FB: Empire 8

[sjfcards]

Fox sure a hell has his work cut out for him this week going up vs a 6'5 D1 transfer at QB...

Hopefully he can dial up pressure from his 3-3-5 and give him some looks he hasn't seen before...

It sounds like the JCU defense isn't so bad either. 3 points a game? Really tough draw for Fisher, but with the 2 losses they have nothing to be upset about. If Fisher can find a way to win, that would be a lot of fun if Hobart also wins. A lot if work still in front of both teams before we get to that however.

[UfanBill]

What I like is that the three best D3 football teams in New York State all made the tourney.  Seems like NYS got the respect we crave and deserve with StJF in.  Great for the E8 with 2 teams and the LL with top seed.  Congrats, now let's win some games.

[Upstate]

I don't think it is so much of a sign of respect as it is just a case of Fisher's numbers being better at the end of the day...

[AUPepBand]

What I like is that the three best D3 football teams in New York State all made the tourney.  Seems like NYS got the respect we crave and deserve with StJF in.  Great for the E8 with 2 teams and the LL with top seed.  Congrats, now let's win some games.

Hobart is not the top seed. The Statesmen are the equivalent of the #2 seed in the Mary Hardin-Baylor bracket and should they advance to the semi-finals, Pep surmises the Statesmen would travel to Texas.

Stay tuned!

[sjfcards]

I don't think it is so much of a sign of respect as it is just a case of Fisher's numbers being better at the end of the day...

I agree with this, but Fisher past success can't hurt them when the selection committee is breaking down similar teams.

[bleedpurple]

What I like is that the three best D3 football teams in New York State all made the tourney.  Seems like NYS got the respect we crave and deserve with StJF in.  Great for the E8 with 2 teams and the LL with top seed.  Congrats, now let's win some games.

Hobart is not the top seed. The Statesmen are the equivalent of the #2 seed in the Mary Hardin-Baylor bracket and should they advance to the semi-finals, Pep surmises the Statesmen would travel to Texas.

Stay tuned!

Me thinks that if Hobart is to advance to the semi-finals, they will be coming to Whitewater, having already visited Texas in the quarterfinals. 

[AUPepBand]

What I like is that the three best D3 football teams in New York State all made the tourney.  Seems like NYS got the respect we crave and deserve with StJF in.  Great for the E8 with 2 teams and the LL with top seed.  Congrats, now let's win some games.

                                                                                                                                                                                                         quarter
Hobart is not the top seed. The Statesmen are the equivalent of the #2 seed in the Mary Hardin-Baylor bracket and should they advance to the semi-finals, Pep surmises the Statesmen would travel to Texas.

Stay tuned!

Me thinks that if Hobart is to advance to the semi-finals, they will be coming to Whitewater, having already visited Texas in the quarterfinals. 

Methinks you're right!   

Pep was definitely out of tune.

[skunks_sidekick]

SJF Friends......

JCU will light up the scoreboard.  They are that good.  Mount's defense has been very good/solid this year (not like the last two lights out years of course), and they were struggling to stop JCU all day on Saturday. 

I firmly believe you cannot pressure the JCU QB.  He throws on a count, and doesn't really care if his receivers are covered or not.  He just puts it where only they can catch it, and damn if they don't almost always do so.

My belief is that SJF will have to score in the mid to high 30's to have a chance to win this game.

Of course I want JCU to represent the OAC, but good luck to SJF, and I believe the committee made the right choice putting them in the play-offs.

[mattvsmith]

Congrats to SJF.

We could have a "battle for the finger lakes" in a couple weeks. That would be awesome.

It would be, but let's not get ahead of ourselves -- JCU is more than for real.  And the nation is rooting for Galludet.

True. JCU is the real deal and will be SJF's hardest game this season. As a Hobart fan, I can only hope that the teams beat each other up so much, they are too tired to endure another round. Not likely. Just wishful thinking.

[sjfcards]

SJF Friends......

JCU will light up the scoreboard.  They are that good.  Mount's defense has been very good/solid this year (not like the last two lights out years of course), and they were struggling to stop JCU all day on Saturday. 

I firmly believe you cannot pressure the JCU QB.  He throws on a count, and doesn't really care if his receivers are covered or not.  He just puts it where only they can catch it, and damn if they don't almost always do so.

My belief is that SJF will have to score in the mid to high 30's to have a chance to win this game.

Of course I want JCU to represent the OAC, but good luck to SJF, and I believe the committee made the right choice putting them in the play-offs.

I found some youtube videos of the JCU team last night, and I think you may be on to something. The team looks legit, and the QB is a big time talent for this level. I understand the idea that Fisher wants to get pressure on the JCU QB, but I sort of like the UMU approach of rushing 2 or 3 and dropping the rest into coverage. Try to keep them in front of you, and you better tackle well.

On offense Fisher will need to score yes, but also they have to control the ball and the clock so they can keep the JCU offense off the field.

[SJFF82]

Very happy for SJF faithful -- I had my doubts for sure.

JCU is a super tough draw.  While a program that is not accustomed to winning, this is a more than solid team.  Common opponent: Otterbein, exact same result as when the SJF played them 28-0. 

I think it is interesting how the NCAA is mixing it up -- in the past East and North typically had to go through each other, seems like East Teams and South with MHB.

doubts?  You had us playing an ECAC game against North West School of the retired Liberty League professors...on the road...and we were going to be 7 pt underdogs

[boobyhasgameyo]

SJF Friends......

JCU will light up the scoreboard.  They are that good.  Mount's defense has been very good/solid this year (not like the last two lights out years of course), and they were struggling to stop JCU all day on Saturday. 

I firmly believe you cannot pressure the JCU QB.  He throws on a count, and doesn't really care if his receivers are covered or not.  He just puts it where only they can catch it, and damn if they don't almost always do so.

My belief is that SJF will have to score in the mid to high 30's to have a chance to win this game.

Of course I want JCU to represent the OAC, but good luck to SJF, and I believe the committee made the right choice putting them in the play-offs.

Am I the only Fisher fan who believes we were not great at pressuring the QB this year?  I think there was the Hartwick game, but that was more an exception to me.  It sounds to me like JCU's offensive strength does not bode well for what is our defensive strength - that being our respectable defense against the run.  All year we have been sure tacklers within the sticks.  Not great at rushing the QB and not great but adequate in coverage. 

JCU has been absolutely lighting it up and I'd expect that trend to continue.  I believe our best hope will come in the form of offensive success on Fisher's part if we can run the ball effectively.  Controlling the clock, moving the ball, and limiting the number of opportunities JCU gets on offense.  The best defense that we faced this year in my opinion was Otterbein.  I can't remember how well we ran the ball that week so I'll have to check.  Another OAC defense on the table, and by all accounts a better one.  Yikes.       

[fisheralum91]

boobs,
jesus, chin up man we made the dance!
don't have such a defeatist attitude!
we've been there before.
its not our first rodeo!

[boobyhasgameyo]

I'm not being a defeatist, I'm just stating that we are unlikely to effectively pressure their QB.  I like the idea of dropping as many people back into coverage and going for the bend (and hopefully not break) defense.  Anything that will slow the game down and limit the amount of total possessions I think will favor Fisher more than JCU. 

Our offense can be spotty at times, and if they are struggling out of the gate we will obviously need to contain John Carroll.  What I am hoping for is that the same offense will show up that completely dismantled W&J.  We only scored 42 points that day but man did we tear them apart.  It was one of the best offensive performances I have ever seen in person.  A timely encore of that would be lovely. 

[AlfredSaxon8]

I will probably receive quite a few smites for this but I dont think Fisher should be in. I think Fisher has been very unimpressive in their wins minus the game at Alfred. Other than that, they didnt beat the teams they needed to (IC and the Gulls) and still made the playoffs. I think they are getting a little love for past success. Too many close/unimpressive victories and lackluster performances against two top conferences foes really isnt a playoff resume to me.

Im not sour because of the Alfred game. But what they did to Alfred, they should have beat Utica and Frostburg State the same way and at least split the IC/Gulls game. They never lived up to their potential until 1 quarter at the end of the season. A ball bounces the other way and this could be a 4 loss football team the way they were playing.