FB: Presidents' Athletic Conference

[ExTartanPlayer]

This week's PAC power rankings:

1. Washington & Jefferson (3-0, 5-0): No trouble with Grove City.  This weekend's game could all but seal the PAC title.

2. Thomas More (3-1, 4-2): The Saints rolled against Geneva, as expected.  Only 5 carries for Hayden; was he injured?  TMC has a pair of snoozers the next two weeks before a big matchup with Waynesburg.  They will need to win out + have not just one but two losses from W & J, plus some other help, to squeak into the playoffs.  Can the Saints stay focused and keep playing for pride with the carrot of a playoff berth possibly gone?

3. Bethany (4-0, 5-1): The Bethany Bison are about to play the biggest game since the inception of this website, if not the biggest game in school history (I don't know nor care to research pre-1999 results for every school).  Winners of five straight since opening with Mount Union, no matter how ugly some of the wins have been, they have a chance to put themselves squarely in the driver's seat for the PAC title.  They beat the Prez last year.  Something tells me that W & J will not be caught looking ahead this time around.  If I wasn't already planning on attending this weekend's CMU game, I would think about driving out to WV to watch.

4. Waynesburg (3-1, 5-1): their only loss came 33-27 against the aforementioned Bison, but some of the wins have been rather blah while others have been impressive.  Two more should-be-layups and then the real season-definers against TMC and W & J.  They still harbor some fringe playoff hopes if W & J beats Bethany.

Again...after that...what do we make of this mess?

Thiel (1-3, 2-4): beat St. Vincent, lost to Westminster
St. Vincent (2-1, 2-3): beat Case Western, lost to Thiel
Case Western (2-3, 2-3): lost to St. Vincent, beat Thiel
Carnegie Mellon (2-3, 2-3): lost to Case Western, beat Westminster
Westminster (1-3, 1-5): lost to Carnegie Mellon, beat Thiel

You figure it out.  Any of those teams are more-or-less interchangeable, and they probably can all beat one another on any given Saturday.  It would not surprise me if all of these teams finish between 3-7 and 5-5.

10. Geneva (0-2, 1-4): mostly close losses until last week's blowout against Thomas More.  I expect they'll pick up another win somewhere on the back nine of this schedule.  Probably will beat Bethany a week after Bethany beats W & J, just to make me look stupid and the league look that much wackier.

11. Grove City (0-3, 0-5): best chance for a win might be this week at CMU, or much later against Westminster and Thiel.  42-0 loss against Geneva does not bode well for chances against almost anyone.

[SaintsFAN]

Nice, work ExTartanPlayer -- I agree with much of what you've said on here regarding the teams and their outlooks for the rest of the season.  Not sure about Hayden's status but I noticed that as well.  I've got feelers out to see what happened Saturday.  What it was (intentionally or not) was a look at what TMC Football will be without him next year. 

Another question for Thomas More is at QB, IMO -- as they get closer to the Waynesburg game... They gave two QB's playing time up at Geneva.  They have the incumbent starter, who I think would tell you hasn't played his best in 2014.  This is the same QB who drew rave reviews last year with his accuracy -- ability to drop dimes on the longer throws, made great decisions with the football and did not turn it over.  They also have the freshman recruit - who spurned an offer at Western Kentucky University.  He's a mobile QB who is still learning the nuances of the offense and adjusting to college football.  Whoever is playing QB HAS to take advantage of all the attention being paid to Hayden and the rushing attack.  Though the backup RBs who played on Saturday didn't put up Hayden-like YPC numbers, they are more than serviceable and would be starters at virtually any other PAC team. 

So from speaking about putting Kuntz in at QB for the 4th Quarter at W&J-- I'm not sure what it means.  But Kuntz saw action in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters also against Geneva. 

They have the big game in two weeks against Waynesburg, who've played Thomas More very tough in some years under Coach Hilvert..but they can't get caught looking ahead.  They need to win out and have alot happen nationally to make the playoffs but have to start with winning out first.  I feel like they need the playoffs with having MSJ drop them because they didn't feel like they could compete with Thomas More (and the results showed they can't). 

[ADL70]

Realistically, today is CWRU's last shot at notching another PAC win.

I am hopeful that the offensive resurgence last week will continue and the Spartans can beat WUStL and UChi to finish 5-5.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Good meeting you ADL70.

I loved the double-reverse flea flicker for a TD!!!

As you said, I think that next week's opponent is going to give us a bit harder time!

[Pat Coleman]

Good meeting you ADL70.

I loved the double-reverse flea flicker for a TD!!!

Who had one this week?

[ADL70]

CWRU.  I know Nick is going to submit it for PoW.

"Sophomore wide receiver Brendan Lynch (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area), who threw the team's first touchdown on a trick play, finished with a game-high nine receptions for 63 yards."

Sorry I didn't have more time Dagarman and that we didn't find Spartanmom. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

This week's PAC power rankings:

1. Washington & Jefferson (4-0, 6-0): the Presidents handled Bethany this week and now can put it on cruise-control until the final week showdown with Waynesburg.  They have not officially wrapped up the title, as that Week 11 game will still be a factor, but it's hard to see any scenario other than W & J in the playoffs.

2. Thomas More (4-1, 5-2): No Hayden this week.  No problem.  Only one real showcase game left, with Waynesburg.  Playoff hopes are all but dead, with what amounts to a two-game deficit on W & J.

3. Bethany (4-1, 5-2): Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted.  The Bison still have three winnable games left and could notch their best season since the inception of this website.

4. Waynesburg (4-1, 6-1): Still ranked behind Bethany by virtue of H2H loss despite their 6-1 record.  Beating Westminster 26-21 isn't exactly going to move you up in the rankings.  Despite being ranked #4, they are the only team remaining that has a chance to topple W & J from that playoff spot.

Copied from last week...after that...what do we make of this mess?

Thiel (1-3, 2-4): beat St. Vincent, lost to Case Western, lost to Westminster
St. Vincent (2-2, 2-4): lost to Thiel, beat Case Western
Case Western (3-3, 3-3): lost to St. Vincent, beat Thiel, beat Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon (3-3, 3-3): lost to Case Western, beat Westminster
Westminster (1-4, 1-6): lost to Carnegie Mellon, beat Thiel

We might be able to sort these guys out after CMU plays St. Vincent and Thiel, but for now, these five teams are more-or-less interchangeable.  I know that Westminster has only one win, but they beat Thiel h2h, should have beaten CMU, and could win all three of their remaining games.  Carnegie Mellon had a nice performance this week and unveiled a new weapon in freshman RB Sam Benger, who added some playmaking pop that had not been present in the offense.  I'm biased, but I think CMU and CWRU are probably the two best in this bunch.  We'll know more in two weeks.

10. Geneva (0-4, 1-5): Geneva is "winless" in the conference but did beat Grove City in a "non conference" game.  Tough sledding ahead with Bethany and W & J.

11. Grove City (0-4, 0-6): Competitive loss against Carnegie Mellon this week.  Also tough sledding the next two weeks but two potentially winnable games lie ahead at the end of the season.

[ADL70]

Good meeting you ADL70.

I loved the double-reverse flea flicker for a TD!!!

Who had one this week?

It's on CWRU website now.  Not really a double reverse though.

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2014-15/videos/20141020-61q6077r

[D3MAFAN]

Good meeting you ADL70.

I loved the double-reverse flea flicker for a TD!!!

Who had one this week?

It's on CWRU website now.  Not really a double reverse though.

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2014-15/videos/20141020-61q6077r

Love the uni's, thanks for posting the play.

ExTartan,

I know it is a difficult road, but with a quite a bit of games left, I think Thomas More may have an outside chance for a Pool C, if other conference continue to implode. If Thomas More finish outs 8-2, with there only losses to a Top 5 teams and a Top 15 team (mho) and winning against a 7-1 Waynesburg, I think they may have a strong case.

[SaintsFAN]

Good meeting you ADL70.

I loved the double-reverse flea flicker for a TD!!!

Who had one this week?

It's on CWRU website now.  Not really a double reverse though.

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2014-15/videos/20141020-61q6077r

Love the uni's, thanks for posting the play.

ExTartan,

I know it is a difficult road, but with a quite a bit of games left, I think Thomas More may have an outside chance for a Pool C, if other conference continue to implode. If Thomas More finish outs 8-2, with there only losses to a Top 5 teams and a Top 15 team (mho) and winning against a 7-1 Waynesburg, I think they may have a strong case.

It could happen but they are going to need some help, as you've alluded to.  Their schedule strength is improved after replacing MSJ with Wesley.  I think that alone will help tremendously IF they are on the "table" from the South Region at any point.  Remember, it all depends on who is ranked above them in the South Regional Rankings.  If there are teams ahead of them that are discussed but not picked, then Thomas More never even will be discussed as they don't discuss more than one team from each region at a time. 

[ADL70]

CWRU highlights

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2014-15/videos/20141021-06cx7801

[ExTartanPlayer]

Following up on the PAC rankings, let's do a little shootaround of the week's games:

#5ish Case Western at #1 Washington & Jefferson: hard to see this one being close.  Case Western has found a stud freshman RB in Canganelli over the last few weeks, and perhaps a big game from Beecher along with Canganelli's production will let the Spartans trade scores with the Prez for awhile (the W & J defense has been good but not shut-em-down for most of the season).

#11 Grove City at #2 Thomas More: Thomas More does this weird thing where they absolutely obliterate the bad teams they play, then they lose the biggest game of the season, then they go on steamrolling everyone else to the finish line.  I expect the same here.

#3 Bethany at #10 Geneva: will the Bison remain focused after losing last week's big game?  They are improved, but not so good that they can survive a serious letdown game.  Come on guys, stay focused, I want to see an 8-2 Bethany finish!

#4 Waynesburg at #5ish Thiel: Waynesburg still harbors some playoff hopes if they can keep winning and upset W & J in the season finale.  That doesn't look terribly likely based on results to date, but they should be able to handle Thiel, whose two victories came at the expense of a bad Allegheny team and by one point against St. Vincent.  Then again, Waynesburg's defense has been vulnerable in a few games this season, so you can't rule out a close game here.

#5ish Carnegie Mellon at #5ish St. Vincent: I'm calling this the PAC game of the week because it's the only one without a clear-cut favorite.  There are some low-grade stakes for both teams, really...CMU would go on the plus side of .500 for the first time this season with a win, and give themselves a real chance to finish 5-5 or even 6-4, not fantastic but a step forward with a very young lineup.  Lots of young skill players (and their own new toy in freshman RB Sam Benger) give CMU promise for improvement going forward, and finishing at or above .500 this year would be a good start.  St. Vincent is 2-4 but also has a few winnable games ahead and would love to build a little momentum of their own, after two straight winless seasons going 3-7 or 4-6 would be a nice step forward. 

[Bob.Gregg]

What's the word on Hayden (TMC)?

[Bob.Gregg]

...the W & J defense has been good but not shut-em-down for most of the season...

vs. TMC, held Saints to 185 yards in second half and 7 points, 6-16 on 3rd downs in the game.
vs. Grove, held Wolverines to 201 total offense in game, 5-17 on 3rd downs.
vs. Beth, held Bison to 232 total offense, 69 yards after intermission, 6 of 19 on 3rd down.

Don't know how much more "shut-em-down" is needed....at least this side of Nov. 22.

[ExTartanPlayer]

...the W & J defense has been good but not shut-em-down for most of the season...

vs. TMC, held Saints to 185 yards in second half and 7 points, 6-16 on 3rd downs in the game.
vs. Grove, held Wolverines to 201 total offense in game, 5-17 on 3rd downs.
vs. Beth, held Bison to 232 total offense, 69 yards after intermission, 6 of 19 on 3rd down.

Don't know how much more "shut-em-down" is needed....at least this side of Nov. 22.

Come on, Bob, I'm trying to find a way to make it sound like a decent game.  I didn't say Case was going to win.  I said that the W & J defense has shown enough cracks to think that Case will score with them for awhile.  Besides...you're kidding me with some of these stats, right?

Thomas More: yardage numbers are skyrocketing these days, but where I come from giving up 452 yards and 7.1 yards per play is not really "holding" anyone to anything.  Even "holding them to 185 yards in the second half" - how is that evidence of "shutdown" defense?  185 yards in a half is still a lot of yards!

Grove City is 0-6 and the worst team in the league.  Carnegie Mellon's less-than-sterling defense, which has yielded 400+ yards several times this season, including against Geneva and Bethany, held Grove City to 265 yards and 10 points.

The Bethany game was probably the best game from the W & J defense this season.  I'll count that one.

Point being, W & J's defense is probably good enough to win the league, but they've yielded at least moderate yardage/points to every opponent with an offensive pulse except for Bethany.  It's not outrageous to see Case and Waynesburg scoring a few times.  Whether either of those teams can hold the Prez under 40 is another question.