FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[NCC_alum62]

The Pois are the best team The Johnnies will see all year...

Although I have not seen the Pioneers, I doubt that.

Of course they'll be the best team they've seen all year...its Week 1  couldn't resist

He said, "...the best team the Johnnies will see all year."   

I know.

I was being comical...hence the smiley and whatnot.

I also think St. Johns will play a better team than Marietta, such as Bethel and St. Olaf, Concordia Moorhead has also made noise in the MIAC

[DuffMan]

Just keeping you honest.  I reread it about 5 times to make sure I didn't screw it up

[tdubs]

Thanks JK...that's awesome!

[seventiesraider]

While I can't spell at 7:30 in the morning, I'll stick by my assessment that Marietta is the best team St John's will see before the playoffs. I guess I'm saying that IMO the middle of the OAC is equal to second place in the MIAC and the numbers tend to support that.

[TC]

While I can't spell at 7:30 in the morning, I'll stick by my assessment that Marietta is the best team St John's will see before the playoffs. I guess I'm saying that IMO the middle of the OAC is equal to second place in the MIAC and the numbers tend to support that.

I never go out of my way to support the Bethel Royals--and I agree that the OAC is a strong conference--but I have a feeling that SJU '04, Concordia-Moorhead '05, and Bethel '03 & '06 all would have their way with mid-tier OAC schools from the same year. 

Don't think for a second that I'm disrespecting the OAC by saying that.  I'm certainly not looking past Marietta on St. John's schedule and the OAC turns out a couple teams a year that could win the typical East Bracket in the playoffs. 

That said, I think you are underestimating the strength of the MIAC's top teams.  The MIAC produces Pool C teams almost as consistantly as the OAC, and while they haven't had quite as much success as the OAC's #2 (which I would argue is due to the West Bracket being tougher top-to-bottom than the East or North), they have had some decent showings.  SJU was a MIAC #2 in 2000 when they played MUC in the Stagg Bowl and Concordia '05 played Linfield closer than any opponent had to that point.

I'm not going to defend the MIAC bottom feeders but to say that a middle OAC team would be #2 in the MIAC is quite a stretch.

[TC]

Forgive me for beating a dead horse, but...

Assuming we can trust the D3Football.com staff to be impartial on the topic, their Kickoff Rankings would place Marietta 4th in the MIAC, far below St. John's, Bethel, and St. Olaf and grouped pretty closely with Gustavus, Concordia-Moorhead, and St. Thomas. 

If you were referring to Marietta when you said "the middle of the OAC is equal to second place in the MIAC", well... the middle of the OAC is, essentially, equal to the middle of the MIAC. 

Of course, if you were referring to JCU or B-W as the middle of the OAC, you might be right.

[reality check]

It's a good thing we play the game on the field and not on paper.  Everyone will know soon enough...

[D3 Poster]

SJU vs Etta starters

SJU O vs Etta D 8 seniors vs 5, 1 Jr apiece, 2 Sophs vs 5
Etta O vs SJU D 7 seniors vs 4, 0 Jr vs 4, 3 Sophs each and Etta has 1 fr

Weights per starter:

OL vs OL-Etta averages 6 more lbs
DL- Etta avgs 31 more lbs
LB- SJU by 6 lbs
DB- SJU by 19
OB- Etta by 10
Rec- Etta by 7

Conclusion:  Total boredom

[Ric]

Guys I'm going to be frank.  Marietta had a horrible defense in 2006.  Horrible.  Mount Union ran for an all-time school record 503 yards averaging 7.7 yards per carry.  You can see the stats from that game here:

http://www.marietta.edu/athletics/football/statistics/GAME10.HTM

Jason Vrable was Marietta's best player.  He was it's leading rusher and threw all but five of the Pioneer's 380 passes.  You can see those stats here:

http://www.marietta.edu/athletics/football/statistics/TEAMCUME.HTM

Bottom line is Marietta won six games last year because of it's offense, not it's defense.  It's offense ranked third in the OAC, its defense ninth, ahead of only 0-10 Heidelberg.

You can see those stats here:

http://www.oac.org/confldrs_064.htm

Vrable is gone.  There would need to be a dramatic upgrade in the defense to have a winning season this year.  We ranked Marietta seventh in the OAC this year.  You can see that here:

http://www.mtunionfootball.com/2007season/07oacpreview.htm

Let's give the MIAC a little respect because it is a good conference.  And it's best team is the only to beat Mount Union in the championship game.  How did they do that?  By making all the plays they needed to make.  They are a very, very well coached team.  Their defense seemed to be in the right place on every play.  And they missed very little to no tackles.  I don't think that was a fluke because they gave the same kind of performance in 2000 but fell just short in that game.

St. John's will win this game and if they come to play they'll win it by a wide margin.  I don't know about not playing well in past openers or any of that.  What  I do know is St. John's is a top ten, maybe top five team in D3 this year, as they are just about every year.  Marietta will not be a top 100 team IMO.

[Ric]

TC - I appreciate your note.  I would be honored and will send the info tonight.

[Ric]

One other thing.  Larry Kehres time and time again says a big reason his teams have been so successful in the playoffs is because the teams and competition they see during the regular season prepare them for the post season.

Without checking I'd say St. John's is one of the most successful programs in D3 in the expanded playoff era (since 1999).  If their playoff record is not second best it has to be close.  I doubt, using Kehres' logic, the Johnnies can play a cupcake conference schedule and be ready to win in the playoffs.

[kcreds]

Ric: Rankings and stats don't win games, they only give indications of who should win. I didn't see the ONU game as part of your post. Etta did not give up a TD to a 20th rank ONU at their place and only scored one TD themselves, so much for a horrible defense. If not for a couple of big plays, Etta could have easily been 8-2. BW was suppose to kill them, whoops, it didn't happen. I keep hearing Etta is middle tier but they have beaten the upper tier teams in the OAC. They may be middle tier but they are competitive. Vrable was a great athlete last year but it was a one man show. This year will be more balanced and you will see some talented players step up. I agree that games aren't played on paper so we will soon see what happens this year and I hope you have to eat your words. The MIAC can hold their own with their competitive teams and you don't have to put Marietta down to prove it.

[Pat Coleman]

Forgive me for beating a dead horse, but...

Assuming we can trust the D3Football.com staff to be impartial on the topic, their Kickoff Rankings would place Marietta 4th in the MIAC, far below St. John's, Bethel, and St. Olaf and grouped pretty closely with Gustavus, Concordia-Moorhead, and St. Thomas.

Neither Keith nor I has any stake in the MIAC or OAC and we ranked our own alma maters very low, so I would think you can trust us to be impartial.

[Ric]

kcreds don't take offense to what I said.  This is a football site not a beauty pagent.  Saying a defense stunk I don't think is putting down a team when its the truth and if that's going to hurt someone's feelings all I can say is there will be much worse said on these boards.

As for your ONU suggestion, I didn't see the other nine games.  The one I mentioned was the one I saw.  And what I saw wasn't pretty.  And stats don't lie.  Over a ten game schedule against the same competiton in 9 of 10 games, Marietta's defense ranked second to last the only team worse was one that has lost something like 30 straight games.  If your argument is "if not for a couple big plays" ok my argument is when its all said and done I look at the numbers.

I hope Marietta represents the OAC well in the opener.  And I always want the teams to go 10-0 that week.  I just don't think that's going to happen.  I give Marietta all the credit in the world for scheduling this game.  A lot of teams wouldn't and probably some are teams Mount plays in the playoffs year in and year out.  I'm just being realistic.

If you want to come on here and say ha ha I told you so if the final is 20 to 17 I don't know what that says.  You can be assured if the final is 42-0 you won't hear one word from me.

[kcreds]

Ric: Stats can be used to make any type of point you want them too. The point you wanted to make is that Marietta is not that good. By the stats you gave, they should have only won maybe one game. I say their final record, numbers, says otherwise. Who they beat and how they beat them was impressive, especially considering who they lost to. I'm a big boy I can take anyone putting my team down but what I won't do is sit back and let someone bad mouth my team without responding. I assure you that if Marietta pulls out a miracle, my responses won't be directed to you and I'm not a gloater. The win will be satisfaction enough. I don't have to discredit anyone or team to make my points. I assure you if Marietta wins, it will mean a lot! If they lose, no big deal, they are suppose to lose anyway. Thanks for your support and the little credit you gave them. Just so you know that this is not personal, just read my responses to others that may disrespect the Pioneers. This site is fun for me and it is boring when everyone kisses everyone's rearend. Goooooo Pios!