FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[DadofBashWarrior..]

We will never know.......of course it's moot......


That is the delight in this website...we are all able to give our own "opinion".....

I gave mine...and I welcome your difference of opinion....

on to Oberlin.....

[ScotLass]

We will never know.......of course it's moot......


That is the delight in this website...we are all able to give our own "opinion".....

I gave mine...and I welcome your difference of opinion....

I agree.....that's what makes it interesting at times.....different opinions.

NONE of us knows what Fincham would have, could have, might have done if Vanover had caught the pass. IF he had, with the game on the line and the momentum behind Witt, Fincham surely MIGHT have gone for 2 rather than having to stop Wabash and then try to score again. Those are the makings of historical games and it would have been the gutsiest play of the season.

No guts, no glory. 

[BashBacker#16]

Great win for Bash yesterday.  Total TEAM effort!  Questions and concerns come up every week for the Little Giants and they continue to make plays on Saturdays.  Witt could have jumped out 14-0 in the first quarter but didn't.  Bash could have stretched their lead to to 21-3 if Bash would have punched it in on the drive with Hudson's INT on the fade to Russell.  That Witt DB made a great play.  I love the Sobecki/CP Porter tandem on the ground and its great to see Russell getting healthier each week.  Both sides have some killer athletes.  Anyone see the photo of Witt's Brandyn Brown going up with 6'7 Scott Liska in the endzone...how about that vertical?

OK, this is bugging me so I have to comment about it.  The D3 poll is interesting...last week St. Olaf LOSES and jumps from #18 to #13???  They didn't lose to Mount Union, they lost to a St. Johns team that has had a couple of squeekers thus far this season.  When there are 220+ teams in D3, and a team loses...it is still an "L" and that should severely hurt them in the polls (a respectable loss to Mount may be the only exception) - whether its the AFCA, the D3football.com, or Don Hansen.  Then, this week, the same team St. Olaf gives up a whopping 51 points yesterday to powerhouse Concordia-Moorhead (2-3 in their conference)  Does the #13 ranked team in the country give up 51 points???  So then yesterday, Alfred beats a 2-4 Utica team (0-2 in their conference) and they jump from #15 to #12???  Hmmmmm.  I don't get it.

[wally_wabash]

The polls are strange...while Wabash didn't move at all this week, they did pick up 50 points which is pretty substantial (an average of two spots per ballot).  I think Wabash has about hit the ceiling on how far up they're going to go in the d3football.com poll in the regular season.  Maybe a different story if Wabash was putting up gaudy numbers with a headline grabbing qb, but unfortunately that isn't the hand the LGs have been dealt.  Fortunately the polls don't determine playoff berths, seeds, homefield, or championships.   

Up next is Oberlin...I don't think we should laugh this one off.  Oberlin will come in riding a three game win streak.  Their losses were to Heidelberg (this isn't nearly as bad a loss as it seemed at the time...the Berg have turned some things around in a big way this year), CWRU (6-0), and W&J (6-0).  Oberlin just might be a whole lot better than we thought given their 0-3 start.  The LGs will be ready...CC's postgame comments seem to emphasize that Wabash hasn't won diddly as of yet. 

[smedindy]

BB16 - We discussed the St. Olaf situation and the Mt. Union / ONU game on the Top 25 boards last week. Hanging with St. John's AT St. John's (and seeing St. John's in person, squeakers or no, they have a special team) was rewarded, while there were a lot of upsets so they didn't need as many polling points for #13 as there were for that spot the last week.

I HATE the fact that if a team loses if they play a tough team close on the road, they get overtly penalized in the polls. I think this poll has it right.

Concordia is a pretty good team. Seeing the MIAC up close and personal, I don't think it's wise to denigrate them. They're a much better conference than the NCAC.

I think I have a theory on Alfred. Last week, ONU had some voters rate them pretty highly even though they lost to Mt. Union, and with that loss, the voters who had ONU pretty high may have overlooked Alfred and then put them up there. That's no doubt why Wabash gained 50 points as well. Who knows. But I don't get bent out of shape on the polls, since there is an excellent way to determine the best team.

[aueagle]

Thanks wally....I hear ya man!!

[bashbrother]

Classy quotes from the Springfield News Sun from Coach Fincham and CC.

"We want to be balanced, and we didn't get the running game going," Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham said. "I think they've got as good a defensive line as there is in the country."

"At the exchange, from what I saw, their middle linebacker tackled him before he got the ball," Wabash coach Chris Creighton said. "It was just a great play by that kid."

"We felt as though we needed to make some big plays," Creighton said, "and early was going to help us more than late."

"There's going to be however many people leave here and remember one play," Fincham said. "There were a hundred plays. When you get down to it, we had two opportunities early in the ballgame to come away with 14 points, and we came away with three, and that was the difference."

[DadofBashWarrior..]

Polls are just what they are......Smed you are on target about the MIAC


I will say this after the "Win" this weekend......I am far more encouraged about our chances in the Playoffs without Huff

I was at the Wheaton North Central game last weekend.......North Central outplayed them.....it was NCC game till the end and Wheaton pulled it out by making just enough big plays.....and Wheaton from what I read did it again...

Seeing Wheaton in the preseason scrimmage....they are clearly not the same team....they have lost alot by injury....still winning but certainly not as potent....

[Pat Coleman]

Great win for Bash yesterday.  Total TEAM effort!  Questions and concerns come up every week for the Little Giants and they continue to make plays on Saturdays.  Witt could have jumped out 14-0 in the first quarter but didn't.  Bash could have stretched their lead to to 21-3 if Bash would have punched it in on the drive with Hudson's INT on the fade to Russell.  That Witt DB made a great play.  I love the Sobecki/CP Porter tandem on the ground and its great to see Russell getting healthier each week.  Both sides have some killer athletes.  Anyone see the photo of Witt's Brandyn Brown going up with 6'7 Scott Liska in the endzone...how about that vertical?

OK, this is bugging me so I have to comment about it.  The D3 poll is interesting...last week St. Olaf LOSES and jumps from #18 to #13???  They didn't lose to Mount Union, they lost to a St. Johns team that has had a couple of squeekers thus far this season.  When there are 220+ teams in D3, and a team loses...it is still an "L" and that should severely hurt them in the polls (a respectable loss to Mount may be the only exception) - whether its the AFCA, the D3football.com, or Don Hansen.  Then, this week, the same team St. Olaf gives up a whopping 51 points yesterday to powerhouse Concordia-Moorhead (2-3 in their conference)  Does the #13 ranked team in the country give up 51 points???  So then yesterday, Alfred beats a 2-4 Utica team (0-2 in their conference) and they jump from #15 to #12???  Hmmmmm.  I don't get it.

I think Smed is dead-on on this -- it's a little more accurate to judge the poll as a whole or across a range of teams. Just pulling out one team with no context isn't very instructive.

BTW, your e-mail address is out of date, apparently. You need an active, accurate e-mail address to maintain your membership. Otherwise, e-mails to you -- like PMs -- bounce right back into our mailbox.

Please e-mail me from your new address.

[WAF78]

Some reflections on the Wabash game. I thought Huffman was a stud...and he'll be a real stud in the coming years. He did miss some throws..but so did Hudson. On the final Witt play....he couldn't have thrown that ball any better. Though, I was glad the Witt kid dropped the ball...I felt so bad for him...he'll remember that for the rest of his life. I'm totally convinced that is why Wabash got the money from Bob Knowling for the Knowling Field house. Bob dropped a perfectly thrown pass in the end zone in '74 versus DPU at home...and we lost by 5. He finally completed his penance by donating the money for the fieldhouse.
Witt offense line did a great job of pass blocking. Huffman had all day to decide what to do back there. I believe the Wabash D line only had 1 hurry all day. However, the front 7 on the Wabash D really shut down their run game...wow. I think that was their best game with the run defense. In the first quarter, as they've done many times this year...the D did the "bend but not break" routine. But, again, the kept Witt out of the end zone. Great job!! Hudson did really well...as has been mentioned...with throwing the ball down field. Witt's linebackers got good drops in their zone and made it hard to drop the ball in. It was a great game...as I was standing in the last part of the 4th quarter and Witt is moving the ball down the field...i'm thinking...college football is such a great game. Also...thought the Wabash punter did another fine job...and man...that Witt kicker could sure boot the ball. Go  Wabash!!

[ski]

WOO WINS - By a hair! Wow, what a change in atmosphere without the band.
Hiram gave Woo all they could handle. They played hard for the most part and seemed more willing to hit people than in the past. They still had a couple of guys who seemed to work harder to avoid hitting someone than it would of took to just get in there. Their D was pretty solid and the D backfield played well although they still have a week spot there. I was impressed by their freshman wideout, he has good size and soft hands. It is good to see Hiram showing improvement, as improvement of the traditionaly weaker teams can only help the conference as a whole.
As far as Woo goes, they need to work harder if they plan to add any more wins this season. The O line has to make some consisitent holes for Shep. QB's have to work on their ability to throw down field. There are no standout players right now, those that were predicted to be standouts, better stand up and get it done.

[uknowme22]

I'm not going to get into the rundown.  I just want to say great game.  This is what has become of the Wittenberg/Wabash game.  Great games that are decided by a couple of key plays.  Obviously, it is a huge disappointment to the Tigers and their fans, but it was a great win for Wabash.  Now I'm pulling for the Little Giants to run the table and represent the NCAC. 

The Little Giants are a class act.  Good Luck the rest of the way.  You have atleast on Tiger pulling for you!

Hopefully we can stand strong and finish out the season the right way.  Homecoming this weekend, and we owe OWU a little payback.

Go Tigers!!!

[wooscot]

Where was the band for the Woo/Hiram game?  Is it fall break or something?

[seinfeld]

Fall break for Wooster, so there was no band.

Since no one has commented on the Hiram game much, I'll throw out a couple of nice nuggets.

Hiram's 7-point loss was the closest they have been to a win since they lost to Kenyon by three points in the second to last game of the 2005 season. So that is a span of 16 games.

In Wooster's last two home games against Hiram, they have managed only three points in each of the first halves.

It was late in the third quarter when one of Wooster's players was yelling on the sideline (there was no one at the game, so you probably could have heard him anywhere on campus):

"This is too easy, this is too easy."

At the time, Wooster trailed 10-9. I think this sums up Wooster football in 2007 — clueless.

[BashBacker#16]

Last play of Wabash/Wittenberg...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pRDL5ftQ2UE

Great play call.  Would T Bell have knocked him out if would have caught it?