FB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gray Fox]

Eyewitness report from Eagle Rock:

Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and Oxy's regular season and SCIAC winning streaks came to a crashing and resounding halt, as Cal Lutheran thrashed the Tigers, 43-25. CLU was superior on both sides of the ball. The Kingsmen scored on several long plays, stopped Oxy nearly every time they had to, and capitalized on numerous Oxy turnovers. After CLU took a 23-3 halftime lead, Oxy came out in the 3rd quarter and scored twice to cut the lead to 23-17. The Tigers held CLU and looked to get the ball back with all of the momentum and a chance to get the lead, but Chris Washington fumbled a punt and the Kingsmen recovered on Oxy's 15. CLU scored to make it 30-17, and from then on Oxy completely unraveled.

Heartiest congratulations to CLU for a well-deserved victory.

OxyBob

I've been away this weekend and just saw the score. All I can say is WOW! That's too bad that the Who will slip into the playoffs with a stupid rule after they get a beatdown from Redlands.

Redlands will be trying to get back into the playoff picture at 8-1.

[Gray Fox]

I am guessing OXY was thinking about that beat down as well.  Cal Lu had UR at home which is probably the only advantage they might have.  CLU usually plays well at home but we will see.  I guess they should worry about P-P first.

I think Oxy was remembering how Collins brought them back last year almost by himself.  They forgot that he graduated.

[scandihoovian]

RFB-
Be careful - so far the Kingsmen have fared pretty well this season when opposing fans have predicted blowout victories 

It's nice to hear the Kingsmen get props from the Oxy fans.  Oxy's had a great run, and there's no evidence that last night's game means they have presently fallen precipitously from prominence (alliteration just for you, Bob).  As BE will surely remind us, there is a lot of football left to be played...

After last night's victory I have some new rules:
1) I will not attend big CLU road games in person
and
2) I will only randomly check the broadcast for updates, as last night it seemed every other time I checked I heard Tigersports tell me that "Pearce is on for the extra point..."

It has been a lot of fun watching this team come together.  They gelled once with Toilolo at QB and after a tough game at Chapman it appears they've come together again now with Benedict running the offense.  I am also impressed with the way they hung tough in the face of Oxy's comeback to start the second half.

[snoop dawg]

GF, Iam not sure if your post is intended to be sarcastic( there were no smileys)  however, they were never out of it and still aren't.  If they beat CLU, and if Oxy gets beat again, they win the SCIAC if head to head is the first tie breaker.

We will see how Oxy's loss changes the regional rankings and the SOS issues.

[redbulldog]

 

Heartiest congratulations to CLU for a well-deserved victory.

OxyBob

I think Oxy was remembering how Collins brought them back last year almost by himself.  They forgot that he graduated.

Oxy's had a great run, and there's no evidence that last night's game means they have presently fallen precipitously from prominence 

[/quote]Redlands will be trying to get back into the playoff picture at 8-1.

[/quote]As painful as this loss must have felt to Oxy (ending the streak and all) humbling experiences tend to bring reality back into ones life.(see, my therapy sessions have paid off). The reality is that this team has done more with less than their past championship teams. Ironically, this is what makes this team so good. This is a compliment to this team and its players.

The character of this team (which is the important thing) will now be defined by how they respond this next week against Chapman after this loss. Oxy has not loss a conference game for a long time.  Many of these players have never lost a game in their college career. Could this be a problem for the coaches?

I have no doubt that they will show up and play extra tough. However, Oxy will have their hands full. Chapman is a team that has the talent to beat anyone in SCIAC. I know Redlands is glad that game is over.  Oxy has a chance to prove me wrong this weekend.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, like it was stated, alot of football remains to be played. But consider this. You already know I'm crazy but,

How crazy would it be if....  an
8-1 Redlands team, dominating all meaningful stats in the conference (best overall record, best defense, best offense, most points scored etc.) does not get into the playoffs behind a
7-2 Oxy (sorry-a loss to Chapman for loss number 2) with Oxy's only dominate performances against 0-7 Lewis and Clark, 1-8 Menlo (who's only win is against Lewis and Clark), and 0-7 La Verne, and of course holding Redlands to only 539 yards of offense and behind a

5-4 CLU team who would have losses against PLU, Willamette, Chapman and Redlands (of course still a big "if", sorry Scandi and Wild Thing).

Whew.. Redbulldog taking a breath. Dr. Phil, where are you when I need you! Minnie Bulldog, are you out there? Man , I've got to cut back on this caffeine.

[Gray Fox]

redbulldog,

Excellent points.  (I'm not using a smiley because I want you to know I mean it).

[Gray Fox]

GF, Iam not sure if your post is intended to be sarcastic( there were no smileys)  however, they were never out of it and still aren't.  If they beat CLU, and if Oxy gets beat again, they win the SCIAC if head to head is the first tie breaker.

We will see how Oxy's loss changes the regional rankings and the SOS issues.

No smiley required.  I was thinking of a CLU loss to PP.  This would put things back to where they were last week.

Bottom line: EVERY game is important to EVERY team.

[Browneagle64]

Take it easy on the Caffeine RBD. We don't need an old fart like you passing out for good  

I also do agree with several of your points. As painful as the loss on sat. felt to Oxy, indeed, humbling experiences tend to bring reality back into ones life.
The men in orange and black will learn so much about themselves within these upcoming weeks, that I can assure you that the focus, intensity, and level of play will return with a big vengence to the Rock.

Not only that, "Everyone" will witness the character of this team based on how they respond this week against Chapman. Like RBD, I have no doubt that Oxy will show up and play extra tough since it's also Homecoming week and will want to prove anyone wrong that not everything is over for them. For now, since we have a ton of football ahead of us, lets just worry about this weeks games and see how everything pan's out

[scandihoovian]

RBD-

As others have said, you raise a lot of good points.  There are certainly still many possible playoff scenarios for the SCIAC.  I would be surprised, however, if Oxy lost to Chapman (their best non-SCIAC opponent) and at 7-2 still made the playoffs over an 8-1 Redlands team.  The last 8-1 SCIAC team not to make the playoffs was the 2005 CLU team, the knocks on them were that they did not have an out of conference win the quality of Whitworth (at this point Redlands fans have to become huge Rat fans) and their one loss was a flailing by Oxy.  It should be an exciting last two weeks!

The Ventura County Star ran their piece on the CLU-Oxy game today.

[enterprise]

Josh "Squash" Richards once again displayed his blazing 6.4 /speed in the 40 and intercepted a pass and rambled into the Oxy endzone for a touchdown.Way to go Squashman and keep the Kingsmen winning .

[Sabretooth Tiger]

After speaking with a friend of mine who attended the Oxy - Cal Lu game, his impression was that Cal Lu did an excellent job of scouting Oxy, and that the Cal Lu defensive front owned the Oxy OL, keeping pressure on the QB almost all day, save for the momentum shift in the beginning of the third quarter . . . that dissapated with the punt fumble . . . and yes, I heard about the DE interception to TD as well.

Oxy's been very lucky this year and has not dominated teams like it has in the past.  Two tough games ahead that could make the difference between sharing a conference title and/or getting a pool C playoff shot.

The good news?  Oxy's not graduating many (any?) starters (excluding Matt Anderson who's already done) . . .

The boys will have to find the handle and stiffen up . . . and figure out the weaknesses that were exploited so well by Cal Lu and adjust against the Panthers and Poets.

Oh yea, one other thing . . . receivers and punt returners have to hold onto the ball, a small point, but nevertheless fairly important, don't you think? 

And Cal Lu deserves the props . . . as the SCIAC favorite at the end of last season . . . then losing the head coach . . . Danny Jones . . . then losing Toilolo and their leading RB . . . to roar back the way they have . . . very impressive . . . I think the coaching changes is looking good for the Kingsmen.  SCIAC parity?

[GOkingsmen92]

Hi,  I'm the new kid and CLU Fan.   


I would like to remind RFB that Cal lutheran has played spoiler for redlands in the past.  In 1991 the kingsmen beat the bulldogs at lovely mt. clef stadium, last game of the season, knocking them out of the play off's. 

right now it's time to focus on pomona.

Go Kingsmen!!!


PS.  Despite the dropped balls by the tiger wrs It was anybodys game on sat. until oxy fumbled that punt on the fifteen yard line.  To me that was the nail in the coffin.

[tigersports]

Hi,  I'm the new kid and CLU Fan.   


I would like to remind RFB that Cal lutheran has played spoiler for redlands in the past.  In 1991 the kingsmen beat the bulldogs at lovely mt. clef stadium, last game of the season, knocking them out of the play off's. 

right now it's time to focus on pomona.

Go Kingsmen!!!


PS.  Despite the dropped balls by the tiger wrs It was anybodys game on sat. until oxy fumbled that punt on the fifteen yard line.  To me that was the nail in the coffin.

Where is the late great Herb Caen's apostrophe posse when you need it?

[Gray Fox]

Hi,  I'm the new kid and CLU Fan.   


I would like to remind RFB that Cal lutheran has played spoiler for redlands in the past.  In 1991 the kingsmen beat the bulldogs at lovely mt. clef stadium, last game of the season, knocking them out of the play off's. 

right now it's time to focus on pomona.

Go Kingsmen!!!


PS.  Despite the dropped balls by the tiger wrs It was anybodys game on sat. until oxy fumbled that punt on the fifteen yard line.  To me that was the nail in the coffin.

Theree is nothing like winning to bring out new posters.   

[Fear the Poet]

Geez, let's not get too dramatic. I cringe at the thought of the unveiling of the "overcoming adversity" and "prove the doubters wrong" clichés.
OxyBob
[/quote]

might be time to whip out your cliche list .