FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[RowanPhan]

@CNU85

Any thoughts regarding the upcoming CNU/Rowan matchup? 

I guess we'll have to wait and see how things shake out on Saturday. Rowan is at home which might be a key factor.  Based on schedules it hard to tell where both teams stand.

I find it interesting that Saturday is CNU's season finale while Rowan plays the following week against TCNJ.  The season is almost over

I have no clue. None. CNU is unpredictable. The talent is absolutely there, yet the play on the field is sporadic. We beat a W&L team that has gone undefeated since then, including last week against D2 E&H. We dominated Catholic. We lose close games. We get blown out by WP and then last week happened, which I cannot explain.

CNU is similar to my NFL team, the Vikings -- any given week can be super exciting or a train wreck! 

Perhaps this game will come down to which set of seniors wants to end their careers on a high note  - who wants it more?

Basketball starts Friday!! 

This may be the year that I start following Rowan basketball.  I'm not much of a basketball fan.  I did watch some of the Rowan vs Montclair State  soccer game last night.  Rowan won and will advance within the NJAC tourney.

I try to watch as much as I can since I live and work so close to campus. Plus I'm involved in the Athletic Dept - which is my last ongoing connection with CNU at the moment.  In recent years I was also on the Education Foundation as trustee overseeing the endowment, Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Luter School of Business, an Adjunct Finance Professor (does that make me a Prof??HAHA!), co-faculty advisor for the student chapter of SHRM, and also for a few years I was Executive-in Residence of the Luter School. But now I have rotated off all of those boards and positions, stopped teaching, and am now just on the Athletic Advisory Council. I have a lot of free time now. But that's ok. I also have my first grandchild and so now I make trips to see him in Florida. Also, the other night at a soccer game I volunteered my time as a mentor to student-athletes in a discussion I was having with one of the Academic Success Coaches. Will see where that goes, if anywhere. Also, the one and only Luxury suite at the football stadium has my wife's and my name on it.  That's kinda cool and weird at the same time. But it's a good view of the game and the food is good when not packaged for COVID. It's always good to give back when you are able!

Wow, that's an impressive resume indeed!  I'm not at that level yet.  However, I'm proud to say I was elected to Rowan's Alumni Board of Directors a few years back and I've been heavily involved in Rowan Finance Mentorship over the years.  Until recently, I was living in NYC for about a decade which made it tough to visit campus.  Now that I'm back in the South Jersey area, I hope to give back more time.  Mentorship is my main passion when it comes to involvement on campus.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to make it down to CNU for a football game,  maybe I'll get an invite to the luxury suite 

[CNU85]

Come on  down RowanPhan!

I think we chatted a bit about your involvement in the Finance mentorship. I worked with some finance students at CNU. I didn't work with the team that won the Bloomberg competition. Probably why they won! 

[MRMIKESMITH]

First, I want to congratulate the team on winning the NJAC championship. Not the way I wanted them to get the W, but I'll take a Win no matter how it played out. Secondly, hats off to TCNJ, they played tough all game and didn't bow out after being down 23 to 2. TCNJ played their hearts out. Now let's talk about the game that really left me somewhat disappointed. I'm not the one to complain about referees to much, but 90% of those penalties today were very debatable and somewhat shady. These penalties resulted in either taking points off the board or keeping TCNJ alive. With that, I will not let Salisbury off the hook today, I support them to the fullest, but will be very frank and honest. Aside from those penalties, let's recap my keys to success:

1. Protect the ball! No turnovers, especially fumbles (lost or not) that puts offense behind downs, eliminating those types of fumbles/turnovers will allow the offense to be both efficient and effective on drives and get points on board. - Salisbury fumbled the ball 6 times, losing 3, one of those fumbles and penalty led to TCNJ being able to score late in the 2nd. Also, had an ill advised interception, very similar to the one against Kean that was poorly underthrown. Any offense can't expect to be successful with that type of day. Quite frankly, the Triple-Option success rate is very low when you are behind the downs and puts defense in poor positions with turnovers.
2. Defense has to want to get a shutout, right. A lot of close calls this year. Have to stop those one or two momentum drives opponents often get. Maybe use a timeout. - Salisbury did not answer the call today. After going up 23-2, I thought they were on their way, but aside from the questionable PI calls, the CB play was very subpar. One CB that I know to be very talented and skillful, did not have a great game, gave up some big one on one plays. Then there was the double move by TCNJ WR that was 25% because the base coverage and 75% being that it was the backup CB that probably lack experience and feel for the game. A timeout still wasn't called. I think it's the nature of the offensive scheme. The defense can't call timeouts in close games because the Triple will need it. 
3. Special Teams has to continue to be good. If offense stalls in Redzone, I'd like for the kicker to get some practice as I think it will be key come playoffs to get points on board. - Salisbury attempted 3 fgs, going 1 for 3. I'm glad those were attempted today, because as I mentioned the kicker needed more tries and now knows that he has work to do, these were easy fgs that need to be made, the missed fgs were upsetting. Then there was a block PAT that led to TCNJ's early two points. Salisbury needs to remove their starting Safety from that side, he got hurt on one attempt. Salisbury did not win special teams today. There was also a poor punt that went probably 10 yards. That moved the average to about 20 yards for the day. The Kicking and Punting HAS TO BE BETTER and fast.
4. Be Smart, no stupid penalties and be safe. - Salisbury didn't have stupid penalties today, but every penalty today either led to a TCNJ touchdown, took points off the board or a big play. I know Salisbury runs the Triple and blocking on the edge is something that has to be done to be successful, but I've watch this team play a million times today and I'll say that the holding, illegal chop blocks, hands to the face were very petty calls at best.  The PI calls were very upsetting, not sure what the referees were seeing. Maybe I'm biased, but Salisbury has been on the wrong side way to much this year for my liking, not sure something was or was not said to coaches this year about this team, but the NJAC referees or whoever being hired, are looking to call the slightest infraction against Salisbury.

In conclusion,  I'm happy for the players and coaches for winning their 2nd/3rd consecutive NJAC title. However, today TCNJ defensively put 8/9 players in the box, having their CBs play within 5 yards for most of the day and daring Salisbury to throw the ball over their head (which it bit them in the butt a few times).I believe TCNJ dictated the flow of the game with the aggressive style of defense and with so many penalties and fumbles assisting them, pretty much was in the game regardless of the yard total. I think had TCNJ really been a much better quality opponent, this game would have been similar to last year's Muhlenberg result and/or 2012 Widener result, when Widener put 8/9 people in the box and played press man. Today, Salisbury offensively did respond to TCNJ defensive 8/9 front by moving the RB to the slot and hitting a couple big pass plays early, but I thought at times, they went away from it too much. I think had they stayed in that formation or even went to Shotgun spread and ran the Triple or RPO that would have got TCNJ out of the 8/9 man front and allowed Salisbury to much more successful without working so hard from its base Triple Option set. TCNJ weakness was their secondary and Salisbury forced themselves against their strength. Defensively, there were many great moments, there was a pick six, multiple sacks, however the secondary has to be much better if it wants to be successful in the playoffs. The defense can't play the wait and see game and expect to win, especially if the offense struggles. This defense has potential to be really good, but players have to be discipline, smart, and schematically have to mix the coverages up a little more, the base coverage is good at stopping the run, but I think some basic cover 3, cover 2 (Tampa) can help. TCNJ utilized quite of bit of double move schemes to mess with the base coverage and defensive players eyes, they also tried to hit deep outs and postcorner routes, which they were successful on. If Salisbury plays in the playoff like today, it will be a short trip, possibly one and done (depending on matchup).

[CNU85]

Didn't take long.

https://www.cnusports.com/news/2021/11/7/christopher-newport-university-announces-football-coaching-changes.aspx

[RowanPhan]

Didn't take long.

https://www.cnusports.com/news/2021/11/7/christopher-newport-university-announces-football-coaching-changes.aspx

Best of luck to CNU in the search!  The long [football] offseason begins in one week

[CNU85]

Didn't take long.

https://www.cnusports.com/news/2021/11/7/christopher-newport-university-announces-football-coaching-changes.aspx

Best of luck to CNU in the search!  The long [football] offseason begins in one week

CNU has a bye next week. The long offseason has begun for us. Will be interesting to see what unfolds.

[MRMIKESMITH]

What a weird year in the NJAC. With the departures of both Frostburg and Wesley, I would have expected to see another NJAC team in the rankings this year. Salisbury can't even get 10 games, it's just upsetting that budgets were so screwed this year. Is Salisbury really an island school now? Committee currently has us as the #3 seed and that's good for a home game (hopefully). However, Salisbury did not do itself a favor this past weekend in their game against TCNJ. Both Muhlenberg and Cortland dismantled them. Granted TCNJ had two weeks to prepare for Salisbury and the penalties were questionable like the new NFL taunting rules.

[RowanPhan]

Great win by the Profs to end the season.

A few players announced they would return next season. Hopefully Rowan rebounds in 2022.

Now on to Prof basketball???

[MRMIKESMITH]

Congratulations to Salisbury for finishing the NJAC unscathed. It was a very interesting year in the NJAC. Congratulations to the Seniors for finishing their Season as the class with the most wins in school history. Didn't really do no keys to the game this week. However, I've give my take on today. Salisbury played musical chairs with 3 QBs today. I'm sure that was for precautionary reasons and to get the original QB1 some reps in the playoffs. Each of them are different players, I'll just say one is a runner, one is balance, one is both balance and tough to take down. Salisbury didn't really do to much offensively, but do what it typically does. Defensively, I'm disappointed that they didn't get a shutout, because we all knew who was going to get the ball and the route. Outside of that, the defense was lights out, only allowing 19 yards rushing and 178 total. Special teams was very good today, the kicker hit a tough fg into the wind, which was great. One thing I didn't like was the 4th down plays, we are near the bottom of the NCAA on 4th down conversions, so if it's not going to be fixed, it's not during the playoffs. Have to come up with some more creative plays or something. Team will probably be able to host a game with the LL/B-W/DePauw losses. Who we play, I don't know, haven't went through my bracket projection. All I know is, is that teams are selling out on the run this year and every team that we play on out from here will probably be the best team san Whitewater. Looking back at the Season and so many unknowns, I think we are where we were projected, did we get better as the season progressed. I think the players got better, especially defensive awareness. However, I think we still lack schematic changes/adjustments needed. We'll see over the next week and hopefully much more as to what Salisbury as a program would like to be. Was it all talk or are we really about the action in taking the next step. I'll reserve my judgement late. Good Luck to both the players and coaches in the playoffs. Can't Wait!

[jmcozenlaw]

What a weird year in the NJAC. With the departures of both Frostburg and Wesley, I would have expected to see another NJAC team in the rankings this year. Salisbury can't even get 10 games, it's just upsetting that budgets were so screwed this year. Is Salisbury really an island school now? Committee currently has us as the #3 seed and that's good for a home game (hopefully). However, Salisbury did not do itself a favor this past weekend in their game against TCNJ. Both Muhlenberg and Cortland dismantled them. Granted TCNJ had two weeks to prepare for Salisbury and the penalties were questionable like the new NFL taunting rules.

Salisbury needs to find another conference before the NJAC (on the football side) implodes. And no....................not the MAC!!

[CNU85]

Whew

[MRMIKESMITH]

I think Salisbury got a bad draw in the bracket. I think they could have hosted Endicott and Hopkins hosted RPI. Johns Hopkins is a very quality opponent and like I said, they'll be the best team we have faced since Whitewater. Then, if we end up beating Hopkins, it's to the Machine of Mount Union who will have seen the option for two weeks in a row, so the surprise factor is out the window. These matchups will test the resolve of the players and coaches. Overall, I'm happy that we get to face Hopkins, I'm not sure if we have played them before, always felt like they didn't want to play us because we were a State School and weren't considered "Smart" or "Established" enough to face us. Maybe it had (has) something to do with conference affiliation. I'll reserve my keys to the game for Friday.

[Teamski]

I think Salisbury got a bad draw in the bracket. I think they could have hosted Endicott and Hopkins hosted RPI. Johns Hopkins is a very quality opponent and like I said, they'll be the best team we have faced since Whitewater. Then, if we end up beating Hopkins, it's to the Machine of Mount Union who will have seen the option for two weeks in a row, so the surprise factor is out the window. These matchups will test the resolve of the players and coaches. Overall, I'm happy that we get to face Hopkins, I'm not sure if we have played them before, always felt like they didn't want to play us because we were a State School and weren't considered "Smart" or "Established" enough to face us. Maybe it had (has) something to do with conference affiliation. I'll reserve my keys to the game for Friday.

I concur.  That draw sucked for both teams with the  joy of meeting MU in the second round.  I know I would be ticked if Wesley had drawn that......

-Ski

[RowanPhan]

I think Salisbury got a bad draw in the bracket. I think they could have hosted Endicott and Hopkins hosted RPI. Johns Hopkins is a very quality opponent and like I said, they'll be the best team we have faced since Whitewater. Then, if we end up beating Hopkins, it's to the Machine of Mount Union who will have seen the option for two weeks in a row, so the surprise factor is out the window. These matchups will test the resolve of the players and coaches. Overall, I'm happy that we get to face Hopkins, I'm not sure if we have played them before, always felt like they didn't want to play us because we were a State School and weren't considered "Smart" or "Established" enough to face us. Maybe it had (has) something to do with conference affiliation. I'll reserve my keys to the game for Friday.

I concur.  That draw sucked for both teams with the  joy of meeting MU in the second round.  I know I would be ticked if Wesley had drawn that......

-Ski

I will be rooting for Salisbury this weekend

[CNU85]

I think Salisbury got a bad draw in the bracket. I think they could have hosted Endicott and Hopkins hosted RPI. Johns Hopkins is a very quality opponent and like I said, they'll be the best team we have faced since Whitewater. Then, if we end up beating Hopkins, it's to the Machine of Mount Union who will have seen the option for two weeks in a row, so the surprise factor is out the window. These matchups will test the resolve of the players and coaches. Overall, I'm happy that we get to face Hopkins, I'm not sure if we have played them before, always felt like they didn't want to play us because we were a State School and weren't considered "Smart" or "Established" enough to face us. Maybe it had (has) something to do with conference affiliation. I'll reserve my keys to the game for Friday.

I concur.  That draw sucked for both teams with the  joy of meeting MU in the second round.  I know I would be ticked if Wesley had drawn that......

-Ski

I will be rooting for Salisbury this weekend

Same here!