FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[edward de vere]

And, oh, by the way, how crazy nuts are the last four weeks of the season setting up to be on a national basis?

[Dr. Acula]

I only listened to the first half, but had some quick thoughts on the blowout:

Evidently playing the Quakers cures what ails a running game. 425 yds.  A yard away from 3 guys eclipsing the century mark.  Interesting that Woods, Mitchell and Minnich rotated series tonight. I'm guessing the Mitchell bandwagon got a few more passengers after that little coming out party. Probably not an every down back, but definitely opening eyes and demanding more carries. 

I was very impressed that the D absolutely shut down Arehart. 64 yds passing?  He was averaging around 340.  Great job by the back ups doing the job.

My favorite part of the first half was Ric inviting Tim Gleason to call him to discuss the officiating.  Based on the context that discussion wouldn't have been complimentary.

Interested to hear from Ric, HScoach or anyone else there how the RBs looked.

[HScoach]

I'm expecting that we'll see more and more of BJ Mitchell as the season moves forward.     He's not an every down back and will be a liability in pure passing situations due to his lack of bulk when picking up blitzes, but there is no denying that the kid is electric.      I also imagine he'd be worthless on a sloppy grass field with his running style and lateral quickness.

[Walt]

And I actually think the targeting rule is making the game more dangerous for defensive players (can you tell I'm a former linebacker  ).

Track with me for a second. The argument goes, go low, keep your head up, don't make contact above the shoulders of the offensive player with any part of your body.

1. You don't tackle objects standing still. The offensive player is running, jumping, diving, lowering his own shoulders and head. There are definitely some overly aggressive, dirty hits. But a lot of the hits getting flagged are ones where the defender is making a play and his target moves lower as he performs the tackle (a natural action/instinct for the ball carrier). The result is unintended contact with the head.

2. To which people say, that's why you have to go low. Ok, answer me this...how is it physically possible for a 6'2" FS or 6'3" OLB to tackle a runner 'low' - when no good offensive player runs with the ball standing straight up and down - and still keep his head up. The 5'10" running back is running behind his pads and actually much lower than this. And when contact comes, he likely gets lower. Even if the defender goes to 'wrap up' he will inevitably lead with his head. NB: unless he's tackling butt first (here's looking at you Jets Guard and Mark Sanchez) his head will always be in front of his shoulder pads.

So he tries to 'do it right' and get his head on the front side of the ball carrier. Sounds great in theory, but what makes the game great and difficult is that the offensive player isn't happy about trying to be tackled, he's changing speed and direction and lowering his own shoulders (again, being a human being his head will also lower with this action). The 'perfect' location of a defender's head is much harder than it sounds.

But now he's afraid of 'helmet to helmet' or 'shoulder to helmet' or 'hand to helmet' or 'breathe to helmet' contact, so he goes lower than normal. And the runner goes low...because low man wins 'don'cha know.' End result, the defensive player avoids contact with anything above the shoulders, and in doing so is physically incapable of keeping his 'head up' because at 6' he's trying to get his shoulders below a crouching ball carrier. This is dangerous and how many (most??) spinal cord injuries occur.

Case in point, I'm watching Texas A&M play Ole Miss tonight. Manziel scrambles, tucks and runs. Safety for Ole Miss comes up to make a hit and instead of 'targeting' as a teammate was penalized for in this same game, he 'goes low' and attempts to wrap up. The defender couldn't possibly 'keep his head up,' his neck is wrenched in contact with Manziel's thighs and he was just carted off the field. But hey, at least he didn't target the QB and get suspended ... 

Great post/argument.  I agree with you.  I'll add that the other piece of this discussion that people tend to overlook is the fact that we're talking about athletes running full speed and expecting them to process all this information and make a conscious decision not to hit someone high in a split second while the opposing athlete is running full speed and attempting to make the first athlete miss.  Unless you've played the game no one can understand how difficult this is.  By the time a player has reached the professional and college ranks, this should be instinct and muscle memory.  Players aren't making decisions.   It's almost as if the powers that be expect players to be perfect.  If athletes' bodies always did exactly what their mind wanted them to do, every QB's pass would hit the receiver on the numbers.  It doesn't happen because it can't happen. 

No matter how much you practice, penalize, and eject there are always going to be instances when a player unintentionally hits another player high. 

I understand why the rules exist I just think they're going a little overboard and this is a knee jerk reaction because of situations like Junior Seau.

I can't say with certainly that the game is going to be safer.  Their may be less concussions but there may be more neck/spine and knee injuries.   I may not be able to walk ever again but at least my mind is sharp as a tack....

[Walt]

And yes...I am new around here so you all can dismiss what I have to say, but I have a few observations to share.

First off, I am a Cap fan/ parent and admittedly biased.  And this is my first season watching OAC football. 

* so far I am thoroughly unimpressed with OAC officiating.  I get that the top crews are getting assigned to the better games and we're not getting the cream of the crop but wow.   Obviously Capital is young and in a rebuilding phase so we're not losing games because of officials but we've had a couple crews that seemed clueless.  Maybe it was the same crew twice but twice in the past four weeks the officials have thrown a flag for too many men on the field, then counted and waived off the flag.   Yesterday H-berg had a 3rd and about 8.  As their QB was about toget sacks he threw a desperation pass that was caught by one of his o-linemen.  The lineman rumbled with the ball past the first down marker.  The officials three the flag and made the right call - Illegal Touching.  Then had about a 5 minute pow-wow trying to figure out what to do.  During the pow-wow the head official left his microphone on and could he heard saying "what's the rule?"  Really?  Aren't you paid to know that?  Illegal touching isn't that unusual is it?  In the end it appeared they marked the penalty off 5 yds from the spot of the foul and gave H-berg 3rd down over.  That may have been the right call... Just surprised it took that much thought.   In the first half Capital was penalized 9 times to H-burg's two.  I suspect we earned them but there were ample opportunity to get H-berg for holding in pass pro but those were missed.  And there was at least one blatant late hit/unsportsmanlike non-call just minutes after Cap was hit with a ticky-tack "Roughing the passer."

* I know this will sound surprising after a 73-17 beat down but I wasn't as impressed with H-berg as I thought  I'd be.  They look good in their uniforms...big, athletic looking.  But I think John Carroll's defense was tougher.   Cap couldn't move at all against JC but actually moved the ball pretty well considering the mis-match.  Cap shot themselves in the foot as often as H-berg stopped them.   I think H-berg vs JC will be a good game.  I'm not so sure H-berg is going to be able to beat MU.  If they do it will have to be a track meet.  Berg's defense isn't going to stop a good offense.

* I am not one of those people who whine about teams running up the score.  It's our job to stop you not your job to go easy on us.  Berg could have scored 90 of they wanted to...and yes they took a knee with like 8 mins to go.  But if they were really worried about not running the score up...why run a fake FG when up four TDs?   Why go it it on 4th & 6 at mid field instead of punting? I felt like H-berg got a little worried when it was only 21-10 in the 2nd Q that it wasn't impress or enough so they put their foot on the throttle until they got up by more than JC beat us... Then eased off.  Oh well... Whatever makes you feel good about yourself.

* One last note...my son was recruited by the Berg.  They told him they had a new stadium that was going to open this year.  Funny...talking to senior parents yesterday, they said their sons were told the same thing 4 yrs ago.   Note to high school seniors...don't buy the "new stadium" line. 

[mr_mom]

The OAC Pick-Em results for Week 6 are posted.

Desertcat1 had a near-perfect week gaining 14 of 15 points to jump into fourth overall.  FCGrizzliesGrad had an off week, cutting his overall lead in half. 

Week 7's spreads will be posted Monday evening.

[Dr. Acula]

* I know this will sound surprising after a 73-17 beat down but I wasn't as impressed with H-berg as I thought  I'd be.  They look good in their uniforms...big, athletic looking.  But I think John Carroll's defense was tougher.   Cap couldn't move at all against JC but actually moved the ball pretty well considering the mis-match.  Cap shot themselves in the foot as often as H-berg stopped them.   I think H-berg vs JC will be a good game.  I'm not so sure H-berg is going to be able to beat MU.  If they do it will have to be a track meet.  Berg's defense isn't going to stop a good offense.

First off, welcome Walt!  Happy to have some insight from Bexley this year so please stick around.  +k

As for the bolded, I think as the season unfolds we're going to confirm that JCU is better defensively than Berg.  I harped on this on the North Region fan poll thread a while ago, but the thing that separated Mount from Berg is that Mount is elite at QB and on D.  Berg was not elite at either.  They got mediocre QB play and mediocre to poor defense in the BW, Mount and Witt games last year (their 3 best opponents).  So while they pushed around the bad teams like they should, they couldn't stop people who had talent on offense.  Witt embarrassed them in that 2nd half.  I think your assertion that Berg isn't stopping a good offense is going to prove true again this year too.

[reality check]

* One last note...my son was recruited by the Berg.  They told him they had a new stadium that was going to open this year.  Funny...talking to senior parents yesterday, they said their sons were told the same thing 4 yrs ago.   Note to high school seniors...don't buy the "new stadium" line.

Went to ONU and was told in the spring of 1999 that there would be a new stadium by the time the 2000 season rolled around. Dial-Roberson stadium opened for play in September of 2004. 

This isn't a Heidelberg phenomenon.   Although I bet the creative impression that leaves on potential recruits is a positive one.   

[formerd3db]

* One last note...my son was recruited by the Berg.  They told him they had a new stadium that was going to open this year.  Funny...talking to senior parents yesterday, they said their sons were told the same thing 4 yrs ago.   Note to high school seniors...don't buy the "new stadium" line.

Went to ONU and was told in the spring of 1999 that there would be a new stadium by the time the 2000 season rolled around. Dial-Roberson stadium opened for play in September of 2004.  This isn't a Heidelberg phenomenon.

Our situation was almost as bad as what you describe (but not quite) .  Hope's new stadium was supposed to be completed for my and my teammates senior year "way back when" including synthetic turf to resolve the problem of a torn up and dangerous field by use of some many teams (Hope football, both varsity and JV, Hope soccer and Holland High School football (varsity, JV and frosh) and soccer teams using it too).  Well, the new stadium was built without the old style synthetic turf (which was the SOTA back then), thereby having the same ground and drainage problems for many years until the stadium was renovated, bought by the College and the new style turf put in last season.  Even our smallest MIAA member college Olivet College had the new synthetic turf and a stadium renovation before us!   Anyway, better late than never as that old saying goes.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Danny Woodhead:
5'8" 197
4.35 40 Time coming out of College

Nate Kmic:
5'9" 195
4.47 40 Time coming out of College

Why didn't Kmic get a shot?

[HScoach]

0.12 is a lot bigger difference than it may sound.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Danny Woodhead:
5'8" 197
4.35 40 Time coming out of College

Nate Kmic:
5'9" 195
4.47 40 Time coming out of College

Why didn't Kmic get a shot?

A couple of theories:

1) Woodhead played D2 and not D3. Not a trivial difference for fringe prospects.

2) the difference between a 4.35 and a 4.47 matters when you're already battling the stigma of being a non-D1 player. A 4.47 is relatively "common" and may not be enough to stand out. A 4.35 is truly a rare time.

3) Luck. Getting noticed and making a team definitely includes luck. Again, when you're not a slam dunk prospect, it's hard to get enough reps to get noticed, and you may get cut or dropped from a
roster for reasons outside your control (for example, NFL team gets a couple injuries at WR and decides they need more camp bodies there, needs to cut someone to bring them in, and it's easy to drop the small college kid who has no guaranteed salary and didn't cost a draft pick).

[mr_mom]

Week #7 spreads have been posted.

Stay lucky my friends!

[Walt]

By the way... No where in my post above did I say that H-berg was not good.  In fact, I think they are very good.  I said I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be.   Based upon the hype I was expecting them to look significantly better than JCU.  Having seen both in back-to-back weeks I didn't see much separation.  I think JCU's defense looked better when we played them.  H-berg had more speed at the skill positions, better special teams, and maybe more talent overall on offense.   I think the game between the two will be a good one.  It will be interesting to see of JCU's defense can slow H-berg's offense.   

Lucky me...I'll get to see Mt. Union this week.  Then I can compare  the three.

[HScoach]

By the way... No where in my post above did I say that H-berg was not good.  In fact, I think they are very good.  I said I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be.   Based upon the hype I was expecting them to look significantly better than JCU.  Having seen both in back-to-back weeks I didn't see much separation.  I think JCU's defense looked better when we played them.  H-berg had more speed at the skill positions, better special teams, and maybe more talent overall on offense.   I think the game between the two will be a good one.  It will be interesting to see of JCU's defense can slow H-berg's offense.   

Lucky me...I'll get to see Mt. Union this week.  Then I can compare  the three.

The last 3 weeks of the season will tell, but I have a feeling that JCU is signifcantly better than expected which is causing you to under value Heidi.

Would be very curious to hear your thoughts after seeing Mount on Saturday.