FB: Liberty League

[Jonny Utah]

Magical RPI bullsh** activated

Ice Bear says, yup. He watched the entire **** show. The Bear says that ****ing team is never out of it. Ice watched a QB who looked much like a backup HS QB flip the ****ing script and turn into a seasoned D3 starter and lead his team right down the field. Ice sends his respect.

Congratulations to the Engineers for avenging their 10-9 loss from 2021 at the Boz as they ruin the Statesmen's season. RPI comes up with another "skinny" win. Their defense is for real, so they can beat anyone by keeping the game close. Hobart offense comes alive in the second half after the worst first half probably ever,  while the" bend but not break" defense crumbled on the last RPI drive.  It really sucks having your season goal over so early, but winning out and protecting the Boz against Union is all we have left. Good luck to the rest of the contenders, but I'm thinking the RPI defense is good enough to frustrate both Ithaca and Union, as ugly as those games might be. I do think that the Ithaca offensive line can make it a dogfight in the trenches against the RPI DLine, so the Bombers are still the favorites this year, but Union looks like it is not far behind.

I was glancing through the NCAA team stats this morning and RPI is in the top 5 of pretty much all of them.  EDIT:  looks like top 10 or so for a lot of them anyway.

[Jonny Utah]

Some NCAA defensive stats.  I'll put upstate NY teams national rankings below:

3rd down conversion %:
Ithaca: 5th
RPI 19th
Union 22nd
Cortland 24th

4th down conversion %:
Ithaca 23rd

Defensive TDs:
Cortland 1st (tied with 2 others)
Ithaca 4th (tied with 2 others)
Brockport 17th (tied with a bunch)

1st down defense:
Ithaca and RPI tied at 11th
Brockport 24th
Hobart 27th

Interceptions:
RPI 5th
Cortland 21st

Passing yards allowed:
Ithaca 6th
RPI 9th
Hobart 22nd
SJF 25th

Red Zone defense:
Utica 5th
RPI 7th
Morrisville 27th
Hobart 29th

Rushing Defense:
RPI 10th
Union 29th

Scoring Defense:
Ithaca 5th
RPI 7th
Morrisville 20th
Union 26th
Cortland 30th

Defensive passing efficiency:
Ithaca 2nd
RPI 9th
Cortland 21st

Total Defense:
RPI 3rd
Ithaca 9th
Brockport 26th
Hobart 30th

TOP:
St. Lawrence 30th

[IC798891]

The loss of Robinson at CB for the Bombers is really the big question going forward. Can the rest of the secondary step up?

The first half was ugly for Ithaca on offense.

Two of their first three drives ended in fumbles — one at the SLU 5. A first and goal at the 9 resulted in a FG, and the Bombers threw an end zone interception on what was possibly a pseudo hail mary. It was the sort of game IC played quite a bit last year, where the offensive output in terms of yardage and firsts didn't match the point production. There was no danger,  as the Bombers' defense is just too good for St. Lawrence and the offense eventually got it moving. But that's how you lose games against better opponents.

What can we say about RPI that hasn't been said?

[IC798891]

LL Power Rankings

1. Ithaca- Having yet to be challenged all season, the Bombers have never trailed. These last two weeks have shown, however, that they aren't immune to stretches of poor play with self-inflicted wounds making things harder than they should be. But the Bombers have simply been too talented for the teams on their schedule thus far, especially on the defense, where they have scored at many touchdowns as they have allowed (4)

2. Union- The Utica loss keeps looking better and better, as does the win over Springfield. The rest of the season they, like Ithaca, have just out-talented opponents. They are a run-first team, and probably not the best team suited to taking advantage of IC's recent CB injury.

3. RPI- The Engineers exchanged 3-and-outs with Hobart in the 4th quarter. Their punt, which came first, happened on a drive which ended on their own 20. After Hobart's punt —which was not returned — their drive started on the Hobart 34. They gained 46 yards on a swap on 3-and-out punts featuring no returns. That is the exact way RPI wins these types of games every year. It's pretty clear that their mode of operation is "The defense keeps us close for 60 minutes and we try to conjure up a couple of touchdowns." This is just how it's going to go.

4. Hobart- The Statesmen offense has just disappeared. They averaged 5.4 YPC last season and are at 3.8 this year. Their passing has been solid, but the run game is no longer dominating things, and it's costing them.

5. Rochester — The Yellowjackets had 28 points and 533 yards against a now 6-0 Utica — in a game where their best player missed half of the game — and then 12 points against a Buffalo State team that came in allowing nearly 50 PPG.

6. St. Lawrence — Forced some turnovers to keep it close in the first half against IC, but the lack of offensive playmakers has hurt them this year.

7. Buffalo State — For a team that had been largely non-competitive this season, that was very inspiring effort. The defense mostly down Rochester, and the offense had 24 first downs and averaged 5 yards a play. A really tough loss in a lot of ways, especially with a short week to get ready for IC.

[Jonny Utah]

The loss of Robinson at CB for the Bombers is really the big question going forward. Can the rest of the secondary step up?

The first half was ugly for Ithaca on offense.

Two of their first three drives ended in fumbles — one at the SLU 5. A first and goal at the 9 resulted in a FG, and the Bombers threw an end zone interception on what was possibly a pseudo hail mary. It was the sort of game IC played quite a bit last year, where the offensive output in terms of yardage and firsts didn't match the point production. There was no danger,  as the Bombers' defense is just too good for St. Lawrence and the offense eventually got it moving. But that's how you lose games against better opponents.

What can we say about RPI that hasn't been said?

Ithaca's playcalling seemed a little off in the redzone in that 1st half.  A lot of fades into the end zone that seemed very uncharacteristic of them.

[IC798891]

The loss of Robinson at CB for the Bombers is really the big question going forward. Can the rest of the secondary step up?

The first half was ugly for Ithaca on offense.

Two of their first three drives ended in fumbles — one at the SLU 5. A first and goal at the 9 resulted in a FG, and the Bombers threw an end zone interception on what was possibly a pseudo hail mary. It was the sort of game IC played quite a bit last year, where the offensive output in terms of yardage and firsts didn't match the point production. There was no danger,  as the Bombers' defense is just too good for St. Lawrence and the offense eventually got it moving. But that's how you lose games against better opponents.

What can we say about RPI that hasn't been said?

Ithaca's playcalling seemed a little off in the redzone in that 1st half.  A lot of fades into the end zone that seemed very uncharacteristic of them.

It's also possible some of this is IC getting different looks on film, not only to see what works/doesn't, but to force teams to prepare for them. I saw a little of that against Rochester too

[Jonny Utah]

So Ithaca announces a home and home with Johns Hopkins starting next year.  I'm assuming that means Bridgewater is done, which is too bad but it will be interesting to see this matchup in 2023 and 2024.

[IC798891]

So Ithaca announces a home and home with John Hopkins starting next year.  I'm assuming that means Bridgewater is done, which is too bad but it will be interesting to see this matchup in 2023 and 2024.

This makes so much sense. Not only is it just a great football matchup, Ithaca is trying to increase enrollment from this area of the country.

https://www.ithaca.edu/news/board-trustees-chair-david-h-lissy-87-makes-gift-expand-recruitment-and-marketing-resources

Frankly, if the Bombers were to drop someone from the non-conference schedule, I'd prefer Alfred. I know there's history there, but to be honest, it's a pretty lopsided history, and I feel like you want to get into the NE area more for recruiting. And honestly, if Alfred's not going to be the type of team they were from 2004-2018 — and it kind of looks like they aren't — you're not losing much on your schedule, strength wise, by going to NE

[Bartman]

So Ithaca announces a home and home with John Hopkins starting next year.  I'm assuming that means Bridgewater is done, which is too bad but it will be interesting to see this matchup in 2023 and 2024.

This is great for the LL, and should be a great matchup. Hobart is 3-0 all time versus Hopkins, so I know we don't want to take a chance to risk our record . If Ithaca finishes this season strong, and beats Cortland, I think IC will earn a serious national rep. Of course, RPI could ruin everything this year with one of those "pulled out of their ass" wins  

[Ice Bear]

So Ithaca announces a home and home with John Hopkins starting next year.  I'm assuming that means Bridgewater is done, which is too bad but it will be interesting to see this matchup in 2023 and 2024.

Ice Bear says this is great for the East and region 2 as a whole. Ice says it will be interesting to see how the Bombers stack up against the Blue Jays who just seem to be excellent year in and year out.

[unionpalooza]

So Ithaca announces a home and home with John Hopkins starting next year.  I'm assuming that means Bridgewater is done, which is too bad but it will be interesting to see this matchup in 2023 and 2024.

This is great for the LL, and should be a great matchup. Hobart is 3-0 all time versus Hopkins, so I know we don't want to take a chance to risk our record . If Ithaca finishes this season strong, and beats Cortland, I think IC will earn a serious national rep. Of course, RPI could ruin everything this year with one of those "pulled out of their ass" wins

Totally agree, and kudos for the for doing it.  These are the kind of nonconf games you schedule if you are trying to build a program that can go deep in the playoffs. 

[Bartman]

Meaningless game(as far as LL title) between Hobart and the Larries today as Hobart looks for 10 in a row against the Cantonites. But as Ithaca found out in the first half last week, the Larries won't go away unless you put them away . Hobart O can't fall asleep in the first half like they did last week. I'm hoping the offense finds it's 2021 ground game again before the season is over and rush for 200+ today. I'm also hoping our talented linebacking corp creates havoc in Canton.  Let's snap out of this funk and finish the season strong! GOBART.

[Bartman]

Ho Hum, no surprises games today as Hobart beats SLU for its first league win and Union takes care of the Yellow Jackets. Watching parts of both games, the Union-Hobart game should be pretty close next week, as each team has its strengths and imperfections. The main act next week will be the Bombers against the Engineers, which, of course we know will be won by the Engineers in an entirely magical fashion. This would not be a bad result as the LL could get 2 teams in the playoffs and the Engineers could win 3 games by one point and be ranked in the top 10 next year

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear says yesterday was an interesting game at Frank Bailey Field. Ice will take the word "flat" from his friend UfanBill and apply it to Union's performance for about 3 quarters yesterday vs. an upstart Yellow Jackets team. A Gazette reporter compared an element of the game to the Utica debacle. Ice says that's going a bit too far. Union simply did not come ready to play. They played flat and uninspired football for most of the day but with that being said, they certainly controlled the game and were never really in jeopardy of losing it.

Ice was impressed with the Papatonis-less Yellow-Jackets. They have certainly improved in regards to their coaching, quality of play, and athleticism. They certainly have a ways to go but Ice will say if Papatonis was running the ball yesterday, Ice believes the game may have been in jeopardy at some point. Both Ice, Papa Ice, UfanBill, and Basketball Bob were disappointed that we didn't get to see number #1 running the ball. Ice hopes he gets healthy soon.

Ice will also mention something in regards to the running of Ike Irabor. Ice loves him some Irabor, don't get Ice wrong. However, he believes that Ike has two gears, 3/4 intensity (where he is still dangerous) and hard. To Ice, there is a large difference between the two and they relate to intensity and effort. Ike is special and can be even more special if he puts it all out there on every carry. Ice also believes this is easy for a 45 year old man to say from behind a computer screen and believe Ice, he isn't trying to go after Irabor. He sees something special in Irabor that he hasn't seen in any back at the U and believe Ice, he's seen a bunch of them. Ice believes this kid can put this team on his back and lead this team to victory over any opponent in the LL. He just has to bring that toughness that Ice believes is in him, and apply it to every carry. Ice has seen it, but not consistently. Ice says listen, he knows he and the entire Union faithful are beyond lucky to have a player the caliber of Mr. irabor. Ice just wanted to point out that he believes, if Ike can really dial it in fully, he has the capability, combined with the rest of this offense, to lead Union to an LL title. Who knows? Maybe Ice is wrong...he knows he usually is. Just an observation and an appreciation of the natural talent and skill of Ike. Ice thinks he can be the very best.

Ice will also say that he believes Union is a clear favorite heading out to Geneva next week. If this team has what it takes to really win a LL title this season, they'll show it against the Pumpkinheads next week. If that second half was really the debacle that it seemed to be against Utica. than Union should be able to really take it to Hobart next week. We shall see. Ice has the utmost respect for the Pumpkinheads program but believes this is a down year for the Statesmen. If Union can't take advantage, they don't deserve the LL title.

[HSCTiger74]

  Maybe I'm late to the party, but during the pregame discussions before today's Carolina/Tampa Bay game I heard that Ali Marpet has retired. Just wondered if any of the Hobart folks have any further information on what that's all about? According to the radio talking heads he's only 28.