University Athletic Association

[SpartanMom_2016]

Thanks for the update.  I am optimistic since BW is ranked much higher than CWRU.  I am looking forward to the game.  I hope some of you will be there!

[ADL70]

Welcome OWU-90

Thanks for the update.

What's your connection to CWRU?

I believe Sandidge isn't 100% either, probably won't start this week.

Since BW doesn't open till week 2, I don't think they've had as many practices as CWRU.

Good news about the secondary, it performed poorly in last year's scrimmage.

[ExTartanPlayer]

The scrimmage was surprising.  Case started rather slowly and vanilla-like on both sides of the ball.  Probably to be expected in a scrimmage.  As it progressed Case just got better and better on both sides of the ball,  and by the end looked very confident, and was dominating BW.  When I left it was 42-10 Case.  The defense had 3 pick sixes by three different players.  The kicking game was solid, definite upgrade in the punt game and in QB play.

The defense was good as was expected.  Even with Suren out for at least the first three games (shoulder surgery) the defensive backfield shined. 

Offensive line lacks experience but not talent.  I would like to have seen a long, time-consuming drive, but the offense did produce some big play scoring which certainly is exciting.

Can't wait til Saturday night.  It seems as if last year's game vs CMU just ended.

Wow.  Impressive.  Good for CWRU.

[ADL70]

Academic Bowl

http://static.psbin.com/g/j/652rz9hs7v6eb8/fb_cmu_games_notes14.pdf

CMU going with two frosh QBs.

2 frosh starters for CWRU  11 in all of the 44 on the two deep

[ExTartanPlayer]

Academic Bowl

http://static.psbin.com/g/j/652rz9hs7v6eb8/fb_cmu_games_notes14.pdf

CMU going with two frosh QBs.

2 frosh starters for CWRU  11 in all of the 44 on the two deep

Manny Sicre is still in college?! I kid, but when you've got a guy that's been a contributor since his freshman year, sometimes it feels like he's been on the team for about seven years.

Both teams are young. Not a bad thing - the experience this year should serve them well for next season. CMU has some good young talent, especially on offense.

[ADL70]

Academic Bowl

http://static.psbin.com/g/j/652rz9hs7v6eb8/fb_cmu_games_notes14.pdf

CMU going with two frosh QBs.

2 frosh starters for CWRU  11 in all of the 44 on the two deep

Manny Sicre is still in college?! I kid, but when you've got a guy that's been a contributor since his freshman year, sometimes it feels like he's been on the team for about seven years.

Both teams are young. Not a bad thing - the experience this year should serve them well for next season. CMU has some good young talent, especially on offense.

Lapcevic is starting for the fourth year as well.

[ADL70]

Last time CMU started a freshman (he became their all-time passing leader) at QB vs CWRU was 2010.  28-0 CWRU.  Kalkstein 7-14-35 yds 2 int

Wondering if it makes sense to move this board to South, maybe even combine with PAC. That board is even quieter than this and this is 98% CWRU and CMU anyway.

That would give me less temptation to peak at the Waba, errr, NCAC board.  ; )

[ExTartanPlayer]

Last time CMU started a freshman (he became their all-time passing leader) at QB vs CWRU was 2010.  28-0 CWRU.  Kalkstein 7-14-35 yds 2 int

Wondering if it makes sense to move this board to South, maybe even combine with PAC. That board is even quieter than this and this is 98% CWRU and CMU anyway.

I check both, so any conversation re: CWRU and/or CMU, I'll see it anyway.

I'm a bit surprised at the freshmen QB's for CMU on the two-deep; the junior on the roster, Andrew Hearon, looked decent in his lone start last year.  With CMU changing the offense, the usual "upperclassman advantage" of knowing the system was out the window, so perhaps he was just beaten out by two more talented guys, although an injury is also a possibility.  CMU does have some nice skill-position talent at RB and WR (Witt, Cree, Swanson, Reinertsen, and Herrera all have some experience with the ball in their hands and each broke a big play or two last year).  Even with a freshman QB and an inexperienced OL, I think they'll score some points in most games if they can get the ball to those guys with a little space to move.

[ADL70]

New uniforms honor M. Frank Rudy inventor of Nike's Air Sole (CIT '50)

http://thedaily.case.edu/news/?p=31714

BTW those are the homes.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Nice unis!!!

[DagarmanSpartan]

Any predictions for this week's Academic Bowl?  I'm picking CWRU by 1 or 2 touchdowns.

[ADL70]

A lot is unknown.  CMU has new offense and new QB, freshman starting his first game.  CMU had 382 yds passing last year, but Kalkstein is gone.  Spartan secondary seems much improved based on scrimmage report.

CWRU by 10?

[ExTartanPlayer]

A lot is unknown.  CMU has new offense and new QB, freshman starting his first game.  CMU had 382 yds passing last year, but Kalkstein is gone.  Spartan secondary seems much improved based on scrimmage report.

CWRU by 10?

Well....

I expected CMU to be pretty good last year (solid 4th-year starter at QB, two good deep threats at WR, experienced O-Line, and an experienced defense returning from a should-have-been-better 6-5 team that was a few plays away from winning eight or nine games).  We went 3-7 and weren't really all that competitive in several losses (although the UAA games were all toss-ups), so even with a couple breaks on our side, we were a .500-caliber team at best.  Now we graduated a whole bunch of those guys.  Is that good?  Bad?  I don't really know.  Our best season of late, 2006, came on the heels of a 5-5 season where we graduated a bunch of starters and didn't really look primed for greatness, so maybe we'll recapture the magic.

We're starting a freshman at QB, which means that either a) the returning junior (who started one game last year and looked okay) is injured, b) the incoming freshman is a stud, or c) we have no good solution at quarterback, period.  We have one really nice RB, Witt, who ran for 431 yards as a sophomore, and another kid, Reinertsen, who made plays whenever he got the ball last year but was an awkward fit at RB in the wing-T (too tall and lanky, he has better vertical speed than shiftiness).  He caught 17 passes last year, and we have two other WR's (Swanson and Herrera) with good speed who caught some balls last year (26 and 15, respectively).  So we have a couple dudes that can do things with the ball in their hands.  Whether the QB can get them the ball, our OL is any good, or our defense can stop anyone...I have no idea.

CWRU is by far the more experienced side with Beecher, Sicre, Lapcevic, Darany on offense all being multiyear contributors.  CWRU defense has no seniors on the two-deep (?!) but plenty of dudes that played last year and a freshman safety that might be a stud (if they're trusting him to return kicks and start at safety in his first game...and he's from a pretty traditionally good program).  Maybe I'm just being pessimistic about CMU this year, but I'd trust CWRU much more in this one than CMU.  I want nothing more than for both schools to come in and run roughshod over the PAC, but I expect both to be floating in the middle-upper part of the conference this year, CMU maybe struggling a bit more if they're not improved from last season (we were a bit Jekyll-and-Hyde last year...capable of taking WashU to the edge, but also losing to so-so teams like Grove City, Catholic, and Westminster).

[ADL70]

That safety played in the Ohio allstar game and supposedly had an offer from Yale.

[ADL70]

Is football overemphasized at CWRU?

Hardly, earlier in the week a player tweeted that they had to share practice field with ultimate Frisbee!