FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[seventiesraider]

Just for fun-This weeks' ONU tale of the tape

Rushing Offense:       Witt - 164 ypg, Nation 84th       ONU - 212 ypg, Nation 26th
Rushing Defense:       Witt - 78 ypg, Nation 16th        ONU - 138 ypg, Nation 118th
Passing Offense:        Witt - 305 ypg, Nation 10th   ONU - 184 ypg, Nation 133rd
Passing Eff. Defense:  Witt - 87 ypg, Nation 6th        ONU - 94 ypg, Nation 20th
Scoring Offense:        Witt - 37 ppg, Nation 24th       ONU - 35 ppg, Nation 37th  
Scoring Defense         Witt - 12 ppg, Nation 12th       ONU - 13 ppg, Nation 16th

Individual National Offensive Leaders:
Witt:  McKee-Receiving-1st, Receptions per G-T-38th, All-Purpose Running-55th, Scoring-T22
        Zoeller-Total Offense-13th, Passing Eff. 4th
        Williams-FG's-T-11, Scoring-73rd
        Cunningham-Punt Returns-31st
ONU:  Donley-All-Purpose Running-75th, Scoring-T45th, Rushing-15th
        Simmons-Total Offense-61st, Passing Eff. 30th
        Ellenberger-FG's-T-47th
       
Individual National Defensive Leaders:
Witt:  McKinley-Tackles-T68th
        Hurtt-Interceptions-T73rd
ONU:  Coward, Mitchell, Henck-Interceptions: All Tied 73rd

The one outlier in this comparison as in the Mount Union/St Lawrence game is lack of common or comparable opponents. The only relevant (arguable) comparison I could find is Massey's Strength of Schedule:

Wittenberg ranks 155th, Ohio Northern ranks 36th

[raiderguy]

...Whitewater is prone to believe the OAC is nothing beyond Mount.  

Not true HScoach!! UWW played Capital a few years ago in the playoffs and it was a very close game through 3 quarters. Warhawks were able to pull it out in the 4th in a tough ball game. I think UWW has a lot of respect for the OAC. The fans will confirm that.

Confirming away!  And wasn't ONU the last team besides the Warhawks to beat the Raiders............in the last 6 years or something?  Much longer than that when looking only at conference contests, I imagine.  (Too lazy to do the research.)  

Since the Raiders First Stagg Bowl win in 1993:
1994 Albion beat the the Raiders 34-33 in Michigan in the playoffs (National Quarter-Finals I think).
1995 W-LAX beat the Raiders in 20-17 in Alliance in the playoffs (National Semi-Finals I think).
1999 Rowan beat the Raiders in 24-17 in Alliance in the playoffs (National Semi-Finals I think).
2003 St. Johns beat the Raiders in 24-6 in Salem, in the Stagg Bowl.
2004 Mary-Hardin Baylor beat the Raiders in 31-21 in Alliance in the National Semi-Finals.
2005 ONU beat the Raiders in 21-14 in Alliance in the regular season.
2007 UW-W 31-21 in the Stagg.
2009 UW-W 38-28 in the Stagg

Prior to the 1st Stagg Bowl win:  Oct. 12, 1991...JCU - 20, MUC - 20.  

JCU Men's Hoops 1-0...if you're watching.

UMU Women's Hoops 1-0 if you're watching.  (We won't mention the men.)

When did they start playing mens basketball at Mount?

[seventiesraider]

When did they start playing mens basketball at Mount?

Club sport like LaCrosse was

[raiderpa]

I believe Mount opens next year at home versus Franklin....

[Pat Coleman]

UW-Oshkosh returns the trip next year. Franklin is 2012 and 2013.

[robertgoulet]

UW-Oshkosh returns the trip next year. Franklin is 2012 and 2013.

These posts are what brought up my comment about the possible NCC/Mt Union home-at-home on the CCIW board.

I swore I heard it being mentioned some time ago that NCC and Mt Union were in talks of doing it, so I checked and saw UMU scheduled Franklin in 2012 and 2013 instead of NCC. It's too bad, I was hoping to see UMU up close in Naperville.

[ohiofootball]

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/springfield-oh-sports/wittenberg-university-tigers/witt-gets-road-game-at-ohio-northern-1003815.html

Fincham at his best

[labart96]

Given there are few SLU fans on these boards (StLarry aside), I thought I'd provide the MU fans a perspective on this year's LL representative coming to Alliance Saturday.

Head Coach:

Mark Raymond is product of the Ithaca / Mike Welch system.  During his seven-year stint as the defensive coordinator at Ithaca College, the Bombers went 59-19 (.756) and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments.  Raiders fans may remember IC from the 2007 first round playoff game MUC won 42-18.  Although Raymond left the IC staff in May of 2007, all of the defensive players on that unit were recruited and coached by Raymond.

The majority of Raymond's staff at SLU came directly from Ithaca as well.

Team:

Made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 thanks to a 5-1 league season.  SLU did not win any OOC games.

Offense:

Key offensive players are converted FB to TB #1 Marcus Washington who had 256 yrds rushing against WPI last weekend (who was in the Top 20 of all DIII as far as overall defenses prior to that game).  #23 Ramon Mignott is sort of a "scat back" that's used to contrast from Washington's straight ahead style.

OL is mostly FY and SOs.  What they lack in experience they make up for in size (most guys are over 270).

#10 QB JP Kearney has had a decent year, but is not a very accurate QB (completed 47% of his passes this year) and SLU is generally a rushing team (ran the ball 382 times in 10 games or 64% of their plays).  Kearney's primary targets are #2 WR Ethan Sutton (who occasionally will line up as QB in a wildcat type formation, is very quick and is also the Saints punter) and #83 TE Tim Robinson.

#8 Alcee Walker (who like Washington is a FLA native) is seldom used, but when he is it's for big plays.  Walker has 7 catches for 301 yards (43 YPC avg) and 3 TDs.

Defense:

SLU is an opportunistic defensive unit and have picked off opposing QB's 15x on the year lead by #7 LB ben Cryts (4) and #48 S Brendan McCarthy (4).

#44 LB Ryan Fedo leads the Saints in tackles wth 87 and #96 DE Nate Howard leads in sacks with 6.5.  In all SLU has done a nice job penetrating the LOS and has tallied 63 tackles for loss for -241 yards and 22 sacks for -140 yards.

Special teams:

#87 PK Matt Dodge is seldom used but is a very accurate kicker with a big leg.  He's gone 6 of 7 on the year (missed a 41 yarder vs. Hobart) and has a long of 47 on the season.

#9 Trevor Saunders handles punt and kick returns.

Other stuff:

The Saints are a "tale of two teams". 

They generally played poorly to start the season commiting lots of turnovers (e.g., 4 vs. Ithaca) and stumbled out to an 0-3 start, which necessitated a change at QB (Kearney didn't start until the Kings Point game), which ultimately helped them a good deal on offense.

Since then they went 5-2, taking advantage of opponents turnovers (collecting 5 vs. Hobart, 4 vs. Union who was playing w/o their starting and back up QBs, etc.).

The Saints are not fast starters and only put up around 16 PPG.  Still, if they can hang onto the ball and execute they might be able to hang with the Raiders for a bit.

I think SLU's achilles heel that Kehres will exploit is the Saints pass defense.  They allow nearly 200 YPG (and was torched by Utica to the tune of 308 yards) and SLU has never seen a WR the likes of Cecil Shorts.  His size will present problems for the Saints DBs who are generally smaller in size (~5' 10" 180 vs. Shorts' 6'2" 210 lb frame).

That said of the 22 TDs allowed by the Saints this season more were on the ground (12) than via air (10).  SLU has been picked or had fumbles returned for TDs 3x on the season.

Hopefully this is a helpful and interesting overview.  It's a pretty remarkable turnaround for a program that had only won one game as recently as two seasons ago.

[skunks_sidekick]

Thanks TGP.....good stuff!  +k

[seventiesraider]

Thanks TGP, the most intelligent post in weeks on this board.

Sounds like 6-6 TE Kyle Miller is in for a career day

[labart96]

Thanks TGP, the most intelligent post in weeks on this board.

Sounds like 6-6 TE Kyle Miller is in for a career day

My pleasure.  6-6 eh?  Yeah, SLU LBs are 6-1 at best.  Definite size and height advantage for Miller.

[Raider 68]

Thanks TGP, the most intelligent post in weeks on this board.

Sounds like 6-6 TE Kyle Miller is in for a career day

My pleasure.  6-6 eh?  Yeah, SLU LBs are 6-1 at best.  Definite size and height advantage for Miller.

TGP,

Good job on the information, +K

On Kyle Miller, it takes 2-3 players to bring him down. NFL scouts have been to a few Raider games this season! IMHO, He is as good as the Ohio State tight end Stoneburner (6.5, 245 vs. Miller at 6"6, 265)!

And they both wear #11!

[bushman]

Mt. will go as far as Neal can take them.  The hub of any Kehres team is and always will be the QB.  A lot of pressure for the soph. QB esp. in the later rounds.  I think he will be equal to the task.  He has shown the ability to get the job done when push comes to shove.  With a little luck and some breaks here and there, Mt. has a good chance of making the Stagg.  They will need CS to step it up a notch and provide the leadership this young team needs.  Playoff football is a different animal.  The seniors must provide the spark and skills when things get tight.  Mt. will have some close games maybe not this week but certainly later on.  They have come along way with along way to go, I believe they are equal to the task.  This should be an exciting run         GO RAIDERS!

[PurpleSuit]

I think most here would agree that Neal is going to be key for the Raiders to get where they want to be.  But one point I would like to mention about Neal, saturday will be his 25th game...he's not the typical soph QB in terms of experience.  The youthful mistakes need to stop, and I think Seaman is up to it

[runyr]

Thanks, TGP.  Excellent scouting report.  +k