FB: Empire 8

[gobombers]

Wow did AU get the shaft this year!

They had 2 losses... 1 in the east and both on the road to very good teams.

Cortland lost to Buff State and Rowan both games at home & in region and they end up w/ a 5 seed?

Not a whole lot of respect for the E8 from the selection committee the past couple years.  

I wish the bombers had taken care of business... then the saxons get in.

I have to ehco tecmo's thoughts on yesterdays first half in Ithaca.  That was the worst performance I've ever seen from the bombers.  Way too many mistakes against a team as good as Cortland.  But, none of that matters now.  This Ithaca team has the talent to come out of the east... hopefully ill be looking for cheap plane tickets to visit Linfield's campus in a few weeks.      


AU- congrats on a great season! I hope you guys take out your aggression on whoever you face in the ECAC.  
Cortland- good win yesterday... i hope there is a re-match in the East Region Finals.
Fisher- ugh... I'm reminded of last years Ithaca team... Sooo much talent... but 2 close losses (1 in OT) and your on the outside looking in.

PLAYOFFS!  Go Bombers.

I am sure Cortland's coach being on the Regional Committee had NOTHING to do with their 5 seed.

BTW, I was pretty close to all the picks I made yesterday, and my karma still went down, gotta love it.

TASTE IT!

[TheICdubbz]

well,

I dont know if anyone has said it already but, the defining moments in the Cortaca jug to Dubbz were the two fake punts ran by Cortland.  Both were 4th and forevers and they executed them brilliantly as the IC special teams ran around looking like chickens with their heads cut off.  And oh how crucial a one point matters in the end.  With that made extra point ithaca wins in regulation 31--28. 

oh well,  Union here we come. 

Go Bombers

[bomber27]

Mmmmm, taste it Union 

[John McGraw]

Wow did AU get the shaft this year!

They had 2 losses... 1 in the east and both on the road to very good teams.

Cortland lost to Buff State and Rowan both games at home & in region and they end up w/ a 5 seed?

Not a whole lot of respect for the E8 from the selection committee the past couple years.  

I wish the bombers had taken care of business... then the saxons get in.

I have to ehco tecmo's thoughts on yesterdays first half in Ithaca.  That was the worst performance I've ever seen from the bombers.  Way too many mistakes against a team as good as Cortland.  But, none of that matters now.  This Ithaca team has the talent to come out of the east... hopefully ill be looking for cheap plane tickets to visit Linfield's campus in a few weeks.      


AU- congrats on a great season! I hope you guys take out your aggression on whoever you face in the ECAC.  
Cortland- good win yesterday... i hope there is a re-match in the East Region Finals.
Fisher- ugh... I'm reminded of last years Ithaca team... Sooo much talent... but 2 close losses (1 in OT) and your on the outside looking in.

PLAYOFFS!  Go Bombers.

I am sure Cortland's coach being on the Regional Committee had NOTHING to do with their 5 seed.

BTW, I was pretty close to all the picks I made yesterday, and my karma still went down, gotta love it.

TASTE IT!

Cortland's head coach being on the regional committe had absolutely nothing to do with it. As with other sports and other selection committes, if your team is being discussed you are taken out of the discussion and not involved in it. They make the biggest deal out of this during the Division I men's basketball tournament selections when talking to members about certain teams. Well, so and so had to leave the room because we were talking about his school.

Cortland and Ithaca both had two regional losses. Ithaca's were to Lycoming and Cortland in overtime while Cortland's were to Buffalo State and Rowan. In the end looking at head to head, Cortland won the game, therefore, they get the higher seed. Had the Bombers defeated the Red Dragons at Butterfield on Saturday then we wouldn't be having this discussion. Ithaca would probably be the three seed hosting Wilkes and you'd have Rowan against Hobart as the 4-5 game.

In the end, both teams made the playoffs and both have to go on the road with games against tough Liberty League teams. And both games look on paper to be very good. It should be an exciting playoff weekend in the Empire State next week - barring another Friday night-Saturday morning flu on my part.

GoBombers, not to take it out on you, but I saw this on other msg boards and finally got up enough strength from my crackers and Ginger ale to comment.

[AUPepBand]

How about Endicott (7-3) but one loss is to Curry and one is to RPI - both good teams and Curry is in the NCAAs (criteria for ECAC selection) They also have a head-to-head win over Fitchburg.

Yes, perhaps Endicott (7-3) or Maine Maritime (7-2) with a win over NCAA-bound Curry; and maybe even Worcester (6-3). As much as I'd like to see Utica get a game, it will be tough with so many teams with less than 4 losses.

[gobombers]

Cortland's head coach being on the regional committe had absolutely nothing to do with it. As with other sports and other selection committes, if your team is being discussed you are taken out of the discussion and not involved in it. They make the biggest deal out of this during the Division I men's basketball tournament selections when talking to members about certain teams. Well, so and so had to leave the room because we were talking about his school.

Cortland and Ithaca both had two regional losses. Ithaca's were to Lycoming and Cortland in overtime while Cortland's were to Buffalo State and Rowan. In the end looking at head to head, Cortland won the game, therefore, they get the higher seed. Had the Bombers defeated the Red Dragons at Butterfield on Saturday then we wouldn't be having this discussion. Ithaca would probably be the three seed hosting Wilkes and you'd have Rowan against Hobart as the 4-5 game.

In the end, both teams made the playoffs and both have to go on the road with games against tough Liberty League teams. And both games look on paper to be very good. It should be an exciting playoff weekend in the Empire State next week - barring another Friday night-Saturday morning flu on my part.

GoBombers, not to take it out on you, but I saw this on other msg boards and finally got up enough strength from my crackers and Ginger ale to comment.

None offense taken John, this is a message board after all!  Just that IC and Cortland were in similar positions last year, and this year, Cortland DOES make the playoffs with 2 losses.  I doubt that either of us could conclusively say that the HC of Cortland being on the committee had something or nothing to do with it, I was just informing people, that was all.

[Pat Coleman]

None offense taken John, this is a message board after all!  Just that IC and Cortland were in similar positions last year, and this year, Cortland DOES make the playoffs with 2 losses.  I doubt that either of us could conclusively say that the HC of Cortland being on the committee had something or nothing to do with it, I was just informing people, that was all.

Hmm, that or the fact that there are more than twice as many Pool C bids this season. Duh.

[bomber27]

Welcome back Pat, i liked the shirt tie combo on espnews

[Pat Coleman]

My wife says thanks.

Funny -- I should send this post to the producer, not sure he believed me when I said people comment on what I wear on the show.

[bomber27]

Haha, you know we would have something to say.  You did a great job though so nothing to rag on, lol

[maninyellowhat]

Just got back in to Arizona after a nice weekend in Ithaca.  The weather cooperated, the town was hopping....the football left a lot to be desired though.  

I know Ithaca's m.o. this season is to wait until the second half to get things going, but I have a really hard time understanding how a team who knows they have to win to get a home playoff game and also who comes in to an atmosphere like Cortaca can come out flat for an entire half of football.  

Offensively, the play calling was conservative and predictable.  Cortland played in a cover 2 almost the entire game.  When they didn't, they cheated the safety up into the box daring IC to throw test the corners.  Instead, the Bombers ran right up the middle and threw swing passes out to the fullback.  The offense looked lackadaisical until the second half.  Then they found out that the corners couldn't cover the Bomber receivers one-on-one and after two quick scores, it was an exciting game again.  Throwing the ball opened up the running game, and Donovan would gain about 5 yards a carry.  Then, as soon as the game got close, the offense went back to sleep, as did the play calling.  Instead of continuing to go with what worked, they went right back to the first half mentality.  I don't know if they just felt comfortable, or what happened, but the corners could not cover Gordon and Espo one-on-one, and when Felicetti threw it deep, it was successful.  Why Ithaca totally got away from Espo in the second half is beyond me.  He'll catch most anything thrown his way, and nobody even looked at him.  

Defensively, there was absolutely no pass rush from the front four.  If Ithaca didn't blitz, then Smith had all day to stand back there and wait for something to open up.  I didn't think Ithaca's secondary had a terrible day, but they can't cover a receiver forever.  The linebackers did all they could do, but Ithaca didn't commit to forcing Cortland to beat them one way or the other.  Thus, the linebackers had to react to whatever happened, and Cortland ended up running a stretch play close to 15 times during the game, and almost every time it would go for about 7 yards.  It felt like Tecmo Bowl.  Stretch play or the option seemed to account for 90% or the Cortland running game, and Ithaca couldn't stop either.  When the Bombers brought the blitz, it was effective.  But that didn't happen nearly enough.  In the second half, Smith just decided he was going to take over.  I think he just wanted to win it more.

Special teams hurt.  The second fake punt was gutsy.  I didn't see that one coming and Cortland took a huge risk considering field position, time in the game, and the situation, but it worked out.  Can't really fault anyone for that... just a gutsy call that went Cortland's way.  The first fake punt was one that I think everybody in the stadium knew was a legitimate option.  4 people around me commented before the play that this would be a good time for a fake, and sure enough, they ran it.  That one's on the coaches; but the snap was back to the punter who didn't even fake the punt, he just took off running and went for 30 yards.  Someone had to step up and make a tackle.

It was a weird game because looking back, I can see Ithaca making it a monkey stomp before halftime if they had exploited Cortland's defensive scheme at all in the first half.  On the other hand, if Smith runs the option and decides he wants to take over any earlier in the game, then it's a blowout at halftime the other way.  

I would love to see a little variety in the playcalling.  Even if it's Ithaca running their own option, or a pitch, or even a counter, it gives the defense something to think about.  I don't want to abandon the running game, but if they're putting 9 in the box and you're continuing to run fullback dives up the middle, even if you run it on 2nd and 10 and catch the defense offguard, you run right into the heart of the defense.  It'll be interesting to see how Ithaca bounces back after this.  But if the players don't come out looking excited and ready to play an entire game, they could easily lose again this weekend.  

[maninyellowhat]

On another note, I thought the Ithaca fans did well with restraining themselves when the Cortland fans stormed the field after the game.  In the past I've seen it escalate into a huge fight, but there were only a handful of Ithaca fans who ran on the field.  Most stayed in the stands and what could have been a really ugly situation was avoided.

[bomber27]

Well, the only thing I could say in defense of the play calling is that it usually works but hey can't argue the fact that in  this case they went away from the deep ball and the methodical offense wasn't working.  I am sure Ang is already breaking down film and making game plan for Union so i am looking forward to that. 

Go Bombers

[Jonny Utah]

Yea, Id say Ithaca made the e8 look worse by losing to Cortaland and Lycoming, but Alfred probably still deserved it............

anyway I really feel bad for sjf, I think theyre a great team that could beat anyone in the country, but they needed to beat alfred to get in.  Alfred has to beat W&L though, a similar team that hobart and union kind of took care of in their regular season......

this aq stuff ends up hurting one team every year but what are ya going to do?

[TecmoYellowHat]

Yeah, the Ithaca loss was the reason why Alfred didn't get in.