FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[skunks_sidekick]

As for Capital, no excuses, but Marty Assmann didn't play.  Not sure what, exactly is wrong, but hopefully it isn't anything serious.  It'd be a shame for a guy to lose his "extra year" to injury.  Marty has really only had one healthy season.

By all accounts, the Cap's Defense looks good, but the offense is struggling right now.  Five Turnovers vs. BW and 4 vs Wilma.  A -6 TO ratio isn't a good thing.

I hope they get it together and give Wesley a game, but a lot more guys are going to have to perform better than they are right now.

No offense JK, but if Capital is really an upper half OAC team, they have to be able to comfortably beat Wilmington without their 1st string QB.  Regardless of whether that QB is an All-American or just plain good.  Wilmington is horrid and should have been dominated by even an Assman-less Capital team.   If I was a Cap fan, I'd be getting really nervous about where the program is heading.  It sure looks like they're headed the Flaming Pile route to always slightly less than average...........

*****NOTE TO ALL CAPITAL FANS:  READ NO FURTHER ******

As a complete outsider with no vested interest in the Capital program itself, but a big fan of Mount and all things OAC, my hope is as follows:
1.  Assman comes back healthy this week and Capital beats Wesley or at least really pushes them to the absolute limit.
2.  If Assman can't play against Wesley, which means they'll get drilled, then he can't play for the rest (or majority) of the season meaning Capital finishes under .500 in the OAC. 

Reason I say the above is simply from a national perspective looking at the OAC.  If Assman only misses the Wilma and Wesley games, but then comes back healthy to lead Capital to a 7-3 record, it's going to look really bad nationally when the 2nd or 3rd place OAC team gets drilled by 30+ points against Wesley.  Nobody is going to notice or care whether they play Wesley without their star QB.   Most of the nation already thinks the OAC is Mount and a bunch of crap and this scenario would only feed more gas onto the fire.

Whereas if Capital finishes 4-6 (or worse) overall, no one nationally is going to put much credence into Wesley's big win over an poor OAC team when ONU and Mount did the same exact thing too.

All great points HSCoach....but remember....there still is the greatest ONU team ever in this conference this year.  And..."The Pile" is for real baby....

[seventiesraider]

No offense JK

Bing bing bing, Understatement of the Year!!!!!

Or who knows Sidekick, maybe............wait for it.............Wilmington is really awesome

[raiderguy]

Looks as if Whitewater is adding some real class players to their roster. For some interesting reading just Google the name Booker Stanley. Says a whole lot about their program and they act like they are just giving this guy another chance. I guess it's win at any cost for them. Glad the coach thinks everyone on the team  is just like him, must make a Dad proud. What a joke!!

Be careful when you are throwing stones.......one  may bounce back and hit you square in the head!
Stanley has been rumored to be going to WW for a couple of years as I recall and maybe just maybe he was working on getting his act together before he came back.  I have no knowledge of this however. There just might be other players having issues from a previous life not necessarily at WW that would like a second, third chance.

[raiderguy]

As for Capital, no excuses, but

Sounds like an excuse to me?

Just bustin' your chops a little.

[skunks_sidekick]

Raiderguy in da HOUSE!   

Raider68 - having followed your posts for a while now, you are quite the "glass half full" kind of guy, and really try to always find positives in everything Raider football.  I admire your loyalty, and commend your positive outlook. 

HOWEVERRRRRRRRRRRR.... ....what did you see last Saturday that makes you think Mount's running game was improved, even slightly?  I know they gained more yards (something like 210 to 172) running against JCU, but it WAS JCU you understand, right

I did see where Lattimore got something like 10 carries.  Was that in the 2nd half/garbage time, or did he get carries in the first half?  Did anyone see anything special in him?  I am looking for that "next guy", and I am afraid if we don't find him, the road to Salem will involve a very bumpy ride, relying solely on what looks to be like a very good passing attack.

[Raider 68]

Raiderguy in da HOUSE!   

Raider68 - having followed your posts for a while now, you are quite the "glass half full" kind of guy, and really try to always find positives in everything Raider football.  I admire your loyalty, and commend your positive outlook. 

HOWEVERRRRRRRRRRRR.... ....what did you see last Saturday that makes you think Mount's running game was improved, even slightly?  I know they gained more yards (something like 210 to 172) running against JCU, but it WAS JCU you understand, right

I did see where Lattimore got something like 10 carries.  Was that in the 2nd half/garbage time, or did he get carries in the first half?  Did anyone see anything special in him?  I am looking for that "next guy", and I am afraid if we don't find him, the road to Salem will involve a very bumpy ride, relying solely on what looks to be like a very good passing attack.

In my lifetime, no one has ever described me as being half full of anything, more full of anything kind of guy!

Did you attend the game?, If not then you missed  the improvement, slight as it was by the yardage, but I saw more crisp cutting and point of attack blocking then I heard on the air from Joe Tait and Harry Paidas. As the O line settles in , the running game will improve. I see big plays against Wilmington this Saturday, but I also see a full dose of running the ball!

Lattimore played later in the second half and I agree that he has some great moves, speed and quickness. IMHO, Coach Kehres will work him in more each game.

You are more pessimistic than I am regarding this year's Raider team, but I believe the running game will improve and unlike a normal "run sets up the pass", for Mount it could be the opposite. See the Colts last Sunday.

Meanwhile, I appreciate your viewpoint and we can compare observations!

[seventiesraider]

I saw Panchik at full speed. That's a vast improvement.

[HScoach]

I saw Panchik at full speed. That's a vast improvement.

I agree.  Panchik appears to be our best option at this point.

However we saw him talking to the team Dr/laying on the trainer's table as much as he was actually on the field.

I truly admired his work ethic and desire to come back from another knee injury to play this season, but if we're expecting Panchik to be The Man for an entire season, we're putting all our eggs in one very fragile basket.

Overall, I was not impressed at all by the running game.  I tend to be a very "glass half EMPTY" kind of guy when it comes to watching the Raiders, but I was not overly impressed by any of the RB's.   Lattimore was the quickest of the bunch, but playing in the 4th quarter in mop-up duty isn't a legit measure of his ability.  Nor is seeing him only once. 

I would love to think there is another Moore, Pugh or Kmic in the bunch, but if so I haven't seen it yet.  hopefully he's out there and will burst onto the scene on October 2nd against ONU.

[Raider 68]

I saw Panchik at full speed. That's a vast improvement.

I agree.  Panchik appears to be our best option at this point.

However we saw him talking to the team Dr/laying on the trainer's table as much as he was actually on the field.

I truly admired his work ethic and desire to come back from another knee injury to play this season, but if we're expecting Panchik to be The Man for an entire season, we're putting all our eggs in one very fragile basket.

Overall, I was not impressed at all by the running game.  I tend to be a very "glass half EMPTY" kind of guy when it comes to watching the Raiders, but I was not overly impressed by any of the RB's.   Lattimore was the quickest of the bunch, but playing in the 4th quarter in mop-up duty isn't a legit measure of his ability.  Nor is seeing him only once. 

I would love to think there is another Moore, Pugh or Kmic in the bunch, but if so I haven't seen it yet.  hopefully he's out there and will burst onto the scene on October 2nd against ONU.

HScoach,

Agree to a point, I always thought the first priority was to have an O line capable of opening holes and hopefully have a good RB to do something after getting past the line. Moore Kmic, Pugh all had that capability. Are you saying that the O line is as much the problem as the guys getting the ball, more or less?


I agree that S. Panchik is giving his all, but he will not be the answer for the entire season, but what ever happen to Tyler Harris?  What would you change and/or who would you have at RB?

[skunks_sidekick]

I saw Panchik at full speed. That's a vast improvement.

I agree.  Panchik appears to be our best option at this point.

However we saw him talking to the team Dr/laying on the trainer's table as much as he was actually on the field.

I truly admired his work ethic and desire to come back from another knee injury to play this season, but if we're expecting Panchik to be The Man for an entire season, we're putting all our eggs in one very fragile basket.

Overall, I was not impressed at all by the running game.  I tend to be a very "glass half EMPTY" kind of guy when it comes to watching the Raiders, but I was not overly impressed by any of the RB's.   Lattimore was the quickest of the bunch, but playing in the 4th quarter in mop-up duty isn't a legit measure of his ability.  Nor is seeing him only once. 

I would love to think there is another Moore, Pugh or Kmic in the bunch, but if so I haven't seen it yet.  hopefully he's out there and will burst onto the scene on October 2nd against ONU.

You had me at "half-empty".....you had me at "half empty".  (He's my HERO!)   

[wesleydad]

hey my mount friends, see that the year is going as expected.  you guys are great critics of your squad and give us outsiders some insight into raider football.  i will not be making the trip this week to cap since it does not seem like a good game for a 7+ hour drive.  i am however strongly considering the trip next week to see mount play onu.  i know it is a week away, but i need to get some thoughts on that game to help me decide if i should make the trip.  at the least i can always drive 6 hours to have mexican breakfast and then go to the wing warehouse after the game, so that in itself is worth the drive.  talk to you guys soon.

[HScoach]

68:  As an ex-center and O-line coach, I'd love for the hogs to take all the credit, but I think the RB is as much or more of the equation than the line.  Maurice Clarrett ran for 1300+ yards and made the same O-line look good that Lydell Ross made look terrible the very next year.   A great O-line will make an average RB look good and vice-versa, but IMHO a great RB behind an average O-line will be more effective.

What made Moore, Pugh and Kmic such great runners is the O-line didn't have to create a hole for them to be successful.  If the O-line did create a good hole, then they were off for a big gain.  But even when there wasn't a hole, they still usually got 2 or 3 yards by having good vision, balance and leg drive.     

Moore was the best at always "falling forward".  He always seemed to to gain an extra yard or two as he was being tackled.   Had good vision and balance with enough speed to hit the home run if given a seam.  Hardly ever stopped for negative yardage.  Even if met in the backfield.  Was bigger & stronger than most people remember.   Wonder what he'd have been without the 2 knee surgeries?  Probably Kent State's all-time leader rusher.

Pugh had the best moves for making someone miss.  D3 version of Barry Sanders.  Sometimes got into negative plays trying to do too much, but also made some crazy runs by never giving up on a play.   Legit homerun threat on every care.

Kmic had the best vision of any RB I have ever watched.  After watching 4 years worth of his runs from high atop the pressbox, I could probably count on 1 hand the times I thought he'd have been better off making a different cut than he did.  Wasn't as big, powerful or as fast as Moore, nor did he have Pugh's cut back ability, but had had great balance and incredible vision.   


It's the above traits that I haven't seen in any of the current mic of RB's.  None of them have displayed the balance to maintain their feet when going thru the hole and someone gets a hand on their legs.  Way too many times an arm tackle attempt trips them up.   Doesn't completely knock them down like a rag doll, but the O-line got them 3 yards by creating a small hole and they were unable to survive contact and take the run to the next level of the defense.   

As well as each of them in the JCU game made questionable decisions on reads and cut-backs.  Specifically Zac Lemmon and Jeremy Murray.  Each had easy 6-8 yard gains in front of them if the make the right read of the DE/OLB depending on the play.  However they made the wrong cut and ended up with only a 4 yard run because that's what the O-line generated.   

Hopefully I'm wrong, but they all look like your regular "good D3 running backs".  Not difference makers that scares a defense or makes them game plan against them.  They're guys that would probably start at 80-90% of D3 schools, but aren't someone that you can ride to Salem VA when the weather sucks, or your QB is having an off day, or your All-American WR has a broken hand, etc.  Guys like Moore, Pugh, Kmic, Justin Beaver, etc were all capable of carrying a team on their backs if needed against a quality opponent.   Maybe we have someone like that on the roster that will emerge like Kmic did in the playoffs of '05, but at this point I just don't see it yet.

[HScoach]

sidekick:  If I'm your hero, you need to seek professional help.  QUICK!

Wesleydad:  I wouldn't travel to see Wesley drill Capital either.  That is going to be ugly.  However the MTU/ONU game next week should be a good one.  If I had to set a spread right now, I'd set it at ONU (+4.5) at MTU.  The Bears have as good a shot as any team in a long time to beat Mount.  ONU is loaded and experienced (including All-OAC performers at QB and TB) whereas Mount is very young.    I wouldn't drive 7 hours to watch 2 random teams, regardless of how good a game it might be, but I'm not nearly as crazy as you've proven to be over the years

[Raider 68]

HScoach,

Great insight and thoughts on your post +K. Let's hope that the Raiders have enough of a running game to allow the passing game to do well against ONU. The question is, will the young Raiders meet the challenge of ONU's talents. Could be another 2005 type game, hopefully with a different result! Thanks!

[bleedpurple]

Looks as if Whitewater is adding some real class players to their roster. For some interesting reading just Google the name Booker Stanley. Says a whole lot about their program and they act like they are just giving this guy another chance. I guess it's win at any cost for them. Glad the coach thinks everyone on the team  is just like him, must make a Dad proud. What a joke!!

Be careful when you are throwing stones.......one  may bounce back and hit you square in the head!
Stanley has been rumored to be going to WW for a couple of years as I recall and maybe just maybe he was working on getting his act together before he came back.  I have no knowledge of this however. There just might be other players having issues from a previous life not necessarily at WW that would like a second, third chance.

What raiderguy said!

And everyone knows that UW-W was exceedingly weak heading into this season at running back. All they had coming back was Levell Coppage (First Team All American) and Antwan Anderson. They combined for merely 5,510 yards rushing and 78 rushing TD's over the past two years.  They would have really sucked without Booker.

For anyone interested in the background, here is an excellent article:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/statecolleges/102200064.html