FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BashBacker#16]

Tough to watch yesterday in Franklin.  Not sure where to start with comments.  The whole game changed when Bash had 2 or 3 chances early in the ball game to put 7 up (3rd and 1 inside the 10 & the INT on the 4 on the opening drive).  It could have easily been 14-0 in a hurry.  When that didn't happen, it was the patented underdog tasting blood and thus a shoot out.  Hindsight is 20/20 but here are some things I wish would have been different:

- How many times do we need to kick it to Sears and watch him rip 60+ yard returns on the kick offs?  I wish we would have squibbed ALL DAY or tried a different tactic rather then doing the same exact thing 3 consecutive times.  The short field was a huge advantage to the Grizzly O.
- I wish we would have blitzed Chupp more rather then dropping 8.  We couldn't get pressure and he made us pay.  We need to bring the heat and blitz our LBs like we usually do.
- Our OT possession was pretty ugly.  We had a fumbled snap under center, we had another shotgun snap that rolled back to Huff, etc. 
- I wish BK would have had more touches.  Billy King looked very good at RB but cramps limited him to 11 carries (93 yards).  Because we were playing from behind and against the clock, it forced us to go to the air.
- I wish #41 (Parker), #20 (Foster), and #38 (Selby) would have shown up to play LB in the 2nd half   
- I wish our coaching staff would have gotten the OWU film.

Franklin's QB (Chupp), RB (Hartsfield), and Sears were very, very impressive.  Their O is very hard to match up with with a lot of variation ranging from "I" to shotgun with 5 wide.  Credit Franklin - the game played out exactly how they would have scripted it.

I do have faith that the Wabash D will get better, Coach Neathery is too good and there is talent.  How many games did it take last year before we gave up 45 points?  Pynenberg had 4 tackles for loss (11 total), Geoff Walker is a stud upholding the jersey #1 (240+ total yards) tradition, Huff quietly put up 319 yards and 4 TD passes.

[DarkSide-D]

Medicine Man,

Good point.  But a loss is a loss, just like a win is a win.  It doesn't matter if the loss is to the number 1 team or an unranked.  If Waynesburg is able to bounce back and win out, that is great for Woo.  Same with JCU.  But as it stands now, Waynesburg and JCU are a combined 0-3.

Please don't think I am bashing Woo.  I am not.  I am only saying that their record can be misleading this early in the season.  Only time will tell.

[woosterbooster]

Good point.  But a loss is a loss, just like a win is a win.  It doesn't matter if the loss is to the number 1 team or an unranked.

Well, of course it does, if you're trying to make an intelligent argument.  If Waynesburg's other loss had been to a patsy, then you've got a point.  But it wasn't, so you don't.

But as it stands now, Waynesburg and JCU are a combined 0-3.

As Medicine Man pointed out, two of these losses are to Wooster.  JCU's ONLY loss is to Wooster.  There is no data here for your argument, it's as yet open-ended.  Come back in a week or two with this and it might make sense.

I'm not saying that Wooster is a good or even a decent team, either.  Only trying to point out that the argument, if there can even be one as yet, points more in that direction than otherwise.

[DarkSide-D]

  I am only saying that their record can be misleading this early in the season. 

Nope, I think I will stick with what I am saying this week.  Maybe you should re-read what I am typing.  I think we are saying the same thing.  We are just bringing different reasons to support our claims.

And to go back to my original point...

I don't think Woo looks the best so far...Woo's record can be misleading.

Further, just because a team is No. 8 in Week 1 of the season, doesn't mean squat.  I think we all can agree that preseason rankings really don't mean much.  Now, if that team is ranked no. 8 about 3/4 of the way through the season, then I will sing a different tune.  Oh wait, this all goes back to what I am saying...it's too early to tell, and records can be misleading.

[wabashcpa]

Insane stat of the week:

Earlham's Rummell throws for 507 yds and 7 TD's to beat Manchester.

I don't care who you're playing - those numbers are ridiculous!

[DarkSide-D]

Do you think that if Rummell can keep healthy all year that Earlham has a legit chance of climbing up to the top of the bottom...maybe climb into the top half.  Or do you think that the other teams are just too strong.  It seems every year someone does it, Oberlin, Kenyon, even Denison (from time to time). 

I know last year was supposed to be a big year for the Quake until Rummell went down.  But now that Kenyon looks to contend for the top half again, I don't think Earlham will have enough to  break through. 

What say you?

[BashBacker#16]

Darkside and WabashCPA,

Let's relax a bit with Earlham...yes huge numbers for Rummels but Manchester is brutal.  And, they didn't exactly blow them off of the field.  Manchester is 4-26 the last 3 years with only 2 conference wins in their conference - HCAC.

[Washed_up_Scot]

If I'm not mistaken, Rummel has been very impressive at the QB position since his Soph yr at Earlham( conf leader each yr.) , just doesnt have much of a supporting cast... like a defense. I remember playing them and their startling offensive and defensive linemen were smaller than our backers, one portly individual in particular (cough cough cline) j/k buddy. Which impressed me even more, playing so well despite the lack of blocking he gets. I know the center I lined up against was maybe 210 lbs. But the kid has always put up big numbers, was doing quite well I believe last yr too. I'm just sayin, IMHO the kids got skills.

[wally_wabash]

Insane stat of the week:

Earlham's Rummell throws for 507 yds and 7 TD's to beat Manchester.

I don't care who you're playing - those numbers are ridiculous!

Insaner stat of the week:

Rummell's career numbers vs. Manchester (4 games):
104-157-2, 1575 yards, 18 TDs

That's disgusting.  They are even more disgusting if you discount the bad game he had against the Spartans as a freshman. 

[wally_wabash]

Do you think that if Rummell can keep healthy all year that Earlham has a legit chance of climbing up to the top of the bottom...maybe climb into the top half.  Or do you think that the other teams are just too strong.  It seems every year someone does it, Oberlin, Kenyon, even Denison (from time to time). 

I know last year was supposed to be a big year for the Quake until Rummell went down.  But now that Kenyon looks to contend for the top half again, I don't think Earlham will have enough to  break through. 

What say you?

Earlham was my pick to be the best of the bottom and I have them finishing in the top half of the conference.  It all depends on Rummell though...we saw how anemic Earlham's offense is without him.  It's night and day. 

[ski]

WOO WITH A WIN:  Woo's D was very, very good and a half time adjustment with the O was all the Scots needed to put up the win.  The Scots went with their 2-minute offense at the start of the second half, which ignited the Scot's scoring machine.  Even though the Scots put up some good rushing numbers in the second half, to say that they have found a running game is probably premature, as they struggled running the ball throughout the first half.  The change to the 2-minute O at the half seemed to open the running game. 

[lancer98]

Just got back from Texas watching the Bucks thump the Longhorns so I am a little late catching up on the D3 news.

I was shocked to see Wabash lose.  Is Franklin that good or Wabash just that overrated?  It looks pretty bad for the league if our preseason favorite is losing to the 2nd or 3rd best team in the HCAC.  Looks like that Franklin fan talking smack on here a few weeks ago was right.  However, this game means nothing in the conference race as Wabash very easily could still be the best in the conference.

As for Woo, a very positive start to the season at 2-0.  The defense looks strong and the offense appears to be productive despite not having their best WR or RB yet.  Witt should be a great test in a few weeks and we will find out then if the Scots have what it takes once the conference season starts.  I thought going into the season they were very underrated by people of this board and I think they have shown to be a good team at least in the first few weeks.  However, a lot of football is left to be played and we'll find out soon enough if they can sustain their early momentum.

[wally_wabash]

Now that I've had ample time to digest the weekend in NCAC football (and it was anything but easy to choke down), here are my quick thoughts...

- Wabash flat out laid an egg.  No excuses.  The better team won on Saturday.  Wabash's D allowed Franklin to do as they pleased all day...no blitzing, no tight coverage.  Wabash was soft.  It hurts bad to say that, but the D was just plain soft.  The Hard Hat D has a lot to prove this weekend against Millikin.  The offense was fine...yes, Wabash should have had 10-14 points out of their first three drives, but overall for the first game of the season it's hard to complain about 500 yards and 38 points.

- OWU loses by going for two in the first OT.  This ranks up there with Morningwheg winning the toss and taking the wind in OT vs. the Bears a few years ago.  What the heck are you thinking Coach H? 

- Allegheny got shut down by W&J.  33 rushing yards is very un-Gheny.  On the other hand W&J ran for 298 and passed for just 135...very un-Prez.  Allegheny only had the ball for 20 minutes in this game...hard to score when you don't have the ball. 

- Don't know what to make of the Witt game.  I don't know how seriously Dayton takes this game...you get the sense that if Dayton wanted to put the hammer down, they could.  Or maybe we just give far too much credit to I-AA non-scholarship teams.  Witt had the run game working, which wasn't available vs. Capital and they had offensive success.  Not surprising.  There's not much solace in losing, but this is a good bounce back for the Witt O...the D gave up over 500 yards, but we read this book last year.  Let's see what happens once they get out of September.

- They're still looking for D in Kenyon...CMS ran for 321 yards at 7.0 yards per clip.  The Lords were the darlings of our league last year, but if they don't start playing D, they won't get anywhere near 6 conference wins again this year. 

- Oberlin racked up 597 yards of offense and didn't punt a single time!  Yikes.  Heidelberg is baaad.  Nice job Yeomen. 

- Way to go Wooster...way to take care of business.  Is there any concern about Schafer's line?  11-20-1, 83 yards?  Seems a little light for a qb in his fourth year as a starter...possibly a reason for pause if/when Wooster needs to air it out.  I don't think it's fair to give Wooster too much grief here...after two weeks, the Scots are the only undefeated NCAC team left. 

- If Rummell could play every game against Manchester he'd win the damn Heisman.  Whomping Manchester isn't anything to write home about, but you have to acknowledge those kinds of stats.  Wild stuff...and since Earlham is one of only three teams to win this weekend, it's worth a mention. 

Overall, this might have been the worst weekend of NCAC football I can remember.  Literally from coast to coast, our conference was horrible.  So much for upping that non-con record.  It's not happening this year.  Better luck to everybody this weekend. 

[Gray Fox]

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 34, Kenyon 10

Wow - this is a surprising result.

Sometimes D3 teams travelling that far try to save on hotel bills (or not missing class time) and don't  go soon enough.  This may have been one of the causes.

[scotty]

my only question is...WHY