FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Desertraider]

raiderguy...we can read between the lines and understand completely! 



RAIDERS WILL ROLL!!

Not so fast my friend!

Sorry - I just felt someone had to jump in with a Lee Corso quote.

ONU D looks tough. Trusnik will pressure Jorris especially with a depleted Raider o-line, and it may be tough for Kmic early. But I think the Raiders will wear them down and ROLL. The Raider O just has so many weapons - Garcon and Kmic are obvious but then you look at what Justin Wrey or Greg Micheli (sp?) have done when given a chance. Now add in Antonucci (sp?) and Boehm - not to mention Zimmerman is no slouch in the kicking game.

On the defensive side of the ball - well Mount has not given up much and the ONU offense has not been a scoring machine. I don't think ONU gets more than 2 scores. The Raiders will win they are just too deep with talent - but it may not be as big as some think. If Jorris can avoid the pressure - then the Raiders could light the scoreboard up.

That being said - Roll Raiders!

[Desertraider]

Forget my previous post! I remember ONU pounding my AM (Hiram) 84-14. I said the Bears would not get more than 2 scores - so that is my pick:

Raiders: 84
Bears:    14


Granted I would not be willing to wager on that pick - but what the heck.

[dabein22]

RIC

I will stay with the polite theme and apologize for the outlandish "torched you like no other" comment.  Perhaps a bit overstated.  And I watched the Stagg Bowl on t.v. and I agree White-Water was very very good.  That is why I said CU "MAY" have been national champs.  They certainly would have had there hands full in the Stagg and probably in the Semis as well.  (Especially since Pentello plays so poorly in big games....sorry, I'll be polite again).  The key to Cap, much like every other top tier team, is game planning.  I've watched alot of Cap games and when the are aggressive on O and step on the gas pedal (ala... LK), they are a very explosive and dangerous team.  When coach Collins relies totally on his D and gets conservative, CU can be beaten, even by greatly inferior teams (ala...Otterbein last year).  Case in point, the CU-Mount playoff game compared to the CU-Mount games Pentello's first first few years.  IMHO, the reason Pentello was finally able to have success against "the machine" was because the game plan was aggressive and challenged the DBs for Mount rather than trying to throw short and get YAC.  Pentello's best assest may be his big arm and in the playoff game he was finally able to use it and stretch the D by throwing down field.

Enough about that, injuries (unfortunate as they are) are a part of football.  And don't hold it against Pentello if a DB was not 100%.  You have to play who is out there and LK must have thought an 80% whoever that was, was better than a 100% backup.  I am sure you Mount fans would have like to seen Garcon playing against ONU last year.  Different outcome then perhaps?

As for being a top ten Mount QB, come on, top three easy and we both know it.  Ask LK, rumor has it he wanted Pentello pretty bad coming out of HS.  Borchert, Ballard, Pentello, probably, but not necessarily in that order.  We both know it, you are being hateful again.

Good luck tomorrow......We don't want ONU stealing our thunder this year!!!!!!!  Mount 42, ONU 10.    Cap 38, JCU 7.

[Ric]

I'm sorry dabein but please don't accuse me of being hateful? And Pentello is a good QB that I know, but  I can only go by what I have seen.  He was not better than Scott Woolf, sorry.

[reality check]

I haven't really gotten into this week's smack talk because of a ridiculous work schedule (don't my employers know it's MOUNT/ONU week???)  I do want to point out the problem I have with some of the points made of late.  

Meadows didn't sneak up on the Raiders last year.  Kehres and Co. already knew what he was capable of.  He came into that game with some outstanding performances.  Meadows  had 115 yards and a TD in the Berg game and scored five touchdowns and tallied 205 yards on 15 carries against Otterbein last year the two weeks prior to the Mount game.  So I have a hard time believing he snuck up on the Raiders.  He just got the job done last Oct. 22.  

Stats and so forth are great and I'm the first guy to look into them for background.  I love to look at history and stats to spot trends nad whatnot but history and stats didn't beat Mount Union last year.  ONU looked like just as big an underdog on Oct. 22, 2005 as they do this time around.  That didn't matter much then though and I hope as a Polar Bear fan the same holds true this year.  What matters is who shows up Saturday, who executes better, who outcoaches who and who plays harder for all 60 minutes.  I know that Mount looks like it has a juggernaut offense in 2006.  They did in 2005 too.  They were dropping 50+ on opponents last September and early October too.  

Roster sleepers???

ONU won last year without three studs on their defense.  They were missing the reigning national defensive player of the year, an all conference-caliber safety and a lockdown cornerback.  The return of Trusnik and Alexander are big but #7 Steve Gunter may be the biggest addition and spark for the Bears this time around.  He will be the guy covering Garcon and a lot rests on his shoulders defensively and in the kicking game as a returner.  This guy played at Toledo before coming to ONU so he's a big talent.  I am really excited to see how he covers Garcon on this big stage.  


Look I'm not saying ONU wins tommorrow.  I know how good this Mount team is.  I also know ONU's shortcomings so far in 2006.  But none of what has happened so far this season matters once that ball gets kicked off in Alliance.  If we have a repeat turnover performance then I have every reason to believe this game is close.  If MUC makes the same kind of mistakes or has difficulty moving the ball against the defense, then the Bears have a chance.  

I am hopeful but realistic.  If ONU wins the turnover battle, I say ONU 24-MUC 20.  If ONU loses the turnover battle I say MUC 42-ONU 17.  Keeping Mount out of the endzone in the first quarter is a key.  They've started strong and fast all season and stopping that could stifle that offense.

[bushman]

"The TO thing" is  big in this game.  Hard hits cause TOs.  In all the years of watching Mt. Union football, no body hits harder than ONU.   I just hope they don't wear their FONT MUC UNION  t-shirts.   Good luck to both teams and no injuries/personal fouls.


GO RAIDERS!

[rscl70]

In all the years of watching Mt. Union football, no body hits harder than ONU.


GO RAIDERS!

Amen to that one.

I saw a little bit of Westerville South's game on TV last night.  Their QB is Rocco Pentello.  Any relation?

[bushman]

rscl70
I will hazard a guess,  Rocco is Rocky's uncle.  He is still eligible even in high school.
Must run in the family.

[rscl70]

rscl70
I will hazard a guess,  Rocco is Rocky's uncle.  He is still eligible even in high school.
Must run in the family.

Maybe Pentello plays in Westerville on Friday nights as "Rocco" and in Bexley on Saturday afternoon as "Rocky."

[crusader26]

First, I cannot see how ONU will outscore MUC.  If ONU happens to pull off the upset it will be b/c of turnovers & the defense scoring more points then their offense.  ONU's defense is tops in the country, but they don't match very well with MUC's Offensive style of play.  MUC wins easily 34-7.

As far as Capital, they should dominate JCU.  However, history says they won't, and I predict a 19-7 win.  FYI: Rocco Pentello is the cousin of Rocky Pentello.  To make things even more confusing, Rocky Pentello (South's Coach) is the father of Rocco Pentello.  How confusing is this to some people reading the Columbus Dispatch every weekend, as they both usually make some sort of headlines.

[Li'l Giant]

I can't possibly be the only guy who saw Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit pick Mt. Union over ONU, can I? 

Way to go, ONU and MUC getting the D-III love on Game Day.

[FF3]

To set the record completely straight.  Rocky Pentello, the Westerville South coach, is 2nd cousin to Rocky Pentello, the CU QB.  Rocco Pentello, the current Westerville South QB, is the HS coach's son and is the CU QB's 3rd cousin.  In other words, Rocco the QB and Rocky the QB's grandfathers were brothers.  Just for fun, the great grandfather of both QBs name was........Rocco Pentello!!!!!

Football runs in the family.

[reality check]

So FF3 which Pentello are you?  How are you related to both sides?   

[OU#25]

Meadows fumbles on first offensive play for ONU.

[reality check]

He's fumbled more this year than last year.  I was a little concerned about that coming in but fumbling on the first play is inexcusable.

Garcon vs. Gunter may be a great matchup all day.