FB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[stealth]

Yes as an assitant O coach for UWW in the booth. But don't get ahead of yourself here. Both Oxy and UWW face two very tough teams. Although on paper UWW should run away by half the UWW/Johnnies game has tremendous history with no love lost on either side of the border so emotion could play a bigger part than expected.
Oxy/Williamette is the toughest first round match in all of D3 in my humble opinion. O line for WU being the determing factor and coaching on the Oxy side lines could be the leveler. I personally wish the best success and health to Oxy. Great run so far this year .
quote author=Gray Fox link=topic=4701.msg985317#msg985317 date=1227027363]
After Oxy and Whitewater win on Saturday, will Danny Jones be in attendance for the next game?
[/quote]

[Browneagle64]

Though test indeed. However, Oxy walks away with a win this saturday. 

Can any of you NWC posters that have seen the Bearcats play this season add some highlight/ insights on how this Bearcat front five (O.L.. that is) did against speedy D.E./L.B's? The only reason why i bring this up is because although the o-line for the B.C's are big, have they really face a really fast D-front?

The Pups and Who both had a respectable solid o-line, but, what really helped Oxy back in these game was the speed of the D-front and they way they just go after the ball.   

[coco]

From the Steamboat Pilot & Today of Steamboat Springs, Colorado:

Occidentally overlooking rivalries

President-elect Barack Obama and I are on opposite sides of the stadium when it comes to Division I football playoffs. However, I'm fairly certain Obama and I already agree that the story of Myron Claxton's Shoes represents one of the best traditions in small-college football.

If you tuned in to "60 Minutes" on Sunday night, you may have heard Obama reiterate his support for an eight-team playoff in major college football. He went even further, saying he would use his influence to effect this change and added that any reasonable and serious football fan could not disagree. But he didn't mention Saturday's rivalry game between Occidental and Whittier.

Call me unreasonable, Mr. Obama. Just 28 hours earlier, my Wisconsin Badgers had come from behind to salvage a piece of their season and defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers. More important than any contrived playoff, the victory in the big rivalry game kept Paul Bunyan's Axe in Madison, where it belongs, for a sixth straight year.

I understand that a Division I football playoff wouldn't negate all of the rivalry games that enrich college football. I just think the drive to crown a national champion via a playoff misses the point. College football is at its best in rivalry games and traditional holiday bowl games that pit the champions of two conferences against one another.

That's the way I like it.

All across America this month, college football programs of all sizes are playing out storied rivalries. Many of the games are made more significant for the victors with the chance to hoist a trophy with true historic and symbolic meaning. It's the kind of memory they will repeat as grandfathers.

It's also true that all across America, small colleges, after wrapping up their rivalry games, are getting ready for the playoffs.

"Back Home in Indiana," last week, two tiny colleges played for the Monon Bell, one of the most revered trophies in college football.
...

And there are many more rivalry trophies with colorful names like: Floyd of Rosedale (a bronze pig named after a governor), The Milk Can, the Tiger Rag, The Beehive Boot, The Keg of Nails, The Blue Sombrero Trophy, The Sawhorse Dollar and The Causeway Carriage.

But nothing can quite match the story of the trophy known as Myron Claxton's Shoes. The winner of the rivalry game between two Southern California colleges, Whittier and Occidental, claims the Shoes each year.

Before Obama went to Harvard, and before he went to Columbia, the president-elect spent his freshman and sophomore years at Division III Occidental, about eight miles northeast of downtown L.A. in a neighborhood called Eagle Rock.

Writing in Quaker Campus, the student newspaper of Whittier, reporter Allee Kamela, tells the story of Myron Claxton's Shoes.

An All-American running back for the Whittier Poets in 1939, Claxton had his football cleats pilfered out of the locker room by a group of Occidental players on the Thursday night before the rivalry game.

In 1939, replacing a pair of football cleats wasn't as easy as going to the equipment manager. Claxton was forced to play the Occidental game in his work boots.

Whittier won the game, 36-0, in spite of the inappropriate footwear the Poets' star player was forced to wear. He crossed to the opposite sideline after the contest and retrieved his cleats. They were bronzed in 1946 and have become a permanent fixture in the rivalry that has been played since 1895.

History can be a murky thing.

Occidental won the Nov. 15, 2008, contest, 48-14, a victory that allowed the Tigers to reclaim the Shoes and sent them on to play Willamette University in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Ooops.

Did I say playoffs?
...

OxyBob

Great article, OB. Thanks. I didn't know the history of The Shoes. It's good to have you back.

[MonroviaCat]

Though test indeed. However, Oxy walks away with a win this saturday. 

Can any of you NWC posters that have seen the Bearcats play this season add some highlight/ insights on how this Bearcat front five (O.L.. that is) did against speedy D.E./L.B's? The only reason why i bring this up is because although the o-line for the B.C's are big, have they really face a really fast D-front?

The Pups and Who both had a respectable solid o-line, but, what really helped Oxy back in these game was the speed of the D-front and they way they just go after the ball.   

I'd say the Wildcats had some speed on the D-front but the WU line handled them pretty well, taking them outside and allowing Leslie to step up in the pocket and throw the ball.  The "fly" makes it hard to follow the ball on running plays and the O-Line will have the advantage because they will be able to turn a heavy rush to the inside or outside (depending the on the play) and let the RB and/or WOO cut inside or run around the end.  If Oxy tries to read the plays (e.g. wait at the line) they may just get blown off the line.  Honestly, I think the way to beat Willamette is to bring a lot of offense.  I think they are going to score points because even if you bottle them up on most plays (which Linfield did for about 3/4 of the game) they'll hit you with a big play for a first down or TD.  Their D can be scored on though and if you can outpace Willamette's scoring then you may have a shot.

[OxyBob]

Great article, OB. Thanks. I didn't know the history of The Shoes. It's good to have you back.

Thanks! I realize that the article about "The Shoes" pales by comparison to the scintillating banter between Sabretooth Tiger and Lynette "Snoopy" Fromme, but I do what I can.

OxyBob

[OxyCenter63]

With Oxy's powerful and fast D-ends in Worthheimer and Fisher, I think that any Willamette rushing will be done inbetween the tackles. An up the gut attach strategy has traditionally been Oxy's weak point in rushing D-fence, but with the verteran Antohony Ostland and yound star Pat Sarkissian in the middle it will be interesting to see what the bearcats try to do.
As far as Oxy coaching goes, EJ Johnson is a brilliant defensive coordinator that will come up with an complicated yet sucessful strategy to shut the bearcats down. Knowing coach EJ, he'll probably be living in his office and will be running on only a few nights sleep once they reach Salem.
I think the big question will be how Oxy's secondary holds up. You can always count on Ciasulli and Tromello coming up with big plays, but the overall function of this group can be questionable. I'm not familliar with how sucessfull Willamette's passing game is...could someone elighten me?
All and all I'll be hoping for a 2004 repeat.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

Great article, OB. Thanks. I didn't know the history of The Shoes. It's good to have you back.

Thanks! I realize that the article about "The Shoes" pales by comparison to the scintillating banter between Sabretooth Tiger and Lynette "Snoopy" Fromme, but I do what I can.

OxyBob

Ah . . . that's the OB that I know . . . why let sleeping Dawgs lie?

Book your flight to Portland old man?

[MonroviaCat]

With Oxy's powerful and fast D-ends in Worthheimer and Fisher, I think that any Willamette rushing will be done inbetween the tackles. An up the gut attach strategy has traditionally been Oxy's weak point in rushing D-fence, but with the verteran Antohony Ostland and yound star Pat Sarkissian in the middle it will be interesting to see what the bearcats try to do.
As far as Oxy coaching goes, EJ Johnson is a brilliant defensive coordinator that will come up with an complicated yet sucessful strategy to shut the bearcats down. Knowing coach EJ, he'll probably be living in his office and will be running on only a few nights sleep once they reach Salem.
I think the big question will be how Oxy's secondary holds up. You can always count on Ciasulli and Tromello coming up with big plays, but the overall function of this group can be questionable. I'm not familliar with how sucessfull Willamette's passing game is...could someone elighten me?
All and all I'll be hoping for a 2004 repeat.

Willamette is a run first offense but their QB is very accurate and doesn't seem to make many mistakes (like the entire Wilamette team).  Merben Woo is their all-around offensive guy catching passes, running on the "fly", etc.  The running back is also good and another reciever who's name sounds like "shotgun" looks good to.  You may be right about the up the middle stuff but they were able to break some very big runs up the middle against a Linfield D that was pretty good at the line and LB positions.  The Big plays seem to be Willamette's biggest weapon.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

Hmmm . . . so what you're saying is that Oxy needs to not give up big plays to Willamette?

Man I hope the Oxy coaching staff has thought of that.   

[wucatwu]

Though test indeed. However, Oxy walks away with a win this saturday. 

Can any of you NWC posters that have seen the Bearcats play this season add some highlight/ insights on how this Bearcat front five (O.L.. that is) did against speedy D.E./L.B's? The only reason why i bring this up is because although the o-line for the B.C's are big, have they really face a really fast D-front?

The Pups and Who both had a respectable solid o-line, but, what really helped Oxy back in these game was the speed of the D-front and they way they just go after the ball.   

I think the strength of the WU offense (besides Woo) is their offensive line.  They work well as a unit, are able to mix it up in (terms of personnel, and they have guys on the bench who can step in if needed. 

Both tackles are big boys who move well.  Jake Forshey is the stud (6'7 310) and Joe Penkala (6'6 270) is a notch below but still VERY good.  Both of these guys can play without help and are amazingly good when they have to move the box (sweeps, sprints, and certain zone variations)  A couple of things play into their success.  1) They are BIG and athletic enough to take on the majority of ends. 2)They play against 2 very good/fast defensive ends every day in practice.  I doubt there was another player in the conference who had a better speed rush than Marcus Ford and these 2 went against him every day in practice.  3)If for some reason they do come against an amazing speed rusher, WU simply changes the scheme to negate any outside rushers.

That brings us to the interior linemen.  Center Scott Hirschberger has been a starter since his freshman year and is very tough inside.  He then has 2 very good guards on either side.  These 3 really get the smash mouth game going as they are heavy duty, high motor guys.

With all that being said, WU hasn't seen a complete front seven that has made each lineman work their a$$ off.  There has always been some soft spot that WU has been able to exploit and that is this offense's strength.  It only takes 1 guy on defense missing his assignment for the offense to hit a big play.  Linfield was the most complete defense that WU faced and the Bearcats were still able to get some huge chunks of yards.

If Oxy has fast guys on the edge, WU will make it a ground and pound game and then open it up with their new found passing ability.  If I remember correctly from the last OXY WU matchup, OXY likes to have two stand up ends facing inwards against the fly.  If that's the case, WU will DEFINITELY hit some quick dives, traps, and sprints to one side just to loosen things up.

As Monrovia said, the best way to beat WU is to match points (and early).  As good as the offense is, they can go dormant for periods of time.  The WU D has some playmakers, but they can be scored on.  VERY BENDABLE, but they are good for coming up with a turnover when needed, and one is usually enough.

(Sorry for the 5 paragraph essay I just wrote... )

[TigerOldSchool]

Hmmm . . . so what you're saying is that Oxy needs to not give up big plays to Willamette?

Man I hope the Oxy coaching staff has thought of that.   

Of course that strategy didn't work so well on that freaking Whitworth hail mary in the playoffs two years ago.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

Yup . . .

[MonroviaCat]

Hmmm . . . so what you're saying is that Oxy needs to not give up big plays to Willamette?

Man I hope the Oxy coaching staff has thought of that.   

Of course that strategy didn't work so well on that freaking Whitworth hail mary in the playoffs two years ago.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Yeah---I'm sure every coach has "thought of that" but it doesn't mean they'll be able to stop it from happening...maybe if they put one guy 40 yds deep on every play.....

[OxyBob]

You may be right about the up the middle stuff but they were able to break some very big runs up the middle against a Linfield D that was pretty good at the line and LB positions.  The Big plays seem to be Willamette's biggest weapon.

Looking at Willamette's season stats, it appears that the only game where the Bearcats broke off numerous long 50+-yard runs was against Linfield.

OxyBob

[Sabretooth Tiger]

It hadn't occurred to me until just now that the Road to Salem for the Bearcats and Tigers begins in Salem.  I love the symmetry.