FB: Empire 8

[AUPepBand]

Pep saw a trio of grad assistant coaches at the Jet last night and was told there are 80 first-years and 80 returning players for a total of 160 in the Saxon camp.

A round of + Karma to all the posters on this page....for getting the party started!!

On Saxon Warriors!

[dlippiel]

Pep saw a trio of grad assistant coaches at the Jet last night and was told there are 80 first-years and 80 returning players for a total of 160 in the Saxon camp.

A round of + Karma to all the posters on this page....for getting the party started!!

On Saxon Warriors!

That's quite the turn out Pep! dlip is wishing your Saxons lot's of luck this season!

[sjfcards]

Pep saw a trio of grad assistant coaches at the Jet last night and was told there are 80 first-years and 80 returning players for a total of 160 in the Saxon camp.

A round of + Karma to all the posters on this page....for getting the party started!!

On Saxon Warriors!

160 seems like a huge group. How does a coach even manage that? Is that normal for AU, or D3 teams in general?

[AUPepBand]

Pep saw a trio of grad assistant coaches at the Jet last night and was told there are 80 first-years and 80 returning players for a total of 160 in the Saxon camp.

A round of + Karma to all the posters on this page....for getting the party started!!

On Saxon Warriors!

160 seems like a huge group. How does a coach even manage that? Is that normal for AU, or D3 teams in general?

It has become the norm for AU. It means double duty for the coaches...a session for veterans, a session for newbies.
AU is not alone in this...check out Kickoff!

[Dr. Acula]

3) Anecdotally, I think that the biggest attrition comes between freshmen & sophomore season.  After a full season on the team, everyone knows what the season is like, most kids can read the writing on the wall about whether they'll play meaningful time the next season or not, and kids have also had enough time on campus to figure out what else they might want out of college: academics, social life, etc.  A lot of borderline kids might quit between end of freshman season and start of sophomore-year camp.

5) Probably 25-50% of the class that showed up as freshmen will report for camp as seniors.

I checked quickly and Mount Union's roster lines up with these points dead on.

101 freshmen, 47 sophs, 37 juniors, 25 seniors. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

3) Anecdotally, I think that the biggest attrition comes between freshmen & sophomore season.  After a full season on the team, everyone knows what the season is like, most kids can read the writing on the wall about whether they'll play meaningful time the next season or not, and kids have also had enough time on campus to figure out what else they might want out of college: academics, social life, etc.  A lot of borderline kids might quit between end of freshman season and start of sophomore-year camp.

5) Probably 25-50% of the class that showed up as freshmen will report for camp as seniors.

I checked quickly and Mount Union's roster lines up with these points dead on.

101 freshmen, 47 sophs, 37 juniors, 25 seniors.

That's because I'm so preternaturally smart.

I expect a +K in return.

[dlippiel]

Can anyone provide some info on the 2014 Bombers? dlip is so looking forward to heading out to IC on September 6th (even though it is his wife's birthday and his head may be rammed up his ass for kickoff).

[Bombers798891]

Can anyone provide some info on the 2014 Bombers? dlip is so looking forward to heading out to IC on September 6th (even though it is his wife's birthday and his head may be rammed up his ass for kickoff).

I expect it will be tough for Ithaca to duplicate their 2014 unless their offense improves. The defense was great, but loses nearly every significant contributor, so you have to expect questions there. So it's on the offense, where most of the pieces do return.

I like the pieces they have on offense, especially Joel Lynch, but the Bombers' 2013 offense wasn't that different from the offenses that preceded it:

2013 (9-2): 21.2 PPG/295 YPG
2012 (6-4): 22.8 PPG/303 YPG
2011 (4-6): 18.3 PPG/286 YPG

Factoring in how great IC's special teams was last year (16-19 FG, and two great returners), that's not much of an improvement from the 2011 debacle. And it's not what you'd expect from a team that made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Ithaca went 5-1 in games decided by 7 points or less last season. I think some players, especially at this level, can play loose or tight in these types of games, but I don't believe it to be replicable from year to year. I would put the Bombers at around 7 wins in terms of talent, assuming the defense can at least be solid in the face of its losses.

[dlippiel]

Can anyone provide some info on the 2014 Bombers? dlip is so looking forward to heading out to IC on September 6th (even though it is his wife's birthday and his head may be rammed up his ass for kickoff).

I expect it will be tough for Ithaca to duplicate their 2014 unless their offense improves. The defense was great, but loses nearly every significant contributor, so you have to expect questions there. So it's on the offense, where most of the pieces do return.

I like the pieces they have on offense, especially Joel Lynch, but the Bombers' 2013 offense wasn't that different from the offenses that preceded it:

2013 (9-2): 21.2 PPG/295 YPG
2012 (6-4): 22.8 PPG/303 YPG
2011 (4-6): 18.3 PPG/286 YPG

Factoring in how great IC's special teams was last year (16-19 FG, and two great returners), that's not much of an improvement from the 2011 debacle. And it's not what you'd expect from a team that made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Ithaca went 5-1 in games decided by 7 points or less last season. I think some players, especially at this level, can play loose or tight in these types of games, but I don't believe it to be replicable from year to year. I would put the Bombers at around 7 wins in terms of talent, assuming the defense can at least be solid in the face of its losses.

Thanks Bombers! dlip appreciates the awesome input. +k pal!

[Bombers798891]

Also, the Ithaca athletic department is dragging out a lengthy rebranding/logo/jersey redesign promotional effort, which is scheduled to (mercifully) end tomorrow.

They've spent the past 10 days putting up photos of athletes on Facebook with attached quotes like:

"It gives one strong message." 3 days to 8.20.14. A great day to be a Bomber.
"It lives very well on uniform, on field, and in the stands." 4 days to 8.20.14. A great day to be a Bomber.
"It's clean, it's cut, it's powerful, it's bold." 5 days to 8.20.14. A great day to be a Bomber.

There was also a 15-second YouTube video of mostly flashing lights, and a glimpse of a logo of some kind

It's sort of a weird mix. It's like they're trying to be cryptic and mysterious, but it's not like it's a huge announcement (or even a tricky thing to figure out). Seems like a lot of hype, but then again, I'm not in marketing.

I'm mostly curious as to if/how this will affect the football uniforms. I always liked IC's old uniforms, though I'm more into that whole understated thing. Prior to the recent redesign, I could see how some people could see them as crossing the line from "understated" to "boring", especially the road whites. But I wasn't a big fan of the new jerseys, what with their odd-shaped things on the sides.

So, I guess something will be happening tomorrow, if you like that sort of thing

[Jonny Utah]

Also, the Ithaca athletic department is dragging out a lengthy rebranding/logo/jersey redesign promotional effort, which is scheduled to (mercifully) end tomorrow.

They've spent the past 10 days putting up photos of athletes on Facebook with attached quotes like:

"It gives one strong message." 3 days to 8.20.14. A great day to be a Bomber.
"It lives very well on uniform, on field, and in the stands." 4 days to 8.20.14. A great day to be a Bomber.
"It's clean, it's cut, it's powerful, it's bold." 5 days to 8.20.14. A great day to be a Bomber.

There was also a 15-second YouTube video of mostly flashing lights, and a glimpse of a logo of some kind

It's sort of a weird mix. It's like they're trying to be cryptic and mysterious, but it's not like it's a huge announcement (or even a tricky thing to figure out). Seems like a lot of hype, but then again, I'm not in marketing.

I'm mostly curious as to if/how this will affect the football uniforms. I always liked IC's old uniforms, though I'm more into that whole understated thing. Prior to the recent redesign, I could see how some people could see them as crossing the line from "understated" to "boring", especially the road whites. But I wasn't a big fan of the new jerseys, what with their odd-shaped things on the sides.

So, I guess something will be happening tomorrow, if you like that sort of thing

My only problem with the old uniforms was the large blue stripe on the pants.  I think the first change was the blue pants in 1995, then removing the three white stripes on the jerseys at some point.  Then the stripes changed on the pants, and the jerseys have that new stripe on the side as well which I also agree is kind of wierd looking.

[dlippiel]

Here it is fellas...I think Kinda cool!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiechKbivhs&feature=player_embedded

[Bombers798891]

Here it is fellas...I think Kinda cool!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiechKbivhs&feature=player_embedded

I like the logo overall, and I absolutely like that IC now has a more consistent "visual identity". I'm not a fan at all of how the "Ithaca" looks on the football helmets. Bland and boring. Overall a positive, however

[fisheralum91]

From an outsiders perspective, the helmet logo is tired, boring and if it were me spending the money on this campaign I would have at least asked for a second iteration of the helmet logo. The others are decent btw---my 2 cents.

[D3MAFAN]

Here it is fellas...I think Kinda cool!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiechKbivhs&feature=player_embedded

I like the logo overall, and I absolutely like that IC now has a more consistent "visual identity". I'm not a fan at all of how the "Ithaca" looks on the football helmets. Bland and boring. Overall a positive, however

The logo is a nice improvement, but I would have thought they would have done a better job on the helmet, maybe an actual bomber plane, similar to what Boise State did with the Bronco on there new helmet, just my opinion of course.