FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[sigma one]

A few remarks on the NCAC Saturday's games.

DENISON:  jumped out early v. Capital; easy win 48-21.  It helps to have a 5th year QB.  Fabroccini once again over 100 rushing.  Guzzo could emerge as one of the best WRs in the Conference.  This week--Hilbert.  The Red will begin NCAC play at 2-0.
DEPAUW:  I was wrong in my post last week; McCahill  was not the starting QB.  Instead, it was Renie, who did not dazzle with his passing, but who rushed for over 100 yds.  Baumgartner at RB had another good day; the DPU running game was very productive.  The Tigers appear to have found replacements on D.  Nice win over Rose-Hulman, 17-14.  Not a long way off from the playoff win last year (26-21)  Next up Anderson, so DPU starts the Conference 2-0.
HIRAM:  Contary to what I thought earlier, the Terriers lose to Bethany.  Same old, same old.  This Saturday, it's Wooster, so . . .Hiram begins 0-2.
KENYON:  good win over Bluffton.  My favorite NCAC name--Finn Murray--had a productive day at WR.  O'Leary threw for 302 yds, with 2 TDs.  This week, it's Kalamazoo, which defeated Oberlin last week.  Good chance the Owls will begin 2-0, with Wittenberg a week away.
OBERLIN:  I thought the Yeomen had a good shot at K'zoo.  It was close, but nope.  This week Alvernia in a game, which earlier on I thought they had a good chance to win (Alvernia was 2-10 in 2021).  Not so sure now.
OHIO WESLEYAN:  lost the opener to Otterbein, a mid-pack OAC team in a close one (21-13).  Started a new QB, who was only 15 for 33., although for 258 yds,  On Saturday, the Battling Bishops play Illinois Wesleyan.  IWU was down last year, but I expect a rebound from them in the tough CCIW.  OWU may well start 0-2 and have a very hard time matching last year's 8-2. 
WABASH:  well, if you like shoot outs, this was one for you over the weekend.  I was very impressed with the H-SC QB, a 5th-year, who was first-team all ODAC last year--apparently for good reason.  The two offenses put up over 1000 yards in all.  Thompson was on form, throwing for 380 yds and 4 TDs, while also rushing for 100+ and 2 more.  Allen caught 3 TD passes..  But both defenses were, frankly, horrible---though both offenses will be tough to stop this year.  This week v. North Central, #2 in the nation.  Saturday could be a long day for the LGs.
WITTENBERG:  about what I thought they would do v. Cortland--though I did not anticipate that the Red Devils would put up 600+ yds on the Tigers.  The game ended 48-28.  QB Brown threw for 259 yds and 3 TDs.  The Tigers are idle this week before beginning NCAC play with Kenyon and Hiram.  So, they have time to work on the pass defense that was dominated by Cortland.
WOOSTER:  fell behind Geneva's triple option 19-0 before coming on to win 33-25.  Geneva has to be difficult to master with an offense that you just can't adequately prepare for in practice.  But Woo figured it out.  The offense will be big time this year--again a 5th year QB, and 5th year All-American tight end.  Renteria finished 18/28, 2TDs, 245 yards.  This week they begin their NCAC schedule with Hiram; they begin 2-0.  Then, Wabash at home; that should be entertaining.   

[Dr. Acula]

I was very surprised that OWU lost to Otterbein.  When I was going through the OOC games I thought the OAC would/could win that was not one I considered.  Ott has been bad the last handful of years not winning more than 2 games in a season.  They were picked to finish tied for last (with Cap) in the OAC preseason poll this year.  I hope the win is a sign they've improved noticeably.

wabashcpa, glad you mentioned the production quality for the game video feed.  For years almost all of us watching other schools have been jealous of the excellent video stream Wabash puts out.  I usually drop in and watch some or all of a couple LG games each fall.  It's a first class production and has been for years. 

[DePauwalum05]

Solid win for DePauw over a good Rose-Hulman team.  The Tigers looked like a throwback squad, vintage unis and all, to circa 2004.  Rely on a stout defense, pound the football on offense, and wager on your QB to make some big plays running it.  But also like 2004, pretty inefficient in the passing game at 10 of 24 attempts.  That could lead to struggles against the top half of the league.  Similar to other comments, plenty of opportunities to improve after week 1, but in DPU's case mainly on the offensive side of the ball.  Great to see the defense close ranks in filling some big holes, and without a single senior starter which bodes well for the future.     

Noted that no NCAC teams are even receiving votes in the D3 poll.  Will be interesting to see if that changes.

[Crawford]

[Noted that no NCAC teams are even receiving votes in the D3 poll.  Will be interesting to see if that changes.
[/quote]

If Wabash can pull off a major upset of North Central, the NCAC might have a chance to get noticed.  No one else has any ranked teams they play for the rest of the season and only Ohio Wesleyan has a quality opponent in Illinois Wesleyan (unless I'm missing one). 

I'm a Wabash grad, but I love defensive teams and will watch Depauw as I live how they play D.

[83LittleGiant]

[Noted that no NCAC teams are even receiving votes in the D3 poll.  Will be interesting to see if that changes.

If Wabash can pull off a major upset of North Central, the NCAC might have a chance to get noticed.  No one else has any ranked teams they play for the rest of the season and only Ohio Wesleyan has a quality opponent in Illinois Wesleyan (unless I'm missing one). 

I'm a Wabash grad, but I love defensive teams and will watch Depauw as I live how they play D.
[/quote]

Given the state of Wabash's defense as seen on Saturday, a Wabash win this week would be much more than a "major" upset.  I would describe any potential upset in biblical terms.   NC has an elite program and I expect that we are going to see a different level of athlete on the field this week.  Wabash has an offense that can score points on anyone. The problem (based on last year's trend and this year's sample of one) appears to be that anyone can score points on Wabash.  I wish I could say that Wabash has some super-secret, double-probation defensive schemes that were kept under wraps for HSC and that they would be able to unleash hell on Saturday. We will see.   Your base comment is true - should Wabash win, Wabash and NCAC will indeed get noticed.

[83LittleGiant]

Copied from USee on the Region 5 Board: 

North Central Cardinals

Roster: 120

SR: 12, Jr: 20, So: 48, Fr: 39

Returning Starters:

Offense: 9 (5 OL, QB, TE,RB, WR). Key Losses: WR Kamienski, OL Clarke. Key Returners: 6 OL, RB Greenfield, WR Hardy
Defense 6 (3 DL, 3 DB). Key Losses: DB Beesley, Cremeens, Lindmark, LB Wong and Simmons. Key Returners: DE Gilroy, Rich, DB Bell

North Central enters the 2022 season with the fewest questions. 15 returning starters are back from their 13-1 national runner up campaign. On offense they have to replace one of the most productive WR in D3 history in Andrew Kamienski as well as one of the most dominant OL in Sharmore Clarke. Clarke will be replaced by a deep offensive line bench where 3 of them have starting experience. Kamienski is tougher to replace and with Blake Williams also gone that leaves DeAngelo Hardy as the primary target for sophomore Luke Lehnen. But Ethan Greenfiel and Terrance Hill will be featured this season as NCC will no doubt try to build on the 293 yds average per game rushing they established last year.  In the offensive backfield the Cardinals have an embarrassment of riches. Of the top 25 rushing leaders in the league last year, North Central has 5 of them. Greenfield with 1796, Terrance Hill is 3rd with 796, Luke Lehnen 11th with 464, Joe Sacco 313 and Darius Byrd 213 yds.

Defensively North Central returns 2 very productive DE's in Gilroy *8.5 sacks, 15 TFl, 35 tackles) and Rich (8.5 sacks, 31 tackles) and DT Greifelt. Julian Bell's return in secondary is huge as he will pair with speedster corner Nic Rummell and safety Sam Taviani. North Central has plenty of talent to make another deep run into the post season.
________________________________________________________________________

I am looking forward to Saturday's game.

[Whitecarrera]

If you were around in '83, then you surely remember the last time a previous year Stagg Bowl team came to Crawfordsville. 
North Central better hope they're not staying at the Lew 

[VoodooDoc]

Let's hope that the Little Giants are watching the tape of the playoff game with NC from 2010.

[sigma one]

Wabash has revised its stats for Saturday.   The first stats had Thompson at 380 yds passing.  The updated number is 24 of 38 for 392 yds.
     Great start for him.

[CollegeGolf18]

I rewatched the Wabash College / Hampden-Sydney game and came away with a few more concrete takeaways from the game.

Offense

I thought Liam was very good at QB, as expected. Sometimes I feel like he decides to run the ball too quickly, but H-S gave him quite a bit of room on the afternoon. He only missed a few throws and was very accurate all day long. Does a nice job of leading his receiver and at times throwing them open. Think Derek Allen will emerge as his favorite target this year but Cooper Sullivan has been in years past. They are a formidable 1-2 punch. I didn't think H-S secondary did that bad of a job.

The running attack was solid and I thought that the offensive line did a good job of holding their blocks. They got beat a few times but recovered well. Their pass blocking was key on a lot of plays. Wabash has the ability to set up the pass with the run but will be a pass-first team, I assume, this year...especially in close games. If they can effectively run the ball on 1st down they will be tough to stop with Liam using his legs. Their 3rd and short offense was solid as well and was very effective running the ball in those situations.

Defense

The defense was not good. However, it was the first game with a new D coordinator, who was highly acclaimed coming in. Usually, you would expect to see some improvement in Week 2 but with the #2 team in the country coming in, I'm not sure on that. A lot of the defensive problems that I saw I think can be fixed, and I think they will be fixed throughout the season. Thoughts on that are below.

DL: I did not think the DL played awful. I thought that they got a good amount of pressure on the QB and were able to be sufficient in the run game. They weren't able to get home much but did repeatedly pressure the QB. I think against teams with less talent, the DL will really be able to show what they can do. The QB was moving into space well and then firing out a pass after the secondary broke down.

LB: I did not think that the linebackers played very well. They looked to get lost in coverage quite a bit and didn't seem to understand their assignments at times. This could be due to different schemes on the defensive side of the ball this year and will take some time to iron out. The LB's also just didn't look super strong/fast compared to the offensive skill positions of H-S. I will give them credit though - they are young and there is only 1 upperclassmen on the two-deep at the LB spots for Wabash. I think they'll improve this year and I am excited to see how they perform going forward.

Secondary: The pass defense was terrible last year and it was terrible this past week. I think there are things to fix though and think that it will be fixed. The DB's for the most part seemed to be in good spots to defend the pass but either (1) didn't know they were in a good spot or (2) didn't turn around to make a play on the ball. They got beat quite a bit but there were numerous passes that they could have knocked down but just did not. H-S offense was very good and made our DB's look bad. Again, there was not a single upperclassman starting on the defensive side of the football (Jose Franco started, I believe, but got pulled and was the backup on the two-deep). For Wabash to win the conference, the secondary is going to have to be the most improved part of the defense.

Overall Thoughts:
The Wabash offense can score with anyone and their offensive line looks very good this year. The defense was bad this past weekend but I think will show improvement throughout the season. If they can get their defensive points allowed average under 30 points this year, Wabash could run the table in the conference, the offense is that good.

[CollegeGolf18]

I'll add - Wabash will probably get blown out this weekend vs North Central, but if they don't, it is because the offense puts up 40+ points...which would be stunning against a defense like NCC. If they do that, I would imagine they run the NCAC table.

[83LittleGiant]

If you were around in '83, then you surely remember the last time a previous year Stagg Bowl team came to Crawfordsville. 
North Central better hope they're not staying at the Lew 

I indeed was there serenading the Dayton team with the school song.  Fun memories and what a game.

[sigma one]

Some noteworthy performances from Week 1.  Just to keep the Board going.

DENISON:  28 points in 1st quarter-----Passing:  Dawkins 18/25 (72%)-----Rushing:  Fabrocini 23-111, 3 TDs-----Receiving:  Marston 10/110 and a TD-----Tackles:  Moore, 13 (11-2)---Returns:  Epps, a 72 yd KO return, and an int return of 28 yds----Defensive Player of the Week Denstorff, Pick 6-----37 minutes of POSS
DEPAUW:  Rushing: 272 yds; Renie 19/124, Baumgartner 25/106-----PUNTING:  Drake, 49.8 ave on 5 punts; 3 inside the 20-----DEFENSE:  held Rose-Hulman to 12 1st downs----37 minutes of POSS
HIRAM:  Passing:  Reyero, 3TDs; Tejada, 8/10, 112 yds-----Receiving, Davis-Hereford, 15/159
KENYON:  Passing: O'Leary 302 yds (22/37, 2TDs)-----Receiving,  Murray, 8/106, 2TDs-----ran 90 plays for 419 yds-----Tackles;  Leno, 14 (11/3)
OBERLIN:  Receiving, Coloruso 11/117
OHIO WESLEYAN:  Receiving, Alston, 2/100, long of 88, a TD; Hurst 2/76, long of 55, a TD; Tackles, Thornton 13 (5/8)
WABASH:  Passing, Thompson 24/38 393 yds, 4TDs-----Rushing, Thompson 103 yds, 2TDs (Offensive Player of the Week; 496 yds total offense)-----Receiving, Allen 8/172,  3TDs-----661 yds total offense-----33 1st downs----4 sacks
WITTENBERG  Passing, Brown 18/28, 3TDs-----Tackles, Snurr 13 (4/9), only 33 penalty yds
WOOSTER:  Passing, Renteria 19/28, 245 yds, 2TDs-----Punting, Pardi, 3 for 52.0 ave-----Tackles, DeMuth, 16 (6 10); Ulishney, 12 (10/2) 

[Whitecarrera]

If you were around in '83, then you surely remember the last time a previous year Stagg Bowl team came to Crawfordsville. 
North Central better hope they're not staying at the Lew 

I indeed was there serenading the Dayton team with the school song.  Fun memories and what a game.

I wasn't singing, but rather back in bed because I had a game the next day.  I was nervous and a little hesitant because I knew what the next day meant, but we believed in our team and we showed up.  We'll see what Saturday brings, but let's give this year's team a little credit -- that's kinda why you play the game!

[83LittleGiant]

Here are the game notes for the North Central at Wabash game:

Wabash Game Notes:https://sports.wabash.edu/documents/2022/9/8/9-10-22_vs_North_Central_College_-_A.pdf


North Central Game Notes: https://sports.wabash.edu/documents/2022/9/8/North_Central_Game_Notes_vs_Wabash_-_9-10-22.pdf