difference for their teams.

[wabco]

Sigma ... Wabash verses Kenyon ... Kenyon.  Not Oberlin.  Love you brother.  Any word on James knee situation?  If recoverable with tender loving care, lots of ice and whirlpool ... then he hurt it at the right time ... 3 weeks to rehab. And then Wooster ... when probably not needed ... so 4 weeks.  Then Denison ... where might be good to have a re-energized Ike.

[sigma one]

Thanks,  brother Wabco.  Of course, it was Kenyon.  Brain freeze or old age or something.  I've fixed my earlier post.

[CollegeGolf18]

Word on Ike is that he is out for the year.

[sigma one]

Rats!  Next man up.  Avant and Hoover are more than adequate, but not James.  In a pinch, there's always Penola, who carried the ball twice last week.  More need now to balance the offense against teams that will be much better than Kenyon at slowing down the run.     

[wally_wabash]

Some Week 3 musings...

- Wabash vs. Kenyon is a tough game to try and distill anything from for a number of reasons.  Obviously the game was played under emotional and, I'm sure, trying circumstances.  The general disparity in talent also makes these games difficult to break down.  Obviously, Austin Hoover continues to be a revelation and has stepped up in a big way.  After a blistering Game 1 vs. Hiram, Jake Reid has now had games of 11-21-140-1-2 (in poor throwing conditions) and 9-19-120-1-0 (in a game that was very noncompetitive from the start).  So I don't know what to expect from Reid going forward.  Certainly we've seen that he can be very good.  I think if Wabash is going to be a real contender for this league championship and they are going to be an offense that throws 20-25 times per game (I think this is the preferred range), Reid needs to be a 65% completion guy.  We'll track that going forward.  Wabash special teams continue to be a mess.  Wabash is 1-5 on FGs and 11-15 on PATs and that's certainly not good enough.  The LGs have also had two punts blocked already this season.  So there's a lot of breakdowns happening in the kicking game and hopefully those things can get shored up before the season moves into a difficult October. 

- The eye popping result this week is Denison 42, Allegheny 0.  What a bounce back for Denison after a disappointing opener down in Texas.  That's the Denison offense I expected to see out of the chute.  Allegheny taking a bagel is just as surprsing.  Something to keep in mind- Allegheny OC Braden Layer is very good and he also played for Jack Hatem at Denison and, while not running the exact same offense as Denison, is surely running something that is very derivative of what Denison does or did while he was there.  The Big Red are uniquely positioned to defense Allegheny in that way.  That said, pitching a shutout against that offense is particularly impressive and it really recalibrates Denison's ceiling.  At least for me.  They were great.  On the other side, the Gators keep giving up those points.  Allegheny has given up 40 or more 16 times in the 23 games since the start of the 2016 season.  No matter how improved the offense is from the Matlak era, you can only win so many games when you're giving up that many points.  I stay shocked that this part of Allegheny's game hasn't really improved. 

- DePauw handled Hiram in an expected fashion.  I think it was always going to be tough for Hiram to find drives and points against the DPU defense and it played out that way on Saturday.  I haven't reviewed the video to see if Chase Andries (5-10 passing on the day) came out with injury or was replaced per Coach Lynch's decision but Cam Haynes did very well in relief with an 8-10 game and two scores.  Might have a full fledged QB competition down in Greencastle. 

- OWU nips Wooster 9-7 with a late field goal.  OWU just grinds on you, man.  The Scots are obviously searching for some solid QB play and the offense is limping along a little bit as they go.  OWU also probably needs to find a little more offense, but the Bishops are playing some tough, stingy defense and if you're not careful they definitely can knock you out in a low scoring game.  Really interesting game with the Bishops next week at Allegheny. 

- Witt had a slow start at Oberlin and actually trailed 7-3 after one quarter, but Jake Kennedy was fantastic and Witt eased their way past the Yeomen.  The Tigers were so-so in the run game, but with all of that experience and talent at QB and WR, Witt had little trouble in this one.