FB: Centennial Conference

[69mule]

Dickinson
F&M
Ursinus
Muhlenberg

[commish]

The Friday Tailgate gets you ready for the weekend's games, including the showdown in the Charm City between CC unbeatens Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins.
http://centennialconference.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-tailgate.html

[muledaddy]

Sorry for being late, but these are the last words...

Dickinson over Moravian

F&M over Susquehanna

Ursinus over Gettysburg

Mules over Hopkins

[muledaddy]

wesleydad,
great to hear from you...all is well on the homefront..my mule is now Villanova Law student.Mules look like they are  starting to grow up after a tough year last year.
I see your team is really rolling this year...sorry I missed the DelVal game...read about it and it ssounded like a good one. Let me know if your schedule points you in this direction.
I hope all is well with you and yours..my muleteam is doing fine...
How do the wolverines lineup at the end of the year???Can they do it?

[ccfan27]

Picks Summary - Apologize Reserved Seat - I didn't see your picks last week when I was doing the summary.

CCFan27 17-9 - .654 win pct
Muledaddy 17-8 - .680 win pct
Bubdad 13-13 - .500 win pct
69Mule 17-9 - .654 win pct
Oldend 7-4 - .636 win pct
Go Hop 11-4 - .733
Wearinthered 7-2 - .778 win pct
Reserved Seat 6-3 - .666 win pct


A couple unexpected wins in the CC this weekend - The faithful Mule Fans cashed in on a nice pick 'ems victory with their win down in Baltimore. Everybody knows Donelly doesn't allow them to be down for too long over in Allentown and we are seeing that they are a contender quicker than many of us have expected. Hounds grab a win in Carlisle with a QB who's last QB reps were in preseason camp of 2009 prior to him moving to safety where he had started the first 4 games of 2010. Ursinus wins a high scoring affair to stay undefeated and F&M gets a win vs Susquehanna by scoring over 40. Any insights on the games from people in attendance would be appreciated. I listened to most of the Moravian game and it sounded like the Defense once again played a fantastic game and they got just enough offense out of the new QB both through the air and on the ground. It will be interesting to see if they stick with him or they bring back the Freshman who they said was out with a sickness this week. 

[ccfan27]

This Weeks Games:

Dickinson at Johns Hopkins*
Moravian at Gettysburg
Juniata at Muhlenberg
Susquehanna at McDaniel

Remember Dickinson at Hopkins is Friday October 8th so get the picks in by Friday evening.

[GoHop]

I wasn't at the Hopkins game, but its hard to win when your QB throws 4 interceptions. He has had this problem occasionally in the past, but usually bounces back well. Anyway, I thought last weeks picks would be easy, but I was wrong. Parity rules supreme in the centennial. My picks for this week:

JHU
Gettysburg
Muhlenberg
Susquehanna

[BubDad]

Question: How does a QB go from being one of the best in the region one year to one of the worst in the conference the next?
With injuries and suspensions SU was in disarray on Saturday, hard to watch. Crusaders may have to go recruiting on campus at this rate. With all due respect to any followers here, F&M comes across as an average team to me.

My picks,

Hopkins
Gettysburg
Muhlenberg
Susquehanna

[ccfan27]

Question: How does a QB go from being one of the best in the region one year to one of the worst in the conference the next?


I assume you are talking about the SU QB. Level of competition and/or familiarity of the defenses he is facing could very well contribute to this. Also, I don't know too much about SU but do they have the same playmakers in the passing game? After all, a QB can only do half of the work, the other half is on the receivers to get open and catch the ball and make plays. Just a couple thoughts from a outsider, haven't seen the kid play at all nor do I know anything about the makeup of the SU team.

When you say F&M looks like an average team, who is that in comparison to? I am just curious because their only loss is to Ursinus who is currently undefeated. I have been extremely impressed with the play of Harrison in past years and am just curious what makes you consider them an average team.

[BubDad]

Question: How does a QB go from being one of the best in the region one year to one of the worst in the conference the next?


I assume you are talking about the SU QB. Level of competition and/or familiarity of the defenses he is facing could very well contribute to this. Also, I don't know too much about SU but do they have the same playmakers in the passing game? After all, a QB can only do half of the work, the other half is on the receivers to get open and catch the ball and make plays. Just a couple thoughts from a outsider, haven't seen the kid play at all nor do I know anything about the makeup of the SU team.

When you say F&M looks like an average team, who is that in comparison to? I am just curious because their only loss is to Ursinus who is currently undefeated. I have been extremely impressed with the play of Harrison in past years and am just curious what makes you consider them an average team.


[/quote

Your QB comments all seem reasonable but there's more to it. Palazzi had a ton of good experience last year and progressed very well, but this year he looks like a deer in the headlights, as if he's lost his focus and confidence. He got himself benched on Saturday, it's a very strange developement.
Regarding F&M, such comments are always risky and I have been flamed in the past, but I love the game and a good discussion. I will rephrase and say that F&M is a good team but I see four teams I'm convinced are better which puts them in the middle of the CC or in other words "average" though I don't want it to come across as an insult. Harrison appeared to have trouble seeing and I think would have struggled against a team that wasn't horribly depleted on defense as SU was. F&M has a tough remaining schedule, we'll see how it goes.
Another observation while I'm at it. Ursinus does not look to be the most talented team in this conference but they are very aggressive, especially on special teams. They are definitley the nastiest team and to play them you need to be ready to match it.

[ccfan27]

Bubdad - If Ursinus is not the most talented team in the league who would you consider the most talented? I'm truly just curious, I am actually a Moravian supporter and have only seen 1 CC game so far this year and that was Hopkins at Moravian. I was very impressed with Hopkins in that game, but I obviously wouldn't consider Moravian a contender in the league this year. With Hopkins going down to Muhlenberg last week, that shook a lot of things up and showed that maybe the Mules are ready to compete for the title this year (to my dismay) when most people probably thought they were a year or 2 away. The last half of this year will be very interesting, with how much parity has already been on display it's anybody's guess as to who comes out as the champion this year.

I enjoy the opinions whether it be favorable or unfavorable to the teams as long as they aren't attacking which I've never really seen on these boards.

[BubDad]

CC,
Moravian is a outstanding college and I love bethlehem. We lived in Sussex county NJ and a lot of kids from there went to Moravian, there's a great sports tradition there. I'm a dog lover so I loved the rescue greyhounds running on the field this year. I think the Greyhounds are doing well considering the challenges they had coming into the season. In my humble opinion Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg have more talent than Ursinus, but the Bears have balance and attitude, they have the inside track to the chamionship at this point. Muhlenberg has a chance, as I said previously they have the best coaching and organization. They game plan very well, matching there strengths against other teams weaknesses and their halftime adjustments actually work. Unfortunately for the Mules no one will be taking them lightly from now on.

[69mule]

Bubdad, thanks for bringing up the rescued Greyhounds.  It is ironic that this old Mule has 2 rescued Greyhounds sitting here with me.  Both boys are former racing dogs.  Angus is very outgoing and sociable and Wally is the new guy who was surely abused because he's a little skittish -- but still affectionate and trying hard to get over his past.  Anyway, to all those out there in D3 land, I recommend a Greyhound as a pet as they are very loving and gentle souls.

[BubDad]

Bubdad, thanks for bringing up the rescued Greyhounds.  It is ironic that this old Mule has 2 rescued Greyhounds sitting here with me.  Both boys are former racing dogs.  Angus is very outgoing and sociable and Wally is the new guy who was surely abused because he's a little skittish -- but still affectionate and trying hard to get over his past.  Anyway, to all those out there in D3 land, I recommend a Greyhound as a pet as they are very loving and gentle souls.

When I met the dogs and talked to their handlers I was impressed by how calm they were and how they handled the game environment. I thought they were the nervous type but the word is they're very good family dogs. I have a couple of catahoulas right now and love the breed, but I have not had as much oppotunity to hunt them as I had hoped which is frustrating for this kind of hound.

My latest observation is the CC is the right fit for SU, but the team would have had more succes in the LL based on this years results there. The Centennial is a strong conference this year.

[GoHop]

Buddad, I agree that Ursinus can be a "nasty" team, and sometimes steps over the line and plays dirty. I also agre that hopkins has more talent, but they need to be more consistent and avoid turnovers. The hopkins QB is very talented but when things go bad they go really bad. 3 picks last week and in two of the games hopkins lost last year he also had multiple picks. Hopkins will need to win out to have a chance. The mules and susquehanna are both surprises this year, one for being better than expected and the other for being worse. As I said in a previous post, I think the centennial is much stronger than most people give it credit for. At this time my prediction is that Ursinus will win the conference, unless someone else steps up (i.e. muhlenberg or hopkins). My general observation from following the hopkins games is that the conference is weak on defense this year. Most of the games are fairly high scoring. Previous years just seemed to have teams that were known for defense, but I just haven't seen it this year.