FB: Presidents' Athletic Conference

[ADL70]

There are at least four more.  Look for PM.

[E.115]

The four additional coaches are now listed: http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/coaches/index

[ADL70]

Spartans have added SO  DE Cameron Brown to the roster.  He is son of former Cavs coach, Mike Brown. Haven't found that he played anywhere last year, but he was NE Lakes Dist 2nd team his senior year at Westlake HS.

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/1486189/5721c39c0428ae20e4bcab92  Looks quick.  On two plays he runs down a RB from behind way downfield.


http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2016-17/roster?view=list

Reportedly CWRU had 83 prospects from 13 states at its camp over the weekend.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Preseason honors are obviously less important than post-season honors, but kudos to three CMU players who have received preseason All-America recognition based on stellar 2015 performances.  Here's hoping for a repeat from these three.

http://athletics.cmu.edu/sports/fball/2016-17/releases/20160628gdm4tl

[DagarmanSpartan]

Not sure if I saw the right list, but it looks as though this could be a BANNER year for the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

Thomas More is ranked, and W&J, CWRU, and CMU are all in "others receiving votes," assuming it's the right list.

I'm still hoping that CWRU can have a breakthrough year.  It's been a long playoff drought.

[ADL70]

This one?

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2016/preseason

Over 50 teams received votes.

Schedule favors CWRU who play neither TMC nor W&J While the other contenders (those two plus CMU and Westminster all play each other)

[DagarmanSpartan]

That means that the Academic Bowl could decide a conference title and playoff berth, if all the cards fall just right.

How KEWL would that be?

[E.115]

The "Big 5" in the conference next year?

- Thomas More
- Washington and Jefferson
- Carnegie Mellon
- Case Western Reserve
- Westminster

[ExTartanPlayer]

The "Big 5" in the conference next year?

- Thomas More
- Washington and Jefferson
- Carnegie Mellon
- Case Western Reserve
- Westminster

Based on last year, those would seem to be the five strongest contenders.

Thomas More certainly stands one notch above the rest; the next four all have a who-beat-who thing going on (W & J beat CMU, who beat Case Western, who beat W & J...Westminster beat CMU, who beat Case Western, who beat W & J, who beat Westminster...and around and around we go).

I haven't looked into the other teams enough to see who has "the most" coming back, but all I can say is that you never really know with this stuff - entering last season, CMU was coming off a four-win 2014 season that included a hearty dose of luck (two 1-point wins and a last-second-FG-win over Westminster that only happened because of a 15-yard penalty with no time on the clock).  We had found something in Benger toward the end of the season, so I was quietly optimistic, but still an 8-3 season seemed wildly out of range until a) Sam Benger started tossing up 200-yards-a-game and b) the rest of the team started to rise around him.

CMU looks to have a pretty nice group back.  Offensively, 2000-yard RB Benger (and all other RB's behind him), WR Prather (46-718-7 last year), TE/H-Back Cree, and a couple of starting linemen (Reid and Nealley both entering their third year as starters).  They'll be breaking in a new QB, presumably junior Bryan Jangro, who does have one career start to his name from 2014 plus some nice work in limited relief action last year.  Defensively, they return lots of experience (14 of 18 guys with 15+ tackles last year are back), including star DE Brian Khoury and S Drew Fitzmorris.  Should be putting someone with a decent amount of game experience on the field at just about every slot.  Breaking in a new QB is always a little unpredictable, so the offensive line will have to keep him clean & give Benger some running lanes to put Jangro in position to succeed.  If that happens, and we find another productive WR to line up across from returning stalwart Prather, it could be a nice season.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Can't speak for all of the returnees, but having Cuda back at QB is big.

He appears to be one of those Dan Whalen type players that can almost carry the rest of the team on his back.

I'm hoping that we can turn the corner.  But those other teams will also be stout and tough to beat.

Query: Suppose CWRU doesn't make the DIII playoffs, but does get one of those Division III "bowl" bids.  Would that officially count as our second bowl, after Western Reserve's win over Arizona State in the 1941 Sun Bowl?

[DagarmanSpartan]

Out of curiosity, has the PAC already had its football media days, or is that coming up?

[ADL70]

PAC media day is 10-14 days off - first week of August.

Dave DiCarlo who mentored Whalen has returned as QB coach.

Those bowls are for ECAC, which CWRU does not belong to, to my knowledge.

[Bob.Gregg]

PAC Media Day is August 3rd at St. Vincent College.

The buffet lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the atrium of the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion. Our Q&A sessions with each PAC head coach and student-athlete representative are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Dr. Frank Luparello Lecture Hall (adjacent to the atrium), with coaches and student-athletes being available to media at approximately 2:15 p.m. That afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers preseason practice session is scheduled to begin at 2:55 p.m. Sideline pass(es) will be made available to media members that register for PAC Football Media Day.

Upon arrival, a Saint Vincent shuttle will be available to take you from the parking lot of the Fred Rogers Center to the Dupré Science Pavilion.

2016 PAC Football Media Day school representatives:
Bethany College: Head coach Bill Garvey, senior defensive back Aaron Frye (Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area)
Carnegie Mellon University: Head coach Rich Lackner, senior running back Zach Cree (Vanderbilt, Pa. / Connellsville Area)
Case Western Reserve University: Head coach Greg Debeljak, senior tight end Zech Medved (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny)
Geneva College: Head coach Geno DeMarco, senior linebacker Jimmy Quinlan (Brookfield, Ohio / Brookfield)
Grove City College: Head coach Andrew DiDonato, senior wide receiver Brett Pinson (Canton, Ohio / Jackson)
Saint Vincent College: Head coach Dr. Ron Dolciato, senior running back Shavonta Craft (Jeannette, Pa. / Jeannette)
Thiel College: Head coach Dan Blume, junior running back Justin Zinsmeister (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Baldwin)
Thomas More College: Head coach Regis Scafe, junior running back C.T. Tarrant (Hamilton, Ohio / Hamilton)
Washington & Jefferson College: Head coach Mike Sirianni, senior quarterback Pete Coughlin (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper St. Clair)
Waynesburg University: Head coach Rick Shepas, senior wide receiver Kevin Barnes, Jr. (Kittanning, Pa. / Kittanning)
Westminster College: Head coach Scott Benzel, senior linebacker Mac Quinn (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Northgate)

[ADL70]

CWRU preview:

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2016-17/releases/20160730jy3i85

[E.115]

Agreed.

"The strength of the top level of the conference can match up with many of the top leagues in the country," said Debeljak.  "The fact that five teams were in the [D3football.com] preseason poll tells you a lot about the respect the conference has around the country.  The PAC is a talented, deep conference."