FB: Empire 8

[JQV]

Geez louise,
Has it come to talking about jv?

Wow.  Cmon guys- ya cant tell me that you are all talked out about the game....

I think a pretty compelling case has been made why IC is the clear favorite in the game Saturday.  Give me a counterargument and we will respond.  Basically, I think IC's defense has improved enough against the run and Fisher's passing game has degenerated enough to make IC a two score favorite.

[fisheralum91]

Jose,
Not that i dont enjoy a challenge to battle with a new attorney,
All i know of the team is what i get here.
The passing attack sounds lacking, however the o-line is rock solid and should be able to open holes for the 2 pronged attack..
Without a star wideout hurts too.
Defensively- Fisher sounds..well sound, but then again they really havent been tested besides Rochester....

[FisherAlum05]

Joseqviper,

just for a topic for discussion here is my argument on why i think fisher should win the game on saturday.  fisher offensive line is very big and strong and could dominate the game upfront against the 3-4 because of a sheer size advantage.  like fisheralum91 said if we can win the battle in the trenches it will be very tough for the ithaca defense to slow robinson down since he is a powerful back that is always falling forward.  Reile should also have success running and catching balls out of the backfield.  Although i agree that fisher has no big WR threats, they do have 3 solid players at that position.  Fisher does have a pair of good young TE's in harmon and kelly.  they can both block and catch the ball well.

On defense fisher has a very solid unit.  smallish defensive line but excellent LB unit.  Defensive backs are also excellent for Fisher which should slow down Ithaca's WR's a bit.  If we can hold the Ithaca to less than 175 on the ground i think we win this game. 

Fisher 28 Ithaca 24

[fisheralum91]

Now that was a good post...

Jose?

[AUPepBand]

Here's the Alfred Sun picks this week:

Alfred Sun D-III College Forecast
Upstate New York -- Saturday, Sept. 23
Brockport State   28   *Frostburg State   6
Cortland State   33   *Buffalo State   20
Hartwick   20   *Husson   17
Ithaca   34   *St. John Fisher   26
Johns Hopkins   13   *St. Lawrence   7
Kean   27   *Morrisville   8
Norwich   17   *SUNY-Maritime   6
*Rensselaer   31   Hobart   28
*Springfield   24   Alfred   17
*Tufts   21   Hamilton   7
*Union   31   Rochester   21
Worcester Tech   21   *Kings Point   20


GO SAXONS!!! Prove that stupid weakly newspaper doesn't know what it's talking about.

[fisheralum91]

The Alfred sun?


I know that im a homer and all but the Fisher IC score looks a little odd,

and Wick winnging?

What bizzaro world is this from

[maxpower]

Wow- wish the D & C would do something like that. All we have in Roc are Bob Mathew's inane NFL picks and other stupid opinions about basically everything. The courage bowl got good press, but all other DIII football is relegated to a paragraph on page 5 or 6D.

On another topic.... as a recent IC grad employed by the sports dept., I've never paid for a Bomber sporting event. How much is admittance to Growney?

Also, FDCers, what's the plan? When's the tailgate? Do all the cheers that happen at Butterfield happen away? (Here I am thinking specifically of things along the lines of "What's-a-matter-with-Fish-er" and other chants more anti-opponent than pro-IC).

[bomber27]

The Alfred sun picke dits own team to lose too.  Kinda wierd

[fisheralum91]

Honest to god,
I would love an explanation about these chants..
I mean really - do you really do chants?
Ooga booga?
I dont get it.. Maybe im too old to remember, but i dont recall anything like that during a football game..
Basketball games- i do recall heckling but chants?

[maxpower]

Tecmo provided a great rundown of the chants a few pages back... I'm just wondering if they're as ruthless at away games, especially if we're going to eschew the visitor stands.

[bomber27]

We have the same chants at home and away.  Chuck is always there and if he by chance isn't, someone will start it.  You will hear it

[fisheralum91]

Max,
I really have no idea what the chants are.
I am just having trouble with a bunch of guys in the stands reciting chants and other stuff.
Not just IC either- i heard Fisher has some believe thing.

I guess i just am that far out of the loop.

[fisheralum91]

Could some of the older guys help me out--
dont mean to pick on ya but Bob, Er...Help an old alum "get it".

[JQV]

Jose,
Not that i dont enjoy a challenge to battle with a new attorney,
All i know of the team is what i get here.
The passing attack sounds lacking, however the o-line is rock solid and should be able to open holes for the 2 pronged attack..
Without a star wideout hurts too.
Defensively- Fisher sounds..well sound, but then again they really havent been tested besides Rochester....

Joseqviper,

just for a topic for discussion here is my argument on why i think fisher should win the game on saturday.  fisher offensive line is very big and strong and could dominate the game upfront against the 3-4 because of a sheer size advantage.  like fisheralum91 said if we can win the battle in the trenches it will be very tough for the ithaca defense to slow robinson down since he is a powerful back that is always falling forward.  Reile should also have success running and catching balls out of the backfield.  Although i agree that fisher has no big WR threats, they do have 3 solid players at that position.  Fisher does have a pair of good young TE's in harmon and kelly.  they can both block and catch the ball well.

On defense fisher has a very solid unit.  smallish defensive line but excellent LB unit.  Defensive backs are also excellent for Fisher which should slow down Ithaca's WR's a bit.  If we can hold the Ithaca to less than 175 on the ground i think we win this game. 

Fisher 28 Ithaca 24

Last year during the Fisher game I must have said "dang Fisher's offensive line is huge" about 10 times.  They were easily the biggest D3 OL I had ever seen.  I am no football coach by any stretch of the imagination but, as I understand it, Fisher's OL size advantage is the reason the 3-4 is a better fit for IC's defense.  

Let me explain. Four down linemen should be less complicated to block than three.  This is because, with the exception of the center, each OL is head up with a DL.  In the 3-4, that isn't the case.  Each OL is responsible for either a DL or a LB.  Teams go to the 3-4 because they have so much depth at LB that they want to exploit the athletic advantage most LBs have over OL.  By that I mean, it is harder for an OL to block a LB in the open field than it is for an OL to block a DL in the trenches.  Is Fisher's OL athletic enough and smart enough to pick up the various blitz packages used in a 3-4?  I don't know.  I guess we will find out Saterday.  The point is, the 3-4 is unorthodox and takes some geting used to for opponents.  Has Fisher seen the 3-4 in a game this year?  If not, you can expect at least some time to adjust and figure out what does and does not work against the scheme.  I think the time it takes Fisher to figure out what is going on is enough time for IC to build a lead.  If they can build a lead they will probably win because Fisher's heavy reliance on the run game doesn't equate to an ability to come from behind.

As for the secondary, it is not Fisher's DBs that will determine how succesful IC's passing game is.  Last year, our entire passing game was Esposito-centered.  That happened for two reasons: 1) he was awesome; 2) Rutherford got hurt.  We are so deep at WR this year, we always get one of them matched up with a LB.  Also, Coach Welch has always used his TEs well.  Oertel is already out of the gates fast and, with good WRs, he is finding a lot of open room.

Basically, in my mind, the game will only be close if Fisher's defense can prevent IC from opening up a two score lead.  Or, it may also be close of Fisher's passing game proves to be much better than anyone in here thinks it is.

[tecmobowler]

or it may be close if we don't handle playing on the road well.