FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[rscl70]

And I said Inwould report back after the Mt. Union game with my thoughts after seeing JCU, Berg, and Mount back-to-back-to-back.

Here's what I see... The Berg has the most explosive offense and maybe the beat offense of the three.  They also may have the best kick/punt return units.   But of the third of the three defenses.  Not that they aren't good (disclaimer so I'm not tweeted!) just not as good as the other two.

Mt. Union is solid in all phases.  After reading the chatter here about their o-line I have to say that their o-line is probably not as strong as the lines for the other two.  Their QB is elusive so that hides their flaws.  Their defense is not flashy just damn good - good tackling, never out of position, good scheme, etc. 

JCU is close to both Berg and Mount in all aspects.  I think any one of the three could beat the others.  It will be very interesting and entertaining to see how the season plays out.

Very diplomatic. +K

[Raider 68]

That was a sloppy first half.  Offense was far from crisp. Burke was not sharp throwing the ball.  It was raining out, but it definitely wasn't coming down. More of a steady, lighter rain.  Burke showed his elusiveness multiple times.  He's slippery.

Minnich started. Woods got a couple carries, but coughed it up inside the 10 and I never saw him again. It was all Minnich from then on.  I thought Minnich looked pretty good.

The defense was statistically excellent again but man did they have some dumb flags. Just undisciplined stuff.  And I didn't see Spencer at all. LeShawn Luke played.

I left after 3, but those 3 qtrs were not the best I've seen from this team by any stretch.  If it's possible to have an ugly win in a 58-3 game that was it.  Definitely have work to do.

Dr. Acula,

I listened to the game and I agree, it was sloppy at times. But, I am also reminded that good
teams more than normal play done to their competition. Considering the weather, playing away, the
score was actually higher than I expected. The other scores for JCU and Heidelberg may reflect
that same result as well!

[Raider 68]

And I said Inwould report back after the Mt. Union game with my thoughts after seeing JCU, Berg, and Mount back-to-back-to-back.

Here's what I see... The Berg has the most explosive offense and maybe the beat offense of the three.  They also may have the best kick/punt return units.   But of the third of the three defenses.  Not that they aren't good (disclaimer so I'm not tweeted!) just not as good as the other two.

Mt. Union is solid in all phases.  After reading the chatter here about their o-line I have to say that their o-line is probably not as strong as the lines for the other two.  Their QB is elusive so that hides their flaws.  Their defense is not flashy just damn good - good tackling, never out of position, good scheme, etc. 

JCU is close to both Berg and Mount in all aspects.  I think any one of the three could beat the others.  It will be very interesting and entertaining to see how the season plays out. 

Walt,

Good post! Defense wins championships so the question will be, who has the best shot. These
3 teams can all score points, but the edge may go to the Raiders who have that playoff experience. We'll see!

[Walt]

Mt. Union's experience definitely helps.  Even if JCU and Berg are as good, when things get close in the 4th Q, Mount's kids will be cool - been there done that - where the others may feel the pressure and tighten up.

[runyr]

* One last note...my son was recruited by the Berg.  They told him they had a new stadium that was going to open this year.  Funny...talking to senior parents yesterday, they said their sons were told the same thing 4 yrs ago.   Note to high school seniors...don't buy the "new stadium" line.

Just saw this comment and thought it merited a response.  I played for Mike Hallett and know a couple of the other coaches at Heidi. Mike would never lie or mislead recruits about a stadium nor would he encourage or condone others - if you were told that by any of them, then THEY themselves believed it was going to be ready for this year.

You sound like you have a bit of a vendetta against Heidi. I'm not sure if you really do, but that's what it sounds like.

Welcome to the OAC and post patterns. Stick around - the guys in here are knowledgeable and good dudes. Except for Realitycheck, who is a redneck troll living in Arizona and probably counting down the 15 minute rule in his neighborhoods library so he can make fun of someone on here.

Like you know what a library is...

And now you've figured out how to reproduce...

RC,

+ for evoking such emotion and wit from the board.

[bambord]

Attribution: D3 Football.com, Reader Poll

Which top six team is least likely to finish regular season unbeaten?

Mount Union (306) - 26%

Mary Hardin-Baylor (98) - 8%

Linfield (106) - 9%

North Central (219) - 18%

Bethel (233) - 19%

Hobart (204) - 17%

[Dr. Acula]

Well, that Berg/Ott game was a little interesting.  Berg pulls away late to win 35-17, but don't be fooled...this was a 21-17 game late in the 3rd.  Mees was not sharp (6-20, 103 yds).  But Brooks was awesome.  337 yds and 5 scores.  Thats a good month.  He's now averaging north of 150 yds per game.  He's trying to lap the field for the rushing title.  Stud.

Now the bad news for Berg, they gave up 354 yds passing and 433 total yds to a team that has struggled offensively (12 pts, 266 yds total offense/gm).  Last week against Musky was the first time Sizemore threw for more than 135 yds.  He threw for 354 last night!

[Dr. Acula]

Walt, thanks for the objective thoughts after yesterday. Very nice.  I wasn't expecting much flash from the D just because of Cap's scheme.

As for Cap, they're a ways away, but you could see flashes of good execution of that option.  They had a couple drives where they put together a couple first downs in a row. Sound execution got them into 3rd and 3 or 4 which they converted.  They just need more experience running it. And with a freshman QB they'll get better every week. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Well, that Berg/Ott game was a little interesting.  Berg pulls away late to win 35-17, but don't be fooled...this was a 21-17 game late in the 3rd.  Mees was not sharp (6-20, 103 yds).  But Brooks was awesome.  337 yds and 5 scores.  Thats a good month.  He's now averaging north of 150 yds per game.  He's trying to lap the field for the rushing title.  Stud.

Now the bad news for Berg, they gave up 354 yds passing and 433 total yds to a team that has struggled offensively (12 pts, 266 yds total offense/gm).  Last week against Musky was the first time Sizemore threw for more than 135 yds.  He threw for 354 last night!

What's especially impressive about Brooks' numbers is that Heidelberg has NOT gone out of their way to inflate his numbers. For a discussion on the East board about Hobart's excellent RB, I took a close look at Brooks' season and was amazed to see that his numbers are not one bit inflated by padding in blowout wins: when the game is decided, he's done. I think this was the first game that he carried the ball in the game's last 23 minutes! That bodes well for his legs being fresh for the stretch run; I think they might need a few fourth-quarter carries from him against Mount and Carroll

[mr_mom]

The OAC Pick-Em results for Week 7 are posted.

Scores this week ranged from a high of 12 (Chess4Me) to a low of 4 (yours truly!).  A special shout-out to aueagle who went against conventional wisdom and won with both Muskingum and Otterbein picks.

FCGrizzliesGrad is starting to run away again.  I might have to add more games per week to give the rest a chance to catch him.

And a special thanks to Capital's offense for fumbling eight times so that my 54.5 spread looked brilliant!   

Week 8's spreads will be posted Monday evening.

[Walt]

As for Cap, they're a ways away, but you could see flashes of good execution of that option.  They had a couple drives where they put together a couple first downs in a row. Sound execution got them into 3rd and 3 or 4 which they converted.  They just need more experience running it. And with a freshman QB they'll get better every week.

Yeah...not making excuses but the reality is that they have several freshmen playing key roles all over the field.  On offense, for example, I counted at least 9 freshmen who either started or played yesterday.  They started 3 freshman on the o-line, played with 4 freshmen much of the second half, and all five linemen in the 4th Q were freshmen.  On defense there are fewer freshmen starters but a lot rotate in and pretty much the #2 in the two-deep is a freshman at every position.

Every team has a freshman who comes in and is good enough to play right away, but the better teams have seniors and juniors playing around that freshman. 

Give these kids a year or two to mature and hit the weights...then sprinkle in some new recruits and we'll things going in the right direction.   And please note I am not bad mouthing the returning players from last year, but they were recruited to run a different system and a lot left after last season thus the need to thrust so many freshmen into the two-deep.

[ohiofan1954]

Yesterday was certainly interesting. I had a chance to catch both games here in Columbus. Mt. looked like a machine. Cap, why in the world are they running that terrible offense. I have seen them twice this year(Thomas More) and the triple option looks like something that should be sent back where they got it from. Mt. qb looked great running the ball but even he had a few overthrows and the receivers has a couple of big drops. Berg I am guessing this is your off night for the year. Everyone has one of these(Mt.-Franklin for example). Pass defense looked shaky, your own passing game was lacking to say the least. That guy Brooks sure can play though. Second time this week I have seen a player run for over 300 yards, both very impressive. Props to the Cards, had a good game plan and executed well. Was wondering about the upset late in the third. Very much looking forward for the game in Tiffin. From all the talk of the number of people going to be there Berg might want to think about moving it over to the high school stadium.

[rscl70]

Yesterday was certainly interesting. I had a chance to catch both games here in Columbus. Mt. looked like a machine. Cap, why in the world are they running that terrible offense. I have seen them twice this year(Thomas More) and the triple option looks like something that should be sent back where they got it from. Mt. qb looked great running the ball but even he had a few overthrows and the receivers has a couple of big drops. Berg I am guessing this is your off night for the year. Everyone has one of these(Mt.-Franklin for example). Pass defense looked shaky, your own passing game was lacking to say the least. That guy Brooks sure can play though. Second time this week I have seen a player run for over 300 yards, both very impressive. Props to the Cards, had a good game plan and executed well. Was wondering about the upset late in the third. Very much looking forward for the game in Tiffin. From all the talk of the number of people going to be there Berg might want to think about moving it over to the high school stadium.

Tiffen has a 1:30 game there on that Saturday.  The 'Berg would have to change the game time.  Also, I think the 'Berg may think limiting Mount's followers is preferable to a big gate.

[ohiofan1954]

Thank you for the correction on Tiffin playing at the same time. It might be a good idea to bring your lawn chairs then.

[Dr. Acula]

Watched the little highlight video on Mount's site.  I couldn't help but wonder what Candeto could do with a QB like Taurice Scott if he could teach him that option.  Especially since Scott can throw it too.  What a nightmare to defend.

Also, one thing I forgot to mention and they deserve it to be mentioned is that the interior of the D line played really well Saturday from what I saw.  Not that it's surprising that Fechko and Lally play well, but they did a really nice job beating their man and defending the option I thought.  Tough to run with those two in the middle.

This week will be a good tune up with Ott.  Ramping up the competition heading into Berg.  This will force the offense to play better as Ott is pretty solid on D.  It will also give us one last progress report on the O line heading into the grind.