FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[l39eagle]

FSUkid

Check out reply #1246.  I think that point was addressed.  If its raining, running the ball may be the order of the day.  Who is going to stop the run best?

Reality Check
Wish you could make the trek to Alliance, but I will be there and after the hard-fought victory I will drink an adult beverage in your honor!

[raiderguy]

ohiopolarbear

What exactly does that mean? I give mount fans a bad name. You have no clue what I am talking about unless you have been at Mount and maybe that bad name you refer to does not exist anymore.
They are probably on double secret probation.

And thanks for leaving me out of your assessment of great Mount fans. Further evidence you have no clue.

[raiderguy]

busdriver

I am always in Raider Purple. I'll be the only guy in Purple on the St Johns side of the field. Usually standing at the top of the stands at the 50 by the mini bookstore. I have alot of good St Johns friends that I watch the games with. And beers at the "La" latter. I am sort of their token Raider. It's the only Purple that will be tolerated because if it were St Thomas I would be in trouble.
I am not sure about this Saturday because I may want to listen to the beat down of the Bears on the internet.
Next week the Buckeyes are in Minneapolis to play the Gophers so unless they are playing at night I will be at the Dome in the afternoon. Will hate to miss the St Olaf game but the Bucks come first. After that I'll be at the games through the playoffs assuming St Johns comes through.

Hope to meet you there sometime.

And as always..............The Tommies Suck!

[raiderguy]

RC

I love it "grandma's screen porch with goal posts"

I agree with the JC challenge in the past but the tide may be shifting if the games with ONU continue to build. Add the DP vs LK factor and we have a whole new dimension to this game every year.

[raiderguy]

Mr. Yipsi

Dante was on "the three hour tour" " the three hour tour".

It actually came back at half time. Must have been called because some of the guys forgot their raincoats.

Dante has not given any details and has been a low profile particpant to date so that's why he wants to focus on the game. At this rate he needs to change his focus to something else because he is stinking up the joint. He is hurt so that has had something to do with it. If they can't get motivated for the Packers then there is little hope for anthing else.

Now we have an ex FBI guy on the full time staff to baby sit and the FBI is actually looking at the evidence. The story is the guys flew some of their "dates" in from Florida and it has something to do with interstate commerce. The going rate for that commerce was near five figures each for these "dates".

[reality check]

l39eagle

I actually have a semi-decent question about the matchup tomorrow.  Both the Bears and Raiders have two good backs each.  We can expect to see all four in rotation Saturday in Alliance.  I think Garrod is a good little back but he is not the bruiser that Meadows can be and he lacks some size.  Meadows has a chance to do some damage Saturday.  At the same time, I think that starting Garrod and potentially having no success breaking through that Raider D-Line could really have a bad effect on the ONU psyche to start the game.  Do you think there is any chance Meadows gets the start?

Garrod could be a great change of pace guy if ONU establishes some sort of rushing attack early and wears on the Raider D-Line a little.  I just know ONU needs to be firing on all cylinders early to be serious Saturday and I feel Meadows is the guy to do that.

Interesting:

Robinson and Ibeh: 924 rushing yards and 12 rushing TD's w/ 126 receiving yards and 2 TD's
Garrod and Meadows: 990 rushing yards and 14 rushing TD's w/ 253 receiving yards and 3 TD's

[pios]

I agree with whoever said Etta was in the same boat they were last year.  Started 2 - 0 and then had four tough games to contend with.  They didn't play well with JCU, played MUC like everyone else in the league, played OTT tough and was in the game with CAP until some mistakes cost them.  If you look at the schedule to the end of the season, Etta has just a good shot to go 6-4 again.  They play Musky this week which is always a tough contest, but Etta has found a way to win the rivalry the past 4 years.  Then you play Wilmington and a struggling BW team.  These games were both wins last year and could very well be again.  IF they win these 3, that puts them at 5-4 going into the ONU game, which they played very well last year and fell a TD short of the upset.  Even at 5-5, the program is still headed in the right direction.  On a sidenote about Curry, I don't think he is Garcon fast and was actually surprised to see him returning the ball because he hadn't previously done that.  However, the kid has improved tenfold from what he looked like his freshman year, less timid and trying to make the big plays.  I believe in his freshman year as well, he had the three longest receptions of the season for TD's. 

[reality check]

pios

I wish I could agree with you but I fear Etta is en route to a 4-6 season at best and I am leaning towards 3-7.  You should beat Musky at home but BW on their home "turf" is going to be tough.  They are down but then again, I think so is Etta.  I give the down team that plays on a unique home surface that edge.  WIL is a much better team than last year in my opinion.  They are dangerous and at home.  They would be slight favorites in my opinion if the game was played tomorrow.  Unless ONU has a total meltdown, they won't let anything close to last year's game take place.

[b4uknewit]

RC--Great questions and stats as usual on your posts.   Those coverage questions and the BEAR'S answers to them are significant.  The maturity of the O'Line for Purple has progressed nicely but communication or concentration has caused monumental yards in  the wrong direction. IMO the runnning game has improved, however, it needs to improve quite a bit more for deep playoff contention.  The (balance) between the two,   rain or none will also be criticle. On the D side, I beliveve Mount has the upper hand but your boys will be clawin like there is NO tomorrow!  Looking forward to a GREAT GAME with NO injuries--  oh yah  ROLL~~RAIDERS      Kirasdad-- GRAB something and hold on tight bro! and I ain't talkin 'bout your Johnson!

[DTM04]

I don't understand the overwhelming hatred of BW on this forum.  I read the OAC forum from time to time and have to register just to defend the Jackets a little.  I don't think BW will finish over .500 this year, but the streak they have is pretty impressive nonetheless.  You call it a streak of mediocrity but they've had playoff appearances and a Stagg Bowl win during the streak, so call it what you want, but the program being that successful over nearly 4 straight decades is quite an accomplishment and says a lot about the quality of talent that BW has had.  The OAC is one of the toughest conferences in Division III football, so to finish over .500 year in and year out without a bad season here and there is something to be proud of.  Obviously everyone at BW would much rather have a few more teams that have gone deep into the playoffs on a consistent basis like Mount Union has over the past decade, but that kind of dominance is a rarity at any level of sports.

I think most people would also agree that the turf at BW is terrible.  It is probably responsible for more injuries than BW can afford, especially this year.  Despite the injuries that have depleted their entire defensive line, they still have one of the top defenses in the conference.  Unfortunately, they have one of the worst offenses in the conference and the defense can only carry them so far.  If they make it to 6-4, it will be because of the defense.

Also, BW probably has played Mount Union the toughest over the past 10 years during Mount's dominance.  9 out of 10 people might not say that, but with the exception of a couple years during the Arth era at John Carroll, BW has played Mount tough in quite a few contests.

[reality check]

NO ONE IN THE OAC HAS PLAYED MOUNT TOUGH CONSISTENTLY. 

But for the sake of argument:

BW has been outscored 326 to 109 (averaging 32.6 to 10.9 per game for you math majors) in its last ten games against Mount.  They have the lowest margin of defeat at 21.7 points but have also been shut out twice.  While BW has played to a tighter average, their offense has been measurably ineffective against MUC compared to ONU and JCU.  It's closest games came in 2002 losing by a TD 28-21 but they were down by two scores with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter.  BW has played Mount to within two TD's in three of its last ten games.

JCU has been outscored 455 to 194 (45.5 to 19.4) in its last ten contests with Mount.  Their margin of defeat stands at 26.1, making them the highest of the "big three".  JCU has been shut out once (this year's 70-0 effort).  Their offense has had some success against Mount over the last ten appearances and it's not all due to Arth as has been suggested.  "The Game" took place in 1999 and MUC squeaked by its biggest scare in any of the games we are talking about 57-51 in 3OT.  This game alone would be why most would say JCU has put up the best showing against MUC in the last ten years.  JCU has also played MUC to within two TD's in four of its last ten contests.  This is countered by the fact that JCU has suffered the two most lopsided losses in the series I am looking at (70-0 and 55-3).

Lastly ONU has been outscored by Mount 460 to 219 (46.0 to 21.9) in its last ten games.  Their margin of defeat comes in the middle at 24.1 points per game.  ONU has not been shut out in its last ten meetings.  ONU's best showing would probably be the 1998 game when they lost 42 to 37 in Ada.  ONU has played Mount to within two TD's on three occasions in its last ten meetings.

So there you have it.  Make your judgments as you wish.  First I would say that none of us can really thump our chests too loudly on the subject.  Then my second statement would be this.  BW has held the Raider offense in check the best but their lack of offense in the last ten meetings is apparent.  ONU has played them tougher than most people would think and comes in on the same level as BW and JCU by the numbers.  JCU has the honor of saying they played them in the "Game of the Millenium" and took MUC closer to the edge than anyone in the conference has in almost 100 games.  Flip a coin.  My bet, however, would be that JCU gets the vote for playing MUC toughest in most peoples' minds just because the 98, 99 and 2001 games that were all settled by less than one TD.

[jdean]

RC:
Was the '98 game when ONU was winning by 2 scores with
very little time (less than 5 minutes) and Mount pulled off a miraculous comeback?

[seventiesraider]

Another voice from Lake WoeBW where the women are strong, the men are good looking and the football is slightly above average.

DTM - Don't take it personally, many of us have despised BW for decades. Almost four in my case. Just don't get us started again-Green parking lot, Halloween school colors yada, yada, yada

[Ric]

jdean I do not recall a game like the one you are asking about.

[stej57]

RaiderGuy,

Delta Iota Kappa.  Hadn't heard that in a while but the rest of it came rushing back .  Obviously, you're ex-Miller Hall.  What years where you there?