FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

dale · August 25, 2007, 11:05:36 PM

After 5 yrs in NM and no Mount games (except for the Stagg's), I can't express how awesome it was to go to the Mount scrimmage today.

Things I took away from the scrimmage:

LK is 100% in charge and in command of his team (coaches, ball boy and water team included).
Micheli is ready for the season to start.
If Micheli gets hurt, we'll still be OK. (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th QB's all looked like they could start on most other D3 teams).
Running backs will be "strong... to quite strong" this year.
Pierre is fast.
Wray is fast.
O-Line dominated.
Defense, defense, defense.
DeRiggi has arms as big as a tree trunk.
Even the punter excited me.
If you're a Mount fan, it's not too early to start thinking about December.

Seriously, I don't know much about W&J this year, but they are a preseason top 20. Mount dominated them in every way. It was a monkey stomp. My tally had Mount with 9 possessions resulting in 8 TD's and 1 FG. On the other side, the D pitched a complete shutout. To me, Mount appeared to be in mid season form, and W&J looked like a team in pre-season.

btw - I got to enjoy the Friday Night Lights as Lake whooped Copley big time.

I absolutely love OH football.

dale · August 25, 2007, 11:11:07 PM

Raiderpa,

Interesting - I started typing my post before yours was on the board. Looks like we had many of the same observations. Agreed that DB's played well, as did the DLine. W&J QB was under heat all day.

Mount's second team would challenge for 2nd or 3rd in the OAC (OK, second team O with the first team D).

reality check · August 26, 2007, 04:38:40 PM

Quote from: kcreds on August 24, 2007, 02:58:25 PM
RC, I noticed you picked all OAC'ers but Capital in your pickems. Any reason for that? Do you really think Marietta can cover or are you picking with your heart? By the way, nice scroll.

I picked the way I did because I thought the spreads were pretty aggressive for week one. I was really on the fence with MUC but every time I think that a spread is too big for even Mount Union, they seem to cover. So I'm trying to think differently. I know CAP whooped WITT last season and I think they win the game but I'm just thinking it will be a little closer than the spread. I don't know how the OAC will do in week one but they'll play tough.

On the other hand, who the heck knows...

HScoach · August 27, 2007, 07:45:08 AM

Quote from: raiderpa on August 25, 2007, 11:04:28 PM
Micheli's passing reminds me of Borchert...always accurate and on time, but has more zip than Ole #7

All indications point to Micheli being a stud, but he does not have the arm strength, nor can he throw the deep ball like Bill Borchert. He's faster than Bill though.

I was at the scrimmage too and saw the same dominance that others have already mentioned, but have to call out DeRiggi again. He obviously took this past off season very seriously.

#10 - Cecil Short is a very good athlete, the question for the JV season is whether he can become a very good passer.

One omission from the roster that I find interesting is no Drew Kuhn.

Shark · August 27, 2007, 10:00:53 AM

Took away the same observations as most here from the Mount scrimmage. LK was in mid-season form as well. I'm sure the "water crew" will be more attentive in the future

HS coach / Ric

Was Kuhn's ommission just that or is he not playing? I spoke with one of his cousins a couple weeks ago and they said he was going to play

HScoach · August 27, 2007, 11:32:10 AM

I asked specifically about Kuhn and was told that there was no mistake in the roster not listing him and that his name's was recently removed.

HScoach · August 27, 2007, 11:33:46 AM

Also, don't forget about the 2007 OAC Pick-Em's. See General Football page for the games and spreads for Week 1.

kcreds · August 27, 2007, 11:51:23 AM

Does any other schools have a pregame tradition comparable to Wooster's Bagpipe Band coming over the hill? Is their tradtition the best in D3? It is the best I have seen so far in my limited experiences. Lets Goooooo Pios!

theaprof · August 27, 2007, 01:27:18 PM

Although I am a die hard MUC fan, my daughter goes to Woo and plays in the band--I have to say that I find the piping in of the team to be extremely moving--and I also think that the pipers encircling the team and playing after the game is a nice tradition as well. For those of you who have not experienced it, it is very classy. (even if it is a NCAC team)

JK · August 27, 2007, 01:35:09 PM

Interesting...

As I was posting my pick-em's, I went over to the NCAC pick-em board, just for the heck of it.

In the two games that feature OAC-NCAC matchups (CAP-WITT, JCU-WOO), the spreads are a bit different.

Our arbiters of point spreads (hscoach for us and wally_wabash for them) are pretty close on the JCU-WOO matchup. HSCoach has it as JCU -12.5 and the NCAC has it as JCU -13.5. The CAP-WIT matchup has the bigger discrepancy, hscoach has CAP -20.5 and wally has it CAP -14.5. Almost a TD difference? I wonder, in the case of the NCAC board, if it is lack of respect for CAP based on their personnel losses from last year, or is it an overconfidence in Witt's abilities?

I know the spreads are a lot of guesswork, particularly in week 1, but I just thought it interesting...

Muskie1 · August 27, 2007, 02:43:40 PM

Muskingum just finished the remodeling of the Home Team Locker Room. I haven't been in many D3 Locker Rooms, but to me, these look pretty nice.

http://muskingum.edu/home/athletics/photogallery/Athletic%20Renovations%20August%2007/index.html

kcreds · August 27, 2007, 02:44:28 PM

Along with wanting to know about D3 Wooster like traditions, how about tailgate traditions, does anyone know of any that compare to the St. John's Stiftingfestivities? I'm just curious of what to look forward to, other than great football, as I travel through the OAC and beyond.

HScoach · August 27, 2007, 02:54:26 PM

JK: Being the first game of the season and therefore very little known about each team, I'm surprised that Wally's spreads are that close to mine.

The funny thing is that I'm much more comfortable about Capital covering 20.5 than I am about JCU covering 12.5

seventiesraider · August 27, 2007, 04:25:12 PM

Quote from: kcreds on August 27, 2007, 02:44:28 PM
Along with wanting to know about D3 Wooster like traditions, how about tailgate traditions, does anyone know of any that compare to the St. John's Stiftingfestivities? I'm just curious of what to look forward to, other than great football, as I travel through the OAC and beyond.

I can testify that the Bridgewater tailgate crew, "Stone Station" as no equals.

As for traditions, watching 200 plus guys in purple run out of that tunnel in Mount Union Stadium still gives me chills.

blind_side · August 27, 2007, 04:55:08 PM

Quote from: Muskie1 on August 27, 2007, 02:43:40 PM
Muskingum just finished the remodeling of the Home Team Locker Room. I haven't been in many D3 Locker Rooms, but to me, these look pretty nice.

http://muskingum.edu/home/athletics/photogallery/Athletic%20Renovations%20August%2007/index.html

While looking at those pictures, I couldn't help but notice the logo on the helmets, is this a new logo for them? I didn't get to see them play last year so I apologize if this is old news. I can say for sure that I am not crazy about it, I really use to like the traditional "M" they use to have.