FB: Empire 8

[AUKaz00]

Kaz, Jr. running a fever so there will be no Butterfield for me today.  I'll have to settle for watching the E8 games that affect the NCAA and ECAC bids online instead.

[Upstate]

Fisher is holding teams to 3.4 yards per carry, which is good, but honestly not dominant. I don't know if that is good enough to stop Salisbury, which is getting better than 7 yards per carry combined from their top 3 backs. I like what the Cardinals are doing on offense lately, but this seems like a game where the Gulls could keep them off the field.

SC as a team is averaging 6.8 YPC in games not vs SJF.  SJF held them to 3.1...

I'm not saying SJF is going to do that to SU because of their differences in their option offense but SJF CAN stop the option if they play well... 

Will they? Who knows, they have a history of being hot & cold vs the option.  They either shut it down all together or can't stop it at all...

[Cardinal Pride]

Fisher is holding teams to 3.4 yards per carry, which is good, but honestly not dominant. I don't know if that is good enough to stop Salisbury, which is getting better than 7 yards per carry combined from their top 3 backs. I like what the Cardinals are doing on offense lately, but this seems like a game where the Gulls could keep them off the field.

Springfield was the nations leading rushing offense and Fisher held them to 132 yards total and 3.1 yds per carry.  Springfield is not Salisbury but a great rushing team none the less.

[sjfcards]

Fisher is holding teams to 3.4 yards per carry, which is good, but honestly not dominant. I don't know if that is good enough to stop Salisbury, which is getting better than 7 yards per carry combined from their top 3 backs. I like what the Cardinals are doing on offense lately, but this seems like a game where the Gulls could keep them off the field.

Springfield was the nations leading rushing offense and Fisher held them to 132 yards total and 3.1 yds per carry.  Springfield is not Salisbury but a great rushing team none the less.

Fisher will need to have a great day on both sides of the ball, but I don't think that is different from playing any other top team. Salisbury struggled with Utica for 3 quarters, Fisher blew them out. Ithaca was able to stay with Salisbury as well. Obviously Salisbury has been very impressive the last several weeks, but Fisher has been getting better and better, and has had been impressive the last few weeks as well.

Fisher is the underdog for sure, but they will have a chance today.

[DanPadavona]

The Fisher - Salisbury game has LIVE VIDEO. Go to the Empire 8 TV link and click on it. It says audio only, but they are streaming full video.

[sjfcards]

Great game by Salisbury today. Not much to say other than Fisher got beat by a better team. I am interested to see what SU does in the tournament. They are a tough matchup for teams, and I think they can do well.

[Upstate]

Great game by Salisbury today. Not much to say other than Fisher got beat by a better team. I am interested to see what SU does in the tournament. They are a tough matchup for teams, and I think they can do well.

Yup, SU did what they had to do.  They played efficiently on offense, they went like 9/11 on 3rd down.  That's insane.

However SJF's turnover after turnover to start the game killed any chance they had in knocking off SU.

It's been an unexpected ride for SJF considering their QB situation, if anyone said they'd have a shot at 8-2 with a RB playing QB I would have said no chance in hell that happens.  Good news is that they've got the offense set up nicely for next year with their QB returning from injury.  The O-line will return 4/5 starters and Kramer/Miller return as well. 

Oh well, on to Hartwick & then ECACs (again).

[pg04]

I have a serious question.  Does the fact that southern teams have come into two of the major conferences in the East and won the conference over the past few years (Susquehanna, LL) even further diminish the eastern teams?  Salisbury pretty much had its way with the E8 teams this year. 

[Bombers798891]

Gutless. Absolutely gutless.

Down 7-3, Bombers have their best offensive play of the last two seasons on an 88-yard run down to the 2. On 4th and goal from the one, Welch kicks. And guess what, the Bombers were still trailing when it went through

Do I even need to mention that when Alfred had the same situation, they went for it? And guess what? The Bombers lost. I'm done with the team this season. I have no patience for a coaching staff with so little guts. On your home field, with a 40 year streak of winning seasons on the line, and you kick a ****ing field goal from the one yard line, so you trail 7-6?

Yes, you've struggled in short yardage situations, but if you don't have faith in your team, why even suit them up?

And then in the 4th quarter, you PUNT with five minutes to go, down by nine points? Do you have any pride? 40 years of winning seasons, and you're going to GIVE UP?

Alfred has a 29-year Butterfield losing streak and they played to win. They deserved it and they earned it. Congratulations on a great win.

This isn't on the players, but I hope Ithaca gets pounded next week. I hope Cortland runs it up, beats them by 40 points, storms the field, and celebrates at our 50 yard line. That way the sports information department can't use any "non-losing" seasons crap to bail you out. So you have to start from zero.  I hope that 4-6 sticks with that staff as a reminder of what you get when you play like that. Hang it on the wall of that sparkling waste of money that is the A&E center. Congratulations

[Bombers798891]

I want to say this: Dan Ruffrage deserves a medal. He's carried the offense all season, and today had his third kick/punt return for a touchdown this season. Unreal.

[jmcozenlaw]

An absolutely spectacular finish to the Del Val - Lycoming game. After Lycoming scored a touchdown with a little more than 1:00 left in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 21 - 21, Del Val got the ball back with just 0:58 and marched 54 yards in just 0:45 (against that defense on the road) to take a 28 - 21 lead with 0:13 left on the clock. On the ensuing kickoff, Lycoming had multiple laterals and got down to the Del Val 6 yard line before fumbling.........WHAT A FINISH!!!!

On the final drive, freshman QB Aaron Wilmer completed a 15 yard pass on third and ten, followed that up with a 15 yard pass on first and ten and capped the drive off with an 8 yard run for a touchdown.

Two big differences between the teams in my opinion..........Del Val put up 380 yards of offense against a very good defense on the road (didn't see that coming) while Lycoming had 280 yards of offense.

Del Val freshman QB Aaron Wilmer was 17 - 34 for 263 yards and 2 passing TD's and 1 rushing TD. Klinger was 15 - 28 for just 123 yards and 2 TD's.

The other difference was on the defensive side. Both defenses were solid against the run.......3.3 and 3.7 yards per carry, but the Aggies defense had 5 sacks and several hurries while Lycoming had just 1 sack.

Lycoming has a very good team and is very tough at home. My biggest surprise is that the young Aggies offense, who will be returning everybody of consequence in 2012, scored 28 points and drove down the field in 45 seconds to score a touchdown.

Hats off to both teams........great game. Congrats to the Aggies.......enjoy the ride home, have a great night and let's get ready for Widener. This will be the MAC game of the year.......if not past several years.

I'm proud of you for a great victory!! Shout out to Kate, ZeroMischief and dc21 (better see you next week!!).

Have a great night........the steak will taste that much better at The Freight House in Doylestown tonight!!

[boobyhasgameyo]

I have a serious question.  Does the fact that southern teams have come into two of the major conferences in the East and won the conference over the past few years (Susquehanna, LL) even further diminish the eastern teams?  Salisbury pretty much had its way with the E8 teams this year.

You're always such a Debbie Downer.  Maybe if Salisbury were some crappy Southern team that got their butts handed to them in their region it would diminish things.  They've gone 78-27 since 2002 and that includes 2 seasons in which they had down years.  I think the Alfred laying a complete egg against them did us no favors but from what I saw today Salisbury is a good team but it's not like they are untouchable and a bunch of men amongst boys.  Fisher did a nice job of shooting themselves in the foot early and Salisbury capitalized...that's all.

[DanPadavona]

A sad day today for those of us who have been watching upstate NY football for multiple decades. The Ithaca College Bombers winning season streak is officially over:

http://d3east-football.blogspot.com/2011/11/ithaca-college-bombers-streak-ends.html

The days of watching Jeff Wittman and Michael Scott running wild over opponents, while IC was grabbing two NCAA championships in four years, seems like just yesterday. I used to do radio interviews with Jim Butterfield. It felt like I was talking to Bear Bryant. Honestly I still can't bring myself to read his book, as I think the memories would feel sad for me. I'm still stinging from the loss of my own father.

Congrats to IC for an amazing run. From a Cortland fan...much respect always. It was truly one of the great collegiate football accomplishments over the last 4 decades.

[DanPadavona]

Maybe if Salisbury were some crappy Southern team that got their butts handed to them in their region it would diminish things.  They've gone 78-27 since 2002 and that includes 2 seasons in which they had down years.

This.  +K.

Salisbury was a very good team in Southern Region, and I think they were the odds-on favorite to win the Empire 8 heading into 2011. The Alfred game was a debacle. But come on. The Salisbury games with Ithaca and Fisher were very competitive games, both played in Maryland. Next season the roles reverse.

[wesleydad]

just got back from the salisbury - fisher game.  i would agree that salisbury is the better team, but i am not sure by how much.  fisher moved the ball on 3 drives in the first half inside the 30 and came away with no points, missed or tipped field goal, interception, turn over on downs.  they easliy could have been tied of in the lead at the half.  i will question the field goal attempt, 30 yards into a 25 - 30 mph wind, not sure if it gets there anyway.  was a little confused by the play calling once inside the 30.  kramer is a gutsy kid and does what he is asked well.  i think the big issue was the fact that the fisher d could not get off the field when they needed to.  several 3 and longs and they dont make the stop.  the game got a little chippy with too much pushing and shoving after plays.  my first time seeing fisher and i like a lot of what i saw, big o line and some nice runners and receivers.  they had a chance today, but just didnt get it done.