FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[sjfcards]

Anybody have a run down on Cortland for me? I typically catch a few C-State games since I live in the area, but this year I have not seen them once. I know they lost Pitcher early in the year, and the ghost of QB's past is playing for them, but other than that I don't know anything about them.

[1sttmaak]

Cortland is ok, but to be honest I hope they kick the crap out of St. John Fisher!!!

[dlippiel]

Cortland is ok, but to be honest I hope they kick the crap out of St. John Fisher!!!

Just not gonna happen man if SJF shows up but hopefully it will be a good game. dlip really likes the match-up.....even if it is for an ECAC game 

[HailMary15]

Boxer gave a good rundown of Maine Maritime...is there anyone that can provide the same for Montclair?

[clandfan]

Anybody have a run down on Cortland for me? I typically catch a few C-State games since I live in the area, but this year I have not seen them once. I know they lost Pitcher early in the year, and the ghost of QB's past is playing for them, but other than that I don't know anything about them.

Cortland has had its ups and downs this year.  As yo alluded to: lost a good starting QB in week 2.  Lost backup QB and 3rd QB was lost in Fall camp.  Alex Smith has come back to lead the Dragons and has done a great job.  Also lost a good RB, our nose guard and TE...all to season ending injuries.

Personally, I am surprised to see us at 7-3.  We have proven to be quite resilient.  Our young Oline has progressed nicely and we have made some beneficial changes to our backfield.  Our defense is very good.  We should have beaten IC but shot ourselves in the foot numerous times which seems to be our achilles heel (no disrespect meant to Dan Pitcher's achilles injury)  If we can avoid the turnover and have a good balanced attack, we can play with and beat most.  Should be a good game.  I hope the motivation is where it should be.

[1sttmaak]

I guess it really comes down to which Cortland team gets on the bus.  The team that struggled with Morrisville, Ithaca, and the first half of Brockport's game, or the one that came out in the second half of the Brockport game and Dominated!!!

[theoriginalupstate]

I guess it really comes down to which Cortland team gets on the bus.  The team that struggled with Morrisville, Ithaca, and the first half of Brockport's game, or the one that came out in the second half of the Brockport game and Dominated!!!

Cortland scored 28 points in the 2nd half vs a Brockport team allowing a mind boggling 40pts a game.

Congrats!

[theoriginalupstate]

Anybody have a run down on Cortland for me? I typically catch a few C-State games since I live in the area, but this year I have not seen them once. I know they lost Pitcher early in the year, and the ghost of QB's past is playing for them, but other than that I don't know anything about them.

Cortland has had its ups and downs this year.  As yo alluded to: lost a good starting QB in week 2.  Lost backup QB and 3rd QB was lost in Fall camp.  Alex Smith has come back to lead the Dragons and has done a great job.  Also lost a good RB, our nose guard and TE...all to season ending injuries.

Personally, I am surprised to see us at 7-3.  We have proven to be quite resilient.  Our young Oline has progressed nicely and we have made some beneficial changes to our backfield.  Our defense is very good.  We should have beaten IC but shot ourselves in the foot numerous times which seems to be our achilles heel (no disrespect meant to Dan Pitcher's achilles injury)  If we can avoid the turnover and have a good balanced attack, we can play with and beat most.  Should be a good game.  I hope the motivation is where it should be.

To go 7-3 with all those injuries is a pretty good accomplishment...

What can you tell me about their WR (Hajnos) and RB (Sair)...

Is Sair any relation to Stef Sair?

[RedHawk]

I attempted to sit down and give you a rundown on Montclair but I am biased, Dave you take this one! What I can say is our team is very well coached, defense is very good, we swarm, we tackle, we hit, create pressure. If Maine is a veer option team, we will be ready, my senior year in 05 we played a Salisbury State team that was ranked top 5 in the Country who ran the option and I believe last year or the year before we played Springfield when they had that really good QB who ran the option is well. It's assignment football, who has the full back and QB to pitchman.

Hope that helped a little...

[hammond5]

"What can you tell me about their WR (Hajnos) and RB (Sair)...

Is Sair any relation to Stef Sair?"

Hanjos is a solid wide receiving option, but the team's 2009 season wasn't predicated on its running game. It was also difficult to gauge, considering Smith was still settling back in as the team's quarterback (for everyone that didn't know, he started the season as the team's receivers coach, but, with one year of eligibility remaining, returned to the team after it lost its fourth quarterback).

As for Sair -- whose genealogy I unfortunately don't know anything about -- he's a bruiser. He was the team's starting fullback last year, though when the Red Dragons stopped getting production out of their tailback spot (sorry if that sounds like I'm calling anyone out) they made the switch, two weeks before I got to see him play against TCNJ. The best comparison I can offer is Ron Dayne in his prime for Wisconsin way back when. It wasn't necessarily that he didn't have the agility or capability of getting low enough to make people miss. He just didn't need to.

Based only on what I saw -- mind you, after the team had already been decimated by injuries (scratched a CB the morning of and a backup-turned-starter TE went down in pre-game) -- SUNY-Cortland's strength was its defense without question. The Red Dragon's two defensive ends smother based on their athleticism, but they're also fundamentally sound football players. None of that shoulder-tackling garbage. Head on football (or chin). Punch through. Grab cloth. I'm pretty sure Wiley and Wyler (both T-12 in nation in sacks) are being looked at as possible undrafted free-agent signings in April's NFL Draft. It was a shame that I didn't get to see the two play against a healthy TCNJ offensive line, but they were both extraordinarily dominant football players.

Last note (sorry if this is kind of long) SUNY-Cortland's special teams unit deserve a ton of credit. I guess that also means their coach does too. Their place-kicker, Marc Corrado, drilled something like a 40+-yarder, and it looked like it had some mustard to spare. I'm pretty sure that their punter, Kyle Peterson, won NJAC Player of the Week honors earlier in the year, and Justin Autera won its top specialist award -- in addition to getting a hold of a top offensive rookie.

Best -- or worst I guess, from TCNJ's perspective -- their recruiting base is absurd. Yes. Absurd. The amount of prospective kids they had in the stands eying up the program was staggering. It's not like you see that same pool in Trenton, that's for sure. It's a shame they got caught with that damn bug, but they should be able to fill holes vacated by injuries and graduates.

If anyone else is curious, I have plenty to say for just about every program.

...Still waiting for your calls on NJAC post-season awards. C'mon fellas. Time is money.

[hammond5]

"I attempted to sit down and give you a rundown on Montclair but I am biased, Dave you take this one! What I can say is our team is very well coached, defense is very good, we swarm, we tackle, we hit, create pressure. If Maine is a veer option team, we will be ready, my senior year in 05 we played a Salisbury State team that was ranked top 5 in the Country who ran the option and I believe last year or the year before we played Springfield when they had that really good QB who ran the option is well. It's assignment football, who has the full back and QB to pitchman.

Hope that helped a little..."

Montclair State was a team that surprised me. Both when it didn't play up to par against TCNJ and then when it beat Kean in that unofficial conference championship.

I think one of the biggest problems with the team -- again, only when I saw them -- was the quarterback position, and I don't think it was a question of capability. TCNJ rolled the dice on a blitz, and Fischer made them pay, dropping a 40-something yard ball to one of his receivers running a fade, trying to beat single-coverage. Call it a good ball, good route -- both. But the fact of the matter is, that play showed that he's got the talent. If someone's going to bring the heat and leave their corners on an island, every offense needs a player under center that can execute those down-the-field shots. At least then, it seemed like MSU had it.

Problem was, he had struggled for a few games earlier, and got benched in the second half of (I believe) the Buffalo State game. There is so much raw information running through a quarterback's head on every play -- translate the signal from the sidelines, make sure the play and the formation match (coaches make mistakes) call the play in the huddle, make sure everyone's aligned properly (and set before the ball can be snapped), read the defense, possibly make a pre-snap check, and then, and only then, snap the football and execute the play.

Imagine trying to do all that with the tiniest iota of doubt in yourself after getting pulled.

I didn't see a whole lot of variety from their running game. I don't know if it was personnel, philosophy or some combination therein, but I wasn't impressed with the performance put forth by their ground attack. TCNJ stacked the box and, for whatever reason, MSU continued to pound the rock in the middle -- to no avail (1.2 yds/carry). There had to be a better way to get that facet of their attack going. Maybe a swing or slip screen? Bliss didn't seem like he had the wheels to guarantee he made the corner every time, but I would have liked to see more of a committee out of their backfield. Again, that might just be that they didn't have the man-power.

No disrespect.

Obviously their D is dirty. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

And, I guess I'm saying this twice now, how about those special teams? Punter just won NJAC Player of the Week for his afternoon this past Saturday, and their kicker beat TCNJ on the school's homecoming. Call it the squad of misfit toys, but there are three dimensions to a football team. Two-thirds just doesn't cut it.

[rams1102]

Boxer gave a good rundown of Maine Maritime...is there anyone that can provide the same for Montclair?

I attempted to sit down and give you a rundown on Montclair but I am biased, Dave you take this one! What I can say is our team is very well coached, defense is very good, we swarm, we tackle, we hit, create pressure. If Maine is a veer option team, we will be ready, my senior year in 05 we played a Salisbury State team that was ranked top 5 in the Country who ran the option and I believe last year or the year before we played Springfield when they had that really good QB who ran the option is well. It's assignment football, who has the full back and QB to pitchman.

Hope that helped a little...

RedHawk, I defer to your defensive expertise. Our "D" will be very tough. Our problem all year has been our "O". We have the ability. Running backs, wide receivers are good and the line is improving with every game. Our QB needs to step-up and our offensive coaches need to become less predictable. I think it will be a hard fought game. If you go to the Montclair Football site they have a pretty good breakdow of this weekends game under "Game Notes."

[rams1102]

"I attempted to sit down and give you a rundown on Montclair but I am biased, Dave you take this one! What I can say is our team is very well coached, defense is very good, we swarm, we tackle, we hit, create pressure. If Maine is a veer option team, we will be ready, my senior year in 05 we played a Salisbury State team that was ranked top 5 in the Country who ran the option and I believe last year or the year before we played Springfield when they had that really good QB who ran the option is well. It's assignment football, who has the full back and QB to pitchman.

Hope that helped a little..."

Montclair State was a team that surprised me. Both when it didn't play up to par against TCNJ and then when it beat Kean in that unofficial conference championship.

I think one of the biggest problems with the team -- again, only when I saw them -- was the quarterback position, and I don't think it was a question of capability. TCNJ rolled the dice on a blitz, and Fischer made them pay, dropping a 40-something yard ball to one of his receivers running a fade, trying to beat single-coverage. Call it a good ball, good route -- both. But the fact of the matter is, that play showed that he's got the talent. If someone's going to bring the heat and leave their corners on an island, every offense needs a player under center that can execute those down-the-field shots. At least then, it seemed like MSU had it.

Problem was, he had struggled for a few games earlier, and got benched in the second half of (I believe) the Buffalo State game. There is so much raw information running through a quarterback's head on every play -- translate the signal from the sidelines, make sure the play and the formation match (coaches make mistakes) call the play in the huddle, make sure everyone's aligned properly (and set before the ball can be snapped), read the defense, possibly make a pre-snap check, and then, and only then, snap the football and execute the play.

Imagine trying to do all that with the tiniest iota of doubt in yourself after getting pulled.

I didn't see a whole lot of variety from their running game. I don't know if it was personnel, philosophy or some combination therein, but I wasn't impressed with the performance put forth by their ground attack. TCNJ stacked the box and, for whatever reason, MSU continued to pound the rock in the middle -- to no avail (1.2 yds/carry). There had to be a better way to get that facet of their attack going. Maybe a swing or slip screen? Bliss didn't seem like he had the wheels to guarantee he made the corner every time, but I would have liked to see more of a committee out of their backfield. Again, that might just be that they didn't have the man-power.

No disrespect.

Obviously their D is dirty. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

And, I guess I'm saying this twice now, how about those special teams? Punter just won NJAC Player of the Week for his afternoon this past Saturday, and their kicker beat TCNJ on the school's homecoming. Call it the squad of misfit toys, but there are three dimensions to a football team. Two-thirds just doesn't cut it.

How do you really feel about the Red Hawks.

[John McGraw]

Answer to question below..

Dom Sair is Stef Sair's younger brother.

[maxpower]

Is he also a wrestler? Stef was a beast....