FB: Empire 8

[dlippiel]

Recent E8 Observations:

Ithaca surprises/over achieves
SJF loses to a high school team after some impressive wins and a high national ranking
Mo'ville lights up central NY with a decent win or two but fades
Utica seems like they will get over the hump...and then they don't get over the hump
Wick (minus Boltus) still throws the ball a lot but can't ****ing stop anyone...ever
Buff State defeats God himself...then loses
Alfred is a really really solid football team that (aside from peps awesome posts) just fades away...

*purposly left out Sal, F State, Cortland, Brockport, because of being a new or old member...
Dlip love him some E8 FB!

[Bombers798891]

Recent E8 Observations:

Buff State defeats God himself...then loses

I laughed

[fisheralum91]

Recent E8 Observations:

Ithaca surprises/over achieves
SJF loses to a high school team after some impressive wins and a high national ranking
Mo'ville lights up central NY with a decent win or two but fades
Utica seems like they will get over the hump...and then they don't get over the hump
Wick (minus Boltus) still throws the ball a lot but can't ****ing stop anyone...ever
Buff State defeats God himself...then loses
Alfred is a really really solid football team that (aside from peps awesome posts) just fades away...

*purposly left out Sal, F State, Cortland, Brockport, because of being a new or old member...
Dlip love him some E8 FB!

You meant Hartwick right

[AUPepBand]

Recent E8 Observations:

Buff State defeats God himself...then loses

I laughed

That was a good one! I mean, UW-Whitewater was God, right? And Buffalo State pulled it off.....and then the next week was conquered by AU reserve RB Chuck Beckwith....who ran for three consecutive TDs on three consecutive touches from the Wildcat. Wow! And Pep was there...and so was Time Warner.

On Saxon Warriors!

[Bartman]

Recent E8 Observations:

Buff State defeats God himself...then loses

I laughed

That was a good one! I mean, UW-Whitewater was God, right? And Buffalo State pulled it off.....and then the next week was conquered by AU reserve RB Chuck Beckwith....who ran for three consecutive TDs on three consecutive touches from the Wildcat. Wow! And Pep was there...and so was Time Warner.

On Saxon Warriors!

You think the Vixens have a chance in the E8 this year.?...I heard they got some good recruits

[D3viewer]

Who are the top returning QBs ? They will lead you to the teams that should be favored to win the league this year, or at least start strong.
They would be Steven Ferreira of Cortland (1st team E8) and Tyler Johnson of Alfred (2nd team E8).
Ferreira is a 6-1 200 lb returning starter who had some eye popping numbers last season. 2nd in the conf in passing yards per game (285)...the highest comp % (66%) and passing effic rating (169)...and the best part : 29 TD passes and only 5 ints.  A returning all conf 6-3 215 lb WR and 6-3 235 2nd team E8 TE will only help that pass game pick right up from the get go. That's the good news.
Bad news for Cortland is that they kinda won the league last year using a Hartwick template. Mostly all pass (7th in conf in rushing) and a terrible defense (gave up over 400 yards per game , ranked 2nd to last in conf). Traditionally strong Cortland teams featured strong defenses and a semblance of running game (think JJ Tutweiler ). This is a poor way to maintain success..but this QB looks pretty legit and gives them a chance if they can bring up the rest of their game.
Now for Alfred. Johnson is big athletic kid (6-2 205) who will be a 4 year starter. Now his passing numbers alone are not particularly impressive (8th in yards per game, 52 % completion %, and 16/11 Td/int ratio). But he also was AU's leading rusher. 60 yards/game rush avg and 9 rushing TDs. Therefore, an experienced dual threat QB who has some size and experience. He burst on the scene 4 years ago in the Courage Bowl bringing Alfred back to a huge comeback vs Brockport (boy has that game been a nightmare for them). Their record has been solid under his leadership..last 3 years 8-3, 5-5.. and 8-3. Alfred is not "great" on offense, but their defense was tough again last season (ranked 3rd), and this kid is running the offense probably the way they want him to. Make some plays with your arms and feet, keep the chains moving and drop in a few TD's passing and running. And be a leader.Basically, this should  be Alfred's year (in their mind), because it will be awhile before they ever get another talented 4 year starter at the helm. Oh..Alfred also has the most returning all conf players (7), including a few big OL up front, and the top returning K. Seeing how FGs and extra points can win and lose games by themselves, this is huge for them.  Trevor Monk was 6-8 FGs (long37) and 31/31 on xp's. Just ask Brockport how valuable good kickers can be.

[D3viewer]

Part 2. Notes on a few other teams.

Morrisville. The only team last year to have both their offense (1) and defense (4) ranked in the top half of the league. This probably helps explain why the top teams last season were so flawed, as Bomber keeps alluding to. Someone also up top predicted Mooville to be possibly be the best this season. They also benefit from a returning starter at QB. So, the number 1 offense also brings their QB back, Cory Benedetto (AQ grad from Rochester, one of the best HS programs in the state),.Decent #'s , 4th in passing yards, but only a 50 % passer but also a 17/7 TD/INT split. They were actually the top rushing team last season.
So there's the positive. The problem is that they have 0 returning all conf players. Just about all their top players were Sr's last year. Finally, for a team with good offensive and defensive balance (see above stats) they finished middle of the pack in the conf with a 4-4 conf record. You would expect a little better with that type of production.
Finally for now, Fisher. After a poor start they won their last 6 games (reg season) and finished in a tie for the E8 title at 7-3 (6-2). But you look at their stats they probably were the opposite of Morrisville, finishing with the worst balance of stats. 8th in offense and 5th in defense. Brockport was the only other team to finish at 5th or below in total offense and defense. So they somehow managed to achieve despite not being very productive on either side of the ball. And they lose their QB. Some credit has to be given to Vosburgh and The Fisher Way (tradition of winning) and players for toughing out win after win.
They seem to return decent talent (5 all conf players, 3 first teamers. They have both of those backs and Demos and Coleman upfront and Brandon Fuentes is a good db and returner/athlete.
Only 3 teams do not return their starting QB...Brockport, Hartwick (possible death knell for them), and SJF.

[Bombers798891]

QB is always a good place to start, though I'm not sure about Alfred and Cortland. Here are Johnson's passing numbers

2013: 59% completion, 12 TD/8 INT 1,722 yards,
2014: 56% completion, 15 TD/12 INT, 1,828 yards
2015: 53% completion, 16 TD/11 INT, 1,936 yards

The yards have gone up slightly, as have the TDs, but the completion percentage has dropped a decent amount, and the TD/INT rate is essentially the same.

He's a threat to run, which helps, and I'm always a fan of senior QBs, but I'm not sure that Johnson's really got some gear we haven't seen yet, at least. So it seems like Alfred, to get better, might need to look elsewhere.

Same with Cortland, though for a different reason. Here were Ferreira's numbers heading into the Linfield game (I'm not trying to make him look better than he is, it's just that Linfield is so much better than what you see in the E8, it's sort of not relevant):

10 games, 67% completion rate, 2,900 yards, 26 TD/2 INT.

Short of Cortland going full Team Boltus on us and letting him throw it every time, is it realistic to expect him to get that much better? The dude was nearly flawless, and Cortland needed every single bit of it to go 8-2 with a ton of narrow victories. Like Alfred, it's great to know what to generally expect from the most important position, but it's also true that the players around him are going to need to get better to really gauge the team.

[Upstate]

Bombers, with regards to Johnson's rushing abilities you also have to take into account Fumbles. He's lost 13 fumbles to go along with 31 INTs the past 3 seasons. That's 44 turnovers in 3 years from your QB, if they want to get better this upcoming season he needs to take care of the football.

[Bombers798891]

Bombers, with regards to Johnson's rushing abilities you also have to take into account Fumbles. He's lost 13 fumbles to go along with 31 INTs the past 3 seasons. That's 44 turnovers in 3 years from your QB, if they want to get better this upcoming season he needs to take care of the football.

Yeah, for some reason I couldn't find his fumble numbers, so I didn't want to quote them, but I remember them not being great. I think I called the Alfred QB position a turnover machine at one point a few years ago, and that was a big part of it.

Alfred is strange, because QB consistency is so critical, and they had an (almost) 4-year starter in Secky, and then after a stopgap year, the Johnson era began. But they haven't had dominant QB play. And you know, Secky didn't really improve either:

2008: 59% completion, 27/14 TD/INT, 2,869 yards
2009: 63% completion, 26/11 TD/INT, 1,941 yards
2010: 58% completion, 27/14 TD/INT, 2,762 yards
2011: 51% completion 7/7 TD/INT, 1,040 yards

Don't get me wrong, Secky was really good. But I mean, after that Freshman year, I thought we'd get some sort of Felicetti '05/Bailey '10 season where he thew for like 35 TDs, or completed 70% of his passes, or threw for like 3,200 yards. And he just kind of stayed the same QB he started out as.

It seems like we're seeing the same with Johnson. And again, these guys are good players. It's just a little strange to see it happening again, and you wonder what his senior year will look like

[Bengalsrule]

Recent E8 Observations:

Buff State defeats God himself...then loses

I laughed

That was a good one! I mean, UW-Whitewater was God, right? And Buffalo State pulled it off.....and then the next week was conquered by AU reserve RB Chuck Beckwith....who ran for three consecutive TDs on three consecutive touches from the Wildcat. Wow! And Pep was there...and so was Time Warner.

On Saxon Warriors!

.. and so was I!

[fisheralum91]

Congrats to Alec!  Kudos to him and to the Fisher family!

Preseason All American 1st Team Defense 

CB   Alec Mortillaro, Sr., St. John Fisher

[dlippiel]

Congrats to Alec!  Kudos to him and to the Fisher family!

Preseason All American 1st Team Defense 

CB   Alec Mortillaro, Sr., St. John Fisher

Congrats Alec! Dlip wishing you all the best this season!

[Upstate]

Fisher's QB position is really a mystery right now so they could fall anywhere in the standings. They could win the conference or finish 5-5, no one knows.

They have no one that attempted any passes in 2015 returning.

The only guy that saw game time (in a blowout vs Alfred St) is Kevin Colafranceschi from the Buffalo area, he took some snaps in that game but didn't attempt a pass.

Could be a down year for Fisher.

Judging by a recruiting poster/ad that has Matt Naton featured on it (along with RB Fusco and DL Jones) that retweeted by the SJFC football twitter account I'm going to say that Matt Naton will be back this year at QB.

Didn't know he had a year left, perhaps in 2012 he had a medical redshirt?

But it's a good sign to have him back going into the year!

Yes had a rough year last year But hopefully this year turns out better!

[fisheralum91]

That is good news on Naton
Would like to see how our new D coordinator is going to do as well!