FB: Empire 8

[maninyellowhat]

back to Juvan for a second... I was think last night about what his record in big games...

against Cortland he is 1-1
against Fisher he is 0-3
I am only going to give him one of the wins against Springfield so he is 1-0
he is 1-1 against alfred
and 1-1 against Wick...
and 0-1 against mount union
so in 11 big games in his career he is 4-7 that sucks

Hartwick had a good season in '07, but I'm not sure I would call that a big game yet.  I'm guessing you're not counting Springfield last year with Hey pride being under .500 in conference and overall.  Maybe it's just because I haven't been able to see many games for the last few seasons, but I don't see getting amped up to play 'Wick like I would the other teams.  I may throw Springfield in there too.

Fish has established themselves, so has Alf, MU isn't too shabby, and Cortland's a rivalry game. 

Iceman, did you sport the orange hat, or pass it off yesterday?

[Tags]

I'm going to do this in two parts: one dedicated to Ithaca, one dedicated to Fisher. To some (Ithaca fans), these posts will seem overly fatalistic. To others (Fisher fans), you will surely be disappointed that I'm not fawning over your team as much as you are.

I think you did a very good job breaking things down, and it's nice to see a guy be honest & fair - ie: Ithaca is not very good this year.

Also, you shouldn't fawn over Fisher, and neither should anyone else. Fisher played well yesterday against an average (at best) Ithaca team. While nobody is taking away from the fact that they did rise to the occasion yesterday, this Fisher squad is also just average. Nobody who is being honest can say Fisher is an elite team right now.

Anyway, +k

[maninyellowhat]

2) If our offense was an ice cream flavor, it would be Vanilla. Make that reduced fat, sugar-free vanilla. In a dish, not a cone. I liked the end-around on the first drive, but after that IC did absolutely NOTHING to keep Fisher's defense off-balance. It looks like we have three running plays: off-guard left, off-guard right, dive. No counters, no stretches, no tosses. How about a draw or inside handoff out of the shotgun to keep the defense honest? How about a screen on a 2nd-and-long when Fisher brought the blitz so frequently? Has the coaching staff ever heard of WR screens or bubble screens. You would think they have considering how often we've been gashed by those plays in the last 4 years.

I could not agree with you more gb15

[AUKaz00]

AU fans...how did the Pride look or sound yesterday.  Obviously it was a close game.  Is AU getting on track?  I know it is several weeks away, but week 10 could be the big one

I don't think any Saxon fans who post here were at the game yesterday.  And without a radio broadcast, the closest to game action we came was Pep on the phone with the press box asking for updates (and play-by-play for the final 3 minutes).

My perception of Alfred and Springfield didn't change after yesterday's game.  I think both programs are in a re-building phase and so the game was a 50-50 proposition.  That the Saxons came out on top is encouraging, but I still forsee them finishing at my originally projected 6-4.  I honestly think that Wick, UofR, Ithaca and Fisher are all better than the Saxons right now, but that Alfred will squeak out a win against one of them (most likely one of the home games) and win their games against Norwich and Utica.  In that case, the E8 could be wrapped up by week 10 so Fisher's trip into Mayberry may be anti-climactic.

Now, I am hopeful that the Saxons continue to build off their success and gel as a team as the season progresses.  If not for this year, then for next.  As a Saxons fan, all I can hope for is that like the two previous seasons it will all come down to week 11 (and you could include 2005 in there too if you believe that Alfred got snubbed after their win at Fisher).

As deuce pointed out, winning at Springfield was something that even our 2006 team was unable to do, though I suspect that both clubs were stronger that year than this.  Regardless, it keeps things interested for the pep band!

[boobyhasgameyo]

2) If our offense was an ice cream flavor, it would be Vanilla. Make that reduced fat, sugar-free vanilla. In a dish, not a cone. I liked the end-around on the first drive, but after that IC did absolutely NOTHING to keep Fisher's defense off-balance. It looks like we have three running plays: off-guard left, off-guard right, dive. No counters, no stretches, no tosses. How about a draw or inside handoff out of the shotgun to keep the defense honest? How about a screen on a 2nd-and-long when Fisher brought the blitz so frequently? Has the coaching staff ever heard of WR screens or bubble screens. You would think they have considering how often we've been gashed by those plays in the last 4 years.

I could not agree with you more gb15

Nobody was calling the offense vanilla last week when they put up 69 points.  You guys expressed concern about Juvan being hurt and mentioned that Hartwick's defense was terrible but that's about it.

I'm going to do this in two parts: one dedicated to Ithaca, one dedicated to Fisher. To some (Ithaca fans), these posts will seem overly fatalistic. To others (Fisher fans), you will surely be disappointed that I'm not fawning over your team as much as you are.

I think you did a very good job breaking things down, and it's nice to see a guy be honest & fair - ie: Ithaca is not very good this year.

Also, you shouldn't fawn over Fisher, and neither should anyone else. Fisher played well yesterday against an average (at best) Ithaca team. While nobody is taking away from the fact that they did rise to the occasion yesterday, this Fisher squad is also just average. Nobody who is being honest can say Fisher is an elite team right now.

Anyway, +k

I disagree Tags, you can't say Ithaca is an average (at best) team, that would be a team like Worcester Polytech or McDaniel...run of the mill teams that will win some and will lose some, that is the definition of average.  Ithaca is an above average team.  The Fisher team is also above average even during those first 3 weeks with the mediocre offense, because they always had a clearly above average defense.  This week the offense finally looked like it broke through, and if it continues to perform on that level that would give us an above average offense with an elite (eastern region) defense...That combo does not equate to just an average team.   

[ICemanJK]

MIYH -- Oh I wore the Orange Hat with pride.  But the FDC is anemic.  All the undergrads are terrible.  No one traveled.  No one comes to the home games.  It's absolutely atrocious.  There were two....count 'em...TWO...yellow shirts at the game yesterday.  I recruited a few shirts in the Park and Ride before the game...but they didn't help.  I'm seriously worried about the future of the FDC.  Outside of you originators and my class....its effing weak.  I might have to present a challenge to the undergrads the next home game...I won't wear the hat until I see more yellow shirts in the stands and that i am assured that the FDC is safe after I join Sweet Lou's brigade...

Ithaca84....I totally agree.  We did not change our game plan as the game unfolded.  Late in the 3rd quarter...I was with Dubbz and he called the next 5 plays.  Welchie needs to do something about his predictability.  

[boobyhasgameyo]

Also Alfred's freshman QB seems like he will be a top performer in the league for the next few years, so at least Alfred has that going for them this year. 

[Bombers798891]

Ok so SJF happened to get lucky for the 3rd year in a row.

IC wins it out and SJF loses the rest of their games.

Go Pats.

Coach Vos owns coach Welch after halftime....

1st Half points for Ithaca and SJF 2006-2008

Fisher 20
Ithaca 20

2nd Half points for Ithaca and SJF from 2006-2008

Fisher 88
Ithaca 12

Come on man, if you're going to steal my stuff, at least give me cedit!!!!!!!!! LOL! I posted that last night!!! Plagarism is a crime!  

[ICemanJK]

booby, ice is with you on tags and gb15s readings of both teams.  

saying that Ithaca is an average team this year is false.  the expectations for IC and Fisher are extremely high...so the minute they don't match up to those expectations, we call them mediocre.  

[gobombers15]

booby, ice is with you on tags and gb15s readings of both teams.  

saying that Ithaca is an average team this year is false.  the expectations for IC and Fisher are extremely high...so the minute they don't match up to those expectations, we call them mediocre.  

I don't think I used the word "mediocre" once. Those were someone else's words so don't attribute them to me. I think Ithaca is an above-average team and Fisher is a good team. I thought I was fairly clear in my post. Here were my themes:

1) Welch got badly outcoached yesterday.

2) Our offense is very conservative. To a fault, in my opinion. As a result, Ithaca can't keep opposing defenses guessing.

3) Our secondary can't make plays. Haven't been able to since about 2003.

4) We're simply not as good on the field as the reputation of Ithaca suggests. The D&C called Ithaca a perennial power in the game preview on Friday. Ithaca is not a perennial power anymore.

5) This team will rally itself into playoff contention only to get beat by a better (or, at least, a better coached) Cortland team.

6) Ithaca is getting thumped by its rivals over the last 5 years. We haven't won a playoff game since I was in school. To reiterate, we really aren't all that good.

[gobombers15]

2) If our offense was an ice cream flavor, it would be Vanilla. Make that reduced fat, sugar-free vanilla. In a dish, not a cone. I liked the end-around on the first drive, but after that IC did absolutely NOTHING to keep Fisher's defense off-balance. It looks like we have three running plays: off-guard left, off-guard right, dive. No counters, no stretches, no tosses. How about a draw or inside handoff out of the shotgun to keep the defense honest? How about a screen on a 2nd-and-long when Fisher brought the blitz so frequently? Has the coaching staff ever heard of WR screens or bubble screens. You would think they have considering how often we've been gashed by those plays in the last 4 years.

I could not agree with you more gb15

Nobody was calling the offense vanilla last week when they put up 69 points.  You guys expressed concern about Juvan being hurt and mentioned that Hartwick's defense was terrible but that's about it.

Because the Hartwick game was indicative of nothing. As you'll soon see, Hartwick's defensive unit is atrocious. You don't measure yourself by teams that simply can't match up. Hartwick's defense wouldn't shut down high school offenses.

[Bombers798891]

booby, ice is with you on tags and gb15s readings of both teams.  

saying that Ithaca is an average team this year is false.  the expectations for IC and Fisher are extremely high...so the minute they don't match up to those expectations, we call them mediocre.  

Iceman-- I gotta disagree with you. Ithaca's maybe not average, but this team is lucky not to be 2-2 and frankly, could very easily be 1-3. Dan Juvan has regressed. His completion percentage is down 4 points, and he's simply looked shaky. He was sub par in the Lycoming game (11-24, 0 TD's at home?)  the Kings game was decent (18-32 3 TD's but 3 Picks) and this game was just average (11-19 0 TD's) In those three games, his total numbers are:

40-75 (53%) 3 TD, 3 INT

Those are simply bad numbers coming from a guy who's in his 3rd year running the team. Yeah, he looked good in the Hartwick game, but that's not really a difficult task. Hartwick is not the kind of game that's challenging.

The defensive line doesn't get consistent pressure, and that really hurt them last week as well

[superman57]

booby, ice is with you on tags and gb15s readings of both teams. 

saying that Ithaca is an average team this year is false.  the expectations for IC and Fisher are extremely high...so the minute they don't match up to those expectations, we call them mediocre. 

I don't think I used the word "mediocre" once. Those were someone else's words so don't attribute them to me. I think Ithaca is an above-average team and Fisher is a good team. I thought I was fairly clear in my post. Here were my themes:

1) Welch got badly outcoached yesterday.

2) Our offense is very conservative. To a fault, in my opinion. As a result, Ithaca can't keep opposing defenses guessing.

3) Our secondary can't make plays. Haven't been able to since about 2003.

4) We're simply not as good on the field as the reputation of Ithaca suggests. The D&C called Ithaca a perennial power in the game preview on Friday. Ithaca is not a perennial power anymore.

5) This team will rally itself into playoff contention only to get beat by a better (or, at least, a better coached) Cortland team.

6) Ithaca is getting thumped by its rivals over the last 5 years. We haven't won a playoff game since I was in school. To reiterate, we really aren't all that good.

As I was saying too Dubz, MIOH and ICeman yesterday Juvan looked tenative... they might of had a better game plan if Juvan was not hobled... Ithaca is a solid team... but they just could not finish...  Fisher is not a great team... they made some bad plays yesterday... but they kept going...


As much as I will be yelled at it... Fisher is in a rebuilding phase... look for this offense to be EXPLOSIVE next year...

[boobyhasgameyo]

booby, ice is with you on tags and gb15s readings of both teams. 

saying that Ithaca is an average team this year is false.  the expectations for IC and Fisher are extremely high...so the minute they don't match up to those expectations, we call them mediocre. 

I don't think I used the word "mediocre" once. Those were someone else's words so don't attribute them to me. I think Ithaca is an above-average team and Fisher is a good team. I thought I was fairly clear in my post. Here were my themes:

1) Welch got badly outcoached yesterday.

2) Our offense is very conservative. To a fault, in my opinion. As a result, Ithaca can't keep opposing defenses guessing.

3) Our secondary can't make plays. Haven't been able to since about 2003.

4) We're simply not as good on the field as the reputation of Ithaca suggests. The D&C called Ithaca a perennial power in the game preview on Friday. Ithaca is not a perennial power anymore.

5) This team will rally itself into playoff contention only to get beat by a better (or, at least, a better coached) Cortland team.

6) Ithaca is getting thumped by its rivals over the last 5 years. We haven't won a playoff game since I was in school. To reiterate, we really aren't all that good.

As I was saying too Dubz, MIOH and ICeman yesterday Juvan looked tenative... they might of had a better game plan if Juvan was not hobled... Ithaca is a solid team... but they just could not finish...  Fisher is not a great team... they made some bad plays yesterday... but they kept going...


As much as I will be yelled at it... Fisher is in a rebuilding phase... look for this offense to be EXPLOSIVE next year...

Explosive after they will lose 2 of top 5 receivers in the E8? 

[superman57]

Bailey has another year under his belt... and so does the running backs...