FB: American Southwest Conference

[proudmcmdad]

McM had a big win to start the season.
Ty Seller (he will remind people of Adam King from HPU) had a great game along with a trio of running backs who altogether rushed for 217 yards with an average of 5.2 yds per carry.
Of course, none of that would have happened without the OLine controlling a much bigger Menlo Defense that put 8 in the box all day.

The defense played much better than the 30 points they gave up.  Menlo only averaged 2.5 yds per carry and much of the passing yards came when the linebackers were dropping back in coverage instead of blitzing.  The 2 blocked punts didn't help either.

Real good start.  But plenty of room for improvement before we play AC in 2 weeks.

[wildcat11]

I didn't get to the Willamette vs. Western Oregon game but what happened is kind of what I thought.  WOU pushed around a young and small Willamette defensive front.  What I was surpised about is that Willamette was blanked on the day.  Regardless, UMHB is going to have much success running the rock on a small Willamette team.

I'm always pulling for the NWC teams to do well but I think that UMHB is the clear and distant favorite for their game next week in Salem.

[Bill McCabe]

I'm really surprised Willamette didn't score.

[Bill McCabe]

Anybody see the UMHB scrimmage?  How did they look?

[cruprez]

   UMHB looks good...in my opinion they look better at this time of the year than they did last year.  Anxiously awaiting kickoff in Oregon next Saturday...GO CRU

[ccowboyz1]

Congrats to the Cowboys on a big win in Wisconsin.  It was a very enjoyable game to watch.  It's great to see such balance on offense.  The defense bent a little but didn't break.  It appears to me the Cowboys have re-loaded.....again, and should be ready to begin defense of their title in a couple of weeks.  Use this week to heal and work on reducing the mistakes.

[jmnaseum]

roocru,
sounds like the kangaroos played a good game.  How are the Tigers supposed to be?  Good start for AC, but my poll stays the same!  I just think the ASC is going to be tough from top to bottom. 

[minni]

This may be a bit off subject and possibly even discussed in the past but reading jmnaseum's post it made me think.   ASC = ACC or Big 12?

Top to bottom are we that tough?

[Ron Boerger]

roocru,
sounds like the kangaroos played a good game.  How are the Tigers supposed to be?  Good start for AC, but my poll stays the same!  I just think the ASC is going to be tough from top to bottom. 

Twelve-time defending SCAC champion Trinity is ranked #11 in the country by D3football.com and has been in the playoffs the last eight years running.  They are favored to win the conference again this year.  AC's performance was much better than expected.   Not to say Trinity doesn't have room for improvement, but unlike two years ago (also a close game at the half in Sherman) AC battled to the end. 

[Ralph Turner]

Consistent middle-of-the-pack Louisiana College blew a fourth quarter lead against a representative Rhodes.

My thoughts are that a dominant ASC will have:
--TLU beating Trinity.
--AC playing Trinity tough.
--LC  edging Rhodes on the road.

McMurry and HSU helped.  ETBU played a tough team that does not help the conference, but did not hurt the ETBU travel budget.  I hope that ETBU will start to schedule some South Region teams.

SRSU ought to handle SWAG.
HPU can shine against a well-respected UWL.
UMHB should defeat Willamette, 1st game vs their 2nd notwithstanding.
I will  be glad when MC resumes playing D3's.

I think that we are still too top heavy to say "dominant".

[proudmcmdad]

I think the ASC is much better than 3-4 years ago, but I wouldn't call it a dominant conference yet.  We have 2 of the best teams in the country and possibly a 3rd if TLU can win this week.  The bottom of the conference is better with SRSU and McM winning a few games last year.
Comments about last weeks results:
HSU with a big win, away against a quality opponent.  Appears ready for showdown with UMHB, hopefully play each other twice again this year.
LC disappointing loss, not ready for primetime yet.
McM encouraging win, will need to show some improvement to beat AC in 2 weeks.
ETBU very disappointing loss at home.  I thought their overall talent and disappointing season last year would result in improved play this year, wasn't evident during the 1st game.
AC encouraging start even though lost the game to highly ranked TU.  Hope this sets up a big upset this week by TLU.

[Bill McCabe]

I think we will have a much better idea of how good the ASC is when they start to play each other.  If the conference is stronger, then we should see more competitive games against the top 4 teams in the conference.  There shouldn't be the huge blow outs we've seen in some of the conference games the past few years.  All of the major conferences in the country have weak teams each year.  I think a better indication is how well we do in the playoffs.

[roocru]

Wow!  My comment made in jest to jmnaseum has really taken off and started some good conversation.  I agree with Ralph that we are still a little top heavy.  However, let's remember that unlike the NWC (6 teams) and the WIAC (8 teams) we have a few more teams in our conference to deal with.  Perhaps a better comparison is the OAC, also with ten teams, which have perennially sent two teams to the playoffs on the recognition of the strength of their top teams.

I also agree with the first part of BMcCabe statement that closer scores in conference would make a big difference in perception.  However, with regard to the last part, I cannot explain why the WIAC is generally recognized as the toughest or one of the toughest and they do abysmally in the playoffs.

One area I think the average D3 fan overlooks is in the area of statistics.  I know that whoever uses stats last is often the winner.  However,  if you look at last year, for example, the ASC provided several passers in the top echelon (King, Neal, Salinas, Neumann, Cooper and two QB's at UMHB who if they combined stats were pretty impressive).  I would like to see more recognition for the top performers in our league and that even the lower ranked schools provide plenty of firepower to deal with.

I guess what I am saying is the ASC is definitely on the way up and a couple of more years of impressive performances will get us to that "dominant conference" level.

Go Roos !! Go Cru !!

[Bill McCabe]

RooCru,  I think you are right on.  10 teams in the conference can make for some big differences in talent level.  Look at the Big 12.  I'm hoping we get 3 teams into the playoffs this year, not sure who the 3rd will be.  TLU-Trinity should give us an idea of how much improvement TLU has made.  Good luck to them Saturday.

[Ralph Turner]

I think the real weakness of the ASC is not QB's, RB's or  WR's, but in "big" men, the O-linemen and D-linemen.  There are just not enough of them, the really big men, to spread around all of the teams in Texas.

The lineman that we face in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania or Ohio are much larger.  The Poles, Germans and Scandanavians are bigger, taller and heavier than the English, Scot-Irish and Hispanics that we have in Texas.  We always seem to have the speedburners,  but how often to we see our lines giving up 3-5 inches and 20-40 lbs when we play those teams.

I also would make the broad generalization that the major difference across the ASC is not in the QB's, because it looks like LC's Wesley Cooper or McM's Ty Cooper or TLU's Sean Salinas or HSU's Jordan Neal or UMHB's Josh Welsh are more impacted by the respective lines than their own performances.  No slant at their talents, but a greater appreciation for linemen.