FB: Middle Atlantic Conference

[wesleydad]

surprised no one else posted about the widener game today.  I saw the third and forth teams today.  Widener and Rowan do not show much on offense or maybe it was that both defenses are pretty good.  Widener had this game in control then get beat deep to make it 14 - 10.  Then, possibly the worst punt team I have seen in my years of watching D3 football has the second punt blocked, Rowan looked like they could have blocked every one today, and turns it into another TD and a game that looked like a sure win turns into a loss.  Widener needs more offense, but the punt game needs to get fixed quick.  Widener's D is very good.  Front 7 real strong and they challenge receivers.  Rowan is plain, boring as usual.  Nothing fancy, but in the end they get the win.  after this weekend I will go with Del Val > Wesley > Rowan > Widener.  These are probably 4 of the better teams in the east but none of them are a top 10 team.  The east looks to be filled again with several good teams, but no one who can challenge for the national title.

[Div3Fan]

after this weekend I will go with Del Val > Wesley > Rowan > Widener.  These are probably 4 of the better teams in the east but none of them are a top 10 team.  The east looks to be filled again with several good teams, but no one who can challenge for the national title.

No Salisbury?

[jmcozenlaw]

Excited for the season to finally kick off tonight! With the start of the season, it means the start of predictions and some fun trying to guess the upsets! My prediction for this upcoming season is as followed:

1. Albright
2. Delaware Valley
3. Stevenson
4. Widener
5. Lycoming
6. Lebanon Valley
7. Kings
8. Wilkes
9. FDU-Florham
10. Misericordia

I believe the last few weeks will become a tight three team race again between Albright, Stevenson, and Del Val. The key conference games this season I believe will be: W2 Stevenson@Albright, W4 Albright@Del Val, and W8 Del Val@Stevenson. I see Stevenson as the dark horse team in the three team race. Most people are split between Del Val and Albright winning the conference, and I understand why; however, if there was any team that could capture the conference it would be Stevenson. If Albright loses W2 and W4, it's likely you can count them out contending for a conference championship. I would circle W8: Del Val@Stevenson as a possible "unofficial" conference championship if this occurs. The only issue I see with Stevenson that leaves them as an unknown contender is the QB and LB positions. If they can find good players at those position, I see them running the table on the season.

Here are my week 1 picks:

Del Val@Wesley: Wesley wins a close game by 10
Albright@Salisbury: Albright a close game by 3
NC Wesleyan@Stevenson: Stevenson wins by 10
Rowan@Widener: Widener wins by 9
Muhlenburg@Wilkes: Muhlenburg wins by 23
Leb Val@F&M: Leb Val wins a close game by 3
Susquehanna@Lycoming: Lycoming wins by 13
Kings@Moravian: Moravian wins by 14
Utica@Misericordia: Utica wins by 24

I'm going to throw a curveball or two in here on my 2016 season predictions:

1. Stevenson (the key DelVal game is at home and getting better at the higher level transfer gig..........but not Rowan in the 90's )
2. Albright (6 first place votes by MAC coaches and everybody back of significance from last year's MAC Champion)
3. DelVal (Stevenson on the road + the annual loss vs. a team that you shouldn't lose to.........at Wilkes in 2015)
4. Widener (excellent defense and solid running game)
5. Lycoming (may surprise with what they have at RB/QB and all they have back from last year)
6. King's (might be better than most think)
7. Wilkes (same as King's)
8. Leb Valley (too many decent teams in the MAC)
9. FDU (best receiver in the conference is the highlight)
10. Misericordia (they replaced a running QB........with a running QB........the long slog continues)

On another note, to those who don't think a 1st round draft pick, a 4th and the 2017 cap space now freed up to resign Bennie Logan was a criminal haul for an oft-injured QB who was gone after this season.........I want to sit next to you at the poker table and take all of your money!

[jmcozenlaw]

after this weekend I will go with Del Val > Wesley > Rowan > Widener.  These are probably 4 of the better teams in the east but none of them are a top 10 team.  The east looks to be filled again with several good teams, but no one who can challenge for the national title.

No Salisbury?

I think he's talking about the four teams he saw with his own eyes on Friday and Saturday.

[Div3Fan]

I think he's talking about the four teams he saw with his own eyes on Friday and Saturday.

makes sense 

[jmcozenlaw]

Looking forward to the MAC/NJAC battles this week.  All 3 games look to be good and competitive.  Del Val is always tough on Wesley.  Rowan and Widener look to improve off of last years down performances.  Salisbury looks to get a little revenge for the blown 20 point 4th quarter lead against Albright.  I am going with an NJAC sweep, likely in 3 close games.  I am getting to see 2 of them so I will have a report for the MAC folk late Saturday or Sunday.

Wesleydad (or anybody else who was at the game who can give me a little more than "you can't win turning the ball over five times"........."you can tell Joe Callahan wasn't out there"........"you can't win with 100+ yards in penalties.......etc.)

I wasn't able to sit back and watch the game, when I could tune in the live stats were permanently frozen at the 3:54 mark of the 3rd quarter and my 20 attempts at the video feed produced a 1980's porn-like fuzziness (somebody please let the folks at Wesley know that it really isn't expensive to upgrade technology into the year 2016........like Stevenson, DelVal and most shoestring budget D-III programs).

1. I haven't seen DelVal this year and I know that they lost some key pieces and had to build a new offensive line but what would you say impressed you about the Aggies?
2. Having scrimmaged Albright last week and assuming they don't turn the ball over 5 times, can the Aggies hang with them? Do you think they can contend in the MAC? (the coaches polls are somewhat of a joke I've been told, with some games being played by a few coaches to shine the spotlight of expectations on a specific team or teams). With what they have coming back, Albright should be the clear MAC favorite and actually had 6 first place votes to DelVal's 4.
3. What do you think of the Aggies defense as they are working in about 5/6 new pieces at LB and in the defensive backfield? Is Shawn Miller the real deal?
4. The QB before Callahan (lives out this way) said he thought that 1, maybe 2 of DelVal's defenders would start at Wesley and nobody from DelVal's offense would do so. Did it look like that from an eyeball test perspective or is Shane just a bit off?

Great start to the season for the Aggies............and now I will say that Wesley runs the table, but I'll take the nobody gets within 10 points out of the equation. Kind of like being knocked out in Week One of WIP's Suicide Pool like I was last year!!

Del Val is presently better than Wesley.  They are not going to give up many points to anyone from what I saw tonight.  The defense has good size and the d backs challenge plays.  If the QB connects on 2 long passes, both overthrown, this game may not have been close.  The running backs are good.  The D line won the battle easily, creating pressure on almost every pass play.  I did not see the scrimmage Wesley had with Albright, but have heard that Wesley handled them.  Del Val has to be the favorite in the MAC especially since Albright got beat by Salisbury tonight.  I expect Del Val to possibly run the table, but I know the MAC is tough.  I would take several of the D backs from Del Val over the ones from Wesley.  Del Val's O line is better than Wesley's so I would take some of them also.  Wesley has issues to fix if they are going to win the NJAC.

Wesleydad - You and your honest and always objective analysis are the best. Your first sentence stuns me as I kind of looked at it the other way.........despite being -5 in turnovers, Wesley could have tied the game had they not fumbled on the last drive. I thought the DelVal defense would be decent but given the number of new LB's and DB's, I thought they'd struggle (and still might) against Albright, Stevenson and Widener. The biggest question, by far, was on the Aggies offensive line after losing two key seniors, having a stud freshman not come back this year and losing a starter for the year in the intrasquad scrimmage. Given all of that, if DelVal's offensive line is better than Wesley's..................Wesley has some real issues going forward this year. It sounds like you might take a DelVal defensive lineman or two given how you said they easily won the battle. I have to tell Shane to take the Wesley goggles off........although he's probably getting this info from the coaches since his buddies from the team are all long gone.

As I said, presently Del Val is better.  Wesley has a much bigger upside.  Do they win without the turnovers, maybe.  If Del Val connects on 2 open long passes the game is not even close so it all equals out in my opinion.  Del Val got more pressure on Wesley, but not by much so both D lines did their job.  The fumble occurred in desperation time, but was a good throw and Shade after breaking a tackle near midfield had the ball poked away by Del Val.  If he does not fumble he may have taken it in or would have gotten close.  There is no guarantee that Wesley scores.  Most of Wesley's yards came between the 20's and with the mistakes they never really threatened to score except when they did.  The ints were mistakes by QB's but also by the predictable offense Wesley was running.  Miller was able to step into coverage because he was not forced to cover passes down the field.  Del Val is pretty good and if they handle the ball the defense is not going to give up much.  I would not worry much about Albright as they seemed to struggle to score on Salisbury who has not been known to have a killer defense.  I will see Widener today and will report later, but I expect Rowan to win the game.  Who will be better at seasons end is anyone's guess.

I fully agree with the "Wesley has much bigger upside" and I don't see them, with their pedigree, losing twice in one season (should they meet in the playoffs) to any team not named Mount Union, the D-II program in Wisconsin, Linfield, UMHB and maybe, just maybe, another team or two who's name is slipping my mind. Wesley would have a massive chip on their shoulder in a rematch and the QB's would have a season's worth of experience.

[wesleydad]

after this weekend I will go with Del Val > Wesley > Rowan > Widener.  These are probably 4 of the better teams in the east but none of them are a top 10 team.  The east looks to be filled again with several good teams, but no one who can challenge for the national title.

No Salisbury?

I was only talking about the 4 teams that I saw this weekend, did not see Salisbury, but I have them #1 in my erfp.

[jmcozenlaw]

Thanks for your thoughts and for posting this jmcozenlaw!

Kate - No problem!! I always struggle with the term "better" schools. What makes a school "better"? Sure, computer programming at Stanford and engineering at M.I.T............I get it. But whether you are being taught accounting at DelVal by a professor with a significant amount of real world experience, or by a professor's assistant at Penn with zero real world experience, no matter where you go, a debit is a debit.......and a credit is a credit. The same is true with about 95% of classes and majors. Is a journalism degree from Northwestern or a communications degree from Syracuse great? Absolutely! The Philadelphia area (and it's crazed sports fans) has a massive media presence filled with people who went to neither. They went to LaSalle, Temple, Fairfield, Wake Forest, Bloomsburg. Most people's reality is clouded by the very false narrative of their jaded perception. I don't know how I got into Swarthmore, and certainly wouldn't today, but most people have never heard of it because they don't play football on ESPN on Saturday nights. I told a few people that it was tougher to get into then most Ivy League schools and they laughed. The doc who replaced my knee? DelVal undergrad. The top veterinarian in the tri-state area? DelVal undergrad. Three of the Top 50 Superlawyers (including my divorce attorney) in the Philly area in 2014? DelVal undergrads. Biology is biology wherever you go. Chemistry is chemistry wherever you go. The periodic table is not different at elitist schools There are plenty of doctors, ortho surgeons, dentists, vets, a few bank presidents, about a dozen CEO's and on and on and on from DelVal.........as well the other MAC schools. When a Centennial Conference or a Landmark Conference or anybody from the snooty New England area looks down at our conference..........I remind them that my knee has never felt better, my lawyer won in a landslide (I hope my ex doesn't read this board ) the dog is healthy at 14 years old and the tip about going extremely long gold miners 14 weeks ago.........came from a DelVal undergrad (Villanova MBA) Oh, and the two best employees that I've ever had work for me in my life? Kutztown State and Berks County Community College/Alvernia grads. I've fired people from Penn, Cornell, Lehigh, Bucknell and Hamilton (the college.......not the play, which was awesome, saw it twice)

[rams1102]

after this weekend I will go with Del Val > Wesley > Rowan > Widener.  These are probably 4 of the better teams in the east but none of them are a top 10 team.  The east looks to be filled again with several good teams, but no one who can challenge for the national title.

No Salisbury?

I was only talking about the 4 teams that I saw this weekend, did not see Salisbury, but I have them #1 in my erfp.

Me Too.

[tweisman5]

Week 1 was a good mix of performances for conference teams against OOC teams. The biggest surprise was obviously Del Val's win against Wesley. Bravo to them carrying the conference flag well! I was a little surprised with Albright's lose to Salisbury. I believed that it was going to be a tight contest; however, Albright was returning a good amount of returners from last years team that was able to beat Salisbury. Congrats to Wilkes. Although they couldn't pull out the win, I think they had a good showing against a historically good Muhlenberg team.

After watching the Stevenson game, my takeaways are that the team looks okay, but has some serious hole to fill before I can say that they could contend with Del Val. The defense looks strong, but had lapses several times throughout the game. N.C. Wesleyan's #5 player definitely was a matchup problem; consistency taking the top of the defense. Offensively, it was a good performance; however, the QB needs to still avoid making rushed decisions and throwing the ball to the opponent. The rushing attack looks strong, but the backup RBs need to develop for depth at the position.

On a side note, I noticed that Stevenson switched streaming platforms this year. Last year was Stretch internet, but this year it looks like they are streaming on YouTube. This might be a question for Dave, but does anyone know why the switch was made? My only guess is that it allows the stream to be broadcasted as HTML5 instead of needing Adobe Flash. Broadcast still looks amazing!

[Pat Coleman]

Not to speak for Dave but there are some other benefits, too:
1. It's free.
2. It does a better job delivering the best stream for your device -- a higher-quality stream if you have a fast connection and a lower bitrate if you are mobile or otherwise have slow internet.

[Simba]

Fellow Lycoming Warrior & Sigma Pi Brother, Jerry "Goose" McGinn, informed me yesterday that he'll be doing the Penn State/Pitt Game this Sat at noon on ESPN...

[@d3jason]

Fellow Lycoming Warrior & Sigma Pi Brother, Jerry "Goose" McGinn, informed me yesterday that he'll be doing the Penn State/Pitt Game this Sat at noon on ESPN...

I remember when that game rivaled Michigan/Ohio State, Alabama/Auburn games. I went to the "79 and 80 games at Beaver Stadium. It's either cool or makes me old to say that I saw Dan Marino play as a freshman at Pitt (and Todd Blackledge, Curt Warner, Hugh Green, Ricky Jackson, etc.)

[jmcozenlaw]

Excited for the season to finally kick off tonight! With the start of the season, it means the start of predictions and some fun trying to guess the upsets! My prediction for this upcoming season is as followed:

1. Albright
2. Delaware Valley
3. Stevenson
4. Widener
5. Lycoming
6. Lebanon Valley
7. Kings
8. Wilkes
9. FDU-Florham
10. Misericordia

I believe the last few weeks will become a tight three team race again between Albright, Stevenson, and Del Val. The key conference games this season I believe will be: W2 Stevenson@Albright, W4 Albright@Del Val, and W8 Del Val@Stevenson. I see Stevenson as the dark horse team in the three team race. Most people are split between Del Val and Albright winning the conference, and I understand why; however, if there was any team that could capture the conference it would be Stevenson. If Albright loses W2 and W4, it's likely you can count them out contending for a conference championship. I would circle W8: Del Val@Stevenson as a possible "unofficial" conference championship if this occurs. The only issue I see with Stevenson that leaves them as an unknown contender is the QB and LB positions. If they can find good players at those position, I see them running the table on the season.

Here are my week 1 picks:

Del Val@Wesley: Wesley wins a close game by 10
Albright@Salisbury: Albright a close game by 3
NC Wesleyan@Stevenson: Stevenson wins by 10
Rowan@Widener: Widener wins by 9
Muhlenburg@Wilkes: Muhlenburg wins by 23
Leb Val@F&M: Leb Val wins a close game by 3
Susquehanna@Lycoming: Lycoming wins by 13
Kings@Moravian: Moravian wins by 14
Utica@Misericordia: Utica wins by 24

I'm going to throw a curveball or two in here on my 2016 season predictions:

1. Stevenson (the key DelVal game is at home and getting better at the higher level transfer gig..........but not Rowan in the 90's )
2. Albright (6 first place votes by MAC coaches and everybody back of significance from last year's MAC Champion)
3. DelVal (Stevenson on the road + the annual loss vs. a team that you shouldn't lose to.........at Wilkes in 2015)
4. Widener (excellent defense and solid running game)
5. Lycoming (may surprise with what they have at RB/QB and all they have back from last year)
6. King's (might be better than most think)
7. Wilkes (same as King's)
8. Leb Valley (too many decent teams in the MAC)
9. FDU (best receiver in the conference is the highlight)
10. Misericordia (they replaced a running QB........with a running QB........the long slog continues)

On another note, to those who don't think a 1st round draft pick, a 4th and the 2017 cap space now freed up to resign Bennie Logan was a criminal haul for an oft-injured QB who was gone after this season.........I want to sit next to you at the poker table and take all of your money!

Week Two Predictions:
DelVal - 34        Misericordia - 13 (Moved the game from tomorrow's heat to tonight's monsoon........will effect scoring)
Albright - 31      Stevenson - 27 (My MAC Preseason favorite is at home and returns too much on offense. Victory in last two minutes)
Lycoming - 33    King's - 20 (I expect Lyco to make noise this year with a great running game, defense, a ton back from last year and a great recruiting class)
Wilkes - 31        LebVal - 24 (Wilkes looked pretty good last week and gained a lot of returning experience through last year's struggles)

Montclair State - 40     FDU - 20 (Just a wild guess. Rain will impact FDU passing game and best receiver in MAC)
Widener - Bye / @ FDU / Wilkes........before @ Lyco. The Pride will be very healthy after these three weeks and Lyco will be coming off of @ Misericordia so they should be as well)

Eagles - 23       Browns - 16 (Wentz: 16-23 / 188 yards / 1 TD / 1 INT / 1 Fumble)

I was also the first to call the NCAA DIII National Champion by choosing Mount Youngstown Union State, University of Wisconsin-ww, Linflield...............you guys can have the field!!

[tweisman5]

Week 2 Predictions:

Stevenson@Albright: Stevenson wins by 3
Montclair St.@FDU-Florham: Montclair St. wins by 17
Misercordia@Del Val: Del Val wins by 24
Kings@Lycoming: Lycoming wins by 14
Wilkes@Leb Val: Leb Val wins close by 7

I believe Stevenson will clean up mistakes from last week and show improvement against a still good Albright team. FDU I believe lost their top receiver to Mount Union of I remember correctly mentioned on the preseason D3football podcast. Wilkes is an interesting team to watch against Leb Val to see if last weeks performance was a fluke or something to build on.