FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[seventiesraider]

Antonio Tate (77) had someone blocked into the back of his legs below the knees. Can't speculate but appeared to be pretty good.

Hey, UMU Dad, had a chance to watch Junior work on the replay today. Don't see a lot of interior line play on gameday from the endzone

[rscl70]

The emergence of Piloto may be "sudden," but it was not unexpected by people who have seen him play in game situations.
Not to take anything away from LK's sublime coaching, it just illustrates the depth of Mount, which is the result of a school who gives carte blanche to a program to recruit and fund the number of players they keep on their roster (and keep off their competition's rosters.)  
I saw a Mount JV team play at BW this fall that could have given 80% of the D3 teams in Ohio, or anywhere else for that matter, a really hard time.
Many of those kids have since quit football completely, or have transferred, minus 2 years of eligibility, out of frustration over lack of playing time or not being given the opportunity they have been promised.
Based on what I have seen, and based on conversations with kids in the program, virtually any position, with a few notable exceptions,  has 2-3 kids who are equal in ability, and could produce similar results to what are put up on the field on Saturdays.  
They might just not have come from the right high school.......

drt:  Welcome to competitive college athletics.  Doesn't matter where you're at.  Mount, Northern, or Marietta.  

You might get a chance to show your stuff early in your career.  Or it might be late.  Some might never truly get a chance on the varsity field to show it in front of Mom and Dad, but EVERY single kid had multiple chances to make the good impression that leads to an opportunity.    Unfortunately, many kids don't recognize the little things that make the impression.  And often the opportunity comes at the expense of an injury or illness to someone in front of them on the depth chart.   Sometimes an opportunity comes and we either don't recognize it or fail to fully take advantage it it.   And most often the kid just isn't good enough.  Which very few of the kids are honest enough with themselves to admit. 

Welcome to life.   Life isn't fair and unlike community club soccer, not everyone gets a trophy.  

From Mount down thru Capital to lowly Muskingum, the complaints are the same.  Only difference is the talent level of the kid doing the complaining.  There are guys on Mount's team could start from day one at almost any OAC school, just like there are guys not seeing the field at Capital that could start easily at Wilmington.  If your son wanted to simply play college ball and not have to compete against the best that D3 has to offer, then he should have went somewhere else.  I'm sure Hiram or Oberlin would love to have him.  Wouldn't be the first time a back-up got sick of waiting and left.    

And LK doesn't promise playing time to anyone.  Only promise made is an opportunity to compete for a job.   And if you think you heard the promise made, you were hearing what you wanted to hear, not what was said.

The most accurate thing about your post was the comment about 2 or 3 kids being very equal to the starter.  Duh.  Other than LK himself, that's the biggest key to Mount sustaining their great success.  They have great depth that has bought into the system and is ready to go at a moments notice.  That is exactly what separates Mount from 90% of D3.  Their quality depth.  A lot of teams bring in 100 freshmen a year, but lack the quality that Mount gets.    Capital has had some really good teams, but one injury at a key position and they were screwed.  Mount can sustain losing their best player (Shorts) and survive.  They can lose their QB (Rocco last year and Seaman yesterday) and survive.  Most good D3 teams don't win with their back-up QB throwing for 300+ yards.  

But Mount isn't just a regular D3 program.

+K

[mtfan]

i think the x factor is cecil, if mount gets him the ball is space which there was some yesterday, he could have a big game.  see you guys in salem.

If Piloto is "pitching", Jasper Collins may be the x-factor. I was very, very impressed with his game yesterday.


Anybody know what happened to Ryder, if anything. He was part of a two back set with Murray till Seaman went down and then wasn't part of the shotgun set that Piloto was in.

Well i don't think Ryder had any injury problems but i do know LK lit into him on the sideline on some obvious screw ups, which may have hampered his return to the field more than anything.

HScoach
Ditto that ! well said! +k

[raiderpa]

Unless Seaman is close to 100%, I don't see him getting much PT in the Stagg..this is not a regular season matchup against Marietta..

If he is good to go, I cannot imagine LK not giving him the ball for the season's performance and the actual game experience.  Piloto will more than likely get his opportunity as even if Seaman is ready,  as if his ankle if tender, it may not hold up. 

One thing that has not been said is Piloto showed me a lot of "happy feet" in the pocket which led to high throws which WWW could easily turn into picks.  Then, I have dont have the  confidence that he could handle the pressure of handling the picks and settling down into the game, as he has not had the experience to do so.  Seaman has shown the ability to look past the occasional INT and overcome/look past them and get the job done.

I applaud Piloto as he was the difference yesterday, and if he gets his chance in the Stagg, I hope it goes well for him, but I like the overall steady play of Seaman even though we give up some vertical passing.

[skunks_sidekick]

A couple of things.......

Darn HSCoach....quit appearing so "football savvy and smart".   

LK is very loyal to starters, so if Seaman is healthy, he will play.  I don't think he will play exclusively, but he will play. 

I have some insight that I shared Friday night with "the old boys wing-eating club".......this will be a very special Stagg Bowl for many reasons. 

I think it's fair to make UWW the favorite, but I think we may see "one for the ages". 

[wesleydad]

skunks, i agree.  after seeing uww yesterday i dont see them blowing mount out unless mount turns the ball over so this has all the makings of a good one.  2 real strong defenses against to ok offenses makes for a pretty good slugfest.  field position may be the difference.  who has the better punter and kickoff coverage?

[seventiesraider]

I'll take a few high passes from Piloto as opposed to two yards behind  (ie directly to the defender). It was one of the few times I saw passes that took advantage of Kyle Miller's height and for that matter CSIII's speed.

Cudos to Cecil for the reception/run with the 5-6 broken tackles

I'll bet on Mathie's ability to make punts jump straight up on the one yard line

[HURFMUC]

Sidekick  We going to see a different qb throwing the football in the stagg bowl

[Kehresma]

LK is very loyal to starters, so if Seaman is healthy, he will play.  I don't think he will play exclusively, but he will play. 

I was thinking the same thing. Coach K is very loyal to his starters, very consistent. If Neal is healthy, Neal starts Stagg. Then again, I was amused/intrigued by the poster who suggested that LK's well-kept secret (Pilotto) had been blown before next Saturday's reveal.

[skunks_sidekick]

Yah....I can tell you with absolute certainty that Piloto wasn't being held in the wings as the ultimate Stagg Secret Weapon.   

The kid got his opportunity, and stepped up.  I think it's a GREAT story!

HURF.......I think it's going to be an interesting day.   

[seventiesraider]

Yah....I can tell you with absolute certainty that Piloto wasn't being held in the wings as the ultimate Stagg Secret Weapon.   

And some might argue he is/was the third string QB

[Frank Rossi]

I know that Gordon Mann and Keith McMillan at Wesley, and Brandon Stewart and I in Alliance, are very thankful for the NCAA.com top-notch producers we worked with yesterday in our game broadcasts.  The replays and on-screen graphics were great enhancements over past productions, and we hope you enjoyed the productions.

If you want to relive either National Semifinal Round game, then go to http://www.ncaa.com/allaccess/?media=217194 and scroll down to the bottom of the screen.  There are highlights of both games, and the entire Bethel/Mount Union game has been posted.

Thanks for your enormous viewership yesterday, and we'll see many of you in Salem.  Safe trips, everyone!

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

LK is very loyal to starters, so if Seaman is healthy, he will play.  I don't think he will play exclusively, but he will play. 

I was thinking the same thing. Coach K is very loyal to his starters, very consistent. If Neal is healthy, Neal starts Stagg. Then again, I was amused/intrigued by the poster who suggested that LK's well-kept secret (Pilotto) had been blown before next Saturday's reveal.

I think that was an attempt at humor.   

[HURFMUC]

70's  you might see a qb throwing the football saturday that u haven't seen throwing in a couple of years.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

70's  you might see a qb throwing the football saturday that u haven't seen throwing in a couple of years.

I'm guessing there is CecilCat Package...