FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[CNU85]

Not sure what just happened, but I like it. 28-0.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Salisbury got a good win today at Rowan, improving their win streak in the NJAC conference and winning their 4th straight. My initial thoughts, is that this game was one of those games that you are just happy that you won and didn't do anything too damaging to lose. Salisbury outgained Rowan 423 to 225 in yards gained and nearly doubled them in 1st downs, however it took all 4 quarters to close the game. Salisbury may have been a little rusty after the bye-week (not sure), but they didn't pass the eye test today. Total yards gained was the 2nd best against this Rowan defense. Maybe that has to do with Rowan seeing the option for the 3rd time (including Summer matchup). So here is my Good, Bad, and Ugly take for this game.

Good: Defense had three interceptions today, two by SS that has been in good position all year, but was finally able snag a couple. Defense today bailed offense out with the exception of the 1 turnover on own 30 yard line that led to Rowan's only score. In addition to the Defensive overall play, Salisbury only had 5 penalties for 35 yards, which is a drastic improvement from previous games. There were no "Stupid" penalties today, which would have cost them today. Lastly, the offense being able to control game clock for majority of the game, putting pressure on Rowan defense, which eventually was key late as Salisbury was able to get a late score to put game away.

Bad: In a win, this is always nitpicking, but I'd say the missed throws to open receivers, QB has to do a better job dropping the ball into zone pockets, the plays are there. A lot of passes are sailing (not sure wind played a part). Short yards to gain and 4th downs, Salisbury has struggled this year in short yards to gain. They haven't been able to just line up and get the short yardage that dominant teams/championship teams are able to get against low to middle to pack teams. Also, Salisbury is 2/10 on 4th downs this year, which is very concerning, it shows the aggressiveness and trust the coaches have in players, but it's either the scheme or lack of player execution on those critical downs. This has to get better as the season progresses.

Ugly: Costly turnover that led to Rowan's only td and Defense lack of response to not weathering the storm.

Overall, I would like for Salisbury to dominate games, Salisbury had plenty of times to put game out of reach earlier (Kudos to Rowan). They have to be able to get those short yard to gain and 4th down conversions. If they aren't going to make any schematic adjustments on those 4th downs, just let your Senior Captain kick the fg and get points on the board. I would like to see more from the Senior Captain kicker before playoffs (if we are fortunate to get there through continued hard work). Again, I would like to see the offense run the ball out of the passing formation.

It appears that most teams are putting other option teams on their schedule to prepare to face Salisbury this year, so the unknown factor is not there at all. Also, I think a lot of teams are taking pages out of Muhlenberg/UWW book in alignment against the option. I see teams playing the same coverage against the team. The offense have to come up with some more creative passing routes to adjust to those coverages. Salisbury no longer can just line up and just run the same 3 to 5 plays and expect teams to be confused. I want this team to better execute and be dominant. The potential is there, the execution is just not at the high octane I've seen in year's past offensively.

[RowanPhan]

I watched the majority of the Salisbury/Rowan game today.  Rowan hung in there for awhile, but the better team won.  Rowan is 0-5 for the first time in decades.  On to Homecoming next week.

[jmcozenlaw]

I watched the majority of the Salisbury/Rowan game today.  Rowan hung in there for awhile, but the better team won.  Rowan is 0-5 for the first time in decades.  On to Homecoming next week.

A little over a month ago, I watched DelVal destroy Kean, 57-6 (and it could have been much worse). Kean rushed the ball 23 times for -4 yards and threw it 27 times for 60 yards.

I saw the final score of the Kean vs. Rowan game and my jaw hit the ground. How did THAT happen and what the heck has happened to the Rowan program?

If Rowan, Montclair or CNU don't start drastically improving their programs, with Frostburg and Wesley gone.........Salisbury might just dominate this conference, for as long as they are a part of it (little rumor, with not enough substance to post here at this point).

[bman]

I watched the majority of the Salisbury/Rowan game today.  Rowan hung in there for awhile, but the better team won.  Rowan is 0-5 for the first time in decades.  On to Homecoming next week.

A little over a month ago, I watched DelVal destroy Kean, 57-6 (and it could have been much worse). Kean rushed the ball 23 times for -4 yards and threw it 27 times for 60 yards.

I saw the final score of the Kean vs. Rowan game and my jaw hit the ground. How did THAT happen and what the heck has happened to the Rowan program?

If Rowan, Montclair or CNU don't start drastically improving their programs, with Frostburg and Wesley gone.........Salisbury might just dominate this conference, for as long as they are a part of it (little rumor, with not enough substance to post here at this point).

I was wondering the same thing...good lord, how the mighty have fallen...
Perhaps Keeler will come back to win a title and close unfinished business, now that he has climbed the FCS mountain again, with nothing more to prove...

[MRMIKESMITH]

I watched the majority of the Salisbury/Rowan game today.  Rowan hung in there for awhile, but the better team won.  Rowan is 0-5 for the first time in decades.  On to Homecoming next week.

A little over a month ago, I watched DelVal destroy Kean, 57-6 (and it could have been much worse). Kean rushed the ball 23 times for -4 yards and threw it 27 times for 60 yards.

I saw the final score of the Kean vs. Rowan game and my jaw hit the ground. How did THAT happen and what the heck has happened to the Rowan program?

If Rowan, Montclair or CNU don't start drastically improving their programs, with Frostburg and Wesley gone.........Salisbury might just dominate this conference, for as long as they are a part of it (little rumor, with not enough substance to post here at this point).

I was wondering the same thing...good lord, how the mighty have fallen...
Perhaps Keeler will come back to win a title and close unfinished business, now that he has climbed the FCS mountain again, with nothing more to prove...

Maybe he takes the USC job.

[bman]

I watched the majority of the Salisbury/Rowan game today.  Rowan hung in there for awhile, but the better team won.  Rowan is 0-5 for the first time in decades.  On to Homecoming next week.

A little over a month ago, I watched DelVal destroy Kean, 57-6 (and it could have been much worse). Kean rushed the ball 23 times for -4 yards and threw it 27 times for 60 yards.

I saw the final score of the Kean vs. Rowan game and my jaw hit the ground. How did THAT happen and what the heck has happened to the Rowan program?

If Rowan, Montclair or CNU don't start drastically improving their programs, with Frostburg and Wesley gone.........Salisbury might just dominate this conference, for as long as they are a part of it (little rumor, with not enough substance to post here at this point).

I was wondering the same thing...good lord, how the mighty have fallen...
Perhaps Keeler will come back to win a title and close unfinished business, now that he has climbed the FCS mountain again, with nothing more to prove...

Maybe he takes the USC job.

I guarantee you he thinks he's qualified....

[MRMIKESMITH]

Homecoming tomorrow in Salisbury. Weather looks to be fair reaching high 60s/low 70s. I expect Salisbury to come out very fast hitting on all cylinders. I expect the offense to execute the game plan and take it to Cougars. I think they have to get out early to prevent any confidence/momentum from Kean. I believe Kean has been very opportunistic as of late, especially in their special teams play, they have a tremendous returner that our punt coverage unit will have to contain. Defensively, I expect Salisbury to run its base defense for majority of the game, keeping everything in front of them. Salisbury is not as aggressive as Del Val, so I'm not expecting a Del Val defensive performance, however I think Salisbury will limit Kean offensively.

Keys:
Offense - Start Out Fast, Get Points Early, Finish Drives
Defense - Play Smart and Be discipline
Special Teams -  Be great, limit explosive play.

[JT2]

Nice win for the Profs as they played a complete game against Willy P. Defense forced 5 turnovers (4 int, 1 fumble) and the offense scored 13 in the 2nd half for a 25-10 win.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Salisbury impressed with a dominating Homecoming Win against previously NJAC unbeaten Kean. Salisbury was clearly the better team yesterday, dominating offensively and defensively. Kean really couldn't put together anything offensively until Salisbury inserted its 2nd/3rd stringers. I will give props to Kean, they came out and played like this was a championship game and kept it close for a the 1st quarter. Kean also caused 3 turnovers, which kept the game from really getting out of hand early and late. Salisbury 1st team defense, didn't let them do pretty much anything, it was clearly a talent disparity. Kean does have a few key guys, Toppin is a big WR and Jamison is very elusive. Jamison almost broke a kickoff return, I can see why he was POTW in Special teams a few times. Salisbury big play WR was on display yesterday, he was very clutch and dominated yesterday within the Triple-Option system. Salisbury offensively outgained Kean 474 to 127, with most of Kean's yards coming on the last possession. Salisbury gained those yards with the 2nd string QB as the starter was out yesterday. Starter appeared to be in good health, walking up and down the field with the offensive coach as the game went along and talking to the 2nd string QB. Whatever the injury was, I think the staff knew that they could afford to not have him play as Kean was overmatched and Salisbury looks to clinch the NJAC with wins over the next two games. Now here is my Good, Bad, and Ugly.

Good: Salisbury controlled the game from Start to finish. Offensively, Salisbury was able to get big plays in the passing game on multiple occasions. Salisbury was able to run the offense effectively with the 2nd string QB. Starting WR was on display all afternoon, creating big plays to get Salisbury in good field position to score. Salisbury took the 3 and allowed their Senior Captain kicker to get onto the scoreboard and work on his kicking. Defensively, they dominated at every level, Kean couldn't really muster to much, even in sudden change situations.

Bad: As always this is nitpicking - Turnovers! Salisbury threw 1 interception and had two fumbles (including 3 others that put them behind downs). I will give them a pass this week as this was the 1st considerable playing time for the 2nd string QB this year. You can tell most with the exception of the strip fumble on FB was all due to timing (including the Int.)

Ugly: None

Looking forward to this upcoming weekend. Salisbury plays a good CNU team that is coming into the game at .500 and winners of two straight and have a win against the current ODAC (6-1) leader W&L. CNU has always played Salisbury tough and was always considered that 3rd rival behind Frostburg and Wesley. Now that those two teams are no longer in play, I think Salisbury new rival is CNU. Maybe they can create a Trophy, "The Other Route 13 Trophy" or "Chesapeake Bay Classic."

[CNU85]

https://www.facebook.com/christophernewportuniversity/videos/864909387515216Fan,

We do manage top play Salisbury tough....but on the road. We are 4-6 at SU and only 1-8 at home. The atmosphere will be amazing no matter what - it's homecoming weekend. A lot going on on campus this week/weekend!. Can't wait to watch it from my luxury suite! hahaha!

[RowanPhan]

Nice win for the Profs as they played a complete game against Willy P. Defense forced 5 turnovers (4 int, 1 fumble) and the offense scored 13 in the 2nd half for a 25-10 win.

I agree. Rowan played well over 4 quarters. They can hang with most teams if they put 4 solid quarters together.  They also played well on Homecoming which has been the case for a few years now.

It was nice to see Rowan attempt a few long throws.  They connected on a long pass to start the game. Later in the 2nd they connected for a spectacular 69 yard catch-and-run by captain John Maldonado.

On one particular drive, Rowan faltered in the redzone (specifically on the one-yard line). They called a short screen pass to the Tight End resulting in a no-gain (in fact, it appears CJ Barrett was injured on this play after taking a hard tackle).  They settled for a short field goal.  This same play was called in the past against Wesley & Linfield with the same result.

The Defensive line was able to get pressure. Senior DE AJ Akins was able to get to the QB twice. He's the sack leader in the NJAC. Rowan only allowed 10 points, their lowest total for the season so far. The D also nabbed 4 interceptions, could have been at least 5 or 6 if those weren't dropped.  They had a few costly Face Mask calls - upon my further review the video quality is too blurry to see if these were accurate calls or not.

If Rowan continues to improve upon this performance, I see them having a good shot again Rival Montclair State.

Overall, great win for the players, coaches, and University.  On to Montclair State

[MRMIKESMITH]

https://www.facebook.com/christophernewportuniversity/videos/864909387515216Fan,

We do manage top play Salisbury tough....but on the road. We are 4-6 at SU and only 1-8 at home. The atmosphere will be amazing no matter what - it's homecoming weekend. A lot going on on campus this week/weekend!. Can't wait to watch it from my luxury suite! hahaha!

CNU85,

You guys have a beautiful field and campus. Your crowd is always a nice ruckus bunch, especially the former players in the endzone stands, always had "nice" things to say. I love the grass when dry. Maybe that 1-8 record is due Salisbury players loving your field better than there's. Surely before Salisbury made its major upgrades a few seasons go, it was always a discussion. Now Salisbury has state the art locker room and
new field, lights, etc. and players aren't as envious of your facilities and we can now use as a recruiting tool. Looking ahead, there appears to be rain in the forecast on Friday and then partly cloudy skies Saturday. Hopefully the field is dry by game time, because rain and Triple-Option doesn't always mix well.

[CNU85]

https://www.facebook.com/christophernewportuniversity/videos/864909387515216Fan,

We do manage top play Salisbury tough....but on the road. We are 4-6 at SU and only 1-8 at home. The atmosphere will be amazing no matter what - it's homecoming weekend. A lot going on on campus this week/weekend!. Can't wait to watch it from my luxury suite! hahaha!

CNU85,

You guys have a beautiful field and campus. Your crowd is always a nice ruckus bunch, especially the former players in the endzone stands, always had "nice" things to say. I love the grass when dry. Maybe that 1-8 record is due Salisbury players loving your field better than there's. Surely before Salisbury made its major upgrades a few seasons go, it was always a discussion. Now Salisbury has state the art locker room and
new field, lights, etc. and players aren't as envious of your facilities and we can now use as a recruiting tool. Looking ahead, there appears to be rain in the forecast on Friday and then partly cloudy skies Saturday. Hopefully the field is dry by game time, because rain and Triple-Option doesn't always mix well.

ima sneak out there during the night Friday with firehose!!! 

[RowanPhan]

Weather reports look Good* for Oct 30 on the east coast. 

A few years back Rowan had to deal with heavy winds at Montclair.  I likely will not make the trip up to MSU, I'll have to watch the live video.

On a side note, my son was born on October 9th, both baby & mom are doing well and very healthy. I couldn't ask for more. That day, I watched the Rowan/Kean game from the hospital.