FB: Empire 8

[Bartman]

I don't know, but they are down 70-7 with about 12 minutes to go in the 4th.  Complete no show.  Even if playing soft playoff opponents the first 3 weeks made them come out of the gates slow, that should account for maybe the first quarter to adjust.  This is just a beat down, and I don't know why. 

Perhaps Wesleydad will be able to shed some light on what is happening.  I haven't been watching, so maybe it's some sort of perfect storm.

The OLine play of Wesley was atrocious, Callahan was harassed all game . The Dline could not get to Burke ,so he was throwing like it was practice( Frankly, the Hobart lines were better than Wesley, but  Hobart was  less athletic in comparison to Wesley). There were some turnovers, but it was more of a beatdown. The Wesley skill players became frustrated and started to give up( like not running after the defender to tackle him after a pick). Don't know if Mount Union is full of supermen or Wesley just lost it early(like the first quarter). Very impressed with the entire Mount Union team , but Wesley made them look like the Seattle Seahawks.  Perfect Storm could be a theory. Very strange and devastating for Wesley fans, especially if anyone drove all the way to Alliance.

[boobyhasgameyo]

Thanks for the analysis Bartman.  +k to you

[wesleydad]

I don't know, but they are down 70-7 with about 12 minutes to go in the 4th.  Complete no show.  Even if playing soft playoff opponents the first 3 weeks made them come out of the gates slow, that should account for maybe the first quarter to adjust.  This is just a beat down, and I don't know why. 

Perhaps Wesleydad will be able to shed some light on what is happening.  I haven't been watching, so maybe it's some sort of perfect storm.

The OLine play of Wesley was atrocious, Callahan was harassed all game . The Dline could not get to Burke ,so he was throwing like it was practice( Frankly, the Hobart lines were better than Wesley, but  Hobart was  less athletic in comparison to Wesley). There were some turnovers, but it was more of a beatdown. The Wesley skill players became frustrated and started to give up( like not running after the defender to tackle him after a pick). Don't know if Mount Union is full of supermen or Wesley just lost it early(like the first quarter). Very impressed with the entire Mount Union team , but Wesley made them look like the Seattle Seahawks.  Perfect Storm could be a theory. Very strange and devastating for Wesley fans, especially if anyone drove all the way to Alliance.

I made the drive and yes it sucked to drive back after that pathetic effort.  Bartman hit it on the head.  They were outplayed and OUT COACHED.  The defense was more brutal than the O line which may be hard to believe.  My friends at Mount told me that this is the best game that Mount has played in a couple of years, but Wesley helped a lot.  The top members on defense were non-existent in the game.  Callahan actually played borderline great based on what he was up against on every play.  I posted on the ACFC board about what I saw in the game if you want to know what I saw.  If the gap is this wide from 1 - 2 to 3 and lower than the playoffs are pretty much a waste of time. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

I don't know, but they are down 70-7 with about 12 minutes to go in the 4th.  Complete no show.  Even if playing soft playoff opponents the first 3 weeks made them come out of the gates slow, that should account for maybe the first quarter to adjust.  This is just a beat down, and I don't know why. 

Perhaps Wesleydad will be able to shed some light on what is happening.  I haven't been watching, so maybe it's some sort of perfect storm.

The OLine play of Wesley was atrocious, Callahan was harassed all game . The Dline could not get to Burke ,so he was throwing like it was practice( Frankly, the Hobart lines were better than Wesley, but  Hobart was  less athletic in comparison to Wesley). There were some turnovers, but it was more of a beatdown. The Wesley skill players became frustrated and started to give up( like not running after the defender to tackle him after a pick). Don't know if Mount Union is full of supermen or Wesley just lost it early(like the first quarter). Very impressed with the entire Mount Union team , but Wesley made them look like the Seattle Seahawks.  Perfect Storm could be a theory. Very strange and devastating for Wesley fans, especially if anyone drove all the way to Alliance.

I made the drive and yes it sucked to drive back after that pathetic effort.  Bartman hit it on the head.  They were outplayed and OUT COACHED.  The defense was more brutal than the O line which may be hard to believe.  My friends at Mount told me that this is the best game that Mount has played in a couple of years, but Wesley helped a lot.  The top members on defense were non-existent in the game.  Callahan actually played borderline great based on what he was up against on every play.  I posted on the ACFC board about what I saw in the game if you want to know what I saw.  If the gap is this wide from 1 - 2 to 3 and lower than the playoffs are pretty much a waste of time.

I, too, am sick of the Stagg being reruns every year.  But I think you are overreacting to one (disastrous for Wesley) game.  JCU gave Mount all they could handle (for the second time this season).  Linfield came awfully close to taking down UWW, as did Wartburg.  Last year Wesley came oh so close to catching Mount, while UMHB did the same to UWW.  Alas, no one has actually DONE it for a number of years.

[Bombers798891]

I have two thoughts about this Wesley thing

1. I'm not sure this game was as stunning as we're making it out to be. A lot of the shock seems to come from the fact that last year, Wesley almost beat them. And they did.

They also:

Allowed 62 points
Were -6 in the turnover department
Committed 11 penalties for 110 yards (3 of which were personal fouls).
Allowed a special teams touchdown, an onside kick recovery, fumbled away a kick return, and had an XP blocked.

I mean, they were bad defensively, a train wreck on special teams, undisciplined, and sloppy with the ball. Aside from the last 45 minutes on offense, there's almost nothing to like. And it's worth pointing out that the Wesley offense didn't get a first down until it was 31-0, and Mount allowed a ton of points the next two weeks as well.

2. Along those lines, how much did we really know about this Wesley team? I heard all the stories you guys did, about how this was the best Wesley team ever, and I believed them because the people who said it knew more than I did about Wesley. But they play just 8 D-III games prior to Mount. Maybe dating all the way back to last year, they just aren't as close as we thought, and we never really were able to get a fix on them this year because they spent half the season playing non-DIII opponents

[@d3jason]

For what it's worth from my prospective on some of the previous comments....

I was never sure all year if this was the best Wesley team all year but it was certainly the deepest. They were definitely a better team than the 2013 edition (despite Saturday.) They did beat some traditionally good, if not elite, programs in Hobart, Thomas More, Salisbury, Rowan and Louisiana College.

I do think that Mount Union is, obviously, much improved over last year and on a mission.  Would love to see them do the same thing to UWW this weekend. (Wishful thinking, I'm sure.) The level of execution I saw on Saturday was the best I have seen in 25-plus years of playing/coaching/watching small college football in a single game.

Wesley isn't the first good team and won't be the last to get crushed by Mount Union.

I will agree with Bartman on the Wesley O-line versus the Bart O-line. However, it wasn't like the Bart O-line was able to consistently run on the Wesley D-line which is deeper and faster than Bart's d-line. (Obviously, Coleman is individually, the best of the bunch.) I know Hartigan was hurt and perhaps if Webb had another year they may have something.

Love reading you guys on this page. Happy Holidays.

[boobyhasgameyo]

Pleasure having you on the board d3Jason! 

Early prediction for next year's championship game:


Mount Union vs. Whitewater

Daring...I know. 

[HScoach]

Pleasure having you on the board d3Jason! 

Early prediction for next year's championship game:


Mount Union vs. Whitewater

Daring...I know.

I agree that UWW/Mount is the historical choice, but with the entire coaching staff leaving UWW and Burke graduating from Mount, I don't think I'd be willing to write that in permanent ink. 

[JS342]

(1) WIAC
(2) Whose #2
NJAC- Wesley Salisbury Rowan CNU Montclair
MIAC- St Thomas St John's Concordia Bethel
OAC- Mount JC Heidelberg
Empire 8 Cortland Fischer Ithaca Brockport Buff State

[lewdogg11]

(1) WIAC
(2) Whose #2
NJAC- Wesley Salisbury Rowan CNU Montclair
MIAC- St Thomas St John's Concordia Bethel
OAC- Mount JC Heidelberg
Empire 8 Cortland Fischer Ithaca Brockport Buff State

I don't think the E8 is in this discussion after last year, but probably will be back in a year.  With the addition of Wesley and Salisbury, I'd give the NJAC the nod, followed by OAC, MIAC, then E8.

[Garnet]

I was watching the Tonight Show last night and Jimmy Fallon was telling Kevin Hart that he needs to get a garbage plate when he is in Rochester.  When I heard this, I thought of this board.

[ITH radio]

Hobart @ Ithaca 9/19/15

[Bombers798891]

Hobart @ Ithaca 9/19/15

Fantastic. These two teams should be playing more frequently. I kind of wish they'd drop Union though. I liked it when IC played the Pennsylvania schools (Lycoming, Kings, Moravian). It was nice to get them back for a bit, but I feel like it's run its course.

[bman]

Hobart @ Ithaca 9/19/15

Fantastic. These two teams should be playing more frequently. I kind of wish they'd drop Union though. I liked it when IC played the Pennsylvania schools (Lycoming, Kings, Moravian). It was nice to get them back for a bit, but I feel like it's run its course.

I would love an E8/MAC challenge.  Of course, the last couple years with the NJAC have been good, in being matched with Rowan here and there...
That's a natural rivalry, both in proximity and in philosophy...and win or lose, it's been fun watching them play. 
Adding Wesley and CNU to the mix in the NJAC as OOC opponents, will be great for the MAC, but certainly will be a hinderance to any match-up with E8 teams...

If MAC fans travel to Ithaca, do we get a complimentary visit to Hot Truck?

[Jonny Utah]

Hobart @ Ithaca 9/19/15

Fantastic. These two teams should be playing more frequently. I kind of wish they'd drop Union though. I liked it when IC played the Pennsylvania schools (Lycoming, Kings, Moravian). It was nice to get them back for a bit, but I feel like it's run its course.

This will settle a lot of "what if" talk too.  I like it, these two schools should be natural rivalries, and should help crowds, and maybe recruiting.