FB: Liberty League

[Ice Bear]

Ice concurs...congrats to Utica. Ice says that's a ****ing hell of a W. All heart!

[IC798891]

The "Put everyone in the Top 25!" WIAC goes 0-for-2

The "The refs and committee are the only reason they're here!" Utica Pioneers — aka the team who will never give Susquehanna the game Hopkins did — are moving on.

Love it.

[Jonny Utah]

The "Put everyone in the Top 25!" WIAC goes 0-for-2

The "The refs and committee are the only reason they're here!" Utica Pioneers — aka the team who will never give Susquehanna the game Hopkins did — are moving on.

Love it.

Ha.  UWW lost to Aurora.  I've heard of them but have never really paid much attention to them.  I just noticed Don Beebe is the head coach there?  Ha!  Good for them.

[tecmobowler]

The "Put everyone in the Top 25!" WIAC goes 0-for-2

The "The refs and committee are the only reason they're here!" Utica Pioneers — aka the team who will never give Susquehanna the game Hopkins did — are moving on.

Love it.

Happy for Utica. Tough result for D3 experts.

IC coordinator should call up our staff from a decade or so ago. We had the triple option pretty well figured out back when Springfield was a yearly opponent. Hope they water down the astroturf at Butterfield this week.

[UfanBill]

That's why they play the games. The WIAC is strongly considered the best conference in the country and despite the assurances of UW-Oshkosh coach Peter Jennings who with a pompous and presumptuous attitude told the D3football bracket blitz audience early on that UW-Whitewater and UW-LaCrosse would both win handily. He also said he thought his team and maybe even a fourth WIAC team should have been in the tournament. SMFT coach.  Both WIAC teams lost   

Congrats to Utica who when given the opportunity rose to it to defeat Susquehanna. The Pioneers move forward while E8 champ Cortland **** the bed in the second half and lost to Randolph-Macon...'Who'd have thunk it."...And Ithaca again showed it's superiority in monkey-stomping UMass-Dartmouth.  The Bombers will next meet Springfield which proved it's consistently the best program in New England still...*all three of those winners were on this year's Union schedule. Just sayin'

In ECAC play Liberty League members RPI, with yet another last minute come from behind win over E8 opponent Morrisville, and Hobart who dropped a game to tough W&J both got post season exposure.

[IC798891]

IC thoughts:

I have never in my life seen a 6-minute stretch of football like that from a quality opponent. UMass Dartmouth loses three fumbles in the span of four plays, leading to short IC fields. The Bombers punch every one of them in, and lead 21-0 with 8:35 to go in the first.

The real key though, was the next UMD drive, when the Corsairs got a 1st and goal from the 6. But IC's defense held firm, and forced a turnover on downs. After an IC pick, the Bombers forced another fumble, scored on the ensuing drive, and it was largely academic after that.

The other funny part was when IC intercepted passes on two consecutive plays in the 4th quarter and wound up with the ball after neither of them. The first saw IC fumble on the return, and the second was a pick 6 that was called back due to a roughing the passer.

The second half had the feel of a really disjointed scrimmage, with both teams making mistakes, and several personal foul penalties on both teams. IC threw a deep pass with 5:00 to go up 56-13 that absolutely felt like a message (I'll let you figure out what it was.)

Ithaca's had a pretty magical season, and it will continue for one week more, at least

[Bartman]

Lots of good chat here , including the whack down of the WIAC. I must admit I was one of those that looked at that league and thought the first 5 teams should be in the top 15, but after the 2 losses today.....they are mere mortals.
As far as the Liberty league, Ithaca takes advantage of mistakes like a good team does. I think they should have a tougher time against Springfield , but should win by 10+  A shot at some real intense football against NCC awaits if they get by Springfield..
RPI squeaks out another win and Hobart loses to a very tough W&J, but I'm happy they had the exposure and experience although not the loss.
  Cortland surprisingly disappoints and Utica has the win of the East region with a gutsy performance. Pioneers are the team of the week.
   Good luck to Ithaca and Utica next week, as they play for a spot in the final eight....a big deal for any team.

[hazzben]

Very nice win for Ithaca. Outside of NCC the entire field feels pretty wide open right now.

[Ice Bear]

Very nice win for Ithaca. Outside of NCC the entire field feels pretty wide open right now.

Ice Bear welcomes hazzzz and gives a shot of +k for his kind congratulations to the Bombers of the LL. Ice says the Bombers will be a tough out for most. IC should be able to handle the Pride (Ice ****ing loves him some Pride triple option football...but never over an LL member) and has the potential to be competitive moving forward. Ice Bear says he ****ing loves this time of year.

Ice also sends his congrats to RPI on the W and to the Pumpkinheads for a great effort and a solid season. Ice believes the Pumpkinheads fought many of their own demons this season but never quit and came out on top. Ice is impressed.

[hazzben]

Back at ya Ice. It's football fan (geek) heaven! 

[repete]

I've got an Ithaca guy next door -- good guy --  and would love to see Bombers d coordinator Trevor Warner bring a bit of Johnnie Magic to that bracket.

[IC798891]

What's ironic is that Springfield may be better suited to winning at Butterfield than any IC opponent in a long time.

One of the reasons the grass/fields came into play so much was because Mike Welch's teams didn't emphasize speed the way this IC team does. So they didn't mind the long grass and mud in those games.

This IC team has several track sprinters in key roles, and a running QB. They need the fast track too. So it'll be interesting to see

[Bartman]

Thanks to the Hobart Football team of 2022 for giving us another successful season ending with an ECAC Bowl game. While we had our chances to win a couple of more games, we found out that teams like Ithaca and W&J were just that much better. Thanks to the Seniors for the wins and successes( 2-1 in post season with the last NYS Bowl win over Cortland and an ECAC Bowl win last year) and for playing through the COVID environment. Now everyone returning needs to get better for 2023 and improve our imperfections....because the LL Title is our Goal every year.(It was in 2016 when we last won the LL and took the lead over Mount Union in the first round of the NCAAs at the BOZ late in the third quarter under the leadership of Shane Sweeney...yes the Mount rallied) Our rising Seniors need to set an example with leadership and our coaching staff  needs to compete and recruit the best student athletes and prepare our team to the best of your ability to out coach some great coaches in the LL. I can't wait for the 2023 version of the Statesmen.
  Good luck to Ithaca the rest of the way in the NCAAs, while I shift my fan support to the #! ranked team in D3 Hockey, the undefeated Hobart Statesmen

[Ice Bear]

Thanks to the Hobart Football team of 2022 for giving us another successful season ending with an ECAC Bowl game. While we had our chances to win a couple of more games, we found out that teams like Ithaca and W&J were just that much better. Thanks to the Seniors for the wins and successes( 2-1 in post season with the last NYS Bowl win over Cortland and an ECAC Bowl win last year) and for playing through the COVID environment. Now everyone returning needs to get better for 2023 and improve our imperfections....because the LL Title is our Goal every year.(It was in 2016 when we last won the LL and took the lead over Mount Union in the first round of the NCAAs at the BOZ late in the third quarter under the leadership of Shane Sweeney...yes the Mount rallied) Our rising Seniors need to set an example with leadership and our coaching staff  needs to compete and recruit the best student athletes and prepare our team to the best of your ability to out coach some great coaches in the LL. I can't wait for the 2023 version of the Statesmen.
  Good luck to Ithaca the rest of the way in the NCAAs, while I shift my fan support to the #! ranked team in D3 Hockey, the undefeated Hobart Statesmen [/u]

Ice watched them play and they are good Bartman. They have some very good team speed and move the puck well. Wishing them luck. Ice would love to see them keep this up!

[unionpalooza]

What's ironic is that Springfield may be better suited to winning at Butterfield than any IC opponent in a long time.

One of the reasons the grass/fields came into play so much was because Mike Welch's teams didn't emphasize speed the way this IC team does. So they didn't mind the long grass and mud in those games.

This IC team has several track sprinters in key roles, and a running QB. They need the fast track too. So it'll be interesting to see

I think that you'll find this Springfield team less focused on speed that in the past - over time they have seemed to shift towards a larger o-line and greater focus on the FB dive and QB off tackle than running the option on the outside.  (That may reflect the fact that it's been a while since they had a Chris Sharpe/Chad Shade type at QB.)  I think the Ithaca D-line and LBs will do well with their attack - Union pretty much kepy them in check this year, holding them to six points.  That said, they play incredibly hard, tough, and disciplined football, and their defense was probably as good as any Union faced this year other than RPI.  Having seen them both live against a common opponent, I'll take Ithaca by 17.