FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Ric]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

[Toph]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

Don't tease me.

I've been telling everyone who asks me, it's not the offensive side of the ball I'm worried about for JCU.  If they're going to go 9-0, the D is going to have to get a few stops.

[boobyhasgameyo]

Oh heyyyy there OAC posters!  I seemed to have zigged where I should have zagged and landed in the northern region boards.  Since I'm here I might as well ask a couple of questions about Otterbein   


I see that they went 7-2 in the OAC last year which seems pretty impressive.  Was this a product of the conference having a down year or are they a legitimately good football team?  It was quite the turn around to go from 3-7 in 2011 to 8-2 in 2012.  Who are some of their key play makers to look out for? 

Perhaps fill in the blank:  St. John Fisher will be in trouble if Otterbein __________________ .

I'll start.  St. John Fisher will be in trouble if Otterbein remotely resembles Mount Union.  But I'm hoping for maybe some more insightful responses into strengths of their team and when you know they are rolling.   

[HScoach]

Oh heyyyy there OAC posters!  I seemed to have zigged where I should have zagged and landed in the northern region boards.  Since I'm here I might as well ask a couple of questions about Otterbein   


I see that they went 7-2 in the OAC last year which seems pretty impressive.  Was this a product of the conference having a down year or are they a legitimately good football team?  It was quite the turn around to go from 3-7 in 2011 to 8-2 in 2012.  Who are some of their key play makers to look out for? 

Perhaps fill in the blank:  St. John Fisher will be in trouble if Otterbein __________________ .

I'll start.  St. John Fisher will be in trouble if Otterbein remotely resembles Mount Union.  But I'm hoping for maybe some more insightful responses into strengths of their team and when you know they are rolling.   

In my opinion, their 8-2 record last year is a little misleading.   They're probably more realistically a 6-4 or 7-3 team last year based on talent alone.   They beat John Carroll 21-7 in week 3 when JCU's stud QB didn't play due to injury so that's a win I think they wouldn't have had under normal circumstances.  Their peak came in Week 4 when they beat a pretty good Baldwin-Wallace team 38-17.  That win was a shock, but B-W has been notoriously inconsistent the last decade and always seems to crap down their leg at least once a season.   Mid-season they lost senior WR Trey Fairchild to injury for a couple games which was by far their best player.   When he went down, they lost pretty much all of their play making ability as evidenced by being shutout by Heidelberg (who isn't a great defensive team) in week 6.  And then they lost their very average starting QB and got smashed by Mount.  Fairchild came back at the end of the season and they beat a couple crappy teams to finish 8-2.

In regards to 2013, they were picked 4th in the OAC by both the media and coaches which I think is about right or maybe a spot too high.  John Carroll was picked 5th right behind them but I think JCU will be better than Otterbein based on the QB alone.   No one on the Otterbein roster last year stood out other than Fairchild who graduated and their pair of DE's in Pat Seesholtz and Zack Grieves.   Seesholtz lead the OAC last year in sacks at 10.5 and was voted the conference D-lineman of the year in 2012.   Other than those couple guys, there is nothing special about Otterbein.   Their overall team is solid, but they lack playmakers on offense, especially at QB.   I'd be shocked if they finish better than 4th in conference this season unless they have a huge QB transfer which I've heard nothing about.

They're a solid team, probably very similar to what SJF will see in the Empire 8 when playing a team expected to finish a little above 500.

[Dr. Acula]

Ott rode their D all year.  Other than Mount no one scored more than 2 offensive TD's on them.  But as HScoach mentioned the JCU game was misleading due to Myers being out.  Ott has trouble running the ball (and has the last few years) due largely to not having a playmaker at RB.  They've been up and down at QB and they usually have at least one good WR with the graduated Fairchild being by far the best. 

Ott will be a solid team overall.  Doup seems to be a pretty good coach so far.  IMO if Fisher is good on D they will end up forcing a couple turnovers and winning the game fairly comfortably...something like 28-14.  I'm skeptical that Ott can score much more against a good D without a short field or two themselves. 

[boobyhasgameyo]

Thanks for the insights!  +k to you both.  I also tend to believe that the record doesn't always accurately reflect the true measure of a team.  Circumstance is something that should be considered to me.  But I think Bill Parcells would disagree with me on that. 

[Knightstalker]

Don't know if it was mentioned yet, Jason Trusnik is still on the Dolphins roster.

[bergdad]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

Pretty slim because on November 9th, The Blue Streaks will pick up a loss at home to Heidelberg!   

[TheBerg40]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

Pretty slim because on November 9th, The Blue Streaks will pick up a loss at home to Heidelberg!   

Bergdad - Although I agree with you, (both of those teams will be 8-1 at best when that game rolls around), you don't need to post that kind of stuff. Heidelberg will be doing their talking on the field and scoreboard this year. Let's just focus on Alma right now...we'll take it one game at a time.

Wait, what's that noise? I think I hear the Heidelberg Express pulling out of the station...LOOKOUT!

[Raider 68]

HScoach,

Are you covering the game on Saturday with Ric?

[Ric]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

Pretty slim because on November 9th, The Blue Streaks will pick up a loss at home to Heidelberg!   

I don't know. Looking into my crystal ball, I see John Carroll being favored in that game due to home field advantage and considering the week before the Blue Streaks will sleepwalk through cupcake Wilmington while Heidelberg gets the crap beat out of them at Mount and spends half the week getting healthy.

[Ric]

HScoach,

Are you covering the game on Saturday with Ric?

He'll be there. His parole was approved this morning.

[skunks_sidekick]

HScoach,

Are you covering the game on Saturday with Ric?

He'll be there. His parole was approved this morning.

NICE!  No Capri Sun duties at the soccer match huh?   

[ADL70]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

Don't tease me.

I've been telling everyone who asks me, it's not the offensive side of the ball I'm worried about for JCU.  If they're going to go 9-0, the D is going to have to get a few stops.

We'll get a clue in just 16 days.

[bergdad]

What are the chances that on November 16th at Mount Union Stadium the 9-0 Purple Raiders will be hosting the 9-0 John Carroll Blue Streaks? Lots of excitement in University Heights and these two teams have the two best QB's in the OAC.

Pretty slim because on November 9th, The Blue Streaks will pick up a loss at home to Heidelberg!   

Bergdad - Although I agree with you, (both of those teams will be 8-1 at best when that game rolls around), you don't need to post that kind of stuff. Heidelberg will be doing their talking on the field and scoreboard this year. Let's just focus on Alma right now...we'll take it one game at a time.

Wait, what's that noise? I think I hear the Heidelberg Express pulling out of the station...LOOKOUT!

I meant it good naturedly - thus the