FB: Presidents' Athletic Conference

[E.115]

I know there's something to just "being undefeated" - it's hard to win a bunch of games in a row no matter what the competition - but it's worth pointing out that St. Vincent's 4-0 record is  a little on the lackluster side considering that the wins are 1) let-them-hang-around-too-long win against perennial MIAA bottom feeder Alma, 2) sweating out a 2-point win over Thiel in which the margin of victory was a blocked-extra-point-runback, 3) needing a pair of fourth-quarter stops deep in their own territory to hold off Geneva (who is 2-2....but the wins came against Bethany and Thiel), and 4) letting Grove City get within 2 points in the third quarter before pulling away (similar to Alma).  SVC was a high-ceiling, low-floor team last year that struggled (they took Thomas More down to the wire but got blown out by both CWRU and CMU) so the glass-half-full take is that they're winning the games they are supposed to win.  The more pessimistic outlook is that they aren't very good and have just scraped by against a couple of struggling lower-tier PAC teams, and will be exposed by better competition...

Don't make me look bad, Spartans.  Kick their butts.  Lol.

SVC being 4-0 should prevent the Spartans from being overconfident after three relatively easy wins.

Although from the PAC preview, interesting note: Head coaches Debeljak and Dolciato know each other from their days coaching at John Carroll.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sap80UQgO4

[SaintsFAN]

I know there's something to just "being undefeated" - it's hard to win a bunch of games in a row no matter what the competition - but it's worth pointing out that St. Vincent's 4-0 record is  a little on the lackluster side considering that the wins are 1) let-them-hang-around-too-long win against perennial MIAA bottom feeder Alma, 2) sweating out a 2-point win over Thiel in which the margin of victory was a blocked-extra-point-runback, 3) needing a pair of fourth-quarter stops deep in their own territory to hold off Geneva (who is 2-2....but the wins came against Bethany and Thiel), and 4) letting Grove City get within 2 points in the third quarter before pulling away (similar to Alma).  SVC was a high-ceiling, low-floor team last year that struggled (they took Thomas More down to the wire but got blown out by both CWRU and CMU) so the glass-half-full take is that they're winning the games they are supposed to win.  The more pessimistic outlook is that they aren't very good and have just scraped by against a couple of struggling lower-tier PAC teams, and will be exposed by better competition...

Don't make me look bad, Spartans.  Kick their butts.  Lol.

SVC being 4-0 should prevent the Spartans from being overconfident after three relatively easy wins.

Although from the PAC preview, interesting note: Head coaches Debeljak and Dolciato know each other from their days coaching at John Carroll.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sap80UQgO4

Boy that was a staff at JCU; they were joined by DC Regis Scafe, who became Head ball Coach there too.

[SaintsFAN]

SVC being 4-0 should prevent the Spartans from being overconfident after three relatively easy wins.

Nah; they got this one won already.  SVC, like last year, doesn't belong on the same field as Cuda and CWRU.  Just show up and throw the helmets onto the field at the 50 yard line.

Literally. 

Monkey stomp

Case 58
SVC 10 F

[ADL70]

So you're saying there will be fireworks during the game not only after?

Many a slip twixt cup and lip.

[E.115]

Two cool stories:

1) St. Vincent -- senior QB: http://triblive.com/sports/college/district/11221902-74/stewart-quarterback-dolciato

The senior helped St. Vincent to a 4-0 start by completing 65 percent of his passes for 1,235 yards and 13 touchdowns. In his debut against Alma, he threw for 424 yards and five touchdowns. Last week against Grove City, he threw for 442 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Bearcats will need all of their playmakers contributing if they are to escape October with the top of the PAC still in sight. On Saturday, St. Vincent begins a four-game gauntlet with a trip to Case Western, followed in successive weeks by games against conference heavyweights Westminster, Thomas More and W&J.

2) Case Western Reserve -- yoga in the Steve Belichick Weight Room: http://www.news-herald.com/sports/20160929/college-football-yoga-is-in-for-case-western-reserve-team

Debeljak came up with the idea for a football players yoga class after reading a story about Seahawks coach Pete Carroll doing the same with his players.

The class has had a positive effect on the Case team, said Debeljak, especially his larger players such as offense and defensive linemen.

"The best lineman we've had here are the ones who could bend," said Debeljak, who was introduced to yoga by his daughter Allison about 10 years ago. "I think (yoga) really helps our lineman with flexibility and getting into position. As for the rest of our guys, this helps with their state of mind and just being able to relax and relieve a little bit of stress."

[E.115]

I know there's something to just "being undefeated" - it's hard to win a bunch of games in a row no matter what the competition - but it's worth pointing out that St. Vincent's 4-0 record is  a little on the lackluster side considering that the wins are 1) let-them-hang-around-too-long win against perennial MIAA bottom feeder Alma, 2) sweating out a 2-point win over Thiel in which the margin of victory was a blocked-extra-point-runback, 3) needing a pair of fourth-quarter stops deep in their own territory to hold off Geneva (who is 2-2....but the wins came against Bethany and Thiel), and 4) letting Grove City get within 2 points in the third quarter before pulling away (similar to Alma).  SVC was a high-ceiling, low-floor team last year that struggled (they took Thomas More down to the wire but got blown out by both CWRU and CMU) so the glass-half-full take is that they're winning the games they are supposed to win.  The more pessimistic outlook is that they aren't very good and have just scraped by against a couple of struggling lower-tier PAC teams, and will be exposed by better competition...

Don't make me look bad, Spartans.  Kick their butts.  Lol.

SVC being 4-0 should prevent the Spartans from being overconfident after three relatively easy wins.

Although from the PAC preview, interesting note: Head coaches Debeljak and Dolciato know each other from their days coaching at John Carroll.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sap80UQgO4

Boy that was a staff at JCU; they were joined by DC Regis Scafe, who became Head ball Coach there too.

And what a football culture from that general era at JCU... such players included:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_McDaniels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Fletcher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Polian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Telesco

[SaintsFAN]

The Thomas More/Westminster game is going to be an absolute battle.  Westminster is big, runs the ball well and stops the run on defense. 

Last year, Thomas More prevailed because they got a 300 yard passing day from Gebhardt and had a pick six.  The Saints won the turnover battle and will need to do so again this week.  Last season, Westminster got better as the year went on and played really well in the ECAC game, blowing out St John Fisher. 

I expect the Saints to battle hard and let the chips fall where they may.  The veteran defense for Thomas More is going to be tested with Westminster's RB and QB on the ground and through the air, which they haven't had to do as of yet in 2016.  QB Brennan Kuntz will also be tested tomorrow to keep the chains moving.    If Thomas More can keep those chains moving and defensively can stop the run and force an inefficient passing game, they have a chance. 

[SaintsFAN]

Hey Pat,

Looks like Frank will have to stop picking against Thomas More this year. 

TMC 45
WC  35  F

Thomas More's oline played well and the Saints rushed for over 250 yards, wearing down Westminster in the 2nd half.  Kuntz was very efficient at QB and threw three TD passes.  The defense played well, gave up a long run (64 yards) and a couple big plays but the defensive line rushed the passer very well.  Good win in yet another playoff game for Thomas More.

[Pat Coleman]

Hey Pat,

Looks like Frank will have to stop picking against Thomas More this year. 

TMC 45
WC  35  F

I don't know why you're telling me. Tell Frank.

[SaintsFAN]

Hey Pat,

Looks like Frank will have to stop picking against Thomas More this year. 

TMC 45
WC  35  F

I don't know why you're telling me. Tell Frank.

Just to let you know what's coming   the POTW email should be lively this week. 

[ADL70]

ataching the CWRU game SaintsFan?  I was concerned about Spartans pass D after last week.  My concern justified.

[SaintsFAN]

ataching the CWRU game SaintsFan?  I was concerned about Spartans pass D after last week.  My concern justified.

No sir, I'm at a dinner party tonight.  It's weird and may be breaking tendency for SVC; they ran the ball well last season and weren't effective passing it in the games I saw them. 

[E.115]

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

CWRU rallies to rout Saint Vincent, 53-28

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2016/10/cwru_rallies_to_rout_saint_vin.html

[ExTartanPlayer]

Interesting day around the league yesterday.

Carnegie Mellon 49, Bethany 26: I was fortunate to take in most of the CMU-Bethany game, and it went about according to the expected script (despite a 30-minute delay halfway through the first quarter due to lightning in the area).   Bethany has some impressive athletes on both sides of the ball, but is lacking discipline, especially on defense; the Tartans exploited several breakdowns for big offensive plays.  RB Benger (174 yards, 4 TD) and WR Prather (125 yards, 2 TD) were the offensive centerpiece, as usual.  Benger had two "one play touchdown drives" (49 and 55 yard runs that came on the first play of the possession).  Another impressive weapon for CMU is freshman KR/PR William Richter - he had several excellent returns and set the Tartans up with really great field position almost every time he touched the ball.  Listed as an RB, I'm not sure how much Richter will get on the field in regular offensive packages due to the presence of Benger, but I've been very impressed by Richter's return skills in both games that I've seen.  Quick feet, decisive runner, appears to have some wheels in the open field.  Should be a useful playmaker in a special-teams role this year and could be an heir apparent to Benger down the line.  Huge game for the Tartans next week with W&J.

Thomas More 45, Westminster 35: TMC has rebounded from a week 1 ding against Franklin to take down all of their top PAC challengers in a row.  I'm not sure how much I would like this schedule as a TMC fan - it's nice to have the league basically sewn up by mid-October, as the Saints really should not be challenged for the remainder of the regular season, but going into the playoffs after this stretch...would you rather be a little better tested at the end of the season?  Oh, and then there's the elephant in the room...there's one more "challenger" remaining that they won't get to play...

Case Western 53, St. Vincent 28: after seeing both of these teams live last year, I am not at all surprised that Case won the battle of unbeatens here, and realistically CWRU should be 7-0 going into a tough closing stretch with WashU (not PAC, but still, tough game) and then Westminster and CMU.  I don't know what the tiebreaker will be if CWRU and TMC both finish league play undefeated but presumably Thomas More will want to avoid that mess by rooting for Westminster/CMU when the time comes.  Of course, Case can root for TMC opponents too, but it's not likely to do very much good.

W&J 62, Thiel 14: Presidents lick their wounds after taking it on the chin from Thomas More a few weeks ago with a blowout win.  Big game against CMU coming up next week - will be very telling for both teams.

Waynesberg 14, Grove City 10: Poor Grove City battled to the whistle (ended the game with the ball, down 14-10, on the Waynesburg 40) but their futility continues (after many years of consistent-mid-pack finishes in the PAC, hovering between 3-7 in bad years and 6-4 in good ones, they have lost 25 straight games).  Meanwhile, Waynesburg also is trying to rebound from an uncharacteristically bad 2015 (their 3-7 finish was their first losing season since 2005) so it is nice to get a win, but a 14-10 win over winless Grove City to break a four-game losing streak is probably not what they've had in mind...part of this can be attributed to opening league play with three of the PAC's better teams, but that's little comfort to a program that's used to thinking of itself as one of the PAC's better teams.

Now that we've got some league play, I'll take a crack at my first PAC rankings of the season.

Tier 1:

1. Thomas More

With wins over W&J, Carnegie Mellon, and Westminster already in their pocket...I think they stand alone for now.

Tier 2:

2. Case Western
3. W&J
4. Westminster
5. Carnegie Mellon

CWRU is 4-0 and should coast along until playing Westminster and CMU to close the season. W&J has taken one beating from Thomas More but otherwise rolled; their game with CMU this week will help sort out Tier 2.  Westminster and CMU both played very gamely against Thomas More but lost.  They will each get chances for redemption against W&J and CWRU in the weeks to come.  You certainly can argue via the transitive property that Westminster and CMU deserve to be ranked ahead of W&J because of the respective results against TMC (two were competitive, one wasn't close) but we can wait for the respective head-to-head matchups.

Tier 3:

6. St. Vincent
7. Geneva
8. Thiel
9. Bethany
10. Waynesburg
11. Grove City

This sorts out pretty cleanly.  SVC has beaten Geneva and Thiel.  Geneva has beaten Thiel and Bethany.  Thiel has beaten Bethany.  Not really sure whether Bethany is better than Waynesburg and Grove City...we'll see on them.

[ADL70]

Posted this earlier, but asked and answered:

PAC tiebreaker

Tiebreaker for NCAA automatic qualifier (AQ): 1) Head-to-head competition, 2) Record against the highest-ranked team in the conference not involved in the tie. In the case of a three-way tie, it would be the fourth team. In case of a four-way tie, it would be the fifth-team, etc. If the records against that team are the same, it goes to the next highest team not involved in the tie, etc., 3) strength of conference wins (conference winning percentage of teams you beat in 8 PAC games, 4) Overall record, 5) Record vs. common non-league opponent(s). Note: if one team is eliminated, the tiebreaker begins again at step #1. All teams in a 3 or more team tie must have played each other for the head-to-head tiebreaker to be applicable.  [Emphasis added]