FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[jamtod]

Just one outsider's view. I absolutely do not associate the Fulford situation or Mt's Handling of it with any sort of historical, program-wide behavior. This is a one-off situation involving one player and it's as simple as that.
Unfortunately, whatever that line of "Uneasy lies the head..." applies here for the reasons already mentioned. Mt is king of the D3 hill and Fulford is the QB.
You just have to weather the storm.

It's not so bad. At least he didn't do anything egregious like throw a behind the back 2-pt conversion on the first score of a game that turned into a blowout. If he had done that, then it would be worth discussing for several days and multiple pages of posts and would be indicative of historical, program-wide behavior.

(Please keep in mind that 90% of my posts are with tongue planted firmly in cheek. My karma begs this of you.)

[miac952]

Maybe Fulford isn't public enemy no. 1 after all. Surprise, surprise.
Getting tired of all the inane comments by people from the other boards. Hey, we can't beat them playing football, let's try something else. Some if the comments  from the lawyers  sound like the rankings of someone about 10 years old. Watch out, they may take their ball and go home!
Mount Union will deal with the situation. I am a fan, will always be a fan. Love this team no matter what. This is my alma mater. You can say nothing that will lmpune the integrity of this fine school.
Blind loyalty? Of course not. But let's keep everything in perspective. This school, established in 1846, will not be destroyed by recent happenings.
Damn, I'm mad! Why don't all of you do-gooders crawl back into your holes and worry about your own, in some cases, pathetic teams.
We, Mount Union, will survive. Students will graduate and maybe, just maybe, we'll even win a few football games.
I'll close my ranting by saying I still bleed purple and a big Go Raiders!!!!!!

Fulford's probably a great kid. Maybe I missed some posts, but I don't think anyone is suggesting he is public enemy #1. He just needs to take some time to get his stuff in order. And this isn't some institutional scandal. Thankfully there isn't much of that in DIII. And even the smallest stories make noise because of how quiet the DIII world is. Wheaton blew up into a national story this year. But, other than that, I can't think of anything recently.

Look on the bright side. This isn't the land of Rocky Top. Now that is worthy of sitting back and watching from afar with a bucket of popcorn.

[bluestreak66]

(BW had a self imposed postseason ban a few years ago even)

is that really a punishment for BW?

Not really. That's like me self imposing a ban on driving Lamborghinis. i wasn't going to be driving one anyway, so it's kind of meaningless lol

[jamtod]

From Quick Hits, I'm actually really surprised that 4 of the 6 gurus predict a 1-score game (the two that don't are Pat and Keith) and that they expect Frostburg to score 20-ish points. Hasn't Mount's D been pretty dominating this year also, in addition to the potent offense?

[skunks_sidekick]

From Quick Hits, I'm actually really surprised that 4 of the 6 gurus predict a 1-score game (the two that don't are Pat and Keith) and that they expect Frostburg to score 20-ish points. Hasn't Mount's D been pretty dominating this year also, in addition to the potent offense?

JtT - I think it is more about Mount's offense.  It has been sporadic, and not quite "there" at times during the later part of the season (JCU & playoffs).  I don't know if it is the "Fulford effect", the consistent fumbling by E-M, or some combination of a multitude of reasons.  In other years I knew Mount was going to put up 40+ on just about anyone not named UWW or MHB, but this year I THINK they could do that, but don't have strong confidence that they will against stronger teams.  Having watched FSU the last couple of weeks, I think they have the ability to give Mount a game if they don't get caught up in "The Machine" mystique. 

[Dr. Acula]

Wally Wabash

The last several days have been an attack on Fulford, the Kehres's and Mount Union. Read the posts. Also, read the rest of my post. The part you picked out was in response to a story in today's Alliance Review. About his interaction with kids. I respect your opinion on Dlll matters, but if you don't see an attack on Fulford in some of these posts, you're just plain not paying attention.

There have been very few attacks, but lots of critiques. I don't think anyone is targeting the player. Heck, I don't even mention his name. Most people are critiquing Mount Union and its handling of this situation. Mount Union's silence isn't doing the program any favors.

^^^ This.  I think for the most part everyone has been fairly objective.  Look, there are legal issues.  Outlining them, the timeline, etc. is not an attack.  It's just reviewing facts.  A lot of the banter has rightfully been focused on Mount's handling of the situation.  As someone mentioned this is a rarity in D3 so when it occurs at Mount during the playoffs it's going to be discussed on here at length.  I don't think anyone has been out of line during the discussion.  I don't recall anyone even saying they'd kick Fulford off the team.  I thought most of the discussion has been bench him vs. start him.  To me that debate is in line with the situation. 

p.s. Am I the only one who saw that article in the Review and kind of smirked?  I realize it wasn't orchestrated in that it was the kid's first day back to school, but I question if that warrants a story in the paper without the rest of this stuff going on.  Call me a cynic I guess.   

[WRMUalum13]

From Quick Hits, I'm actually really surprised that 4 of the 6 gurus predict a 1-score game (the two that don't are Pat and Keith) and that they expect Frostburg to score 20-ish points. Hasn't Mount's D been pretty dominating this year also, in addition to the potent offense?

D has been pretty solid, but not 2015 or 2012 quality. Looked  very good against Case's offense last week, completely shutting down the run (minus some qb scrambles up the middle) and gave their QB fits. They picked him off three times in the first half. However, they didn't have the best game against JCU. It seems like the better offenses they have played have been able to put up at least 14, so assuming FSU is the best offense they've seen this year 21 points sounds about right.

To add to skunks point, the O is prone to quick strike hits or 3 and outs, they just don't give the d very many long drives so they can catch their breath.

[jamtod]

p.s. Am I the only one who saw that article in the Review and kind of smirked?  I realize it wasn't orchestrated in that it was the kid's first day back to school, but I question if that warrants a story in the paper without the rest of this stuff going on.  Call me a cynic I guess.   

I had the same reaction. Thought it was interesting. Nice story though. On Twitter, Frank Rossi had a few questions that Fulford responded well to.

[jamtod]

From Quick Hits, I'm actually really surprised that 4 of the 6 gurus predict a 1-score game (the two that don't are Pat and Keith) and that they expect Frostburg to score 20-ish points. Hasn't Mount's D been pretty dominating this year also, in addition to the potent offense?

D has been pretty solid, but not 2015 or 2012 quality. Looked  very good against Case's offense last week, completely shutting down the run (minus some qb scrambles up the middle) and gave their QB fits. They picked him off three times in the first half. However, they didn't have the best game against JCU. It seems like the better offenses they have played have been able to put up at least 14, so assuming FSU is the best offense they've seen this year 21 points sounds about right.

Thank you. Most of my perception of a D or O strength (aside from teams I've seen) comes from reviewing the Hansen Ratings which had UMU ahead of UST for defensive rating.

[MUC57]

Dr. Acula

Are you kidding? Re-read the posts. I can't quote them all, too many.
I give up. Think whatever you want!

[wally_wabash]

Wally Wabash

The last several days have been an attack on Fulford, the Kehres's and Mount Union. Read the posts. Also, read the rest of my post. The part you picked out was in response to a story in today's Alliance Review. About his interaction with kids. I respect your opinion on Dlll matters, but if you don't see an attack on Fulford in some of these posts, you're just plain not paying attention.

There have been very few attacks, but lots of critiques. I don't think anyone is targeting the player. Heck, I don't even mention his name. Most people are critiquing Mount Union and its handling of this situation. Mount Union's silence isn't doing the program any favors.

^^^ This.  I think for the most part everyone has been fairly objective.  Look, there are legal issues.  Outlining them, the timeline, etc. is not an attack.  It's just reviewing facts.  A lot of the banter has rightfully been focused on Mount's handling of the situation.  As someone mentioned this is a rarity in D3 so when it occurs at Mount during the playoffs it's going to be discussed on here at length.  I don't think anyone has been out of line during the discussion.  I don't recall anyone even saying they'd kick Fulford off the team.  I thought most of the discussion has been bench him vs. start him.  To me that debate is in line with the situation. 

p.s. Am I the only one who saw that article in the Review and kind of smirked?  I realize it wasn't orchestrated in that it was the kid's first day back to school, but I question if that warrants a story in the paper without the rest of this stuff going on.  Call me a cynic I guess.   

Did the Alliance Review report one word of Fulford's off-field stuff between Nov. 13 and Nov. 30?  I'm not sure they did.  They have a Mount Union beat writer whose job it is to report Mount Union news, even if that news is kind of a bummer.  D3Football.com has done great work on this story, but quite frankly it shouldn't have been D3Football.com's story to break.  So is the Alliance Review a news organization or a Mount Union fan blog?  It's hard to tell this week. 

[HansenRatings]

UMU has the #2 defense in my score-based ratings, and the #3 defense in the more advanced Y1P+ ratings, which isn't on par with where they were in 2015 or 2012, but still doggone good. CWRU was no slouch offensively (#9 | #12), nor was W&L (#2 RushO).

[HansenRatings]

So is the Alliance Review a news organization or a Mount Union fan blog?  It's hard to tell this week.

I bet catdomealumni would mention their starting quarterback getting charged with a felony, FWIW

[jamtod]

Posted without comment:

[Dr. Acula]

Dr. Acula

Are you kidding? Re-read the posts. I can't quote them all, too many.
I give up. Think whatever you want!

I'm not.  I did.  And I will.  There were a couple posts where shots were taken at Mount, but no worse than any shots taken at JCU for Myers or UWW for Coppage.  Frankly, I thought it was actually a pretty good discussion overall.  It doesn't happen often so it's worthy of debate IMO.  We just have different opinions I guess.  No harm at all in that.  Keeps things interesting!