FB: American Southwest Conference

[Toby Taff]

Ralph,

I went to the McM game last night and tried to post, but I couldn't for some reason.  I will say this about McM, the defense at times looked good, but the offense did not.  The Qb has no touch.  He was firing 3 yd bullets to the wr's that were hitting hard enough to bounce off hands and deflect 20 yds down field. He had 3 opportunities to throw TD passes if he had any touch at all, but a fade into the endzone is just not going to happen.  He was fast, but I think he might make a better wideout or back than the QB.  He could do some damage if they could get him the ball with a little space.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, for the report.   

I have noticed that he does much better in space.

I was encouraged by the line-play and the running game.

TJ Barber and Austin Davidson are very good.

[etbualum]

ETBU 27 LC 23

http://www.etbu.edu/Current+Athletic+News/sports_item.htm?SportsID=1376

ETBU took sole possession of 2nd place last night.  Wild game ETBU was up 24-0.  LC stormed back and had a 4-11 at mid field with about two minutes left.  The lc receiver made a nice catch and looked like he would go into the end zone for the go ahead score.  He was stripped from behind at the 2 and etbu recovered in the end zone.  While it didn't look exactly like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx1AZSeCkkM

it did remind me of that play....maybe ralph or some of our more seasoned posters will remember that play.



While he wasn't nearly as efficient as the UMHB boys Jair Stover who has filled in for an injured Corey George went for 193 and 3 touchdowns on 37 carries.

[Ralph Turner]

Did the LC WR let up as he was approaching the end zone or was he simply caught by the "fastest" ETBU player on the field?

Great job to get the YouTube clip!

+1 for doing the research! 

[Ralph Turner]

This is how balanced the rest of the ASC is this year.

There have been 19 game between conference members played so far (including SRSU and TLU twice) that did not involve UMHB.

Thirteen of those 19 games have been won by 8 points or less.

[HScoach]

Not that any of you guys care what we think up in Ohio, but MHB is a 1.5 point FAVORITE this week in our Pick-Em's.

[Ralph Turner]

Not that any of you guys care what we think up in Ohio, but MHB is a 1.5 point FAVORITE this week in our Pick-Em's.

hscoach, how much HFA do you give a game involving a team that makes a plane flight?

[footballfan413]

The extended weather forcast next Saturday for the Whitewater area calls for a pretty nice day for this time of year - High of 48 degrees/low of 39 degrees and some showers.  Not too bad to welcome UMHB to Wisconsin. 

Ya, figured this was too much to hope for!  

http://www.warhawkfootball.com/viewnews.asp?pId=726

A warm, (no pun intended,) and sincere welcome to all the Cru players, coaches and fans who will make the long flight to Wisconsin.  It will be a pleasure to repay your great Texas hospitality.

[Cru15]

Just like I thought total Crusader domination! The only upset is that they scored 30!

[voice]

Getting back from Stevens Point last night I did see Perkins Stadium groundskeeper John Betz and assistant Mike Bartos setting up snow-making machines along the sidelines.  JUST KIDDING!!!

[Ralph Turner]

It looks like there will be a 25 degree difference in the temperatures between Belton and Whitewater during this week of practice, mid to upper 70's to lower mid 50's.

[Toby Taff]

I was curious about what the game yesterday did to MC's rushing average for the year so I checked out the 2a web site.  MC entered the game 4th in the nation @ 44 yards/game after the game their average is 125/game which last week would not be in the top 50.  Conversely, UMHB entered the game 6th averaging 52yds/game and finished averaging 48yds/game, a total that would have had them in 5th position last week.

[CruGuy]

I know that several people have already given their own recaps of this game. I'll try to stick to my own recap of the game and the teams and not respond to everyone else's. too much.

First off, nobody talked much about the MC QB and WR's before the game. The majority of the focus was on their defense. They have two fantastic WR's with the size, speed, agility, and hands. There were several plays where the UMHB db's seemed to be in good position and the WR's just played above them. They were able to do this because the QB made some great throws and a did a good job of getting rid of the ball quickly. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't find those holes when the field shortened down near the goal line. When they had length to work with, they abused the middle of the field in between the linebackers and safeties.

I also think the MC coaching staff did a great job on offense of keeping their player's heads on straight after getting down early 14-0 and 21-7. It shows character on the part of both the coaches and the players. They also did a good job of keeping the defense honest in sticking with the game plan and balancing the pass with the run. It's really easy to be tempted to throw, throw, throw and against the UMHB defense that tends to lead to more turnovers and sacks. In particular, the shovel pass that scored the second TD was a well-designed play and the RB broke several tackles, or the UMHB defense just tackled horribly, you say tomato I say tomato.

Unfortunately for them, they weren't able to pick up enough yards on those runs to keep the UMHB linebackers and db's up close to the line. Teams that have succeeded against UMHB (W&J, HSU...) have been able to stretch the field deep and complete those long passes. MC got one early but they weren't able to return to that well.

I still can't believe the offense that I saw from UMHB. I'm used to pound the ball inside, pound the ball outside, break one open, capitalize on turnovers. That is normal for UMHB. I'm just used to much more pounding and much less breaking open. After three plays, 150 yds and 2 td's, MC had to go to their prevent defense (UMHB style). This meant putting one db on Patrick Oliver whose sole job was to jam, hold, and otherwise prevent him from moving. Everyone else stacked in the box against the run. This had four different outcomes. Holding on the DB, no holding call on the DB and incompletion, run for nominal gain, whiff and try to run the running back down from behind (someone will catch Jarvis every now and then and it did happen in this game, I don't see anyone running down Quincey from behind in D-III).

This strategy looked to be working great against the option early on and was somewhat successful in between the tackles. However, after two great plays on the option by MC, Josh was able to find the endzone with it, thanks to a great block by his fullback. Later on he would run the play and get drilled, but he got the pitch off to Thrasher just in time for him to sprint in for a TD.

With Josh, PO, Jarvis, and Quincey putting up such ridiculous number, the real stars of the offense are on the offensive line. UMHB has only allowed six sacks this season and I'm sure only 2 or 3 of those are against the 1st string o-line (sorry for the inaccuracy, I'm not going to go and look for those six plays and then attempt to guess which line was in). With the combination of excellent pass protection and prodigious production on the ground, these guys are proving to be great athletes and an even better unit.

Something that seems to be getting overlooked is the role of the 2nd string line. They went in for two drives in the mid-late 2nd quarter that combined for 1 1st down, -5 yds, and a costly turnover. The first string offense came back on with 1:27 remaining and boom, 1 play 87 yd td. After the half, they ran three more drives taking 8 plays to gather 199 yds and three more td's. If you don't count the one play before the half as a drive, they participated in 10 drives ending with 2 punts and 8 td's. They ran 29 plays for 577 yds. Now if I'm a coach preparing to play the #3 team in the nation in a game that is sure to be a ground battle, I would like for my starting line to run more than 29 plays. As it is...

I am quite sure that a team of UMHB's capability has very good depth, however I didn't see a whole lot of subs going in and out. Starters were still in with score exceeding 40, 50 and even 60 points. Just how many different people played on offense and defense in the first three quarters??

UMHB played its entire 1st and 2nd string offense by the end of the third quarter. Many other running backs and wr's were seeing the field as well. MC's first string offense was still throwing TD passes with 9:30 remaining in the game. they were still doing it with 4:00 remaining. They did get their 2nd string in with 2:30 remaining in order to run their total non-starters involved up to 26. UMHB had 37 on the day. That's 11 more, an entire string. Should UMHB have pulled their defensive starters mid-third quarter when they pulled their offensive starters? With the skill of the MC offense, and the case study of the Millsaps game, I think I would like my 1st string covering their's. They pull their's, we pull our's.
   
I noticed Jarrell Freeman come out of the game after the first play of the first MC drive that started in the 4th quarter. I looked around and he was the only one coming out and everyone else on the field was a second stringer. I think they just wanted to give him the chance for his ovation. All the tackles recorded on that drive were by second stringers. On drives after that, there were a few 1st string db's rotating in and out but let's be honest, they need the practice and somebody has to tackle those huge wr's.

That said, I felt like the game was done at 62-17. UMHB had 572 yds of offense and allowed 355 (MC racked up 195 yds on those last three drives). UMHB won the turnover battle 6-1. Comparing that to the HSU game it looks HSU was a much tougher opponent for the CRU. (Comparing the passing numbers would make for interesting discussion). I have no problem with anyone believing that MC is a better team than HSU (and  I pretty much have no choice after they lose to HPU), personally I think it's about a push and that HSU has been the toughest opponent for UMHB so far. so far. The week we've waited for is here.

On a side note, I normally don't pay much attention to the band. I know MCM, HPU, and HSU are all very proud of their bands, and today I was proud of the UMHB band. I've been to three SEC games this year, and attended three last year, and this was the most entertaining band I can remember experiencing. They had some funny selections, some contemporary selections that you don't really hear marching bands playing, some great drum lines, and they seemed to be aware of the game situation and were involved throughout the day. They were much better than they were when I was around.

[footballfan413]

It looks like there will be a 25 degree difference in the temperatures between Belton and Whitewater during this week of practice, mid to upper 70's to lower mid 50's.

Ya, the Hawks will be pretty comfortable if the reported weather forecast holds but the Crusaders might want to break out their long sleeves if they have them.   

[Kelly Boggs]

I think the CRU will welcome the cooler temps. As long as there is no ice or snow in the forecast, UMHB will be fine. Temps in the 50's will be refreshing.

Go Purple CRUsh!