FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Frank Rossi]

Well they released an article on the Cardinal newspaper and it said he has been ruled out

I too will believe it when I see it.  Maybe injury reports are a little different in New York than they are here, but I've seen a JCU receiver (Joe Konrad a couple years back) be listed as out, not practice all week, and when I asked the head coach, he said the kid wasn't going to play, then the first play from scrimmage he's lined up at receiver.

When Jason Trusnik from ONU went down with an injury a couple years ago, the JCU coaching staff prepared as though he was going to be in.  Coach Scafe even said, "I'll believe that he's not playing when I see him on crutches when we kick off."  He ended up not playing, and JCU won the game 50-25 I believe...scoring 26 unanswered points.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong RC.   

That's a little Bill Cowher-esque, if you ask me:  http://gridironfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45725

In this case, I think, based on the information I've received, that Stepnick will not play -- he had an injury that normally takes weekS (plural) to come back from, and seven days probably would place him at no better than 75-80%...and risk future injury problems that could cause him lifetime issues.  It's only a game in the end, but it's also nice to see that he's been so insistent to want to play -- paints a great picture of any football player, in my view.  Then again, is that Willis Reed I see coming down the tunnel??!!

[Tags]

From what I'm hearing he's definitely out for tomorrow.

Vos is handling it well I think. He's obviously not going to comment on the impact it will have when he's still got a game to play - plus he realizes like any good coach, that the kids need to know their coach believes in them.

I'm sure Vos does believe Bostick and Turell can play well, but everyone knows that losing Stepnick is just a tremendous blow.

[jaypeter]

If Fisher can keep the heat on, pressure Micheli, slow down Kmic, score early, and stick with their ground game, we'll have ourselves a ball game.

Of all the things you listed here, I think the last one will be the hardest.  It's been shown (TCNJ) that you can pressure Micheli, maybe sort of slow down Kmic, score early (IC).  But running against Mount Union seems to be the thing that is hardest to do. 

jaypeter

[Toph]

If Fisher can keep the heat on, pressure Micheli, slow down Kmic, score early, and stick with their ground game, we'll have ourselves a ball game.

Of all the things you listed here, I think the last one will be the hardest.  It's been shown (TCNJ) that you can pressure Micheli, maybe sort of slow down Kmic, score early (IC).  But running against Mount Union seems to be the thing that is hardest to do. 

jaypeter

If Fisher is resorting to jailbreak blitzes every third play to pressure Micheli, they'll be in trouble.  It's not hard to get pressure when you send 7 or 8 guys...but if the ball gets out, and gets caught...watch out.

[jaypeter]

If Fisher is resorting to jailbreak blitzes every third play to pressure Micheli, they'll be in trouble.  It's not hard to get pressure when you send 7 or 8 guys...but if the ball gets out, and gets caught...watch out.

Exactly...if they do that, Mount might do something crazy like score 59 points.   

[Tags]

I highly doubt you'll be seeing anything except what they've done the whole year. They'll fire off the corner a few times, maybe send some inside every now & then, but I don't think they're going to stack the box and come out like I'm hearing TCNJ tried to do.

They know Mount can beat you both ways, so I'm sure they'll to be smart about when they blitz.

[skunks_sidekick]

Yah....and I haven't heard or read where SJF's coach proudly brags that he and his team are "wild and crazy", and willing to do anything at any time to throw the other team off.   

I would guess the coaching staff at SJF believes they can compete with Mount playing straight up, smash mouth football. 

With the potential lake effect weather that is supposed to hit sometime tomorrow night, it might be a "fun" drive home for the Fisher faithful after the game.  Driving 90 when the lake effect weather hits is no fun.  I had a client in Toronto for a while that required me to drive up once a month for about two years.  The winter months were always a thrill a minute.

[Toph]

I highly doubt you'll be seeing anything except what they've done the whole year. They'll fire off the corner a few times, maybe send some inside every now & then, but I don't think they're going to stack the box and come out like I'm hearing TCNJ tried to do.

They know Mount can beat you both ways, so I'm sure they'll to be smart about when they blitz.

That was a joke on my part.  I know they aren't going to do the same th TCNJ did.

[reality check]

Now a hot brunette like Jenn Stenger?  That I'm still missing.

Ric's a brunette isn't he hscoach???   

[Frank Rossi]

Now a hot brunette like Jenn Stenger?  That I'm still missing.

Ric's a brunette isn't he hscoach???   

Thank God I've got dark brown hair....

[reality check]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong RC.   

I'm sure you're wrong about something.  You usually are afterall but the '05 game account sounds accurate to me.  Trusnik was hurt in the first half of the Musky game and was on crutches with the broken foot by halfime I believe.  The following week Regis and crew saw him on crutches at kickoff like you said.

Exactly...if they do that, Mount might do something crazy like score 59 points.   

As a sidenote, if they were to do something crazy like this, MUC would clear the 700 point mark for the season as was discussed as a hypothetical were the Raiders to reach the Stagg Bowl by some Mount poster at the end of the regular season.  I believe the most points in a season was the 1997 season with 752.  The '97 D gave up 122 points on the year (8.7 per game) and this year the Raiders have given up 49 to date (4.1 per game).

MUC's toughest test in the '97 championship season was the first round game against Allegheny.  Could this be a similar scenario in 2007 with Ithaca?  We will see.

I hope Fisher makes a good game of it simply for the sake of the openers for the next two years.  I'll be pulling for a close one but of course want the OAC to walk away with a W.

[seventiesraider]

Nice article about Bryson Davis, the other receiver, in today's Akron Beacon Journal (also on Ohio.Com). Sorry, I've been sick all week and I'm not fighting with hyperlinks.

If he's on any other team in D3 Bryson Davis is an All-American

[theoriginalupstate]

I highly doubt you'll be seeing anything except what they've done the whole year. They'll fire off the corner a few times, maybe send some inside every now & then, but I don't think they're going to stack the box and come out like I'm hearing TCNJ tried to do.

They know Mount can beat you both ways, so I'm sure they'll to be smart about when they blitz.

I think that having Coach Faggiano prepping the Defense the whole week will help as well, last year he went out of the country for a couple of days to pick up his adopted son. 

He got the game plan in by tuesday (i believe) then left the country and made it back in time for KickOff. 

[jaypeter]

I think that having Coach Faggiano prepping the Defense the whole week will help as well, last year he went out of the country for a couple of days to pick up his adopted son. 

He got the game plan in by tuesday (i believe) then left the country and made it back in time for KickOff. 

I had forgotten about that.  I think he even flew into Rochester on Friday night, drove to Alliance, and arrived sometime very early Saturday morning, if I remember correctly. 

jaypeter

[reality check]

Thank God I've got dark brown hair....

Frank doesn't having dark brown hair put you in the brunette category?.

Or is there a different definition for brunettes in NY?  (Unless of course you've had a change of heart and are hoping for some loving from hscoach in the booth Saturday...)