FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

I'd love to get some perspective on this weekend's second rounder from those who saw both Wabash and CWRU play this year....Scots fans care to sound off?

[Duster72]

"We came to win and played at a high level," MSJ Coach Rob Huber said of his team's fourth straight playoff appearance. "We were under estimated. We are as good as Wabash, they just played better. Is Wabash's program better than ours? No. They just played better."

No disrespect to MSJ, but these comments are way off the mark.  I have seen Wabash 5 times this year and yesterday was easily the worst I have seen them play.  Lots of throws off target, some mental errors.  Basically, MSJ had the nice interception in the 1st Q, that weird 40 yard run in the 1st Q, the 40 yard pass on a QB scramble in the 2nd Q, and another 30+ yard run in the 3rd Q (I believe).  That's it.  They had 4 very good plays for the whole game.

Now, I'm not a football expert by any means, but I thought Wabash pretty much dominated the game.  Although MSJ definitely had a chance to win at the end, it was due to our offense making mistakes in the second half.  If anything, Wabash won solely because we had a lot more talent on the field.  CC could be heard in the top row of the stadium screaming that the offense "just had to execute" and they did not. 

The difference in the game was our D line completely killing their O Line.

I don't know anything about MSJ's injury situation, that might have been the issue.  And maybe the comments were taken out of context.  But I thought we were probably more like 21 points better than them on an average day.

Here's a question for the MSJ coaching staff: did you watch the tape of the nationally televised game we played last week?  DePauw exploited us with basically 3 plays, the worst being a quick receiver screen which John Madden would call a running play.  Now our corners constantly gave your receivers an 8 yard cushion.  Why not try the same play DePauw ran on us about 20 times last week?  I mean, it's not like your O Line was giving your QB time to throw the ball.

BTW, the MSJ QB put on a brave, gutty performance.  He got beat up yesterday and just didn't have the tools around him to win that game.  I was impressed.

For Wabash: I hope we are able to really focus this week and correct the errors that have been ugly the last two weeks.  I would love to see the offense come out sharp and capitalize on the defense's great 1st half performances.

[wally_wabash]

I'm not sure that yesterday was the worst game Wabash has played...in fact I'm pretty sure it was far from the worst game Wabash has played.  Had Wabash come to the field yesterday and put out the kind of game that I saw at OWU or Wooster, the LGs would have gotten smacked. 

Now I will agree that yesterday was Hudson's worst game this season.  But everybody has a bad game (and really, Hudson wasn't terrible...we've gotten spoiled by watching awesome quarterbacks every single week at Wabash) and I'm willing to grant a mulligan.  He'll be sharper next week. 

[ADL70]

It seems to me Wabash and CWRU played very different Wooster teams under different conditions. 

If not the stats favor CWRU.  Wooster managed only 173 yds Total Offense and only 9 first downs.  Meanwhile CWRU gained 452 yds.  In contrast they gained 365 and made 22 first downs against Wabash and Wabash gained 348.

Likewise the OWU games make poor comparison since Whalen did not play and OWU had settled on one QB instead of the rotation that Wabash saw.  Meanwhile your LGs were looking for a replacement for Huff.

[ScotLass]

I'd love to get some perspective on this weekend's second rounder from those who saw both Wabash and CWRU play this year....Scots fans care to sound off?

I'll weigh in on this having seen both teams. First, I don't think comparing wins against Woo, Oberlin, OWU, Denison provide very much useful information as too many things varied during the season.

I think the game will be a close one and the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. If Bash plays against Case like they did at Woo, it will be a tough day. Whalen had receivers drop passes against Widener that should have been caught....lost opportunities like that will cost Case against Wabash.

I think two of the best at linebacker, Adi and Brew, will both contribute significantly to the outcome. As will the rest of two very good defenses.

Whalen looked pretty darn good under pressure coming from behind to win on Saturday. He looked composed and it made the difference. Hudson will have to be on his game, which Bash posters say he was not Saturday. Both QB's have some pretty nice numbers coming into this.

Case has an advantage being at home and the fan participation Saturday looked to be way more than it was against Woo earlier in the year. I expect this to be a hard fought contest with a close score and if it's not close, it will be because of mistakes and one of the teams not playing to the potential they have shown they are capable of.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Well, being the eternal pollyanna, I'm betting on another upset by Case.

And a 12-0 record going into the Elite Eight.

[nike]

Sobecki is a good back and it is great he had a good game. CP Porter is also a good back and they compliment each other well. And I would think they pull for each other, as they are teammates first and foremost.
ScottLass, did you go to the CWRU game yesterday?
Am going to look into going next week, Cleveland being not too far up 71.
If not Wooster, the NCAC.  Wabash will do. 

[DagarmanSpartan]

The only reason that we didn't beat Ohio Weslayan far worse than we did is because starting QB Whalen was out with an injury (he's the guy that led the winning last second drive with three fourth down conversions this past Saturday).  Whalen's back-up was only 7 for 18 passing against OWU.  Had Whalen been there, that would have been a convincing Case victory.

I like our chances against Wabash.  It should be a close game, with Case prevailing at home. 

[ScotLass]

nike,

watched the video feed of the game on Saturday. The point spread for the Bash/Case game on the pickems is interesting, but I stand by my observations.

[cave2bens]

Re: North Coast Athletic Conference
« Reply #9904 on: Yesterday at 07:06:16 pm »   

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Quote from: wally_wabash on Yesterday at 04:42:01 pm
I'd love to get some perspective on this weekend's second rounder from those who saw both Wabash and CWRU play this year....Scots fans care to sound off?


I'll weigh in on this having seen both teams. First, I don't think comparing wins against Woo, Oberlin, OWU, Denison provide very much useful information as too many things varied during the season.

I think the game will be a close one and the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. If Bash plays against Case like they did at Woo, it will be a tough day. Whalen had receivers drop passes against Widener that should have been caught....lost opportunities like that will cost Case against Wabash.

I think two of the best at linebacker, Adi and Brew, will both contribute significantly to the outcome. As will the rest of two very good defenses.

Whalen looked pretty darn good under pressure coming from behind to win on Saturday. He looked composed and it made the difference. Hudson will have to be on his game, which Bash posters say he was not Saturday. Both QB's have some pretty nice numbers coming into this.

Case has an advantage being at home and the fan participation Saturday looked to be way more than it was against Woo earlier in the year. I expect this to be a hard fought contest with a close score and if it's not close, it will be because of mistakes and one of the teams not playing to the potential they have shown they are capable of.

ScotLass,

Per usual, thank you for a concise and thorough synopsis for Saturday's game in Cleveland.  Burning River Ale, Rock and Roll, and moldy, hanged effigies of Art Modell aside, I am woefully lacking in knowledge of the UAA (amongst many things  ), but with the schedule adjustments, that's about to change for many NCACers.

Hopefully, Hudson's first half, playoff jitters are past, and two excellent quarterbacks will show off their wares, since Swallow and Rupp are benched for the year.

[BashBacker#16]

The common opponent theme (for Wabash/Case matchup) with regards to Wooster is a moot point considering Woo/Case played on September 22.  Wooster was an ENTIRELY different team later in the season.  That is obvious.

If the Bash O-line plays like they did on Saturday...I think the Little Giants will be in great shape.  How about Kennon's play rebounding from the Bell game?  Also, Sobecki ran the hardest he's run all year and looked great - once he gets going vertical, he punishes.

[wally_wabash]

The only reason that we didn't beat Ohio Weslayan far worse than we did is because starting QB Whalen was out with an injury...

Do you really think that the "our starting qb was out" card is going to fly amongst the Wabash crowd?  Come on now...know your audience. 

I like our chances against Wabash.  It should be a close game, with Case prevailing at home. 

Why?  And I'm not being facetious here...I'd like to know more about the matchups here.  What does Case have that is going to be tough for Wabash to stop?  How is Case planning on defending Wabash's offense?  It's time to get into the nitty gritty here...

[The_Bishop]

Congrats to Wabash on a great season and first round victory.  Best of luck to the team and fans the rest of the way!

[DagarmanSpartan]

wally,

Taking Whalen out of Case's starting lineup would be the equivalent of taking Tom Brady out of the Patriots starting lineup, or taking Joe Montana out of some of the 49ers Super Bowl team lineups.  Without those QBs in the starting lineups, those teams' chances of winning the Super Bowl would have dropped dramatically.

That's how much of an impact Whalen has for Case.  With Whalen, we beat Widener.  Without Whalen, that final drive where we converted three straight fourth downs and scored a winning TD pass with two seconds left likely would not have happened.

I mean, you talk about "matchups," all you want, but the truth is, I'm not sure that anyone in the country can truly stop Whalen, as far as matchups go.  No one else has so far.

Whalen's leadership takes this team to a whole new level.  Without Whalen in the lineup, we nearly lost to OWU, after having beaten CMU and Washington U. teams with far better records on the previous weekends.  With him, that 7 for 18 passing against OWU likely becomes much better, and that's no longer a close game.

[wally_wabash]

Montana's backup/replacement was a hall of famer.  I'm just saying. 

So I'm gathering that Dan Whalen is a good quarterback.  Does he play any DB as well?  That's where Case is going to need him.