University Athletic Association

[DagarmanSpartan]

Reporting in from the ISAF Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan.

I'm glad to see that the Spartans have gotten it together the last two weeks.  I was really worried.  Although a little down this season, Trinity has a great program with lots of winning tradition.  And they did come into the game with a winning record.

The conference schedule could prove interesting!

[ExTartanPlayer]

Agree, Dagarman, even if Trinity is a bit down, that is a very, very nice win for Case (and by extension the UAA).  Discounting CMU's loss to FCS Mercer, the UAA finishes its nonconference season with 5-2 WashU, 5-2 Chicago, 3-3 CWRU, and 3-3 CMU for a total record of 16-10 against Division III opponents.  Not too shabby!

ADL, re a surprising squeaker for the Bears...I know it may be surprising since it looked like WashU had turned a corner offensively, but I'm not stunned.  I've been saying it all year, so pardon the repetition, but WashU has a terrific defense and a very mediocre offense.  I think they're a threat to beat all but the true elites of the Division because that defense is absolutely capable of playing with anyone...and they're a threat to LOSE to nearly anyone because you can't win without putting a few scores on the board and they struggle to do that in most games.

[SpartanMom_2016]

So does that mean you predict the Case/WashU game will be a low scoring affair?

[ADL70]

Huh?  On that fake FG he never caught the ball, did he?  How did they give him a TD?

Guess he hasn't seen the "Sportsmanship" PSA: "Coach, I touched it."

[ADL70]

Macalester has a mediocre defense, so I would expect WUStL, based on recent performance, to get better than one TD and more than one red zone chance.

Good teams win even when they have off days, though.

Spartans' O seems to have found its stride.  Olson playing like 2011.  Spartans see a tough D next, as Chicago was 22nd in total defense before yesterday (and their average only went up one yard after Pacific), but a weaker schedule than WUStL.

[ADL70]

I just saw the Kalkstein didn't play against Mercer.  Was he injured?

[ExTartanPlayer]

Don't actually know about Kalkstein.  One theory is that the CMU coaches knew the Mercer game was a) irrelevant to team goals for the season and b) likely unwinnable (Mercer is now 7-1 against mostly FCS competition) and they decided to rest key players with a nagging injury and let a few other kids get some experience.  Several key players did play, but exited the game early once it got lopsided.  Better to have everyone healthy and take a shot at the UAA games, perhaps.

Agreed re: WashU against Macalester, ADL, I did think they'd score more than 7 points, but I'm just not shocked that they only scored seven.  That offense, with one or two exceptions, has struggled all year.  Their defense is top-25-national-caliber, IMO, and not just in terms of statistics but in terms of actual play against good teams.  Chicago has a nice defense, but as you said, their statistics are compiled against a slightly lesser schedule than what WashU has faced.  WashU held Whitewater off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter.  Whitewater is 7-0 and in the driver's seat in the WIAC.

SpartanMom, I would expect CWRU vs. WashU to be low-scoring when it happens, yes.  I actually expect all of the UAA games to be fairly low-scoring with the possible exception of CMU-CWRU.  Chicago and WashU both have very good defenses and so-so offenses.

[formerd3db]

ExTartan:

How did it come about that CMU decided to play FCS Mercer of the Pioneer Football League?  I guess that is no different than other DIII schools who play FCS schools, particularly ones from the PFL, such as Dayton Drake, Valpo, Butler, etc.  While I realize some of our DIII colleagues don't care for that type of non-conference scheduling, I've always been a fan/proponent of it for various reasons, which I won't reiterate (or bore anyone with) here.   Anyway, even though CMU lost, I'll bet it was a neat trip and playing front of the +8,000 crowds that Mercer is getting this year (they had over 12,000 at their season opening/new stadium dedication game in their PFL debut this year in late August). 

[ADL70]

To answer your question.  CWRU and CMU scrambled to fill out their schedules, since they needed games with no return, because of their joining the PAC next season.  Mercer, likewise is moving to the SoCon next season and didn't need a return game.

CWRU was only able to schedule nine games, although I think they missed the chance to schedule Alfred State.

[formerd3db]

ADL70:

Thanks for the reply and info,  Very interesting that Mercer is abandoning the Pioneer Football League after a short stint there, although I guess it makes sense with regard to the travel distances and associated costs with that.  Although I usually follow that kind of "stuff" more closely, I hadn't heard about their planned move to the SoCon.  I assume that is the one with Furman and the Citadel?  And if so, do you know if they are going the scholarship route then in their FCS status instead of the FCS non-scholarship venue that the PFL has?  I think the PFL's sees their philosophy as a decent situation i.e. they save $ in not having football scholarships, but despite the costs due to the long travel distances across the country because of the scattered membership, the overall costs are still obviously less than they would be if they had had both cost factors involved.

[ADL70]

Mercer's move is for all sports (I seem to recall they have a pretty good men's basketball program).  SoCon is scholarship football.

http://mercerbears.com/athleticDept/SoCon_Invite

[ADL70]

Looking ahead to Saturday, I see much of Chicago's success has been from takeaways (+11 ).  If the Spartans protect the ball as they have done most of the season (only 5 lost fumbles and 0 int for Olson), they can beat the Maroons.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Looking ahead to Saturday, I see much of Chicago's success has been from takeaways (+11 ).  If the Spartans protect the ball as they have done most of the season (only 5 lost fumbles and 0 int for Olson), they can beat the Maroons.

Agreed.  UAA conference play is always is pretty unpredictable and fun.  Chicago and WashU both harbor faint playoff hopes and need to win to keep them alive.  CMU and Case have three wins apiece and need to win a couple each to finish on the right side of the .500 ledger.  Should be an interesting finish to the season!

[jaybird44]

It is true that Wash-U's offense reverted back to its sputtering form of the first 3 weeks of the season.  A constant 25 MPH wind and the loss of the top RB to injury had a hand in the difficulty, but the team seemed to play with one eye on the following week.

The following week is here, so there is no room for excuses and lackluster quarters.  The team that parlays most of its opportunities and shoots itself in the foot the least will emerge as the UAA champ.  WashU has to be especially careful and avoid penalties that wipe out big plays...something that has been a problem for the Bears this season.

[ADL70]

Looks like Lonneman is out for this week as well, per the two-deep.