FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[wesleydad]

Was good to see Wesleydad again and watch the game. Also great to finally meet Jason! Safe travels tomorrow back home!

CNU, thanks for the hospitality.  CNU has top notch facilities and a team that is playing at the same level.  Also, nice hanging with Jason and Sean after the game for a little chat.  Got home safe with no issues at all, not much traffic at 4 in the morning.

[wesleydad]

Well, stating the obvious, you can not win a football game against a good team with 5 turnovers and giving up 400 yards passing and over 500 yards total offense.  I mentioned in an earlier post that the Wesley defense could be in trouble if they did not figure out a way to cover the middle of the field, not only did they not do that, they looked worse than they had all year.  Receivers were open, and often wide open across the middle and down the middle.  The fact that no one seemed to realize that #84 could catch a pass was mind boggling.  The large majority of the passes thrown by CNU, #14 does a nice job of finding the receivers and looks to pass even when flushed out of the pocket, were thrown between the hash marks or within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage in the flat.  #5 is very good, and finds a way to get open or when covered still makes a play.  Props to the coaches of CNU for having the game plan and players to make it happen.  Wesley's offense was very good, also had more than 500 yards total offense with 5 turnovers.  Kesack needs to work on his touch on short routes as he fires the ball almost every pass and being slightly behind his receivers led to the 1 interception that bounced of the receivers hands, into the air, and intercepted by CNU.  The failure to slide when he should, cost him on the fumble inside the 10, that was a killer with Wesley going in to take the lead.  His other fumble was an effort fumble, trying to make something happen on a play that looked like no one blocked anyone.  The interception in the end zone was a case of going to the well once to often, trying to hit the deep slant and the LB dropped into position.  Despite all of this, I think the whole game was decided on the non onside/onside kick.  CNU's kicker was injured on the prior PAT and it looked like CNU just sent someone on to kick, CNU85 wasn't even sure who he was.  All he did was try to drill the ball down the field, line drive type.  As luck would have it, if you cheer for CNU, or bad luck if you cheer for Wesley, the ball hit one of the up men as he turned to run downfield for the return.  I am pretty sure that it was not planned as CNU did not change their formation prior to the kick and seemed just as stunned as everyone else that it actually hit someone.  Wesley is only down 7 at the time and had little trouble moving the ball and I believe would have likely tied the game up at 28 at some point.

How good is Wesley?  If they play a clean game, they are probably pretty good despite the defensive weakness against the pass.  They could still be the best team in the East if the play that clean game.  No turnovers and they probably beat Del Val.  No turnovers last night and they lead CNU 42 -21 in the second half and we are figuring it is the same old Wesley.  I think that Kesack could turn out to be very good with some touch on his shorter passes and getting down after scrambling when it is prudent.  The running game is very good when the O line does its' job.  Baynard and AJ Lee, a freshman, will make things tough for anyone and the receivers are also very good, nice to see the tight end with several catches last night.  THE DEFENSE must get better.  The passing defense must get better if they are to compete with even the better teams they play.  In the end, Wesley could run the table, yes that would include beating Salisbury since they are not likely going to take advantage of the poor pass coverage, and win the NJAC if things play out that way or they could end up at 500.  It will be very interesting to see how this goes the rest of the year.

[wesleydad]

Salisbury up 21-7, their offense is powerful, Montclair can play with this team, very impressed by the refs in this game, just bc they run a tripple option does not make it ok to chop block, they aren't playing dirty, not at all but they cut from all angles, that's what they do and the refs have been doing a very good job at calling it when it is not legal. Montclair has opportunities on offense, a few penalties stalled drives. We get the ball at the half and need to score...

"Keep Pounding"

Sam Mills

As an unbiased observer, I would have to disagree.  Other than the first play 75 or so yard TD run, Montclair is average at best and never really threatened to score any other drive in the first half or the 1 drive of the second half I saw.  They were never in the game and would have been down 28 - 7 at the half except for a brain fart by the Gulls OC calling for a pass on the last play after they had just moved the ball 70+ yards on like 5 running plays and had only been stopped a couple of times for little gain.  Montclair did not hit the QB as he pitched the ball on any play in the first half, which you have to do if you want to make him worry and beat up in the second half which is what causes the turnovers.  Salisbury takes first drive of second half in for TD and the game is over.  I will give you that Montclair has a nice running back.

[Teamski]

Still trying to get over the loss from this weekend.   Being off of the top 25 is uncharted territory for me.  Feels strange being mortal.......   Like UWW several years ago, I fully expect Wesley to rebound and move on.

-Ski

[thewaterboy]

Wow, Wesley drops out of the top 25 for the first time since 2005 after a 47-0 loss at Brockport if I recall.

Wesley is certainly not out of it, but they need to pull some things together and need some things to go their way. They get a bit of a break with the bye week, SoVa, and TCNJ. They SHOULD handle Kean, although we will see. Then it is the moments of truth with Rowan, Montclair and Salisbury. The good news is that CNU has yet to face those 3 either.

[CNU85]

I did some research (which means reading d3football.com stats).

The last time Wesley surrendered over 40 points in a regular season loss was 2003 to Frostburg. Last year they gave up 49 to North Central but won. All other times more than 40 points were scored were to the big 3...Mount, UMHB and UWW in playoffs. Impressive!

[CNU85]

There's a nice video recap of the Wesley game on cnusports.com

7 minutes.

[wesleydad]

Wow, Wesley drops out of the top 25 for the first time since 2005 after a 47-0 loss at Brockport if I recall.

Wesley is certainly not out of it, but they need to pull some things together and need some things to go their way. They get a bit of a break with the bye week, SoVa, and TCNJ. They SHOULD handle Kean, although we will see. Then it is the moments of truth with Rowan, Montclair and Salisbury. The good news is that CNU has yet to face those 3 either.

They could/should handle all of them from what I have seen.  I have not seen Kean, but they are not lighting up the scoreboard so far.  I have seen Rowan and Montclair and neither brings much on the offensive side of the ball and Wesley should be able to out score them, if they eliminate the turnovers.  Salisbury does not throw very often so they will not likely change their offensive philosophy to take advantage of Wesley's poor pass defense and Wesley has been able to keep the triple option in check.  Wesley needs Salisbury to beat CNU and Wesley to beat Salisbury and hope that they win the 3 way tie breaker which I have no idea what it is.  The NJAC is tough so anyone of the 3 I mentioned could lose to someone else along the way and be out of the tie.  The problem is that Wesley has to fix the pass coverage issues and eliminate the turnovers, 2 things that I am not sure they will be able to do, if they are to run the table and hope.  From a pool C standpoint 2 losses is not a killer and if the other teams keep winning than Wesley will have possibly 2 or 3 regionally ranked teams on their schedule.  DelVal, unless they fold will be ranked in the east and at least Salisbury/CNU or both will/may be ranked in the east.  A loss to Salisbury and the season is over.

[wally_wabash]

The East is so wildly unpredictable that you never know how things might shake out, but for Wesley fans looking at the Pool C scenarios, I think there's basically one path open for Wesley to possibly receive an at-large bid.  Here's what has to happen:
1- Wesley can not lose another game (obviously)
2- CNU runs the table in the NJAC (CNU not winning the NJAC probably makes Wesley an auto qualifier, given point 1)
3- Delaware Valley wins the MAC (that loss has to be as good as humanly possible per the criteria)

There could also be just complete unforeseen carnage that opens things up for Wesley to have 2 losses and be at the top of the East region at-large queue (you'll want to root for full blown chaos in the E8 and the LL in particular, no 1-loss runners up elsewhere around the region...that sort of thing), but the Wolverines best path back to the tournament right now probably involves a lot of scoreboard watching. 

[wesleydad]

The East is so wildly unpredictable that you never know how things might shake out, but for Wesley fans looking at the Pool C scenarios, I think there's basically one path open for Wesley to possibly receive an at-large bid.  Here's what has to happen:
1- Wesley can not lose another game (obviously)
2- CNU runs the table in the NJAC (CNU not winning the NJAC probably makes Wesley an auto qualifier, given point 1)
3- Delaware Valley wins the MAC (that loss has to be as good as humanly possible per the criteria)

There could also be just complete unforeseen carnage that opens things up for Wesley to have 2 losses and be at the top of the East region at-large queue (you'll want to root for full blown chaos in the E8 and the LL in particular, no 1-loss runners up elsewhere around the region...that sort of thing), but the Wolverines best path back to the tournament right now probably involves a lot of scoreboard watching.

Thanks Wally, you are much more knowledgable at this than I am.  And with the East, carnage is always possible.

[thewaterboy]

Wow, Wesley drops out of the top 25 for the first time since 2005 after a 47-0 loss at Brockport if I recall.

Wesley is certainly not out of it, but they need to pull some things together and need some things to go their way. They get a bit of a break with the bye week, SoVa, and TCNJ. They SHOULD handle Kean, although we will see. Then it is the moments of truth with Rowan, Montclair and Salisbury. The good news is that CNU has yet to face those 3 either.

They could/should handle all of them from what I have seen.  I have not seen Kean, but they are not lighting up the scoreboard so far.  I have seen Rowan and Montclair and neither brings much on the offensive side of the ball and Wesley should be able to out score them, if they eliminate the turnovers.  Salisbury does not throw very often so they will not likely change their offensive philosophy to take advantage of Wesley's poor pass defense and Wesley has been able to keep the triple option in check.  Wesley needs Salisbury to beat CNU and Wesley to beat Salisbury and hope that they win the 3 way tie breaker which I have no idea what it is.  The NJAC is tough so anyone of the 3 I mentioned could lose to someone else along the way and be out of the tie.  The problem is that Wesley has to fix the pass coverage issues and eliminate the turnovers, 2 things that I am not sure they will be able to do, if they are to run the table and hope.  From a pool C standpoint 2 losses is not a killer and if the other teams keep winning than Wesley will have possibly 2 or 3 regionally ranked teams on their schedule.  DelVal, unless they fold will be ranked in the east and at least Salisbury/CNU or both will/may be ranked in the east.  A loss to Salisbury and the season is over.

wesleydad, based on what you have seen from Salisbury, does the triple option concern you? Historically Wesley has kept it in check, but last year they surrendered 38 points to that offense.

As far as I know, with Wesley and CNU both going up against the top dogs of the NJAC, pool A is still on the table as well, but that option still consists of scoreboard watching. Wesley got in with two losses in 2013, but that was pool B that saved the day there.

[wesleydad]

Wow, Wesley drops out of the top 25 for the first time since 2005 after a 47-0 loss at Brockport if I recall.

Wesley is certainly not out of it, but they need to pull some things together and need some things to go their way. They get a bit of a break with the bye week, SoVa, and TCNJ. They SHOULD handle Kean, although we will see. Then it is the moments of truth with Rowan, Montclair and Salisbury. The good news is that CNU has yet to face those 3 either.

They could/should handle all of them from what I have seen.  I have not seen Kean, but they are not lighting up the scoreboard so far.  I have seen Rowan and Montclair and neither brings much on the offensive side of the ball and Wesley should be able to out score them, if they eliminate the turnovers.  Salisbury does not throw very often so they will not likely change their offensive philosophy to take advantage of Wesley's poor pass defense and Wesley has been able to keep the triple option in check.  Wesley needs Salisbury to beat CNU and Wesley to beat Salisbury and hope that they win the 3 way tie breaker which I have no idea what it is.  The NJAC is tough so anyone of the 3 I mentioned could lose to someone else along the way and be out of the tie.  The problem is that Wesley has to fix the pass coverage issues and eliminate the turnovers, 2 things that I am not sure they will be able to do, if they are to run the table and hope.  From a pool C standpoint 2 losses is not a killer and if the other teams keep winning than Wesley will have possibly 2 or 3 regionally ranked teams on their schedule.  DelVal, unless they fold will be ranked in the east and at least Salisbury/CNU or both will/may be ranked in the east.  A loss to Salisbury and the season is over.

wesleydad, based on what you have seen from Salisbury, does the triple option concern you? Historically Wesley has kept it in check, but last year they surrendered 38 points to that offense.

As far as I know, with Wesley and CNU both going up against the top dogs of the NJAC, pool A is still on the table as well, but that option still consists of scoreboard watching. Wesley got in with two losses in 2013, but that was pool B that saved the day there.

Since Salisbury does not pass often they will not likely take advantage of that part of the defense.  As you said, Wesley usually handles the triple option well, but I think this will be a shoot out and Wesley will have to out score them.  Thus limiting or having no turnovers and forcing Salisbury to have some.  I hope the defense improves in all areas as CNU was also able to run the ball a bit on Saturday.  The week off should help and maybe some personnel changes will be made.  CNU has also played Salisbury well, beating them last year, so they may be able to run the table, but their defense can be scored on and Wesley ran the ball well on them.  I think these 3 teams have the best offenses that I have seen so far so I expect each of them to beat the rest of the league.  Now that is if nothing crazy happens in a game like giving up over 400 yards passing and 3 turnovers. 

[Swish3]

Well, stating the obvious, you can not win a football game against a good team with 5 turnovers and giving up 400 yards passing and over 500 yards total offense.  I mentioned in an earlier post that the Wesley defense could be in trouble if they did not figure out a way to cover the middle of the field, not only did they not do that, they looked worse than they had all year.  Receivers were open, and often wide open across the middle and down the middle.  The fact that no one seemed to realize that #84 could catch a pass was mind boggling.  The large majority of the passes thrown by CNU, #14 does a nice job of finding the receivers and looks to pass even when flushed out of the pocket, were thrown between the hash marks or within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage in the flat.  #5 is very good, and finds a way to get open or when covered still makes a play.  Props to the coaches of CNU for having the game plan and players to make it happen.  Wesley's offense was very good, also had more than 500 yards total offense with 5 turnovers.  Kesack needs to work on his touch on short routes as he fires the ball almost every pass and being slightly behind his receivers led to the 1 interception that bounced of the receivers hands, into the air, and intercepted by CNU.  The failure to slide when he should, cost him on the fumble inside the 10, that was a killer with Wesley going in to take the lead.  His other fumble was an effort fumble, trying to make something happen on a play that looked like no one blocked anyone.  The interception in the end zone was a case of going to the well once to often, trying to hit the deep slant and the LB dropped into position.  Despite all of this, I think the whole game was decided on the non onside/onside kick.  CNU's kicker was injured on the prior PAT and it looked like CNU just sent someone on to kick, CNU85 wasn't even sure who he was.  All he did was try to drill the ball down the field, line drive type.  As luck would have it, if you cheer for CNU, or bad luck if you cheer for Wesley, the ball hit one of the up men as he turned to run downfield for the return.  I am pretty sure that it was not planned as CNU did not change their formation prior to the kick and seemed just as stunned as everyone else that it actually hit someone.  Wesley is only down 7 at the time and had little trouble moving the ball and I believe would have likely tied the game up at 28 at some point.

How good is Wesley?  If they play a clean game, they are probably pretty good despite the defensive weakness against the pass.  They could still be the best team in the East if the play that clean game.  No turnovers and they probably beat Del Val.  No turnovers last night and they lead CNU 42 -21 in the second half and we are figuring it is the same old Wesley.  I think that Kesack could turn out to be very good with some touch on his shorter passes and getting down after scrambling when it is prudent.  The running game is very good when the O line does its' job.  Baynard and AJ Lee, a freshman, will make things tough for anyone and the receivers are also very good, nice to see the tight end with several catches last night.  THE DEFENSE must get better.  The passing defense must get better if they are to compete with even the better teams they play.  In the end, Wesley could run the table, yes that would include beating Salisbury since they are not likely going to take advantage of the poor pass coverage, and win the NJAC if things play out that way or they could end up at 500.  It will be very interesting to see how this goes the rest of the year.

CNU definitely benefitted from some timely Wesley turnovers, but they were also inside Wesley's 30 yard line on three separate occasions in the 3rd quarter and came away w/no points.  At the time, I said if CNU loses this game, you can chalk it up to those missed opportunities...after getting a little closer look at Wesley's size and athleticism, I can see how they win most of the time...very impressive personnel for Division III.

GO CAPS!

[D3MAFAN]

Well, stating the obvious, you can not win a football game against a good team with 5 turnovers and giving up 400 yards passing and over 500 yards total offense.  I mentioned in an earlier post that the Wesley defense could be in trouble if they did not figure out a way to cover the middle of the field, not only did they not do that, they looked worse than they had all year.  Receivers were open, and often wide open across the middle and down the middle.  The fact that no one seemed to realize that #84 could catch a pass was mind boggling.  The large majority of the passes thrown by CNU, #14 does a nice job of finding the receivers and looks to pass even when flushed out of the pocket, were thrown between the hash marks or within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage in the flat.  #5 is very good, and finds a way to get open or when covered still makes a play.  Props to the coaches of CNU for having the game plan and players to make it happen.  Wesley's offense was very good, also had more than 500 yards total offense with 5 turnovers.  Kesack needs to work on his touch on short routes as he fires the ball almost every pass and being slightly behind his receivers led to the 1 interception that bounced of the receivers hands, into the air, and intercepted by CNU.  The failure to slide when he should, cost him on the fumble inside the 10, that was a killer with Wesley going in to take the lead.  His other fumble was an effort fumble, trying to make something happen on a play that looked like no one blocked anyone.  The interception in the end zone was a case of going to the well once to often, trying to hit the deep slant and the LB dropped into position.  Despite all of this, I think the whole game was decided on the non onside/onside kick.  CNU's kicker was injured on the prior PAT and it looked like CNU just sent someone on to kick, CNU85 wasn't even sure who he was.  All he did was try to drill the ball down the field, line drive type.  As luck would have it, if you cheer for CNU, or bad luck if you cheer for Wesley, the ball hit one of the up men as he turned to run downfield for the return.  I am pretty sure that it was not planned as CNU did not change their formation prior to the kick and seemed just as stunned as everyone else that it actually hit someone.  Wesley is only down 7 at the time and had little trouble moving the ball and I believe would have likely tied the game up at 28 at some point.

How good is Wesley?  If they play a clean game, they are probably pretty good despite the defensive weakness against the pass.  They could still be the best team in the East if the play that clean game.  No turnovers and they probably beat Del Val.  No turnovers last night and they lead CNU 42 -21 in the second half and we are figuring it is the same old Wesley.  I think that Kesack could turn out to be very good with some touch on his shorter passes and getting down after scrambling when it is prudent.  The running game is very good when the O line does its' job.  Baynard and AJ Lee, a freshman, will make things tough for anyone and the receivers are also very good, nice to see the tight end with several catches last night.  THE DEFENSE must get better.  The passing defense must get better if they are to compete with even the better teams they play.  In the end, Wesley could run the table, yes that would include beating Salisbury since they are not likely going to take advantage of the poor pass coverage, and win the NJAC if things play out that way or they could end up at 500.  It will be very interesting to see how this goes the rest of the year.

CNU definitely benefitted from some timely Wesley turnovers, but they were also inside Wesley's 30 yard line on three separate occasions in the 3rd quarter and came away w/no points.  At the time, I said if CNU loses this game, you can chalk it up to those missed opportunities...after getting a little closer look at Wesley's size and athleticism, I can see how they win most of the time...very impressive personnel for Division III.

GO CAPS!

I watch the game and I think Wesley offense can score with the best of them and if the QB becomes more poised, the offense is going to be scary. As mentioned a couple times, Wesley defense is very questionable. The last two years for Wesley defense has been questionable IMHO. I watch them some years ago and they were fast, big, and scary (not so much now.) As Wesleydad aforementioned with Salisbury running the option, that increased the risk of turnovers and I think both Wesley and CNU will be successful passing. If history is any indicator, I think CNU will use a more balance attack against Salisbury. With that, let us not forget that this is the NJAC and many well established programs will most likely shake up this conference.

[CNU85]

I know it is only week 3, but this conversation came up Saturday night after the game with a few Wesley fans....what's the tie-breaker system for the NJAC? I heard one of the tie brekaers (3-way perhaps?) is points scored in the first half. Is that true? Will Wesley try to dump 80 points on SVU by halftime if that's the tie breaker? How do teams factor in tie breakers in game planning?

Anyone know?