FB: Liberty League

[dlippiel]

Good read.  Union fans will probably disagree with the prediction for their team, but time will tell.

dlip will disagree to start. yet he can't really blame the prediction based upon what Union has done the past two years. Twop years with very slow starts out of the gate won't get you a ton of respect even with a potent offensive attack. The questions for Union are with the O-line and the defense (LB's and secondary). A mature and ever improving d-line with a more capable pass rush then the Dutchmen have seen in some time will clearly help the growth of the young LB's and secondary. Looking at this Union team you have some very good athletes competing for the aforementioned positions. Some have little experience others have very little if none. dlip can't help but feel that at least one defensive star and/or consistent playmaker will come out of the position battles this season.

Bottom line is that the battle between Union and Springfield in the mind's of those making this prediction in Kickoff is going to the Pride. The Pride, with strengths and weaknesses of their own will surely be very good. Marerro and Altavesta will surely do damage along with some other capable runners and a decent receiver. Defense is another story for the Pride and has been their issue IDHO for quite some time. To dlip, as of right now the nod goes to Union. dlip honestly believes this is not a homer pick but a realistic pick based on the weapons each team has at their disposal.

Either way it is still close and dlip feels Kickoff gave that impression as well. From what dlip has read thus far Kickoff is fantastic and dlip cannot even express how appreciative he is of the effort everyone put into making Kickoff a reality. it is great for the players, the coaches, the fans, and the sport.

dlip will have a new blog post about the going's on in Union camp by the end of next week with possibly a couple little posts in there of daily camp observations. Also coming on the blog will be dlip's prediction for the Dutchmen and the seven other Liberty League teams. What a great time of year!!!

[ITH radio]

Almost wrapped with our preseason interviews (and thx to Dlip to helping with Union's SR DL Bill Meile yesterday).  We're appearing on ESPN 1450 "The Hall" on Friday at 6:15pm to talk a little LL and D3 east FB with the "Average Joes". 

[mattvsmith]

Just bought 2013 Kick Off.
Good stuff. I can't wait to read about all the teams I know little about.

[ITH radio]

We are appearing on CBS Sports Talk Radio 1450 today at 6:15pm ET to talk some D3FB

http//tunein.com/radio/The-Hall-1450-s30892

[dlippiel]

This is great for d3. Dlip is looking forward to listening.

[dlippiel]

Dlip tried feverishly but could not connect to the show. If the show is replayed and or can be accessed after the fact please let dlip know.

[Garnet]

I am still here but I am just a lurker now.

[ITH radio]

Dlip - will let you know once we have a link with the corded int.

Sawon twitter there are a few scrimmages today, including:

SLU vs IC
UofR vs Cortland
Hobart vs. Buff St

[pumkinattack]

If anyone's watching the bs first week games, the CAA is really doing the deal right now.  Villanova is up 14-7 on BC at half and William and Mary is nearly at half up on West Virginia by tr same score.

[D3MAFAN]

If anyone's watching the bs first week games, the CAA is really doing the deal right now.  Villanova is up 14-7 on BC at half and William and Mary is nearly at half up on West Virginia by tr same score.

Yes,

CAA is really good. I started paying attention in 2007. New Hampshire had a really good QB and Delaware had an awesome RB, who scored almost 40 TD's in a season and the running back at Richmond was huge. Oh yeah, let's not forget Delaware QB (Flacco), he was good too, but he had that RB that carried the team.

[D3viewer]

If anyone's watching the bs first week games, the CAA is really doing the deal right now.  Villanova is up 14-7 on BC at half and William and Mary is nearly at half up on West Virginia by tr same score.

Also.. Towson beat UCONN on Thurs at their place. On the "down" side I guess is Rhode Island lost to Fordham and Albany lost to Duquesne.

[Ethelred the Unready]

No U of R posts ? Well here goes..
HC Scott Greene entering his 8th year with basically nothing to show but losing records.His first 2 seasons he won..
but last 5 seasons all sub .500. Zero improvement.
Is U of R in love with this guy because he played in the NFL years ago as a FB ? No expectations there ? Largest employer in the Rochester area. They must have money. Cheesy website doesn't say what assistant coaches coach..so hard to tell about coordinators. Looks basically like young, unproven guys. Don't even know if Greene was ever a coordinator himself..just a LB coach.
Most recruits probably never heard of him..yet administration must be enamored with him to keep him on with that record.  Maybe their facilities are not that great ??   Their hoops teams can win.why not football ? Not asking a ton here..just one winning record ..one 5-5 or 6-4 season. Sheesh.

I have followed UofR football from a distance since 2007.  My son played basketball there and was close to a number of football players, including some he knew from HS days.  In fact he's still very close to a former lineman and linebacker.  From my perspective I could never figure out how the team could be so hot and cold, year in and year out.  From what I've heard third-hand, things are not likely to change until the coaching staff changes

[D3viewer]

No U of R posts ? Well here goes..
HC Scott Greene entering his 8th year with basically nothing to show but losing records.His first 2 seasons he won..
but last 5 seasons all sub .500. Zero improvement.
Is U of R in love with this guy because he played in the NFL years ago as a FB ? No expectations there ? Largest employer in the Rochester area. They must have money. Cheesy website doesn't say what assistant coaches coach..so hard to tell about coordinators. Looks basically like young, unproven guys. Don't even know if Greene was ever a coordinator himself..just a LB coach.
Most recruits probably never heard of him..yet administration must be enamored with him to keep him on with that record.  Maybe their facilities are not that great ??   Their hoops teams can win.why not football ? Not asking a ton here..just one winning record ..one 5-5 or 6-4 season. Sheesh.

I have followed UofR football from a distance since 2007.  My son played basketball there and was close to a number of football players, including some he knew from HS days.  In fact he's still very close to a former lineman and linebacker.  From my perspective I could never figure out how the team could be so hot and cold, year in and year out.  From what I've heard third-hand, things are not likely to change until the coaching staff changes

Sounds about right.

[ITH radio]

A few thoughts re #7 Hobart can be found at http://gohobart.blogspot.com

ITH goes live on Weds at 7:30 PM ET covering all 8 LL teams, the Top 25 and Week 1 in our preseason special.

[pumkinattack]

Getting fired up and yet terrified for this season.  Hearing about a couple of injuries out of Geneva.  Nothing tragic, but guys that matter.  I'm also worried about WR & DB.  The front 8 on D should be strong (even if we lose a guy there), but I don't know what we'll get out of an undersized secondary and I think starter Fajri Jackson is gone.  At WR, we have one deep threat and a really talented JR TE that came on last year, but not sure what to expect out of the rest of the WR's. 

Despite the generic "on any given Saturday" type of talk, none of this should matter until we hit Springfield in early Oct, but the aforementioned and nightmares of 2009 after a pretty good 2008 year (2nd round of playoffs) has me worried.  Also heard they looked bad vs. Buff St last Sat.  Nothing against Buff St, but if this is a top 10 team, they shouldn't have trouble with many teams (I don't see Buff State as top 20, maybe in the 25-50 area this year). 

I hope these guys know everyone will be gunning for them and that they need to bring it each and every week....