FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[AnotherTrineDad]

Here's my quick assessment . . .
Hot, muggy, buggy, defense fared well, offense struggled to find rhythm and execute, big penalties.

Manchester has never been a football powerhouse, but it was only 2 years ago that they nearly won the game at Manchester.  Perhaps its preparing on turf and then performing on grass?? Sounds like an excuse for lack of mental preparedness, but one of the coaches told that to the boys after the game.

Manchester does have some talent . . . Nelson as their RB, HE IS FAST. Then there is the Kennedy brothers on defense . . . one of the two was in on nearly every tackle made.  They are both quick, smart and hit HARD.  They have been good athletes since they were knee high, and great kids as well.

There will be little rest for the Thunder this next week as they prepare for Bluffton.  Coach Land and troop has always impressed me with their ability to analyze, adjust and overcome.  No doubt that will be the case as they prepare for next week.

BTW it was great to see the Trine fans fill the stands last evening.  The MC crowd was slow to arrive and inflated because of free entry for community members. They made me show my drivers license to get in free because of my colors and hat. 

[BOYA87]

My notes on the game (although it looks like everyone has it pretty well covered...sorry I was way to tired after the game to jot down my thoughts)

Watching this game reminded me a lot of the 2008 championship teams opening game.  Offense young with a new quarterback, defense (although much younger this year) coming in with strength at many positions (I thought D-Line and DB's looked great.  Not bad play from LB core either but would like to see them be more physical)

Thank God for that first quarter!  Defense zapped the life out of a Manchester team that was coming in with high hopes!  Now we gave them some of that momentum back at half but defense wasnt allowing much.  Great job Defense!

Lets remember that the Gagliardi Award winning quarterback Erick Watt was not always the Gagliardi Award winning quarterback!  He had plays, games, heck even seasons where he made many mistakes and mental errors.  He showed great physical and mental growth throught ever season though which led to great things for TU's program!  It was painful to watch Hargraves at times last night.  He looked very unsure at times and was a split second too late on making some decisions.  However, at times you could tell he made a decision quickly and followed through with it for a positive play!  Some throws were off target, some hit receivers in the hands but were dropped, but then others were whipped into small windows and hit receivers in stride!

It reminded me very much like Erick Watts 2008 season opener.  It is fixable, it is coachable, it is learnable.  Ryan Hargraves should not feel completely distraught about this performance, but he does need to take it to heart and as a personal challenge to improve!  Because if it does not then the QB competition will heat up very quickly.

on Manchesers note, I was impressed with their running back and on how hard hitting their defense was!  I was very unimpressed with their QB.  Watching him I assumed he was a sophmore or freshman but I looked at the roster and saw Sr. and was very suprised.

[ThunderHead]

Hilarious read by WoJo, if you're a Big Ten fan you'll enjoy it.

http://detnews.com/article/20110902/OPINION03/109020338/Leaders--Legends--Huskers--It's-a-beefier-Big-Ten

[Uncle Rico]

Hilarious read by WoJo, if you're a Big Ten fan you'll enjoy it.

http://detnews.com/article/20110902/OPINION03/109020338/Leaders--Legends--Huskers--It's-a-beefier-Big-Ten

Thanks for the link.  I love Wojo!  It was fun listening to him with Stoney, and also his banter with the late Tom "Killer" Kowalski.  I wish Wojo would get a permanent drive-time radio gig.

[ThunderHead]

Uncle Rico - I agree completely. Wojo is a lot of fun and if you ever get the chance to meet him, his personality matches his writing style. He's a party all by himself. I wish the guy had a show, there are plenty of guys who have shows that are hard to listen too...Wojo I would throughly enjoy.

[TUAngola]

Those Trine posters that went to Manchester last night, I have a couple questions that I wondered if you could answer.  What happened to the running game?  Were there just not many holes or did Manchester load up in the box?  The Biller runs to the outside were one of our staples last year, must not have had any alleys last night?  What about the O line play.  Sounded like Hargraves had pressure all night, did they not play well or did Manchester have some studs on D?  I knew Brecken Kennedy was going to be tough to handle, I was very impressed with him last year and from the stat line he had 16 tackles last night..16!!  But I thought with 3 returners on the line and lots of playing time for the 2nd unit last year that this would be a strength of the team.

Also, did we come out ok injury wise?  The radio announces said our backup TE got hurt, and also DE Reinig limped off?

Bluffton returns 10 starters on both sides of the ball according to their athletics website.  Most are seniors with a few juniors.  No doubt they will be out for payback after the drubbing last year.  We will know a little more about them after they host Kzoo tomorrow.

[ThunderHead]

Via another portion of the board, apparently the QB at Wheaton was lost for the season due to injury.

Definitely prayers for him and his family, it's incredibly disappointing as an athlete to go down at any point, but especially just prior to the season.

This is a big blow to a good Wheaton program with high expectations.

[Mr. Ypsi]

former d3fb,

I rescheduled a dental appointment just to make sure i'd get to Alma by late afternoon!  You'd better not stand me up!

Brats are more likely than burgers, but the 'adult beverages' are guaranteed.

[ThunderHead]

Interesting read. I heard rumblings about this from some friends of mine some time ago, but didn't think much of it.

The Big 12 did themselves no favors with their undying alliance to Texas and their network. It was only a matter of time before some school said "see ya". Texas A&M proved it could be done, now maybe with the threat of movement by a big boy some the Big 12 conference officials will finally get their act together.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences

[sac]

Interesting read. I heard rumblings about this from some friends of mine some time ago, but didn't think much of it.

The Big 12 did themselves no favors with their undying alliance to Texas and their network. It was only a matter of time before some school said "see ya". Texas A&M proved it could be done, now maybe with the threat of movement by a big boy some the Big 12 conference officials will finally get their act together.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences

Texas has already made everyone's bed for them and their network deal isn't going to change.  I hope tu ends up an indepedent and nobody will play them.


I'd be interested to know if the Big 10(12) is involved.  I know Delaney says they aren't looking but Oklahoma would be an attractive addition (save for my concerns about the stupidity of conferences larger than 12 teams and the fact Oklahoma doesn't touch any other Big 10 state, not even the newer ones).  Maybe, just maybe, adding OU might finally get Notre Dame to see the light and join the Big 10.  My guess is OU jumps to the SEC as well.

[ThunderHead]

Interesting read. I heard rumblings about this from some friends of mine some time ago, but didn't think much of it.

The Big 12 did themselves no favors with their undying alliance to Texas and their network. It was only a matter of time before some school said "see ya". Texas A&M proved it could be done, now maybe with the threat of movement by a big boy some the Big 12 conference officials will finally get their act together.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences

Texas has already made everyone's bed for them and their network deal isn't going to change.  I hope tu ends up an indepedent and nobody will play them.


I'd be interested to know if the Big 10(12) is involved.  I know Delaney says they aren't looking but Oklahoma would be an attractive addition (save for my concerns about the stupidity of conferences larger than 12 teams).  Maybe, just maybe, adding OU might finally get Notre Dame to see the light and join the Big 10.  My guess is OU jumps to the SEC as well.

That's exactly right, and I'm sure Delaney has his ears to the ground so to speak. You can't say no to OU, but I agree, they may move to the SEC, but I wouldn't count out the B1G or the PAC.

[ThunderHead]

Adrain beats Husson 77-7. 

WoW.

[DBQ1965]

For what it's worth ... as an IIAC fan and supporter who appreciates MIAA football, I'm headed down to Olivet today for the game between the Comets and the Cornell Rams.  D3football has it as a match-up between the #209 Rams and the #229 Comets ... so it should be fairly evenly matched.  Given the prospects for both teams season ... this game could make or break one team's season.  With this game as the best chance for a win for either team ... a loss in the opener could be demoralizing.

[sflzman]

Interesting read. I heard rumblings about this from some friends of mine some time ago, but didn't think much of it.

The Big 12 did themselves no favors with their undying alliance to Texas and their network. It was only a matter of time before some school said "see ya". Texas A&M proved it could be done, now maybe with the threat of movement by a big boy some the Big 12 conference officials will finally get their act together.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences

Texas has already made everyone's bed for them and their network deal isn't going to change.  I hope tu ends up an indepedent and nobody will play them.


I'd be interested to know if the Big 10(12) is involved.  I know Delaney says they aren't looking but Oklahoma would be an attractive addition (save for my concerns about the stupidity of conferences larger than 12 teams).  Maybe, just maybe, adding OU might finally get Notre Dame to see the light and join the Big 10.  My guess is OU jumps to the SEC as well.

That's exactly right, and I'm sure Delaney has his ears to the ground so to speak. You can't say no to OU, but I agree, they may move to the SEC, but I wouldn't count out the B1G or the PAC.

Well think of a potential Big Ten with Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa State and Notre Dame. Those probably would be the most logical ones? Maybe Kansas?

[formerd3db]

Interesting read. I heard rumblings about this from some friends of mine some time ago, but didn't think much of it.

The Big 12 did themselves no favors with their undying alliance to Texas and their network. It was only a matter of time before some school said "see ya". Texas A&M proved it could be done, now maybe with the threat of movement by a big boy some the Big 12 conference officials will finally get their act together.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences

Texas has already made everyone's bed for them and their network deal isn't going to change.  I hope tu ends up an indepedent and nobody will play them.


I'd be interested to know if the Big 10(12) is involved.  I know Delaney says they aren't looking but Oklahoma would be an attractive addition (save for my concerns about the stupidity of conferences larger than 12 teams).  Maybe, just maybe, adding OU might finally get Notre Dame to see the light and join the Big 10.  My guess is OU jumps to the SEC as well.

That's exactly right, and I'm sure Delaney has his ears to the ground so to speak. You can't say no to OU, but I agree, they may move to the SEC, but I wouldn't count out the B1G or the PAC.

Well think of a potential Big Ten with Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa State and Notre Dame. Those probably would be the most logical ones? Maybe Kansas?

I seriously doubt Notre Dame will ever join a football conference.  They have ademently for years said they would never do it and, of course, have their own broadcast contracts.  That is not to say that nothing is impossible and their thinking could change in future years, nonetheless, I won't hold my breath!   Yet, stranger things have happened as we've seen with these conference realignments, political maneuvering, lobbying, etc., etc. amid speculations, denials, etc., etc. "running amok"!

IMO, (and this is not an original one since others have mentioned this many times both here and across the country including those involved in administations of conferences), Pittsburgh would be the logical choice to join the Big Ten,  if not for the single reason of travel logistics/economics.  Syracuse has been mentioned, however, that is a little further travel distance I believe as compared to Penn State, enough so to put a damper on the idea, if not among other aspects (some have mentioned academics, but I don't think U of Pitt is that much different that many of the Big Ten schools in that regard).  Personally, I don't see OU joining; Missouri was obviously considered as we all know, but, not sure if that would still be a viable option.  Iowa State, as you note could be another possibility (travel distance within reason as much as Nebraska and Iowa and Minn already), although again, I would think Pitt would still be the more logical choice.  Not sure that is even on the table as an idea and/or if Pitt is still even interested.

Speaking of conference realignment logical ideas, I have always thought it strange and do not understand why Youngstown State is not in the MAC.  BTW, they did give Michigan State a pretty decent game last night, although obviously State eventually wore them down and YSU made too many mistakes.  I do believe, however, that had YSU been of the calibur of any one of their D-IAA Championship teams of the '90's, they would have beaten Michigan State last evening.  Yet, obviously, that is speculation and just not reality this year!

Good luck to everyone's MIAA teams today.  Sorry DBQ1965, I have to root for Olivet today against your Iowa league Cornell!! .  However, I do agree with your assessment regarding the implications of that game for those two teams.  BTW, do you think Cornell will fare better in the Midwest League when they return to that and, also, do you think they should have made that move? Obviously, some of the travel distances will be longer and they are again giving up some of their century-long (or almost century-long) rivalries among their fellow Iowa colleges.