University Athletic Association

[ExTartanPlayer]

Pair of surprisingly good games to start UAA play.  CMU down for much of the game but capitalizes on a few key turnovers to steal a win.  CWRU still looks like a juggernaut, but Chicago gave'em a little more than they probably bargained for.

CWRU 8-0, 1-0
CMU 5-3, 1-0
Chicago 4-3, 0-1
WashU 3-5, 0-1

[MUCheats]

How come Rochester doesn't play football in the UAA?

[joelmama]

Big kick return for a speedy freshman from Chicago setting up a key Score.  Dee Brizzolara from Aurora Ohio looks like he is making an impact on special teams and as a reciever.

Although they didn't pull it out Brizzolara is really showing the UAA and NCAC what he has.  That is a good performance so far this year for a freshman.

[ExTartanPlayer]

CarrollStreaks,

I was recruited by both CMU and Rochester in 2003, the year before Rochy left the UAA (in football only).  At the time the Rochester coaches knew they were leaving the UAA for the Liberty League; if I remember correctly, there were two reasons:

1) the Liberty League schools are all very close, making it easier to travel to conference games
2) the LL has an automatic playoff berth

[ADL70]

Props to the Maroons for giving Spartan fans a scare.  Ironically the score was the same as last year. Very off game for Whalen, but give credit to the Chicago D which seemed to have had the best coverge faced all year.  The Windy City lived up to its reputation as well.

Joel, when I saw Brizzolara on the Chicago roster I thought: "One that got away."  You didn't mention his 90 yard TD, which instantly wiped out CWRU's field position advantage.  Not sure what return you mean.   Brizzolara's longest was only 19 yds and was followed by an interception.

[PoppaN]

Chicago played great "D" .. mainly because their D coordinator(Kaufman) came from Case ... he knows CWRU offense and did a good job of preparing the Maroons for Case.
But Case utilized other parts of the offense to get the win ... running game and determination won this one ...

Case finally got some ink on front page of D3 ... but you have to look all the way to the bottom to see it ..

Wesley, Case Western Reserve and Huntingdon, the three top Pool B playoff candidates, each won

[Monsters of the Midway]

Actually Coach Kauffman left early summer to be the scout team coach at Miss St. He was replaced by Coach Sweeney who spent the last 2 seasons as head coach at MacMurray College. Chicago also brought in a new LB coach, Dan Gritti. He joined the staff from Middleburry College. Both coaches have done a real nice job this year for the Maroons.

[PoppaN]

oh! .. my bad .. I was not aware of that change ... thanks for the update ...  was a great game.

[Monsters of the Midway]

We are hoping that Chicago can go 2-0 the rest of the way. If we play like we did vs Case....we might have a shot to accomplish that goal.

I don't see anyone tripping up Case.....they just have too many weapons. Congrats on a hard fought win.

Brizzolara was a great find for Chicago.....from what I hear, the kid was not heavily recruited. He came from a HS that mainly runs.

[jam40jeff]

We are hoping that Chicago can go 2-0 the rest of the way. If we play like we did vs Case....we might have a shot to accomplish that goal.

I don't see anyone tripping up Case.....they just have too many weapons. Congrats on a hard fought win.

Brizzolara was a great find for Chicago.....from what I hear, the kid was not heavily recruited. He came from a HS that mainly runs.

I saw him play a few times in high school.  He was pretty highly touted as a speedy receiver on an Aurora team that won the D3 state title last year.  They threw the ball more than most Aurora teams.  I was hoping he'd end up at CWRU, but I'm not sure whether or not they were recruiting him or what factored into his decision to go to Chicago.  Either way, you guys sure ended up gaining a valuable asset for the next 4 years.

Also, ADL70, joelmama was quoting himself from earlier this year when he mentioned the long return for a TD.

[ADL70]

To the extent that football entered into Brizzolara's college choice, the numbers of returning WRs at CWRU may have deterred him from becoming a Spartan.

Poppa N, Angelo Mirando is also on the MSU staff.  The new HC came from Florida where Angelo was a GA.  But Kaufman may have given enough info last year.  The score last year was identical to this year's.

Otterbein loss should put the Spartans at #3 in the North.  If either Allegheny or Wooster can beat Wittenberg and CWRU wins out, then a second round game would be in Cleveland as well.

[pumkinattack]

CarrollStreaks,

I was recruited by both CMU and Rochester in 2003, the year before Rochy left the UAA (in football only).  At the time the Rochester coaches knew they were leaving the UAA for the Liberty League; if I remember correctly, there were two reasons:

1) the Liberty League schools are all very close, making it easier to travel to conference games
2) the LL has an automatic playoff berth

Technically, Rochester had dual conference affiliation with the Liberty League predecessor the UCAA (Rochester, Hobart, St. Lawrence, Union and RPI) and has long histories with all those schools.  So they sort of didn't leave the UAA for the LL, but had to choose one of their two affiliations and the geographic beneifts, history (for example Hobart has played them over 100 times) and AQ made the choice easy (vs. looking to fill out the schedule and more travel)

[blue4now]

Some thoughts on the game...   What was supposed to be 50 and sunny initially started with some light rain, cold and 40 mph winds which never subsided.  It became a partly sunny day but remained extremely cold windy.  On top of the wind it changed directions all the time.

The Maroons came to play as we expected.  The kept the running game in check for the most part until latter in the game. This placed more pressure on our passing game in less than favorable conditions.  Whalen was pressured again more than we'd like to see.  The D ran stunts and disguised coverages better than we have seen to this point.  When Whaled had time we it open receivers.  When he didn't we took a sack or forced things when we shouldn't have.

Chicago has a very athletic D and ran well with our wr's.  It appeared we tried to stay with a vertical passing game in spite of the wind.  The conditions hampered both teams wr's as several players dropped balls we have seen them make before.  At least 8 I can remember.  We'd gaina couple first downs and then become stagnant.

On the other side, the Maroons had 2 big pass plays, one to Brezzalara from Aurora on a 15 yd fly that our SS missed the int attempt and another on a blitz and blown coverage to Wolf on another alley. Other than that they hit 5 yd outs to move the chains while occasionally trying deep posts into double coverage.

On special teams Coffey kicked well while the Maroons kicked struggled w extra points and distance.  Uncharacteristically Whalen had one punt blocked and a shank.  The coverage teams were solid overall.

In closing, both O/D lines rose to the challenge and took control of the game, overcoming a stiff challenge from a very talented and improving Maroon squad.

Most units will only receive 'C' ratings at best this week which should kick up the intensity even more for CMU.

Go Case!  Go Spartans!!  Go Blue!!!

[Raider 68]

Some thoughts on the game...   What was supposed to be 50 and sunny initially started with some light rain, cold and 40 mph winds which never subsided.  It became a partly sunny day but remained extremely cold windy.  On top of the wind it changed directions all the time.

The Maroons came to play as we expected.  The kept the running game in check for the most part until latter in the game. This placed more pressure on our passing game in less than favorable conditions.  Whalen was pressured again more than we'd like to see.  The D ran stunts and disguised coverages better than we have seen to this point.  When Whaled had time we it open receivers.  When he didn't we took a sack or forced things when we shouldn't have.

Chicago has a very athletic D and ran well with our wr's.  It appeared we tried to stay with a vertical passing game in spite of the wind.  The conditions hampered both teams wr's as several players dropped balls we have seen them make before.  At least 8 I can remember.  We'd gaina couple first downs and then become stagnant.

On the other side, the Maroons had 2 big pass plays, one to Brezzalara from Aurora on a 15 yd fly that our SS missed the int attempt and another on a blitz and blown coverage to Wolf on another alley. Other than that they hit 5 yd outs to move the chains while occasionally trying deep posts into double coverage.

On special teams Coffey kicked well while the Maroons kicked struggled w extra points and distance.  Uncharacteristically Whalen had one punt blocked and a shank.  The coverage teams were solid overall.

In closing, both O/D lines rose to the challenge and took control of the game, overcoming a stiff challenge from a very talented and improving Maroon squad.

Most units will only receive 'C' ratings at best this week which should kick up the intensity even more for CMU.

Go Case!  Go Spartans!!  Go Blue!!!

How far can the Spartans go in this year's playoffs?

[pxs155]

That's the question of the year for CWRU, isn't it?  It depends on how they finish out the regular season, whether or not key players can stay healthy (from injury or... H1N1, &c.), and obviously what kind of team(s) they will be up against.  We have seen the Spartans capable of maintaining their offensive strength even in their worst games, but a few teams have scored a few more times than a championship-calibur team would be comfortable with.  If the Spartans seriously lock down and continue to improve the chemistry and the focus down the stretch, I would guess two or maybe even three wins in the playoffs are possible; still, you never know...