FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[edward de vere]

I know there's a reason Burke isn't playing scholarship football on some level.

I just don't know what that reason is.

[edward de vere]

And my next question is:  Will the powers that be put Whitewater and Mount on the same side of the bracket this year?

[section13raiderfan]

The reason Burke isnt a D1 player goes back to the coaching axiom "I can take a poor football player that is 6' 5" and 240 lbs. and TEACH him to be a great football player, but I cant take a great football player who is 5, 10" and 175 lbs. and teach him to be 6' 5"."  In other words. the tape measure is the best measure of potential for taking a risk on a player. Sad isnt it? How many big strong highschool kids do you know who got the scholarship and didnt play because the coach DIDNT make him into a great football player? I can name quite a few myself, so the question in my mind is who failed? The kid or the coach?

[jaypeter]

I wasn't able to watch the feed, but did listen to most of the call while getting some work done around the house and was wondering about the defense that Mount ran yesterday. 

It certainly sounds like Mount was selling out in order to stop Brooks which worked pretty effectively until the last few drives when the first string was tiring out.  That sounds like some of the conditioning issues we've seen in the past during the first round or two of the playoffs and it's the first time the starters play a full game.

But I'm wondering if selling out against the run was the root of most of the blown coverages.  I kept hearing that we were stacking 8 up around the line, leaving just three back to cover a lot of area.  Perhaps the DB's were cheating up a little bit and looking into the backfield, leaving their receivers to break free?  Or was the coverage simply that bad and they were making more general coverage mistakes?  And the mistakes made even bigger by a low level of conditioning?

I guess I'm really asking if the pass coverage is going to be a liability moving forward, especially against a more balanced attack, or if it's something that will sort of take care of itself?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Brooks is, arguably, one of the best D3 RB in the country.

Mount sold out to stop the run and forced Heidelberg to beat them with the pass, on a rainy day.

There were some short crossing passes and WR screens that went a long way.  Also didn't have a lot of pressure on some plays as MTU rushed only 3 on obvious passing downs and Heidelberg QB had LOTS of time to find open receivers.

Not sure what this means in the long run, but in a big game against a ranked opponent on the road, in the rain, I thought the defense did what they were supposed to do.

Especially with the Fumble/Shovel bad call and the -9 yard punt.

[MasterJedi]

And my next question is:  Will the powers that be put Whitewater and Mount on the same side of the bracket this year?

From a UWW fan, I hope not. Personally I'm hoping they do more of a pod style that they did back in 2011 to allow more interesting matchups to happen. If it does happen though, each team still needs to beat the best to win the championship so they'll play their hearts out either way, but I still hope they're on opposite sides.

Oh, and congrats to Mount on the win. I watched the first half online before the UWW/UWP game came on. Surprised the game got as close as it did after that half, did Berg make the adjustments?

[mr_mom]

The OAC Pick-Em results for Week 9 are posted.

D3FTBALLFAN took weekly honors with a stellar 13 of 17 points.  And early season leader jaypeter shows no ill effects of his three weeks off with a solid 12.

FCGrizzliesGrad missed all of the OAC games to open the door a crack.  [can't say much ... I only picked the MUC-HEI game correctly]. 

Week 10's spreads will be posted Monday evening.

[edward de vere]

I have to believe Burke could be starting for a number of D2 teams.

[ExTartanPlayer]

I have to believe Burke could be starting for a number of D2 teams.

Sure he could. But there are reasons to choose D3 over D2. Just because he is playing for Mount does not mean Division II schools ignored him.  Scholarships are not the only reason to pick a school, even for football.

[HScoach]

Not sure what to make of this Mount team other than Burke is one poised SOB.    Dumb mistakes and penalties  let both Franklin and Heidelberg back in the game.  And it almost cost them again.    That tendancy has to stop in a hurry.

[Dr. Acula]

Listened to the game yesterday, watched it thanks to Berg's handy feed this AM.  Thoughts:

I watched the fake punt 5 times. I'm convinced that was called. As soon as he caught the snap he started running and one the personal protectors turned his guy in with the block to kind of seal the edge.  And credit to Ruhnke....he looked pretty darn athletic running it.  Huge play.

While I wasn't happy with the blown coverages I won't complain too much because clearly they keyed on Brooks and did a FAR better job shutting him down than any us expected.  BUT, the thing that bugged me was guys being that open on obvious passing downs. There seemed to be some confusion with the coverages on occasion or something.  Overall good job by the D though.

I was very impressed with those two interior D linemen for Berg. Poirier (?) is excellent.  The issue for them is that beyond those two they looked very average. Walt posted after the Cap game that he didn't think they could stop a good offense and I think I have to agree.

While I don't think it would have been game over because it was so early, if Chambers catches that Mees pass that was thrown RIGHT to him and jogs in for the pick 6 to make it 24-7 that would have been big.  When you're projecting down the road it's stuff like not taking that gift TD, the inexcusable unsportsmanlike penalty on Fechko, etc. that you point to as needing cleaned up.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Listened to the game yesterday, watched it thanks to Berg's handy feed this AM.  Thoughts:

I watched the fake punt 5 times. I'm convinced that was called. As soon as he caught the snap he started running and one the personal protectors turned his guy in with the block to kind of seal the edge.  And credit to Ruhnke....he looked pretty darn athletic running it.  Huge play.

VK said it was a called fake in this article:  the-review.com

[Ric]

The Ohio Athletic Conference should be embarrassed by its officiating this year, but I doubt it is. An OAC official sat right in front of me during the game yesterday. I wonder if he saw the forward pass ruled a fumble play since none of his officials on the field saw it. To tell VK that no one saw it is the most absurd thing I have ever heard from an official. I mean, after all, wouldn't one of them accidentally be looking at the ball? The officiating has been horrid all year and now it has become a joke.

[Ric]

By the way, ZERO holding yards. ZERO. Absolutely ridiculous!

[Walt]

The Ohio Athletic Conference should be embarrassed by its officiating this year, but I doubt it is. An OAC official sat right in front of me during the game yesterday. I wonder if he saw the forward pass ruled a fumble play since none of his officials on the field saw it. To tell VK that no one saw it is the most absurd thing I have ever heard from an official. I mean, after all, wouldn't one of them accidentally be looking at the ball? The officiating has been horrid all year and now it has become a joke.

I've thought that all season.  I just assumed that Cap was not getting the beat crews because the beat were bring assigned to the "big games" like UMU vs Berg .

The officiating at the Cap vs Otterbein game was bad...didnt cost Cap the game but certainly was frustrating to watch as a fan.