FB: American Southwest Conference

[zipmac22]

Congratulations Cru on another win on the road! Keep proving the nay-sayers wrong and keep winning!

Linfield, you played a great game and the results could of been different on another day.

[TheChucker]

I don't know about all of you, but I'm really enjoying all the D3/D2/FCS playoff games being played on ESPN+. I found myself browsing through a few today.

[Ralph Turner]

Back to the Round of 8...

It is fun to read all of the CRUmudgeons ranting on this team & coaching staff.

[CruFrenzy]

Congrats to the Cru we have gotten a little better each week (in the playoffs) vs better and better opponents.

We have been so up and down this has definitely been the most difficult Cru Football team to gauge i've ever seen in 20+ seasons. We seem to have bottled up some "chip on our shoulder" mentality and I think this team 100% plays their best when doubted, as the road dogs 2.0.

Next game in Baltimore vs Johns Hopkins looks like a defensive knock down drag out between two top 3 defenses in D3. GO CRU.

[Ron Boerger]

Logan Hansen's latest model gives UMHB a nearly 3 in 4 chance of winning against Johns Hopkins this week: 

North Central is the prohibitive favorite (61.5%) to win the whole enchilada, with Mount Union a distant second (12.5%), UMHB third (9.8%).  The UMHB-JHU winner will face the Salisbury-UMU winner in the semis. 

[Ron Boerger]

According to a Xitter post from RedditCFB, one of UMHB's 2024 opponents, John Melvin, will no longer sponsor football (I didn't find any other confirmation but only looked at their website):

https://x.com/redditcfb/status/1865976501184893063

[UMHB03]

According to a Xitter post from RedditCFB, one of UMHB's 2024 opponents, John Melvin, will no longer sponsor football (I didn't find any other confirmation but only looked at their website):

https://x.com/redditcfb/status/1865976501184893063

Seems like they barely sponsored football before.

[Etchglow]

According to a Xitter post from RedditCFB, one of UMHB's 2024 opponents, John Melvin, will no longer sponsor football (I didn't find any other confirmation but only looked at their website):

https://x.com/redditcfb/status/1865976501184893063

Seems like they barely sponsored football before.

Yeah, not a surprise.  They didn't have enough players to play UMHB.  Think was only 55 on roster total before then too.

[Ron Boerger]

Not sure who is actually returning to ETBU - their QB announced he too is in the portal.  https://x.com/gem_hendrix/status/1866506279209836624

[Etchglow]

Not sure who is actually returning to ETBU - their QB announced he too is in the portal.  https://x.com/gem_hendrix/status/1866506279209836624

He has 3 naia offers already.  Interesting that ETBU has him listed as a LB.  Doesn't look like he saw the field this year though...

[Ron Boerger]

Pat told me he wasn't their QB1 after I posted this.

[Etchglow]

Pat told me he wasn't their QB1 after I posted this.

All good haha. Qb1 is already at Louisiana Tech haha. Not really sure what is going on over there. That's at least 15 kids into the portal I've seen so far...

[umhb2001]

Sooooo, glad UMHB is moving on. I've been critical of the program this year. I do apologize for the tone and way that I was critical. At the same time, I believe my concerns are warranted.

The offense most of the season has been stagnant. I do like that they've been able to come up with HUGE drives when they've been needed. Wright is doing a good job. The rushing attack has been great. Will be interesting to see how that adapts to the Blue Jay D.

My other concern comes from the post game conference after the HSU win. The question was asked why they could win now and what changed from the regular season. The response was that it was the playoffs and its win or go home. My worry is that this mentality wasn't had the previous two games and, I guess by default, the other games as well. Should this be a concern about mental preparation?

Anyways, here we are and the Cru have seemingly found their mental edge. Go Cru! Good luck. Go get it!

[Crubacker]

I, at times was critical as well, although I did defend Harmon.  He was an excellent DC and as I mentioned, he was probably doing what Coach Fred did and that was allow his assistants to coach and do what they were hired to do.  My main criticism was on the OC.  Just frustration at the play calling.  I think others have agreed that at times it seemed as they weren't trying as hard to win as hard as they were trying not to lose.  In explaining what doesn't seem to make sense, instead of having that "you've got your foot on their throat, just finish it" menatality, it was more like " your winning so ease of the gas and just coast"  In big games, that other team isn't going to stop trying just because they are down 20 or 30 points.  I'm not advocating for running up the score, but don't become so conservative with your play calling that you end up losing or giving the other team a chance to win the game.

On a brighter note, CRU seems to have found their rhythm and trusting each other at the right time.  Hope they can keep it rolling!

[Crubacker]

By the way, hats off to Pat and Greg and the rest of the D3 contributors to another great season!  You guys make following D3 football so great!  Enjoy the podcasts, the columns and the information not just on one region but across the entire country of D3.

Thanks Pat and Greg!