FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Teamski]

Congrads to Salisbury for a well earned victory.  You overmatched the Wolverine defense today and won.  A couple observations that I saw that contributed (or didn't) to the loss:

1. No Wesley turnovers.  A little victory of sorts however....

2. 3 KEY defensive penalties on the Wesley defense on 3rd and REALLY long kept Salisbury on the field on 3 different drives.  Two were pass interference and a hellacious sack that turned into a facemask.  Those were killers in the end.  Had Salisbury been taken off the field as they should have, things could have swung the other way.

3.  This game was one of those games that not having Coach Mike Drass on the field made a big difference.  See, if Mike didn't like how a defensive series was going, i.e. the defense was getting burned, he would immediately call a time out and reset the defense with an adjustment.  Had Mike been out on the field today, Wesley would have won. The reason?  There were no adjustments made to the defense after the half that I could see.  Salisbury simply replayed their QB option sweep left over and over with one Wesley defender there to tackle a QB without the ball and NOBODY else there to take on the half back (who happens to have the ball).   This was truly mind blowing and something Mike Drass would never have let happen.  Spies would have been in place from the get go and the sweep would have been stopped before it even left the tackle box.  Seriously, it was a broken record out there.  The defensive scheme reminded me of all those teams that Wesley beat in the past that did not have the on-the-field play call agility that Mike possessed.   

The Wesley defense was the difference today.  The offense did stall at points, but ultimately stepped up and scored 38 points.  Salisbury is a team that runs the ball and they do it well. The Wesley defense should have had Salisbury's playbook burned into it's heads after all of these years but just didn't make the adjustments that past Wesley teams made to win games.  Salisbury is not rocket science.

We hope to see Wesley win out the season with Montclair State on the way and perhaps squeak in with a Pool C.  You can hope, right?

-Ski

[MRMIKESMITH]

I'd say it's always a good day to win against your Rival and with that Congrats to the players and coaching staff. My thoughts on the game is that Wesley had the best player on the field in that of Ruhann Peele, he almost single-handedly won the game for Wesley, however Salisbury team was actually better IMHO this year. I'd agree with Ski that those penalties were game changers, but I credit two of those to the offensive coordinator being very aggressive with the playing calling and throwing the ball. By doing that the back 4 couldn't  be as aggressive as year's past. Also, I think it may have been 2004 that Salisbury had a QB rush for over 100 yards. Salisbury had to earn every drive they scored on and after being down by 14 showed their moxie by storming back to take the lead and never really relinquishing it, again kudos to the offensive coordinator with the play calling with the mixture of the FB runs, QB runs and timely passes. I really think the offense has more room to improve, they have a good group of play makers everywhere on the field and if everyone can somehow get involved, the offense is going to be really dangerous for majority of teams. Now to the Defense and giving up 38 points, if this was year's past, we would have loss this game. The Defensive secondary really really really have to do some soul searching, they are just not making plays and may just not be good, they couldn't even make open field tackles, which is just unacceptable. They didn't make plays on the ball when they were a great position. They are really the achilles heel for Salisbury. If they could have made half the plays that were presented to them, this game is not that close IMHO. With that kudos to Wesley for taking advantage of that as I mentioned in my post-game post last week. If this team wants to be legit playoff contenders, there needs to be some big changes in the secondary, because the players aren't making any plays, whether in the air or coming up to make open field tackles. Special teams needs to improve on their KO coverage, that is something I know will be fixed, could just be the playmaking ability of Peele. The return units couldn't find consistency either, things that I know will be fixed. Another thing of note, Shamar Gray for Salisbury has the potential to be a great slot for Salisbury and should start the rest of the year, put your best players on the field for now on, no more rewarding players just because they are well liked. Overall, the offense has not reached their peak, which is a good thing, the defense has much to work on in the secondary, and special teams has to put together a complete game in all phases. Savor this win tonight and prepare for a well coach Rowan team next week, we can't afford no hangover. 

[Teamski]

Wesley drops to 15th in the rankings which was better than I expected.

-Ski

[MRMIKESMITH]

Disappointing loss today.... pool C? Right?....  Right?

The top SOS as of today are and possible Pool C canidates based on SOS:
1. Wesley - .710
2. Redlands - .705
3. Bethel - .697
4. Susquehanna -  .664
5. UW- Platteville - .659
6. Simpson - .646
7. Texas Lutheran - .643
8. Hendrix - .641
9. Johns Hopkins - .630
10. Hobart - .613

Hendrix, would be slotted in front of Texas Lutheran due to H2H.

Edit: Wheaton (Ill.) actually is undefeated and I removed and added Hobart.

[RowanPhan]

The Profs finally found victory by beating Kean 52-7 in front of a large homecoming crowd. It was great to see Rowan put together a complete game on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. A few notes from the game below:

1. Rowan was more physical than Kean - Kean's QB took several hits and was clearly hobbled throughout the game.
2. Rowan's DL has talent and pressured Kean's QB all game.
3. Offensively, Rowan did enough to keep the chains moving.
4. Backup QB Couzzi finally saw action and he ran the ball well in the 4th quarter.
5. Elijah Rehm made a few great plays in including a 70+ reception where he showed off his break away speed.
6. Sunny Tapp at DL is unfair, he's essentially a D1 LB sprinting to the QB on every play. He also had a 60 yard fumble recovery, and no one from Kean was even close to catching him.
7. At 1-4, Rowan's record isn't pretty, but this team is no slouch.. if they improve on this performance, they could upset the Gulls next week.

Rowan's toughest test of the season approaches as they prepare for Salisbury's triple option attack. If I had to bet the barn, I'd say Salisbury wins easily next week, but I'm optimistic that the Profs have the talent to make it a close game.

[Teamski]

Disappointing loss today.... pool C? Right?....  Right?

The top SOS as of today are and possible Pool C canidates based on SOS:
1. Wesley - .710
2. Redlands - .705
3. Bethel - .697
4. Wheaton (Ill.) - .665
5. Susquehanna -  .664
6. UW- Platteville - .659
7. Simpson - .646
8. Texas Lutheran - .643
9. Hendrix - .641
10. Johns Hopkins - .630

Hendrix, would be slotted in front of Texas Lutheran due to H2H.

Thanks for posting!  Wesley's SOS will unfortunately drop as they go through the second half of the season.....hopefully not enough to drop it off of the playoff radar.

-Ski

[AUPepBand]

Congrads to Salisbury for a well earned victory. 

3.  This game was one of those games that not having Coach Mike Drass on the field made a big difference.  See, if Mike didn't like how a defensive series was going, i.e. the defense was getting burned, he would immediately call a time out and reset the defense with an adjustment.  Had Mike been out on the field today, Wesley would have won. The reason?  There were no adjustments made to the defense after the half that I could see.  Salisbury simply replayed their QB option sweep left over and over with one Wesley defender there to tackle a QB without the ball and NOBODY else there to take on the half back (who happens to have the ball).   This was truly mind blowing and something Mike Drass would never have let happen.  Spies would have been in place from the get go and the sweep would have been stopped before it even left the tackle box.  Seriously, it was a broken record out there.  The defensive scheme reminded me of all those teams that Wesley beat in the past that did not have the on-the-field play call agility that Mike possessed.   

The Wesley defense was the difference today.  The offense did stall at points, but ultimately stepped up and scored 38 points.  Salisbury is a team that runs the ball and they do it well. The Wesley defense should have had Salisbury's playbook burned into it's heads after all of these years but just didn't make the adjustments that past Wesley teams made to win games.  Salisbury is not rocket science.

-Ski

Pep understands that the 2018 Salisbury team post-season had a few different personnel at QB because of injuries during the season, nevertheless, Pep's Saxons shut down that potent Sea Gull ground attack in the ECAC bowl game at Salisbury by changing up its defense from the start. AU went with a 3-man front, allowing LBs to cover the corners and shut down the pitch. AU's offense was just good enough to get by for a 14-7 win, leaving points on the field with missed field goals.

Would love to see how AU's defense would match up with the Sea Gulls of 2019.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Congrads to Salisbury for a well earned victory. 

3.  This game was one of those games that not having Coach Mike Drass on the field made a big difference.  See, if Mike didn't like how a defensive series was going, i.e. the defense was getting burned, he would immediately call a time out and reset the defense with an adjustment.  Had Mike been out on the field today, Wesley would have won. The reason?  There were no adjustments made to the defense after the half that I could see.  Salisbury simply replayed their QB option sweep left over and over with one Wesley defender there to tackle a QB without the ball and NOBODY else there to take on the half back (who happens to have the ball).   This was truly mind blowing and something Mike Drass would never have let happen.  Spies would have been in place from the get go and the sweep would have been stopped before it even left the tackle box.  Seriously, it was a broken record out there.  The defensive scheme reminded me of all those teams that Wesley beat in the past that did not have the on-the-field play call agility that Mike possessed.   

The Wesley defense was the difference today.  The offense did stall at points, but ultimately stepped up and scored 38 points.  Salisbury is a team that runs the ball and they do it well. The Wesley defense should have had Salisbury's playbook burned into it's heads after all of these years but just didn't make the adjustments that past Wesley teams made to win games.  Salisbury is not rocket science.

-Ski

Pep understands that the 2018 Salisbury team post-season had a few different personnel at QB because of injuries during the season, nevertheless, Pep's Saxons shut down that potent Sea Gull ground attack in the ECAC bowl game at Salisbury by changing up its defense from the start. AU went with a 3-man front, allowing LBs to cover the corners and shut down the pitch. AU's offense was just good enough to get by for a 14-7 win, leaving points on the field with missed field goals.

Would love to see how AU's defense would match up with the Sea Gulls of 2019.

I watch that game, we were down to our 3rd string QB, who had played well the last couple games, but was no where as good as the 1st two. However, I think losing to Frostburg last year really took a lot out of the players and coaching staff. Not taking anything away from Alfred, you guys played very well defensively and had a big play for touchdown late, but I think this team is much more consistent offensively this year and have more weapons. In addition, Salisbury has a new offensive coordinator than last year, who appears to be more aggressive with throwing the ball when teams stack the box. Nevertheless, our last 3 outings against Alfred, Alfred has done a great job creating turnovers. I only saw Alfred play once this year and that was against Ithaca and it was not a bad game, but Alfred couldn't finish drives for TDs. Who knows, maybe you guys run the table and we see each other in the playoffs and not the ECAC's. Nevertheless, both teams have big games this week.

[thewaterboy]

3.  This game was one of those games that not having Coach Mike Drass on the field made a big difference.  See, if Mike didn't like how a defensive series was going, i.e. the defense was getting burned, he would immediately call a time out and reset the defense with an adjustment.  Had Mike been out on the field today, Wesley would have won. The reason?  There were no adjustments made to the defense after the half that I could see.  Salisbury simply replayed their QB option sweep left over and over with one Wesley defender there to tackle a QB without the ball and NOBODY else there to take on the half back (who happens to have the ball).   This was truly mind blowing and something Mike Drass would never have let happen.  Spies would have been in place from the get go and the sweep would have been stopped before it even left the tackle box.  Seriously, it was a broken record out there.  The defensive scheme reminded me of all those teams that Wesley beat in the past that did not have the on-the-field play call agility that Mike possessed.   

This is where Wesley lost the game... Wesley has defended the option so well over the past decade and a half (even last season). The lack of adjustments was a little puzzling. I figured Wesley was in trouble just based on the points they gave up at the half. In Wesley's losses to Salisbury since 2004, they have given up 35 or more points. 35 in 04, 38 in 2015, and now 45 in 2019.... keeping them under 20 has been the key for the Wolverines. It seems that Salisbury struggles to win the low scoring games against Wesley.

[wesleydad]

3.  This game was one of those games that not having Coach Mike Drass on the field made a big difference.  See, if Mike didn't like how a defensive series was going, i.e. the defense was getting burned, he would immediately call a time out and reset the defense with an adjustment.  Had Mike been out on the field today, Wesley would have won. The reason?  There were no adjustments made to the defense after the half that I could see.  Salisbury simply replayed their QB option sweep left over and over with one Wesley defender there to tackle a QB without the ball and NOBODY else there to take on the half back (who happens to have the ball).   This was truly mind blowing and something Mike Drass would never have let happen.  Spies would have been in place from the get go and the sweep would have been stopped before it even left the tackle box.  Seriously, it was a broken record out there.  The defensive scheme reminded me of all those teams that Wesley beat in the past that did not have the on-the-field play call agility that Mike possessed.   

This is where Wesley lost the game... Wesley has defended the option so well over the past decade and a half (even last season). The lack of adjustments was a little puzzling. I figured Wesley was in trouble just based on the points they gave up at the half. In Wesley's losses to Salisbury since 2004, they have given up 35 or more points. 35 in 04, 38 in 2015, and now 45 in 2019.... keeping them under 20 has been the key for the Wolverines. It seems that Salisbury struggles to win the low scoring games against Wesley.

From what I saw the issue was allowing the QB to keep the ball.  He has to be forced to pitch.  Once he breaks the line of scrimmage all bets are off because everyone has an assignment leaving him plenty of room to run, which he did.

[thewaterboy]

3.  This game was one of those games that not having Coach Mike Drass on the field made a big difference.  See, if Mike didn't like how a defensive series was going, i.e. the defense was getting burned, he would immediately call a time out and reset the defense with an adjustment.  Had Mike been out on the field today, Wesley would have won. The reason?  There were no adjustments made to the defense after the half that I could see.  Salisbury simply replayed their QB option sweep left over and over with one Wesley defender there to tackle a QB without the ball and NOBODY else there to take on the half back (who happens to have the ball).   This was truly mind blowing and something Mike Drass would never have let happen.  Spies would have been in place from the get go and the sweep would have been stopped before it even left the tackle box.  Seriously, it was a broken record out there.  The defensive scheme reminded me of all those teams that Wesley beat in the past that did not have the on-the-field play call agility that Mike possessed.   

This is where Wesley lost the game... Wesley has defended the option so well over the past decade and a half (even last season). The lack of adjustments was a little puzzling. I figured Wesley was in trouble just based on the points they gave up at the half. In Wesley's losses to Salisbury since 2004, they have given up 35 or more points. 35 in 04, 38 in 2015, and now 45 in 2019.... keeping them under 20 has been the key for the Wolverines. It seems that Salisbury struggles to win the low scoring games against Wesley.

From what I saw the issue was allowing the QB to keep the ball.  He has to be forced to pitch.  Once he breaks the line of scrimmage all bets are off because everyone has an assignment leaving him plenty of room to run, which he did.

That and the toss play they ran to the outside always seemed to pick up 8-12 yards a carry.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Congrats to Salisbury Offensive lineman,  Tyler Rosello, Joseph Osborne, Caleb Weatherford, Owen Bolyard, and Tyler Norwood on being named to D3Football.com Team of the Week. Also, congrats to Jack Lanham on being named NJAC offensive player of the week.

[rams1102]

Pick-Em's  for  week  #7  are  Posted  on  the  NJAC  Pick-Em  Board.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Appears to be a cloudy day this upcoming weekend in Salisbury with a high of 66 and light winds (5 mph). Hoping for a good game and continued success by the offense and much improvement by the defense. I'm expecting Rowan to be well focused and very confident considering they were firing on all cylinders against Kean last weekend for their homecoming. I don't think the score is going to be what it was last year as I think Rowan had a big hangover from their win against Wesley last year. Which leads me to say, I'm hoping Salisbury doesn't have a hangover from our big win against Wesley.  I think the key to our game this week against Rowan starts with the defense and stopping the run and contain QB on broken plays. Additionally, the secondary really have to keep the WRs of Rowan in front of them, don't worry about the short stuff, play a bend but break style, currently they just haven't showed they can be aggressive defensively from a secondary perspective.  Offensively, we have to play our game, convert on 3rd downs and limit turnovers. We have to get the RB/FB and WRs involved earlier to keep the defense on their toes, we can't allow them to put 9 players within 5 to 7 yards of the ball and allow their corners to hard press on 1 on 1 coverage. Special teams, special teams coverage in particular has to do a much better job staying in lanes and making sure tackles to eliminate the return ability of Elijah Rehm. Overall, the last two year's have been good for Salisbury, just hoping we don't have a repeat of 2016.

[thewaterboy]

As it stands right now, Wesley does have the #1 SOS in the nation.... that'll decrease over the course of the remaining 5 games, but the hope is that the beginning of the season will be enough to keep them near the top. Round 1 of the playoffs starts Saturday vs. William Paterson.

A positive of the Salisbury game for Wesley was the offense finally seemed to have a performance that was more the norm for Wesley football. Mullin seemed to grow up a bit, however I thought Ruhann Peele bailed him out a few times. Both TDs late in the game to Peele could have just as easily been interceptions. Peele was just too strong and made great plays on the football. Not sold still.... but getting there.

I do think if Wesley drops another game in the regular season, I think it is time to blow the whole thing up and really start gearing up for 2020. They are still relatively young as a team, so it would be time to build.... but we will get to that if it happens.