FB: Empire 8

[northcountrybomber]

do people actually think Hobart is the best team in the region?? Please someone give me an argument defending that claim...because i dont see it...i think all 3 E8 teams, Wilkes, Cortland, and Rowan are better teams than Hobart...not to hate on the LL...but i havent been that impressed...i mean the only two "quality wins" they have are against Dickinson and Alfred...and yet they struggle with teams like Merchant Marine and Worchester Polytech...maybe im missing something here... someone explain this to me

thanks

[theoriginalupstate]

do people actually think Hobart is the best team in the region?? Please someone give me an argument defending that claim...because i dont see it...i think all 3 E8 teams, Wilkes, Cortland, and Rowan are better teams than Hobart...not to hate on the LL...but i havent been that impressed...i mean the only two "quality wins" they have are against Dickinson and Alfred...and yet they struggle with teams like Merchant Marine and Worchester Polytech...maybe im missing something here... someone explain this to me

thanks

I've got no answers for ya, I dont see it either.

They are a good team, but the #1 in the East Region??...

Wilkes/Cortland should be #1 as of right now....

[Tags]

Night crew punching in....

Im one of the most critical fisher fans on here and I think this hating on Coach V. is a little too much.  I never had a problem with him and how he goes about doing things there, the only issue I had there (while being a player and now a fan) is their former OC.  Ive voiced my opinion on him enough so I wont get into that now.  

Coach V is a great recruiter and a great motivator, I turned down a D-II ride in Missouri to go to SJF and I never went into a game unmotivated.

IC, Rowan, Cortland, RPI, Hobart all have games where they just either come out flat or just dont get it done at the end of the day.  SJF does as well, sure it comes at the worst possible time but every team goes through that.  With their recent success comes alot more pressure to succeed and I think they'll be able to over come that just like they overcame being cellar dwellars for years.

The other coaches always have their players ready, Scaccetti has been instrumental to their success.  He's helped this offense have 1000yd rushers for 6 straight seasons I think (Meyers 3x, Robbinson, Reile, Robinson).  Faggiano is from IC, what else really needs to be said?  Seriously though, although he has them in a 4-4 something im not fond of (dont know if thats Faggiano or Voshburg) he does a good job at calling games.

I started the questioning of Vosburgh. Maybe it shouldn't be directed at him, maybe it should be more pointed towards his coordinators - I just feel that the talent is making up for some coaching dropoff... It's just my opinion.

I just question some of the things their doing this year on offense A, and B they were terrible vs. Springfield & made no adjustments. Which leads me to believe they weren't prepared... Just observations, I'm sure others disagree.

[theoriginalupstate]

Night crew punching in....

Im one of the most critical fisher fans on here and I think this hating on Coach V. is a little too much.  I never had a problem with him and how he goes about doing things there, the only issue I had there (while being a player and now a fan) is their former OC.  Ive voiced my opinion on him enough so I wont get into that now.  

Coach V is a great recruiter and a great motivator, I turned down a D-II ride in Missouri to go to SJF and I never went into a game unmotivated.

IC, Rowan, Cortland, RPI, Hobart all have games where they just either come out flat or just dont get it done at the end of the day.  SJF does as well, sure it comes at the worst possible time but every team goes through that.  With their recent success comes alot more pressure to succeed and I think they'll be able to over come that just like they overcame being cellar dwellars for years.

The other coaches always have their players ready, Scaccetti has been instrumental to their success.  He's helped this offense have 1000yd rushers for 6 straight seasons I think (Meyers 3x, Robbinson, Reile, Robinson).  Faggiano is from IC, what else really needs to be said?  Seriously though, although he has them in a 4-4 something im not fond of (dont know if thats Faggiano or Voshburg) he does a good job at calling games.

I started the questioning of Vosburgh. Maybe it shouldn't be directed at him, maybe it should be more pointed towards his coordinators - I just feel that the talent is making up for some coaching dropoff... It's just my opinion.

I just question some of the things their doing this year on offense A, and B they were terrible vs. Springfield & made no adjustments. Which leads me to believe they weren't prepared... Just observations, I'm sure others disagree.

The only question i've had on offense this year is the use of Robinson.  He should be getting the rock at least 25-35 times a game (rush/recieving) and Reile should be in the Slot for the most part when he's not subbing in for Robby.

Im not sure what to make of their Defensive showing vs SC.  Im sure Faggaino had in place a good scheme, considering they've shut their option down the past two meetings.  So im going to question the execution by the players that week.  There isnt much you can do in terms of adjustments when you have to play assignment football.  Clearly the players wern't reading their keys and missing tackles.  You can't put that on the coaches.

[flash83]

cstate19- i saw your sign for 99, your lucky big E didn't go over and pull your hair out !!!!! and she looks like she could!!!!!!!

[Tags]

Upstate-

I fully agree that  Robinson is a back that gets better the more carries he gets. Reile is a weapon that should be used in the slot on quick outs & some reverses, as well as spelling Mark a few times. No way Robinson doesn't touch the ball 30 times a game unless their way behind... That's coaching.

I also somewhat agree with you about the players not executing during the SP game, but there are 2 halves of football... I can't see it for a whole game. Some of that has to be coaching & not making the necessary adjustments.

Another problem I have is that they have been forcing themselves to throw on 3rd & long all year, and they'll pay for that sooner rather than later I'm sure. I'm not saying run every first & second down, but they've been putting themselves in tough spots on 3rd down all year long & thats play calling.

Ok, enough on that I think we've beat that one to death.

[theoriginalupstate]

Upstate-

I fully agree that  Robinson is a back that gets better the more carries he gets. Reile is a weapon that should be used in the slot on quick outs & some reverses, as well as spelling Mark a few times. No way Robinson doesn't touch the ball 30 times a game unless their way behind... That's coaching.

I also somewhat agree with you about the players not executing during the SP game, but there are 2 halves of football... I can't see it for a whole game. Some of that has to be coaching & not making the necessary adjustments.

Another problem I have is that they have been forcing themselves to throw on 3rd & long all year, and they'll pay for that sooner rather than later I'm sure. I'm not saying run every first & second down, but they've been putting themselves in tough spots on 3rd down all year long & thats play calling.

Ok, enough on that I think we've beat that one to death.

SJF's on a bye week so nothing else to talk about on our end....

[gobombers15]

Alf fans, why did the Saxons rely on the pass so much last week against Hobart? Keeley threw the ball 43 times. Given the weather, I thought they would be much more run-oriented. Plus, Newsome had something like 71 yards on 8 carries...why didn't they go to him more? It was a close game throughout but it seems like the abandoned the run?

[Tags]

That's true - we could talk more about the AU-Ithaca game ... Rowan-Cortland, ... Probably could stir up some more conversation on those I'm sure.

[Tags]

Alf fans, why did the Saxons rely on the pass so much last week against Hobart? Keeley threw the ball 43 times. Given the weather, I thought they would be much more run-oriented. Plus, Newsome had something like 71 yards on 8 carries...why didn't they go to him more? It was a close game throughout but it seems like the abandoned the run?

I brought that up last week - Newsome is a horse & the coaches have completely abandoned the running game... For no reason at all it seems.
If anything, running Newsome more would bring the backers up and may loosen things up for Keeley more.

[labart96]

do people actually think Hobart is the best team in the region?? Please someone give me an argument defending that claim...because i dont see it...i think all 3 E8 teams, Wilkes, Cortland, and Rowan are better teams than Hobart...not to hate on the LL...but i havent been that impressed...i mean the only two "quality wins" they have are against Dickinson and Alfred...and yet they struggle with teams like Merchant Marine and Worchester Polytech...maybe im missing something here... someone explain this to me

thanks

Even most Hobart faithful (TGP included) have a hard time believing the #1 ranking.  That said, this year's squad did struggle from the start, but has caught their stride as the season has progressed.

The only reason Bart struggled vs. WPI was b/c Bart's QB had his worst game of the season throwing 3 picks (which were returned for a total of 73 yds).  Bart was up 13-0 at the half but kept shooting themselves in the foot.  Every team has a bad game, the good ones find ways to win even when they stink it up.

MMA was completely dominated by Bart - the final 30-19 score is very misleading due to 2 very late (and basically meaningless) scores (the first with less than 4:30 in the 4th qtr when Bart was already up 30-7 and the 2nd as time expired).  Bart outrushed MMA 326 to 48 yds and held a 36+ to 23 TOP advantage during the game.

Cortland may be a better squad - but who have they beaten?  3-5 Brockport?  Kean (who lost to MMA)?  Wilkes seems to have a better SOS to me.  If CSU beats the Profs, then they really do deserve to get #1 consideration.

TGP will always defer to Rowan based on Bart's past run ins with the Profs.  They remain the Beast of the East until proven otherwise.  Seems like the Montclair loss was a repeat of last season's WPU let down - and the main reason why Rowan isn't #1.

Time will tell, but Bart's win at Alfred may prove to be more impressive than what some folks currently think depending on how the next two weeks play out.  This Saxon team is not the E8 pushovers of days past.  TGP is not saying they will beat IC, but assuming they hang with the bombers for all 4 qtrs, they will deserve some more respect.

[labart96]

Alf fans, why did the Saxons rely on the pass so much last week against Hobart? Keeley threw the ball 43 times. Given the weather, I thought they would be much more run-oriented. Plus, Newsome had something like 71 yards on 8 carries...why didn't they go to him more? It was a close game throughout but it seems like the abandoned the run?

Coach Cragg has almost always had solid run d's during his tenure at Hobart.  This season they have allowed an avg of 100 yds a game on the ground to their opponents (AU finished with 109 net yds rushing vs. Bart on the day).

Bart's secondary on the other hand, is relatively young and untested (and is allowing more than 2x the yardage the rush d allows). 

TGP thinks the AU coaches felt their best chance to win was to attack this young and inexperienced secondary, hence the emphasis on the passing game.

[Tags]

Alf fans, why did the Saxons rely on the pass so much last week against Hobart? Keeley threw the ball 43 times. Given the weather, I thought they would be much more run-oriented. Plus, Newsome had something like 71 yards on 8 carries...why didn't they go to him more? It was a close game throughout but it seems like the abandoned the run?

Coach Cragg has almost always had solid run d's during his tenure at Hobart.  This season they have allowed an avg of 100 yds a game on the ground to their opponents (AU finished with 109 net yds rushing vs. Bart on the day).

Bart's secondary on the other hand, is relatively young and untested (and is allowing more than 2x the yardage the rush d allows). 

TGP thinks the AU coaches felt their best chance to win was to attack this young and inexperienced secondary, hence the emphasis on the passing game.

TGP is correct that they should try to exploit the weak secondary, but 71 yds on 8 carries doesn't really say much for the run defense either. The point is that if you double those carries you aren't so predictable & the secondary is even more exposed.

[labart96]

True - Bart was getting clipped at about a rate of 3.9 per attempt - not great.

TGP thinks the other factor in not sticking with the running game was the 3 fumbles (2 lost) committed by AU.

[Tags]

True - Bart was getting clipped at about a rate of 3.9 per attempt - not great.

TGP thinks the other factor in not sticking with the running game was the 3 fumbles (2 lost) committed by AU.

I'm not talking about AU as a team - I'm talking about Newsome. Newsome averaged 8.9 yds / carry & didn't fumble. Just doesn't make sense from an AU point of view. Worked out great for Hobart.