FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Spurrier]

We ready...where u at polar bear?

[Pat Coleman]

So Ricardo Johnson III is now at St. Olaf's and not even starting there? What in the world...?

St. Olaf's??  Didn't he just transfer to some D2 school closer to home earlier this year?  Maybe he changed his mind and never actually went there.

I don't know about St. Olaf but he was supposed to be going to Concordia-St. Paul, which is indeed D-II.

[Spurrier]

Polar bears find a way

[mr_mom]

Quality production on the BW feed.  Usually I'd mute and play the audio from 1310, but Brendan Gulick and his color guy are easy to listen to.

[Desertraider]

Well - I guess someone has to be first. Having returned from the Raider game today, here is my take.

1. Don't book Salem this year - but book it for the 2 after that. BW is terrible - really. Yet they could throw it on  Mount today. This year Mount doesn't have the pass rush or the secondary to match up with the elites (and BW aint the elite). Sorry - but that is how I see it.

2. BW is dumb. Look when you score first on Mount - don't get stupid and start taunting DBs and the sidelines. #5 and #19 for BW are talented but need to shut up. If I am Coach Snell I tell them both "we have not won in 21 years and it hasn't been close most of the time - shut up". For some reason those 2 WR just could not keep away from the talking and sniping and kept getting flagged. They need to sit.

3. BW was smart...then got dumb again. 4th and 26 at your own 25(ish) and down by 4 scores - why punt? I said that last year regarding Otters punting down 55-0. BW went for the fake punt and caught Mount asleep and converted. Awesome call! Now settle down and don't go for the endzone bomb on next play. Relax - NOPE threw a pick in the endzone. 

4. Mount is young, inconsistent and sloppy. Look it was 49-7, but the offense looked anemic at times and imploded at other times. Ball control is an issue - and one Mount isn't used to having. But they are young.

5. BJ can't run inside. Nothing else to say. They kept trying to get him inside but he can't do that.

6. To the BW fan that said "we are alot better than last year, that was a blow out" (this was at beginning of 3rd quarter). No this was a blowout too and BW isn't better - Mount isn't as good....yet.

7. To the Mount guy 2 rows behind me that felt compelled to make everyone aware of what "Mount always does" - shut up. You make Mount fans appear both arrogant and unlikeable.

Other than that - it was great. Important thing was that my kids had a blast (even after we moved to the endzone and stood to get away from the guy in #7) and Mount won. For next week - Poorman should be it. He didn't look great but he did look composed.

[raiderpa]

Fulford loses another fumble...the kid is begging to sit.
I agree that Mount does not have the D to win it all this year, and offense is not ready to outscore a great team.
They have great underclass talent and they may bring home a title or two down the road.

[Spurrier]

Desertraider,

I have to agree with the "arrogant and unlikeable" part; but, if you want to be "cool and fun", you could hang out with me at the ONU game this Saturday. I'm making the trip this weekend.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

From UMU Equipment Twitter:

Raiders win!! FG with 6 seconds left seals the deal as Raiders win 30-27 over Division 2 Ashland University on their home turf! Now 3-0!

[bleedpurple]

So Ricardo Johnson III is now at St. Olaf's and not even starting there? What in the world...?

St. Olaf's??  Didn't he just transfer to some D2 school closer to home earlier this year?  Maybe he changed his mind and never actually went there.

I don't know about St. Olaf but he was supposed to be going to Concordia-St. Paul, which is indeed D-II.

From the box score yesterday against Bethel, it looks like he came into the game with 12:09 remaining in the second quarter after the starting QB was sacked a couple of times on the previous drive (hopefully no injury). He put up some decent numbers.

According to the St. Olaf website: "The Oles' Ricardo Johnson III threw for 178 yards on 15-of-26 passing and Bryan Aviles scored a fourth quarter touchdown for St. Olaf (1-3, 0-2 MIAC)."

[Pat Coleman]

So Ricardo Johnson III is now at St. Olaf's and not even starting there? What in the world...?

St. Olaf's??  Didn't he just transfer to some D2 school closer to home earlier this year?  Maybe he changed his mind and never actually went there.

I don't know about St. Olaf but he was supposed to be going to Concordia-St. Paul, which is indeed D-II.

From the box score yesterday against Bethel, it looks like he came into the game with 12:09 remaining in the second quarter after the starting QB was sacked a couple of times on the previous drive (hopefully no injury). He put up some decent numbers.

According to the St. Olaf website: "The Oles' Ricardo Johnson III threw for 178 yards on 15-of-26 passing and Bryan Aviles scored a fourth quarter touchdown for St. Olaf (1-3, 0-2 MIAC)."

Hope the kid finds what he's looking for. (Or maybe what the dad is looking for, if someone else is pulling the strings.)

[mr_mom]

Week #4 results of the 2016 OAC Pick-Em have been posted. 

After sleep-walking through the first three weeks of the season, 02 Warhawk woke up this week, taking medalist honors with 10 of possible 15 points.

Sir Battlescars was a mere point behind him and pushed his lead out another point to 6.  Will he be our first wire-to-wire champion, or did I just jynx him?   

Week #5 spreads will come out Monday night.

[hsbsballcoach7]

Well - I guess someone has to be first. Having returned from the Raider game today, here is my take.

1. Don't book Salem this year - but book it for the 2 after that. BW is terrible - really. Yet they could throw it on  Mount today. This year Mount doesn't have the pass rush or the secondary to match up with the elites (and BW aint the elite). Sorry - but that is how I see it.

2. BW is dumb. Look when you score first on Mount - don't get stupid and start taunting DBs and the sidelines. #5 and #19 for BW are talented but need to shut up. If I am Coach Snell I tell them both "we have not won in 21 years and it hasn't been close most of the time - shut up". For some reason those 2 WR just could not keep away from the talking and sniping and kept getting flagged. They need to sit.

3. BW was smart...then got dumb again. 4th and 26 at your own 25(ish) and down by 4 scores - why punt? I said that last year regarding Otters punting down 55-0. BW went for the fake punt and caught Mount asleep and converted. Awesome call! Now settle down and don't go for the endzone bomb on next play. Relax - NOPE threw a pick in the endzone. 

4. Mount is young, inconsistent and sloppy. Look it was 49-7, but the offense looked anemic at times and imploded at other times. Ball control is an issue - and one Mount isn't used to having. But they are young.

5. BJ can't run inside. Nothing else to say. They kept trying to get him inside but he can't do that.

6. To the BW fan that said "we are alot better than last year, that was a blow out" (this was at beginning of 3rd quarter). No this was a blowout too and BW isn't better - Mount isn't as good....yet.

7. To the Mount guy 2 rows behind me that felt compelled to make everyone aware of what "Mount always does" - shut up. You make Mount fans appear both arrogant and unlikeable.

Other than that - it was great. Important thing was that my kids had a blast (even after we moved to the endzone and stood to get away from the guy in #7) and Mount won. For next week - Poorman should be it. He didn't look great but he did look composed.

I agree with almost everything you stated.
1. BW is not a good team and we couldn't get much of a pass rush against them. I think the secondary and linebackers are doing fine (could be better of course), but our Dline is where we need the most improvement. They are doing great against the run, but we are not pressuring the QB at all! Our championship teams have all been able to put pressure on the QB very well! I'm sure we'll see some schematic changes soon to help, nice I saw a little of late in the BW game.

2. Totally agree! One key to having a shot at beating UMU is to play hard, but smart. I've seen too many opponents come into a game and staying in the game until they begin to run their mouths....just play football.

3. Again, they seemed to act like they were overmatched...as a coaching staff you can't act that way, even if you believe that.

4. In my opinion, we're playing to not lose. Once we have some momentum, Id like to see the QBs make some throws that mean something under pressure.  They need the experience making tough throws.....and not against Wilmington.

5. Agree. I hope to see some more 2 RB misdirection that we saw last year with BJ and Nemeth, but with Evans-Morris or develop a big young guy (Choat?).

6. Agree

7. That's normal with any fan base of a team that has had continued success unfortunately....

Just want to add 2 thoughts:
I'm hoping that the staff chooses one guy and lets him play a full game soon. We need one QB to play with confidence and I think both have positives, but they need to choose the identity that they want the offense to have and start working the offense with them.

I'm not one that likes to look ahead at all, but the OAC is bad! Heidelberg and JCU look like the only challenges left and I don't think JCU has the offense this year and Heidelberg the defense to win the confernce. We will have challenges and our staff does a great job of keeping them mentally ready every week, but I'm not sure what to think of the rest of the schedule ..we are not near the team we were the last 2 seasons (last years team really may have been one of our best IMO), but neither is the rest of D3. WW is good again, but can't choose a QB either. St Thomas is tough, but I think they're trying to find an offensive identity with injured/new players. St. John's gave them all they wanted last week. Linfield had a bad game vs MHB, but it shows their defensive areas of weakness and are prone to turning the ball over in big games. Which bring me to my two most intriguing teams to keep an eye on going forward. UW-Osh as they return a lot from last year and the confidence of having beaten UWW once before makes them a contender. Their defense is good and they return their mobile QB from last year with more experience. MHB is my top team right now with an explosive offense that runs well and talented defense that knows how to get after the QB with a great Dline.

Right now I feel that there are more teams that can win the Stagg Bowl and nobody is standing out this season. Not sure of an order yet, but I think it's UWW, UWO, ST, MHB, UMU, Linfield, wit North Central, Wheaton and St John Fisher in the next tier. Anyway, I'm glad there's still half of a regular season left, but we've definitely got room to grow before November.

[SaintsFAN]

I have to disagree with you guys on the call after the fake punt.  75% of coaches not named Les Miles go for a big play after a sudden change like that.  Under Dean Paul, we actually tracked these "sudden change" plays as one of the keys to a victory. 

The key thought here is the defense may still be getting their bearings, coming back onto the field in a rush when they thought they were going to get a couple minutes rest on the bench.

[LadyBear]

So Ricardo Johnson III is now at St. Olaf's and not even starting there? What in the world...?

St. Olaf's??  Didn't he just transfer to some D2 school closer to home earlier this year?  Maybe he changed his mind and never actually went there.

I don't know about St. Olaf but he was supposed to be going to Concordia-St. Paul, which is indeed D-II.

From the box score yesterday against Bethel, it looks like he came into the game with 12:09 remaining in the second quarter after the starting QB was sacked a couple of times on the previous drive (hopefully no injury). He put up some decent numbers.

According to the St. Olaf website: "The Oles' Ricardo Johnson III threw for 178 yards on 15-of-26 passing and Bryan Aviles scored a fourth quarter touchdown for St. Olaf (1-3, 0-2 MIAC)."

"Hope the kid finds what he's looking for. (Or maybe what the dad is looking for, if someone else is pulling the strings.)"

After we lost our first opening games, I have not wanted to be on the board this season, but Saturday the boys look much better! Regarding, Ricardo Johnson III (my 2nd favorite player last year...its a bit of a story and my students will be back in 20 mins.) Johnson has stayed in contact with a lot of his ex-teammates at ONU. He did transfer to Concordia St. Paul, but it wasn't just to be closer to home, he and Coach Schmitz had such a bad relationship that Coach Paul interviewed several players on the team reviewing Schmitz's negative behavior toward Johnson. After one semester at Concordia, Johnson interned at Charles Schwab, somewhere out west, this summer. After the internship he decided he wanted to go to a more academically rigorous school and transferred to St. Olaf, terrible at football, but a fabulous academic institution. (I guess that shoots down the "controlling Dad" argument). Johnson joined the school the week of their first game, so presumably he's still learning the offense. There are a lot of ONU players, coaches and fan(s) (me) that wish he was still in Ada, but I believe Will to be a great alternative and he still a young guy. After losing Price, Magazine and Johnson from last year's team, I knew there would be an adjustment, but I like the Williams kid and once our guys get a little more experience under their belts I think we will be just fine! Back to grading papers!! 

[joelmama]

Lady Bear,

Nice recap.  Sounds like the kid has a good head on his shoulders (at least now).  I wish him luck.   (BTW there are some here that might want to offer you quoting classes)