FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[narch]

MU literally kicks themselves in the backside missing 3 xps and a 26 yd fg in a 28-24 loss - 4 toys which all led to MVC pts didn't help - MVC had around 80 yds rushing...MU threw for 275+ - more later....

did you go to game?

yes i did...and i hate auto-correct ...that was supposed to read 4 to's (turnovers) rather than 4 toys...

[narch]

so...a few hours after the game i've had a chance to digest - the home losses to gc and now m'ville have been incredibly difficult to swallow, because the monarchs have been so close and really played well enough to win, but for little things - today it was the kicking game and some untimely drops by the wr's (i counted at least 3 drops on 3rd downs which would have moved the chains if the catch was made)

the mu defense really played well enough to win today...they did a fantastic job of shutting down the top running team in the conference - all four m'ville td's came after or on monarch turnovers, and one of the mu to's was on 1st and goal from the m'ville 4

max reber is the real deal at qb...tough as nails, great leader and throws a beautiful ball...he made one very costly mistake (a pick 6) today, but he made many more outstanding plays - the game has really slowed down for him and he's playing as well as any monarch qb i've seen in my 15+ years watching mu football - he had 3 td's, 275+ yards and another 50 or so on the ground - he also had a really good day punting today, too..

[narch]

i would be ignoring the elephant in the room if i didn't talk about another issue today...it's past time that mu does something to get the visitors on the other side of the field - there was nearly a brawl in the stands today, and thankfully cooler heads prevailed, and mu security did a nice job

when i arrived at the game, i was impressed by the amount of maroon and orange i saw in the stands, especially given the distance traveled by the m'ville crew...what i immediately noticed, and didn't like, is that a good percentage of the m'ville fans were not sitting in the section reserved for visiting fans AND there were NUMEROUS cowbells and plastic horns...well, the horns seemed to be at the root of the problem today

i witnessed a 45-50 year old m'ville fan blowing one of these horns non-stop, right in the ear of a monarch fan for about 3 or 4 minutes at the start of the game - after asking the gentleman to stop 2 to 3 times, the monarch fan turned around and said "stop blowing that effing horn"...words were exchanged, security stepped in and the m'ville fans were asked to stop blowing the horns...which produced the single funniest line i think i've ever heard...a particularly loud and obnoxious m'ville mother responded by saying "why can the marching band blow their horns and we can't"...and she was serious - this same horn blowing fan and the dozen or so folks around him continued to complain loudly about "not being able to support their team" and how "unwelcome" they felt on our campus...and they complained about EVERY SINGLE CALL made by the officials - in fact, there was even one point that they complained about a penalty called against MU (they apparently thought it was called against m'ville, but i agreed that it shouldn't have been called ) - listening to this group of fans for 3 hours was exhausting...the loud and obnoxious mother even tongue-lashed the mu coaching staff because they didn't remove our team from the field when her son was injured...honestly, i've NEVER heard of a team being removed from the field when a player was injured, and the m'ville staff didn't have their players off the field, either...but this didn't stop this mother from calling the mu coaches classless...at the top of her large lungs

fast forward to the end of the game, when mu attempts an on-side kick...for some inexplicable reason, the refs blew the play dead before the ball was touched by either team - when the officials (correctly) granted mu a re-kick, these m'ville fans went crazy since m'ville recovered the kick - their over-the-top belly-aching about officials who had been paid off and were cheating the scots apparently was enough for the mu fan who had been putting up with a horn in his ear at the start of the game, and he turned around and said "the play was whistled dead, dumb@@@, give it a rest"...that didn't go over well, but i've got to be honest...if security hadn't stepped in, that would have been a matchup that favored mu...that mu fan was BIG and mad - i observed those same m'ville fans berating mu greeks as they left the stadium - these are 50+ year old PARENTS of college students, who are shouting at 18-22 year old kids who did nothing beyond having fun on a beautiful fall afternoon (i didn't witness any issues during the game with the mu greeks and m'ville fans, since they were sufficiently far apart) - even after the altercation, the mu fan was removed from the stadium, and his girlfriend/wife was collecting their things and m'ville fans had the audacity to tell her to "sit your @@@ down"...amazing - obviously this isn't an indictment of all m'ville fans, and the mu fans weren't exactly the most gracious hosts, but it does underscore the importance of mu making some changes to the seating arrangements, because i could easily see a situation that gets ugly with those teams sharing stands

[narch]

just looked at usasac scores, and i've got to be honest...the cnu/lagrange score is a bit of a shocker...what happened to your boys today, '85?

[Hawks88]

just looked at usasac scores, and i've got to be honest...the cnu/lagrange score is a bit of a shocker...what happened to your boys today, '85?

I was checking scores earlier and saw it was 13-3 at the end of the third and started watching. CNU had no passing game, the QB was getting his passes no where near his receivers. The announcers thought he was injured but CNU didn't replace him until very late. You also have to question CNU going for it on a 4 and 21 at the LC 40 with just under 6 mins left and still a 7 point game at that point. LC had a 3 and out and the ensuing punt hit a CNU player and was recoverd by LC leading to the final LC TD.

And about your previous post, narch, about the m'ville fans, with some of our experiences up there, I can easily believe your account of today's events.

[Captain Bob]

just looked at usasac scores, and i've got to be honest...the cnu/lagrange score is a bit of a shocker...what happened to your boys today, '85?

It was close right until the end, as Hawks88 reported.  CNU had the ball inside the red zone with about 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter, down 7, and chose to go for it on 4th-and-2 instead of taking the FG try.  We got stuffed.

The defense held out and forced a punt with about 4 mins to go.  We muffed it and LaGrange recovered.  They drove down the field and scored on that possession, effectively ending our try at a comeback.

[scottiedoug]

Narch:

I am sorry that a few Maryville fans were jerks.  I do not know if there is much that can be done about jerks but I have made Maryville's athletic dept. aware of your comments. 

[narch]

Narch:

I am sorry that a few Maryville fans were jerks.  I do not know if there is much that can be done about jerks but I have made Maryville's athletic dept. aware of your comments.

scottiedoug...i understand fully that a few bad apples can spoil the entire bushel, and i don't for a moment cast aspersions on the entire m'ville fandome...i'm certain there were m'ville fans who enjoyed a fantastic college football game on a spectacular saturday afternoon without a hint of malice toward the mu coaching staff, mu greek students, mu athletic administrators, mu fans, etc...

this particular group of 12 - 15 fans was pretty riled up from the get-go when they were told they couldn't blow their horns (thank goodness - the inventor of those horns should be forced to sit in a room with those things blaring for 3 hours every day for the rest of his/her life as punishment) or shake their cowbells (which they continued to do, by the way, without repurcussion), and the group "us vs. them" mentality kicked in - mu fans did little to diffuse the situation, and the fact that the game was so tight didn't help matters

the greater theme that i meant to convey was that mu needs to get the visitors on the other side of the field in temporary bleachers (and this was a point that many of the m'ville fans made...one even went so far as to say to our security guards "this is your fault for allowing us to sit on this side - put some bleachers up on the other side" and "you've got all these methodist fans around inciting us" (ignoring the fact that few of them, herself included, were sitting in the section which is roped off and reserved for visiting fans) - while i agree with her point regarding the seating arrangement, it is interesting that a 40+ year old, who is probably the mother of a college football player can't take responsibility for her own actions and fails to understand that installing bleachers and moving fans in the first quarter of a game is a logistical nightmare...but i digress

this is precisely why mu needs to those opposing fans on the other side of the field - if any of those things had happened 75 yards across the field, the only discussion from any mu or m'ville fan would be about a terrific football game

[narch]

to get back to football, has the usasac ever been more difficult to predict? just when i thought that cnu would likely cruise to a conference championship based on their head-to-head win vs. ferrum, they get beat by a team that i had pegged for the bottom 3 in the conference - they still control their destiny, but lagrange beating cnu should give ferrum fans hope that the captains might lose again

i think the monarchs could be a tough test for ferrum this weekend if they respond to the m'ville loss in a positive way - ferrum's rushing attack scares me more than the m'ville attack, because it is a more classic triple option threat (m'ville actually ran most effectively vs. mu when they went to the option), they've got a qb who is a home-run threat and they are more balanced than m'ville was coming into the game (fc ranks #1 rushing offense and #4 passing offense), but the monarchs have proven to be very effective against opposing running teams and while the pass defense gives up yardage, they also lead the conference in interceptions (along with ferrum, which is second to last in pass yardage)

[moshergc9]

Anyone see the Pride record?

[narch]

Anyone see the Pride record?

gc is tied for 1st place in the conference with 4 other schools ...they are clearly in the top 5 of the conference...right now

[DGPugh]

Traveling from Bama to State College, Pa, we stopped in Murrville, and watched a 10 min of the Murrville practice. Their 'O' looks good. Got to get a quick hello to Coach Rader (who appears to have taken well to his return to east Tn) but he was very busy, and i hated to impose.  Got to speak to OL coach Phillip Bailey (former Huntingdon player and teammate of my son) who seems to be having a blast in east Tn. Both fellers are quality individuals.

This whole area and their campus is very very nice.

The Scots are 2-1 in the USA south, with Lagrange this week. So i will be pulling for the Scots. I sure hope the smoke is clearing over the departure of the former coach, and the Maryville family will continue to rally around the football program/

keep the faith and Go Hawks

[hasanova]

Adam Turer did a nice job of covering the football resurgence at intracity rivals Guilford and Greensboro in this week's Mid-Atlantic Around the Region.  Thanks.

[abnrgr]

i would be ignoring the elephant in the room if i didn't talk about another issue today...it's past time that mu does something to get the visitors on the other side of the field - there was nearly a brawl in the stands today, and thankfully cooler heads prevailed, and mu security did a nice job

when i arrived at the game, i was impressed by the amount of maroon and orange i saw in the stands, especially given the distance traveled by the m'ville crew...what i immediately noticed, and didn't like, is that a good percentage of the m'ville fans were not sitting in the section reserved for visiting fans AND there were NUMEROUS cowbells and plastic horns...well, the horns seemed to be at the root of the problem today

i witnessed a 45-50 year old m'ville fan blowing one of these horns non-stop, right in the ear of a monarch fan for about 3 or 4 minutes at the start of the game - after asking the gentleman to stop 2 to 3 times, the monarch fan turned around and said "stop blowing that effing horn"...words were exchanged, security stepped in and the m'ville fans were asked to stop blowing the horns...which produced the single funniest line i think i've ever heard...a particularly loud and obnoxious m'ville mother responded by saying "why can the marching band blow their horns and we can't"...and she was serious - this same horn blowing fan and the dozen or so folks around him continued to complain loudly about "not being able to support their team" and how "unwelcome" they felt on our campus...and they complained about EVERY SINGLE CALL made by the officials - in fact, there was even one point that they complained about a penalty called against MU (they apparently thought it was called against m'ville, but i agreed that it shouldn't have been called ) - listening to this group of fans for 3 hours was exhausting...the loud and obnoxious mother even tongue-lashed the mu coaching staff because they didn't remove our team from the field when her son was injured...honestly, i've NEVER heard of a team being removed from the field when a player was injured, and the m'ville staff didn't have their players off the field, either...but this didn't stop this mother from calling the mu coaches classless...at the top of her large lungs

fast forward to the end of the game, when mu attempts an on-side kick...for some inexplicable reason, the refs blew the play dead before the ball was touched by either team - when the officials (correctly) granted mu a re-kick, these m'ville fans went crazy since m'ville recovered the kick - their over-the-top belly-aching about officials who had been paid off and were cheating the scots apparently was enough for the mu fan who had been putting up with a horn in his ear at the start of the game, and he turned around and said "the play was whistled dead, dumb@@@, give it a rest"...that didn't go over well, but i've got to be honest...if security hadn't stepped in, that would have been a matchup that favored mu...that mu fan was BIG and mad - i observed those same m'ville fans berating mu greeks as they left the stadium - these are 50+ year old PARENTS of college students, who are shouting at 18-22 year old kids who did nothing beyond having fun on a beautiful fall afternoon (i didn't witness any issues during the game with the mu greeks and m'ville fans, since they were sufficiently far apart) - even after the altercation, the mu fan was removed from the stadium, and his girlfriend/wife was collecting their things and m'ville fans had the audacity to tell her to "sit your @@@ down"...amazing - obviously this isn't an indictment of all m'ville fans, and the mu fans weren't exactly the most gracious hosts, but it does underscore the importance of mu making some changes to the seating arrangements, because i could easily see a situation that gets ugly with those teams sharing stands

Sounds like a home game to me. I never get around the other teams fans althought I know MU is unique. I do love your mad  make believe fan. Why didn't you just knock his lights out? LOL

[CNU85]

Narch,

CNU just didn't look like they wanted to play. LaGrange took care of business. CNU looked flat. not good at all. gonna be a long 4 weeks!!