FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

Knightstalker · August 27, 2009, 09:35:40 PM

Didn't see him much, he was about 25 lbs lighter but seemed in pretty good shape, strong kid, got a good push, was a little awkward in pass blocking but that was two years ago.

Toms River East has a pretty good program, always competitive and the kids are pretty solid fundamentally.

theaprof · August 27, 2009, 10:14:21 PM

Went to tonight's scrimmage. I have to say that I don't believe that LK was very happy with the play on either side of the ball. I'm glad I'm not in the locker room after the game. I'd guess that it will be more than a little warm in there.

Rocco's first pass in drills was intercepted and his first pass in the controlled scrimmage was picked as well. Seaman looked okay, but not great. The QB from Fla. didn't play. I was impressed by a freshman defensive end from Louisville--he wore # 13, didn't get his name--he had two "sacks" and seemed to really be able to move. Also was impressed with #89 on offense, really big tight end with some good speed and quickness--reminded me a lot of Tyla.

Cecil did not dress and neither did McLain.

I'm sure LK will figure out what to do by next Saturday, but I'm glad it's him and not me.

skunks_sidekick · August 27, 2009, 10:37:29 PM

Good to see all my "internet friends" tonight at Pancho's.

Here's my grades from tonight...

Defense - Solid B (maybe B+)
Offense - Shaky B- (almost a C)

Our running game was basically non-existent. Everyone wants Terrance to make it all the way back and have a great year, but I really doubt if that is going to happen. He looked slow, and didn't seem to have a burst. Rocco was "ok", but he looked like the Rocco everyone has seen the past few years. Great arm, not much QB sense, and nervous feet. I thought Seaman looked really great considering he was a freshman thrown into that action. My guess is he will be the man before the year is over unless Rocco really steps it up. Cecil was dressed, but did not play. Not sure if he is a bit dinged up or not. Mount's receivers were good, and as theaprof mentioned the big tight end (89) had great hands.

LK has a lot of work to do, but somehow I think he will get it done.

theaprof · August 27, 2009, 10:52:33 PM

Quote from: skunks_sidekick on August 27, 2009, 10:37:29 PM
Good to see all my "internet friends" tonight at Pancho's.

Here's my grades from tonight...

Defense - Solid B (maybe B+)
Offense - Shaky B- (almost a C)

Our running game was basically non-existent. Everyone wants Terrance to make it all the way back and have a great year, but I really doubt if that is going to happen. He looked slow, and didn't seem to have a burst. Rocco was "ok", but he looked like the Rocco everyone has seen the past few years. Great arm, not much QB sense, and nervous feet. I thought Seaman looked really great considering he was a freshman thrown into that action. My guess is he will be the man before the year is over unless Rocco really steps it up. Cecil was dressed, but did not play. Not sure if he is a bit dinged up or not. Mount's receivers were good, and as theaprof mentioned the big tight end (89) had great hands.

LK has a lot of work to do, but somehow I think he will get it done.

Cecil was dressed in bright yellow shorts, a t-shirt and a grey backpack--threw some on the side lines--there was a #10 dressed (actually there may have been several of them) but it wasn't Cecil! I was told that he had a slight groin pull but would be fine for next week.

seventiesraider · August 27, 2009, 11:27:55 PM

Four hours and fifteen minutes of football. Pretty hard to digest. Very close to Skunk's Sidekick assessment, but I saw some good running late in the going. T Morring was not impressive nor was Rocco. Saw some really impressive routes and catches and the defense looked good. It was what it was, a scrimmage with two good teams

PurpleSuit · August 28, 2009, 12:42:24 AM

pretty chippy scrimmage tonight...probably due to being the first time of hitting an opponent, and a couple times when Mount hit the QB. W&J seemed to have a couple pretty talkative players. Would be fun to see a "rematch" in the playoffs

I thought the defense played pretty well for the first time, very aggressive unit. The only success the first-team W&J offense really had was on screens and swing passes. Alex Ferrara (S #7) had two picks and Roger Stewert and Even Lamolinara both dropped easy picks.

theaprof, I believe the DE from Louisville is Corey Whaley...and yes he was pretty impressive for a slight DE frosh.

Rocco showed the big arm, but he seems to be a hair late on some of his throws. Seaman played well for a frosh. He seemed a little tenative at times, ie the two botched hand-offs to Tyler Harris (#34).

Harris, Panchik, and Lemmon all ran the ball a great deal better that Morring, with Lemmon scampering down the sidelines for a nice TD early on.

My biggest impression of the night was the TE Kyle Miller #89. Huge target with seemingly good hand and pretty good wheels. I would think he can be a big contributer this season. Also, #84 might be running a lot next practice, LK was all over him at multiple points .

It was a good scrimmage between two good teams. I think that some of the offensive issues could be linked with not having Cecil dressed.

raiderpa · August 28, 2009, 10:14:07 AM

Morring looked slow slow slow, Lemon impressed me with his "Kmic-like" burst, as did Panchick. Seaman, for a frosh in first actions, was impressive. Rocco was Rocco...did anyone see Claycomb get banged up? Kershaw was the man and I hope Carpenter, when needed, can punt like he did last night....two DB's out last night and still looked very deep at that position. Millings is scary good and the TE looked like a D3.com first team AA....was impressed with WJ and their "we are not going to be intimidated" attitude.. I have to believe that Seaman is the future at QB

raiderguy · August 28, 2009, 10:16:31 AM

The O line was quite good I thought as the QB's had more than enough time to find targets and they did on some occasions. Overthrows were all around but no Cecil. There was a RB #27 who showed some wheels and strength. Harris looked nice too. To bad for Morring at this point, he did not look the part of a starting TB. Defense as mentioned looked good except for some short stuff. Hitting W & J receivers seemed to bother them a little too. Hello it is a scrimage not touch.
Mount did take a few liberties with the no touch of the yellow jerseys and several bench clearing tiffs occured.

We have some work to do before next Saturday. Maybe the prospect of no guaranteed win will send the fans rushing through the gates for the opener.

Yea it doesn't make sense to me either. I thought the goal was to win all your games.

Great sharing a few beverages and food with my "internet buddies" (hilarious theaprof) hope we can do it again soon or in Minnesota! Always welcome in Collegeville.

Blutarsky · August 28, 2009, 10:32:16 AM

The Miller kid playing TE is from Elida HS, near Lima.....one of the few LK recruits from the western side of OH

He actually played QB in high school, and was a very good basketball and baseball player (see: "athlete"). His dad is former BG and Browns QB, Mark Miller.....good, solid family.

Claycomb's injury appeared to be a slight soldier dislocation. He went to the sidelines, had it popped back in place by the trainer (fun to watch), and tried to re-enter the scrimmage. However, that attempt was immediately thwarted by LK.

McClain and Shorts (2 pre-season All-Americans) did not play due to injuries. The McClain situation is a little more serious than Shorts. However, the depth of the secondary will help. Even with getting two DB's "tossed" due to an altercation during the 7-on-7, there didn't appear to be much of a dropoff. The depth and athleticism of the defense is impressive.

My concerns remain the same--QB and RB. No offense to Rocco, but his first pass was intercepted. His predecessor had two picks in 15 games last year. I know, all MUC fans have been spoiled by the Kmic/Micheli combo over the past several years.

This was also the first real contact the team has had this year. Intrasquad has been limited, and that showed last night. The experts say that your biggest improvement is from game 1 to game 2. I'm hoping it's scrimmage 1 to game1.

Blutarsky · August 28, 2009, 10:53:50 AM

......another interesting observation from the scrimmage was the use of DT Zac Saum as fullback. It was kind of fun (in a sadistic sort of way) to watch a 5'10", 256# young man build up a head of steam....

seadog2 · August 28, 2009, 12:01:11 PM

I thought the scrimmage went well for the most part, but unless W&J can get a QB that is clued in on the game, I see a long season ahead for them.

We still have room for improvement on D, but it will come around. The O didn't look too bad, but will be in tune for game #1, I'm sure.

Morring didn't show much enthusiasm when he had the ball. I know he has been involved with altercations during practice, especially when someone puts a good lick on him and can envision him being ejected before the seson gets too far along. He needs to shed the chip he carries around and stop wanting to fight anyone who tackles him. (It's football)

Wish we could have seen some more special teams, I'm anxious to see if we can stop the yardage problem on punt and kickoff returns we encountered last year.

Next week should show us something though. Even though it was 90% full go last night, we were not allowed to really go after their QB. (We did have a oops or 2). A scrimmage is a scrimmage and you really aren't going to lose any marbles in that game, however next week will be a different story. Let the real games begin!!

seventiesraider · August 28, 2009, 12:09:44 PM

S/b no problem putting an excellant four receiver set on the field. With Lemon and Panchik and the occaisional BIG FB, the hole is and will be QB for a few weeks. I tried to remember this isn't the W&J team they used to bring over. These were big hard hitting kids who wern't going to roll over if Mount hit hard.

Skunks, Sidekick, HScoach, Hurfmuc, MtFan, Raiderguy, and Thea, it was nice to be in the stands and off the injured reserve list. (Sorry left Lenny off that list) The only answer I got last night was that I can't handle Chili reano any more.

Raiderguy-Did a lot of research on Onterrio Smith and the "orginal wizzinator" after I got home. He's kind of a negative folk hero. Might have to bid on that auction

HScoach · August 28, 2009, 12:27:27 PM

Well, most everything I wrote down last night has already been said, but I can't let a few things go without piling on some more.

IMHO, Mount will not win a title with Rocco as the full time QB. The defense and WR's are good enough to win the OAC with me at QB. Same with the first few rounds of the playoffs, but you're not going to beat someone the caliber of Wheaton, North Central or MHB with a QB that can't make good decisions and stares down his target. And don't even think about Whitewater yet. He has a great arm and throws an absolutely beautiful ball, but playing QB at Mount is as much about what's between your ears as it is your arm.

All off season I thought that Rocco would be the starter getting 80+% of the snaps all season with another athletic QB (either Shorts or a freshman) getting some snaps like Micheli did behind Jorris as a "change of pace" and to have a safety net just in case. After seeing Rocco continue to stare at his intended targets and have very happy feet in the pocket even when he knows that can't drill him, I think we'll see another QB getting time because they'll NEED the 2nd guy come crunch time.

Morring was a TB that is now simply at FB due to knee injuries. He had no burst. None. I feel really bad for the kid because he's worked his butt off to rehab, but he isn't even close to the same player we saw a couple years ago. I don't know who will get the majority of the carries, but Morring doesn't have the speed anymore to be productive against a good defense. He'll rip a team like Muskingum apart because he's tough, runs hard and wants to hurt somebody, but not a legit defense. Hopefully one of the young guys (Lemmon or Harris) step up bigtime.

My biggest concern heading into this season is that we're about to repeat the 2004 season. Mount was so much better than the rest of the conference that seson they never got challenged, let alone pushed to the brink, that is needed to really identify their weaknesses which was an athletic, but inconsistent QB and two TB's with average speed and ZERO vision. Just like '04, this team won't need a good QB and TB to go 10-0, but they'll need both to go 15-0.

Here's to hoping that the light finally turns on for Rocco to go along with his physically gifted arm and that one of the young TB's turns out to be a stud. Otherwise we're going to waste a great defense and WR corps.

OldOtter · August 28, 2009, 12:48:02 PM

ahhh, another year of OAC football. Looking forward to seeing how Otterbein responds to last years success. i plan on heading to the scrimmage tomorrow. a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball, especially upfront. having almost all of the skill players back on O should help early in the season as new players adjust to their roles.

seventiesraider · August 28, 2009, 12:54:26 PM

Just got a Twit from Dickinson College that they are broadcasting their scrimmage. Please God never let me get THAT bored.

For today, I'm 100% behind HSCoach. they wern't playing at a caliber that would put fear into the top tier. Very good from a raw talent stand point but not a great team, yet. Larry, do your magic. Wish little Raider didn't have a game at 2:30 on the 5th.