FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Raider 68]

Mount vs. Johns Hopkins.

Thoughts after attending the game.

- JHU has a solid team, high scoring, a very good QB, Receivers, big line.

- JHU is very similar to North Central, high scoring, great passing game and a never quit attitude

- The Raiders were fortunate to get the win and play a team like they could be facing in a few weeks, maybe

- Plunk was hurrying his passes in the first half and the play calling was not good either.

- Cannot afford a punting average of 25 yards, use Petro

- The front seven for Mount was the difference today given all the time on the field in the first half

- Plunk picked it up in the second half aided by a balanced attack that favored the run vs. pass

- Muhlenberg will IMHO not be as much of a challenge as JHU. but will be a tough game as well.

- A month ago i will not given the Raiders much of a chance to get to the Qtrs. but here they are.

- At this point  I am little more optimistic that they will win the Bracket and will be competitive against
  North Central. we'll see.

[MUC57]

Raider 68

Remember, Muhlenberg was the only team to beat Hopkins in the regular season. Let's not take them lightly.
Go Raiders!   

[Raider 68]

Raider 68

Remember, Muhlenberg was the only team to beat Hopkins in the regular season. Let's not take them lightly.
Go Raiders!   

Agree, it will be a good game. Muhlenberg beat them on a punt return. All the stats for the year indicate JHU was better.
Look at their stats vs. Delaware Valley.

[Raider 68]

Raider 68

Remember, Muhlenberg was the only team to beat Hopkins in the regular season. Let's not take them lightly.
Go Raiders!   

Agree, it will be a good game. Muhlenberg beat them on a punt return. All the stats for the year indicate JHU was better.
Look at their stats vs. Delaware Valley.

I stand corrected, it was a punt return and a 3 turnovers score 21-6 Muhlenberg

[rscl70]

Mount's web site says Plunk was 21 of 26 passing.  Watching a replay I have him 21 of 35.  Will someone please explain to me, when is a pass not a pass statically speaking?

[Raider 68]

Mount's web site says Plunk was 21 of 26 passing.  Watching a replay I have him 21 of 35.  Will someone please explain to me, when is a pass not a pass statically speaking?

rscl70,

You are correct about 21 of 35, Plunk missed 3 passes on the first series and several after that. For this game he was
very inconsistent which has to change quickly for Muhlenberg.

Also, the D3 crew has indicated that Mount is vulnerable after giving up 35 points. I agree they they are,
but D3 forecasted a high scoring game in their prediction. Not that many years ago Mount game up points
in playoffs Wesley, NC and few others, but still went on to win. There are good teams left and at least four/five
could win it all, IMHO.

[hsbsballcoach7]

Mount's web site says Plunk was 21 of 26 passing.  Watching a replay I have him 21 of 35.  Will someone please explain to me, when is a pass not a pass statically speaking?

rscl70,

You are correct about 21 of 35, Plunk missed 3 passes on the first series and several after that. For this game he was
very inconsistent which has to change quickly for Muhlenberg.

Also, the D3 crew has indicated that Mount is vulnerable after giving up 35 points. I agree they they are,
but D3 forecasted a high scoring game in their prediction. Not that many years ago Mount game up points
in playoffs Wesley, NC and few others, but still went on to win. There are good teams left and at least four/five
could win it all, IMHO.

IMO, defenses in College football are nowhere near where they used to be pre-spread/analytics with low point averages when both teams are talented. Of course teams that are overmatched (Washington & Lee, Capital,  Wilmington,  etc) will be kept below 10 points in a game,  but I don't see that as the norm when two decent teams are playing each other anymore (I know WL want that bad,  but they were overmatched).  I see the strategy as... I trust my offense to score 40+ points and my defense to force enough punts or create turnovers to hold them under 30 points. I only care about scoring 1 more point than my opponent to advance in the playoffs.  This Mount Union defense is coming into their own,  creating more havoc sacks/pressure/interceptions, but they will give up some points being aggressive.  If the offense is scoring 30-35 points in the next 2 games, you should be in the game to win it in the end.

[WRMUalum13]

Mount's web site says Plunk was 21 of 26 passing.  Watching a replay I have him 21 of 35.  Will someone please explain to me, when is a pass not a pass statically speaking?

rscl70,

You are correct about 21 of 35, Plunk missed 3 passes on the first series and several after that. For this game he was
very inconsistent which has to change quickly for Muhlenberg.

Also, the D3 crew has indicated that Mount is vulnerable after giving up 35 points. I agree they they are,
but D3 forecasted a high scoring game in their prediction. Not that many years ago Mount game up points
in playoffs Wesley, NC and few others, but still went on to win. There are good teams left and at least four/five
could win it all, IMHO.

I think Mount's 2015 and 2017 National Championship teams had really good defenses and they gave up some playoff points:

The 2015 Mount Union D 
Round 1: 23
Round 2:  7
Round 3: 35
Round 4: 6
Stagg: 35

The 2017 Defense
Round 1: 0
Round 2: 16
Round 3: 37
Round 4: 40
Stagg: 0

Looking at the 2017 quarters and semis you'd never guess that the defense would pitch a shutout in the Stagg Bowl.

The 2018 Defense
Round 1: 0
Round 2: 35
Round 3: 10
Round 4: 20
Stagg: 24

I find it interesting to note that the last 3 Mount Union Stagg Bowl Defense all gave up at least 35 points before the semi finals.

[D3fanboy]

If we're being honest, 7 JHU points were in garbage time.  That leaves us with 28, take away the safety, now we're at 26. 

JHU drive starts at the JHU 48, hits 38 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at the Mount 35 after a booming 17 yd punt. Ends in 25 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at Mount 41 after a tipped INT screen pass.  Ends in TD (7 points)

Half of JHU's points prior to the end of the 4th qtr were a direct result of field position due to insanely poor punts and a weird INT.  Doesn't even take into account that Mount's first drive ended with a 9 yd blast of a punt to the Mount 41, where the D forced a punt.

The D gave up one or two big plays and 13 points on actual drives to a very competent offense, I guess call that "vulnerable" or whatever but Mount's defense was behind the 8 ball all day, and won Mount the game IMO

[mucgrad06]

If we're being honest, 7 JHU points were in garbage time.  That leaves us with 28, take away the safety, now we're at 26. 

JHU drive starts at the JHU 48, hits 38 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at the Mount 35 after a booming 17 yd punt. Ends in 25 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at Mount 41 after a tipped INT screen pass.  Ends in TD (7 points)

Half of JHU's points prior to the end of the 4th qtr were a direct result of field position due to insanely poor punts and a weird INT.  Doesn't even take into account that Mount's first drive ended with a 9 yd blast of a punt to the Mount 41, where the D forced a punt.

The D gave up one or two big plays and 13 points on actual drives to a very competent offense, I guess call that "vulnerable" or whatever but Mount's defense was behind the 8 ball all day, and won Mount the game IMO

This is what I was thinking as well, the D played well in difficult situations

[rscl70]

If we're being honest, 7 JHU points were in garbage time.  That leaves us with 28, take away the safety, now we're at 26. 

JHU drive starts at the JHU 48, hits 38 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at the Mount 35 after a booming 17 yd punt. Ends in 25 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at Mount 41 after a tipped INT screen pass.  Ends in TD (7 points)

Half of JHU's points prior to the end of the 4th qtr were a direct result of field position due to insanely poor punts and a weird INT.  Doesn't even take into account that Mount's first drive ended with a 9 yd blast of a punt to the Mount 41, where the D forced a punt.

The D gave up one or two big plays and 13 points on actual drives to a very competent offense, I guess call that "vulnerable" or whatever but Mount's defense was behind the 8 ball all day, and won Mount the game IMO

I came home from that game thinking Mount's defense had played what may have been their best game of the season.  I would like to have seen a little more pressure on the QB, but that young man got the ball out of his hands very quickly.  The secondary coverage was very good against JHU and W&L.

[hsbsballcoach7]

If we're being honest, 7 JHU points were in garbage time.  That leaves us with 28, take away the safety, now we're at 26. 

JHU drive starts at the JHU 48, hits 38 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at the Mount 35 after a booming 17 yd punt. Ends in 25 yd FG (3 points)

JHU drive starts at Mount 41 after a tipped INT screen pass.  Ends in TD (7 points)

Half of JHU's points prior to the end of the 4th qtr were a direct result of field position due to insanely poor punts and a weird INT.  Doesn't even take into account that Mount's first drive ended with a 9 yd blast of a punt to the Mount 41, where the D forced a punt.

The D gave up one or two big plays and 13 points on actual drives to a very competent offense, I guess call that "vulnerable" or whatever but Mount's defense was behind the 8 ball all day, and won Mount the game IMO

I feel that JHU was an all around, very solid team.  Mounts defense is more than good enough to win the Stagg Bowl, but I'm more concerned with the offense. They can do it,  just need to put together a good plan and execute.

[WRMUalum13]

Did anyone else happen to look at JHU's two deep? I couldn't believe how big their front 7 was for a D3 team outside the WIAC.

6-4 235
6-2 230
6-2 245
6-3 220
6-3 220
6-3 220 (not at typo they had three guys with identical height and weight)
5-11 190

In comparison Mount's front 7 ( I know technically this might include hyrbrid DB / LBs but just for sake of comparison)

6-0 260
5-9 225
6-1 200
5-10 190
5-11 200
5-8 180
6-0 220

[D3fanboy]

Did anyone else happen to look at JHU's two deep? I couldn't believe how big their front 7 was for a D3 team outside the WIAC.

6-4 235
6-2 230
6-2 245
6-3 220
6-3 220
6-3 220 (not at typo they had three guys with identical height and weight)
5-11 190

In comparison Mount's front 7 ( I know technically this might include hyrbrid DB / LBs but just for sake of comparison)

6-0 260
5-9 225
6-1 200
5-10 190
5-11 200
5-8 180
6-0 220

Duke Hill being listed at 225 lbs tells you all that you need to know about D3 heights and weights

[MUC57]

In expectation of a game against NCC, I'm glad Mount had a tough game last weekend. Make improvements, correct errors, sharpen up the fundamentals.
Looks like they could have another tough one this Saturday.
Here are some of Muhlenberg's numbers from their game with Delaware Valley:
      * 9 (nine) sacks
      * 3 takeaways
      * 3 red zone stops
      * second straight playoff shutout
      * 53 rushing yards allowed
      * 15 completions in 47 attempts allowed
Including a shutout in the regular season finale, The Mules have 3 straight shutouts for the first time since 1942.
Delaware Valley has not been shut out at home since 2002.

I give you some data to reflect on, if you so chose. So there!
   
Here's something else to ponder. I know it's too early, but think about this:
NCC is 5th in the nation in rushing offense
UMU is 5th in the nation in rushing defense
Does "Defense wins championships" still hold true? Ah, fun to think about!

GO RAIDERS!