FB: Empire 8

[wesleydad]

No worries.  Didn't upset me greatly or anything.  I don't think anyone here ever made an argument that Alfred was a top 4 team this year.  But at the same time with how they tend to form the brackets it made sense after Mount Union lost in the last game of the season.  Had they won I don't think there is any doubt it would have been their bracket yet again.

Interestingly, The NCAA will have to make a decision on where the JCU/Oshkosh game will be held.  I would say it should be at Oshkosh, because I would have Oshkosh seeded higher...BUT if we follow the logic that has been set forth up to this point, the game will be at JCU.  After all, JCU won their conference, Oshkosh didn't.

I'm interested to see...

Toph, if they go by brackets, UWW was #2 I believe which would lead me to believe that if teams with the same rank, both JCU and Oshkosh would seem to have been 2's then JCU would be home.   Very interesting to see how it plays out.

[Bombers798891]

Tough loss for Alfred. At 35-33, I absolutely thought this could have been a 61-58 type game like Mount/Wesley. But the Saxons didn't have the horses to keep up.

Before I get into my bigger thoughts, can we tip our caps to Tyler Johnson? He took part in 82 of Alfred's offensive 87 plays. He accounted for 575 yards, 6 TDs, and turned it over just once. I never would have expected a performance like this based on his first three seasons. A fantastic game, and a herculean effort by a great player.

Look, with 9:06 to go in the 4th quarter, this game had seen Mount score 7 TDs and Alfred 6. The Purple Raiders pulled away late, and the missed XPs/2 PT conversions didn't help. But the Saxons could have been rolled over at 35-13, and they didn't.

I'm not sure what to take from all this for the E8. I don't think a 25-point loss is indicative of how this game could have gone. But at the same time, Alfred threw a ton at Mount Union, including home field, and they did lose by 25. So it's disheartening all the same.

[rscl70]

Congratulations to the Saxons on a great season.  That was an exciting game, much closer than the score indicates.  I enjoyed the great atmosphere, and appreciated Alfred's enthusiastic and gracious fans.

[Pat Coleman]

No worries.  Didn't upset me greatly or anything.  I don't think anyone here ever made an argument that Alfred was a top 4 team this year.  But at the same time with how they tend to form the brackets it made sense after Mount Union lost in the last game of the season.  Had they won I don't think there is any doubt it would have been their bracket yet again.

Interestingly, The NCAA will have to make a decision on where the JCU/Oshkosh game will be held.  I would say it should be at Oshkosh, because I would have Oshkosh seeded higher...BUT if we follow the logic that has been set forth up to this point, the game will be at JCU.  After all, JCU won their conference, Oshkosh didn't.

I'm interested to see...

Toph, if they go by brackets, UWW was #2 I believe which would lead me to believe that if teams with the same rank, both JCU and Oshkosh would seem to have been 2's then JCU would be home.   Very interesting to see how it plays out.

We don't really have any recent history to suggest that's still the same system. Honestly, been a while since we had identical non-No. 1 seeds advance to the semis.

[Dr. Acula]

Tough loss for Alfred. At 35-33, I absolutely thought this could have been a 61-58 type game like Mount/Wesley. But the Saxons didn't have the horses to keep up.

Before I get into my bigger thoughts, can we tip our caps to Tyler Johnson? He took part in 82 of Alfred's offensive 87 plays. He accounted for 575 yards, 6 TDs, and turned it over just once. I never would have expected a performance like this based on his first three seasons. A fantastic game, and a herculean effort by a great player.

Look, with 9:06 to go in the 4th quarter, this game had seen Mount score 7 TDs and Alfred 6. The Purple Raiders pulled away late, and the missed XPs/2 PT conversions didn't help. But the Saxons could have been rolled over at 35-13, and they didn't.

I'm not sure what to take from all this for the E8. I don't think a 25-point loss is indicative of how this game could have gone. But at the same time, Alfred threw a ton at Mount Union, including home field, and they did lose by 25. So it's disheartening all the same.

FWIW I saw on Twitter that Jeff Zupanic (Mount beat writer) responded to ITH's tweet about what order he'd rank the teams Mount played with JHU, Hobart, Alfred. 

[wesleydad]

Tough loss for Alfred. At 35-33, I absolutely thought this could have been a 61-58 type game like Mount/Wesley. But the Saxons didn't have the horses to keep up.

Before I get into my bigger thoughts, can we tip our caps to Tyler Johnson? He took part in 82 of Alfred's offensive 87 plays. He accounted for 575 yards, 6 TDs, and turned it over just once. I never would have expected a performance like this based on his first three seasons. A fantastic game, and a herculean effort by a great player.

Look, with 9:06 to go in the 4th quarter, this game had seen Mount score 7 TDs and Alfred 6. The Purple Raiders pulled away late, and the missed XPs/2 PT conversions didn't help. But the Saxons could have been rolled over at 35-13, and they didn't.

I'm not sure what to take from all this for the E8. I don't think a 25-point loss is indicative of how this game could have gone. But at the same time, Alfred threw a ton at Mount Union, including home field, and they did lose by 25. So it's disheartening all the same.

FWIW I saw on Twitter that Jeff Zupanic (Mount beat writer) responded to ITH's tweet about what order he'd rank the teams Mount played with JHU, Hobart, Alfred.

That is how I would rank them too.

[boobyhasgameyo]

That's how the scoring margin would rank them too

[Bartman]

Tough loss for Alfred. At 35-33, I absolutely thought this could have been a 61-58 type game like Mount/Wesley. But the Saxons didn't have the horses to keep up.

Before I get into my bigger thoughts, can we tip our caps to Tyler Johnson? He took part in 82 of Alfred's offensive 87 plays. He accounted for 575 yards, 6 TDs, and turned it over just once. I never would have expected a performance like this based on his first three seasons. A fantastic game, and a herculean effort by a great player.

Look, with 9:06 to go in the 4th quarter, this game had seen Mount score 7 TDs and Alfred 6. The Purple Raiders pulled away late, and the missed XPs/2 PT conversions didn't help. But the Saxons could have been rolled over at 35-13, and they didn't.

I'm not sure what to take from all this for the E8. I don't think a 25-point loss is indicative of how this game could have gone. But at the same time, Alfred threw a ton at Mount Union, including home field, and they did lose by 25. So it's disheartening all the same.

FWIW I saw on Twitter that Jeff Zupanic (Mount beat writer) responded to ITH's tweet about what order he'd rank the teams Mount played with JHU, Hobart, Alfred.

That is how I would rank them too.

This ranking makes sense to me after watching much of all these games. I was impressed with the Hopkins team and I think UMU was probably pretty happy to get out of Baltimore. As far as Alfred ,  it certainly could have been closer ...that onside kick TD was a killer. Wesleydad, I also think that Wesley certainly showed they developed into the best team in the East by taking JCU to 2 OT's, frankly Wesley was the only team with the stamina to finish because it was evident to me that both OAC teams play hard to the very last whistle. The next round will really be telling.

[Bombers798891]

FWIW I saw on Twitter that Jeff Zupanic (Mount beat writer) responded to ITH's tweet about what order he'd rank the teams Mount played with JHU, Hobart, Alfred. 

Sure. I mean the games you play later in the playoffs aren't always tougher. When Ithaca won the Stagg Bowl in 1988, their playoff run went as follows:

First round vs. Wagner: Bombers trail 31-24 with 3 minutes to go, and Wagner has the ball. Ithaca forces a turnover, ties game with 46 seconds to go, wins in overtime
Second round vs. Cortland: Bombers trail 17-16 in 4th, take lead with 8 minutes to go, win 24-17
National semis vs. Ferrum: Bombers score first 28 points, win 62-28.
Stagg Bowl vs Central: Bombers lead 15-0 in 2nd quarter, Central pulls to 25-15 in 3rd quarter, allows ensuing kickoff to be returned for a TD.

The first two rounds were battles they could have lost. The semifinal was a snoozefest, and the Stagg Bowl wasn't quite a snoozer, but not especially compelling—Ithaca outgained Central 524-289. Sometimes, it's a matchup issue. Sometimes you just get stronger as the playoffs roll on.

[Bombers798891]

As we stare down the possibility of an all OAC Stagg Bowl, I think back to 1988 and the fact that, had they seeded teams the way they do now, we could have had a Cortaca Jug Stagg that season

[Desertraider]

FWIW I saw on Twitter that Jeff Zupanic (Mount beat writer) responded to ITH's tweet about what order he'd rank the teams Mount played with JHU, Hobart, Alfred. 

Sure. I mean the games you play later in the playoffs aren't always tougher. When Ithaca won the Stagg Bowl in 1988, their playoff run went as follows:

First round vs. Wagner: Bombers trail 31-24 with 3 minutes to go, and Wagner has the ball. Ithaca forces a turnover, ties game with 46 seconds to go, wins in overtime
Second round vs. Cortland: Bombers trail 17-16 in 4th, take lead with 8 minutes to go, win 24-17
National semis vs. Ferrum: Bombers score first 28 points, win 62-28.
Stagg Bowl vs Central: Bombers lead 15-0 in 2nd quarter, Central pulls to 25-15 in 3rd quarter, allows ensuing kickoff to be returned for a TD.

The first two rounds were battles they could have lost. The semifinal was a snoozefest, and the Stagg Bowl wasn't quite a snoozer, but not especially compelling—Ithaca outgained Central 524-289. Sometimes, it's a matchup issue. Sometimes you just get stronger as the playoffs roll on.

Good point. Remids me of the Stagg Mount had against Lycoming....66-12. Ouch. On another note - any word on #21? I think he was the RB that got hit and lost the helmet. I saw him go down before he made it to sidelines and don't remember seeing him again. Hope he is ok.

I thought Alfred played well for the most part. The game was exciting that's for sure. If i had one thing to point to for Alfred to work on - discipline. Mount had 7 penalties, Alfred 8 - but Alfred's seemed to come at the worst possible moment and kill momentum. 8 penalties for 198 yards is tough to overcome. The kids played their hearts out and I give them kudos for not quitting when down 28-7 pr even 63-45. They still had fight. Great season and best of luck moving forward.

[SaintsFAN]

Tough loss for Alfred. At 35-33, I absolutely thought this could have been a 61-58 type game like Mount/Wesley. But the Saxons didn't have the horses to keep up.

Before I get into my bigger thoughts, can we tip our caps to Tyler Johnson? He took part in 82 of Alfred's offensive 87 plays. He accounted for 575 yards, 6 TDs, and turned it over just once. I never would have expected a performance like this based on his first three seasons. A fantastic game, and a herculean effort by a great player.

Look, with 9:06 to go in the 4th quarter, this game had seen Mount score 7 TDs and Alfred 6. The Purple Raiders pulled away late, and the missed XPs/2 PT conversions didn't help. But the Saxons could have been rolled over at 35-13, and they didn't.

I'm not sure what to take from all this for the E8. I don't think a 25-point loss is indicative of how this game could have gone. But at the same time, Alfred threw a ton at Mount Union, including home field, and they did lose by 25. So it's disheartening all the same.

FWIW I saw on Twitter that Jeff Zupanic (Mount beat writer) responded to ITH's tweet about what order he'd rank the teams Mount played with JHU, Hobart, Alfred.

That is how I would rank them too.

This ranking makes sense to me after watching much of all these games. I was impressed with the Hopkins team and I think UMU was probably pretty happy to get out of Baltimore. As far as Alfred ,  it certainly could have been closer ...that onside kick TD was a killer. Wesleydad, I also think that Wesley certainly showed they developed into the best team in the East by taking JCU to 2 OT's, frankly Wesley was the only team with the stamina to finish because it was evident to me that both OAC teams play hard to the very last whistle. The next round will really be telling.

I think while the onside kick return for a TD was a big score, the Alfred defense still would've been on the field to try to stop Mount Union.  And that wasn't happening at all in the 4th Quarter.

[D3viewer]

ECAC North D3 all star team (essentially combines E8, Liberty, and all the New England conferences and Alfred St.)
http://www.ecacsports.com/news/2016/12/6/FB_1206163203.aspx

[Upstate]

ECAC North D3 all star team (essentially combines E8, Liberty, and all the New England conferences and Alfred St.)
http://www.ecacsports.com/news/2016/12/6/FB_1206163203.aspx

Players on the ECAC & D3fb all region team;

Alfred St.- 1
SJFC- 0

[fisheralum91]

Ouch