FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Teamski]

Congrads to Wesley's Joe Callahan for passing Chris Warrick as the Wesley all-time TD pass leader (102) and also passing the 10,000 yards mark as well.  Well done!

-Ski

[wesleydad]

Well, the Wesley/Rowan game was almost beyond belief to watch.  There seemed to be a flag on every play.  Could have been more had they called the Rowan Oline for their grab and tackle method of pass blocking the d ends.  Marcellin is the best running back Wesley will see all year.  160+ yards, but 2 costly fumbles.  Wesley tried to sell out on stopping the run and got burned several times by long passes, 1 TD, the other set up a TD.  They give up a safety the normal way and then a fluke safety when an intercepted pass at the 2 gets stripped and recovered by Wesley in the end zone.  That is followed up by a kickoff return for a TD and all of a sudden a game that was not close is a 1 score game.  Rowan got every break imaginable and still could not win the game.  Wesley could have scored 50+ without the mistakes, Callahan's first interception in the end zone was a poorly thrown pass, the receiver was open.  Rowan has a strong secondary and they were able to take away Okike, but Callahan and Knapp decided to use George instead to keep drives alive.  I could not believe that Wesley goes for it on 4th down at the 35 with 5 mins to go instead of having Callahan pooch punt the ball like he has done several times this year.  You have to make Rowan go at least 75 yards or more.  Now the pass was dropped for what would have been a first down, but you still should punt.  It was an ugly game with no flow to it, the penalties were just outrageous.  The pass interference call on Wesley that kept a Rowan drive alive was just horrible.  In the end it is a win and they move on.  I am not happy with the pass defense, but in this game it worked because they kept Marcellin from breaking any for a TD.  The kick coverage was excellent all game until the return after the safety, it was still good, just missed tackles at the original point of attack.  Plenty to work on, but I think this team is rounding into shape and will be tough to handle on the offensive side of the ball with Baynard running and using all the receivers.  They are going to have to outscore teams in the playoffs, but can do that with what they have.  On to Montclair, which unfortunately does not look like a competitive game and then Salisbury for the NJAC title game.

[CNU85]

Welcome to the new NJAC. While I never expected a conference championship like normal in the USA South, but I never would have predicted 1-6. We have had a lead in every game. Time to focus on Salisbury. It never lets up in this conference. Congrats to all the winning teams yesterday! Hope everyone stayed healthy.

[wesleydad]

Welcome to the new NJAC. While I never expected a conference championship like normal in the USA South, but I never would have predicted 1-6. We have had a lead in every game. Time to focus on Salisbury. It never lets up in this conference. Congrats to all the winning teams yesterday! Hope everyone stayed healthy.

Also surprised.  What I saw against Wesley lead me to believe that CNU was going to win plenty of games.  Got some work to do to compete at this tougher level.

[D O.C.]

phil...those girls will be leaning towards LINFIELD for a chance at a National Softball Championship?

http://www.linfield.edu/sports/coach-bio.html?ID=18&sport=sb

[Teamski]

Mmm.....question:  Since Salisbury missed the game with TCNJ, how would the tiebreaker work if they (gulp) won against Wesley?  Would there even be one being one half game behind.  Discuss......

-Ski

[AUPepBand]

phil...those girls will be leaning towards LINFIELD for a chance at a National Softball Championship?

http://www.linfield.edu/sports/coach-bio.html?ID=18&sport=sb

Hey, why not a rising program like Alfred? Albeit, AU is searching for the mentor who can fill the huge shoes of Coach Gino Olivieri, who has left Saxonville to take over the Coppin State D1 program in the MEAC, but the Saxons were right there in the World Series with those 'Cats from Oregon.

[wesleydad]

Mmm.....question:  Since Salisbury missed the game with TCNJ, how would the tiebreaker work if they (gulp) won against Wesley?  Would there even be one being one half game behind.  Discuss......

-Ski

If Salisbury beats Wesley, they win the league, they would be undefeated.

[thewaterboy]

Mmm.....question:  Since Salisbury missed the game with TCNJ, how would the tiebreaker work if they (gulp) won against Wesley?  Would there even be one being one half game behind.  Discuss......

-Ski

If Salisbury beats Wesley, they win the league, they would be undefeated.

yeesh, as long as everything goes as planned leading up to the Route 13 Rivalry, thatll be a huge game!

[Div3Fan]

yeesh, as long as everything goes as planned leading up to the Route 13 Rivalry, thatll be a huge game!

I think CNU, Salisbury's next opponent, is a good team that is just underperforming. They can't go into the game thinking about Wesley, that is for sure.

If SU actually beats Wesley, they'd immediately have to direct their attention to Frostburg State, which is certainly no slouch.

SU has three games which won't be cake-walks.

[Div3Fan]

What are the chances of Salisbury getting into the playoffs if they lose to Wesley? I guess it is dependent upon how (last week's #20) Albright finishes the season?

[bman]

What are the chances of Salisbury getting into the playoffs if they lose to Wesley? I guess it is dependent upon how (last week's #20) Albright finishes the season?

Very low with the loss to Albright...

[phil]

phil...those girls will be leaning towards LINFIELD for a chance at a National Softball Championship?

http://www.linfield.edu/sports/coach-bio.html?ID=18&sport=sb

Hey, why not a rising program like Alfred? ...

My lefty pitcher is a Soph leaning towards RIT right now. Don't know if she'll even play in college – though I doubt RIT gets many players from TX. The 10 yr. old 3rd baseman (who can dream big and has already hit one over a 200 ft. college fence), is a Notre Dame and Princeton fan. Her coach was a 3rd baseman/academic All-American at ND. The girls won't choose a college to play softball for unless it has their major (in my soph's case animation or any one of 5 art majors RIT has).

The amazing part of our high school softball program is that it could beat most D3 schools (and I've seen D3 World Series teams). Last season The Woodlands H.S. team had 10 college softball commitments including scholarships to Baylor, Tennessee and Texas Tech. In 2011 they were ESPN National Champs.

...although the thought of retiring to the McMinnville, OR area when the little one heads off to college is not without its merits!

Now if I could only send football players to TCNJ...

[CNU85]

I like numbers, so I calculated avg attendance as reported by the NCAA and compared to enrollment (as indicated on the team pages by d3football.com) and applied a factor which indicates % of student population as compared to avg attendance. Wesley draws more fans than their enrollment. If I have a number that is incorrect (and you care), let me know and I will fix.

So, I was trying to figure out what all this means.....and it hit me....it means CNU is 1-6 and I'm just looking at stuff other than the standings! 

           Enrollment   Attendance   Att. Factor
Wesley    1,407                  1,421     1.01
Salisbury    7,298                  1,118     0.15
Frostburg    4,247                  1,665     0.39
Rowan    9,340                  1,810     0.19
Kean           10,407                  1,627     0.16
Montclair    12,301                  2,942     0.24
TCNJ    6,240                  1,086     0.17
Paterson    8,408                     850     0.10
CNU          4,962                  4,186     0.84
SVU            764                    N/A       N/A

[Teamski]

I like numbers, so I calculated avg attendance as reported by the NCAA and compared to enrollment (as indicated on the team pages by d3football.com) and applied a factor which indicates % of student population as compared to avg attendance. Wesley draws more fans than their enrollment. If I have a number that is incorrect (and you care), let me know and I will fix.

So, I was trying to figure out what all this means.....and it hit me....it means CNU is 1-6 and I'm just looking at stuff other than the standings! 

           Enrollment   Attendance   Att. Factor
Wesley    1,407                  1,421     1.01
Salisbury    7,298                  1,118     0.15
Frostburg    4,247                  1,665     0.39
Rowan    9,340                  1,810     0.19
Kean           10,407                  1,627     0.16
Montclair    12,301                  2,942     0.24
TCNJ    6,240                  1,086     0.17
Paterson    8,408                     850     0.10
CNU          4,962                  4,186     0.84
SVU            764                    N/A       N/A

Now that is an interesting look at the numbers.  I always felt that Wesley games were relatively under-attended considering their ranking.  The numbers definitely show otherwise.  I do wish Wesley would add more stands though.  It would be tight, but doable.....

I am sorry about CNU's season.  Hopefully, they will be able to make adjustments by next year.  I think they will.

-Ski