FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BayernFan]

Wabash beats Hiram 42-14.

[VoodooDoc]

Watched the LG's on the internet yesterday.  They continue to knock 2 years of rust off.  I saw a number of things from the Raeburn, Morel, & Hammer era.  The offense was working hard of getting the running game up to speed.  The defense was adapting and adjusting which was a key and the defense had confidence that they could find the right set up.  A lot of the younger players were getting experience on the field.  This cuts down on the wear and tear on the starters and means that fresh legs will be ready to go as the season wears on.

Coach Morel has a good group of players, some with playoff experience, and is developing them for a good run.

[BashMan]

If Wabash keeps winning maybe we won't get any votes in the polls.

[Pat Coleman]

If Wabash keeps winning maybe we won't get any votes in the polls.

The veiled quibble here over going from 27 to 25 points -- when you have so few, it doesn't take much to disrupt that. In this case, perhaps it was Ithaca forcing its way onto a bunch of people's ballots. Ithaca beating Brockport is far more interesting to voters than any game against Hiram.

[HCAlum86]

If Wabash keeps winning maybe we won't get any votes in the polls.

The veiled quibble here over going from 27 to 25 points -- when you have so few, it doesn't take much to disrupt that. In this case, perhaps it was Ithaca forcing its way onto a bunch of people's ballots. Ithaca beating Brockport is far more interesting to voters than any game against Hiram.

TAKE IT EASYYYYY

[83LittleGiant]

If Wabash keeps winning maybe we won't get any votes in the polls.

The veiled quibble here over going from 27 to 25 points -- when you have so few, it doesn't take much to disrupt that. In this case, perhaps it was Ithaca forcing its way onto a bunch of people's ballots. Ithaca beating Brockport is far more interesting to voters than any game against Hiram.

TAKE IT EASYYYYY

Early in the season, especially following a non-playing year, voters should be very elastic with their "knowledge" about other teams. They have all season to get things right.  Right now, I would use more of a Boolean process - after a few weeks, the pretenders are found out and those with a false negative (a good loss) will come back into the rankings after a series of wins.  After watching Wabash play, there is no way that they should have so few votes.  That is the issue.  The Wabash fans know these voters cannot watch every game - be we can sure bitch about it.  At least it was a "veiled quibble" and not something that implied the this poll actually means something in September.  What the hell?  Voters gotta vote and their biases play out.  Wabash just needs to keep winning and things will work themselves out.

[bleedpurple]

If Wabash keeps winning maybe we won't get any votes in the polls.

The veiled quibble here over going from 27 to 25 points -- when you have so few, it doesn't take much to disrupt that. In this case, perhaps it was Ithaca forcing its way onto a bunch of people's ballots. Ithaca beating Brockport is far more interesting to voters than any game against Hiram.

TAKE IT EASYYYYY

Early in the season, especially following a non-playing year, voters should be very elastic with their "knowledge" about other teams. They have all season to get things right.  Right now, I would use more of a Boolean process - after a few weeks, the pretenders are found out and those with a false negative (a good loss) will come back into the rankings after a series of wins.  After watching Wabash play, there is no way that they should have so few votes.  That is the issue.  The Wabash fans know these voters cannot watch every game - be we can sure bitch about it.  At least it was a "veiled quibble" and not something that implied the this poll actually means something in September.  What the hell?  Voters gotta vote and their biases play out.  Wabash just needs to keep winning and things will work themselves out.

Your last sentence is the important thing fans need to remember. Voters biases may or may not play out, but I don't think there's as much bias to play out in the voters as there is in the fans that complain about them. I bleed purple. I don't pretend to be unbiased. Doesn't mean I don't have a valid opinion or a right to express it. Just because an opinion comes from someone with a bias, it doesn't mean it's wrong. But I also recognize that while I feel like UWW ought to have 25 first place votes, that doesn't mean I'm right, either.

Speaking of polls and UWW, I heard in the podcast that one Warhawk fan wondered how UWW could be number two and receive no first place votes. He pointed out that he felt like UWW's road win at Salisbury was the best win of any team so far.  I thought the guys handled the question well. I should probably post this on the WIAC board, but UWW doesn't have a snowball's chance in you know where to keep their #2 ranking next week. Either NCC or Wheaton will vault over them because THEY will own the best win of the year. Doesn't bother me a bit. We have the joy of a playoff system in D-III. The polls are excellent fodder for discussion, but they don't determine the actual destiny of any team.  So for ALL teams, it's back to your last sentence: "...keep winning and things will work themselves out."

[Li'l Giant]

Wabash just needs to keep winning and things will work themselves out.

Our success doesn't get determined by polls. Win the games. Win the league. Win the Bell. The rankings will follow.

[wally_wabash]

The tricky thing about the poll is that poll capital melts much, much faster than it builds or rebuilds. The top 25 will take care of itself as long as Wabash keeps winning.  The top 15 or 10 is probably going to require Wabash to show the voters that they can win in the playoffs again.   

[MUC57]

Wally Wabash

Since Mount Union had a bye Saturday, I made the short drive to Hiram. Talked to a lot of really nice Wabash people. Sat in their section and cheered them on. Hiram scores first. Wabash gets mad and scores 42 unanswered points. That's what the good teams do. Ya gotta luv it!
Enjoyed watching the Little Giants. I thought they looked pretty good. Go Wabash! 

[NotMyName]

Most of the Skilled Positions were sat in the Hiram game after 3 minutes or so into the 3rd QTR. Still a good showing for the younger players to get the onfield experience.

[Crawford]

First time posting.  I was a one year old when the first football game was played at Byron C Hollett Stadium, not sure if I was in attendance but I didn't miss many games until after graduating from Wabash and moving away.  Will be fun watching the game on the internet and watching the ceremonies.

[Crawford]

Interesting note on Wooster's Game Notes with Ohio Wesleyan, anyone know why this was? 
"Wooster had a campus ban on intercollegiate sports, so the Scots did not field a football team from 1891-1900"

[BayernFan]

I like watching the Wabash game on the internet especially when it's hot out.  Looking forward to cooler fall weather, the sun setting earlier, scraping together money for gas and a hot dog and driving to Crawfordsville like Coach Dale drove to Hickory.   A not so small pleasure in life. 

[Whitecarrera]

A strange game in Crawfordsville today. I didn't feel like either team played too great, but sooner or later Wabash would have one or two more big plays than Allegheny. Officials didn't help much, either. I'll have to look at the film, but it's very possible that a quick whistle cost Allegheny an early touchdown. Later they allowed Wabash to return a blocked PAT 108 yards for a defensive two point conversion. It was a dead ball by rule, and every official on the field stood back and watched it happen — a complete momentum changer when the game was tied, and Allegheny has every right to be upset about it.