University Athletic Association

ADL70 · October 04, 2011, 07:51:05 PM

What Wally said is how I remember the rule. The DB can make contact going for the ball, but not if he isn't.

On the fourth-down play, I thought both the DB on Metlesitz and on Lapcevic seemed to looking for the ball. But I was yelling at the screen "Run!"

ADL70 · October 09, 2011, 06:36:47 PM

Substantial improvement this week in the phases of the game that had been lagging behind the defense. The offense hit its stride, even with the patched-up line.

ExTartanPlayer · October 10, 2011, 10:48:36 AM

Nice week all-around for UAA.

CMU came through with a good clean performance against OWU. While the competition was not stellar, it was good to see CMU finally play a good solid game (after fairly sloppy wins against Kenyon and Hiram). Tough one vs. an angry Witt team next week, but will enter UAA play no worse than 4-3.

CWRU did the same against a surprisingly-tough Oberlin team, and should be 6-1 after games vs. Hiram and Wooster.

Chicago, despite my misgivings after their loss to Concordia, has bounced back and should be 5-2 after a date with Kenyon next week.

WashU lost 24-3 to Wabash, but acquitted themselves pretty well, especially defensively. It was a 10-3 game at halftime, and even then only because of Chamblee's punt return. I still think WashU, despite a 2-3 record, may be the best of the UAA teams. They should bounce back in the next two weeks vs. Wooster and Oberlin and could be 4-3 by the UAA schedule.

In summary, I think that we're looking at another season of all four UAA teams entering the UAA schedule over .500, ranging from 6-1 to 4-3. I was concerned early this year that the UAA was a tad down (most concerned after WashU's curious loss to North Park, CWRU's curious loss to Rochy, and Chicago's curious loss to Concordia)

*I know that I'm just assuming the UAA squads will beat Wooster, something that normally isn't such a "given" like games vs. Hiram, Kenyon, Denison, and the other NCAC "dregs"...but this looks like the worst Woo team of the last decade or so. Two very unimpressive wins (14-3 over Oberlin and 10-6 over OWU...both teams that gave up 40+ points to UAA opponents this week) and a 27-13 loss to Denison (who gave up 38 to Chicago this week) at home? I just can't see Wooster beating CWRU or WashU.

Case04 · October 23, 2011, 12:10:22 AM

Case did come out very flat on both sides of the ball vs. Wooster. Combined with a fired up Wooster team made for some tense moments. But a win is a win as they say. Woosters fumble in OT was not their biggest mistake of the game. Wooster committed 4 personal fouls during Case's 2nd drive of the 2nd half which led to a Case TD. I know Case feels fortunate to play as they did and still earn a win. Now comes the UAA season....not going to be easy at all.

ADL70 · October 24, 2011, 10:01:08 PM

With Saturday's win the Spartans have had six concecutive non-losing seasons for the first time in program history and five consecutive winning seasons for the second time.

Great to see the Vasil make the game winning FG. With his early struggles I haven't heard any mention of the fact that something (injury/illness?) kept him out of the pre-season scrimmage. Both holder and LS have been changed in the course of the season. In the last three games he has been 12/13 PAT and 5/6 FG.

Guess we got the answer to the faceguarding question. Metlsitz has passed Brizzolara to lead the UAA in both catches and yards per game.

Curiously the first five and last five CWRU-Wooster games were won by the Spartans. In between they were 1-13.

On a personal note, my participation on these boards havde reached biblical proportions. I'm advised I have been logged on for 40 days.

Case04 · October 25, 2011, 09:11:36 AM

Quote from: ADL70 on October 24, 2011, 10:01:08 PM
With Saturday's win the Spartans have had six concecutive non-losing seasons for the first time in program history and five consecutive winning seasons for the second time.

Great to see the Vasil make the game winning FG. With his early struggles I haven't heard any mention of the fact that something (injury/illness?) kept him out of the pre-season scrimmage. Both holder and LS have been changed in the course of the season. In the last three games he has been 12/13 PAT and 5/6 FG.

Guess we got the answer to the faceguarding question. Metlsitz has passed Brizzolara to lead the UAA in both catches and yards per game.

Curiously the first five and last five CWRU-Wooster games were won by the Spartans. In between they were 1-13.

On a personal note, my participation on these boards havde reached biblical proportions. I'm advised I have been logged on for 40 days.

I can only assume that the PI call on Sat. was because of contact while the ball was in the air, and not being able to see a replay of the Allegheny non-calls where I guess no contact was made...could be a very entertaining next 3 weeks...Case cannot come out flat again

BUBeaverFan · October 25, 2011, 09:48:16 AM

Quote from: ADL70 on October 24, 2011, 10:01:08 PM
With Saturday's win the Spartans have had six concecutive non-losing seasons for the first time in program history and five consecutive winning seasons for the second time.

Great to see the Vasil make the game winning FG. With his early struggles I haven't heard any mention of the fact that something (injury/illness?) kept him out of the pre-season scrimmage. Both holder and LS have been changed in the course of the season. In the last three games he has been 12/13 PAT and 5/6 FG.

Guess we got the answer to the faceguarding question. Metlsitz has passed Brizzolara to lead the UAA in both catches and yards per game.

Curiously the first five and last five CWRU-Wooster games were won by the Spartans. In between they were 1-13.

On a personal note, my participation on these boards havde reached biblical proportions. I'm advised I have been logged on for 40 days.

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2011-12/releases/20111024obebo3

Congrats to Dan and Wade on the weekly UAA awards.

ExTartanPlayer · October 25, 2011, 09:48:43 AM

Quote from: Case04 on October 25, 2011, 09:11:36 AM
...could be a very entertaining next 3 weeks...Case cannot come out flat again

Agree with this. At various points this season, each of the UAA schools has shown enough promise to convince me that all four are capable of beating one another on any given day.

CWRU has the best overall record (6-1) and probably the best single win (4-3 John Carroll, whose other losses came against Mt Union and then a 24-21 to a very solid Ohio Northern team). For a while CWRU's loss to Rochester looked awful, but Rochy has gained some momentum at 3-3 and that doesn't look quite so bad any more.

Chicago has pretty much shot even-par with their 5-2 record. Most of the wins came against opponents they "should" beat, with a puzzling loss to Concordia offset by a very nice upset against a decent CCIW team in Elmhurst. Should Elmhurst finish 4th in the CCIW, that would be a nice feather in the UAA's cap (although we're obviously not quite competitive with the CCIW's Big Three teams).

Carnegie Mellon is also sitting at about even-par (IMHO) at 4-3 thus far. The lopsided loss to Allegheny is disappointing (the margin moreso than the actual defeat), and of course the close losses to Catholic and Witt are heartbreakers, but CMU has struggled to win those types of games since the glory days of...2006 (tongue planted firmly in cheek here). The four wins all came against lackluster opponents, but CMU did do what they had to in order to win those games. An upset over Witt would have been huge, but there is still the UAA title to play for.

WashU is the only team that I find mildly disappointing, despite their 4-3 record. I know too well that one should never count the Bears out in the UAA race, and truth be told I still think that the Bears are dangerous; two of their losses came against the big W's in the NCAC, but the loss to North Park looks worse with each passing week, and the struggles to beat Wooster and Oberlin are mildly disconcerting.

As I said: it wouldn't surprise me at all if the UAA ends up a complete mishmash over the next few weeks, with no unanimous champ. Should be fun!

E.115 · October 27, 2011, 08:17:18 PM

Check out the student created Facebook page for the "Case Western vs Chicago" game.

The woman is CWRU President Barbara Snyder.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=224808537585743

ADL70 · October 27, 2011, 08:44:03 PM

I see CWRU, Chicago, and WUStL as almost dead even. Edge to the home team perhaps. CMU might surprise, but the Spartan D has had the measure of the Tartans the last few years.

The gurus have CWRU 8th in the North in their mock regional rankings. Spartans still a bit of a long-shot and would face a 1 or 2 see if they do make the field.

E.115 · October 29, 2011, 04:15:43 PM

Quote from: ADL70 on October 27, 2011, 08:44:03 PM
I see CWRU, Chicago, and WUStL as almost dead even. Edge to the home team perhaps. CMU might surprise, but the Spartan D has had the measure of the Tartans the last few years.

The gurus have CWRU 8th in the North in their mock regional rankings. Spartans still a bit of a long-shot and would face a 1 or 2 see if they do make the field.

Looks like you were correct on that analysis of the league being dead even...

Case over Chicago 6-0
Wash U over Carnegie Mellon 14-7

Interesting note regarding Case's playoff chances: (also Case's freshman running back makes the cover photo)

Ryan's take: Case Western Reserve. The Spartans line up against their stiffest UAA competition, Chicago, this weekend. For my part, Case hasn't really been on my radar yet. Their games have been close, and Pool B entry to the postseason is scarcer than ever. But, as noted above, Wesley could pick up loss No. 2 this weekend, which means Case should be determined to finish out 9-1 if they hope to make the playoffs. With the selection committee now able to factor in previous playoff performance, Case is in trouble with its few one-and-dones under their belt. So the Spartans shouldn't simply be looking to win but rather to win convincingly.

LINK: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2011/10/28/triple-take-watchlist-for-records/

ADL70 · October 29, 2011, 08:59:51 PM

Spartans were aided by what I regard as a too severe penalty rule. Freshman Chicago LB picks off a pass and returns it 56 yards to the end zone in the first quarter, but at the five yard line he holds the ball out, to the side, not toward the goal line. Correctly he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. My issue with the rule is that' as of this year, the penalty is assessed from the five yard line, thus negating the touchdown, and Chicago is penalized fifteen yards. CWRU keeps them out of the endzone and the fourth down FG is blocked.

While I would agree with fifteen yards for true in-your-face taunting, this seems to me to be too severe a penalty for mere exuberance. The rule seems to me to be almost exclusively applied to displays by players with the ball. It's been explained to me that the behavior which warrants the flag is "calling attention to oneself." But I cannot recall a single instance when a defensive player was flagged for celebrating after a big play not involving a change of possession.

Penalizing the offending team fifteen yards places the penalty in the some category with penalties for dangerous plays (clipping, chop block, etc) or those which involve a violation of the rules which result in the stopping of an offensive play or allowing an offensive gain (pass interference.)

It seems to me that a five yard penalty which allows the result of the play to stand is an appropriate penalty for "exuberance" and I wish that it be applied equally to defensive individual displays.

Now off my soap box.

Incredible defensive performance by the Spartans. Coach Debs pre-game described the strategy as "posses the ball and let the defense and special teams win it for us." Just what happened.

Case04 · October 30, 2011, 12:04:41 AM

What happened to the kid from Chicago made me think back to the old saying... "act like you have been there before"....run the ball across the goal line, set it down or hand it to the ref and celebrate on the way back to the sideline...probably both teams learned that lesson today and one freshman LB knows it cost his team the game.

ADL70 · October 30, 2011, 10:51:00 AM

115 I am hardly alone is noting the UAA parity.

04 The LB might have cost his team the game. Chicago still had the ball in the redzone and couldn't score. No points for Chicgo enabled the Spartans to stay with the game plan. The play calling would have been different if Chicago had seven points.

These stats http://athletics.uchicago.edu/football/case-uc.htm (not the less complete PrestoSports stats) say Chicago was 0-3 in the redzone (I see a fourth time that Chicago got inside the 20).

jam40jeff · October 30, 2011, 02:11:19 PM

I know we won the game (great defensive effort) but Monday morning quarterbacks always have to find something to question...

Why didn't we take a safety when we were punting out of our own endzone with just a few min left? (We punted on 3rd down, too, so we could have run the ball one more time then taken the safety to run more time off the clock and possibly get a first down before taking the safety.) Then we would have had a free kick from 20-25 yards further up and been up by 4 rather than 6, the difference of which is completely inconsequential at that point in the game.