FB: Presidents' Athletic Conference

[the_burghboy]

Actually, burgh...

As I read different posters, more and more I get convinced that many people do not understand my original line, and much more about the game... Sometimes, what I read here is almost staggering...

I get Versus--had no idea that there was anything on there Saturday night that I could have been watching.  I just know I have it 'cause that's where the hockey playoffs were last spring...

What is staggering to you Bob?  For example? 

As for Versus, they started showing Mountain West and Pac-10 games I believe just this year.  The sad thing after the USC/Stanford game is that there was no 'post game' wrap up, and went almost directly after the game to some rodeo competition.

Then again, with their pre/post game hockey analysis, maybe that's not such a bad thing. 

[Bigernernwj69]

I must say what an exciting game this weekend. Thiel college showed some great abilities in running the ball, and could have been a bad situation for president nation if one of their first two possessions was a TD. As for W&J there defense showed a great bend don't break type of attitude. They went after the Thiels young offensive line with different line stunts. The special teams for W&J looked a lot better this week, as the kickoff cover team stayed in their lanes and only gave up one run past the forty. With Thiels young team they can be a force to be wrecking with in years to come. I think they will lose one more game and win out. Now back to W&J, this was a tale of two halves for the presidents. The first half the boys on Offense seemed run everything very smoothed really only having one quarter in the first half since Thiel kept the presidents off the field. In the second half had a tough time finding their rhythm. I would have liked to see W&J stretch the defense a little bit more down the field. I was surprised to not see that many passes down the field of 25 yards or more. I think that this will change this week verses Westminster.

I think that Waynesburg could give W&J a tough time in a couple of weeks, now i do not want to get too far ahead, because if anyone watched college football this weekend then you know that any team can lose on any Saturday. For instance, look at USC and UCLA losing to Notre Dame. I am not comparing W&J to USC by any means, but W&J has a couple of road games in a row that could test them. Its tough traveling in a bus for four straight weeks. The road trip itself will be beneficial for the team to learn how to win on the road.

How about a couple of the top ten teams losing this week in DIII. Does anyone disagree with the rankings this week? The Presidents are a good team and i think they belong in their spot.  What's the game of the week this week?

Congrats to the Presidents this past weekend

[Bob.Gregg]

big,

Didn't take the "down the field" shots because that's what Thiel was set on preventing.  Thought the offense took advantage of the Thiel plan by throwing underneath and the swings to Ravida.  Thiel was not capable of stopping everything.  R&B did a nice job of using what the Tomcats didn't stop.

I'm still troubled by how much trouble "O" had, particularly second half, getting plays from Coach Mike to the line of scrimmage.  This unit has been together far too long and we're way too deep in the season for that to be happening that much.

That brings me back to my original observation of the "O":  Bobby Swallow was clearly not at his best.  Was he sick Saturday?  That would explain a lot of things...

Don't know, just wondering aloud.

[PittTBCW]

It was a great weekend for football. I attended the Thiel @ W&J game and I agree with alot of what everyone is saying. This was Thiel's game of the year. They needed this win if they wanted to reach their goals this year. The Tomcats played tough as they always do. I agree with Bigern that if they managed to put the ball in the endzone on one of the first two drives that the game could have been a little different. W&J did not impress me as much as I thought they would. One thing they did was go right down the field and score after a Thiel missed a 2pt conversion. They put Thiel down two scores and the way W&J's defense was playing it was going to be tough to comeback. W&J has to play better if they want to go deep into the playoffs and win the PAC. Thiel is going to be fine. They have a great staff and keep getting some good players that are just young right now. I was surprised that Thiel did not sack Swallow. Mathews was pretty impressive I thought. McCafferty was the player of the game in my opinion as he just ran away from the defenders on his first TD and was solid the rest of the game.

[Wes Mantooth]

It usually is hard for W&J to impress against Thiel as they play the best game of the year against the Prez and W&J seems to be in a funk everytime they play Thiel. This game will never look good for them as they will see Thiel's 2-4 record and with W&J winning a semi close one will not help come seeding time. They bottom line need to pound people like Mount does against Ohio Northern. Even if a team is playing up the talent @ W&J far exceeds most teams they play. I look for them to shred everyone they play the rest of the year.  Pitt  Mcafferty is a stud he needs the ball a lot more he was the 4th WR for Mount Union as a freshman which means he saw the field in their spread sets and left as he did not enjoy his time there. I look for W&J to pound the Titans this weekend.

[Bigernernwj69]

Pitt,
It was a good time this weekend. I enjoyed sharing a few drinks with ya this weekend. As for T-MAC he is a good receiver, i think that he has some weapons around him that make him more effective. As for the vertical attack, i still think that there were a few opportunities where they could have went there, but they did take advantage up the underneath stuff BOB. I was shocked that's all. I am use to seeing at least a couple big shots down field.

Wes,
you missed a good time on Saturday bud. When you coming to a game. Get at me because i lost your cell with my phone. The o-line i thought did pretty well. W&J only has on full time starter that's a senior and another that rotates until a clear winner for the job is announced. This line has a lot of depth. They will be tough for the rest of the year and going into next.


PITT,

Who stuck out on the defensive ball for both sides you think? The safety looked tough for Thiel. He was not afraid to come up to stick.

Saint,

With Notre Dame winning does this mean your out for the W&J game?

[SaintsFAN]

I'm not 100% yet on that, bigern.  I want to be there.  I'm also supposed to be headed to Tennesee for the South Carolina game on the 20th...  I don't think i'll be able to do both that and ND/Navy though...

[PittTBCW]

Bigern,

It was a good time...thanks for the hospitality.

Thiel normally has a good defense and it starts with their defensive line. I think that Lorber and Hughes are good players. The LB's and DB's will always stick you. I think Thiel's main focus was to not give up the big play and thats why Swallow did not try and take too many shots down the field. I hope that Thiel will take something from this loss. They where very much in the ball game. They played one of the better teams in D3 football tough. Maybe W&J did not play thier best but I don't think it was because they had an off day. I think that Thiel did a nice job of doing what they needed to do to try and win the game.

[Bob.Gregg]

PittTBCW,

Please don't take my "not at his best" as a detraction from what Thiel was able to do.  The Tomcats played extremely well and all day long took away the big play ('cept for McCafferty's individual effort).

But Swallow was NOT right Saturday.  He just wasn't.  And isn't that something that a kid making his 17th collegiate start can go 18-30, 230 yards and 3 td's and not be right?

[PittTBCW]

PittTBCW,

Please don't take my "not at his best" as a detraction from what Thiel was able to do.  The Tomcats played extremely well and all day long took away the big play ('cept for McCafferty's individual effort).

But Swallow was NOT right Saturday.  He just wasn't.  And isn't that something that a kid making his 17th collegiate start can go 18-30, 230 yards and 3 td's and not be right?

I agree Bob. I don't think that Swallow played a great game. I think he played a good game but did miss some passes. I think he is one of the top qb's in d3football. I am starting to think he is better then Dawson.

[EC Warrior]

Bob you make a great point about the numbers.  But do you think that his "struggles" on Saturday had more to do with Thiel, or with himself?  It sounds to me like you think the latter. 

[Bob.Gregg]

It was him.

Wide opens were off the mark.

Sidelines were high.

Slants were behind.

Communications were off.

And other than 1 "hurry", it wasn't Thiel.  He was off.

[SaintsFAN]

Bob and others,

If Swallow was "off" in that game and still had those numbers...you must have great talent surrounding him and I hope he's WAY, WAY off on November 3rd....maybe even having to throw left-handed...

[Bigernernwj69]

Bob and others,

If Swallow was "off" in that game and still had those numbers...you must have great talent surrounding him and I hope he's WAY, WAY off on November 3rd....maybe even having to throw left-handed...

Well Saint lucky for you we will have him throw left, since he is left handed. HAHA, but i think it will be a good game

[PittTBCW]

Congrats to Mike Stimac of the Thiel Tomcats for being announced as 2007 Draddy Trophy Semifinalist!

Read about it here its a great honor:

http://www.thiel.edu/athletics/RELEASE%20TEMPLATE/2007-football/10-11-07.html


Prediction Time:

Saturday, October 13th

Grove City at Thiel* - 1 p.m.
Thiel and GCC battle for the Mercer Cup. Thiel has won it the last 3 years and I believe all but one year since Coach Leip took over the Thiel program in 2001. I see the Tomcats bouncing back after a hard fought battle with W&J led by their run game. Minton, Hess, and the offensive line will keep the Tomcat running game going. Its the last home game for the seniors so I know they will be playing with alot of emotion. I look for Lorber, Hughes, and Stimac to have big days for the Darkside as they have been very good at shutting down the Wolverines. GCC will look to keep going from last week but I think they will see a better team in Greenville. They will come ready to play but will not have enough.

Thiel 31 GCC 14


Thomas More at Saint Vincent* - 1:30 p.m.

Thomas More is off a big win against Westmini and I look for the Saints to stay hot. SVC was down early to Waynesburg but battled back to play the Yellow Jackets tough. They keep getting better and have a chance to get their first PAC win at home if they can force some turnovers and get the ball in the endzone. At the end of the day I like Collier to have a good game and get the road victory.

Saints 27 SVC 7

Wash. & Jeff. at Westminster* – 1:30 p.m.

The Presidents took care of buisness last week even though there offense was held in check. The W&J defense was tough and led them to victory. Westminster is back at home after a rough road trip to TMC. I think the Presidents will get back on track this week. Westminster's defense is good but the Presidents are better. Matthews and McCafferty will have a couple TD's as Swallow returns to form.

W&J 42 Westminster 7

Waynesburg at Bethany* - 2 p.m.

Bethany would like to forget about their last two weeks. They had alot of promise to begin the season but things are sputtering. It does not get any easier when the Heller Train pays a stop to West Virginia. The Bison have trouble defending the run and Waynesburg is very good at running the ball. This equals along day for the Bison. If they can stop the run they have a chance. I like Heller.

Waynesburg 34 Bethany 13


Geneva is off and enjoying Blue Moon's in Beaver.

Good Luck to all the Teams this week!

GO TOMCATS!!!!