FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[mr_mom]

Well, it is obvious that the lot of you are smarter than a lot of you.  Only a handful of folks failed to get into double figures this week -- and as one of them, it took a lot of effort.  Sir Battlescars took the final week's top spot with 15 of 20, nailing nine of the ten bonus questions.

I thought the extra sidebets might give folks a better chance to gain ground on theaprof, but he actually extended his lead to take this year's contest by ten points, tying Usee [2010] for the greatest winning margin of the modern era.

So congratulations to theaprof, the 2014 OAC Regular Season Pick-Em Champion! 

Year		Regular Season		Post Season
2007		D3Poster & runyr		Acky & RIC
2008		Bobo & RIC		Mr. Mom
2009		reality check		Bashbrother
2010		USee		Jaypeter
2011		HScoach		BWJacket
2012		Chess4Me & praiderguy		Shark
2013		FCGrizzliesGrad		bleedpurple, FCGrizzliesGrad & NCF
2014		theaprof

[mr_mom]

Spreads for the first round of the 2014 OAC Playoff Pick-Em will come out Monday night. 

Everyone starts at zero, so those committment-averse types who were unwilling to play the eleven-week regular season game ... feel free to play the Playoff game ... it's less than half that.

[raiderpa]

I think the "3 second rule" is a direct attempt to take the home town clock man out of the game at the end, so he can't stop it for the home team or run it against the visitors.
That being said:
I am a lifelong Mount guy and want to say that JCU outplayed us in the second half, however, when the Raiders had to make a run at the end, they did.  Namdar was taken out of the game by great coverage and superb qb pressure by the d-line.  Concentration on Namdar opened Wilkinson who had a monster game against soft coverage.
#55 for JCU was unblock-able and killed us all day long.  I can't remember a defensive player dominating a Mount game like this ever.  Burke was under pressure all day and Myers had great protection.
Arth let Mount score at the end in order to get the ball back and have a shot.  What a fantastic move.  If he had pulled it off, many would have wondered why Mount did not run it down and kick a FG from the 8 yd line on the final possession/play of the game.
JCU will most definitely get a bid to the playoffs and I hope they take advantage of it. Today's game was the quality of a national semifinal.

[MUCRaker]

Congratulations Mount Union!!!  You not only beat a very good JCU team, but you overcame the worst collection of OAC game officials that I have ever had the undistinguished pleasure of witnessing.  Their crowning glory was the 'Face mask' or rather the 'Hands to the Face' call in the waning seconds of the game.  Here's the scene:  Mount defender break through on the left side of the line. Two JCU Olineman have a death grip on his jersey.  They pull him to the ground!  He extends his hands to break his fall and hits their face masks.  The ref throws the flag and calls 'Hands to the Face'   Unbelievable!!!  Then VK had to explain the 3 second rule to them or they would have let the play stand!

[raiderpa]

To clear up my earlier  post, perhaps "Quality" of a national semifinal was overstated, but excitement and stress was there...

[amonachino]

   although the offense was not at its machine like scoring, it did make the most important drive of the game with 3 mins. left.   I was for a qb.sneek on 1st down for a couple of yds. which would leave 40secs. on the clock.  Then go for the score with them giving it to us or not.  the worst position would be to kick a field goal at extra point distance with little or no time left.  That is how much I did not want them to get the ball back.  I mentioned that to coach Dartt after the game and he said there are no guaranties of what will happen.  The def. has to do their job.      Did anyone who was at this game get the feeling that the players were getting to their place late and all the delay penalties were making Mount look unorganized.  Plus that did not help move the ball forward.  All in all it was a great game and no matter a win is a win.  Mount has some clean up to do on O and D.  Both have to do with the lack of a running game on O and giving it up too much on the running game on D.  Congrats to all the coaches and players for a great regular season. Last year after the JC game I predicted JC to make it to the semi's or better.  I was that impressed with them.  They lose to St. John fisher at home and look like chumps.  Maybe this year will be different.       

[Raider 68]

A few thoughts:

1. The officials were pretty bad, but the call at the end of the game was correct. There were so many
    holding calls that were overlooked today.

2. It was a great atmosphere for a game with two top teams.

3. The Raiders had the key drive when they needed it, but overall I did not feel the offense was that crisp today. Also, I
    thought the game plan was not as creative as I thought it would be for a big game.

4. JCU made a great comeback in the second half  with a good combination of the running/passing play calling.

5. The Raider D played very well at times and is indeed better than in 2013.


Congrats to the Raiders on winning the conference, yet again. Great success in the coming weeks!

[RoyalsFan]

I think the "3 second rule" is a direct attempt to take the home town clock man out of the game at the end, so he can't stop it for the home team or run it against the visitors.

There should be an official on the field that runs the 'official' clock (you always have cases where the official tells the clock operator to reset the clock, add more time, etc.). So the theory about taking the home town clock operator out of the game at the end doesn't hold water. I'm really not sure what this rule is supposed to prevent other than giving a team a last second chance to run 1 more play. 

[Craft_Beermeister]

game over?

Twitter says per NCAA rule, can't spike the ball to stop the clock with less than 3 seconds left on the clock.

apparently VK or someone on the Mount sideline new the rules. Cease Vince went out very far on the field arguing the point. 

[Craft_Beermeister]

Lost my stream half way through the 4th quarter, but from what I saw John Carroll played a better second half and except for the early turnovers, could have pulled a big upset.

I agree 100%. JCU played a much better 2nd half than Mount. But, the Raiders get the win.

Mount was up 17 at half time the 3rd quarter didn't have much efficient office on either side and being up by 17 was playing into Mount's advantage.  I don't think JCU was playing conservative but Mount was.  surprisingly the fans on both sides were much less local during this quarter.  I observed to someone standing next to me at the game that this was the quietest Mount game I could remember.  even the blow outs were louder. 

To me it seamed that Mount didn't put a high focus on advancing the ball in the second half until after JCU tied the game.

[Sir Battlescars]

Well, it is obvious that the lot of you are smarter than a lot of you.  Only a handful of folks failed to get into double figures this week -- and as one of them, it took a lot of effort.  Sir Battlescars took the final week's top spot with 15 of 20, nailing nine of the ten bonus questions.

Amazing!
Mr. Mom, your spreads have gotten the best of me all season. You should do the bonus points more often.
This has been a lot of fun, thanks for the entertainment. Looking forward to the Playoff pickems.

[section13raiderfan]

I hate when a team has a lead in a big game and then goes into the play it safe, a lead, any lead, is a terrible thing to waste mode. Its like a jockey holding back a potential triple crown winner too long. If you get nosed out at the wire whose fault REALLY is it?  MUC certainly went conservative with the offense and was only playing to NOT make mistakes. Mistakes were made anyway and one fumble was all it took to breathe new life into JC. So whats the point? Let em play all out....its what they do best.

I hope Williams is OK and recovers quickly. I thought his speed and aggressive style would have been even  more effective than Mitchels in this game, especially if the weather was a problem. What a blessing to be soooo deep at running back. There are lots of options and all pretty effective.

UMU missed more tackles in this one than in 3 games combined. I bet the defense gets reevaluated this week.

JCs QB looked to be not real fired up for this game to me. Is he that cool under fire, or is he always like that? Last year I thought he was really into the battle.

ROLL RAIDERS ROLL!

[Toph]

Congrats to Mount Union on the win, and finishing on their final drive.  The call to fake the read option and throw down the sideline was a great one. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terribly disappointed by this loss, and the manner in which the game finished.  The rule is the rule, but this game is a great example of why it shouldn't exist.  As someone said earlier, what does that rule add?  It's not like a 10 second runoff to prevent a team from just committing a penalty to stop the clock.  It doesn't add any safety measures for the players.  It's simply a rule to cover the officials' collective a** and not put them in a position to have to make a difficult call.  What a disappointing end to what could have been a classic game.  It's terrible to see a game like that decided on what a quick Google search calls "one of the top five worst rules in college football."

I thought both defenses played pretty well.  Mount's for the first half in particular, and JCU's in the second half in particular.  Watching the ugly first quarter, I was hoping Myers and the offense would find their rhythm, and boy did they eventually.

One final note on the officiating and the final call.  Tim Gleason, if you read this board, you should be ashamed if that was the best crew you could put out there.  Both teams, and in particular JCU, got away with holding all day long (I think there was one holding call the during the entire game), they took away a clear fumble and recovery from John Carroll (tell your officials that if an offensive player is laying on top of another player without touching the ground with a knee, back, elbow, etc, and loses the football, without a whistle, he's not down), I still can't figure out how John Carroll's first drive started at the one when the player who downed the punt was physically laying with half his body over the goal line, I have no idea what the "facemask" was that continued the final drive (though I won't complain too much about it).

And after willfully ignoring all these rules all game long, they decide to go by the letter of the law to end the game.  Great crew.  Keep up the terrible work.

Congrats again to Mount on the big win.  They finished, JCU didn't.  I just hope Carroll can get past this and prepare for the playoffs.

[jks]

I was in Alliance with my son on a visit yesterday and what a great atmosphere for this game, it was a battle by both teams all the way through. Congrats to Mount Union on the win!
I have a question for the Mount Union faithful, the high snaps seemed to throw off the quarterback's timing, the fans around me said this has been a problem all season. Is this true, and if so why has it not been corrected?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Congrats to Mount Union on the win, and finishing on their final drive.  The call to fake the read option and throw down the sideline was a great one. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terribly disappointed by this loss, and the manner in which the game finished.  The rule is the rule, but this game is a great example of why it shouldn't exist.  As someone said earlier, what does that rule add?  It's not like a 10 second runoff to prevent a team from just committing a penalty to stop the clock.  It doesn't add any safety measures for the players.  It's simply a rule to cover the officials' collective a** and not put them in a position to have to make a difficult call.  What a disappointing end to what could have been a classic game.  It's terrible to see a game like that decided on what a quick Google search calls "one of the top five worst rules in college football."

I thought both defenses played pretty well.  Mount's for the first half in particular, and JCU's in the second half in particular.  Watching the ugly first quarter, I was hoping Myers and the offense would find their rhythm, and boy did they eventually.

One final note on the officiating and the final call.  Tim Gleason, if you read this board, you should be ashamed if that was the best crew you could put out there.  Both teams, and in particular JCU, got away with holding all day long (I think there was one holding call the during the entire game), they took away a clear fumble and recovery from John Carroll (tell your officials that if an offensive player is laying on top of another player without touching the ground with a knee, back, elbow, etc, and loses the football, without a whistle, he's not down), I still can't figure out how John Carroll's first drive started at the one when the player who downed the punt was physically laying with half his body over the goal line, I have no idea what the "facemask" was that continued the final drive (though I won't complain too much about it).

And after willfully ignoring all these rules all game long, they decide to go by the letter of the law to end the game.  Great crew.  Keep up the terrible work.

Congrats again to Mount on the big win.  They finished, JCU didn't.  I just hope Carroll can get past this and prepare for the playoffs.

Great Post Toph!  I was watching the Video Stream and it appeared JCU was holding a lot.  Also thought Meech was in the end zone when he downed Burke's punt and that MTU fumbled in the play you referenced.  Alas, I missed the last 2 minutes or so of the game when the Video Stream failed and I had to listen to JCU's last drive by calling the MTU Radio station and listening to the MTU student broadcasters yelling in my ear.