FB: Empire 8

[Jonny Utah]

eh, I'm really not that worried about Curry for some reason.

The fact that they got 5 sacks and picked off Boltus 5 times today vs Hartwick raises a few concerns...

Did they blitz alot or was it just their front 4?  Were the INTs the result of pressure?

They pose an interesting challenge.  SJF can be over looking them knowing what awaits in the Regional Finals....

Curry's Defensive coordinator is an Ithaca grad too......

[theoriginalupstate]

eh, I'm really not that worried about Curry for some reason.

The fact that they got 5 sacks and picked off Boltus 5 times today vs Hartwick raises a few concerns...

Did they blitz alot or was it just their front 4?  Were the INTs the result of pressure?

They pose an interesting challenge.  SJF can be over looking them knowing what awaits in the Regional Finals....

Curry's Defensive coordinator is an Ithaca grad too......

Pretty sure Welch will be getting a call from him today...

[sjfcards]

God I want Fisher to beat Curry...I want the rematch...

[Knightstalker]

Congrats to IC, you guys showed that MUC is in fact mortal...  TCNJ will get triple monkey stomped... Thanks tags for the updates... and the RPI coaches made a really bad coaching decision too...cost them the game... the ll goes 0-2 again...

I was so hoping for RPI to go to Alliance next week....

I think a lot of us were, but at the end of the day though, the East is sending a team that faced a legit team in week 1 (Muhlenberg), later in the season when faced with a game to decide their conference beat Cortland by a 30 point shut out, and now has beaten RPI - maybe they are being underestimated . . .

Their loss to Keane though . . . that does give me pause.

And Ithaca and SJF lost to Hartwick, who lost to an NEFC team.

[AUPepBand]

Chances are that many of the Hartwick posters will drop off now, but assuming one or two make it back to the boards, please put together a report on the following:

• What the hell happened down there
• Detailed scouting report on Curry
• What the hell happened down there

We expect that report on Pep's desk no later than Sunday, Noon Eastern.

Feel free to e-mail it in: commissionerPep@E8Nation.com --- Pep will review, and have a conference call with the rest of the E8 Nation faithful later in the week.

Thanks,

Pep tested this e-mail address and received a Delivery Status Notification (Failure).

Please use Pep's e-mail address as listed in Pep's profile.

Thank you,
AUPepBand
The Commissioner (Resignation Pending)
E8Nation PP

P.S. Pep surmises that road trips into the NEFC are not Hartwick's cup of tea.

[Pat Coleman]

More good news for bombers fans... MIOH was just checking Mt. Union's unofficial website and noticed that the Bombers edge the purple folks in every statistical category

... for punting

Go bombers

on an unrelated note....

Pat:

"and with only 16 games that matter in Week 12 (sorry, ECAC bowl game teams),"

I mean, don't you think sentences like this undermine, um, a LOT of what DIII football is really all about? It's pretty snotty... I mean we're all DIII fans because we have a personal stake in something here. How annoying is it to hear DI fans talk about the "only games that matter (sorry DII and DII)"? As has been reiterated, everyone appreciates what you and the team do here. But the journalistic tone on this website is often pretty sarcastic and smug, and it can make for a pretty dismissive reading experience. I know it's a column, but, it's a column written by the guy that runs the website, which pretty much makes it the official website position.

I think the line you're trying to draw between D-I's treatment of D-III and D-III's treatment of the ECAC's is a little bit of a stretch. However, I do see where you're coming from.

I don't agree with it but it's certainly valid for some to care about the ECAC's. We just can't devote one second of time to them during the NCAA playoffs.

What do you mean, "you don't agree with it"?  You don't agree with the ECAC games? or you don't agree that people, including the players, parents, coaches and students, of those teams should care about the ECAC games?  Backpeddling is worse....you shoulda just said it was mistake to make that comment, instead of trying to justify it.  Clearly nobody is asking, nor did Maxpower ask you to "devote one second to" the ECAC games, however, YOU DID devote 1 second to them, and the I second you chose to devote was to 'Smite' the importance of the games.

Deep breath, big guy. I didn't agree that I should care about the ECAC games. Sheesh.

[fisheralum91]

wow- sorry boys no time to read 20 pages - but congrats to the fisher team and faithful!
great time as usual and hope to see all of you soon!
hoping for a rematch against MUC!

[Yanks 99]

Sorry about no updates until the AM...long drive to Curry yesterday AM...even longer drive back.  It was a tough one to watch.  Just a catastophic first 10 minutes...a coaches worst nightmare.  Here are a few observations:

1) Almost impossible to recover from the first 10 minutes.  Not sure if it was nerves, the weather, or what.  I do not think it was because 'Wick was overlooking Curry.  The coaching staff had a good game plan, and as usual, moved the ball up and down the field all day long.  When all of this happens in the first 10 minutes of a game...it is tough to rebound:

- Opening kickoff for a TD.
- 'Wick drives down, looks like its going to be a TD catch, and a bullet from Boltus that 99 out of 100 times gets there, gets picked and returned inside the 'Wick 35, leading to a TD 5 plays later
- Bad snap and fumble on the second play inside the 25...4 plays later TD
- Can't complain about this pick...kid from Curry sniffed out a designed play that has worked all year and made a great play on the ball...next play TD
- 28-0, 5 plus minutes left in the first QTR, and Curry had about a total of 65 yards of offense.

2) Couple of drops for TD's early on, and throughout the day.  And I am not talking "if the receiver made a move or two" TD's...I'm talking hitting them in the hands in stride, no one around, TD's.  To even get one TD before half would have been HUGE.  Beyond the first 10 minutes, the defense actually played pretty well for most of the game, and Curry was mixing it up, and trying to throw all day.  They certainly did not go into slowing down the game mode.

3) The muffed punt inside the 5 with 4 seconds left was the killer.  35-0 at half...you need a perfect half to win that one.

4) The Curry D-Line is average size, but very athletic.  'Wick has a small O-Line that has done a good job pass blocking all year.  Not sure what happened, but it looked like the D-Line was getting by the first wave with swim moves...this will certainly not work against SJF next week.

All in all...not a great day for the Hawks.  It is tough to be horribly angry though.  No...I am not happy about losing to Curry, and giving the NEFC their first NCAA win...but that was going to happen eventually anyways.  I think the coaching staff at 'Wick did a great job.  From 1-8, 4-6, & 4-6 over the last few years to 8-3, conference champions, and the NCAA's for the first time ever is a great step forward.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  While it was a missed opportunity for the E8, I hope it is only the first of many opportunities the Hawks get in the future.  Good luck next week SJF...and the rest of the way.

[union89]

Sorry about no updates until the AM...long drive to Curry yesterday AM...even longer drive back.  It was a tough one to watch.  Just a catastophic first 10 minutes...a coaches worst nightmare.  Here are a few observations:

1) Almost impossible to recover from the first 10 minutes.  Not sure if it was nerves, the weather, or what.  I do not think it was because 'Wick was overlooking Curry.  The coaching staff had a good game plan, and as usual, moved the ball up and down the field all day long.  When all of this happens in the first 10 minutes of a game...it is tough to rebound:

- Opening kickoff for a TD.
- 'Wick drives down, looks like its going to be a TD catch, and a bullet from Boltus that 99 out of 100 times gets there, gets picked and returned inside the 'Wick 35, leading to a TD 5 plays later
- Bad snap and fumble on the second play inside the 25...4 plays later TD
- Can't complain about this pick...kid from Curry sniffed out a designed play that has worked all year and made a great play on the ball...next play TD
- 28-0, 5 plus minutes left in the first QTR, and Curry had about a total of 65 yards of offense.

2) Couple of drops for TD's early on, and throughout the day.  And I am not talking "if the receiver made a move or two" TD's...I'm talking hitting them in the hands in stride, no one around, TD's.  To even get one TD before half would have been HUGE.  Beyond the first 10 minutes, the defense actually played pretty well for most of the game, and Curry was mixing it up, and trying to throw all day.  They certainly did not go into slowing down the game mode.

3) The muffed punt inside the 5 with 4 seconds left was the killer.  35-0 at half...you need a perfect half to win that one.

4) The Curry D-Line is average size, but very athletic.  'Wick has a small O-Line that has done a good job pass blocking all year.  Not sure what happened, but it looked like the D-Line was getting by the first wave with swim moves...this will certainly not work against SJF next week.

All in all...not a great day for the Hawks.  It is tough to be horribly angry though.  No...I am not happy about losing to Curry, and giving the NEFC their first NCAA win...but that was going to happen eventually anyways.  I think the coaching staff at 'Wick did a great job.  From 1-8, 4-6, & 4-6 over the last few years to 8-3, conference champions, and the NCAA's for the first time ever is a great step forward.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  While it was a missed opportunity for the E8, I hope it is only the first of many opportunities the Hawks get in the future.  Good luck next week SJF...and the rest of the way.

+1...great recap....

[Yanks 99]

Also wanted to say congrats to Ithaca...from a friend of mine that was at the game, they said the score wasn't a total representation of the game, and that Ithaca came out flat in the 2nd half a little bit.  MUC, as normal, is a powerhouse...but they did say this...and I know it killed them to say so..."SJF can stay with this team (MUC), no question about it." 

[union89]

Am I incorrect in the assumption that Juvan is only a slightly above average QB?

[HScoach]

To the Ithaca players and coaches:  CONGRATS on a good battle with Mount.  That's exactly what Mount needed to prepare for the later rounds.  Some of us understand that not every game will be easy as the regular season.  Which is the way it should be!

Offensively I was very impressed by Juvan, Hogan and Weverbergh.  Not at all impressed by Donovan, Baez and Ross.  O-line was good, but not dominant.  MUC thought that Ithaca would be by far the best offense they'd seen and Juvan and company proved them right.

Defensively, Byers at NG played a whale of a game.  Scalice also had a very nice game, his future looks very bright.  Overall, the defense was solid and flowed to the ball very well.  Took MUC a couple series to adjust to which individual match-ups they could win and which ones were a struggle.  MUC thought the Ithaca defense would be about the 3rd best defense MUC had seen to date.  Which looking back is about right too.

Overall, Ithaca is the best TEAM that Mount has faced.  Capital and BW both had better defenses, but the offensive comparison between them and Ithaca isn't even close.  Advantage Ithaca.



For those too lazy to flip over to the OAC page, here's what I wrote there:

I thought it was just the NCAC schools that didn't take football seriously.  Guess it's their officials too.  That was a poorly officiated game, but thank goodness it didn't have any effect on the outcome and very little effect (if any) on the final score.   

I know going into the game that MUC was a lot more concerned about Ithaca's good O-line and RB's than they were about the passing game.  There defensive attack proved that too.  It's awfully hard to take everything away, so if you're going to pick your poison, I'd rather take away their running game first.  Which is what most teams will try to do against Mount too.  A strong running game controls the entire game and is less prone to mistakes and turnovers than passing.  If you can make a team one dimensional, wouldn't you want to make them go to their 2nd phase if possible? 

Mount is not the kind of team to try to get into a shootout with.  The only way Ithaca was going to win the game was to control the ball and the clock which does two things:
  1.  frustrates Micheli and Company as they stand on the sideline
  2.  tires out an undersized defense built on speed, not power
Those are only possible via the running game.  MUC was a lot more concerned with Ithaca's running game than they were the passing game.  Credit to Ithaca for being able to switch offensive gears and make it a game.  Congrats!

Ric and I gave HUGE props to Juvan throughout the game for his stellar play.  He was by far the best QB to play against Mount this season.  Infinitely better than any OAC opponent's QB.  Capital had one early in the season, but a blown ACL cost them a chance to test Mount.  Was very impressed by Juvan's strong and accurate arm in the face of pressure.

What was interesting to watch was that the MUC pass defense was better off only rushing 4 and dropping 7.  Almost all of Ithaca's big plays came when they blitzed.  Mostly because Juvan made the proper snap read and perfectly hit the receiver before getting drilled.  Very impressive.

Before we get too worried about the actual secondary play, this Mount defense is built around getting to the QB before he can throw it (or at least disrupt his throw), not sitting back in coverage and locking down the WR's.  I was much more impressed by Ithaca's offensive play than disappointed in MUC's defensive play.

How soon we forget that BW had some success throwing the ball too because their O-line was good enough to pick up the blitzes some times.  The difference between BW and Ithaca was that Juvan made much better throws under pressure than Mental did.  BW drove inside the MUC 20 four (4) separate occasions (and 3 more times inside the 35) but couldn't get over the hump due to inconsistent QB play.  If Mental had the pocket presence that Juvan had, BW would have score a couple times too.

[Jonny Utah]

Am I incorrect in the assumption that Juvon is only a slightly above average QB?

U89.

Last year I would have told you that Juvan was an average QB.  After the last 3 games (and especially yesterday), I can say that he could be one of the best qbs in the nation. 

He is getting better obviously.

[Pat Coleman]

82: Belated congrats on the newborns. Hope you get some sleep before they come home from the hospital, because it will be the last for a while. 

[superman57]

82: Belated congrats on the newborns. Hope you get some sleep before they come home from the hospital, because it will be the last for a while. 

Hey pat it seems like you have banned a lot of people, what lines are crossed that leads you to ban someone, (so I don't cross that line)