FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[WarhawkDad]

On a separate and more serious note, I want to say how much I respect the Purple Raiders, their program, history, and fans.  You are the program that set the standard that UWW chose to copy, the sincerest form of flattery.  Maintaining that excellence is even harder than getting there.  UWW fans learned that last year.

I believe many of your posters believed that this 2013 team was young and not quite as elite as other Mount teams.  Getting to the Stagg Bowl is expected at UMU, but getting there is no small accomplishment (ask NCC, UMHB, Wesley, Linfield and others) so take pride in that achievement.  I fully expect Mount Union to be stronger next year and to come back with a vengeance. 

Merry Christmas

WarhawkDad

[mr_mom]

Just got home and decided to check in before I do my OAC Pick-Em computations.

Nice to finally put a couple faces to D3 Handles; my sister OLineMom is a gem, and WesleyDad was quite the second-half prognosticator, pretty much nailing it.

As for the game, I think most expected this to be a rebuilding year for MUC and were impressed how far the team got on will, but with obvious deficiencies.  They beat fast teams, they beat bigger teams.  UWW was a faster, bigger team.  I was impressed with their line play on both sides, O-Line technique was superb.  Behrendt was more nimble than I thought, given his -69 yards rushing up to this game.  And there was always one or two sets of eyes on Burke.

Weird to say but I prefer a blowout to a close win.  A 2-point loss would have led folks to blame the refs; a blow-out forces the team to address their issues on the field and on the sideline.

The "party" was, of course, subdued.  My son and I stuck around just long enough to see Burke (with an ice-bag around his ankle) and a half-dozen players came down early (because Burke's grandmother wanted to see him before she went to bed).  I thought the standing ovation from the crowd was a class act, but in trying to show them unconditional love, it seemed to knock them down even more. 

I hope some day they realize that they didn't disappoint their fans ... they simply lost a game to a better team.

Pick-Em scores following soon ...

[amonachino]

Well said Mr. Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mr_mom]

The final results of the OAC Post-season Pick-Em are posted.

Bleedpurple took the final week with a stellar score of 19 out of 25.  Jaypeter got the two point bonus for being closest to the final margin with UWW by 12.

Those 19 points from bleedpurple were enough to move him into a tie for the 2013 OAC Post-Season Pick-Em Championship with NCF and -- deep sigh! -- FCGrizzliesGrad.  With 30 players, this post-season game was the toughest to take ... congratulations to our victorious triumvirate.

Thank you all for playing the regular and post season contest.  I learn more and more about the rest of D3 football by running this game ... I hope you learn just a little bit by playing it.

Happy Holidays to all! 
Mom

Year		Regular Season		Post Season
2007		D3Poster & runyr		Acky & RIC
2008		Bobo & RIC		Mr. Mom
2009		reality check		Bashbrother
2010		USee		Jaypeter
2011		HScoach		BWJacket
2012		Chess4Me & praiderguy		Shark
2013		FCGrizzliesGrad		bleedpurple, FCGrizzliesGrad & NCF

[purple]

 I don't know what the Whitewater guys would say,but that's the best I've ever seen WWW play. I refuse to be down on the Purples. Remember where they were in week one? Did even the most die hard among us think this was a team likely to end up in he Stagg Bowl? I know I didn't. VK,and his assistants did an outstanding job developing this team into one that beat some very good teams. When Napoleon Bonaparte considered members of his officer corps for promotion he always asked,"Is he lucky?" I think VK is lucky,I think Berke is lucky,and our boys had more than their share of luck this season. Mount Union had a great year.

[bleedpurple]

I don't know what the Whitewater guys would say,but that's the best I've ever seen WWW play. I refuse to be down on the Purples. Remember where they were in week one? Did even the most die hard among us think this was a team likely to end up in he Stagg Bowl? I know I didn't. VK,and his assistants did an outstanding job developing this team into one that beat some very good teams. When Napoleon Bonaparte considered members of his officer corps for promotion he always asked,"Is he lucky?" I think VK is lucky,I think Berke is lucky,and our boys had more than their share of luck this season. Mount Union had a great year.

Yes, I would say beating Mount Union by 38 points would be one of UW-W's better efforts.  But they didn't do anything they are not capable of doing consistently.  It was a typical performance from this defense probably made more impressive when considering the Purple Raiders' offensive athleticism. Matt Behrendt has been lights out all year, finishing with 40 TD's and 1 interception. They let the reigns off of him in the running game Friday night.  He has battled turf toe all year but in the last game of the year it was time to turn him loose. He's always been a good athlete and able to run when healthy.  The receivers are all outstanding and made better by having both Huber and Kumerow healthy at the same time.  Both the offensive line and the running backs have done nothing but get better as the year has progressed. UW-W has all 10 of their two deep back in the offensive line next year and 9 of them are either freshmen or sophomores. They are young but the are on a huge upward curve.

I also think facing Mount Union brought the aggressiveness out in terms UW-W's offensive strategy. UW-W normally uses the first half to try giving the defense some looks and see how they respond to it. They then make their adjustments. If/when they get a 3 score lead (or 2 scores midway through the 4th quarter), they go into their "shorten the game mode". They work the clock and take no chances because of the strength of the defense. Many 31-3 type wins could have well been 45 or 52-3 if UW-W chose to play differently. But UW-W could care less about the score.  For whatever reason, that thinking got thrown out the window Friday night. They just decided to let the horses out of the stable and let them run. Don't worry about clock, don't worry about mistakes. Just go after them. Turned out pretty well.

[02 Warhawk]

I don't know what the Whitewater guys would say,but that's the best I've ever seen WWW play. I refuse to be down on the Purples. Remember where they were in week one? Did even the most die hard among us think this was a team likely to end up in he Stagg Bowl? I know I didn't. VK,and his assistants did an outstanding job developing this team into one that beat some very good teams. When Napoleon Bonaparte considered members of his officer corps for promotion he always asked,"Is he lucky?" I think VK is lucky,I think Berke is lucky,and our boys had more than their share of luck this season. Mount Union had a great year.

That probably was Whitewater's best D ever, but they definitely brought better offenses to the Stagg bowl before. However that was probably the most complete game they've played in quite some time...if that makes since. Even the coaching staff seemed a step or two ahead of VK. I will say this was probably Whitewater's most well coached team of all time.

Like UMU, us whitewater fans didn't come close to picturing this team accomplishing what they did. Hell, they weren't even suppose to win their conference...let alone the Stagg bowl.

Whitewater had their share of luck as well..just look back to the semi-final game against MHB. They should have been done by a TD with a minute to go in that game.

[wesleydad]

Just got home and decided to check in before I do my OAC Pick-Em computations.

Nice to finally put a couple faces to D3 Handles; my sister OLineMom is a gem, and WesleyDad was quite the second-half prognosticator, pretty much nailing it.

As for the game, I think most expected this to be a rebuilding year for MUC and were impressed how far the team got on will, but with obvious deficiencies.  They beat fast teams, they beat bigger teams.  UWW was a faster, bigger team.  I was impressed with their line play on both sides, O-Line technique was superb.  Behrendt was more nimble than I thought, given his -69 yards rushing up to this game.  And there was always one or two sets of eyes on Burke.

Weird to say but I prefer a blowout to a close win.  A 2-point loss would have led folks to blame the refs; a blow-out forces the team to address their issues on the field and on the sideline.

The "party" was, of course, subdued.  My son and I stuck around just long enough to see Burke (with an ice-bag around his ankle) and a half-dozen players came down early (because Burke's grandmother wanted to see him before she went to bed).  I thought the standing ovation from the crowd was a class act, but in trying to show them unconditional love, it seemed to knock them down even more. 

I hope some day they realize that they didn't disappoint their fans ... they simply lost a game to a better team.

Pick-Em scores following soon ...

Mr. Mom, it was nice meeting you also.  as far as prognosticating, we all get lucky sometime.  thanks for running the pick em and see you down the road either in alliance or the stagg.

[amonachino]

02 WARHAWK     I will never forget that drop by that freshman, oh the humanity.  If a duck had a goose's neck it could eat it's butt.  On a serious side,  the team up north did a great job in winning the Stagg.  Beating the top 3 teams in Div.III  3 weeks in a row.  I do not like giving you the good job, yet, putting my disdain aside for the team up north, it was a good job.  Congrats.  enjoy the off season for both of us, cause I know I will not. 

[bleedpurple]

I don't know what the Whitewater guys would say,but that's the best I've ever seen WWW play. I refuse to be down on the Purples. Remember where they were in week one? Did even the most die hard among us think this was a team likely to end up in he Stagg Bowl? I know I didn't. VK,and his assistants did an outstanding job developing this team into one that beat some very good teams. When Napoleon Bonaparte considered members of his officer corps for promotion he always asked,"Is he lucky?" I think VK is lucky,I think Berke is lucky,and our boys had more than their share of luck this season. Mount Union had a great year.

That probably was Whitewater's best D ever, but they definitely brought better offenses to the Stagg bowl before. However that was probably the most complete game they've played in quite some time...if that makes since. Even the coaching staff seemed a step or two ahead of VK. I will say this was probably Whitewater's most well coached team of all time.

Like UMU, us whitewater fans didn't come close to picturing this team accomplishing what they did. Hell, they weren't even suppose to win their conference...let alone the Stagg bowl.

Whitewater had their share of luck as well..just look back to the semi-final game against MHB. They should have been done by a TD with a minute to go in that game.

Actually, UW-W would have had over 3 minutes left. No way we know who "would have won". I know UW-W would have gone up-tempo. Would they have scored? I have no idea. But then again, you can go that route with any game ever played that ended with a win by less than a TD. If "ifs and buts were candy and nuts a duck could eat his butt".  Or something like that. 

[Dr. Acula]

Now that the dust has settled I wanted to find the positives as we head to 2014.  Everyone is disappointed, but let's step back off the ledge and consider the following:

Burke broke Ballard's record for total offense in a season of 4656 yards.  He became the first junior to win the Gagliardi.  He carried the offense seemingly on his own at times.  He's 29-1 as a starter.  He will be our starting QB in 2014. 

Mitchell emerged as a legit threat at RB racking up 1365 yds.  Nemeth showed he can make some things happen too when given a chance.  And Nemeth is the old man of the duo as a soph.  I like that.

A guy many of us expected to be the team's top WR didn't even play this year.  I assume he is going to be back next year.  As is Meacham who emerged as a good option and sneaky big play threat as well.  And there are some guys that are going to be sophomores next year that will push for time.  And who knows what happens with Taurice Scott who showed he is a good QB, but also the type of athlete you hopefully find touches for any way you can.

VK will not be a first year HC next year.  You can watch how to do something all you want, but until you actually do it you just don't realize what's involved.  Now he knows what's involved.  His Tweet of "WE WILL BE BACK" says it all.  He's not happy.  None of them are. 

Going along with the above is that Dartt was also a first year play caller (especially daunting considering LK wasn't there as a security blanket as with prior OC's who called plays).  I think as VK gains trust in Dartt's ability as an OC we will see the D improve because VK will return to devoting his focus to that side of the ball.

The defense was poor against top tier offenses.  We can't deny that.  The evidence was in front of us.  But as I said before the defense's best guys were almost exclusively the sophomores.  Those guys are going to get better.  There's a big difference between talented sophomores being counted on to make a big play here and there and sophomores being counted on the lead the defense.  That D needed sophomores to be the best D lineman, LBs and DBs on the team.  That's a TALL order.  We just have to trust that it'll pay dividends moving forward.

A specific positive to me about the D is the LB's.  I thought Gonell had a really nice season.  I like the thought of having him and Spencer there the next 2 yrs.

Disappointing ending to the season, but they're going to be better next year.  It's gonna be a fun 2014! 

[runyr]

I can't think of any active coach I'd rather have coaching Mount Union than Vince Kehres. I have every confidence that he is one of the best coaches in D3 football and will only get better.

As a fan and alum, it just hurts to lose like that in a championship game. I now understand a little better how my Notre Dame alum son felt early this year after watching the Irish play Alabama. 

[amonachino]

Mount made the espn top 10 the other night. 2 plays that the team up north made on T.D. catches were shown.   http://plaindealer.oh.newsmemory.com/     article titled "Raiders face huge climb to get back to the top."  pretty much right on.

[Raider 68]

After much thought since Friday evening as well as this 2013 season, I am posting my thoughts on 2013, 2014 and beyond.
Also I recognize that many may not agree with my comments but at the same time some will agree especially for 2014 and beyond.

2013

- When you consider a team that only returned 5 starters and a new HC, the year was quite successful.

- An All-American QB and Gagliardi trophy winner

- An 14-1 record for Coach V. Kehres in his first year at the helm

- An exciting year for close games, unlike many the Raiders have had in the past where the outcome is decided by halftime
  if not before

- The emergence of two other OAC teams and strong title contenders, JCU and Heidelberg.

- A stellar ( Mount Union type) run defense for the regular season.

- A new Offensive coordinator who did a very good job with all news starter except K. Burke.

- The improvement of the running game with B. Mitchell showing great promise for the future with an O line that came on well
   considering  all the challenges of new faces.

- The inability of the Raiders to sustain large leads in key games.

- The lack of a consistent pass rush with minimal sacks this season.

- The fall off of generating turnovers like past teams

- Not in the position to make key adjustments at critical times during the big games

- Critical penalties allowing the opponents to continue long drives.

All and all a very good year, but an extremely disappointing finish in the title game. Will the Raiders and coaches learn from
the final game, YES. Will it cause them to make changes in 2014, MAYBE. Will the Raiders be better in 2014, HOPEFULLY.

2014 and Beyond

- The Raiders will return 12/13 starters into 2014 vs. 5 for 2013

- Kevin Burke will have another great year and will be considered one of the top QB's in Mount History

- The running game will continue to get better and the receivers will be as good as 2013 as a group.

- Coach V. Kehres will be able to focus on his defensive strengths and Coach Dartt will have that 1st year as OC
  under his belt

- The defensive will be better in some areas.


Beyond

- Since 2003, The Raiders have changed their recruiting philosophy. The loss of the Stagg Bowl 2003 to St. John's was blamed
   by many as being the result of a large slow offensive and defensive lines.

- Since that time the approach was to recruit smaller, quicker more athletic players who brought mostly speed to the game.

- The coaches say it is hard to recruit the bigger OL and DL to Mount Union, yet all the Raiders playoffs opponent seem to
   be successful.

- IHMO, It starts here. Now we see all the playoffs competition with bigger and faster OL/DL lines. JCU was a big team and
  their QB was able to pick teams apart because one, the line was large and he had a quick release. In each of the
  2013 playoff games, the teams were all larger then the Raiders and were able to do what they wanted.

- It is such a disadvantage to try a beat an O lineman who outweighs the D lineman by 35-40 lbs and is 3-4 inches taller
  in each of the playoff games.

- The Mount LB's are athletic, quick, but the are very small compared to the playoff teams.

- The greatest weakness in 2013 was the DB, athletic, YES, but just to small to handle the big playoff type receivers.
   They can handle most OAC WR's, but not playoff teams.

- Is the 4-2-5 defensive allignment now obsolete for the Raiders, I think so for many reasons. Will the coaches consider
  changing it, I hope so.

- Having the 5 DB was no help in the playoffs, consider another LB, so the pass rush can improve

Recruiting

- For Beyond the Raiders need to rethink the players the are recruiting. The other playoff teams are finding the Bigger, faster
  taller players. With Mount's history and program, these type players should be available, but are the coaches will to
  change their approach somewhat.

- Changes to the recruiting does not mean the current players now are not all talented and are major contributors, it is
   more what has happen to playoff competition that is facing the Raiders in the future.

[amonachino]

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2013/12/mount_union_trying_to_close_th.html#incart_river           easier to get.