FB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

OK, need to pick early as busy work week before "The Game" on Saturday:

WPI          38             Rochester         17       WPI is a strong squad and will rebound from heartbreaking loss to Hobart

RPI           28             Springfield        24       Hard fought and tight

MMA         35             Union               21       MMA keeps rolling over the waves(sorry no upset for the Dutchmen)

Hobart      31             SLU                 28        This time Hobart needs a last minute interception to fend off the Saints last drive

Record so far is 31-8....I am not good at picking upsets, Hobart over Saints is an obvious homer upset pick, so Saints fans should feel confident...can't wait for the game in Canton....I hope it is a clean win without any controversial calls determining the outcome ....Good luck to both squads...

[D3pc]

I'll be perfectly honest here...

SLU is the better team, but Hobart's late game heroics and big WRs combined with the rocket arm of Sweeney has me thinking this game could be in favor of the pumpkinheads.

Hoping for a great matchup where the refs swallow their whistles and let the boys play. A lot of bad blood between these two teams over the past two years with some extremely close games. The SLU senior class has yet to beat Hobart and will get their last shot at them. Hobart's senior class knows the importance of this game as they look to finish back on top . Should be a great one, looking forward to the ITH podcast this week to discuss.

[stlawus]

SLU has some very talented DBs, if there's a team to matchup with Hobart's passing attack it's them.  Although I'm not going to count on them stopping Sweeney and Shed because you won't find many more talented QB/WR duos in Division III.  It was a nail biter in 2014 when Hobart was stacked and a last second TD (fail mary in my humble opinion  ) last year.  Don't expect anything less next week. 

[Bartman]

SLU has some very talented DBs, if there's a team to matchup with Hobart's passing attack it's them.  Although I'm not going to count on them stopping Sweeney and Shed because you won't find many more talented QB/WR duos in Division III.  It was a nail biter in 2014 when Hobart was stacked and a last second TD (fail mary in my humble opinion  ) last year.  Don't expect anything less next week.

SLU has the better game results this season and should be favored probably by a TD as this Hobart team is not quite as good as the team 2 years ago. However, Hobart has had the tougher schedule with a SOS of #33 and SLU is only #165 .  Hobart makes every game unnecessarily entertaining while the Saints have put the weaker competition away. In this game I think turnovers and penalties will be key. Here , Sweeney has protected the ball as well as anyone in the nation with 4 INT's out of 315 passes while  SLU is 7 out of 287 against . However the Saints have caused and recovered 11 fumbles while only coughing up 2...while Hobart has caused 5 and coughed up 4. As far as penalties, Hobart has been horrendous at times but more disciplined in the last 2 games...while this does not seem to be a big issue for the Saints
    Pass Offense     : Edge Hobart
    Rush Offense    ; Edge SLU(and they hold on to the ball)
    Pass Defense    : Slight Edge SLU
    Rush Defense   : Strong Edge SLU
    Punting            : 11 yard edge Hobart( hopefully not many needed)
    Kicking             : Edge SLU, but McCool of Hobart is confident after 42 yard game winner 2 years ago
    Late game Pressure Performance: Edge Hobart

So, SLU will probably stop the Hobart run and Sweeney will have to get points through the air(nothing new)  avoiding the fumble causing DL of the Saints . The SLU offense will move with more balance but the Hobart DBs will be looking for picks . If  SLU stops Sweeney this game will be 35-14 and the late game heroics will be avoided.If  Sweeney and the WRs have a good day this should be a high scoring game for both squads, with the inevitable heartbreaking Statesman late drive for the win. Also, the river boat gambler in Coach  Cragg will probably make a high risk call that could win or lose the game at some point. Hoping it is close

[D3pc]

SLU's non-conference opponents have really performed poorly this year. SUNY Morrisville was a very good team the past few years and could be heading for an 0-10 or 1-9 record (last game against Alfred State). Norwich will win at least one more game as should endicott. Plus, they haven't played Hobart or WPI yet, each with winning records. But you are right, the lower SOS and Hobart continuing to finish strong is very worrisome.

Hope the feed is fixed by next week as well. Like we said earlier, it is usually very very good and free. 

[Bartman]

If the weather is decent I think I will travel to Canton for the first time in many, many years when we played against the Saints and a guy named Dave Jennings , a wide receiver , and oh yeah, a pretty good punter.

[hopefan]

I'm a D3hoops poster... but read the Liberty League Football Board regularly as a RPI grad.   I've got a NFL football rules question.. figured one of you LL posters could answer..

OVERTIME, NFL... Team A gets the ball first.. we know if they had kicked a field goal, team B has a chance to tie or win. 
BUT, Team A is forced to punt... Team B punt returner fields the ball and muffs the catch, never having possession of the ball, and Team A recovers... IF they kick a field goal, does Team B still get a chance with the ball?   This almost happened in the Cincy - Wash Game, but receiver ended up with ball.  I'm saying if the receiving team didn't actually catch the ball cleanly, would it still count as a possession for tiebreaker rules purpose....

[Frank Rossi]

A kick-muff-recovery is considered a change of possession and a change-back of possession.  As such, the next score wins, even if it's a field goal.

[Jonny Utah]

A kick-muff-recovery is considered a change of possession and a change-back of possession.  As such, the next score wins, even if it's a field goal.

Frank, did you see the Clemson/FSU "block in the back call" the other night?  I know they changed the rules on cut blocks outside the tacklebox, but the call on the field was a block in the back. 

Thoughts?

[AUPepBand]

If the weather is decent I think I will travel to Canton for the first time in many, many years when we played against the Saints and a guy named Dave Jennings , a wide receiver , and oh yeah, a pretty good punter.

Pep didn't make the trip in 1976 when Alfred played in Canton against the Larries who that year were one of the four teams selected to compete in the early edition of NCAA playoffs. Yeah, AU won the ICAC championship that year (Yunie's Swan Song) and handed the Larries their sole regular season loss. Final score was Alfred 3, SLU 2. Jennings' last year with the Larries was in 1973, Pep believes.

On Saxon Warriors!

[Bartman]

If the weather is decent I think I will travel to Canton for the first time in many, many years when we played against the Saints and a guy named Dave Jennings , a wide receiver , and oh yeah, a pretty good punter.

Pep didn't make the trip in 1976 when Alfred played in Canton against the Larries who that year were one of the four teams selected to compete in the early edition of NCAA playoffs. Yeah, AU won the ICAC championship that year (Yunie's Swan Song) and handed the Larries their sole regular season loss. Final score was Alfred 3, SLU 2. Jennings' last year with the Larries was in 1973, Pep believes.

On Saxon Warriors!

Pep...sure that wasn't a baseball game? Jennings was a great talent for such a small school so close to Canada....checking out the Larries 2016 punting average(under 30 yds), they may need the historic skills of Dave Jennings this Saturday 

[Frank Rossi]

A kick-muff-recovery is considered a change of possession and a change-back of possession.  As such, the next score wins, even if it's a field goal.

Frank, did you see the Clemson/FSU "block in the back call" the other night?  I know they changed the rules on cut blocks outside the tacklebox, but the call on the field was a block in the back. 

Thoughts?

I think you mean the "block below the waist?"  When I watched it live, I disagreed with it, but the problem is that it is borderline in real time for a referee.  Outside the tackle box, that block has to come from the front (at "10 o'clock to 2 o'clock" -- meaning side blocks below the waist are never allowed).  It looks like the hit came at the side, but the player hit may have turned away from it a bit.

The thing I always tell players even at the flag level when they come in high on a quarterback and risk making contact because of it is that they've put themselves in peril by performing an act that could lead to a penalty because of the borderline nature of it.  This is one of those cases at the college level, in which the block became subject to human interpretation and went the wrong way for FSU.

[Jonny Utah]

A kick-muff-recovery is considered a change of possession and a change-back of possession.  As such, the next score wins, even if it's a field goal.

Frank, did you see the Clemson/FSU "block in the back call" the other night?  I know they changed the rules on cut blocks outside the tacklebox, but the call on the field was a block in the back. 

Thoughts?

I think you mean the "block below the waist?"  When I watched it live, I disagreed with it, but the problem is that it is borderline in real time for a referee.  Outside the tackle box, that block has to come from the front (at "10 o'clock to 2 o'clock" -- meaning side blocks below the waist are never allowed).  It looks like the hit came at the side, but the player hit may have turned away from it a bit.

The thing I always tell players even at the flag level when they come in high on a quarterback and risk making contact because of it is that they've put themselves in peril by performing an act that could lead to a penalty because of the borderline nature of it.  This is one of those cases at the college level, in which the block became subject to human interpretation and went the wrong way for FSU.

Yea I didn't think it was a horrible call, but the initial contact seemed to be above the "waist" and then he kind of slid down, and then it looked like he even tried to grab his foot so it seemed like some sort of call was necessary.  I don't think it warranted the reaction by Jimbo either way.

[ITH radio]

Meant to post this sooner but busy AM

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ith/2016/10/30/in-the-huddlle--liberty-league-football-talk-show

[Bartman]

Meant to post this sooner but busy AM

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ith/2016/10/30/in-the-huddlle--liberty-league-football-talk-show

Oh, no.... Frank picks Hobart to upset the Saints......the Statesmen are doomed