FB: Empire 8

[Fisherguy]

Agreed Andrews was the best back Fisher saw this year and did go well over a 100. That said, I recall him breaking off a 50 or 60 yarder. This entire season I would say Fisher's biggest enemy was the "big play". Early on it was on the ground and as the season progressed it was through the air. That said, a great defense doesn't let those plays happen. Anyways, back to the original thought, Andrews did in fact have a day against a defense that shut down almost every other back in this conference, so hats off to him.

[Fisherguy]

Agreed Andrews was the best back Fisher saw this year and did go well over a 100. That said, I recall him breaking off a 50 or 60 yarder. This entire season I would say Fisher's biggest enemy was the "big play". Early on it was on the ground and as the season progressed it was through the air. That said, a great defense doesn't let those plays happen. Anyways, back to the original thought, Andrews did in fact have a day against a defense that shut down almost every other back in this conference, so hats off to him.

[fisheralum91]

Our d was stout to say the least this year----what I will say about all of the losses on D is that if there is one constant with Fisher they seem to reload on D and deal well with adversity.
SP was noticeably absent and the rest of the team stepped it up.
Donitzen was an absolute beast.

I like hotstove this week!
Happy Thanksgiving all!

[TheHitman]

That is good news for Nigolian, and for the Fisher faithful!
Here is hoping that Naton can recover and lead this offense as well as Fenti did.
I will say this- Nigolian was the game changer.
Without him as a viable option the offense seemed sluggish and predictable.
I hope that they change it a bit next season!

I agree that the offense was much more predictable and was not nearly as potent with a limited Nigolian, but (as some have mentioned already) some of the problem was the failure to adjust the play calling. Fisher has some horses in the back field with Fusco, Chambers, and Smith and I think they could have used them more once Nigolian was limited. Specifically in the Ithaca game I would have liked to see Fisher pounding the ball with Fusco and Smith and using Chambers out of the backfield catching passes. I understand they were behind towards the end of the game which forced them to air it out, but there was a large stretch of that game that they were winning/within one score. It looked to me like the coaches hit the panic button a little early and started to try and throw the ball down field too often.

Next year with a lot of talent at the skill positions (again assuming they can get the QB situation figured out), I like the offense a lot. Fisher has been good on the O-Line in the past, and I expect a good line next year.

Nigolian has to earn Fishers MVP in my opinion.  With him not there the offense was just lost.  Anyone who saw the Ithaca game can attest.  Even if he is not catching passes downfield, him being on the field opens up running lanes because the CB's and the safeties have to respect the potential deep threat.  If Fusco or Chambers make it to the next level thats a few less people they have to elude to make a big gain. 

[TheHitman]

Our d was stout to say the least this year----what I will say about all of the losses on D is that if there is one constant with Fisher they seem to reload on D and deal well with adversity.
SP was noticeably absent and the rest of the team stepped it up.
Donitzen was an absolute beast.

I like hotstove this week!
Happy Thanksgiving all!

Where do you think this years D stacks up against defenses of Fisher's past?

[boobyhasgameyo]

2nd or 3rd best.  It's between 2007 and this year for second place.  2006 was first. 2008 was still solid but it was the start of the decline from awesome to above average.  During the Bailey years it was a case of an explosive offense and an average defense, so we had to win in shootouts.

[fisheralum91]

2nd behind the Stepnick D.....

[wesleydad]

Happy Thanksgiving to the E8 fans.  Your league changes around a little next year, but it will still be competitive.

[Upstate]

I'm excited for the upcoming changes to the E8 with Cortland and Morrisville coming in!

Cortland is usually always a strong team, plus the Cortaca game really has more meaning from here on out!

Morrisville, who is coached by SJF alum Curt Fitzpatrick (who still holds the single season record for TDs with 30) has a real offensive mind and can get the most out of talent!

The E8 loses a bit with the loss of SU however with FSU leaving it gains a much more competitive opponent so the top to bottom depth gets better!

[boobyhasgameyo]

Well, the MIT game went about as predicted.  Also expected Hobart to beat Johns Hopkins, though they haven't been impressive thus far.  Next week will be a defining moment for the statesmen.  If they keep it close against Wesley then it will be a bright spot for their program.  If they win it will be a huge moment.  If they get their doors blown off then they will have basically just completed a St. John Fisher 2011 playoff run, except with closer games in the first 2 rounds. 

[middlerelief]

Hope coaches are watching some of these games in the playoffs -- there is some real football being played. Solid games, gritty programs on full display today. 

Linfield/MHB, Wartburn/St Johns, Hopkins/Hobart, Wheaton/JCU and Wabash was putting up a solid effort vs. UWW -- really good stuff so far today.

[sjfcards]

Congrats to Hobart on a big win yesterday. Glad to see the East Region win some games in the later rounds of the tournament. Next week will be tough, but play hard and you never know.

[ITH radio]

E8 All Conf awards released today:

http://empire8.com/news/2014/12/1/FB_1201140037.aspx

[Upstate]

So a freshman RB that is a second team selection and rushes for 1172 yds (6.0 ypc) and 9 TDs doesn't get the ROY but a player that doesn't make the Honorable Mention team does?

Interesting.

[Bombers798891]

So a freshman RB that is a second team selection and rushes for 1172 yds (6.0 ypc) and 9 TDs doesn't get the ROY but a player that doesn't make the Honorable Mention team does?

Interesting.

Agreed. The E8 awards defy logic. In addition to that whole mess, we have

1. Tyler Johnson was named to two spots on the second team. If you're going to include his rushing totals as part of his QB package—which they obviously did because he was nowhere near the passer Tom Dempsey was—then how does this somehow become part of an all-purpose package as well? Counting those stats for two positions makes no sense

2. Similarly, J'Ron Evans gets an HM all-purpose, but he'd already been given 1st team return honors and his teammate Jesse Baldassare had better rushing/receiving totals. Again, it seems like we're double counting his return stats as part of his offensive package.

3. One third of the conference's teams have kick returners named to the 2nd team—although the total of four returners in a 9-team conference is an improvement over last year's list in which they gave out five spots in an eight team conference.

4. Max Rottenecker's great on kickoffs, and his FGs had a high degree of difficulty compared to most everyone but Marc Montana, but it's a little odd to me that the conference's 2nd-team kicker accumulated all of 15 points this season.