FB: Empire 8

[Bengalsrule]

I did pretty good on picks last week minus Buff St but I think everyone got that one wrong
Here's this weeks picks for the 3 E8 games:

Hartwick 17
Fisher 38

Ithaca 21
Frostburg 22

Alfred 10
Buff St 24

Not everyone got that 1 wrong!

It should be interesting to see if there is a hangover from UWW for Buff State. All week they would have been hearing how great they are, and looking back on the big win. I am sure Boyes has his team focused, and they will be ready, but big wins can turn out to hurt teams every now and again.

I will go this way for the weekend:

Buff State 31
Alfred U 17

IC 17
Frostburg 24

Fisher 28
Hartwick 21

One more post for 1900...

There are those at 1300 Elmwood who share your sentiment! I am hopeful that the BENGALS will be ready!

And those who shared your sentiment are now saying...."I told you so!". In all my years attending BENGAL football games I have never seen a fan base as confused as those who stayed for the 2nd half of todays game were. The look of "Is this happening???" was the look of the day from 2:15 p.m.....on!
My BENGALS were thoroughly outplayed over the last 27 mins! That is the only way to explain what Alfred did to my beloved BENGALS. No other way to describe it!

    Congrats the those Alfred fans who braved the rain and cold in the first half, including AUpepband who I had the pleasure to meet! Clearly the ride back home will one of pure enjoyment. The team that I saw  beat my BENGALS today looked for real! Best of luck to the Saxons for the rest of the season.

  As far as my BENGALS, who I am as proud of today as ever....they have some work to do. A .500 record after beating the NJAC pre-season favorite and the D3 defending champ and you have zip to show for it.

  #8 Salisbury comes to town next week. I imagine that Coach Boyes will label that game as the "most Important game of the season". I know I would. Hopefully the Buffalo State counselors will be available to help guide our kids through thier identity crisis. There can not be a D3 team, or a football team at any level, that has had more ups and downs this early in the season.

  I'm proud of our boys...my heart goes out to them. They are struggling right now, but they gotta know that they have the talent to compete. The question is are they prepared to compete every week or are they on the Bi- weekly plan? I believe that they will bounce back (and that will never change). Can't wait till next Sat!!!

[Upstate]

You are a class act Bengalsrule +K

[Bengalsrule]

You are a class act Bengalsrule +K

Thank you Upstate!!

[msarge7]

Bengalsrule, I agree with upstate, your posts show you to be a class act.  As a retired coach of 30+ years, let me make one observation.  I always told my players to avoid posting "bulletin board material" for other teams to read.  At the high school level, we had a regional site (Syracuse.com) that the kids were on all the time.  Buff state's win over WW was certainly a big lift to the players and everyone involved at Buff St.  When Andrew Lovell did his interview with the Buff St coach and some selected players for this site,  you have to temper your enthusiasm when you know people around the conference and country will be reading what you have to say.  Even if you're talking about 22 or 23 year old seniors, they're still kids.  The Empire 8 is an excellent conference.  I don't mean to take a quote out of context, but listen to this quote and I think you'll see the point I'm trying to make here.  "I think for alot of guys", quarterback Casey Kacz told Around the East columnist Andrew Lovell, "they might have been just saying it because other guys were saying it, but I think now everyone on the team believes we really can make a run at the national championship, just as long as we take care of our league play first".  I'd bet my retirement check the AU players read this, even if the coaches didn't make mention of it at all.  It's far too early to make a statement like this when you're in a conference like the Empire 8.  I don't mean to be putting down anyone, I just know how the athletes pay close attention to sites like this.  Good luck the rest of the year.  ON SAXON WARRIORS!!

[wesleydad]

bengalsrule, nice post.  do you have any idea what happened to the d after last week?  holding uww to 6 and then giving up 40.  i saw brockport play today and i have no idea how they scored 30+ on buff st a few weeks ago.  the buff st fans must be going crazy trying to figure this out.  good luck next week against salisbury, as you know they have the ability to score some points to, it will take a strong effort by the d to get the win against the gulls.  wesley held them to 7 so they can be contained.  good luck the rest of the year.

[pg04]

bengalsrule, nice post.  do you have any idea what happened to the d after last week?  holding uww to 6 and then giving up 40.  i saw brockport play today and i have no idea how they scored 30+ on buff st a few weeks ago.  the buff st fans must be going crazy trying to figure this out.  good luck next week against salisbury, as you know they have the ability to score some points to, it will take a strong effort by the d to get the win against the gulls.  wesley held them to 7 so they can be contained.  good luck the rest of the year.

How did any of the stuff that happened in the last 4 weeks happen?  Brockport beat Lycoming 24-2, Brockport beat Buffalo State 38-24. Kean lost to Albright, but the Albright lost to Lycoming today. In the east you can't use this week or last week to figure out what will happen next week. Rowan barely beat West Conn. , the worst team in the NJAC by far. What does that mean? Brockport's offense is much better than what they showed today. Lots of stupid penalties, horrible special teams, and bad playcalling (including the most obvious shovel pass I've ever seen). As I said on the NJAC board earlier in the week, I would not be at all surprised to see Kean win. They have a good team and could very easily win the NJAC.

As for Buffalo State, I can't say I'm surprised about the let down.

[fisheralum91]

I am scratching my head today.
Fisher up big- not a real surprise....
Buff St blown out by AU and Bport losing-a surprise.
Not sure what to make of this SatErday, but as they say...Thats why they play the games!

[Saxon73]

bengalsrule, nice post.  do you have any idea what happened to the d after last week?  holding uww to 6 and then giving up 40.  i saw brockport play today and i have no idea how they scored 30+ on buff st a few weeks ago.  the buff st fans must be going crazy trying to figure this out.  good luck next week against salisbury, as you know they have the ability to score some points to, it will take a strong effort by the d to get the win against the gulls.  wesley held them to 7 so they can be contained.  good luck the rest of the year.

Good point Wesleydad, as I speak (write) I count 8 top 25 teams who lost or don't look really convincing.  Surely, some shake up coming in the poll and I would not even hazard a guess as to what is going to come of this.

[Bombers798891]

bengalsrule, nice post.  do you have any idea what happened to the d after last week?  holding uww to 6 and then giving up 40.  i saw brockport play today and i have no idea how they scored 30+ on buff st a few weeks ago.  the buff st fans must be going crazy trying to figure this out.  good luck next week against salisbury, as you know they have the ability to score some points to, it will take a strong effort by the d to get the win against the gulls.  wesley held them to 7 so they can be contained.  good luck the rest of the year.

Is it possible that Buffalo State's defense isn't that good?

Week 1: 31 points, 422 yards allowed
Week 2: 31 points, 533 yards allowed
Week 3: 6 points, 311 yards allowed
Week 4: 33 points, 553 yards allowed

Averages: 25 points, 455 yards.

Maybe, just maybe, the Whitewater game, while not a "fluke" is simply not indicative of the true talent level of the defense. As I pointed out a couple days ago, the defense is overly-reliant on turnovers, and don't rush the passer. We're four weeks into the year, and the defense has allowed 30+ points three times. Not great

[Bengalsrule]

bengalsrule, nice post.  do you have any idea what happened to the d after last week?  holding uww to 6 and then giving up 40.  i saw brockport play today and i have no idea how they scored 30+ on buff st a few weeks ago.  the buff st fans must be going crazy trying to figure this out.  good luck next week against salisbury, as you know they have the ability to score some points to, it will take a strong effort by the d to get the win against the gulls.  wesley held them to 7 so they can be contained.  good luck the rest of the year.

Cant say what was wrong with the BENGALS "D" other than they were outplayed and outhit! The fans "ARE going crazy!" It's the kids that i'm worried about though. Thank goodness my health insurance covers counseling. Gonna need a session or 2 before next Sat. Salisbury's visit!

Bombers798891..It is possible that the BENGALS defense is not that good! I want to believe that coach Boyes will continue to work towards having the BENGALS play a complete game on both sides of the ball. Neither happened today! Give Alfred credit! They were the better team at Coyer field! It wasn't even close!!

Pg04...I won't say that I wasn't surprised by the letdown. I was surprised by how inept my BENGALS were today though!

msarge...interesting take on the BENGALS interviews. I started watching it a couple of days ago but after 7 mins of womens volleyball interviews (and the fact that I was sitting at work) I turned it off! I too agree that comments like that are NOT the smartest way to approach your first E8 game! Or any game! Leave those comments to us 50+ year old prognosticators on D3 boards! 

  I will convey those sentiments on campus this week as I pass some of the football staff during my travels on campus this week.  There's a reason why us old-timers always say... "Let sleeping dogs (saxons) lie"

And thank you msarge, Saxon73 and wesley dad!

[Pat Coleman]

Yeah -- they didn't really say those things on the video, but what is being referenced is the Around the East column from this week.

http://www.d3football.com/columns/around-the-region/east/index

[Jonny Utah]

I'm not really surprised with any of the scored today except for rowan not beatin western conn by more

[Upstate]

Well Fisher is off this week, have two weeks to prepare for Salisbury...

A Salisbury team that has to travel to Buff St next week and then come back up the following week to Fisher...

If Fisher doesn't beat SU under these conditions with this Fisher D, I'm not sure they ever will...

Hopefully Fox comes up with a great game plan, they've struggled vs SU since they started playing them...

[fisheralum91]

Upstate,
I agree.
This is the best case scenerio for Fisher going into the SU game.
Cpl weeks to prepare and heal up too!

[sjfcards]

Everything is set up for Fisher to win. Salisbury is really tough, so Fisher will need all the breaks it can get.