FB: Empire 8

[AlfredSaxon8]

Time for E8 "fact or myth"

1.  SJF does not have the firepower to shock anyone offensively like they usually do.

2.  Ithaca can win next week and 1 or 2 playoff games based on defense and special teams alone.

3.  Alfred has turned their season around and just might be the best team in the league.

4.  Hartwick can beat anyone at home in any given year.

5.  Frostburg State is going to be average for a long time.

6.  Salisbury has lost it's mojo.

7.  Utica has "arrived"

1. Fiction-- They're still averaging more than 30 PPG. They may not have 50-point capability, but it's a very good offense.

2. Fact-- I've said it before and I'll say it again: Stop kicking to Ithaca's return unit. They are better than your coverage unit

3. Fiction-- You can't ignore the Ithaca game. The Bombers dominated it. Unless the Bombers lose to Salisbury, they're #1

4. Fact-- But they're still not very good.

5. Fiction-- This would require an improvement. They've won more than three games only once since 2005.

6. Fact- This is the second straight year they've regressed

7. Fiction-- Forever and always

Fact and fiction? What happened to fact or myth? Just kidding!

Looks like AU is hopefully making up for some inconsistent play early in the season. With a freshman QB, the Saxons could have a bright future. The RPI loss hurts them for the Pool C bid so heres to hoping we win out and the Gulls can one up the Bombers. But a 9-2 Saxons could still end up in the playoffs for sure.

IC can claim the E8 with a win against the Gulls next week. If they lose and AU beats UC and Fisher, the Saxons will get the AQ. If IC loses and AU drops 1 of 2, the Gulls get the AQ. Never a dull moment!

[AUPepBand]

Time for E8 "fact or myth"

1.  SJF does not have the firepower to shock anyone offensively like they usually do.

2.  Ithaca can win next week and 1 or 2 playoff games based on defense and special teams alone.

3.  Alfred has turned their season around and just might be the best team in the league.

4.  Hartwick can beat anyone at home in any given year.

5.  Frostburg State is going to be average for a long time.

6.  Salisbury has lost it's mojo.

7.  Utica has "arrived"

8. Buffalo State has risen from the dead and now can walk on water.

1. Myth. Fisher has the firepower. It's more of a shock if they DON'T put up big numbers.

2. Myth. The Bombers will need the offense to continue its consistent, error-free, clock-killing "little play" point production to earn an NCAA playoff win or two.

3. Myth. AU has matured, for sure, but so has Ithaca, and the Saxons still must prove they're better than Utica and Fisher, no small task.

4. Myth. Any team can have a bad day when playing in a cage hanging on the side of a hill. 

5. Myth. Frostburg State has gone 4-15 in the E8. That's below average.

6. Myth. The Sea Gulls' mojo was neutralized by a potion placed in their food at the Collegiate Restaurant when they dined there Friday night. The potion wears off in about 24 hours.

7. Myth. In the Empire 8, assuming "arrived" means the destination being settling in at the top of the heap, is there really any team that has "arrived"? Pep doesn't think so.

8. Myth. But the Bengals have rebuilt their confidence after back-to-back heart-breakers to Ithaca and Alfred and are not an easy out.

On Saxon Warriors!

[AUPepBand]

Time for E8 "fact or myth"

1.  SJF does not have the firepower to shock anyone offensively like they usually do.

2.  Ithaca can win next week and 1 or 2 playoff games based on defense and special teams alone.

3.  Alfred has turned their season around and just might be the best team in the league.

4.  Hartwick can beat anyone at home in any given year.

5.  Frostburg State is going to be average for a long time.

6.  Salisbury has lost it's mojo.

7.  Utica has "arrived"

1. Fiction-- They're still averaging more than 30 PPG. They may not have 50-point capability, but it's a very good offense.

2. Fact-- I've said it before and I'll say it again: Stop kicking to Ithaca's return unit. They are better than your coverage unit

3. Fiction-- You can't ignore the Ithaca game. The Bombers dominated it. Unless the Bombers lose to Salisbury, they're #1

4. Fact-- But they're still not very good.

5. Fiction-- This would require an improvement. They've won more than three games only once since 2005.

6. Fact- This is the second straight year they've regressed

7. Fiction-- Forever and always

Fact and fiction? What happened to fact or myth? Just kidding!

Looks like AU is hopefully making up for some inconsistent play early in the season. With a freshman QB, the Saxons could have a bright future. The RPI loss hurts them for the Pool C bid so heres to hoping we win out and the Gulls can one up the Bombers. But a 9-2 Saxons could still end up in the playoffs for sure.

IC can claim the E8 with a win against the Gulls next week. If they lose and AU beats UC and Fisher, the Saxons will get the AQ. If IC loses and AU drops 1 of 2, the Gulls get the AQ. Never a dull moment!

8! Best AU can finish is 8-2. And that won't be good enough for a Pool C, IPHO. In Pep's mind, the "playoffs" have already begun for AU as the Saxons must win out to even have a shot. Saxons must now focus on Utica, a team that last year introduced AU to a central New York woodshed...and it wasn't pretty!

[Saxon73]

It was very impressive to me how the Saxons handled the excellent punting game of the Gulls.  They were pinned down deep in Saxon territory, all too often.

Also, we made all the PAT's and a field goal.  Very well done by the Saxons ! 

[Bombers798891]

I love this E8 season, with the drama going all the way to the end, and three teams still in play for the E8 AQ. With that in mind, here are my rankings:

1. Ithaca-- Salisbury has looked more dominant at times in conference, and has played the tougher schedule. But I think this is a justified ranking given some of Salisbury's recent offensive issues. At the end of the day, I think Ithaca's got an equally good defense and their special teams unit is flat out dominating. The Wick loss looks bad now, but I think it's forgotten that that was the game Neumann played hurt before leaving for the season. It doesn't excuse it, but it might make that offensive performance an outlier.

2. Alfred-- The Saxons, despite their usual struggles on the Ithaca grass, are playing very well. The offense has produced against everyone but the Bombers, and they've fixed the turnover machine. I think a Pool C is a pipe dream, given that the OOC isn't great, but if they can get some help, they could be interesting in the playoffs.

3. Salisbury-- I think the Gulls could clearly beat Ithaca next weekend, but the Bombers' success against them means they don't get the benefit of the doubt IMO. The offense is struggling.

4. Fisher-- Tough season for the Cardinals, and they're still good, but I think the three teams with a shot at the AQ deserve the top 3 spots (I guess there's a possibility that Fisher wins some weird 4-way tie, but I'm not doing that math)

5. Buffalo State-- The Bengals offense is back again, but the Bengals are the definition of average: They beat the teams they are better than, but lose to everyone better than they are (I guess maybe Brockport's better)

6. Utica-- Tough loss for the Pioneers, who for some reason, never went for the tie against Fisher. Three very tough conference losses. The Pioneers could be 5-3 easily, but once we start playing that game for everyone, it gets messy. Their best win is quite possibly a 2-6 Union.

7. Team Boltus-- Look, the Ithaca win is really impressive but they've also been blown out a lot. I think they lose to Utica in two weeks

8. Frostburg- I give them credit for a gutsy defensive effort in a really tough road game. But 1-7 speaks for itself. What happened to this offense

[AlfredSaxon8]

Time for E8 "fact or myth"

1.  SJF does not have the firepower to shock anyone offensively like they usually do.

2.  Ithaca can win next week and 1 or 2 playoff games based on defense and special teams alone.

3.  Alfred has turned their season around and just might be the best team in the league.

4.  Hartwick can beat anyone at home in any given year.

5.  Frostburg State is going to be average for a long time.

6.  Salisbury has lost it's mojo.

7.  Utica has "arrived"

1. Fiction-- They're still averaging more than 30 PPG. They may not have 50-point capability, but it's a very good offense.

2. Fact-- I've said it before and I'll say it again: Stop kicking to Ithaca's return unit. They are better than your coverage unit

3. Fiction-- You can't ignore the Ithaca game. The Bombers dominated it. Unless the Bombers lose to Salisbury, they're #1

4. Fact-- But they're still not very good.

5. Fiction-- This would require an improvement. They've won more than three games only once since 2005.

6. Fact- This is the second straight year they've regressed

7. Fiction-- Forever and always

Fact and fiction? What happened to fact or myth? Just kidding!

Looks like AU is hopefully making up for some inconsistent play early in the season. With a freshman QB, the Saxons could have a bright future. The RPI loss hurts them for the Pool C bid so heres to hoping we win out and the Gulls can one up the Bombers. But a 9-2 Saxons could still end up in the playoffs for sure.

IC can claim the E8 with a win against the Gulls next week. If they lose and AU beats UC and Fisher, the Saxons will get the AQ. If IC loses and AU drops 1 of 2, the Gulls get the AQ. Never a dull moment!

8! Best AU can finish is 8-2. And that won't be good enough for a Pool C, IPHO. In Pep's mind, the "playoffs" have already begun for AU as the Saxons must win out to even have a shot. Saxons must now focus on Utica, a team that last year introduced AU to a central New York woodshed...and it wasn't pretty!

Ahhh good catch, Pep! Youre right on. I think the IC game would have been a small hiccup but that RPI loss might put them on the outside.

Strange to think the E8 has had 3 teams in the playoffs before and will very likely only have 1 this year.

[Saxon73]

Utica arrived and last years Saxon Woodshed ..hmmmm

Although UC almost beat SJF one game "does not an arrival make"  With a 3 - 5 overall record, even wins over Union and St Larry don't look all that great.  Yes UC has played E8 teams at or near the " Top " to the tune of 1 - 4

As far as last years's Woodshed, one would certainly agree looking at the final score.  However I seem to recall some serious AU injuries in the game.

I did some looking and will put these numbers out and hope all the numbers are correct, along with the above numbers.  Any mistakes are not intention and  mean't to be correct.

Sopak, starting QB had 8 passes and no rushes. I think he got hurt and Enslin replaced him with 18 passes and 7 rushes. I guess this would indicate Sopak had limited time on the field.

Dwyer had 3 rushes and 1 reception.

Beckwith had 4 rushes and 1 reception.

The players who appear to be "replacements" showed higher numbers in these categories.

If I have been accurate, last year's Saxons could have been much different than the Box Score may indicate v UC but, a win is a win.

Again, this information has been submitted with real effort for accuracy and I have tried to be unbiased as I grew up just outside of Utica and did attend AU.

[boobyhasgameyo]

Odd bit of officiating at the end of the UC-SJF game.  SJF third and 25 own 39.
UC calls time out with 50 seconds to go.  SJF then gets stuffed for a 2-yd loss leaving @ 42 sec left on the clock with the ball on their own 37,
AND DOES NOT HAVE TO SNAP THE BALL AGAIN?  THE PLAY CLOCK NEVER EVEN RAN.
I'm not saying Utica could have won the game with the few seconds they should have had with the ball, and as I said earlier today, they
squandered other chances, but the final chance should have been there for them.
But, hey, Bombers#######, I guess we won't sweat it because it's JUST UTICA, who will FOREVER AND ALWAYS be on the outside looking in.
Sound about right, everyone?

The entire officiating crew was garbage yesterday.  I had no idea what happened at the end of the game.  Personally I gave up on them after about 5 blatant no calls, including Utica's first touchdown where the wide receiver literally pushed Fisher's defensive back out of the way to grab the ball.  It was one of the worst no calls I've ever seen.  But yeah Fisher would have punted the ball with 2 seconds left had the play clock started. 

In that scenario couldn't Fisher just punt it out of bounds?  Or can the game not end in that fashion?  Or instead of punting on 4th down with the two seconds you could snap the ball back to the qb and he can run around like a mad man for a couple of seconds in the backfield and then fall to the ground.  I just don't think Utica was going to see the ball again no matter what.   

[AUPepBand]

Utica arrived and last years Saxon Woodshed ..hmmmm

Although UC almost beat SJF one game "does not an arrival make"  With a 3 - 5 overall record, even wins over Union and St Larry don't look all that great.  Yes UC has played E8 teams at or near the " Top " to the tune of 1 - 4

As far as last years's Woodshed, one would certainly agree looking at the final score.  However I seem to recall some serious AU injuries in the game.

I did some looking and will put these numbers out and hope all the numbers are correct, along with the above numbers.  Any mistakes are not intention and  mean't to be correct.

Sopak, starting QB had 8 passes and no rushes. I think he got hurt and Enslin replaced him with 18 passes and 7 rushes. I guess this would indicate Sopak had limited time on the field.

Dwyer had 3 rushes and 1 reception.

Beckwith had 4 rushes and 1 reception.

The players who appear to be "replacements" showed higher numbers in these categories.

If I have been accurate, last year's Saxons could have been much different than the Box Score may indicate v UC but, a win is a win.

Again, this information has been submitted with real effort for accuracy and I have tried to be unbiased as I grew up just outside of Utica and did attend AU.

73: Pep was at the woodshed last year in Utica. On the Saxons' initial possession, they lost their leading WR (Phillips) to a concussion, lost Beckwith to a knee injury, then on the one play that went for a sizable gain and set up a missed field goal attempt, they lost both their starting QB Sopak and Dwyer to injuries. Both were taken to the hospital after somewhat of a delay when the ambulance was stuck in the mud. AU lost the bulk of its skills players on the first drive. It was like the team had to reinvent itself offensively in the midst of a game. With an offense limited by injury, the defense spent most of the day on the field, not an easy task with Benkwitt throwing the ball 37 times. Aside from all that adversity, the Saxons had only the week before fought hard at Salisbury, MD in a disheartening 24-21 loss.

Pep is thinking that teams (aside perhaps from UMU or UMHB and a few others) can suffer mid-season letdown from week-to-week dependent upon the previously week's results. It was a pretty dejected Buffalo State team that left Yunevich Stadium Oct 5, after a 2OT loss to AU only a week after having the thrill of victory snatched from their grasp by Ithaca. Pep is thinking that AU had some of that letdown when they traveled to Utica last year.

On Saxon Warriors!

[boobyhasgameyo]

Another note from yesterday's game - Fisher fumbled the ball on the Utica 1 yard line in the second half.  Utica recovered and brought it out to the 20.  It could have cost us the game.  Last week at Ithaca, Fisher fumbled the ball at the Ithaca 1 yard line.  Gain that extra yard and Fisher wins that game.  The week before against Salisbury on the first possession of the second half we threw an interception from our own 20 yard line and Salisbury took over in the redzone. 

These types of turnovers are such killers.  Some teams like to have your every day average type of turnover where maybe you do it at midfield.  Not Fisher, we like to make it sting extra hard when we do it.   

[AUPepBand]

Pep will be interested to see whether AU's win over Salisbury will vault the Bombers (7-1) into the Top 25. When was the last time Ithaca was on that coveted list?

On Saxon Warriors!

[ITH radio]

It would be nice to see some other team in the Top 25 from East that was from north of DE/MD.  IC deserves it IMO.  Guessing they come in around 23 or 22.

[Upstate]

Another note from yesterday's game - Fisher fumbled the ball on the Utica 1 yard line in the second half.  Utica recovered and brought it out to the 20.  It could have cost us the game.  Last week at Ithaca, Fisher fumbled the ball at the Ithaca 1 yard line.  Gain that extra yard and Fisher wins that game.  The week before against Salisbury on the first possession of the second half we threw an interception from our own 20 yard line and Salisbury took over in the redzone. 

These types of turnovers are such killers.  Some teams like to have your every day average type of turnover where maybe you do it at midfield.  Not Fisher, we like to make it sting extra hard when we do it.

If it hasn't been undisciplined penalties it's been back breaking turnovers that have plagued Fisher from being a really good team...

They really play too loose at times on both sides of the ball...

If they can run the table they can put up a respectable 8-2 record and an ECAC game. They had a bit of offseason turmoil, had a lot to turnover in the defensive secondary and broke in a new QB, who I think has another year of eligibility...

If Fenti comes back it's not a bad year considering what took place...

[AUKaz00]

I love this E8 season, with the drama going all the way to the end, and three teams still in play for the E8 AQ. With that in mind, here are my rankings:

1. Ithaca-- Salisbury has looked more dominant at times in conference, and has played the tougher schedule. But I think this is a justified ranking given some of Salisbury's recent offensive issues. At the end of the day, I think Ithaca's got an equally good defense and their special teams unit is flat out dominating. The Wick loss looks bad now, but I think it's forgotten that that was the game Neumann played hurt before leaving for the season. It doesn't excuse it, but it might make that offensive performance an outlier.

2. Alfred-- The Saxons, despite their usual struggles on the Ithaca grass, are playing very well. The offense has produced against everyone but the Bombers, and they've fixed the turnover machine. I think a Pool C is a pipe dream, given that the OOC isn't great, but if they can get some help, they could be interesting in the playoffs.

3. Salisbury-- I think the Gulls could clearly beat Ithaca next weekend, but the Bombers' success against them means they don't get the benefit of the doubt IMO. The offense is struggling.

4. Fisher-- Tough season for the Cardinals, and they're still good, but I think the three teams with a shot at the AQ deserve the top 3 spots (I guess there's a possibility that Fisher wins some weird 4-way tie, but I'm not doing that math)

5. Buffalo State-- The Bengals offense is back again, but the Bengals are the definition of average: They beat the teams they are better than, but lose to everyone better than they are (I guess maybe Brockport's better)

6. Utica-- Tough loss for the Pioneers, who for some reason, never went for the tie against Fisher. Three very tough conference losses. The Pioneers could be 5-3 easily, but once we start playing that game for everyone, it gets messy. Their best win is quite possibly a 2-6 Union.

7. Team Boltus-- Look, the Ithaca win is really impressive but they've also been blown out a lot. I think they lose to Utica in two weeks

8. Frostburg- I give them credit for a gutsy defensive effort in a really tough road game. But 1-7 speaks for itself. What happened to this offense

I'm of the opinion that the top 5 teams on this list are all top 50 teams in the country and any of them would be more likely to acquit themselves well in the playoffs than not.  Weekly results really come down to matchups, coaching, injuries and luck.  I wouldn't be surprised with the AQ going to Ithaca, Salisbury or Alfred.

[BomberJeff]

It would be nice to see some other team in the Top 25 from East that was from north of DE/MD.  IC deserves it IMO.  Guessing they come in around 23 or 22.

Not a bad guess: Ithaca enters at number 24 in this week's D3Football.com poll.  One other east region team, Lebanon Valley of the MAC, also enters at 25 while Hobart holds at number 7.  Salisbury doesn't even get a vote, and neither does Alfred for that matter.