FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[83LittleGiant]

Below are the links to the Game Notes for this weekend's Wabash v Wooster track meet in Ohio.  The stats people will need to take off their shoes for this one as they are going to need all their fingers and toes to keep track of this offensive showdown.  Welcome to the little Big 12, where the offense is fun and the defense is offensive.

Good luck to the Little Giants as they take to the road for the 1st time in 2022. 

https://sports.wabash.edu/documents/2022/9/16/9-17-22_at_The_College_of_Wooster.pdf


https://sports.wabash.edu/documents/2022/9/16/9-12-22_Fall_Release.pdf

[wally_wabash]

Because you can zoom in to see how long the ball carrier's cleats are, doesn't mean you should. 

[Crawford]

The next three weeks will be really exciting for NCAC play.  Depauw plays WOO, DEN and WITT.  Dennison plays WAB, DPU, OWU.  Wittenberg plays HIR, WAB and DPU.  Wabash plays DEN, WITT and OWU.  Fun stuff.

[wally_wabash]

Wabash stat of the week for me - nothing to do with Liam, who put up probably one of the top 10 games by a Wabash QB ever. 

Last 10 drives by Wooster - 0 points scored.  Against a good offensive team and a QB with 30 or so career starts, that's a huge effort.  Another big test coming this Saturday against Denison. 

[Li'l Giant]

Wabash stat of the week for me - nothing to do with Liam, who put up probably one of the top 10 games by a Wabash QB ever. 

Last 10 drives by Wooster - 0 points scored.  Against a good offensive team and a QB with 30 or so career starts, that's a huge effort.  Another big test coming this Saturday against Denison.

I had a very busy weekend so I did not have a chance to comment until now. The defense really showed me something Saturday. When it was 21-14 I was expecting a shootout and the defense just said "nah". Next thing you know the offense is doing it's thing and the game was wide open. Let's hope the defense takes this and keeps going with it against Denison.

As for Liam, he makes the amazing seem routine. Just an incredible talent that we are super fortunate to have.

[Dr. Acula]

The LG's offense is borderline offensive at the moment.  If they can assemble anything resembling a Wabash D they're winning the NCAC.  And it won't be close.

[sigma one]

NCAC picture after 3 weeks and the end of the OOC schedule.
DENISON:  3-0 vs. winless teams:  Capital, Hilbert, and Oberlin.  This week they travel to Wabash.  The teams played into OT last year with Wabash prevailing.  First of the tough NCAC games.  Result could tell us a lot about the way the top of the conference will shake out.
DEPAUW:  3-0, also against 3 winless teams.  Good start vs. Rose-Hulman in a game that was close in result to the playoff win last year, but then the Engineers are 0-3 (although with a close loss to Trine and another loss to Albion).  This week Wooster visits, and we'll see whether DPU can continue its recent streak of 2 straight shutouts--Anderson and Hiram.  Combined score of 99-0 vs. those two.
HIRAM:  0-3, losses to Bethany (their only win) Wooster, DPU.  Only team with 2 NCAC games to date.  They play Wittenberg this week, so an 0-4 start.
KENYON:  1-2.  First-game win vs. Bethany (0-3), then losses to Kalamazoo (surprisingly 3-0) and Wittenberg.  They scored 28 on Witt, and the offense appears capable; same old story on D.  Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, which based on early results they have a chance to win (I think they won't).
OBERLIN:  0-3.  The first two games I thought they had a chance of being 2-0 or 1-1.  I was wrong.  They lost to Kalamazoo and Alvernia (1-2, and historically a weak team in the East).  Then, got handled by Denison.  They rest on Saturday.
OHIO WESLEYAN:  0-2.  The loss to Otterbein, which could finish in the basement of the OAC, was disappointing.  Second loss to Illinois Wesleyan was predictable.  It's certain they won't match their 8-2 of last year.  Kenyon this week should tell us more about both teams.
WABASH 2-1   I have said several times that the LGs have by far the strongest OOC schedule.  They squeaked by Hampden-Sydney (1-2), which put up 70 last week.  Then, the loss to North Central, #1 in the D3 poll, a team with a legitimate chance to be in the championship game again.  Last Saturday, v. Wooster the offense was dominant and the D showed improvement.  Wii this continue vs. a good Denison team?  Homecoming on Saturday against the Big Red.
WITTENBERG: 1-1.  The first game loss vs. Cortland (#13 this week) was predictable.  Last week they beat Kenyon 51-28 in the Conference opener.  Things get even better this week with Hiram.  Expect a monkey-stomp.
WOOSTER: 2-1.  After wins vs. Geneva (0-3) and Hiram (0-3) they hosted Wabash and lost 48-14.  I was surprised by the spread and the porous Scot defense.   Is there a reason the coaches picked them 6th in the league in the pre-season survey?  I expected them to show better last week with a 5th-year QB, pre-season All-American TE, K, and P.  They travel to DePauw, and we will see whether the Wabash result was a down game or if can they be more competitive against a D that is the best in the NCAC


   

[Whitecarrera]

Hey Sigma, we missed you at the Jackass Olympics on Saturday!

[sigma one]

Yea, I had a tough decision and chose the trip over to Wooster.  I think I made the right decision!

[Crawford]

Looking forward to seeing if Wabash's improved D play continues.  For those able to watch the entire games, is the D having to adjust to Coach Ridings' new D schemes?  Or is Coach Ridings needing to adjust to D3 ball?  Just looked up this team at Keiser University.  Not as many players on the roster and they look smaller than the players at Wabash.  Thought Keiser being a D2 school they would be bigger.

[sigma one]

I think there are adjustments in both directions.  While what I saw at Wooster was encouraging, I'm still not sold.  Wabash has inserted several new sophomores and freshmen into the D.  The starting defensive lineup last week listed only two seniors, Landsdell at DL and Franco at DB (5th year).  All those underclassmen could be good or bad in the long run.
    By the way, Keiser is an NAIA school.







   

[CollegeGolf18]

Just rewatched the Wabash game and have some thoughts below.

Liam Thompson is a stud and Wabash has a legit WR room. Going to be a fun offensive display the rest of the year. The running backs aren't as good as the Zurek et al years, but very capable and do a good job of pass blocking and finding the holes. You can't play solely the pass or Wabash will run it to death. You can't play solely the run or Wabash will pass you to death.

The team that stops Wabash will either (1) need to be very talented a la North Central or (2) get pressure on Liam to make fast decisions. However, with his legs, it's very hard to bring 5 or 6 players because he can buy time.

The offensive line is very good and for being 265, 338, 385, 265, 286 across the line they can move really well and get out and block on the rollouts and sweeps Wabash uses.

Defensively, Wabash played really well after the first two drives. Wooster came out and tried to run the ball much more than I would have thought. It was working really well though. In comparison to other games, I thought that Wabash played a little bit more up on the receivers and played more aggressively on the outside. With how Wooster zoomed in on the action via video, I couldn't really tell often but it seemed like they played more man coverage in this one than they had previously. That didn't allow Wooster to sit there and throw the ball 6-7 yards down the field all day long.

Wabash got constant pressure all day long from their front 4 allowing them to drop 7 in coverage. I don't recall Renteria ever dropping back and going through his reads with a clean pocket. Wabash didn't get a sack but they were in the backfield almost all day long. It could have probably been 4 or 5 but Renteria was just opting to throw into coverage rather than take a sack. Another tidbit for the future: Wabash's 3 leading tacklers were freshmen. Two of them are back-up safeties as well so it is great to see them get extended run. They were very good in the running attack when Wabash crept them up.

They made a big stop in the 2nd quarter when Wooster (surprisingly) went for it on 4th down from their own 35 with about 6 minutes on the clock. At this point, it was 27-7 and Wabash easily scored again....effectively putting the game out of reach with their offense. Now, I'm not sure it would have mattered with how Wabash was moving the ball but I would have to think you have a better chance of stopping them going 70 yards than 35 yards.

In summary: Wabash's defense looks much better. They are grasping the new concepts and it looks like Ridings has adjusted a little bit and is playing a little more aggressively, which is what the Wabash defense should be. Excited to see how they perform this weekend.

[wally_wabash]

I think there are adjustments in both directions.  While what I saw at Wooster was encouraging, I'm still not sold.  Wabash has inserted several new sophomores and freshmen into the D.  The starting defensive lineup last week listed only two seniors, Landsdell at DL and Franco at DB (5th year).  All those underclassmen could be good or bad in the long run.
    By the way, Keiser is an NAIA school.

Astute assessment.  I think it's hard to know exactly what to make of the Wabash defense just yet.  Part of what happened in Week 1 can probably be attributed to Game 1 stuff for a new DC and playing against a great coach of offensive football with a talented senior QB.  Week 2 is difficult to assess because North Central is in a different tier and not at all representative of what Wabash will see in the NCAC.  There were some good things though (thought Wabash did a decent job, all things considered, against Greenfield and thought they did a decent job putting Lehnen under pressure- no small thing against North Central's offensive line).  Yeah, it's hard to feel good about 52 against, but North Central is going to hang 50 on just about everybody they play this year until after Thanksgiving (save, probably, Wheaton). 

Which brings us back to Wooster.  Wabash has had good success against Wooster, but games at the Papp are never easy, so it was really encouraging to see the LGs go there and win comfortably- and do it by not allowing points for the last 40 minutes of the game.  Liam was nearly perfect Saturday, but that should be a luxury and not a prerequisite for Wabash to win a football game and it kind of was for most of 2021. 

Denison will be a different kind of test.  In last year's 39-38 game, Denison had a 10+ minute advantage in TOP.  They know the best (only?) defense to LT2 is to have him with his helmet off on the sideline.  Going to get massive doses of Fabrocini and Dawkins running on Saturday.  Preventing those 14 play, 9 minute drives is critical.

They made a big stop in the 2nd quarter when Wooster (surprisingly) went for it on 4th down from their own 35 with about 6 minutes on the clock. At this point, it was 27-7 and Wabash easily scored again....effectively putting the game out of reach with their offense. Now, I'm not sure it would have mattered with how Wabash was moving the ball but I would have to think you have a better chance of stopping them going 70 yards than 35 yards.

Ultimate respect by Coach Colaprete there. Wabash's first four drives were: 99 yards for a TD, 75 yards for a TD, 75 yards for a TD, and 75 yards for a TD.  I believe at this point in the game Wabash was over 10 yards per snap.  It seems wild to go for that 4th down, but at that moment there really wasn't a difference between Wabash going 35 yards for a score or 75 yards for a score. Wooster's only shot there was to keep the ball and go get points. 

[CollegeGolf18]

I think there are adjustments in both directions.  While what I saw at Wooster was encouraging, I'm still not sold.  Wabash has inserted several new sophomores and freshmen into the D.  The starting defensive lineup last week listed only two seniors, Landsdell at DL and Franco at DB (5th year).  All those underclassmen could be good or bad in the long run.
    By the way, Keiser is an NAIA school.

Wanted to do some fact-finding on this and I've listed the two deep for both Game 1 (Hampden-Sydney) and Game 3 (Wooster) below.

H-S
DE - McPeek (JR) / Volk (SO)
DT - Olive (JR) / Pawlowski (JR)
DT - Thomas (JR) / Shockley (SO)
DE - Lansdell (SR) / Washington (SR)
SAM - Taylor (SO) / Pasch (FR)
MLB - Rios (JR) / Ruppert (FR)
WLB - Jarvis (SO) / Billups (SO)
CB - Mroz (SO) / Epstein (SO)
CB - Holsclaw (FR) / Franco (SR) - Franco started here.
S - Walker (SO) / Zappala (SR)
S - Netting (JR) / Netting (JR)

Wooster
DE - McPeek (JR) / Volk (SO)
DT - Olive (JR) / Pawlowski (JR)
DT - Thomas (JR) / Shockley (SO)
DE - Lansdell (SR) / Washington (SR)
SAM - Pasch (FR) / Taylor (SO) - flipped from G1
MLB - Rios (JR) / Ruppert (FR)
WLB - Jarvis (SO) / Billups (SO)
CB - Franco (SR) / Mroz (SO) - Mroz loses starting spot and Franco moves from backup CB #2.
CB - Holsclaw (FR) / Carter (SO) - Carter is now on the 2-deep. Epstein is not...injury?
S - Zappala (SR) / Ringer (FR) - Zappala moves to starter, Ringer moves onto 2-deep. Walker is not listed...injury?
S - Netting (JR) / Robertson (FR) - Netting falls off 2-deep and Roberston moves on....injury?

Some interesting tidbits:

In G1 Wabash started 2 seniors, 5 juniors, and 4 sophomores on defense. In G3 Wabash started 3 seniors, 5 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 2 freshmen.

Gavin Ruppert has led Wabash in tackles the last two games as a freshman MLB. Ruppert seems to be the real deal. He looks fluid on the field and had a touch of D1 interest.

The pass defense has gotten better and I don't think it's unheralded to think that Ridings has just found the guys back there that he likes. Each secondary spot has changed and there are three new starters back there now from Game 1. While he was at Keiser, he took a pretty good defense and made them great and that was even with starting a lot of underclassmen his first year.

I looked up all of the defensive freshmen from Ridings time at Keiser and he recruits really well. He was the AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year at Marian University a few years ago and he recruited multiple studs there for their secondary. I have no doubt that Wabash's defense is going to be in good hands.

The first step is getting the most out of the players on the team now and the second is getting his players in via the recruiting trail. I think we will see Wabash grab some studs this year.

[83LittleGiant]

Below are the Wabash game notes for this weekend's Homecoming game vs the Big Red of Denison.

Looks like it is going to be a glorious early fall day for a football game.  Wabash is going to score points. We will see if the defense can continue to improve after a better than expected showing at Wooster.

https://sports.wabash.edu/documents/2022/9/22/9-24-22_Denison_-_Homecoming.pdf