FB: Empire 8

[middlerelief]

I think that the E8 and the ASC are roughly comparable, up and down the conference.

In a #1 vs #1, etc. I think that
UMHB beats Ithaca
LaCollege beats SJF  (LaCollege lost at UMHB by 11.)Alfred beats Miss College
Salisbury beats HSU who was way down this season.
Howard Payne is toss-up to Hartwick.
ETBU is a toss-up with Buff State.
Sul Ross State beats Utica and Frostburg.

You can't play score comparison, SJF would beat LA College and I would say Utica beats Sul Ross State

Just posting some last thoughts on the season...

LaCollege made it an 8 point game with 7 minutes left against UMHB this season.

http://www.d3football.com/seasons/2013/boxscores/20131019_1plf.xml

I would have loved to have seen a SJF-LaCollege game. 

Thanks to the SJF fans for the great game and fun week of chat.

A loss is a loss Ralph.  Perhaps La College will make a bid in the coming season so they can see out of region match ups.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks for the comment MR.

I am not sure where LaCollege can get 5 non-conference games that will help their chances for Pool C.  The SAA schools don't want to play LaCollege. Huntingdon can use a game.

Mississippi College is going to D-2.  The ASC has 2 years to add a 7th team to maintain its AQ. Right now, there do not appear to be any prospects of a school in the ASC adding football. There are no other D-III schools who appear to be joining the ASC, after the departure of Texas Lutheran and Schreiner to the SCAC.  There is speculation that the 6 ASC schools would accept the 4 SCAC schools as affiliates to keep the Pool A. The question would be why do the SCAC schools want to play UMHB again.

I really like how the E8 has maneuvered to keep its Pool A bid (with affiliates).  Will the E8 offer Alfred State an affiliate bid for football?

[AUPepBand]

Thanks for the comment MR.

I am not sure where LaCollege can get 5 non-conference games that will help their chances for Pool C.  The SAA schools don't want to play LaCollege. Huntingdon can use a game.

Mississippi College is going to D-2.  The ASC has 2 years to add a 7th team to maintain its AQ. Right now, there do not appear to be any prospects of a school in the ASC adding football. There are no other D-III schools who appear to be joining the ASC, after the departure of Texas Lutheran and Schreiner to the SCAC.  There is speculation that the 6 ASC schools would accept the 4 SCAC schools as affiliates to keep the Pool A. The question would be why do the SCAC schools want to play UMHB again.

I really like how the E8 has maneuvered to keep its Pool A bid (with affiliates).  Will the E8 offer Alfred State an affiliate bid for football?

Pep can't speak for the E8 but with the addition of Brockport State in 2014, the Empire 8, barring a sudden exit by affiliate members Salisbury State and Frostburg State, will have nine football-playing members. The E8, Pep surmises, would not be interested in a tenth.

Pep is thinking Alfred State, in its provisional membership in NCAA Division III athletics, would more likely find a home in the North Eastern Athletic Conference and/or SUNY Athletic Conference much the same as Morrisville State and Cobleskill State.

On Saxon Warriors!

[Pat Coleman]

Will the E8 offer Alfred State an affiliate bid for football?

Pep is thinking Alfred State, in its provisional membership in NCAA Division III athletics, would more likely find a home in the North Eastern Athletic Conference and/or SUNY Athletic Conference much the same as Morrisville State and Cobleskill State.

Neither of these has football, however.

[sjfcards]

My wife just asked if the Fisher win against John Carroll was the biggest win in school history (armature!). But it got me thinking...

What is their best win. It may be too soon to put this year into context, but I still think the win in 2006 against Springfield is their best win ever. Maybe the win against Rowan.

THoughts?

[Frank Rossi]

My wife just asked if the Fisher win against John Carroll was the biggest win in school history (armature!). But it got me thinking...

What is their best win. It may be too soon to put this year into context, but I still think the win in 2006 against Springfield is their best win ever. Maybe the win against Rowan.

THoughts?

Rowan.  It got you to the Final Four and in impressive style that was unexpected after the Springfield close game.

[AlfredSaxon8]

My wife just asked if the Fisher win against John Carroll was the biggest win in school history (armature!). But it got me thinking...

What is their best win. It may be too soon to put this year into context, but I still think the win in 2006 against Springfield is their best win ever. Maybe the win against Rowan.

THoughts?

Rowan.  It got you to the Final Four and in impressive style that was unexpected after the Springfield close game.

The best win in SJF history is the loss to Mount Union.

Just kidding.

I agree its the Rowan game. I believe it was 31-0 wasnt it? John Carroll would be second. And Im sure there are some Fisher/IC games that would be a changing of the guards type win that would be up there too. I think Fisher's win at Merril the Final Four year is underrated but was impressive and started the momentum for that run...

[SJFF82]

My wife just asked if the Fisher win against John Carroll was the biggest win in school history (armature!). But it got me thinking...

What is their best win. It may be too soon to put this year into context, but I still think the win in 2006 against Springfield is their best win ever. Maybe the win against Rowan.

THoughts?

For my wife...SJFF losses are BIG because that means one step closer to me not zombie walking through another week of "re-living" my life and talking about traveling around the country to watch Fisher....

But interesting, because I texted some buddies heading into the playoffs this year and challenged them to make a list of Fisher Top 5 wins in Vosburgh Era...

I never actually sat down and made the list but following games ran through my mind....keep in mind I am thinking a "Big" win factors in more than just the particular match-up, the final score or even the play-off implications...but more of a 'global' perpsective...

no particular order...

Win at Merrill in 2004 that clinched E8 and SJFF first ever trip to NCAA

"Hail Katherine" to Ferenbach in a game that we led by 2 scores in the fourth and blew the lead, in a season when that loss woulda/coulda changed the direction of program...it ended an 18 game losing streak to B-port (we had just beat IC...but program's REAL longtime nemesis at that time was B-Port...and a fact many may not know...Vosburgh's dad died the nite before game.

2004 OT 'win' against IC that catapulted SJFF into East Elite...was that a win??? 

Certainly the 31-0 drubbing of Rowan in 2006 to advance to Final Four

How bout 2002 17-14 win over 7-0 and Nationally ranked Hobart?  That was a monster win for this program...

JCU road NCAA win after trailing 13-0... (of course this win hadnt happened yet when I was contemplating my top 5...)

thoughts?

[boobyhasgameyo]

My thoughts are that I woke up sad this morning that the season is over.  But happy to know that if Fisher plays well they can play with any team in this country. 

Oh...that isn't what you asked? 

[AUPepBand]

Will the E8 offer Alfred State an affiliate bid for football?

Pep is thinking Alfred State, in its provisional membership in NCAA Division III athletics, would more likely find a home in the North Eastern Athletic Conference and/or SUNY Athletic Conference much the same as Morrisville State and Cobleskill State.

Neither of these has football, however.

True dat. Pep was thinking outside the box (the football box) about the other Pioneer teams...but would suggest, for football, that Alfred State might find an door open either in the Eastern College Football Conference or the New Jersey Athletic Conference (where NEAC member Morrisville is an affiliate member for football).

[sjfcards]

For my wife...SJFF losses are BIG because that means one step closer to me not zombie walking through another week of "re-living" my life and talking about traveling around the country to watch Fisher....

thoughts?

I think we have a lot in common.

I think your list looks good. I love picking the 2002 Hobart game since that win is typically under appreciated since that was before Fisher (ready for this) 'arrived'.

The other win I would add is the 31-10 win over IC in 2006. That was the year after the Bill Struzi pick 6, and Fisher was still trying to shake off the "this is a nice run but won't last" stigma. I was at Growney and after Fisher scored 31 unanswered in the 2nd half, I left thinking...yeah, this team is for real.

I also don't really disagree with Saxon8 that one of Fisher's better wins, was a loss to UMU.

[SJFF82]

For my wife...SJFF losses are BIG because that means one step closer to me not zombie walking through another week of "re-living" my life and talking about traveling around the country to watch Fisher....

thoughts?

I think we have a lot in common.

I think your list looks good. I love picking the 2002 Hobart game since that win is typically under appreciated since that was before Fisher (ready for this) 'arrived'.

The other win I would add is the 31-10 win over IC in 2006. That was the year after the Bill Struzi pick 6, and Fisher was still trying to shake off the "this is a nice run but won't last" stigma. I was at Growney and after Fisher scored 31 unanswered in the 2nd half, I left thinking...yeah, this team is for real.

I also don't really disagree with Saxon8 that one of Fisher's better wins, was a loss to UMU.

great call on the 2006 IC win...after I logged off earlier, I was wondering which 'obvious' game I missed and that the astute Fisher faithful would come up...

That was only other game that came to mind...

You are 100% correct about the 'come back' from 2005 and Struzzi Int (I was at that game with my wife...we made it a day trip/sightseeing) and it was a demorializing loss and the next year at home we were 4 or 5-0 at the time and I remember walking through parking lot and it was 10-0 before I even made it in and I was thinking, here we go...were not for real like all the PP posters have been saying....and then in second half our defense came storming out, and the place got loud and to this day, that second half was the most energized I ever felt as a plyer or fan at a home game. 

[sjfcards]

For my wife...SJFF losses are BIG because that means one step closer to me not zombie walking through another week of "re-living" my life and talking about traveling around the country to watch Fisher....

thoughts?

I think we have a lot in common.

I think your list looks good. I love picking the 2002 Hobart game since that win is typically under appreciated since that was before Fisher (ready for this) 'arrived'.

The other win I would add is the 31-10 win over IC in 2006. That was the year after the Bill Struzi pick 6, and Fisher was still trying to shake off the "this is a nice run but won't last" stigma. I was at Growney and after Fisher scored 31 unanswered in the 2nd half, I left thinking...yeah, this team is for real.

I also don't really disagree with Saxon8 that one of Fisher's better wins, was a loss to UMU.

great call on the 2006 IC win...after I logged off earlier, I was wondering which 'obvious' game I missed and that the astute Fisher faithful would come up...

That was only other game that came to mind...

You are 100% correct about the 'come back' from 2005 and Struzzi Int (I was at that game with my wife...we made it a day trip/sightseeing) and it was a demorializing loss and the next year at home we were 4 or 5-0 at the time and I remember walking through parking lot and it was 10-0 before I even made it in and I was thinking, here we go...were not for real like all the PP posters have been saying....and then in second half our defense came storming out, and the place got loud and to this day, that second half was the most energized I ever felt as a plyer or fan at a home game.

The start of the second half started with a long Robby run, a forced fumble, and then another Robby run to flip a 10-0 deficit to a 14-10 lead. I remember the crowd getting very loud, and I agree the electricity in the stadium was super high.

The only other time I felt like that at a Fisher game was the Rowan game when Jimmy Smith returned the punt for the first touchdown of the day. That was a pretty awesome moment, and I don't know if I have had a charge like that as a fan since. Hands down my favorite single moment as a Fisher Fan.

[Upstate]

Great topic Cards!

My top 5 wins:

5) 2011 vs Delaware Valley (27-14). The 2004 Redemption Game. Down their starting "QB" Kramer Fisher turns to Jr. Ahmed Hassanien to make his first start in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. Fisher losses the coin toss and DVC defers to the 2nd half. Fisher's Cody Miller rips off a 29 yard run on the first play into DVC's territory. The next play he fumbles. Fisher's Defense stood solid and forced a punt that went over the punters head where Fisher recovered. Fisher moves the ball to the DVC 12 only to have their FG blocked. Fisher forces another punt on the next possession and the Cardinals take over setting up for a wild 2nd quarter. Fisher scores on the 1st play of the 2nd quarter on a 12 yd pass by Hassanien, DVC would then march down and score on a 26 yard run. DVC ties the game only to have the ensuing kick off returned 83 yards for a TD by Francis to put Fisher up 14-7. DVC would remain unfazed and puts together a 13 play, 77 yard drive that would tie it at 14. Fisher then puts a drive together that led to a FG and a 17-14 lead. 31 points in the 2nd quarter! Fisher's D keeps DVC off the score board the rest of the game and Hassanien leads Fisher to 10 pts (including a 32 yd TD run by Hassanien). Fisher ends up picking off DVC's QB 4 times and tallies 5 total turnovers to send them on a plane ride to Minnesota to face St. Thomas.

4) 2006 vs Ithaca (34-10) Coming off of the "Struzzi Game" from the year before the Bombers were dead set on proving that 2004 was a fluke. They came out and were well on their way to proving that as they drove down on their first possession and went up 7-0 to start the game. They later went up 10 nothing and kept the Cardinals in check for the 1st half and held Fisher to 64 yards of total offense and a 10-0 lead at the half. The Cardinals, more like Mark Robinson, came out on fire to start the 2nd as Robinson went 56 yards on the 4th play of the drive to bring it to 10-7 Ithaca. Fisher's D showed up on the next series allowing a 1 yard run and then sacked Juvan on back to back plays. The 2nd sack was a sack/strip that was recovered by Gene Lang. Robinson gave the Cardinals the lead on play later on a 20 yard TD run. Those runs had Ithaca keying the run the rest of the game and Kramer made them pay. He would find his TE on two play action bootleg TDs to make it 28-10. Ithaca would finally get the ball moving and drove to Fisher's 11 yd line but on 4th down their 28 yard FG was blocked. Fisher took over and 6 plays later Kramer found Nowicki for a 65 yard TD as he sprinted down the seam uncovered and Kramer found him in stride to make it 34-10. That was a statement game for Kramer as he was making his 2nd start after taking over for Suchyna halfway through the UofR game two weeks prior.

3) 2006 vs Rowan (31-0). Fisher, making it's first ever appearance in a National Quarter Finals gets off to a slow start on the score board but moved the ball well. Stepnick picked off Rowan on their first possession but Fisher ended up punting after a decent drive. Rowan starting at their own 19 goes 3 and out and then Jimmy Smith made a beautiful punt return for a 56 yard TD to put Fisher up 7-0. The next series Fisher forced a fumble on a huge hit to give the offense the ball back. They made it 14-0 on a 7 play drive. The defense would be the key as they kept Rowan under wraps ALL day to the tune of 120 yards of offense (31 rushing, 89 passing) and forced 3 turnovers.  The went into the National Semi Finals with a bang but fell short the following week vs The Machine.

2) 2013 vs #8 John Carroll (25-16). Just a great win coming back from being down 13-0 to outscore them 25-3 the rest of the game. JCU could have easily just ran away with the game after being up by 13, and honestly they looked like they were going to. Fox & Kramer made some nice adjustments and they dominated on the line of scrimmage from that point on. Being the huge underdog they were going in and turning the game around after the first quarter makes this my #2 win for SJF.

1) 2004 vs Brockport (37-32) - Yes it's not a playoff win vs JCU, however the game was an emotionally charged high scoring back and forth affair that ended on a hail mary with no time left on the clock. Brockport scores to go up 32-31 with 38 seconds left. Fisher's DB is called for unsportsmanlike conduct and flag is enforced on kick off. Instead of squibbing the kick and letting time start Brockport puts the kick through the endzone for a TB. Fitz completes a pass on 1st down but then on 2nd down he gets absolutely ROCKED and is knocked out of the game. Backup Eric Long comes in and throws an incomplete pass to bring up 4th down. On 4th and 3 Long completes a 9yd hitch pass on the sideline to Praetoreius for a 1st down. Long would continue to chip away with hitch passes near the sidelines that the Brockport DBs were glad to give up for some reason. He would complete 4 of 6 passes for 34 yards to get Fisher to the Eagles 39 yard line. Long does not have an arm, he was our "cerebral" back up and he bought enough time for Fitz to get his bearings and allowed him to come back in. Fitz lofted a pass to the front right corner of the endzone right where I was standing on the fence and Noah went up and got it. When he fell I thought the ball was going to bounce out of his hands when he hit the turf as he must have bounced twice on the ground when he caught it. The final was 37-32 and that ending makes it the #1 win in Fisher history for me.

[Upstate]

2002 Hobart...

I blew my ACL & MCL out vs Hartwick earlier that year and was standing on the sidelines...

As soon as Hobart missed that kick the sideline exploded into celebration, I jumped...came down and my knee buckled under me...

Couldn't walk on it Sunday as the damn thing ended up swelling almost twice as much as when I blew it out earlier in the year...

Wild game and it gave Fisher it's fist legitimate winning season in a LONG time...