FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[MRMIKESMITH]

Looking like the weather is going to be mostly cloudy in Union, NJ. The good thing, there is only a 10% chance of rain. My expectation for this weekend is for Salisbury to continue to stay true to the formula by starting inside out and figuring the defense out. Including the occasional pass to keep Kean off balance and keep a talented group of receivers engaged, which will only benefit the offense as the season continues and hopefully into the playoffs, where the defenses are much better and discipline. Working on timing routes and touch passes will definitely be big either in close game and playoff contests. Defensively, I think it starts with limiting the big play and being very discipline with the eyes in the secondary and trusting your proper reads and reacting to the ball better. I think the front seven has to do a better job not allowing the big scrambles. Looking for some more turnovers from the defense. Special teams, I like the 33 yard fg attempt last week. I look forward to Special teams playing very sound similar to last week and depending on the situation, continue to let the kicker kick fgs to sure up things come playoff time, where points can be at a premium. Overall, I expect Kean to come out playing very good football, but I think if Salisbury can weather the 1st few possessions and get two scores early and limiting Kean to a fg or less early, it's going to be a long day for Kean, otherwise, this can be one of those games that will make you question if the team is actually as good as the ranking. Hopefully for Salisbury we can get some points on the board early and often to allow  2nd and 3rd strings good game reps.

[MRMIKESMITH]

If Wesley plays their game as they should, this will be a win.  That said, enough mistakes will turn the table.  A must win regardless....

-Ski

Having watched both teams, I think Wesley has the skill players offensively to score on Montclair at times, but Montclair Defense is tough. I think Wesley will have to run the ball to open-up the pass to get points on the board. If Montclair can find ways to get good field position and capitalize in the RedZone, I think this game is fairly close. It appeared that Montclair QB was very conservative in the passing attack against Salisbury early on, which I think was due to the sheer number of turnovers early in the season. I do believe Montclair did a better job for a half clogging up the run against Salisbury than Wesley did. However, Wesley offensive potential and output is much better than Montclair, which can be the difference. I expect the game to be somewhere in the range of 30 - 18 in Wesley favor, however I think Wesley will have a big play late to pull away.

[Bartman]

If Wesley plays their game as they should, this will be a win.  That said, enough mistakes will turn the table.  A must win regardless....

-Ski

Having watched both teams, I think Wesley has the skill players offensively to score on Montclair at times, but Montclair Defense is tough. I think Wesley will have to run the ball to open-up the pass to get points on the board. If Montclair can find ways to get good field position and capitalize in the RedZone, I think this game is fairly close. It appeared that Montclair QB was very conservative in the passing attack against Salisbury early on, which I think was due to the sheer number of turnovers early in the season. I do believe Montclair did a better job for a half clogging up the run against Salisbury than Wesley did. However, Wesley offensive potential and output is much better than Montclair, which can be the difference. I expect the game to be somewhere in the range of 30 - 18 in Wesley favor, however I think Wesley will have a big play late to pull away.

I have not watched Wesley live, but if the team I watched online against Endicott shows up, I think Montclair will win this game. I was impressed with Montclair's toughness on defense against Hobart which I saw live .I don't think they will  back down and this will be a real dogfight.

[RowanPhan]

Rowan 0 @ William Paterson 7

Currently in the 2nd

So far, fairly evenly matched. WPU with a long 50 yard run that setup their first score. WPU also forced a fumble in the redzone ending Rowan's best scoring chance in the game.

[thewaterboy]

14-7 Montclair after a pick 6 before halftime. Not sure what happened as the video isn't working. Confusing call.... Wesley gets a kick blocked and cant score in the redzone. Left 10 points on the board.... is it last year?

...30 minutes to save the season.


The offense has gone anemic. Mullin has to make throws and know there is more than Ruhann Peele on the field.

[UfanBill]

What's going on there in Dover? The video has stopped playing. The Live Stats don't load. And I believe the Wolverines are losing.

[BomberJeff]

Wesley wins in OT 20 to 17.  Montclair got a field goal in the first half, but Wesley able to punch it in from 1 yard out to take the victory with Ruhann Peele getting the run out of the wildcat formation.

[thewaterboy]

What's going on there in Dover? The video has stopped playing. The Live Stats don't load. And I believe the Wolverines are losing.

Pretty sure those two things aren't related. Good one though.. they have traditionally had internet issues at that stadium, but that is no excuse. I was frustrated just listening (although Sean Greene and Jason Bowen do a great job).

Wesley wins in OT 20 to 17.  Montclair got a field goal in the first half, but Wesley able to punch it in from 1 yard out to take the victory with Ruhann Peele getting the run out of the wildcat formation.

Not nearly enough firepower on the Wesley offense, but they got it done.

[RowanPhan]

Wesley wins in OT 20 to 17.  Montclair got a field goal in the first half, but Wesley able to punch it in from 1 yard out to take the victory with Ruhann Peele getting the run out of the wildcat formation.

Rowan has a battle ahead of them next week.  This week they did just enough to beat WPU. That type of performance will not cut it against Montclair State.

[Teamski]

Well, I flew into Salisbury returning from a business trip right before the start of the Wesley game.  I threw the bags into the car,  turned on WDEL and listened to the game as I flew my Fiesta ST up Route 13 to Dover.  I then threw my bags into the living room, hugged the wife and raced out the door with her in tow to get to the game.  I arrived with 4 minutes left in the first half to continue my banter about how flat the Wesley offense was.  And it didn't get any better.   Mullen had already thrown an interception and Wesley's offense had a ton of penalties that hindered any chances at scoring.  The second half was similarly distressing with a Montclair pick 6 with bad passes thrown and good passes dropped.  Montclair is a really good team and their defense was effective. 

See, this game was the opposite of the Salisbury game.  There, the defense went on vacation, but the offense ratcheted it up and kept it a game.  Today?  The opposite was true.  The defense  did a great job keeping Montclair from pulling away and wrapping up the game.  With the exception of a few good runs, the defense stuffed the running game.  They get my game ball.   The offense was out to lunch.  Mullin really had a garbage day with some real lousy passes and missed opportunities that were ripe for him to run the ball right down the field in front of him, but he never bit.  He needs to grab those opportunities and run instead of passing into coverage.  Peele dropped a ton of passes with at least one that resulted in an interception.  I know that both guys were playing hurt out there, so I can understand some of the poor game play. 

THAT SAID.  This year is one of the first times where I am seeing heart trump the relative lack of talent.  With less than 3 minutes to go, I figured the game was done.  Some people had already left when on the last possession, Mullen all of a sudden started hitting Peele right in the palms and the Wolverines moved right down the field.  The Montclair defense stiffled anything inside the 10 and it was now 4th and goal and less than a minute to go.  Wouldn't you know it?  Mullin runs around, chased by a feverish Montclair defender and throws what my friend instantly called a 7 yard hail Mary into the corner of the endzone.  From my angle, I surely thought that was the game as the ball had such a high arc that it looked like it was going long.  Nope, that ball with an uncanny mathematical precision hit the receiver perfectly.  Crazy.  Add a perfect OT and you have a game of pure guts.  Sure, Wesley isn't the team of olde, but they certainly have heart, and you can't take that away from them....... They showed it against Delaware Valley and they did it again today.

p.s. Keep your eye on Mike Pennewe.....I meant Leroy Pendleton.  He is a rarely used freshman running back that impressed the hell out of me.  Because Mansaray got hurt and left the game, Wesley had started to pass every down.  Late in the game, Pendleton got the call and I really like him.  He is a strong runner that reminded me of Mike Pennewell. 

-Ski

[PA_wesleyfan]

 The tight end outran the ball on that TD. He came out of nowhere. Two plays almost beat Wesley today. One great catch by a well covered Montclair receiver and a short pick six almost cost the Wolverines the game. Wesley had nearly twice the yardage as Montclair. The defense played a very good game. But Montclair did have a couple wide open receivers drop passes. Mullins had a rough day. His timing was off and the safety could see where he was throwing because he watched his first read. But a win is a win and zMontclair has been a thorn is Wesley's side almost every year.  Pendleton was a thousand yrd rusher his senior year for a team that passed the ball first and ran second last year.

[thewaterboy]

Wesley's pool C hopes remain alive! What a win. I bet it would have been even more exciting to see in person. 3 games left to clinch one of those coveted pool C bids, which I think they should lock up if they win out.

Leroy Pendleton is becoming more and more impressive to watch as a freshman. We are used to seeing small, quick backs at Wesley so his big frame and running style is a nice change of pace. Would like to see him get more touches throughout the rest of the season.

Plays were there to be made.... Wesley just missed them. If the offense is struggling this much against Montclair. If this team makes the playoffs, I imagine they will struggle against anyone they draw. I'll say again.... I don't think Mullin is the guy to win you games against good teams at the QB position. From the when the video feed was available, his accuracy seemed inconsistent and he doesn't know when to pull down and run the football.

I also think he is looking for Ruhann Peele too much. This team has playmakers, but oftentimes it seems he gets keyed on Ruhann and that is it. Looking at the stats, Ruhann has 43% of the catches. Corterris Simpson has the next highest at 16%. Compare that to last year when Alex Kemp had 28% of the catches, Ruhann had 20%. I'll go further back:
- 2017: Okike (30%) and Kemp (29%)
- 2016: Shade (29%) and Kemp (24%)
- 2015: Shade (23%) and Okike (20%)

Point is: I don't think this offense is at that level. They need to spread the ball around more.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Not much I can say about our win against Kean. We dominated as expected, with multiple players getting touches on offense and 2nd and 3rd string guys getting time on defense and special teams. If I want to nitpick the team, I would start with kickoff coverage. The coverage unit was less than adequate, they didn't do a great job in this area, players did not avoid or when blocked,the didn't redirect to pursue returner. I saw too many guys get walled and then look to the ref for a penalty. It felt like Kean was starting at the 35 or 40 each time they had the ball. Against good teams, this can't happen. Either the kicker kicks the ball out the endzone or pooch kicks for fair catches. I think the defensive secondary, which is giving up an average of 200+ yards has to improve. Although Salisbury dominated the game based upon score, Kean had some success as with many teams through the air. I think if Salisbury wants to get pass the 2nd round of playoffs, they will need to find ways to get to the QB quicker or have DB's recognize routes and cover receivers instead of covering grass. I would like to see more pressure packages to get the ball out of the QB hands, because the current formula will not get you pass the 2nd/3rd round. Overall, I like the the defensive turnovers, it felt like forever since Salisbury had some defensive turnovers and as I mentioned last week on improving in that area, the defense got a key fumble early on that basically ended all momentum for Kean and a interception for touchdown.  Offensively, I like the calls, when it looked like Kean was going to stifle the run, a new wrinkle kept them on their toes. Looking ahead to this upcoming week against CNU, I think CNU is going to throw the playbook at Salisbury, especially from a offensive standpoint. They are going to be playing with some confidence having won their homecoming game this past weekend. If Salisbury defense doesn't get some early stops and CNU can cause some early turnovers, we can have a repeat of 2015, which was  one of the worst games I watch ever.

[PA_wesleyfan]

Wesley's pool C hopes remain alive! What a win. I bet it would have been even more exciting to see in person. 3 games left to clinch one of those coveted pool C bids, which I think they should lock up if they win out.

Leroy Pendleton is becoming more and more impressive to watch as a freshman. We are used to seeing small, quick backs at Wesley so his big frame and running style is a nice change of pace. Would like to see him get more touches throughout the rest of the season.

Plays were there to be made.... Wesley just missed them. If the offense is struggling this much against Montclair. If this team makes the playoffs, I imagine they will struggle against anyone they draw. I'll say again.... I don't think Mullin is the guy to win you games against good teams at the QB position. From the when the video feed was available, his accuracy seemed inconsistent and he doesn't know when to pull down and run the football.

I also think he is looking for Ruhann Peele too much. This team has playmakers, but oftentimes it seems he gets keyed on Ruhann and that is it. Looking at the stats, Ruhann has 43% of the catches. Corterris Simpson has the next highest at 16%. Compare that to last year when Alex Kemp had 28% of the catches, Ruhann had 20%. I'll go further back:
- 2017: Okike (30%) and Kemp (29%)
- 2016: Shade (29%) and Kemp (24%)
- 2015: Shade (23%) and Okike (20%)

Point is: I don't think this offense is at that level. They need to spread the ball around more.

thewaterboy....

  There have been a good number more two back sets this year for Wesley. I'd have to ask Coach Knapp but it may be to help the backs to get to the edge. Drummond  got a couple inside handoffs early. I didn't see him much after that. But when the O line pinned their ears back ther were moving people out. That group of sophs on the O line are coming along.
      i agree that Pendleton could be the feature back for the nrxt tree years but I have learned over the years that nothing isever written in stone until it happens on the field. IF this group can stay together on O it could be a special team in the next couple years. There are  a few 6'1,6'2 wideouts waiting in the wings as well as two or more young QB'S. All this is speculation from my observations.

[RowanPhan]

It'll be another great weekend of football. Navy plays Friday night at 8PM, then Rowan takes on Montclair at 1PM on Saturday. I'll likely attend the Rowan game in person!