FB: Empire 8

[theoriginalupstate]

Awesome stuff Pep!

[theoriginalupstate]

I would say no on the Fisher wins the last two years being number 1 and 2 for Hartwick... I would put them at the lower end of the top ten ... but I would say the wins of Hobart (late 90's), RPI, Union, Muhlenberg, Kings and ECAC win (early 2000's) would be higher... just being a younger program trying to gain credibility ... then i would say Ithaca then Fisher recently.

I'd like to think that when you beat a then ranked #5 team in the country it would be in the top 3 considering the team in question has gone 48-43 from 2000-2008...

yea good point

What was the ranking at the end of the year.  Midpoint rankings are irrelevant.

End of the 2007 season, if I am reading the poll right, SJF was ranked #7...

[pumkinattack]

Then that shold be a top five win for Hartwick (I can understand why other, "lesser" wins might have more importance, such as first postseason win, etc.)

[sjfcards]

Awesome stuff Pep!

He rarely fails to meet expectations.

[theoriginalupstate]

Awesome stuff Pep!

He rarely fails to meet expectations.

That's what she said!

[WICB Sports]

Ithaca heads to Maryland to face Frostburg State on Saturday. You can hear all the action on WICB.org as the Bombers take on the Bobcats, with Countdown to Kickoff starting at 12:30 and the game getting started at 1:00. After the game stay tuned for our live call-in (607-274-3217) post game show. There are only three chances left to win two free Cortaca tickets by answering the Bombers Trivia Question.

[Saxon73]

Though I wouldn't mind hearing the Alfred guys post on the subject, they have an uncanny ability to recall games going wayyyyy back. 

Since you asked, Booby....

The top two are easy....the Top Ten will be difficult...so many years, so many wins!  

#2. Miracle at Geneva. 1971. Hobart's dominated the Saxons all day on "old" Boswell Field. Somehow AU managed a TD but found themselves down, 21-7 with 6 minutes to go, facing a 4th-and-10 from their own 24 yard line. Pep had noticed AU punter Bob Young and brother WR Charley Young talking with Coach Yunevich. Seems Hobart hadn't been marking Charley on punts all day....he was always first one down on punt coverage. From punt formation, Bob throws to Charley, who rambles 76 yards for a TD. AU pulls to within 21-14. Saxon "D" stops national rushing leader Alexsiewicz to 8 yards on three carries, forcing a punt. AU then puts together a scoring drive with the big gainer a screen pass to Henry Bzdak, setting up a short TD run. Yunevich goes for the PAT, saying, "We're gonna get another TD." Sure enough, AU gets the ball again and goes the distance, scoring with seconds remaining to win, 28-21.

#1. Miracle at Merrill, Oct. 31, 1964. Pep will set the stage. Jim Garrett had coached Susquehanna to two consecutive unbeatens seasons in 1961 and 1962 (7-1 in '60, 8-0-1 in '61, 9-0 in '62, and 8-1 in '63) and his Crusaders had demolished Alfred, 68-0 at the 'Grove in 1963. Now the Crusaders are visiting Merrill Field and SU jumps to an early 8-0 lead, after which Pep remembers the Susquehanna fans chanting, "Penn State '68!!" (i.e. Susquehanna was going to take on Penn State in 1968 and beat them).  But AU responded and, capitalizing on a Crusader fumble, pulled to within 8-6 at halftime when the teams went into the Fieldhouse at the north end of the field. When they came back out, they found the AU students had formed a line three-deep from the fieldhouse back to the bench to cheer on the Saxons. It was one afternoon when 4,000 to 5,000 Saxon fans made the sounds of 50,000. After halftime, AU's QB Don Sagolla (9-of-13 for 70 yards and a TD) led the Saxons on a long march and Tom Quinn powered it in from 5 yards out to give AU a 12-8 lead. Then Bob Podeswa intercepted an SU pass on AU's 45 and returned it 25 yards...nine plays later, AU was up 18-8 on another Quinn TD run. SU returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a TD to pull within 18-16 but the Saxons held on. SU finished at 7-2 that year but Garrett's team was 0-6 and he was fired during the 7th game of the 1965 season for assaulting a player.

Pep,

Having been at "Geneva" also and having some inside info before and after the game due to Frat brothers.  I think it worthy of mention that LB Bill Ekman was keyed on Mr. A-Z Hobart's all American RB. 

Can you dig up any stats on Mr A-Z before  v the Miracle  game?

Booby,

As you mention Wayyyy back, I don't think any posters are young enough to be alive to tell us about the undefeated AU teams around the mid 50's.  There are banners hanging comemorating these teams by the Washington Touchdown Club.  Maybe Pep can work his magic on info about these accomplishments wayyyyyy back? 

[tecmobowler]

The crummiest game I ever saw was the 2004 one at Fisher... as I've said many times on here, the 2004 IC team was the best I've ever seen.  I'm positive they could have given some powerhouses a game that year. 

A one point loss at Brockport, and that double-overtime debacle kept them out of the playoffs. The image of Jeff Welch slamming his helmet to the turf after the "interception" is as clear as day....

The one in '06 where IC was slaughtered in the second half was embarrassing, but that team wasn't going anywhere.  The '04 team could have been really, really special. 

[theoriginalupstate]

The crummiest game I ever saw was the 2004 one at Fisher... as I've said many times on here, the 2004 IC team was the best I've ever seen.  I'm positive they could have given some powerhouses a game that year. 

A one point loss at Brockport, and that double-overtime debacle kept them out of the playoffs. The image of Jeff Welch slamming his helmet to the turf after the "interception" is as clear as day....

The one in '06 where IC was slaughtered in the second half was embarrassing, but that team wasn't going anywhere.  The '04 team could have been really, really special. 

They were pretty good in 04...

However no one was getting past Rowan in the East that year...

[AUPepBand]

Pep,

Having been at "Geneva" also and having some inside info before and after the game due to Frat brothers.  I think it worthy of mention that LB Bill Ekman was keyed on Mr. A-Z Hobart's all American RB.  

Can you dig up any stats on Mr A-Z before  v the Miracle  game?

Pep found this from A-Z's induction into Hobart's Hall of Fame:

Donald Aleksiewicz '73, known as A-Z, was the Little All-America College Division Football Player of the Year in New York as a senior. He also was an AP second-team All-American and a member of the Kodak Small College Division All-America team as a running back. He still holds the Hobart record for most rushing yardage in a season. Aleksiewicz had his jersey number (43) retired by the college. After graduation, he had tryouts with various NFL teams and played with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League.

Also: Donald Aleksiewicz '73 rushed for 4525 yards in four years. He still holds the season record for rushing yards of 1,616 yards rushing in 1971. He averaged 179.6 yards per game and scored 19 TDs.

Pep remembers Mr. A-Z on Oct. 17, 1970 at Merrill Field--a 31-22 Alfred win--when the Saxons had the Statesmen pinned back on their own 3-yard-line. AU was looking to get a safety and crowded the line only to have Mr. A-Z bust through a small hole and it was off to the races and no one could catch him....97 yards for the TD, second longest TD run in Hobart history.

Ironically, the LONGEST TD run was 98 yards by Merle Gulick, also against Alfred, on Nov. 2, 1928.
That run added insult to injury as, on Oct. 27, 1927, Gulick returned a punt 90 yards for a TD....also against Alfred.

No, Pep was not in attendance to see Gulick's runs. Pep is old, but not THAT old.  

[Bombers798891]

The crummiest game I ever saw was the 2004 one at Fisher... as I've said many times on here, the 2004 IC team was the best I've ever seen.  I'm positive they could have given some powerhouses a game that year.  

A one point loss at Brockport, and that double-overtime debacle kept them out of the playoffs. The image of Jeff Welch slamming his helmet to the turf after the "interception" is as clear as day....

The one in '06 where IC was slaughtered in the second half was embarrassing, but that team wasn't going anywhere.  The '04 team could have been really, really special.  

Sadly, that's typical of the Bombers post-1994. They lose games they have no business losing, and the season ends too soon. Look at last year's team. Sure, Juvan and Bergerstock were hurt. The same team that beat a Top 10 Cortland 35-13 on the road loses at home to Curry, who then goes on to lose by 42 at Cortland.

How about losing to a horrid Lycoming team in 2005 by allowing 33 points (to a team that only topped 17 one other time that season?

What about 2003 and 2005 losses in Cortaca that forced them on the road in playoff games when they could have been home? Imagine if the RPI game had been home and not in a freaking blizzard? (I'm not saying they would have been home that year, but it's a possibility)

Beating Hartwick in 2007 could have helped them avoid MUC in the first round.

And let's not even talk about the losses to Buffalo State in the mid-late 90's that were the main reason they missed the playoffs for six years. Those BSU teams were good, but they weren't exactly beating other teams in the NCAA's. Ithaca certainly could have pulled some of them out. We Bomber fans are know for complaining that the 1998 team got screwed by the selection committee, but the team blew it that season.

This team clearly doesn't have the talent, but really, the 2001 team is probably the only one in recent memory that didn't lose a game they could have won, and where you could look back and say that not only did they get as far as they could have, they probably got further.

Too many disappointments to count it seems

[maxpower]

I was talking with Jose about whether IC is a perennial disappointment, and he said it might be time to reconsider our expectations.

Ithaca always ranks high in OWP... this year they're 15th in the nation. I guess we have to accept the disappointments of the scheduling remains tough and we don't have a recruiting class to catch up with it (although tecmo seems to indicate that there were strong things from the freshmen this year in camp....).

It's also been brought up that Ithaca used to dominate recruiting in Rochester and New Jersey.... not so anymore.

[Bombers798891]

I was talking with Jose about whether IC is a perennial disappointment, and he said it might be time to reconsider our expectations.

Ithaca always ranks high in OWP... this year they're 15th in the nation. I guess we have to accept the disappointments of the scheduling remains tough and we don't have a recruiting class to catch up with it (although tecmo seems to indicate that there were strong things from the freshmen this year in camp....).

It's also been brought up that Ithaca used to dominate recruiting in Rochester and New Jersey.... not so anymore.

I half-agree. Obviously, we have to get used to the fact that the glory days are long gone and that there wont be Stagg Bowls in the foreseeable future.

While I think that no-one would hold for example, the 2006/2007 losses to Fisher against the Bombers, or the 2002/2006 Cortaca against a pair of very good Red Dragon squads, I think even with lowered expectations, there have been too many losses (5-4 Lycoming 2005, 5-4 Brockport 2004, 4-5 Cortland in 2003, Curry 2008) to teams Ithaca was just better than.

Maybe I'm being a homer, but to me, Ithaca was clearly the better team in all those games, and every one of those losses had a significant impact on how the season played out.

Honestly, I didn't think IC would win this game against SJF. I thought it would be closer, and the Bombers would make it a game, but on a pure wins and losses scale, I'm not bothered by it. But all those other games, I just remember shaking my head trying to figure out how they didn't win.

[Jonny Utah]

The one historical bright spot with Ithaca, (except for maybe last year), is that they have had a few seasons where they start out slow or looking mediocre, and then end up looking like a very solid team.  You can include 1994 in that group, as well as 2001 and 2007.

['gro]

Let's not forget the week before the 2003 blizzard bowl RPI went to Springfield and beat them (curse of the east region #1 seed) on their superfast turf field in a bad weather (no snow) game... SC manhandled Ithaca earlier that year 51-22.

gotta protect the one bright spot in RPI's playoff history