FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[clandfan]

clandfan - Against Mt. Union's offense it's a matter of picking your poison.  Sending LB's and pressing with the DB's opens up more running lanes for WR's and Kmic.  In all honesty, the Cortland "D" did it's job.  The offense needed to hold the ball longer and finish some more drives.

Small.....don't get me wrong...I absolutely agree that we have to move the football and that we can't win with only 17 minutes in possession.  We needed to establish the run and we did not. 

As to the defense doing their job....they gave up 41 points, 500 yards in total offense, and like so many before...could not tackle Kmic and allowed 42+ minutes of offensive possession.  Nobody has scored more than 14 pts on MUC all year.  If we can get our offense on the field, I think we can score more than 14.  So...you are right in that our offense needed to get a few first downs and allow our defense to rest but the defense needed to make a few stops and their 3rd down effort was poor.  I do think they were too conservative.  Now if we get burned deep or Kmic breaks a long one...then we adjust... but to sit back and allow Micheli and Kmic to bite off 6-7 yds a pop, march down the field and eat up the clock all day long...played right into the hands of MUC.  Your coach simply said...hey, if you want to give us 6-7 yds all day, we will take it.

[Pat Coleman]

Otterbein scored 20 on Mount Union.

[DanPadavona]

Having not seen Otterbein or the other OAC teams this season, I can't say how they'd match up with the NJAC teams.  I stood next to several Mt Union fans (former players I think) on the Cortland sideline who told me we were the best team they'd played in 2 years outside of Whitewater (obviously).  I'm sure Ithaca deserved to be mentioned too, but I'll take that compliment.   

Cortland's offense quietly did a very good job against Mount Union.  They took the run away, but we hit them hard with the pass and scored 14 points in only 17 minutes.  That's pretty impressive.  Our defense couldn't get off the field.  As good as Kmic, Shorts, and Micheli are, the Purple Raiders offensive line is the #1 key to their offensive success.  They open up huge holes.  A lot of very good teams tried to run on us this season and failed miserably.  That Mount had so much success speaks to how special their Line is.

[HScoach]

What made Cortland a better match-up than most teams we've seen is their size up front.  Most teams outside of the WIAC can't match the Raiders' size and aggresiveness at the line of scrimmage.

However it should be noted that this year's O-line is pretty weak when compared to past Mount O-lines.  They're young and have been really hurt by injuries.  Their best lineman is a converted DT that made the switch in fall camp due to injury.

As far as comparing Otterbein and Cortland, CSU is much better.  The scores look the same, but Cortland really made work for their offensive points.  Otterbein never came close to slowing down Mount.   And the last Otterbein score came on a halfback pass against the #2 defense late in the 4th quarter.  Cortland would have beat Otterbein by at least 2 TD's.

[clandfan]

Well, it is good to hear where we stand comparatively.  Just wish we could have made it more of a game.  Hopefully we will meet again down the road.  We have much to replace next year.  I would like to say we can just reload but realistically we will have some growing pains.  I think we will be ok at QB and WR but OL and RB will be a big question mark.  Defensively we have some big shoes to fill in Nagle and Smith.  With the loss of such sr. leadership, I hope the team can stay after it in the offseason. 

Well, I am in the midst of my post season depression.  I usually snap out of it by Christmas but the season ran much later this year.  Having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit.

Happy Holidays to all!

[DanPadavona]

Cland, it's up to the coaches to leverage the post-season success into a strong recruiting year.  You and I have been harping on the pass defense all season, so that is a big place to start.  I've heard the OL recruits from last year were big and athletic, but they didn't get much playing time behind our seniors.  How well they mesh in Year 1 is a big question mark.

Losing Guiliano is a killer.  But Russell is a good back too, and I like Joe Aston.  I heard a rumor from 2 different people that Hajnos might have another year of eligibility.  Regardless we have a lot of WR talent waiting to play more.  I'd like to see D.W. in the open field a little more often than just on kickoff returns!  He's a game breaker.

[DanPadavona]

Great news!  Cortland coach Dan MacNeill is one of 5 finalists for the Liberty Mutual D3 Coach of the Year Award. 

Also up for the award are:

Greg Debeljak of Case Western Reserve
John Gagliardi of St. John's
Larry Kehres of Mount Union
Mark Speckman of Willamette

Congratulations to all of the coaches for having outstanding 2008 years, and a special thanks to Coach Mac for giving us a season to remember in Cortland.

[John McGraw]

In other Cortland news...

Former Cortland tight ends coach Doug Marrone has been named the new head coach at Syracuse University. He is the currently the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.

[cstate19]

In other Cortland news...

Former Cortland tight ends coach Doug Marrone has been named the new head coach at Syracuse University. He is the currently the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.

i was just going to post this, beat me to it.


very cool

[dlippiel]

In other Cortland news...

Former Cortland tight ends coach Doug Marrone has been named the new head coach at Syracuse University. He is the currently the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.

i was just going to post this, beat me to it.


very cool

Don't know much about Doug. Is he a good choice? Anyone have some insight into his coaching? Can he take Cuse too where they should be and/or need to be? I hope:) Anyway it makes me very happy that a former coach at Cortland is going to run the Orangemen!

[dlippiel]

Yes I said Orangemen! 

[John McGraw]

Don't know much about Doug. Is he a good choice? Anyone have some insight into his coaching? Can he take Cuse too where they should be and/or need to be? I hope:) Anyway it makes me very happy that a former coach at Cortland is going to run the Orangemen!

I like the choice though it's been kind of a mixed review here in Syracuse. That being said, people here are never satisfied - just part of living here that people are always grouches about stuff like that. Though some of the attention from the hire is being deflected away by the school suspending Eric Devendorf for the rest of the season; rightfully so if he did strike a woman in the face.

Anyways, I like the hire. Marrone said all the right things in his press conference and he's starting off here on Monday. I really like his enthusiasm and think in the long run his hiring will be a great benefit to the program.

[XREDDRAGON77]

Congrats to Sean James of Cortland for making the first team AFCA /USA Today first team All American list.

[clandfan]

     Agreed on Sean James...Congratulations.  Well deserved.  Tough shoes to fill.   We have some major holes to fill next year on offense.  We will see just how strong the recent recruiting classes were and hopefully we can parlay the success of this year into another strong class. 

     Dan...I, too, had heard about Hajnos filing for another year.   I think it is assumed that Pitcher will take over the role of QB.  I am excited to see him play with these WRs.  He seems more mobile than Miles.  I can see them using Pitcher's mobility to move the pocket around a little more and take some pressure off a very young and inexperienced line.

     For whatever it is worth...I just learned that one of our promising WRs, Shane Bush, is the son of Miami Dolphins assistant coach, Steve Bush who is widely given credit for the "Wildcat" offense that has become popular across the NFL this year.  Bush is former West Genny (Wildcats) High School coach who directed that team to a class AA NYS championship a couple of years ago.

[Findtheball]

            Merry Christmas to all !!!!!!!!!!!!!