FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[raiderfan1983]

This conversation is starting to sound like one of those 18 step emails that say why some random school that nobody cares about should be national champs since they beat someone who beat someone who beat someone who beat Oklahoma.

So you're saying that you can line it up for Kent State to be the national champion then?   

[seventiesraider]

HScoach - I do need to apologize. In the notes I had with a bunch of stats I had written done, I noted that it was my original intention to compare Lacrosse with ONU and River Falls  with BW. Not that it really matters, but it got jumpled with the distraction of 25 pre Christmas break 7th graders "working."

I do feel that the bottom of the WIAC is a higher than this years OAC, but I'm not convinced that WW is significantly different than Mount.

[bleedpurple]

The dissecting of the schedules is fascinating in view of the fact that HSCoach's comments were really right on the money.

I think the bottom line is that both teams are facing better teams than they have played all year.  UWW will likely be facing less of a "jump" in quality because of some of the teams they have played this year. However, all the matters is who plays better on Saturday.

[raiderfan1983]

Game notes for anyone interested.

http://www2.muc.edu/ASSETS/0C47AB3A36864CF989CD7EE53A414AB3/08fbgamenotes-stagg-bowl.pdf

[HScoach]

No argument that by getting sent to another region we became the Beast of the Least, but Cortland and Wheaton were quality opponents and working strictly on strengths it is easy to compare schedules even without common opponents. St Xavier and Puget Sound make up for our games against Marietta and Muskingium. River Falls and Lacrosse line up fairly well against  Heidelburg and Wilmington.  St Xavier lost to Malone and they are right down the road from Mount  and hardly a football power.

Sorry, but I can't let that one slide.  Beating The Berg hasn't been a quality win since the 1960's and Wilma is worse than bad.   Even the worst LAX team ever are better Wilma, Etta, Berg, etc.  And you

And before you throw out that Wilma finished 4-6 and therefore are somehow decent, they had the worst defense I've ever seen in D3 and played against MUC with a couple WR's taking snaps at QB and running the single wing due to injuries.  The team they put on the filed against Mount would have lost to some good HS teams.  They were that bad.

And yet they defeated Marietta, Muskingum, Heidelberg, and Baldwin-Wallace.  That really doesn't say much for the conference does it?

Wilma's defense has always been poor, but against MUC they didn't have a QB.  Period.  They began the game with a 3rd string freshman making his first collegiate start (only attempted 1 pass prior to MUC) and then they quickly had him injured too.  They played most of the game with alternating WR's running for their lives with a direct snap. 

In the other games you mentioned, they had Blackburn or Reynolds at QB which presented a pretty good offense.  If you look back at the returning starters heading into '08, no OAC had more All-conference offensive players returning than Wilmington.  So if healthy, they had a very good offense, but they weren't even close to that against MUC.

My point was that the Wilma team that MUC played against was horid.  They might not have been that the entire season, but they brought absolutely nothing to the field that day against Mount.   



70's,

I have no problem with your revised reference to Ohio Northern and BW instead of WIlma and Berg.  That's legit.

[reality check]

Seventies

The more you fall in love with statistics, the more concerned I'm getting for you.  I read a lot of what you say about stats and can't for the life of me understand how you're drawing some of these conclusions.  

To say MUC had Wheaton's pass D in mind when they came into the second half is so far off-base.  I'd venture to say LK came out in 4 and 5 WR sets in the second half because of what they saw in the first half and what they thought they could have success doing in the second half.  You make adjustments in the second half of a ballgame based on what happened in the first half.  You come into a first half planning on taking advantage of things you saw in films (and if you want to stretch it, based on what the stats say).  Second halves are about adjustments not statistical ranks.

I like dissecting stats too.  I know they don't make or break a game and certainly mean very little as to what team wants it more on the field on game day.  But seriously, I can't for the life of me understand some of the conclusions you've been drawing based on your statistical research.  How is a 3-7 River Falls team (a team that's gone 3-7 or 2-7 ever year for the last 8 seasons) comparable to a BW team that goes 5-5 this year and has been a .500 or better team every year over that timeframe?  And as an ONU fan, I'm a little disturbed that you call LAX possibly the worst team they've ever fielded in one post and in another post you say they're on par with my Polar Bears.  Connecting the dots on that doesn't make much sense or make me all that happy either.  I can agree with the bottom of the WIAC being better than the OAC but then again, that's been accepted as fact for years by both parties.

[Desertraider]

Congrats to Greg Micheli on winning the Gagliardi Award. Truly deserving. Now how do we get the Keheres Award? On another note a long time favorite of the OAC board - specifically Mount fans - has given Nate Kmic his due. That's right sports fans...........Gregg Easterbrook!!! He did not even accuse Mount of padding Nate's stats!!! Maybe this was already mentioned but - oh well Nate deserves having it mentioned daily so here it is fresh off ESPN Page2:

Double Bonus Obscure College Score: Mount Union 45, Wheaton of Illinois 24 (Division III semifinal). Mount Union's Nate Kmic became the all-time NCAA leading rusher at 7,986 career yards, surpassing -- surely you know! -- Danny Woodhead. Woodhead, who played for Chadron State, broke the record previously held by -- surely you know! -- R.J. Bowers. Woodhead went undrafted, had a tryout with the Jets and was waived. Bowers, who played for Grove City College, spent a year on the Steelers' practice squad, then carried seven times for Pittsburgh in a late-season game. Kmic has one more appearance, next weekend's Division III championship versus Wisconsin-Whitewater, in which to extend his record. The Division III championship is called -- surely you know! -- the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. Not to be confused with Wheaton College of Massachusetts, Wheaton College of Illinois, located in Wheaton, Ill., held its annual Christmas Festival three weeks before Christmas.

Yes a little sarcastic in places........but way more than I have found from Sports Center! The pic of Nate next to the column has "Advice to defenders: You might as well get out of Nate Kmic's way". Anyone think UWW will follow the advice? Go Raiders!!!

[skunks_sidekick]

Easterbrook is a putz....

70's MEANS well.....but.......he is 70's after all....

I have studied all the stats....consulted with my psycho...er....psychic.....it all boils down to THIS.

As Mount fans we respect what WW has done the last four years.  Up until last year, we could say "eh.....you are the second best team in D-III the last few years...pat pat....good JOB!" 

After last year we have had to say....."ok...on that given day you beat us, but it's only been ONCE...don't get too ahead of yourself".   

Holy CRAP if WW ends up winning this game on Saturday.  Losing to the SAME team, in consecutive years, in the STAGG no less

Man......it hurts to even THINK about that.

COME ON RAIDERS......SAVE US FROM THOSE WW INTERLOPERS!   

[bleedpurple]

Easterbrook is a putz....

70's MEANS well.....but.......he is 70's after all....

I have studied all the stats....consulted with my psycho...er....psychic.....it all boils down to THIS.

As Mount fans we respect what WW has done the last four years.  Up until last year, we could say "eh.....you are the second best team in D-III the last few years...pat pat....good JOB!" 

After last year we have had to say....."ok...on that given day you beat us, but it's only been ONCE...don't get too ahead of yourself".   

Holy CRAP if WW ends up winning this game on Saturday.  Losing to the SAME team, in consecutive years, in the STAGG no less

Man......it hurts to even THINK about that.

COME ON RAIDERS......SAVE US FROM THOSE WW INTERLOPERS!   

Some of these posts have got me to thinking. I know Mount fans don't take any National Championship for granted. And I know once you are in the playoffs, there MIGHT be a game or two that could elicit very slight butterflies prior to the Stagg Bowl. (You know, if the other team played it's best game ever and if Mount turned the ball over and a lot of things went wrong, we could have a small percentage chance of losing). But other than that, basically, Mount rocks everyone all the time. They are that good.

I have a serious question for Mount fans. Isn't it kind of fun for you guys to think and talk about a game which is somewhat in doubt? I know you are pretty confident of a Mount victory. But still, It seems like there's more urgency for this game from Mount fans. I know I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie, but to me it would just seem like it would be more fun (although more nerve wracking) to look forward to a game like this. 

[usee]

To say MUC had Wheaton's pass D in mind when they came into the second half is so far off-base.  I'd venture to say LK came out in 4 and 5 WR sets in the second half because of what they saw in the first half and what they thought they could have success doing in the second half.  You make adjustments in the second half of a ballgame based on what happened in the first half.  You come into a first half planning on taking advantage of things you saw in films (and if you want to stretch it, based on what the stats say).  Second halves are about adjustments not statistical ranks.

Just to be clear: MUC started the game vs Wheaton in shotgun 4 wide w Kmic in the backfield and for most of the first quarter switched between that and no backs. I don't think Micheli took a snap under center until the 2nd quarter. In the second half they ran a mix of everything but started to focus on the offset I w TE which helped get Kmic loose on the cutback of the outside zone.

As usual, Mount used a variety of formations to do what they do.

[02 Warhawk]

Congrats to Greg Micheli on winning the Gagliardi Award. Truly deserving. Now how do we get the Keheres Award? On another note a long time favorite of the OAC board - specifically Mount fans - has given Nate Kmic his due. That's right sports fans...........Gregg Easterbrook!!! He did not even accuse Mount of padding Nate's stats!!! Maybe this was already mentioned but - oh well Nate deserves having it mentioned daily so here it is fresh off ESPN Page2:

Double Bonus Obscure College Score: Mount Union 45, Wheaton of Illinois 24 (Division III semifinal). Mount Union's Nate Kmic became the all-time NCAA leading rusher at 7,986 career yards, surpassing -- surely you know! -- Danny Woodhead. Woodhead, who played for Chadron State, broke the record previously held by -- surely you know! -- R.J. Bowers. Woodhead went undrafted, had a tryout with the Jets and was waived. Bowers, who played for Grove City College, spent a year on the Steelers' practice squad, then carried seven times for Pittsburgh in a late-season game. Kmic has one more appearance, next weekend's Division III championship versus Wisconsin-Whitewater, in which to extend his record. The Division III championship is called -- surely you know! -- the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. Not to be confused with Wheaton College of Massachusetts, Wheaton College of Illinois, located in Wheaton, Ill., held its annual Christmas Festival three weeks before Christmas.

Yes a little sarcastic in places........but way more than I have found from Sports Center! The pic of Nate next to the column has "Advice to defenders: You might as well get out of Nate Kmic's way". Anyone think UWW will follow the advice? Go Raiders!!!

kind of like last year how Mount Union defenders got out of the way of Justin Beaver! I applogize for the cheap shot...I couldn't resist   Just trying to have some fun.

Anyways, so it looks like a lot of MU fans in here are going to make the trip to VA. I for one will be watching it in WI again. Hopefully this time the previous ESPN2 program won't run into the game like last year. Not sure if that happened to everyone...but in Southeastern Wisconsin the Louisville basketball game ran late, so it overlapped into the Stagg Bowl. By the time they cut over to VA I saw MU had the ball at midfield already!

I still have the game saved on my TiVo at home...including the last 1:30 of the Louisville-Baylor game if anyone's interested

Here's to ESPN airing the game's entirety this time...

Best of luck to both teams..we are truley head-and-shoulders over the rest of DIII!!!

[raiderfan1983]

kind of like last year how Mount Union defenders got out of the way of Justin Beaver! I applogize for the cheap shot...I couldn't resist   Just trying to have some fun.

I'm pretty sure he meant kind of like last year how when Mount did get in the way of the QB on the goal line, Beaver just came up and pushed him from behind anyway.  Sorry for the cheap shot, I couldn't resist either.

[Drez]

Game notes for anyone interested.

http://www2.muc.edu/ASSETS/0C47AB3A36864CF989CD7EE53A414AB3/08fbgamenotes-stagg-bowl.pdf

I don't know; Kehres doesn't have a great record against opposing coaches with a higher career winning percentage...

[02 Warhawk]

kind of like last year how Mount Union defenders got out of the way of Justin Beaver! I applogize for the cheap shot...I couldn't resist   Just trying to have some fun.

I'm pretty sure he meant kind of like last year how when Mount did get in the way of the QB on the goal line, Beaver just came up and pushed him from behind anyway.  Sorry for the cheap shot, I couldn't resist either.

well played my friend.....it's all good

[raiderfan1983]

kind of like last year how Mount Union defenders got out of the way of Justin Beaver! I applogize for the cheap shot...I couldn't resist   Just trying to have some fun.

I'm pretty sure he meant kind of like last year how when Mount did get in the way of the QB on the goal line, Beaver just came up and pushed him from behind anyway.  Sorry for the cheap shot, I couldn't resist either.

well played my friend.....it's all good

I was hoping you would take it in jest... I forgot to add the  .  It's hard to read sarcasm on a computer screen.