FB: Empire 8

[DanPadavona]

It is really starting to annoy dlip.

Color DP annoyed too.

[rams1102]

Dan / Dlip,

Don't take this as a knock on Del Val, but they will not be a #1 Seed in the East even if they beat Widner, IMHO. I feel the NCAA will go with St. Thomas(W), MHB(S), MU(E), and UWW(N). My thoughts on the East as of this moment :

1. Mount Union
2. Del Val
3. Salisbury
4. Montclair / Kean
5. LL
6. Pool "C"  (MAC, E8, NJAC)
7.NEFC
8. Norwich

I don't want MU in the East, but I think we have to live with it for the time being.

[Upstate]

The NEFC rep and Norwich are well beyond the 500 Mile mark for UMU...

[Ithaca84]

Bombers you are correct my friend....
               What I have witnessed this Bombers season and in recent Seasons has been Gutless in terms of game management. I understand the personel has not been there of late but you play the game to win. Right?   Field Goal from the one?? Totally spinless call. Let the kids try at least. What if they made the TD? Changes the game.."Wouldn't that be fun!" to quote the legend...

The Kids play thier hearts out week in and week out and deserve the chance to win. At least the opportunity to try. Bombers coaching, and I hate to say it, is failing the kids.

[DanPadavona]

The NEFC rep and Norwich are well beyond the 500 Mile mark for UMU...

True, but the perceived seeding means very little when it comes to first round playoff matches. They could send the NEFC rep and Norwich to play Salisbury and Del Valley, and have Mount Union beat up on the LL champion. Rams might be on to something, but I still think DV gets the #1 seed if they win out.

[Saxon73]

"I have come to praise Ithaca, not to ...."

The ICTV coverage of the game yesterday was absolutely the best I have ever seen on the Internet.  The Communications school can be very proud of what it is doing!

As far as Alfred goes, from yesterday's broadcast, if anyone stayed around, there were interviews of TJ Kilcarr and Austin Dwyer by the IC commentators.  These two young men, in their comments, exhibited an excellent representation of AU.  This is a great thing for D3 football in total and could not have been possible without the excellent job done by ICTV.

I am not only proud of AU but Ithaca as well, as my niece who is also my god-daughter, is an IC grad.   

[Upstate]

The NEFC rep and Norwich are well beyond the 500 Mile mark for UMU...

True, but the perceived seeding means very little when it comes to first round playoff matches. They could send the NEFC rep and Norwich to play Salisbury and Del Valley, and have Mount Union beat up on the LL champion. Rams might be on to something, but I still think DV gets the #1 seed if they win out.

Yeah I can see the #6 seed becoming the "#8 seed" for  logistical purposes, the East isn't getting a pool C unless all hell breaks loose next week.  I can see Thomas Moore from the PAC (267 miles) being sent East to go up vs UMU to fill out the bracket.

[rams1102]

The NEFC rep and Norwich are well beyond the 500 Mile mark for UMU...

True, but the perceived seeding means very little when it comes to first round playoff matches. They could send the NEFC rep and Norwich to play Salisbury and Del Valley, and have Mount Union beat up on the LL champion. Rams might be on to something, but I still think DV gets the #1 seed if they win out.

I think the NCAA is looking for the Top (4) teams.  If Del Val wins out you may make a case at #10, but not higher. IMHO and not a knock on Del Val. You know I am a Montclair homer and I think we were at #8, I think. To be honest, don't think we deserved to be there.

[SUADC]

Went to the Salisbury vs. St. John Fisher game yesterday. I saw a good St. John Fisher team lose to a better Salisbury team. Many argue that the game could have been closer due to St. John Fisher shooting themselves in their foot. I believe Salisbury made the big plays and when they needed to convert on third down, they did. Also, when St. John Fisher had that spurt at the end of the game, Salisbury nip that in the bud quick, to finalize the game. On another note, I saw a talented quarterback at St. John Fisher make some plays, he is very talented. However, Salisbury as a team is very talented. Salisbury kick-off team was kind of suspect (even though it was windy), but St. John Fisher seemed as though to start at their own forty every possession. Salisbury defense was able to play great defense with their back against the wall majority of the time. I believe if Salisbury would have had a better day on special teams (e.g. kick-off) the game would have been worst. Nevertheless, St. John Fisher was by far the best E-8 opponent Salisbury has face this season, again was very impress by St. John Fisher quarterback, Defense not so much.

[SUADC]

St. John Fisher @ Salisbury - Salisbury pulling away in second half. Salisbury by 21.
Springfield @ Utica - Utica not being able to stop the run game (Still Close). Springfield by 10.
Alfred @ Ithaca - Toss Up, whichever quarterback plays better. Ithaca by 3.
Hartwick @ Frostburg State - Passing teams: whoever runs most effectively. Frostburg by 7.

These were my picks also for this past week E-8 games, I think I did well.

[Bombers798891]

Bombers you are correct my friend....
               What I have witnessed this Bombers season and in recent Seasons has been Gutless in terms of game management. I understand the personel has not been there of late but you play the game to win. Right?   Field Goal from the one?? Totally spinless call. Let the kids try at least. What if they made the TD? Changes the game.."Wouldn't that be fun!" to quote the legend...

More to the point, what do you lose by not getting it? 7-6 doesn't mean anything. Alfred would be backed up at their half yard line. Against Utica, this got them a safety. Just makes no sense to me. Are you trying to win the game 9-7?

[Jonny Utah]

Bombers you are correct my friend....
               What I have witnessed this Bombers season and in recent Seasons has been Gutless in terms of game management. I understand the personel has not been there of late but you play the game to win. Right?   Field Goal from the one?? Totally spinless call. Let the kids try at least. What if they made the TD? Changes the game.."Wouldn't that be fun!" to quote the legend...

More to the point, what do you lose by not getting it? 7-6 doesn't mean anything. Alfred would be backed up at their half yard line. Against Utica, this got them a safety. Just makes no sense to me. Are you trying to win the game 9-7?

I didn't see the game but being down by 1 point instead of 4 can be big if you need a FG to win it at the end of the game.  From a strategy standpoint going for the FG was the right move in my opinion. 

But they would have won the game if they went for it.  Your season is basically on the line at that point.  Call a time out, get fired up and score the TD.

[Bombers798891]

Bombers you are correct my friend....
               What I have witnessed this Bombers season and in recent Seasons has been Gutless in terms of game management. I understand the personel has not been there of late but you play the game to win. Right?   Field Goal from the one?? Totally spinless call. Let the kids try at least. What if they made the TD? Changes the game.."Wouldn't that be fun!" to quote the legend...

More to the point, what do you lose by not getting it? 7-6 doesn't mean anything. Alfred would be backed up at their half yard line. Against Utica, this got them a safety. Just makes no sense to me. Are you trying to win the game 9-7?

I didn't see the game but being down by 1 point instead of 4 can be big if you need a FG to win it at the end of the game.  From a strategy standpoint going for the FG was the right move in my opinion. 

But they would have won the game if they went for it.  Your season is basically on the line at that point.  Call a time out, get fired up and score the TD.

To me, how they got there is why I didn't like it. An 86 yard run, the longest play in a few years, and you don't try to punch it in?

[dewcrew88]

I'm not a debbie downer.  I was asking a serious question. Get past the colored glasses of your own region and think outside of it. 

Games vs. E8:  21-7, 70-45, 65-23, 69-0, 61-14, 41-21. 

A lot of impressive scores, there.  Look at the scores vs. the 2 other teams in D3 they played (yes, I realize one of them is Wesley and the other is a 7-2 team) and it's not as impressive.  Just asking how people outside might look at this. 

*Removed the possibly inflammatory statement 

How bad is the E-8 this year? A team with a RB playing QB has a shot at 8-2...

It's a horrible year for the E-8 this year, this isn't knocking SU at all.  They've came in and whipped them and proved they're a damn good team...

There has been some absolute horrid QB play this year in the E-8, the best QB coming into this year in the E-8 isn't even playing anymore for AU...

The E8 isn't having a bad year at all... last I checked, six of the eight teams have winning records, the only ones that don't are Ithaca and Hartwick, and IC could be 5-5 with a win against Cortland.
That's not a bad year, that's parity at its core and it's a reason why UMU comes to the East every year.

[Bombers798891]

The E8 isn't having a bad year at all... last I checked, six of the eight teams have winning records, the only ones that don't are Ithaca and Hartwick, and IC could be 5-5 with a win against Cortland.
That's not a bad year, that's parity at its core and it's a reason why UMU comes to the East every year.

Actually, it's 5 of the 8 (Frostburg is 4-5)

However, that said, which of these teams impresses you? Utica, Frostburg and Springfield are terrible defensively. Ithaca and Hartwick can't score. Alfred is nowhere near the team they were last season and has had a number of games where they just don't seem to be focused (Six turnovers against Fisher? Allowing Frostburg to score two TD's in what, 43 seconds at the end of the half? Not even showing up against Salisbury?)

There are only two teams that I would put at above average. The rest are, in my view, just filler