University Athletic Association

wally_wabash · September 21, 2012, 02:30:38 PM

You're right, ETP. So far, OWU hasn't really done anything that they didn't do last year. I think there are a couple of important differences...those games against Denison and Oberlin were Bishop home games last year whereas this year they were road games. And in the two games so far in 2012, OWU has really controlled the game both times whereas last year they needed to rally at Oberlin and were a little sluggish against Denison. There's just a different feeling about that team to me. It's a litlte unfortunate that OWU doesn't have a more recent result against CWRU so that we could use that as perhaps a better benchmark for their progress.

mustang · September 21, 2012, 03:45:52 PM

Stats don't lie, and the Case defense was on the field far too long. However they gave up only 10 points with 4 minutes remaining in the game. Case had a chance to put them away and didn't.

Hopefully the team will have learned from this and we'll see a much better result on both sides of the ball tomorrow night. Does anybody know if it's supposed to rain and if it does will that slow down the OWU passing game?

ADL70 · September 21, 2012, 07:24:26 PM

Rain looks to be ending right before game time, but field will be wet. 57 at ko 16 mph winds

Interestingly I noted 3 different players at LG last week.

Andy, I'll look for you about 5:45.

casefldad · September 22, 2012, 06:10:13 PM

Anyone know what the weather is like at this point (1 hour before game)?

jaybird44 · September 22, 2012, 08:33:12 PM

WashU wins its first game of the season, 28-23 at home vs. a pesky Kenyon squad that had to ditch its running game after its star RB (Brett Williams) left the game in the first quarter because of a concession.

Dan Burkett came off the bench in the first quarter after Eric Daginella suffered an injury, and threw 2 TD passes. The Bears were also aided by 99 rushing yards from Chris Castelluccio and an 84-yard INT return for a TD by Ryan Bednar.

WashU takes its 1-3 record to DePauw next Saturday, before a bye week.

casefldad · September 22, 2012, 09:49:13 PM

Heartbreaking loss!!! I thought for sure that we were in control and would hold unto the ball until we could score and put the game away.

SpartanMom_2016 · September 22, 2012, 11:14:30 PM

Quote from: casefldad on September 22, 2012, 09:49:13 PM
Heartbreaking loss!!! I thought for sure that we were in control and would hold unto the ball until we could score and put the game away.

It's hard to win with two fumbles inside the 10 yard line.

casefldad · September 22, 2012, 11:18:13 PM

True enough.....

jam40jeff · September 23, 2012, 03:04:01 PM

Or when you're -5 in the turnover department.

casefldad · September 23, 2012, 04:32:22 PM

Unlike the FSU, Case had twice as many yards, twice as many 1st downs and held the ball for 34 minutes vs 25 minute for OWU. It certainly seemed like we had opportunities to score addtional points.
There were a lot of factors that contributed to the defeat, some our own and some not.
* three turnovers in OWU's territory
* two missed field goals
* referees failed to make a call on a safety by OWU when their QB threw the ball with no one in the vicinity. True, that is only 2 points - but still.
* their kicker came in 'huge' with a field goal which was not a chip-shot (and he appear to have distance to have gone a few more yards
* we had a couple of sacks, but consistently gave their QB too much time

A tough loss, now on to next week and from everything I have heard - that is not an easy game.

Gotta have faith......

Go Spartans!!!

mustang · September 24, 2012, 01:26:42 PM

Don't want to pile on, we all know you can't make these kinds of mistakes and expect a good result.

That being said, Case was in a position to put away both losses and didn't get it done. I'm hopeful that the players can find whatever "intangible" it is and put away teams when they get the chance, whichever side of the ball has the opportunity to do so.

From what I'm told, the team they play on Saturday does not miss such chances.

ExTartanPlayer · September 24, 2012, 02:12:23 PM

One thought that comes to mind, CWRU posters (and please forgive drawing on my own experience here - I've been criticized in the past for using my own experiences to relive the glory days): this early-season swoon from Case shows just how thin the line can be between winning & losing.

For the newer CWRU posters that don't "know" me already, I started every game at left tackle for Carnegie Mellon in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, we went undefeated in the regular season because we held the ball, converted all the types of opportunities you're discussing, and put away teams when we had the chance. In 2007, we made some of those mistakes and lost four straight close games:

- Lost to Hobart 27-26; scored a TD with <1 min to go and went for go-ahead 2-point conversion, didn't convert

- Lost to Allegheny 27-21; outgained them badly, but our QB turned the ball over five times

- Lost to Randolph-Macon 21-10; had the ball trailing 14-10, with a chance to score the go-ahead TD, before a turnover with 1:30 to go led to a late TD

- Lost to Case 20-17 in OT; had the ball on the CWRU three-yard line, tied at 17, with a chance for go-ahead TD and our quarterback fumbled the ball on an inside handoff

All four of those losses came in winnable games against teams that were OK, but also beatable. Talent-wise, there was surprisingly little difference between an undefeated team and a 6-4 team. We churned out just as many rushing yards in 2007 as we had in 2006, and our defense was only slightly better on the 2006 team than the 2007 team. It came down to those little key turning points that come in every game between relatively-evenly-talented teams.

CWRU, despite the early losses, is basically two breaks from being 4-0. If they start making those key plays, things will turn around. Wittenberg is a VERY good team, and the "dark" times may extend another week or two, but take heart: after our midseason swoon in 2007, we rallied to win our last four games, plus an ECAC bowl game. CWRU still can salvage a strong finish.

casefldad · September 24, 2012, 05:27:18 PM

Ex-TartanPlayer: Excellent points and all well taken. I still believe that Case can have a good season if they manage to find a way to score when they are inside the 20 yard line. There truly is a very thin line, when you loose two games by a total of four points.
I'm hoping that they'll come out with that 'intangible' this coming Saturday. There should be a good fan turnout, it's Homecoming and a number of other activities are going on. I'll be there rooting the team!

mustang · September 24, 2012, 11:08:25 PM

I'm in total agreement with you guys.

I also wanted to compliment the OWU kicker/field goal unit. That was a clutch kick and no gimme. Well done.

SpartanMom_2016 · September 24, 2012, 11:16:05 PM

Quote from: casefldad on September 24, 2012, 05:27:18 PM
Ex-TartanPlayer: Excellent points and all well taken. I still believe that Case can have a good season if they manage to find a way to score when they are inside the 20 yard line. There truly is a very thin line, when you loose two games by a total of four points.
I'm hoping that they'll come out with that 'intangible' this coming Saturday. There should be a good fan turnout, it's Homecoming and a number of other activities are going on. I'll be there rooting the team!

I'll be there also!