University Athletic Association

[Case04]

There was a play where one of the DE-s surrender contain and the Trine QB rolled out for about 10 yds.  The coaches pulled him out for the next couple of plays.

I know that a number of players on D have being playing hurt when they weren't sitting out.  I wonder if there is thinking to move Watson to LB with the loss of Brown and the elder Sasala.  The linemen all return, but there will be five among the linebackers/secondary to replace.

I do remember that particular play, but there was numerous losses of containment all first half. I'm just wondering if now might be the time to revamp the defensive scheme to one that fits to the personnel instead of making the personnel fit the scheme. Just a thought.

[ADL70]

The arrival of Dale English prompted the coaches to put the 4-man line in along with the 3-man front.  Each was used about equally throught both seasons.

You're right though that Trine's QB was able to roll out and throw with no pressure.

The Youngstown State HC job is open.  Could Coach Debs be interested?

[blue4now]

If he was to move now might be the time.  Hate to see it if it does happen but all move eventualy.

A couple things about Sats game now that it has sunk in a little.  I thought even though the O has been putting points on the board the last 5 weeks we seem to have lost some continuity and flow that we had previously.

The run game has remained solid but our passing game is what Im referring to.  We have seem to have gotten away spreading the ball around to our 4 wr's and and flooding zones and fallen in love with the 3 yard out and bubble screens to Homyk.  He is a great receiver and runs the bubble well but our other wr's preety much became non existant and an after thought.  As an example I think Kolesar only had 1 catch the last 2 games.  I know Whalen didnt have the pass protection of the prior 2 yrs and plays brake down before they should, just an overall observation.  This offense moves best when the run and the pass compliment each other and the playmakers are all involved.

Defensively I dont think I heard English's name one time on Sat yet Im sure he was active.  It looked as though Trine stuck to 4 basic plays: inside draw, counter, toss sweep and the bootleg which we appeared clueless to defend.  Paramore got caught in no-mans land as if he pressured than the QB threw and if he covered he ran.  All game long.

We have talent players on the OL/DL but when we run into a bigger and stronger group up front as we did the we can see the results.  The D gave a great effort initially but seemed to wear done before long.  Our DB's are too small to be expected to make run stops time and time again.

With all this said I cannot tell you how proud I am of this and the previous 2 teams to have accomplished what no one except themselves believed could happen when they walked onto campus 3 yrs ago.  They changed the landscape and dynamics of athletics at CWRU. I wish them all great success moving forward an thanks for the great memories and historic accomplishments.

Go Case!  Go Spartans!!  Go Blue!!!

[ExTartanPlayer]

Preface: Lest any of you think that I have some axe to grind with CWRU...

I graduated from CMU after the 2007 season; since then I've rooted for CWRU (when they aren't playing CMU).  I think it's good for the UAA to have a nationally prominent team, and CWRU's 2007-09 success on the heels of CMU's 2006 playoff appearance has raised the league's reputation quite a bit.  Four straight playoff appearances for the UAA champion means that now, an eight or nine-win UAA champion is a strong Pool B candidate.  That was not the case (no pun intended) prior to 2006.

That said, I'm providing an objective analysis of what I think will happen next year.

With all due respect to CWRU's accomplishments the last three seasons, I think that Case falls back to the dreaded "mediocre" zone (where CMU and WashU have been mired for the last three years) in 2010, leaving the UAA with four roughly equal teams likely to finish in the five-to-seven win range.  Reason?  I don't think the recent CWRU teams were that much better than the other UAA teams (or the CWRU teams from 2004-2006, for that matter) except for one enormous difference - Whalen.  It's impossible to truly prove that statement, but I'm going to try.

1)  Check out the CWRU defensive statistics from 2004 through this season.  Statistically, the defense has been about the same during the three-year playoff run as it was from 2004-06.  I know what you're thinking - over the last three years a lot of teams have racked up garbage-time statistics against the backups.  What about the back-to-back 400+ yard games by Chicago and CMU this year?  Both of those games were competitive into the 4th quarter, so I don't think much of that yardage came against the scrubs.  And neither CMU nor Chicago had a particularly "explosive" offense this season.

Please don't cite overall season statistics as evidence that CWRU's defense was better.  That naively overlooks the caliber of the schedule that each team played (through no fault of their own, CWRU faced the weakest combo platter of the NCAC schools).  In games against competitive opponents, CWRU's defense was pretty average.

2) So that brings us to the offense.  I've made the claim that the CWRU defense from 2004-06 was about the same as the defense during the three playoff seasons, so consequently almost 100% of the improvement was due to the offensive side of the ball.

Obviously the offense was tremendously improved over the last three years (averaging 34, 37, and 42 points per game) compared to 17, 19, and 20 from 2004-06.  How much of this is attributable to Whalen?  I'll argue that a great deal of that stems from Whalen's presence.  Even in Whalen's freshman year, 2006, the offense was much better with Whalen on the field than Mirando.  I draw the conclusion that CWRU's offensive talent is probably marginally better than the pre-Whalen time.  How will this carry over to next season?  Impossible to say - but if they fall from 42 ppg to 30 ppg, that might cost them a few wins against the better teams on their schedule (they will still annihilate the Hirams and Oberlins of the world).

What does all of this mean?  CWRU from 2007-09 (minus Whalen) was probably a slightly-above-average UAA team.  Do they still win the championship in each of those seasons?  Probably yes.  The only UAA games they were ever in danger of losing recently were 2007 CMU (a 20-17 OT win over a 7-4 CMU team) and 2009 Chicago (38-24 win, but tied at 24 in fourth quarter, against a 5-4 Chicago team).

3) We have not touched on the final factor, the most important factor, the intangible benefits.  Obviously the team plays with a new swagger, has a higher recruiting profile, trains harder in the offseason, has better facilities...to that I say...as politely as possible...PHOOEY.

CMU had new facilities, a big recruiting class, and a new swagger after 2006.  That bought us a 7-4 season in 2007, and after the graduation of Sivek and Gimson (#1 and #3 on CMU career rushing list), two straight 5-5 seasons.  Back to the pack.  Same old team - decent athletes, good students, undersized, a step slow for a bigger school.  Scrapping out wins against crappy NCAC teams, not really talented enough to beat anyone of consequence.

Nor is this an isolated example.  In D-3 football it's just darned hard to build a decade-after-decade winner unless you happen to be in Alliance, Ohio.  There are a lot of flash-in-the-pan playoff teams that have a great three-year run (coinciding with a few star players or a couple really great recruiting classes).  Witness the "demise" of Bridgewater, Trinity (TX), and St. John Fisher.  Bridgewater had an incredible run from 2000-05.  Hasn't been back to the playoffs since and actually had a losing season in 2008.  Trinity OWNED the SCAC from 2000-05.  Hasn't won a conference title in four years.  SJF had great seasons in 2006-07 end at the hands of Mount Union.  Annnd....right back to the pack in 08-09.

A very apt comparison, incidentally, is probably 2007-08 Hartwick, led by an outstanding QB that got looks from the NFL (Jason Boltus) and a dominant receiver (Jack Phelan, I believe).  They pulled Hartwick out of the doldrums to an Empire 8 championship in 2007 and another nice season in 2008.  This year, with the two gone, a resounding THUD as Hartwick was badly blown out in four conference games and notched their only conference win over hapless Utica.

Do I wish failure upon CWRU?  Of course not.  But I truly believe that we'll see four middling teams in the UAA next season, unless an as-yet-unknown superstar emerges for one of the teams.

This ended up being a lot longer than I intended...but it's actually quite insightful, I think.  I learned a lot about D3 football researching for this post haha.

[blue4now]

Tartan, nice work and very insightful and pretty much on the mark with program analysis.  While I have only been a CWRU and UAA observer I can offer this evaluation for the Spartan talent the last 4 yrs in comparison to each other.  This is only one semi-intelligent view....

It goes without saying that Whalen made an incredible difference when on the field yet lets look at the position talent for each year.

QB
Hands down Whalen all 4 yrs.  Mirando played well when on the field and to the best of his abilities but didn't have the pocket presence, field vision and mobility that Whalen does.

WR
The top 4 probably represent best WR group in the country the past 2 yrs, period.  Cowdrick started in 06 with 3 Sr's, (Skolnicki, Brenner, Dudek) with Kolesar seeing playing time while Nicely and Homyk started w these 2 the next year.  Id have to say the 09 group was best in the 4 yrs if only because all 4 stayed on the field.  The 07, 08 and 09 groups were far better the 06 group.  A case can be made for Sujtca at TE during this time as well.

RB
06 had Roesnbury, Jones, Brenner, Checkan and Meyer accounting about 900 yds.  Since then it's been the 4-headed monster of Checkan, Meyer, Busch and Deitman.  Same rankings as the WR's

OL
Id rate the 08 class number 1 followed be 07, 09 and 06.  This yrs group should it could run the ball effectively but could not give Whalen the time he needed to read the D. This is reflection on where the graduation hits took place the past couple yrs while the skill guys stayed in place.

Overall O
08, 09, 07, 06

DL
A surprising and talented group this season played well until they wore down against larger, stronger teams.  Run D was a concern in every game. I'm going with this ranking: 07, 08, 06, 09

LB
It was great to have Jeff Brown in place to play alongside and then fill the enormous void when AA Tom Brew and JohnTiemere moved on.  Sasala and Pelyak complimented Brown well and were 4 yr guys also.  07, 08, 06, 09

DB
AA Bob Bott anchored the secondary the last 2 yrs.  Kingscott was a great addition when his shoulder would cooperate. Other pieces were added and did a decent job but the secondary was better in 07 and 08.  07, 08, 06, 09

KICKERS
Hands down Whalen and Coffey over Calderone in 06.  08, 09, 07, 06

Overall D
This represented the first change of talent at the school.  Once Debs had the D settled he turned his attention to the offensive side.  Tougher to pick one group over another than it was w the O. 07, 08, 06, 09

Like I said just one man's opinion.  I disagree with the talent only being margianlly better and it only came down to Whalen being the man.  Not to take anything away from prior teams and classes, there were upgrades in talent at every position. 

This yrs senior class represents the largest loss of then the school has probably seen. While there is a strong and talented underclass the bar has been raised significantly and the target is on their back.  Keep the streak alive boys!

[jam40jeff]

Is it too early to speculate who will be the starting QB next year?

[blue4now]

baum has the experience, hockevar the size

[jam40jeff]

baum has the experience, hockevar the size

That's a safe answer.    I think Hokavar is the right choice.  He is very intelligent, has a better arm, and is much bigger (able to run from QB position).  Hopefully he can improve his accuracy by next fall, as that is the one piece of his game that can be a little suspect.  He has great potential to be an excellent QB, though.  On the other hand, Baum has put in his time as a backup and has more experience with the offense, so I wonder if they will start off the season by giving him a chance to take the reins.

By the way, congratulations to all of the seniors on a great 4 years of football.  Thanks for many memories and making many CWRU alumns proud!

[ExTartanPlayer]

Thanks for the info, blue4.  I don't mean that the rest of the team doesn't deserve any credit - of course they do, and one would like to think that the talent level has increased somewhat.  I'd qualify your statement about talent upgrades at every position by adding "on offense" - I don't think the defense is appreciably better than it was in 2005-06 (which you noted as well).  You're right that by 2006 they had built a respectable defense around guys like Brew and Calderone, but the offense hadn't caught up just yet.

Incidentally, I think the 2006 defense with any of the 2007-09 offenses goes to the playoffs and does just as well as the respective teams did.  Which is part of my point...unless the offense has made significant progress and maintains something resembling the explosiveness that they had with Whalen (not ruling it out, the backup QB's may well be very capable), I think CWRU is still merely "above-average" for the UAA at the other ten offensive positions.

This is not meant as a slight to anybody (because I was one of those merely above-average guys during our 2006 playoff run as a very undersized left tackle..and I wasn't the most agile guy out there either).  I rode the coattails of two supremely talented RB's; my chief job was to stay out of the way and hustle downfield to try and block the safety in case Gimson or Sivek broke free.

[bleedpurple]

Congratulations to Dan Whalen on being named a 2009 Gagliardi Trophy finalist!

[DagarmanSpartan]

Congrats indeed to Whalen!

It'd really be a crying shame if he didn't win it after the season he had:

He finished the 2009 season 247-for-361 for 3,340 yards and 34 touchdowns.  Whalen also ran the ball 68 times for 199 yards and six touchdowns.

Certainly no single player in the country meant more to his team, or contributed more directly to his team's unprecedented success than Whalen.

On top of that, he's got a bright future as a sportswriter and humanitarian ahead of him:

The English major is currently interning with the Cleveland Browns as a game-day media relations representative.  Two summers ago, he interned with Sports Illustrated in New York. Whalen has been a leader the last three years during the annual Case for Community Day Sports Clinic, teaching children from local schools about good sportsmanship while playing football with them.

Truly a class act!

Let's hope that the right person is selected, and that his name is Whalen!

[wab64]

Well said, Major. Although not at the games,I sat through two playoff games between the Little Giants and Case with my heart in my throat wondering what Dan Whalen would do next. He was truly remarkable.
       I voted for Dan in the Gagliardi and wish him the best. He seems to have his head on straighr and a great future in sports journalism. It's too bad we couldn't have a 3rd rematch. I would like to see some rotation in the UAA-NCAC schedules so that Wabash and Case could play regularly (as long as Whalen has graduated). I fear that Wabash is so far west that we're probably stuck with Chicago and WashU for the time being.

[ADL70]

Link to the fan vote:

http://www.d3football.com/frame/eccbc87e4b5ce2fe28308fd9f2a7baf3

[SaintsFAN]

The English major is currently interning with the Cleveland Browns as a game-day media relations representative.  Two summers ago, he interned with Sports Illustrated in New York. Whalen has been a leader the last three years during the annual Case for Community Day Sports Clinic, teaching children from local schools about good sportsmanship while playing football with them.

Truly a class act!

Let's hope that the right person is selected, and that his name is Whalen!

Man, I'd be willing to be at winner like Whalen gets sick to his stomach with the stuff going on with the Browns.

[ADL70]

Whalen is first team All-Region, but elimiated in Gagliardi Trophy by Blaine Westemeyer (Sr., OT) - Augustana (Ill.)

Tony Opperman first team All-Region too.