FB: Empire 8

[D3viewer]

In last years Courage Bowl Fisher jumped out to a huge 3rd Q lead 30-7, leading to a 36-20 victory. Fisher ran all over the Golden Eagles totaling over 400 yards rushing. Fusco and Chambers each had over 100 yards, but so did Brockport's Dan Andrews with 163 yards rushing. Having played 2 subpar programs Andrews is again atop the E8 leaderboard in rushing. Fusco is averaging 50 yards a game and Chambers only about 20 yards per game this season. Fisher has traditionally had huge offensive lines ( not sure if they do this year), so running the ball is not usually a problem. Brockport ran a 3 man defensive front last season and was gashed by SJF early and often. Fenti was only 3-13 for 89 yards passing (and 59 of it was an early TD pass to RB Chambers in the 1st Q) probably because he didn't need to throw. Brockport this season switched their defensive philosophy and now runs a 4 man line to beef up against the run. Starting QB Wayne Bonsell was knocked out early in the second Q last year and was out for the rest of the season, but Brockport was already down by that point in the game.
This should be a good barometer for both teams. If Brockport wants to advance their program and take advantage of a senior QB they need to beat Fisher ( and beat a team they lost to last year) and win a Courage Bowl (they have been embarrassed in both previous games[AU staged a huge comeback win in '13 and SJF blew them out early last year in front a huge crowd].
If Fisher is to truly rebound and get back in it, beating Brockport should be a given, considering Brockport has not been mentioned as any type of threat (we hear of Ithaca, Buff St, Cortland..Alfred, Morrisville) to anyone but poor teams like Hartwick and Oberlin.

[D3viewer]

By the way, the Courage Bowl can be found televised live on Time Warner Sports Network at 6pm.

[XREDDRAGON77]

I was pretty impressed with the Utica offense today.  Cortland struggled on 3rd downs but a lot had to do with those Pioneer skill kids playing in space.  The Cortland offense looked pretty explosive too. Ran the ball well.  The start of Cortland's season is similar to last except we are now catching the breaks!

[sjfcards]

What a game tonight at Growney. I feel for Brockport as that is a really tough way to lose, but it was a really fun game to watch. Kudos to both teams. Fisher looked a little better, and it would not surprise me if Brockport took a couple top teams out from here on.

[BomberJeff]

Well, this ended up being the week the Ithaca running game found its legs, outrunning its the combined total of its first two games by more than 2 to 1 (253 today versus 103 in the first two games).  That was largely thanks to Tristan Brown, who had an average of over 10 yards a carry.  The passing game made a few mistakes early but got it together, though it clearly was playing a big second to the ground game.

The Bombers should probably count themselves a bit fortunate that things did not get off to a worse start.  Committing two first quarter interceptions, and having Alfred get into the red zone both times off of them, and yet only giving up 3 points was a big result for the defense.  That said, we're now three games into the season and I always worry about a team who needs one-half to come up with the goods every single week to keep winning.  Also, the penalty count was high again for IC (10 for 83 yards), and so far Ithaca has drawn more penalties than their opponents every game this season.  This is something that can easily come back to haunt you at the worst of times.

Its nice to get a win for the alumni and the homecoming crowd.  I'll note that the Bombers had two football-related inductions into the IC Athletics Hall of Fame: current head coach Mike Welch and the 1965 football team, the only IC football team to ever put up an undefeated season.  I must confess, it does sort of amaze/confuse me that Ithaca has more D3 national championships than it has undefeated seasons.

[Bombers798891]

Well, this ended up being the week the Ithaca running game found its legs, outrunning its the combined total of its first two games by more than 2 to 1 (253 today versus 103 in the first two games).  That was largely thanks to Tristan Brown, who had an average of over 10 yards a carry.  The passing game made a few mistakes early but got it together, though it clearly was playing a big second to the ground game.

The Bombers should probably count themselves a bit fortunate that things did not get off to a worse start.  Committing two first quarter interceptions, and having Alfred get into the red zone both times off of them, and yet only giving up 3 points was a big result for the defense.  That said, we're now three games into the season and I always worry about a team who needs one-half to come up with the goods every single week to keep winning.  Also, the penalty count was high again for IC (10 for 83 yards), and so far Ithaca has drawn more penalties than their opponents every game this season.  This is something that can easily come back to haunt you at the worst of times.

Overall, Ithaca played okay.

The biggest issue, other than Schaffer's interceptions (and he had another that bounced out of a defender's hands and was caught) was Ithaca's continued inability to manage the clock. After getting a first down at midfield to briefly stop the clock with 21 seconds to go in the first half, Ithaca failed to take a timeout. Ithaca managed to run out of time with the ball at the Alfred 30 or so, with TWO unused timeouts. Just inexplicable, and inexcusable, especially after it happened in Week 1.

The penalty issues are mildly concerning, but most of the ones this week were fixable. A taunting, several ones where Ithaca just lined up offsides/illegally.

To me, Ithaca would benefit a lot from making Tristan Brown the #1 running back. He clearly showed that capability last season, and his 63-yard touchdown run was electrifying. He also broke off another 52-yard run later, so there really aren't any questions about his injury.

There's a lot to like for Ithaca, however:

1. Offensively, the Bombers have touchdowns on 8-of-11 red zone trips...last year's team was just 26-for-47.

2. Defensively, Ithaca's allowed just a 44% completion percentage. They also have defensive touchdowns in three straight games.

3. The return unit is unreal. So far, Ithaca's had returns of 39, 46, 60, and 83 yards.

[Bombers798891]

Other E8 thoughts:

Well, the Fisher guys are off the ledge. The running backs finally got the offense going. But there still have to be a lot of defensive concerns. I eagerly await the Cardinal fans saying they never doubted the team when they finish 8-2.

Cortland is really, really, really good on offense. And Dylan Peebles might be the best return guy in the country. Tough loss for Utica though...2nd and 1 from the Cortland 3 and they can't put it in.

Buff State's offense no-showed, and the defense was dreadful.

[Bengalsrule]

Other E8
Buff State's offense no-showed, and the defense was dreadful.

I couldn't have said it better myself !  Hopefully our season didn't go down with Hoppy last week! First home game is next week.  Gonna show the boys maaaad love!

[boobyhasgameyo]

Other E8 thoughts:

Well, the Fisher guys are off the ledge. The running backs finally got the offense going. But there still have to be a lot of defensive concerns. I eagerly await the Cardinal fans saying they never doubted the team when they finish 8-2.

Cortland is really, really, really good on offense. And Dylan Peebles might be the best return guy in the country. Tough loss for Utica though...2nd and 1 from the Cortland 3 and they can't put it in.

Buff State's offense no-showed, and the defense was dreadful.

You can refer to the E8 updates section for my thoughts on the game.  But they opened up the playbook a lot more this week and for that I am grateful.  Catan at QB had a lot to do with that as he is a mobile quarterback. 

Team definitely improved offensively this week.  Defense still needs significant improvement.  Super happy the team was able to come away with a win though. 

[Jonny Utah]

Well, this ended up being the week the Ithaca running game found its legs, outrunning its the combined total of its first two games by more than 2 to 1 (253 today versus 103 in the first two games).  That was largely thanks to Tristan Brown, who had an average of over 10 yards a carry.  The passing game made a few mistakes early but got it together, though it clearly was playing a big second to the ground game.

The Bombers should probably count themselves a bit fortunate that things did not get off to a worse start.  Committing two first quarter interceptions, and having Alfred get into the red zone both times off of them, and yet only giving up 3 points was a big result for the defense.  That said, we're now three games into the season and I always worry about a team who needs one-half to come up with the goods every single week to keep winning.  Also, the penalty count was high again for IC (10 for 83 yards), and so far Ithaca has drawn more penalties than their opponents every game this season.  This is something that can easily come back to haunt you at the worst of times.

Its nice to get a win for the alumni and the homecoming crowd.  I'll note that the Bombers had two football-related inductions into the IC Athletics Hall of Fame: current head coach Mike Welch and the 1965 football team, the only IC football team to ever put up an undefeated season.  I must confess, it does sort of amaze/confuse me that Ithaca has more D3 national championships than it has undefeated seasons.

I'd have to watch it again to get a better look, but it looked like Ithaca ran some zone running away from the fullback and TE, and that seemed to take a defender away leaving Ithaca to some 1 vs 1 blocking along the oline which they did well at.  I would like to see them do more of that with Brown, who is a better inside zone runner than Skea.  And it isn't going to change your entire offense to try it out of spread (2x2 or 3x1) either.  At least see how defenses try to defend the inside zone with Brown against those sets, hell you can even motion the fullback into those sets if you really want to.

I don't mind the plays and variety that are called, but I think IC would be better with a larger variety of formations/shifts/motions.

[sjfcards]

Other E8 thoughts:

Well, the Fisher guys are off the ledge. The running backs finally got the offense going. But there still have to be a lot of defensive concerns. I eagerly await the Cardinal fans saying they never doubted the team when they finish 8-2.

Cortland is really, really, really good on offense. And Dylan Peebles might be the best return guy in the country. Tough loss for Utica though...2nd and 1 from the Cortland 3 and they can't put it in.

Buff State's offense no-showed, and the defense was dreadful.

See my above post. Although I would not say I have never doubted them, it would not shock me. After watching the Brockport game I really don't think 8-2 is in the cards but a run at it is possible at least.

[fisheralum91]

Now that the afterglow of the Courage Bowl has worn off...
Lets address a few things:

1)  The Fisher D is porous....this has GOT to be fixed.
2) The kicking game is awful---painful to watch and this is a trend that has been going on for a long time.

Most importantly:

3)The white helmets look absolutely hideous with the Iowa State Look alike unis.....
    I mean wow- who thought this looked good?

[Bombers798891]

I have had this feeling all week that Fisher is somehow going to win out, end 8-2 and win the AQ...someone make the case for and against it?

I don't know. I think it's hard to see Cortland losing to anyone pre Cortaca with the way their offense is rolling—though maybe Morrisville State can keep up with them. Seems like Fisher's best chance is to emerge from the 3-way tie scenario if the Bombers win Cortaca.

But we still haven't seen a good performance from Fisher's defense yet, so any talk of seven in a row seems silly before then. The Cardinals are very talented offensively, but still.

[ExTartanPlayer]

I have had this feeling all week that Fisher is somehow going to win out, end 8-2 and win the AQ...someone make the case for and against it?

Against: there is some higher power that seems to prevail against Fisher ever winning the AQ regardless of team quality.

I say this totally in jest, if only because I love wacky statistics: I cannot imagine there has ever been, or will ever be, a streak quite like SJF's consecutive number of playoff wins without one coming as a Pool A team.  We counted the other day, but what is it, like 11 playoff wins in the last decade without ever winning the Pool A bid once?  I mean, there are only a handful of D3 teams that have as many playoff wins as SJF during that time frame, period.  Mount, UWW, UMHB, Linfield, Wesley...maybe a handful of others?  Wheaton, maybe?  I'd wager that they're in the Top 10 of "playoff wins" in the last decade.  Without ever winning the AQ!

[XREDDRAGON77]

Bombers,
I like your vote of confidence with Cortland! I've watched all their games this season and their biggest shortcoming is preventing 3rd down conversions.

Their D may very well be suspect, but their offensive  efficiency and effectiveness provides no favors. In each game, they have lost in time of possesion. Not because of an inefficient attack, but because they move the ball too well thus far! The defensive group is never off the field for more than 8 plays it seems. In a hurry up scheme, it does not matter if you have a terrible offense or a tremendous offense . Unless you are an above average hurry up offense, that eats time due to  long drives, the end result is always the same....turning the ball over quickly via a punt or a rapid score. The games are lengthened and provides the other squad with additional opportunities as well. Might as well have the D score on turnovers every series and never leave the field. Similar dilemma.

My breakdown may seem ridiculous but as a HS guy that has been in a successful hurry up, I have seen all angles. Unless you play "lights out "defense, an amazing hurry up squad is no different that an terrible hurry up squad to your defensive coordinator!

Rant over.....keep it up C - State. Great job this far!  1st world problems are such a pain!