FB: Liberty League

[lewdogg11]

Anyone got am RPI score?  Not home. Hook a brotha up.

18-7 rPI 3rd quarter, Franks with 3 FGs including a 50 yarder

Wow!  Nice!  Thanks much.

[ITH radio]

Alfred battled back, now up 21-18.  RPI not playing well in 3rd qtr

[mattvsmith]

Liberty League has had a successful weekend so far. Every team except poor WPI has won.
I really hope Union pulls it off against Utica.
What a bummer for Hobart to have the bye week so early in the season.

[UfanBill]

My thoughts on last nights Union/Utica game. Excellent facilities at Utica...On the HOME side...visitors sidelines had "high school" bleachers and porta-potties (unfortunately all too common)...sensibly I sat on the home side with raucous but polite Utica fans. They had a lot to cheer about.  When I made a score prediction recently I was unaware that Union had lost it's best offensive threat to injury, #1 wr Kyle Reynolds(LL 1st team-11td's)...bummer.  Qb Connor Eck, with ever present pressure from the Utica "D", looked hesitant, seemingly searching for his go-to guy.  His best plays were made not with his arm but with his feet as the gritty Qb gave it his all.  Wr's #17 Brian Havlicek and #80 Joe Vito stepped up and show promise for the future.  The Union running game, thought to be a strength , was almost non existent.  In an eerily similar start to last years opener a pick 6 put Union down early but they fought back to take a 9-6 lead only to see Utica score twice in the last 2:27 of the half, fueled by two Eck fumbles.  An Eck Qb draw brought "U" within 22-16 with 5:19 left in the 4th but special team play again proved problematic allowing a 57 yd. late kick off return followed by a field goal that sealed the game.  The Union defense played well at times repeatedly placing Utica in long yardage situations. But Qb #10 Connor Butkiewicz proved to be the more clutch Connor as he hit wr's #6 Anthony Acevedo and #81 Joseph Gerbino repeatedly for 1st downs on 3rd and long.  Utica is a good team.  They defended their home field with passion and will be a force in the E8 this year.  Union needs to solidify it's run game, give Eck better protection and hope the "D" continues to grow.  Most importantly IMO the special teams play (kick coverage) HAS to improve. I look for a strong effort next week versus Ithaca.

[dlippiel]

+k Bill on the summary. Dlip and you talked about the special teams issue and it certainly was an issue last night. Dlip also thought the O line had a very poor game overall. Dlip was quite pleased with the defensive effort. For Union this game played out the exact opposite of what dlip thought. Defense looked great and the O struggled to find and consistent rhythm. Dlip will write up the game on his blog this week as well as a preview of the Ithaca game. Let's go Union!

[drt]

Union's defensive game plan clearly was to stop Utica's run game, stacking the box, effectively
stopping Utica's (yawn) predictable first down off-tackle rush attempt.  Felt sorry for Utica's #1.
But it set the stage for third-down heroics by Butkiewicz et al.
Butkiewicz's accuracy was not as impressive as week one, but his completion percentage was affected by
several drops.
Utica's defense had too many stupid penalties for things like unnecessary roughness, one was on a third down stop.  Union kept the ball and scored a TD on next play.  Utica needs to develop some discipline in that regard.
Otherwise, and I know its' only been two games, Utica has some playmakers on D and the term "Utica Defense" doesn't seem like the oxymoron it has been the past few years.  Their linebacker and secondary play has been solid, and they had 9 sacks last night.
Utica's D will need to keep them in the game next Saterday....

[ITH radio]

Had fun tonight talking with Shenandoah U's Coach Yoder, UofR's Coach Greene, RPI's "Andrew Football", and MMA's Matt Morse.  Morse, who's from New Orleans, got a surprise visit by New Orleans Saints HOFer Danny Abramowicz.

Had some hiccups but a lot of fun along the way.  Podcast is on:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ith/2013/09/15/in-the-huddlle--liberty-league-football-talk-show

[dlippiel]

Great show last night fellas! Some brief thoughts on Union's loss to Utica on Saturday:
www.dlipthedutchman.blogspot.com

[lewdogg11]

Ok so LD's BOLD predictions last week weren't bad, I must say...(See below):

Actual Scores in RED
St. John Fisher - 28      42
W & J - 10                    21

Buffalo St. - 38            42
Brockport St. - 31        40


Salisbury - 14              27
Wesley - 42                 30
I was a little off on this one being so close...

Utica - 28                     25
Union - 13                    16


Rowan - 35                   29
Framingham St. - 20     19

Alfred - 17                     21
RPI - 21                         24

Salve Regina - 24          16
Montclair St. - 20           17

Overall, I'd say that was pretty damn good.  I need to toss up my predictions for this week too.  Hang tight...

[lewdogg11]

LD11's BOLD Predictions for Week 3  (As you've probably noticed, I typically just pick games from the East Region in general that appeal to me, not just from the LL.  Games like Cortland vs. William Paterson don't really jump at me because it'll likely be  a blowout.  They aren't called BOLD predictions for nothing...)

Utica           31
Hobart   42
I think this will be closer than a lot of people expect, but I don't think Utica is at Hobart's level quite yet.

UWW           17
Buffalo St.   20
I think Buff St. can pull it off again.  Not a lot to go on with UWW but they haven't impressed me yet this year.

Delaware Valley    31
Albright                14
Widener may have been the champ last year, but the MAC goes through Del Valley.

Castleton St.   14
RPI                   42
I think RPI's offense finally puts it together and wipes the field.  I also think their Defense is one of the best in years.  Hopefully the Castleton players don't steal everything from the nice new locker rooms at the ECAV.

Springfield   51
Mt. Ida           6
I also think this is the week that Springfield becomes a solid contender in the East.

Montclair St.    17
Alfred   13
Am I crazy to think Alfred is down this year?  Montclair in a nail biter(since that's all they play)

Ithaca   28
Union   17
Ithaca might be flying under the radar. 

Kean    21
Endicott   35
I like Endicott's scheduling here.  NEFC is going to come down to them and Salve.

Boom.

[ITH radio]

Good stuff LD.

We will be tweeting score updates of LL and other key D3 games on our @ITHuddLLe twitter handle this (and every) Saterday

[lewdogg11]

Good stuff LD.

We will be tweeting score updates of LL and other key D3 games on our @ITHuddLLe twitter handle this (and every) Saterday

Nice.  I shoulda checked there last weekend!  Will need it again this week.

[dlippiel]

Dlip's write up for Union/Ithaca up in dlipthedutchman.
www.dlipthedutchman.blogspot.com

[mattvsmith]

Dlip's write up for Union/Ithaca up in dlipthedutchman.
www.dlipthedutchman.blogspot.com

Nice write-up, dlip. Ithaca will be a heck of a tough opponent and, at the risk of being contrarian, The Rev thinks they are the more likely winner. Having said that, I hope Union can bring itself out of its funk, and surprise me with a victory. I always like to see a LL team win.

A sincere "good luck" to the Dutchmen. If they pull it off, they can affect a turnaround.

[Jonny Utah]

Dlip's write up for Union/Ithaca up in dlipthedutchman.
www.dlipthedutchman.blogspot.com

I think you have a good point on this one dlip:

I am hoping that Union, especially after losing last week and keeping in mind the way they lost to Ithaca last season, will approach this game with as much passion, intensity, and urgency as they would a playoff game.

This could provide some extra motivation for Union, I'm just hoping Ithaca has enough skill on the offensive side to score enough and win the game.  I see a low scoring game on Saterday.