FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[SaintsFAN]

The regular season is half over and what do we know about the Raiders in 2014 thus far, a few thoughts:

4. The best WR group in D3

I have not seen Mount play yet this year, but I will put Wesley's WRs up against anyone else.  They run out 5 or 6 guys that can run and catch.   

To tack on Wesleydad - I'm not going to say that Fisher has a better core than Mount Union or Wesley.  Both of those schools have traditionally had speed at the position that Fisher has never been able to match.  But we've had first team all Americans before, and this group is the best collective group we've ever had.  Maybe not the speed, but I would say they probably have the best hands of any group of receivers in the country, excluding none.  Every single week without fail they are making athletic one handed grabs, catching difficult fades, etc.  One of the receivers is even a Mount Union transfer!  Shoot.  We'll take all of your backups that don't play if this is what they turn into haha. 

I hope you can make the Buff State in a couples weeks Wesleydad, you can see for yourself and compare.  Our QB is decent, not great, but those receivers sure make him look good. 

Wide receiver rant over.  I'm like a proud parent.  Even though I'm in my 20's.

Glad to hear Collichio is doing well for SJF.  I would have expected nothing less from him.  Was sad to see him go, but completely understand the reasoning behind it.   He wasn't going to see the field much in 2014 with Namdar and Scott as full time WR's instead of back-up QB's.   The  Honorable Mention-All OAC guy that Collichio was sitting behind in '13 is now a back-up too.   The depth at WR is crazy right now. 

I would have likely done the same as he did with transferring.   Especially being an out-of-state guy.   Obvious choice in my mind.

Did you see your shadow or are you going to stay and talk awhile?

[reality check]

Step aside Mount Union, Easterbrook now has his sights set on my high school after the ridiculous game we played in Friday night.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/TMQWeekSix141014/are-high-football-scores-bad-thing-tuesday-morning-quarterback

He did bag on John Carroll in the sentence after linking to our game versus Higley though.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Step aside Mount Union, Easterbrook now has his sights set on my high school after the ridiculous game we played in Friday night.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/TMQWeekSix141014/are-high-football-scores-bad-thing-tuesday-morning-quarterback

He did bag on John Carroll in the sentence after linking to our game versus Higley though.

While his potshots at Mount are misguided (I've emailed him to point out that Mount handles the blowouts with what appears to be the utmost class, and never gotten a reply), I do think he's got a point here.  For all his hackishness, has generally supported offensive innovation.  He's not a stick-in-the-mud crying foul over hurry-up offenses, and I think he's got a point....once the scores get into the 50's and 60's, I start to roll my eyes because each score seems to matter a bit less.  I do like games that end somewhere in the 28-21 or 38-35 range, where there's enough scoring that you don't get bored, but each score still feels like a big deal.  71-68 games get to the point where a touchdown is just, like, whatever, we'll score on the next possession anyway. 

[Craft_Beermeister]

The regular season is half over and what do we know about the Raiders in 2014 thus far, a few thoughts:

1. K. Burke leads the way, maybe another Gagliardi  winner again ( if a player can win it twice)

2. A more aggressive defense, more turnovers created and 4 points by game thus far.

3. Having a full time defensive coordinator

4. The best WR group in D3

5. Roman Namdar, maybe a potential player for Sunday games, if he stays healthy and at that position.

6. A more confident HC

7. Second half season questions, can the defense defend against better QB's and RB's?

8. Will the defense increase the turnovers in the next five games?

9. How much will K. Burke run in the next five games, now with an above average running game?

10. If the Raiders win the remaining five games, where we they be seated in the playoffs, and what are the chances
      for a return trip to Salem?

Having Larry a little bit more involved in developing the game plan doesn't hurt either.

[Dr. Acula]

Glad to hear Collichio is doing well for SJF.  I would have expected nothing less from him.  Was sad to see him go, but completely understand the reasoning behind it.   He wasn't going to see the field much in 2014 with Namdar and Scott as full time WR's instead of back-up QB's.   The  Honorable Mention-All OAC guy that Collichio was sitting behind in '13 is now a back-up too.   The depth at WR is crazy right now. 

I would have likely done the same as he did with transferring.   Especially being an out-of-state guy.   Obvious choice in my mind.

Very happy for Collichio.  I'll always remember him for catching that game winner against NCC.  I'm glad he is finding success at SJF. 

As for Mount's WR's the exciting thing to me is that 2 of their top guys are only going to get better every week as they continue to get more and more reps at WR in practice (and in games).  Namdar and Scott look good now.  Imagine how much they'll progress in the next 6 weeks hopefully.  Fun stuff. 

[Toph]

Step aside Mount Union, Easterbrook now has his sights set on my high school after the ridiculous game we played in Friday night.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/TMQWeekSix141014/are-high-football-scores-bad-thing-tuesday-morning-quarterback

He did bag on John Carroll in the sentence after linking to our game versus Higley though.

If you have more than two Gs in your name, and your name is Greg, you are predestined to become a pretentious blowhard.  And I wrote in my notebook:  POST OVER!

[SaintsFAN]

The regular season is half over and what do we know about the Raiders in 2014 thus far, a few thoughts:

1. K. Burke leads the way, maybe another Gagliardi  winner again ( if a player can win it twice)

2. A more aggressive defense, more turnovers created and 4 points by game thus far.

3. Having a full time defensive coordinator

4. The best WR group in D3

5. Roman Namdar, maybe a potential player for Sunday games, if he stays healthy and at that position.

6. A more confident HC

7. Second half season questions, can the defense defend against better QB's and RB's?

8. Will the defense increase the turnovers in the next five games?

9. How much will K. Burke run in the next five games, now with an above average running game?

10. If the Raiders win the remaining five games, where we they be seated in the playoffs, and what are the chances
      for a return trip to Salem?

Having Larry a little bit more involved in developing the game plan doesn't hurt either.

Which key to the season above would you remove so we still have a tidy list of 10 ??

[Craft_Beermeister]

The regular season is half over and what do we know about the Raiders in 2014 thus far, a few thoughts:

1. K. Burke leads the way, maybe another Gagliardi  winner again ( if a player can win it twice)

2. A more aggressive defense, more turnovers created and 4 points by game thus far.

3. Having a full time defensive coordinator

4. The best WR group in D3

5. Roman Namdar, maybe a potential player for Sunday games, if he stays healthy and at that position.

6. A more confident HC

7. Second half season questions, can the defense defend against better QB's and RB's?

8. Will the defense increase the turnovers in the next five games?

9. How much will K. Burke run in the next five games, now with an above average running game?

10. If the Raiders win the remaining five games, where we they be seated in the playoffs, and what are the chances
      for a return trip to Salem?

Having Larry a little bit more involved in developing the game plan doesn't hurt either.

Which key to the season above would you remove so we still have a tidy list of 10 ??

Another line item to consider possibly adding to the list is that the Raiders have out gained their opponents so far this year 1541 yards to 320 with the former 2011 OhioCollegeFootball.com DIII Offensive Player of the Year, Germany Woods contributing only 3 yards to that total.  Germany was a two-time All OAC running back before transferring to Mount Union.  The university's official stat page http://athletics.mountunion.edu/sports/fball/2014-15/teams/mountunion?view=lineup list him as a freshman with only getting into one game.  Is Germany still on the team.  I don't see him listed as running back kicks either.

[PurpleSuit]

the Curious Case of Germany Woods has been covered here many times over.  He was an all-american at Berg, transferred to Mount with two years of remaining eligibility.  Due to transferring between OAC schools, Woods had to sit out the 2012 season.  He began last season as the #1 RB at Mount, but was less than impressive and was passed on the depth chart by BJ, Nemeth and Minnich. 

I believe that he is still on the team, but I have not seen him in the sidelines of away games.  Hopefully he is still around, would be nice to get him a late TD this week.

[mr_mom]

Coffman to Junior Collins for a 30 yard touchdown to end the first half.  Boston up 14-13 in front of dozens of fans.  Game is showing on Altitude HD channel.

Or as the announcers said, "Jasper Collins, another product of Wide Receiver U".

[Sir Battlescars]

Looking at the scores of their first five games, Mount Union seems to have corrected their issues from last year (lol, I have to laugh at what I just typed, because despite those problems they still made it to the Stagg Bowl). I also notice they are putting up similar scores as they did in the first half of the 2012 championship season. It looks like they're well on their way to another Stagg Bowl appearance, and perhaps another title. But one thing I have to ask though is when I was looking at their schedule I noticed that they don't have a video link next to their home games just A and LS. Do they not show live video of their home games? Anyways, once again it's looking good for all the Mount Union fans out there.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Looking at the scores of their first five games, Mount Union seems to have corrected their issues from last year (lol, I have to laugh at what I just typed, because despite those problems they still made it to the Stagg Bowl). I also notice they are putting up similar scores as they did in the first half of the 2012 championship season. It looks like they're well on their way to another Stagg Bowl appearance, and perhaps another title. But one thing I have to ask though is when I was looking at their schedule I noticed that they don't have a video link next to their home games just A and LS. Do they not show live video of their home games? Anyways, once again it's looking good for all the Mount Union fans out there.

Sigh...  Alas they don't broadcast their home games online. They have a contract with a local TV station to delayed broadcast their games on Saturday nights.

[Desertraider]

Well it is Berg week. I am not sure this is a test game - like last year - but it will be the first test for Mounts secondary. Mees tore them apart last year throwing for 300+ and 2 scores. I am anxious to see how the secondary handles it this year as I think it will shed some light on how they will fare against JCU. Not worried about Mount on offense. Just so many weapons. I looked at the boxscore from last year and Mount really dominated that game. 600+ yds of offense from a team that didn't have many weapons outside of Burke and Mitchell. Now add in all the weapons around Burke and this could be another pinball game (I said could). I fully expect Berg to bring it - especially early. But Mounts D has looked better this year and were able to shut down Cartel and the running game last year, so I expect a similar performance. For me it comes down to the secondary.

On the WR banter - Mounts WRs have looked really good. Roman has looked flat out sensational. I would stack them against any group of WRs and put my money on Namdar, Scott, Meachem, Gainer, and Wilkinson....especially with Burke throwing the ball.

[HScoach]

^ The key to stopping the Heidi passing game isn't the Mount secondary.   It's the Mount D-line.   Which was non-existent last year.   This year the D-line could be categorized with "insufficient data" at this point given that they haven't faced a decent, let alone good offense.   If they dominate the line of scrimmage on Saturday, then count me in. 

[PurpleSuit]

Mount's problem last year with Berg was the inability to get to the QB and get him down.  They gave up a few big plays where the Mount secondary couldn't cover long enough and Mees found a guy over the top.  Other than the big plays, Berg never really drove down the field with any success. 

Last year's game gave the rest of the nation the blueprint on how to attack Mount's defense last year.  JCU and the playoff opponents followed with more success against Mount's defense than normal.  Kappas has been showing more blitzing and different looks with the DL this season, at least in my opinion.  Hopefully they can get more pressure up front this weekend. 

about Berg, one would have to think that this is the last big game for the Berg seniors and we'll see an inspired performance.  Mees, Brooks and the gang have had great careers, but haven't really won the big game.  For as much as everyone is writing off their season, they still have a chance at the postseason and share of the OAC title.  I don't think that they have enough to beat Mount, or really be that close, but I wouldn't be shocked to see a different Berg team on Saturday.  More than likely we'll see the same old Heidelberg.