FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

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A look into the mind of Coach Mora.... Diddily Poo 

I'm can't decide if this is brilliant or if this is the low point for the board.   

Come on people!  There's a Kenyon/Chicago game to talk about here! 

[BashBacker#16]

Wally & Co.,

Any of you guys nervous?  Flashback Kalamazoo 2003.....UGH!!!  Surely not right?  Here's my big question; if Barnes takes off (which he will), can we lay some big hits on him?  Can we jump out to a lead and cause some early turnovers?  We should be very physical and I have to think that will be a big advantage.  Also, will it benefit Bash early that teams have not seen our new O and new D - from a scheme standpoint?  I have to think that will help too.

Thoughts?

[bashbrother]

16 -

here are my thoughts -

Defensively, Bash is going to put a tremendous pressure on them from the inside, thus their offense will probably be designed with roll-outs giving Barnes the pass/run options on almost every play.   The main key will be backside pursuit and holding contain (Lehmann and Mann will need to be ready and not get caught in traffic inside).   The other important part is the db's staying with their man.   The backers need be cleaning up the run option, so the safeties don't feel the need to come up.   Roll-outs break down defensive structure very well (CC was the master of this) and receivers can slip behind for big plays.

Offensively, Bash should be able to run the ball early to get any rust off and then late first half, should be rolling.
Short passes early to get Hudson going should also be the rule.  Who knows, If you remember the first play of Dension 2005, #3 to Summers, play was called in the tunnel.  Game was over after that.

I don't predict a K-Zoo re-play.    Also, that was a pretty darn good 6-4 K-Zoo team that year.   They lost 4 games by a total of 29 points. (7.5 per game).

Finally, turnovers and special teams can neutralize a talent differential, so we need to play clean and we'll be just fine.   If you remember, we had 2 fumbles lost and 3 Int's that game.  One was thrown by Olmy Olmstead!!!   

[wabco]

BB16

Hear you borther.  But I think we have grown from then and there.  Here are some thoughts (which I hope ...show/exemplify the difference):

* I remember watching our guys get off the bus at K ... we were nationally ranked ... and they were reading the clippings.  It was just in the air.  The only problem was that K had a senior oriented team and had not read the same clippings.  By the time we woke from our newspaper (later 3rd Q) it was a hustle to recover.  We ended up about 2 minutes short.  NEVER AGAIN.
* CC's teams seem to have - by the time of the first game - beaten each other up, banging on each other and banging on each other (a coaching peparation philosophy which often had season ending injuries as a negative result ... lots of positive results ... but that was a negative aspect of it).  ER runs a different prep porogram with the resultant not as many season ending injuries.  I suspect both types of preparation are good and are the style of that qualified and successful coach.  But at K that day, we had people down. 
* Wabash O and D were pretty predictable especially by the end of last year to people we played each year (see DePauw).  ER is new and what is happening is new.  If we can - ourselves - learn to employ the new without drive crippling error ... this is a very different circumstance ... how do you prepare for our O and D when all you have is a 2 deep chart to go on (unless you, of course, improperly and without honor perform sneak scouting/cheating ... again ... see DePauw). 
*  This is a conference game, not a non-conference ... "tune up on K" type game.  Our team members are bright and understand this and know ... not getting right to it ... and losing (WHAT?)  is beyond a disaster.  THEY WILL NOT BE READING and THEY WILL BE READY.
*  Yes we have to control their QB ... but they have to control a number of us in a new O and D configuration/strategy.  Big difference in planning.  I have faith that our coaches have figured our strengths and our personnel and matched our D up to stop their QB.  I believe our O should be unstoppable ... if we do not stop ourselves.  For iunstance, I believe our D will cause turnovers as a prime focus ... which slacked off as a prime tenant the last couple of years.
*  Now I do worry about first game problems ... we seemed - under CC - to play poorly the first game.  I do not know why ... just that it occurred.  Well this is ER ... I expect no first game screw up/tentativiness and believe - with the Wabash 2 deep I read - this simply will not be contanced.

We will beat them by 40 points.  Take that to the bank.

[aueagle]

"We will beat them by 40 points.  Take that to the bank."

You make Joe Namath proud, wabco....

[Li'l Giant]

Come on people!  There's a Kenyon/Chicago game to talk about here!

You did see the bottom picture, right?

Any of you guys nervous?  Flashback Kalamazoo 2003.....UGH!!!  Surely not right?

I have been nervous about it. You can say what you want about the quality of the team that Denison pasted last week but the Big Red are still feeling pretty good right now. And while we've consistently beaten Denison down since joining the NCAC we've played them in our 9th game every single time. By that point in the season we're as good a team as we're going to be. Not so in our first game.

Do I think we'll win? Yes. Am I ready to go deposit Wabco's 40-point check? Absolutely not.

[Pat Coleman]

I remember 2003 as one of the years a magazine (or two?) ranked Wabash very highly and we ranked them No. 18 in the preseason.

[wally_wabash]

Let's flash back to 2007...week 9...Denison piles up 51 points and over 400 yards rushing against Kenyon.  Mike Barnes runs for 190 and accounts for 5 touchdowns.  Two other Denison RBs go over 100 yards.  Denison's offensive line is rewarded with a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week.  Wabash's defense had gotten into a bend-over-backwards-but-don't-break pattern last year...concern fills the air.  What if Denison controls the ground and the clock?  Could be a close one...fast forward seven days.  Mike Barnes is wearing Darryl Kennon as a jersey, he runs for -35 yards for the game, and not only does Denison not score a point, they don't even get within sniffing distance of the end zone. 

Over the last couple of years we've seen that Denison, against a certain caliber of opponent, has the players and the scheme to put up some really good stats.  Against better teams....not so much.  Last year Denison managed 16 total points against CWRU, Allegheny, OWU, and Wabash.  Against the rest of their schedule, they put up 33 points/game.  The point here is that Denison isn't playing Kalamazoo this week...the level of play and the level of players is getting cranked up several notches and history tells us that Denison doesn't do well against upper tier teams despite the gaudy numbers they throw up against lower tier teams. 

Barring a turnover filled offensive implosion, I just can't see how Denison in one offseason has closed the gap enough to get a win on Saturday.  The game may very well be a bit more competitive than we've seen recently in the series, but the gap is just too wide. 

The other important part is the db's staying with their man.   The backers need be cleaning up the run option, so the safeties don't feel the need to come up.   Roll-outs break down defensive structure very well (CC was the master of this) and receivers can slip behind for big plays.

This....this is a great point.  How many times did we see Whalen do this to the LGs in Cleveland last November?  Ugh.  Wabash could be susceptible to the homerun if the DBs aren't assignment sound.  If this scenario plays out a few times during the game, then things could be less comfortable for Wabash than I think any of us would like. 

[wab64]

I remember 2003 as one of the years a magazine (or two?) ranked Wabash very highly and we ranked them No. 18 in the preseason.

d3.com has never liked to rate Wabash highly, including last year when they were in the final 8 and ended up ranked 10th! Maybe 9th, considering 2 losses (1 to the eventual national champion and 1 on the road in the ultimate rivalry game by a miracle field goal) but 10th

[wally_wabash]

By the way...Hiram is the centerpiece of this week's ATN column and it is a really good read.  Highly recommended for NCAC fans.  

[wally_wabash]

wab64...keep in mind that this is the same poll that put Wabash 11th this preseason despite significant losses on defense, the entire stable of wide receivers, and 80% of a successful coaching staff.  It's also the same poll that jumped Wabash two spots into the top 10 despite Wabash having not even played in week 1 (and leapfrogging a team that won a game 41-0).  I'm not sure the poll bias angle is really working here. 

[Pat Coleman]

64: Final 8 doesn't mean Top 8.

Wabash beat Franklin, Mt. St. Joseph and Case Western Reserve among teams that got votes and was ranked comfortably ahead of all of them. Losing to UW-Whitewater by 40 is not a feather in Wabash's cap, regardless of the weather.

[SaintsFAN]

* Wabash O and D were pretty predictable especially by the end of last year to people we played each year (see DePauw).  ER is new and what is happening is new.  If we can - ourselves - learn to employ the new without drive crippling error ... this is a very different circumstance ... how do you prepare for our O and D when all you have is a 2 deep chart to go on (unless you, of course, improperly and without honor perform sneak scouting/cheating ... again ... see DePauw). 

Wabco, they trade films of scrimmages in absence of present-year game film. 

I'm sure that ER didn't show a whole lot though...either because he didn't want to, or because they will build upon it as the year goes on. 

Good luck on Saturday Bash. 

[bashbrother]

64 - 

Pat & his crew do a good job of trying to put as much reality into the picture as possible.  Sometimes we don't always fully agree, but they are closer to right a lot more than they are flat out wrong.  I am sure it is a tough gig to cover and rank over 200 schools with very little information being shared by the schools or the press.

Signed,

The NEW and improved BashBro

[D3_DPUFan]

Final 8 doesn't mean Top 8.

...well said.