FB: Empire 8

[er1948]

Gb15  don't get me wrong, AU beat Fisher up on both sides of the ball that day, total domination by their line-I was just making the point that one win in three years does not an E8 elite make

[JQV]

Gb15  don't get me wrong, AU beat Fisher up on both sides of the ball that day, total domination by their line-I was just making the point that one win in three years does not an E8 elite make

I am certain it wasn't you, but, seems like some of your fellow Fish fans were making the exact oppossite argument in previous seasons while begging to be recognized as a power in the conference. 

I am not saying Fish isn't good now, but, just noting the irony of how recent success can change a fan base's outlook.

[theoriginalupstate]

I was just making the point that one win in three years does not an E8 elite make

Your reasoning includes SJF, remember they are 1 and whatever vs IC....

[gobombers15]

Oh, I'm not knocking any teams, especially Fisher. I think this year is going to be a very intriguing season. One could argue that each of the top three teams in the league lost their most valuable player. As Upstate mentioned, and I agree with him, Fehrenbach was always the most dangerous player on that offense. I'm not taking anything away from Robinson or their very good O-Line, but Fehrenbach was the game-breaker on that offense. If Fisher didn't have that type of threat at WR, teams would have just stacked the line to stop the run. When they did stack the line, that's when Fehrenbach would hit the home-run; one missed tackle in the secondary and he was gone. Fisher had a good possession WR last year that was a tranfer from Cortland (name escapes me right now) but I'm not sure if he's the same type of WR that Fehrenbach was.

Obviously, this is Fisher's year to host both IC and Springfield (who I think is a sleeper in this conference...never thought I'd call them a sleeper), and if they can hold serve the playoffs are well within their reach.

Bottom line, this is the most balanced this league has been in a long time. At the end of the day, I don't think I'd be very surprised if any of the top three teams took home the auto qualifier. It should be a fun season.

[er1948]

GB15   I agree, but the E8 title still has to go through IC-hope both IC and SJF are undefeated week 4, it should be a great game-lot of questions in Fisherville though, including how to replace a player like Fehrenbach, my SIL

[gobombers15]

GB15   I agree, but the E8 title still has to go through IC-hope both IC and SJF are undefeated week 4, it should be a great game-lot of questions in Fisherville though, including how to replace a player like Fehrenbach, my SIL

I hope you're right about the league going through IC. However, as a fan, I know there are at least three very big questions that must be answered this season:

1) Will whoever it is that replaces Felicetti be effective? Josh was great from the beginning. Part of that was due to who he had around him but, even so, I think he was more of the exception than the rule in regards to how well he played as a freshman. I'm not sure this team as much around the new QB (be it Juvan or whomever) to allow him to just kind of coast like Felicetti was able to. The league is no longer set up so that our QB can have a few "learning" games and still be able to count on seeing Ithaca in the playoffs.

2) How much better will the defense be over last year? No doubt in my mind that it will be better, but it needs to MUCH better if Ithaca is going to be relevant in the national picture. Last year was an outlier and I don't think we'll see too many more Ithaca defenses put up such poor numbers. If there is a lot of improvement, Ithaca will be a tough team to beat. On the bright side, most of the defense was pretty young last year. Unfortunately, a couple key contributors (LB's), have moved on.

I don't think IC will have such a quick-strike offense as they did last year. I think we can expect to see more ball-control this season which should keep the defense off the field a little more. Speaking of the running game...

3) Is Donovan going to be healthy? We saw what he can do when he is. He was a beast during his sophomore year. It was too bad that he was injured from training camp through the playoffs, last season. Baez is an effective back, but will be even better if Donovan can return to form.

[tecmobowler]

I'm glad someone chimed in on the lampooning of Alfred by some of the Fisher folks.  Fisher has been strong for two years, hardly a dynasty.. though with their facilities it seems as if they should keep improving.

I'd like to chime in on gobombers questions:

1) Will whoever it is that replaces Felicetti be effective?

Yes.  I was talking with a former Cortland coach who knows Juvan pretty well, and feels that the kid is, without a doubt, the real deal.  From everything I've heard he has a solid head on his shoulders as well.  Will be interesting to see how the departure of the offensive coordinator effects things.  One would have to think the option will work its way back into the offense.  Again, the kid from Nisky seems to be darn legit as well.  Things to look forward to.

2) How much better will the defense be over last year?

Time will tell.  I'm confident they'll reload at LB.  A healthy secondary, and a pass rush would go a really, really long way.  Will be interesting to see what side of the ball big K. Mohammed will be playing on this year.

3.)  Is Donovan going to be healthy?

I wouldn't bet the season on it.  The consensus answer of "what's hurting on Donavan" last year was "everything."  The kid is flat out banged up.  Baez sure came a long way last year, after being a forgotten man during last year's preseason.

[maninorangehat]

GB15,

It will be interesting to see how the cards do w/o Fehrenbach... but I have to say I'm pretty nervous about the bombers losing 3 big time receivers in Espo, Canestrari, and O'Hara.

It will be interesting to see Kelly Gordon get some more touches and also the Freshman Kyle Crandall that we got a sneak peak at last year on kick returns. 

Juvan is LEEEEEEGIT!  He may run for 10 TD's and throw for 20 this year.

[Reno Hightower]

TASTE IT

[gobombers15]

I have no problem with the option returning so long as we have the personnel to run it. It was painful to watch Brian Young and Felicetti try to run it. We'd run it about 15 times a year it seemed like, and it was always at a critical juncture. Case in point, running the option on a 3rd and 6 inside your own 10-yard line, with Brian Young, late in the 4th Qtr, in a steady rain, with muddy field conditions, up 5 points against Cortland. That was the 2000 Jug game. Easily, one of the worst calls I have seen in the history of competitive sports. I can almost guarantee that Angelico had that tape destroyed; he must have or else he probably wouldn't have been hired anywhere else. The fumble to cap that play off was a perfect ending to such a horrible play-call. Luckily IC's defense held. Julian Forbes and McDonough were beasts.

It seems like Juvan and Baez would be a good combo to run the option with. However, a lot depends on how athletic the linemen are. You can have the most skilled QB and RB around, but if your lineman can't get down the line to block, your QB  is going to take a lot of hits and bad things will happen.

Thanks for the updates on my questions, Tecmo and OrangeHat. I think the WR position will be fine. It seems like this is always how it works. We get worried when a good group of WR's leaves, but someone always steps in; usually players that showed promise during their underclassmen years. Gordon is an electric player and I think the offense will run a lot of plays that will put him in the position to make things happen after he catches the ball (WR screens, bubble screens, slants). Also, I think Crandall will be a solid #2 target for now, and come on in his junior and senior years to become "the guy." Heenehan also showed some promise in limited time. He had 10 receptions last year, which isn't bad for being something like Felicetti's 10th target. And it's a guarantee that we'll get something out our TE's. Both Oertel and Lebanski return this year. Between the TE's, Gordon, Crandall, Heenehan, and, inevitably, the RB's catching balls out of the backfield, Ithaca's passing game should be fine. We certainly don't have the athletes we had last year in O'Hara and Espo, but this crop will be fine. I also thought we were in trouble when we lost both Marks and McCaffrey in the same year, but things turned out for the best.

[JQV]

I have no problem with the option returning so long as we have the personnel to run it. It was painful to watch Brian Young and Felicetti try to run it.

If you don't think BY was enough of an athlete to run the option you have your head up your ass.  This is the kind of god awful analysis you would expect to hear on the Gridiron Report from a kid that never played football. 

[gobombers15]

I have no problem with the option returning so long as we have the personnel to run it. It was painful to watch Brian Young and Felicetti try to run it.

If you don't think BY was enough of an athlete to run the option you have your head up your ass. This is the kind of god awful analysis you would expect to hear on the Gridiron Report from a kid that never played football.

Jose, where did I say that Young, individually, was not an athlete enough to run the option. Obviously he's a good athlete or he wouldn't be playing football for a team that is always in the top 25. I'm pretty sure later on in that same post, a part that you conveniently left out, I said that you can have a very athletic QB and RB and it still won't work if you don't have the linemen to run it.

In both years I saw BY play, anytime they ran the option it looked pretty awful. Are you disagreeing with that assessment. I bet if we went back and looked at game logs of his junior and senior year, Ithaca lost yards more times than they gained yards when running the option. We weren't watching the same games if you think the option was a successful play in IC's playbook from 2000-05.

The play was atrociously slow in developing. I'm not saying it's Young's fault. Maybe a better way of phrasing it is "the option looked bad while Young and Felicetti were the quarterbacks." I think Felicetti is a good athlete. I think Young was a good athlete. But I don't think you can dispute my argument that the option did not and has not looked good over the last six seasons. The only good thing that ever came out of any form of the option was the Freeze Option during Cortaca '01 where Young stepped back and it Marks down the sideline for the winning TD.

It's good to see everyone is working on twisting people's arguments around. That's a good tool to have when the season rolls around. Good to see you're perfecting the NJAC art of taking a completely objective post and turning it into a hostile one.

[tecmobowler]

Pretty much the only good thing about the option in the last five years was when we'd fake it right, then chuck it down the field.

[Jonny Utah]

you cant run the option out of the pro offense that Ithaca runs.

The key to this year will be ICs defense.  The offense will be fine.

[TecmoYellowHat]

you cant run the option out of the pro offense that Ithaca runs.

The key to this year will be ICs defense.  The offense will be fine.

I think ithaca should just run with the wishbone every play.  They usually get about 5 yards each time they run it.  It would be a nice way to control the game.